****
Angela should have known it was all too good to be true.
As his words sank in she felt rage overtake her as she snatched up her purse and shot to her feet.
“Are you saying I’m supposed to be sleeping with you as well? What do you think I am, a hooker?” She was glowering in his direction and already about to head right around out the door. Damn these rich assholes. Thought every woman was for sale. It was bad enough she was considering getting paid for her companionship. But sex for money? Hell no. She wasn’t raised that way and hoped to never be that desperate.
He rose to his feet but even at that, she couldn’t see his face. Could only tell that he was very tall, and slim built, dressed in a light blue shirt, and to her surprise jeans that fitted perfectly to his frame.
“I would have thought you’d be far more…open-minded,” he drawled.
“Why? Because I’m an out of work actress?” sneered Angela. “I won’t be propositioned like some floozy. I’m sure a man with your resources can find a barrel full of willing candidates if all you’re interested in is a cheap thrill.”
She spun sharply on her heel and already had her hand on the knob. Her chest was heaving with fury and she felt close to tears. Damn! She hadn’t cried over anything in years. It had been a long time she’d felt in any way inadequate or demeaned. How on earth could she have thought this would be a good idea? He was probably one of those secretive perverts with more money than they knew what to do with.
“Wait, Angela. Please.”
Angela heard him but had no intention of heeding his command, except that from the corner of her eye she saw him move forward, away from the concealing shadow.
Curiosity had her turning around and what she saw made her catch her breath.
He had to be the most handsome man she’d ever seen. As he closed the gap between them she had a glimpse of his face; square-cut and tanned with light grey eyes and black, silky looking hair growing overlong and flopping across his forehead. But then he stepped completely into the pool of light and she could catch his full features and though she was jolted she didn’t look away. There were terrible scars on the right edge of his face, running from the side of his forehead, jaw and down to disappear into his collar.
“I’ve offended you. I apologize,” he said. He didn’t seem perturbed by her fixed scrutiny and he stepped even closer. His grey eyes scanned her face as if searching for any kind of reaction to his appearance. Angela was filled with mostly curiosity but if he was looking for disgust or fear he wouldn’t find it.
Besides, it was almost as if he wanted to shock her, what with the way he came so close as to be virtually within reach. But then he stopped, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets, adding mildly, “Chalk it down to being away from female company and in fact society for too long. I’ve kept to myself over such an extended period, I forget how to act around a beautiful, alluring woman. You don’t have to agree to that part of the bargain. Please forget I mentioned it.”
“Oh, I never intended to,” Angela snapped, regaining her voice and composure. She looked right up at him without flinching at the sight of his face. “I know that my coming here could open me to all sorts of unseemly suggestions. I guess I deserved that, agreeing to meet a perfect stranger at a secluded mansion. What else could I have expected?”
She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her tone, and saw him shove his fingers through his tumble of long hair. She couldn’t understand what it was about him that struck her so strongly. Apart from the scars, there was a certain element of him that was magnetic and thrilling.
The way he looked at her, for one. The moment she’d met his light-colored gaze she’d felt the heat transmit in clear signals to stir at her womanly core. She couldn’t say she’d ever been looked at quite that way before though being full grown she knew what it felt like to be desired. Even though she’d sworn off men for the time being to focus on work, she still felt the strange tug that came from sensing the awareness harbored by someone of the opposite sex.
The man called Shane Davis was dangerous; Angela knew that without being told. She just wasn’t sure exactly what she should be wary of. But something told her to turn around and walk away before it was too late.
“I would like you to reconsider my offer. My original offer,” he said with a firmness that made her pause, letting him continue.
“You’ve made it clear that you’d prefer to keep sex out of the equation. This is regrettable, as frankly put I find you very desirable. But I can imagine you can’t say the same for me considering what I look like.”
His tone was factual, which rubbed Angela the wrong way even as she felt a coil tighten in her belly at the knowledge that she was ‘desirable’.
“If you really think that’s the reason then you really have been holed up here too long. It has nothing to do with your…how you look. I have principles, Mr. Davis. A sense of worth; and my body can’t be bought no matter the price.”
“An admirable code, Ms. Neil. I will do my best to respect your point of view as we enter into our arrangement,” he said smoothly.
“Hey wait a minute. I never said I’ll do it. In fact on further review, this isn’t something I feel I can pull off after all. I’m sorry for wasting your time,” Angela said quickly. She needed to leave before the thought of losing all that money made her physically sick. But she couldn’t trust him. Couldn’t be sure of what it would entail entering such an agreement with a man who possibly had no scruples.
She’d turned away again but this time it was a hand encircling her wrist that had her freezing in place. Angela stared down at the long and well-shaped fingers wrapped around her wrist. This was his right hand and unlike the left one which was unmarked, this was crisscrossed with healed burn scars that contrasted white against the other parts of the top of his tanned skin.
Angela recoiled from the sensation of his warm, powerful touch that shot a shaft of responsiveness straight to her feminine core. She looked up and saw that he took her shrinking to be of disgust and let her go abruptly.
He shoved the hand back in his pocket and expelled a harsh breath. “Look, Ms. Neil – Angela; you have nothing to fear from me. I’m making you a legitimate job offer for which you will be generously rewarded. I’m a very rich man who has found himself in an uncomfortable position of needing a girlfriend for a few weeks. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too serious. My family, particularly my mother, has been extremely worried about me the past few months and I simply want to give her some peace of mind. Let her see I’m recovering and moving on with my life. This is why I require your acting skill: to aid me in painting the kind of picture that would relieve her mind. I truly hope you will consider my offer. I promise not to pressure you to accept my sexual advances because forcing a woman into my bed has never been a trait of mine despite my appearance.”
There it was again; thought Angela. He kept mentioning his scars; drawing attention to them like she couldn’t see for herself the ravages done to his face. Angela knew that some other women would have been repelled by the scars that made one side of his features hard to abide but she was made of far sterner stuff. She’d had a cousin who’d fought in Afghanistan who’d not only lost his two legs, but had most of his face torn up by shrapnel. Angela wasn’t the type to be fixated on the outer shell and also felt drawn to what one stood for or offered as a person, not just a face or body.
She was far from squeamish and though Shane Davis’s scars were appalling it would take more than that to throw her for a loop. No, she was far more disturbed by her reaction to him and the way she felt physically rattled by his searing masculinity that even his scars could not hide. No doubt about it; take away that scarred side of his face and this man would be one hell of a distraction to her peace of mind if they were to spend any amount of time around each other.
Shaking that revealing thought off, she shouldered her purse with a ragged breath. “I’ll still need time to…think about things,” she said through a scratchy throat. She saw his frown and blurted, “I’m sorry but I simply can’t be expected to make a decision immediately. I hope you understand.”
He nodded curtly, obviously not pleased. But there was nothing he could do about it, was there? She heard him say coolly, “And I hope you understand that this is to remain confidential.”
“You can count on me,” Angela said with a sincere note. Who would she go telling anyway? Who would care to find out she’d been offered to act as some wealthy recluse’s girlfriend for a few weeks?
“That’s good to know. You’ll have twenty-four hours to make up your mind,” he said and swiveled to return to his desk.
Gaping at the broad outline of his back, Angela spluttered. “What?”
“That’s all the time I can spare, Ms. Neil,” he said, pausing at his desk and turning to give her one expressionless glance. “Speed is of the essence. I’m prepared to consider other alternatives if you choose to dawdle.”
Angela’s cheeks went hot at his words, wishing she could tell him to jump off a cliff with his attitude.
But she couldn’t do that…yet. Not until she weighed her options carefully. This would have been some quick, easy money that would keep her from worrying about finances for the next year if she chose. Was that enough to even be considering a fictitious connection with a man like him with no morals who still might expect her to sleep with him as part of a contract?
Maybe if she knew what kind of man he really was, she could come to the right decision. And heaven knew she couldn’t wait to find out everything she could about Shane Davis.