BEASTLY LOVE BOX SET: Romance Collection

by Lindsey Hart

  “Lisa,” he said, pausing.

  She turned around and grinned at him, though there was a question in her eyes; she had flirted with him to no avail last night. It was partly because of his anger at Mia and her threats.

  As he stared at Lisa, however, he found his anger overtaking his common sense. Mia thought she could just threaten him and he would do whatever she asked of him? He had no intention of just bowing down to her!

  If he wanted to seduce her sister, then he was bloody well going to do it.

  “Feeling better?” Lisa asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “I’m still a little off,” he said smoothly, joining her at the railing. He was close enough that it was easy to brush his arm against hers. “But I’m much better after seeing you here.”

  She grinned at him, knowing that he was flirting, but allowing herself to be taken in regardless. She faced him and leaned toward him, so close that her breath blew across his skin and made goosebumps rise on his arms.

  “That’s good,” she said. “What do you say we take a little… walk?”

  Forget Mia and her stupid threats. Lisa was right in front of him, and she was willing to play with him. It wasn’t like he cared what anyone else thought.

  “Lisa!”

  At the sound of the familiar voice, Stephane scowled, glaring at the dark-haired woman as she hurried toward them, her pretty curls flying behind her. Lisa reluctantly stepped back and raised an eyebrow at her sister.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Mom and dad were looking for you,” Mia said, skidding to a stop gracelessly in front of them. Stephane suppressed a snort; she might be pretty, but she was still as clumsy as he remembered. “They were thinking of going down to the archery range, and they want us to go together.”

  “Archery?” Lisa groaned. “Why do we have to go together?”

  “They were talking about doing something as a family for once,” Mia said with a shrug. “I didn’t particularly want to do it, either, but…”

  “If we’re going to do something as a family, we can choose something else,” Lisa said firmly. “I hate archery, and you have no aim. Where are they?”

  “Still at the cottage,” Mia said, waving her hand in that direction.

  “Right, I’ll go talk to them,” Lisa said.

  She stalked off, muttering under her breath. Stephane and Mia watched her go. Then he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, unimpressed.

  “You did that on purpose,” he accused.

  “Our parents were looking for Lisa to talk to her about archery,” Mia countered. She paused. “They just didn’t say they wanted her right now, I guess.” She shrugged carelessly. “Bad timing on your part, then.”

  “Or good timing on yours,” Stephane said, narrowing his eyes. “Look, I don’t know what your problem is, but Lisa and I are both grown adults who can make our own choices.”

  “I agree,” Mia said, nodding. Her gaze darkened. “But I have no intention of letting you get anywhere near her. You might have ignored her yesterday, but I’m not a fool. Don’t go near Lisa, Stephane. Every time you try, I will get in your way.”

  “Lisa will think that’s suspicious,” Stephane pointed out.

  Mia scoffed. “Our parents are pretty intent on making this a family occasion. If I tell her our parents are looking for us both – and, nine times out of ten, they will be – then there won’t be any problems.”

  She had thought this through. Looking at the expression on her face, Stephane knew that she was very serious about this. She meant what she had said about constantly getting between them. If he tried to go against her, she would never leave him alone.

  It rankled greatly. He was the heir of a billion-dollar company, he was the one that everyone listened to and followed. What right did this stupid little girl think she had to make demands on him? Yet she had managed to get him in a stalemate, and they both knew it. If Stephane had any hope of having fun with anyone over this vacation, then he needed to stay away from Lisa. It was irritating, and he didn’t want to obey, but he had no other choice.

  Then a stupid idea came to him.

  Because Mia had said nothing about staying away from her.

  The young woman shied away slightly as Stephane looked her up and down, suddenly suspicious at the considering look in his eyes. She was a very pretty woman, with her curls falling charmingly over her shoulders and her cute large blue eyes. She had become quite shapely, too, and Mia’s arms crossed over her chest as he looked in that direction, obviously unnerved by his stare.

  “What?” she snapped.

  Stephane’s lips curled into a smirk. He’d just found a way to have fun.

  “Fine, you want me to stay away from Lisa?” he said. “If you’re constantly keeping watch, all you’ll do is run us both ragged, and this vacation won’t be any fun at all. So, why don’t we play a little game?”

  Mia narrowed her eyes, instantly on guard.

  “What sort of game?” she asked, shoulders tense.

  “A challenge,” Stephane said, his eyes glittering. “I’ll stay away from Lisa. But only if you can resist me for the rest of the trip.”

  Mia’s eyes went wide. Stephane watched her smugly. He frankly didn’t care whether he was allowed to seduce Lisa or not, but his pride was hurting. Mia was good-looking, and he would be able to get both the satisfaction of sleeping with her and saying that he had won at the end of all this.

  “You want to try and seduce me?” Mia asked incredulously. She pursed her lips in thought. “You’ll leave Lisa alone if I win… what do you get if I lose?”

  “Lisa, of course,” Stephane said, shooting her a grin.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Fine, you asshole. I’ll take you on. Don’t come crying to me when you lose, though.”

  Stephane laughed. Him, lose? The idea was preposterous. No matter how much Mia hated him now, she would quickly fall when he turned on the charms, of that he was certain.

  As they shook on it, however, and parted, Stephane watched her go, wondering at the odd triumph on her face.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Stephane, Mia had decided, was a bigger idiot than she had originally thought.

  She whistled to herself as she entered the cottage, where Lisa was trying to get her parents to change their minds over the chosen family activity. She was in such a good mood that she found she was willing to allow them to have their way, and she passed by them all with only a dismissive wave when Lisa demanded she help, intent on finishing the unpacking she had abandoned last night.

  “I’ll stay away from Lisa. But only if you can resist me for the rest of the trip.”

  She giggled. Honestly, were there seriously people like Stephane out there in the world? The idiots that thought that no one could resist them? It was clear that he thought he had this challenge in the bag, but he really had no idea for the depths of her distaste for him. She wouldn’t go near him with a ten-foot pole if it were her choice.

  “You could have helped, you know,” a voice at the door said.

  Mia looked up and smiled at her sister, who was leaning in the doorway. She looked exasperated, which meant that she had lost the argument.

  “Sorry, I just wanted to finish unpacking,” she said, entirely unapologetic. She gestured at the shirts she was pulling out of her suitcase. “I never got a chance to finish last night.”

  “Yeah, why was that?” Lisa asked. Her eyes narrowed. “Mom and dad said that you ran out of here not long after I left, and you returned looking like the cat that ate the canary at dinner.”

  “I just had a… good encounter,” Mia said evasively.

  Remembering the shock on Stephane’s face as she kicked him, she snickered. She was certain that the receptionist wouldn’t have been interested in him anymore after that.

  “Right…” Lisa drawled. “What’s got you in such a good mood right now, then?”

  “You know, the usual… fresh air, a beautiful manor,” Mia said with a shr
ug. “This vacation is shaping up to be pretty interesting, too.”

  Lisa stared at her. “You’re really weird sometimes, you know?”

  “Am I?” Mia laughed. She grinned at her sister. “Sometimes people can be really stupid, and it just makes me laugh. Someone said something foolish in front of me, and it was pretty funny.”

  “Whatever,” Lisa said, rolling her eyes as she stepped further into the room. “Mom and dad want to go to the archery range pretty soon, so we need to make sure we wear something comfortable.” She glared at Mia. “If you hit me with an arrow, I will haunt you.”

  “I won’t,” Mia said, shaking her head.

  At least, she hoped she wouldn’t. Lisa definitely hadn’t been exaggerating earlier when she had talked about Mia’s poor aim.

  ⁂ ⁂ ⁂

  Several hours later, returning from archery, Mia found herself severely regretting not helping Lisa convince their parents away from the venture. Her muscles aching fiercely, she dragged herself to her bed and flopped face down.

  “You know, that wasn’t half bad,” Lisa said, shucking her sweaty shirt.

  “You would think so,” Mia said with a glare, turning her head to look at her sister as she rifled for a fresh shirt in her suitcase. “At least you hit most of the targets.”

  “While you were left to run after all your arrows,” Lisa laughed. “That was part of what made it so great.”

  Mia groaned and buried her face in her pillow again. It had been embarrassing, missing most of the targets. She had managed to get one or two on the edges, but most of them had flown far past.

  “Maybe you should go check out the spa?” Lisa said, finally taking sympathy on her. “I saw it yesterday, it’s pretty nice.”

  A dip in the spa did sound heavenly right now. Mia weighed up whether she wanted to actually move against getting in the water, and she sighed as she realized the latter was more appealing. Painfully, she dragged herself up; her arms, in particular, were killing her after using muscles she wasn’t used to using.

  “Good thing mom made us pack swimsuits,” she muttered, opening a draw and digging hers out.

  After she had gotten changed, she left Lisa in their room. Her sister had begged off, saying that she was more interested in having a bit of time for herself. Mia headed into the living area. Only Sophie was there, doing a crossword.

  “Where’s dad?” she asked, hearing feet on the steps behind her and ignoring Stephane and his parents as they went up them.

  “Taking a shower,” Sophie said, smiling at her. “Where are you heading, Mia?”

  “The spa,” Mia said with a grin. “Want to come?”

  “No thanks,” Sophie laughed. “I’m happy to stay right here for now. Everything hurts.”

  “That’s why I’m going to the spa.”

  Glancing at Stephane, who had fallen behind his parents and was lingering on the staircase, she shook her head and left the cottage. Unwilling to walk the short distance to the manor, she snagged the keys for the car.

  ⁂ ⁂ ⁂

  Slipping into the beautifully warm water felt every bit as good on her abused muscles as she had thought it would. Even after half an hour here, she was still the only one there, though she had seen a few people leaving the pool to head to the massage parlor as she had arrived.

  Leaning her head back in the water, feeling her long hair curling around her shoulders, she allowed herself to float for a few moments, relishing in the feel of it. She would probably have to leave soon and prepare for dinner.

  She opened her eyes, smiling. She was unprepared to see a face right above hers.

  “Hey,” Stephane greeted.

  Caught off guard, Mia floundered for a moment, accidentally dunking herself under the water before emerging, coughing. She glared at Stephane, who looked amused at her reaction.

  “What are you doing here?” she exclaimed.

  “Looking for you, of course,” he said, smiling at her.

  She was about to ask him if he had hit his head when she remembered their bet from this morning. It looked like he had already started.

  “Yeah, well, you surprised me,” she muttered, heading toward the stairs and beginning to pull herself, reluctantly, out of the water.

  She realized her mistake when Stephane gave a low whistle. She flushed to the tips of her ears, remembering that she was only wearing a bikini, and she wrapped her arms around her waist as she searched for her towel. It was, unfortunately, sitting on the benches behind Stephane.

  “You’ve definitely been hiding something good under those loose clothes of yours,” Stephane said, raking her eyes up and down her body, his lingering gaze making her blush deeper.

  Disgusted, both because the compliment made her feel ridiculously warm and because of his leering words, Mia kicked at the water and splashed him. He leaned back, spluttering, and she gave him a cold smile as she tried to walk past him as confidently as she could.

  “Maybe that will cool you off,” she said, picking up her towel and wrapping it around her; she instantly felt more secure.

  She could see that he looked utterly confused as to why she hadn’t responded positively, and she rolled her eyes. He really was something else, wasn’t he?

  A moment later, however, he appeared to rally himself, and he sauntered over to her, a smirk on his lips. He had tried a compliment, now he appeared to be trying the ‘bad boy’ routine; Mia had watched enough of her sister’s beaus to know how this one went.

  What was most frustrating, though, was the way that she couldn’t help but look at him as he approached. He was a complete jerk and she hated his personality, but she couldn’t deny that he was physically good looking. As he stalked toward her, almost like a predator approaching his prey, she swallowed the lump in her throat and looked away.

  ‘Damnit, Mia, he might be handsome, but he’s a complete bastard,’ she reminded herself.

  She supposed she could live with a little physical attraction, though. She could admit that he was good looking… that didn’t mean she wanted him at all.

  “Playing hard to get?” he drawled, draping himself against the wall beside her. Standing there, he looked like a model, and Mia felt herself blushing again. “I like that. The chase is always the fun part.”

  Mia cursed her heart, which sped up slightly at his words. She stood up, ready to walk away; this wasn’t funny anymore. She might think he was handsome, but she couldn’t stand to be in his company any longer.

  An arm draped around her shoulders before she could get too far, though. Stephane leaned close, lips brushing against her ear, and her whole body shuddered at the sensation.

  “Or we could forgo the chase and find some private time, instead,” he breathed.

  Mia pulled herself away, flustered and needing to get away. She was so startled by his words, however, that she slipped on the wet tiles. Bemused at her reaction, Stephane caught her before she could hit the ground.

  “Isn’t this how the prince catches the princess?” he teased.

  Mia scowled at him and straightened, pulling out of his arms. She straightened her towel, making sure it was still tightly wound around her and then spun around, ‘accidentally’ stepping on Stephane’s feet as she did so.

  “Go find your princess somewhere else, Prince Jerk,” she called over her shoulder.

  She wished that she had a camera to record the complete shock on his face. It was definitely going to become one of her fondest memories. She had the feeling, as she felt his eyes on her retreating back, that he was slowly coming to realize that he was not going to win this bet as easily as he had thought he would.

  CHAPTER SIX

  When Mia had rebuffed him the first time, Stephane had thought it was just because she was still in shock after seeing him for the first time in so long, and still feeling the lingering hatred that she had apparently felt as a child. When she had kicked him after he had made a pass at her for the second time, he had thought it was because she was annoyed o
ver the situation with him and her sister.

  This was the third time she had refused his advances, though. This time, he had actually put some effort into it, and she had still insulted him and ran away. She had blushed, which, he had to privately admit was somewhat adorable, but she had recovered quickly enough to spurn him.

  Was that even possible?

  Stephane had never met a woman who had turned him away. His good looks, his wealth and his power had opened many doors for him over the years, and most women fell at his feet after realizing who he was. When he had made the bet with Mia, he had been confident that she would fall easily as well.

  Except that she hadn’t.

  Admittedly, it was still the first day, and she was likely still thinking about protecting her sister. But there had been genuine distaste in Mia’s eyes as she looked at him, and her nose had wrinkled as he made a pass at her, obviously unimpressed. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing wrong, because every other woman he had met had responded positively.

  Frustrated, he looked over the clothes he had pulled out. Both families were having dinner together tonight at the restaurant in the manor. He had to look his best if he wanted Mia to look twice at him; if he could play up his obvious physical attraction, he might be able to eventually seduce her to bed on that alone.

  He had two weeks to get her into bed. He hadn’t thought he would need even one and, if he was honest with himself, he had fully expected to have her in bed by tonight, but now it was looking like he was going to have to actually put more effort into it.

  Maybe he should just call the bet off and leave the Arnold sisters alone. He really wasn’t interested in spending two weeks chasing someone who had made it obvious she wasn’t interested, especially when there was a chance he wouldn’t get anything for his troubles at the end of it all.