Read Online Billionaire's Defiant Mistress by Heather Longton - Free Book Online Page B

explaining it to everyone. Her friends with whom she shared the flat, her mother and the owner of the shop back in Keswick who had helped her get the job. All she could think of doing was explaining to them all that she was a failure.
    She had let herself down and she had let everybody else down too. Worse, she had made herself look a complete idiot in front of Carlos. It was true she had escaped without getting a criminal record, but the incident had still left her feeling utterly deflated.
    “I'm not sure what I'll do next, but I'll think of something.”
    Carlos looked at her slumping shoulders and noticed she was still wearing the clothes from the night before. Her face was pale apart from the glow on her cheeks which shone because of the tears. He felt some responsibility and wanted to help make amends.
    “Did Elaine make you breakfast this morning?” he questioned.
    “No. I was in a rush to get into work.” She spoke quickly as if it would help to hide the real reason she had rushed out – she didn't want to be just one more woman being served breakfast by Elaine.
    He put his hand on her shoulder and guided her towards the car, simultaneously communicating with his eyes. “Let's go and have some lunch.”
    “I can't go out to lunch, not in these clothes,” she protested.
    “Exactly, my dear. That's why we're going to go and do some shopping first, get you something nice to wear.”
    “No. I couldn't.”
    “Yes, you could,” he chided. “It's just a little something to make up for all the trouble I've caused this morning. It is partly my fault.” She felt as if she was being treated like a child, being offered a bag of sweets for her complicity.
    “It was my fault more than yours; it was my job to make sure that you paid. You don't owe me any compensation.”
    “Then let's just call it a treat or a gift. It's only to cheer you up and make you smile again. Please?” He stroked away a lock of hair that was lying on her cheek and had become damp with tears. “I'm not willing to take no for an answer, so you will have to agree, Sarah.”
    The way he spoke to her just increased her unease and feelings of isolation. Was he trying to buy her off? Just as he'd paid off the store. Get her a new outfit and she'll quietly disappear and never bother him again. Well, she is happy to quietly disappear – and doesn't need the billionaire pay-off.
    “I'm serious. I don't want you buying me anything,” she said defiantly.
    Carlos wasn't used to backing down and was about to argue, until he noticed the determined slant of her chin and the penetrating stare in her eyes which told him they weren't empty words. When had anybody refused him before – especially money? He considered it quite an indictment on him that he should be so shocked by her rejection.
    “Then let me take you home. You can get changed and then I will take you out for lunch.” Her display of pride had changed her from somebody he saw as a potential burden into an object of desire once more.
    Sarah was all ready to refuse, when suddenly she had a better idea. Perhaps, if she took Carlos back to her place and let him see the kind of life she lived, then it would help them both to realise just how different they were. “Okay.” She smiled daintily and shrugged her shoulders. “Why not?”
    They were soon pulling up outside Sarah's apartment. Her mouth had already turned dry and she was nervous at the prospect of showing Carlos the place where an ordinary person lived. There was nothing wrong with her block of flats, but it was a different world from the peaceful atmosphere and tree-lined driveways in which Carlos lived.
    “Wait in the car, I won't be long.” Sarah spoke hopefully. She knew there would be a certain amount of disorder within the apartment, there usually is when too many people are pushed into too small a space.
    “Why don't I come in?” Carlos enquired. What could she say? To refuse him entry would demonstrate she was embarrassed