The Night that Changed Everything…
Luc Sarrazin has finally found her. His beautiful wife, Star, who left with more than just his ring…Convinced that she committed fraud, he’s determined to recover his money, before demanding a divorce. But his wife has two very unexpected and very identical surprises.
Now he’ll make her an offer she can’t refuse. He’ll drop the charges against her in exchange for one last night in his bed—to quench the impossible desire he still feels for Star. But in the morning, Luc realises he cannot walk away from his children…or the consuming passion that one night wasn’t enough to satisfy.
“If you’ll spend the night with me, I’ll let you off the hook…”
“I b-beg your pardon?” Star stammered dizzily.
He gazed back at her steadily, not a muscle moving in his lean, strong face. “One night. Tonight. That’s the price.”
She felt as if the ground had suddenly fallen away beneath her feet. “You’re not serious…you can’t be!”
“Why shouldn’t I be serious?” Luc angled his well-shaped dark head back, a hard smile slanting his wide sensual mouth. “One night only…. After that, we never see each other again in this lifetime.”
Her stomach twisted at that clarified picture. “But you don’t want me—”
“Don’t I?” Luc moved a fluid step closer. “Just one more time—”
“You don’t want me. You never did! I’m not your type,” Star argued as if she was repeating a personal mantra, a fevered, disbelieving edge to her voice.
“Except in bed,” Luc added without hesitation.
CHAPTER ONE
‘THE account no longer exists…’ Star repeated that shattering announcement shakily under her breath as she walked back out of the bank.
In her hand, she still gripped the cheque she had tried unsuccessfully to cash. Beneath her shining fall of copper hair, her delicate features were stamped with shock, her aquamarine eyes bemused. She climbed back into Rory Martin’s elderly classic car.
‘Why were you so long?’ Rory asked as he drove off.
Twisting round in her seat to check that the twins were still fast asleep in their car seats, Star muttered, ‘I had to see the assistant manager—’
‘That’ll be because you’re a lady of substance now,’ Rory teased, referring to the money which Star had proudly paid into the bank only a few weeks earlier.
‘And he told me that the account no longer exists,’ Star confided abruptly.
At the traffic lights, Rory’s fair hair swivelled. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Juno has closed the account—’
‘Your mother’s done what?’ Rory interrupted incredulously.
‘There must be something badly wrong, Rory.’
‘You’re telling me. How could your mother close your account?’ he demanded.
‘It was her account.’
At that revelation, Rory sent Star a bewildered glance. ‘Why didn’t you have a bank account in your own name?’ ‘Because until last month when I sold those canvases, I wouldn’t have had anything to put in an account of my own,’ Star stressed defensively. ‘Juno was keeping me!’
Looking unimpressed by that argument, Rory pulled away from the traffic lights again. ‘It was still your money in that account, the proceeds of the first couple of pictures you sold—’
His persistence made Star bristle with annoyance. ‘Juno and I work on a “what’s mine is yours” basis, Rory. We’re family. We stick together. If she drew out that money, she must’ve needed it.’ Then a further cause for alarm assailed her. ‘Do you realise that it’s over two weeks since I even spoke to my mother? Every time I call, all I get is that wretched answering machine!’
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s simply moved the account elsewhere and just forgotten to tell you about it,’ Rory suggested in a soothing tone. ‘Let’s stop worrying about it. This is my day off. Where do you want to go next?’
Still in a bemused state, Star slowly shook her head. ‘I can’t go shopping without money—’