How To Seduce An Heiress: The Reluctant Heiress / Pride After Her Fall / Project: Runaway Heiress

“My mother always said my father could be charming. I never saw that side to him.”

“You’ll see it in Will and that’s what his dad was when he wanted to be. Frankly, I never found Argus to be charming. I was raised to call him Uncle Argus. I was quite delighted to learn that he was not my true uncle and that that was merely a title of respect. I didn’t want to be related to him, probably any more than you.”

“You surprise me. I wouldn’t have guessed. If I had known that from the first—”

She broke off, remembering she had had no clue that Garrett had known her father, and that Garrett had had no intention of telling her.

“Do you understand yet why I did what I did?” he asked quietly.

“I suppose I do, because I wouldn’t have seen you if you had told me you were sent by my half brothers,” she said, looking into his gray eyes and trying to ignore the current of desire that simmered steadily. In spite of the division between them, she found him as appealing and sexy as ever. She had missed him and didn’t want to look too intently at how strong her feelings ran for him. She was forgiving him easily, the same way her mother had always excused Argus and forgiven him. She was falling into the same trap her mother had, doing everything her mother had done—having an affair, forgiving the man, losing her heart to him no matter how he treated her. A chill ran down her spine. She was doing all the same things. Would she end up in the same situation as her mother—or worse?

He leaned close and she felt as if she were drowning in depths of misty gray. His fingers brushed her cheek. Tingles spun outward from the contact while she felt consumed in his direct study. She wondered whether he could hear her drumming pulse.

“Do you forgive me, Sophia?”

Her heart lurched. How easy it would be to say yes and go back to where they were before, but she couldn’t do it. “Maybe. It isn’t quite the same yet. That hurt, Garrett.” The words came out sounding more sharp than she intended. Yearning showed in the depths of his eyes, stirring too many vivid memories.

Watching her, he slowly leaned closer. She couldn’t get her breath. Her lips parted and her heart thudded. Garrett’s gaze drifted down to her mouth, heightening her longing. He had to hear her heart pounding. He placed one hand on her knee and his other hand went behind her head to hold her as he continued to lean closer.

She could back off, tell him no, move away, refuse him. Instead, she leaned forward and closed her eyes.

His mouth covered hers, opening hers wider to give him access. He pulled her closer while her heart slammed against her ribs. Blazing with a need for so much more of him, she couldn’t help but kiss him in return.

“When we get off this plane—” he whispered.

She shook her head. “I didn’t intend for that to happen,” she said. “Slow down. You’re still going too fast.”

“I missed you,” he said. “Stay over longer to go out with me, even if it’s only one evening.”

She inhaled deeply, knowing she shouldn’t while at the same time wanting to more than anything else.

“Sophia, I did what I had to. And it will give you an inheritance worth several billion dollars. That’s not the same as deceiving you to hurt you. If you go through with this, you’ll give the Delaney brothers what they want and set up money for Caroline so she will never have a worry. You saw the charities and how much they’ve given. So this is different—vastly different from deceiving you to do something underhanded or hurtful. I know you can see the difference whether you admit it or not.”