A Limited Engagement

by Bethany Michaels

  She settled into bed and stared at the shadowed ceiling, painfully aware of Derek, shirtless, on the other side of the mountain of pillows. Fine. She’d acknowledge that the attraction she felt for him was stronger than ever. And her body was yelling, screaming, begging to scale the pillow wall and put her mouth on some part of him.

  But he’d made it clear that he didn’t want anything to happen between them, even if their chemistry was off the charts. She’d only humiliate herself if she threw herself at him. The best thing to do was just play it cool and avoid him as much as possible. This unrequited thing she’d had for him as a teen would just have to stay unrequited.

  “Nice T-shirt, by the way.”

  Crap. He recognized the T-shirt. “Oh, was this yours?”

  “It was one of my favorites. I always wondered where that went.”

  She was glad the room was dark, because she was sure her face was flaming red. “Well, you’re not getting it back now. It’s all broken in.”

  “Looks better on you, anyway.” He yawned, tugged more of the covers to his side of the barrier, and was snoring within minutes.

  Chapter Five

  It was the worst night in bed with a woman Derek had ever experienced. Even worse than the night when he was seventeen and had sneaked in after curfew, knowing that he’d have to tell his mom that he’d not only wrecked his car, but that he’d done it while drag racing a buddy at the stoplight, something strictly forbidden.

  But that sleepless night, spent sure his dad was going to take away his racing privileges, was nothing compared to the restless night he’d now spent in bed next to Lilly. He faked snoring long enough to convince her he was actually asleep. He even managed to sleep a few minutes at a time, but he was aware every second that she was within arm’s reach and wearing very little clothing.

  The sight of her in his T-shirt nearly short-circuited his brain. It looked like it had been washed about a thousand times, and it was now thin enough to display the outlines of her nipples. When he had dozed, his sleep was filled with vivid fantasies of touching her, tasting her, of her being with him in the pits at his races and hanging out with him at his house. He’d wake from the dreams still as hard as a tire iron, disappointed that it hadn’t been reality.

  Clearly something at dinner had brought on the nightmares, because he’d never dreamed of hanging out with any woman at his house. When he didn’t have to be “on” for the public, he liked his space. Most people thought he had a constant parade of women in and out of his bedroom. But really, wherever he stayed in the world, that bedroom was his fortress, a calm place to clear his head and just be Derek, not Derek the racing star.

  Of course, Lilly wasn’t like any of the other women he’d fooled around with. She was, well, Lilly. That kiss in the hallway had been off the scales. Never had he gotten so turned on, so fast. She might be his little sister’s best friend, but she kissed like a sex goddess. And the way her curves molded to his body—like she was custom-made for him—unbelievable.

  He rolled over to pry himself out of bed to head for the shower. The pillow fortress he’d erected had been compromised at some point during the night. Problem. Because it gave him one last look at Lilly.

  Though it was still pretty dark, he could see her outline under the covers, admire her curves and hear the soft sound of her breathing. It was a strange experience, sleeping with someone he was bound and determined not to touch. But this was Lilly. Even as his body burned for her, being around her set his mind at ease.

  He’d given up belonging to any one place when he’d committed to racing full time. He was away from home most of the year, either racing, testing his cars, taking care of team business, or doing promotional appearances for his sponsors. When he had time off, he traveled to exotic locales, always looking for the next new thrill. He was a man of everywhere and nowhere. But when he was with Lilly? She felt like home…a home he actually wanted to return to.

  The soft light coming in through the curtains kissed her skin, turning it golden, and picked out the highlights from her tangled hair. Her breath hissed through slightly parted pink lips, and the dark sweep of lashes against her pale cheeks made him want to press soft kisses to her eyelids.

  Damn, he wanted her. But she wasn’t for him, even though the image of her as just another little sis to watch over and protect was fading fast. She didn’t fit into his crazy life, and quite simply, she wasn’t the kind of girl he’d even consider taking to bed for a night or two or whenever he happened to blow through town. She was too good for him, and they both knew it.

  She deserved the kind of man who would love her all night and be there in the morning to share breakfast and the newspaper. The kind of man who would be there for Sunday dinners. That life wasn’t for Derek. The life he’d chosen was hurtling around a racetrack at two hundred miles an hour.

  He had learned exactly one thing from his father. To be successful, you had to choose between business and personal relationships. If you chose people, your business would suffer. If it was business, you ended up hurting the people who cared about you.

  His father had chosen to give all his time and attention to researching and investing in biotech companies. Derek had seen firsthand how much it had hurt his mom when she’d just wanted the man she loved to be there for dinner. Instead she’d raised her family alone in the most lavish house in town that all the synthetic plasmids and bioremediation tech had paid for. Derek could never do that to someone he cared about.

  “Hey.”

  Her soft, sleep-husky voice startled him. She sat up to stretch. Shit. He looked away, but not before he saw the way her breasts strained the fabric of his pilfered T-shirt. The sight sent all those noble thoughts about not trying to get her into bed straight out the window.

  “Morning.”

  “You said you didn’t snore.”

  “I don’t.”

  She shoved her hands through her tangled hair and let out a big yawn. “Right. Tell that to the neighbors. If Serena had wanted to track you down last night, all she’d have to do was follow the sound of the buzz saw. I don’t know how all your women put up with it.”

  Her lips turned up as she smiled down at him. They were pink and soft-looking, and he was pretty sure he’d give up a shot at the championship for one more kiss. He had to get them back on safer ground—out of the bed and dressed, for starters.

  “I wear them out so much they just pass out afterward and don’t hear a thing.”

  She rolled her eyes and headed for the bathroom. “I’m sure that’s it. Your ego really knows no bounds, does it?”

  “Nope. That’s why you love me.”

  She didn’t answer, just closed the bathroom door in his face.

  So much for that cold shower, or any shower. Obviously he was going to have to go back to his own room to cool off. All of his stuff was there anyway.

  He shut her bedroom door behind him softly so as not to wake the rest of the house, and he headed down the hallway.

  He’d turned the corner when a door opened directly to his right and Serena stepped into the hallway.

  “Good morning,” she said with a megawatt smile. Her hair was perfectly coiffed and her makeup was as flawless as it had been at dinner. She was dressed in a business skirt and heels and was carrying a handbag that had probably cost her father more than a race car engine.

  “Morning,” he said, and tried to step around her.

  She blocked him, and he was forced to either knock her down or stop.

  “Serena…”

  “Just listen for one minute,” she said, putting a perfectly manicured finger on his lips. “I’m sorry about last night.”

  “You are?”

  “I came on too strong. It’s just that I want you, Derek. I’ve made no bones about that.” Her finger tracked down his bare chest.

  He backed away from her. “No, you haven’t.”

  “I don’t believe in playing coy. If I want something, I go after it. And I want you, Der
ek.” Her voice softened as she came toward him. “Very, very much.”

  “I’m with Lilly,” he said, wishing she would suddenly materialize behind him. What kind of man had he become to hide behind a woman? It was pathetic. Like a scene from a bad sitcom where the boss was chasing the secretary around his desk, trying to get in her panty hose. Only this time, he was the secretary, and the whole thing wasn’t nearly as funny as on TV.

  “Lilly and I are getting married,” he said.

  “We’ll see. An engagement is one thing, a marriage something else. Do you know a lot of engaged couples never make that trip down the aisle?”

  “Doesn’t matter. I would never cheat on her.”

  Serena smiled. “I know. That’s what makes the challenge so much fun.”

  …

  Lilly didn’t know how she ended up in a swanky Dallas boutique with Serena Thomas looking at cocktail dresses attached to price tags that made her eyes bulge. Actually, she did. Derek was right. Serena did not take no for an answer. When she’d heard Lilly asking one of the staff where she could shop for a dress for the night’s festivities, Serena had inserted herself into the conversation and insisted that she would show Lilly the very best places to shop in Dallas.

  Lilly tried to make excuses, saying she could wear the same dress as the night before—Mama always told her never to leave home without at least one dressy outfit in her bag—but before she knew it, they were in a car, and she could only sit next to the perfect Serena, trying not to feel like the ugly stepsister from a Disney nightmare.

  She was saved from awkward conversation and forced politeness, however, because Serena was on the phone with her office the whole ride. It was clear to Lilly within the first five minutes of the ride that not only was Serna beautiful and rich, she was actually talented, too. The way she made decisions and suggested solutions to problems, scheduled meetings and directed her staff, all from the back of a car, while wearing four-inch heels and sporting a perfect manicure, was daunting. She really was a powerhouse, a woman Lilly might even admire a tiny bit, if Serena weren’t trying her damnedest to nail Lilly’s fake fiancé.

  Lilly had followed Derek into the hallway this morning to ask him about what time she should be ready for the party when she saw Serena accost him. Serena definitely did not make any bones about what she was after, whether Lilly was in the picture or not. And the thing was, she could totally see Derek going for her eventually. Maybe down the road, once their engagement was at an end.

  “You need to try on this one,” Serena said, pulling a pink confection that looked like a preschool ballet recital reject from the racks. “It’s sweet and innocent, like you.”

  It was ugly, no matter what the price tag read. “Not really my style. But thanks.” Lilly pulled out a midnight-blue number. It was short and fitted through the top, but it had a swingy, sexy skirt that would hit just above the knees. A double row of glittering crystals emphasized the low-cut vee top and gave the dress just enough sparkle to catch the eye. She loved it instantly.

  “That one has ‘fuck me’ written all over it,” Serena said, eyeing the dress. Her narrowed gaze slid to Lilly. “Definitely not you.”

  Lilly was getting tired of the snap judgments and subtle put-downs. The not-so-subtle ones, too.

  “Maybe it is me.” She held the dress up to her body and looked in the full-length mirror. “I’ll bet Derek would like it.” She couldn’t resist poking just a little bit at the woman who wanted what Lilly had.

  Serena gave a delicate snort. “That dress is built for seduction.” She leaned in, and the cloying scent of her heavy floral perfume almost made Lilly sneeze. “I don’t think you have it in you.”

  “What you do mean? He’s my fiancé.”

  “Who sleeps in a separate bedroom.” Serena went back to shifting dresses on the rack. “Daddy might buy that cock-and-bull story about the two of you being engaged, but I don’t. Not for a minute. You’re not his type.”

  “Well, I was certainly his type last night. All night. And twice this morning.” She could feel the blood start to rush through her veins at a dangerously high rate. Serena pushed all her buttons. Maybe it was because she wasn’t fooled by the farce, and maybe it was because Serena was everything that Lilly wasn’t: gorgeous, rich, confident, and, well, employed. And Lilly knew Serena was right. Lilly wasn’t Derek’s type at all. Serena was.

  “No,” Serena said, not even remotely ruffled by Lilly’s story about banging Derek stupid. Clearly she didn’t believe a word of it. “Derek likes a different sort of woman. Sophisticated.” She arched an eyebrow at Lilly. “Experienced. Someone who knows what a man wants and isn’t afraid to give it to him. After he earns it, of course.” She smiled slowly, her catlike eyes turning up at the corners. “That dress belongs on the body of a woman who is confident. Confident that the man she has in her crosshairs wants her. A woman who knows how to draw him in, make him think it’s all his idea. A woman who knows how to seduce. That’s what a man really wants.”

  Lilly cleared her throat. “I know how to seduce. I seduce all the time. I’m the freaking queen of seduction.” Her little speech would have been much more convincing without the quiver in her voice. She steeled her spine, determined not to let Serena make her feel like the runner-up in a two-way beauty pageant. “I think I know what kind of woman my fiancé likes. I’ve known him for decades. You’ve known him what? Five minutes?” She wiggled her ring finger. “And the last time I checked, only one of us was wearing Derek’s ring.”

  Serena laughed delicately. “For now.” She pulled a slinky gown from the rack that exactly matched her eyes and her personality. The woman would look stunning in it, as if the dress had been handmade for her. “I’m going to try this one on. I think Derek will find it irresistible, don’t you?”

  Without waiting for an answer, Serena and the dress disappeared into the fitting room.

  Lilly examined the dress in her hands, carefully avoiding looking at the price tag. Maybe Serena was right. Lilly had never been the type to seduce a man purely because she wanted to. She analyzed the long-term potential, because why bother with a relationship at all if it didn’t play into her five-year plan? Even the Richard disaster had been carefully weighed. On paper, it had been a good risk. But she had never gone after anything purely for the pleasure of it. This weekend was the first time she’d even flirted with the idea of going off script and hopped a plane on impulse.

  And you know what? It had worked out fine so far. Once they cleared things up with their families, any fallout would be left behind with the weekend.

  She held the dress up to her body. She could totally rock this dress. And maybe it was time to apply the confidence she had in her abilities at work to her personal life. So what if seducing Derek was just for show? She wanted everyone around them to believe it. Especially Serena.

  She’d make everyone believe Derek wanted her. And she would do it wearing the hell out of this dress.

  Chapter Six

  The party celebrating the new partnership between Thomas Oil and Stewart-Sawyer Racing should have been Derek’s moment of triumph. The only thing was, Thomas hadn’t made it official yet and signed the papers. As of that moment, there was no deal.

  The golf game had gone well, and Derek had answered all the older man’s questions regarding finances, commitment to doing his promotional appearances, and prospects for making the championship this year. But his questions kept coming back to Lilly and Derek’s relationship. It was obvious Serena had put a bug in his ear. He’d never sign on if he thought Derek was lying to him. This party was the last chance for Derek to make Thomas believe that he and Lilly were the real deal.

  As he stood near the bar that had been set up on the fabulous outdoor patio area around a glittering grotto-style pool, he stared at the beautiful woman who’d only ever been the girl next door. Her hair was up, exposing her long, slender neck, and those heels made her legs look like they were twice as long as usual. She chatted easily
with the guests. And every once in a while, she threw him a hot look.

  She was beautiful, sophisticated, and sexy as hell. And still off-limits. It would be easy to pretend she was his real fiancée. Too easy. But this was just a fantasy, and he was the selfish guy who needed the fantasy to last a little longer.

  He waited until she stepped outside the tent alone, and then he caught up with her on the lawn. The way the moonlight glinted off her dress and her smooth, flawless skin took his breath away. She was no little girl, not his sister’s best friend. She was a beautiful woman with intelligence and a sense of humor. One who wasn’t afraid to bust his balls when he needed it, but one who had a streak of compassion a mile wide, too.

  “Too much in there?”

  She jumped at the sound of his voice, and he almost regretted disturbing her.

  “It’s fine. I just needed a moment away from the crowd.” She looked back up at the huge night sky dancing with a million pinpricks of light.

  “Have you ever seen so many stars?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “In the desert you can actually see the Milky Way spread out all around you. No light pollution or smog. But this is pretty good, too.”

  “Living in the city, you forget all those stars are up there.”

  A burst of conversation and light music intruded from behind them, and the urge to have her all to himself was almost irresistible.

  Not a good idea. She was way too tempting in that dress. They were headed back to Penny Ridge in the morning, their time together coming to end. After visiting the folks for a few days, he’d be immersed in preparing for the upcoming race season. And who knew where her job search would take her? It might be another year before he saw her again. He shouldn’t care, but he did.

  “I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me this weekend,” he said. “Hopefully Thomas will sign the deal and things will fall into place.”