FAZER LOGINWhen the elevator doors opened onto the emergency wing, Henri stepped out. He hadn't bothered to put his tie back on; his top buttons were undone, and his sleeves were rolled up to his forearms. Flanking him were two of his personal security detail, heavy-set men in dark suits who silently cleared a path through the crowded hallway. The hospital was boisterous with activity, patients being attended to by rushed nurses and doctors.Henri’s eyes swept the room, entirely ignoring the stares of the hospital staff, until they locked onto Elizabeth sitting in a plastic chair near the triage desk."Elizabeth," he called.She snapped her head up. Her hair was slightly disheveled, and the sight of her looking so utterly defenseless sent a sharp jolt straight to Henri's chest. The possessive anger that had been simmering back in his penthouse boiled right to the surface.She stood up, her voice a breathless whisper. "Henri? You... you came yourself? I thought you were sending a car?"Henri
After the longest day of his life—and one during which he had gotten virtually no actual work done—Henri arrived home exhausted, hoping to see Elizabeth waiting for him.His expectations were instantly extinguished when he stepped out of the elevator into a penthouse devoid of any signs of her presence. It was already past seven, and there was no sight of Elizabeth.The empty penthouse made his skin pebble. He had wanted to see her, and he knew she was dying to be alone with him again; of that, he was certain. He could still see the excitement that had danced in her eyes at the office today… damn it. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off her all day, his hands itching just to touch her.He had wanted nothing more than to drag her into his office, feel his way up her short skirt, and kiss her lips until they were bright and red. All his thoughts were utterly consumed by her. He had barely managed to curb his inhibitions during the day.And now, he could hardly believe she was no
Elizabeth rushed home from work in preparation for the all-nighter at Henri's apartment, her blood tingling with the sensation of his touch.Her heart beating with an unnerving excitement, she couldn't explain the thrill she was experiencing. All parts of her thirsted for his eyes undressing her, his lips kissing her, and his hands gripping and touching all her sensitive spots. She was spiraling. Her mind painted a vivid portrait of his six-foot-three, naked, muscular body. Mrs. Warren's words filtered through her mind again: Henri is a wolf, and she's an innocent lamb ready to be devoured by him. She wanted to devour him completely, and be devoured by him. Lust swelled inside her as she thought of Henri.A loud, raucous noise inside her bedroom snapped her back to reality. The sound brought a trembling to her knees. What or who could be making those sounds in her bedroom, and how did they get in?Suddenly, a terrifying realization hit her—her front door had been unlocked when she
They say she’s his lover…Had someone spoken that? Was she putting words and thoughts into their mouths because of her own regrets?Dragging in a calming breath, she crossed the sea of cubicles, then went down the art-packed hallway. At the far end, to the right of the massive carved doors that led to Henri's office, three identical rosewood desks stood. She slid in behind hers. The savvy Mrs. Warren, who’d been with Henri “longer than his mother has,” was quick to make her way around her own tidy workplace and greet Elizabeth.“He’s very strange today,” the older woman said, eyes wide. “He smiled at me and he said ‘thank you.’”The words didn’t diminish the kernel of fear settled in the pit of Elizabeth's stomach. If she so much as stepped out of her boundaries this week and onward... if she was fool enough to even remind him of Lyon... she dared not think of who would be sitting behind her desk next week.“Then the deal must be going in his favor.” Elizabeth attempted a teasing
She was tidying up his office the next morning when Henri halted at the doorway. The sight of Elizabeth fiddling with the coffeemaker froze him, then heated up his blood.As she poured a cup—black, as he liked it—the plain buttoned-up shirt she wore stretched across her breasts in a way that made watching feel like purgatory."Good morning."She glanced up with a soft gasp. "Henri —Mr. Gagnon." And there went her breasts again, swelling, pert and lovely as she took a little breath.His heart thudded as they stared at each other, the words lingering in the air. Mr. Gagnon.A word meant to erase everything that had happened in Lyon, France.Having never expected she would make it this easy, he stepped inside and pulled the doors shut behind him. "Good morning, Miss Stone."He really could do this.They'd pretended to be lovers before.Now they would pretend they never had been.Black coffee mug cradled against her chest, Elizabeth stared at him with the glazed wariness of a woman
Oh, God. She squeezed her eyes shut. Don’t fall in love with him, don’t fall in love with him, don’t fall in love with him. She scoffed, yanking her arm free as she sat up. “What? You think you’re all that and then some? That I cannot resist you? I’ll have you know... my heart... was not part of our bargain. You’re the boss and I’m the employee. This is an arrangement.”One callused palm ran slowly up the side of her leg, the heat of it seeping through her skin. “And yet it’s easy to forget who we are here, isn’t it? Easy to get confused.”She frowned at the genuine concern in his voice. To drown out the vulnerability, she grabbed his head, defiantly pulling his lips to hers.Lovers. That was all they were.It felt as real as anything she’d ever known, but she wondered if she could ever make him see it. They had come to understand each other—too well, perhaps. They talked, but never of the future; they shared everything, but never themselves. They played their parts, just as they







