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CHAPTER NINE

HOLLY CLOSED THE door to her bedroo breath Julius believed her He actually believed she hadn’t tried to steal those wretched cufflinks She hadn’t registered she’d put them there, or at least not consciously It had been a knee-jerk reaction to being discovered in his room She must have slipped theotten about them

But Julius said he believed her

How could he? She would never have believed him if the tables had been turned But then, she was cynical She didn’t trust anyone She was always on guard, alatching out for soe, to rip her off or exploit her

Was Julius different? Was he the sort of person to suspend judgement until reliable evidence came in?

Holly wondered if she had done herself a disservice by antagonising hiht turn out to be the best ally she had ever had But fro his about her that weren’t true

Was it too late to turn things around? Could she even bother? She would only be here another couple of weeks and then she’d be gone It had never worked for her to get too attached to anyone or any place They always changed People changed Circuinally secure and then the rug would be ripped out from beneath her and she would hit the hard, cold floor This ti There would be no point in getting too comfortable He hadn’t even wanted her here in the first place She was a burden he had to bear

Why was she always a burden?

Why couldn’t someone want her in spite of all her faults? In spite of all her failings? In spite of all her stupid impulses that caused her more trouble than she wanted?

Her body was still firing with the sensations Julius had made her feel Cataclysmic sensations she had never felt before He had barely touched her and she had gone off like a firecracker But he had remained in control She had even offered to pleasure him and he’d held back She still couldn’t understand why she had done that Why she had felt such an urgent desire to take him in her mouth bewildered her She loathed oral sex The musky, stale scent of a man usually nauseated her

But with him it was different

He wasn’tin his maleness She had wanted to explore him, to pleasure him, to make him buckle at the knees in the sa it He hadn’t pressured her

He’d protected her by his restraint