expression into a smile that was both fr
table, her heels sinking si
was dressed in a perfectly tailored, dark grey suit. Ev
a sculpture. A high-bridged nose, thin lips. The dim lighting cast dee
d lurch. This man was even more
e was slightly scuffed, the metal plate had been knocked askew, and the "9" was unmistakably an inverted "6." This was the very table she had passed earout to sit in that chair. A quiet, razor-sharp satisfaction curled thro
are you... M
e. The moment his eyes met hers, a flicke
in his file. She had captivating, emerald-green eyes th
e asked one of his own, his voice a low,
a mask of polite confusion and apology. "Oh, no. I'm Chloe Hayes.
casting herself as a pawn in someone else's
andmother's file had mentioned that Miss Price's mother ha
Her voice, her eyes, even the faint scent of gardeni
be her? No. The woman he remembered had been soft, nearly two hundred pounds. This woman was lean, sculpted. It couldn't be the same person. And yet-the defiant
as his private proof, his compass in the darkness of that night. If he could just get a glimpse-bu
iginal plan had been to feign a mistake, make a brief, awkward apology, and ruin Tiffany's d
single word was a comm
ut smoothly pulled out
ind flickered to another scent, another night, a dark hotel room. She crushed the thought immediately. No. That was a different man. A faceless
sked, his tone direct as he leaned forward
er gaze to appear innocent. "My stepmother
table. It was, indeed, a "9". He said nothing, but
ouched his lips. Was this an elabor
ng his name as his eyes locked on
t off in C
hearing the name from his own l
Street. The heir to the Sinclair fortune.
epared for Tiffany. The irony was so sharp it almost drew blood. She imagined Tiffany's face if she could see this: her stepsiste
of it all made her w
rising inside her and forced a smile.
e name around in his mind
nes, the determined set of her jaw, the guarded warmth in her eyes. She looked nothing like the ghost from his memory. And yet, the
ng, to see what this w
adable, his gaze never leaving hers.
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