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This time, the glint of sexual interest in Gareth's eyes was unmistakable, and Pippi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Was this what it meant to jump from the pan and into the fire? Or maybe it was the other way around?

Either way, it was utterly insane, to have one wealthy man after another suddenly act like she was the most desirable thing within reach.

"Has Tim ever made you blush?"

"N-No."

"Keep it that way." He saw consternation flash in Pippi's eyes, and he said lazily, "I like knowing that I'm the only one to have seen you blush."

But he wasn't.She almost said this out loud, too, until she realized that doing so would be pointless. They were over anyway. And so all she said was, "It's just a blush."

"Not when you're the one doing it, Ms. Jones."

Pippi bit her lip hard.

Would it be possible to pretend that she didn't notice him flirting—-

A low chuckle interrupted her thoughts.

"I can almost hear the gears in your mind working overtime, Ms. Jones." A pause, then Gareth drawled, "Shall I make a guess? You were thinking if you could act like you've misread the situation—-"

Pippi strove hard not to start blushing again, but it was impossible.Was she really that embarrassingly easy to read?

"For the record, Ms. Jones—-" Gareth's voice lowered to a husky caress. "You haven't misread anything. I like you the way men have liked women - and vice versa - since the beginning of time."

Pippi's head reeled at how nonchalantly her new boss was admitting his attraction to her.

"You are, of course, free to respond however you wish. I'm certain you're smart enough to know I'm not the type to force myself on women." His gaze turned dark with promise. "But I think it's only a matter of time—-"

She started shaking her head before he had even finished speaking.

But Gareth only smiled, his self-assurance obviously unaffected by her silent rejection of his words. "We'll see."

"I'm not going to change my mind, Mr. Evans."

"Because you've had your heart broken in a way you never expected."

The words weren't uttered in question, and it hurt, realizing how she had been unconsciously wearing her pain on her sleeve.

"You know what they say, Ms. Jones," Gareth murmured. "There's nothing like a new man to make you forget the old."

Not when the new one has too many similarities with the old, Pippi thought.

If she ever trusted another man again, it would be someone so...sopoorthe only thing he owned were the clothes on his back.

Gareth's gaze gleamed at the stubborn look on Pippi's face. "It's almost as if you're daring me to prove you wrong, Ms. Jones."

She looked at him with wide-eyed alarm, knowing how men like him tended to rise to the occasion during dares and challenges like their lives depended on it. "That is absolutely not true, sir."

Gareth couldn't help laughing. Never had a woman been so determined to prove her lack of interest in him, and not for the first time, he found himself wondering what kind of an idiot would give up a gem like Pippilotta Jones.

Ah, well.

It no longer mattered in any case.

The important thing now was to earn Pippi's trust until she came to him, willingly, and preferably without clothes.

Looking back at her, he said mildly, "You should take the rest of the day off."