Bought for Her Baby (Harlequin Presents #2694)

As soon as Charlotte entered the boardroom she knew he had already arrived.A shiver ran up her spine like a handful of mice making a tiny nest in the fine hairs on the back of her neck, as her eyes went to where he was standing.As if he too sensed her presence, he turned his head and his coal-black gaze met hers for the first time in nearly four years.Charlotte watched as he politely excused himself from one of the members of the museum board and came towards her, each one of his long strides making her throat tighten until she could barely breathe.She had dreaded this moment for months, ever since she had heard that Damon Latousakis, the father of her little daughter Emily, was the principal sponsor for the Greek Exhibition she was helping the head curator organise for the museum.Damon came and stood in front of her, his tall frame blocking her vision of the rest of the boardroom.'Hello, Charlotte.'She tried to disguise her nerves but her voice still came out creaky. 'H-hello, Damon.'His dark gaze surveyed her in a leisurely manner, taking in her chestnut hair, before dipping to brush her mouth, and then lower, lingering a moment too long on the hint of cleavage her velvet evening dress exposed, before finally coming back to her blue eyes.Charlotte felt as if he had touched her all over, the electricity passing from his body to hers making her skin prickle and the air surrounding them begin to crackle with tension.'You have done very well for yourself,' he said in a tone that suggested he hadn't expected her to. 'Under-curator, I hear. That is quite an achievement for a petty thief, but then--as you did to me--perhaps you have everyone fooled as to what you are really like.'Resentment simmered in the tightening coils of her belly--the belly that had nurtured the child he had refused point-blank to acknowledge as his.'I am the same person I always was, Damon,' she said with deliberate coolness.His lip curled in disdain. 'No doubt you are, but I was too blinded by lust to see it at the time.'Charlotte felt her face flame as a host of memories were unleashed by his use of that crude one-word description of what he had felt for her. The vision of the configuration of their bodies rocking in passion made her toes curl inside her high-heeled shoes. Her inner thighs quivered as she remembered how he had taken her to the heights of intimate pleasure time and time again on that two-month long study holiday on the Greek island of Santorini. The fiery heat of the summer sun and the blistering scorch of his passion had burned her to the core of her being.Lust.Damon had lusted after her while she had loved him--unreservedly and irreversibly.'Excuse me, Mr Latousakis.' Diane Perry, one of the museum staff, approached with a nervous smile. 'I hate to interrupt, but may I have a quick word with Charlotte?'Damon gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. 'But of course,'he said and stepped back. 'I have finished with her.'Charlotte watched as he turned and walked away, her stomach feeling as if someone had just kicked it with a lead boot.'What was that all about?'Diane asked with a puzzled frown.Charlotte forced her features into casual indifference. 'You know what Greek billionaires are like. They have arrogance down to a fine art.''Yes, well, arrogant or not, you'd better be careful with Damon Latousakis,'Diane warned her. 'I just got a phone call from Julian's wife, Gaye. Julian's been admitted to hospital with a suspected heart attack.''Oh, no!''He's going to be fine,' Diane assured her. 'But he is expecting you to keep Mr Latousakis sweet about this exhibition, especially as it now looks as if he will be out of action for a few weeks.''A few weeks?' Charlotte gulped.Diane shook her head gravely. 'The doctors are suggesting he has angioplasty in a day or two. He will probably ring you himself and fill you in on what needsMilburne, Melanie is the author of 'Bought for Her Baby (Harlequin Presents #2694)', published 2008 under ISBN 9780373126941 and ISBN 0373126948.