Read Online JUST ONE MORE NIGHT by Fiona Brand - Free Book Online Page B

flap open. The neckline of her dress was scooped, revealing a hint of cleavage, but she would have to live with that. “I didn’t say you were. Aunt Katherine liked working for your family.”
    The echoing silence that greeted her quiet comment, was a reminder of the cold rift that still existed between their families—the abyss that separated their lifestyles— and made her mood plummet.
    Although she was fiercely glad she had ruined the camaraderie that had been building. Stuck in the confined space with Nick, the past linking them at every turn, she had needed the reminder.
    Elena opened the trunk nearest her. A cloud of dust made her nose itch and her eyes feel even more irritated. She blinked to ease the burning sensation.
    Too late to wish she’d taken the time to remove her colored contacts before she’d rejoined Nick.
    Nick dumped an ancient bedpan, which looked like it had come out of the ark, on the floor. When she glanced at him, he caught her eye and lifted a brow, and the cool tension evaporated.
    Suddenly irrationally happy, Elena tried to concentrate on her trunk, which appeared to be filled with items that might be found in a torturer’s toolbox. She held up a pair of shackles that looked like restraints of some kind.
    “Know what you’re thinking.” Nick grinned as he straightened, ducking his head to avoid the sloping ceiling. “They’re not bondage.” He closed the box of books he’d finished sorting through. “They’re a piece of Medinian kitchen equipment, designed to hang hams in the pantry. We’ve got a set at home.”
    Elena replaced the shackles and tried not to melt at Nick’s easy grin. She couldn’t afford to slip back into the old addictive attraction. With just minutes to go before he was out of her life, now was not the time to soften.
    She glanced at her watch, although her eyes were now watering enough that she had difficulty reading the dial.
    “Are those contacts bothering you?”
    “They’re driving me nuts. I’ll take them out when I go downstairs.”
    Once Nick was gone.
    Nick closed the lid on the box with a snap that echoed through the night.
    There was a moment of heavy silence in which the tension that coiled between them pulled almost suffocatingly tight.
    “Damn,” he said softly. “Why are you so intent on resisting me?”

Seven
    T he words seemed to reverberate through the room.
    Elena glared at Nick. “What I don’t get is why you want me?”
    “I’ve wanted you for six years.”
    “I’ve barely seen you in six years.”
    Nick frowned as a gust of wind hit the side of the house. “I’ve been busy.”
    Building up a fortune and dating a long line of beautiful girls who never seemed to hold his interest for long...and avoiding her like the plague because she would have reminded him of that night.
    And in that moment Elena acknowledged a truth she had been avoiding for weeks.
    Now, just when she was on the point of getting free and clear, and at absolutely the wrong time—while they were alone together—it dawned on her that Nick was just as fatally attracted as she.
    Outside it had started to rain, large droplets exploding on the roof.
    Elena rubbed at her eyes, which was exactly the wrong thing to do, as one of the contacts dropped out. Muttering beneath her breath, she began to search, although with the dim lighting and with both eyes stinging, she didn’t expect to find it.
    Sound exploded as the rain turned tropically heavy. Moist air swirled through the open window.
    She was suddenly aware that Nick was close beside her.
    “Sit down, before the other one drops out.”
    “No. I need to find the lens, although it’s probably lost forever.” Added to that, her eyes were still watering, which meant her mascara was running.
    Swiping at the damp skin beneath her eyes, Elena continued to search the dusty floorboards.
    Something glittered, but when she reached for it, it turned out to be a loose bead. At that moment the wind gusted, flinging