Claimed for the Billionaire's Convenience

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  * * *

  On Saturday morning, after a shower together and a light breakfast, Zack took Holly on a walk through the streets of Paris. They walked hand in hand as they visited the Louvre—it was more of a whistle-stop tour, as it would have taken them most of the day to see everything. Holly stood in front of the Mona Lisa, with her mercurial expression and wondered if people looking at her could see how Zack made her feel. She could feel his warm, strong fingers against hers, his body with its familiar smell of citrus and leather teasing her nostrils and delighting her senses. Every time he met her gaze she felt a tug deep in her belly, his dark eyes glinting with erotic promise, triggering a twinge of her intimate muscles.

  ‘What time does your conference start on Monday?’ Holly asked as they were walking along the Seine later that afternoon.

  ‘Registration is at eight. The first plenary session is at nine.’

  She glanced up at him. ‘Are you giving a paper?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘What’s it about?’

  ‘Custodial arrangements.’

  Holly stopped walking to look at him. ‘Because of what happened to you when your mother left your father?’

  He shrugged. ‘A little, I guess.’ He continued walking, taking her along with him as if keen to move away from the subject.

  ‘What other topics have you spoken on?’

  ‘I did one the year before on using forensic accounting to keep track of fathers who claim to have no income to support their children in the event of a divorce.’ He let out a jaded-sounding sigh. ‘You’d be amazed at the lengths some super-wealthy men will go to to avoid paying child support, hiding money in offshore accounts and so on.’

  Holly couldn’t help thinking what a great father Zack would make. His sense of justice was so strong, so admirable. She was ashamed now of how badly she had misjudged him when she’d first met him. His reputation as a celebrity divorce lawyer had made her picture him as only in it for the money, but she could see now that nothing could be further from the truth. He was passionate about doing the right thing by his clients.

  ‘It’s kind of sad you don’t want to get married yourself and have a family,’ she said after a short pause.

  ‘Why’s that?’ His tone had a guarded edge to it.

  ‘Because I think you’d make a great dad, given how close you are to yours.’

  His hand released hers as if her touch had burned him. ‘I hope this isn’t leading where I think it’s leading.’

  Holly knew she had crossed a line but hadn’t been able to stop herself in time. ‘I don’t know why you have to be so prickly about a throwaway comment.’

  ‘But was it a throwaway comment?’ Cynicism sharpened his gaze.

  ‘Of course it was,’ Holly said. ‘You surely don’t think I want to change the rules of our engagement?’

  He studied her for a pulsing moment. ‘This week is not a promise of a future. I didn’t ask you to come with me for any other reason than to hang out and have some fun together.’ He released a short breath and added, ‘And to convince my father I’m not just a one-night stand playboy.’

  Holly raised her chin. ‘It’s no fun with you glaring at me like that. If you’re going to be so prickly, then maybe I should go home and leave you to it.’

  After a tense moment he relaxed his features and gave a crooked smile. ‘You’re right. I’m being a jerk.’ He took her hand and entwined his fingers with hers. ‘I know it looks like I’m close to my dad but, to be honest, I’ve always felt like the adult in our relationship. It gets a little wearing, especially when he’s in a new relationship. I can’t help bracing myself for the fallout when it’s over.’

  ‘Maybe this new relationship will last,’ Holly said. ‘Have you met your dad’s new partner?’

  ‘Not yet, but apparently he’s known her for years, even before he met my mother.’

  Holly stroked the back of his hand with her fingers. ‘Your dad is lucky to have you to watch out for him. But do you think he relies too much on your support?’

  Zack looped her arm through his and continued walking along the footpath, his brow slightly furrowed. ‘I think it’s a pattern we’ve slipped into. I go into parent mode. He goes into helpless child mode.’ He sent her a sideways smile. ‘Hey, why the heck are you a wedding florist? You would’ve made a great relationships counsellor.’

  Holly gave him a playful shoulder bump. ‘Yeah, like I’m an expert at relationships with two broken engagements under my belt.’

  Zack wound his arm around her waist and gave her a gentle squeeze. ‘I’m sure they weren’t your fault.’

  Holly chewed her lip for a beat or two. ‘I think I was in both of those relationships for the wrong reasons. But I’ve learnt my lesson.’ Or at least I hope I have.

  ‘What were your reasons?’

  She looked away, not sure she could face him and the truth about herself at the same time. ‘I don’t know... I guess I wanted to belong to someone...’ She chanced a quick glance at him and found him looking at her with a thoughtful expression. ‘I admire my parents so much for their relationship. They have each other’s backs no matter what. But I chose men I couldn’t rely on.’ She frowned. ‘What does that say about me?’

  Zack brushed his knuckles beneath her chin to lift her gaze. ‘It says more about them than it does about you.’

  But what did her relationship with Zack say about her now? He wasn’t signing up for the long-term so there was no point hoping this fling could turn into something else. The something else she wanted so badly it was like an ache. The more time she spent with him the deeper the ache became, burrowing into every crevice and corner of her heart. He was so different from her exes. He was hard-working and dependable, strong and trustworthy. He made her feel special. He listened to her as if he found every word that came out of her mouth profoundly interesting. He made exquisite love to her, always making sure her needs were satisfied before his own.

  He made her feel...loved.

  Holly mentally scoffed at the thought of him loving her. Paris must be really getting to her if she was imagining Zack was in love with her. Although...the way he kept looking at her with his eyes all soft and warm and that sexy smile that made her feel like the most desirable woman on the planet surely must count for something?

  * * *

  On Sunday morning, after a long and sexy sleep-in, Zack led her to a café that overlooked the Seine. They sat at an outside table and ordered coffees and patisseries they selected from an array of colourful and artful delicacies on display in a glass cabinet.

  Holly had just about finished her utterly delicious strawberry-and-cream-cheese pastry with toffee glaze and was trying not to stare at Zack’s lemon-and-lime tart, which so far he hadn’t touched. He took occasional sips of his black espresso, his expression like that of an indulgent uncle taking a much-favoured niece out for a treat.

  Holly put her cake fork down and sighed in pleasure. ‘Seriously? That was to die for.’

  He pushed his tart towards her. ‘Do you want mine?’

  ‘Don’t you want it?’

  He smiled. ‘I’ll get far more pleasure watching you eat it.’

  Holly could feel her cheeks going as red as the strawberry coulis on her plate. ‘I have a sweet tooth, so shoot me.’

  ‘It was one of the first things I noticed about you. You were the only woman at Kendra’s divorce party going back for seconds at the dessert table.’

  ‘Yeah, well, that’s me all right.’ Holly’s tone was self-deprecating with a side order of shame. ‘A glutton for punishment. That’s probably why I’ve got two broken engagements behind me. I don’t learn from my mistakes. I just barge right back in and make another one.’ Like the one she was in the middle of making now. How could she have thought she could have a fling with him without involving her emotions? She wasn’t ready to call
it love. Not yet. But something was happening to the armour around her heart and it terrified her. She felt connected to Zack in a way she had never felt with anyone else. The way he looked at her melted her bones. The way he touched her made her flesh tingle from head to foot. The longer she spent with him the more dangerous it would be. But how could she bring herself to end it before it went too far?

  Before she went too far?

  Zack placed his cup back on its saucer and then reached for her hand. ‘Holly.’ There was a note of warning in his tone and a hint of pressure where his hand was anchoring hers to the table. ‘What we’re doing isn’t a mistake. We’re helping each other. You’re getting your business back on track and I’m helping my dad. And we’re having a good time while doing it—aren’t we?’

  Holly stretched her lips into a smile. ‘Yep. An awesome time.’ The best time ever. A time she would always look back on as a landmark in her life. A turning point where she had discovered the passion she was capable of, a passion she had never experienced with anyone else.

  And probably wouldn’t experience with anyone else.

  No. Definitely wouldn’t experience with anyone else.

  * * *

  Zack watched Holly eat his citrus tart, his thoughts like wrestling monkeys in his head. Of course it wasn’t a mistake to indulge in a pretend engagement with her. They each stood to gain by it. Hadn’t she told him her business had already picked up? And look at his dad, happy for the first time in months. His dad’s new relationship might not last—it could well turn out as bitter as the rest—but he’d noticed a different quality in his dad’s voice, a quality he had never heard before. Hope.

  Zack was not out to hurt Holly, far from it. He had wanted her from the first moment he’d seen her at the divorce party. Kendra had talked about Holly to him, telling him she was a man-hater after being jilted twice, and he’d smiled to himself, confident he could win her over. But he’d been unprepared for how attractive he would find her. Her vibrancy, her energy, her wilfulness and defiance had sparked his interest in a way it had never been sparked before. He had felt it on a cellular level. He still couldn’t believe how much he’d lowered his guard. Making love with her without a condom involved a heap of trust. Loads and loads of trust. Trust was not something he handed out too casually. He was cautious and cynical by nature and yet he had relaxed his guard because he’d been blown away by his feverish attraction to her. It secretly terrified him how attracted he was. It wasn’t like anything he’d experienced in the past.

  There was lust and there was Lust.

  He could feel it stirring in his body now—the tingle in his groin when her gaze met his across the table. The fizzing at the base of his spine when her hand slipped into his. The tick of his pulse when she smiled at him. Would he ever get sick of seeing her dazzling smile? It was like sunshine breaking through dark brooding clouds.

  A toddler tottered towards their table and tripped over Holly’s tote bag where it was lying on the floor next to the table. The child fell to her little hands and knees and promptly let out a piercing wail. Holly helped the little girl back to her feet just as her harried mother came rushing over, carrying a newborn baby along one arm, her nappy bag, shopping bag and purse bundled over the other.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ the young mother said to Holly, who, in Zack’s opinion, had done an excellent job of averting a full-blown tantrum from the little girl.

  ‘That’s okay.’ Holly smiled. ‘She’s a little pet, isn’t she?’ She leaned down to speak to the child. ‘What’s your name, sweetie?’

  The little girl had popped her thumb in her mouth and spoke around it. ‘Ibee.’

  ‘Ivy,’ the young mother said with a rueful smile. ‘She gave up her thumb months ago but she’s been sucking it again because of the new baby.’

  Zack had thought Holly had drooled in front of the patisserie counter but it was nothing next to how she looked at the blue bundle of the baby. Her features melted into maternal longing and he saw her place her hand against her heart as if it had suddenly pained her. ‘Oh, isn’t he adorable? How old is he?’

  ‘Three weeks,’ the young woman said. ‘I really shouldn’t come out with both of them without help but it was such a nice day and Ivy gets bored being home all day. My husband is on call this weekend. He’s a doctor. An anaesthetist. We’re here for a couple of years, but we plan to go back to England when Ivy starts school.’

  Little Ivy looked shyly at Zack, her thumb still stuck in her rosebud mouth. He winked at the little girl and she smiled around her thumb and then pushed her face into her mother’s legs.

  ‘Would you like me to hold the baby while you sort out your bags?’ Holly said, obviously noticing how the young mother was struggling to keep everything in order.

  ‘Oh, would you? Thanks ever so much.’

  The baby was duly handed over and Zack watched as Holly cradled the infant against her with a soft, melting look in her eyes. And apparently conscious of not leaving the little toddler out, she spoke to Ivy, who by now had let go of her mother’s legs and had come over to stand next to Holly.

  Would Holly really be happy with just nieces and nephews in her life? Didn’t most women want kids? She looked like a natural. Soft and nurturing and compassionate—all the qualities he had longed for in his mother but had found sadly lacking.

  It suddenly occurred to him that as an only child he would never have nieces or nephews.

  But he was fine about it. Of course he was. He’d seen the way kids suffered during a bitter divorce. Even the amicable ones were still disruptive to a child. He didn’t want the ties and commitment of a wife and children. Call him a cynic, but how soon would this harried young mother get tired of the drudgery of motherhood? Or the overworked husband, tired of coming home to a wife who was now only interested in sleeping, not sex. He knew some people made a decent go of it and he admired them for it.

  But it wasn’t for him.

  CHAPTER NINE

  HOLLY HANDED THE darling little baby—who adorable Ivy had proudly informed her was called Felix—back to his mother and soon after the young family left the café. She had been conscious of Zack watching her with the children, but she hadn’t been able to disguise the delight she’d experienced in interacting with them. Delight and an acute feeling of despair. She had told herself marriage and kids were no longer her mission in life, but holding that gorgeous baby boy made her realise how much she wanted children. She wanted the whole family package—love and commitment from a man who would stand by her and help her raise a family.

  Didn’t most people long for that?

  Zack would be a wonderful family man but he claimed he didn’t want to go down that path. But she couldn’t imagine going down it with anyone else. How could she think of a future with someone else when the only man she wanted was him? The intimacy they’d shared had shown her what she’d missed out on before, but it wasn’t just about amazing sex. It was the way he treated her, the way he cared for her, the way he spoke to her and the way he listened to her. All the things that made a great relationship.

  Zack drained his coffee cup and placed it back on its saucer. ‘I should’ve given her a business card.’

  Holly stiffened. ‘Why?’

  His mouth was tilted in a cynical smile. ‘How long do you reckon before she’ll get sick of it all? Or her husband gets sick of her and the kids and the domestic chaos?’

  She pressed her lips together, annoyed he was reminding her of how little he wanted what she wanted. What she’d denied she wanted. ‘That’s a horrible thing to say. She looked happy enough, a little tired and hassled, but that’s to be expected when you’ve got small children.’

  ‘The odds are stacked against her. Forty-nine per cent of marriages end up in divorce.’

  ‘But she might be in the fifty-one per cent who make it,’ Holly said. ‘Like my parents. They’re as in love to
day as they were the day they met.’

  His lips made a shrugging movement and he lifted one hip to take his wallet out of his back pocket to pay for their coffees. ‘You looked pretty comfortable with those kids.’

  Holly couldn’t meet his gaze and looked at the paper sugar sachets in a jar on the table instead. ‘I love kids. It doesn’t mean I want them for myself.’

  There was a silence. A you’re-not-telling-the-truth silence.

  She looked up to see him looking at her with a frown. ‘What’s the matter?’

  He gave a brief lopsided smile but it didn’t involve his eyes. ‘Come on.’ He scraped back his chair and stood. ‘We have some sightseeing to do.’

  The rest of the day was as magical as any warm spring day in Paris could be. Zack took her to the Eiffel Tower and they stood together and gazed at the spectacular view of Paris below. After a late lunch, they walked back along the Seine and wandered in and out of shops and boutiques. At one stage he let her wander on her own for a bit as he said he had a couple of calls to make. They met back up half an hour later and she told him about a gorgeous butter-soft dove-grey leather jacket she’d seen in an upmarket boutique and he’d insisted on her showing him and then promptly bought it for her.

  Finally, they made their way back to their hotel to get ready for the night out Zack had planned.

  Holly had a quick shower and was dressed in nothing but a towel and was doing her hair and make-up in the hotel suite’s luxurious bathroom when Zack came in. He too was in the process of getting ready and was only wearing his underwear. He slipped his arms around her from behind and a wave of longing swept through her at the intimate contact of his pelvis against the cheeks of her bottom. She leaned her head to one side as his mouth went to her neck and she shivered all over when his tongue flicked against her earlobe.