‘Was it over a woman?’
‘I think it may well have been.’
‘Did you win?’
‘Yes.’
Phoebe smiled. Of course he won. ‘Would you like to see mine?’
Alex rolled onto his side and looked down at her. ‘You have a scar?’
‘I do.’
‘What from?’
‘I once fell out of a tree.’
‘What were you doing up a tree?’
‘Rescuing a scarf.’
His brows snapped together. ‘Are you mad?’
‘The most beautiful cashmere scarf. I was sixteen.’
‘You fell from a tree when you were sixteen and all you ended up with was a scar? You were lucky not to have been killed.’
‘So they told me. I was a clumsy teenager.’
‘Where is it?’
‘Hanging up in my wardrobe at home, I think.’
‘Very funny. I was talking about the scar.’
‘Didn’t you see it earlier?’
Alex shook his head. ‘My mind must have been on other things.’
‘Well,’ she said, batting her eyelashes and throwing him a sultry smile, ‘why don’t you try looking for it?’
CHAPTER TEN
THE SUNLIGHT FILTERING through the curtains gradually roused Phoebe from her sleep. For a split second she couldn’t work out where she was, but as the events of the night before rolled through her head she grinned and stretched and felt like purring.
She shifted onto her side and opened one eye to double check she hadn’t been dreaming. At the empty space beside her, Phoebe’s heart plummeted. Then she saw the indent on the pillow and felt the lingering heat of Alex’s body on the sheet and her spirits soared.
Her body ached deliciously. Alex had seemed set on making up for all those years of mediocre sex and she’d decided it would be churlish to stop him. The argument about who suffered the least from jealousy had been resolved in a highly satisfactory manner.
But as the sounds of people clearing up outside dragged her into the day the implications of what she’d done began to set in and the doubts she’d managed to keep at bay throughout the long hot night crowded at the edges of her brain.
However inevitable and incredible the night had been, one thing was undeniable. She’d gone to bed with her client’s brother. The man who still had the power to ruin her, despite her success at the party.
What would happen now?
A cold film of sweat broke out all over her skin as her mind raced through a variety of different scenarios, none of which allayed her worries in the slightest.
Her thoughts were still a mess when she heard footsteps on the landing. Phoebe pulled the sheet up to her chin as if it might provide some sort of defence against what he might have to say about her conduct.