Cinderella & the CEO

by Maureen Child

  Jumping up and down in place, she made sure his pace was inelegant and difficult. He fought to keep his balance and still kept coming, his gaze never leaving hers. This might not have been such a good idea, she told herself as her stomach did somersaults and her blood pressure skyrocketed. Her heartbeat raced and every square inch of her body blossomed with heat as if in anticipation.

  “You know,” he said, his voice a low rumble of sound that seemed to scramble her nerve endings, “I’m beginning to like this place.”

  “Good,” she said, forcing cheerful innocence into her voice. “I’m glad you’re having fun.”

  “Oh, I intend to have even more fun in a second or two,” he promised and his eyes swept her up and down before finally locking onto hers.

  “Um, Tanner, maybe we should…”

  He jumped, landed about a foot in front of her and the resulting wave pelted her off her feet and tossed her at him. Instantly, Tanner’s arms came around her.

  Ivy’s breath left her in a rush and she had to struggle to draw in more air. Her body was pinned along his and his strong arms held her in place so that even if she’d wanted to escape—which she really didn’t—she would have had a hard time of it.

  Her breasts were crushed against his chest and her nipples went hard and sensitive. Instinctively, she rubbed against him and when she heard him hiss in a breath, she knew he was feeling exactly what she was. Her core went hot and damp, and everything in her…yearned.

  He lifted one hand, brushed her hair back from her face and then smoothed his palm down the line of her jaw, her throat. Everywhere he touched her, licks of flame erupted. Ivy had never experienced anything like it. She’d never known this kind of frenzied need that was clawing at her, demanding more.

  “You make me want to throw the rules away,” he murmured and dipped his head to brush his lips to her forehead.

  She sucked in a breath. “Rules?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he said, shaking his head. “You’ve been making me a little nuts the last few days.”

  “I have?”

  He smiled and the curve of his mouth sent tiny electrical shocks blasting through her system.

  “Yeah. And you know it,” he said softly. “Every woman knows when she’s driving a man crazy with want.”

  “Want?”

  Oh God yes, she thought. Want was good. Want was very good.

  “I like your hair down,” he told her, running his fingers through the heavy mass, scraping his short nails across her scalp.

  Ivy sighed and closed her eyes.

  “I like how you feel in my arms,” he admitted.

  “I like it, too.”

  “Good,” he said, voice a low throb of need, “because I want more of it. I want more of you.”

  Her eyes flew open in time to see him lower his head and slant his lips over hers.

  The kiss staggered Ivy. All of her preconceptions, all of her idle daydreaming splintered under the reality of his mouth on hers. His lips were soft yet firm and unyielding. He parted her lips with his tongue and claimed her more intimately, more deeply.

  While he explored her mouth, his hands went on a searching mission of their own. He ran his palms up and down her spine and then to the curve of her rear where he held on tightly and pulled her closer against him. She moaned when she felt the hardness of his body pressing into hers and she squirmed as if trying to get even closer. She clung to his shoulders as if holding on for dear life and when her feet shifted on the inflated floor, she felt him move with her.

  Her tongue tangled with his in a dance of desperate hunger that shattered her resolve, disintegrated her good intentions. Here was the heat that had drawn her to him from the beginning. Here was the need that had kept her awake nights, wondering what it would be like to touch him and be touched.

  Tanner groaned and dropped them both to the floor. He held her cradled against him and when they landed on the cool rubber floor, they rolled, still locked together. Over and under him, she felt her body springing into life as it hadn’t for more than four years.

  His kiss demanded everything she had to give and she offered it to him gladly. His hands moved as he brought them to a stop, pinned against the inflatable wall. He slid one hand beneath the hem of her T-shirt and she gasped at the exquisite feel of his skin on hers.

  His fingertips traced their way up her body until he reached the edge of her bra, then he pushed it up and out of the way and covered her breast with his palm.

  “Tanner…” She arched into him, sighing his name.

  “Oh yeah,” he whispered, his thumb and forefinger twisting and teasing her sensitive nipple. “This is what I’ve wanted since the day I saw you, Ivy.”

  “Me, too. Oh, me, too,” she admitted, opening her eyes to look up into his. “Taste me, Tanner. I want to feel your mouth on me.”

  His eyes flared with raw hunger. He didn’t say a word, only dipped his head to her breast and took her nipple into his mouth. Lips and teeth and tongue tortured her gently with sensations that coursed through her with rocketlike speed.

  She twisted beneath him, unable to hold still. She lifted one hand to the back of his head and held him there, as if afraid he might stop. And oh, she didn’t want him to stop.

  The world fell away. All that mattered was this moment. Tanner’s mouth on her body. His hot breath brushing her skin.

  She wanted more and she wanted it now. Ivy forgot all about where they were. Forgot about the tree farm. Forgot that Tanner King was the one man who had the power to shut down her family’s business. Forgot everything, in fact, in favor of concentrating solely on what his touch could do to her.

  As if he heard her thoughts, he skimmed his hand down her belly and beneath the waistband of her jeans.

  Sunlight beat against Ivy’s closed eyelids and she took a breath and held it as Tanner’s fingers moved beneath the elastic band of her panties and continued down, to the heart of her torment.

  He touched her once and she shattered, body trembling, breath exploding from her lungs. But it wasn’t enough for him, he wanted to take her higher.

  “Again, Ivy,” he whispered, lifting his head from her breast to look down at her. “Break for me again.”

  She slid her hands up his muscular arms to his shoulders and then dug her fingertips in and held on as her legs parted for him, making room, welcoming his touch.

  He dipped one finger inside her and she shivered. Then he withdrew that finger and entered her again in a slow, gliding rhythm that tore at already sensitized nerves. Her hips rocked into him as he gave and demanded all at once. She felt tension building within and embraced it.

  Her gaze locked with his as she felt another climax approaching. She stared into his eyes as the first ripples of pleasure rocked her.

  “Tanner!” Her voice was strained and quiet.

  “Let go, Ivy,” he ordered. “Let go and feel me.”

  She did.

  She had no choice.

  Maybe, she thought wildly as she trembled and shook in the safety of his arms, she hadn’t had a choice from the first moment she’d walked into his house. Maybe every step they’d taken together had brought them here, to this moment.

  Then he kissed her, swallowing her wrenching moans and she stopped thinking entirely.

  When the last of her climax faded away, she felt both weak and energized. Her body was alive in a way she’d never experienced before and though she acknowledged another twinge of guilt at the thought, she couldn’t deny it.

  Tanner pulled his hand free, then tugged her T-shirt down over her breasts. Still looking into her eyes, he said, “This is just the beginning. You know that, right?”

  She swallowed hard and fought down a rising tide of desire. Already, her body wanted more.

  “Yes, I know,” she agreed softly.

  “Good.” He sat up and drew her with him.

  Late afternoon sunshine played through the mesh walls and lay tiny checkerboard patterns over his face. A soft
wind sighed through the trees and lifted her hair from her neck. But the breeze didn’t do a thing toward damping the fires he’d stirred inside her. She was burning up, aching for his touch and she could see in his eyes that he was feeling the same way.

  “Tonight, Ivy,” he said, lifting one of her hands to his mouth. He trailed the tip of his tongue across her knuckles and smiled when she shivered in response. “Tonight, I want it all. I want you in my bed, naked.”

  Her stomach spun and her throat closed up tight. It was a wonder she could breathe, let alone speak. But somehow, she managed. “Tonight, Tanner. I want you inside me.”

  His eyes flared. “Glad to know we’re on the same page.”

  “Oh yeah.” She leaned toward him to give him a kiss to seal their deal, when a too-familiar, outraged voice stopped her cold.

  “Ivy! What the hell are you doing?”

  Seven

  “Mike!” Ivy sounded both shocked and horrified.

  Tanner sent a quick look toward the speaker and spotted an older man, gray hair bristling, pale blue eyes narrowed, standing on the outside of the bounce house, glaring in at them.

  “What the hell’s going on, Ivy?” the older man demanded again.

  She hurried to her feet, tossed one anxious glance at Tanner and then scuttled wobbly across the floor. “I didn’t know you were here,” she said.

  “Yeah, well I could say the same.” The old guy looked past Ivy to glare at Tanner. “I heard a ruckus. Thought I should check it out. So you want to tell me what’s happening?”

  “Not really,” she said, half turning as Tanner walked up behind her. “Um, Mike Angel, this is Tanner King. Tanner, this is Mike.”

  Well hell.

  The owner of the tree farm, Tanner thought. No wonder Ivy was acting so weird. She’d just been caught by her boss and she was probably embarrassed. Plus, he thought, the old man looked mad enough to fire her and Tanner couldn’t let that happen.

  See, his brain taunted, this is what happens when you relax your rules. When you forget to keep your distance from people. But even though he knew his brain was absolutely right, he couldn’t really regret what had just happened between them. In fact, he was looking forward very much to more rule-breaking as soon as he could get her to his house.

  For the moment however, they had to get out of this situation.

  “Good to meet you, sir,” he said and would have extended his hand, but for the mesh wall separating them.

  “I’ll bet,” Mike Angel told him, then shifted his gaze back to Ivy. “You come on out of there now.”

  “Right.” She gave Tanner a quick look that said she wasn’t going to argue with the man and hoped he wouldn’t either.

  Tanner wasn’t going to argue, he assured himself. But he also wasn’t going to be treated like a ten-year-old caught throwing a baseball through a window, either.

  Ivy dropped to her hands and knees and slipped out the doorway of the bounce house to sit on the grass so she could tug her boots back on. Tanner was right behind her.

  “So you gonna tell me why you’re rolling around in the kid’s play palace?”

  Ivy flushed and Tanner was struck by it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a woman blush with embarrassment. Hell, he hadn’t been sure they were capable of it anymore. But Ivy, he’d already discovered, was like no other woman he’d ever known.

  “I was giving Tanner a tour of the farm and—”

  “Just what kind of tour was this?” Mike asked.

  Tanner wasn’t the kind of man to stand by and have a woman defend him—even when he needed defending, which he didn’t. They hadn’t done anything wrong. Although, Ivy’s boss might not be too happy with her. And that worried Tanner a bit. He wouldn’t want to see her lose her job over this.

  He felt more himself once he had his shoes on and was standing on ground that didn’t ripple and shift beneath him. The fact that he towered over the older man didn’t hurt either. Still, this was Ivy’s employer and the owner of the farm he’d been complaining about for two months. Maybe, he thought, that was part of why the older man looked less than welcoming. After several visits from the sheriff, who could blame him?

  “Tanner King,” he said, holding out one hand to the man.

  Mike Angel looked at his extended hand but instead of taking it, turned his gaze on Ivy. “Anything you want to tell me, Ivy girl?”

  “Not a thing, Mike,” she said honestly. Pushing her hair back behind her ears. “I just thought you’d want me to see that Tanner here got a good look at the farm.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Tanner let his hand drop and accepted that the older man wasn’t happy about his being there. Still, he wasn’t used to being ignored and found he didn’t care for it much. “I asked Ivy to show me around, Mr. Angel. She gave me a tour of the farm and when we ended up here, I suggested we try out the bounce house.”

  Ivy shot him a grateful, if surprised look, as he took responsibility for slipping into the inflated palace.

  He ignored it and focused instead on the older man watching him through shrewd eyes. “She’s shown me your whole operation here and I’ve got to say it’s impressive.”

  “Is that right?” Mike’s gaze measured him and Tanner felt like a kid standing in front of the principal’s desk.

  “It is,” he said, refusing to be cowed by the steely look in his adversary’s eyes. But at the same time, he wanted to smooth things over so that Ivy wouldn’t be in any kind of trouble. “Look,” he said, “I realize you and I got off to a bad start.”

  “Didn’t get off to any kind of start at all, Mr. King,” Mike countered. “Since you decided to go to the police with your complaints instead of coming directly to me. Seems to me a man might come and talk to another man face-to-face if he has a problem. Rather than going to the sheriff over and over again.”

  Mitchell had been right about that, Tanner told himself with an inner grumble. He hadn’t done himself any good at all by complaining to the local police instead of simply talking to his neighbor. But in his own defense, Tanner never met his neighbors. Hell, he’d lived in his condo in L.A. for five years and wouldn’t have been able to recognize his neighbors in a lineup.

  “Mike…” Ivy sounded worried and the tone in her voice had Tanner nodding.

  “No, Ivy, he’s right.” He met the older man’s eyes and thought he spotted a flash of admiration there. Why that made him feel better, he couldn’t have said. “Mr. Angel, I should have come to you from the start. That was my mistake. Maybe we could have worked things out between us without getting the police involved.”

  “Well now,” the older man mused thoughtfully, “call me Mike. I got respect for a man who can admit he’s done wrong.” He held out his right hand and waited to see if Tanner would take it.

  He did. The old man had a hard, firm grip that spoke of years of physical labor as he squeezed Tanner’s hand briefly. And the look in his eyes clearly said he was short of patience and damn curious about just what had been going on before he showed up.

  Thinking about that rekindled fires inside Tanner that would be better off left to smolder at the moment. There’d be time enough later to pick up where he and Ivy had left off.

  “Anyway,” Tanner said abruptly, shattering the strained silence, “I wanted to thank you for letting Ivy show me around. I wouldn’t want her to get into trouble for taking time from her work.”

  “Is that right?” Mike murmured, shifting his gaze to Ivy.

  She squirmed a little, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation. She and Mike stared at each other for a long minute before the older man looked back to Tanner.

  “It’s no trouble,” he said. “Glad she took you around. But now, it’s time we both got back to work.”

  “Of course.” Tanner nodded and said, “I should get back myself. Ivy, thanks for the tour. Mike, good to meet you.”

  “You, too. Now, you have any other problems with the farm, you let us know.”

>   “I will,” he assured him. “And I appreciate your turning the music down.”

  “That was Ivy’s idea,” he said.

  Tanner’s gaze shifted to her. She’d gone out of her way to try to make things better for him and hadn’t said anything about it. Ivy was, he told himself, an intriguing woman. As he stared into her eyes, he let her know, without a word spoken, that he was leaving now, but would be waiting for her later. He wanted her now more than he had before and if he had to wait much longer, it was going to drive him over the edge.

  Her eyes flashed in acceptance of his silent message and he knew they were at least on the same page about some things.

  “Then I guess I owe you my thanks for making things quieter around here,” he finally told her.

  “Guess you do,” she said, her eyes gleaming with the knowledge of what they’d shared and what was to come.

  “I’ll have to find a way to show you my appreciation, then won’t I?”

  “I look forward to it,” she said softly.

  Tanner left it at that. Giving Mike a brisk nod, he walked off toward the front of the farm and the road that would take him to his place.

  He hadn’t gone far when Mike grabbed his granddaughter’s arm and tugged her further off. “What in the hell are you up to, Ivy?”

  “Oh, Pop,” she said with a sigh, “this is getting more confusing every day.”

  “You’re playing with fire, Ivy.”

  “What?” She whipped her head up to look at him. “What do you mean?”

  He laughed. “You know damn well what I mean. You’re getting in over your head with that man and you know it.”

  Her grandfather always had been able to see into her heart and mind. It had always made keeping secrets from him nearly impossible and apparently, nothing had changed.

  “I didn’t start out to,” she said.

  “Yeah, well you remember what the road to hell is paved with…”

  “…good intentions, yes, I know,” she said, walking beside her grandfather as he headed off toward the seedling rows. “I was going to tell him who I am, Pop. Really. At least, I’ve been thinking about telling him. But now, it’s complicated.”