Read Online The Perfect Kiss by Amanda Stevens - Free Book Online Page B

the offer like I told you to last night?” Zach demanded.
    “
Up
the offer?” Sutton sputtered, springing to his feet. “Why, you must be crazy. Does William know about this?”
    “I’m not accountable to my father—or anyone else,” Zach said quietly.
    “We’ll see about that,” Roland thundered as he headed across the office. He paused at the door and glared at Zach. “You haven’t heard the last of this.” He turned on his heel and exited the office, slamming the door in his wake. The paintings on the walls shivered ominously.
    Zach smiled grimly. He knew Sutton would go running straight to William. A blazing call from his father would be inevitable.
    “Not to worry,” Hawthorne said, beaming. “We don’t need Anya Valorian, sir. I believe Mr. Sutton is quite right—the contracts you’ve offered her have been much too generous. I have with me here the portfolios of two other models I think we should consider. Both are very hot properties right now, and both are extremely interested in an exclusive, long-term commitment.”
    Before Zach could interrupt, Hawthorne whipped out thetwo leather-bound portfolios he’d placed beside his chair and laid them open on the desk in front of Zach. A brunette smiled up at him from one of the books, a blonde from the other.
    “Diane Carson and Rebecca Townsend,” Hawthorne supplied. “Either of them would be excellent choices, and as I said, they’re both available right now.”
    Zach glanced dispassionately at the images of the gorgeous young women. “Not interested.”
    “Not interested!” Hawthorne’s expression fell. “How can you say that? You barely glanced at the photos. How can you decide that so quickly?”
    “I said I’m not interested,” Zach said, very quietly. “There is nothing in the least exceptional about either of these women. They have none of the qualities I’m looking for.”
    It was Hawthorne’s turn to frown. “You mean they don’t look like Anya Valorian. With all due respect, Mr. Christopher, I can’t understand why you are so obsessed with that woman. These models are just as beautiful—”
    “No one is as beautiful as Anya Valorian.”
    Zach stood abruptly and paced to the window, his back to Hawthorne. He stared out at the clear blue sky and wondered what she was doing this morning.
    He still wanted her, Zach realized. He still wanted her even in the face of her rejection. Maybe more so. “What kind of fool are you?” he muttered.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Nothing.” Zach waved an impatient hand, signaling their meeting had come to end. “Find me a model, Hawthorne. Find me a model that…”
    “That what?” Evan’s skepticism showed plainly in his voice.
    “That meets with my expectations.”
That makes me forget Anya Valorian.
    “That may be difficult,” Evan muttered as he left Zach’s office.
    Left alone, Zach pulled open his desk drawer and took out a folder containing several magazine covers of Anya. He stared at her incomparable features, remembering every delicate nuance of her face. Her eyes in the older photographs—her
blue
eyes—struck him again. The crystalline silver eyes that had stared at him last night were so different, but no less beautiful, no less appealing. Obviously, she wore contacts now, but Zach couldn’t help wondering what had compelled her to make the color change. Another bit of mystery, he thought and smiled.
    He’d wanted to kiss her last night. He’d wanted to kiss her since the moment he’d first laid eyes on her. If he were truthful with himself, he’d have to admit he wanted to do a whole lot more than just kiss her.
    Was his judgment concerning the Seduction campaign clouded by his desire for the woman? He didn’t like to think so, but Anya Valorian had intrigued him as no woman had in a very long time. Maybe ever.
    He let his gaze rest for a moment on the pictures of the other models on his desk. How much easier—and perhaps wiser—to simply choose one of them.