Read Online Priceless by Olivia Darling - Free Book Online Page B

harder. He covered her in compliments as though shooting them at her from a scattergun.
    “A digestif?” he suggested.
    Carrie shook her head, but while Nat visited the men’s room, she took the opportunity to check her phone, and found another message from Jed, telling her she was selfish and rude. It turned out that she had forgotten that night was the anniversary of their first date. He’d planned something special and she’d ruined it. When Nat came back, she told him she had changed her mind. She would have that drink after all.
    “Well, Mr. Wilde,” she said as they drank their fine brandies. “It’s been a real pleasure.”
    “The pleasure,” he assured her, “was all mine.” He looked deep into her eyes across the top of his brandy glass.
    Carrie lifted her own brandy glass to her mouth automatically, not sure whether she was shielding herself from his charms by echoing his own move or sending a mating signal. Nat Wilde clearly assumed the latter. He put down his glass and moved so that his arm was along the back of the chair. His fingers were within millimeters of her bare shoulder. Carrie licked her lips and moved ever so slightly closer herself. His fingers brushed her skin. She felt, much to her guilty delight, a distinct shiver of pleasure at the contact.
    “You are a very beautiful woman,” said Nat, for the fiftieth time that evening. He really had been laying it on thick. “And intelligent and funny too.”
    Carrie looked into her glass. “Thank you.”
    “I’m just saying what I see.”
    There was no ambiguity about it now. He really was stroking her shoulder.
    “I must be going,” Carrie said. “I’m very tired. Jet lag.”
    But still she lingered.
    The darkness of the bar at Claridge’s lent itself to moments like this. At the table to Nat and Carrie’s right, a couple were already engaged in a bit of tonsil hockey. Nat moved his hand from Carrie’s shoulder to cup her chin. She knew what came next. Her treacherous body leaned toward his in readiness.
    Oh God. It would be so good to take Nat Wilde up to bed and make love with him. Just to know for sure that he wanted her.
    “I’ve got to go.”
    “Can I see you tomorrow?” Nat asked, almost forlornly. “After the sale?”
    “I don’t have time,” said Carrie. “I’m sorry. Next time I’m back in London, perhaps.”
    She felt a twinge of guilt as she said that. Next time she was back in London she would definitely not be going out for dinner with Nat Wilde.
    “That’s no good for me,” said Nat. “I’m afraid I can’t let this evening end. Not yet.” He circled her wrists with his fingers, making handcuffs.
    “One more brandy?” his voice implored. His eyes implored “bed.”
    Did it really matter? she thought. As long as she didn’t talk business, then this could hardly be seen as the kind of unorthodox practice that had gotten Christie’s and Sotheby’s into trouble back in 2001.
    “Have you ever stayed here at Claridge’s?” she asked.
    “Never.”
    “Then perhaps you might like to see one of the rooms?”
    “Yes,” he said. “I’d like that very much.”
    She could tell from his expression that Nat thought he had died and gone to heaven.
    There were a great many reasons why Carrie shouldn’t have gone to bed with Nat Wilde. First and foremost there was the potential for awful repercussions in the professional world. Then there was Jed. Though he and Carrie had never had “the talk” about being exclusive, Carrie would have had to be an idiot not to know that was what he wanted and expected from her. His face haunted her as she kissed Nat Wilde in the elevator. But right then Carrie was better able to ignore it than usual. She was angry with Jed for the nasty message he’d left on her voice mail.
    Then there was lust. Pure and simple. The champagne, the wine at dinner, the brandy. All had served to soften her resolve, so that sleeping with Nat Wilde seemed like another harmless indulgence. It