Harlequin Desire September 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: ClaimedMaid for a MagnateOnly on His Terms

by Tracy Wolff

  “Staring at my ankle won’t make it any better,” she told him, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

  His unique blue eyes shifted and held her gaze. “I hate that I hurt you,” he muttered.

  So much could be read from such a simple statement. Was he referring to four years ago? Did he mean the sexual encounter they’d just had or was he referencing her fall?

  No matter what he was talking about, Catalina didn’t want to get into another discussion that would only take them in circles again. They were truly getting nowhere...well, they’d ended up naked, but other than that, they’d gotten nowhere.

  “Go on,” she insisted. “Don’t worry about me.”

  He looked as if he wanted to argue, but ended up nodding. “I’ll be right back. If you need something, just yell for me. I’ll hear you.”

  Catalina watched as he ascended the steps back up to the deck. Closing her eyes, she dropped her head against the pillows and pulled in a deep breath. If the storm had done too much damage to the yacht, she was stuck. Stuck on a glamorous yacht with an injured ankle with the last person she should be locked down with.

  The groan escaped before she could stop it. Then laughter followed. Uncontrollable laughter, because could they be anymore clichéd? The maid and the millionaire, stranded on a desert island. Yeah, they had the makings for a really ridiculous story or some skewed reality show.

  Once upon a time she would’ve loved to have been stranded with Will. To know that nothing would interrupt them. They could be who they wanted to be without pretenses. Just Will and Catalina, two people who l—

  No. They didn’t love each other. That was absurd to even think. Years ago she had thought they were in love, but they couldn’t have been. If they’d truly been in love, wouldn’t he have fought for everything they’d discussed and dreamed of?

  Maybe he’d been playing her the entire time. A twenty-year-old boy moving up the ladder of success really didn’t have much use for a poor staff member. She was a virgin and an easy target. Maybe that’s all he’d been after.

  But she really didn’t think so. She’d grown up around Will and James. James was the player, not Will. Will had always been more on the straight and narrow, the rule follower.

  And he’d followed those rules right to the point of breaking her heart. She should have seen it coming, really. After their mother passed away, Will did every single thing he could to please his father, as if overcompensating for the loss of a parent.

  Yet there was that little girl fantasy in her that had held out hope that Will would see her as more, that he would fall in love with her and they could live happily ever after.

  Catalina sighed. That was long ago; they were different people now and the past couldn’t be redone...and all those other stupid sayings that really didn’t help in the grand scheme of things.

  And it was because she was still so tied up in knots over this man that she needed to escape Alma, fulfill her own dreams and forget her life here. She was damn good at designing and she couldn’t wait to burn her uniforms and sensible shoes, roast a marshmallow over them and move on.

  “We’re not going anywhere for a while.”

  Catalina jerked her head around. Will was standing on the bottom step, his hands braced above him on the doorframe. The muscles in his biceps flexed, drawing her attention to his raw masculinity. No matter how much the inner turmoil was caused by their rocky relationship, Catalina couldn’t deny that the sight of his body turned her on like no other man had ever been able to do.

  “There’s some major damage to the starboard side. I thought maybe I could get it moving, but the mechanics are fried. I can only assume the boat was hit by lightning as well as banging into the dock repeatedly.”

  Catalina gripped the plush comforter beneath her palms. “How long will we be stuck here?”

  “I have no clue.”

  He stepped farther into the room and raked a hand over his messy hair. Will always had perfectly placed hair, but something about that rumpled state made her hotter for him.

  “The radio isn’t working, either,” he added as he sank down on the edge of the bed, facing her. “Are you ready for some pain medicine since we’re going to be here awhile?”

  She was going to need something a lot stronger if she was going to be forced to stick this out with him for too long. Hours? Days? How long would she have to keep her willpower on high alert?

  “I probably better,” she admitted. “My ankle’s throbbing pretty good now.”

  Will went to the bathroom. She heard him rummaging around in a cabinet, then the faucet. When he strode back across the open room, Catalina couldn’t keep her eyes off his bare chest. Why did he have to be so beautiful and enticing? She wanted to be over her attraction for this man. Anything beyond what happened in that cabin would only lead to more heartache because Will would never choose anyone over his father and Rowling Energy and she sure as hell wasn’t staying in Alma to clean toilets the rest of her life waiting to gain his attention.

  Catalina took the pills and the small paper cup of water he offered. Hoping the medicine kicked in soon, she swallowed it as Will eased back down beside her on the bed.

  “Dammit,” he muttered, placing his hand on the shin of her good leg. “If we hadn’t been arguing—”

  “We’ve argued for weeks,” she told him with a half smile. “It was an accident. If anyone is to blame it’s me for not watching where I was going and for trying to stomp off in a fit.”

  “Were you throwing a fit?” he asked. “I don’t remember.”

  Catalina lifted an eyebrow. “You’re mocking me now.”

  Shaking his head, he slid his hand up and down her shin. “Not at all. I just remember thinking how sexy you looked when you were angry. You have this red tint to your cheeks. Or it could’ve been the great sex. Either way, you looked hot.”

  “Was that before or after I was sprawled face first in the sand?” she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

  “You can’t kill sexy, Cat, even if you’re eating sand.”

  The slight grin he offered her eased her worry. Maybe they could spend the day here and actually be civil without worrying about the sexual tension consuming them. Maybe they had taken the edge off and could move on.

  Well, they could obviously move on, but would this feeling of want ever go away? Because if anything, since they’d been intimate, Catalina craved him even more.

  So now what could she do? There was nowhere to hide and definitely nowhere to run in her current state.

  As she looked into Will’s mesmerizing eyes, her worry spiked once again because he stared back at her like a man starved...and she was the main course.

  Thirteen

  Thankfully the kitchen was fully stocked and the electricity that fed the appliances hadn’t been fried because right now Will needed to concentrate on something other than how perfect Cat looked in his bed.

  He’d come to the kitchen a while ago to figure out what they should do for dinner. Apparently the pain pills had kicked in because Cat was resting peacefully, even letting out soft moans every now and then as she slept.

  It was those damn moans that had his shorts growing tighter and his teeth grinding as he attempted to control himself. He’d heard those groans earlier, up close and personal in his ear as she’d wrapped her body around his.

  The experience was one he would never forget.

  Will put together the chicken and rice casserole that his mother used to make. Yes, they’d had a chef when he was a child, but James and Will had always loved this dish and every now and then, Will threw it together just to remember his mother. He still missed her, but it was the little things that would remind him of her and make him smile.

  Setting the timer on the oven, Will glanced back to the sleeping beauty in his bed. His mother wou
ld have loved Cat. She wouldn’t have cared if she was the maid or—

  What the hell? How did that thought sneak right in without his realizing the path his mind was taking? It didn’t matter what his mother would have thought of Cat. He wasn’t getting down on one knee and asking her into the family.

  He needed to get a grip because his hormones and his mind were jumbling up all together and he was damn confused. Sleeping with Cat should have satisfied this urge to claim her, but instead of passing, the longing only grew.

  With the casserole baking for a good bit, Will opted to grab a shower. He smelled like sex, sand and sweat. Maybe a cold shower would help wake him up to the reality that he’d let Cat go once. Just because they slept together didn’t mean she was ready to give this a go again. And was that what he wanted? In all honesty did he want to try for this once more and risk hurting her, hurting himself, further?

  He was making a damn casserole for pity’s sake. What type of man had he become? He’d turned into some warped version of a homemaker and, even worse, he was perfectly okay with this feeling.

  Before he went to the shower, he wanted to try the radio one more time. There had to be a way to communicate back to the mainland. Unfortunately, no matter which knobs he turned, which buttons he hit, nothing sparked to life. Resigned to the fact they were indeed stuck, Will went to his master suite bathroom.

  As he stripped from his shorts and stepped into the spacious, open shower, he wondered if maybe being stranded with Cat wasn’t some type of sign. Maybe they were supposed to be together with no outside forces hindering their feelings or judgment.

  And honestly, Will wanted to see what happened with Cat. He wanted to give this another chance because they were completely different people than they were before and he was in total control of his life. She was that sliver of happiness that kept him smiling and their verbal sparring never failed to get him worked up.

  No other woman matched him the way she did and he was going to take this opportunity of being stranded and use every minute to his advantage. He’d prove to her he was different because just telling her he was really wouldn’t convince her. He needed to show her, to let her see for herself that he valued her, that he wanted her. He’d never stopped wanting her.

  While he may want to use this private time to seduce the hell out of her, Will knew those hormones were going to have to take a back seat because Cat was worth more and they were long overdue for some relaxing, laid back time. And then maybe they could discuss just what the hell was happening between them.

  * * *

  Whatever that smell was, Catalina really hoped she wasn’t just dreaming about it. As soon as she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a beautiful orange glow across the horizon. The sun was setting, and lying in this bed, Will’s bed, watching such beauty was a moment she wanted to lock in her mind forever.

  She rolled over, wincing as the pain in her ankle reminded her she was injured. The ice bag had melted and slid off the pillow she’d propped it on. As soon as she sat up, she examined her injury, pleased to see the swelling had gone down some.

  “Oh, good. Dinner is almost ready.”

  Catalina smoothed her hair away from her face and smiled as Will scooped up something from a glass pan.

  “I tried the radio again,” he told her. “It didn’t work. The whole system is fried.”

  Catalina sighed. As much as she wanted to get back home, she couldn’t deny the pleasure she’d experienced here, despite the injury. She had a feeling she was seeing the true Will, the man who wasn’t all business and power trips, but a man who cared for her whether he was ready to admit it or not.

  “Someone will come for us,” she told him. “Besides, with you cooking and letting me nap, you’re spoiling me. Dinner smells a lot like that chicken dish you made me for our first date.”

  Will grinned back at her and winked. Winked. What had she woken to? Will in the kitchen cooking and actually relaxed enough to wink and smile as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

  “It is,” he confirmed. “I’ll bring it to you so don’t worry about getting up.”

  “I actually need to go to the restroom.”

  In seconds, Will was at her side helping her up. When he went to lift her in his arms, she pushed against him.

  “Just let me lean on you, okay? No need to carry me.”

  Wrapping an arm around her waist, Will helped her stand. “How’s the ankle feeling?”

  “Really sore, but better than it was.” She tested it, pulling back when the sharp throbbing started again. “Putting weight on it still isn’t a smart move, but hopefully it will be much better by tomorrow.”

  Will assisted her across the room, but when they reached the bathroom doorway, she placed a hand on his chest. “I can take it from here.”

  No way was he assisting her in the bathroom. She’d like to hold onto some shred of dignity. Besides, she needed a few moments to herself to regain mental footing since she was stuck playing house with the only man she’d ever envisioned spending forever with.

  “I’ll wait right here in case you need something,” he told her. “Don’t lock the door.”

  With a mock salute, Catalina hobbled into the bathroom and closed the door. The scent of some kind of masculine soap assaulted her senses. A damp towel hung over the bar near the shower. He’d made use of the time she’d been asleep. Her eyes darted to the bathtub that looked as if it could seat about four people. What she wouldn’t give to crawl into that and relax in some hot water, with maybe a good book or a glass of wine. When was the last time she’d indulged in such utterly selfish desires?

  Oh, yeah, when she’d stripped Will naked and had her way with him in the old cabin earlier today.

  A tap on the door jerked her from her thoughts. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Give me a minute.”

  A girl couldn’t even fantasize in peace around here. She still needed time to process what their intimacy meant and the new, unexpected path their relationship had taken. Will had most likely thought of what happened the entire time she’d been asleep. Of course he was a man, so he probably wasn’t giving their encounter the amount of mind space she would.

  Minutes later, Catalina opened the door to find Will leaning against the frame. Once again he wrapped an arm around her and steered her toward the bed.

  “I can eat at the table.” She hated leaning on him, touching him when her nerves were still a jumbled up mess. “I’m already up. That bed is too beautiful to eat on.”

  In no time he’d placed their plates on the table with two glasses of wine...again, her favorite. A red Riesling.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you stocked this kitchen just for me,” she joked as she took her first sip and knew it wasn’t the cheap stuff she kept stocked in her fridge.

  “I did buy a lot of things I knew you liked.” His fork froze midway to his mouth as he looked up at her. “At least, you liked this stuff four years ago.”

  For a split second, he seemed unsure. Will was always confident in everything, but when discussing her tastes, he suddenly doubted himself. Why did she find that so adorable?

  She felt a shiver travel up her spine. She didn’t have time for these adorable moments and couldn’t allow them to influence her where this man was concerned. That clean break she wanted couldn’t happen if she let herself be charmed like that.

  They ate in silence, but Catalina was surprised the strain wasn’t there. Everything seemed...normal. Something was up. He wasn’t trying to seduce her, he wasn’t bringing up the past or any other hot topic.

  What had happened while she’d been asleep? Will had suddenly transformed into some sort of caretaker with husbandlike qualities.

  But after a while she couldn’t take the silence anymore. Catalina dropped her fork to her empty plate. “That was am
azing. Now, tell me what’s going through your mind.”

  Will drained his glass before setting it back down and focusing on her. “Right now I’m thinking I could use dessert.”

  “I mean why are you so quiet?”

  Shrugging, he picked up their plates and put them in the kitchen. When he brought back the wine bottle, she put a hand over hers to stop him from filling her glass back up.

  “If I need more pain pills later, it’s best I don’t have any more even though I only took a half pill.”

  Nodding, he set the bottle on the table and sat across from her again.

  “Don’t ignore the question.”

  A smile kicked up at the corners of his mouth. “I’m plotting.”

  Catalina eased back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re always plotting. I take it I’m still in the crosshairs?”

  His eyes narrowed in that sexy, toe-curling way that demanded a woman take notice. “You’ve never been anywhere else.”

  Her heart beat faster. When he said those things she wanted to believe him. She wanted to be the object of his every desire and fantasy. And when he looked at her as if nothing else in the world mattered, she wanted to stay in that line of sight forever, though she knew all of that was a very naïve way of thinking.

  “I only set out to seduce you,” he went on, toying with the stem on his glass. “I wanted you in my bed more than anything. And now that I’ve had you...”

  Catalina wished she’d had that second glass of wine after all. “What are you saying?”

  His intense stare locked onto her. “We’re different people. Maybe we’re at a stage where we can learn from the past and see...”

  It took every ounce of her willpower not to lean forward in anticipation as his words trailed off yet again. “And see what?” she finally asked.

  “Maybe I want to see where we could go.”

  Catalina gasped. “You’re not serious.”

  Those heavy-lidded eyes locked onto her. “I can’t let you go now that I know how right we are together.”