“It’s about stability in this volatile economy, Xavier.” Evan kept his tone steady. “If new investors see that Mitchell Industries is now in charge of Estrella, they will be reassured the company is in good hands.”
Xavier glanced down at the contract and back at Evan without commenting.
“Look, Xavier.” Evan pushed a little harder. “I don’t need this deal. Mitchell Industries will be fine without it, but Estrella won’t. Your star will burn out.” Evan forced his breathing to remain smooth and regular as he waited for Xavier’s answer.
Would Xavier accept Evan’s bluff? Because in reality, Mitchell Industries did need this deal as badly as Estrella did, but they needed it under the terms that favored Mitchell. Transportation costs were eating up their profits. With this contract, Evan would slash those expenses to a fraction.
After a painfully drawn out moment of silence, Xavier stood and offered his right hand to Evan. “You’ve done your homework, young man. And you are a gifted negotiator. Estrella will accept this agreement.”
Evan got to his feet, holding in the satisfaction that threatened to overwhelm him. Shaking Xavier’s hand, he said, “It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Mitchell family.”
“Yes, we are family now,” Xavier agreed, patting Evan on the back. His attitude had turned around completely once he agreed to the deal, making Evan’s head spin. “Now, let’s change into our swim trunks and join our ladies for lunch at the pool.”
As Evan walked alone to his suite, a rush of relief swamped him, and he nearly stumbled. Xavier had bought Evan’s feigned detachment about the deal and conceded.
He threw a victory punch in the air when he got to the privacy of his bedroom. He couldn’t wait to share the good news with Cassie and engineer a celebratory kiss from her. Their first kiss this morning had taken him by surprise with its potency, and he was anxious for a repeat.
Cassie had burst into a sexy bundle of heat in his arms as he’d tried to keep their contact appropriate for public viewing. If Xavier and Esmé hadn’t been present, Evan knew he would have taken that kiss to the next level. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her in private.
Stepping into his swim trunks, he grinned as he thought about sharing this king-sized bed with Cassie. They certainly weren’t going to be sleeping on opposite sides of it tonight. He’d spent an uncomfortable night aroused by her floral smell and the small noises she made in her sleep. The image of her standing with her hands on her hips, thrusting out her pert breasts in that silky nightie had been permanently etched into his brain.
He wasn’t going to think about how she’d chipped away at his pride with her ability to sleep so easily while he’d suffered beside her all night. Up until their kiss today, he’d questioned whether she was feeling this attraction between them. Now, he knew she was equally affected; though, she seemed to have been trying to fight it.
Yeah, tonight was going to be amazing. They were going to celebrate his first major business deal and their blazing chemistry by roughing up these sheets, and he was going to find out if a sub truly hid beneath her protective layers.
Dressed in swim trunks, a T-shirt, and leather flip-flops, he left the suite and made his way outside. As he approached the pool, he grinned as he caught sight of Cassie in a blue bikini, lounging alone in the sun.
Her body was small and compact, but curvy at the hips and breasts. Her skin glistened with suntan lotion, smooth and perfect, except for a three-inch scar along the outside of her right thigh. It shimmered a lighter color than her tanned skin. In no way did it detract from her beauty, but his gut tightened at the evidence that something had hurt her. Had it happened during her time serving in the Army? Thank God, she was done with that.
“Hello, my darling.” He bent over her chaise and dropped a brief kiss on her lips before she could react.
Sitting up, she removed her sunglasses and glared at him. “There’s no audience here. You can stop the playacting.”
He took a mental step back. She was right. He had to remember they were acting, but there was nothing fake about the way he responded to her physically and how much he wanted her alone in their bedroom.
He looked around the pool area. “Where’s Esmé?”
“She said she’d be right back. She was going to check on lunch.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “How did the meeting go with Xavier?”
“Good. Xavier signed, and I know just how I want to celebrate,” he said.
“How’s that?” She smiled brightly as if she expected him to say champagne and caviar or something else equally clichéd.
Bending down, he wrapped his hand behind her head and drew her towards him. “With a kiss,” he whispered across her lips before pressing firmly against them.
She gasped, and he took the opportunity of her slightly parted lips to swipe his tongue between them. She tasted of coconut and pineapple juice, sweet and tangy.
Her initial surprise was replaced with eagerness as her hands went into his hair, tugging him closer until he was practically lying on top of her on the chaise. With his free hand, he skimmed lightly over her waist down to the curve of her hip. Her skin was hot from the sun and slick from the lotion.
He groaned into her open mouth. He didn’t know how he was going to wait until tonight to get her hot and naked underneath him. She was so close to being there already.
“Well, ma chérie, I don’t think the lovebirds have lunch on their minds.” Esmé’s voice pierced Evan’s lust-clouded consciousness.
He reluctantly pulled his lips away from Cassie’s. Turning his head, he addressed his hosts with mock solemnity, “I apologize for our unseemly behavior. My fiancée was very enthusiastic about my return.”
Out of sight of Esmé and Xavier, Cassie knuckle-punched Evan in the stomach. He ground his teeth against the yelp that nearly shot from his mouth, and pressed his body harder against her to pin her arm down.
With a forced smile to cover the ache in his side, he said, “We’d be delighted to join you for lunch.”
And later tonight, he would find a way to make Cassie pay for her little rebellion. His grin turned genuine as he thought of a dozen naughty ways to pleasure her once she submitted to him.
Chapter Seven
Impatiently, Evan knocked on the bathroom door of their suite. “Cassie? Are you ready?” He pulled at the cuff of his dinner jacket to check his watch.
“A few more minutes,” she called out.
She’d been locked in there for nearly an hour. What could be taking her so long? One of the things he liked about her was that she seemed low maintenance. He’d certainly dated plenty of women who needed an hour or more in the bathroom to prep for an evening out, but Cassie hadn’t seemed like that type. So, what was she doing?
As he paced the bedroom, his mind played around with the images of all the things they could have been doing this past hour before they were due downstairs for the big celebratory dinner with the executives of Estrella. Though, sixty minutes wasn’t nearly enough time for him to thoroughly explore all her erogenous zones, it would have at least given him time to explore whether or not she had any submissive bones in her tight little body.
He loved the way she ignited with his kisses, and he knew when they finally had sex, it was going to be explosive. But since the kiss at the pool, he hadn’t had a chance to get close to her again. Tonight, he had plans to rectify that. As soon as they finished the requisite dining and schmoozing, he was bringing Cassie back to their suite for an all-nighter.
On his next lap around the suite, he stopped at the bathroom door and knocked again. “I’m giving you three minutes before I come in and drag you out,” he warned. They only had five minutes left, and he refused to be late.
With twenty seconds to spare, Cassie unlocked the bathroom door.
He looked up from his watch, and his jaw dropped. He wiped a hand over his chin, sure that he must have drooled on himself, while he stared at the stunning woman before him.
She glanced down at herself then lifted an uncertain face. “Do I look okay?”
“Okay?” he repeated dumbly.
Her fingers twitched nervously at the waist of her gown. “This isn’t my usual style. Should I change?”
“Good God, don’t change a thing. You’re perfect.”
Her lips turned upwards in a little smile. “Perfect?” Her voice took on a slight purr.
He blinked and raised his gaze to find her startling blue eyes shining on him. “Yeah.” His voice sounded rough. He cleared his throat. “That’s the perfect dress for our celebration tonight.”
Her smile faltered as she nodded. “Right, the dress.” She stepped towards the door.
And he saw, again, the insecurity lingering right underneath the surface of her strength. If she were his sub, he’d make sure she always knew her value. That shadow would never again cross her beautiful face. “And you, Cassie. You’ve been perfect this entire weekend. You have my deepest gratitude.” He reached for her, but she avoided his hand.
“Just doing the job you hired me to do. I’m glad my performance has been acceptable.” Her tone was robotic, and she didn’t meet his gaze. Before he could respond, she opened the door to the hallway, cutting off his chance to speak without being overheard by someone passing by.
Damn it. If they’d had more time, he would have brought her back into the suite and made sure she understood what he was really trying to say. It wasn’t just the good job she was doing that he appreciated. It was her that he appreciated—the spunky, funny, smart woman standing before him—but he didn’t have time. He wouldn’t be late and give Xavier any excuse for thinking he’d made a mistake accepting a deal with an inexperienced playboy like Evan.
On second thought, it was good he didn’t have time to explain himself to Cassie. He was getting carried away with his own growing list of lies, starting to believe this farce was real. His arrangement with her was merely business as she’d so clearly reminded him. Anything he thought he felt for her was just residual emotion from their playacting. Well, that and honest sexual attraction, but the emotional stuff… That was better off left unexplored.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done this weekend,” he answered, joining her in the corridor and placing her hand in the crook of his elbow.
Then, resuming their roles for the public charade, he escorted her to the celebration in honor of his new partnership with Xavier.
* * * *
“This is the perfect night to end the perfect day,” Evan whispered against Cassie’s ear as he held her in his arms on the dance floor, and suddenly a caution flag popped into his mind, signaling him to slow down before he admitted something he shouldn’t.
After a dinner surrounded by Estrella’s executives and their spouses, Evan was glad for the relative privacy of guiding Cassie around to a slow, sensual Latin love song. Playing her role as his fiancée flawlessly, she snuggled up against his chest, and he wrapped his arms more securely around her small body.
“You like that word, don’t you?” She looked up at him.
Ignoring his internal warning system, he said, “When I have the perfect woman in my arms, what better word is there to use?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we’ve already covered that.”
“You didn’t let me finish before we left the suite.”
“I think I got the idea.” She leaned closer, and he bent down so she could whisper in his ear. “You like the dress, and you think I’m doing a good job.”
“It wasn’t the dress I was complementing, Cassie,” he whispered back in her ear. “It was the woman wearing it.”
He tilted his head back, so he could see her face. Her eyes widened as she stared up at him.
“I think you are a unique treasure,” he skimmed his fingertips up her exposed back, feeling her tremble, “and I can’t wait to discover more about you.” He lowered his head and kissed her soft lips, tasting a hint of chocolate from dessert.
Her hand on his shoulder tightened as she moved closer into his body, and the tip of her tongue glided over his lower lip. Willingly, he opened for her and enjoyed her exploration of his mouth. She started tentatively then grew bolder with deeper sweeps across his upper palate, causing him to have to hold tightly to his restraint when what he really wanted was to take control and thrust deeply into her mouth, but he didn’t want to scare her off.
With his hand on the small of her back, he pulled her hips to his. She gasped softly as her belly came in contact with his growing arousal. With a slight sway of her body, she rubbed against him, further inciting the fire in his veins. Had she done that intentionally?
He kissed along her jaw to her ear. “Maybe it’s time we say goodnight to our host and hostess,” he whispered.
At her nod of agreement, he grabbed her hand and led her off the dance floor before she changed her mind and put an end to this moment, this perfect moment.
* * * *
Evan barely got the door to the suite closed behind him before he had Cassie back in his arms. She ran her hands up his chest and into his hair as he kissed her, wanting to possess her hot, wet mouth. He backed her further into the sitting room, singularly focused on getting them both naked on the bed where he could kiss every inch of her satiny skin.
Her heel snagged the back hem of her dress, and she faltered. His arms instinctively tightened around her to keep her from falling.
Pulling away from their kiss, she cursed.
“Did you hurt yourself?” Happy to offer to kiss her all better, he held her even closer.
Her palms flattened on his chest, and she pushed against him. “Stop.” Her eyes narrowed on him, but not in the good bedroom-eyes kind of way.
Not willing to let go until he had a compelling reason, he didn’t release his hands from around her waist. “Why?”
“We’re not involved personally.” She shook her head. “This is business. I won’t cross the line and mix the two.”
Baffled by her sudden shutdown, he blocked out his emotions, not willing to admit he was inclined to take this to a personal level. Instead, he resumed his playboy role and asked her the question she’d expect from a philanderer. “Haven’t you ever had a relationship based purely on physical attraction?”
Her nostrils flared. “No.”
He dropped his hands from her waist. “You don’t know what you’re missing, darling,” he teased her with fake nonchalance.
“Stop calling me that! I’m not your darling. And I’m not shallow enough to sleep with someone just because he gets me all hot and bothered on the dance floor.”
He grinned, hiding his confusion about her swift turnaround and wondering where the hell his ability to read people had fled to. “It’s obvious I get you all hot and bothered. Why don’t you give a shallow relationship a try for a change? I promise you’ll find deep meaning in the pleasure I can give you.”
“God, you really aren’t any different than Trent.” She spun away and grabbed a blanket and a pillow from the armoire in the corner of the sitting room.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sleeping on the couch. There’s apparently no point in trying to reason with you on this.”
“I’m not Trent.” He spoke slowly, using his Dom voice, while standing between her and the sofa. “And you’re not sleeping out here.”
&nb
sp; “Why not?” She stuck her chin up in the expression he was beginning to recognize as her defense pose. He was going to have to protect his vulnerable parts, while he continued this argument, in case she decided to use her exceptional self-defense skills.
There were two very good reasons why he couldn’t let her sleep on the tiny couch, in addition to the importance of keeping up appearances with the staff. First, she’d wake up with horrible cramps in her muscles, but more importantly he wanted her in his bed. Instead of giving her the personal one, he went with his argument from the day before. “I already told you when we arrived. I won’t have the staff gossiping about my fiancée sleeping on the couch.”
“As soon as I wake up, I’ll remove all the evidence.” She stepped around him.
His arm shot out to block her way. “Cassie, wait.”
He didn’t know exactly how she did it, but with a quick jerk, she had him flat on his back with one of his arms pinned beneath him and her knee alarmingly close to his balls.
He blinked back the darkness that threatened the edges of his vision. The thin rug between him and the ceramic tile hadn’t provided much protection when his head hit the floor. “Damn, woman,” he mumbled, when his breath returned.
“I’m not having sex with you tonight,” she said in a surprisingly normal tone of voice.
“I get it.”
She leaned heavier on him. “You sure?”
“Definitely. Your knee speaks loud and clear.”
She studied him for a moment, then stood and watched as he gingerly sat up.
He probed the back of his head with his fingertips and located a growing goose egg. When he checked his fingers, they were free of blood.
“How’s your head?” she asked as if she were concerned.
“It’d be better if it hadn’t bounced off the tile floor.” His rising voice didn’t hide his anger.
She took a step back. “I’m sorry. I may have overreacted.”
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