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He hts This wasn’t the ti out what they really wanted, how hethat, wasn’t part of his life anymore

He hadn’t looked at a woman like that in years and he wasn’t sure why he did it now He wasn’t after a girlfriend, mistress or woman-for-hire which meant there was no point It wasn’t that he didn’t feel attraction, siistered in his body and nowhere else

Maybe because she was a puzzle Soy, for one She worked so hard to play it down, but she could hardly sit still Then there was the don’t-touch-ined they were meant to make her look confident, but in his mind, it only betrayed the fact that she wasn’t She earing arnize as such

But nothere with her He would not revert to the man he’d been trained to be He’d escaped that He used it when it suited him, not when it didn’t He wasn’t on a leash anymore

“Meaning you won’t stabthis…caper?”

“I wouldn’t call it a caper Although, it will require a bit of…finesse”

“Meaning?”

This was the part she wouldn’t like The part that would have been easy with another woman But Julia wasn’t easy She didn’t respond to his flirtation Didn’t respond to his charm Charm he kneas lethal in most cases

But not in this one Interesting ItIt always had No one else went toe-to-toe with him No one, not even Scott Hamlin, would dare pull such public stunts the way she did She’d pushed hi the sa to meet someone who had that kind of power

But it was in his control now

“We’ll have to —”

“This is not a er,” she bit out

“For the project,” he said

“Fine,” she said, barely civil “Go on”

“We’ll have to anic”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

In soestionhe could do to tip the balance of power further to his favor was only good And the more flustered she was, the more control he would have “It would be completely expected for a couple to discuss a project and come to the conclusion that collaboration would be the best for all involved”