The Billionaire's Virgin Temptation (HQR Presents)

by Michelle Conder

  In love with him?

  This wasn’t about love. Sam wouldn’t want that from her and neither one of them had mentioned anything about emotions, or indeed, any of this going beyond the long weekend. In fact, Ruby knew that it couldn’t go beyond the weekend because, regardless of what Sam thought, continuing to sleep together would definitely complicate their working life.

  Ruby’s heart thumped hard as her phone beeped a text message and, desperate for the distraction, she fished it out of her pocket as if it were a hundred-pound gold nugget she was trying to scratch out of the dirt.

  ‘It’s a text from my mother,’ she said, sitting up so abruptly that Sam’s fingers tangled in her hair.

  Gently disentangling the strands, he scanned her face, which had grown pale as she read the long message.

  ‘Something wrong?’

  Ruby blinked, her brain trying to make sense of her mother’s text. ‘No. Yes. My mother is getting married!’

  Sam looked at her, one arm behind his head, his brows knitted together as he watched her. ‘You don’t seem very happy about that.’

  ‘I’m not. I mean, I am, but...’ She shook her head. ‘Honestly, I don’t know what I feel.’ Apart from agitated and unsettled. She jumped to her feet, instinctively needing to put space between her and Sam. ‘My mother has this eternal optimism when it comes to relationships and it’s so alien to me I find it hard to relate to.’

  She paced over to the edge of the property and stared out at the bay beyond the trees. She felt Sam come up behind her, stiffening in case he tried to touch her.

  ‘I don’t follow.’

  ‘My mother doesn’t make very good decisions when she’s in a relationship.’ She turned towards him, hugging her arms over her stomach. ‘She gets very needy and then it all goes wrong.’

  ‘Is that what happened between her and your father?’

  ‘In some ways.’ She gave a hollow laugh. ‘They used to fight all the time and sometimes it got so bad I would find Molly hiding under her bed and I’d read to her to help block it all out.’ She glanced towards the bay again. ‘I never understood it. My father never seemed happy and yet my mother had given up her career for him, which she later regretted when he left her for a work colleague.’

  ‘That’s tough.’

  ‘It was. It took my mother a long time to recover and nothing I could ever say made her feel better about it.’

  Sam frowned, his hands in his pockets as he watched her. ‘Why was it your job to make her feel better about it? You were only a child.’

  ‘I don’t know. I think she became depressed and I was the only one available to help. Honestly, I would have done anything to make her happy back then.’

  Sam gave her an astute look. ‘So you were the rescuer of the family.’

  ‘Rescuer?’ Her short laugh was more an embarrassed cough. She couldn’t believe that she’d just blurted out her family secrets like that. This weekend was about sex, not some lame therapy session. ‘Hardly.’ She made to move away from him but he stopped her, clasping her arms gently and drawing her resistant body closer.

  ‘How old were you when your father left?’

  ‘I was fourteen and—’ She swallowed heavily, unsure how to switch topics without being obvious. ‘It was the best thing really.’ Apart from her mother going into a deep depression for a couple of years. ‘Well, not the best, but it was certainly more peaceful after he left. Calmer. Only...’

  ‘Only you missed him,’ he finished for her, accurately interpreting the forlorn note in her voice.

  ‘Yes.’ She blinked back tears she hadn’t realised had collected behind her eyes. ‘Which is stupid because it probably wouldn’t have worked out anyway.’ She tried to smile to lighten the moment but her mouth wobbled and she ducked her head against Sam’s shoulder. ‘Why is love so difficult?’

  ‘Because the human need for connection is so powerful, and sometimes you want that any way you can get it. Even if the other person doesn’t want the same thing.’

  Sensing that Sam was speaking from personal experience and more than ready to talk about something else, Ruby tilted her head back. ‘Has that happened to you?’

  ‘In a fashion.’ His mouth twisted into a slight grimace. ‘My old man was hardly ever around when I was growing up but that didn’t change the way I felt about him.’

  Ruby already knew from when Miller and Tino had got together that Sam’s father had died in a fiery racing accident when Sam was young. ‘Because he died, you mean?’

  ‘No. He was unavailable long before that. He had his career and he didn’t need much else.’ Certainly not him, his tone implied. ‘He was a larger-than-life figure who lived a life far removed from the real world.’

  ‘Did you ever consider following him into racing like Valentino did?’

  Sam laughed. ‘Once. But I was told that I didn’t have the reflexes for it so instead I concentrated on my studies. I decided if I couldn’t impress him with my physical prowess, I’d do it academically. I should have known from watching my siblings that it wouldn’t work. Not even Tino got our father’s full attention and it was clear from early on that he had racing talent. I think it’s fair to say that my father wasn’t very family-oriented.’

  Ruby had had no idea that they shared the similar experience of having emotionally distant fathers and her arms instinctively went around his waist to offer comfort. ‘I’m sorry, Sam. I didn’t know.’

  ‘Why would you?’ He smoothed her hair back from her forehead. ‘But the past is the past. You can’t change it. You just deal with it and get over it.’

  ‘Do you?’ she asked, thinking about herself as much as Sam. ‘Do you get over it or does it change you in ways you can’t reverse?’ Because love wasn’t something she’d ever trusted and she didn’t know how to get around that. Or even if she wanted to.

  ‘Who knows?’ he said, scooping her into his arms so suddenly she squealed.

  Kong barked, dancing around Sam’s feet as he sensed the rising excitement between them.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Ruby clung to Sam’s neck.

  ‘You’ll find out.’

  ‘Sam?’ She spied the sparkling swimming pool with dubious delight. ‘I’m not wearing a swimsuit.’

  Sam grinned down at her, his gaze hot. ‘Neither am I.’

  * * *

  Kong scratched at the bedroom door later that afternoon and Sam buried his head beneath the pillows. ‘That dog is going back to the rescue centre as soon as we get back to Sydney,’ he grumbled.

  Ruby stirred beside him and planted a kiss on his shoulder. ‘No, he’s not. You love him too much to give him back. But stay here. I’ll let him out this time.’

  Sam rolled over and snatched her close against him before she got very far. ‘Can you bring back my phone? I should check when Tino is picking us up later on this evening. Not that I want the weekend to end.’

  ‘All good things come to an end,’ she murmured, wriggling out of his arms and throwing on his T-shirt.

  Closing his eyes, Sam wondered about her last comment. Was Ruby right? Did all good things have to come to an end or could they go on endlessly? Before he could conjure up an answer Ruby flew back into the room.

  ‘Oh, my God, you have to get up. Valentino is here.’

  ‘Already?’

  ‘Yes, it’s five o’clock in the afternoon, and I think he saw me.’

  Sam’s gaze drifted down over her figure, clad in another one of his T-shirts and nothing else. They hit her mid-thigh and had become her weekend wear because they were so easy to remove. ‘That could be a problem.’ His eyes turned heavy-lidded. ‘I’ll have to kill him if he saw anything.’

  ‘Stop joking around. You have to get up. Get dressed.’

  Sam yawned, not seeing the problem. After making love and talking for most of the day he was c
ompletely sated.

  Not that they’d talked about anything important. Like what would happen once they returned to Sydney. He’d thought about it after Ruby had fallen asleep earlier on and he knew he wanted things to continue between them once they got back. No doubt she would see it as a complication but it didn’t have to be. The truth was he liked her. He liked spending time with her in bed and out, he liked her sass and her fire, he liked her professional confidence and the way she pushed herself and others to help those in need.

  His gaze softened as he watched her searching for something under the bed. He especially liked seeing her laugh when his dog slobbered all over her face, and he loved her skyscraper-shoe collection. Why would he want to give that up and move on before he was ready?

  ‘Sam! You’re still in bed!’

  Seeing her panic, Sam wondered if he shouldn’t be doing the same thing. Certainly he hadn’t been overly comfortable disclosing his feelings about his father as he’d done earlier, but then he hadn’t been nearly as uncomfortable as she had been talking about hers. He wondered if he shouldn’t be more alarmed about how much he had shared with her, and then became distracted by her sweet curves.

  ‘Calm down,’ he said in a reassuring tone. ‘Tino already knows you’re here.’

  Kong barked at the door and Ruby nearly jumped out of her skin. ‘Yes, but he doesn’t know I’m here like this—with you! He thinks we’re working on a case.’

  ‘So what? He’ll figure it out in time.’

  ‘I don’t want him to figure it out. If someone at the office should find out...’ She left the rest of the sentence hanging but Sam got the general gist and didn’t like it. He rolled out of bed and yanked on his board shorts, trying not to become irritated. ‘My brother isn’t indiscreet and last time I checked he didn’t work for me.’

  ‘I still don’t want him or Miller to know about...’ Her hand waved between them as if she was at a loss for words, and that infuriated him even more. ‘I mean, one night at a party is explainable—sort of. But this...’

  ‘This?’ Sam wondered how his voice remained so calm when his head felt as if it might explode.

  ‘This weekend.’ She angled her stubborn chin higher. ‘It’s between us and no one else.’

  ‘Let me get this straight.’ Sam stalked towards her, a dangerous smile on his face. ‘You want me to be your dirty little secret going forward, is that it?’

  She frowned. ‘No, that’s not—’

  ‘Good.’ He tunnelled his fingers into her hair and tilted her face up for a hard, brief kiss. ‘Because I don’t operate that way.’

  * * *

  But in the end he had operated that way. He’d closed Valentino’s curious glance down with just a look and carried their bags onto the yacht. Fortunately his brother wasn’t a stupid man and had taken the hint, making small talk to fill the lengthening silence.

  Apparently he’d sent Sam a text that morning informing him that he’d collect both him and Ruby a little earlier than planned, which Sam would have known if he’d bothered to check his phone. As it was a public holiday, he hadn’t seen the need. And he’d been too busy. Too busy making love with Ruby and catching up on sleep he hadn’t got the night before.

  A tight sensation settled in his chest as the yacht skimmed over the increasingly choppy waves. He could only ever remember wanting one other thing as much as he wanted this woman. Back then his father had been out of reach. Ruby wasn’t. Was she?

  And what exactly did he want from her?

  He brooded over the question as he watched her. He might not know exactly what he did want, but he knew what he didn’t—and that was for her to continue to treat him like a leper after the weekend they’d just indulged in.

  He scowled as the yacht finally steered a course into the brilliantly bejewelled Sydney Harbour. The wind whipped Ruby’s hair back as her face lifted to the bright sunshine and the tight sensation worsened. They’d barely exchanged two words since Valentino had picked them up. Instead Ruby had questioned his brother about how Miller’s mother was, and whether or not she needed anything; basically acting as if she hadn’t spent the last two days coming apart in his arms.

  What she hadn’t done was follow the normal trajectory he was used to, where a woman expected more from him than he was prepared to give, and subtly tried to question him about what happened next.

  Irritated because the one woman he did want to expect more from him actually didn’t, Sam strode from the yacht after Tino docked, growling at Ruby as she accepted Tino’s offer of a lift home, firmly directing her to his own jeep and driving her home himself.

  She didn’t say anything on the way, petting Kong and staring at the Sydney landscape she’d seen a million times before. Needing to work out his own agenda, Sam had left her to her thoughts, but now, as he pulled up outside her apartment block, he knew he had to say something.

  Moving Kong to the back seat, he went around to open Ruby’s door, barely restraining his irritation when he found her already waiting for him on the kerb.

  ‘I’ll walk you up,’ he clipped out, reaching for her bag.

  ‘No need,’ she said clasping the handle as if it were full of jewels and she was staring at a newly released prison inmate. ‘I had a lovely time this weekend. Thank you.’

  Sam ground his teeth together. ‘This isn’t exactly the way I planned for it to end, Ruby.’

  ‘It was a little awkward with Valentino turning up like that but—’

  ‘I’m not talking about my brother. I’m talking about you and me.’ His voice was deep, rough. ‘Spend the night with me.’ He placed his hands on her shoulders. ‘Come back to my place and let me fix you dinner.’

  ‘I can’t.’ She wouldn’t meet his eyes. ‘I have to look over work stuff and—’

  ‘Do it at mine.’

  ‘Molly expects me home. We agreed to talk about Mum’s situation.’

  ‘Her wedding, you mean.’

  ‘Yes.’

  He could feel the tension emanating from the tight muscles in her shoulders and wanted to ease the burden she felt. ‘Your mother is a big girl, Ruby. She can take care of herself.’

  ‘I know that.’ She pulled back from him and he knew he’d offended her. ‘I’m not an idiot.’

  ‘I didn’t say you were.’

  Frustrated, Sam dragged a hand through his hair. The more Ruby tried to put walls up between them, the more he wanted to tear them down. ‘I’m only trying to offer you support.’

  ‘I don’t need your support, Sam. I’m a big girl as well.’

  ‘Dammit, would you stop being so prickly?’ His hands slid down to her hips and he tugged her closer. ‘I don’t want to argue with you. I want to see you again.’

  Her head went back as she frowned. ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Did you seriously think one weekend is all I would want?’

  ‘Yes. No! I don’t know.’

  ‘Well, it’s not,’ he said gruffly. ‘I want more.’

  ‘How much more?’ she asked huskily.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he answered honestly. ‘But I do know I don’t want this to end yet.’

  Ruby bit into her lower lip, her fingers turning the front of his T-shirt into a piano accordion.

  ‘What about you?’ His voice sounded rough. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I don’t know either,’ she said hesitantly. ‘We work together and—’

  ‘That’s a real sticking point for you, I know.’ He stared down at her. ‘So, okay, lay it on me.’

  ‘What?’ she asked warily.

  ‘Some scenarios.’

  ‘Scenarios?’

  ‘Imagined situations you think are going to go wrong in the future.’ He flashed her a grin. ‘You can start with your biggest fear.’

  Her eyes flew wide as if to say that there was no way she would be star
ting with her biggest fear. ‘So you can shoot it down?’

  ‘Of course.’ His grin widened. ‘Come on, Clarkson—I’m good at this, trust me.’

  ‘Fine.’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘If we continue this and someone at the office finds out the gossip would be hideous.’

  ‘The only way anyone at work can find out is if one of us is indiscreet and talks. I’m not going to do that, and I doubt you are either.’

  ‘You could become uncomfortable seeing me in the office every day and change your mind about mixing business with pleasure.’

  ‘And fire you presumably?’

  Ruby raised a brow at his cavalier tone. ‘It’s been done before. And you are my boss.’

  ‘True. But I’m not that small-minded.’

  ‘What happens if one of us decides to end things?’

  ‘We behave like mature adults and go on as normal.’ He gave her a slow grin and tugged her closer. ‘Anything else?’

  ‘I’m sure there is but I can’t think of it right now.’

  ‘Because you’re creating mountains where there are none.’ He leant in and kissed her. ‘Say yes.’

  ‘Sam.’ She groaned against his lips, her arms tight around his neck. ‘I think you could wear down a Sherman tank just by looking at it.’

  Sam frowned. ‘I don’t want to wear you down.’ Was she saying that she didn’t want this? That she didn’t want him? It felt like a sharp blade had just been rammed through his midsection. ‘If this isn’t what you want then just say the word and I’ll walk away right now.’ Even if it seemed impossible to do so. ‘Is that what you want, Ruby—do you want me to walk away?’

  ‘No.’ The word was barely a whisper but it kick-started his heart again. ‘I don’t want you to walk away, Sam, but I’m not very good at this. I don’t know how to make it work.’

  The words rushed out of her as if she was taking an enormous risk just saying them. The echoes of that feeling resonated somewhere deep inside Sam as well. ‘You make it work one step at a time,’ he said gently. ‘At the office we keep things to business as usual, and on the weekends...’ He gave her a slow smile and slipped his hands into her hair. ‘On the weekends we burn up the sheets together until we can’t move. How does that sound?’