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"You aren’t what I expected either, Lauren Reynolds," he whispered

Chapter Four

Lauren ithout opening her eyes, the aches in her body sending her a warning Slowly, she forced her lids to lift "Oh," sheto her forehead It was pathetic that the tiny aiven her a hangover

Shifting, hoping a new position would ease the pain growing in her head, she froze,herinto her like a concrete wall "I’one Of course he’d left without even a word She’d all but thrown herself on hiosh, she must have made a fool of herself, because he hadn’t even taken full advantage of her willing state

She pressed herself to a sitting position, an action that ht headed, but the true pain was her huas in the world, then as?

Her brows dipped, her nostrils flaring with an unexpected scent Coffee She smelled coffee How could she sover trick of her senses? And then it hit her Royce Royce was here and he’d made coffee A mixture of relief, pleasure, and then panic washed over her Her gaze went to the barely cracked doorway He was out there Royce was in her living roo she had all but begged him to have his wicked ith her? Life had suddenly taken a path to full frontal embarrass her dress froht before She sed hard And she had no panties on They were out there, in the living room, with Royce the man who’d taken them off of her She pressed her hand to her face She had to do soe clothes

Lauren shoved aside the blanket covering her, fighting the throb of her head, and rushed to her closet She quickly tugged her favorite long red silk robe off the hook inside the door and slipped it over her dress It wasn’t ed Hoas putting on a silk robe which a her situation? She tore the robe off and threw it to the ground She didn’t want to look bedroom ready and a robe was bedrooaze caught on her ie in the ers through the wild one, her general appearance that of soht the urge to go fix her face, not wanting to seem too affected by this h she wanted to

She shook herself, told herself to calination, a post drinking, post orgas after fantasy that she’d conjured fro for a caffeine IV Or ossip on Royce Julie! Yes! She had a key Julie was here, not Royce

She laughed at herself, ignoring the disappointment in her stomach, and rushed to the bedroom door but still didn’t yank it open Instead, she eased into a position where she could peek outside, scanning the e area into focus And that hen her breath lodged in her throat

Royce was sitting at the kitchen table, looking quite co he was reading in the paper His jacket and tie were gone, a few buttons on his shirt were undone, and he’d rolled his sleeves up to display his powerful forearms, one of which flexed as he raised his coffee cup to his too full, too sensual s to her, that she wanted hi, he lowered the paper, and sed at the realization that she’d just been busted staring at hi a fool of herself with this man? She pulled open the door and forced the breath she’d been holding to trickle froentleestively

In need Lauren felt her cheeks heat She’d made a fool of herself and she had to amend that and amend it now "I’m not"

He lifted his cup and chuckled, a deep, masculine, sexy sound thatabout caffeine and aspirin"

He stood up and held out a chair "Coet you both"

Royce studied Lauren where she lingered in her doorway, un off of her But there was interest in her eyes, attraction in the air between the to dissolve And Royce knew that no iven himself for why he’d stayed, why he was still here the openthatand the chane that had come with a sense of menace he was here for her; he’d siued him, enticed him, and in short, took his breath away

"I hope you don’t mind that I helped myself to your coffee pot" he said, when the silence stretched onward

As if his words had somehow released her from a spell, she let out a breath, and her entire body seemed to ease with the act "Yes I mean no You ht about now"