‘To marry me and—’
‘If you say I wanted control of Spencer Plastics just once more I swear I’ll hit you!’ he ground out furiously.
‘Hit away,’ she challenged. ‘It won’t change the facts.’
‘The facts as you’re twisting them. Just tell me one thing, would making love to you have been part of the plan too if I hadn’t said no?’
Callie swallowed hard, her cheeks colouring bright red. ‘As you’ve just said, you were the one who said no,’ she muttered, too embarrassed to look up.
‘And that denial made you want me, didn’t it?’ he scorned.
‘No—’
‘Oh yes,’ he gave a taunting smile. ‘The rest of it may have been an act, your words of love a lie, but your response to me is genuine.’
Callie turned away. ‘That’s a lie! Having you touch me makes my skin crawl,’ she told him with more vehemence than truth.
‘Does it?’ he scoffed, coming forward with determined strides. ‘We’ll just put that to the test, shall we?’
Her eyes were wide with fear as he pulled her hard against him. ‘No!’ She pummelled her fists on his shoulders and chest as he lowered his head to grind his mouth down on hers.
The contempt he felt for her was a tangible thing, and not for a second did she respond. Then his savagery turned to subtle seduction, his mouth tasting hers, his hands caressing her back and waist, leaving her trembling and wanting more by the time he drew back.
His eyes were like chips of ice as he looked down at her, thrusting her completely out of his arms as she would have leant weakly against him. ‘Is your skin crawling now?’ he taunted.
‘I—’
‘Don’t attempt to lie again, Caroline. You may not want to, but you like what I do to you.’
She licked her lips nervously, knowing it would be useless to deny it. ‘So?’ she challenged.
‘So did you like it when my uncle touched you too?’
She stiffened. ‘Jeff?’
‘Yes—Jeff,’ he drawled. ‘Quite a philosopher, my uncle.’
She flushed. ‘He was worth ten of you!’
‘So you did like it when he touched you,’ Logan rasped.
‘I don’t understand—’
‘How long did you live with him?’
‘About four years. But I knew him for a couple of years before that.’
‘That would make you sixteen when you met?’
‘About that, I suppose,’ she nodded, frowning.
‘My God!’
Callie still frowned her puzzlement. ‘What does my age have to do with anything?’
‘Not a lot. I just had no idea that that twenty-two-year-old façade hid a woman of forty!’
‘I beg your pardon?’