The Hellion and The Heartbreaker by Jennifer McNare Page A

his hand, his knowing gaze directed toward the door.  He had
obviously been waiting for her, knowing that she would follow him.  The
drapes weren’t drawn, but the room was dark, cast only in the pale glow of the
moon’s reflection upon the fallen snow.  Without taking her eyes from Alec,
she moved her arm backward and gently pushed the door shut behind her. 
“Am I so predictable?” she asked with a hesitant smile.
    For a man constantly pursued by countless women, her behavior was quite predictable, but he refrained from saying as much.  Instead,
he set down his glass and casually crossed his arms over his chest, watching
her, his expression guarded.  For a moment the silence between them grew
uncomfortable, and then he spoke, his voice low and controlled.  “What are
you doing, Scarlett?”
    She returned his stare, her back still pressed against the
closed door.  “I’m not sure,” she admitted truthfully, for the art of
seduction was indeed something new to her.
    Women and their games, he thought cynically.  She knew
damn well what she was doing and so did he.  “Did you expect me to toss up
your skirts and take you right here, across your brother’s desk?”  The
words came out more harshly than he had intended.  A result perhaps of the
near constant state of arousal she had kept him in over the past several hours.
    “No, of course not,” she gasped, startled by the bluntness of
the question, as well as the angry tone of his voice.
    Scarlett’s face registered both shock and hurt and Alec
silently cursed himself for losing his composure.  Christ, the fact that
she was attracted to him didn’t mean he needed to act like a complete
ass.  He took a deep breath, his anger dissipating as quickly as it had
emerged.  “I’m sorry, Scarlett, you didn’t deserve that,” he told her with
complete sincerity.
    Slowly, she stepped away from the door.  “I didn’t mean
to make you angry,” she said, her expression uncertain.
    The seductive vixen of the previous hours now looked more
like a wounded pup, thanks to his callus words.  If he could have kicked
himself, he would have.  Damn it to hell!  Scarlett McPhearson was by
far the most incredibly desirable woman he had ever known, and if she were
anyone other than Colin’s sister he would have gladly carried her up to the
nearest bedchamber hours ago and given them what they both wanted.  He
wasn’t angry with her.  He was angry that his principles, his sense of
honor, refused to allow him to assuage the rock hard throbbing in his loins and
the all-consuming desire that engulfed him whenever he looked at her. 
But, she was Colin’s sister, and that was something he simply couldn’t
ignore.
    Stepping away from the desk, he moved to stand before
her.  He couldn’t bear to see the hurt in her eyes, knowing that he was
the cause of it.  Innocent or not, he knew that she was nothing like the
immoral, self-indulgent women of his usual acquaintance.  Scarlett was
unique, special.  He lightly grasped her chin, tilting her face upward,
and told her exactly what he had just been thinking.  “I am not angry with
you, Scarlett,” he told her softly.  Unable to help himself, he slowly
rubbed his thumb across the delicate line of her jaw.  “If you weren’t
Colin’s sister I would have taken you to bed hours ago and made love to you
until dawn.”
    In that instant, Scarlett grasped the true depth of Alec’s
integrity.  He wanted her just as much as she wanted him, but his loyalty
to Colin would never allow him to act on his desire.  She understood and
her admiration of him soared, but she couldn’t allow his sense of morality to
get in the way of what they both so obviously craved.  Whatever happened
between them here and now would determine their future.  She believed that
with all of her heart.  Drowning in the pools of his luminous emerald
eyes, she slowly raised her hand and placed it upon his chest.  Despite
her youth and