Far From Perfect Read Online Free Page B

only moments ago, Nick could wear the world’s most unrevealing poker face when it suited him. But that anxiety would be there because of the love the two men shared.
    “No, it has to be something personal…something family , if you will, to really lift him.”
    Was Nick closer than ever now? He hadn’t moved again since he’d flung himself down, but his proximity was like pressure all over her skin, and his unique cologne—fresh, yet exotic and spicy—was filtering into her brain and acting on both pleasure centers and areas of higher judgment.
    “But surely he’s thrilled about Sofia’s baby?” Alarm and wild messages shot up and down a million nerve pathways, urging Anna to incline towards him until she tumbled into his arms. The gap was narrowing and the temptation to touch him made the tips of her fingers itch and prickle.
    “Naturally, he is.” Nick seemed unaware of the madness he was inciting, but then again, it was often hard to tell what was going on with him. “But Sofi has always been a good girl, a dutiful daughter in every way. The prospect of a grandchild delights Carlo, of course, but it’s just what he’s always expected of her.”
    Leaning back in the upholstered seat, Nick glanced away for a moment, looking down, then smoothing an imaginary wrinkle from the tailored perfection of his trouser knee. Momentarily unobserved, Anna bit her lip. His profile was hard and male, classic yet almost angelic, and the lushness and length of his surprisingly dark lashes veiled his eyes.
    Nick’s sudden sigh was strangely heartfelt. “No, nothing short of a grand gesture from me will give him the boost he needs.” He looked up again and gave her a slanted, almost testing glance that invited her to second-guess the nature of that gesture.
    Anna gasped. In the space of one thud of her racing heart, the weight of slight clues and long-cherished expectations reached critical mass.
    Oh no! Not that. He couldn’t expect something like that, surely?
    Another clue dripped as he reached for her hand and enclosed her fingers in his, calm and cool and strong. After a four-year drought of touch between them, the impact was monumental, almost heart-stopping.
    Almost as much as what she suspected was coming.
    “I think you know what I want, don’t you?” His eyes, like twin blue stars, were hypnotic. She couldn’t look away, even though it would have made life so much easier if she could have done, and she experienced anew the sudden wild urge to throw herself at him and kiss him senseless, just to avoid hearing what he had to say. Well, not just for that reason, but it would certainly distract him. And her.
    “No, I’ve no idea,” she stalled, knowing he didn’t believe her.
    His blond eyebrow lifted again, impatiently, and the small gesture irked her just enough to release her from his spell. “Enlighten me,” she said, letting her hand rest still in his, even though it was an effort.
    Nick gave the slightest of shrugs. “Okay.”
    He sounded both resigned and wary. Braced, waiting for the bombshell. Just as she was. “Carlo has always wanted you and I to marry. So has Clive. They’ve been scheming for it to happen for years, even despite the gap in our ages.” He paused, his long thumb moving delicately against the back of her hand, as if he were a trainer soothing a skittish, highly-strung animal. “So I’ve come here to see if we can at least appear to grant them their fondest wish.” The thumb stilled, and so did the thick, tension-laden air in the room. Maybe even time itself had come to a halt.
    “So, will you put aside our…well, shall we say our difficulties and become engaged to me?”

Chapter Two
    “You are joking, right?”
    Panic flared in Anna’s eyes for perhaps a quarter of a second, only to be extinguished almost immediately with a cool, suspicious frown. Nick hadn’t expected his idea to be an easy sell, but against the odds, he’d fantasized about an immediate positive