The Real Deal

by Lucy Monroe

  She even shared it, along with a certain amount of trepidation at how Simon was going to react to her makeover.

  Chapter 17

  The closer they got to the pier, the more nervous Amanda became.

  How would Simon react to her new image? She hadn’t tried anything sexy on him since the night she’d worn the cami and tap pants only to discover he’d wanted her proposal and not her. Simon seemed to prefer her naked. That had been hard enough to get used to, but the prospect of appearing before him in her almost not-there dress was making her shake in her spike-heeled sandals.

  She could remember times she’d gone to great lengths to look nice for Lance when he hadn’t commented at all. Worse had been the times he’d found something to criticize. Simon wasn’t like that. She knew he wasn’t, but she couldn’t seem to quiet the dancing gorillas that had taken up residence in her stomach.

  She pulled her rental car into the lot attached to the pier. Jillian and Elaine got out, taking time to adjust their saris. They looked gorgeous and mysteriously foreign. Amanda climbed out of the car and locked it.

  She was afraid to look toward Simon’s moorage in case he was there waiting. She wasn’t ready to see him yet, to acknowledge his reaction to her new look. She approached the end of the pier where Simon docked with her eyes focused on the ground in front of her as if her life depended on watching each step. In the sexy sandals, it just might. Or at least her dignity.

  Like a small child, she was operating on the principle that if she couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see her.

  Elaine and Jillian discussed the merits of shopping in Seattle versus LA. Thankfully, they seemed content with her own silence.

  Her skin tingled and she knew he was there, watching her approach. She almost stopped walking, but she managed to keep her feet moving forward. Each step she took increased the tension inside her until she couldn’t help looking up.

  She had to see his reaction.

  Just as she had known it would be, Simon’s yacht was in its moorage and he stood on the deck waiting for them. Their eyes met across the distance separating them. His were devouring her with ravaging force.

  Elaine called out a greeting to him, but he didn’t respond. His eyes did not so much as flicker in their intent regard.

  Jillian said something and Elaine laughed. The words didn’t register for Amanda, so she had no idea what the two women found so amusing. Her attention was locked on the man standing so still on the deck. His gunmetal gaze moved over every inch of her body with tactile force. Goose bumps broke out on flesh that felt as if it had been caressed.

  Her mouth went dry and she tried to swallow.

  She reached the yacht. She was peripherally aware of Elaine and Jillian walking up a gangplank that had not been used on the previous trip she’d taken on Simon’s yacht. A male voice indicated that either Eric or Jacob had come out to greet them. Amanda could not force her attention away from Simon long enough to look and ascertain which.

  She stopped at the end of the gangplank. Simon started moving toward her and she waited for him, feeling paralyzed by the look in his eyes.

  When he reached her his hands came out to cup her face. “You’re beautiful.”

  Two words that meant so much.

  His head lowered and he kissed her softly, almost reverently. “I wish now that I hadn’t agreed to have dinner with the others.”

  Her hands rose of their own volition to rest against his chest. She could feel the heat of him through the thin black silk of his dress shirt. He was wearing a pair of black slacks as well and he had pulled his hair back into a ponytail. “You look pretty nice yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in anything but jeans.”

  “Right now, I want to see you out of that dress.”

  She tilted her head to one side, flirting in a way she’d never done. “Don’t you like it?”

  He laughed. “It’s sexy as hell, but it does too good a job of teasing me with what is underneath.”

  “Not a whole lot.”

  His eyes closed and he tilted his head back. “I’m not going to last through dinner.” Then he looked at her again, his face a study in male frustration. “What constitutes not a whole lot? I have to know so I can torment myself for the next few hours with what I can’t have.”

  “You know the stay-ups I like to wear?”

  His gaze slid down her body to her black silk clad legs and he nodded. “Uh huh.”

  “That’s it.”

  His head snapped back. “Just you and a pair of thigh-highs?”

  “Yep.” She watched in fascination as sweat broke out on his upper lip.

  “Baby, I’m not going to make it.” He did sound like a man who was dying.

  She inched closer so his scent and heat surrounded her. “Sure you will.”

  He swallowed convulsively and ran a fingertip around the cutout between her breasts. “This is nice.”

  She trembled. “I like butterflies.”

  “So do I, but I’ve never seen a more beautiful one.” His finger rested directly on her exposed cleavage. “I want to taste you here more than I want to take my next breath.”

  Her breath hitched, pressing the flesh of her breasts against his fingertip. “I don’t think you should do that in front of the others.”

  His finger ran down the line where her breasts were pressed together by the cut of the dress. “They’ve gone inside.”

  “They have?” How had he noticed? It was all she could do to remember they had even been there.

  “Yes.”

  “Someone else might see.” She was trying so hard to stay sane. He wasn’t making it easy.

  He looked down at the rigid peaks obvious beneath the thin material of her bodice. “I want to put my mouth over them and suck on them through your dress.”

  She shivered, her knees weakened, and she felt herself going damp between her legs. “Stop it. I’m not going to be able to sit down pretty soon.”

  “I can’t walk already.”

  She looked down and felt her insides melt at the blatant evidence that her sexy new look definitely affected Simon.

  “Oh, Simon.”

  “Don’t say my name like that.”

  Her head snapped up and she looked at him, half-hurt by the harsh tone in his voice. “Why not?”

  “Because it makes me want to strip you naked and take you on the gangplank.”

  “Not a good idea, cousin. You can get arrested in Port Mulqueen for stuff like that. I think it’s called indecent exposure.”

  She peeked around Simon and there stood Eric, looking incredibly amused. She felt her face flush and looked at Simon to find a matching burnished color slashing across his cheekbones.

  “Jacob’s waiting to serve the appetizers until you come inside. Elaine is hungry. Pregnant women get cranky when they’re hungry. She and Jacob are close to coming to blows.”

  “We’d better go save Elaine,” Amanda said with a small smile at Simon.

  Eric chuckled. “I think Jacob is in greater danger, besides our guest is waiting to say hello to Amanda.”

  Tension filled Simon’s body at Eric’s words and the look he gave his cousin could have stripped paint. Something was definitely wrong. Had he and Eric argued about the merger while the women had been gone? She could easily see Simon taking advantage of Elaine’s absence to launch a full-scale battle with Eric regarding Extant’s proposal. Simon was protective of Elaine’s feelings. He’d made that clear during their first meeting in Eric’s office and again when Elaine and Eric had come to the island for dinner.

  She longed to know if that was because Simon’s natural protective instincts extended to her as a woman in his family or if he still cared for the woman he had once considered marrying.

  Her musings stopped as Simon placed a heavily proprietary arm around her waist and began walking her up the gangplank.

  Eric noted it and grinned at Simon and then winked at her.

  What in the world was going on?


  Simon barely controlled the urge to take off his shirt and put it around Amanda’s body before letting her walk into the lounge. He’d spent the last hour in the company of her ex-husband. The guy was too smooth to be real, but his California golden image was undeniable. A lot of women would find his looks irresistible.

  Amanda had married the man.

  She must have been taken in by the looks and rehearsed charm at one time. According to Jillian, she’d even stayed married to the guy after the first affair. Had she loved him that much?

  He’d hurt her, but women didn’t always stop loving men that hurt them, even if they worked up the emotional stamina for a divorce. And here she was looking sexier than she probably ever had. Lance Rogers was bound to be hit right in the libido with what he’d given up.

  Simon was watching for it as they walked into the lounge.

  Lance noticed Amanda before she noticed him and his eyes widened at the sight, an arrogant smile playing around his lips. “Hello, Amanda.”

  Her entire body went stiff beside Simon and she stopped dead two feet into the room. “Lance?”

  Simon couldn’t read anything from her voice except shock. Not welcome, not revulsion, just shock.

  Lance’s smile grew. “Yes, it’s me. Surprised, sweetheart?”

  Simon felt his own body tense at the endearment. Damn it, no man had the right to call her sweetheart but him.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked in a flat tone.

  “I’ve been in town for the last couple of days talking over the merger with Eric.” He was all golden boy charm. “You look fantastic, Amanda. Very exotic. It’s a new image for you.”

  “You don’t even work for Extant Corporation.” To Simon’s pleasure, she didn’t respond to the compliments on her appearance.

  Lance’s smile was more predatory than disarming. “Not strictly, no. But they have my law firm on retainer. Your boss approached me to help negotiate the deal. Friendly mergers are one of my specialties. Eric and I have had some good discussions over the past week.”

  “Why wasn’t I told?” Amanda asked in that same flat tone that was beginning to bother Simon.

  He didn’t know what it concealed.

  “Is that really something you want to discuss in front of our hosts? If you insist on hearing the details right now, perhaps Simon will lend us a stateroom to talk.”

  The pretty boy was taking Amanda to a stateroom over Simon’s dead body. His hold on her tightened.

  Her head came up and her eyes met his for a brief moment, not long enough for any meaningful communication but sufficient time for him to see that she was operating in a state of contained shock.

  “The details can wait.” She turned toward his cousin. “You didn’t mention that Lance had come to discuss the merger with you.”

  Eric looked discomfited by Amanda’s monotone as well, or maybe it was the accusation implied by her question. “He told me you knew he was here.”

  “I didn’t.”

  Lance didn’t look bothered by the denial. “Let’s not play games, Amanda. You knew Daniel would be sending someone.” He looked significantly at Simon’s hold on Amanda. “It’s obvious you’ve lost the objectivity necessary to act as negotiator.”

  Amanda tensed further and pulled away, going further into the room and putting distance between her and Simon. He wanted to snatch her back, but the way she held herself so stiffly made him wary of pushing her.

  “My relationship with Simon has absolutely nothing to do with the merger.” At least she was admitting they had a relationship.

  For a minute there, he thought she might be gearing up to deny it.

  “You’re right about one thing, this isn’t the time or the place to discuss Extant business.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “We will talk later, but I can’t help wondering why I wasn’t called back to California if, as you’ve implied, Daniel believes my professional integrity has been compromised.”

  “You know why, but if you really want me to spell it out to you, I’ll gladly do so later.” Lance’s condescending tone grated on Simon’s nerves.

  He wondered how the pretty boy would look wet from a dunking in the Sound.

  “Fine, you do that.” She looked toward the doorway. “I assume that now Simon and I have arrived, Jacob is going to start serving the food?”

  Whether it was because he’d been standing outside the room, listening, or because of his amazing timing, Jacob came in at that moment with a tray of hors d’oeuvres. Showing intelligence, if a bit belated, he offered the tray to Elaine first.

  When the tray came to Amanda, she declined anything.

  “I don’t know how you can wait until dinner. It’s been hours since lunch, aren’t you hungry?” Elaine popped a miniature puff pastry in her mouth. “I’m starving.”

  Lance smiled winningly at Elaine. “With a figure like yours, you can indulge, but Amanda can’t afford to partake of every course of dinner.”

  Fury rolled through Simon like a tidal wave and his vision of Lance was surrounded by a red haze.

  “Keep your opinions of Amanda’s figure to yourself,” Jillian added with a voice that could have shred steel.

  Lance put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Hey, I didn’t mean to offend. I was just trying to explain why Amanda hadn’t taken any of the appetizers.”

  “I’m capable of explaining my own actions when necessary.” The words were said firmly, but the look in her beautiful brown eyes was too damn vulnerable for Simon’s liking.

  Lance shrugged. “Sure.”

  Simon picked up a canapé and walked over to Amanda. He stopped in front of her and she looked up, her eyes asking a question.

  “I think your body is perfect, sweetheart. Now try this, it’s one of Jacob’s personal concoctions.”

  Her mouth opened slightly, but not enough for him to slide the small goody between her luscious lips. She stared at him and suddenly he felt like he was waging a battle between the present and the past that still tormented her. He would win because losing was not an option. Lance had had his time with Amanda and he’d screwed it up. Simon wasn’t making the same mistakes. He wasn’t even tempted to.

  “Open up, baby. Trust me.”

  Her lips parted further and he slid the morsel into her mouth. He brushed her lips with his fingertip before he withdrew his hand and signaled for Jacob to bring the tray of appetizers to him. This time he chose a mini-quiche. He put it to her lips and felt like a conquering king when she accepted it without protest.

  Jacob turned away and put the tray of hors d’oeuvres on one of the small tables. “Dinner will be on the table in fifteen minutes.” He left with all the dignity of a Victorian butler.

  Simon winked at Amanda; her eyes warmed, though she didn’t smile. “He’s playing a role again,” she whispered.

  Simon nodded. “He’s a frustrated thespian. He never got to go undercover on his Secret Service detail and he has latent frustrated desires.”

  “You’d better watch out or he’s going to follow Jillian back to Hollywood. Then where would you be?”

  “No chance. He hates smog.”

  “There is that.”

  Good. Amanda was sounding more normal.

  “So tell me about this shinga’ar thing,” Eric said from his position beside Elaine on one of the small sofas.

  Elaine and Jill launched into an animated description of how they had spent the day. Simon half-listened while getting a glass of wine for Amanda.

  He handed it to her. “Do you want anything else?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll wait for dinner.”

  “You’re not fat.”

  “Sometimes I see myself through other people’s eyes. I don’t mean to.”

  Looking at her incredibly sexy and downright feminine persona, he smiled. “Then see yourself through my eyes. You’re perfect.”

  She got drawn into the conversation by Jill before she could answer.

  Jac
ob called them into dinner a few minutes later. Lance had not said anything else offensive to Amanda, but he’d let his gaze zone in way too often on the curves he’d disparaged earlier. Amanda seemed oblivious as with each passing minute she slipped more firmly back into the cool, buttoned-down façade she had put on when she first came to Washington State.

  She looked sexier than any woman Simon had ever known, but was acting as asexual as an amoeba.

  He was tempted to kiss her senseless just to break through the defensive wall growing around her, but the fragility under her surface kept him from doing it. He wished he knew what was causing that fragility. Was she still susceptible to her ex-husband or was it because her company had sent him to Port Mulqueen without telling her?

  She wasn’t giving anything away.

  Why the hell had Eric invited Lance to join them for dinner in the first place? Making up numbers. Like Jillian would have cared if she were the odd one out. That woman had enough confidence to accompany a friend on her honeymoon and still have a good time. To give his cousin the benefit of the doubt, the first Eric had heard of Lance being Amanda’s ex was when Simon had brought it up just before the women got back.

  Lance sure as hell hadn’t said anything. The man was obviously economical with the truth and if he was an example of Extant Corporation’s management style, Simon was doubly determined to prevent any merger from taking place.

  Amanda stood with Simon to see his other guests off the boat. Barely leashed tension communicated itself to her and her nerves wound another notch tighter. Was he thinking she had been aware of Daniel’s plan to send Lance to meet with Eric? Was he angry with her?

  He hadn’t acted angry when he had been cajoling her to eat the canapé. Stress had a bad effect on her appetite, especially stress related to Lance, but Simon had been determined not to give her that coping mechanism. She was glad, but she couldn’t tell what he was thinking now.

  There had been times over dinner when the look in Simon’s eyes had been positively violent.

  He didn’t like Lance. Simon was too self-contained to be obvious about something like that, but certain gestures and the measured tone he used when talking to Lance had made it clear to her.