Tempting Christa: An Irresistibly Mine Duet - Book 1

by Delaney, Tracie

  He cradled my chin and eased my head up. “Look at me.”

  I did as he’d asked. He was all blurred, and I blinked again to clear my vision.

  “I want you to attend as my girlfriend, partner, or whatever the current acceptable word is. The remuneration part of our deal still stands, but I want you to come because you want to be there, not because I’m paying you to be there. I want you to come as my equal, my significant other, not as my employee.”

  My chin hit the floor. Not literally, of course, but my mouth did fall open spectacularly, and, I’d imagine, very unattractively. Girlfriend? Where had that come from?

  “And how long before you get sick of me?” I blurted. “Like you did with whatshername, Caroline? How long did she last?”

  He slowly blinked, and his forehead creased. “Seven weeks,” he answered begrudgingly.

  “And the one before her?”

  A faint smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Four.”

  I blew out my cheeks. “Probably best I don’t ask you to go any farther back,” I muttered.

  Dayton chuckled, crinkles appearing around his eyes, softening his features. He cradled my face and brushed his lips against mine. On reflex, I stiffened. He instantly withdrew.

  “Fuck, I don’t know, Christa. It feels different with you. In the last few weeks, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “I hadn’t planned on this. You weren’t supposed to get under my skin, to torment me every minute of every goddamn day.” His voice had turned rough, rasping. He cleared his throat. “I assumed I’d fuck you a few times and move on to the next, but you’ve become so much more to me.”

  I took a single step backward, just to give myself a little breathing space. Dayton must have read this as a rejection, though, because he grabbed on to my hands. His eyes widened in alarm, and he took a breath, then released me. “Give me a chance to prove myself to you. Please. I find you irresistible, and I want you to be mine.”

  His words crashed around inside my head. God, I was tempted, but there was also a niggling thought that the reason I fascinated him was because I hadn’t ended up in his bed. I still had no idea whether I’d ever be able to take that final step to intimacy, and I couldn’t imagine a man like Dayton settling for a celibate relationship.

  I dug my fingertips into my temples. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I’d learned my lesson, good and proper. I was supposed to fall for a schoolteacher, or a policeman, or anyone who wasn’t the man sitting before me saying things I never expected to hear.

  “Dayton—”

  He pressed his forefinger to my lips. “Don’t answer yet. Take a few days. I’m heading out of town tonight anyway. I’ll be back on the twenty-eighth. Give me your answer then.”

  Numb with shock, I simply nodded. Thank goodness Isla was arriving tonight because, hell, I needed her advice.

  * * *

  I topped off our wine glasses while Isla carried Max to bed. It was way past his usual bedtime, but he’d been far too excited to sleep. The idea of both Santa Claus and his beloved Aunty Isla arriving at the same time was too much for his toddler brain to compute. The result? One very hyperactive two-year-old.

  I crossed over to the kitchen and grabbed Max’s presents from where I’d hidden them, as well as the one I’d bought for Isla. I put them under the tree so they’d be there as soon as he got up in the morning. Last year, he’d been too young to really appreciate the magic of Christmas, but this year he was far more aware. I wanted to make it as special as I could.

  “It’s good to see him again, but sheesh, that kid’s got oodles of energy,” Isla said as she closed the bedroom door quietly and flopped onto the couch.

  I laughed. “Welcome to my world.”

  Isla picked up her wine and clinked her glass against mine. “Okay, now little ears are out of the way, you can tell me what’s going on with you.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a loaded question.”

  Isla matched my facial expression. “That’s because it is.”

  I took a deep breath and brought her up to speed about my strange arrangement with Dayton, ending with his declaration from earlier that evening. She listened without interruption, her face blank, giving nothing away. When I finished, she laced her fingers together and cupped the back of her neck.

  “What are your instincts telling you?”

  I snorted. “Considering I fell in love with Sutton, I’d say they’re probably not the most reliable thing to base decisions on. What if this is history repeating itself? What if men like Sutton, like Dayton, are my ‘type’, and he’ll hurt me like Sutton did? What if I can’t tell good from bad?”

  Isla made a frustrated noise. “Sutton is a psychopath who preyed on a young, innocent girl and tried to destroy her. Men like him don’t have ‘dangerous prick’ tattooed on their foreheads. How were you supposed to know? Anyway, you’re a lot more savvy now. Hell, you’re a survivor given what that bastard put you through. Dammit, girl, cut yourself some fucking slack. If you don’t try to move forward, then Sutton has won. What that bastard did will have honed your instincts, and, therefore, they’re the very thing you should be relying on. And I’ll tell you something else. With Sutton, although you professed to love him, there was always a…” She looked up, searching for the right word. “A terrified reverence about you whenever you were together. From what you’ve said about Dayton, comparing him to Sutton is like chalk and cheese, despite the similarities on the surface.”

  I rubbed my finger across my top lip, considering. “My instincts are telling me to give Dayton a chance, but the realities of a relationship with someone else...” I sighed heavily. “How do I explain… it?” I winced, my hands protectively covering my abdomen. “I don’t think I can let another man see me naked. Not until I save enough money for the surgery.”

  Isla reached for my hand. “Girl, talk to him. If he’s the guy you think he is then he won’t care. And if he does…” She shrugged. “Then at least you’ll know before you get in any deeper.”

  “But how much do I tell him, Isla?”

  “As much as you’re comfortable with. You don’t have to tell him every single detail. At least not right away. He hasn’t pushed you so far, and let’s face it, you’ve given him plenty of reasons to be curious.” She grinned. “I bet his ego’s already taken quite a battering.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I’d be surprised if he’s ever had a woman scream at him not to touch her. He probably has to fight them off.”

  She pointed at the bracelet Dayton had given to me. “Money might be no object, but this gift isn’t just some trinket he asked his PA to pick up on her way back from fetching his lunch. It’s personal. It’s you.”

  I twisted it around my wrist, watching as it caught the light. “You’re right. If I had the money, this is exactly the type of jewelry I’d choose for myself. Understated, classically elegant.”

  “Exactly. He’s clearly been paying attention on all these dates you’ve gone on.”

  “They weren’t dates.”

  Isla gestured dismissively. “Semantics.”

  I hugged her. “I have so missed you,” I mumbled against her wild mop of hair. “It’s been pretty lonely at times.”

  She returned my embrace, and it was several seconds before we broke apart. “Good things are coming your way, but you have to let go of the past and grasp the future.”

  She might be right, but the question I had to answer was whether I could summon the strength to truly put the past behind me.

  14

  Christa

  Isla must have kissed me and Max a hundred times before she let me put her in a cab to the airport. I waved madly until it turned the corner, taking my friend away from me and back to Seattle. I’d miss her terribly, but we’d had an amazing few days, and she’d really helped me put everything in perspective. I was going to give Dayton and me a chance. Whether he’d still want that chance after he saw what Sutt
on had done to me was an unknown risk, but one I’d have to take if I were to have any chance at happiness. I was far too young to give up on the idea of intimacy. As soon as he got back to New York tomorrow, I’d sit him down and explain.

  The thought of going back to an empty apartment didn’t appeal, so I decided to take Max to Central Park. It was too far to walk, especially in these freezing temperatures, and I didn’t relish the idea of struggling with a stroller and subway steps, so I called up the Uber app and requested a vehicle with a car seat. They applied a surcharge for the privilege, and it was an extravagance I wouldn’t normally afford myself, but it was the holidays after all. That made splurging perfectly acceptable.

  I asked the driver to stop outside the Plaza, right by the horses and carriages lined up to take tourists on a ride around the park. Max squealed with excitement as I pushed him across the street, and he insisted on stroking the white horse at the front of the line. The driver kindly agreed, and I unbuckled the straps holding Max in place and picked him up.

  “Gently, Max,” I said, showing him how to stroke the horse without startling the poor beast.

  “Pony,” he said, grinning, rubbing the front of the horse’s face.

  “That’s right,” I said. “Isn’t he lovely.”

  “Pitty,” he said.

  “He is. Very pretty.”

  I put him back in his stroller, and we walked into the park. After a half hour or so, Max dozed off. I carried on walking, happening upon the ice-skating rink. I stood off to the side, watching the skaters and their differing levels of ability—some proficient, some wobbly, some downright scary as they took heavy tumbles—but the smiles on their faces sent a lightness through my limbs. I’d fallen in love with New York in the few months I’d lived here, and I couldn’t imagine ever leaving. Sure, it was crowded and expensive, but it had a special kind of buzz that had me hooked.

  Numbness spread to my fingers. I headed to a street vendor and bought a hot chocolate. Settling myself on a bench, I warmed my hands around the cup. I’d drink this then call another Uber and go home before Max got too cold. I drained the cup, feeling much warmer. As I got to my feet, my gaze fell on a man standing a good distance away. The hair lifted on the nape of my neck. He had his back to me, but… oh God… It was Sutton. I held back an agonizing cry, my leg muscles tightening, ready for flight. The empty cup fell from my hands, and I gripped Max’s stroller.

  He turned around. It wasn’t him. My knees buckled, and I sank back onto the bench in relief. Heavy breaths pushed in and out of my lungs, and I let my head fall into my hands. “It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re okay.” I wiped sweat off my upper lip, shaking uncontrollably.

  “Miss, are you all right?” My head snapped up to find an elderly lady, her brow wrinkled in concern, bending over me. “Do you need me to fetch someone?”

  I shook my head. “I’m fine. I’m sorry, I had a bit of a shock, that’s all.”

  She regarded me steadily. “As long as you’re sure, dear.”

  I forced a reassuring smile. “Positive.”

  She patted my shoulder, then carried on her way.

  I sat there for a few minutes. If I stood now, I wasn’t sure my legs would hold me. What an idiot. How could it have been Sutton? It wasn’t like prisoners were allowed vacations. It had spooked me, though, and now I just wanted to go home.

  I called an Uber, stamping my feet and blowing on my hands while I waited. I was daydreaming about a hot bath when a familiar figure caught my eye. Except this time, I wasn’t mistaken. What the hell was Dayton doing in New York? He told me he wasn’t due back in New York until tomorrow. He was standing on the other side of the street, a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. I guessed he’d had a change of plans. I opened my mouth to shout over to him, but the words died on my lips, because he wasn’t alone.

  A raven-haired beauty with olive skin, piercing blue eyes, and more sophistication in her little finger than I had in my whole body came floating out of the coffee shop Dayton was standing in front of. Her tinkling laugh carried on the wind as she slipped her arm through his and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He gazed down at her with the kind of love I’d spent my whole life craving. Pain struck me hard in the chest, and betrayal burned through my veins as I watched them walk up the street, in my direction. I froze on the spot and clenched my hands around the handle on Max’s stroller. A burst of anger took my breath away. Liar. He’d sat there in his office and lied through his teeth. Girlfriend? Pah! That man wouldn’t know monogamy if it smacked him in the face. All he wanted was to fuck me, and because I’d resisted his smooth advances, he’d tried a new approach, one I’d fallen for. A man like Dayton Somers didn’t like to lose. Well, look out, asshole, because you’re about to lose big-time.

  I should have walked away with my dignity intact, but the fury erupting inside me wouldn’t allow it. I’d had it with men walking all over me, destroying me, treating me as though I was nothing. I mattered, goddammit. I might not have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth, or gone to an Ivy League college, but that didn’t mean I didn’t deserve respect.

  Forgetting all about my Uber, I marched down the street, using Max’s stroller as a battering ram to anyone who got in my way and ignoring the mutterings of stupid bitch as I scraped several ankles. I was on a mission. Not even God could stop me now.

  “Hey, you,” I yelled, catching Dayton’s attention, as well as several other people who set their startled expressions on me. I bounced Max’s stroller up the curb which, thankfully, didn’t wake him. My baby didn’t need to witness what was about to happen, namely his mother losing it.

  Dayton smiled, until he caught my furious expression. The grin sliced right off his face.

  “You’re a liar,” I said, poking him in the chest.

  His companion took a step back, a hand clasped to her chest in shock. God, she was even more stunning up close. No wonder he’d picked her. I’d have picked her, if I’d been that way inclined. She should be on the catwalk or gracing the covers of beauty magazines. Instead, she was about to get a wake-up call.

  “Do yourself a favor, honey, and run from this asshat as fast as possible,” I said to her. “Whatever line he’s fed you will be laced with bullshit.”

  “Christa,” Dayton said. “Let me explain.”

  I turned my fury back in his direction, where it belonged. This poor woman was as much of a victim as me. “Screw you, Dayton. I don’t care how much money you’ve got, or which greasy pole you’re climbing this week, no one treats me like crap.” I wrenched off the bracelet—the one I hadn’t even removed to shower or sleep—and threw it at him. He caught it before it hit the ground. “Take your piece of tin and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”

  I spun Max’s stroller around and stomped down the street. Tears streamed down my face. I told myself it was the bitter wind making my eyes water. I wasn’t crying over that bastard.

  My elbow was grabbed from behind, and Dayton’s large hand wrapped around the handle on Max’s stroller, preventing me from moving. Rage darkened his features, and his eyes held a scary glint.

  “Wait a fucking minute,” he bellowed.

  Several passers-by stopped and stared. They soon moved off, however, when they caught his furious expression. I was too lost in the red mist to follow their lead.

  “Get off my son,” I hissed in his face.

  He ignored me. “I didn’t lie to you.”

  “Oh yeah?” I snorted. “What’s she then?” I pointed my chin at his companion who’d caught up to us.

  Dayton captured her hand and tugged her to his side. Pain sliced through me once more. Was he purposely trying to hurt me?

  “She,” he said sarcastically, “is my sister. Nina, meet Christa.”

  I couldn’t have been any more stunned than if I’d been hit around the head with a blunt object. I staggered back a step or two, and my hand fluttered to my throat. Despite the freezing temperatures, my
face burned. I took a closer look. The family resemblance was right there, staring me in the face. So obvious now, except I’d been too furious to notice.

  “Sister?” I covered my nose and mouth with my hands and prayed for a sinkhole to open up and swallow me forever. That’d be more preferable than having to face the embarrassing alternative. “Oh God.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” Nina said, hand outstretched. I shook it on autopilot. “So, you’re the famous Christa my brother hasn’t stopped talking about for days.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  “Nina, why don’t you go back to my place,” Dayton said, a coldness to his tone that had my knees trembling. “I’ll be along shortly.”

  My heart plummeted south. I could guess what that meant. A chat, and not a nice cozy fireside one.

  Nina nodded. “Lovely to meet you, Christa, and Max, too,” she said, bending down to gaze fondly at my sleeping son who, thankfully, had missed his mother going crazy. “I’m in town for a few days. I hope we get to meet again. Perhaps you could come over for dinner tomorrow night.”

  I nodded glumly without committing. Given Dayton’s stony expression, I doubted I’d be accepting that invite.

  Nina kissed Dayton on the cheek. “Go easy, brother.” She jumped into a waiting cab that had dropped off a group of tourists and waved as it pulled into the traffic.

  “Follow me,” Dayton ordered, heading back the way he’d come.

  I trudged behind him, head bowed.

  “In here.” He opened the door to the coffee shop he and Nina had exited from. He indicated for me to sit by the window and went up to the counter. He didn’t even ask me what I wanted. He’d probably come back with a large slice of humble pie and force-feed it to me.

  “Milk, Momma.”

  Max held out his arms for me to get him out of his stroller. I unbuckled him and lifted him onto my lap. I hugged him to me, then reached beneath the stroller and grabbed a bottle of milk I’d put in there earlier, cursing my decision to come to the park at all. If I hadn’t, then I wouldn’t have spotted Dayton and made an enormous fool of myself. I wouldn’t have almost given myself a heart attack by thinking I’d seen Sutton.