A Tangled Affair Read Free Page B

flared at her deliberate reference to the restless passion for her that he had once claimed kept him awake at nights. “I’m well used to dealing with the media.”
    “A shame there isn’t a story. It could have benefited Ambrosi’s upcoming product launch.” She forced a brilliant smile. “You know what they say, any publicity is good publicity. Although in this case, I’m sure the story wouldn’t be worth the effort, especially when it would involve dragging my private life through the mud.”
    Lucas’s expression shuttered, the fire abruptly gone. “Then I suggest you sleep easy. I don’t kiss and tell.”
    The sense of disorientation she had felt the past few minutes evaporated in a rush of anger. “Or commit to relationships.”
    “You were the one who set the ground rules.”
    Suddenly Lucas seemed a lot closer. “You know I had no other option.”
    His expression was grim. “The truth is always an option.”
    Her chin jerked up. “I was protecting Sienna and my family. What was I supposed to do? Turn up with you at Mom and Dad’s house for Sunday dinner and admit that I was—”
    “Sleeping with me?”
    The soft register of his voice made her heart pound. Every nerve in her body jangled at his closeness, the knowledge that he was just as aware of her as she was of him. “I was about to say dating an Atraeus.”
    Sienna returned from her hostess duties to step neatly between them. “Time out, children.”
    Lucas lifted a brow, his mouth quirking in the wry half smile that regularly made women go weak at the knees. “My apologies.”
    As Constantine joined them, Lucas drew Lilah into the circle. “I know I don’t need to introduce Lilah.”
    There was a moment of polite acknowledgment and brief handshakes as Lilah was accepted unconditionally into the Atraeus fold. The process of meeting Maria Therese was more formal and underlined a salient and well-publicized fact. Atraeus men didn’t take their women home to meet their families on a casual basis. To her best knowledge, until now, Lucas had never taken a girlfriend home to meet his mother.
    Lucas’s girlfriend .
    Lilah was smiling, her expression contained but lit with an unmistakable glow.
    A second salient fact made Carla stiffen. A few months ago, while stuck overnight together at a sales expo in Europe, she and Lilah had discussed the subject of relationships. At age twenty-nine, despite possessing the kind of sensual dark-haired, white-skinned beauty that riveted male attention, Lilah was determinedly single.
    She had told Carla a little of her background, which included a single mother, a solo grandmother and ongoing financial hardship. Born illegitimate, Lilah had early on given herself a rule. No sex before marriage. There was no way she was going to be left holding a baby.
    While Carla had stressed about finding Mr. Right, Lilah was calmly focused on marrying him, her approach methodical and systematic. She had moved on a step from Carla’s idea of a spreadsheet and had developed a list of qualifying attributes as precise and unwavering as an employment contract. Also, unlike Carla, Lilah had saved herself for marriage. She was that twenty-first century paragon: a virgin.
    The simple fact that she was on Medinos with Lucas, thousands of miles from her Sydney apartment and rigorous work schedule, spoke volumes.
    Lilah did not date. Carla knew that she occasionally accompanied a gay neighbor to his professional dinners and had him escort her to charity functions she supported. But their relationship was purely friendship, which suited them both. That was all.
    Carla took another gulp of champagne. Her stomach clenched because the situation was suddenly blindingly obvious.
    Lilah was dating Lucas because she had chosen him. He was her intended husband.
    Anger churned in Carla’s stomach and stiffened her spine. She and Lucas had conducted their relationship based on a set of rules that was the complete opposite of everything that Lilah