Did she want him to show restraint? Her skin hummed at the memory of his mouth moving over it.
Around Dominic she seemed to lose all sense of proportion.
And it was happening again because she needed to tell someone about those damn letters and he was here.
She sucked in a shaky breath. “I did read the letters on the train.” He frowned and leaned forward. “And?”
She shoved a hand through her hair. Dominic’s eyes wandered to her lifted chest, then blinked innocently back to her face. Her skin heated.
“Tarrant paid my father a hundred thousand dollars.”
“That’s not peanuts.” Dominic sipped his wine.
“And it wasn’t Tarrant’s idea.” She paused and inhaled. “It was my dad’s.” Butterflies tickled her stomach. “He did it for me.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed. “To get you the job?”
“No! I was still in grad school at that point. Had no idea what I’d end up doing. He did it to pay off my college loans. In one of the letters he tells Tarrant it would mean a lot to him for me to start out life without debt to worry about. To be able to follow my dreams without owing anyone anything.”
“Damn.” Dominic sat back in his chair. “And here you are, turning your life upside down to get back the work he sold to buy your freedom.”
She blinked. Bit her lip. “Yes.”
“So now you’ll agree with me that he’d want you to drop the whole suit idea. Right?”
“It’s obnoxious to ask a question that assumes a particular answer.”
He put his elbows on the table. “You already know I’m rude. It’s part of my charm. And I do want you to agree with me.”
“It’s not that simple.”
He stared at her, his eyes almost black in shadows from the overhead light. “Your mother.”
She nodded. “The only time she brightens up and shows any interest in life is when I talk about reclaiming dad’s work. If I give up on that, she’ll give up on life.”
“What’s wrong with her? How did it start?”
Bella hugged herself. Her skin felt cold. “After my dad died early last year, she just seemed to disconnect from everything. From everyone.” She inhaled slowly. “I had a job at a nanotechnology lab in Northern California. I was totally immersed in my work, at the lab almost eighteen hours a day. Then I got a phone call from our neighbor that she hadn’t been eating. That she didn’t answer the phone. She was acting strange.”
She shivered. “So I flew back here and found she was dehydrated and almost starving. She hadn’t been out of the house for three weeks.” Her voice started to crack. “I called a doctor. I didn’t know what else to do. And they had her committed right away.”
Hot tears spilled onto her cheeks. “I shouldn’t have called. I shouldn’t have let them take her. She went into the hospital and never came out.” Her words emerged on a shaky sob. “What if she never leaves?”
She covered her eyes. She was so ashamed of what she’d done. Handing her own mother over to an authority figure as if she were a stray dog she’d found in the yard. She was anxious to get back to the experiment she’d left behind. She’d figured a week or two later, her mom would be better.
Dominic’s big, warm arm closed around her back. “Hey, you did what you thought was best. She’ll be fine.”
She tried not to lean into his reassuring strength. “Don’t say that when you don’t know if it’s true.”
She tried to get her breathing under control. “A month later she was still in the hospital and showing no signs of improvement. I quit my job and moved back here. I told her I was at the house, waiting for her to come home. I was sure that would bring her back.” She let out a shuddering breath. “But it didn’t. She kept murmuring about how my dad would be alive if it wasn’t for Tarrant Hardcastle.”
His hard cheek was only inches from hers, his expression impossible to read. She stared at the scarred pine surface of the table. “One day I said something aloud about suing to get Dad’s work back—I wasn’t even serious, just talking, filling the air with sound—and she sat up and grabbed my wrist, with more passion in her eyes than I’d seen in months. How could I not at least try?”
She realized her fists were clenched so tight her nails dug into her palm. “She wants so badly to get his work back from the man she blamed for his death.” She glanced up at him, expecting to see censure in his dark eyes, but she couldn’t gauge his reaction in the dim light. “And so did I.”
She tried to inhale, to calm down. “Now that I’ve read Dad’s letters—”
“You know you were wrong.”
She was about to finally admit it with a yes, when a sharp thought slashed into her mind.
What if the letters were a front? The public face of a dirty deal, written under duress to look pretty in the files?
It wasn’t impossible. Tarrant Hardcastle was a showman to the core.
“What do you want to do?” He pushed a damp strand of hair from her cheek with his fingers. His soft touch stung her skin.
“I want to get my mom well. Bring her home, of course.” Her harsh tone grated against her ears. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you, I’m just—”
“Upset. Hey, anyone would be.”
“You think I’m crazy.” She brushed the tears off her cheeks and blinked them out of her eyes.
“I don’t think you’re crazy. I think you’re caring.”
He didn’t take his hand from her hair. Instead he let his fingers roam down to cup her cheek. Rubbed a trail of moisture away with the pad of his thumb. “I also think you need to finish this world-class dinner you made for us, then you need to get some sleep.”
With me.
The unspoken words hovered around her and made her crave his embrace, even after he’d said he would soon be gone.
Even though he was the boss’s son and he knew she was a fraud, a liar, and—now she had those letters—maybe even a thief.
Seven
D ominic’s whole body, every cell, nerve and strip of muscle tissue ached to wrap itself around Bella. He wanted to press his skin to hers and make love to her until she lay in his arms, panting, glowing, and totally relaxed.
But he couldn’t.
Bella was under extreme stress, her mother very sick in the hospital. Her job, which was no doubt paying her mother’s hefty bills, was now under threat because he’d taken it upon himself to warn Tarrant about her plans.
He stiffened and pulled his fingers from her soft hair.
Her body swayed toward him as if she didn’t want him to let go. But he had to. If he took advantage of her now, he was no better than his father, who used women then left them to fend for themselves when they needed him the most.
The temptation was fierce, though. His skin burned with it.
Bella’s tears had dried and her usual self-possession returned. Her gray eyes regarded him with cool passion. She smoothed a hand over the front of her dress, pulling the fabric tight over her beautiful, full breasts. The gesture an unmistakable invitation.
His groin throbbed and he fought the urge to cup her breasts and run his hand over her belly. That taut cupid’s bow of a mouth begged to be kissed until it was flushed, breathless and quivering.
Dominic cleared his throat and stood up.
If he didn’t get out of here this minute he was going to unzip that dress, rip it off, and make love to her right here on the kitchen floor.
“I need to call a cab.” His voice was thick.
She looked up, eyes wide. “You don’t have to.”
“I think it would be better for both of us if I left now.” He ran a hot hand through his hair and glanced around for his jacket.
Bella rose from her chair, pushing herself up with her palms on the table. Just the movement of her body in the air next to him sent desire snapping through him. Every sense on alert, he picked up her scent, rich and subtle, with a distinct hint of sex.
He backed up, pressing hims
elf to the wall as she moved past him. Her hip brushed against the wool of his pants, the skirt of her dress splaying on the fabric. He fought the urge to grab it and clutch it in his hands, to take her.
“You could sleep on the couch.” She crossed her arms under her chest, which only enhanced its jutting temptation.
Dominic dragged his eyes away and fixed them on the floral sofa with its embroidered pillows. “I don’t think I’d fit.”
Her gaze stirred sparks under his skin as it traveled from his broad shoulders, down his torso, and along the length of his thighs and calves.
She frowned. “I see what you mean.” She hesitated. Bit her delicious lower lip. “You could sleep upstairs. In my parents’ bedroom. There’s no one there.” She shoved her hair off her face. “Well, you knew that. Just that it’s a long ride back to the city and the trains don’t run often at this time of night.” He could see her face heating.
She didn’t want him to leave. Maybe she didn’t want to be alone after the bad news about her mom.
“Sure.” He stood there, not sure quite what to do, which was a damned strange feeling for him.
He wasn’t going to have sex with her, not if he had an ounce of self-control left in his body. “It’s one o’clock. I’m tired.” He lied. He needed to get a closed door between him and Bella.
“Oh, sure, sorry. It’s been a long day. I lose track of the time. I don’t sleep much.” She moved to gather their plates off the table but he beat her to it and carried them to the sink.
“What do you do all night?” He couldn’t resist asking.
“Read, mostly. Research abstracts, that kind of thing. It’s hard to keep on top of a field that changes so fast.”
“You really are all work and no play, aren’t you?”
“I play.” The overhead light caught her face as she turned to him in protest.
“How?” He felt his expression soften. He could think of plenty of games he’d like to play with her.
His eyes drifted down the length of her legs, to her slender ankles and her pretty bare feet with their unpainted nails.
Monopoly would be good. He’d like to monopolize her naked body for the whole weekend.
Or Chess. He’d like to bury his face in her chest and…
“I’d better hit the sack,” he muttered, stretching. His arousal jutted ungracefully against his pants. Lucky thing she was too much of a lady to look.
“Sure, follow me.”
He couldn’t keep his eyes off the swish of her hips as she climbed the stairs.
He tried—unsuccessfully—to avoid gazing down her cleavage as they leaned in from opposite sides to stretch a clean fitted sheet over the mattress.
Their eyes met and the strange expression on her face caught him off guard.
“It seems kind of silly to sleep in separate rooms when we’ve already…” She licked her lip, nervous.
Temptation tugged at Dominic like a thick rope. It was hard to believe their two sweaty bodies had been entwined only a few hours earlier.
But since then everything had changed. He’d gone from being her ally to being her betrayer.
“I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you. Neither of us would get any sleep.”
No lie there.
The disappointment in her face shoved that rusty dagger of guilt deeper into his belly. His arms burned to hold her, to soothe her worries. He wanted to tell her everything would be all right.
But as she’d pointed out, he shouldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep. And it was unlikely things would work out “all right” for Bella, now that he’d told Tarrant about her.
Bella lay still dressed on top of the covers. Her heart raced and her head pounded with an insistent ache.
Dominic didn’t want to touch her.
Didn’t want to see her.
Couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with her.
And could she blame him?
Although the cosmetics lab at Hardcastle was not the place she’d dreamed of working when she got her degrees, the company had given her the opportunity to bring together cutting-edge equipment and highly trained staff to perform experiments that were groundbreaking.
And she repaid Tarrant’s trust by duping him and sneaking around with her own agenda. And by seducing his newfound son into keeping her secrets.
Adrenaline stung her fingers and toes and drove her off the bed. No way would she get any sleep with Dominic in the house. His presence on the other side of the wall was a painful reminder that she didn’t deserve intimacy, or the trust it implied.
She pushed the door open, praying the hinge wouldn’t creak, then tiptoed down the stairs, making sure to avoid the noisy spot on the third step from the bottom.
She heard rustling, as if Dominic was turning in bed. Was he asleep? Or wakeful and restless like her?
She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d undressed down to the dark jersey boxers she’d torn off that afternoon, then cursed herself for the superficial thought.
Of course he didn’t want to touch her again. She’d thrown herself at him during lunch, so strung out on desire and arousal and painful loneliness that he didn’t even need to make the first move.
He’d accommodated her desperation, too much a gentleman to embarrass her with a refusal.
She turned the smooth-operating latch on the front door. The cool night air tickled her skin and a breeze flicked through her hair. She closed the door and sat on the steps between the two cascading fountains of white angel’s trumpets.
Their sweet, rich scent filled her senses, intoxicating, arousing—its source a potent hallucinogen and deadly poison. Sometimes the loveliest and most alluring things were the most dangerous of all.
The door swished open behind her and she leaped off the steps, heart pounding. “What are you—?”
They spoke the words at the same time.
“I just needed some air.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, self-conscious in the long T-shirt she wore as a nightie.
Moonlight illuminated the strained expression on his handsome face. “I have to go. I remembered some business I need to take care of.”
“After midnight?” She couldn’t keep a hint of wry sarcasm out of her voice.
Dominic shoved a hand through his rumpled dark hair. “First thing in the morning. I took off up here without any of my stuff. My phone needs charging.”
So. He was done with her. He’d followed her because he’d guessed she found the letters. Now he knew what they said—that they confirmed what he’d assumed all along—he had no further need to be here.
“Were you planning to walk to the station?” She held herself steady. Tried to act calm. Cool. “It’s nearly ten miles.”
“I didn’t want to wake you.” He rubbed at the front of his rumpled white shirt as if scratching an itch. She saw glint of metal in his other hand.
Her keys.
“So you thought you’d just take my car?” Her voice emerged on a rush of breath.
“I left you money to get a cab to the station in the morning.”
She stood, speechless for a moment, until raw indignation took over. “I don’t need your money. I earn a good salary, as you’ve pointed out. And since I’m up, I can drive you if you need to get away from here that urgently.”
“You’re not dressed.” His dark eyes drifted over her baggy T-shirt. She couldn’t see his expression in the dark, but her skin stirred. She cursed her instant reaction to him.
“I’ll put some jeans on,” she turned for the door.
“No.” He grabbed her arm.
She ignored the rush of heat as his fingers closed around it. No doubt he felt her instant and humiliating reaction, for he dropped her arm as if it burned him.
His eyes narrowed. “I’d rather drive myself.”
“I understand.” She forced the words between her lips.
She understood completely. He didn’t want to be anywhere near her.
“Get some sle
ep.” He stared at her for a moment, his expression hidden in the darkness, then turned and strode for the car, where it stood on the driveway.
Goose bumps rose over Bella’s skin and her breath came in unsteady gulps. She turned and rushed back inside the house. What was she thinking, asking him to stay? What happened between them at lunch was an aberration, an accident. He didn’t want to spend time with her, he just wanted to stop her from hurting his father.
What kind of person was she to launch a scheme to sue a dying man?
Of course she didn’t know he was dying a year ago, when she started her quest to regain her father’s life’s work. But she did now. She’d been so focused on putting her plan into action she hadn’t stopped to take changing circumstances into account.
And now she’d found out that her father willingly offered his research to Tarrant—to pay for her schooling? She leaned against the closed door as her car engine roared off into the night. Pain soaked through her as she pressed herself against the hard wood and dug her nails into her palms.
She deserved Dominic’s scorn.
Worst of all, she couldn’t even gather up the remaining shreds of her dignity and abandon her traitorous role at Hardcastle. The project her team had put countless hours of overtime and dedication into was coming to fruition right now. If she quit she’d leave her department in the lurch and delay production and marketing of ReNew, souring their efforts as well as her own, and compounding her crimes against the company.
No, she’d made her bed and now she had to lie in it.
Alone.
Tarrant let his spoon clatter to the plate as Dominic left the room. His breakfast lox tasted like old shoe leather. “How can someone so smart be so…bullheaded?”
“Because he’s just like his father.” Fiona didn’t look up from her magazine.
“Your own brother wants to let a Mata Hari in a lab coat sniff around in our midst, all because her old mother is moldering away in some mental ward? Call me cold-hearted—”
“You’re coldhearted.” Fiona winked and took a sip of her coffee. “If you weren’t, you’d be letting me take over the company and not searching for all the other fruit of your fertile loins.”
Millionaire s Secret Seduction Page 10