A Cinderella Affair

by A. C. Arthur

  “Why don’t you tell me why you really want to hold on to this house. You have no intention of living there, so what—do you want it to be like some sort of shrine to your father’s memory?”

  She did pull away from him then. “You don’t know anything about me or my father. You’re just used to getting your way. Well, it’s not going to happen this time.”

  Before Adam could say another word he was watching the enticing sway of her hips as she walked out of the restaurant. Damn, that woman infuriated him. And made him hard as hell.

  Chapter 2

  “So who is she?” Trenton Donovan asked gruffly.

  Adam shifted on the couch. They were in his oldest brother, Linc’s office, on the top floor of the Gramercy Casino. Max had obviously called this little meeting and so was sitting in one of the deep leather chairs across the room while Trent stood near the window, his hands thrust into his pockets as he glared at Adam. Linc was sitting behind his desk being uncharacteristically quiet. But then, Adam sighed, he’d only been in here for about five minutes.

  After being left standing like a fool in the middle of the restaurant Adam had ditched the idea of returning to his condo on the outskirts of Vegas and decided to get a room at the hotel. Of course he had no difficulty getting one and as he’d retrieved his key from the clerk at the front desk he’d also received a message to come to Linc’s office immediately.

  So that’s why he was here. Not by any choice of his own because if he had his choice he’d have been in a nice comfy room with a big bed and a beautiful, if high-strung, woman.

  With that thought he frowned oblivious to his audience’s extreme pleasure.

  “Wow, she’s that bad, huh?” Max asked. “So where does the deal stand?”

  Adam dragged a hand down his face and attempted a casual response. “She’s not that bad and the deal isn’t dead.” He had no idea why he’d said that. It was a blatant contradiction to what Camille had told him just before walking away.

  “She changed her mind?”

  “Who is she?”

  Trent and Max spoke simultaneously and Linc chuckled. “Give him a second to get his bearings, guys. He looks like he’s had a pretty eventful dinner.”

  Normally Adam and Max tended to side against the two older Donovans. Tonight it seemed that all three of them were against him. He didn’t miss the unspoken words that had the other Donovan men watching him carefully. “What’s up? She’s Randolph Davis’s daughter just like she said. And she’s not entirely sold on the idea of getting rid of her father’s house. But I plan to change her mind,” he said decisively.

  It was Max’s turn to frown this time. “How do you plan to do that? She looked quite decided when she left the conference room. I don’t know why you even offered to put her up for the night. Meeting with her again tomorrow is most likely not going to change anything.”

  Adam swore and the three pair of eyes that were already watching him closely moved in on him.

  “We’re not meeting with her tomorrow?” Max asked.

  “Yes. We are.” Adam stood. He hadn’t gotten around to setting a time and place for tomorrow because he’d been so into the simple conversation he and Camille were having. She’d been the one to bring up business and she’d been the one to end their evening. He hadn’t been given much of an opportunity to say anything and at this moment that was really pissing him off.

  “Camille Davis. Her name sounds familiar,” Linc said as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin.

  “You may have heard of her company, CK Davis Designs,” Adam said absently. He went to the small bar on the other side of the office and fixed himself a drink. His mind whirled with all the things he hadn’t had a chance to say to Camille. He’d already decided he was going to say his piece, and since he was putting her up in this hotel for the night, she was going to go through with their meeting tomorrow. She wouldn’t be happy to hear that but he didn’t rightfully care. This was business. He should never have let the personal interfere, no matter how desirable and totally kissable she appeared.

  “She’s the C.K. Davis? That’s a multi-million-dollar company. Her stocks are through the roof and the winter line she’s debuting in a couple of weeks is reputed to be her best yet. She’s a definite powerhouse in the fashion industry.” Max had stood and was now pacing the floor. “She’ll never sell that house. She doesn’t need the money so there’s no reason for her to sell. At least the stepmother is greedy so we have something to work with there, but the daughter is going to be trouble.”

  “Calm down, Max.” Adam took a long swallow of his brandy. “I’m going to close this deal.”

  “If she’s a designer and she’s rich I could probably dig up some dirt on her. That’ll make her cooperate.”

  Adam tossed Trent a searing look. “Don’t you dare! Your secret security skills are not required in this instance.” Trent always wanted to investigate somebody. He was an ex-Navy Seal and therefore tended to look at every situation as if it were a military deployment.

  Trent shrugged. “I’m just trying to help.”

  “Investigating someone’s personal life is not helping,” Adam argued.

  “Funny, you didn’t always feel that way,” Linc added.

  Adam sighed. “That was different. You were sleeping with Jade and she was staying in our parents’ house. We had a right to know everything about her.”

  Linc stood. “No. I had a right to know everything about her, not you.”

  Max interrupted. “For crying out loud, you and Jade are happily married. Can we please try to focus on the matter at hand?”

  Adam turned to Max. “We could focus on our business matters if you hadn’t brought them into the mix. You know how they are.”

  “Hey, we’re family,” Linc objected. “Whether or not we’re all in the same business doesn’t matter. If one needs help that’s what the rest of us are here for.”

  “But I don’t need any help,” Adam insisted.

  Linc crossed the room and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “If you’re going to try and convince a woman to change her mind you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

  “I usually don’t have any problems where women are concerned,” Adam said absently.

  Linc grinned. “Then that tells me that this is an unusual woman. In which case you might need more than our help.”

  Adam didn’t need anything but to see Camille Davis one more time.

  Not in that way, he convinced himself.

  He only wanted to tell her about the meeting tomorrow. At least that was the reason he’d taken the elevator to the tenth floor instead of the fifteenth where his room was.

  He knocked on the door determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. And then she answered.

  “Hello.”

  Her voice seemed small now that they were face to face. In the restaurant there had been plenty of background noise so he’d had no problem hearing her. She still wore the slacks and blouse she had on earlier but she’d taken off the jacket. The chocolaty brown skin of her bare arms showed and he had to take a deep breath before speaking.

  “Hi.” To his own ears his voice didn’t sound as confident as he would have liked so he looked over her shoulders for a momentary reprieve. “If you’re not busy I need to speak with you for a moment.”

  Camille wasn’t busy. In fact, she was just enjoying a minor pity party before he’d knocked. The moment she’d closed that door behind her an hour earlier she’d been hit with the biggest wave of disappointment she’d ever felt. She’d acted rude and selfishly to Adam Donovan, a man who had been nothing but nice to her since she’d crashed his meeting.

  She’d plopped down onto the couch, unable to enjoy the luxurious room he’d secured for her because she couldn’t get past the ill feelings towards his business deal and all that it stood for. He wanted to buy her father’s house, to take away the last memory she’d ever have of what being loved felt like.

&nbs
p; That was the reason she did not want to sell the house but she couldn’t tell Adam Donovan that. He’d never understand. He had a great family who apparently loved him very much. He couldn’t possibly relate to her holding on to a piece of property as a way of staying connected to her father.

  She’d already resigned herself to apologizing to him but thought she would at least have until tomorrow morning when she’d managed to secure herself a new outfit and a good night’s rest first. But he was here so there was no better time like the present.

  “No. I’m not busy at all. Come on in.” Stepping to the side she allowed him entrance and inhaled the scent of his cologne as he walked by. With an inward groan she berated herself for once more entertaining the silly notion that she could be attracted to a man like him.

  “We didn’t get a chance to talk about what time would be good for you to meet tomorrow,” Adam began as soon as he was in the sitting area of her room.

  “I know,” she started to say then felt herself fidgeting and pushed her hands behind her back so he wouldn’t glimpse her nervousness. “First, I should apologize for the way I left earlier. It was rude and unprofessional.”

  Adam looked shocked for a moment, then gave a half smile. “It’s okay. I’ve been told I can be a bit pushy at times. I apologize if I offended you.”

  “Oh, no.” Camille shook her head quickly. “You didn’t offend me. I mean, I shouldn’t have been offended by your questions. They were harmless. I just have a tendency to overreact sometimes.”

  “Really? So were you overreacting to having dinner with me or to the business we were discussing?”

  With a small jerk of her arms Camille demanded her hands be still. She squared her shoulders and was determined to look him straight in the eye and answer him. Adam Donovan did not make her nervous. There was no need for her to be. He was here on business. But here was in a hotel room where just a few feet away was a huge elegantly adorned bed.

  “I overreacted to your questions. At any rate, it’s over now. What time do you want to meet?” Before he could answer she put a hand up to stop him. “Keep in mind that I am only agreeing to this meeting because it was too late for me to get a flight back to L.A. and that was a part of our bargain. I don’t make a habit of going back on my word. It doesn’t mean that I’ve changed my mind about the sale.”

  He took a step closer to her and Camille felt her lungs struggling to take in air. Behind her back her hands clutched again.

  “You still haven’t heard my plans for the house, Camille.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice shaky and unfamiliar. He was only a couple of inches away now and his scent drifted around her, cloaking her until she felt like she was securely surrounded. He was looking at her strangely, his eyes having darkened a bit since when he’d first arrived.

  She took a step back.

  “I’ve been known to be very persuasive,” he said in a deep, sexy voice.

  “I can’t be persuaded,” she breathed and took another step back.

  He reached out then and grabbed her shoulders. “Never move backwards,” he warned. “You’ll eventually be cornered.”

  And that she was. Behind her was the couch; one more step back and she would have fallen down onto it and as close as Adam was he would have fallen down right on top of her. A position she had no intention of them being in.

  She was gorgeous, in a quiet, sneak-up-and-bite you kind of way. Her chin was strong, her body singing every love song in the book to any man lucky enough to be around her. Her lips were small but plump and very kissable. But it was her eyes that held him captive. With their exotic shape and mystical color Adam couldn’t help but be swept away. So much so that he’d forgotten that this was supposed to be business and was touching her in a very personal way. She was small, almost a foot shorter than him. He could have easily picked her up and dropped her in the center of that bed he’d spied upon entering. But he found that pushing her to her limits was much more enjoyable.

  He made her nervous; he could tell by the way her eyes watched him closely and her body shifted restlessly. He could ease that restlessness. He could nip the nervousness in the bud if she’d let him kiss her. There was a keen attraction sizzling between them and Adam was willing to bet she was feeling it, too. He wondered what would happen if he pushed a little more.

  “What if we started with something a little simpler than the discussion about the house,” he suggested, moving his hands up and down her bare arms, loving the feel of her smooth skin against his.

  “What do you mean?” she stammered.

  “I mean, what if we talked about something else. Something a little less serious.” She hadn’t pulled away from him, which was a good sign, but he suspected that would be kind of hard for her to do since her legs were blocked by both him and the couch.

  “Adam.” Her hands came up to his chest in a small form of protest.

  Right through his shirt the heat from her touch burned him until he wanted to rip away the material that posed as a barrier to feel her skin to skin.

  She pushed slightly and Adam had to take a deep, steadying breath. Never before had he been this turned on by a woman and never before had his desire interfered with his business. So he counted to three then forcefully pulled his hands away from her. It took another moment or two before he could step away, but he did.

  “There is nothing for us to discuss except for the house,” she said.

  Adam turned away from her then because to keep staring at her only fueled this growing need in the pit of his stomach. This fierce desire to have her, totally.

  “I’m sure you realize how untrue that statement is, Camille,” he said as he turned back to face her.

  “No. I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She was fidgeting again, a trait he found strangely endearing. Normally he liked decisive, fun and easygoing women who were down for a good time. He made it a point to stay away from emotionally driven women with too many issues for him to count. So why was he so drawn to her? He’d known her less than twenty-four hours and yet he knew without a doubt that Camille Davis had issues. Funny thing was, he wanted to know what those issues were and he wanted to fix them.

  He had to clench his teeth at that one because he definitely did not understand what was going on. What he did know was that two grown adults were standing in this room and that they were attracted to each other. He wasn’t about skirting around any issues like that, business or pleasure. “I’m talking about this thing between us. It’s obvious that we’re attracted to each other. So whether or not we go into business together we’ll still have to deal with that.”

  Slowly she brought her hands from behind her back and folded her arms over her chest. If she had any idea how hard that one act made him she would never do it again. Adam didn’t move a muscle.

  “There is nothing between us but my father’s house. Anything else is purely your imagination.”

  He chuckled. “You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you? It makes you feel safer if you convince yourself that there is nothing else between us. What I don’t understand is why you need to feel safe. Do I frighten you, Camille?”

  Her chin instantly went up, her eyes glaring at him as her anger grew. Adam almost smiled. She had some feistiness in her and some passion, he’d seen that in her eyes when he was close to her. There was a lot more to Camille Davis than met the eye.

  “You do not frighten me. That’s absurd. This entire conversation is absurd.” She huffed. “The only reason you and I are even in the same room speaking to one another is because you want something that I have.”

  That was a vast understatement, Adam thought with amusement.

  She was pacing back and forth now. “I mean, I live in L.A. and you live in Vegas, Sin City. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” she ranted. “We are not the same types of people so it’s totally insane to think that we’d be attracted to each other.”

  Adam watched her agi
le movements. He watched every curve of her body move in sync as she spoke. Her arms rotated between being folded at her chest to swaying fitfully at her waist. It was at those times that he glimpsed her perfectly round bottom and those high, enticing breasts. She talked as if she had a lot of things going through her mind at once and she was having trouble keeping them all straight. He sensed it was because she was in fact nervous and unwilling to admit to what he already knew.

  She was just as amazed by this instant attraction as he was. Only he was used to physical awareness and sexual tension. He knew just how to deal with them both and boasted a gold medal in doing so. However, he had a sneaky suspicion Camille would not be impressed by that knowledge.

  He had no choice but to touch her again; if not she would have worn a hole in the floor. Besides, he had no problem putting his hands on Camille and hoped to do it more often. But for right now he wanted to calm her down. She was working herself into a fine fit and he needed to nip it in the bud. He caught her waist on another one of her trips past him and pulled her back against his chest. Keeping one arm around her waist he braced the other around her arms to keep them still.

  “Camille.” He breathed her name into her hair and struggled to keep from doing more. “I am a man. And you are a woman. Everything else is inconsequential.”

  Camille’s heart beat erratically. She’d been so surprised when he grabbed her that she’d clamped her mouth shut, almost biting off her own tongue. He was too close and he was holding her and she couldn’t breathe. But then she could breathe, his scent, that smell that both teased and tortured her.

  She felt a little faint and wondered what she’d eaten today besides the partial salad at dinner. She was light-headed because she hadn’t eaten three meals like she was supposed to. That’s probably why she was going off the deep end in front of this virtual stranger.