The Billionaire's Challenge (Sinful Nights Book 1)

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Selena pulled on her bathing suit, then grabbed a towel.

  Padding barefoot towards the stairs, she smiled, thinking about that time he’d made love to her on the counter.

  “You ready for this?” a deep voice asked. Brant!

  “I can’t believe that she did this!” Reid growled, his voice a furious hiss.

  Selena sighed as she stalled on the top step of the staircase, listening to the two brothers and wondering if she should just head back to Reid’s bedroom. Brant intimidated her. Selena knew that there was tension between Brant and Gianna, but Selena had no idea why!

  Reid was nothing like what she’d thought of him originally. He wasn’t like the other men in her past. He was warm and wonderful, passionate and fabulous! She loved him so much, it almost made her heart ache.

  She should tell him, Selena thought, her fingers tightening on the bannister. She should just tell Reid how she felt about him, let him know that she had no expectations about the future, but tell him that she loved him. She should thank him for being more. More than the superficial, corporate ass that she’d originally thought him to be. More than the pleasure seeking frat boy she’d assumed he was as she’d peered at him through her pain-distorted lenses several weeks ago.

  He was brilliant, gentle, kind, generous, full of laughter, and loved life like no one she’d ever met before. He embraced challenges. Thrived on them! It didn’t matter if it was a mountain, a river, or a boardroom, he dove right in and figured out how to overcome any obstacle. Whether it was a new marketing plan or stopping an evil, disgruntled ex-employee, he fixed the problem with zeal and brilliance.

  Selena chuckled to herself, shaking her head as she realized that she didn’t just love the man. She admired him. Boy, he was a potent combination of power, lust, passion, and laughter! What woman wouldn’t fall in love with him?

  Thankfully, he used his power for good, not evil.

  Looking at the beautiful stairs, the gleaming wood, she took a deep breath and banished her past. Reid was important.

  She needed to banish her insecurities and embrace what Reid was offering.

  And get ready for this shindig! Glancing at her watch, she realized that she’d have to hurry up if she was going to get a workout in. Too much to do and not enough time, she realized.

  Skipping down the stairs, she pulled the towel closer around her, trying to cover the soft swells of her breasts revealed by her bathing suit. By other’s standards, the suit wasn’t particularly revealing. But by her standards, she felt practically naked.

  Stepping into the kitchen, she pasted a bright smile of greeting on her face, wanting to make a good impression on Brant only because he was Reid’s brother. Otherwise, she wouldn’t care about the man at all. He was a cold, emotionless man who frustrated Gianna, enough of a bad endorsement in her mind.

  Of course, she wasn’t going to hurt Reid’s feelings by being rude to his brother either. The two men were close. And there was that pesky detail about Brant Jones being her boss.

  Yeah, she really hated having to remember those details.

  “Good morning!” she called, hoping that her voice sounded happier to their ears than it did to hers.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” Reid grinned, turning and snaking an arm out to pull her in for a kiss. “Sleep okay?”

  Selena’s smile faltered as she put her hands on his shoulders, shyly glancing over at Brant who looked like an angry, mean statue with his arms crossed over his chest and glaring at her as if she were about to stab Reid with a fork.

  “Um…” she pulled her eyes away from Brant and focused on Reid. “Yes,” she replied, awkwardly smiling up at him and running a hand over his chest slightly. “Yes. Very well, thank you.”

  “So formal,” he teased as he bent his head to nibble along her neck. “Ignore my rude brother, Selena. He’s just grouchy because he didn’t wake up with a beautiful woman in his arms like I did.”

  His voice was soft and low, and Brant most likely didn’t hear Reid’s words, but Selena still couldn’t handle this conversation in front of others. It smacked too vividly of another time in her past. A time when…another handsome man bragged about “bagging” her to his friends.

  “I need to go,” she whispered back, pressing against his chest.

  Reid sighed but relented. “Fine. But I’ll be watching you.”

  Eventually, she was going to learn to stop blushing when he said things like that, but she wasn’t there yet. Especially when she knew he’d be watching her body. Not her, per se.

  “I thought you had things to do to get ready for the barbeque this afternoon?”

  “It’s all being catered,” he reminded her. “I just have to be here for the deliveries this morning, then the event coordinator is taking over.”

  “Must be nice,” she teased, thinking about how hard she’d worked the last time she’d entertained back in Virginia. She’d cooked and baked for days before everyone arrived, and the day of the party, she’d been on her hands and knees, cleaning everything from her kitchen floor to toilets.

  “You’ll find out,” he told her and gave her another quick kiss before patting her bottom. “Go work out and then we’ll get out of the way and let the experts handle things, okay?”

  She smiled, glanced over at the still-scowling Brant, and moved away. “Will do,” she told him, thinking she should probably head into the office to let him do whatever it is that rich men did right before an event like what he’d planned this afternoon.

  With another self-conscious glance towards Brant, she turned and headed out to the pool, relieved to be away from his scowling disapproval.

  Reid watched her leave and wondered if she would ever open up and tell him why she was so hesitant to embrace what they both felt. She was achingly lovely and yet, every time he pulled her close when someone else was around, he could feel the stiffness in her body. Hell, sometimes she was pulling back, wary of him even when no one else was around!

  And yet, the moment he kissed her, she melted in his arms, became a wildly abandoned lover. He knew that she enjoyed being with him, and not just in bed. When they were alone together, she was relaxed and seemed happy to be with him. But he knew that she was holding something back. Something painful.

  He had no idea how to help her share what was bothering her. Probably because he’d never felt like this about another woman before. She was…amazing! Smart. Sassy.

  Maybe that was what bothered him so much. She didn’t expect a damn thing and yet, he wanted to give her everything. He searched for and found the ring that he’d bought a week ago. It had been in his pocket the whole time. He wanted the ring on her finger! He wanted everyone to know that Selena was his woman! She was completely oblivious to the way other men watched her, lusted for her! They saw her beauty as a prize, something to win and own.

  They didn’t see the gentle spirit underneath the killer body or know the warm kindness behind her welcoming smile. Others didn’t know how much fun it was to simply sit on the couch and watch a movie with her, feel her soft curves as they melted against him. She was…amazing!

  “You know she’s gone, right?”

  Reid blinked, not registering the words. “Huh?”

  He turned to face his smirking brother.

  “You’ve been staring at the door for the past few minutes as if she’s about to walk back in. She’s gone. In the pool now.”

  Reid glanced at the door again, wishing that she would walk back in. He wanted to be out there swimming with her, feeling the water swirl around them and watch the water slide down her impressive…

  “Stop it!” Brant growled, punching Reid’s arm. “You’re in love with her. I get it. But stop mooning over her! It’s pathetic.”

  Reid glanced at his brother, then threw back his head and laughed. “You’re just jealous,” he jabbed. “I know that you’re mooning over that cute financial analyst. Don’t even try to deny it.”

  His brother pressed his lips together, not d
enying anything. “You’re an ass,” was all he would say.

  “And you’re just as love sick as I am so don’t even try it.”

  Again, no denial, but Brant’s scowl deepened.

  A knock on the door interrupted their brotherly chat and Reid smacked his brother’s shoulder. “She’ll be here at the party, right? It will be the perfect opportunity for you to talk to her outside of the office. Maybe she’ll be a bit more receptive to your dubious charms when she doesn’t have a spreadsheet in front of her.” He walked out of the kitchen, but called back from the hallway as he went to answer the front door. “Even better, Selena is good friends with your little woman. And since I’ll be hanging out next to Selena the whole time, you’ll have a good excuse to corner your raven-haired beauty and find out why she hates you so much.”

  Reid was almost to the front door, but he heard his brother grumble, “I don’t need an excuse and she doesn’t hate me.” The grumbling, as well as the implication that his brother was struggling with a woman, was so unprecedented, caused him to laugh harder. Damn, life was good!

  Chapter 17

  Selena pulled herself out of the pool, feeling incredible! Swimming laps definitely used different muscles than going for a run or taking a spin class, she thought. Her muscles felt good and the coolness of the water kept her from overheating. What excellent exercise! If she’d known how nice it was to swim, she probably would have joined a gym that had a lap pool a long time ago.

  She picked up the towel and carefully dried her hair, thinking she probably needed a stronger conditioner if she was going to swim more often. The chlorine definitely caused the ends to dry out. She saw movement in the house and realized that the catering crew had arrived and were setting up. She didn’t want to be caught out here in just a bathing suit, so she wrapped the towel around her and padded barefoot back inside.

  At the door to the kitchen though, the deep voices stopped her cold.

  “Damn, what a gorgeous rack!” she heard Brant say.

  The deep laugh made her whole body freeze. “Yeah. Hard to find a rack like that. Impressive, right?”

  Both men laughed and she could imagine Reid shaking his head. “Just another piece of meat. Need to keep that in perspective and not lose my head.”

  That cold sensation inside of her turned to ice. He wasn’t talking about her, was he? She glanced down, realized that the towel had slipped, revealing her breasts in the bathing suit. Impossible! Reid had never been so crude before.

  Shrinking back, horrified that he would refer to her breasts as “a gorgeous rack”, she tried to find some other explanation. Reid wasn’t like that! Nor had he ever treated her as “just another piece of meat”!

  “I saw the way you were watching out the window a few minutes ago,” Brant teased. “I noticed the way you were drooling.”

  Reid snorted, almost as if he were trying to dismiss his brother’s comments. “As if you weren’t drooling?”

  “Yeah, but I prefer to call it salivating instead of drooling. Drooling seems so juvenile.”

  Reid chuckled. “Right. Like we’re not acting like complete juvenile idiots over a piece of meat! Get over yourself. We’re both ready for a taste. No use denying it.”

  She pulled back even more, disgusted by the possibility of Reid offering to share her. He wouldn’t! He was jealous when some other guy even looked at her! Why would he offer to share her with his brother?!

  Impossible!

  And yet, those words were so similar to what she’d heard years ago. She shouldn’t be surprised, but she was. Selena was horrified and disgusted. Reid had always treated her so sweetly, always acted like a gentleman.

  But that was the way men operated! She knew from painful experience that men like that didn’t think of women as individuals with hearts and souls. They considered women to be conquests. Hadn’t she just been thinking about Reid as a man who liked a challenge? Someone who thrived on overcoming obstacles?

  Well, she’d been a small obstacle, hadn’t she? Or maybe she’d been a big one! She clutched at the towel, trying to hide her body as the old insecurities came rushing back. In her mind, she wasn’t standing in the beautiful stone covered patio of Reid’s lovely home. She was back in the frat house, the smell of stale beer and dirty socks surrounding her, making her gag as she listened to the fraternity brothers mock her. And worse, they were throwing empty beer cans at the guy she’d just given her virginity to the previous night. His laughter echoed once again in her mind as “fat girl” and “pathetic conquest” filtered back. Words she’d tried so painfully to banish from her mind.

  As she stood there listening to Reid and Brant refer to her as “a piece of meat” and discuss the tastiness of her, all of those insecurities welled up, almost choking her. No longer was she the head of a new and innovative marketing idea, ready to launch her ideas onto the cosmetic world. She was the overweight, insecure college girl who had gone into a frat house thinking that the guy who had invited her had genuinely liked her. That he was willing to overlook her chubby thighs and round stomach. She’d smiled happily that night as she’d entered the dubiously-sacred hallways of the frat house, nervously searching for the guy who had invited her.

  This wasn’t happening! Not again! She pulled away, stepping back and almost tripping over her own feet as she tried to hide from the pain lashing at her heart. No! Reid wasn’t like that! And yet, he and his brother continued to joke about different “pieces of meat”, how one was just the same, it only mattered how much careful attention was put into the care of the meat, into the preparation.

  He was talking about her! He was just like the others! Only, this time, there weren’t any dirty socks stinking up a corner of the room. And she didn’t smell stale beer or hear the ribald laughs of the others.

  Just two men. Two grown men who she should have known better to trust!

  A man like Reid wouldn’t genuinely be interested in a woman like her!

  Stop it! Selena heard the words in her head and forced her mind to stop. She wasn’t ugly and it didn’t matter if a woman was fat! Every woman had worth! Every woman deserved the dignity of honesty and respect!

  Nothing was wrong with her, she reminded herself. It was the men who were wrong. It was the pathetic, insecure, disgusting boys who thought that women were a conquest.

  No, she wouldn’t go through that emotional turmoil again. She wouldn’t starve herself as she had after that event. She wouldn’t put herself at risk. Selena knew she had an eating disorder. Just as any alcoholic had to guard against the triggers that might set them off to drinking again, Selena had to watch for triggers that would cause her to start starving herself, from regaining control of her world by not eating.

  Years of therapy had gotten her to this point. She was happy and healthy now. She was in control by being strong and confident. Selena was not going to starve herself again.

  Lifting her head and straightening her shoulders, she pulled in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Closing her eyes, she did the mental exercises over and over again, reminding herself of her affirmation. She was strong and powerful, smart and worthy of her own respect.

  This would not pull her down.

  When she opened her eyes again, she felt better. More balanced. Yes, her heart still ached because she’d trusted Reid. Had fallen in love with him. But this was just life, she told herself. This was what other women learned early on in their dating lives. Selena just had to learn to deal with heartache later since she had avoided dating for so long.

  This was just her journey. She’d hurt for a while…maybe a long while, but she’d get over this.

  Walking over to the guest house, she let herself in, walking to the bedroom where she used to sleep. Until Reid had convinced her…until he’d fooled her.

  No longer a fool, she told herself and stiffened her resolve, unaware of the tears spilling down her cheeks. When she saw her reflection in the mirror, she saw them and wiped them away. Silly to be crying over a man un
worthy of tears.

  And yet, he’d fooled her! He’d been so sweet and gentle, so kind. He’d made her laugh. Maybe that was the worst part of this, she thought. The way he’d made her laugh. And trust him. Yeah, she’d grown to trust him and that hurt. Because it took her so long to trust and yet, he’d gotten under her defenses. His sweet words and his teasing challenges.

  Hunting through the drawers, she realized that all of the pretty underwear that Reid had teased her into learning to love was up in his bedroom. She’d literally moved in with the man! Good grief!

  Enough! She dropped the towel and grabbed a pair of white, cotton underwear. They were perfect, she thought as she pulled them on. Walking away from the mirror, she ignored how uncomfortable the cotton felt against her skin. In just a few weeks, she’d fallen in love with the soft, slick feeling of silk and satin against her. She loved the way the lace cupped her breasts. And yeah, she’d loved the way Reid looked at her when he’d peeked under her dresses or shirts to discover what she was wearing underneath.

  That was over. She could never be with a man who thought of her as a piece of meat. Or worse, a man who was willing to share her with his brother. She snorted as she opened the wardrobe to find something to wear. As if she’d allow a man to treat her like that! She wasn’t the kind of woman who enjoyed being passed around! More power to women who enjoyed that kind of thing, but she wasn’t one of them!

  She reached for one of her regular dresses. But her fingers brushed the wardrobe bag containing the sundress she’d bought specifically for this event. Hesitating, she debated wearing the dress or just slipping into one of her old standbys. A sheath dress would be perfectly acceptable.

  But the floral sundress with the slit in the skirt, hidden by a long ruffle…she remembered trying it on in the store…the spaghetti straps, the cinched-in waistline, the long, deceptively demure skirt…

  If she’d been looking in the mirror, she would have seen the evil glint in her eyes. No, she wasn’t going to wear a black sheath dress. First of all, the black would be too hot. And secondly, did she really want to shy away from a challenge? Reid thought he’d won by seducing her. Just like…No!