Were they always at odds, or was it just her? She was starting to get a complex.

After another few seconds of silent dick-measuring, Malcolm finally retreated, heading back upstairs and leaving them blissfully alone.

"What�s wrong, love?" Dorian asked. "He didn�t frighten you, did he?"

Charley had a million questions now�where were you? What�s down there? What�s up with your crazy family? Why didn�t you tell me about your father?�but she couldn�t hold his gaze.

Instead, she turned toward the table and pointed at the statue beneath the glass. "Where did you get this?"

"Hermes?" Dorian slipped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. Then, sliding his hands across the front of her thighs, "Care to make a bid? I�m willing to part with it for the right offer."

This can�t be happening�

Charley wanted nothing more than to sink into the warm comfort of Dorian�s strong embrace, to lean back against him and feel every muscled ridge of his body molding to hers. She wanted him to reach up and cup her breasts, to growl into her ear with that deliciously deep, commanding voice. Maybe then she could forget about what she�d found. About where she�d come from. Who she was.

But when she turned around in his arms and met his eyes, Charley knew she couldn�t forget. She was casing her almost-lover�s house, and she�d just discovered another piece of art connected to her father�s murder.

She couldn�t pretend it wasn�t happening, no matter how badly she wanted to surrender. "Where, Dorian? Tell me where it came from. I need to know."

Dorian backed Charley right up to the glass, pressing his hands against the case and trapping her inside his arms, his gaze narrowing suspiciously. "Why?"

Charley�s heart rattled in her chest, the voice in her head screaming for her to forget about Hermes, forget about the LaPorte, and seduce her way out of yet another sticky situation with Dorian.

But she couldn�t let this go.

"Tell me," she pressed.

"I don�t know what your interest is, Charlotte, but obviously you�re upset."

She didn�t need to confirm it�every muscle in her body was vibrating.

"Clearly we�ve got some things to discuss," he said.

"You think?"

"It�s settled then." A hint of his rakish smile broke through. "You�ll stay the weekend."

"I�ll� what?"

Disarmed. That�s how Charley felt. Despite her racing heart and the mistrust swirling between them, Dorian�s smile drained the fear and tension from her body, replacing it with that mind-erasing desire he was so damn good at igniting.

"Something tells me this isn�t about what we need to discuss." She pressed her hand against his firm chest. "You�ve got ulterior motives, Mr. Redthorne."

Dorian leaned in close, dragging his lips down the long column of her neck, pressing a hot kiss into the hollow of her throat. "And you�ve been dodging me, Ms. D�Amico."

Damn. Her list of regrets was growing exponentially by the minute, but telling Dorian her last name was no longer one of them. She�d never get sick of hearing it on his lips.

"I wouldn�t dream of it," she breathed. JrNovels.com