Scandal (Tainted #1) by Aimee Duffy Page A

door. All she could do was sink back into the sofa. Last night she’d spent so much time worrying he wouldn’t stick to her rules and publicly humiliate her when she should have been worried about her own self-control.
    With the last of her working brain cells, she concluded wine and Sebastian Collins together in the same room were a very bad combination.
    Despite what the press might think, that was definitely the first time he’d had to readjust his trousers to answer the front door. As he paid for the food he digested the new-found knowledge that Blondie’s cool outer shell cracked after a glass of wine, revealing the fiery passion he’d glimpsed before.
    Which presented another problem.
    He’d promised himself, her boss, and his manager that he’d keep his mitts off his new publicist. At the time he was confident he could – regardless of what she threw his way – because contrary to universal belief, he did have control over his hormones.
    After hearing she’d pretty much been raised to think outlandish, sexy, or even pretty clothes were a no-go, and to shy away from the basic pleasures in life, he found his promise harder to keep. She was going above and beyond for him – even risking her family’s wrath. Would it be wrong to return the favour and help her see there was more to life than refinement?
    When he returned to the lounge to see her lying back, her skin flushed and eyes closed as she caught her breath after that too brief but mind-blowing kiss, he knew asking for more was wrong.
    Didn’t stop him considering taking the expressway to Hell though.
    ‘Do you want me to grab the plates?’ he asked.
    Her eyes snapped open and she straightened. ‘I’ll get them.’
    After kicking off her shoes, she darted into the kitchen. The sight of her hips swinging under the dress he’d picked for her, a dark blue silk that hugged her curves to perfection, didn’t help with the growing bulge in his trousers.
    He followed her into the small kitchen and sat in one of the chairs at the table, watching her open the cupboards with too much haste, banging plates as she went. Resisting the urge to tease her took more effort than he’d put in at training. He liked knowing he could make her lose her cool, so much it was becoming an addiction. But he also liked kissing her, having her on top of him and demanding more with her hips.
    Thoughts like that were definitely not helping with the problem in his trousers.
    ‘I should probably apologise,’ he said instead of giving in to the urge to stop her rushing with another mind-blowing kiss.
    Alicia turned to him with a raised brow. ‘Why?’
    OK, that he didn’t expect. There was no flush of embarrassment, no fire. In fact, it was like she’d shut herself down again and let little Miss Prim lead the way. ‘For breaking your rule.’
    She shrugged, then brought the plates and cutlery to the table with less haste. ‘You weren’t the only one. It was a blip, a mistake. We just have to be more careful next time.’
    More careful? Alicia was too busy serving up their dinner to notice him frown but it gave him time to pull himself together. She was right, it was a blip in terms of the plan they had to stop his sponsors from walking, but the brief kiss also put a chink in the untouchable armour she wore which had to be a good thing.
    He couldn’t imagine how awful it had been growing up having to stifle every emotion or worry about what her actions would do to her family’s reputation. His parents left him breathing space to do what he wanted with his life. They’d always been loving, caring, and outgoing. An anomaly that he now knew they were lucky to find with each other.
    ‘Next time what?’ he asked.
    She sat too straight in her chair, showing off her perfect table manners as she nibbled on her pasta. It took so long for her to answer he dug into his own meal, though it was dry and unappealing but the only thing he could have ordered this far into