just surprised it had taken a year.
Hallie must have spoken with a lawyer who would have pointed out her excellent case for suing him for wrongful termination. His emotions had gotten the better of him the day he’d had her fired, because he’d never done anything so foolish, before or since.
Looking at her, he could almost understand why. Hallie had big, soulful eyes a man could drown in. And her curves! In a loose cotton sundress, her body was even more lush than he remembered. Her dark hair fell in waves over her full breasts, almost down to her tiny waist.
Cristiano could still remember how it had felt to have her in his arms, the sensation of her soft body sliding beneath his as their naked limbs tangled in the very bedsheets she’d made just an hour before.
He’d seduced her. There could be no doubt of that. Coming back to New York a day early, he’d heard her sweet, husky voice singing from the bedroom of his penthouse. Her wistful, heartbreaking melody had filled him with longing for things lost. Things he’d never had. Things he’d never dared even dream of.
Then he’d seen her, waving fresh sheets in the air with her arms spread wide. An incredibly beautiful, sensual brunette with an hourglass figure, leaning over to make his bed. Even that black housekeeping uniform had looked indescribably erotic on her.
A shocked sound had come from the back of his throat. She’d turned and looked at him. A tumble of emotions had cascaded across her beautiful face. Surprise, fear, delight. For a moment their eyes had locked, and he’d forgotten his own name.
Then he’d forced himself to give a casual smile. “You’re not my usual housekeeper.”
“Camille had to go home early today to be with her grandson, but she warned me not to let you catch me,” she stammered. “I’m supposed to be invisible.”
Coming forward, his eyes devouring every inch of her, he’d murmured, “You’re anything but invisible. What were you singing?”
“Just an Appalachian folk song.”
“It’s beautiful.” Coming close enough to touch her, he’d whispered, “So are you.”
Her cheeks had gone rosy, her lips parting in unconscious invitation as she stood beside his enormous bed.
He’d reached for her.
Cristiano knew who was at fault. He’d wanted her. So he’d taken her. Without thinking of the consequences. If he had, he would have stopped himself. It was one of his rules: never sleep with employees.
But that wasn’t the worst rule he’d broken. Hallie wasn’t just an employee. She’d also been a virgin. Virgins were off-limits. He didn’t toy with women who might mistake sex for love and become a problem later.
He’d known she was a virgin from the first time he’d kissed her, when he’d felt the tremble of her sweet lips. He’d felt her hesitation, her shyness, her inexperience. And he’d known. Somehow, this incredible woman was untouched.
It hadn’t made him stop. He was a man who put few limits on his own behavior. But he had a code of honor. In Hallie Hatfield’s case, he’d recklessly blown through his own rules like dynamite through a brick wall.
So it was no wonder he’d broken a third rule, afterward, and fired her for sleeping with him.
That wasn’t the reason he’d given her supervisor, the head housekeeper, of course. But it had been obvious to Hallie. And clearly her lawyer, too.
But now, as Hallie stood across from him in his private office, biting her full, delectable lower lip, it was hard for him to think about lawyers when all he wanted to do was pull her back into his arms.
For a year, he’d done his best to forget her. He’d told himself he had. Now he knew that was a lie.
“Why are you here?” Cristiano demanded in a low voice.
“I came to...came to tell you...”
Her husky voice trembled, stopped. She looked at him.
Turning away, Cristiano set down the crystal lowball glass heavily on the dark wood bar. He clenched his hands at his sides to keep himself from the temptation of pulling her into his arms and kissing her to see if her lips were still as delicious as he remembered. He was drawn by the sweet sin of her mouth. Of her body. Of her deep brown eyes, luring him into their depths.
Possessing her once had not been enough. After he’d had her that night, he’d just wanted more. It didn’t help that, naked and soft in his arms, she’d looked up at him in bed as if she were half in love with him already. She’d lured him like a siren to give him more than just his body. More than just his money.
But sex and money were all he could give any woman.
So he’d sent her away, tossing her from the warmth of his bed when his body was still aching for more. After she’d gone, he’d still longed for her, like a sweet, forbidden poison. First thing the next morning, he’d contacted her supervisor and arranged to have her fired. For her own good. And his.
But he had never stopped wanting her. And now, as he stepped toward her, his breathing was hard. And not just his breathing.
“Tell me what you want.”
“I need to tell you something. Important.”
“So you said.” Cristiano’s voice was low as he looked down at her. He came closer, almost close enough to touch her. His mind was scrambling for rationalizations as to why he should.
Perhaps if he slept with her just one more time...
Got her out of his system...
Stop, he told himself furiously.
Hesitating, Hallie licked her full, pink lips. He nearly groaned. Was she purposely taunting him?
“This...isn’t easy to say,” she whispered.
Gritting his teeth, he glared at her. “Let me say it for you, then. I already know why you’re here.”
Her caramel-brown eyes went wide.
“You know?”
He set his jaw. “You never cashed the check.”
Hallie blinked, furrowing her forehead. “The check?”
“The morning after.”
Her cheeks colored and she looked away.
“No,” she said in a low voice. “I ripped it into a million pieces and threw it in the trash.”
“Because you knew, even then, you could demand far more.”
Hallie looked at him sharply.
“I can?” she whispered. “You’d give me money, just for asking? Why?”
“You want me to admit it aloud?” He pulled her roughly against him. She gasped as his hands suddenly moved over her waist, her hips.
“What
