She bit her lower lip and he couldn’t believe how sexy that small gesture was.
“I don’t know why. I’m sure the women that run in your circles are much more interesting than an elementary school teacher who has to go around begging for money to fund school projects.”
He looked at her, his eyes moving over her beautiful skin, the flashing hazel eyes and her soft, pink lips. “You really have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?”
She once again stepped around him, but he saw the glimpse of arousal in her eyes. She wasn’t nearly as immune to him as she might pretend.
“You’re being ridiculous, Jackson,” and she stepped down the steps. “I’m not beautiful. I’m boring and uninteresting.”
He stepped ahead of her, opening the door to his Mercedes. “I seriously doubt that you could bore me, Melanie. But let’s just test your theory, shall we?” and he helped her into the car before walking around to the driver’s seat. “Do you like seafood?” he asked as he started the engine. “Or would you prefer something a bit more adventurous?”
Melanie pursed her lips. “Normally, I’d say something more adventurous, but with you, I think I should play it safe.”
Wise answer, but he wasn’t letting her get away with that. “Adventurous, it is,” he declared and started the car. On the way to the restaurant, he asked her about teaching and her students, what she did during the summer months. By the time they reached the restaurant, which was close to the city and sat right on the edge of the river, she felt like she’d told him too much.
When she realized where they were going, she pulled back. “Isn’t this one of Tony Itola’s restaurants?”
“Yes. Don’t you like…?”
Melanie refrained from rolling her eyes, but just barely. “Everyone likes Tony’s restaurants. They’re famous for being interesting and amazingly delicious. But you just asked me to have dinner with you today.”
“And?” He took her hand again, tugging her gently towards the door. It wasn’t a big restaurant, but it was interesting visually both inside and out, with an elegant flowered walkway that was filled with fragrances. The actual building looked like a shack with corrugated tin walls and shiplap siding, broken shingles and bannisters. It was all a façade – as the actual building was very solid. But Tony preferred to give his patrons a visual as well as textual interest as they walked into his buildings. Some of his restaurants were elegant, with top of the line furnishing and only the best materials, linen table clothes and a wine list that any sommelier would drool over. But others were…different. It all depended on Tony’s mood when he chose a town in which to open a restaurant.
“And…” she tugged but he wouldn’t release her. “It’s impossible to get a table at one of Tony’s restaurants without calling six months in advance. So we’re not going to be able to get in.”
He pulled her close, not as close as he’d like but enough so that he could smell her fresh, feminine scent. “Let’s make a deal,” he began, his thumb rubbing over the back of her hand. “If we can get a table, then I get to kiss you tonight.”
She laughed, shaking her head and stepping back. “No deal.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re too sure of yourself. If you are betting something like that, then you know something I don’t.”
He grinned down at her, liking her even more as they talked. She wasn’t a silly butterfly or a shrinking wallflower. She was smart and feisty, daring and challenging him. He liked it. A lot! “Of course I do. I never gamble.”
“Never?”
“No. I always stack the odds in my favor.” He grinned at her dubious expression.
“But you’ve built a huge company.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re telling me that you’ve never taken a risk? Or gambled on a business outcome?”
He shrugged slightly, thinking about his twin brother and the project Jake and his wife, Megan, had just completed. That had been a huge risk, but not a business risk. It had all been personal. “I’ve taken risks. But they are always calculated. And my father taught me never to gamble. Always know one’s opponent. I’m always prepared for the unexpected outcomes and plan accordingly.”
He lifted her hand, kissing her knuckles. “So, are we going in for dinner? Or are we going to stand out here and make out?”
She rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away. “You’re incorrigible.”
He laughed, and wrapped his arm around her waist since she’d denied him her hand. “The sooner you start to understand that, the better off you’ll be.”
“Better off in whose book?”
He led her into the restaurant, pulling her closer against his side. Jackson enjoyed the feeling of her soft waist as well as the flowery scent of her hair. “Ah, that’s yet to be determined, isn’t it?” he teased as he held the door open for her.
Two hours later, Melanie leaned back in her chair, stuffed and more satisfied than she’d ever been in her life. “That was amazing,” she sighed. “I never would have thought of putting raspberry on steak like that. It went perfectly with the basil sauce. Incredible!”
“I agree. I’m glad that you enjoyed the meal,” he poured the rest of the excellent wine into her glass.
She held out her hand, trying to stop him. “I can’t drink anymore.”
He shook his head. “You have to. The wine is excellent and I have to drive. So, you have to finish off the rest.”
She smiled, thinking he was incredibly attractive. “Are you trying to get me drunk?”
“Absolutely not,” he replied.
Her eyes widened, but she watched as he poured the last bit of the wine into her glass. “Why not?”
He put the empty bottle into the wine stand. “Because then I can’t have sex with you tonight.”
She lifted her glass up, smiling at him with a slightly glassy look. “We’re not having sex anyway.”
He watched her closely. “You were too far gone to make a decision after the first glass, weren’t you?”
She nodded. “Yes. I don’t normally drink.”
“Pity,” he said and sipped his ice tea. He’d switched after the first glass of wine. “Next time, I’ll remember that and stop you at half a glass.”
She smiled, charmed both by his tenacity as well as his responsible nature regarding drinking and driving. “We will never have sex, Jackson.”
“Of course we are, Melanie. It’s inevitable.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Nothing is inevitable but death and taxes.”
“Are you seriously going to tell me that you’re not attracted to me?”
She leaned her forearms against the table. “Of course I’m attracted to you. Any woman with blood in her veins would be.”
“Thank you for the compliment. But I’m only interested in you.”
“Tonight,” she amended with a relaxed grin.
“What does that mean?”
She shrugged one shoulder dismissively. “You might be interested in me tonight, but tomorrow, you’ll move on to the next woman.” Leaning forward, she looked at him seriously. “Admit it, Jackson. You’re not really into commitment.”
“No. But we could enjoy each other while this attraction lasts.”
She shook her head. “Sorry. As much as you’re not into commitment, I’m the opposite. I don’t do casual.”
“Not even dating?”
She grinned, but put the glass of wine back down on the table. “I don’t think that my idea of dating and yours are the same.”
“So no sex?”
“No. Never.”
His grin actually kicked up a notch in the sexiness scale with her words. “See, now you’re challenging me again.”
Melanie was too relaxed by the wine and the excellent food to take offense, so she laughed. “I’m not trying to challenge you, Jackson.”
He leaned forward. “It’s inevitable.”
She leaned forward, mirroring his movement. “What did I s
ay about the inevitability of life?”
“You’re wrong.”
She rolled her eyes as she leaned back in the chair once again. “Now you’re challenging me to be stubborn. Not a good move, Romeo.”
Jackson threw back his head and laughed, delighted with her!
Chapter 3
Melanie stared at the tall, impossibly attractive man as he stepped out of his car. Two weeks! She’d avoided him for two whole weeks, while sending his company updates on the progress of the school project, including invoices and pictures of what the parents had created. Everything was moving right along, now that they were more than fully funded. They’d even selected where the first greenhouse would go.
Yes, she’d been playing silly games via phone and text with him. He’d call her cell phone during the day and leave a voice mail for her, asking her out to dinner. She’d ignore his phone call for several hours, then leave him a message on his office phone late at night when she knew he wouldn’t be at his desk. When he texted her, she was painfully polite, but declined all invitations, giving him new and varied excuses as to why she couldn’t have dinner with him, but “generously” offering to meet with him in his office, along with the school principal, to answer any questions he had about the program. She’d even phoned the contact in his human resources department about setting up the mentoring program as well as a schedule of people who could speak to the classes about various subjects.
So in Melanie’s mind, she’d done an excellent job of playing his game…and avoiding him while remaining polite and cordial since he was the main benefactor of the new program.
So, why the hell was he walking towards her?!
He was wearing sunglasses, so she couldn’t see his eyes, but she knew with absolute certainty that those intense, grey eyes would be daring her to run or maybe, to stay put.
Melanie ignored the urge to run, the instinctive need to escape from a predator that…well, if she were being perfectly honest with herself, which she usually was not!...but if she were…then she’d admit that being caught by Jackson Hughes might be…exciting. Exciting in a dangerous, broken-heart kind of way.
So instead of running, which would be incredibly unprofessional, she stood her ground, the shovel transferred to one hand as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with her arm. It was a hot, humid August day and there were about fifty parents out here working to level the ground so they could build the raised tomato gardens.
“Mr. Hughes,” she greeted him politely as soon as he moved within earshot. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.” A lie, but she couldn’t tell him how she really felt with such an audience.
Turning to the group, she smiled to everyone. “Everyone, this is Jackson Hughes. His company donated the bulk of the money to make this project happen.”
The crowd clapped their appreciation. And it might be wicked to have singled him out like this, but Melanie was terrified of how much she wanted to throw herself into his arms. She wanted to feel his strong arms enfold her and know what it was like to kiss him.
Which was wrong, dangerous, and stupid! He’d driven her home after their dinner together. He’d chivalrously walked her to her door, the humid, sultry night air making the ten foot walk feel much more intimate. At her front door, Melanie had turned to say goodnight to him, hoping for a goodnight kiss.
But he’d taken her hand and sedately kissed her fingers. It was a sweet gesture, but not what she’d wanted.
And that wanting was what scared her the most. Also, the confusion as to why he hadn’t kissed her that night. Confusion and hurt had dominated her mind over the past two weeks. She felt rejected. After their conversation over dinner, she’d half-expected him to make a pass at her, an attempt to have sex that night even though he’d said that they wouldn’t have sex. Men only said those kinds of things to get women to relax, or so her experience told her.
So the brief, annoyingly chaste kiss on her knuckles had felt like a slap on the face. A rejection.
Not something she wanted to experience again!
Hence, her avoidance of another dinner with him. She didn’t want to be rejected by a man like Jackson. He was tall, handsome, intelligent, and powerful and…so amazingly hot! He was the kind of man that she might have dreamed about, if she ever admitted to having silly, schoolgirl fantasies about the kind of man she’d like to marry and spend the rest of her life with.
But she wasn’t a silly schoolgirl. At least, not anymore. And fantasies never came true. They were based in a dream world and Melanie prided herself on being firmly based in reality.
After he greeted all of the parents, many of them gushing about the software programs and video games his company developed, he turned to Melanie.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, grateful that the parents had gone back to shoveling, trying to level the land. The delivery truck from the garden center would arrive later today with the dirt and topsoil, so she and the parents had to have the land leveled and the walls of the raised beds built before then.
Jackson kept his eyes on her. “I came to help get things set up for the tomato plants,” he told her. He moved closer. “And you’ve been avoiding my calls.”
She stepped back, but he reached out to stop her, keeping her close. Melanie glanced over at the parents, relieved when none of them seemed to be watching.
Nervously, she looked up at him, then quickly away because his grey eyes were too intense. “I have not been avoiding your calls. I’ve returned every message.”
“At times when you knew I wouldn’t be around to take your call.” He leaned forward. “Checkmate, Melanie.”
She blinked, startled and…grudgingly impressed. But she hid it, reminding herself that he was completely out of her league. “I’m not playing games, Jackson.”
“Aren’t you?” He moved to her side, watching the others. “But what you don’t understand is that I’m an expert at chess.”
She shivered, thinking he was more intense now. Had she done something stupid by avoiding him for so long? Had she ignited his need to win? Probably. Not good.
“Well, thank you for coming out to help.” She handed him the shovel she’d been using. “We appreciate the extra strength to get this ready. The kids will be here tomorrow to plant the tomato plants. We’ll let the plants grow in the ground until the greenhouse is built.” She shifted nervously on her feet. “We didn’t want the kids doing the heavy grunt work.” She smiled briefly up at him and backed up several steps. “But your back is strong. That’s always appreciated when digging up the hard packed dirt that has endured decades of children running across it.” She leaned forward slightly. “It’s a bit like breaking up concrete.” She turned to squint into the crowd of workers. “How about if you help out over there,” she said, pointing to the area on the left hand side where most of the rocks were. “That’s where the most strength is needed. Lots of rocks.”
She watched him, noticing the smile that played over his lips. “Rocks it is,” he replied, and joined three other men who were digging up rocks and tossing them off to the side.
For several moments, Melanie watched, impressed with the easy, casual way he connected with the other parents. They shook hands and he said something that made them laugh. Then one of them pointed to an area and…all four of them started digging up rocks.
In less time than she would have thought possible, the land was ready. Unfortunately, she had to give most of the credit for their impressive progress to Jackson. There was something about him that inspired everyone to work harder. After he started digging and tossing the rocks, the others all pushed a bit harder. It was a bit disconcerting, but also incredibly effective. By the end of the leveling process, the ladies were all standing along the sidelines watching the men. Well, most of the ladies were watching Jackson. He was by far the most handsome and muscular of the group. His tee shirt stuck to his chest as the sweat seeped through, which showed off more of his muscles. Delicious muscles, she thought with a sigh of appre
ciation.
Wow! The man was buff! He was cut and built and all of those other terms the kids were using these days to describe Adonis-like men. Melanie worked out at a gym when she wasn’t doing yoga or Pilates, but none of the men in her gym could even come close to the extraordinary muscles packed onto Jackson’s body.
In a word, yummy!
“You’re so lucky,” one of the mothers sighed as she walked up to stand next to Melanie.
Melanie shook her head, knowing exactly what the woman meant by her comment and still trying to deny it at the same time. “He isn’t mine. Not even close.”
The woman laughed, shaking her head as she turned to continue watching Jackson. “Well, he didn’t come out here for any altruistic reason,” she replied and several of the other ladies laughed.
Uh oh! Melanie didn’t want them to get the wrong impression! “Um…he isn’t…!”
One of the other ladies chimed in, saying, “Melanie, he gave you money for good reason. But I think he came out here specifically for our entertainment.”
They continued commenting on Jackson’s body. Melanie grew increasingly uncomfortable with the conversation. It was one thing for her to ogle the man. But these ladies were objectifying him.
After a few more of the comments, she decided that it was time to stop the conversation and move on. Not that she was jealous! No, that wasn’t her motivation. It was purely out of respect for Jackson. “Perhaps we should start moving the boards in the parking lot, and get them into place to build the walls of the gardens,” she suggested, interrupting another comment.
Another lady chuckled. “I think we should just stand here and admire a work of art.”
Melanie had had enough. Turning around, she faced the women, mothers and wives, who were objectifying Jackson. “Ladies, how would it look if a group of men were standing around watching one of us work and making comments like those?” Instantly, the women stopped, some of them staring at her with their mouths open. Melanie noticed several of the ladies look at her, then at Jackson, then back at her.
Her Secret, His Heir (The Diamond Club Book 11) Page 3