The Alpha's Temporary Mate (Fated Match) by Victoria Davies

will come up when I’m around your pack? Niall already assumed I knew about…her.”
    Kieran said nothing. He didn’t so much as look at her.
    “How long were you together?”
    “Forty two years, three months, and ten days.” The doors parted and he strode out, keys in hand.
    Forty-two years? Shock snaked through her. He’d had a relationship that had lasted practically half her life. Keiran, a man who eschewed any kind of commitment to the point of hiring a lover rather than risk letting one in for real.
    Dazed, she followed him into the penthouse apartment. Once inside, though, he’d disappear in seconds if she let him.
    “We need to talk about this,” she said, reaching out to him.
    A snarl rent the air as he grabbed her. Chloe’s breath rushed from her as he twirled her back up against the wall, crowding into her space.
    She angled her face up toward his as he pinned her body in place with his own. Every inch of his hard form pressed against hers, though she tried to focus on the enraged gaze and not the rock solid erection against her stomach.
    “You’ve pushed me tonight,” he told her, his voice rough. “Listen when I say you’ve dared enough.”
    “I need to know,” she replied. “If you’d stop to think for a moment you’d see I’m right. I’m not asking you to bare your soul, but give me a few details so I can sound convincing when the topic comes up.”
    “A few facts?” His smile was anything but pleasant. “Retell that disaster like a bedtime story for you?”
    The accusation stung. “You know that’s not what I’m asking.”
    He tilted his head as he leaned down closer to her. His lips were a kiss away. All she had to do was angle her head just slightly and—
    “I may have enjoyed playing with your body, witch, but despite that, we are virtual strangers. I do not discuss that period of my life with anyone, let alone an employee.”
    She flinched as the hard words tore through her. She’d wanted a kiss and instead she’d been slammed down to reality. A couple sentences. That was all it took to burst the ridiculous fantasy she’d been caught up in. One where she’d thought her opinion had substance, and that he’d been gripped by the same maddening connection as she. But he’d just reduced her to a paid employee. A woman he was happy to screw but not to trust. As if she could ever be anything else in his mind.
    No matter what kind of man he may have been in the past, he wasn’t what she needed in the present. She couldn’t afford to forget that again. This was a job. Kieran wasn’t her boyfriend; he was her meal ticket.
    “I see.” She forced the words out of her tight throat. It shouldn’t hurt that he’d confirmed exactly what she’d always known to be true. She could be any woman for all he cared, as long as the role was played appropriately and her legs opened when he wished. “I want it on record, should this come back and bite us later.” She turned to stalk toward the stairs and stopped. “You know what I wonder, boss ?” she said, her voice caustic. “Why the hell is hiring a pretend lover easier for you than finding a real one?”
    Head held high, she swept from the room without another word.

    C laws erupted from his fingers, implanting several inches into the wall. Kieran cursed as plaster bits rained down on his shoes. He’d screwed up. Royally.
    Ripping his hand from the wall, he strode into the living room and did his best to ignore the click-clack of her heels as Chloe walked away from him.
    He poured a tumbler of scotch and then doubled the dose before setting the bottle back down on the bar cart.
    “Dammit,” he said, pushing out onto the balcony.
    The brush of New York air hit him like a comforting blanket. His highly attuned ears picked up the sounds of the traffic below and the two taxi drivers arguing on the south street corner. He breathed in scents of the park across the street mixed with the faintly metallic smell of the city itself. If he