by Leah Brooke
Nick paused in the act of reaching for his napkin and sat back, a dangerous smile curving his lips. “You’re not yet ready for what would happen if we took you to our room.”
Desire flowed through her like warm honey, thick and sweet, creating a languorous heat that seemed to center at her slit. Her stomach muscles tightened as she stared from one to the other in confusion, in disbelief.
For years she’d searched for this feeling. Why did she have to find it now? And with them?
Keeping her tone cool, she shook out her napkin and placed it over her lap, studiously avoiding their eyes as Nick ordered a bottle of wine and Steve ordered a beer for himself.
As soon as the waiter left, Julianna eyed both of them. “Perhaps it would be better if I clear out any misconceptions you may have about me right from the start. I’m only here because of the hotel. I don’t want you to think I’m an easy lay just because of what David said that night at my apartment. We went out once. Period.”
Steve covered her hand with his, stroking her fingers, his hold tightening when she would have pulled away. “David has nothing to do with us wanting you. Neither does the hotel. What would you like to eat?”
Her breathing quickened as her suspicions came closer to being confirmed. “What do you mean, us?”
He flicked a glance at Nick before smiling and looking back down at his menu. “I would think that would be self-explanatory.”
Speechless, Julianna stared down at the menu, not comprehending a word of it. Too stunned to look at either one of them, she kept her head down as her imagination went on overdrive.
She’d never even considered something like what they proposed, and yet once they said it, she realized the thought had been in the back of her mind ever since the night she met them. Gabriel had been wrong after all, her desires were much more complicated than she’d ever imagined.
Or was it just that both of them outshone every other man she’d ever met?
Lost in her thoughts, she jolted in her seat when Nick touched her arm.
His smile was gentle as though understanding her turmoil, but it only made her feel worse. “Would you like me to order for you, Julianna?”
She looked up in surprise to find the waiter standing there with an expectant smile. “Yes, thank you.” Shaken, she took a sip of water and reached for the folder, determined to ignore the sexual tension and get this back on a businesslike footing.
By the time the waiter took their order and left, she’d gotten herself a little more under control. “I really don’t think it’s necessary to live at the hotel. I’ll be available whenever you want to meet with me, but I’d like to have my own space.”
Steve took a sip of his beer and set it aside. “We’ve already discussed that condition. Once the top floor is done, you’ll have your own room, your own space. We don’t want to have to track you down when we need to discuss something. Besides, the apartment complex you live in isn’t safe. If you have to work late, we’ll worry about you getting home safely. I can’t believe you can’t afford to move to a better neighborhood. Why the hell did you stay at Avante’s working for such a pittance?”
Julianna shrugged. “Your idea of a pittance is a lot different than mine. At the time, I needed the experience and the contacts. Now, I’m ready to start over and go out on my own. I know what I want and how to get it.”
Nick sat back, regarding her steadily. “Do you? I wonder. Are you ready to start over and go for what you want?”
Catching the double entendre, Julianna gulped and nodded slowly, shoving aside the more erotic meaning and concentrating only on the professional one.
“You’ve seen my work, and I’m sure you’ve done a background check on me. You know I’m good at what I do.” Pausing meaningfully, she looked at each of them in turn. “And I never let anything interfere with my work.”
Steve reached over and covered her hand with his. “Personal and professional, remember. Two different issues, and one has absolutely nothing to do with the other.”
Nick covered her other hand and ran a thumb over her fingers. “So, Julianna, are you ready to go after what you want? And this time I’m talking about the personal aspect of our relationship.”
Shaking, she pulled her hands away and reached for her water again, the yearning inside her growing stronger every minute.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea. Mixing business with pleasure rarely works.”
They all sat back and waited while the waiter made a production of pouring the wine for Nick to taste. As soon as he approved it, he took the bottle from the waiter’s hand and waved the shocked man away to fill her glass and then his. “We’ve already told you. One has nothing to do with the other. You’re a smart woman. You know what’s happening between us. We’re all adults here and know that passions will erupt sooner or later. You seem to be a woman who craves organization. Wouldn’t you prefer to have everything laid out up front?”
The tense silence that followed broke suddenly when a beautiful woman dropped her purse right next to their table. She looked up with a chagrined smile, her eyes widening as she glanced back and forth between Nick and Steve. “Oh, I’m so sorry. You must think I’m terribly clumsy.”
She had the dark, exotic looks Julianna had always wished for. With her eyes heavily made up, she looked seductive and beautiful, a look Julianna had never been able to achieve. With her light coloring, every time she tried, she always ended up looking like a raccoon.
Both men immediately reached out to help the other woman gather her things, handing them to her with polite smiles before turning back to the table.
Julianna wanted to laugh out loud at the look of disappointment on the woman’s face before she quickly hid it and strode away. Waiting until the woman left, she laughed humorlessly, shaking her head. “You disappointed her. I thought you had a thing for women who spilled the contents of their purses all over the place.”
Looking away, she played with her silverware. “You probably think I spilled mine to get your attention.”
Nick covered her hand with his and took the fork away from her. “Darling, you were so upset you didn’t even know we were there when you dropped yours.”
He blew out a breath, his eyes flashing with impatience. “We think you’re a very talented designer, and we want very much for you to work on this project. You’ve seen the conditions and the substantial compensation for meeting them. We’re willing to pay for having you work exclusively with us until the project is finished. So, are you going to sign the contract, or do we need to give the contract to someone else?”
Steve sipped his beer, eyeing her over the rim of his glass. “Our schedules are erratic, and we never know when we’ll be called to one of the other hotels or have to meet with someone about a property. We need to have you available to discuss the project when we have the time. Now it’s especially important because we’re beginning construction soon on the new resort.”
Julianna took a sip of her wine and allowed a small smile. “If you hired Ken, would you make him live in the penthouse?”
Leaning back, Nick picked up his glass again, his eyes unreadable. “That wouldn’t be any of your concern, would it? Do you agree with the condition or not?”
Walking away from a job like this would be professional suicide. Nodding, she sat back, crossing her arms over her chest. “It appears I have no choice. Yes, as soon as the penthouse is done, I’ll stay there. In a separate room.”
Nick inclined his head, acknowledging her acquiescence. “What else is bothering you?”
Julianna sat up and turned to the next page of the contract, tapping her finger on the offending paragraph. “I don’t understand this clause. Why do I have to accompany you on trips? I’ll be busy at the hotel. I can’t just leave.”
Nick sat back and waited until the waiter finished delivering their appetizers before answering her. “You won’t be expected to accompany us every time, but we’ll be making trips to our other hotels. Have y
ou ever been to any of them?”
Julianna shook her head and took another sip of wine. “No, but I looked them up online before I did your designs, of course. You would have known I would.”
Steve scooped out a clam and offered it to her. “Of course. I assume all of the designers did. But we want you to get a feel for them. It will help you with this one, give you a better idea of the atmosphere than just a picture. Also, we’re about ready to redo two of the other hotels, and this would give you a chance to see them and perhaps draw up some plans.”
Julianna realized belatedly that she’d eaten from Steve’s seafood fork. Offering it to her that way had been an absurdly intimate thing to do at a business meeting, and yet she’d taken it without thinking, as though she’d done it a hundred times.
She blamed it on being distracted by the possibility of redesigning their other hotels. She wanted those contracts so badly she could taste them, but wondered if she’d be able to pull it off. If she couldn’t, her reputation would suffer. She couldn’t afford that. It would be better to walk away than to accept something and not be able to deliver.
“As much as I’d like the other jobs, I have to be honest with you. I don’t have the contacts anywhere else that I have here and in New York.”
Nick handed her a breadstick. “We know that, but we’ll talk more about that later. First you have to finish this one. We can’t even get started, though, until you sign the contract.”
Swallowing a bite of her salad, Julianna pointed to another clause on the same page. This one had insulted her so badly it had taken her almost an hour to calm down. Sure, she bought about half of her wardrobe from thrift stores, but she knew she looked good. “What about this clause? It says that a wardrobe will be provided for me on an ‘as needed’ basis. I have my own clothing. Why would I need a wardrobe? Most days I’ll be wearing jeans anyway, especially until all of the main demolition is done. Other than that, I do have the appropriate clothing.”
Her indignation rose all over again. “Just because I don’t dress as expensively as you doesn’t mean—”
* * * *
“Enough.” Nick’s jaw clenched, and he refilled her wineglass to give himself a minute to weigh his words. The hurt in her tone knotted his stomach, affecting him more than it should have on such short acquaintance, and he fought not to hide his elation that she’d been insulted.
Many women, in his experience, would love to have him buy them expensive clothing, and he’d hoped Julianna wouldn’t be one of them. But this had nothing to do with draping her in a designer wardrobe to win her favor or being embarrassed by her wardrobe.
It had more to do with spoiling her and freeing the seductress he knew lay inside her as the soft fabric and sexy clothing made her more aware of her body than the sedate dresses like the one she wore now. The possessive side of him wanted to brand her, to see her wearing things he’d given her.
He slid a finger down her arm, groaning inwardly at her shiver. “It has nothing to do with the way you dress. You look lovely in everything, especially those worn shorts and baggy T-shirt you wore the other night in an effort to look unappealing.”
His cock hardened even more at her blush. He’d been hard ever since she opened the door to her apartment and resigned himself to remaining so for the rest of the evening. “But there will be social functions you’ll be expected to attend at the hotels when we visit. We can’t expect you to spend your money on the clothing you’d need for such things. Besides, when would you have the time to shop? You’ll have an appropriate wardrobe for these occasions provided, and that way you won’t have to worry about it. Consider them as you would a uniform. Everything will be packed for you along with our things. Sometimes we have to leave without notice.”
He met her frown with a cool look. Now that he’d gotten over his initial shock of meeting such an incredible woman, he would have to assert some authority. She would have him on his knees if he let her, doing neither one of them a bit of good. Hiding a smile when she blushed and looked away, he took a sip of wine and offered her a bite of his appetizer. He wanted to roar with pleasure when she readily accepted it. She really was so damned sexy, she blew him away, and her ingrained submissive nature filled him with a possessiveness he wasn’t prepared to examine too closely.
Her confusion and nervousness gave him pause, and he couldn’t wait to figure out where it came from. A woman who had the balls to go to a Dom for satisfaction shouldn’t be so surprised at her needs or reluctant to go for what she wanted.
It appeared she’d somehow managed to turn forty without fully understanding her own sexuality. Obviously, she already recognized her submissive side. He could only guess that she didn’t like being attracted to her bosses. He’d have to make sure she understood that, no matter what happened between them, it had nothing to do with her being their decorator.
Something had upset her badly the night they’d met her, and he wished he’d been able to find out more about it. Something David had done had really spooked her. If she was as new to this as he suspected, he would have to be even more patient than usual to get past her fears, fears he didn’t yet understand.
The fact that Steve seemed just an enthralled with her put a whole new spin on everything. His cock jumped just imagining the possibilities and the challenge of making this work, at least temporarily.
The thought of sharing her with his best friend aroused him more than he would have believed, filling him with the kind of anticipation he’d thought long behind him. Seeing the way Steve looked at Julianna filled him with a need he’d never even known he possessed.
The fact that Steve had never shared a woman before meant they had a lot of things to discuss. The anticipation and excitement that lit Steve’s eyes made Nick’s own need to have Julianna burn even hotter.
Despite his determination to have her, he was still a little apprehensive, especially since Steve didn’t share his need for dominance. Still, somehow the idea of sharing her felt so right—giving him the same feeling of inevitability he felt when he found the perfect hotel.
He burned to have her.
He would dress her in clothing that would make her feel good about herself, and the first chance he got, he would burn all those horrible low-heeled shoes.
She’d worn high heels for David.
Thinking of her with David infuriated him, so he pushed it aside. He hadn’t felt this green with jealousy since he’d been in his early teens, and it didn’t sit well with him at all.
He couldn’t quite figure out her relationship with Gabriel Durand, though, and it set his teeth on edge. They appeared to be good friends, but he had a hard time believing that. The reclusive investor had a reputation for being a Dom, one he didn’t even attempt to hide. Gabriel hadn’t seemed the least bit threatened by either him or Steve, which both insulted and confused him.
He didn’t care for either.
Gabriel had been genuinely concerned for her, and Nick had at first thought she was Gabriel’s sub and he’d loaned her to David. Nick had always been too selfish to understand that aspect of the lifestyle.
He couldn’t imagine having a long-term relationship with a woman, training her, learning all about her, only to hand her over to someone else. In any long-term relationship, any Dom worth his salt put so much of himself into it, he felt as though he’d lost a part of himself when the relationship ended.
Now it appeared he’d be sharing her with Steve, who appeared to be just as enthralled with Julianna as he was.
He’d seen his best friend stare into space often enough in the last week to know that no matter what Steve said, he wanted Julianna badly.
Intrigued by her, Nick found himself thinking about her often during the day when he should have been concentrating on something else. He couldn’t stop thinking about the night they’d met. Dressed in a skintight dress with killer heels, she should have appeared hard and cold. Instead she’d been upset, vulnerable, and as prickly as a porcupine.
&
nbsp; Totally captivating him.
He’d seen the way she eyed his suit and the chauffeur-driven limousine and must have had some clue as to their worth. When she came out from having her shower, he’d expected her to have pulled out all the stops, makeup, a sexy gown, the works.
Instead, her face had been scrubbed clean, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she’d been wearing clothing that definitely hadn’t been designed to inspire lust. Perhaps that’s why it had. She’d looked much younger, impossibly innocent, and even more beautiful, so damned adorable he wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her on his lap.
Leaving had pissed him off royally. She shouldn’t have been alone in that condition, and he’d wanted more than anything to have the right to take care of her.
He would make damned sure he would in the future.
As soon as she signed the contract, he would begin to insinuate himself into her life a little at a time until he filled every part of it.
The contract gave them twenty-four-seven access to her. As soon as she signed the contract, she wouldn’t be able to walk away in a huff when the porcupine in her came out again. As he knew it would. If only she knew just how irresistible and damned arousing he found her prickly attitude…
It had given him several bad moments that, with little references and no big name, they never would have chosen her to redecorate the hotel. He had no doubt that Julianna would do a better job than any of the others, and it irked him that he would have passed her over. He probably would have chosen Avante’s, not realizing that the designer who had helped them gain their reputation had slipped right through his fingers.
Ken Phillips alone probably couldn’t decorate a tree house.
Nick looked across the table to watch her accept another morsel from Steve’s fork as they spoke, the gesture so instinctive and automatic it made his cock twitch. Her cute frown when she realized what she’d done amused the hell out of him and aroused him even more.