Billionaire Bad Boy (21 page)

He brushed a damp lock of hair from her forehead. He
wanted to kiss her there, feel her hot skin on his lips one last time, but he didn't
dare.

"I thought you prefer busty blondes," she
said.

God, she was beautiful—all damp curls and moist,
pink skin. He barely controlled a shudder as she blinked wide-eyed up at him. "No.
It was easier to date them because I'd never fall for that sort of girl."

"But you said yourself, you don't want a
relationship."

He could hear the ache in her voice. He'd caused that.
What a complete ass he'd been.

"I never wanted to end up like my parents,"
he said. Dredging up the past would open old wounds, but he needed to explain. "My
Dad gave up his dreams for my mother. And because of that, he hated her. Not
straight away. They were madly in love when they married. But with the jobs and
the pressure of raising a large family, he lost his talent for song writing. He
could have been successful. Bob made him successful after he died, but..."
He shrugged, leaving the sentence hanging.

"And you don't want to end up like your
father?" Annie nodded. "Me either. It seems we both have father
issues."

"Yeah, well, you've come to terms with yours. Now
it's my turn." He smiled weakly. "So be gentle with me, Annie. Outright
rejection isn't easy on a commitment-phobe who's made up his mind to make a
commitment."

Annie frowned, her eyes searching his. "So you
meant what you just said? You love me?"

"Yes," he whispered.

She fell into him, pressed her body against his and
suddenly the room spun out of control and Zack felt unbalanced. His grip
tightened around her and he pulled her closer.

"Annie?"

She laughed into his chest. His heart did somersaults.

She pressed her fingertips to his lips and he kissed
them. "I'm not like those other women. I want it all."

He grinned, relief wrapping around his aching heart. "I
know. That's why I love you." It felt even more right the second time.

She kissed him. "I love you too," she murmured
when they finally came up for air. "So does this mean you'll sleep with me
now?"

"Every day." He grinned and bent to kiss her
again, so eager to taste her lips, but she pulled away. Oh, hell, now what?

"I have a confession to make," she said.

"Unless you're going to tell me you're an alien,
I don't care."

She grinned and dodged his lips. "My confession
is that I wasn't really flirting with Rick the other night. I was just
pretending to."

"I know."

She crossed her arms and pouted. "How?"

"Because I know you." He kissed the tip of
her nose. "And you're a terrible flirt."

"Oh." She frowned. "I feel like I
hardly know you at all sometimes."

"That's okay." It was
now
, anyway. A
week wasn't long enough to know everything about one person, but it was long
enough to know he was in love with Annie. "We're going to have the rest of
our lives to find out everything about one another."

"As long as we spend the rest of our lives on
your ranch in Montana. I think I've had enough of LA."

"Really? But you've lived here your whole
life." He felt himself grinning. He'd wanted her to leave the city but
he'd never force her.

"I've realized I don't quite fit the LA image. My
idea of a great night is going to bed early."

He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. "Sounds
good to me."

THE END

ABOUT KENDRA

Kendra Little writes sexy romance and erotic romance.
Read free excerpts at her blog:
http://kendralittle.blogspot.com
.
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.

For now, read a sample from BEDDING THE BILLIONAIRE.

Tuesday the fifth was rapidly turning into the worst
day of Abbey's life. She'd quit her job, discovered her boyfriend (who was also
her boss) had slept with her friend, and she was about to have sex with a
complete stranger.

In front of a hidden camera.

Surely it wouldn't come to that. Lucy had assured her
she probably wouldn't have to go
that
far. But 'probably' was still too
likely as far as Abbey was concerned.

Standing outside a stranger's hotel room
wearing her shortest skirt, her highest heels, and laciest lingerie, Abbey
suddenly wished she'd tried harder to find a job. She could wait tables,
deliver pizza or clean houses
—
anything that paid her bills.

This
job was paying her bills, she reminded
herself. It may not be in her chosen career path, but it was easier than
waiting tables and as Lucy had said, no experience was necessary. Besides, it
was too late to think about getting another job now. She needed the money, and
this was the best offer she'd had so far.

Okay, so it was the only job offer, and
she'd only been unemployed for about ten hours, but money was so tight her
credit card could hardly breathe. If only that bastard of a boyfriend and boss
hadn't cheated on her, she wouldn't have been forced to quit and she wouldn't
be standing outside a stranger's door in such a revealing outfit. This was
definitely all his fault.

When Lucy, a private investigator and her
best friend, offered her the job when her regular girl called in sick, Abbey jumped
at the chance. It paid half of what Lucy would receive from her client and it
might lead to another job, if she did it right. If she
wanted
another
one.

At least Lucy had assured her she
wouldn't have to get completely naked. Not if she didn't want to. All Abbey had
to do was get the man into a compromising position long enough for Lucy to get
some good shots, then she could get out of there.

Abbey took a deep breath and clenched her fist to
knock.

Hell, what was she doing? This was insane. She wasn't
a hooker. She wasn't even comfortable looking at her naked body in the mirror. And
Lucy expected her to undress in front of this man? A total stranger?

Abbey sucked in a deep breath then let it out slowly
to calm her nerves. She had to do this. She needed to do this.

She knocked. Waited. She hiked down her skirt,
suddenly ashamed of its death-defying height, and mentally ran through her
lines. Maybe it wasn't too late to leave...

The door opened and a disheveled man glared back at
her.

Abbey gasped despite her nerves. He was gorgeous, and
he was dressed in nothing but a hotel-issue towel wrapped around lean hips. His
muscular chest was tanned and a sprinkling of black hair tapered down to into
the towel.

Well.  At least he was already undressed. That
was half her problem solved.

"What?" It was a demand, not a question.

"Um," Abbey swallowed and tore her gaze
away. "My name's Abbey." She turned on a bright smile. "I'm here
to inform you, Mr. Vane, that you've been selected to receive a free massage,
compliments of Le Miridian hotel management."

The man, Damien Vane, scanned her from head to toe,
lingering over her bra-less breasts and her exposed thighs. Abbey felt her face
heat up, but she didn't move.

This was good. From the spark in his eyes and the
quick jerk of his Adam's apple, she could tell he liked what he saw.

But instead of inviting her in, he shook his head and
began to close the door.

"Wait!" She pushed on the door. He waited
impatiently. "It's free," she said weakly.

"No thanks. I just arrived in Melbourne, I'm
tired and I want to get some sleep. I don't need a massage."

He began to close the door again and Abbey panicked. She
wanted to get this over with and collect the money from Lucy's client. If she
didn't...

Abbey didn't want to think of the alternative. Moving
in with her mother was definitely not something she wanted to experience again.
Ever.

Anyway, the guy was damned cute.

She stuck her hand in the door. It closed on her
fingers.

The scream that followed was broken only by the most
vulgar expletives Abbey could think of. It wasn't entirely an act
—
jammed
fingers didn't tickle
—
but it wasn't as painful as she made out.

It worked. The door flew open.

"Jeez, are you all right?"

Her hand was caught by two large ones and gingerly inspected.
For a thrilling moment she thought he was going to kiss them better, but he
didn't.

A girl could dream though couldn't she?

Now that the door was completely open, she could get a
better look at him. He was a lot younger than his profile suggested, and he
oozed masculine power. He was tall, with a chest built for manual labor and
shoulders for leaning on. Dark stubble dappled his chin and his black, tousled
hair needed a comb run through it.

Or her fingers.

"Come inside," he said quickly, ushering her
in. "Run them under cold water."

He led her into the hotel room and she heard the door
slam behind her, minus her fingers this time. He showed her into the bathroom,
still steamy from his shower, and turned on the cold water tap. He gently
guided her fingers under the cool rush.

"How's that?" he asked.

Abbey glanced up and caught him watching her
reflection in the mirror above the sink. Their eyes locked for a long moment
and Abbey saw something in them that she liked. Something mysterious, sensuous.

Warm tingles rushed down her spine and sent the blood
pumping in her veins. Her entire body heated up under that stare. She was
caught, mesmerized like a moth in a circle of light. It gave her a rush.

Suddenly, he let go of her hand, as if it had bitten
him.

"Okay?" he asked, turning away and reaching
for a towel from the rack.

Abbey blushed as she thought about taking off the one
he wore. Something told her that his bottom half would be just as sexy as the
top.

"Fine," she managed to say, accepting the
towel. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"You know you should've been more
careful. You could've done some serious damage."

I could've done some serious damage?
Abbey wanted to say, but refrained. Arguing
with Damien Vane wasn't going to make him want her. And she needed for him to
want her.

Badly.

"You're right," she muttered.

"Are you sure your fingers are okay?"

Abbey wiggled them and nodded. "All
attached."

"Good. Next time be more careful." He
paused, still watching her. One eyebrow rose and he coughed politely. Her cue
to leave.

She ignored it.

"How about that massage now?" Abbey cringed
at the high pitch of her voice. She sounded like a bimbo, desperate to bed this
man. It wasn't far from the truth. She did feel a little stupid today,
especially after finding out about Tarken and Melinda, considering everyone in
the office had known about their affair for weeks.

Damien Vane grinned. Actually, it was more of a smirk,
but it did produce one cute dimple on his cheek. "Persistent aren't
you?"

It wasn't a flat out refusal. Could he be wavering? If
he was, it was time to go in for the kill.

"I just want to give you your prize from hotel
management. They'd be most upset to find out I didn't deliver."

"I guess..." Damien glanced from Abbey to
the doorway, as if realizing there was no escape.

"I won't bite." She grinned, and touched his
bare arm. His skin was warm and smooth. "Come into the bedroom where
you'll be more comfortable." She took his hand the way he'd taken hers a
moment ago.

He snapped it away. "How about the lounge?"

"That'll be fine too."

She led the way out of the bathroom, using her best
bottom-wiggling walk which she hoped looked seductive and not as ridiculous as
it felt. In the lounge room of the Executive Suite she stopped by the window
and opened the blinds.

He crossed his arms and glared at her as if she were a
fool. "What are you doing?"

Great, his sympathy was drying up fast. Time to make
her move. Abbey turned to him, leaned forward and lowered her lashes and her
voice to a seductive whisper. "I like to do this by moonlight."

"Moonlight?" He peered out the window and up
at the dark sky. "I think the moon's gone behind the clouds."

"It'll come out again soon. This is Melbourne. You
Sydney-siders don't know how the weather can change down here." She
snapped her fingers. "Like that."

His large, black eyes narrowed, watching her. Studying
her. It was unnerving but thrilling at the same time. She hoped he liked what
he saw. Why wouldn't he? She'd never worn an outfit so daring, so revealing, in
her life and her body was quite good, if not supermodel hot.