The Millionaire's Temptation (Seduced by Love)

by Sonya Weiss

  “I don’t talk to anyone about my past because I’m ashamed,” Holly admitted. She toyed with a strand of her hair, remembering the day she’d realized her life was different from the lives of her classmates. “I’m a thief.”

  “No,” Mia corrected sharply. “You are not now and never were a thief. You were a child forced to do your uncle’s bidding in order to provide food and other necessities for yourself and Liam. You were taking care of grown up issues no child should have to deal with. As soon as you turned eighteen, you not only rescued yourself, but your brother as well. Be proud of that.”

  “I don’t know, Mia.”

  “We’ve got your back and we’ve got Liam’s. I swear to you that if I think there’s cause for concern with your brother, I won’t hesitate to get in touch with you. Now go and enjoy Aspen. And Jake,” she added suggestively.

  Holly laughed but rolled her eyes at her friend’s suggestion. Jake wanted her, that was evident, but he didn’t want to want her. Because, like her, he was smart enough to know they were a bad idea together.

  She ended the conversation, then put on Jake’s coat and went out into the backyard. She wanted to get some fresh air and hopefully some fresh perspective. There were so many unknowns swirling in her head. What if she did talk to Jake and he managed to get Burt to leave them alone? She’d be able to lay everything down and just breathe after that. There were so many questions with uncertain answers. Too many things had gone wrong in her life for her to trust in absolutes. But big journeys started with small steps. She’d take the first step and tell Jake that she’d decided to go with him to Aspen and then she’d just take it day by day after that.

  Feeling lighter, Holly went back inside to find Bessie to see if she could help with anything.

  …

  Jake had a slamming headache caused by the stress of Cole’s not-too-happy reaction when he’d shared that he was taking Holly with him to Aspen. His friend said he’d lost perspective and maybe he had. What really twisted his insides was that he didn’t give a damn. She was the one he searched for when he was at the office. Her conversation was the one he found the most interesting.

  It used to be that he came home to a meal warming in the oven after Bessie had left for the night and then he’d work right up until he went to bed. Since Holly had come along, he spent the evenings watching movies in the theater room or shooting pool with her. He’d taught her how to hit the punching bag in his home gym and with every activity that they did together, he was always reluctant when it ended.

  He walked into his house and spotted Holly on the sofa, one leg tucked beneath her as she folded towels. “Hey,” she looked up. “Bessie had to leave. Stan had a flat tire and no spare. She went to pick him up. I told her I’d finish supper.”

  “Okay.” He rubbed his jaw and the scruff irritated the palm of his hand. He hadn’t had time to shave this morning. “I’m going to shave and shower before I eat.”

  Holly lowered the towel she was holding. “Want some help? Shaving, I mean.”

  “You know how to give a man a shave?”

  “I’m a woman of many talents.”

  “This should be good.” Jake went down the hall and through his bedroom and into the master bath. He stripped off his tie and dress shirt, then got out his shaving equipment and turned around when Holly walked in with a towel and washcloth slung over her shoulder. She reached around him, bumping her breasts up against his chest as she turned the hot water on.

  The front of his slacks grew uncomfortably tight and he wouldn’t be surprised to check and find a zipper imprint.

  Once the sink filled, she backed up and gave a little jump to sit on the counter. Grabbing hold of Jake’s belt loop, she positioned him between her legs. Definitely a zipper imprint. Jake leaned his upper body closer and put his hands on other side of her to brace his weight.

  Loading her hand with shaving cream, she gently spread it across his face. Jake swallowed as his heart kicked into a gallop.

  “Always use long, firm strokes,” she said as she worked the razor across his skin.

  “That’s what she said,” Jake said.

  She hid a smile. “No jokes. Shaving is a serious matter.” She rinsed the razor and slid it across his skin. Her hands moved confidently stroke by stroke. From his position, Jake had a clear view of the cleavage exposed by her shirt. He could remember his hands on her breasts. His mouth on the softness of her body.

  Jake knew he’d never look at shaving the same after this. He shifted slightly, trying to ease some of the pressure in the family jewels, but it felt as useless as trying to cram a truck into a thimble. She finished shaving him and then reached for the washcloth. Dousing it with warm water, she wrung it out and then patted it gently against his face to remove the spots of shaving cream left over.

  As she worked, he raised his hands and slid them up her sides and under her shirt. He lifted her breasts from her bra and ducked his head to kiss her nipples through the fabric of her shirt. Holly ran her fingers over the waistband of his pants, then brushed her hand down the front of his slacks. “Did someone enjoy the shave?”

  Jake took her hand and cupped it over his erection. “He can’t hear you. Why don’t you take him out and ask him again?”

  Holly laughed, then froze. “Did you hear that?”

  “What?”

  The faint sound of Bessie calling for them filtered into the bathroom.

  Holly tried to push herself off the counter, but her hand slipped on standing water and she slid sideways, dunking one side of her ass in the sink. Jake tried his best to grab the other half to keep her from falling. In the mirror, he saw the faucet dig into her lower back and she grimaced.

  “Safe sex means staying off the bathroom counter,” Holly muttered. She pushed at him. “You’d better go answer her before she comes in here.”

  Jake pointed to the front of his slacks. “I’ve got a damn flagpole here.”

  Holly grabbed the towel and handed it to him. “Act like you finished shaving and you’re drying your hands. You can hold the towel in front of you. I’ll go change and meet you in the kitchen.”

  Jake did as Holly suggested and was thankful he had when he encountered not just Bessie but Stan as well.

  “I told Holly I went to pick up Stan, but I forgot to tell her I was bringing him back here. I hope that’s okay with you.”

  “It’s fine,” Jake said, then jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I’m going to change and I’ll be back.” He went to Holly’s room and tapped on the door. She opened it wrapped in a towel, which did not help with the flagpole situation.

  “Aspen,” he said. “You and me and no interruptions. Just wanted to let you know.”

  “Funny. I was going to tell you the same thing. So you should probably bring a condom.”

  “Sweetheart, I’m buying out the warehouse.” Her soft laughter followed him down the hallway to his bedroom.

  Chapter Ten

  What Holly imagined as a small chalet turned out to be a gorgeous home on a gentle slope. Twenty people could easily stay at the place and still have plenty of space. They’d arrived in the wee hours last night, and Holly had stumbled on the slippery steps like she was drunk. Jake had carried her into the bedroom and almost as soon as she’d settled into the thick comforter on the four-poster bed, she’d gone out like a light.

  This morning, standing in the spacious bathroom, Holly turned from the sink to look out through the huge windows surrounding the tub. The luxury made her feel like a fraud, a Cinderella who definitely didn’t belong in this palace. One who was good enough to sleep with the prince, but not for anything else.

  She stepped out of the bathroom and looked around for Jake but didn’t see him anywhere.

  On the sofa in the room, it looked like he’d taken some things out of the suitcase for her. She touched the ski pants, then the thermals and the jacket. They were all in her size.

  Her skin tingled with awareness and she turned, not surprised
that he’d walked into the room. She seemed to be hyper-aware of him. He smiled enticingly, sexily, and all Holly wanted to do was to finish right then what they’d started in his bathroom before the trip.

  He passed Holly a pair of ski gloves and ski boots. “I also picked up lip balm and sunscreen.” He held the items out to her. “I’ll take it slow with you on the beginner slope.”

  “As long as you don’t wear me out,” she said.

  “That’s for later,” he said with a promise that made Holly feel like she was going to combust if she didn’t get some action from him soon.

  She went into the bathroom to change into the ski clothes, then joined Jake in front of the river rock fireplace before they left together and headed for the lifts. She was thankful for the protection of the goggles against the blinding sun glancing off the snow.

  “The slope is gentler here,” Jake said.

  “So if I fall, I won’t tumble as far.” Holly couldn’t help but laugh. Though she knew how to roller-skate, being on the skis was a different story. Her legs wanted to go in opposite directions.

  “You won’t tumble that far,” Jake agreed with a grin that was almost as blinding as the snow. Her breath caught, and she knew it didn’t have anything to do with the cold. “Here, hold the poles like this.” His gloved hands guided hers and though their skin wasn’t touching, it didn’t need to for Holly to remember what his hands felt like on her. She breathed faster, and Jake patted her on the back.

  “Take it easy. Don’t hyperventilate. There’s nothing to fear,” he said.

  He thought she was afraid of skiing. That was almost laughable. She feared herself or rather her reaction to him more than she ever would skiing.

  “Ready? Let’s do this.”

  …

  Three hours later, Holly groaned as she slid the snow boots off. Her thighs ached and she was pretty sure she’d left a layer of her ass back on the slope after what felt like the hundredth fall. Peeling off the pants, she pushed them to the side in the mudroom. As soon as she changed into her regular clothes, she’d come back and take care of those.

  Wearing the thermal underwear, she went into the bedroom and changed into a pair of jeans and a yellow shirt. If this was the kind of workout skiing gave the body, she didn’t know how she was going to make it through another lesson.

  In the living room, she sank into one of the oversized chairs. Propping her feet up on the ottoman, she rested her head against the back of the seat and looked up at the beams on the vaulted ceiling. If she could rest her eyes for a moment, she wouldn’t be so bone tired.

  The closing of the front door jerked her awake. Jake glanced at his watch. “There’s a restaurant beside the ski lodge. They serve decent food if you’re interested or we could eat something here.”

  Remembering how the scent of cooking meat had affected her, Holly said, “I’d rather have something light here, but feel free to go without me.” She stuck her hands in her back pockets. She didn’t know what the hell was wrong with her. She felt weepy all of a sudden.

  Jake gave her a funny look. “Are you okay?”

  Holly burst into tears.

  “Hey…” Jake walked to stand in front of her. “What’s wrong?”

  Holly bent her head. She couldn’t make eye contact or tell him why she was crying. Maybe it was because Aspen was beautiful, Jake was gorgeous and she just needed a hug for all the ones she’d never had. One second she was alone with the past haunting her, and the next, she was folded into his arms and pulled against the solidness of his chest. His hand went to the back of her head and he stroked her hair. “Shh. It’s okay. Everything will be all right.”

  Which made Holly cry even harder and berate herself just as much. She wasn’t the kind of woman who cried easily. There hadn’t been time for tears while she’d struggled to survive, but now it seemed like she couldn’t turn off the waterworks. She cried until she was spent, not knowing how long they stood melded together.

  Finally, after she pulled away, Jake whispered against her hair, “Let’s sit down.” He led her to the sofa.

  Holly sank onto one of the plush cushions. “Sorry.” She indicated his damp shirt as she wiped at her eyes.

  “You don’t have to apologize for showing emotion.” He held her hand. “I got a phone call this morning from my investigative team.”

  Holly tensed. “And?”

  “I want to ask you a question.”

  “About?”

  “Liam.”

  Holly’s breath caught, and she swallowed. She automatically thrust her hand into the pocket of her jeans, then remembered the train tickets weren’t there.

  …

  Jake watched her body tense and her expression close off. “What about him?”

  “You didn’t steal the thumb drive. It was a man, not a woman that night. We know some of the owners of the nearby businesses and were able to get them to pull their outside security footage. There’s no mistaking the man’s red hair or the similarities between your face and his. Who is he to you?”

  Emotions flickered across her face, but the one that he recognized was pain. He thought for a minute that she wasn’t going to answer.

  But after a second, she said, “He’s my brother, but the theft isn’t his fault.”

  He caught the way she still didn’t implicate her brother and decided to keep digging. “How old is your brother?”

  “Twenty-two.”

  “He’s old enough to man up for his actions. Taking the fall for him isn’t good for him and it only—”

  “He’s autistic and he has some learning disabilities, too. He doesn’t understand the ramifications of his actions. He did the job for a milkshake.”

  So the brother had done it. Jake raised his eyebrows. “But he’s intelligent enough to know how to break into safes?”

  “Many autistic children and adults are quite capable of extraordinary accomplishments. He was trained for hours on end every day, the same as I was.” Holly tugged at the hem of her T-shirt. “Getting it right meant getting rewarded, that’s all Liam understood.”

  “What about your parents?” Jake’s heart squeezed for what she’d told him and he had an almost overpowering urge to swoop in and rescue her.

  “I never knew my father, and my mom had…issues. When Liam was a baby, and I was five, we lived in a homeless shelter. After she was kicked out, we had to live in abandoned buildings, the woods…any place she could find. My uncle came into my life when I was about six. After Mom died, Liam and I went to live with him.”

  “He taught you to steal?”

  “Yes, or we didn’t eat.”

  The fist holding Jake’s heart clenched tighter. He hated the image of Holly as a child that no one loved enough to take care of.

  “The first few times I took something, I had such knots in my stomach that I couldn’t eat anyway, but Liam was so little…he needed me.” Holly’s voice broke and she lapsed into silence.

  Jake asked gently, “Was your mom Francine?”

  Holly shook her head. “No. Her name was Ruthann Morgan.”

  “I wish you would have told me this information sooner.”

  “Why? So you could feel sorry for me? Or wonder if I was telling the truth? No, thanks.” She rose and walked to the window to look out across the snow. “The past is what it is. I survived. Liam survived. That’s all that matters.”

  “Was your uncle ever caught?”

  “No. I tried twice to turn him in. The first time, I was in middle school and told a teacher. She called my uncle in for a conference for my ‘overactive imagination’ and the two of them laughed about it. He told me I wouldn’t eat for weeks if I tried that again, but that didn’t stop me.” She turned to face him. “I went to the police, and they didn’t believe me, either. After he found out, my uncle said he’d take Liam and disappear forever. I stopped telling anyone after that. I couldn’t take the chance of losing my brother.”

  The news rocked Jake. She’d been a child basi
cally held prisoner by her uncle because of her love for her brother. “So you stayed.”

  Holly nodded. “The day I turned eighteen, I waited until my uncle was out with his friends. I packed a backpack with a couple changes of clothes for my brother and me, borrowed money from my friend Mia, and ran away. My uncle is the reason I’ve been running ever since.”

  Her words carried a ring of truth that made Jake wish he had the power to sweep away her past hurts. “How did you make it at that age taking care of a younger sibling?”

  “It wasn’t easy.” She lifted her chin. “Don’t. I see the look in your eyes. I don’t want your pity.”

  He didn’t pity her. He wanted to hold her and never let go. After he kicked her uncle’s ass. “I don’t feel sorry for you. I admire the hell out of you. You only wanted to protect your brother. I can understand that, and I can help you if you’ll let me.”

  “Help me what?”

  “Stop running. I can deal with your uncle, and he’ll never bother you again.”

  “Trying to be my hero, Jake?”

  “I’ll be whatever you need or want.”

  “My needs and my wants are pretty simple.” She gave him a pained smile. “Some people want big things. Houses, cars, fancy clothes, or jewelry.”

  “Not you?”

  “Not even close. The only thing I ever really wanted was a place to live where there were dogwood trees. And I wanted nice patio furniture.” She smiled. “Stupid, huh? I remember visiting a house when I was a little girl. It was a school trip, but I don’t know what for. I can still see those dogwood trees and that bright sunshine filled day. I was happy and safe. My classmates and I sat outside on patio furniture eating cookies and drinking milk.”

  “The things you want or need aren’t stupid, Holly.”

  She shook her head as if to shake off the image, then touched her fingertips to his shirt, barely skimming them against the material, but he felt the heat of it all the way through to his skin. His heart pounded. Blood rushed in his ears and his breathing constricted. Every cell in his body went on full alert, finely tuned to the woman before him. He couldn’t move, didn’t want to move as she hesitantly bit her lip. “I’m afraid of accepting your help. If you get too close, you’ll get hurt.”