was never going to happen.
She was a big, fat disappointment.
Lost in the nightmare of the moment, she gasped in shock as strong hands closed over her shoulders and Rio flipped her onto her back.
âStop crying!â He sounded exasperated. âYouâll make your eyes red and that could ruin everything.â
âRuin what? Just go away. Stop mocking me.â
Astonishment lit his dark eyes. âWhen have I ever mocked you?â
âYou said youâd never seen anyone who l-looked like me,â Evie hiccupped, âand I think itâs horribly mean of you to poke fun of me, even if it is partly my fault weâre in this mess. Weâre not all supermodels and wearing supermodel labels doesnât change that. I can push my feet into designer shoes just like Kate Moss but that doesnât give me Kate Mossâs legs.â
âWhich is a good thing,â he drawled, âbecause Kate would find it extremely hard to strut her stuff on the runway if you had her legs. For the record, I wasnât mocking you. I was complimenting you.â
Evie, who had never been complimented on her looks in her life before, looked at him through eyelashes welded together with tears. âPardon?â
His jaw tensed. âI find you attractive. Why the hell do you think I kissed you in the first place?â
âBecause you have an abnormal sex drive and you canât resist anyone naked?â
âI have a healthy sex drive.â His dark gaze was unmistakablysexual. âI definitely donât kiss women who try and pick me up. Thatâs a first for me.â
âI wasnât trying to pick you upââ Still struggling to accept the unlikely fact that he actually did find her attractive, Evie sat up. âYou donât think Iâm too tall?â
âToo tall for what?â That silky tone turned her insides into a quivering mass.
âForâ¦a woman.â Evie licked her lips. âI make most men feel small and insignificant. They usually donât want to stand next to me. But I guess youâre pretty tall yourself.â
âSix four,â he breathed, his eyes scanning the length of her legs. âAnd Iâve never had a problem with a womanâs height.â
That was because he was unlikely to meet a woman taller than him, Evie thought weakly. âMost people think Iâm a freak.â
Without giving her a chance to argue, he scooped her off the bed and dumped her on her feet in front of the mirror. âLook at yourself. Tell me what you see.â
Evie closed her eyes. âI donât see anything.â
âLook!â
Evie flinched and opened one eye cautiously. âEvie the elephant,â she said immediately and his brows met in an impatient frown.
âIf that title is a throwback to your childhood, then youâd better let it go now. Youâre stunning and that gives us a major problem.â
Stunning?
Evie, who couldnât even for a single moment think why being considered stunning would present a major problem to anyone, looked at him dizzily. âEven if that was true, which it isnât, I donât see how that could be a problem. How can being stunning be a problem? People judge by appearances. Iâve never been a member of the âoh, itâs such a bore to be beautifulâ camp.â
âItâs a problem because you need to look wholesome.â
Evie was about to say that sheâd been trying to escape from the âwholesomeâ image for most of her life, when he took her hair in his hands and twisted it, assessing the effect with narrowed eyes. âYou have good skin.â
âAnd freckles.â
âFreckles are good. They suggest a healthy outdoor life. Wholesome.â
Why did he keep saying wholesome?
âIâm not with youââ
âUnfortunately, you are with me and that is why we have a problem.â
âWe wouldnât have a
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