Why Couldn

8/13/2019 Why Couldn

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Whycouldntyou?He came

across the roomto stand only

inches away fromher, one of hishands rising tolightly cup the side


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of her face as his

thumb moved

caressingly across

the fullnessof herlower lip.Youre a very

beautiful woman,

he murmuredhuskily, his gaze


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roaming over her

suddenly pale

face. Wouldyou

find it such ahardship to go to

bed with me?heasked.Casey found

herself


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mesmerised by

those gorgeous

firm lips only

inches away fromher own.What

would it be like tofeel them moving

searchinglyagainst hers? To


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have him kiss

andcaress

? No!Youwould,

Xander saidregretfully as she

flinched back


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from him. Casey,

thousands of

people go to bed

together every dayfor no other

reason than thatpiece of paper.


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Notme!she

assured him

firmly, very aware

of the way she stilltrembled from his

light caress,and wondering if

she was beingtruthful


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to Xander or

herselfShe had been inlove with Sam

when theyd firstmarried. Or atleast she hadthought she was. It


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hadnt been long

before she had

understood that, at

only twenty yearsold, she had

probably beentoo young to

realise she wasjust dazzled by the


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fact that someone

so good-looking

and charmingas

Sam should havefallen in love with

her. But by then ithad been too late.

They hadalready been


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married a year,

Josh had been a

baby only two

months old, andher father had

recently died.But she had

continued to bemarried to Sam for


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a further six years,

hadnt she? And it

had only been duringthe last six

months of theirmarriage that the

physical side ofthings had


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endedcompletely.

Yes, but that was

different, she told

herself firmlynow. Sam had

been her husband


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Only, if she

accepted Xander

Frasers marriage

proposal he would be her husband,

too!No, she couldnt

go throughwith this! No


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matter what the

financial

inducement to

make Joshslifemore comfortable

and her own lifefree of the

continual financialstress


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Ionly said it was

an option, Casey.

Xander spokeevenly as he saw thesudden panic in

her easily readableexpression.


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Her open emotions

were certainly a

refreshing change

after years ofChloes deceit andmachinations!Chloe had been the

most beautifulwoman he had


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ever set eyes on

when he met her

seven and ahalf

years ago

a beautiful ebony-haired blue-eyed

butterfly who haddazzled and


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beguiledevery man

she came into

contact with.

Including him.And Xander had

pursued herrelentlesslyuntil he

caught her.


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But after only a

few brief months

of marriage he had

realised that shetruly was a

butterfly

thather emotions,once given, lasted


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only fleetingly,

before she moved

on to the next

conquest. Andthenext. And the

next.Only the factthat Chloe had

found herselfpregnant at the end


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of their six-week-

longhoneymoon

at least Xanderhad been sure that

Lauren was his!

had kept themarriage from


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ending in divorce

once hed

discovered Chloe

had taken her firstlover.And that was all

their marriage had

been


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a sham, a front for

the dozens of men

Chloe

hadenthralled into her bed. Men she

would enjoy, butwho couldnt

demand too muchfrom her


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when she had the

protection of a

powerful husband

likeXander Fraser.He

should havedivorced her years

ago, of course, butthe possibility of


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Chloe taking

Lauren withher

when she leftthe daughter he

adored


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had prevented him

from taking such

action.The fact that hewas now being

threatened in thesame way by

Chloes father was

totally


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a physical

relationship with

an unwilling

wife!he told her,suddenly

harsh afterrecalling suchunwelcomememories.Where


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had that anger

come from so

suddenly? Casey

wondered.And who was to

say she would beunwilling?Her reaction to his

t


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ouch just now

had told her that

she wasnt

indifferent to him.And she hadalreadyacknowledged to

herself earlier thatshe found this man


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physically

attractive

that heexuded apowerful vitality

that would make itimpossible ever to

ignore him


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so how muchmore

disturbing was he

going to be if he

was herhusband? If she

was living withhim on

a permanent basis?She couldnt be


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seriously thinking

of accepting his

proposal, could

she?But for Joshs

sake, she couldntnot seriously think

about it!She hadbeen aware


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for some weeks

that she was

fighting a losing

battle when itcame to payingher

bills as well as themortgage Sam

had taken out onthis house in order


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to raise extra

capital.She knew

she might soon

have to give upeven trying to hold

on to her familyhome, and

findsomewhere torent instead. There


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would be a few

thousand pounds

to bank once the

house wassold, butnowhere near

enough to giveJosh all the

advantages Xander


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Fraser was

offering if hebecame her sons

stepfather.So how could she

not accept Xanders

marriageproposal?


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She moistened lips

that had gone dry.IfI were to

accept

I said if,Mr Fraser,she

emphasised,


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when she saw the

look of triumph

flare in those dark

blue eyes.Ithink you had

better callme Xander, dont

you?he invited.


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She gave him a

scathing

glance and

deliberately didntrespond to his

invitation. Achildishgesture, perhaps,

but she had a


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feeling that any

advantage she

might ever have

over XanderFraser was going

to be a smallone! IfI accept,

exactly when were


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you thinking of

this marriagetaking place?Xander damped

down his feeling

of elation that shewas even

considering hisoffer


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which waspretty strange for

a man who, afterChloes

infidelities, hadsworn he would

never marry again!


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exactly the reason

he had settled on

Casey Bridgesalong with her son

Josh, who Laurenadoredin the first place!


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He shrugged. As

soon as we can get

a licence, I would

have thought. Thesooner the better,

infact. Why wait,Casey?he added

persuasively ashe once again saw


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that look of panic

in her face. The

sooner its done,

the matter settled,the sooner we can

all get on with ourlives.


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He had always

liked and

respected Brad

Henderson, and heknew it was the

other mans griefatlosing Chloe thatwas making him


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behave irrationally

at the moment;

unfortunately,

Xandercouldnt afford to

give the other mantime to


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come to his senses.

He was all too

aware of thedamage that Bradcould wreak in

Laurens life aswell as his own

before thathappened.


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The sooner he got

Casey Bridges to

agree to his

marriage proposalthe better. He

found itdistinctlyunflattering that

she viewed


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marriage to him in

so poor a light

most women heknewwould have

jumped at theoffer.But then, the

women who hadbeen in his life


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the last year were

as hard and

grasping as

Chloehad been. Hehad chosen them

deliberately. Atleast he knew

where he stoodwith women


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likethat. He would

certainly never

consider

for any reason!offering marriage

to one of them.


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Casey wasnt like

them

would never be

like them

which meant hehad to back off a

little andgive hersome time to


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make her decision.

Hopefully, she

would realise there

were far toomanyadvantages

for Josh to allowher scruples to

stand in the way.


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Whydont you

take overnight to

think about it, and

Ill call you in themorning?he

suggestedlightly.


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Overnight?

Casey echoed with

another sur

ge of inwardpanic. Could she

take just a fewhoursto make a

decision that


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would affect the

rest of her life?And JoshsJosh. Her weak

spot. A weakness

Xander Fraser had


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already exploited

to his advantageBut apparently

not her onlyweakness, Casey

acknowledgedthoughtfully as she

rememberedtheway she had


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trembled, the

warmth that had

coursed through

her body, whenXander Fraser

hadtouchedher.Yes, she had to

take into accounther unmistakable


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response to all that

leashed

magnetism,

too.She would befoolish not to do

so.She raised her chin

and infusedher voice with


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determination.

Whydont I take

my time to

think about it andcall you when I

reach a decision?His mouth

tightened, his gazenarrowing


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speculatively as

she deliberately

turned his

suggestionback on him.

Whydont you?he finally growled,

taking his walletfrom the back


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pocket of

hisdenims to

remove a business

card and place iton the coffee

table. Butdonttake too

long,hmm?he

added.


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Or what? Casey

wondered with a

frown as she

watched him turnon his heel and

leave.The frontdoor closed

behind himseconds


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later.Would she

find the offer had

been rescinded if

she dithered toolong in giving him

an answer?Would he decide

she wasnt worth

the trouble and


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find someone

else

someone

morereceptiveto make his

offer of marriageto?CHAPTER FIVEM


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R FRASER

Xander,Casey,he insistedas he easily

recognised hervoice on the other


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end of the

telephoneline.He should; atalmost seven

oclock in theevening, he had

been waiting all day for this call!


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Ive reached a

decision,she told

him without

preamble.Xander wasnt inthe least reassured

by her businessliketone. He had an


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uncomfortable

feelingthat

Caseys scruples

might have wonout, after all.Ofa sort,she

added, lesscertainly.


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Xander frowned.

His patience was

already tried to

the limit becausehed had to

wait all day forher phone call.

Why Couldn

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