as she went into it eyes wide-open…
Her mother would be so disappointed in her.
She bit her lip. She’d been taught to treat her body, sex, like it was special.
But Her mother had paid for the date who had tried to take her virginity from her. Who had ruined, yeah, she would admit it, the way she saw sex for a really long time. So what did it matter? Her mother had never known what was best for her.
All that aside, what did she have to lose? She was hardly wife and mother material anyway. Maybe, for her, a steamy affair would be the best she could do.
An affair with her enemy. Now why did that excite her more than it repelled her?
She looked up when a man sat down at her table. Blond, handsome. Not handsome in the same devastating way as Ferro, but not unpleasant, either. Maybe that was the answer. Another man. A more sensible man. And they were in public, safe. Maybe he would be a more sensible choice. A man who could answer this sensual need she seemed to be developing but who wasn’t quite as full-on as Ferro.
And, you know, not someone she classified as an enemy.
“Hi,” she said, smiling, tilting her head to the side and trying to look flirtatious. She’d seen other women do it, she thought she should be able to pull it off. Plus, her boobs looked really good in the dress she was wearing which, really should help capture attention.
“Hi. Julia Anderson, right?”
“Yes,” she said. She didn’t feel breathless, but she tried to sound it because she was pretty sure men liked that. “And you are?”
“David Brown. I saw you sitting here and just had to come over.”
She lifted her shoulder and pushed her arm in, drawing a little attention to her assets. “Really? That’s so nice.”
“I have a product idea that I have to pitch to you.”
After that, her brain just sort of shut down while David, who was looking less and less handsome, started pitchingsome half-thought-out idea that didn’t have any basis in current technology, or clearly any understanding of how computers worked. Or any idea that walking up to a woman at a wedding and making a business presentation to her was an automatic no.
She was pretty sure when he finished, she shook his hand and thanked him, smiling and pretending like she wasn’t dying inside.
She was so sick of it. Of the fact that when she was no one, no men talked to her. Because she was gangly and liked computers more than she liked going out. And that now she had money and status good-looking men approached her frequently. That people were nice. That they treated her with deference because she had power.
That they were all liars. That she couldn’t trust anything they said, anything they did. Ferro was a bastard, but he was honest. He wasn’t the kind of guy to act charming until he got you alone.
And there was actually a lot to be said about that.
She looked around the room, around the amazing setting. Would she have been friends with this couple if not for her status? If she didn’t buy people the best rooms in the hotel, would they still want her around?
One thing was certain. If she couldn’t throw money at them, she would have to give something of herself. Open herself up to them. And she didn’t like that idea at all.
Ferro didn’t like her much, he didn’t pretend to. He didn’t want to know her, but he might just want to sleep with her. And she could handle that. At least it was clear-cut. At least it was honest.
Right now she would rather have his brutal honesty than a smile from a sycophant.
An affair with her enemy was sounding less and less stupid.
“You aren’t supposed to wear black to weddings.”
Ferro approached Julia at the reception, a glass of champagne in hand. He’d come in just as the ceremony was starting, after doing some business with China.
Julia turned and his stomach tightened, blood rushing hot and fast through his veins. And he felt it, strong and sure, arousal.
“I have permission,” she said, smiling, her
Her mother would be so disappointed in her.
She bit her lip. She’d been taught to treat her body, sex, like it was special.
But Her mother had paid for the date who had tried to take her virginity from her. Who had ruined, yeah, she would admit it, the way she saw sex for a really long time. So what did it matter? Her mother had never known what was best for her.
All that aside, what did she have to lose? She was hardly wife and mother material anyway. Maybe, for her, a steamy affair would be the best she could do.
An affair with her enemy. Now why did that excite her more than it repelled her?
She looked up when a man sat down at her table. Blond, handsome. Not handsome in the same devastating way as Ferro, but not unpleasant, either. Maybe that was the answer. Another man. A more sensible man. And they were in public, safe. Maybe he would be a more sensible choice. A man who could answer this sensual need she seemed to be developing but who wasn’t quite as full-on as Ferro.
And, you know, not someone she classified as an enemy.
“Hi,” she said, smiling, tilting her head to the side and trying to look flirtatious. She’d seen other women do it, she thought she should be able to pull it off. Plus, her boobs looked really good in the dress she was wearing which, really should help capture attention.
“Hi. Julia Anderson, right?”
“Yes,” she said. She didn’t feel breathless, but she tried to sound it because she was pretty sure men liked that. “And you are?”
“David Brown. I saw you sitting here and just had to come over.”
She lifted her shoulder and pushed her arm in, drawing a little attention to her assets. “Really? That’s so nice.”
“I have a product idea that I have to pitch to you.”
After that, her brain just sort of shut down while David, who was looking less and less handsome, started pitchingsome half-thought-out idea that didn’t have any basis in current technology, or clearly any understanding of how computers worked. Or any idea that walking up to a woman at a wedding and making a business presentation to her was an automatic no.
She was pretty sure when he finished, she shook his hand and thanked him, smiling and pretending like she wasn’t dying inside.
She was so sick of it. Of the fact that when she was no one, no men talked to her. Because she was gangly and liked computers more than she liked going out. And that now she had money and status good-looking men approached her frequently. That people were nice. That they treated her with deference because she had power.
That they were all liars. That she couldn’t trust anything they said, anything they did. Ferro was a bastard, but he was honest. He wasn’t the kind of guy to act charming until he got you alone.
And there was actually a lot to be said about that.
She looked around the room, around the amazing setting. Would she have been friends with this couple if not for her status? If she didn’t buy people the best rooms in the hotel, would they still want her around?
One thing was certain. If she couldn’t throw money at them, she would have to give something of herself. Open herself up to them. And she didn’t like that idea at all.
Ferro didn’t like her much, he didn’t pretend to. He didn’t want to know her, but he might just want to sleep with her. And she could handle that. At least it was clear-cut. At least it was honest.
Right now she would rather have his brutal honesty than a smile from a sycophant.
An affair with her enemy was sounding less and less stupid.
“You aren’t supposed to wear black to weddings.”
Ferro approached Julia at the reception, a glass of champagne in hand. He’d come in just as the ceremony was starting, after doing some business with China.
Julia turned and his stomach tightened, blood rushing hot and fast through his veins. And he felt it, strong and sure, arousal.
“I have permission,” she said, smiling, her
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