Read Online Falling For His Proper Mistress by Tessa Radley - Free Book Online Page A

first day we met? Not my smartest move, I’ll admit. It’s contaminated everything you think about me.”
    Did she count their affair as one of the dumb mistakes she’d made? That offended him.
    â€œContaminated? Hardly!” He moved closer to her, and lowered his voice to a husky growl. “Hey, let me tell you, there was nothing wrong with what we did together in New York. It was one of the most memorable times of my life. And last night was pretty damned amazing, too.”
    He wasn’t lying.
    He’d missed her, dammit.
    Laying a hand along her cheek, he cupped it in his palm. “You’re so honest in bed, there’s none of the pretence women often play at.”
    For a moment he thought she was going to fling herself into his arms. There was a luminous expression in her eyes that made his chest tighten in a way that was new…and more than a little disconcerting.
    She started to say something, then she pulled away. “Not here, Guy, we’re in public.”
    Annoyance jabbed him at her stubborn insistence to keep him at a distance. “Are you too scared to let anyone know that we’re—” he searched for a word to describe the scorching electricity they shared “—lovers?”
    She snorted. “Lovers? That implies an intimacy we don’t share.”
    Her dismissal was like a burr beneath a quarterhorse’s tail. “Nothing wrong with the pleasure we’ve shared. And which we could continue to share.” If she stopped being so darned pigheaded. But he didn’t add that.
    Nor did he point out that for someone as risk-averse as Avery claimed to be they’d taken a hell of a risk last night. It had been out of character for him—not because he feared risks, but because he took responsibility for his actions. All his actions. Last night was the first time in his life that he’d had sex without a condom—he’d never done that even in his most reckless teen years.
    While he knew from their past that Avery protected herself against pregnancy, he’d risked his own health.
    It wouldn’t happen again. Ever. He didn’t need the kind of consequences that might flow from such spur-of-the-moment stupidity.
    But damn, it had been good….
    Instead of looking at him, she tipped her head back. The early morning sun turned the ends of her eyelashes to gold. “I don’t need to experience life from up there,” she said, changing the subject. “I can do it perfectly well with both feet on the ground.”
    â€œThen you’ll never see the fields rolling out under you, never touch the leaves on the treetops, nor see the elk grazing on the mountaintops—and that’s losing out as far as I’m concerned.” From the set of her chin, he could see he didn’tappear to be getting anywhere. “If you tried it, you might find it worth it. The view is fantastic from up there—a whole different perspective. You can see for miles in every direction.”
    â€œSounds like you enjoy it.”
    â€œI go every year during the festival.” Except that wasn’t true. Not anymore. “At least, I used to take a ride every year,” he amended. “I haven’t been home for a while.”
    At last she looked at him, her scrutiny intense, making him shift uncomfortably.
    â€œI was busy.” The unspoken question in her eyes caused him to prevaricate. “Come on, the chase crews are on the move.”
    Striding across the concrete, he reached in his jeans’ pocket for the keys to a black SUV with the name Jarrod Ridge emblazoned on the side. Once they were both inside he started the vehicle and pulled in behind the second minivan that contained the catering crew.
    Avery was perched on the edge of her seat. The tight lines had left her mouth and he could sense her rising excitement. “Is the landing spot pre-arranged?”
    Guy laughed. “If only! The crew in