‘Come on, Aiden,’ he quipped, his light voice belying the muscle pounding in his cheek. ‘That’s no way to propose to a lady.’ She saw the tiny snarl as his lips formed around the words. ‘Finish what you’ve started.’

‘It would solve everything,’ Aiden mumbled. ‘Dad would see a marriage before he dies—’ he squinted at Tabitha, who stood mortified ‘—and your gambling debts would be taken care of, darling. I know how worried you…’ He never finished his sentence, instead choosing that moment to go into a deep and rather noisy sleep.

‘I can explain…’ Tabitha started. ‘It’s not how it seems.’

Zavier flashed her a thin smile. ‘I’m sure it’s far worse.’

‘It isn’t. The gambling debts—’

He halted her with one flick of his manicured hand, his gold watch glinting in the bedside light. ‘I don’t give a damn what trouble you’re in. You, Miss Reece, don’t concern me—not one iota. But understand this.’ His voice was menacing. ‘Stay away from my brother. Marry him and I’ll expose you for what you are—a cheap, conniving gold-digger. Do I make myself clear?’

‘You don’t understand.’

‘Oh, yes, I do,’ he hissed. Coming around the bed, he stood over her, stepping uninvited into her personal space, so close she could feel the scorn of his words on her cheek—so close, so vividly near, even the batting of his eyelids seemed to be happening in slow motion. ‘You think you’ve got it all worked out, don’t you? You think the Chambers family are going to be the answer to whatever mess you’ve got yourself into.’

‘I don’t.’ She was trying to defend herself, trying to form an argument, but his presence, his closeness, wasn’t just intimidating her now; it was overwhelming her, fogging her mind with dangerous images. The scent she had inhaled on the dance floor was stifling her now, conjuring recollections of their one dance, and her subconscious responded as it had when he held her. ‘I don’t,’ she said again, dragging her eyes up to meet his, trying to sound as if she meant it, trying to ignore the surge of adrenaline cascading through her body—the high alert of imminent impact.

His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed. Already he was wearing the dusky growth of a five o’clock shadow, and she imagined the scratch of his cheek on hers, the roughness behind his kiss. Though she hated the venom of his attack, Tabitha was curiously excited, high on adrenaline and champagne and the heady cocktail of hormones his presence haplessly triggered.

His hand moved up slowly and she stood frozen. Only the none too gentle sound of Aiden’s snoring broke the silence—only that and the pounding in her temples as he traced a finger along her white collarbone, exploring the hollows of her neck, his fingers brushing under her curls.

And she waited.

Waited for him to jerk her towards him, to expel the tension with the roughest of kisses. She licked her lips, her pink tongue bobbing out involuntarily, moistening her flesh in anticipation.

‘I might have known.’ In one harsh movement, one harsh sentence, reality invaded and his fingers flipped out the designer label on her dress. ‘Is that the going price for a date these days?’

His words confused her. Struggling to understand his meaning, she stepped back, the distance giving her a chance to collect her thoughts as the contempt in his eyes flared.

‘I sign off Aiden’s credit cards,’ he explained nastily. ‘I should have worked it out earlier. Your outfit is the only tasteful thing about you.’

‘Get out.’

‘Oh, I’m going, and in the morning, Tabitha, so are you. As far from my family as humanely possible if you know what’s good for you.’

Only when the door was safely closed, when only the heavy masculine scent of him remained, did Tabitha breathe again.

Not trusting her legs to stand, she sat on the edge of the sofa, practically trembling just at the thought of him. He was vile, loathsome, full of his own self-importance—and yet…Never had a man made such an impact on her. Those few moments on the dance floor with him had tapped rivers of passion she hadn’t even realised existed. His eyes had seemed to tear through her, his mouth, his smell…

And there wasn’t a single thing she could do about it! Even if she could stretch the boundaries of truth and imagine someone as completely stunning as Zavier Chambers ever in a million years being attracted to her, she was supposed to be his brother’s gold-digging girlfriend—with a gambling problem to boot! Completely out of bounds by anyone’s standards.