She waited. But he didn’t say anything else. She started to feel small and insignificant. And very much, she realized, like a mistress.
She turned her head away from him. She didn’t want to play games. Games were their own form of lying. And she had played enough of them when her mom was alive.
Let’s pretend we don’t see the Cannons or the Fell-Murrays or anyone else we used to know.
“Just tell me why, Jeremy.”
He reached across the space in the car, fingers on her cheek. “Because it’s the first interest you’ve shown in something for me.”
Didn’t he realize she paid attention to every detail that was his life? It was probably a good thing that he didn’t, at least not yet. But she took as a good sign that he wanted her attention. “Then tell me what you need me to do. I’m pretty good at putting people at ease.”
“Just be yourself,” he said.
He cupped his fingers around the back of her head and drew her steadily toward him. In his eyes she saw the light of something more than desire.
It made her want to trust him, she thought. But then his head bent toward hers and everything in her body tensed in awareness and need. Her blood flowed heavier in her veins. Her breasts felt fuller and her lips tingled. She started to close her eyes but then kept them open.
She wanted to know how he felt when he kissed her. Did he reveal anything? She noticed the tiny gold flecks in his light green-gray eyes. She noticed the way his pupils had dilated and his nostrils flared right before she felt his mouth on hers.
She closed her eyes then. It was impossible to think of anything other than Jeremy when his mouth touched hers. The details of their deal dropped away as she created new memories of this man.
Of the way his hands moved over her skin like he was trying to learn her by feel. The way his tongue conquered her mouth with languid thrusts as if he had all night to learn the taste of it. The way he rubbed his thumb over her moist lips and then held her hand as he drove to the entrance of the hotel.
When he put his hand low on her back and escorted her into the hotel, she no longer felt like an outsider.
The bar was crowded, but Jeremy found Daniel and Frederick with no trouble. He wanted this meeting to go smoothly and quickly so he could hustle Bella home. And then take her to bed. He’d set up the meeting to put Bella more at ease in his world, part of his deal with her.
But his body was tight and his mind was only on the woman at his side, not the upcoming meeting. He’d been a little rattled when she’d asked him what he needed of her. He didn’t want to analyze it, yet the words kept circling around in his head. He needed her there because the other men would have their wives and it would keep the party even.
There was a sense of rightness in having her by his side. But he knew that it was a mistake to feel possessive about her. He wasn’t a man who kept things. He prided himself on looking to the future. On moving through life unencumbered.
Bella was just one more pleasure to be enjoyed as he moved forward. Once he had her silky body under his and he claimed her, had her, he could move on.
That elusive thing about her would be realized and she’d become like every other woman he’d had a relationship with. Just another mistress.
Frederick was an older man in his late forties with a leonine mane of blond hair that made him look like an aging hippie. He wore a Brooks Brothers suit and a pinky ring. Frederick was a self-made man who didn’t care what anyone thought about the way he and his wife dressed.
“Evening, Frederick. Where’s Mary?”
“She saw something in the window of the boutique that she had to have. Who is this?”
“Bella McNamara. Bella, this is Frederick Merriweather.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Frederick,” Bella said.
Jeremy nodded toward Daniel. “And I’m sure you remember my partner, Daniel Posner.”
“Yes. Good to see you again, Daniel.”
They shook hands and then Jeremy seated Bella at the table.
“You’ll have to go to the bar if you want a drink,” Daniel said.
“What would you like?” he asked Bella.
“Drambuie, please,” she said.
He made his way to the bar to get their drinks.
“She doesn’t look the way she used to.”
Jeremy glanced over to see Lucinda standing next to him. Lucinda was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever met. She had classically good looks and she’d been raised in a moneyed world that showed in every graceful movement she made.
His family had socialized with hers, but he’d never noticed her as a child or teenager. In fact, until Daniel had started dating her, he’d never paid much attention to her.
“What did she look like?”
“At fourteen?”
He nodded. God, he hadn’t realized how young she’d been when her world had fallen apart.
“More like me. Manicured, pedicured and hair chemically perfect.”
He smiled at the faint mocking tone in Lucinda’s voice. “Circumstances change.”
“Yes, they do,” Lucinda said.
“What are you trying to tell me?”
“I’m not sure. Her family and mine were once very close…”
Jeremy had done some Internet research on Bella and had read the AP newswire accounts of her father’s fall and consequent suicide. And then just a tiny article when her mother died a few short years later. But there were details of her life that he couldn’t fill in. How did a girl who was a princess turn into the single-mother type she’d been when he met her? True, it was her brother she’d been raising, but…
“When did you lose touch?” he asked, prying the way he would if this were a business deal. He’d never expected to glean information from Lucinda, whom he thought of usually as someone to be avoided since she was always trying to foist her single friends on him.
She shrugged and bit her lower lip. “When she stopped moving in our circle. She’s not like us anymore, Jeremy.”
He wasn’t sure where she was going with this conversation, but had an inkling of why Bella had been so upset when she’d seen Lucinda the other night.
“Just spit it out. I’m not good at guessing games.”
“No, you’re not. That’s why you need Daniel.”
“In business I do need him and the subtle way he has of smoothing over my rough edges, but that still doesn’t tell me about Bella and you.”
“When she lost everything, she became a different person. She wasn’t the girl she used to be, and to be honest I’m not sure that she isn’t dating you for some kind of revenge.”
“I don’t understand.”
“She means I wasn’t suitable to speak to any longer.”
He hadn’t heard Bella come up to them. Lucinda shrugged delicately and stepped away from them.
She stopped a few steps away to look back at Bella, and there was tension between the women that went beyond not talking to one another.
“Well, you and I both know that we don’t socialize with the staff.”
Bella froze. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her solidly against him. She put her hand on his lapel and he felt the fine tremors in her body.
“Bella’s not the staff any longer, Lucinda.”
“Of course she isn’t. She’s your…what exactly is she, Jeremy?”
Bella cleared her throat and he saw a flash of her temper. That same temper that she always tried to hide. “None of your business, Lucinda. We’re not friends any longer.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“Assigning blame is a juvenile thing to do,” Bella said in a small voice.
He had the feeling that there was much more between the two women than a change in Bella’s financial circumstances. And though he was curious, he knew it was past time to put an end to this.
“We need to get back to the table. We’re here for a business meeting.”
“Of course,” Lucinda said and made her way to Dan
iel’s side.
He handed Bella her Drambuie. “Want to talk about it?”
She shook her head.
He couldn’t stand the hurt in her eyes and wanted to do whatever he could to soothe it—to soothe her. “Bella—”
“Leave it, Jeremy. I’m not your girlfriend. I’m your mistress.”
Her words struck him like a barb. And this was why he didn’t want to allow her any closer than he had to.
“That’s right. You are.”
They didn’t talk much on the car ride back to his place and Bella was glad of it. She had no idea how to make amends for her stupid comments. Once again she’d allowed Lucinda to get the better of her and to threaten a relationship that was coming to mean a lot to her.
She needed to apologize to Jeremy. Wanted to get the tension between them out of the way before they were intimate. And she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jeremy was going to take her to his bed tonight. If for no other reason than to prove to them both that she was nothing more than his mistress.
She swallowed hard, searching for some words. Any words. I’m sorry wouldn’t do, because then she’d have to admit that she realized she’d hurt his feelings earlier.
But once they entered his house, she was nervous about more than the apology, which was so silly because she wanted Jeremy. Her lips still tingled from his kiss in the car earlier.
Maybe that had played a part in her remarks to him. She had a history of shooting herself in the foot socially when she was…
“Jeremy?”
“Yes.” He tossed his keys on the table in the hallway leading from the garage to the house. Standing on the threshold of the media room, he didn’t turn to look at her.
“I…” She just couldn’t say it. Didn’t want to have to talk about Lucinda and the bad blood between them. Lucinda hadn’t been particularly nice to her, but Bella knew she hadn’t been all that good to Lucinda, either.
“You?” He pivoted on his heel.
She took a deep breath. “You know I’ve said that you’re arrogant.”
He nodded.
“Well, I’m not. When I’m unsure of myself—and it happens more than I like to admit—I lash out. It’s my way of protecting myself.”
He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.
“When did you start doing that?” he asked.
She took a deep breath. “Probably the summer I was fifteen and my mother started working for the Cannons as their upstairs maid. I helped her sometimes. It was awkward. I…I’ve never been able to just be quiet and pretend nothing bothers me.”
“So you attack?”
“Yes.”
He nodded. “Was there anything else?”
She shook her head.
“Then let’s go have another drink before we head upstairs.”
“Jeremy.”
“What?”
“I don’t like this tension between us. Despite everything, we’ve always been friendly. Let me do something to make it up to you.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, and she realized that tonight might really be a sexual encounter. And she’d have to renege on her word.
She didn’t give herself easily and had slept with only one other man. An event which was singularly unmemorable. She wanted earth-shattering passion with Jeremy, but a big part of her believed that was just the stuff of romantic stories—that in real life, sex was just sweaty and somewhat enjoyable.
“Come inside and we can discuss this,” he said.
She followed him into the media room. He shrugged out of his jacket, tossing it over the back of the couch.
“I really enjoyed meeting Frederick and Mary,” she said. As soon as they’d returned to the group, she’d realized her faux pas with Jeremy and had tried to make up for it by charming his would-be business associate.
She didn’t know why she was talking about the business meeting he’d had. She certainly didn’t want to open up the conversation to Lucinda. God knows she didn’t want to think about the way she’d felt when she saw the two of them talking at the bar. A part of her knew that there was nothing Lucinda could say that Jeremy didn’t already know. He’d seen her at rock-bottom.
“They liked you, too. I’m having a party on my yacht for them on Saturday.”
She was grateful for the subject change.
“Do you want to use my caterer?” she asked, trying to ignore the fact that he’d removed his tie and loosened the top two buttons of his shirt.
“No. I want you by my side and not thinking about business.”
“Oh,” she said, feeling a little hurt. “I’m really the best event planner in the area.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
“Then why don’t you want me to take care of the details? It’s short notice but I can—”
“Bella.”
“Yes?”
“I have a personal chef who’ll attend to the details, and if it’s really so important to you, you can make the menu choices.”
“Okay. I can hire servers for you, too.”
“Forget about business. You have only one thing to think about right now.”
“And that is?”
“Being my mistress,” he said, and took her in his arms.
He tipped her head back and she met his gaze. He was serious now. And she realized she was seeing the real man. The trappings of society were stripped away as he watched her.
He wanted her.
She shivered. No man had ever wanted her this much. She was acutely aware of her femininity and the primitive power that she carried with it.
She caressed his back, felt the power in his shoulders. His arms shifted around her. One around her waist, the other low on her hips.
He didn’t speak, didn’t have to. At this moment words would be superfluous and neither of them needed to talk about anything.
His hair was cool and silky under her fingers. She cupped his head in both of her hands, standing on her tiptoes as she drew his head down to hers.
She pressed her lips to his and traced the seam between them with her tongue. He tasted faintly of the scotch he’d consumed at the hotel and something else that she associated only with Jeremy.
He groaned deep in his throat, shifting her in his arms, lifting her off her feet. His mouth never left hers as he carried her up the stairs to his bedroom.
Seven
He set her on her feet next to his bed. The bedroom had one wall that was all windows. Framed in glass Bella saw the stars and the subtle lighting around the pool.
At this moment she was so very afraid that Jeremy would think she was only here because of the contract. And yet, at the same time, it would make things so much easier if that’s what he believed.
Liar.
She grimaced. No matter how many times she said the words, they weren’t true. She was here with Jeremy because she wanted the man and he’d…he’d gone to a lot of trouble for her. She was touched in a way that she didn’t want to be.
He looked at her through half-lidded eyes, making her hyperaware of him and at the same time of her own body. She felt his gaze moving over her. She shifted her legs and let her arms drop to her sides.
She didn’t need to protect herself from the past tonight. She was here with Jeremy. The man she’d been thinking about too much of the time. And damned if she wasn’t going to enjoy him.
“Still want to talk about my party on Saturday?”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing. He was too confident, too sure of himself and with plenty of cause. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms. He lowered his head and she held her breath.
Brushing his lips over her cheek, he held her close but with a tenderness no man had shown her before. His long fingers caressed her neck, slow sweeps up and down until she shivered in his arms. She needed more from him. She grabbed his shoulders, tipped her head and opened her mouth under his.
He sighed her name as she thrust her tongue into his mouth. Sliding his
arms down her back, he edged her toward the bed. It hit the backs of her legs and she sat down. He followed her, never breaking their kiss.
His tongue moved on hers with ease, tempting her further, tasting her deeper and making her long for him. Her skin felt too tight. Her breasts were heavy, craving his touch. Between her legs she was moistening for him, ready for him.
Squirming, she shifted around until she was on his lap, her legs straddling him. She lifted her head to look down at him. His skin was flushed, his lips wet from her kisses. She flexed her fingers against his shoulders.
God, he really was solid muscle.
“Take your shirt off,” she said. She’d been longing to touch his chest since that long-ago summer day when she’d served him at the yacht club.
He reached between them, the backs of his fingers brushing her breasts as he unbuttoned his shirt. She shook from the brief contact and bit her lip to keep from asking for more.
He unbuttoned the small pearl buttons that held the bodice of her dress. Ran his finger down the center of her body, over her sternum and between her ribs. Lingered on her belly button and then stopped at the waistband of her high-cut thong panties.
He slowly traced the same path upward again. This time his fingers feathered under the demi-cups of her ice-blue bra, barely touching her nipples. Both beaded, and a shaft of desire pierced Bella, shaking her.
She needed more. She wanted more. Her heart beat so swiftly and loudly she was sure he could hear it. She scraped her fingernails lightly down his chest. He groaned, the sound rumbling up from his chest. He leaned back, bracing himself on his elbows.
And let her explore. This was so different from the hurried couplings she’d had with that one boyfriend in the past. Encounters that had happened in the dark and were over almost before they’d begun.
His muscles jumped under her touch. She circled his nipple but didn’t touch it. Scraped her nail down the center line of his body, following the fine dusting of hair that narrowed and disappeared into the waistband of his pants.
His stomach was rock-hard and rippled when he sat up. He reached around her back and unhooked her bra and then pushed the cups up out of his way. He pulled her closer until the tips of her breasts brushed his chest.
Six-Month Mistress (The Mistresses Book 2) Page 6