Reserved for the Tycoon

by Charlene Sands

  But here they were—a man with playboy tendencies and a woman who despised that lifestyle. She nibbled her lip. “You could have any woman—”

  “That’s not my style.” Vanessa arched her brows, which prompted him to add, “Anymore.”

  Brock drew her into his strong arms. “We’re wasting the night talking. I promise to answer all your questions in the morning. Stay, baby.”

  He took her hand and Vanessa followed him to the bedroom.

  Brock loved making love to Vanessa. She was responsive and sensitive to his every touch, every caress. She liked sex and he didn’t think many women really did. They’d go through the motions to please a man, but they didn’t enjoy the act itself.

  Vanessa enjoyed the connection, the physicality of making love. She threw caution to the wind, knew no inhibition and lost herself in the pleasure.

  Just seeing her laying on his bed, her platinum tresses spread out on the pillow, waiting for him, made him crazy for her. She was as hot for him as he was for her, and that turned him on more than anything else.

  Naked and fully aroused, Brock laid down next to her on the bed. He took her into his arms and made powerful, deliberate, desperate love to her like there was no tomorrow.

  Because there was no tomorrow.

  Brock was through playing games with Vanessa. She’d gotten under his skin and when she was breathless and panting beneath him, he could almost forget her deceit. But he wouldn’t allow himself that luxury. She was the enemy of her own making.

  Yet everything inside him wanted to forget what she’d done and who she was. He wanted her. Period.

  After tomorrow she’d be out of his life for good. He’d see to it. All they had was tonight.

  And Brock planned on using his time wisely.

  After their first climax together, Brock rolled onto his back, his body coated with a thin sheen of perspiration from the heat they’d created. He glanced at Vanessa, whose skin glowed with the aftermath of lovemaking.

  She was so beautiful. At times he thought her vulnerable and innocent. He shook his head at the ridiculous notion that Vanessa could be either.

  She lifted her head from the bed and charmed him with a pretty smile. “What are you shaking your head at?”

  Brock inhaled. He’d tell her half the truth. “You. You’re not what I expected.”

  She answered quietly, tracing a finger around his mouth. “Neither are you, sweetheart.”

  Brock stared at her. It was the first time she’d used an endearment with him. Her tone was sweet and sincere, which destroyed him inside.

  She’d tried to make a fool of him, yet Brock couldn’t think past the melodic softness of her voice when she called him sweetheart.

  “Ready for round two?” he asked, fully aroused again.

  Vanessa grinned and stroked his thick erection. “Ready. But one of us is bound to get knocked out sooner or later.”

  Brock groaned. “Later. Much later.”

  She climbed on top of him and straddled his thighs. Without hesitation, she lowered herself down and he jammed his eyes shut briefly from the exquisite sensation of Vanessa taking him in and riding him with purposeful thrusts.

  He held her at the beautiful arch of her back and watched her make love to him, her head thrown back, her silvery tresses flowing.

  He knew when her body couldn’t take another second. He felt her tighten, the constriction pulsing around him and witnessed the look of sheer tortured pleasure on her face when her body released.

  Brock let her ride it out until she was sated and damp. Then he held her hips and thrust into her once, twice. It was all he’d needed, her mind-blowing climax enough of a rush to satisfy his own.

  She rested against him, her breasts crushing against his chest and Brock didn’t think life got any better than this.

  Sex surely didn’t.

  He held her until she fell asleep, then he succumbed, banishing any disturbing thoughts from entering his mind.

  There was a chill in the room when Vanessa woke up. She rolled over to find Brock gone from the bed. Flashes of last night entered her sleep-induced mind. They’d made love three times during the night and each time had been more thrilling, more intimate than the time before. She smiled, remembering. Her body ached from Brock’s thorough lovemaking.

  Vanessa knew she was a goner.

  She’d fallen head over heels in love.

  She nibbled on her lower lip, more confused than ever.

  What now?

  She rose and tossed on her panties and bra, then went in search of Brock. She found him standing by the window in the main parlor looking out at the bay, sipping whiskey.

  Whiskey at seven in the morning?

  Bone-chilling fear swept over her. “Brock?”

  He turned and his face was an unreadable mask. For a moment, when his eyes flickered over her body, she noted a quick flash of the man who’d made love to her last night. Then as quickly as it had come, it was gone.

  “You like sex, don’t you, Vanessa?”

  “Sex?” What kind of question was that? “Yes, with the right man. Of course.”

  He nodded and finished the tumbler full of whiskey in one gulp. “The right man? Hell, I’d hate to see what you’d do if you were with the wrong man.”

  Confused, Vanessa shook her head several times. “What are you talking about?”

  Brock slammed his glass tumbler down and she jumped. “I know who you are, Vanessa. I know how you set out to sabotage my hotel. I know everything.”

  Vanessa blinked. Then gasped and took a step back, suddenly feeling vulnerable in her half-naked state.

  She saw a man’s dinner jacket lying over the sofa and put it on, her heart racing like mad.

  Brock knew? How had he found out?

  Her stomach squeezed tight.

  Before she could formulate her thoughts, he approached her. “Was having sex with me your way of distracting me from the truth?” he asked, his jaw tight, his lips even tighter.

  She couldn’t believe the accusation. “Me? You’re accusing me of using you for sex?” Suddenly, Vanessa’s temper flared. “That’s rich, Brock. You’re the one who charms innocent young girls then drops them like hot potatoes, breaking their hearts!”

  Brock’s face evened to a placid expression. “You’re confusing me with someone else, babe.”

  “No, you broke my sister’s heart. You hurt her badly, Brock. You didn’t give a damn about it either. She told me all about how you dumped her for another woman. Melody Applegate? Or do you even remember her?”

  “I remember her.”

  “So you admit it!”

  “I dated her for half a minute. I don’t know what she told you, but she was a sweet kid and we parted as friends.”

  “You nearly destroyed her! She’s been crying and distraught ever since.”

  “Wrong. Take it up with her. As of right now, you’ll have plenty of opportunity. You’re fired, Vanessa. I want you off Tempest property before noon.”

  Vanessa gasped again. She should have expected this, but she’d never been fired before and it stung. Raw emotion racked her system, the pain twisting in her gut. “I hate you.”

  He shrugged. “I know. I’ve known it all along, even when you were making love to me until I could barely take my next breath.”

  Vanessa slapped his face.

  But it didn’t affect him. He spoke with calm resolve. “You set out to destroy me, didn’t you? How stupid did you think I was? After your first few attempts, I was on to you. Didn’t you think it odd that all of your attempts failed after the first few? I have to admit, the geckos were a stroke of genius. You’re entertaining, Vanessa. I’ll give you that. Your level of deceit amazes me.”

  Vanessa’s lips trembled. She’d been taken for a fool. And he’d been basking in her failures, enjoying every minute of it. The bonus and last night’s party was a calculated ruse. Brock had secured his payback. He must be so proud of himself.

  The ache
of it went straight to her heart.

  “Did you really think I’d stand by and let you ruin my mother’s and brother’s wedding? Every plan you’ve made on their behalf has been changed.”

  She shook uncontrollably. Tears stung her eyes. Brock obviously thought her lower than a snake. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t.”

  His eyes narrowed. “And why should I believe that?”

  Vanessa wanted to defend herself, to tell him she had limits. The problems she had with him didn’t overlap into his family. She had nothing against them. She couldn’t bring herself to ruin a widow’s new marriage, or a brother who had done nothing to her. But she feared her pleas would go on deaf ears. He had his mind made up about her.

  Brock watched her discomfort, his gaze flowing over her as if memorizing her every move. “Go,” he demanded, his voice filled with regret.

  Vanessa didn’t want to leave this way. She wanted to know the truth. What had gone on between Brock and her sister?

  “Go,” he repeated, his voice firm but quiet. “Before I bring you up on charges.”

  Shocked, a surprised gasp tumbled out. “Are you threatening to go to the police?”

  “I have a right.”

  “You are a bastard, aren’t you?”

  “I protect what’s mine, Vanessa.”

  Brock walked out of the room and onto the deck.

  By the time she dressed and left the yacht, he was nowhere in sight.

  Tears streamed down her face the whole time Vanessa packed up her clothes from the condo. She couldn’t control her sobs as she returned the keys to the manager and only contained her crying long enough to turn in her leased MINI Cooper before she broke out in another pitiful bout of sobbing.

  She didn’t have the heart to face Lucy or Akamu, her new dear friends who had been so kind to her when she’d come to the island. Bolstering her nerve and momentarily quieting her tears, she’d placed voice mail messages on their cell phones—the coward’s way out—to let them know that something had come up at home and she had to leave immediately. She fully planned on speaking with them personally, once she got this whole mess straightened out.

  Her thoughts turned to Melody. Her sister hadn’t answered her phone calls and she couldn’t reach her on her cell either. “Melly, where are you?”

  She sniffled, her eyes burning from crying as she rode in the cab to the airport. Her sister was an adult, but Vanessa still worried about her. “I’m on my way home,” she whispered to the deaf walls of the taxi as she passed palms and sugarcane fields, leaving the ocean behind.

  Vanessa watched the island become nothing more than a speck of sand from high above in the airplane. She stifled sobs, holding tissues to her nose, trying not to garner attention from the other passengers. Yet when she dared to peek around the cabin, she met with sympathetic eyes.

  Melody will straighten this all out, she told herself. Yet Brock had been so convincing that he knew nothing about Melody’s heartache. He’d lied to her before. He’d fooled her. Made love to her. She’d like to believe at least that part was honest. It had been for her. Making love to Brock hadn’t been part of the plan, though he’d accused her of it. He’d accused her of many things and some were true. But the most important of his accusations about her were wrong. She hadn’t used sex to throw him off track about her sabotage. And she wouldn’t have ever compromised his family’s wedding plans.

  It hurt her deeply that he would think it. Yet she couldn’t blame him entirely. She’d given him ample reason to believe the very worst about her.

  A sob escaped and she sucked in oxygen, making noises that had passengers turning their heads.

  Once she landed in New Orleans, she headed straight for Melody’s apartment. Her tears gone, only a pitiful ache remained in her gut. Grateful they shared keys to each other’s apartments, she turned the key in the lock and entered. Her shoulders slumped and her limbs went limp as every ounce of her body surrendered to exhaustion.

  Melody jumped up from the sofa, wearing a smile beaming from ear to ear. “Vanny, what are you doing here?”

  “I, uh…” Vanessa knew a moment of joy, seeing her sister looking healthy and fit, then glanced past her to the sofa to find Melody had company. She directed her attention back at her sister. “It’s…a long story.”

  “Never mind. Tell me later.” Melody’s smile broadened and as her red hair caught the afternoon light, she positively glowed. “I have the best news!”

  Vanessa blinked. The man sitting on the sofa stood to his full six-foot frame and sent her a sheepish smile. She recognized him. She turned to her sister, curious. Warning bells rang out in her head. “What news?”

  Melody stuck her left hand in Vanessa’s face and wiggled her fingers. “I’m engaged!”

  Ten

  V anessa stared at Melody in shock. “Excuse me. What?” It took her a full five seconds to wrap her mind around what’d she’d heard. “You’re engaged?”

  “Yes!” Melody could barely contain her joy. She bobbed up and down again like a child who’d won a big prize.

  Vanessa’s eye twitched. Lord, she hadn’t twitched like that since she’d found her college boyfriend playing doctor with her best friend.

  “You remember Ryan Gains.”

  Ryan stood beside Melody, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Hi, Vanessa. It’s been a long time.”

  “Ryan,” she said, trying to sort this out. “I remember you.” Vanessa scratched her head, slanted him a look and pursed her lips. To Vanessa’s knowledge, the high school football star had dated her sister briefly in their senior year. Melody had the biggest crush on him. “Didn’t you marry right out of high school?”

  “He’s divorced now,” Melody explained.

  Vanessa shot Melody a stare.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t have anything to do with the break up.”

  Vanessa sucked oxygen into her lungs. None of this seemed real. She felt like she’d been tossed into a nightmarish episode of the Twilight Zone. “Ryan, would you give me some time alone with my sister?”

  Ryan glanced at Melody, then nodded. “Sure, I’ve got to get back to Tempest anyway.” He turned to Melody. “Bye, honey.” He took her into his arms and laid a thirty-second kiss on her. Melody nearly swooned watching him walk out the door.

  “You didn’t even congratulate us,” Melody complained once she focused on Vanessa again. She flopped onto the sofa.

  “Congratulate you?” Vanessa took a seat, fearful that what would come next would buckle her knees anyway. “I thought you were heartbroken! Destroyed. Devastated.”

  “Gosh, Vanny. You sound like you’re sorry I’m not.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I just want the truth. And what’s this about Ryan getting back to Tempest?”

  “He works there. He was promoted to hotel manager. When Brock left, the chain of command changed.”

  “Brock?” Vanessa’s heart surged, hearing his name. “I thought you were madly in love with him. I thought Brock was the only man for you.”

  “Oh, that.” Melody waved her off. “That was nothing.”

  “Nothing, you cried your heart out for days! My God, I thought you were suicidal at one point. That’s all I heard from you. ‘Brock destroyed me. I’ll never love again. I can’t go on without him.’”

  Melody’s gaze darted away. She avoided eye contact. Vanessa’s blood ran cold. Dread coursed through her system.

  “It was never about Brock,” Melody confessed on a quiet whisper.

  Oh, God.

  “Explain, Melly. Look me in the eye and explain.”

  Melody made eye contact. “Well, you know how you’re always babying me? Not that I don’t love you too, Vanny, but I’m old enough now to make my own decisions.”

  “And mistakes.”

  “There, you see!” Melody nearly jumped out of her seat. “You’ve got no faith in me.”

  Vanessa’s eye went on a twitchin
g field day. She rubbed the corners of her temples to calm down. “We’ll argue that point later. Go on.”

  “Well, I’ve been in love with Ryan for years. Ever since high school. I knew you’d never approve, so I kept quiet, but I’ve been pining away for him all these years. It’s the real thing, Vanny. Trust me.”

  Vanessa made a grunting sound.

  “I saw him every day at the hotel. We’d talk casually but when I found out he was getting a divorce, I’m sorry to say I was thrilled. I made up my mind I wasn’t going to let him get away this time. I could tell he liked me. He’d come into the gift shop to browse around almost daily. We flirted for weeks. And, oh, Vanny, every day I’d pray he’d ask me out. And then one day he did. We dated for a few weeks, the best weeks of my life. Then he stopped asking me out.”

  Vanessa’s heart landed in her stomach. Melody painted a far different picture than what she had originally been told. She feared where this confession would take her. And she was furious with Melody on so many levels right now, all she could do was sit back and listen as her nerves tightened under her skin.

  “I was beside myself. I knew he had feelings for me. We connected. We enjoyed being with each other. I was totally in love with him and had to do something. Ryan needed a good nudge.”

  Vanessa closed her eyes. Oh, no. “That’s where Brock came in.”

  “Yes, Brock was handsome and rich and a ladies’ man. I thought going out with him would make Ryan jealous. You know how fast hotel gossip spreads. I was desperate, Vanny. I was seriously in love and, well, a girl has to do something crazy to get her man, doesn’t she?”

  Vanessa bit her lip so hard she was surprised blood didn’t spurt out.

  “I dated Brock for a few weeks. I was so crazy in love, and even more desperate now, because Ryan didn’t react at all. He stopped coming by the shop. That’s when I fell apart.”

  “Fell apart, like claiming your life was over? That you’d never love again.” Vanessa’s nerves were at the breaking point. But she had to hear it all from Melody before she allowed herself the luxury. “That he ruined you for all other men?”