A Bad Boy is Good to Find Read Online Free Page B

me.” A panicked laugh rattled her chest. “Tell me, Con, with no bullshit or beating about the bush. Did you ever, just for one moment, love me too?”
    He blinked and a muscle twitched in his arm.
    “Come on. The truth for once.” She held her breath. Horrible hope bloomed in her chest. Did his hesitation mean…
    He hung his head and his silence deflated the last of her ego like a rapier.
    Tears sprang to her eyes. She dove for the living room and slammed the bedroom door behind her. Scrabbled to find the clothes she’d torn off in her embarrassing frenzy of lust. She struggled to tug up her tangled pantyhose as the door opened and Con emerged from the bedroom, shirt half-buttoned. Him catching her there, undignified in her underwear, her unlovely body exposed in the harsh fluorescent light, made her cringe with shame.
    “Lizzie.”
    Her heart leapt at the sound of her name on his lips. Her fingers fumbled with the nylon waistband. “Go away!”
    He didn’t love her.
    He just wanted her money.
    She picked her rumpled dress off the floor and pulled it on over her head. When she emerged from the fabric their eyes met and a pang of emotion rocked her.
    We’re getting married today .
    No, we’re not.
    The whirlwind four-week courtship that felt like a fairytale come true…was over.
    Fake.
    A scam.
    She jerked her eyes from his gaze and they fell to a half empty champagne bottle in the ice bucket on the coffee table. She seized it by the neck, spilling cold champagne down her arm.
    “What the—” He slumped to the floor as the bottle thunked against his head.
    Lizzie snatched up her wallet and shoved her feet into her uncomfortable high heels. Why not more pain?
    Without a backward glance at the body on the floor, she slammed her apartment door and took off down the fire stairs, banging her heels on the concrete as hard as she could.
    Look out, world. The wheels have come off and I’m coming full speed ahead !

 
     
    Chapter 3
     
     
    C on parked his car outside the adobe walls of the Zen Mind Spa in Las Gordas, Arizona, and entered the front yard through a decorative wrought-iron gate. The forbidding desert stretched for countless miles outside, but lush grasses and bubbling fountains marked his arrival in an oasis of luxury.
    “I’m here to see Lizzie Hathaway.” He addressed the aerobicized receptionist. Her blonde ponytail bobbed as she picked up the phone. Plinking samisen music fell around him like drops of water and confident people in workout clothes cruised through the lobby as he waited.
    “I’m afraid she’s not picking up.” She turned and glanced at the wall of keys. “Would you like me to page her? What’s your name?”
    He cocked his head. “I’m here for her birthday. It’s a surprise.”
    He held her gaze ruthlessly.
    “Oh.” She blinked several times.
    “Would it be okay if I just went up there and knocked on the door? I have a present.” He lifted the gift bag he carried and the tissue paper inside it rustled.
    “Of course.” She smiled and pushed her chest out. “It’s room sixteen. At the end of the corridor.”
    He smiled. “Thanks.”
    Polished wood doors with brass numbers lined the Saltillo-tiled hallway. Would she try to knock him unconscious again? Probably, and he couldn’t blame her. He still woke up at night, sweating at the memory of her question.
    Did you ever, just for one moment, love me too ?
    And his chilling silence.
    He still wondered what would have happened if he’d said yes . He’d fought that urge with every cell in his body and in his heart he knew he’d done the right thing. He’d let her off the hook.
    What did he know about love? Everyone he’d ever loved was gone. He was all loved out for one lifetime.
    He took a deep breath. He hadn’t seen her since that fateful night over a month ago and excitement mixed with apprehension as he raised his fist to knock.
    Muffled music—Katy Perry?—crept out around the door frame. He knocked