The Tycoon’s Resistant Lover Page 0,2

was extremely muscular, had felt similar bulging muscles when he’d taken her into his arms and gently kissed her goodnight on previous dates. But there was something about this man, the way he held himself or maybe the way he looked at the occupants of the room in one all-encompassing sweep before stopping on her and not moving that terrified her. He made her want to run and disappear. He was dangerous in ways she couldn’t even begin to understand, had never encountered before.

Suddenly those feelings she’d had earlier in the evening, the tension she couldn’t explain, came back to haunt her. She had attributed that strange sense of anticipation to the fact that Edward hadn’t informed their hostess that another guest would be arriving but this was what she’d sensed was going to happen. This man and his arrogance was the issue she should have shied away from. She should have excused herself earlier in the evening, telling both Jessica and Edward that she didn’t feel well.

Julianna watched warily as the man approached, her stomach muscles tightening while it churned with some unknown emotion. She didn’t understand her instant dislike of this man, except that she felt that strange sense of danger in him. As his eyes sliced through the other occupants of the room once more, she almost choked on her wine when his eyes came to rest on her again. They were ice blue and intelligent, with something strange in them that increased the shaking in her knees as she endured the introductions.

Jessica introduced him as James Cavanaugh, and for some reason, the name rang a bell but her mind wasn’t functioning fully while he looked down at her with that strange sort of omniscience. As he smiled and extended his hand towards her, she wanted to shake her head and tell him ‘no’, that he couldn’t touch her and he should stay away from her. Those eyes, she thought with trepidation, were telling her right back that he wasn’t going to do anything of the sort. His wide mouth smiled broadly, as if he understood what she was feeling. And was equally determined that he wasn’t going to stay away.

“James, this is Lady Julianna Holbrook. Be good,” she warned with a stern glance up at the man’s smiling blue eyes.

There was nothing she could do. As Jessica introduced the man, Julianna had to offer her hand although she wanted nothing to do with the man and his arrogance.

When his hand took hers, she inhaled sharply, her eyes glancing down at their hands clasped together and she tried to quickly pull her hand away. He held on though, not letting her disconnect from him so easily. As she looked back up into those crystal blue eyes, all her suspicions were confirmed. This man was dangerous. And all that danger was directed towards her and she didn’t like it. Not one little bit.

James laughed softly as he took Julianna’s cold hand in his large one. “Ah darlin’. I’m always good,” he replied which caused Julianna’s cheeks to turn an even darker shade of pink at his innuendo.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cavanaugh,” she lied, wishing him to purgatory for his boldness.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he replied.

“Can you stay for dinner?” Jessica asked, her chocolate eyes looking up at the man with pleading, but when he looked back down in her direction, Julianna realized that the two of them were just friends. She was actually shocked that Jessica didn’t feel the same sort of trepidation when James stepped back and put his arm around her waist.

Julianna tensed with the dinner offer, praying silently that he would turn down Jessica’s invitation, say anything and make up an excuse that he had to be somewhere else. When his blue eyes flickered her way, she quickly looked down at her glass of wine. Manners would dictate that he decline the invitation after seeing that the dinner party was already in progress. But she knew that he wouldn’t, being the crass, obnoxious man that she already sensed he was after only the ten seconds she’d been in his company.

“I thought you’d never asked,” she heard the big, blond man reply and every sense in her system came on fire. She took a sip of her cold wine, wishing it would pass along some of that refreshing coolness to her overheated skin. But nothing seemed to penetrate the heat. She even glanced at the fireplace, wondering if it were one of those automatic,