The Billionaire's Proposal (Scandal, Inc Book 4)

by James, Avery

“Are you serious?”

  “Of course I’m serious. I know what I’m doing. This is my job,” she said.

  “This isn’t your job,” he replied. “Your job is getting me back to D.C. so I can marry someone I don’t want to marry. This? This is personal for me and for you, but I can’t let you put yourself in harm’s way for me. I have to be the one to hand over the money. If anything ever happened to you, I would never forgive myself.”

  “You’re right,” she said. “Well, you’re partly right. I don’t want you to give me the money. I don’t want you to give it to the government official either.”

  “Who am I giving it to, then?” Harry asked.

  “Someone else.”

  “Someone else? Care to be a little more specific?”

  “I don’t know who yet,” she said.

  “Are you joking?”

  “A third party will hold the money in escrow until certain conditions are met. My guess would be a bank in the Caymans agreed upon by both parties.”

  “So you’re just making the bribe more official.”

  “That’s the other thing. This isn’t a bribe, and I need you to stop using that word,” Maggie said. “We’ll offer a contract for consulting after the park is established. The contract will be contingent upon the creation of the park.”

  “So, in effect, you’re removing the illegal part of this?”

  “Something like that,” she said. “Is that a problem for you?” she teased. She wasn’t sure that this was strictly legal, but it was a lot better than Harry’s original plan.

  “Yeah, you’re taking all the fun out of it,” Harry said with a laugh.

  “I guess you’ll have to find your fun somewhere else.” She lifted his hand and gave it a quick kiss.

  “Are you propositioning me?” Harry asked.

  “We’ll see,” Maggie replied.

  “I think that was a bribe.”

  “We won’t find out until you give me an answer,” she said.

  “Fine. I’ll go along with this, but only if you agree to take every precaution possible.”

  “I didn’t think you’d go along with this so easily,” she said.

  “Do you want me to put up a fight?”

  “I had this whole ‘seduce you into going along with my plan’ thing mapped out in my head,” she said.

  “In that case, I need more convincing.”

  “Nope, you agreed.”

  “You could always seduce me anyway,” Harry said.

  Maggie positioned herself in front of him and kissed him softly on the lips. “I was thinking I’d take care of that part once we were back in Havana.”

  Harry reached down and lifted her off her feet and over his shoulder. He turned around and started to carry her back to the house. Even after feeling every ounce of his strength, she was surprised at how easily he could pick her up and the frequency with which he did it. That bit of brute strength definitely added to his bad boy appeal. The way he couldn’t keep his hands off of her didn’t hurt either.

  “What in the world are you doing?” she said as she tried to stop laughing.

  “I’m bringing you to Havana,” he said.

  “By foot?”

  “If necessary.”

  “I thought I was going to have a much harder time convincing you,” she said. “Do you have ulterior motives?”

  “Me?” he asked, feigning indignation. “Ulterior motives?” He ran a hand up the back of her thigh. “I was thinking posterior.”

  “So, your motives are purely physical?” Maggie asked.

  “Purely?” he said. “I wouldn’t say purely. Would you?”

  Maggie felt a pang of panic. She didn’t know what to say. “I’m starting to think nothing about you is pure,” she said.

  “See, you’re getting to know me,” he replied. “How about you? Why are you doing this?”

  “I’m not sure I have much of a say in you carrying me.”

  “I mean, why are you trying to fix my problem?” he said.

  “It’s my job.”

  “Come on,” he replied. “Your job is to help my father marry me off to someone else. That’s not why you’re here.”

  “Fine, I want to help you. I admire what you’re doing even though I think you’re taking a stupid risk, and I want to protect you. Is that what you wanted to hear? I’m doing this because I care about you. You know this would all be a lot less ridiculous if I weren’t slung over your shoulder like a sack of flour.”

  “I care about you, too,” he said.

  “Does that mean you don’t want me to go through with my plan to fix your plan?”

  “No, it means I want you to marry me.”

  Maggie froze. “You what?” she said. “Put me down.”

  Harry stopped and put Maggie back on her feet. “That came out wrong,” he replied. “I meant to say that if I’m going to marry anyone, I want it to be you.”

  “I don’t think that’s how it works,” she said.

  “It can be. Forget about the job, Maggie. I’m asking you to choose me. We can go anywhere, do anything. We can travel the world and find a hundred storms to dance in if you’d like. I’m not saying I want you to marry me today or tomorrow or ever. I’m saying I want the chance. I think you want it, too.”

  “I can’t just leave everything behind, Harry,” she said. “I have a life.”

  “I’m not saying you have to, but I am asking you to consider it,” he said.

  “Leaving everything behind?” she asked.

  He shook his head. She watched the way the morning light glinted in his eyes. “I’m asking you not to leave us behind,” he said. “Wherever that is, I don’t care.”

  “That wasn’t the deal,” she said.

  “The deal was that I would do whatever you wanted. So here I am. I will do whatever you want. Just know that I’m under your spell. What you choose, I’ll do. I just hope you choose me.”

  She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to slap him. She wanted to cry out of joy and frustration at the same time. Here she was in paradise with a perfect man, one who made her laugh and smile and swoon, and he was ruining everything. If he’d been the shallow, self-centered playboy she’d been warned about, none of this would have been a problem. But instead he was everything she needed in a man.

  It would have been easy to choose him, to give in to the warmth that filled her heart and the thrill that ran up her spine every time he was near. It would have been so easy, but it would have meant turning her back on the life she had started to build for herself. Her job, her friends, all of the choices she’d already made. It would have meant erasing herself and starting over, re-forming herself in the image of who he wanted her to be. She couldn’t give herself up like that. It wasn’t as simple as the guy or the job. It was the guy or her self.

  “I need some time,” she said.

  “Take all the time you need,” Harry said. “We have a long ride back to Havana. Where we go from there is up to you.”

  Chapter 17

  Maggie lay next to Harry in bed. As she leaned against him, she could see the glow of the city’s lights. He had his arm wrapped around her, and his hands rested around her waist. It was funny how different she felt in his arms after only a few days. The original spine-tingling, core-tightening thrill of his touch had given way to something gentler and more intimate.

  The first time they’d made love, his touch had been wild, an exploration of desire, a new and unknown rush as he learned each part of her body. But the feeling was different now, as she lay in his arms. His hands moved slowly, tenderly. His movements were purposeful, and she knew what to expect. He knew how to draw every sigh and moan from her lips. He knew how to build her anticipation until she was delirious with need. He knew how to rock her body with bliss. He knew how to make her feel sexy, beautiful and wanted.

  And knowing that only added to Maggie’s enjoyment of every last brush of his lips and stroke of his hands. It went beyond the physical. There was a comfo
rt in his touch, that tenderness and reverence for her body that Maggie hadn’t noticed before. It had only been a few days since they’d first made love, but their attraction had blossomed into something much more than sex, something that filled her heart and left her breathless, a feeling that made her want to ignore every last bit of logic that told her to slow down, a feeling that told her she had to choose him.

  Maggie felt alive with Harry in ways she never had before. Sure, there was the sex, but each day felt like it had new meaning, and each night, she felt at home in his arms. As she lay there locked in Harry’s arms, she wondered if maybe his proposal wasn’t so crazy after all. She couldn’t know what life would bring her next, but she did know that she had something special with Harry, something she might never have again.

  She couldn’t imagine leaving her job or her friends behind to run off with Harry, but she couldn’t accept going forward without him. Before she met him, she had always thought of her life as something that would happen in the future, believed that if she worked hard and did everything right, somehow, someday things would fall into place. But Harry had changed her, and now she wasn’t sure if she was meant to wait for someone. He’d found something deep inside her that she hadn’t known existed, and he’d changed her forever. Now she knew what it was to need someone completely.

  She just didn’t know what to do about it.

  “Harry,” she said.

  “Yes?”

  “What would you do if you could do anything?”

  “You mean besides what we just did?” Harry asked. He ran a hand over her bare hip and kissed her shoulder. His lips were soft and warm, and Maggie was surprised by how quickly she found herself wanting him again.

  “I meant in life,” she said as Harry slid a hand up her ribcage and cupped her breast. She gasped softly as he rubbed her nipple. Here she was trying to have a real conversation, and he had to make her want him.

  “Should I stop?” he said.

  “You can keep going,” she said. She felt his other hand slide between her thighs. “Just talk, too.” She’d be amazed if they got through one more sentence before giving into their need.

  “I’d open a hotel,” Harry said. He moved his hands slowly against her and stoked her desire. “I’d do it the right way. I’d start from scratch. I’d take care of my employees and the environment, and I’d find a way to convince you to come work with me.”

  “Is that right?” Maggie asked. She was torn. On the one hand, she wanted to have a serious conversation, and on the other, she wanted Harry. “What position?” she asked.

  “I was thinking directly beneath me,” he said. He slid a hand to her hip. “Then again, I think you’d do great on top.” He kissed her shoulder again, slowly working his way to her neck, letting his lip slide against her skin.

  “Of course, I’d need you to leave your current position,” he said. He pressed his hips against her, and she could feel the heat of his arousal. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but sometimes words weren’t enough. “And there’d be a strenuous application process.”

  “Oh?” she said. She pulled herself away from him slightly and was delighted when he pulled her back in.

  “You’d have to be flexible, both physically and morally,” he said. “But I’d make sure you were well compensated.”

  “With an offer like that, how could I refuse?” she replied. “What else should I know about this position? Are there any perks?”

  “I’d like to think there are a few.” Harry slid a hand up to her chin and tilted her head towards his. He pressed his lips to hers, sliding his tongue in slow motion against her lower lip, teasing her until she met his tongue with her own. She felt dizzy and excited, and she wanted to believe that this connection was more than just a fling. She wanted to believe that it could last.

  “I know you think I’m kidding, but I’m not, Maggie,” he said. “I’d start a company with you in a heartbeat. I’d do anything with you in a heartbeat.”

  “Would you really want me?” she asked. It wasn’t his willingness to jump into something that worried her. It was his commitment. She wanted to be with him completely, not for the moment, or the night or the week. She wanted to hold on to the way she felt about him forever. She wanted to know that he felt that way too.

  “More than anything,” Harry said. “I need you. Tell me you need me too.”

  “More than anything,” she said. More than I could have possibly known, she thought, and for more than just right now.

  “Maggie,” he said as she turned and slipped onto his lap. She could hear the excitement in his breath. She could feel his heat against her. “I need you. I…” Even as they pledged their need for each other, there was one word that wouldn’t pass their lips—one word they couldn’t take back, a word that meant everything, a word that would change it all.

  She locked her lips against his in a long, searing kiss and tried to convince herself that she could decide later, but she knew that when it came down to it, it wouldn’t be a choice at all. She sank down against him, taking him inside, locking her hips against his, keeping her lips sealed against his. She needed him. She needed to lose herself in his arms, to surrender to the rhythm of his body. She needed him to rock her until her mind was blank and she was completely satisfied. She needed to give up her fantasy for a moment and indulge in the moment.

  She kissed his neck and ran her hands up and down his back, raking her nails against his skin as the pleasure grew more intense. He guided her motions, pacing the movement of her hips back and forth, setting a tempo, almost setting the pace of her breaths and her heartbeat. As he rocked faster and faster, she cried out. Her heart raced. She knew it couldn’t last much longer. Even as she fought to hang on to that feeling, that connection, she knew it couldn’t last.

  She knew the truth. No matter how great it felt, no matter how sexy or wanted or satisfied she felt, no moment of happiness with Harry would ever be enough. She braced herself against him and prepared herself for the coming storm.

  “Harry!” she cried out as the pleasure crested inside her. He grabbed her hips and pulled her tight. He locked his lips against her tender breast and brought another cry of delight to her lips. “Now!” she shouted as they both crashed into climax together. “Now.” She ran her hands through his hair and kissed his cheek and his neck as orgasm rang through her body.

  For one blissful moment, she could barely tell whose breath was whose, and whose hands were where. She felt like she and Harry were one. It was enough to make her heart ache with joy. She kissed him, and she let herself dissolve into that kiss, drawing out the buzz she felt from their connection. When she finally relaxed against him and let her weight fall against his chest, she couldn’t help but smile. For even the briefest moment, she and Harry had been completely connected, so close they were almost one.

  There was another word floating in her mind, one that almost reached the tip of her tongue as she reveled in the warm afterglow of their passion. Not just now, not just connection, but forever. Not just the sex. Not just the adventure. She wanted all of it. The back-and-forth arguments, the flirting, the passion, the look in his eyes, the way she felt when she woke up in his arms. She wanted all of it. Not just for now. No, she thought. Forever.

  Chapter 18

  Harry looked out the window at the morning sky. Havana looked worn out in the morning. The romance and charm it held at night didn’t hold up in the relentless light of day. He knew he was taking himself too seriously, but he couldn’t help himself. He was trying not to think about Maggie. He’d been anxious since she’d left for her meeting with the interior minister, Señor Cienfuegos. After the night they’d shared together, he hadn’t wanted to let her out of his sight. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, so many things he hadn’t said.

  Harry had spent months planning this meeting, and now he wasn’t even going to be part of it. He should have been mad, but instead he was just worried. She’d told him that he should
n’t worry, that nothing could happen to her, that unlike his plan, she wasn’t breaking any laws, but still he worried. When Ramon arrived with the car, Harry made him go over the route five times before agreeing to let them leave. Ramon had promised not to let anything happen to her, but Harry couldn’t stop thinking about everything that could go wrong.

  He had wanted to at least go along, but Maggie told him he needed to stay at the hotel. She claimed it was important to keep separation and deniability if anything did go wrong. If he hadn’t been trying so hard to convince her that she should run off with him, he wouldn’t have agreed with it for a second. The plan was good, but he wanted to be there with her. He hated being apart from her, not knowing how she was, not knowing whether she needed him or not. Maggie brought out a side of him that he’d never known before. He usually didn’t care about anything, and now he was a nervous wreck. He felt crazy as he paced back and forth across the hotel room.

  He tried to calm himself by thinking of all the places he and Maggie could go once this was over. Paris, Geneva, Hong Kong, Dubai—they could start over anywhere. He knew that she wanted to go with him. Her heart was in it. He just needed her to trust him the same way he was trusting her. Maybe they wouldn’t even go the established route. Maybe they’d start off somewhere warm and tropical, somewhere where they could live off the land. He’d saved up enough of his own money to give them a start, and they’d be able to build a life for themselves as equals. He’d love to see the look on his father’s face when he found out the very person he’d sent to rope him in had been the one person who could set him free.

  Harry wondered how much time had passed since Maggie had left. It was ten past ten. If everything was going according to plan, Maggie was meeting with the minister in twenty minutes. Within an hour, it would all be over, and she’d be on her way back to him. He’d made her promise to call the hotel if she needed anything. He’d taken special care to let the hotel staff know that they would need to get him for any call. The hotel manager had personally offered to handle the situation should it arise. Harry wondered if he should just go downstairs and wait by the phone. The lack of phones in the rooms was one of the things Harry liked about Bosque, but damn, did he wish he had one now.