Tycoon For Auction (HQR Silhouette Desire)

by Katherine Garbera

  She looked fetching, standing there backlit from the setting sun, which streamed in the plate-glass windows. Fetching wasn’t a word he usually used, but there was something about Corrine that brought out his old-fashioned notions of courting. Hell, she brought out the most old-fashioned thing between a man and a woman in him—lust.

  It wasn’t only that he’d tasted her mouth and felt the passion she kept tightly under control. She’d left her hair down. Damp from her shower but starting to dry, it brushed her shoulder and curled with a slight wave. He regretted he hadn’t taken the time to touch her hair earlier. It looked like silk with the sun illuminating it, and he clenched his hands to keep from crossing to her and taking her head in his grip.

  But he knew caressing her velvety hair wasn’t going to be enough. He’d soon be tipping her head back and exploring her mouth until she rose to meet him. Until she became as overcome as he. Until nothing less than total completion would satisfy either one of them.

  Yeah, he should’ve felt her hair earlier, but frankly, his body had been focused on much more responsive areas of hers. He’d been on overdrive and needed to arouse in her the same passion that had been flowing through his veins.

  “Hi,” she said softly. Her voice brushed over him like the hot sun had earlier, making him feel heavy and lethargic. His groin tightened a little more and he shifted his bag so that she wouldn’t notice.

  He nodded at her, unsure if he could talk right now. He was used to playing and winning, even with women. Winning made him feel in control and sure of himself. And there was a vulnerability in Corrine’s eyes that warned this wasn’t a game. Or at least not one that would leave behind a victor.

  “Hi, yourself,” he said, trying for a casualness he didn’t feel.

  His beast had slipped the civilized reins of his upbringing and the veneer of sophistication was a memory. Winning always brought him a rush, but holding a woman in his arms had never affected him the way Corrine had. Her taste was still on his lips, the feel of her skin, soft and smooth, was still under his fingertips, and the feel of her tightened nipples still abraded his chest.

  He hardened more, undoing the effects of the shower. Damn. He hadn’t counted on this. Hadn’t counted on her or the way she made him forget the things about himself he’d always taken for granted. He’d had success with women for one reason and one reason only. He wasn’t playing for keeps, so it was easy to play to win. Easy to put their needs first and make them feel as if they were the center of his world.

  He knew with gut-deep sureness that if he made Corrine the center of his world—with her wide, unguarded eyes and her shy smile—he’d never want to let her out of his life. And he wouldn’t ask anyone to share the shadowy world that was his reality. He might have the world fooled into believing he was the easygoing owner of a successful business, but deep in the night, under the cover of darkness, he knew the truth.

  “Ready to leave?” he asked, starting for the door. Maybe if he could make it to the car and concentrate on driving, this would go away. Yeah, right.

  “Um…Rand?”

  He glanced over his shoulder at her. She hadn’t moved. Her straw bag was still over her shoulder, but her hands were crossed around her waist in the most defensive position he’d ever seen.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “Winning.”

  “No problem,” he said.

  “It isn’t for you, but for me it usually is.”

  “Like you said, winning isn’t everything.”

  “Maybe it’s the adrenaline from taking a risk.”

  “Why risk?”

  “I was unsure of Paul’s reaction.”

  “Paul’s a nice guy,” Rand said. Why the hell were they talking about Paul?

  “Yes, he is…nice.”

  Where was this inane conversation going? He dropped his bag and strode back to her, aware there was more she wanted from him than just a rehash of something that had happened earlier.

  “What’s with all this niceness?” he asked, barely an inch of space separating them.

  “You don’t think Paul is nice?”

  “Cori, I’m hanging on to my control by a thread. At this moment Paul is the last person on my mind.”

  “Who’s on your mind?”

  “Do you really not know?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know myself around you. I feel achy and I don’t like it.”

  He framed her face in his hands and bent his head, taking her sweet mouth with his. She dropped her bag and wrapped her hands around his shoulders, holding him to her. He wasn’t going anywhere. Not now. Not until he’d appeased the hunger deep inside him.

  But not here, he thought. He needed to get them someplace with total privacy. And he needed to think. He lifted his head, rubbed his thumb across her lower lip. Her mouth was wide and full and meant to be under his. Rand dropped a few small, teasing caresses on her face and then stepped away, glancing at his watch.

  He saw the uncertainty in her eyes and knew that if he didn’t encourage her she’d retreat back behind that coolness she used to keep the world at bay. Deep inside he was touched. Hell, more than touched that she’d dropped her guard for him.

  But he knew fate well. Knew that a man wasn’t meant to have it all. A long time ago, Rand had decided wealth was enough for him. It wasn’t as risky as emotion.

  “Well, that was nice,” he said.

  “I’m ready to go home,” she said, grabbing her straw bag and walking out of the clubhouse without another word. But each tattoo of her sandals echoed in the room, saying to Rand, “Bastard.”

  There wasn’t anger in her steps, only disappointment, and he wasn’t used to inspiring that kind of reaction in women.

  Corrine prided herself on being a smart woman. She rarely had to be shown or told how to do something more than once. In fact, she’d received recognition at work for her quick thinking. So as she sat next to Rand, driving back to her house, she knew with absolute certainty that she would never again attempt to step outside her box.

  She thought about pulling out her laptop and escaping into her work but knew that this time work wouldn’t be the escape she needed. She had a slight sunburn from being outside, but that sensation didn’t bother her as much as what had happened with Rand. Was it his reaction that made her feel this way or the fact that she’d wanted something more from him?

  Something physical and deep. Something that wouldn’t go away. Because even though she knew he didn’t want her, because no one ever really had—but she still wanted him. Her pulse beat languidly and her skin was sensitized. She still felt him pressed along her body, and there was a part of her that wouldn’t be content until he was touching her again.

  But he didn’t want to. He’d made it abundantly clear in one fell swoop. Had he glimpsed the thing that made her unlovable? She wrapped her arms around her waist, chilled at the thought that her vulnerability was so easily visible to this man. The one man who made her want to reach out to him saw her for the incomplete woman she was.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  She shook her head. Huddling deeper in her seat, she glanced out the window at the passing landscape. She’d lived her entire life in Florida…carved out a safe niche for herself. And only today had she realized how cold and lonely her place in the sun was. The future suddenly took on a new meaning, and her career, which had been her focus for so long, paled when she thought of her elderly years spent alone with only her mind for company.

  “Sure?” he asked after a few miles.

  “Yes,” she said firmly. It felt as if he was offering her an olive branch. Why the hell didn’t she just take it?

  But she couldn’t. She’d spent her entire adult life keeping everyone at bay, and the one time she wanted to let someone closer—not just anyone, but Rand—he didn’t want to come.

  He fiddled with the radio, tuning into a hard-rock station. Music blared from the speakers and she wondered if he wa
s trying to quiet his mind with the music. It wasn’t working for her. His words echoed over and over in her mind, like a hunter circling his prey…that was nice.

  Their embrace had shaken her moorings, making her question things in her life that she’d always taken for granted. The very fabric of who she was had ripped in half, and she realized she didn’t know herself with this man. Why him?

  What was it about Rand that made her sit up and take notice? Suddenly she couldn’t wait another minute. She flicked off the radio and he turned to her. He glanced at her from beneath the dark rims of his sunglasses, but his eyes were not visible to her.

  He raised one eyebrow at her in question. Unable to help herself she mimicked the action back to him. He cracked a grin but didn’t say anything. She liked him, dammit. Why was it when she finally found a man she thought she could connect with he was all wrong for her?

  “Did you want something?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.

  “Yes.” She wanted him. Even if it was only for a short-term affair. But how did you ask a man who you’d bought for business to suddenly make the arrangement personal?

  “Why?” she asked at last.

  “Why what?”

  “I guess I meant, why not? Since the moment we met you’ve been flirting with me, and when I finally take you up on it…” She couldn’t say it out loud. Even though she’d known her entire life that she was not a keeper she didn’t want him to realize it. Except he already had.

  It had started with her birth parents and followed her throughout her entire life. Quick learner that she was, you’d think she’d have caught on by now. But there was always a feeling of hope deep in her soul that maybe this time someone would want to keep her.

  He cursed savagely under his breath, slowed the car and pulled off on the shoulder. He didn’t look at her, but instead stared out of the windshield. Not saying a word to her, he rubbed his forehead.

  “I got the feeling you didn’t want more from me,” he said at last.

  He had her. Why was it she never seemed to realize how important a person was to her until he’d moved on? “Well, I didn’t.”

  He shifted the car into Park and turned toward her in the seat. He laid his arm behind her, and though he didn’t touch her she felt the heat of him. Something deep inside her let loose and she realized that even if she made a fool of herself, this man was important to her and she couldn’t let him go without a fight. “So what’s the problem?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just that…”

  “What?” he asked. He removed his sunglasses and those green eyes of his bore into her. She felt as if he was seeing past the conversation she was using to protect herself.

  “It’s been a long time since a man kissed me like you did,” she said.

  “Really?” he asked, his voice dropping to a low, husky growl. His hand moved to the back of her neck, rubbing in a slow, sensuous circle.

  “God, I should’ve known better than to say that to you, ego man.” His touch made it hard for her to think, but she didn’t want him to stop. God, why was this man the one to bring her to aching attention? Why did he call to all that was feminine in her?

  “It’s not ego. You’re a hard woman to read.”

  “I’ve lived a hard life,” she said quietly. There was no use hiding it from Rand. She wasn’t the woman she tried to present to the outer world. Though she knew she’d keep up the image around him, he had to know there was more underneath the surface.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, glancing away from her and taking his hand from her neck.

  She wondered if she might already matter to him a little bit. It would be so easy to sink back into silence and let this conversation die, but she wasn’t about to miss out on Rand. Something about him called to the wild, untamed part of her soul that she’d hidden forever. Taking his hand in hers, she said, “I won’t let you.”

  “Nothing can stop fate.” He turned his hand in her grasp so that he was the one holding her hand. His fingers were large, engulfing hers completely. His thumb rubbed over her knuckles and she knew he meant nothing sexual by his touch, but that didn’t stop shivers from spreading up her arm.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Just that happiness is a delicate balancing act, and what we feel for each other is too explosive not to blow up in our faces.”

  She studied him for a moment. “Where does this leave us?”

  “With a handful of firecrackers,” he said.

  She just waited, sensing that he had more to say. He sighed, brought her hand to his lips and kissed her. She felt like a maiden of old receiving a knight’s colors. And for the first time since she met him she realized that Rand wasn’t wearing shining armor and riding a grand steed. He was weary and riding a horse that had seen too much battle.

  That glimpse shook her. There was more to this flirty playboy than she’d imagined. Sensing she wasn’t the only one who could get hurt, she wanted to pull back, but he smiled at her.

  “How about we start with dinner?” he asked.

  Even though she knew better, knew that there was no way she was going to be able to keep this man at arm’s length, she smiled and nodded. He drove them to Tasty Thai, where they ordered takeout, and then went to her house to eat it. All the while Corrine knew that she had taken a step that would change her life forever.

  Five

  Two hours later, Rand still wasn’t sure he’d made the best decision, but he couldn’t regret spending the evening with Corrine. Her house was neat and homey. Not what he’d expected from her all-business persona. He could tell that she’d created a sort of sanctuary for herself. The only thing missing were family photos. In fact, there were no photographs in the entire house. He’d taken a tour while she’d brewed some iced tea for them.

  She’d offered him a beer with dinner, and for the first time in a long time, he’d been tempted to take it and drink it. Corrine made him feel things and he preferred to live in the safety of numbness. At social functions he usually held a glass in his hand and didn’t taste it because one taste was never enough.

  But tonight his control was shaky, and even smelling alcohol was something he didn’t want to attempt. He hoped once he’d had Corrine in his bed, once he’d exorcised the passion she wrought effortlessly from him, he might be able to find his equilibrium again.

  Her living room was a homage to the cinema, and it was clear to him that her secret passion was movies. Her bookshelves were crammed full of script versions of films and biographies of movie stars. She had a state-of-the-art home theater system that rivaled his own. As the evening had progressed he’d realized that Corrine might freeze everyone out at work and be a top-notch businesswoman, but the real woman underneath was a bit of an innocent.

  There was a part of him that wanted to uncover all of her secrets. She’d teased and flirted with him throughout dinner, and now that they were in the living room enjoying coffee and the sounds of mellow jazz on her Bose speaker system, he should be relaxing.

  But she was close to him on the couch. Her pheromones were doing too good a job at attracting him, and he felt as if he might fall on her like a hungry dog unless he distracted himself. No matter that she’d all but asked him to spend the night in her bed. He needed to remember that he’d made a vow to stop hurting the innocents of the world a long time ago.

  “I can’t believe you don’t like period movies.

  Emma was one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

  “It’s a girlie movie.”

  “Girlie movie? Thelma and Louise is a girlie movie.”

  “Point taken. Why did you think I’d like that?”

  “You just seem different from other men,” she said.

  He wasn’t sure how to take that. He was different and had been for a long time. “You think I’m girlie.”

  She swatted his shoulder. “Don’t be obtuse.”

  “I’m not.”

  She gave him a very serious look, but
there was a sparkle in her eyes. And he knew that she was teasing him. Suddenly it became very important that he handle her carefully. Because he realized that she was slowly blossoming here tonight. She’d started earlier at the beach when her focus had widened off of work, and then over dinner it had continued.

  Normally he’d be happy that a woman he wanted showed signs of wanting him with the same intensity, but tonight, with the full moon shining in through her bay window and the sensual music pouring through the speakers, seduction no longer seemed the order of the day. Seduction, in fact, seemed a violation of the trust that was slowly building between them.

  A trust that Rand knew to be false because he was hiding the truth of who he was from her.

  “What’s your favorite movie?” she asked.

  “Star Wars.”

  “Good choice. The mythical story structure and impact on cinema alone make it a good choice.”

  “I was thinking of Princess Leia in her bondage outfit.”

  “You’re into bondage?”

  “Only if it excites you,” he said. He’d like nothing better than to tie her to his bed.

  She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think I’d like it.”

  “I promise you would,” he said.

  “Get that gleam out of your eyes. I was teasing you.”

  “I know,” he said. He’d lived a decadent life in part because he’d been running from his image as the good son and also because when you had everything, life got boring. But he’d long ago given up on jading innocents.

  There was a brief lull in the conversation and Corrine leaned her head back with her eyes closed. “You’re the first person I’ve had to the house for dinner.”

  “Should I feel special?” he asked.

  She turned her head and her bright gray eyes made him feel as if he were being measured. “Yes.”

  Oh, Corrine, he thought, don’t feel too much. Unable to wait another minute, he reached out and touched her cheek. She shivered under his touch. And he knew that the electricity that he felt whenever they were together wasn’t one-sided.