by Bella Andre
Jeremy leaped forward to grab her hand. "Look what we got done." He brought her over to a line of sheet metal parts laid out on a tarp. "We have to number each panel," he explained. "Then we put the same number on the frame. And then we know where everything will fit." He pointed to a piece. "See that one?" He raced to the metal carcass. "We put it here." He stopped, stared. "Wait. I think--" He frowned. "Will?"
Will was there quickly, putting his hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "It goes there."
Jeremy's brightness immediately returned. "Right. There. See, Harper?" Her brother smiled at Will. "Thanks. You're so cool."
Will smiled at Jeremy with the light of affection in his eyes as he said, "You're cool, too."
Harper instantly melted. Not from the naughty thoughts she'd been having about Will all week...but from the kind, friendly look on his face. And suddenly, in the face of his kindness to her brother--kindness that had been utterly lacking in every man she'd been with before him--all those reasons for distancing herself from Will didn't seem quite so important anymore.
Because for the first time in her adult life, Harper desperately wanted to take a risk with an incredibly hot guy, one who wanted her in a way no one else ever had. That freedom she'd tasted during their dinner at Cannelli's and the drive to the aqueduct had her longing to unfurl her wings. Wings that felt as if they'd been clipped long ago.
Somewhere between a deep craving for a few thrilling flights outside her normal life and Will's whispering those deliciously naughty intentions to her, she couldn't help but wonder if hot sex with him might not be the end of the world. At least, as long as she didn't get overly emotional and involved.
Holding onto as much of her sanity as possible--while always remembering that Will was just a short-term pleasure--would be the key to the whole equation. Even if his friends found out, well...she didn't care what they thought, right? Not if, for once, she was going to do something entirely for herself.
Something totally wild and crazy like seducing Will Franconi.
She wasn't so far gone that she thought it would mean anything more to him than dinner, drinks, and sex--and she wouldn't let herself get attached. She'd be cool, calm, and collected. At least, she'd be calm and cool until he touched her...or she touched him.
Then she'd let loose the wild woman inside her.
Only, she couldn't possibly seduce him in what she was wearing--jeans and a T-shirt with a plain white cotton bra and panties beneath. She needed new lingerie. She needed new clothes.
She needed new everything.
"You guys look like you're doing great," she said in an overly bright voice. "You don't mind if I head out for a bit and let you work, do you?"
"I'm good with Will," Jeremy said, turning back to the car, clearly having already forgotten her.
But Will didn't look at all happy about it. "Are you sure you can't stay?"
"No, I really can't." Because if she actually went forward with her plan to seduce him, she was going to do it right. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
His dark eyes held hers for a long moment, somehow seeming to pull her straight to him. "We'll miss you."
She almost reached for him then, almost blurted out that she'd made up her mind to give his intentions a whirl. But she still felt like a butterfly wrapped in its safe little cocoon.
By the time she returned to him this afternoon, she planned to have her brightly colored wings unfurled.
*
Harper was on the run, damn it!
Will had driven himself nuts thinking about her all week, planning the ways he'd tease her today. Fool that he was, he'd thought giving her some space to relive their crazy chemistry over and over would make her wild and crazy for him, too, when she finally saw him again.
Instead, she'd taken a business call, then rushed off.
Will was used to people wanting something from him, especially women. But Harper didn't seem to want anything. Not even the things he was dying to give her. Just the opposite--he had to cajole and seduce her every step of the way, whether it was about the Maserati or a date...or to get his hands on her.
So today it was just Jeremy and him. Not that working with Jeremy didn't have its own rewards. The kid was intelligent, he just had trouble with bigger concepts. But he followed instructions well. They worked companionably all day, continuing to number the shipment of sheet metal panels that had arrived on Friday.
"Great teamwork," he said when they broke for the roast beef sandwiches Mrs. Taylor brought. She'd included milk and cookies as if they were kids.
"Thanks, Mrs. Taylor." Jeremy's voice was loud in the barn. He used a big voice when he was excited. Or when he met new people. Just as he had last weekend with Evan.
"You're very welcome." A short, rotund widow with white hair, Mrs. Taylor had been Will's housekeeper for five years, moving with him from his previous house in San Mateo. She fixed meals when he was at home, did the cleaning, the shopping, laundry, household errands. Once a month, Will had a service come in to do all the heavy work, saving Mrs. Taylor's back.
"I like her," Jeremy confided after Mrs. Taylor had returned to the house in a golf cart. "She makes really good sandwiches."
"She does." There wasn't much not to like about Mrs. Taylor.
Jeremy talked with his mouth full. "When are you going to take Harper out again?"
Will, in the middle of swallowing, almost lost his roast beef. "Do you want me to take your sister out again?"
Jeremy nodded vigorously. "I like you." He chomped off a bite of cookie even though he hadn't finished his sandwich yet. "You're a lot nicer than the other guys she goes out with."
Jealousy hit Will like he was a crash test dummy, straight in the chest, at the thought of Harper with another man. But he wouldn't use Jeremy to get information about Harper, so he didn't ask any questions. He merely said, "I like you, too, Jeremy. And I like Harper."
Jeremy beamed, his eyes aglow. "Then it's a deal. You take her out."
"I have to ask Harper first."
"She'll say yes. She likes you. She always comes into the room to listen when we use Skype."
"Maybe she's just checking up on me."
Jeremy shook his head, turning all the way to the right, then the left in an exaggerated movement. "Nuh-uh. She likes you. I know. Whenever I talk about you, she gets this funny look in her eyes. Like she's dreaming even though she's awake."
Again, though Will loved getting this inside scoop on the woman he couldn't stop thinking about, he wouldn't allow himself to pry any more information out of Jeremy. "Let's just wait until she gets here, okay?"
Which meant, unfortunately, that he'd have to dig deeper into his reserves of patience. Reserves that were running really thin where Harper was concerned.
But it wasn't only patience Will was nearly out of by the time Harper finally returned--it was also self-control.
When she left, she'd been wearing jeans. Now she wore a gorgeous dress that skimmed her curves and flowed down in long lines to her calves. Her sandals laced up over her ankles and met the bottom of the dress, looking like something a gladiator would wear. And what made Will's self-control nearly snap completely was his realization that the gauzy material of the dress was almost see-through in the light from the open barn door behind her.
The faint outline of long legs made his mouth dry up. The neckline dipped low, cushioning a teardrop necklace between her breasts. A hint of lace peeked out. The sun was a halo around her hair, a gentle breeze lifting the locks, and her lips were the luscious shade of ripe plums, a deeper color than the usual pink she wore.
She stole his breath.
She made his jaw hit the floor.
She drove him crazy.
Which was exactly where Will wanted to go with Harper--utterly crazy.
*
The look on Will's face was worth every single penny she'd spent. He seemed stunned, unable to speak, unable to move, able only to look.
And to want her in the same way she
'd been wanting him.
Oh yes, definitely worth it. What's more, she felt sexy and desirable, from the new makeup to the new sandals to the new dress. And everything new underneath. It had been a really long time since she'd treated herself...and she wondered suddenly why she'd waited so long.
"We had a good day," he told her. "Got a lot accomplished."
"We even marked a bunch more panels that we still have to match up," Jeremy rushed to add.
"That's great." She beamed at them both, easily able to see how happy they were with the day's work. Two peas in a pod...who would have thought? The billionaire and her brother.
She was still marveling at that when she realized Will was saying, "Jeremy has given me his permission to take you out to dinner tonight."
"He has?" She felt a kick in her pulse, as if he'd stepped on the accelerator. All afternoon, she'd been trying to figure out how to make her move. The problem was that she'd never made a move on anyone before, so she didn't have the first clue how to do it. But now, thankfully, that problem might very well be solved for her.
Will and Jeremy both nodded. "We were thinking he could stay with Mrs. Taylor." Will patted Jeremy's shoulder. "And you're excited about streaming any movie you like, aren't you? Action. Comedy. Animated."
"Will has everything." Jeremy widened his arms to encompass the enormous expanse of Will's streaming library. "And me and Mrs. Taylor can have pizza. Will says she makes the best one ever in his pizza oven."
"As long as you don't mind Jeremy having pizza and watching a movie," Will added.
"Pizza's fine," Harper said with a smile she knew must be bordering on giddy. "And so is a movie. Or three."
She didn't care if Will had talked Jeremy into staying with Mrs. Taylor, or that he seemed to have it all mapped out as if she were an opponent whose every objection he had to overcome.
All she cared about was being alone with him tonight.
"So is that a yes?"
She was surprised to realize that the powerful billionaire standing in front of her actually seemed a little nervous as he waited for her answer. She had assumed she'd always be the nervous one, not he. And she'd certainly never thought that she could hold the power in a relationship with a man like him. But while she knew that might be a huge stretch, at the very least, it was lovely to be wanted. Beyond lovely, actually.
"Yes, I'd love to go out with you tonight, Will."
For a moment, she thought he might kiss her right then and there in front of her brother. Instead, he simply stroked her cheek with the back of his hand and looked at her as if she were the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She knew that couldn't possibly be true, but she didn't care.
The three of them took the golf cart down the hill, both men still in their overalls. Once in the house, Will led them along a back hall past the kitchen, laundry room, and a bedroom, which she assumed was used by Mrs. Taylor.
"Make yourselves at home," Will told them as he pushed through a swing door that led into the main house. "I won't be long." He disappeared up a wide staircase. It wasn't a second floor, but another level sitting on the rise of the hill on which the house was built.
Harper took a few minutes to appreciate Will's beautiful home. The open floor plan consisted of a dining area on one side of a long marble floor that ended at the double front doors, with a massive living room on the other side. Picture windows faced the driveway and rock garden, then flowed around into a huge wall of windows overlooking the infinity pool and a valley below it all. And what she'd thought was a putting green was actually a small golf course.
"Wow," Jeremy said at her side.
The view was magnificent, but the living room itself took her breath away. Curved couches in black leather surrounded a sunken fire pit ringed in slate. A round, burnished metal flue hung over the center of the fire grates to draw up the smoke. On the wall beside the stairs, a long wet bar featured every kind of alcohol imaginable and every shape of glass, from tumblers to martini glasses to champagne flutes. A stocked wine refrigerator stood floor to ceiling.
With three different chair groupings, it was a room for entertaining. Double sliding glass doors opened to flagstone steps leading down to the pool deck. In the summer, with the doors wide, the party could flow easily from inside to outdoors.
She'd been thinking about wild sex with an incredibly hot guy. She'd thought she'd already come to terms with his wealth. But this was something more. Will was an incredibly hot super rich guy. Of course she already knew that he was a billionaire, but the fact kept hitting her over and over again.
Caviar worth thousands that he gave away to a friend.
A Maserati kit car he conjured up with a snap of his fingers.
A golf course in his backyard.
A fire pit in his sunken living room.
"He needs a Ping-Pong table," Jeremy said matter-of-factly.
She slung her arm around his shoulders and laughed, glad that her brother could always pull her from her spinning thoughts. Thoughts about just how far out of her depth she was with Will. "He probably has a game room somewhere."
Will's voice carried across the immense room. "Indeed I do. And it's right under here." He tapped the floor with his foot.
His newly washed hair was so dark it gleamed with blue highlights in the late sun falling through the tall windows. He was delicious in black jeans and a dark blue shirt, its sleeves rolled up his forearms. So delicious that the sight of him sent another flush of heat rushing over her skin.
"There's a pool table and some pinball machines down there as well," he told Jeremy. "You can get to it from the pool patio. Or there's a set of stairs from up here." He pointed behind the first staircase leading to the second level. "The media room is down there, too."
"A media room?" Harper echoed, even though at this point she shouldn't be surprised by anything in this magnificent house.
"It's got a projection TV. Like a small movie screen."
"Cool," Jeremy said, and then he kissed Harper on the cheek, yelled "'Bye!" and raced down the stairs to check it all out.
As soon as her brother was out of sight, Will moved close. He put his hand on Harper's arm and skimmed his fingers down until he clasped her hand in his. His thumb stroked a slow rhythm against her skin.
"Feel like a drive to Pacifica for dinner? There's a great place right on the ocean."
God, yes. She'd go anywhere with him tonight. Absolutely anywhere.
Smiling up at him, she let her inner vixen shine through. "Sounds good, especially if you can get us there fast."
As the word fast registered, his eyes dilated nearly to black as he understood that she was up for another wild ride--in every sense of the phrase. For one breathless moment, Harper wasn't sure they'd even make it out of his house. Especially when he leaned in close and said, "I'll take you as fast, and as wild, as you want." His mouth was close enough that she could almost taste him as he added, "As many times as you want."
But then, instead of kissing her, he drew out the tease by merely putting his hand on the small of her back. And as they headed for the door, Harper realized that a person really could go weak in the knees.
Because she just had.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Throughout dinner, Will barely tasted the food, though he assumed it was good. He didn't care about what he ate or the view from the restaurant's tall windows overlooking the ocean. He cared only about watching Harper. Touching Harper. He'd kept her close beside him in the booth, her thigh against his, the friction of their bodies like jolts of electricity.
She seemed excited tonight--which he understood, because he felt exactly the same way--and he was glad to see that she wasn't trying to hide her innate sensuality anymore. But at the same time, she seemed a little nervous. As if she couldn't quite believe she was wearing that super-sexy dress while out on a date with him.
Now, as they got back into his car, he asked her, "Do you want the top up or down?"
It was cool out, a
nd her dress didn't have sleeves. But she surprised him by saying, "Top down. Heater up."
They flew down the coast road. The mesh deflector behind the seats reduced the noise and wind. Despite the stick shift between them, he kept her close with a hand over hers. She'd half-turned toward him, her head resting on the seat back, one knee bent, the hem of the dress rising higher. The night sky above was bright with stars and moonlight, everything reflected in her eyes. Her hair blew around her face in lazy tendrils. He didn't want to scare her away, but he needed to touch her, so he moved his hand to her knee and stroked her bare skin in small circles.
Hell. It took serious effort to keep his focus on driving. He damn well might get them into an accident at this rate.
Will made the turn off the coast road onto Highway 92, which crossed over the mountains, back to the San Francisco Peninsula, then said, "How fast do you want to go tonight, Harper?" He wanted her--wanted her so badly that he needed to make absolutely sure he wasn't the only one feeling this crazy. Or wanting this badly.
It was too dark to see the color of her skin clearly, but he could have sworn she blushed as she said, "Fast." Her voice was husky and more than a little breathless as she put her hand over his on her knee and added, "I'm ready for you to go really fast. As fast as you've ever gone."
He felt the hum of her words in his chest. Hell, he felt it everywhere. He could tell she wasn't normally this bold with men, and he loved that she wanted to be bold with him. He was supposed to be the seducer, she the seduced. But she was reversing roles on him, and he liked it.
Liked it a hell of a lot.
He wanted his hands on her, his lips tasting hers. He wanted to feel her skin, hold her close, rub his body against hers. And fill her with everything he had.
But at the same time, he didn't want tonight to be the beginning and end. Which meant he'd have to make it so good she couldn't help but come back for more...
*
The speedometer climbed, and Harper held onto Will's arm as they took the corners. It was late, the road empty as the headlights cut a path through the dark. It felt so sexy to be cocooned in the car with him, the wind whipping over the top of the convertible, leaving them virtually untouched.
She'd never been this bold before, had never asked for what she wanted from a man. But no man had ever made her feel this hungry, this greedy, this desperate before.
