Conquering King's Heart

by Maureen Child

  He waved one hand to encompass her loose, pale green shirt and flowing, floor-length yellow skirt. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. After all, he was trying to charm and seduce her, not piss her off further. But dammit, he’d seen the body she had hidden underneath all that fabric and he couldn’t understand why she was so determined to disguise it. Especially, he thought, since she hadn’t before. He distinctly remembered her wearing faded jeans and a low-necked, body-hugging T-shirt.

  She flushed and Jesse was charmed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a woman blush. But her one moment of embarrassment was gone an instant later. Her dark eyes flashed as she said, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I like wearing natural fabrics.”

  He should have backed off, but couldn’t help himself. “Natural, sure. But why…” He shook his head, clearly baffled.

  The elevator chimed, the doors hissed open and Bella stepped inside. Turning around sharply, she lifted her chin, glared at him and said, “I stopped wearing formfitting clothes three years ago when I discovered it attracted men who were interested in only one thing.”

  In the harsh, overhead glare of the fluorescent lights, she looked ferocious and proud. Like a female Viking. And Jesse felt a shot of admiration rip through him, along with a quick flash of shame. Because of him, she was dressing like a refugee from a rag factory? She was hiding that glorious body because he’d slept with her and disappeared from her life?

  Vaguely disgusted with himself, he walked into the elevator beside her and punched the second-floor button. Strange, but until this moment, he’d never before considered what a woman thought of him after their time together was over. He’d always enjoyed himself, made sure his lady of the moment had a good time and then he’d moved on.

  Uneasiness settled over him as he wondered how many other women he might have left wounded in his wake. He’d never thought of himself as a hurting women kind of guy. Hell, he liked women. But now…he had to wonder.

  Still, he felt compelled to say something, so he said, “I don’t think your strategy’s working.”

  “Really?” she asked, her voice just carrying over the distantly annoying Muzak playing over the speakers. “I haven’t been bothered by unwanted men in three years.”

  He found that hard to believe. “Then the men in this town are blind or extremely shortsighted and probably stupid to boot, so you’re better off without them.”

  “Is that right?” She glanced up at him from beneath long, dark lashes.

  “Damn straight,” he told her, meeting her gaze squarely. Fine. He’d messed up. But that was in the past. And she might as well know that whatever she was wearing, she got to him on levels no one else ever had.

  “The clothes are ugly, I grant you. But they don’t disguise your eyes. Or your mouth.” He lifted one hand and smoothed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. She pulled her head back quickly, and he smiled, shaking his head. “And even if you’d been dressed like this three years ago…I still would have noticed you.”

  She blinked at him, obviously surprised, and Jesse felt like a jerk. For the first time in his life, he was faced with a woman he’d used and walked away from. And for the first time in his life, he regretted what he’d done. A new experience for him. And not an entirely comfortable one.

  The elevator opened, sparing them both from having to continue the conversation. A buzz of activity and conversation rolled toward them in a thick wave and Jesse smiled. He may not have started out as a businessman, but he certainly enjoyed the sights and sounds of his success. He knew all too well that it was because of him that this company was growing beyond all imaginings. And he had a real sense of pride in what he’d accomplished in a few short years.

  “Come on, Bella,” he said, holding out one hand toward her and smiling. “Let me show you around the enemy camp.”

  She glanced from him to the room and back again before reluctantly slipping her hand into his and following him out into the middle of organized chaos. Phones were ringing, printers were hissing as they shot sheet after sheet of paper onto trays and the low rumble of dozens of conversations almost sounded like the roar of the ocean.

  He walked her through King Beach like a king overseeing his estate. He made sure she saw all the latest technology and the swarms of people he had handling sales, marketing and publicity. Really getting into his spiel, Jesse pointed out the wall maps with the locations of the hundreds of King Beach stores and turned to bask in her admiration.

  But Bella wasn’t watching him or his presentation. Instead, she was marching up and down the aisles, peeking into cubicles and rummaging in trash cans.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, coming up behind her.

  She straightened, spun around and faced him, holding an empty soda can aloft as if it were a gold nugget she’d scraped out of the earth. “Look at this! You don’t even recycle!”

  A muffled snort of laughter came from the guy whose cubicle had been invaded, but one steely look from Jesse ended his amusement fast. Everything he’d shown her. Everything he’d done to try to impress her hadn’t meant a thing. No, she focused on empty soda cans. He admired her passion. She practically vibrated with it, and he wanted nothing more than to see it up close and personal again. Hell, there she stood, telling him off and his body was more than ready for her. Was it any wonder she fascinated him?

  “Sure we recycle, Bella,” he said, his voice patient. He shook his head and looked into her eyes, fired now with righteous indignation. “It’s just not done up here. The janitorial staff handles it every night.”

  “Of course they do,” she mumbled, dropping the can back into the trash, then glaring at him. “You hire someone to do the right thing for you rather than making the effort to do it yourself.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me,” she said, her voice low, but vehement. “You don’t care what your company does as long as there’s a healthy bottom line. You don’t even ask your employees to recycle. How hard would it be to put two trash cans into every cubicle? Is it really so difficult to take personal responsibility for what your company produces?”

  The resident of the cubicle hunched his shoulders, lowered his head and started typing, actively trying to ignore both of them. Jesse shook his head again, took Bella’s arm and drew her out of the cubicle. He was not going to defend himself to her in front of his employees.

  When they were far enough away from curious ears, he said, “In case you hadn’t noticed, those cubicles are too small to cram much more into them.”

  “Easy excuse.”

  “What does it matter how the recycling gets done as long as it is done?”

  “It’s the principle of the thing,” she muttered, folding her arms beneath her breasts and unintentionally, he was sure, outlining them nicely.

  “The principle. So it’s not recycling. It’s having me recycle.”

  She frowned.

  “I hire people to do that job.”

  “Hmph.”

  “Okay,” Jesse said, leaning in closer to her, bending low so that he could look directly into her eyes. “Would it make you feel better if I fired the entire janitorial staff and did it all myself? Would that make the world a better place for you, Bella? Putting twenty people out of work? Does that help the environment?”

  She was scowling now and her mouth was working as if there were words locked behind her grimly closed lips fighting to get out. But after a few long seconds, her shoulders slumped, her mouth relaxed and she huffed out a breath. “All right, I suppose I can see your point.”

  Jesse grinned. She might be a hard case, but she could admit when she was wrong, which was more than he could say for a lot of people. She didn’t look at all happy about seeing his point, but that didn’t matter. She had seen it.

  “I think I’m having a moment, here. I’ve just scored a point off Bella Cruz.”

  She snorted.

  He held up a hand, grinned even more broadly and said, “Wa
it. Not finished relishing. I want to enjoy the glory of this small victory.” Seconds ticked past, then with a deep breath said, “Okay, I’m done.”

  “Is everything a joke to you?” she asked, staring up at him.

  “Who said I was joking?” Jesse teased. “Getting you to admit that I have a point about anything is well worth celebrating.”

  She rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched and Jesse felt as if he’d scored another victory.

  “Now,” he said, taking her hand in his, “how about finishing the tour?”

  Her hand lay limply in his for a brief moment, then her fingers curled around his and this time, he kept his smile to himself. She walked beside him, spoke to a few of the people answering phones and Jesse watched as she charmed everyone. Apparently, his mystery woman had plenty of personality—she just wasn’t using it on him.

  Clearly, she didn’t trust herself to relax around him. But that was fine with him. He didn’t want her relaxed—he wanted her hot and bothered and poised on the edge of sexual heat. Then he wanted to take her over that edge.

  Oh, yeah, he thought. He was going to have Bella again. He was going to wine her, dine her and seduce her until she begged him to take over her business and make her a millionaire. And once the business end of things was taken care of, he told himself, they’d go from there. Once she was a part of King Beach, it would be better for her. Better for him. Better for everyone.

  He stood to one side as Bella chatted with a couple of the secretaries. They were both talking about her swimwear and how they wished they could find good suits like that everywhere. Say, for example, at King Beach. Jesse frowned a little to hear even his own employees saying that his company wasn’t meeting the demands of all the consumers. But that only helped to convince him that the decision to absorb Bella’s company into his own was the right one.

  As if he’d heard Jesse’s thoughts, Dave Michaels walked up, a stack of folders caught under one arm and an eager expression of welcome on his face. “Bella,” he said, giving Jesse a nod of greeting, “we’re delighted to have you here. Jesse told me he was going to give you a tour. Hope you don’t mind if I call you Bella.”

  “Not at all,” she said, stepping away from the two women she’d been talking to as they went back to work. “This is all very…impressive.”

  She said impressive, but Jesse told himself she didn’t sound impressed. She sounded just a little bit disgusted.

  “Well, we’re big and we’re growing,” Dave said, glee lacing his voice. “Which is just one of the reasons I’m glad you’re here. As you know, King Beach doesn’t really cater to women—”

  Jesse’s ears perked up and he shook his head wildly from behind Bella, hoping to head the man off. It wasn’t time yet to hit her with the information that they were interested in buying out Bella’s Beachwear. And when it was the right moment, Jesse intended to be the one to do the telling. Bella was a special case. She wasn’t some ordinary CEO of a big company who would welcome a takeover if the money were right. He had to approach her cautiously or the whole thing would blow up in his face.

  Dave caught the frantic motion and stopped himself midsentence. “But I have to tell you,” he said, changing the subject smoothly, “my wife bought a bathing suit from you that she can’t stop raving about.”

  “Isn’t that nice?” Bella beamed at him as if the man had just presented her with a bouquet of roses. “I hope she comes back.”

  “Oh, she will. She’s bringing her sisters to your shop next week,” Dave assured her. “Connie’s been bragging about your store so much, all three of them have insisted on visiting Bella’s.”

  “Thank you, I’m always glad to hear about a satisfied customer.”

  “Yes, aren’t we all,” Jesse muttered, and jerked his head, silently telling Dave to take a hike.

  Dave got the message. “Right. Well, I’ve got a few calls to make, so I’d better let you get on with your tour. Nice to see you here, Bella. Hope we see you again soon.”

  Bella watched him go, then turned to look at Jesse. “I like your friend.”

  “But not me,” he added for her.

  “Does it matter?” she asked and her voice was almost lost in the bustle of the office.

  Yeah, it mattered. He wasn’t sure why and he didn’t like acknowledging the fact, even to himself. So he for damn sure wasn’t going to let her know how he felt. That woman had enough power over him already.

  “Let me show you my office,” he said instead.

  “Oh, Mr. King,” a woman called out as she hurried up to meet them. “We’ve just heard back on the surfing exhibition plans. The city’s approved everything and your guests have all agreed to take part.”

  “Good news, Sue,” Jesse said, catching the gleam of curiosity in Bella’s eyes. “Put a call in to Wiki, will you? Tell him I’ll be getting in touch with him by tomorrow.”

  “Will do.” The woman hurried off, the tap of her heels swallowed by the bustling noise of the busy office.

  “Wiki?” Bella asked as Jesse took her arm and steered her toward his office at the back of the long, wide room.

  “Danny Wikiloa,” he said, opening the door for her. Once inside, he closed the door before adding, “He’s a professional surfer. We competed against each other for years. He’s coming into town in two weeks for the exhibition. Doing it as a favor to me, actually, since he’s retired, too.”

  “The exhibition,” she murmured. “Everyone in town has been talking about it for days.”

  He stuffed both hands into his jeans pockets as he watched her wander the perimeter of his office. She noticed everything, pausing to look at the framed photos of different beaches. She hardly glanced at his surfing trophies, which stung a bit, but she seemed fascinated by the one wall where photos of his family were hanging.

  “It’s going to be fun,” he said, walking over to join her. “Ten of the world’s best surfers giving a one-day exhibition.”

  “You miss it, don’t you? The competition, I mean.”

  He hadn’t really admitted it to anyone else, but, “Yeah, I do. I like winning.”

  She nodded. “Not surprising. The whole King family is like that, aren’t they?”

  “Pretty much,” he said and turned his back on the family photos so he could look instead at Bella. “We enjoy competing and we don’t lose gracefully.”

  She tipped her head to one side, looked at him and said, “You can’t always win.”

  “Don’t see why not.”

  “You really don’t, do you?”

  “Nope,” he told her and took the single step separating them. Standing alongside her, he looked up at the family photos and waved one hand at them. “Not a single one of those people is the type to settle for second place.”

  “Sometimes you don’t have a choice,” Bella said softly.

  “There’s always a choice, Bella.” Jesse glanced at one familiar face and then another as he said, “The King family decided a long time ago that the only people who lose are the ones who expect to. We expect to win, so we do.”

  “Easy as that?”

  He looked down at her and found her staring up at him. Those chocolate-brown eyes of hers looked deep and dark and filled with secrets. Secrets he wanted to know. To share. Lifting one hand, he cupped her cheek and said, “I never said it was easy. But winning shouldn’t be. Takes all the fun out of it if everyone could do it.”

  “And fun’s important to you, too,” she said, stepping back, away from his touch, away from him.

  “Should be important to everyone,” he said, his palm still tingling from the touch of her skin against his. “What’s life if you don’t enjoy it? Hell, why do anything if you don’t enjoy it?”

  “And you enjoy what you do now?”

  “Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “I didn’t think I would, you know. Never planned to be the suit-wearing guy, Mr. Businessman. But I’m good at it.”

  She looked toward the closed office door and the busy office b
eyond. “Yes, I guess you are.”

  “See, I’m enjoying this. We’re agreeing on things.”

  “Don’t get used to it,” she told him wryly.

  “Why not? We could make a great team, Bella.”

  She laughed a little. “We’re so not a team, Jesse.”

  This was it, he thought. The moment. Time to slide an offer in here while she was still impressed by her tour. While she still liked him a little. It struck him then that he’d never had to work so hard to get a woman to like him. “We could be. Think about it. King Beach. Bella’s Beachwear. A match made in heaven.”

  She stilled, slid an uneasy look at him and asked, “What kind of match?”

  “Well, I wasn’t going to bring this up so soon, but I don’t like waiting, either. So I’ll get right to it.” He walked to his desk and leaned back against it. Through the wide window behind him, the sun splashed down on the view of Morgan Beach and the ocean stretching out to the horizon. “I want to buy Bella’s Beachwear.”

  Six

  “No.” Bella blurted the word out instinctively.

  “Jeez.” He came up off the desk and took a step toward her. “At least let me finish my sentence.”

  “No need to, I’m not for sale.” She should have known. Should have guessed that he was softening her up for something. She’d allowed herself to relax around him. All right, she’d actually been enjoying herself. The touch of his hand, that wicked smile of his, the way he seemed to focus so intently on her. All that had combined to weaken her defenses and now she was going to pay.

  “I’m not trying to buy you, Bella. Just your business.”

  “That’s what you don’t get, Jesse. I am my business.” Irritated, hurt and just a little angry at herself for walking into this mess, she continued, “You want to buy my swimwear, but to you it’s just that. Bathing suits. Stick them on a rack, sell them to the masses.”

  Both his eyebrows rose. “There’s something wrong with selling your product to people who want it?”

  “No, but I’m not interested in the quick, easy sale.” She took a deep breath, fisted her hands at her sides and tried once again to get through his hard head. “I’m interested in the whole woman. Helping ordinary women build their self-esteem. You’re interested in making the young and skinny feel pretty. Well, guess what, they already do.”