by Sonya Weiss
“I don’t play games, Olivia, and I don’t run from the truth. Me wanting you is a given, and I know you feel the same even though you’re lying to yourself and calling it dislike or hate or however the hell you’re labeling it.” He leaned forward. “In fact, if you want to join the mile-high club, I can give you a membership right now, but me falling for you is never going to happen. I thought I made that clear as we left the hotel.”
She leaned forward as well. “I don’t play games, either, nor do I run from the truth. The truth is that you’ll never get the land. You’ll never get me in your bed.”
His gaze lowered to her shirt and he smiled knowingly. “You might want to tell your body the part about never getting into my bed. It seems to disagree with you.”
Chapter Four
Damn it.
Mason had mentioned the mile-high club and ending up in his bed, and her nipples just had to stand at attention. Olivia didn’t stop fuming until the plane taxied to a stop at the end of their flight. Like she’d told Mason, she didn’t run from the truth, either. The truth was she knew there was chemistry between them and it wasn’t any wonder that it existed. Everything about him gave off the air of knowing how to please a woman, but that didn’t mean it was wise to acknowledge or give in to that chemistry. Her logical side knew what a disaster falling into bed with him would be. She didn’t even like him. He was too arrogant, too domineering for her. She would hate herself the morning after.
Despite the fact that Mason was no longer the troubled teenager he’d once been, he was still trouble to her peace of mind, to her land, and if her father knew who she was with, that would also stir the pot.
“Ready?” Mason asked, cutting into her thoughts as he rose from his seat.
She managed a nod and got up to follow him from the plane. The dog walked obediently by Mason’s side and hopped into the back of the black limousine waiting for them.
The chauffeur tipped his hat. “Welcome back, Mr. Parker.”
“Thank you, Jimmy. How’s the wife?”
The driver beamed with pride. “Ready to deliver any day now.”
When they got into the back of the car, Mason said, “Jimmy’s wife, Eve, is pregnant with twins. She works in the accounting department of my company.”
“Twins. Wow. They’re going to be swamped once the babies are born. I hope they have family to help.”
Mason shook his head. “Jimmy doesn’t have any family, and Eve’s parents are somewhere in a third-world country. They’re with Doctors Without Borders and they won’t be able to be here until a few months after the birth.”
“I wish I could do something to help them,” Olivia murmured.
“It’s under control. I’ve arranged for a meal delivery service, a cleaning service, and a night nurse to help them.”
Olivia was surprised to learn how much Mason looked out for his employees. It didn’t match the ruthlessness she sensed in him. “Who knew you had such a big heart?”
“It matches everything else I have.” He smirked.
Olivia shook her head. “I walked into that one.” Steering the conversation back into safer waters, she asked, “How many employees work for you?”
“With the recent hires, slightly less than five thousand.”
Impressed, Olivia asked, “What exactly does your company do?”
“We handle data breaches for private businesses.”
“The business of keeping secrets secret?” Olivia said with a raised brow.
“Something like that.”
“Sounds like sensitive material. You can do that with a record?”
His expression hardened. “My juvenile records were sealed, but I don’t hide my past. I’ve done nothing to be ashamed of.” He looked down when his cell phone buzzed.
Olivia saw the name Cole flash across the screen. Cole, Jake, and his brother Adam had been the friends arrested the night of the fire. Along with Mason, the three of them had been convicted of first-degree arson. “Do you still keep in touch with all of them?”
Mason looked up, his dark eyes not giving away a single clue as to what he was thinking. “I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“So testy.” Olivia sighed. “Afraid to give information to the enemy?”
“There’s very little I fear any more,” he said, and answered the phone. Since he mainly listened and responded with short, cryptic answers, Olivia didn’t have a clue as to what was going on.
The Great Dane moved from her position and jumped onto the seat beside Olivia, searched her face with big brown eyes, and then laid her head in Olivia’s lap. “I know, girl.” Olivia rubbed the dog’s large head. “It’s been a long day and you’re ready to go home.”
Since Mason was busy with the call, Olivia took out her cell phone, deciding she might as well sort through the additional messages she’d received. Three of them were about her father sent through Larry, one of her father’s former deputies. The gist of the messages was the same. Where was she, when was she coming by, and how much he hated the rehabilitation center because the people there didn’t know what the hell they were doing.
She’d noticed more and more lately her father’s attitude changing. He’d become unpleasant to be around. The physical therapist had explained many stroke patients experienced a temporary change in personality as they dealt with a new normal. Olivia missed the kind way her father had always treated her in the past.
“We’ll be home soon,” Mason said, once he ended his phone conversation.
“Where do you live in Chicago?” Olivia put her own phone away.
“Lake Forest. Depending on traffic, it’s thirty-eight to forty-three minutes away from the office if I drive in. I usually commute using the helicopter.”
“Of course,” Olivia said drily. “Why not simply live closer to work?”
“I have a home on two acres of land with about two hundred feet of lake frontage. Very secluded, and I happen to like it.”
“I’m assuming it’s large enough to have multiple bedrooms.”
He gave her another one of his wicked smiles. “We only need one for what I have in mind.”
“We need two for what I have in mind.”
Her eyes dropped to his thigh when he brushed a piece of lint from his trousers. She lifted her gaze slowly and then quickly averted her eyes. She had to get a grip. Sure, he was handsome, and that was putting it mildly. Sexy as hell. Risking another glance, she caught him regarding her with a look that gave a hint at how far he’d go to get what he wanted. She was out of her league and she knew it, but she’d be damned if she’d let him see that.
Shifting, uncomfortable at the intensity of his gaze, she searched her mind for something to say to break the heavy air inside the limousine, but he beat her to it.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, sweet Olivia, it’s that life is too short to waste.”
“I’m not sure I follow your meaning.”
That damn knowing smile of his tossed more fuel onto the flames. “You want to know what it’s like to be with me. Why fight it?”
“When I was a child, I wanted to know what it would be like to eat an entire bag of peanut butter candies. So I did. To this day I can’t stand peanut butter. Wanting something and having it be good for you aren’t synonymous.”
“You don’t think I’d be good?”
“Oh, I think you’d be very good, but in the end I’d be the one paying the higher price for getting involved with you. And I know it’s hard for you to fathom this, but unlike the women in your past, I can’t be bought. You don’t have enough money to make me give in to you.”
“Try me. I’ve very good at…negotiating.”
The dog barked when the car made a turn, and Olivia jumped.
“She knows we’re almost home,” Mason said. The dog switched from the spot beside Olivia to lean her massive body against Mason. “Sit, Red,” he ordered and the dog quickly did so.
“Dog training?”
“No.” Mason smile
d. “She knows who the alpha is.”
The car eased to a stop and Olivia couldn’t get out fast enough. She paused to study the large home sprawled at the end of the circular driveway. “I’m surprised you can survive in such a tiny place.”
He ignored her sarcasm. “There are six bedrooms. Each has a private bath. The one upstairs to the left is mine. Feel free to have the staff put your things in there if you like.”
Olivia shot a glance at the driver, who pretended not to hear. “I’ll take whichever bedroom is the farthest away from yours.”
His dark eyes shone with amusement. “It’ll save the wear and tear on your shoes if you pick the one right across the hall.”
“So thoughtful of you to worry about my shoes.” Olivia walked past him into the house.
“Give it a chance. You’d enjoy just how thoughtful I can be.”
Olivia clenched her teeth together to keep from giving him an earful, because she sensed he’d be delighted to know that he’d gotten under her skin. She’d play along with this agreement and she’d win, because she knew there was nothing he could do to make her to give in to him.
…
Mason watched Olivia cross the hardwood floor to the white French doors leading out to the brick patio overshadowing the landscaped yard. She swung open the doors and stood for a second, taking in deep breaths of air.
In her shorts and T-shirt, she looked as young and as desirable as he’d thought she was in high school. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind she’d end up in his bed, so he wasn’t troubled at her reluctance. What did trouble him was the force of the attraction he had to deal with when he was near her. He remembered wanting her, but not like this. Not with a driving intensity, meaning cold showers or taking care of business himself would likely be his norm until he got her out of his system.
Leaving her to look out over the backyard, he moved into the dining room and picked up the note on the marble table from his cook letting him know a meal had been saved in the refrigerator. He felt an immense satisfaction with his life. Everything in order and under control. The way he liked it. The way he expected it.
The inner pang telling him something was missing from his life’s agenda popped up the way it had been doing lately, and he quashed it. As far as he was concerned, once he had his revenge, the sense that all was not well wouldn’t crop up again.
“Are you hungry?” he asked when Olivia wandered into the dining room.
Her gaze rose over his head to the chandelier he’d found in Italy. Her eyes widened at the design engraved around the base. “Is that gold?”
“Yes.”
She turned her head and took in the flowers his housekeeper had cut from his gardens that morning and arranged in a large vase in the center of the table. “Impressive, yet homey.”
Her approval of his home pleased him, and he didn’t like it. Olivia’s opinion shouldn’t matter to him. She was a means to an end. Nothing more. Pushing down the feeling in his stomach that for the first time in his life he might be encountering a deal he wouldn’t win, he led the way into the kitchen.
Olivia headed straight to the curved island in the middle of the room and hopped up on one of the cushioned stools. She propped her elbows up on the marble counter and rested her chin her hands. “You told me what you do for work, but what do you do for fun?”
“I work.” He raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you find your work fun?”
“I enjoy my work. When I can make a bride-to-be’s eyes shine because I’ve created her dream dress, it makes me feel happy. But I have a life outside of what I do for a living.”
Her blue eyes held a hint of amusement, and when she ran her fingers through the soft brown hair touching her shoulders and smiled at him, Mason’s gaze dropped to her lips. He had to turn away when his pants grew tight. What the hell is it about this woman that causes my body to battle my mind for control?
“There’s spinach-stuffed braciola for lunch, but if you don’t want it, I can call and have the cook make something else for you.”
“Is your cook a full-time employee?”
Mason closed the refrigerator door and turned around to look at her. “No. I arrange for her to have meals waiting for me if I’m traveling. Otherwise, I cook for myself.”
“I’m not really picky about what I eat.” She slid from the stool in the shorts that seemed to shrink by the damned minute and moved to stand beside him. Peering into the refrigerator, she said, “I’ve never had braciola before. Cooking isn’t my area of expertise.”
“What is?” he asked in a husky voice before he caught himself.
She studied him, her breasts rising and falling beneath the T-shirt he wanted to strip from her body. He would remove her bra and take her breast— “Sorry?” he asked when he realized she’d answered.
“I said my area of expertise is design.”
“I’d be happy to teach you how to cook.” Among other things…
She smiled and lifted her hand to bite the polished pink tip of her index finger. “Me around a stove may not be such a good idea. I’ve ruined my fair share of burners by letting things boil over and get down into the wiring because I was lost in a design.”
“I’ll replace the stove if I need to.” His gaze locked on the edge of her finger resting just inside her mouth. The memory of the night of the fire flashed into focus. Olivia’s eyes, glazed from too much alcohol as he’d walked past her on the sidewalk outside the football player’s home. Her voice calling to him from the front porch, then lowering to a whisper when he’d neared as she’d asked him to make love to her. She’d always wanted him, she’d said. Then the door of the home had opened, Olivia’s friends had coaxed her back inside, and he’d gone on his way, unable to ignore the feeling that she was in trouble. He exhaled, deliberately pushing back against the memory because what happened next had sealed his fate that night.
“When something gives you grief, you simply get rid of it, right?” she asked.
Thankful that she’d lowered her hand away from her mouth, he said, “Are you hungry or not?” He couldn’t shake the thought that he was playing with a fire that would cost him far more than the first one ever had.
…
Olivia ducked her head. Maybe her blood sugar was low from not eating much this morning. For a second there, when he’d asked if she was hungry, she’d looked at his lips and pictured the guy she’d known in high school. She had hungered for his kiss.
“Yes, I’m hungry,” she said in a voice that barely managed to be above a whisper.
He’d taken off his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. His forearms were strong. Muscled. His skin tanned. Because he’d stripped his shirt off in her shop, she knew his body was firm. Ripped. What the hell am I thinking about that for?
She slapped her forehead harder than she intended and winced. How ridiculous. She didn’t like him even a little. She certainly didn’t want him to kiss her.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“You pulled me away from my home, my business, my friends, and my family. What could possibly be wrong with me?”
His long, lean fingers reached for a large serving bowl and he set it on the counter. “What I want, I get, Olivia. I wanted you here and you’re here.”
“I was wrong. I don’t dislike you. I think I hate you.”
He put his hand to his heart, his eyes hard. “Aw, sweetheart. I’m all broken up inside.”
She slid from the stool and glared at him. “You weren’t the nicest guy in high school, but I liked that version of you better. What have you become?”
“Maybe I’ve become the monster that you and your father made me into.”
“My father and me? You need to take responsibility for the man you’ve become rather than trying to blame others for your misery.”
His jaw tightened and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m going to thoroughly enjoy it when I’m victorious.”
“I wouldn’t plan a celebration party if I wer
e you,” Olivia snapped. She had to get away from him for a minute. Clear her head. “I’m going to freshen up.”
At that, she marched out of the room in search of one of the bathrooms.
When she found one, she went inside, locked the door and perched on the side of the tub. The beige colors in the bathroom decor were probably meant to be soothing, but Olivia wasn’t anywhere close to being soothed. Get a grip. For a second in the kitchen, she’d wanted to tell Mason off and then head back to Butler Field. She’d been nearly overcome with the desire to get as far away from him as possible. Which of course would have been foolish for her business. Damn him. How did he know how to push her buttons so easily? There was a logical explanation for him being able to get under her skin. She’d run herself ragged lately between the shop and trying to spend as much time as possible with her father. She was exhausted. She needed sleep.
Digging into the pocket of her shorts, she yanked out her cell phone and dialed Beth’s number. Please, please be there. When her friend answered, Olivia wanted to weep with joy. “I’m in trouble,” she whispered.
“Olivia? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Mason. I was so angry that I almost left to come home.”
“You know that’s an option, but you know what will happen if you do.”
“I hate him, Beth.”
Silence.
“Beth?”
Long sigh. “I knew this was going to happen. He’s calling the shots and that doesn’t sit well with your need to control everything. There’s only one thing you can do.”
“Call the whole thing off and take my chances that he won’t ruin my life?” Olivia suggested.
“It’s too late for that. Have you seen what people are saying online?”
“No, what?”
“Images of some of your designs were shared on a photo sharing site and there are over a million views. It’s gone viral, Liv. People are talking about your designs, but they’re also talking about how perfect you and Mason look together as a couple, how sweet and romantic your ‘found each other again’ love story is.”
“Oh, no.” Olivia groaned.
