Read Online He's the One by Linda Lael Miller - Free Book Online
Authors: Linda Lael Miller
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wildly
and fully as he did and watch her destroy herself with the job. In her stubbornness,
all she’d heard was the ultimatum, him or her dangerous job, and she’d reacted. Badly.
He’d left their L.A. condo and she’d hit rock bottom, or so she’d thought.
But she’d been wrong. Today was rock bottom. Being forced to admit still wanting him . . . it was too much. “I
don’t—” But the lie caught on her tongue.
“Tell me,” he insisted in a rough whisper, his length bumping hers.
She had to close her eyes in an attempt to deny what he could make her feel with just
that barely there touch of his hot, tough bod.
“Tell me.”
God, it’d be so easy to do just that, but then they’d be back at square one, with
her loving him ridiculously, and him wanting her to be someone she wasn’t.
No .
She was stronger than this, and to prove it, she lifted her chin, staring at a spot
just over his shoulder. “I don’t want to be married anymore.”
He studied her for a long beat, his gaze burning a hole in her heart.
Not for the first time, either . . .
“That’s not what I asked you,” he finally said.
“I want you to sign those papers at your office, James.”
“And what about me, Ella?” He nudged even closer, slipping a muscled thigh between
hers.
She nearly melted into a pool of longing on the floor.
“You don’t want me?” he asked softly, silkily.
She closed her eyes, gathered her strength, then opened them again. I don’t want you , she tried to say, but he shifted again, that thigh moving between hers, rubbing
against her, and all that came out was a whimper.
Chapter Three
J ames waited for Ella’s answer with an expectation that he didn’t want to feel. He
hadn’t come to Baja hoping for anything but a few days without expectation, grief,
or a page from the beeper he’d left at home. He certainly hadn’t expected his estranged
wife.
Who stood before him like a tempting, forbidden treat with her long, wild, blond curls
playing peek-a-boo with her torso and shoulders, her clear blue eyes full of the wanting
she wouldn’t admit to, and then there was her mouth. God, that mouth, with the full,
pouty lips that could give a grown man a wet dream, damp from her own nervous tongue.
His first response had been a resounding, Yeah, baby .
But then they’d gotten to the part of her story where he realized she hadn’t come
here for him at all. It’d been her work, again , the same work that had split them up. Thanks to the kind of characters she investigated—the
scum of the earth, basically—she’d been manhandled into this helpless, compromising
position, and that both terrified and infuriated him because one day she was going
to get herself killed.
And he’d have to bury her.
His heart clenched good and hard over that. When they’d been together, she’d had him
popping Tums like candy, and he couldn’t handle it. Now, with a few months of distance
beneath his belt, he figured he deserved a little revenge for his heart, which she’d
broken.
Make that decimated.
Oh yeah, definitely he had a little payback coming his way, and he was nothing if
not a man who made the best of his time. Well aware that the only thing protecting
her modesty was his chest against hers, he shifted back an inch.
Her towel hit the floor.
“ James .”
Probably not his smartest idea, letting the towel fall, because with her standing
there wearing exactly nothing, virtually his captive, his every muscle shifted to
full alert status.
She tried to turn away, which was not easy restrained as she was. She bumped into
his fully clothed body, things shimmying and shaking, mostly her glorious breasts.
She had tan lines, which dissolved his bones right then and there. Her breasts gleamed
pale and beautiful, and between her legs she’d waxed or shaved, or whatever it was
a woman did to drive men right out of their minds.
She let out an infuriated
and fully as he did and watch her destroy herself with the job. In her stubbornness,
all she’d heard was the ultimatum, him or her dangerous job, and she’d reacted. Badly.
He’d left their L.A. condo and she’d hit rock bottom, or so she’d thought.
But she’d been wrong. Today was rock bottom. Being forced to admit still wanting him . . . it was too much. “I
don’t—” But the lie caught on her tongue.
“Tell me,” he insisted in a rough whisper, his length bumping hers.
She had to close her eyes in an attempt to deny what he could make her feel with just
that barely there touch of his hot, tough bod.
“Tell me.”
God, it’d be so easy to do just that, but then they’d be back at square one, with
her loving him ridiculously, and him wanting her to be someone she wasn’t.
No .
She was stronger than this, and to prove it, she lifted her chin, staring at a spot
just over his shoulder. “I don’t want to be married anymore.”
He studied her for a long beat, his gaze burning a hole in her heart.
Not for the first time, either . . .
“That’s not what I asked you,” he finally said.
“I want you to sign those papers at your office, James.”
“And what about me, Ella?” He nudged even closer, slipping a muscled thigh between
hers.
She nearly melted into a pool of longing on the floor.
“You don’t want me?” he asked softly, silkily.
She closed her eyes, gathered her strength, then opened them again. I don’t want you , she tried to say, but he shifted again, that thigh moving between hers, rubbing
against her, and all that came out was a whimper.
Chapter Three
J ames waited for Ella’s answer with an expectation that he didn’t want to feel. He
hadn’t come to Baja hoping for anything but a few days without expectation, grief,
or a page from the beeper he’d left at home. He certainly hadn’t expected his estranged
wife.
Who stood before him like a tempting, forbidden treat with her long, wild, blond curls
playing peek-a-boo with her torso and shoulders, her clear blue eyes full of the wanting
she wouldn’t admit to, and then there was her mouth. God, that mouth, with the full,
pouty lips that could give a grown man a wet dream, damp from her own nervous tongue.
His first response had been a resounding, Yeah, baby .
But then they’d gotten to the part of her story where he realized she hadn’t come
here for him at all. It’d been her work, again , the same work that had split them up. Thanks to the kind of characters she investigated—the
scum of the earth, basically—she’d been manhandled into this helpless, compromising
position, and that both terrified and infuriated him because one day she was going
to get herself killed.
And he’d have to bury her.
His heart clenched good and hard over that. When they’d been together, she’d had him
popping Tums like candy, and he couldn’t handle it. Now, with a few months of distance
beneath his belt, he figured he deserved a little revenge for his heart, which she’d
broken.
Make that decimated.
Oh yeah, definitely he had a little payback coming his way, and he was nothing if
not a man who made the best of his time. Well aware that the only thing protecting
her modesty was his chest against hers, he shifted back an inch.
Her towel hit the floor.
“ James .”
Probably not his smartest idea, letting the towel fall, because with her standing
there wearing exactly nothing, virtually his captive, his every muscle shifted to
full alert status.
She tried to turn away, which was not easy restrained as she was. She bumped into
his fully clothed body, things shimmying and shaking, mostly her glorious breasts.
She had tan lines, which dissolved his bones right then and there. Her breasts gleamed
pale and beautiful, and between her legs she’d waxed or shaved, or whatever it was
a woman did to drive men right out of their minds.
She let out an infuriated
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