Erin stared at her untouched plate, mind still very much on the scene in the hallway.Ethan's scent - a warm earthy fragrance - still permeated her nostrils, making every breath impossible to take without inhaling the very essence of him that brought to mind hot steamy nights and writhing bodies atop silk sheets.She frowned and stabbed at a piece of food with her fork, wishing it was Ethan Lachlan's head. He was the enemy and she was not supposed to be having lustful thoughts about a man who had brought nothing but misery her way.Erin lifted her eyes and risked another glance at the object of her thoughts. Ethan seemed unaffected by their earlier encounter.If anything, the bastard looked to be having a good time, flirting shamelessly with his stunning date who was hanging on his every word and flirting right back. Did the poor woman have any inkling of how deadly and vindictive Ethan was? She guessed not.Unconsciously, her fingers tightened over her fork, jealous at how much a goo
A wave of anger surged through Ethan as he stared at the annoying minx. In all his thirty-four years, and numerous encounters with women of every kind, he had never met a woman who could get his temper burning as quickly as Erin.Even more exasperating was how little control he had over his body when it came to her.For fuck's sake, he'd been with women far lovelier and certainly better behaved, but none of them had eroded his self control or ignited his desire the way Erin did. He was supposed to despise her, bring about her complete and utter humiliation and yet, here he was, offering to give her a lift and having to watch her throw his offer back in his face.Foolish woman.A valet handed him his car keys, and Ethan took it without taking his eyes off her.Even acting like a spoiled little brat, she still looked utterly stunning and his groin responded accordingly, much to his disgust. He gritted his teeth and moved closer, each step slow and intimidating and he had the satisfactio
The persistent buzz of the phone finally pulled Erin from sleep. Raising her head from the pillow, she squinted at the morning sunlight pouring through the windows, and winced when the motion set off a pounding headache."Hell."Erin groaned, the inside of her mouth the consistency of cotton wool. How many glasses of wine had she drank last night? She searched her memory but came up blank. Her brain was probably still asleep.The phone rang again, the sound extraordinarily loud and painful. Erin winced and groped for the offending object."What?" She snapped into the receiver."Have you seen the paper this morning?" Nicky went straight to the point. Something in her cousin's tone made Erin frown."No," Erin pulled herself up, careful not to jolt her head too much. "I just woke up. What's in it?"Nicky paused for a moment, and Erin could feel waves of disapproval even through the phone."It's not something easily explained over the phone," she said slowly, "You should see it for yourse
I'm in trouble.The thought crossed Ethan's mind as he took in the splendid form of the naked woman glaring up at him, brown eyes sparking righteous indignation. His dick, which had been aroused from the moment he stepped into Erin's apartment, became rock hard, as his gaze slowly traveled over pale flawless curves, the delicate arch of her throat, lingering over full, well-rounded breasts topped by twin dusky rose aureoles.Even as he looked, they tightened and hardened into tiny pebbles that made his mouth water with the need to take them in his mouth and suck, taste her, inhale her scent, drown himself within her till he found bliss and sweet relief. Ethan swallowed the lump forming in his throat and forced his gaze to move south, down to where her tiny hands ineffectively tried to cover her most intimate spot from view, the tension in the room so palpable with lust he could almost taste it.God! How had he never noticed just how beautiful Erin was? Ethan wondered, his body pulsing
“I don't think Ethan did it.” Nicky said, taking a sip of her latte, fingers wrapped around the cup for warmth. She studied her cousin over the rim. “We may have only dated for eighteen months, but I know him enough to know he never lies. He's always brutally honest.”Erin sighed, pressing two fingers of each hand to her temple in an effort to ease the throbbing headache that had plagued her since Ethan had stalked out the apartment two hours ago.“I don't know what to think Nicky. There's too much coincidence involved for me to just believe he had nothing to do with it.”“Well, I believe the dude's as guilty as sin.” Kim declared, still reading the offending article, nose wrinkled in disgust. “I mean c'mon, he swore to humiliate you, Erin. What better way to do that than this?"“That's jumping to conclusions Kim.” Nicky shot Kim a quelling look. "You can't prove that he did, either."“Oh please. How much proof do you need to see past your nose?” Kim flung the paper aside and sat up,
Ethan stared at the man sitting across from him, struggling to contain his anger and the urge to permanently wipe off the self-satisfied smirk from the editor's florid face.The fool sat there, mercifully oblivious to the murderous thoughts running through his mind, chattering away about client privacy and some other bullshit, causing Ethan's mood- already bad from the encounter with Erin this morning- to deteriorate rapidly till his jaw was clenched tight enough to crush teeth and it took all his self restraint to stop himself from lunging across the gleaming desk and smashing in that meaty face.He had to give the man some credit, though. Despite the threat of legal action for defamation of character, the sleazebag still clung to the bit of information that Ethan wanted - the identity of person who had leaked the story and the photos.Still, he was not deterred. There were other ways to get the information he wanted, after all he hadn't taken his company to the level it was now with
Erin stared into cold blue eyes and felt a frisson of dread run through her.“Phase two?” She whispered, hating the way her voice trembled.Ethan's eyes seemed to bore into hers, the stare sending ice cold shivers running down her spine. She could still see the red imprint of her fingers on his cheek and instead of satisfaction, a rush of regret welled up within her. She had never hit a guy in her entire life and had always prided herself on being able to rein in her temper in the worst situations, but dealing with Ethan always seemed to bring out the worst sides in her.Right now, he looked deadly and Erin wondered how on earth she was still standing when her knees felt like jelly and her heart raced a million miles a minute.He raised an eyebrow, his lips split into a mocking smile as he watched her closely.“Did you really think I was through with you yet? I have barely begun, Sweetcheeks. I promised I would bring you to your knees, and I haven't even scratched the surface.”“So wh
"Game set!" Marcus yelled, lobbing the ball across the net to Ethan.His face a mask of intense concentration, Ethan watched the ball arching towards him, every muscle tense and ready to spring. As the ball bounced into his side of the court, he unfurled from a crouch and with a powerful swing of the racket, sent the ball flying back towards Marcus.A triumphant grin spread over his face as Marcus missed the shot, the slew of obscenities his friend let loose only serving to add to his good humor."Tired, Marc?" Ethan walked over to the net, watching as Marcus dabbed at the sweat running down his face with a towel."Nah," Marcus grinned; face red with the exertion of an hour of hard playing. "I'm just gonna be the good guy and let you win this time. Next time, you won't be so lucky though, so enjoy this while you can.""Yeah sure," Ethan said, his tone heavily laced with sarcasm. "Guess I owe you for this one.""Damn right." Marcus grinned. He fell into step beside Ethan as the two men