The Tycoon's Scandalous Proposition--A Marriage of Convenience Romance

by Miranda Lee

  He’d used sweet words as well.

  I just want to make you happy. To make you smile...

  Could she really believe that? Why should he care whether she was unhappy or not? He didn’t even know her!

  Lachlan had warned her about him—said he was bitter and twisted after what Claudia had done to him, that he used women and treated them badly. But that didn’t ring true either. There was kindness in him. And compassion. Oh, Lord, she wished she could work him out. He was a conundrum, all right. Still, she really should stick to her guns and not let him seduce her tonight...even if her heart beat faster at the thought.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  KATE COULDN’T BELIEVE her luck when her mother popped her head around her bedroom door just after four, announcing that she and her father had been invited out for dinner with some friends. They hadn’t been guests at the wedding and they wanted to hear all about it.

  Off she went, without another word, leaving Kate feeling both grateful and slightly miffed. Which was perverse, she thought as she rose and started getting herself ready. The last thing she wanted was her mother making critical remarks about how she looked. But she might at least have thought to wish her luck with the screen test.

  Six o’clock saw her pacing up and down in the front room, watching and waiting for Blake to arrive. By five past six she was beginning to panic. By ten past six she felt sick. He wasn’t coming. He’d changed his mind. But if that was so then why hadn’t he rung?

  It was at this critical point that she remembered he didn’t have her phone number. She hadn’t given it to him. She didn’t have his, either. What if he’d had an accident? What if...?

  And then there he was, pulling in to the kerb, jumping out from behind the wheel and striding round the front of the silver Lexus. God, he looked gorgeous, dressed all in black. Black trousers and a black silk shirt, black belt and shoes. Black as his hair. He was frowning, though, his thick dark brows drawn tightly together as he hurried through the wrought-iron gate along the path and up onto the front porch.

  Kate resisted flinging open the door before he’d actually rung the bell, but it was a close call. She made him wait a few seconds before she finally turned the knob, doing her best to stay calm and composed and not act like a teenager on her first date.

  Actually, it was her first date for some years—a fact which should have been depressing. But she had no time for depression tonight. She was having a screen test with the brilliant and wickedly sexy Blake Randall and then going out to dinner with him. How fantastic was that?

  His deeply set blue eyes gave her one long thorough once-over. ‘Good God, Kate, you make it hard on a guy, don’t you?’ he growled.

  ‘What do you mean?’ she asked, pretending not to understand.

  ‘You know exactly what I mean, you bad girl. You could have at least put your hair up into a prissy bun thing instead of leaving it down. I have to tell you now that I have a thing for long hair—especially long, straight, silky honey-coloured hair. I also have a thing for silk dresses and sexy stilettos.’

  His sigh was rather melodramatic.

  ‘I thought you wanted me to keep my hands off tonight? Oh, don’t bother to answer that,’ he swept on, whilst rolling his eyes. ‘I’ll do my best but I can’t promise you anything. Now, let’s get going. We’re already running late.’

  ‘I have to just get my purse and lock up.’

  Kate glanced in the hallway mirror as she hurried past. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes shining. Lord, he really was a devil. Because she didn’t want him to keep his hands off, did she?

  ‘So, where’s Mommie Dearest?’ he asked as they made their way out to the car.

  ‘Visiting some friends.’

  ‘Does she know you’re out with me tonight?’

  ‘Oh, yes. I told her. About the screen test and the dinner.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘She was surprised at first, and then not very interested.’

  ‘You know, she’s just like my mother,’ he said as he opened the passenger door.

  ‘Oh? In what way?’

  ‘I have an older brother—James. He’s the apple of her eye. Can do no wrong. I’m the black sheep in a family of doctors.’

  ‘So you understand, then?’ Kate said with a sigh as she climbed in and buckled up.

  ‘I certainly do.’

  She closed the door.

  ‘Hold on to this,’ he added after getting in behind the wheel and handing her a tablet. ‘I’ve copied the three scenes you’re in and brought them up, ready for you to read. You can study them during the drive to Byron’s penthouse. That way you’ll be prepared by the time we get there. Your character is a secretary who’s having an affair with her married boss. She’s actually a bit of a closet femme fatale—dresses very conservatively in the office and has a witty turn of phrase. I’m sure you’ll get the gist once you’ve read the scenes.’

  It hit Kate suddenly that very soon she was actually going to audition for the Blake Randall—movie-maker extraordinaire. Up until now it had all seemed somewhat hypothetical. She’d just presumed she would do well. Her confidence was at an all-time high today.

  But what if she didn’t do well? What if she totally stuffed it up?

  Nerves gathered in the pit of her stomach as she read through the scenes. The first one wasn’t too difficult. Just an office scene with a boss and his PA, with some clever double entendres in the dialogue. She thought she could handle the third scene as well. Back in the same office, with the boss breaking off the affair and saying he was going to try to make his marriage work. The PA then told him she’d already got another job and quit, throwing at him the fact that she had bigger fish to fry.

  Kate quite liked the idea of playing a bitch. Those sorts of roles were often remembered. But the second scene worried the life out of her.

  In a hotel bedroom, it required her character to be in bed, obviously naked under the covers, watching her lover get dressed. She was described as having ‘sated, heavy-lidded eyes’, with ‘a blistering sensuality’ in all her movements. In the scene she reached for a cigarette and smoked it slowly, praising her lover’s performance and claiming she’d never had better.

  ‘So what do you think?’ Blake asked, perhaps sensing her unease.

  ‘I think,’ she said slowly, ‘that I am going to have difficulty pulling off this role.’

  ‘And why is that?’

  Kate knew she had to be honest with him. Or risk making a total fool of herself. But, God, it was going to be hard telling him the truth.

  ‘Well, the thing is...when I act I can usually tap in to some personal experience to help me with the emotions involved. I’m afraid I haven’t anything to tap into for this second scene.’

  His forehead bunched into a frown. ‘What are you saying, Kate? Spell it out for me.’

  Kate sighed. ‘Well, if you must know, I’ve never lain in bed watching my lover get dressed. I’ve never experienced what it is to be sexually sated. I’ve only ever had three serious boyfriends, and they were just boys, really. And I wasn’t ever in a bed—just in the back of a car or on a lumpy sofa. The first time was during my last year in high school. He was a total nerd and hadn’t got a clue. Same as me. My other two boyfriends were at university, where I was doing an arts degree and waiting to get into NIDA. They were a bit better than the nerd, but not much.’

  ‘I see,’ Blake said thoughtfully. ‘So why didn’t you have sex with anyone once you went to NIDA? Surely there were some older more experienced chaps there who asked you out?’

  ‘Yes. But I didn’t want to go out with them.’

  Blake rolled his eyes at her. ‘Don’t tell me. By then you were madly in love with Lachlan.’

  His derisive tone brought an embarrassed heat to Kate’s cheeks.

  ‘Oh, Kate, that is just so pathetic.�
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  ‘I know,’ she said in a small voice.

  An awkward silence fell, and Kate was startled when she realised they were in the middle of the CBD. Blake suddenly shot across the road and down a ramp which led to an underground car park, braking hard at the bottom so he could activate the security gate. It rose slowly, during which time he threw her a frustrated glance.

  ‘I suppose you haven’t dated anyone this year, either?’ he ground out.

  She shook her head, her mouth having gone dry.

  ‘Truly?’ he exclaimed, then muttered very rude words under his breath the whole time it took him to park.

  He stomped around to the passenger side of the car, wrenched open the door, snatched up the tablet from her lap and threw it onto the back seat before practically dragging her out of the car and over to the bank of lifts in the corner, glaring at her all the while.

  ‘Not another word,’ he snarled when her mouth opened to protest at his caveman-like handling.

  Kate backed away from him in the lift, crossing her arms in a huddle of misery when he didn’t explain what was going on. Clearly she wasn’t going to be doing the screen test. Maybe he was going to give her a lecture about her futile love for Lachlan. He sure as hell was angry with her.

  When the lift door opened on the top floor he strode out without looking to see if she was following him or not. She did, of course. What else could she do?

  Byron’s penthouse was exactly what Kate had expected of a billionaire owner. The rooms were massive and lavishly furnished, and the views from the terrace almost as good as those from the Centrepoint Tower. Everything that proclaimed Sydney one of the most beautiful cities in the world lay before her.

  But Kate wasn’t in the mood to be impressed. Neither was she interested in being lectured.

  ‘I think,’ she said as she stood in the middle of the main living room, her arms crossed once again, but this time with stiff resolve, not misery, ‘that you should just take me home. I’d call a taxi, only my purse and my phone are still in your car.’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  BLAKE WAS TORN between seducing her and slapping her. ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he snapped.

  ‘Don’t call me ridiculous,’ she fired back at him. ‘You wanted the truth and I told it to you. I’m sorry if you find it “pathetic” to love someone enough not to want to be with anyone else. No doubt when Claudia dumped you, you went out and shagged everything in sight. But I’m not like that. My feelings run a little deeper.’

  ‘Should I get the violins out now?’

  ‘Oh!’ she said, stunned by his insensitive attitude.

  Her fingernails dug into her upper arm whilst she struggled with the urge to actually stamp her feet. The only thing stopping her was the fact that he would think her pathetically childish if she did.

  ‘Might I remind you that you would have been quite happy for me to shag you last night?’ he threw at her.

  Her arms unfolded in a flurry and she strode up close to him, her dark eyes flashing with fury. ‘Trust you to bring that up. I was drunk. You know I was drunk.’

  ‘Not at first, you weren’t. That only came later—after you’d been screwed up by your sweet sister. You wanted me when we were dancing, sweetheart, and don’t pretend you didn’t. You still want me.’

  ‘I do not. I definitely do not. I... I...’

  He’d had enough of this—enough of wanting this girl and having to wait until she accepted the fact that she wanted him back. Without hesitation he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, his mouth quite brutal with frustration and a wild, flaring passion.

  She froze at first, but then she melted into him, moaning as her arms slid up around his neck, her high, softly rounded breasts pressing hard into his chest. Her gesture of surrender calmed his fury and his mouth gentled on hers, his hands sliding up under her jumper to caress the bare flesh of her lower back. He felt her shiver, then felt himself swell to alarming proportions.

  I’m going too fast, came the stern warning. I have to slow down. Have to. Going too fast isn’t going to work with this girl.

  She might not be a virgin, but she was close to it.

  * * *

  Kate groaned when his head lifted. She didn’t want him to stop. She’d never been kissed like that in her life. And it had been mind-blowing.

  ‘So,’ he said with a wry smile, ‘before I go on I have a question I must ask you.’

  ‘What?’ she asked, her voice sounding dazed.

  ‘Do you want to?’

  ‘Do I want to what?’

  He laughed. ‘Have you forgotten already the deal we had? The one where we would only have sex if you wanted to.’

  ‘Oh. Oh, yes. No. I mean, yes. I did forget about that.’

  ‘So do you want to?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, her heart pounding in her chest.

  ‘You won’t accuse me later of taking advantage of you? Or bribing you into bed with a part in one of my movies?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Good. Now, I think this is cause for celebration. I’m sure I saw a bottle of champagne in the fridge earlier. Follow me.’

  Kate blinked, then followed him into one of those kitchens that often featured in house and garden magazines. All white and stainless steel, with stone benchtops and no visible drawer handles.

  ‘What are we celebrating?’ she asked breathlessly as he retrieved the champagne and found a couple of glasses.

  ‘You discovering that love and great sex don’t have to go together.’

  The cork popped and he filled the glasses, handing her one before lifting the other to his lips...those cruel-looking lips which only a couple of minutes earlier had rendered her mindless.

  ‘Have you ever had an orgasm?’ he asked her, his focus unblinking.

  Oh, God, how to answer that?

  ‘Yes,’ she admitted, and then swallowed. ‘Just not when I’m with anyone.’

  ‘Right. Okay. I can work with that. At least you know what a climax feels like.’

  Kate could only shake her head at him. ‘This is a very intimate conversation.’

  ‘But a very necessary one if I’m to give you what you want. And what you obviously need. Now, let’s take our champers along to the master bedroom and get this show on the road.’

  ‘This show?’ she echoed, appalled and excited at the same time.

  ‘Just an expression, sweetheart. Don’t take offence. Sex can be fun, you know. A form of entertainment followed by the most delicious feeling of relaxation. It doesn’t have to be all serious with lots of heavy emotion. Being in love can be very disappointing, because when you’re in love you try too hard. And trying too hard is the kiss of death where good sex is concerned.’

  ‘I wouldn’t know,’ she choked out, her stomach suddenly in knots.

  ‘Drink up,’ he advised. ‘You’re looking a little green around the gills.’

  ‘I’m nervous, I guess.’ She took a deep swallow, hoping that the alcohol would do the same job as it had last night.

  ‘You weren’t nervous when I was kissing you just now. Once we get started again you’ll be fine. Trust me.’

  She did, letting him lead her down to the most magnificent bedroom she’d ever seen. He turned to shut the door, leaving her to wander over to the king-sized bed which was dressed all in white, with a fluffy grey throw draped across the foot of the bed.

  She took another swallow of champagne as she stared at the bed and tried to imagine being naked in it with Blake by her side.

  ‘Here, give me that,’ Blake said, taking the glass from her trembling hand and putting it down with his on one of the bedside tables. ‘You’re thinking too much,’ he said, and drew her into his arms, his eyes darkening as they roved over her probably anxious-looking face.

  Just kiss me, she thought breathlessly.
Kiss me and take me again to that place where the real world recedes and there’s nothing but your mouth on mine and your hands all over me.

  He kissed her, but slowly this time, tenderly, his lips roving over hers until they gasped apart. She sucked in sharply when his tongue-tip met hers, moaning for more. But he didn’t ravage her mouth as she’d thought she wanted him too. Instead he made love to it, giving her pleasure and frustration in equal parts. His hands were gentle as well—not delving boldly under her top as they had before, but running up and down her spine on top of her clothes.

  When he stopped, she groaned in protest.

  His head lifted and he smiled down at her. ‘Softly, softly, catchee monkey,’ he murmured.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Nothing. Come on. Sit down.’

  ‘Sit down?’

  ‘Yes. I want to get rid of those heels for starters.’

  She sank down on the side of the bed, stunned when Blake knelt at her feet and slowly removed her left shoe.

  Once it was disposed of he glanced up at her, his smile wry. ‘I’m always removing your footwear.’ Then he bent his head and slipped off her right stiletto, easing it off and tossing it aside.

  ‘Now,’ he went on as he stood up, ‘as gorgeous as your top is, I want that gone as well.’

  Kate immediately thought of her simple white cotton bra—which, whilst not old, wasn’t very new either. Or very sexy.

  Before she could worry too much about it he’d removed her pendant, dropping it on the bedside table before slipping the thin straps of her dress over her shoulders.

  ‘If I’d known I was going to d-do this,’ she stammered, ‘I would have worn some s-sexier underclothes. Not that I have any...’ she muttered under her breath.

  ‘Come now, Kate,’ Blake said with laughing eyes. ‘What about that black number you had on last night? That had me salivating, it was so sexy.’

  ‘Maddie bought that for me.’

  ‘Oh, yes—Maddie the sex kitten. Or at least she thinks she is.’