A Hint of Scandal by Tara Pammi Page B

you again.”
    He laughed and set his cup down. The harsh sound of his laughter pressed against the bubble of tension closing in on them. “You did speak the words, Olivia.”
    She bolted from the couch. “They mean nothing to me.”
    “No, of course they don’t,” he said, leaving her no space to escape. “Tell me something. If I’m to believe you, you took Kim’s place in a matter of minutes, vowed to be my wife without blinking an eye. I can’t help but wonder how it’s affecting your colorful love life.”
    She raised her brows and faked a smile. “Now you’re concerned about me?”
    “Let’s say I want to be sure I don’t have to defend myself against jealous lovers.”
    If only he knew the sad truth. No one had ever been jealous or protective of her, as twisted as that sounded. “I don’t have a boyfriend, if that’s what you’re asking. Not—”
    “Since that two-bit actor broke up with you on that reality TV show?”
    No, not since then. Being dumped on national television had been the final nail on her relationship coffin. Of course, she had gone along, pretended to be okay with it because she had her pride. But after that, she had thought with her mind, not with her heart, looked up self-preservation in the dictionary. She took a sip of the coffee and swallowed down that ache along with it. “I’m worried about Kim. This isn’t like her.”
    He shrugged, sending her good intentions flying. She stepped toward him, blocking him. “The woman you were supposed to marry is gone. And yet, as far as I can see, it’s a mere inconvenience to you. Do you love my sister?”
    A smile curved his mouth, cold and beautiful with no warmth to it. “Would you be happier if I was miserable, if I threw myself into endless parties and gave up all my responsibilities?” The knowledge of her past glinted in his gaze, underlined by something else. “Would you like me better if I behaved like you instead? Act on every impulse that runs through my head, run riot through everyone’s life all in the name of love? I want no part of an emotion that strips a man or woman of rational thinking, that drives them to their lowest. So, by your definition, no, I don’t love your sister. What I feel for her, what she feels for me, is much more rational.”
    Olivia stood rooted to the spot, her breath trapped somewhere in the base of her throat. The lowest. Yes, she had been there, and she had ended up there because she had fallen in love. But it was never going to be enough. She couldn’t make someone love her. Whether it was her past, her failures or the total package she presented, no man was ever going to love her, not the love-you-no-matter-what kind. And for the most part, she had accepted the hard truth.
    Except for times like now, when the truth smiled at her and gutted her, leaving her shaken to the core.
    Alex cursed as Olivia turned away, a distinct shakiness to her movements, her face devoid of any color. Damn it, she had flinched as though he had raised his hand. Where was his head?
    But no other woman aggravated him so much as her. She didn’t have a filter between her brain and her mouth. She constantly argued with him, sometimes he was sure just to prove that she could. Why else would he have spelled out how distasteful he found her irreverence in gritty detail?
    He tugged her around, his hand at her elbow.
    The air around them cackled as she turned, her lower lip caught between her teeth. For a minute, he wondered if she was going to cry, if he had pushed her too far. He cupped her jaw and tilted it up.
    She grunted, pulled herself away from his hold sending him backward where the couch hit the back of his knees. Suddenly, they were both falling into the leather couch, her slender body on top of his, their legs a tangle.
    Her breasts crushed against his chest, her hands locked between them. The juncture of her thighs rubbed against his crotch giving him an instant hard-on. He shook with the need to pull her