‘Oh, you want me, Luccy,’ he said with certainty. But he knew they were getting nowhere with this conversation, were just going round and round in circles without actually getting to the truth. And Sin was determined, one way or another, to know the truth about that night.
‘We need a little more privacy than this studio provides in order to discuss this further,’ he told Luccy evenly. ‘I’m going back to my hotel now, but I will expect you to arrive there some time later this evening.’
Her eyes widened, her tone incredulous. ‘You can expect all you like—’
‘If you don’t come to the hotel, Luccy, then I will have no choice but to come back here again tomorrow—and if I’m forced into doing that, then I will simply continue to remain here until you give me the explanation I want,’ he warned her grimly.
‘I have no idea what explanation you want from me!’
‘Oh, I think you do.’
She frowned. ‘You don’t scare me, Sin—’
‘No?’
No, this man didn’t scare her, Luccy acknowledged with a frown; but the determination in his voice was certainly daunting, and was more of a promise than a threat…
She drew in a ragged breath. ‘No,’ she confirmed firmly.
He shrugged those wide, powerful shoulders before strolling with a total lack of concern to the door. ‘I’ll expect you about seven-thirty.’ It was a statement rather than a question.
Her mouth set stubbornly. ‘I have a date this evening.’
‘Break it!’ he rasped harshly, silver eyes suddenly glittering dangerously.
Luccy gasped. At The Harmony hotel this man had been charming and incredibly sexy. He was still the latter, unfortunately, but the charm was definitely gone, leaving in its stead a man of compelling, indomitable will.
Why hadn’t she seen this cold, implacable man behind that charm three days ago?
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think I want to do that.’
His smile was chilly and humourless. ‘Oh, I really think you’ll find that you do,’ he taunted.
Luccy’s eyes widened at his continued arrogance. ‘You’re mistaken—’
‘Luccy, I believe you only have—what?—a couple of months left to run on your photography contract with PAN Cosmetics, a contract you very badly need to be renewed before you start to flounder financially, if not professionally,’ Sin cut in, knowing by the way her eyes widened that he had surprised her with his knowledge of her financial status. He intended surprising her with a lot more than that before the day was over!
‘How do you—? You had no right to delve into my financial affairs!’ Luccy exclaimed with horror as she realised that was exactly what he had done.
‘What happened between us the other evening gave me that right,’ Sin announced.
‘No!’
‘Oh, yes, Luccy,’ he ground out. ‘I’m sure you would much prefer it if your contract with PAN were to be renewed, wouldn’t you?’
Luccy blinked dazedly. How did this man know so much about her? And what business was it of his, anyway?
She glared at him. ‘And what if I would?’
Sin couldn’t help but admire the way this woman continued to defy him. Pointlessly so. But he admired her defiance anyway.
He topped her by at least seven inches, the delicacy of her bone structure showing that he probably weighed almost twice as much as she did too. Yet she was so totally, angrily defiant; she reminded him of a small cat hissing a warning at a lion to stay off her territory.
His mouth tightened. ‘Isn’t it obvious?’
‘Not to me, no.’
‘It’s time to stop playing games, Luccy,’ Sin warned icily.
‘I’m not playing games!’
‘I agree, blackmail can never be considered anything as light-hearted as a game—’
‘Blackmail!’ Luccy took a shocked step back at the accusation.
He arched mocking brows. ‘Perhaps you would prefer it if I used the term “leverage”?’
‘Now you just listen to me—’
‘You have it all wrong, Luccy—you will be the one listening to me,’ Sin cautioned in a coldly chilling voice. ‘Whatever you think the other night was about, whatever leverage you think you may have gained by making love with me, I advise you to just forget it. I can assure you, I have no intention—’
‘Get out!’ Luccy ordered shakily. ‘Just get out!’
His mouth thinned. ‘Will you be coming to my hotel later?’
She glared at him. ‘Certainly not!’
Sin gave a shrug. ‘Then I guess I’m not leaving, after all.’
Her eyes sparkled like twin sapphires. ‘Are you threatening me?’ she finally breathed softly.
‘No more than you intended blackmailing me,’ Sin assured her smoothly.
She shook her head. ‘I have no absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Try a little harder, Luccy.’
Her frown was pained. ‘You’re deluding yourself if you think I have any intention of so much as seeing you again.’
Beautiful didn’t even begin to describe this woman, Sin allowed ruefully. She was stunningly lovely. Very intelligent. Extremely—arousingly—sexy. Even now…
‘I believe at the moment you’re the one who is deceiving yourself,’ he said huskily.
She blinked. ‘I beg your pardon?’
Sin felt an overwhelming compulsion to shake this woman, to leave her as confused as she had left him when he’d come out of the bathroom to find her gone.
‘I—what are you doing?’ she gasped as Sin crossed the room in two long strides, her eyes wide and wary as she looked up at him as he now stood only inches away from her.
A humourless smile curved his lips. ‘You’re trembling again, Luccy,’ he murmured. ‘Why is that?’ He quirked dark brows over taunting grey eyes. ‘Is it because you are frightened of me, after all?’ he taunted. ‘Or are you trembling because you think I might touch you again, and you’re perhaps a little—just a little—apprehensive of your own response?’
Those blue eyes flashed with temper. ‘You egotistical, arrogant son-of-a—’
‘I don’t believe insulting my mother is going to help this situation,’ he cut in.