The Billioniare's Bought Bride (Contemporary Romance)

by Michele Dunaway

  He lowered his mouth to hers, catching her ensuing gasp. The kiss was the opposite of the tender kisses he’d bestowed ten years ago. Instead Dylan’s lips began a total assault on her senses—a pure, decadent plunder. He nipped and teased, and then shot his tongue inside for full exploration. On their own volition, Maddy’s hands threaded themselves into his hair. Her nipples thrust toward his chest, and heat pooled between her legs. She wanted him to touch her.

  Triumph flashed in his eyes as he lifted his head and set her away from him, onto her own chair. “There. I doubt the physical aspect of our relationship will be a problem.”

  She thumped down on the chair pad, angered and chastised. “Go to hell.”

  He had the gall to laugh. “You already said that.”

  She fought back, disgusted by her capitulation to his kiss. She might lose Summerhaven, but she would not lose her pride or her standards. “Just because you can make me hot and bothered doesn’t mean anything. Other women may degrade and cheapen themselves, but I won’t. I’m not spreading my legs to save my land, even for you.”

  His eyes narrowed and his brows knit closer. “For the first time you disappoint me, Maddy.”

  “What? That I’m not a whore? That I won’t sleep with you in exchange for money and loan forgiveness? I’ll sell my property first. At least I’ll have some dignity left.”

  “Good. Because it pains me that you think sex is all I want from you. I don’t require an easy lay. There are plenty of those women out there. Do you really think I’ve changed that much as to not have any respect for you?”

  “You certainly haven’t shown me any. You kissed me against my will.”

  An eyebrow arched. “You weren’t resisting.”

  True. Still, pride dictated a denial. “Whatever. Only a jerk kisses someone as a power play. So no, I don’t know what type of man you think you are. As for respecting me? You’ve played me for a fool all along.”

  “And you haven’t done the same? Ten years ago I believed I loved you—that those words we said to each other weren’t just a summer thing, but that they were real.”

  “I told you I’m sorry!”

  He shook his head. “Everyone knows love is an illusion. We were kids. Dumb, stupid teenagers with no clue about how life really was. I won’t be dumb, stupid or unworthy again.”

  “I will not be your mistress, or your….” She broke off, her chest heaving. “I will sell my land to someone else. There are other people interested.”

  “I know. So listen carefully to my offer, Maddy. You need money and I don’t want a mistress. I want a wife. I’m twenty-eight and I’ve decided it’s time to settle down, marry and have a family. Marriage to you will serve both of us well.”

  “Marriage?” She stared at him but his face was impenetrable stone. She struggled for solid ground in a world full of quicksand. “This is ridiculous. You’re proposing marriage? Why?”

  “Because you’re Maddy Johansson. Your family name means something, rather like Kennedy or Rockefeller. Even better, all of our flaws are already exposed. We won’t have any emotional entanglements or attachments that will cloud things. It’s obvious how you feel about me.”

  She was horrified. “Marriage isn’t a cold blooded business proposition.”

  His poker face never changed. “All things are business propositions. The sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be in this world. Most people let overrated emotions like love get in the way of common sense. Would you rather I tell you that I want to see you lying naked beneath me, your face covered with the sweat of our lovemaking, and that I’m willing to do the decent thing and marry you and save your precious Summerhaven for that privilege? After all, I’m sure if I kissed you again I could take you right here on this table.”

  She reached over to smack him and he caught her hand.

  “So those graphic words aren’t more to your liking? No? Well, given your financial situation, marriage to me is the best solution. Marriage, Maddy. Legitimacy. Not my mistress, but my wife. Why shouldn’t I choose you? Didn’t we plan to marry each other all those years ago? To death do us part and all that? Didn’t we swear to wait for each other? Would you like me to tell you I’ve waited for you? Although you were engaged, so really, so much for that idea.”

  She started to answer but Dylan placed a finger on her open lips. “I’m not finished. You’ll have to work on that annoying habit, just as I’ll work on not creeping up on you.”

  She jerked her head away from his finger, which had, for a brief second, caressed her lips and left her tingling.

  “I’m certain we’ll manage to do more than tolerate each other,” Dylan continued. “We made a good team once.”

  He paused, lowering his lashes and sending her the smoldering look he’d used that summer, before he’d kissed her. Her first kisses at age sixteen had rocked her core. The one they’d shared minutes ago had her rattled. Surely he didn’t plan another demonstration!

  He edged closer. “Let’s see if I can refresh your memory. I remember vows, dreams, oh, even plans to run away together once you turned eighteen. You were going to be my princess, and me, your prince. Surely you can spare a little of that former magic to save your land under the respectable guise of marriage.”

  She shifted away and struggled for sanity. “I’d still be selling myself. You’re demented!”

  Broad shoulders shrugged. “If you wish to call me crazy, fine. I’ve been called much worse.”

  Maddy fought for precarious footing. “Surely you could find someone else to marry, someone who loves you. I certainly don’t. I rejected you! Remember?”

  She did. That nightmarish scene was as fresh as if it had been yesterday when she’d watched Ted and two of his friends beat up Dylan. She’d been about to tell Dylan she had to stop seeing him. But she hadn’t yet broken the news, which she was sure she somehow could have tempered and softened, when Ted and his friends had arrived.

  Only Maddy’s outright declaration, her cold, bitter rebuke, had stopped the one-sided fight that had left Dylan with a puffy eye and bloody nose and possible bruised ribs. She’d never spoken to him again, until yesterday.

  He sensed her thoughts. “Like you said earlier, you were sixteen and threatened. But I made vows that summer. I intend to see them through. Now is as good a time as any to get what we both want. You’ll get your land; I’ll get a wife. Besides, you were raised to be the perfect hostess. You know all about manners and breeding. That will be very helpful to me in cultivating the type of people with whom I will be doing business in the future.”

  He paused and assessed her. His lips curled in amusement. “Surely you’re not now speechless?”

  What was there to say? He was buying her bloodline, and a cold-blooded business proposition was not the type of marriage proposal she’d envisioned. Even Michael’s proposal had been more romantic, although then again, look how that relationship had turned out.

  “I don’t know what to say.” Safe words, admitted with an honest shrug. Saving her land by marrying Dylan, while the ultimate temptation, came with strings attached.

  “We’ll live in Chicago, which is where I make my home, and spend the summers here. You won’t need to teach, but you can do so until we have children. There are many nice private schools in Chicago. I’m on the board of two of them.”

  “You sound very sure of yourself, as if you know I’ll say yes.”

  “What other choice do you have?”

  None. “You’re despicable.”

  He ignored that. “Think about it, Maddy. I could easily afford to summer in the Hamptons, only I don’t prefer Long Island or the seashore. I like it here. Notice, everything I own on Knollwood Lake remains undeveloped.”

  “Unlike your other parcels all over the county.”

  He held up his hand, palm outward. “A man has a right to make a living and many of those plots were developed after I sold them. My decision to marry you is one more step in a plan I put into motion years ago.
Oh, and to erase any doubts, I definitely want you. While I won’t ever again tell you I love you like I did that summer, for that emotion has died, I’ll make certain you stay pleasured and satisfied. I’ll be faithful, unlike your fiancé.”

  “How dare you bring that up?"

  “I will dare. He didn’t deserve you.”

  “And you do?”

  “I know what you need. That kiss made you putty.”

  Her body quivered. “It’s chemistry. Pheromones or whatever.”

  “Who cares? All lead to pleasure in bed. I can take you to heights you’ve never experienced, do things to you I wanted so badly that summer but didn’t because you were underage. I’ve waited ten years for you.”

  She said nothing and he continued. “You can spend my money and laugh all the way to the tax office. Better yet, think of Summerhaven restored to all its former glory. You can fix up your home. You will have access to my bank accounts. After all, married couples share everything.”

  “But not love.”

  His eyes narrowed. “No. That is not part of the equation.” He ran a finger up and down her arm, and his touch tickled. She shivered. “This is a business deal with benefits that suit both of us. But be warned, this is a forever deal. At some point, you will give me children. I am an only child. My mother desperately wants to be a grandmother. She’d be pleased to know we’d found each other again. For her, we pretend our marriage is a love match. That we’ve rediscovered ourselves and rekindled the flame.”

  Maddy faltered. The entire idea of marrying Dylan boggled her mind. Michael had been all about professing his love, yet he’d been sleeping around to satisfy his sex drive.

  At least Dylan wasn’t promising love. Yet how could she be seriously considering his proposition? This was Dylan, her grandfather’s nemesis. When had she lost her mind? Probably the very day she’d learned she was going to lose Summerhaven.

  Dylan inched closer, his lips moving into kissing range. “Why don’t you take time today and think things over? How about we continue this discussion over dinner tonight?”

  He toyed with her fingertips, his gentle touch short-circuiting her body. She yanked her hand away and put it in her lap. He was enjoying this, the bastard.

  “Go home and contemplate my offer. You can give answer me tonight. After all, the clock is ticking.”

  “I know that. It’s the only think I’m sure of.

  Her answer garnered an amused smile, like that of a man taming a hissing kitten. “Marry me and I’ll save Summerhaven. They don’t make houses like her anymore. I can save her from being replaced with condos. I can give you everything you want.”

  But to keep her home, she’d have to trade away her chance at love. At finding her soul mate. Once again she’d have to choose between her land and true love.

  Underneath the table, Maddy clenched her hands and dug her fingernails into her palms. Ten years ago she’d have given her eyeteeth for any type of future with Dylan. She’d adored him. But no matter how many dreams they’d shared or how many vows they’d made, no matter how many declarations of love or passionate kisses, he’d never lost control.

  “I had many cold showers that summer because of you, many long swims in the lake,” Dylan said, as if reading her mind. “Chemistry can be a very powerful thing. When we make love, it’ll be unlike anything you’ve ever known.”

  “Now isn’t the time,” Maddy replied, her face turning a mortified shade of pink.

  He nodded, all back to business. “Of course not. I’ll pick you up at five. We’ll supper at the country club.”

  “Please not by boat.” The words slipped forth automatically. When she’d been a child, her grandfather had loved to boat over to the club, and often the family had gotten drenched in a late thundershower that had rolled in after dusk. Stephen had thought the adventure great fun.

  Dylan’s hair glistened in the sunlight streaming through the eastern windows. “We’ll drive.”

  The matter settled, she stood. “I’m going home now.”

  Dylan rose to his feet, his lean six-foot body uncoiling. He stood close and ran a light fingertip down her cheek. “Do you want me to run you back over?”

  She pulled her head away, his touch short-circuiting her resolve. “I’ll canoe.” The paddling might help soothe her frazzled and stressed nerves.

  “Let me at least walk you out.” He accompanied her down to the lake and strong muscles rippled as Dylan lifted the canoe into the water. She gripped his hand as she stepped off the dock and into the boat. Before grabbing her paddle, she dipped the fingers into the cool lake, but the water failed to wash away his touch.

  “Until tonight, Maddy,” he said, giving her rickety transport a helpful shove.

  She didn’t reply, but instead paddled quickly away from North Star Island. She sensed him watching her and refused to turn around.

  A marriage of convenience. Did those really exist in today’s day and age? Could she say yes? Summerhaven loomed in the distance, a gem on the shoreline awaiting Maddy’s answer. She’d have all the money she needed to save her land. All she had to do was marry Dylan.

  Tears threatened, and Maddy was in so much internal turmoil that she almost didn’t see him. The whoosh of air startled her, and she dropped her oar into the water and had to retrieve it.

  Fifty feet in front of her, the male eagle swooped low, talons ready. With a practiced ease, the bird of prey plucked an unsuspecting fish out of the water. The catch created giant ripples that circled outward as the eagle took to the sky. Powerful wings flapped, carrying the meal to the awaiting eaglets.

  The mirrored lake reflected the early morning sun and Madison just floated, paddle across her lap. She gazed after the eagle, her eyes tracking the bird until it disappeared out of sight, just over the point.

  Ten years ago the eagles had left. Ten years later, they had returned, just like Dylan.

  Maddy suddenly sympathized with the fish.

  Chapter Four

  The rundown building was called Grandmother’s Folly, and to Madison, the outdoor reading room was the perfect place to curl up and consider Dylan’s proposition.

  He wanted to marry her. But not for love. She contemplated the rankling paradox as she mentally traced patterns in the brown, water-stained tiles that marked where the roof had leaked.

  She’d spent most of the day here, skipping lunch and long ago finishing the bottle of water she’d brought with her. The small ten-by-twelve foot, one-room square allowed for a panoramic view of the lake and Summerhaven. Warm sun glimmered off the water, and, on the opposite shore, sounds could be heard from someone gassing up his boat at the golf course pump house. A gentle lake breeze drifted in, carrying away the aroma of mildew clinging to the fabric cushions.

  The Summerhaven she loved crumbled daily, and without a large infusion of cash she couldn’t stop her estate from falling into ruin. So was there really a choice? She could accept Dylan’s offer, or lose the only home she’d ever known. Ninety plus years of history, gone to make way for progress. That was unthinkable.

  Maddy turned her head, noticing the light patches of brown mold that graced the spines of what used to be first edition hardback books. A glance outside and down the hill showed her the missing roof tiles on the boathouse, and beneath the floorboards, the crumbling cinder block pillars that supported the building itself. Like the reading room, that building too required major repairs.

  “I thought I might find you here.” The screen door creaked and Aunt Gail entered. “I left you some fresh bread up at the house.”

  “Thanks.” Maddy rolled her neck and shoulders to work out some of the kinks. Her stomach growled.

  “Sounds like you could use something to eat,” Aunt Gail observed. She removed her straw hat and tied it onto an apron strap.

  “I’ve been here a while,” Maddy admitted.

  “Need to share?” Aunt Gail asked.

  Maddy slouched against the loveseat. “Actually, I do. Dylan offered to
give me the money.”

  Aunt Gail’s face brightened for a moment, showing hints of the woman she’d been in her twenties. Not that she’d changed much, except for the wrinkles. Baking, hiking, picking berries—her aunt maintained that hard work and the Lord gave her all the energy she required.

  “That’s wonderful. I knew everything would work out. He’s never forgotten you. I could see it in his eyes that summer you two met. He had the same look my Larry had whenever he looked at me.”

  Aunt Gail sounded so certain of Dylan’s affections that Maddy forced herself to appear happy for her aunt’s sake. Dylan didn’t love her. This was a business deal.

  Aunt Gail brushed away a housefly. “He’s a good man, Maddy. Don’t let your brother steer you wrong with his own biases and hatred. When will you see Dylan again?”

  “I’m meeting him for dinner tonight.”

  “Perfect,” Aunt Gail said. She tilted her head and assessed the worn condition of the room. “I’m so glad that you’ll be able to save Summerhaven. The whole estate needs restoration. It needs children. Did I ever tell you about when, back in the forties, Mrs. Pershall came calling on her launch? She came to check us out, make sure we were fitting neighbors. She sent her butler to the door and we all tromped down to the dock like she was royalty.”

  “He’s asked me to marry him.” The words blurted forth before Maddy could stop them. She’d always confided in Aunt Gail. She’d been the one relative who wouldn’t judge her, and Aunt Gail didn’t disappoint. She gave a knowing nod.

  “Of course he did, dear. That’s why the eagles are back. You two have a good dinner. You’ll make the right decision, Maddy. You always do. It does my heart good to know that you’ll be able to save all this for your children and grandchildren.” She placed the hat back on her head and opened the screen door. “I’m still baking, so I best be going now.”

  Maddy watched as Aunt Gail began to make her way back up the hill. Her wobbly legs carried her slowly, and Maddy winced as she envisioned the pain her aunt might be suffering. Not that her aunt would ever complain. Aunt Gail had been spending summers at Summerhaven Lake for over fifty years and claimed that this was were she derived her strength.