Almost against her own will, Liz let her eyes trail lower. Her heart kicked up yet another gear as she fought to control the hallow breaths that jostled inside.If she didn’t know better, she might have thought that nothing has changed. He looked as fit, honed, as lethal as ever. And her fingers practically itched to reach out and test it for herself.But, she knew that he wasn’t the same man she’d met that night at that bar, he wasn’t the same man she’d loved and he definitely wasn’t the same man who used to make her feel loved.That night they had an argument, she’d seen another side of him, a side she would never want to see again. A side of him that could only see the flaws in her character and the mistakes she committed but it was all part of his imagination, all part of what that person who’d sent him pictures of her and Ivan together, wanted Adrian to believe.But, she was wronged, not just by that person but by Adrian as well. She was blamed for committing mistakes she never d

A lot had changed in this past month. Adrian had changed. How many times had he imagined finding her, explaining himself to her, asking for forgiveness? But not here, not like this...He needed to do it properly to show her how he’d turned his life around. This was the chance he’d been waiting for to get her back. And he wasn’t about to blow it. If only he could work his tongue loose to say a damned word. “I heard you’ve been awarded with the Forbes under 30 as one of the top innovative leaders,” Liz blurted out, clearly unable to stand the silence any longer. “I was doing my job.” He simply said with an indifferent shrug. “The newspapers don’t seem to think so,” she babbled on but, irrationally, he was more fascinated by the way her pulse was leaping erratically at her throat. “They said you’re impressive for having achieved this award in such a short time.” He’d hated the publicity for that. Impressive, nonsense! The public had lauded him for that award, yet all he could thin

Liz Walters watched as Adrian moved quickly to her side, snaking an arm around her shoulders before introducing himself, “I’m Adrian Moore, Liz’s husband.” Her head whipped around. She stared at him, horrified that he’d openly announced that he was her husband when they’d only been together through a contract marriage. In other words, he wasn’t her real husband. They met each others’ gaze for a few moments – maybe an eternity – neither of them wanting to be the first one to break the pin-dropped silence. But one of them was going to have to, and, after everything, Liz knew it had to be her. She was the only one who knew Adrian was lying and also, she was the only one who could reduce this tension arising between these two men. Liz turned to look at Xander. He seemed like a deer caught in headlights. His eyes kept switching back and forth between me and Adrian. “Can you give us a minute, please?” She politely asked the man. Hearing Liz’s voice, Xander snapped out of his state of sh

“My body clearly doesn’t know when to shut up, then,” Liz snapped.But her tone was a little bit more fragile than he might have expected it to be. As though there was something he was missing. Was she hiding something from me? Liz raked her hands through her hair in a gesture he recognized only too easily as a sign of just how wound up she was. “I can’t just fall back into your arms, Adrian. I won’t. You don’t understand. I…there are certain things that I need to consider first.” She stopped for a brief second before adding, “I need some time.”“You can take however much of time you’d like but I only want to know one thing, will you give a second chance?” he countered.Moreover, he couldn’t possibly pretend like her being so closed off around him like that didn’t bother him…at all. He wanted to make sure their misunderstandings would be cleared and she would agree to give their relationship a second chance and probably take it a step further.He needed some kind of reassurance from

Lifting her arms, Liz wrapped them around the back of his neck; shuddering when he let his hands trail down her body with such control that she was certain he was only trying to torment her.He started with her back, the backs of his fingers skimming a line down from her jaw to her chest and tracing the edge of her crisp white shirt right down to the first – perhaps prudishly high – button, then back up the other side, pressing one kiss, then another, and finally a third.She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but found she couldn’t. Her mind was too foggy. And there was the haunting fear that if she said the wrong thing she might break this unexpected magical spell they were both under.And yet…somewhere…something needled her, niggling at her.What was she forgetting? But then he let his hands wander down her back, dancing over her spine, her hips, until they were cupping her backside and she could do nothing but move with him and press tighter against him – heat against s