Millionaires' Destinies

by Sherryl Woods

  Right now she was plastered across his chest, exactly where she’d collapsed after riding him to another explosive climax once they’d come upstairs to her room. Mack was just as beat as she was, maybe even more so, but he was also energized in a totally unexpected way. He was filled with a whole new sense of curiosity about this woman who’d once expressed disdain for him and everything he stood for. Apparently she’d concluded he wasn’t such a bad guy, after all. Either that or she’d simply been as desperate for human contact tonight as he had been.

  Slamming up against the mortality wall had shaken him, especially since the person involved was a twelve-year-old boy he’d grown to love. Usually his life revolved around fun. Even work was something he enjoyed, not something with life-or-death consequences. Since meeting Tony, it had been harder and harder to maintain that devil-may-care attitude. Tonight he’d pretty much snapped.

  Beth sighed and snuggled more tightly against him, her head tucked under his chin, her hand distressingly close to a part of him that he was trying hard to ignore so she could get some obviously much-needed sleep.

  She shifted again, tormenting him further, but then as if the contact finally sent an electrical charge straight to her brain, her eyes snapped open. She would have scrambled away from him, if he hadn’t kept his arm firmly around her waist.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Mack asked lightly.

  “Over…um, to my side of the bed,” she mumbled finally.

  “I like sharing the middle,” he teased.

  She finally met his gaze. “Really?” she asked, looking surprised. “I’m not bothering you?”

  “Oh, you are definitely bothering me,” he said. “I think that’s evident.”

  She followed the direction of his gaze, then blushed. “I had no idea.”

  “That I wanted you again?”

  “That it was even possible for you to want me again,” she said.

  Her comment told Mack all he’d wanted to know about the kind of experiences she’d had in the past. Whatever jealous twinges he might have felt about the man who’d hurt her so long ago vanished. “Not to make too big a deal about it, but a guy would have to be made of stone to get his fill of you after just a couple of tastes.”

  A spark of amusement lit her eyes as she glanced pointedly downward. “I’m not sure the analogy works,” she said. “You’re obviously rock hard at the moment. And, for the record, it was more than a couple of times.”

  He feigned shock at the observation. “Why, so it was and so I am. Since you’re awake and counting, maybe we ought to do something about that.”

  “Medically speaking, that’s what I’d prescribe,” she said agreeably, already shifting to accommodate him.

  It was no surprise to him that she was as ready and eager as he was. She’d already proved that her sexual appetite was a more than even match for his. What amazed him was her willingness to let him see this neediness in her, this slight hint of vulnerability that came from sharing something so intimate. He would have been less surprised if she’d kicked him to the curb after that first time downstairs.

  The heat between them flared again, this time more slowly, more sweetly, as if the discoveries they’d made earlier gave them the leisure to savor each touch. Instead of urgency, Mack felt his body taking an exquisitely lazy ride to the top of yet another cliff. Gazing into Beth’s eyes, he saw every emotion as she made her way to the same peak.

  Only when they were there together, their bodies damp with perspiration, their senses razor sharp so that the mere flick of a tongue, the sweep of a caress worked magic, did they fly over the edge.

  Only then, still trembling from that incredible release of passion, did Mack close his eyes and give himself over to sleep, with Beth still cradled in his arms. For the first time in months, maybe years, he wasn’t falling asleep after sex, worried that he’d just made a terrible mistake. In fact he felt as if he’d finally done something very right. He was pretty sure that this was the first time that what he’d done could only be described as making love.

  Beth wasn’t a morning person by nature. Only rigid self-discipline made her reach for the alarm clock to hit the off button and start to roll out of bed in the same fluid movement. When she ran smack into a hard, obviously male body as she was about to make her half-asleep flight from bed, she felt as if she’d suddenly touched a live wire.

  Mack! The memory of the night before slammed into her. Every single touch, every single amazing release replayed itself, not only in her mind but in the sudden humming of the blood through her veins. She had to smother a smile. This was better than any alarm clock—bells, buzzers or cheery beeps—she’d ever tried. She was completely, totally, instantly awake. Too bad there wasn’t time to do anything about it.

  Filled with regrets, she found a way to extricate herself from Mack’s embrace. To her astonishment he slept on. It was the dead-to-the-world sleep of the truly exhausted. She smothered another grin at the realization that she’d done that to him. Imagine that! She had left a physically fit, professional athlete—a playboy—too wiped out to move. She was still gloating when she climbed into the shower.

  The icy water meant to revive her had barely hit her overheated skin when the shower curtain was swept aside and Mack climbed in with her.

  Beth stared at him in shock, not sure she was ready for quite this much intimacy, even after the night they’d just shared. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “The bed got lonely without you. Besides, I can’t let you go sneaking off without so much as a morning kiss.”

  She gave his body a thorough once-over. “Something tells me you’re after more than a kiss.”

  He grinned and backed her against the tile. “I’m open to negotiations.”

  “You’re a Carlton. Negotiating is second nature to you. I’m sure you always get the terms you want.” She hooked a leg around his. “Let’s just cut to the chase.”

  He laughed. “Works for me.”

  Fifteen minutes later Beth’s knees were wobbly and her body still sizzled with so much heat she was amazed the bathroom wasn’t filled with steam despite the icy temperature of the water flowing over them. She gazed into Mack’s eyes. “What have you done to me?” she asked. “I’m used to starting my day with oatmeal.”

  “This is healthier,” Mack said.

  “I’m not so sure about that. I feel a little faint.”

  He looked pleased with himself at her admission. “You get dressed. I’ll fix breakfast. Eggs, I think. You obviously need the protein.”

  “I don’t have time,” she said as she scrambled from the shower, wrapped herself in a towel and ran into the bedroom. One frantic glance at the clock proved how true that was. She was running well behind schedule.

  “Make time. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” Mack said, wandering in after her. “You’d think a fine doctor would know that.”

  “I do know it. I also know I have a jam-packed day ahead of me and I’m already late.”

  “Then ten more minutes won’t make any difference, will it?” he said.

  Beth tried not to stare as he pulled on his briefs over his excellent backside, then turned his pants right side out and climbed into those. He didn’t bother to button them at the waist. Since they were the only clothes that had actually made it upstairs, Beth was treated to one more excellent view of his muscles as he left her room without wasting another word arguing with her. She sighed heavily after his exit.

  As soon as he was gone, she dived into her closet, dragged out the first skirt and blouse she came to, then dressed in the kind of rush with which she was all too familiar.

  A quick flick of her brush through hair that had a surprising hint of curl to it—no time to tame it into submission—a touch of lipstick and she was done. By the time she walked into the kitchen, she’d figuratively drawn her protective professional cloak around her. Other than those wayward curls, there was no hint of the wanton woman she’d been du
ring the night.

  True to his word, Mack had juice on the table and a plate of perfectly scrambled eggs in his hand. He’d put on his shirt, but thankfully he hadn’t buttoned it. She liked the sexily rumpled look. In fact, she was fairly certain she could become addicted to it. She’d have to remind herself later how dangerous and ill advised that would be.

  “Sit,” he ordered, his expression uncompromising.

  The order was a bit less attractive, but the protectiveness behind it had its charm. “Five minutes,” she muttered, because it was easier than arguing with him. Besides, she was starved and her eggs never looked that good.

  The toaster popped up, and she stared at it in surprise. “You found bread?”

  “In the freezer,” he said, then added wryly, “you should look in there sometime.” He put the buttered toast in front of her, then took his own place opposite her with only a cup of coffee in hand.

  “You’re not eating?” she asked.

  “Not enough eggs. I’ll grab something at my place when I go home to change.”

  “I could share,” she said, shoving the plate in his direction.

  “Nope. I fixed those for you with my own secret ingredient.”

  She frowned at the eggs. “You didn’t find any poison around, did you?”

  His lips twitched at the outrageous suggestion. “Why would I want to kill you?”

  “So I can never tell about the night you spent in the arms of a woman who isn’t some glamorous model or sexy actress,” she said, exposing a hint of vulnerability. She’d been attacked by self-doubt almost from the second he’d left her room. It was running rampant now.

  Mack regarded her with disbelief. “Are you crazy? Believe me, letting the world know I slept with a brilliant, dedicated doctor would probably do more for my reputation than you can imagine. This is something worth bragging about, not hiding.” He grinned. “Not that I will, of course.”

  Beth faltered at his acknowledgment that he wasn’t ashamed of the time they’d spent together. She hadn’t gone looking for any kind of compliment, but she was ridiculously pleased that he’d offered one.

  “How?” she asked, unable to resist pursuing it.

  “People might finally accept that I have half a brain.”

  She’d never considered that one aspect of his football and playboy celebrity might mean that people didn’t take him seriously. She should have, too. Until she’d gotten to know him, wasn’t that how she’d seen him, as a mental lightweight with few scruples? Not even his law degree was that impressive, since he wasn’t using it. On some level she’d wondered if he hadn’t cruised through law school simply because of who he was. Thankfully she’d never said such a thing. Her cheeks still burned when she thought of the comments he’d overheard her making the first time he’d come to the hospital to meet Tony.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I never looked at all the gossip from your point of view.”

  He shrugged. “Why would you? It’s not as if I ever shied away from it. The image worked for me.”

  “How so?”

  “Because if I ever let anyone take me too seriously—any woman, that is—I might have to deal with real emotions,” he said easily.

  The comment and his tone were fair warning. Beth couldn’t mistake the message he was sending. “Last night didn’t give me any expectations where you’re concerned,” she reassured him, surprised by just how empty those words made her feel. “It was nothing more than two people who were hurting reaching out for each other.”

  Mack’s gaze lingered on hers, his expression wary. “And you don’t have a problem with that?”

  She forced herself to shrug. “Why would I?”

  “I just thought you might,” he said.

  “Hey, it was no big deal, Mack. Nothing you need to worry about.”

  He nodded slowly. “Good to know.”

  Beth expected to see relief in his eyes, to hear it in his voice, but it wasn’t there. In fact, if her imagination wasn’t playing tricks on her, what she heard instead was disappointment.

  Or maybe she was merely projecting, because right this second she felt more of an emotional letdown than she’d ever felt in her life. If she weren’t so late, she’d sit right here and try to figure out why.

  Then again, the prospect of spending one more second with Mack right now, when she was feeling totally vulnerable and exposed, was too much to bear.

  “Gotta run,” she said, taking one last bite of toast, then standing up. “Lock up when you leave.”

  Before Mack could even react, she grabbed her purse and keys and tore out the door. She wanted to be safely in her car and on the road before the first traitorous tear fell.

  Chapter Eight

  Mack sat at Beth’s kitchen table for a very long time after she’d gone, staring into space, trying to figure out why, after such an incredible night, he felt so damned lousy. Surely it wasn’t because he’d been honest with her, warned her not to make too much of what had happened between them. He’d had the same conversation dozens of times with dozens of women. It was a part of his spiel, as routine as the flirting that came second nature to him. It usually filled him with relief to know that things had been clarified.

  But Beth was not in the same sophisticated, blasé league as all those women. They knew the score from the moment Mack met them, understood the rules going in and accepted them. In fact, they had rules of their own about the level of emotional attachment they were interested in pursuing…or not pursuing.

  With Beth, despite that brave, nonchalant front she’d put on, he felt as if he’d just kicked a friendly puppy. There had been a brittle edge to her voice, the slightest hint that she might suddenly shatter if pushed. And in those expressive eyes of hers, he’d seen the faint shadow of genuine hurt.

  For the first time in a very long time, Mack wasn’t proud of himself and his brand of so-called honesty. He saw it as the cop-out it was, a way to extricate himself from guilt over doing whatever the hell he wanted to do. Something told him if his aunt ever found out about this encounter, she’d tear a strip out of his hide for treating Beth in such a cavalier way. Not that Destiny was likely to berate him any more than he was berating himself at the moment.

  Sure, he and Beth were consenting adults. Sure, she’d wanted last night to happen every bit as much as he had. But looking into her eyes this morning, he couldn’t help but conclude that it had really meant something to her. Hell, it had meant something to him, too, but he wasn’t about to acknowledge that to her or to act on it in the future. At the first warning sign that he might become emotionally involved with someone, he generally took off without a backward glance.

  In fact, his usual panic was already telling him that if he had half a brain, he’d immediately start making himself scarce around the hospital. He wouldn’t stop seeing Tony, but he was familiar enough with Beth’s routine to avoid running into her. No more casual little drop-ins at her office just to catch a glimpse of her. No more coffee breaks in the cafeteria. No more dinners just to get her away from the hospital for a bit. He was pretty sure she’d gotten the message this morning, but just in case, his actions would reinforce it. That was what he should do, what he always did.

  And, he realized with a sinking sensation, if he followed his usual pattern, he would feel like an even worse heel than he felt like right at this moment. He wasn’t sure he had it in him to do the smart thing this time.

  When Beth’s phone rang, Mack stared at it. With her running late, it could be the hospital calling. It could be an emergency, and at least he could alert whoever was on the other end that Beth was on her way in. Did that outweigh whatever gossip might arise from having a man answer her phone? How would she see it?

  With the phone still ringing insistently, he finally grabbed it. “Hello, Dr. Browning’s residence.”

  His greeting was met with silence.

  “Hello,” he prompted.

  “Who the hell is this and why are you answering Beth’s p
hone?” a very possessive-sounding male voice demanded with open hostility.

  Now there was a question that could lead down a path Mack didn’t want to travel, especially with some stranger who hadn’t even bothered identifying himself.

  “I’m a friend of Dr. Browning’s,” he said cautiously. “She just left for the hospital. Can I take a message for her?”

  His reply was greeted by another hesitation.

  “Well?” Mack prodded.

  “No. I’ll speak to her when she gets here,” the man said. “I intend to tell her I spoke to you.”

  Mack grinned despite himself at the tattle-tale tenor of the warning. “You do that,” he said, then hung up.

  He wasn’t entirely sure whether to be amused or worried by the threat. He’d know soon enough. His intention to avoid Beth had flown right out the window the instant he’d heard that trace of possessiveness in the caller’s voice. If some other man had the right to think of Beth as his, then what the devil had she been doing in Mack’s arms the night before? He wasn’t crazy about the streak of jealousy that had shot through him. He did know that since it was a first in his life, he had no intention of ignoring it.

  Beth spent her first two hours at the hospital racing from one crisis to another. She was beginning to wonder if she’d ever get another minute to spend in her lab with the research that was so important to her. She was also having trouble staying focused, which wasn’t like her at all. When it came to medicine and her patients, she rarely allowed anything to distract her. Today, though, images of Mack and the way they’d parted this morning kept intruding.

  At eleven-thirty she’d finally had enough of fighting the distraction. She needed a break. She needed caffeine. Caffeine and chocolate, she decided en route to the cafeteria. Maybe a lot of chocolate.

  After loading up on candy bars and a large takeout coffee, she found a quiet table, spread her loot out on the table and debated about which chocolate to eat first. Snickers had nuts and caramel, but a chunk of plain old Hershey bar melting on her tongue had its own allure. Then there was the Kit Kat or the Peanut M&M’s or maybe the Milky Way.