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He scowled It was the da about her Maybe he’d expected someone more like Ashley Sweet, shy, innocent, naive, a bit vulnerable, in need of protection Maybe his ego had been stroked by offering Pippa a night in his bed Maybe he thought he’d been granting her a favor while indulging in what he’d wanted to do from the moment he’d met her

Instead, she’d rocked his world This was a confident, self-assured woman asn’t afraid to reach out and take what she wanted, and she’d wanted hied by that But he found hiruntled because…the damn roles had been reversed

It was almost as if she had been the one to say, Hey, I want you but I don’t want any strings She’d taken control

He’d acted like an out-of-control, desperate, raging sex fiend Nothing like the co man he liked to present to the rest of the world

And that…well, that bothered hi his head, he walked down the hall back to his bedrooiven that he’d seen her drive away, but somehow her presence was still firaze traveled over the rumpled bed linens, theto the bed Most of it was on the floor

He should have taken her to one of the guest roo wo the night before, he would have remained downstairs where she wouldn’t have breached the areas private to hiet her into bed, however fast he could do it

Lust was a bitch

A controlling, fickle mistress from which there was no escape At least not when it caley Maybe now that he’d had her six ways to Sunday, his blood would cool and he wouldn’t lose his daut told hioing with it

He walked into the bathroo lady The shower door was still open Towels had been discarded on the floor The countertop was a mess thanks to his iht before lifting Pippa onto the edge so he could have her again

There were at least two discarded condoerly leaned down to toss the one by the sink into the nearby trash can and then went for the one on the floor by the shower He used a tissue to pick it up and started for the trash can when he noticed soh his stomach

He froze, unable to even process the evidence before hi of obscenities blistered the air His stomach balled into a knot Sweat broke out on his forehead and hisit not to be so, but when he reopened the hand

The condom had torn

Four

Pippa was tempted to throw her cell across the street, but only the knowledge that she’d have to replace it kept her fro today?

She’d found the perfect place for her bakery and catering business It was in a nice area The terms were satisfactory It had already been outfitted with the necessary facilities All she’d need was a little re to the front to acco doing word-of-mouth events, she was ready for a ive her a steady incoer savings had kept her in her current apartular incoone in a year

She was certain she could qualify for a set the necessary funds, she needed a signed lease Which she had, at least until her Realtor had called her to inform her that there was a problem

Suddenly her dreams of cute cupcakes, yummy little pastries, intricately decorated bonbons and delicious-s breads evaporated

She blew out her breath in a cold fog and mounted the steps to her apartment She fumbled with the lock just as her cell phone went off, which only renewed her desire to toss it into oncoreat deal warlanced down at her phone It wasn’t a nuiven that she’d handed her number out to potential clients, she couldn’t afford not to answer the phone

With a sigh, she punched the receive button and put it to her ear "Pippa Laingley"

She was in theout of her coat when she heard Cam’s voice over the line

"Pippa, it’s Ca from the arm that was bent to her ear "Well, hello, Ca you wouldn’t call To what do I owe this honor?"

"One of the condoms broke," he said tersely

She quickly switched the phone to her other hand so she could shake away the coat She left it there in the doorway and walked toward her living rooain," she said shakily

She sank onto the couch, clutching the phone tightly to her ear

There was an indistinguishable sigh and then he said, "The condom we used in the shower It broke I didn’t discover it until after you’d left Since ere in the shower, there would have been no…evidence…at the tied solidly in her throat and she closed her eyes No, she wouldn’t have noticed, either

He’d been insatiable, but then so had she The very last thing she’d considered at the time hether the condom had performed as expected Obviously if it would have happened at any other point, they would have known But in a shower?

"Pippa, are you there?"

The strident dehts

"I’s we have to discuss"

She frowned "Why are you only just now calling me? When did you discover this?"

There was a pause "I found it yesterday after you left"

"And you’re only just now telling ood to know yesterday when there was so I could have done"

Even as she was furious at hi-after pill? It would have been a bit late for that, but what did she know about such things? She could have at least done some research and made an informed decision

"Calm down, Pippa"

The condescension in his tone just pissed her off even more

"Don’t tell me to calm down," she seethed "You aren’t the one who has to live with the consequences of that broken condonancy doesn’t affect me every bit asat me so we can discuss our options like adults"

She bit hard into her lip to prevent the outburst straining to break free

"Now, I assume from your reaction that you aren’t on any sort of birth control"