Without giving her a chance to react, he covered Headley’s sinful mouth with his and thrust his tongue inside.
He was tired of hearing her bad mouth him. He had warned her about what would happen if she didn’t stop. Now it was time for Headley learn what trouble she could get into when she didn’t listen.
Chapter Three
Desperately, Headley tried to listen to the voice screaming in the back of her mind to push Troy away, but it was as if her arms wouldn’t work. A part of her hated the fact that Troy was kissing her. However, the other half loved it. All of her secret fantasies were coming true.
The slow stroking of his tongue inside her mouth sent tiny tremors through her body. Little by little, her traitorous body was turning into a puddle of mush.
Why did she have to want the man who was single handedly trying to take away her family’s legacy? No, she couldn’t let this happen…not with Troy Christian of all people.
“Let me help you,” his warm breath whispered against her mouth. ‘You can’t handle Douglas’ problems by yourself. It’s too much for you. You need me and we both know it.”
You need me!!!!! Those words were all Headley heard in her head and it only took her a split second to react. Placing her hands on Troy’s warm, hard chest, she shoved him away until there was space between their bodies.
“No, I don’t need your help. Your interference is what got my father into this mess in the first place,” she snapped.
Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth, Headley stepped away from Troy. She couldn’t let him see how badly his kiss had bothered her. He already had the upper hand. It wouldn’t do her any good for him to get another advantage over her.
“I’m not going to say this again. Stop kissing me. I don’t like it,” she lied, hoping that Troy didn’t notice how fast her heart was beating through her shirt.
If he knew how much further she truly wanted to take that one little kiss, she’d be in real trouble. Without a doubt, she knew he would have kissed her again and would not have stopped until they both got what they desired. She watched as Troy moved around his desk and took a seat on the edge.
He was so damn sexy! How was it possible for one man to look this good after so many years? She was such a liar. She did want him.
However, she couldn’t let her emotions control her. Troy wouldn’t seduce her with stolen touches here and there into getting what he wanted. This was business between them and nothing else.
She wasn’t a sixteen year old girl anymore, in love with her gorgeous neighbor across the field. She was a grown ass woman who had come home to help her sick father out of this horrible situation. After everything was taken care of, she was going back to New York.
“Headley….” Troy uttered as he slid off the corner of his desk and slowly sauntered towards her, but stopped mere inches from her throbbing body. His eyes were so intense, they resembled shining sapphires.
“I mean it,” she hissed, stepping back until her legs hit the back of a table in the middle of the room. “Keep your lips, hands or any other part of your body off mine.”
Troy’s eyes narrowed on her face. “Fine, I’ll never force my lips or any other part of my body on you again, Ms. Rose.” He flung back. “All you’ll get from me now is a handshake after I get the hundred thousand dollars you owe me.”
Headley barely caught herself in time before she almost fainted. That wasn’t the amount he had given her earlier. How in the hell did the amount jump up like that? What in the hell kind of game was he playing with her?
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s no way he owes you that much money. Hell, you keep making the price of his debt higher and higher. I know for sure now you aren’t being a hundred percent honest with me.”
Without the slightest warning, Troy closed the remaining distance between them and her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t know what he was going to do next. He looked pissed and ready for a battle.
From the unblinking stare that he was giving her, it couldn’t be good. She was more than nervous that Troy might ignore her warning, because if he placed those sculptured lips of his on her mouth this time, she wouldn’t be able to tell him no.
Headley tried to swallow, but Troy was so close that she couldn’t even breathe. The scent of his aftershave was doing things to her body that were probably illegal in some states.
“Princess, I’ve warned you about saying things that you can’t take back,” Troy whispered running his finger down the side of her neck. “Most people would do practically anything to get out of that kind of arrears.”
“I don’t have any other choice but to do what I’ve got to in order to save my father’s business.” Headley muttered and then gasped when Troy’s fingers toyed with the buttons on her sweater.
In the back of her mind, she wondered if Troy sensed her hidden attraction to him. She doubted that he did because, being the devil he was, Troy would use it to his advantage. He was just messing with her and they both knew it.
“We all have choices but making the right choice is usually the problem,” he answered, stepping away from her and taking his body heat with him. “Are you ready to make the right one?”
“What are you talking about?” Headley responded.
Walking away from her, Troy went back over to his desk and took his seat behind it. He leaned back in the seat, propped his feet up and crossed his ankles on the smooth surface. “You’ve bet me on numerous occasions that you’ll have Douglas’ debt paid off, but you haven’t heard my terms. If you don’t have my money by the agreed date, are you ready to hear my side of the bet?”
“Terms…what terms?”
”Headley, a bet usually has two sides: a winner and a loser,” Troy chuckled crossing his hands. “I’ve heard your side, now it’s time for you to hear mine.”
Headley wanted with everything in her to tell Troy where he could go, but she couldn’t.
Her father was still in the hospital and the doctors didn’t know when he was going to wake up. It went without saying that he wouldn’t be able to clean up this mess without her help.
However, she got the feeling whatever Troy was about to tell her would change the rest of her life.
“I’m ready for anything you’re going to toss my way,” Headley said with more bravado that she actually felt.
He gave her a smug smile that shouldn’t have sent her pulse racing, but did. “Alright, Ms. Rose. My end of the bet is that if you lose and can’t pay the amount in full back, you’ve got to marry me.”
Troy sat in silence while a display of emotions from surprise to utter horror passed across Headley’s beautiful face. He didn’t know if he should accept her reaction or be pissed that the thought of being married to him disgusted her that badly.
Shit, he was a damn good catch. Half the women in Paris, Texas wanted to be with him. Headley should be thrilled that he had proposed marriage in the first place.
She was being too silent. This just wasn’t the vocal woman he knew and secretly loved. He had to find out what was going on in that head of hers.
“What, no flippant comment?” He taunted. “I was expecting more out of you.”
“You can’t be serious. Why would you ever think I would marry you? We haven’t done anything but fight since I came back to town,” Headley gasped; stunned that Troy would even bring up such a suggestion.
“I’m dead serious, Headley. I need a woman in my home, life and bed. I think you would be the perfect choice. I wouldn’t have to worry about you begging for my attention all the time. Plus, a small part of me wants to stick it to you.”
Headley was having a hard time processing all of this. Why did Troy want to get back at her? What had she ever done to him? Lord….she hadn’t even been in his presence for over ten years.
“Stick it to me…that doesn’t make any sense. I’ve never done anything to you.”
“Oh, but you did,” Troy growled. “You walked around town like y
ou were too good to even speak to me. When you were with your friends and saw me coming towards you, you would turn and walk the other way. I might have been older than you, but it still hurt.”
Did Troy really not know the reasons behind her sudden departure all those times? Surely, he had to have known that she had fantasies about him. All of her friends would tease her constantly about her feelings for her sexy, older neighbor.
“Headley, are you paying attention to me?” he snapped.
“Yeah, I’m listening, but I’m not liking what I’m hearing,” Headley tossed back. “I’m not going to agree to this. You can take you offer and shove it up your conceited ass.”
“Have I told you how much I love a passionate woman?” Troy asked, dropping his feet back down on the floor. “You’re going to take my offer because you aren’t going to have any other choice. I’ll give you until the end of the month to get me my money, but I know you won’t. So, you better be ready to have a wedding in your future.”
She wasn’t going to let Troy bully her into this, no matter how many times she dreamt of what it would be like to have a relationship with him. He had to understand that he couldn’t always get what he wanted by threatening people. It might work on most of the people he knew, but it wasn’t about to work on her.
“I don’t think so. I’m not ever going to be Mrs. Troy Christian and the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”
“You love challenging me, don’t you?” Troy inquired, getting up from his seat. “I’ve never been a man who has backed down from anything in my life. I love conquering new things, and Headley, I want to take control of you.”
He wouldn’t have to try that hard to make me fall for him, she thought. I’m halfway there already.
“Keep dreaming, Troy.” She tossed back, hoping she came off calmer than she felt. “Like I said, there won’t be a marriage between us. I’ll make sure of it.”
Troy gave her a predatory smile as he strolled towards her. “Do you know what I’m going to do on our honeymoon?” He asked, pausing an arm’s length away from her body.
“No….what?” she whispered, anticipating what Troy was about to tell her.
“I’m going to kiss you until the only thing you can do is say yes, Troy. You won’t have the strength to fight me about anything after I finish making love to you. Now, go on, try to win your side of the bet. However, I’ve no doubt in my mind that I’m going to win.”
Headley’s body heated up at Troy’s challenge. Why was she so attracted to the bad boy…no man in front of her? One thing about Troy, he was a GROWN ASS man and he knew it.
For years she couldn’t keep a man in her life because she compared them to the image of Troy she keep in her mind. God…how was she ever going to be able to get through this bet? She couldn’t let him know how much she wanted him.
Troy fed on dominating people and she couldn’t let him have that ultimate power over her. He was so perfect in so many ways, but she had to stay focused and get her father out of this mess and rush back to New York as fast as she could.
“What makes you think that I don’t already have a boyfriend waiting back for me in New York?” She tossed out, trying to save what part of her senses that she had left.
“I know for a fact that you don’t.”
“You seem awful smug with your answer,” Headley commented. “I could have a boyfriend and all of this would have been for nothing.”
“I’m so smug because I know that if you were my woman, I wouldn’t let you leave New York and come all the way to Paris without me.”
“I’m not a piece of property that anyone owns. I can come and go as I please.”
“Yeah….you say that now because you haven’t found a man you can’t be without,” Troy stated. “But once we’re married, you won’t be able to go anywhere alone because you’ll always want me at your side.”
Headley couldn’t believe that Troy had such little faith in her. She was going to get the money back to him with time to spare. He was going to eat the words he just said to her. Troy was ruthless when it came to business, but she was just as ruthless when it came to her father.
“You’re mouth has a lot to say, but most of it is worth nothing. Can’t you find something better to do with it than taunted me?”
She realized her mistake a second too late as Troy reached out and yanked her into his arms, quickly covering her mouth with his. His lips were hard and searching while his tongue explored the recess of her mouth.
Headley wanted to fight, but she couldn’t. The kiss was sending the pit of her stomach into a whirlwind, like she was on a roller coaster ride and she didn’t want to get off. It had been such a long time since her body had got turned on from just a mere kiss.
“Stop fighting this,” Troy’s breath whispered against her mouth. “We both know that you want me. Just succumb to me, and I promise that I can wipe every other man from your memory.”
Grabbing her hips, Troy yanked her tight against his body as his cock pressed into her stomach, demanding attention. “I’ve never been this hard for another woman. Let me have you. Stop being so strong willed. We’ll be so good together plus once we get married, Douglas’ debt will be paid in full.”
Headley’s body flinched as if she had been doused with cold water. She couldn’t believe the words that just came out of Troy’s mouth. He thought she would have sex with him just to get rid of her father’s problems. What in the hell was wrong with him?
A suffocating sensation tightened her throat as she shoved Troy away from her. She shouldn’t blame him for thinking she would give in to him when he offered her some sex. It wasn’t like women him off when he kissed them.. He was probably used to charming his way into a woman’s bed, but she couldn’t let herself become one of them.
She had come home to take care of business and nothing else. “I wouldn’t book the church if I were you, because you aren’t going to win. I’ll take your bet and I’m very confident things will work out in my favor.”
Going around his body, Headley snatched the file Troy had given her up off his desk and made her way towards the door. She was halfway out the door when Troy’s deep voice yelled behind her, “I want you to wear white on our wedding day.”
Headley’s steps didn’t falter as she hurried for the elevator because all she could think about was how she had to win this bet at all costs. There was no way in hell that she could become Mrs. Troy Christian.
Chapter Four
“Hey daddy, how are you doing today?” Headley asked as she took a seat in the chair by her father’s bed. Placing her hand on top of his, she tried not to cry, as Douglas Rose didn’t answer her. The doctors had warned her before she came in that her father was still in a coma, but she didn’t want to believe it.
After her trying day with Troy yesterday, she wanted some good news, but it didn’t seem like she was going to get any here. It pained her to see her strong father connected to all of those tubes.
Her father didn’t look his seventy-six years at all. Jet black curly hair covered his head with just a hint of gray in it. His face was strong without a wrinkle to show his true age. She remembered how her mother used to tease her father unmercifully about how he took care of himself by working out six days a week and used sunscreen anytime he went out to work with the other ranch hands.
Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of losing her last living parent.
She hadn’t been able to keep in close touch with her dad over the years because of her job, but she never missed calling him on his birthday or all the holidays. Why hadn’t he told her that he needed money? Douglas was never a man who asked for help, so what made him go to Troy for help?
“Daddy, I know that you can hear me. You’ve got to be able to hear me. I’m going to get you out of this mess. I won’t let Troy win.”
Leaning over, Headley placed a kiss on her father’s cheek. “Listen, I’ve got to go and see about getting a job. I don’t have enough money
in my savings to completely pay off Troy, but I’m going to get a job while I’m here. So, when you wake up, you won’t have anything to worry about except getting better.”
She squeezed her father’s hand one last time and quickly stood up. It was so hard for her to see her father, who was once so full of life, lying so still in this hospital bed. Despite what Troy said, she knew he had a hand in this and she so disappointed in herself for responding to his kiss yesterday. No…regret wasn’t the right word, she felt downright guilty.
“Okay…enough of this. I’ve got to take control and get this done. Troy may be a tycoon, but neither his money nor his power is going to make me bend,” she swore as she left her father’s hospital room.
“Tommy, I swear I can do this job. Come on, we’ve known each other since third grade. I need money and I know this job will help me save it up faster. I don’t mind working the late hours.”
“I’m not sure about this,” Tommy Cook sighed, drumming his fingers against the bar countertop. “I got this club because of Troy. I don’t want to get on his bad side. He could close me down for helping you. I still have two more payments on the money I borrowed from him.”
“See…that’s what I’m talking about,” Headley snapped. “Troy uses his power to make people scared of him. He did that to my father, and now he’s in a hospital bed.”
“Surely you aren’t suggesting that Troy put Douglas in that room. God…Headley, Troy was always the one who came and picked up your father when he had one too many beers. Troy is a good man. Yeah, he can be a little hard at times, but when someone needs help, he’s there for them.”
“Stop calling my father a drunk. You’re sounding like Troy. My dad wouldn’t turn to liquor to solve his problems. I don’t want to hear about this anymore. Do I have the job or not?”
“Headley, you’re too overqualified to be a waitress….but I do need the help,” Tommy sighed looking at her. “When can you start?”
“Can I start tonight?” Headley asked standing up from her seat. “Let me go home and change clothes, and I’ll be right back.”
Dangerous Bet: Troy's Revenge: Tycoon Club Series Page 2