Dazzled: Reckless Desires - final ARC Read Online Free Page A

She was just like the rest of them. Not to be actually trusted.
    Ever.
    "I'm sorry, Mr. Bernal." She flicked a glance at him as she said that, clearly indicating that they were back into formal name territory again despite the fact that he had luxuriated over the sound of her first name mere moments before. "I, ah, don't know what to say."
    Sebastian gave a quick shrug before he abruptly stepped into the exhibit itself, eliciting a gasp from Lacey. Striding into its center, he turned his attention to a gorgeous, leather-bound journal that rested atop a classic table that would be found in the fancy ranchos of the elite class of the time, nearly one hundred and fifty years ago. A quill pen rested beside its open pages, seemingly ready to be taken up to record the day's events. Carefully, he opened it in the middle. Large and heavy enough for the pages to lay flat, the journal settled against the table as if made to be there. The pages, made of thick paper, were slightly ink-stained in places. But a colorful little painting on one of them to lent a richness to the scene that was, in fact, perfect.
    “Here,” he said. “This is what's missing. An invitation to read about the treasures of my family's history.”
    He looked back at her, raising an eyebrow as he made his own silent invitation.
     
    ~~~
     
    Lacey felt all the air in the room seem to suck out sideways as Sebastian pinned her with his dark eyes. Standing there in the middle of the exhibit, his entrance into which had been both heedless yet exceedingly careful not to disturb anything, he looked like some sort of ancient king, surrounded by power and ready to blast fire or something.
    Swallowing, she sternly told her brain to stop being fanciful, resume its usual function, and answer the man like the professional she was. “Oh, yes. That does actually work really well.” Her voice, which usually obeyed her, was steady. “It's a beautiful little painting. It adds just the right amount of intimacy to the scene.”
    Oh, for crying out loud. Her cheeks flamed as he looked at her with that knowing smile turning his face into genuine sinful angel again.
    “I knew you were a good hire, Ms. Whitman.” His voice practically purred. “Tell me, are you still happy to be working here?”
    The rapid-fire change of conversational direction made Lacey blink. “Of course I am. It's a dream to work at the Bernal Center. Everyone in the field wants to be here. There's nowhere I'd rather be,” she added softly.
    One of those moments, tight as a wire and crackling with restrained electricity, snapped between them again. The kind of moment that made Lacey forget her name, forget the world, and feel like she should just throw herself at the man. She felt her own breath shorten as she stared at him, wondering if she could literally drown in the dark chocolate of his eyes and the purely sensual promise they held.
    No, not a smidgen of attraction between the two of them. Strictly a professional relationship.
    Right.
    “Excellent. I'm leaving for Madrid later today,” he added in another rapid change of direction, as casually as a normal human being would announce they were headed to the beach that afternoon. “Business will keep me there for several days, but I will be back in time for the opening on Saturday. I'll look forward to seeing you then, Ms. Whitman. I know you'll have everything under control.”
    Stepping away from the journal and the table, he looked at Lacey. She felt herself swirling into the depths of his fascinating eyes as the tingling bits of her body told her in no uncertain terms that she wasn't really in control at all. Oh, wait. No, he meant the exhibit. She would be in control of the exhibit. The one she was standing in right now. Of course.
    “Absolutely, Mr. Bernal.” Her voice didn't even shake as she answered him. That had always been one of her face-saving little quirks in life—her voice never betrayed her nerves, not even when she'd been defending