Once A Bad Girl Read Online Free

here so I could have sex with you in a cleaning cupboard. It was nice to meet you, Mr Blakemore. I suggest you see a therapist before you try talking to a woman again though.’
    And then he did something unexpected. He smiled. He could wipe out whole civilisations with that smile, she thought, as her knees reacted to it, despite her brain screaming at them not to. It was wide and slightly lopsided, and set perfect little creases into his cheeks. A million-dollar smile, taken off the big screen and put right in front of her. How any woman was supposed to remain upright when faced with that was beyond her, but she managed it. Just.
    ‘So why are you here?’ he pressed, digging blunt fingers into the knot of his tie and easing it free. ‘Other than for the food, obviously.’
    ‘You won’t like the answer,’ Lottie told him.
    His perfectly sculpted jaw hardened, and all traces of that smile vanished. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think I would.’
    ‘I work for Spencer’s Auction House,’ she said, the words unexpectedly painful. ‘We…I heard a rumour that your mother is looking to sell a few items. I came here to try to find out if it’s true.’
    ‘And if it is?’
    ‘Then I’d try to persuade you to get her to sell through us. Obviously we both know I’d be wasting my time.’
    Tightening her grip on the handrail, Lottie moved to the side and negotiated the next step. And the next one.
    One large hand locked onto her right shoulder and stopped her. ‘Just tell me one thing. How did you find out?’
    If he slid his index finger a fraction further in, he’d be able to feel the pulse in her neck. And no way did he need to know how fast it was going. Lottie pulled in a sharp breath and desperately willed herself to lie. She failed. ‘Marlene had a meeting with a specialist at Christie’s last Thursday. I know someone who works for them. He talked.’
    The pressure from his hand increased. ‘So you thought you’d put his job at risk by acting on that information.’
    Guilt poked her, but she refused to let it in. ‘This is a cut-throat business, Mr Blakemore. Was Spencer’s under consideration?’
    His hand dropped away. ‘Not that I’m aware of, no.’
    ‘And why would it be? The business is a mess. The building needs a six-figure makeover for starters.’ Awkwardly negotiating another step of the endlessly curling staircase, Lottie pressed herself tightly against the side to let a harassed looking woman in a black trouser suit dash past. ‘We’re losing staff hand over fist, and most of the stuff coming through the door isn’t even fit for the charity shop. We’re hardly what you’d call high end. Not any more.’ She huffed out a sigh. It had hurt to put those facts into words and say them out loud. ‘I’ve never been to a conference before, and I totally screwed it up. I called you a creep, for goodness’s sake. What sort of an idiot does that?’
    ‘I was acting like a creep.’
    ‘That’s beside the point. I should have handled it. But did I? No. How am I ever going to survive in business if I can’t handle a bit of inappropriate flirting?’
    ‘I’m probably going to regret this,’ he said, ‘but come for a drink with me and I’ll tell you.’

Chapter Two
    ‘This is your place?’ Lottie ducked her head under the curtain of plastic sheeting that he held up, and stepped through into a vast space, illuminated by huge electric spotlights that were dotted around on the floor.
    It was part space ship, part building site but she could see what the finished product would be. A sparkling, futuristic centre of hedonism. A little shiver tiptoed its way down her spine as he followed her through.
    ‘Two floors,’ he said, ‘plus VIP areas. Four separate bars. Capacity is about 1500. I don’t like to overcrowd the place. Keep it lower, makes it feel more exclusive, more intimate.’
    ‘Fifteen hundred is intimate?’
    ‘In a place this size, yes.’
    Lottie tucked her bag under her