Tempted by the Tycoon's Proposal

by Rachael Stewart

  She bowed her head against the wind and the odd spot of rain starting to fall, her thoughts turning to his late wife and whether this was something they had done often. Maybe even the exact same thing, dining at the same restaurant, taking a walk around Hyde Park after?

  A multitude of scenarios played out in her head, her internet search having provided the perfect image of Elena and their projected happiness together. Her heart panged inside her chest and she hunched her shoulders, fending it off.

  ‘What are you thinking about?’

  She felt his eyes burning down into her, but she couldn’t look at him, couldn’t tell him the honest answer either.

  ‘Sophia?’

  Her softly spoken name tugged at her and she found herself looking up at him, forcing a smile. ‘I guess you don’t get to do this often either?’

  ‘What, take a walk?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I do, as it happens. Lily and I take a walk every Saturday morning, even in the rain.’

  She grinned. ‘Ah, muddy puddle days.’

  ‘Indeed.’ His eyes narrowed on her. ‘You know, for someone who doesn’t have children, you sure know what they like.’

  ‘My friend Samantha has a five-year-old boy. I figure mud is just as appealing at that age whether you’re a boy or a girl. Nothing beats donning wellies and making the most of the puddles.’

  He laughed, the deep rumble working its way through her. ‘Don’t tell Lily that; she’ll be dragging you outside in all your hotel finery, wellies or not.’

  She laughed too, the joyful image he painted coming alive in her brain. ‘Any time.’

  ‘Any time?’ he repeated, clearly not believing she was serious.

  A smile continued to tease at her lips, the idea of doing exactly that with both Lily and him far too appealing. Appealing and just as unrealistic. Her breath stuttered in her chest and it took her a second to recover.

  ‘Don’t look so surprised about it, Jack,’ she murmured when she could. ‘I’m not afraid of a little mud.’

  No, she was more afraid of enjoying their company a little too much.

  He pursed his lips and nodded. ‘Or crawling underneath tables to play hide-and-seek with my daughter...’

  In spite of her unsettled thoughts, she laughed some more. ‘She was actually star-gazing.’

  ‘With her torch?’

  ‘I take it you’ve done that with her before?’

  ‘She’s a little obsessed.’

  ‘There are plenty worse things she could be obsessed with. Take slime, for example; it gets everywhere.’

  ‘Oh, no, we’ve been there too. You should have seen the clean-up fee they charged on my last hotel suite.’

  Her eyes snapped to his. ‘Am I to expect the same?’

  ‘Oh, dear...’ He cringed, his boyish hesitation tickling at her. ‘I’d forgotten who you were for a second.’

  She had too. She wanted to be someone different; she wanted to be the kind of woman who would date someone like Jack.

  He stopped walking, encouraging her to do the same. ‘Forget I mentioned it?’

  ‘That depends...what’s it worth?’

  His eyes darkened, his hands lifting to cup her upper arms and hold her still. The wind, the rain, the passers-by, all fell away. ‘Name your price.’

  Price. She’d asked for that and her cheeks warmed against the cold night air while her mind seared with her answer: a kiss.

  It was written in her face, in her eyes, she was sure. But she had no right to ask for such a gesture, no right to even think it. It was foolish and...no, she couldn’t.

  She turned back towards his car. ‘The rain is picking up; we should head back.’

  He was slower to follow, as if he too had been caught in the same momentary fairy tale, but then he was there, his arm back around her waist, bringing his warmth and his comforting presence.

  But they’d had their meal, the night would be over soon and tomorrow both Jack and Lily would be back to being just guests in her hotel. The sooner she accepted that, the sooner she could protect herself from getting too attached.

  Don’t you think it’s a little late for that already?

  ‘So, what do you say, Sophia?’ Jack said into the sudden quiet, and lustful heat wedged its way into her throat. He wanted to know her price...

  ‘Will you have another dinner with Lily and me?’

  Phew. No, not phew. She went from overheated to cold and back to overheated in a heartbeat. Another dinner was worse than some flirtatious demand. Wasn’t it?

  She gave him a quick look, saw the wish for her to say yes in his imploring greys, and lowered her eyes back to the path.

  You can’t say yes. He’s your hotel guest. You’re attached enough already.

  But she couldn’t say no either.

  She wanted that time with them both. For however long they were in her life, she wanted to enjoy it. And if that meant one more meal, then one more meal it would be.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Tomorrow?’

  ‘Tomorrow?’ She sounded breathless, her pulse racing with a strange mix of excitement and trepidation. ‘So soon?’

  ‘You really don’t know Lily if you think she’ll wait a day more.’

  She gave an anxious laugh. He had a point. And doing it tomorrow meant less time to panic in the meantime. ‘Okay...tomorrow it is.’

  ‘Great!’

  His grin made every anxious flicker worth it. She wanted to make him happy. She wanted to make Lily happy. And if it made her happy too...

  ‘Are you sure it’s just Lily who’s impatient?’ she teased, hooking her arm through his.

  ‘What can I say? She has as many of my traits as her mother’s.’

  He didn’t pale or tense up over the mention of Elena and she took the change to be a good sign, an encouraging one.

  ‘So, aside from impatience, what else does she get from you?’

  He gave another laugh. ‘Stubbornness, a dictatorial manner, and she’s frustratingly independent, messy...’

  ‘Wow—please tell me her mother gave her some softer qualities, else you’ll have a monster on your hands when she hits her teens.’ She was purposely light and teasing with it, but she wanted to know more about Elena. More about the woman who had secured his love so completely and given him a beautiful daughter.

  His laugh was soft, reflective. ‘Luckily she does.’

  ‘Like?’ she pressed gently.

  ‘Her mother’s heart for one, her carefree spirit, impulsiveness, sparkle obsession... The list goes on.’

  She smiled at the ease with which the details flowed from him now. ‘It’s an interesting mix.’

  His murmured agreement came from deep within his chest.

  ‘You must miss her...’ she said quietly, giving his arm a squeeze and looking up at him. ‘Elena?’

  He met her eye briefly and there was so much in that one look, but she couldn’t label it. It wasn’t grief, it wasn’t pain... It looked more...bewildered, uncertain. ‘We knew each other a long time.’

  That was an interesting way to put it. ‘How did you two meet?’

  He turned away, his eyes on the passing cars now as he went quiet. So much for her not wanting to bring back his pain. ‘Sorry, you don’t need to talk about her with me. I shouldn’t pry.’

  He surprised her with a laugh as he stopped walking and shook his head at her. ‘After all I’ve prised out of you tonight, that hardly seems fair.’

  Her laugh was awkward as she realised the truth of it. ‘Fair point. You did get my life story—which has been untold until now, I might add. But still, it’s okay if you don’t want to.’

  He studied her for a moment, searching her gaze, and she wondered again if he was surprised by their behaviour. Not only in their actions but thei
r honesty too. She almost asked when he started to walk again, taking her with him.

  ‘We were placed in the same foster home when we were thirteen,’ he eventually said.

  ‘Thirteen?’ Her heart pulsed; they’d known each other for ever... ‘You were both so young.’

  ‘Yes.’ His eyes stayed fixed on the road. ‘She’d been in care for nearly as long as me.’

  ‘Did neither of you get adopted?’

  ‘No,’ he scoffed gently. ‘At first there was hope that I’d return home to my mother and Elena to her parents, but it never happened.’

  ‘I’m so sorry.’

  He shrugged. ‘They had their reasons and then my mother was no longer around, so it wasn’t an option.’

  She couldn’t bring herself to admit that she’d read about his mother, but he likely knew it anyway.

  ‘What about Elena’s parents?’

  ‘Her father’s in prison, as far as I’m aware, and her mother remarried. Last I knew, Isla had a whole other life—kids, family, all of it. Not that Elena ever became a part of that life again. She was an adult by the time her mother had sorted herself out and by then...’ His voice trailed off.

  ‘By then she had you?’

  He gave her a soft smile but his eyes were sad, haunted. ‘Yes.’

  ‘She was lucky to have met you.’

  He scoffed at that, his rejection making her frown. How could he even doubt it when he’d so obviously given them both a better life?

  ‘Does Elena’s mother see Lily?’

  ‘She saw her once, not long after Lily was born. Elena wanted to try and forge some kind of a relationship. Becoming a mother herself made her realise that it wasn’t a bond so easily forgotten, and she hoped Lily would help bring them back together.’

  She could hear the bitter ring to his voice and knew that wasn’t how it had gone down. ‘But it didn’t?’

  ‘I think Isla saw Elena as a reminder of a past she wanted to forget. She was still young; she had Elena at fifteen.’

  ‘Fifteen?’

  ‘Far too young, which is why we understood her fear, her difficulty, her avoidance of it all, but...’

  ‘But she still didn’t want to know?’

  ‘It wasn’t so much that she didn’t, I don’t think. More that she was torn between her old life and the new. She had a husband by then, two children and another on the way.’

  ‘Poor Elena.’ She squeezed his arm tighter. ‘It must have been hard seeing her mother so settled with a new family.’

  He gave an awkward shrug and she knew he was trying to make light of something that still hurt.

  ‘Isla did come to her funeral, but... I don’t know, too little too late, I guess.’

  ‘Does Lily know her?’

  ‘She’s knows of her, but she was just a baby when they met. It would be nice if things were different. It’s not like Lily has any other grandparents...’

  ‘Do you think you might try again in the future?’

  ‘Perhaps. It was all too raw at the funeral. She left her number with me and asked me to call but...’

  ‘You haven’t got around to it?’

  He sighed. ‘Is it awful to say I haven’t?’

  ‘No, not really.’

  ‘It’s not that I haven’t thought about it; it’s just...how do I know I can trust her to stick around, to let Lily become attached and have her walk away again? I don’t want that guilt on my shoulders too.’

  ‘Perhaps you could visit her, talk to her about your concerns. I think you’ll know if she’s ready to be a part of Lily’s life.’

  ‘Maybe...’ He glanced down at her, his eyes soft and warm, reeling her in. ‘Thank you for this, for understanding and listening.’

  ‘No need to thank me. You’ve done exactly the same for me.’

  ‘Be that as it may, thank you.’

  ‘Then thank you too.’ She smiled up at him, her happiness swelling as they walked ever closer together. ‘I really have enjoyed tonight.’

  ‘Me too,’ he murmured, and her smile grew.

  Ahead, his driver had spied their return and approached them with an umbrella in hand. It reminded her of the rain that had started to fall; it also reminded her of who Jack was outside the happy little fantasy bubble in which she walked. But it didn’t burst it, rather it made her smile further because, for a fantasy, she really couldn’t write it better than this.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said to his driver as he positioned the umbrella over them for the remaining distance to the car.

  ‘You’re welcome, ma’am.’

  She had to stop the little giggle that wanted to escape. Ma’am. Never had she been called that before.

  They settled into the back of the car. This time there was barely a hair’s breadth between them, and she started to wish she lived further away, that the traffic would be heavier, that the fancy black car would break down—anything to keep her in it for longer. With him.

  But, of course, it wasn’t to be and as they pulled up outside her apartment she had to ignore the sudden sadness that had the chill of reality setting back in. Of her empty apartment that would greet her and the memories she wouldn’t be able to fend off.

  ‘This is me...’ she said, stating the obvious but floundering with what she was supposed to do now. What was the etiquette for saying goodbye on a date that wasn’t a date?

  His driver opened her door and she turned to smile back at Jack.

  ‘Thank you for a lovely evening.’ And then, before she could think otherwise, she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, her body coming alive against the warmth of his. She breathed in deep and pulled back.

  ‘Sophia?’ He reached for her hand.

  ‘Hmm?’

  His eyes fell briefly to her lips, their depths dark and glittering, and she wondered if he would kiss her. She wet her lips, waiting, wanting, and then he seemed to shake himself out of it. ‘Shall we come by and pick you up about ten tomorrow morning?’

  ‘Ten? A bit early for dinner, isn’t it?’

  ‘You got me...’ His thumb stroked across the back of her hand, the simple caress drawing her eye as the power of it took over her senses. ‘I thought I might be able to sneak that under the radar.’

  She laughed, the sound high and giddy as she read the reasoning behind his words and couldn’t quite believe it. ‘As much as I’d love to, I’m working a half day tomorrow...’

  ‘On a Saturday?’

  ‘The hotel doesn’t stop just because it’s the weekend.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘I can get away about two though, if that works for you? Here, take this...’ She pulled away to rummage through her bag and took out a scrap of paper and a pen. She quickly wrote down her number and passed it to him. ‘Just in case you change your mind, or something comes up.’

  He took hold of it, their fingers lightly brushing and neither moving away.

  ‘It would take a sudden blizzard to stop us going out with you, Sophia.’

  She found herself tongue-tied and getting drawn into his steely grey eyes that seemed to mirror everything she was feeling. No matter how fantastical that idea was.

  ‘But, luckily for us,’ he said, the husky edge to his voice impossible to ignore now, ‘we’re all in the same building, so not even that excuse will hold.’

  She smiled softly. ‘So true.’

  ‘I’ll meet you in the foyer then? Just after two?’

  She nodded.

  ‘See you then, Sophia.’

  ‘Goodnight, Jack.’

  His smile was slow as he leaned back into his seat, taking her number with him. ‘’Night, Sphea.’

  She grinned at Lily’s name for her and shook her head, sliding out of the car and thanking his driver too.

  She was still smiling as she walk
ed through the foyer, up the flights of stairs and unlocked the door to her apartment. Still smiling ten minutes later when she had a cup of hot cocoa wrapped in her hands and breathed in its rich, comforting scent. And even when she climbed into bed, her mind awash with thoughts of him, her body too alive to sleep.

  She’d been worried about the past creeping back in, bringing the sadness with it, but with Jack on her mind there was no room for it.

  It wasn’t a long-term fix, but she could certainly make the most of it...for now.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ‘ARE YOU SURE she’s definitely coming, Daddy?’

  Jack smiled down at his daughter and retied her tartan scarf for the umpteenth time. ‘Definitely—she’s just finishing up and then she’ll be with us.’

  ‘I hope so.’ She looked to the row of wellies at her feet. ‘I think we should have bought different colours and sizes. What if she doesn’t like red?’

  ‘How can she not like red when it’s the colour of...’ His words fell away as he glanced over his daughter’s head to see Sophia enter the hotel foyer, her smile lighting him up inside. She’d changed out of her workwear into jeans and a winter coat ready for their outing, its deep red colour setting off both her hair and her eyes. Stunning didn’t even come close. ‘Looks like you can ask her yourself, kiddo.’

  Lily spun on her heel and gave a little squeal of delight as she ran straight up to her, her dark curls bouncing around her shoulders and her scarf trailing behind once again. ‘Sphea!’

  Sophia dropped to her haunches, her arms outstretched ready to take the cuddle Lily was reaching out for. She squeezed his little girl to her, her eyes lifting to find him over Lily’s shoulder and he felt himself grin. She had only been in Lily’s life a couple of days but it seemed like more; he felt something shift inside of him. Something he couldn’t latch onto or understand. Then her gaze fell to the row of wellies at his feet and her amused frown tickled him into a laugh.

  ‘We bought you something,’ Lily said as Sophia fixed her scarf for her.

  ‘You did?’