[The Sons of Lily Moreau 03] - Capturing the Millionaire

by Marie Ferrarella

  This time, Alain put his briefcase down on the side table. “So you really are serious about giving him to me?”

  “What made you think I was kidding?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I really don’t think you have a choice in the matter.” He supposed that having a pet around wouldn’t be so bad. It would give him an excuse to see her after the fund-raiser. He grinned at her. “You always come on so forcefully?”

  She’d never had to bully anyone into taking one of the dogs. There were plenty of people who loved animals. She supposed she was coming on a little strong here, but only because she really did think that Winchester would begin to waste away if he was separated from Alain.

  Kayla played along. “It works better than saying ‘pretty please with a cherry on top.’”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” He drew a little closer to her. “Maybe you could try it.”

  She was about to tell him he was crazy, but then she shrugged, and pursed her lips to form the first word.

  She never got the opportunity to say it out loud. When her lips puckered, Alain swept her up in his arms and kissed her. Hard. The way he’d been wanting to all these weeks.

  He felt her surprise and then her surrender. And then he felt her kissing him back. Just as hard as he was kissing her. The little moan that escaped sent shivers up and down his spine. And a desire for more.

  Her head was spinning again. Just the way it had the first time he’d kissed her at her house. That night in Shelby hadn’t been a fluke. He really did make her feel as if she was intoxicated.

  Kayla wrapped her arms around his neck and sank into the kiss, drowning in it. Her pulse hammered wildly when she finally drew her head back to look at him. It took her a second to catch her breath. “I was wondering when you were going to get around to that.”

  He held her close for a moment, enjoying the way the rhythm of her heart matched his. “Didn’t want to grab you the second you turned up on my doorstep. Well, I did,” he allowed, “but I didn’t want to frighten you away.” It was bad enough that one of them was scared beyond words—because he’d never felt an impact like this before and he was afraid it was going to undo him completely if he wasn’t careful.

  “I think if I ran,” she told him, “Winchester would fetch me back.”

  He grinned. “Well, that seals the deal for me. How can I refuse a dog that can fetch women?”

  “Woman,” she emphasized. “Not women.”

  “Even better.” He leaned over, about to kiss her again. She put her hands up on his chest, looking a little hesitant.

  “I really have to get going.” But even as she said it, she made no effort to draw farther away.

  “Yeah, me, too.” Still holding her to him, Alain glanced at his watch over her head.

  Her body was heating at an alarming rate. She needed to leave, but her feet wouldn’t obey. “What are you thinking?”

  He wrapped his arm back around her again. “That I could call in late.” “But I can’t.” She needed to remember that she was a responsible person, not some neo-hippie who could gratify her whims at will and damn the consequences. “The shelter is expecting me, and I hear the traffic on the way is awful.”

  “Traffic is awful,” he agreed. “It gets better by ten. You could leave then.”

  “Ten.” She grasped his wrist and looked at his watch. “That’s two hours away.”

  “Yes.” His smile was nearly blinding. “I know.”

  Her eyes were wicked as she looked up at his face. “What’ll we do until then?”

  “We could show Winchester his new backyard and then…” His voice trailed off.

  “Then?”

  “Then,” he repeated. Abandoning words, he showed her. He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. When he heard her draw in her breath, the sound excited him to the point that he wanted to take her right there, on his living-room floor. Take her the way he’d fantasized about over and over again.

  He began to unzip her jacket. Her breath came more heavily. With effort, she put her hands on his to stop him. “Don’t you have to call your office first?”

  He nodded, taking out his cell phone. He pressed one of the preprogrammed numbers, and when he got the machine on the other end, left a message that he was going to be delayed that morning.

  Kayla was doing the same on her cell phone, leaving word at the shelter that she was stuck in traffic, but would be there by around ten or so.

  The second she closed the lid, terminating the call, she found herself being caught up in his arms.

  The kiss that followed rocked her to her toes, which were no longer touching the floor.

  Chapter 12 The delicious euphoria began to dissipate, quietly tiptoeing into the navy-blues and whites of Alain’s coolly decorated bedroom. Unwilling to release her grasp on the joy that had been feeding her very soul, Kayla struggled to hold on to the feeling a little longer. But reality being what it was, the euphoria was even now slipping through her fingers.

  With a reluctant sigh, she turned toward Alain in the rumpled bed. Her heart insisted on lighting up again, and she grinned. “You know, we have to stop meeting like this.”

  He laughed softly, drawing her into his arms. He liked holding her, just holding her and having her close like this.

  Definitely not business as usual, he thought, and that did worry him. But for now, he wasn’t going to think about it, wasn’t going to think that he was letting himself get in too deep too fast. He was just going to enjoy the surge that making love with her created within him.

  He shifted his head slightly and the bright-blue numbers on his digital alarm clock all but jumped up at him. How had it gotten that late so quickly? He should have been on the road long before now.

  “I hate to love and run,” he told her. Then, because temptation reared its head, he allowed himself one more kiss. It was quick but potent, and pregnant with promise of things to come.

  And, oh, it was such an argument for staying right where he was. “I really hate to love and run,” he told her with feeling, “but a client’s coming in and I’ve got to be there or my head is going to be served on a platter.” Alex Dunstan, senior partner and a friend of his late father, was counting on him to be there this morning—or what was left of it. And Bobbie Jo Halliday absolutely refused to deal with any of the other members of the firm. She’d confided in him that she found them all inflexible. Alain wasn’t sure if she meant emotionally or physically.

  Kayla nodded. “The trophy wife with the newly changed will.” There’d been a lot on the Internet and on the news about the woman lately. None of it overly flattering, except for the photos. The woman was built like a proverbial Greek goddess.

  Alain looked at her in surprise. “You were listening.” That was a first, he thought. If he did happen to “talk shop” around any of the women he went out with, it always seemed to breeze in one ear and sail right out the other. Not that he had an overwhelming desire to bring his work out of the office with him, but being a lawyer was part of who and what he was. Then again, it had never mattered to him that none of his dates cared about that, because he’d always kept things nice and loose.

  So why did he feel so pleased that Kayla had paid attention? That she took an interest in his work? He wasn’t making any sense.

  Kayla looked surprised that he was surprised. “Why wouldn’t I be listening? You were talking.”

  He wasn’t going to think about this. “No reason,” he said quickly, then pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, which suddenly looked incredibly sensual to him.

  Warm tongues of desire began to radiate out from where his lips touched her skin. “Stop right there,” she ordered, moving her hand to block his mouth. When he raised his eyes, looking at her quizzically, she said, “You trail those lips along my collarbone and neither one of us is going to get to where we’re supposed to be going, not for a long, long time.”

  His eyes swept over her body and she saw hunger flicker in them.

  Right no
w, the only place he wanted to go was where he’d just been. “That might be a matter of opinion,” he told her.

  Her own longing threatened to get the better of her, but she had a dog to rescue. And Alain had a bimbo to counsel.

  “Don’t make me push you out of bed,” she warned. Keeping the sheet discreetly wrapped around her, Kayla bent over the side of the bed to retrieve her clothing. Garments were haphazardly strewn on both sides, his on one, hers on the other. Luckily, hers were where she could reach them. Rather than risk getting up and suffering what could be the delicious consequences of appearing utterly nude in front of him, Kayla pulled her clothes under the sheet and began wiggling into them.

  When he realized what she was doing, Alain laughed. “You know, in some countries, that would be considered a very enticing prenuptial dance.”

  Having successfully pulled on her underwear and bra, Kayla went to work pulling her jeans up her legs, one eyebrow raised in amusement. “But not in this one.” Rather than follow suit, Alain rose from the bed. Looking at him, Kayla felt the insides of her mouth transform into sun-dried cotton. He was as gloriously naked as the day he was born, and far better endowed.

  She couldn’t draw her eyes away.

  Aware that she was watching, Alain shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s faster this way.”

  “I doubt it.” If they’d both started to get dressed that way, naked and facing one another, Kayla was willing to bet they wouldn’t have gotten very far. Even now, she found breathing evenly a challenge.

  Kicking the sheet aside, she rose. As she did so, she pushed her arms through the sleeves of her shirt, then quickly buttoned it up.

  She felt his eyes skim over her body, and felt naked all over again. “Do you want a key so you can come back when you’re finished rescuing that dog?” he asked in a husky voice.

  She couldn’t help wondering how many keys to his house were floating around out there, and how many other women he’d offered them to.

  Don’t ruin it. You know it’s not going to last, but don’t hurry it along. Don’t examine things too closely, she warned herself. Glancing in the mirror over the bureau, she took a deep breath as she ran her hand through her hair in lieu of a comb. Kayla did her best to sound nonchalant. “I’m not coming back.”

  She saw the confusion in his face reflected in the mirror. “But the fund-raiser—”

  Kayla’s eyes met his in the glass. “Isn’t, according to you, until Saturday. I can’t stay here until then.” He didn’t see what the problem was. Alain found himself rather liking the idea, since there was a ready excuse in place: she’d be only there until the fund-raiser. They’d have a few nights to enjoy each other without the threat of it being more serious.

  “Why not?” he pressed. “You shared your place with me.”

  “There was a power outage at the time.” Kayla stepped into her shoes. “And,” she reminded him, “you were stranded.” He leaned over her, his engaging grin making her stomach whirl counterclockwise. “I could have a friend drive into the power grid for me,” he offered. “And there’s a utility pole not too far from here. I could try merging your truck with it.” His expression was the soul of innocence.

  It was hard not to laugh. Harder not to fall into his arms. With effort, she managed to remain steadfast. “I’ll pass, thanks.”

  She looked so serious, he realized he wasn’t sure exactly what it was she was turning down. The tongue-in-cheek offer, him, or everything.

  “You don’t want the fund-raiser?” “Yes, yes I do.” For more reasons than one. But she couldn’t stay here until then. “How could I turn down something so generous? I’ll be back on Saturday for it. Early,” she promised. “But right now, I have a dog to pick up and take back with me.” She already had foster parents waiting to take in the neglected animal.

  Fully dressed, Alain looked down at Winchester. The dog had stationed himself by the doorway, as if guarding who came and who went. He’d been there for the last hour. “What about Winchester?”

  She didn’t quite follow. Kayla glanced over her shoulder at the dog. Winchester had eyes only for Alain. “What about him?”

  “Are you taking him with you?”

  She thought they’d been over this. “No, I already said he was yours.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want him,” he argued, “but I don’t have anything that a dog needs.” He had no dog food, no dish for the animal, nothing. Kayla begged to differ. She’d seen the way Alain had interacted with Winchester at her place.

  “You have love. The rest can be bought at a pet store. And,” she added, feeling that she was sealing the deal, “I brought some things with me in the truck. A bowl, his food, some of his toys. And a simple new-owners instruction booklet.”

  The last item caught his attention. And made him feel a wee bit better about the situation. “They have things like that?” he asked incredulously. “Probably.” However, this particular one wasn’t anything he’d find in a bookstore. “I just wrote down answers to a few of the basic questions you might have.” She smiled. She intended to make this as easy as possible for Alain—and Winchester. “I figured you might need help, and this’ll make you feel better.”

  “I’d really feel better if you stayed,” Alain declared.

  So would she, Kayla thought. But for a completely different reason. Which was why she needed to go.

  She forced a smile to her lips. “You’ll be fine.”

  He looked doubtfully at the dog, then at some of his more expensive pieces of furniture. The house definitely wasn’t doggy-proof.

  “But I’m going to be gone for the next eight hours,” he protested.

  She assumed he was gone that amount of time five days a week. “And this is different from any other day how?”

  That was his point exactly. “It isn’t. It’s not fair to a dog to be alone all the time.” Half the people who had pets were gone the bulk of the day. “It won’t be all the time. And he’ll adapt to your routine. You just have to pet him and show him that he’s appreciated.”

  He wasn’t going to talk her out of giving him the dog, he thought. And he supposed he was warming to the idea. Committing to a pet wasn’t the same thing as committing to a woman. The dog wouldn’t suddenly pack up and leave on a whim or after an argument, unwilling to work things out. A dog represented loyalty and unconditional love.

  But Alain couldn’t just surrender. Not all at once. “Got an answer for everything, don’t you?”

  “Pretty much,” she agreed, without a trace of smugness or vanity. She paused to pet Winchester. “We can put him out in the yard for now.”

  Alain looked down at the German shepherd. He supposed it would go well, but for now, it suited his purposes to play the uncertain new owner.

  “Maybe you should come back when you’re finished at the shelter.” His voice was soft, coaxing. “For Winchester’s sake.” She saw right through him. And she had to admit it amused her. “I’m sure Winchester will be just fine.” She patted the dog’s head. “Won’t you, boy?” In response, Winchester wagged his tail enthusiastically. “See?”

  “That’s just a reaction to being petted,” Alain protested. He followed her as she went down the stairs. Winchester wriggled past them, then bounded down the rest of the steps energetically. Reaching the bottom, he turned and looked back, waiting for them to join him.

  Kayla turned around to look at Alain when she reached the landing. “Winchester understands what you tell him, and some things you haven’t even said out loud.” Alain didn’t bother hiding the skeptical look on his face. His expression all but said, Yeah, sure. “You’re giving me a mind-reading dog?”

  He’d learn, she thought. “Make fun if you like, but dogs are very intuitive, and German shepherds are the smartest of the lot.”

  Alain nodded, seeming to take in what she was saying, but she wasn’t fooled. He didn’t easily give up his convictions.

  “Fine. Then maybe in between doing long division in his head, h
e’ll come up with a plan to make you stay.”

  She paused to brush her lips against his. When all else failed, she could always fall back on her tried-and-true excuse. “Can’t leave my dogs for that long.”

  He thought he’d found an inconsistency. “You said they were with other people.” “They are.” Kayla picked up her purse from where she’d dropped it by the front door, and slung it over her shoulder. “But all of those people have German shepherds of their own. I can’t ask them to be overwhelmed indefinitely.”

  When she’d first told him about what she did, he’d thought of it as a hobby, or a limited one-woman crusade. Now it sounded like some monumental undertaking, the logistics of which could rival the blueprints for the undertaking of D-day. “Just how many of these dogs are out there?”

  Kayla only needed a second to do the tally in her head. “Currently, we have fortynine that need permanent homes, although the number fluctuates daily.”

  “And until then, until someone adopts these homeless dogs permanently, you and your friends are caring for them?”

  She grinned as she patted his cheek. “Now you’re catching on.”

  He caught her hand, pressing it against his cheek a moment longer before he released it. “So why go out of your way to pick up another one?” Kayla looked at him for a long moment, trying to gauge if he was serious. If it was the lawyer or the man asking the question, and if the latter, whether she was wrong about him.

  “The dog is going to be put to sleep by the end of the week,” she reminded him quietly. “How can I not?” Alain didn’t have an answer for that, or even a comment. She realized that she’d wanted him to agree with her without hesitation. While he hadn’t done that, at least he hadn’t said anything to try to talk her out of it. She supposed that was something. A baby step in the right direction.