His Reluctant Lover (14 page)

Georgette sputtered at such an outrageous comment.  “Oh, please.  We weren’t….”

“Yes you were,” she interrupted. “And then you shot off to Europe to hide from him.  What was that all about?”

“I didn’t hide,” she asserted quickly, and that was said with perfect honesty since Dylan had found her anyway.  “Besides, he’s a very nice man just not…”

“Don’t you dare say that you’re not the woman for me,” Dylan’s deep voice said from the doorway of her bedroom.

Georgette shot up from the bed, horrified that he was here and worried about how much he’d overheard. 

“Where did you come from?” she demanded, shivering as he walked closer. 

“I have a private plane, remember?” he asked, coming to stand closer, intimidating her with both his anger as well as the way she desperately wanted to throw herself into his arms.  “You left me, Georgette.” 

Oh yes, he was really furious, she realized. 

“Yes well,” she wasn’t really sure what to say.  It had been a cowardly act and she was ashamed.  She’d been berating herself for hours now. 

Her mother stepped in at that point.  “Georgette, am I to understand that the two of you were in Europe together?” she asked, her brown eyes darting from her daughter to the tall, handsome man. 

Dylan turned around suddenly.  “Hello again, Ellen,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m going to be your future son-in-law,” he said and lifted her hand to kiss it in a very old-world, gentlemanly fashion. 

Ellen stared up at Dylan with delight.  “Goodness, why did you run, dear?” she asked.  The question was for Georgette, but she was smiling up at Dylan, her free hand fluttering over her chest.  “If Jim weren’t downstairs right now, you might have a bit of competition.”

“I heard that!” a deep voice said from Georgette’s kitchen. 

Dylan turned, Georgette’s head snapped around and Ellen blushed.  “Just kidding, dear,” she called back.  Then looked up at Dylan and smiled.  “Sort of,” she whispered.

“Mother!” Georgette snapped, but laughed at how adeptly her mother was flirting with Dylan. 

But then she remembered his greeting to her mother.  “And we’re not getting married,” she told him.  “I don’t believe in marriage.”

Dylan looked back down at the woman who had driven him nuts for the past few weeks.  “We are.  You just need to come to terms with that idea.”  He looked at Georgette’s mother.  “Any issues with me sweeping her away and giving you grandchildren in an embarrassingly short amount of time?”

Ellen’s hand fluttered to her chest.  “Oh my, that sounds like a delightful plan!” she agreed.  “When can you get her to the alter?”

Georgette was looking back and forth between her mother and Dylan, not sure how to stop this train.  “Excuse me, but I think I’m a primary member of this decision and I haven’t said I would agree.”

Another man stepped into the bedroom at that point and Georgette’s eyes widened.  It was the man from her mother’s house and anger almost consumed her.  “What in tarnation is going on here?” she demanded.  Finding that the stranger was an easier target for her anger, she pointed her finger at the man standing in her doorway.  “You!  You’ve been…” she hesitated on what to say because she couldn’t accept that her mother was having sex, “doing things with my mother!  And you’ve been bad!  How could you be a lover to a woman for so many years and not marry her?”

Ellen stepped in there, defending the man who was surprised by his future step-daughter’s outburst.  “Well, dear, for a while, it was just nice to have a secret.  Everyone knows everyone’s business around here and we just sort of liked seeing each other in secret.”

Dylan’s arms crossed over his massive chest and he had a slight smile on his handsome lips as Georgette tried to make sense of everything.  “That’s no excuse,” she told him angrily.

“That’s being a bit of a hypocrite, don’t you think?” he asked her with that irritating smugness. 

“Stay out of this!” she snapped right back at him. 

“Not gonna happen, my love.”  He was still furious with her, but at least she was in front of him now instead of an ocean apart.  A large part of his anger had already dissipated now that he could see her.  That didn’t mean he didn’t want to spank her adorable bottom.  But then again, that might lead to something more interesting…

He focused back on the conversation – and his intention to get Georgette to the altar – instead of thinking about her bottom.  Especially how her bottom looked in those jeans.  No doubt about it, those jeans just might be his favorite piece of her wardrobe. 

Georgette glared at him, not willing to give an inch.  “And I’m not your love!  I’m not your anything.”

Dylan wasn’t going to ignore that challenge.  Moving closer, he pulled her into his arms, unconcerned that her mother was watching.  He kissed Georgette until he felt her body melt against his, not stopping until she was actually clinging to him.  “Don’t ever say something like that again, Georgette.  I won’t allow you to believe anything else.  We’re lovers.  You’re in love with me and I love you.  Although right now, you’re really pissing me off.”

Ellen laughed, clapping her hands with delight.  “Finally a man who is strong enough to handle her!”

Jim chuckled and took Ellen’s elbow, pulling her out of the bedroom.  “Now that you’ve given your consent, I don’t think we’re really needed anymore.”

Georgette opened her mouth to ask her mother to stay but Dylan squeezed her before she could utter a word.  “Don’t even try it,” he cautioned, reinforcing the order with his eyes. 

Georgette considered arguing with him.  Especially since she was so angry with him right now.  He was trying to trap her into a relationship she didn’t want and ignoring the relationship that could be perfect simply because he was asking her for more than she was willing to give him. 

But she heeded the warning in his eyes and closed her mouth.  With her arms crossed over her chest, she glared right back at him.  She wanted so badly to hate him, to want to ignore him.  Unfortunately for her terrified heart, it wasn’t really possible to ignore Dylan.  And hate him?  Well, that was pretty hard too. 

She wasn’t sure how to get around his stubbornness though.  He was like a solid wall that was ten feet high, trapping her inside.  “This isn’t going to work, Dylan,” she said softly.  “I won’t marry you.  It doesn’t make any sense.”

He laughed.  “It’s the only thing that makes sense.  You love me.  I love you.  We’re two intelligent people who want to stay together.  Marry me and shout it out to the world.”

“I won’t.”

His grin increased.  “You will,” he countered. 

She refused to even hint at a smile.  She was furious and he had to know it.  She wouldn’t hide her feelings about this situation.

“Have you eaten?” he asked, surprising her. 

She blinked, expecting more of an argument.  Georgette wasn’t sure what that pang was in the middle of her chest with his backing off but she straightened anyway.  This was good, she told herself mentally.  They were moving on.  Food was a unifying force and she could talk to him like an adult and figure out how to move forward.  Maybe she could convince him to just…keep things like they’d been in Europe.  Although much more discreetly, she thought. 

“Yes.  Food would be good,” she replied.  “I don’t really have a lot of food in the house though.”

He shrugged.  “Lucky for you, I have a car.  We can either go out for something to eat, or, if you’re feeling more adventurous, we could hit the grocery store and I’ll cook you something to eat.”

She bit her lower lip, not sure what to do.  Going out would probably be safer.  She could keep her distance, maybe even sleep alone tonight and get a bit of perspective on the whole “Dylan Problem”.  But then others might see them.  Could she deal with the questions from her friends and acquaintances? 

Eating in seemed so…intimate! 

“You’re worried about others seeing us together if we go out and the fact that I’ll make love to you tonight if we cook in.  Right?”

She hadn’t gotten as far as the night if they stayed in, but she swallowed painfully, thinking of how incredible he made her feel when he touched her.  That would definitely cloud the issue. 

“We’ll go out.  I’m too hungry to go to the grocery store and come back,” she replied.  It wasn’t a complete lie.  She had been hungry.  Sort of.  Okay, not at all.  But Dylan was not a man to take lightly. 

He laughed softly, pinning her to his chest with his hands.  “It won’t work, Georgette.  You can use that sweet, sexy drawl all you want but I’m not letting you go.  We were meant to be together.  You’re going to have to ditch your safe and boring Charles and let me in.”

She started to push him away but he just grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her bedroom.  “Let’s go get something to eat,” he said. 

When they’re in the car, his cell phone rang.  Pressing a button on the steering wheel, he snapped out a greeting.  “What do you want?” he demanded harshly. 

Georgette cringed at his tone, but was equally surprised when laughter filtered through the sound system.  “Having a bad day again?” a man asked through the speakers in Dylan’s luxurious car. 

Dylan smiled slightly.  “No.  I just knew it was going to be you and I became irritated in anticipation of whatever you’re going to tell me.”

The male voice laughed again.  “That is certainly true.”

“Georgette, this is my brother Davis,” he explained and Georgette’s body relaxed slightly.  At least he wasn’t insulting a stranger.

“Why are you so mean to your brother?” she asked, curious despite her need to start to separate from him, to protect her heart from the pain when they had to go their separate ways.

The voice laughed.  “Yeah, big bro.  Why are you always so mean to me?”

Georgette was starting to understand but she only smiled, impressed with their sibling teasing.  “How many brothers do you have?”

“I’m the best,” the voice said.  “But there are three of us, plus our sister Adriana who is the real pain in the butt.”

Dylan turned a corner, rolling his eyes at the same time.  “I’m going to tell her you said that.”

The laughing instantly started up again.  “She doesn’t scare me.”

“Then you’re a fool.”  Dylan was still smiling despite the cautioning words.  “I think I might just gang up with her because of those words.”

The laughing instantly stopped.  “That’s not funny.”

Dylan’s grin widened.  “After that stunt you pulled on Adriana over Christmastime, everything is fair in love and war.”

There was a long silence as the man at the other end of the phone line took in that statement. 

“What do you want anyway?” Dylan asked.  “Surely you didn’t call just to put your foot in your ass.”

Davis chuckled.  “Nope.  I’m sending you some numbers.  Take a look at them when you get a chance.  You’ll be impressed.”

“Will do.  How’s Mom and Dad?  Have you talked to them recently?”

“I spoke to Mom last night.  Dad’s in Italy again.”

“The Benini account?”

“Yep.”

“You going to take on that project he asked you about?” Dylan asked. 

“Absolutely.  Have you known anyone who could say no to Dad?”

Dylan laughed again.  “As if you would ignore something that big.” 

“Hey, you couldn’t do it.”

“I have my own challenges.” 

“Yeah.  I know.  Making homes for the homeless.”  He laughed at his own joke.  “Hey, give me an update about the new headquarters.  Everything still on schedule?” 

“We’re actually two weeks ahead of schedule.  You’ll be able to move in early.  But I’ll let you know if anything happens to change that.  I’ll have my assistant send you more details and the project manager, Rick, should be sending you specs in the next few days.”

“Sounds great.  I appreciate the help.  No one could do it as well as you, big guy.”

Dylan snorted.  Not at the compliment but at Davis’ reference to Dylan as the “big guy”.  All four of the Alfieri brothers were huge.  Obnoxiously huge, according to their sister who was a petite little thing, only reaching about five feet, six inches.  And she was the only blond.  Technically, she was their cousin but her parents had died in a car accident when she was very small.  Dylan’s father had swooped in and, along with their mother, had adopted her. 

“Hey, I’ll be home in a couple of days.  Any chance you could take some time off?”

“Mom will be thrilled.  And absolutely, I’ll be there.  I think even Adriana might be around.  Of course, she’ll be bringing that annoying husband of hers.”

Dylan laughed because Adriana’s husband, Mitch, was a great guy.  They all got along extremely well even though Mitch beat them at basketball every once in a while. 

“I’m bringing someone for you to meet,” he said, not even glancing at Georgette who was sitting in the leather passenger seat, listening to their whole conversation.  “Don’t be an ass, okay?”

“I never am,” Davis came right back.  “See you soon.”

“Right.  Tell Mom I love her,” he said, which was code word for “I love you brother but I’m not going to say it.”

“Will do.  She loves you too.”  Again, code for “I love you too.”