Read Online TheTemptationNotJustifiedAReFinal by Delaney Diamond - Free Book Online

picks up at a club and go back to his room for hot sex
like a cheap hooker.”
    Jaw
slackened, her mouth fell open in shocked anger. The sting of his words
couldn’t have hurt more if he’d actually hit her. In one sentence he sullied
the time she’d spent in his arms, turned it into something tawdry, and insulted
her at the same time. She swung at him in defensive anger. The slap landed so
hard her palm stung in protest from the force. His head barely moved, as if
he’d anticipated the blow and braced himself before it landed.
    “You
. . .” Celeste stopped. To her chagrin, her voice shook; her body became rigid.
She collected herself before proceeding. “You’re no saint. It takes two,
doesn’t it? What does that make you for taking me, a woman you’d just met, back
to your hotel room?”
    The
sardonic smile and the way his eyes traveled up and down her body were just as
crushing as his next words. “A man who knows an easy lay when he sees one.”
    She
brought up her other hand even quicker than the first time, determined to land
another blow, but he didn’t let her. As he reared back, his hand came up with
whiplike speed and captured her wrist. “No way,” he bit out. “You only get
one.”
    Celeste
tugged, but his grip only tightened. “You have no right to talk to me like that.
You don’t know anything about me.”
    “I
know enough. I know you’re an amazing actress and a liar, and I’m sorry I ever
laid eyes on you.”
    Hurt,
Celeste struck back. “Well, you’re right,” she said with a flippant inflection
to her voice. “I’m a fantastic actress.”
    He knew
right away what she was referring to, and his eyes narrowed on her face. She
raised one brow in a mocking salute to his ego.
    “Is that
right?” he asked slowly.
    His
grip on her wrist tightened, and she pressed her lips together to prevent a
cringe of discomfort. “Yes,” she confirmed.
    Then
she realized what she’d done. She’d unwittingly issued him a challenge. His
gaze lowered to her mouth, and her heart redoubled its efforts. A prickly
sensation skittered across her chest and tightened her nipples. She gave her
wrist a sudden jerk, but his warm clasp didn’t budge.
    “You
may be a liar and a cheat, but you’re not that good of an actress,” he said
with conviction. “There’s no way you could’ve faked it every time. In fact”—a
thoughtful look entered his eyes, and alarm pumped through her veins—“you
didn’t fake it even once.”
    Lust
flickered in his eyes, and for tense moments they stared at each other, lost in
the memories of heated whispers and tangled sheets. Then, as suddenly as he’d
grabbed her, he dropped her arm like a hot coal.
    “Derrick
doesn’t deserve to be lied to and made a fool of.” He stepped around her toward
the door.
    Celeste
grabbed his forearm to stall his exit. “Wait, please.”
    “Celeste,
I can’t do this.”
    She
slipped between him and the door. She couldn’t be the reason for a
confrontation between the two brothers, and she couldn’t bear the humiliation
of Derrick finding out she’d slept with his brother the first night they met. “Please
don’t say anything to Derrick. I’ll stay out of your way. I promise. You won’t
even know I’m here.”
    He looked
down at her hand, and she followed his gaze to where her fingers wrapped around
his arm. She withdrew them with haste. When her eyes found his again, desire
shimmied down her spine at the hunger she saw in his.
    “That’s
not what I meant,” he said, his voice thick and low. “I can’t be near you.
You’re too much of a temptation. Maybe you can stay away from me, but I don’t
know if I can keep my hands off of you.” He slammed his palms against the door
above her shoulders.
    Celeste
jumped, her eyes widening in shock. Shaken, she pressed back against the hard
door to distance herself from him. They were too close, and the instinctive
movement did little to protect her from the heat of sexual