been because they d cared more than they should? It all ran together in his mind as just
part of life with Vetta.
I don t want him to go.
Travis closed his eyes and sighed. He knew she didn t. He even knew she wasn t
lying about not setting him up. His gut had finally overruled his knee-jerk reaction when
she threw her phone through his door, but by then it was too late. By then, his common
sense decided it was better for her if he let her throw him out. Better to let it end cold and
clean. Better to forget his moronic compromise.
I hope he finds everything he s looking for. Even if it will never be me.
It would always be her.
She would just never know.
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You re Sigwald Vasquez-Anderson? Vetta tried to bury her surprise. It should
have been easy. For three days now she d been unable to feel anything at all. Nothing
made her smile, nothing made her cry, not since she d pulled out of Jade s arms and
mentally shut everything down.
Until now.
She stared down at her clipboard, then farther down to Mr. Vasquez-Anderson.
He glared up mutinously. You gotta problem with that?
No, she said, her unexpected astonishment fading. She tightened her grip on the
clipboard, grateful for the numbness returning her equilibrium. She d need it now. Mr.
Vasquez-Anderson was the last thing she d have expected when she thought of The
Perfect Man. She expected tall, handsome& clean.
Against her will, she d expected Harden Beefy.
Her equilibrium threatened to shift back under emotional water. Unbidden, a
memory of Travis flashed in her mind s eye. His smile as he tipped her nose down with
his index finger, the warmth of his laughter all around her.
The squeak of her subject s boots on the floor snapped her back to the present.
Thankfully. She pulled in a breath, resolved to see this through. One more cursory look
over her subject, however, made her frown. This could not be the most perfect man in the
study.
She flipped through his application. Sigwald was employed as President of the Dirty
Dozen Motorcycle club and a member of MENSA. He apparently took his job seriously,
because all five foot three of him was covered in mud-spattered black leather. Except for
his chest, which was bare of fabric but matted with curling dark hair and who knew what
else. In fact, closer inspection might reveal all that fur to be a pelt of some kind
possibly roadkill that he thought would heighten his image as dangerous and filthy.
A wiry man, his flat muscles were covered with red-brown skin that looked like it
had spent way too many years in the sun. It probably had. Another two or three and it
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might crack when he walked. Ironically, his black beard was trimmed neatly and his
equally black hair was slicked back to his nape where it extended in a wind-beaten
ponytail. He might not care too much for the mud he collected, but he obviously took
pride in his facial hair.
He had yet to remove his sunglasses so she couldn t get too clear a look at his eyes,
nor had he pulled the half-smoked cigar from between his teeth. Given the No Smoking
sign at the entrance of her building, right next to the yellow, oversize Hazardous
Chemicals Within sign, she considered that a neon sign of monumental stupidity. This
couldn t be the right guy.
So who do I have to screw to get my million?
No, she had the right one.
Dubiously intelligent, virile if you went for short, dark and scruffy he looked like
he d experienced all a person could possibly survive and his employment required he be
better traveled than her mother. Whether he had a sense of humor or could listen to
women was up for debate, but Vetta figured it d be a short one.
We ll be over here, Mr. Vasquez-Anderson. She pointed to her conference table on
one side of the lab, already set with multiple copies of the contract. Jade stood to one side
of it, setting out a tray of morning muffins. But you ll have to extinguish your cigar,
first. I have no interest in witnessing a chemical fire.
He looked her over, his head moving mechanically as he weighed her jeans and plain
white blouse much the way she d weighed him and seemed to find her just as lacking.
For a hot babe, you re pretty uptight.
She nodded. I m also known to opt for litigation when people blow up my property.
Put out the cigar.
He shrugged, unhinged his jaw and dug the dried tobacco stump from his
miraculously still-white teeth, then extended it with a smile. Vetta eyed the moisture on
one end and the hot embers on the other. The things one had to do for science. She
reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of small tongs, lifting the foul offering and
depositing it in a nearby stainless steel sink. A brisk flush of water from the faucet and it
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was dealt with. By the time she turned around, Sigwald was already biting into a muffin
and stuffing another into his inner vest pocket.
At least she didn t have to worry that he wasn t greedy.
She looked at Jade to get her opinion. Jade, however, was busy frowning at the rapid
disappearance of her favorite muffin type and didn t catch the silent inquiry. Not that
Vetta needed it any longer. No doubt about it, Jade didn t like him.
I m not signing anything until I ve shared it with my lawyer, Sigwald announced,
finally abandoning the muffins for the laid-out contracts in the middle of the table. He
rolled one, unread, in his hands then pushed it into the back of his pants. Vetta made a
note to request a fresh copy from his lawyer.
So, tell me, pretty lady, he said, dropping into a chair and biting yet another
muffin, having apparently decided now would be a good time to pour on the charm.
Whaddaya want with me?
What did she want with him? He was going to be utterly useless to her experiment.
No one would believe this man capable of netting regular sex in the first place. But
somehow, some way, he d managed to be what hundreds of women said they wanted
most in a man.
Thank God she d never dated much. No one could blame her for this mistake.
But until she was able to double-check her work perhaps even consider that there
was a flaw she d missed in her program she would still need his input. Just in case.
Reluctantly, she cleared her throat and dived into the explanation of the experiment.
It s simple, Mr. Vasquez-Anderson. All I want is your body.
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Chapter Thirteen [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]