“Sorry.” She took a half step away from him. Her eyes met his in the glass window, and she flinched. A telltale sheen of tears glittered in her eyes.
He knew he was hurting her again. Why did that keep happening? He was trying so hard to protect her from the beast he knew lurked beneath the sophisticated man he presented to the world. Why did she keep coming back to him with her soft touches and kind words?
“Lily, this has to stop.”
“I don’t understand. You challenged me to make you believe in love.”
“I want you in my bed. That was the reason for the challenge.”
“I wasn’t saying no after the wedding reception.”
“Well, you should have been.”
“Why? Because I’m a virgin.”
He glanced at her, no longer trusting the distorted image in the glass. “Yes.”
“I think I’m big enough to make my own decisions.” He let his gaze sweep over her body, and it inflamed the fire already running through his veins. She was his dream woman, he realized. Nice-size breasts, long slender legs and that short, sassy red hair that framed her angelic features.
“Sure you are, but I’m the one who’ll have to deal with the consequences when you believe that you’ve traded your body for love.”
“I know better than that. I’m the one who’s been trying for weeks to convince you love is real.”
“Don’t trust me, Lily.”
“Why not?”
“I want you too badly now to play fair. So here’s your warning, angel. Leave now or stay and pay the consequences.”
“What consequences?”
“Gamble with that sweet body of yours.”
She paled but didn’t walk away. He admired her spirit but wanted to warn her to not let every damned thing she felt show on her face. He should walk away. He should return to Manhattan and let Rohr finish this project or head to Barbados so that Lily wouldn’t tempt him.
She stood poised, ready like a rabbit to run from a predator. He knew one wrong word would send her flying from him. And he knew that he should be saying that wrong word and sending her away.
One right word would make her stay.
He had no right, but he wanted what others took for granted. He wanted what he’d seen her give to her customers, friends and family. He wanted to bask in her light and wallow in her purity. He wanted…Lily.
“Lily, please.”
“Please, what?”
“Stay with me.”
She bit her lip and looked around the rather sparse office. The desk that he’d imagined taking her on was a sleek mahogany that would have tempted a more experienced woman. The floors were cold hard marble, and the only chair, a big leather executive model.
“Here?” she asked. She was game but scared.
Because he wasn’t going to be her forever man, Preston knew he had to make Lily’s first time special. Not some hurried coupling in his office.
“No, not here. And not tonight. Spend this weekend with me on my yacht. We’ll go out on the Gulf. Just the two of us.”
She took a deep breath. He hoped she didn’t change her mind or he’d have to resort to that damned desk.
“Okay.”
Relief coursed through him, and he wanted to pull her into his arms, but he’d wait until they could really be alone to make love to Lily.
Preston hadn’t spoken to her for two days. He’d sent flowers, champagne and a negligee that would’ve made an experienced woman blush. Lily, though excited about her weekend with Preston, was ready to back out. Suddenly she didn’t know if loving him would be enough. And how she would protect herself if it turned out he couldn’t love her.
She’d phoned her brothers and grandmother and told them she’d be out of town for the weekend. They’d been surprised that she was going anywhere but hadn’t asked whom she was going with. As if they’d believe she was spending the weekend on a yacht with a man. She was living it and hardly believed it.
Mae had offered her practical advice—don’t let him know how much you care. But Lily didn’t know how to lie like that. Didn’t know how to protect herself from the one thing she wanted most in the world. Preston Dexter.
A sleek, black limousine pulled up in front of her house. Lily nervously wondered if he expected her to make love in the back seat with him. She’d heard stories of people doing those kinds of things. But she’d never once imagined it.
Oh, God, she thought, I can’t do this.
Preston had been right. She was afraid of intimacy. Afraid that she’d lose again the way she had when her parents died and her world had been shattered. She’d built a safe haven for herself where nothing but predictability ruled.
Preston emerged from the car, dark glasses covering his eyes, his Armani suit fitting his frame perfectly. He moved up the walk like a man who ruled the world, and Lily realized he ruled her heart. He hesitated on the walkway. Turned as if he was going to get back in the limo and leave.
Seeing Preston’s indecision forced her to open the door. She wanted Preston in her life. She wanted him enough to take risks.
“Pres?”
He strode to her with the smooth determination she’d always known him to possess. If she hadn’t seen him from her window she wouldn’t have suspected he’d hesitated. She wanted to ask him what he’d been waiting for, but he didn’t give her a chance.
“Ready to go, angel?”
“Yes,” she said, but her answer sounded weak to her ears. She knew that one of the reasons Preston had been drawn to her from the beginning was that she’d met him as an equal. She had to do so now. She wasn’t normally a cowering type and didn’t plan to start now.
“Yes, I am,” she said again. This time, though, the words were for her. She was going to win their challenge, because neither of them would be satisfied with anything less. Her heart’s desire now seemed twined to Preston, and her future seemed less exciting without him in it.
“Where’s your suitcase?” he asked.
“In the hall. Having never been on an illicit weekend before I wasn’t sure what to pack. I picked up a magazine that advertised ‘What to Wear to Tempt Your Man.’”
“Then we won’t need your suitcase. Because nothing is exactly what you should be wearing.”
She blushed. She knew they’d have to be naked, and she wanted to see Preston’s body and to feel him moving over her. But she was uncomfortable in her own skin. It had been different after Marti and Brad’s wedding, because there had been magic in the air, but today, standing in the front yard of the house she’d lived in all her life, she felt a little too ordinary for Preston.
“You can seduce me without even trying, angel,” he said, his voice a husky rasp. He brushed one finger along her chin and then cupped her head and brought her closer for a kiss. He rubbed his lips briefly over hers and pulled back before she’d had a chance to reciprocate.
“You, too,” she said, with a shy smile.
“So what’d you pack?” he asked, picking up her suitcases.
“A swimsuit.”
“Well, there goes my fantasy. That must be one big suit.”
“Maybe one or two other little things.”
“The negligee?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.”
“I’ve been fantasizing about that damned lingerie since I saw it in the catalog.”
“I might not look as glamorous as the model did. You know I think they airbrush their bodies—”
Preston’s finger over her lips stopped the flow of words that her nervous system kept feeding her.
“I know that you won’t look like they did.”
She swallowed against the disappointment. Of course reality dictated that she wasn’t going to be able to compete with an underwear model, but she would have liked to cling to the illusion that he found her sexy despite the fact that she was a rather ordinary girl-next-door type.
“You’re going to put her to shame.”
She glanced up at h
im and saw herself reflected in the dark lenses of his glasses. Without thinking, she removed his glasses. Sincerity and some other emotion, something she couldn’t define but that warmed her to her toes shone there.
She knew then that she was meant to be Preston’s woman. That he made her stronger than she could be on her own. And she had the power to do the same to him. But he wasn’t looking for the future, and when Lily looked at him, stared deep into his beautiful gray eyes, she saw them growing old together.
Nine
Preston had never had a woman on the yacht before. He used it mainly for business deals. In fact, it felt odd to have only Lily with him on the yacht. When he entertained, he had a crew of five who catered to the whims of his business associates. Since they were only cruising out in the Gulf, Preston dismissed the staff and asked only the captain and chef to remain onboard the Gold Digger. His father had named the yacht after his third wife had left him.
He carried Lily’s suitcases into the master stateroom and felt her following closely behind. She was nervous, and he wanted her so badly. He was tempted to pull her into his arms and soothe her with kisses. But the bed was only five steps away. And the floor covered with thick rich carpets imported from Persia. If he started kissing her they’d spend the weekend docked instead of out on the sea. And he wanted more than that with Lily.
He glanced over his shoulder and found Lily with her shoes off and eyes closed. Her red-painted toenails burrowed into the thick carpet, and a small smile graced her face. She had a toe ring on her left foot, and Preston couldn’t stop staring at it.
“Pres, this is great. How long have you had the yacht?”
All he could think about was that damned toe ring. He wanted to suckle her little toes. He wanted to feel the ring scraping along his calf as he made love to her.
“It was my dad’s.”
“I like it a lot. Is that a print?” she asked, pointing to the Gauguin oil above the bed.
“No. It’s a bear to keep in good condition, but it really makes the room.” Or so the decorator had told him.
“Who named the yacht?”
“Dear old Dad.”
“I was afraid you’d named it.” The way she watched him made him feel better than he was. Like he’d done something to deserve her trust and respect. He knew he hadn’t.
“Nah, he did.”
She walked closer to him and sat down on the bed. Preston’s instincts screamed at him to push her back and settle himself over her. To take her lips in long, drugging kisses until they were away from the coast and out at sea.
“There’s got to be a story behind it.” She smiled at him, and his pulse increased. She went through his system faster than hundred-proof whisky. Her body was pressed against his and he felt each inhalation of breath through her body.
“Well, my dad had a lousy track record with women, and after his third divorce he bought this boat and named it Gold Digger to remind himself that all women were after only one thing.”
She stared pensively away from him, and Preston realized how that would sound to her. The story had always seemed kind of funny to him as he’d been growing up. Even his mother had chuckled when she’d heard the name. But then, his mother was wealthy in her own right and hadn’t married his father for money.
“Well, now I know where you got your theory on relationships.”
“Lily, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s a joke.” He tried to pull her closer. Brought his arms around her but she shifted subtly away from him.
“Yeah, I know. I guess I just don’t get it.”
She stood and started to walk away. He grabbed her wrist.
“Where are you going?”
“Um… I think I’ll go up on deck while we leave the harbor. I’ve always loved the sea breezes.”
She kept talking until she’d disappeared up the gang-way. Damn. He’d hurt her again. Part of him realized that it might have been intentional. He knew that Lily wasn’t after his money, but he wanted to hear her say it.
He left the cabin, found the captain and asked him to weigh anchor. He didn’t want to lose Lily but didn’t know how to undo the hurt he’d unwittingly inflicted. Ordinarily he wouldn’t bother worry about it, but this was Lily and she mattered more to him than he wanted to acknowledge.
He grabbed a bottle of Dom from the galley and the fresh-cut strawberries he’d ordered left in there. The trappings of seduction. He hadn’t thought he’d need them but now knew he did.
He found her on the aft deck sitting on one of the sun chairs. Large glasses covered her face and her hair whipped around her head. She lifted her face to the sun and took a deep breath as if she were trying to deal with some deep, tearing emotion. Had he done this to her?
He set the berries and champagne on the deck table and sat at her feet. Where he knew he belonged. Startled, she jerked upright and turned her face away.
“Angel, don’t give up on me yet.”
“I can’t fight this, Preston.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“No, you’re not, but someday you’re going to look at me and wonder if I’m staying with you because of your money.”
“I won’t,” he said, but knew the words were a lie. No one had ever stayed except for money.
“Yes, you will. And you know it, don’t you?”
“Maybe. It doesn’t mean anything. I’ll change the name of the damned boat.”
“Can you change how you were raised?”
“No. Can you?”
“I don’t want to. I don’t believe everyone in the world who has less money than I do can be bought.”
“I don’t believe it, either. Not anymore.” He still couldn’t see her eyes and wasn’t sure she trusted him. But it was the best he could do. Life had taught him some harsh lessons. And though Lily tied him in knots sexually, he wasn’t sure he trusted what he felt for her.
He reached for the bottle of champagne and the long-stemmed flutes he brought with him. “I didn’t ask you to spend this weekend fighting with me.”
He handed the glasses to Lily. She hesitated, then, sighing, took them.
“And I didn’t agree to come just to argue with you.”
“Why did you agree?”
“For reasons you wouldn’t believe.”
“Don’t be coy.”
“I’m not. I never realized how hard winning that challenge was going to be until this moment.”
He said nothing.
“I can’t make you love,” she said softly. He knew he should fill the void, give her something she needed from him, but he honestly didn’t know how. Lily wanted something from him that he knew didn’t exist. Now she knew it, too.
Preston suggested they go for a swim when they stopped in the early evening. There was no land in sight, only endless sea in every direction. Lily felt as if she and Preston were the only two people in the world. After their tense conversation she’d been afraid he’d pressure her into bed. In fact, she wasn’t sure when they’d make love. She still wanted him with a fierce desire that sent her pulse racing whenever she looked at him, but she was leery of him emotionally.
Her battle to teach him to love kept encountering defenses that she’d never known existed. Like hidden land mines going off in peacetime, she thought.
Uncomfortable showing a lot of skin, she normally wore a very conservative one-piece suit, but Mae had taken her shopping, insisting she needed something flashier. So here she was donning a tiny two-piece affair that made her feel like… A glance in the mirror stopped that thought. Her body was revealed but she didn’t look as bad as she’d imagined she would. In fact, the color brought out what was left of her tan, and the cut made her legs look longer than they really were.
For a moment she felt as if she belonged on this well-appointed yacht and with the wealthy man who owned it. The man who thought that naming a boat Gold Digger was a pretty funny joke. Despite what he’d said, she felt he’d been sending her a message. And she knew there was no
way she’d ever have enough money for him to believe that his didn’t matter to her.
She pushed that thought away. This might be the only chance she had with Preston. The only way to convince him love really existed. She’d prepared a few little notes and gifts for him. Really small things, but he was important to her and she didn’t give herself lightly. She needed to know he understood that.
She taped a note to his bathroom mirror and one on his pillow. They were more love quotes. One by Mandino about treasuring love above gold and wealth that she hoped would reach his heart. And one by Longfellow about love never being bought. She liked it because it reminded her that love was giving and she wanted to give to Preston.
She grabbed her cover-up, slid her feet into her sandals and headed up on deck. Preston stood at the back of the boat, leaning over the rail. The breeze ruffled his dark hair, and he seemed an island unto himself. She paused for a moment.
His lean, muscled body must draw women to him as much as his money, she thought. He wore a pair of trim black swimming trunks and despite the casual pose he seemed tense.
She hurried to him, her shoes clip-clopping on the deck. For a minute she felt like the awkward girl she’d always been in social situations, but then she felt the heat of Preston’s gaze and slowed her stride. He made her feel like a woman, and as she moved she was aware of the sway of her hips, the way the fabric of her cover-up slid open and closed over her chest as she moved.
He straightened and walked toward her. As usual, confidence was in every motion he made. “Ready for that swim?”
“Yes,” she said, slipping her cover-up down her shoulders and tossing it on a chair.
A long, low whistle broke the silence. She glanced over her shoulder at him.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“Hell, yeah.”
He pulled her close to him in a fierce hug. His mouth took hers as he pressed his erection against her. Oh, he more than liked the suit. A surge of female power rushed through her, and she realized she had been given a gift, this ability to affect Preston.
He pulled back abruptly. “Let’s go for that swim before I forget the plans I’ve made for your first time.”
The Tycoon's Temptation (HQR Silhouette Desire) Page 9