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CHAPTER ONE
SHE could always blame Paris
Glorious, graceful, flagrant and fla, Paris…
City of lovers, whose very air was romantic intoxication to breathe—a potent brew that ravished the senses and excited the blood Just to be in Paris was a heady invitation to recklessness
And Paris on Bastille Day was even more of an enticement to shed the shackles of convention and be bold, free-thinking and daring Celebrating the spirit of rebellion, the entire city had been in a euphoric e to the holiday at the streets and partying far into the stea swept away in the passion of the moment had seemed to be an essential part of the whole experience
Oh, yes, Paris was definitely to blame After all, what defence did a lone, inexperienced Kiwi traveller have against the sophisticated wiles of the most seductive city in the world?
Veronica Bell slowly eased open the French doors that screened off the bedroom from the rest of the small apartment and tiptoed across the polished oak floorboards, clutching her strappy sandals and gossaainst her chest At a shade under six foot, and of queenly proportions, she was acutely aware that she wasn’t built for stealth She could feel her heart skittering nervously beneath the thin silk of her camisole top as she paused to orientate herself and received her second er where she had left it
Or, rather, where she thought she had put it down
Veronica had to admit that her exact recollection of events was soht in the French capital She raked sleep-tangleddown a fresh surge of panic at the thought of the outrageous risks she had taken
Right now she needed to focus on the nity intact
It was barely dawn, faint streaks of pale light only just beginning to creep in around the edges of the heavy, crealazed s facing out over the street She was starting to think that she ht a sight of a tell-tale glint in the thick pile of the shaggy floor rug She crouched and fished out the slender, black-sequinned shoulder bag, which had fallen fro couch and was half hidden behind the chunky square leg
Her anxious fingertips traced the reassuring shape of her passport and foldedsequins
Thank God! She banished theto explain how she had coendar official at the New Zealand Embassy
Rising to her feet, she added the bag to the top of the bundle in her ar the last few metres to the apartment door
A whispery rustle behind her, acco purr of a dangerous predator, made her freeze to the spot
She looked back with a thrill of apprehension
A gap in the curtains had thrown a long, pale yellow finger of light across the floor, pointing to the source of the sound Through the square glass panes of the French doors she had left slightly ajar, Veronica had a slanting view of the king-sized bed and the big, rangy, suntanned le of white cotton sheets
The throaty ruuilty fascination as lean,rippling s
houlders, bulging biceps and hard flanks, glistening with perspiration No wonder he was hot—with no air-conditioning the apartly warm—but temperature wasn’t the only reason the word came to mind
Stripped, he really was incredibly gorgeous, she marvelled with a renewed sense of awe Even more attractive than he had been in his stylishly scruffy jeans and white designer tee shirt
It was hard to believe that she had succeeded in snaring such a pri role in her rosy, romantic fantasy of a love affair in Paris Only it had been lust rather than love, she reminded herself sternly, which had directed the script Her frothy romantic comedy had unexpectedly turned into an adrenalin-spiked action-adventure…and the hero had !
His dark head jerked on the pillow, and Veronica’s pulse kicked into overdrive Heat pu with defensive tension, herto say that was in character with the wo witty and insouciant, and appropriate to the occasion…
But what?
Unfortunately, all her former boldness had deserted her the moment she opened her eyes and reality sank in She hadn’t intended to fall asleep Her private fantasising had always stopped short of the unco after
Her brief flare of panic faded as she realised his restless , shuddering, stretch and roll of the i at his naked back, his sleepy grumble muffled into silence as he laced his ar the blurred i his face in its billowing softness His thick ht jet-black hair fanned out across the top of his hunched shoulders, his powerfulunder tawny skin as he melted back into stillness like a lazy, well-satiated lion, totally secure in his innate supremacy