Griffin sat opposite his sister at one of London’s most exclusive restaurants and tried not to brood over Gloriana’s earlier comment. Because Emeline was right, damn it! He was one of the good guys, and he didn’t know why he was letting the two-bit actress beside him, laughing over Kostas’s unfunny jokes, make him question that.          Maybe because he’d kissed her the way a man kissed a woman he planned to sleep with and then blamed her for it. As if this maddening desire he felt for her was a deliberate spell she had cast over him…Which, come to think of it, was a much better explanation than the alternative… that he just couldn’t keep his hands off her.          But that wasn’t the case at all. What had happened in his office earlier was the result of extreme stress boiling over. Nothi

          The ride to Griffin’s house was tense, to say the least. Gloriana was still fuming over the humiliation of nearly embarrassing herself before, when she had almost reached up and pulled Griffin’s taunting mouth to hers. Again… Something she hadn’t even been aware she was about to do until he’d pulled back.          She swallowed a whine of distress and watched one neon sign become another as Griffin steered his silver Mercedes through the streets from Park Lane to Hampstead Heath, one of London’s most prestigious addresses.          How dared he tell her that he wasn’t interested in her? As if she would care! How about the fact that she wasn’t interested in him?          And he’d certainly been a little more than intere

“A… what? A movie première? Are you kidding me right now? Is there a candid camera in my office?”          Griffin’s PA, Agnes, inched as she stood on the other side of his desk, and he realized he’d said almost those exact words to his sister at almost this exact time the day before.          Once again, he’d been having a great morning, and again it was shot to… Okay, so it hadn’t been that great a morning, with Gloriana waking up late and a police detective waiting around in his home until she did so, but it was definitely ruined now.          He cut a hard look to Gloriana, who stared back impassively at him from the white sofa.“Uhm… N-no, sir,” Agnes stuttered.          Griffin glanced b

“I really enjoyed the movie,” Griffin said, breaking the heavy silence between them.          Gloriana didn’t look at him but continued to stare out of the window as his chauffeur drove them through the glistening London streets. It was late, and after two hours of sitting next to Griffin in a darkened movie theatre, she felt uptight and edgy.          The awareness she had been trying to keep at bay by pretending to read that hateful play for most of the day had exploded the minute his lips had touched hers on the red carpet.          No doubt he’d felt sorry for her after her earlier disclosure, but that didn’t stop her from wanting him to touch her because he wanted to, not out of some misplaced duty to look out for her. Not out of pity… Never out of pity.    

         Gloriana groaned with relief when she felt his hands smooth over her thighs and pulled her dress up around her waist, her legs automatically widening to accommodate his seeking, curious hand.          His movements seemed as unsteady as she felt, and they imbued her with a sense of power. Unable to keep her mouth off him, she bent her head and licked along his neck, breathing in his earthy masculinity.“Griff, please… I need you,” Gloriana begged, her voice sounding hoarse.          Another saner voice was telling her that later she’d be embarrassed by such uninhibited pleading. But her body couldn’t care less about later on. It was caught up in the most delicious stupor and straining for something that seemed just out of reach.          Then his fingers w