Taming the Last St Claire Read Free

tightly buttoned down as the points on the collar of his pristine white shirt. A little effort on Gideon’s part—and fewer disapproving looks!—and the man wouldn’t only be arrogantly handsome but also totally devastating to any female with a pulse and a heartbeat.
    If he would just grow his hair a little longer he would look younger, and also rakishly sexy. Ditto as regards those conservative tailored suits he always wore. Put him in a pair of faded jeans and a figure-hugging black T-shirt, to show off his muscled chest and arms, and any woman with red blood in her veins was likely to have an orgasm just looking at him!
    Joey smiled wickedly to herself, imagining the look of horror that would no doubt come over his arrogantly handsome face if he were even to
guess
at the inappropriateness of the thoughts she was having about him.
    ‘Do you find something amusing?’
    It
was
amusing to imagine a more relaxed and sexy Gideon St Claire, as he attempted to fend off the attentions of all those panting women! But it was not so funny that Joey was actually aware of how much more dangerously attractive this man could be if he would just lighten up a little…
    She gave herself a mental shake as she looked up into that darkly disapproving face; this man really wasn’t her type. She preferred men with the daring and energy to try anything new; Gideon gave the impression that the lastnew thing he had tried was wearing black socks instead of grey!
    She drew in a deep breath. ‘Oh, but I haven’t given up my place at Pickard, Pickard and Wright; the senior partners were only too happy to give me a month’s leave of absence so I can help Lucan out.’
    Something, Gideon realised with rising impatience, that must have taken some time to arrange. ‘Exactly
when
did Lucan make all these arrangements?’
    ‘Three weeks ago—’ Joey broke off to look up at him with narrowed, assessing eyes. ‘When did Lucan break the bad news to
you?’
    Gideon stiffened. ‘I don’t remember saying I regard it as bad news.’
    ‘You implied it,’ she dismissed shortly. ‘So—when? ‘
    His jaw tightened. ‘I really don’t see—’
    ‘He only told you at the wedding on Saturday, didn’t he?’ she realised slowly.
    Gideon had absolutely no idea why it was he always felt less in control of the situation around this particular woman. During his years in a courtroom he knew he’d acquired a reputation for being formidable. Now, as a corporate lawyer for Lucan’s vast companies worldwide, he knew he was regarded as being no less ruthless than his older brother. And yet just having a conversation with the unpredictable Joey McKinley was enough to set his teeth on edge. To set the
whole
of him on edge, in fact…
    ‘He did, didn’t he?’ Joey said with satisfaction, those green eyes now openly laughing at him. ‘It probably totally ruined the rest of your weekend, too!’
    Gideon’s fingers tightened about the handle of his black briefcase. ‘My weekend was perfectly enjoyable, thank you,’ he lied stiffly. ‘In fact I had lunch with Stephanieand Jordan yesterday, as they are flying back to LA early today.’
    ‘And I had breakfast with them this morning, before driving them to the airport, and neither of them mentioned you’d asked for my telephone number. Which I’d have thought you
would
have done if you had wanted to have this conversation with me earlier.’ Joey McKinley gave a taunting shake of her head.
    It
had
crossed Gideon’s mind, in fact, to ask Stephanie for her sister’s private telephone number, but on consideration he had decided not to involve either of their families in what was, after all, a private clash of personalities.
    ‘Or maybe you just didn’t want either of them to jump to the wrong conclusions?’
    He scowled his displeasure. ‘I beg your pardon?’
    ‘By you asking for my home telephone number. I’m sure you wouldn’t have wanted to give Steph and Jordan the impression that you have a