Never Dare a Tycoon (6 page)

But for some reason, she was drawn to him. So she tossed her bag of popcorn into the trash next to the bench and smiled up to him. “Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“How about La Choza around the corner?” He suggested the only restaurant in the immediate area that didn’t cater to tourists and might have an available table at this time of the day.
“Sounds good,” she said.

Antonia followed him to his car, all the while telling herself that this was a bad thing. But he sped off in the direction of the Capitol building, pulling up a few minutes later to a small restaurant with a blue portico.

Antonia shook her head when he found a parking space immediately. No one in Washington drove a car because it was too difficult to find a space to park. But he drives up, and voila, there was a space almost directly in front of the restaurant.

Sitting at the table, Antonia struggled to find something to talk about. She realized that she’d kissed this man twice, but she didn’t know anything about him.

 

“So, what do you do for a living?” she asked, starting at the most basic question.

 

“You don’t know?” he asked, surprised.

 

Antonia shook her head. “Should I?” she asked.

 

Brett nodded. “I’m head of Hancock Enterprises.”

 

stock during her first year of investing. generated large dividends.

 

“Wow,” she said, very impressed. Antonia had bought Hancock Enterprise It had quadrupled in price and always

 

“I thought you knew,” he said. “Didn’t your brother tell you about our venture together?” he asked.

 

Antonia gritted her teeth. “Not really. I remember the discussion over lunch last week, but after you left, Sal changed the subject.”

 

“What did he change it to?” Brett asked.

Antonia didn’t answer him. Instead, she smiled at the waiter who brought their iced tea. “I’m starving. What are you going to have?” she asked, hiding behind the menu.

Brett wasn’t fooled by her change in subject and he wouldn’t let the subject pass. “A Cobb salad. So you didn’t like what your brother had to say?”

Antonia didn’t want to talk about her conversation of last Friday, which would inevitably bring up the topic in the library last night. Neither would help her have a good day. “That sounds good. I’ll have the same,” she said.

“So what could be so bad between you and your brother that you won’t even discuss with a complete stranger?” he said almost to himself.

 

Antonia pushed aside her irritation when the waiter arrived. Brett told him their order and the waiter quickly walked away.

 

“It must have been pretty bad. What was it?” he asked.

 

She couldn’t take it anymore. “Sal doesn’t agree with the way I spend my money,” she explained.

 

Brett nodded his head in understanding. “Overdrawn?”

“Not exactly,” she said. “Look, I really don’t want to talk about this. I only have two days off during the week and Sunday is taken up with family obligations. Today is all I really have. My brothers and I don’t agree on many things. Let’s leave it at that, ok?”

“What do you do?” he asked, accepting the change in subject.

Antonia looked at him. He was so handsome, even with his intelligent eyes staring at her as if they could see into her soul. Of all the men she could possibly be drawn to in this way, why did it have to be him?

“I make ends meet,” she said.

 

“Another subject I’m not allowed to discuss?”

 

Antonia nodded.

 

“So your career choice probably had something to do with yesterday’s family pow-wow?”

 

She ignored him. “What do you think of the education bill on the floor of the Senate this week?” she asked, trying to engage him in a conversation.

 

“It won’t do any good,” he said.

“Why do you say that?” she asked. Antonia thought the bill, which allowed schools more freedom to spend their money in the way they thought was more beneficial to their districts. It sounded good to her.

“Because they tried that in the 1970s. All that was accomplished was more spending on sports,” he said, leaning back as the waiter placed their salads in front of them.

For the next hour, they argued back and forth on pending legislation on the Senate or House floors. Antonia realized that he had very conservative views whereas she was the complete opposite. There wasn’t anything they agreed with except for the most basic values; less guns in the hands of criminals, more money for education, and less taxes. Beyond that, they each had their own ideas on what would accomplish each.

“What are you doing for the rest of the afternoon?” Brett asked as he threw bills down on the table to cover their meal.

“I’m going to see the new exhibit at the National Gallery. Want to come?” she asked. Although they seemed to disagree with everything, she felt exhilarated after their conversation. She’d never found anyone as informed about so many subjects except her brothers. And they didn’t take any of her opinions seriously. Brett Hancock was refreshing.

He looked down at his watch and remembered several meetings he had to attend this afternoon. “I have to get back to work. Meet me for dinner tomorrow night,” he said.

That reminded her that he was dangerous. Antonia was glad that she had to work tomorrow night. She couldn’t see him again, no matter what. They were standing in front of his car, Antonia wanting to spend as much time as possible with him before saying good bye for good.

“I can’t,” she said, suddenly remembering that he was dangerous and taking a quick step back.

 

“Why not?” he asked, taking her hand and pulling her closer again.

 

“I just can’t,” she said, wishing her heart didn’t race when he touched her or that her blood didn’t sing in anticipation of his kiss.

Antonia knew they were on a public street, anyone could walk by. But she didn’t care. This was the last time she’d see him. It was the last time she’d let herself enjoy his touch. He was too much like her brothers; wealthy, opinionated, used to getting his own way, and worst of all, a chauvinist. The most attractive chauvinist she’d ever seen in her life, she reminded herself, moving so she had an escape route.

But Brett was having none of that. He turned so that she was suddenly leaning against the side of his car, then he bent down and gently took her lips, his body pressing against hers. Antonia felt as if the world had just spun out of control. Her hands gripped his jacket, crinkling the fine fabric as her hands clenched out of fear from what he made her feel.

Antonia moaned as desire tore through her body. It was as if a knife were stabbing her in the belly, she wanted him so badly. She pulled him closer, so close, she could feel his desire for her, which only made her mind whirl faster.

She tipped her head back, wanting more, wanting all of him. His thumb came up and touched her chin, then squeezed slightly when she wouldn’t allow his tongue entry. Antonia gave in simply because she wanted to know what he tasted like.

It was a car horn blaring that broke them apart. Antonia’s face turned red with embarrassment. She’d never kissed a man like that, nor had she ever been kissed in that way. She’d definitely kissed other men, but none had affected her mind and soul the way the past few minutes had.

“I have to go,” Antonia said, pushing against his chest. She was grateful that he let her, as she slipped away, down the street and turned the corner just as she heard him call her name. She started running, panicking that he’d come after her. She needed to get away. She didn’t know how to deal with the feelings that were coursing through her body, but she needed time, lots of time, to figure things out.

Chapter 4

Brett was too dazed to do anything but let her push him away. But as soon as he realized that she wasn’t just stepping away from him to go around his car and get in, that she was actually running down the street and turning a corner, he called out to her.

“What the hell is she doing?” he asked, going after her.

 

He ran over to the same street she’d turned down only moments before, but there was no sign of her. She’d already disappeared.

 

“Dammit!” he said and headed back to his car.

Why in the world would she have run away after a kiss like that? What sort of hang-up did she have that she needed to escape from the most intense moment of desire he’d ever experienced? And he knew she’d felt the same way. He’d seen it in her eyes when she’d pushed against his chest.

Pulling out of the parking space, Brett tried to control his temper. He sped through the streets of Washington back to his office, trying to figure her out. She wouldn’t go out to dinner with him, she wouldn’t discuss her family situation with him, and she ran away whenever he spurred the smallest amount of passion within her. What kind of woman was she? Certainly not like any of the women he’d been with before.

Brett resolved to get her out of his mind. She wasn’t worth the trouble. He had a schedule to keep and she’d already interrupted it too many times. None of them were really her fault, but each time he saw her, he canceled meetings or appointments. He couldn’t afford to do that for long. Sooner or later, things would catch up to him. He had a multi-national corporation to run. He didn’t have time to chase after a silly woman who was too afraid of her own desires.

Storming into his office, he took the messages Beatrice handed to him and the files for his next meeting. He tried to concentrate on the pages in front of him, but they were all a blur. He was too furious to concentrate.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the bar in the corner of his office and poured a large measure of bourbon, tossing an ice cube into it as well. But the ice didn’t have time to cool the liquor. He threw the glass back and swallowed the brown liquid, grateful for the burn it caused.

Grabbing the file folders again, he forced himself to head down the hallway to the conference room. He refused to let that woman disrupt the rest of his afternoon.

But as he walked by Beatrice’s office, he stopped for a moment. He made a decision. “Get Jimmy on the phone. Set up a meeting for tomorrow if possible,” he said. Jimmy was the head of a private detective agency his company had used in the past.

Feeling better, he walked down the hallway, some of his calm control coming back to him. By the time the other members of the meeting were seated, he was back in control again.

Antonia refused to think about him. She wouldn’t let her mind wander long enough for Brett Hancock to enter her mind. She kept herself so busy over the next two weeks she didn’t have time to daydream about him.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t get him out of her mind completely. He came back to her, every night, no matter how exhausted she was. Each night, she relived that last kiss, as well as the following desire that had consumed her for hours. Each morning she woke up with the sheets wrapped around her as she tried to shake off the desire that overwhelmed her, hot all over from yet another dream where she made love with Brett.

Every night, she worked harder and harder in the hope of becoming too exhausted to dream. But each morning, she woke up before dawn, knowing that he’d been with her for the past few hours, if only in her mind.

She spent hours in the library researching companies, finding out about their debt ratio, capital expansion plans, locating their previous year’s annual report. Anything she could to keep her mind busy and on her goal of independence.

She went to church the following Sunday with the family, but skipped the afternoon lunch, knowing that her brothers were looking for another chance to corner her and convince her that she should move back into the house with Sal.

And anywhere she went, she made sure that she wasn’t followed. Whenever she left the house, she rode her motorcycle to the nearest mall, then got on a bus to meet one of her aunts or cousins, all of whom were worried about her and took her out to lunch as often as possible. They always had a present for her, and it was usually some form of clothing or jewelry, whatever her brothers thought would appease her and draw her back into the fold.

She never took the same route home, and was careful to check behind her to make sure she wasn’t being followed. If she knew her brothers, and she did, they had probably hired a private detective to find out where she lived and worked.

There were a few occasions that she suspected someone was watching her, but the feeling only lasted for a moment. She was almost always with one of her aunts and it was difficult for her to believe that her brothers would spy on her when she was with a family member.

It was Monday night when she heard from Sal again. He phoned her apartment and left a message on her answering machine. Antonia sat on the sofa and listened to him talking to her machine, afraid to answer it and talk to him. So she continued polishing a new, silver candlestick she’d found at a flea market Saturday morning before work.

She placed the now shiny candlestick on the dresser that held the television set then walked over to her answering machine. message, shaking her head in frustration.

“Antonia, it’s Sal. I was hoping She pressed the button to replay the

you could accompany me to the company’s annual spring gala this Saturday night. I’ll expect you at the house by five so we can all have dinner at Chez Francois. I bought you a ticket and there’s a dress waiting for you at Saks. I hope you like it,” he said and hung up the phone.

Sal just assumed she’d be at the house on the appointed night. And the awful thing about it was, she would be there. The party was five days away, and he’d already picked out a dress for her to wear, something appropriate she suspected. It never occurred to him that she might be able to afford to buy her own dress. Well, she couldn’t but that wasn’t the point, she told herself. He didn’t even ask; he just assumed.

The next day, Antonia strolled into the downtown Saks and found her way to the evening gown department. She saw a woman who’d helped her on several other occasions. “Hi Lucy,” Antonia said, smiling at the friendly sales associate.

“Hello, Miss Attracelli.” Lucy smiled her professional, yet cordial smile. “I’ve been expecting you. Your brother has picked out a dress that is lovely,” she said.