Rebel's Bargain by Annie West Page A

illusion. The reality of being intimate with the woman who’d smashed his life asunder couldn’t be anything like his imaginings. It wasn’t as if he cared for her any more. She’d made sure of that.
    But there was no denying she heated his blood. Just parading in front of him with her hip-swaying stroll had brought him out in a sweat.
    What to do about it?
    He wanted to obliterate her from his life and kill that niggling sense of unfinished business between them.
    He also wanted her with an urgency that shouldn’t be possible in a body so battered.
    Orsino smiled. He’d always been tough. ‘Indestructible,’ the press had dubbed him.
    The smile faded as he surveyed his companion. There was one obvious option. Sleep with Poppy and let disappointing reality destroy the fantasy of her he still harboured. He knew she was poison. But the part of him that knew good sex had him hankering after a woman he shouldn’t want to touch with a barge pole.
    Sleep with her and destroy that last subliminal craving. His smile returned. It had the advantage of being exactly what he wanted to do.
    A few weeks holed up at this chateau where she was working. Plenty of time to seduce her and free himself before he walked away for good.
    How could he resist?

CHAPTER FIVE
    I T WAS CRISP early morning as the limousine slowed to enter the quaint French town. Beside her, Orsino stirred at last, stretching his long legs.
    He looked fresher than she felt. Clearly he’d slept on the flight far better than she with her restless dreams. He’d emerged from the plane’s bedroom freshly shaven and in a crisp new shirt, thanks to the steward.
    Orsino looked casually sexy but with that dangerous edge advertisers the world over paid a fortune for. He would have made a brilliant model with his handsome features and raw masculinity. Only the tight grooves beside his mouth hinted at discomfort.
    It wasn’t fair. Even bandaged he looked terrific while she felt rumpled and untidy.
    Poppy straightened, pinning back the strands of hair that always managed to escape.
    ‘Who organised all this?’ Her gesture took in the car and driver. ‘I’d planned to hire a car from the airport.’ She thought guiltily of her relief whenshe’d discovered the car waiting for them. At the time she’d accepted it with weary relief, but on the drive she’d had time to ponder. She couldn’t imagine Orsino making the necessary calls from his hospital bed.
    ‘My secretary.’
    ‘You have a secretary?’ She didn’t hide her surprise. ‘You used to manage your social calendar without help. Surely it’s not that demanding.’
    He turned to survey her and Poppy wished he’d ditch the glasses. Shocking as it had been to meet the blaze of his knowing eyes, it had been better than wondering what was hidden behind the dark shades.
    ‘She does more than organise my social calendar.’ His tone was smooth and almost expressionless. Almost.
    ‘Oh, yes? What else?’
    He’d jealously guarded his expeditions, even the planning of them, from her. She’d felt excluded—more evidence that whatever his reasons for marrying her, it wasn’t to share his life.
    Could it be he’d finally let someone into that part of his world? The notion jabbed pain between her ribs and she stiffened.
    Poppy blinked and tore her gaze away. She couldn’t be
jealous
of his secretary! Yet she couldn’t suppress her curiosity. What did this secretary look like?
    ‘I suppose those expeditions of yours take someorganising now.’ They’d grown more dangerous and more public, but she didn’t mention that. She didn’t want him to think she’d been following him in the media. ‘Does she work part-time?’
    ‘Full-time, though she tells me she’s long overdue for a vacation.’
    ‘Really?’ Poppy frowned. Surely even setting up arrangements for Orsino’s high-profile expeditions wasn’t a full-time job twelve months a year. She turned back to him, the set of his mouth hinting there was