The Billionaire's Beautiful Intruder (Billionaire Knights Book 3) by Nic Saint

covered her belly. And she remembered. Remembered that terrible day. The explosion had sent debris flying all over the place, and a piece of flaming metal had hit her in the belly, puncturing the skin and searing the flesh all around the impact wound. There had been substantial damage to her inner organs, most importantly her womb, which had left the surgeons no other option than an emergency hysterectomy.
    Not only was she scarred for life, the scar tissue reaching up to just below her breasts, but she would never have children, something which would make most men turn away from her in disgust and horror, she knew.
    Only just in time she’d realized that Steve had almost seen her—seen her shame. His fingers had been on the verge of discovering the hideous reality of her body when she’d stopped him.
    This must never happen again, she vowed. She knew that the fantasy was strong—she’d wanted him at that moment—she’d yearned for his touch. For once in her life she’d wanted a man to touch her lovingly and maybe even make love to her. But fortunately just in time she’d remembered. Remembered who and what she was. It could simply never be, she recognized with a desperate sob.

Chapter 7
    W hen she finally returned to the house, Steve was nowhere to be found. It took her a while to recognize the thudding sounds as coming from the back, and she wandered over to see what was going on. When she stepped out of the house, she saw that it was Steve, hacking away at a pile of wood, chopping the logs into small chunks. He was bare except for his jeans, and the powerful muscles of his body worked, sweat coating his magnificent torso in a film of sweat, his tan skin stretched taut over undulating muscle. Inadvertently her hand reached up to her lips, her fingers touching the spot where he’d kissed her passionately, so full of fire and hunger, a hunger she’d felt within herself as well.
    She warned herself, as her eyelashes swept down, that she must be careful. She might be tempted by Steve, by his sheer male potency, to allow him to kiss her again, even to take her to bed, but it could never be. The moment he discovered the true nature of who she was, he’d recoil in horror and then she would be even worse off than she was now. She would have to live with the pain of his rejection, and she simply couldn’t bear it—couldn’t bear the agony.
    So she quickly turned away from him and returned indoors.
    Steve glanced up. He’d been sure he caught a glimpse of Molly watching him, and his lips tightened in an expression of disapproval. She’d come to take a look at the monster, he decided. Look at the hideous freak he’d become.
    Those days when he was laid up at the hospital had been hard on him. And when Camille had broken up with him he’d known he would never be the same again. He would never again be that happy-go-lucky bachelor, serial-dating women because he had nothing else to do.
    He’d taken after his father in that sense. And why not? He’d been the youngest, the one least likely to succeed. His brothers had everything under control. They ran the company, the family business. Nothing was expected of him but to show up from time to time to cash a check. But that had all changed when Grandpa died. He’d loved the old man. In fact had felt closer to him than his two brothers ever had. There had been a kinship that was like a bond, and when he’d seen Grandpa dying, it had shaken him to the core. His carefree life had suddenly seemed shallow, and his grandfather’s final words, admonishing the three men to choose wisely when they considered matrimony, had struck a nerve. He’d been going down the same road as his own father, drinking and drugging and partying and bedding women who were only interested in him because his last name was Knight and he had a substantial fortune to spend.
    The shock the realization had given him had been enough to send him reeling, and when Stu had suggested he join the military,