Christmas With The Billionaire (5 page)

It didn’t hold her down for long. “Everyone here, including me, would have been alone for Christmas, if we hadn’t done this—”
 

“If you hadn’t done this,” he corrected her.

Undaunted, she pointed out, “You would have been on your own.”
 

“Yes. The way I like it.”

Ignoring this, she gestured around. “Look how everyone’s talking to each other. This is such a great chance for you to introduce yourself as our landlord—make yourself accessible?” she suggested with a smile.

“I can’t think of anything I’d like more.”

“Oh, don’t look like that.”
 

“Ms. Black, I don’t think you have the slightest idea of business on my scale.”

“What scale is that, Mr. Kent? Richter or bathroom?”
 

He ground his jaw. He was getting nowhere fast.

“Agreed,” she went on, “I don’t know anything about a multi-national business like yours, but I do know people, and I’m starting to know the people in this block, and I say this is a great opportunity for you to get to know them too. You can reassure them that the change of ownership won’t affect their lives. If you decide to waste this opportunity, I can’t stop you—”
 

“How have you turned this around?”

“What?”

“Never mind.” As their eyes met, his stern, hers alive with rebellion and fun, his groin tightened. She would not take him seriously—which made him like her all the more.
 

“So, you’ll stay,” she said.

“For a while,” he agreed. She was in his sights now.

“Who knows? You might even like it, if you stay.”

“You think?”

“I have every confidence in you, Mr. Kent. Go to it—go meet your people.”

“You are pushing me, Ms. Black.”

“Am I, Mr. Kent?” Totally unperturbed, she started introducing him around.
 

She’d hit him in his Achilles heel. Nothing meant more to him than his business, and 1, Royal Buildings was his premier holding in London. His latest acquisition, it was his baby. He wanted these people to trust him, and clever Ms. Black had assembled all his tenants under one roof. And they were in the best of moods. What better time could there be for him to meet them?

“See,” she said later. “Aren’t you glad you stayed?”

“You,” he said with feeling, “are a very annoying woman.”

“Am I?” Her voice was breathy, and her smile was provocative in the extreme. “Can’t you admit you were wrong, Mr. Kent?”

“You made a good point. I’m never beyond admitting when I’m wrong—”

“Not that it’s ever happened before,” she suggested, raising a brow as she bit back a smile.
 

Her enthusiasm got the better of her this time and she touched his arm, only to quickly pull her hand away. Not before she’d left the imprint of tiny, cool fingers, which his mind instantly transported to other parts of his body.
 

“Anyway, I’m glad you decided to stay.”
 

“Are you?” He searched her gaze.

“Yes, I am.”
 

Her eyes had warmed, darkened. She was aroused. He would have to be unresponsive from the waist down not to know what she was thinking, and judging by the strain on his jeans, he was hardly that. But he could play games too. Sex and his trader's brain now took over. “If you can keep my interest for half an hour, I’ll let you have the party.”
 

“Half an hour?” she queried, pretending surprise. “Is that all?” Her lips pressed down. “Still, I suppose if that’s all you can manage...”

Were they still talking about parties?
 

“Where are you taking me?” she demanded as he steered her through the crowd.

“Out of here. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere private. Somewhere we can be alone.”
 

Chapter Six

She wasn’t a sheep to be led anywhere. She kept her polite face on, and for the sake of her guests, she smiled, but as soon as they made it through the crowd, she led the way into the quieter wing of the apartment where the bedrooms were located.
 

“What’s this about?” she demanded, opening the door to her room. It was the only place she could think where they could be private. It was the smallest room in the apartment, though small was a relative term in an apartment this size. It was roughly the same size as her parents’ sitting room at the farmhouse.

“This is nice.” Jason said as he closed the door behind them, but he hadn’t even noticed the room—he couldn’t have. He was watching her like a hunter watches his prey.

“Nice?” She grimaced. “Oh, you mean nice and quiet.” He couldn’t mean anything else. On the north side of the building where the sun didn’t penetrate, the facilities in this room were few. When she had first found the door marked “Housekeeper”, her initial thought had been that she didn’t need anything more than a bed, a table, and a rug, but now the plain furnishings seemed woefully inadequate for the purposes of entertaining a man like Jason Kent.
 

Luckily, he was oblivious to his surroundings and reached for her as she reached for him.
 

She’d grown up on a farm and had the same down-to-earth relationship with sex that she had with everything else. She loved sex, and took precautions, and however long she lived she might never get a chance like this again. Jason Kent was one invitation to sin she had no intention of refusing. They clashed in the middle of the room. She scrambled up him, gasping with excitement when his big hands cupped her buttocks. She loved the feel of him holding her, and writhed to show her appreciation. She was going to enjoy every second of this and he’d better be good.
 

When Jason Kent dipped his head to kiss her it was a moment she would never forget. He didn’t just kiss her. He devoured her. He melted her bones. He flashed fire through her veins. He was kissing her into an erotic frenzy, and she responded hungrily. Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she rubbed herself against him to show just how much she needed more contact. She needed the ultimate contact. She was wild for him. He had made her forget everything but this.

Lacing her fingers through his hair, she relished how good he felt; so big, so strong, his powerful body grinding into hers. He tasted of everything good, and he smelled of hard liquor and hot man. He was a drugging delight with a mouth so firm and sexy she would never get enough of his kisses. His tongue probed the seam of her mouth until she surrendered, and then he mimicked another act that made her moan and ache with need.
 

“Let’s take a pause.”
 

Hearing the amusement in his voice, she stepped back. “Is that all you’ve got, Mr. Kent?”

With a growl, he pinned her against the wall. The fire in his eyes excited her. The touch of his hands inflamed her. His kisses tormented her. She was falling fast without a safety net, and for once in her life she didn’t want to be saved.

She pulled back in the nick of time, telling herself firmly, this is Jason Kent, billionaire, a man who will take anything freely given, while you are Kate Black, farmer’s daughter with more sense than to give anything away for free. A down-to-earth attitude toward sex was one thing, but she’d gotten her fingers burned before. She wasn’t going to become Jason Kent’s latest acquisition, or make herself available whenever it suited him.
 

“I’m hosting this party, and I have to get back. I have guests.” He was blocking her way. She glanced at the door. “Move, please.”
 

“You’re quite a surprising woman, Ms. Black.”

“And you’re quite a roadblock. Now, move.”
 

With an amused look, he cleared her way to the door and opened it for her.
 

“Thank you,” she said briskly, as if she hadn’t been scrambling all over him minutes before. “See you back there...” She turned to give him a look. “You’re not going to run off now that you’re here, are you?”

He laughed. “Even you couldn’t drive me away.”
 

“Your elf cap is askew, dear,” Lily whispered discreetly when Kate re-joined the party.
 

“Oh—” She blushed and made the necessary adjustment. “Thanks...”

She checked the rest of her costume to make sure everything was in its rightful place. Everything was, including her straining breasts with nipples standing proudly to attention. Now it just remained to be seen if Jason would come back to the party.
 

She kept herself busy circling the room to make sure everyone had everything they wanted. She handed out her telephone number to neighbors who might possibly need it at some point. And then, just when she’d given up on him, her spine tingled a warning. She didn’t need to turn around to know he was back. She counted to ten and then swung around. She saw him at once.

Her gaze locked onto his for a couple of seconds, long enough for his heat to flow through her. His hair was ruffled. His stubble was thick and black. He looked like the marauding brigand she’d first thought him. Her hand crept to her neck where his stubble had raked her, then she registered the area around her mouth was sore too. Jason Kent looked as good as it got and, from that initial bad start, he was working the room. She was surprised he’d stayed, and surprised he was so good at it, until she reasoned that Jason Kent couldn’t have made all that money with smarts alone. He knew what made people tick.
 

He certainly knew what made her tick, Kate reflected with amusement. But did he care? Did Jason Kent care about anyone? She watched him achieve just the right balance of listening and talking. He accomplished both with the same practiced ease. He could certainly turn it on, but was he genuine? This was the same man who had sworn off Christmas, so was tonight just another public relations exercise?

Heat pulsed through her when he glanced her way and winked. That wink was so intimate, too intimate. She countered it with a cool gaze as his black stare rampaged over her body like a heat-seeking missile until it lodged with mind-blasting good effect between her thighs. And now he was coming over—

“So, Ms. Black...”

“Yes?” She was proud of herself for remaining composed. Relatively speaking.

“You’re the only person in the room I haven’t had a chance to talk to properly yet.”
 

Was he joking? He hadn’t given her the chance to speak; he’d been too busy kissing her.
 

She couldn’t be sure if this was just another of Jason’s tormenting sallies, as he smiled his bad-boy smile. She was on the point of saying something snarky back, but the response of her ever-eager body distracted her before she had the chance, and the tension between them roared off the scale. They wanted each other, but for different reasons they were both holding back.
 

Common sense was her reason. What was his?
 

She stared up and read the answer in his eyes. Jason Kent wanted her, but he would never force her, and he had sensed her pulling back. Also, he loved tormenting her, and she guessed that playing the sex card was his way of bringing her into line.

“You don’t have to be polite any longer,” she said coolly. “You’ve done your duty, so if you want to go—”

“I don’t want to go. You fascinate me, Ms. Black.”

“Should I be flattered?”
 

“I doubt it—though I’ve never been part of such a diverse group of people, and I’ve got you to thank for that. I can’t think of anyone but you who could bring these people together.”

“You are flattering me,” she argued. “But now you’re done?” she guessed.
 

“For now,” he agreed.

Something in his eyes said Jason Kent was far from done with her. She couldn’t pretend that didn’t excite her. His inky-blue stare was full of humor as it lingered on her face. He could read her. He could remind her of her hunger for him with just a glance. He was tormenting her. Worse, she was enjoying it. There was a glint of triumph in his eyes as he anticipated her melting. But that was where he was wrong, because she had a control switch too.

“What are you doing tomorrow, Ms. Black?”

Taken by surprise, it took her a moment to rejig her thoughts, by which time there was a flash of victory in his eyes. He knew he’d thrown her. She had to stop being so obvious around him. Jason Kent was used to sophisticated women, and she was hardly that.

“Tomorrow is Christmas Day, Ms. Black,” he reminded her.

“You sound like the sternest of schoolteachers scolding a disobedient child.”

“If the cap fits. So? What will you be doing?”

Now she realized she hadn’t really thought about it. “Clearing up here, I suppose.”

She blinked as he turned to go. So, what was all that about? She had to remind herself as she stared at his powerful back that she had told him he didn’t need to stick around. Strike that thought. She wanted him to stay. She wanted another bite of that succulent black cherry.
 

He didn’t make it out of the apartment, though, because Lily waylaid him at the door. And now Jason was inclining his head towards Lily, listening to something she was saying. Then he said something and Lily replied. Straightening up, he curved one of his winning half-smiles and touched Lily’s arm in a way that made Kate feel wistful. It was such a warm and reassuring touch, an affectionate touch, a touch that made her wish he’d touch her that way too...