She dropped her hand. “It’s staying that’s hard.” Her slender shoulders shrugged. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me that I’m so easy to leave,” she murmured.
“I asked you to marry me. I want you in my life forever.”
Pity. There was pity in her gaze, damn her. “Dominic, I don’t fit in your world. I’m not glamorous or sleek like your other women. I’m not sophisticated or worldly.” She gestured to the mansion behind him. “I don’t want your money or your big house. This place is a prison.”
Her chin jutted just slightly. “I like my little valley and my pickup and my dome. They’re me, the real me. I could pretend to belong in your world, but it would be a sham. One day you’d regret being so impetuous.”
A raw fear such as he’d never felt rippled up his spine. “Lexie, I am not being impetuous. I love you. I want to marry you. I’ll stay. I will never leave you.”
She closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly, a single tear leaking down her cheek. “Please, Dominic. Just let me go,” she whispered.
“You’re wrong, Lexie. You are exactly who I need in my life. Those sleek women meant nothing to me. I want my tomboy back. I want to see grease on your cheek. I want to try out the sultan’s bed.”
Her head rose quickly, a tiny spark lighting in her eyes. “You can come try it anytime you want.” Her voice was fond, but still so sad. “But I can’t change who I am, not even for you. The tomboy with grease on her cheek is a novelty now, but look around you—” She gestured expansively. “All those people depend on you for their livelihoods. The success of Poseidon depends on a man I don’t know, a man who needs a queen by his side, not a tomboy, not a whim.”
“You’re not a whim, damn it. And to hell with all of them—” He reached for her, but she sidestepped him.
“Please, Dominic. Let me go. If you care about me at all, let me go.” Agitation filled her slender frame. She wasn’t listening to him. He couldn’t reach her, and the knowledge filled his gut with ice-cold fear.
“Please, Dominic.” Her voice was an anguished whisper. “I just want to go home.”
Logic had failed him. Protests of love had failed him, offering marriage had failed him. How did he reach her?
He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and carry her away, hold her prisoner until he convinced her, until he made her see that her fears were nothing, that he would be there, that he would stay—
Words are easy.
Dominic looked down into the face of the woman he would love for the rest of his life and knew a moment of terrible fear that he would lose her. Knew with an inner certainty that if he pushed her now, if he forced his will on her, something infinitely precious would slip beyond his grasp forever.
Men have always found me easy to leave.
He didn’t want to do as she asked, didn’t want to let her out of his sight for a moment, yet as he looked at her pale face, saw the exhaustion in every line of her frame, he knew that she was beyond reasoning right now. She was not listening. She did not trust words, and words were all he had at this moment. The rest would take time.
Dominic swallowed hard and took the biggest gamble of his life. He stepped away from her, his heart tearing inside his chest. “All right, Lexie. I’ll let you go home.” He felt like he couldn’t breathe. “But I insist on taking you there.”
She glanced up at him in surprise. “You don’t have to do that.” She nodded toward the dwindling crowd, seeing people waiting for him. “You’re needed here. You still need to talk to Max. I’ll get a cab.”
He cursed beneath his breath. “I already told Max that I would give him a job, that I want to give him a generous share of the profits on Legend Quest. Do not bother to argue. I am taking you home, and that’s that.”
Then, heart aching, chest too tight to breathe, he escorted her to his car in silence, resolving that this was only temporary, that he would find a way to get through to her, to make her believe he would stay as others had not.
When they reached her dome, he escorted her inside, taking a look around to assure himself all was secure.
And then he did the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life.
He walked away and left Lexie there, alone.
But if she thought he would stay away—
She was right. She did not know Dominic Santorini.
Whose ancestors had been pirates.
Chapter Thirteen
Lexie punched down her pillow for the thousandth time that night, rolling again, searching for that elusive spot that would let her sleep—
And quit remembering.
Myriad images paraded past her closed eyelids. They wouldn’t go away when she opened her eyes, either.
Midnight eyes filled with confusion, with sorrow.
Dominic watching her as Bradley imprisoned her, locking away what she now knew was fear behind the impenetrable mask.
The certainty in his voice when he said, “I love you.”
The power of his kiss, the need she could taste.
Her own longing to burrow against him and never leave.
But for every image related to Dominic, others rose from her past. Her father tucking her in one night—
And gone the next morning.
Hearing from others first that her college boyfriend was getting married—to someone else.
“Stop it—” She leaped from the bed, tossed her pillow to the floor.
Rosebud yowled, darting away.
“Oh, Rosie—” Lexie sank to the floor, gathering the cat close, scalding tears leaking from her eyes.
Her arms felt empty, her chest hollow. “I’m so afraid, Rosie.”
Rosebud’s ears twitched, and Lexie heard it, too.
The rumble of a car engine coming up her drive.
A familiar rumble.
A T-bird.
She almost dropped the cat in her haste, scrambling from the floor, wiping her eyes as she ran to the window. She looked down in dismay at the old oversize T-shirt filled with holes.
But when she reached the window, no one was outside. Only Dominic’s T-bird—
With a huge bow on its hood and sign she couldn’t quite read.
She moved to the door, trying to get a good look. She still couldn’t see, so she stepped outside, glancing around to be sure no one could see her.
He’d vanished—or someone had. Or they were hiding, but whatever the explanation, she could not stand it—she had to see.
Lexie tiptoed over the damp grass to the T-bird, peering at the tag tied to the enormous bow—Free To A Good Home—With One Condition.
Lexie frowned slightly and looked around for the owner.
Dominic emerged from a clump of trees, his hands up in surrender, his smile that of Nikos, not the very serious owner of Poseidon.
He looked so good he stole her breath. Made her ache. Black T-shirt, black jeans…he looked every inch the rebel, the marauder.
“All right. I give up.” But mischief danced in his gaze.
The hard knot in her chest loosened slightly. “Give up what?”
“I won’t ask you to believe in my words. I won’t tell you I love you or ask you to marry me again. I want a simple business arrangement. We can put it in writing.”
Lexie frowned. “What kind of business arrangement?”
“You once told me my car needed a better mechanic, did you not?”
She cocked her head, wondering where he was headed. “I did say that.”
“Do you see anyone here you might suggest?”
Lexie leaned forward. “You want me to be your mechanic?” It was a long way from being a wife.
He might keep a very straight face, but his eyes were dancing. “The sign says free to a good home—” He gestured around them. “Is this a good home?”
“Dominic, you can’t just give me your car.”
He folded his arms over his very broad chest. “I can do whatever I want.” One eyebrow lifted, and he’d never looked more like a pirate. “You will recall, howev
er, that there is a condition.”
“A catch.” She muttered. “I knew it. You shark business types always have a catch.”
He laughed, and she wanted to press her mouth to his strong, tanned throat. Wanted her hands on him so badly she could barely breathe.
“Yes, Ms. Grayson, one might call it a catch.”
She couldn’t fight her grin. “What kind of catch?”
“There is no better mechanic for this magnificent vehicle than myself—no disrespect intended.” White teeth flashed in a thoroughly disreputable grin. “I could not let it go to a new home without knowing it would receive proper care.”
“I’ll take very good care of your car,” she said tartly.
“Oh, I am certain you will want to, but you will pardon me if I reserve judgment until I have spent some time observing for myself.”
“And just how long might that observation period take?”
“How long would a man be required to stay to convince you he truly loved you?” The buccaneer dared her, white teeth flashing.
Her heart skipped a beat. For a moment she panicked, realizing he hadn’t given up on love, hadn’t relinquished his proposal.
What was she waiting for? What would she need to be able to take the next step with this man who had surmounted his own past, his own doubts, enough to believe in her despite the case that Bradley had built against her?
Could she do less? Would she forever deny her heart’s dreams, trapped forever in the past, giving up the future that beckoned from this man’s eyes?
Suddenly her vision blurred. This man…she could love. This man intrigued her; he didn’t scare her. She loved him with all her heart and soul. She wanted nothing more than to wake up to him each morning, lie down with him each night, to share anything and everything in between.
“Fifty years,” she said quickly. “With an option for ten more at a time.”
He pretended to think about it, brushing one long finger across his chin, a finger she could still see tracing down her body.
Body. Lexie looked down in dismay at her ancient sleep shirt and fear took another stab at her. “Dominic, look at me.”
He gave her a slow, thorough perusal, branding his way down her body without ever touching her. “I am looking.”
“I can’t be your society page partner. I’m not that woman. I’ll mix up the forks at fancy dinners. I’d rather die than wear designer clothes.” She swallowed hard and held out her arms. “This is me, Dominic—the real me. Holey T-shirts, dirt on my feet.”
He stalked her like a lion after his mate, his dark gazing burning her. “The only thing I would change—” His voice turned husky as he stopped in front of her. “Is that you are wearing too damn many clothes.”
She stepped back, the look in his eyes stealing her breath. “I’m not a mansion kind of girl, Dominic.”
“Fine. We will live here.” He kept coming.
“You’re not hearing what I’m saying.”
“I hear, but you’re speaking nonsense. None of that matters.” He leaned down as though to kiss her but stopped less than a breath away. “You do not have to believe that love exists, Lexie—the permanent kind. You do not have to believe I will stay. I am prepared to spend every last minute of my life proving both to you, however long it takes.”
His body was so close that she could feel the heat from him sinking into her skin. She swayed toward him.
He took a step backward, and she moaned. “I want to believe you. I do.”
“I have never let another human being drive my T-bird. No one but you has laid a finger on its engine.” His eyes were lasers. “How can you believe I would give any less than everything to the woman who is the very breath of my body? If I would not abandon a heap of metal to another, why would I throw aside your heart, when it is everything to me, every dream I ever had but despaired of finding?”
He closed the gap between them. “You can resist all you want, be afraid as long as you need, but I am not going anywhere, Lexie. Ever.”
He traced one long finger down her cheek as he had once traced a smear of grease. “I did not get so wealthy by giving up easily. You will fall in love with me and you will marry me and you will—”
She stopped his demands with her mouth, sealing her lips to his. Gasping an oath, Dominic pulled her into his body so tightly she could barely breathe, his mouth hungry and needy and filled with promises she found herself ready to believe—
Eager to believe. Eager to begin. She dug her fingers into his hair and nestled closer—
Then broke away from the kiss before she lost her mind.
“Lexie—” he growled, reaching for her.
She danced back, just out of his reach. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” She managed to smile though her breathing faltered, her heart all but leaping from her chest.
“What? Stop torturing me, you little minx.”
She cocked one hip, holding out her hand. “The keys. The deal is not valid until I see those keys in my hot little hand.”
His eyes promising delicious retribution, Dominic dug into his jeans’ pocket as her eyes followed his hand to see ample evidence of how badly he wanted her.
He tossed her the keys, and she snagged them, closing her fingers around them. He leaned toward her, and she darted around him. “Not now, Dominic. I want to drive my car.”
Her legs flew out from beneath her as he swooped her into his arms and turned, heading back toward the dome, his eyes fierce, his grip one she could not break—even if she wanted to.
“Later. You promised that I could try the sultan’s bed anytime I wanted. I want it now.”
Midnight eyes glowed as his mouth lowered to hers, his lips brushing hers with unmistakable tenderness.
“You drive a hard bargain, Dominic.”
“Call me Nikos, Lexie. Please. I want to be that man with you. Always.”
Tears of relief, of hope, of a budding new trust blurred her vision. Fiercely, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “All right, Nikos. Seventy-five years. That’s my final offer.”
His grin could have lit up the world. He shouldered aside the door.
And then Lexie’s pirate strode to the sultan’s bed as though she were plundered treasure stolen from the sea. He laid her down like something precious and fine, then stood over her, his midnight eyes filled with love and hope and heat and promise.
He held out one hand to shake. “Done.”
Lexie slid her hand into his—and then jerked hard.
Nikos lost his balance—
And together they fell into a brand-new world.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My thanks to Phil Sobey—the wizard who restored the models for Dominic’s T-bird and Lexie’s pickup—for all the car talk. Thanks also to Kathleen Panov for the Easter egg and software advice and to Jonny Brashear for insights into gaming and network security. Monica and Jim Caltabiano taught me about hostile takeovers and poison pills. My appreciation to the folks at Hut’s Hamburgers for feeding generations of happy Austinites, including the men of my family. Thanks to Penny Draeger and Vickie Redman for reading the draft and giving me peace of mind during distractions too numerous to mention.
Any errors made or liberties taken are my own.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-4399-6
MILLIONAIRE IN DISGUISE
Copyright © 2001 by Jean Brashear
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U.S.A.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual k
nown or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
Visit Silhouette at www.eHarlequin.com
Millionaire in Disguise (Special Edition, 1416) Page 17
