by Katie Dowe
“Instead of wasting your time taking me to dinner, is that it?” she asked him mildly.
“Yes!” he bit out. He poured some more wine and took his time sipping it, his gray eyes hard. “What the hell kind of game are you playing?”
“Who is playing? I am just telling you what I want.”
“I refuse to believe you are this person.”
“Why not?”
“Because –” he shrugged and finished the wine. He glanced at the thick gold Gessner watch on his wrist. “I think it’s time to leave.”
“Already?” she asked him innocently.
“I have to fly out of town in the morning,” he told her tightly as he got to his feet. The manager materialized and Liam handed him his card, moving out of the way for Amani to get up from around the table, steeling himself not to respond as she brushed against him, her light expensive perfume tingling his senses. Damn her! He thought savagely. He had offered her something that most women would die for and she had taken it and shoved it in his face, making another offer that he found very distasteful! But what was even worse was that he wanted her enough to think about it! He wanted her enough to take anything he could get and it was humiliating and belittling! She turned to look at him and he steeled himself against the allure of her sultry exquisite look! “I will wait for your call. Thanks for dinner.”
He gave a curt nod and watched as she walked away from him, wishing that he could follow her and pull her into his arms! Then he would show her that they would definitely need more than one night! He gave the hapless manager a cold look as he walked over and asked if there was anything else he needed, turning on his heels he walked away!
*****
Amani was trembling as she let herself inside her apartment. She had done it! She had changed the game plan and she was hoping that he would fall for it! She had done it deliberately because that was the only way she was going to survive this time with him! Amani walked into the kitchen and went to get the half bottle of wine from the fridge. She carried it to the counter along with the glass and poured a generous amount, her hands shaking slightly. She had sat there talking to him and had enjoyed the conversation, the light and flirtatious banter, and during that time she had wanted him to lean in to her and put his lips on hers. She had wanted to experience the electric shocks that had flowed through her body when he had held her in his arms and kissed her in his cabin several weeks ago. She had felt the pressure so much that she had deliberately done something to combat it! The idea had been half formed in her mind and had taken flight as the evening progressed! She sipped the wine thoughtfully and wondered if he was going to take her up on her offer. She could see that he wanted her, but wondered if he wanted her enough to go along with what she had proposed! Liam Moses was a man accustomed to getting what he wanted and not allowing anyone else to call the shot! If he gave in to her, he would be unwittingly admitting that she was the one who held the cards and she had a feeling that that had never happened before!
*****
Liam paced the bedroom of his sumptuous apartment like a caged animal, his expression thunderous and his hands clenched into fists. Of course he was not going to accept her offer! He would be mad to even think about it! One night and then goodbye! She had to be out of her mind and he would be an even bigger fool to even contemplate such a thing! She had to be playing a damned game and he did not appreciate it! First she had not been in touch with him and he had decided firmly not to call her either and had tried to get her out of his head by being with others. But even when he had tried to kiss them, he could not do so because he kept thinking about her and wanting her so damned much that it had become like a fever inside his body! Now to realize that all she wanted was one night with him! To hell with her!
Chapter 7
She did not hear from him for two whole days and Amani felt her confidence crumbling in the wake of not seeing his number flashing on her phone. The gallery had been busy over the past two days and she had not gotten a chance to say anything to Hanson. But things had slackened down during the night, just before closing, and she was in his office as he went over the books. He looked up as she wandered over to the window restlessly. “Darling you are breaking my concentration,” he told her gently.
“Sorry,” she murmured absently.
Hanson put away his ledger and gave her his full attention. “I am all yours.”
She turned to face him, leaning her back against the pane and pressing her palms against it. “I did something unusual.”
“I see,” he said slowly. “What was it?”
“I made an offer to Liam.”
“What was the offer?”
“A one night stand.”
Hanson stared at her for a moment and then leaned back into his chair, his eyebrows lifted as he waited for her to continue.
She shrugged and looked away for a moment. “He was offering me the chance to be his current relationship and I turned him down.”
“Naturally.”
“But I followed up with an offer of my own.”
“A one night stand.”
She nodded.
“I am hoping that he accepts the offer and I get the chance to be in his apartment and get the job done. After that I can go my own way and get on with my life.”
“So let me get this straight: you are going to spend one night with Liam Moses and get the job done, after which you will end things with him. During this night are you going to offer him your body?”
She avoided his eyes for a moment. “I know it is pretty unusual –”
“But you are attracted to the man as any normal red blooded woman with eyes in their head would be,” he finished for her. “The trouble with that darling is that you are not going to be able to walk away from him after that.”
“I thought you had the utmost confidence in me,” she retorted.
“I usually do but this is the first time you are ever thinking of sleeping with a mark and that makes me very concerned.” He stared at her levelly. “Do you happen to know what you are doing?”
She hesitated a moment and then nodded. “I do.”
“And you are waiting for him to call you back and tell you yes?”
She nodded again. “I am not certain he will.”
“Oh, he will,” hanson said with a slight smile. “He won’t be able to help himself. But he is going to try and change your mind about the one night.”
“I won’t,” she shrugged. “I won’t have any other choice but to just have the one night, and after that it would not be wise for me to see him again.”
“I do agree with you darling.” His light blue eyes searched her face. “You are going into unknown territory and I am not sure I like it.”
“Don’t worry, I will get the job done.”
“I don’t doubt that, but at what cost?”
“What do you mean?”
“Darling it is plain to see that you are very attracted already. What’s going to happen when you actually share a physical relationship, albeit a brief one?”
“I will be fine,” she told him firmly, but even to her own ears she sounded unconvinced. “You will see, I will be okay.”
*****
Liam entered into discussions with his usual charming smile and impeccable manners. He managed to get through the meeting without showing the churning inside his heart, until the men filed out of the room. He had spent a day in Paris tying up a deal and then he hop on a plane to Scotland, where he had spent two days in the rolling hills of Inverness. His family had a large home nestled among green brushes, on top of a hill which afforded a spectacular view! He spent his free time walking through meandering paths and soothing his frazzled nerves with the scent of blooming flowers. From there he returned home to attend to meetings. He had also promised to have dinner with his mother and sister at the manor, as she had just come back home from her sojourns and wanted to see him. He was not good company for anyone, least of all his family and had planned to spend the weeken
d at the club. He forced himself not to think about her, but at nights in his bed he could not help but do so with a vengeance! He could not believe that he was actually contemplating her offer and was furious with her but mostly himself! He got dressed hurriedly and made his way to the garage to get one of his vehicles, nodding to the guard who called out to him.
He made his way to the manor and pressing the button he waited for the gates to swing open to admit him. He felt his nerves soothed somewhat as he gazed at the riot of colors vying for supremacy in the gardens facing either sides of the cobble driveway. He parked just at the front door knowing that someone would come out shortly to move his car and park it at the appropriate place. He had also caught a glimpse of his mother and sister seated around the oblong table at the side of the pool, which had been cleaned and uncovered for the summer. Lorelei got to her feet as soon as he was near enough and ran into his arms, her face pressed against his chest. He held her away from him, his slate gray eyes studying her stunning features. “You look different,” he murmured. “And you look tanned. How was it?”
“I had a great time!” she averred as she went on her toes to brush her lips lightly against his. “Mother tells me that you have been scarce.”
He tucked her hand through his as they made their way towards their mother. “She exaggerated.”
He bent to kiss his mother on her cheek and then pulled out the chair for his sister.
“I have not seen you in weeks’ darling,” she chided, her eyes swiftly noticing the strain around his eyes and mouth. “Working and partying too hard?”
“Something like that.” He nodded at the maid hovering at the table, indicating that she should serving the meal. He was not in the least bit hungry but was determined to put on a show. His mother and sister were looking at him as if they could somehow read his thoughts. He turned to his sister as he lifted the glass of ice cold lemonade to his lips and started sipping it. “Tell me about your trip. Your phone calls were very sparse and lacking in details, darling.”
“I was having too much fun!” she said with a laugh as she told them of her exploits and the friends she had made. “I know what I want to do.”
“What is that?” he asked indulgently expecting her to say something like do some charity work or go into collecting the way he was.
“I want to be a nurse,” she announced.
“What?” Her brother stared at her in shock.
“But I don’t want to be an ordinary nurse, working in a hospital. I want to travel to third world countries, Africa and India where the needs are greatest and make my contribution there.”
Liam put his glass down, a frown on his forehead as he looked at his mother who shrugged elegantly. Apparently her daughter had shared the preposterous idea with her before now!
“Absolutely not!”
“I was not asking for permission, Liam,” she told him firmly, her expression set. “I am twenty-one years old and I am an adult with money of my own. I have already signed up for nursing school.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I want to.” She reached over and put her small hand over his arm. “I want to do more than just sit and benefit from the money my family has, Liam.”
“We are involved in many charities if contributing is what you want to do.” He looked to his mother. “Why are you not saying anything?”
“I already tried to talk her out of it and threatened her but nothing has worked so far.’”
“Lorelei you are gently bred and have never known what it is to face hardship in your life. You are going into a field that requires a lot of tenacity and hard work. Bad enough you will face all that, but you are also thinking of traipsing all over the world to the worst places, where the amenities you are so used to will not be available. I implore you to think about this carefully.”
“I have done nothing else for the entire trip.”
“Is it a man you are interested in?” he demanded.
His sister laughed at that. “You and your one track mind,” she chided him softly. “I want this for me darling.”
The meal came and they abandoned the conversation for the time being, but Liam was not finished with it! Not by a long shot! He ate in preoccupied silence, barely tasting what was before him and half listening to what his mother and sister were saying, making monosyllabic responses. A few minutes later Lorelei excused herself to go and make a phone call, leaving the two of them alone.
“You need to stop her Mother.”
“What do you propose I do?” she asked him mildly. “We know that Lorelei got the same stubborn streak that you possess and fighting her would only make things worse.” Lillian Moses dabbed at her lips daintily before putting the napkin on the table. “I was hoping that your influence was enough to get her to change her mind.”
“And as you saw it did not work,” he said in frustration.
“Maybe when she starts nursing school and sees how hard the work is she will change her mind,” his mother said hopefully.
“I have a feeling that it will not be hard work for her,” he said dryly. “You happen to have brilliant children.”
“That I do,” she said with a sigh. “And very obstinate ones determined to do their own thing.”
*****
He found her inside her bedroom suite lying on the bed with her head propped up on several pillows, ending a phone call. She waved him to come in as she told the person goodbye. He wandered into the very feminine peach and cream room with the delicately expensive furnishings and realized that it was definitely her. She moved over and he joined her on the bed, stretching full length next to her without removing his shoes. She propped her head on her palm and stared down at him, admiring the classically beautiful features. Her brother was the most beautiful man she had ever seen, except his friend Adam, whom she had had a crush on since she was a little girl but who had never thought of her as more than a little sister, and now he was happily married! But even Adam was not as handsome as Liam and Lorelei wondered fleetingly if he would ever fall in love!
“Came to see if you can change my mind?” she asked him with a fond smile. His lashes were even longer than hers! She thought with a slight shake of her head.
“Can I?” His thick eyebrows lifted as he stared up at her.
“No.” she told him with a smile. “Liam I am going to be fine and I want you to support me on this.”
“How can I, when I know what you are getting into?” he asked her wryly, one hand lifting to tug at her long dark hair. “Darling you just finished college, you should be out having fun and dating men – just dating mind you – and in a few years deciding on one that Mother and I approve of. Preferably someone who is worthy of you.”
She laughed at that, bending to kissed his forehead. “According to you, no one will ever be.”
“That’s besides the point,” he told her firmly. “What are you trying to prove?’
“Nothing.” She put a hand on his chest. “I love you Liam and I love that you are my brother but I am going to do this.”
“And nothing I say will make you change your mind?”
“Nothing,” she said in a definitive tone.
“Even if I tell you that your decision displeases me so much that I am going to stay away from you?”
She laughed and dropped her head onto his chest. He closed his hand around her automatically and smiled as she snuggled. “I know there is no chance of that happening.”
*****
“Meet me!” His tone was abrupt as she answered his call.
“Hello to you too.”
“I don’t have time for this!” He told her harshly. “You want your one night; I am willing to give it to you.”
“When?”
“Now.”
“Where?”
“I have this place on Sutton Street –”
“No.”
“What?” he sounded as if he was going to explode.
“I do not want to spend the one nig
ht where you have taken the rest of your women.”
“It is only one night so what the hell difference does it make where we spend it?”
“It makes a big difference to me.”
“You are making a damned lot of demands for such a brief relationship,” he said scathingly.
“I want it to be special.”
“Then your place.”
“No.”
“You know what!” he said furiously, his patience at an end. “This is not worth it, you are not worth it!” And he hung up on her.
He sat in his car and felt the rage warring with the desire for her. Who the hell did she think she was to be making all the demands? He slammed his hands on the steering wheel, feeling the sting of the pain going up his arms and almost welcoming it! He wished she would call so that he could tell her to go to hell, but he waited. He was sitting inside his vehicle with the guard hovering around, waiting for him to start the vehicle, but he just sat there waiting for her to call him. In the end he made the call, so furious with himself and puzzled by his lack of control where she was concerned that he could hardly form the words when she answered him.
“You win!” he bit out. “I will text you the address and tell the guard to expect you. And Amani? You were right. When this night is over I never want to see you again!”
*****
He was not civil. For the first time since knowing him she rather thought that he hated her at that moment and it shook her! She was guided to a private elevator that took her straight up to a lavish penthouse that spread over the entire floor. He opened the door for her, wearing a simple white t-shirt that stretched across his muscled chest and showed his powerful forearms with their dusting of dark hairs. His hair was slightly damp as if he had just taken a shower. “Welcome to my home,” he told her mockingly as he stepped aside for her to enter. He took her light jacket, careful not to touch the skin revealed by the spaghetti strap top of her summer wear.
He turned back to her. “Shall we?”
