Read Online Hold Me Tight: Heartbreakers by Cait London - Free Book Online

permanent plans—
    He already wanted Jessica in his bed, his lips tasting her skin, her body flowing beneath his—
    But she wasn’t safe. Not a rich, spoiled, manipulative woman who knew how to play games and land on her feet. Not a woman with multiple surprising facets of loyalty, vulnerability and an almost naive innocence that she fought to hide beneath that sleek, polished exterior. The latter were probably well-honed for deception, he decided darkly.
    Jessica turned to him slowly, her expression set. “I’m taking time to deal with a situation, no matter how long it takes.”
    Alexi’s eyes locked with hers. He had his own situation to deal with—one of a spoiled woman demanding his services. Perhaps she needed to know how demands felt. “I am out of coffee. Get me some, please.”
    Jessica didn’t move, her green eyes narrowing. Alexi could almost hear her silent reply— Get it yourself.
    Then she smiled brightly and pushed back from the table. “Sure, bud. I’ll just do that.”
    Then in passing, she riffled his hair as if he were a child. Instinctively, Alexi tensed, then he caught her wrist and stared up at her.
    Still holding her eyes, wide and stunned now, he lowered his head. The kiss he placed in her palm was a challenge, not affection, he told himself.
     

    In her suite at the Amoteh Resort, Jessica rubbed her hands together. She’d tried unsuccessfully to wipe away the feel of Alexi’s lips, the flick of his tongue in the center of her palm.
    The man moved quickly, instinctive, following his emotions. She hadn’t expected either his kiss on her lips—“a crumb,” he’d explained unevenly—or that kiss in her palm. Her eyes narrowed with the next thought: Alexi could just be raising the stakes of the game, challenging her. Jessica shook her head. That wouldn’t do. She’d fought to survive and win all of her life—Alexi Stepanov would lose.
    She pushed up the sleeve of her green merino wool sweater to reveal the wristwatch Robert had given her, and the emeralds caught her eye. He’d loved her green eyes—a sweet memory swept through her of how he had loved her, gently, unwaveringly, reassuring her constantly as, inexperienced, she’d moved in to take over his corporate position in Sterling Stops.
    Her mind swung to another man, bold and arrogant and disdaining and proud. An irritating man who had tormented her. Alexi wasn’t the easygoing man that he appeared—there were all sorts of layers brooding deep inside him. And a startling hunger that could reach out to burn her. Sexuality wasn’t a commodity that had suited Jessica, and Alexi had definitely triggered a response she didn’t want. He was at Willow’s now, prowling through the situation for which Jessica was certain he could manage very well.
    “Always use the best man for the job. That’s what my husband used to say.” After returning to the Amoteh Resort from the Stepanovs, courtesy of Mikhail, Jessica had promptly stepped into the shower. She had carefully refitted herself intothe armor of cosmetics and dressed carefully in her slacks and sweater. The suite provided a business area and she was soon wrapped in work that wouldn’t wait. Howard had filled the message machine, grilling her about Alexi Stepanov and providing information she had already obtained—“He’s there preparing a retirement home for his father. Alexi Stepanov actually has nothing of his own. He tried to start a ranch and had to sell at a loss.”
    Her queries showed that Alexi sold at a loss because he didn’t want to stay in Venus, Wyoming, or in the home his ex-fiancée had designed. Howard had been certain to slide in the next bit of information—“He’s after your money, Jessica. A down-on-his-luck cowboy, living off his father and looking for a meal ticket. My father would not like you taking up with him.”
    “You don’t know what Robert would want, Howard,” Jessica stated coolly as she deleted all the messages and sat at the