by Leslie Kelly
And without letting anybody else behind the wheel until she’d figured out if she could afford it.
“So, constant wild sex and a date to a wedding for…how much?”
Constant wild sex…think, damn it. She quickly named a figure off the top of her head, figuring he had to make at least what a top executive at the bank would make. But she suddenly remembered that before she had stepped into the fray at the auction, the bid had been over five thousand dollars for one date with the man. Thinking of that, and how incredibly he’d made love to her, she worried she’d offered far too little.
He didn’t respond by so much as the quirk of a muscle.
“If that’s not enough…”
“It’s enough,” he snapped. “Let me ask you something, Maddy. Why do you think…” He cleared his throat, started again. “How is it that you know so much about me? I mean, about who I am and what I do?”
“My sister told me.”
“Gotta love that sister of yours. How’d she know?”
“One of the auction sponsors told her about the infamous male escort, and Tabby found out in advance what number you’d be. And, of course, the bio in the program fit.” Smiling ruefully, she added, “I’m afraid it wouldn’t take much for the rich women of this town to ferret you out.”
“The bio,” he murmured, rubbing his hand against his jaw. “What did it say again?”
“I don’t remember exactly. Just something about you being a world traveler, someone who appreciates fine wine and beautiful women. It also claimed that you were European. But I’ve decided that must just be part of your character—the role you play. Because if you’re anything but a beer-drinking all-American boy, I’m Mary Poppins.”
“Busted, Mary,” he muttered, “I guess you’re too smart for me.” He crossed his arms over his big chest, still leaving her hanging, not responding to her offer. She wondered if he liked to torture bunnies in his spare time, too.
“One more question. If you were set on buying my services, why did you run out on me the night of the auction without even telling me your name? Did you get cold feet?” He sounded almost hopeful, for some reason, as if this answer was more important than anything else. “Did you have a change of heart about doing something so…reckless?”
She shook her head, not sure how much to admit. Especially since he might be meeting her family members—her father and his wife—at Tabitha’s wedding.
That, however, was the real problem. She couldn’t let him walk into such a situation unprepared and unaware. “I wasn’t buying you for myself.”
He closed his eyes slowly, his lips moving as he mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?”
“I was counting to ten.”
“Why?”
“Never mind.” His tone weary, he asked, “Who were you buying me for?”
Maddy twisted her hands, leaning against the back of the captain’s chair and gazed around. Her father used to love this boat—but his new wife didn’t like to sail. And Deborah had made it clear that she also didn’t like her husband going out on the water in a vessel named for another woman, even one who had died years and years ago.
“Let me guess. It was your sister’s idea.”
“How did you know that?”
“Intuition. So how come she didn’t do it herself?”
“She didn’t want to cheat on her fiancé.”
The eyes closed again. The mouth moved. She’d swear she could make out the words eleven and twelve before he looked at her once more. “How noble of her.”
She was going about this all wrong, nervousness making her skip around the point instead of getting right to it. So she bit the bullet. She told him—just enough to make him understand how important this was, important enough to make her take chances she’d never have chosen to take.
When she’d finished telling him about her father, his new wife, as well as Bitsy Wellington and her crowd, she concluded, “So there was no intention by either me, or by Tabby, to do anything other than make sure your services were not engaged by our father’s wife.” A bit grudgingly, she added, “Only Tabby didn’t trust herself not to remain entirely selfless about the whole thing. And I did.”
Jake didn’t close his eyes this time. He didn’t mumble, he didn’t count. And he stopped doing that clenching thing with his jaw. The broad shoulders relaxed just a bit, and, if she looked hard, she thought she might see the edges of his mouth twitch up in the tiniest smile.
“I see. And everything that happened afterward—you and me—was because you couldn’t trust yourself after all?”
Ah. Now she knew why he was looking so relaxed. Because he’d figured her out. He’d seen through all the rest and come to the most important point.
“Yes.” She lifted a hand and placed it on his chest, right above his strongly beating heart. “Everything we shared afterward happened because I was attracted to you. I wanted you. And I still do.”
He moved closer, until their bodies brushed lightly, the warm summer air only an inch wide between them. Laughing softly, he reached up and stroked her hair. “Oh, Maddy, you crazy woman. How can you be so smart and yet so totally nuts?”
She remained stiff, not melting into him as her instincts were telling her to. Was he saying yes? Or no?
“I’m not taking your money.”
“Oh, yes, you are. You must. I absolutely insist, or it’s no deal.”
His hand hovered in the air, close to her hair, no longer touching her. “You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do. I brought my checkbook and I intend to pay you up front the minute you agree.”
“You’re telling me that if I don’t say yes, you won’t ever see me again? You’ll buy me…but you won’t date me? Do you have any idea how insane that sounds?”
She did. It was insane and so far out of character for her, she hardly even recognized herself.
But that didn’t change her mind. Maddy needed to set the boundaries, the protective ground rules that would let her get out of this in thirty days with her heart and her pride intact if things didn’t work out. As, she already suspected given her history, they would not.
“It’s this way or no way, Jake,” she said, her tone firm, her back ramrod stiff. He was now talking to the tough negotiator. The ice queen.
She kind of ruined the moment by adding, “I’m not looking for a…a boyfriend.”
He gave her a gesturing look.
“Or even a real lover.”
“We’re lovers, babe.”
“Business associates with benefits.”
He threw his head back and laughed, which made the thick muscles in his neck quiver and brought Maddy’s attention to the beads of sweat gathering in the hollow of his throat. Oh, how she wanted to sample it. And then sample everything else.
But she still didn’t have his answer.
“Well?”
“I couldn’t be at your beck and call 24-7,” he warned. “I have other obligations. Quite a full schedule.” Obviously seeing her frown, he clarified. “Of course, if we were to come to an agreement, I’d guarantee that none of those other obligations would ever involve sexual contact with anyone else. Otherwise, a lot of my time has to be my own. And that is a deal-breaker.”
Of course he had a private life, everyone did. She already knew he had a family, somewhere. And maybe he really did have other clients that he “escorted” without any of the naughty goings-on. She could live with that…she hoped.
“Very well.”
“Also, just so we’re clear, if I agree to this solution of yours, you won’t be calling all the shots.” He raked a hot stare across her, from her windblown hair, down to the clingy top, which outlined the red bikini beneath. “You might be paying for my undivided attention when we’re together. But how I choose to pay that attention is up to me.”
Maddy shivered lightly, despite the warmth of the day. The words might have been cool, but the look in his eyes was hot. So hot. And she knew
he was telling her he’d be the one in charge in the bedroom.
Well. She’d bow to the expert on that. She’d be insane not to, especially after the amazing things he’d done to her Tuesday night. “Also agreed,” she managed to whisper, already feeling weak in the knees at the thought of him paying attention to her.
“One last point.”
“Yes?”
“If I’m not seeing anyone else, you’re not either.”
That surprised her, considering she hadn’t had so much as a date in more than a year, not until Jake. It also surprised her that he’d care. She wondered if he had started feeling the crazy mix of emotions toward her that she already felt for him. The question also definitely reiterated that he would not be merely an employee.
Maddy nodded slowly. “Okay. Does that mean…”
“Yeah, I guess it does.” He reached for her again, sliding his fingers into her hair, cupping her head, then dragging her forward until her body was crushed against his. “You’ve got a deal, Madeline Turner,” he whispered.
Then he covered her mouth with his…and sealed that deal with an earth-shattering kiss.
A GOOD MAN WOULD HAVE TOLD Maddy the truth right away. A noble man would have stopped her before she’d ever made her offer. A kind man would have taken pity and not tormented her with questions and conditions while she awaited his answer. And a gentleman would have absolutely refused.
Jake considered himself good. At least a little noble. Pretty kind, especially to the injured and helpless. And definitely a gentleman, given his upbringing.
But he’d kept his big mouth shut. He had, in fact, forced himself not to laugh as Ms. Madeline Turner “bought” him for the next thirty days.
Oh, he hadn’t been laughing at first. The idea that he’d been mistaken for a male hooker—well, that still burned. If it hadn’t resulted in him ending up with this amazing—strong-yet-vulnerable, demure-yet-sexy, icy-and-blazing-hot-woman—he’d probably be pretty damned furious. As it was, he definitely had something to say to the auction people, who’d apparently gotten his information mixed up with that of some Euro-trash gigolo. Possibly even the Irish-sounding guy who’d gone on the block immediately after him.
Hmm…he wondered what that dude—billed as the Chicago firefighter offering beer and baseball—had gone for. And how Mr. Smooth had felt about it.
At that, he really did laugh.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Maddy asked, obviously hearing him as they skimmed across the surface of the clear, calm water. The sun beat down from above, yet with the speed of the wind in the sails, and the rush of air moving past, he didn’t feel the heat.
Well, unless he looked at her.
Maddy had taken off her shirt and wore just a pair of soft white shorts and a flaming red bikini top that couldn’t possibly manage to hold in all her curves at once. Good thing she hadn’t done it while they were docked. There probably would have been a yacht traffic jam caused by all the sailors ogling her as they sailed out of the marina.
He’d thanked the universe more than once today, even if he wasn’t entirely sure what the hell the universe was up to, given the crazy situation in which he’d suddenly found himself.
“You really love this, don’t you?” he asked, watching her turn her face into the wind and let it blow her hair in a long, billowing stream of lush brown behind her.
Here on the water, she seemed fully in her element, completely caught up in what she was doing. Obviously the woman knew her way around this vessel and she had unerringly led them far from shore. She’d given him orders, and he’d followed, not sure which was sexier—her amazing body, or the way she barked commands, so sure she was in charge.
Maybe of the boat. Nothing else.
“I do. How about you? Feeling all right?” she asked. “I know some people get a little seasick.”
“I’m fine.” Jake wasn’t stupid—he’d grabbed some motion sickness pills on the way to the marina.
“Good.”
Eyes on the horizon, Maddy absently lifted her hands and caught her hair between them, twisting it and tucking it into a loose bun at her nape. Every move was smooth and fluid, as elegant and graceful as the Magdalena herself.
Jake couldn’t help it. He reached out and ran his fingers through the silky strand veil, pulling it back down.
“Hey!”
“I like seeing the wind blow through your hair,” he explained simply.
She licked her lips, but didn’t protest. “Oh.”
The hair stayed down.
They continued traveling for another hour, not really talking, not really needing to. Jake suspected they were both still replaying the conversation they’d had back on shore. What they’d agreed to. What it had meant and where it would lead. Not just in thirty days…but now.
She’d hired him. But that had nothing to do with the fantasies playing in his mind. Fantasies about laying her down on a thick towel, plucking the strings of her bikini and revealing her magnificent body to the wide-open sky. And his hungry gaze.
Being in bed with her the other night had been fantastic. Plunging into her beneath the brilliant sun, feeling the heat on his back that couldn’t rival the heat in her tight channel, would be absolutely mind-blowing.
Though he couldn’t exactly see, because of her dark sunglasses, he felt sure Maddy was watching him. She stole several long glances at him, especially when he pulled his own shirt off and let the sun warm his bare skin.
With her stare affecting him as powerfully as a touch, he suspected her visions—fantasies—mirrored his.
He didn’t say a thing, didn’t suggest they stop, didn’t tell her how much he wanted her. Instead he let them both think on it awhile. Build it. Anticipate it.
They’d be dying for it when the time came.
And that time seemed to be now. Maddy wordlessly adjusted the sails to slow their speed. “Are you hungry?” she asked, not even looking in his direction. “I brought some lunch. We could stop for a while to eat.”
Stop for a while. ’Bout damn time. “Put it on autopilot and busy ourselves some other way, you mean?”
Her laugh was thin. Weak and breathy. “Uh…something like that.” She nodded toward the cabin. “There’s a bag on the counter, and another in the fridge. Would you mind getting them?”
Jake did as she asked, awed once again that the cabin of this boat was bigger than the living room in his small apartment. And more richly furnished. There was a large, comfortable-looking bed, but it didn’t tempt him. Not yet. He wanted to have Maddy on the hard planking of the deck, the only ceiling above them a vivid blue one streaked with golden sunshine.
“Got it?” she called from above.
“Coming.” He glanced into the bag on the counter, spying fresh bread, fancy crackers…and a box of condoms. “Oh, I’m definitely coming.”
Retrieving a bag of cheese and fruit from the fridge, plus an icy bottle of champagne and two glasses, he brought everything up on deck. When he spied the name on the label and the pricy brand of cheese, he whistled. “You do sail prepared.” Putting the food down on a small table between two lounge chairs, he murmured, “You must have been pretty sure I’d say yes to your proposal.”
“Actually,” she admitted, “I had originally planned to whisk you out here onto the water and ply you with food and alcohol before I asked you.”
Her amusing, matter-of-fact tone took the sting out of her surprisingly honest confession. “If you’d taken off those shorts, it probably would have worked.”
Laughing softly, Maddy reached for the button at her waist and unfastened it. A quick flick of her fingers and the cotton fabric fell to puddle at her feet, and was then kicked away.
“Oh, God,” he whispered, pushing his sunglasses onto the top of his head with his index finger. Then he could only stare in voracious hunger at the curve of her hips, the line of her thighs, the hollow above her groin where the fabric of her bikini ended. Not at all stick-thin, she was just so damned wom
anly, curvy and soft, made to cushion a man in welcome.
The woman simply took his breath away.
“It definitely would have worked,” he finally muttered.
Maddy reached into the bag, grabbed a grape and popped it into her mouth. Sighing in pleasure at the cool sweetness, she took another one, licking the juice that squirted from it off her lips, then sat in one of the lounge chairs. She stretched out like a cat in a pool of warm sunshine. “I know. But I couldn’t go through with it.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off her long enough to ask why.
She explained anyway. “I wanted you to really think about my idea, not be seduced into accepting it.” She offered him an impish smile. “If you’d said no, however, I might just have shanghaied you and tried to change your mind.”
“If I had said no, I’d have deserved to be struck dead on the spot.” Jake sat on the end of her chair, ignoring his own. “You really thought I’d refuse?”
“You almost did. Didn’t you.”
Yeah. He almost had. At least until the whole story had come out and he’d begun to understand why Maddy had been treating him like a gigolo. Then he’d been amused and ready to tell her the truth—that he was a simple paramedic and that being with her for the next thirty days, or thirty years, he’d begun to suspect, would be entirely his pleasure.
Her bald refusal to even consider letting him close without paying him, however, had quickly squelched that idea. He didn’t entirely understand her reasoning, but he had at least a suspicion about what was driving her.
Maddy’s self-protective walls had been built brick by brick with the help of her father and her hard-edged sister, not to mention all the jaded people she’d been surrounded with all her life. Then there was whatever secret hurt she’d suffered in a past relationship—he knew there was one. She hadn’t opened up about it yet, but he didn’t doubt she’d been burned. Badly.
So she was protecting herself. In the only way she knew how. She was hiding behind the wall built of her money and her icy reputation, keeping him on the other side. Not about to genuinely trust anyone enough to try a real relationship—especially not someone she thought was a damned male whore.
