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Yes yes yes, she heard him chant, the sound of his voice far away as her brainwaves seemed momentarily devoid of any sense of ti as he too, finally succuht to her in those o the other way round, and she sank against hiround into her with one last, belly-ripping thrust

Finally, spent, he reached up to untie the blindfold, pulling out of her as they fell to the bed in a collective heap His breath was co the need to soothe him with her kisses Their lips joined , possessive way of his His face had that warm, sweat-beaded flush, and now that she could look into his eyes, she drank in the strange expression that crossed his eyes But before she could search further, he reached up and kissed her forehead, and told her to sleep She closed her eyes obediently, and in the next ht

It had happened She’d done what she’d feared, prayed she wouldn’t do She’d fallen in love with Jude Stone

Nothing on earth could have been worse than discovering that he’d stolen her heart She hated herself for it, but she couldn’t stop it fro It had crept in on her and now she had only herself to bla and even wishing that the feeling would ebb, that he wouldn’t be able to move her as before

But it never happened; with each hour she spent around him, she buried herself in even deeper

They’d arrived on Monday, and now this was the third , a Thursday There was barely three days left till they’d have to return to London After they breakfasted together down in the hotel’s prestigious restaurant, he suggested mildly if she’d like to spend the day with him

“Don’t you have any important appointments to attend?” she asked in surprise

“I’ll cancel theetyou here with ly “And I wouldn’t want to give the impression that I consider you no rinned suddenly, the flash of white eous he looked

“How kind of you to be sothoughtful But there really is no need for you to change your schedule to suitleft alone”

“Ouch Nice I guess I shouldn’t expect you to want et it”

Miranda looked away fro things this way helped insulate her fro For him, this was just sex Great sex itshe needed was for him to feel he had to further “compensate” her with more of his presence Also, the less time they spent around each other, the easier it would be to keep pretending she was still aloof to him

“How about Carly?” she asked quickly, curious about his assistant who as often

“Actually, I gave her the day off,” he said wryly, and Miranda felt like an idiot when she realized he really had an to lift with hope, but then she squashed it down Jude was the ultiain she had to re

And yet, she couldn’t help feeling a pang as she looked up and , and why he was staring at her like that

“Miranda” he began, but his sentence was cut off by the sound of her na from the entrance

Miranda turned in a into the restaurant, and she saw Jude rise, his face expressionless

“You son of a bitch!” Jeffery snarled, reaching their table, his eyes fastened on Jude “I want you to let o”

The few other diners glanced their way in curiosity, and Miranda wanted to sink into the ground “Jeff, what are you doing?” she hissed, her fists clenching

Her brother barely glanced her way, holding Jude’s gaze angrily as he gritted out, “I’ive a damn what he may have offered you, Miranda You’re worth far more than any stupid company I don’t even care about that anymore” And this time, he turned to look at her, his expression pained “I felt like such a dick for the way I attacked you over Kirk I neverlike this”

“This was never your fault,” she said quickly “I” But his earnest words cut her off

“No, Miranda, listen to ht here as soon as I could to tell you this: it doesn’tit back; it doesn’t count asback withyou behind