The Billionaire Princess (10 page)

"Christopher." Her voice seemed to come from far away. "Christopher, please stop."

A bucket of ice-cold water couldn't have done any better job dousing the flames of desire in his body than the sound of fear in her voice.

While she moved back into an upright position the only other sounds in the room were the television and the ring tone from her phone.

"I don't…" Sara began at the same time Christopher spoke.

"What's the…"

Sara tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled shyly at him. "Go ahead."

The desire that had started to subside a minute before reignited when he saw her state of dishevelment. Her hair hung loose, her lips were red and swollen and her shirt looked as if it hadn't ever seen an iron.
Talk. She wants to talk.
He recited the words over in his mind.

"What's the matter?" He kept his eyes locked on her face so he could catch anything her expression might give away.

She looked everywhere but at him. Then after darting her tongue across her bottom lip she spoke. "I'm not sure this..." Her voice shook. "We got a little carried away once before.”

Christopher nodded, unsure of what she wanted to hear from him. Assuming she wanted to hear anything at all.

"Don't get me wrong, I've thought about you a lot since that night in Hawaii, but you're my brother's best friend." She came to her feet. "We're both already avoiding Jake."

How did she know he'd been avoiding Jake? Had he said something to Sara? Christopher raked a hand through his hair. A big part of him told him she was right. They should refrain from getting involved with each other. Yet despite knowing what they should do, he wanted to explore this thing between them. A physical attraction obviously existed. At least on his end and he guessed on her end as well, if her actions were anything to go by. But this was more than just a physical thing for him. The woman he was getting to know intrigued him, and he wanted to discover more.

"I've already messed up my relationship with Callie and Dylan. I don't want to mess things up with Jake for either of us.” Her voice caught for a second and he thought she might cry.

Needing to comfort her as well as touch her again, he reached for her hand and pulled her down next to him. "We can end this right now if you want. After we finish the commercial we can go our separate ways. Your brother never needs to know anything happened between us." His mind searched for its own decision. "Or we can see what happens and tell Jake if and when we're ready." Doing so would not be an outright lie but more an omission of all the details.

Sara leaned back against the sofa, her face a mask of worry and uncertainty.

"You don't need to decide now. We're going to be here for a few days. Think about it."

"Thank you." She smiled and laid her hand over his.

The warmth from her hand seeped through his skin and spread up his arm.
"For what?" His entire body hummed with excitement.

"Understanding," she said, her gray eyes meeting his, "not pushing."

He held her gaze, unable to look away. In her eyes he could see sadness and insecurity. The night of the wedding he thought he saw it too, but later dismissed it as his imagination. Tonight he couldn't. It was as clear to him as a neon sign. The why and how of it eluded him though.

"It's late and we have an early morning. I'm going to head out." Christopher slipped his hand out from under hers. The constant physical contact, combined with her rumpled state, made it difficult for him to remember why they'd stopped kissing. "Do you want to drive over to the studio together in the morning?" With her hands no longer over his, the warmth he'd felt moments ago disappeared.

The corners of Sara's mouth lifted up to a half smile. "Sure. Meet me here around nine."

“See you then,” he said walking to the door.

Christopher stripped off his clothes leaving them where they fell on the floor. He needed an ice-cold shower. Well either that or Sara
Sherbrooke in his bed. Since the second wasn't happening tonight, the shower would have to suffice.

Cold streams of water pelted his body from the numerous shower jets. Goosebumps instantly formed on his skin, yet the desire gripping his body refused to disappear. Gritting his teeth he reached for the soap. What had he been thinking? He never should've kissed her again tonight. Not only did he
jeopardizes his friendship with her brother but he put their working relationship at risk. If they were going to work on this education initiative together they needed an amiable relationship.

As he turned to rinse the soap from his chest, the memory of her face when she put an end to their kissing emblazoned on his mind. She looked just as torn as he felt. And as much as he wanted to continue their make-out session, he knew they would both regret it in the morning. It'd be better for both of them if they didn't get involved. Only one problem with that—his desire to know her better combined with his physical attraction to her was making it almost impossible to make a rational decision. Part of him hoped she'd be the rational one and tell him to back off. Then the whole thing would be out of his hands.

What if she said just the opposite? What if she decided they should see where things go? Most men would say he'd be a fool to say no. Sara Sherbrooke was the total package. If she was any other woman he'd agree. However, they weren't the only two involved.

Christopher let the cold water run over his face before turning it off. Now that his body no longer felt as if it might explode, he wrapped a gray bath towel around his waist and went back to his room. He dressed in a pair of shorts, then grabbed a glass of bourbon from the bar and settled himself in front of the television. With so many things running through his head, he knew sleep wouldn't be coming anytime soon.  A movie with a lot of action and some violence would pass the time nicely.

The reflection that stared back at her told the world exactly what she wanted it to believe. She was a confident woman who had everything she wanted. What would the world think if it knew the truth? Sure, she possessed all the material items a person could want and had a family that loved her even if they didn't always take her ambitions seriously. While her father and brothers supported her political aspirations, her mom believed she should be the wife of a politician not a politician herself. As far as being confident, well that was a relative term. In some areas of her life confidence flowed through her, and in others, insecurities plagued her, especially when it came to relationships. Too many times in the past she'd been burned, the worst being at the hands of Phillip. Memories of how he'd used her made her cringe. She should have seen through his ruse. Thank goodness she learned the truth before he could damage her father's campaign.

I don't need to worry about that with Christopher, do I?
  He didn't need money and if he wanted connections he already had them with Jake. If he wanted to see where things went between them, he must be attracted to her.  Nothing else made sense.

Regardless, she didn't know if getting involved with him was such a good idea. Before she made any decisions, she needed to consider Jake. How would a relationship with Christopher impact her relationship with him?  How about Christopher and Jake's friendship? What kind of effect might it have on that?

Frustrated by her indecision, Sara dabbed more concealer on the dark circles under her eyes. Last night after Christopher left, she went to bed but sleep refused to come until sometime around three that morning. Now she needed to hide the evidence of her sleepless night before Christopher arrived.

Once satisfied with her eyes, she covered her lips with a pale pink lipstick. “Not perfect but it will do,” Sara said to her reflection in the bathroom mirror. With nothing else to do but wait, Sara fixed herself some hot tea and reviewed her email.

Just before nine o'clock, a knock on the door pulled her attention from the email on the screen.
Christopher.
They'd agreed to meet at nine, and he wasn’t the late type. In one fluid movement she pushed back her chair and closed her laptop, a sense of anticipation surging through her body. When had she last felt that? 

Sara pulled open the door without looking through the peephole. "Good morning. I'm all ready to go, just need to grab my things." She turned on her heel before he could answer. Sara wanted to leave as soon as possible. If they stayed in the room they might return to last night's conversation. Something they needed to address at some point, but not now. First, they needed today's business out of the way. Then they could discuss things between them.

“We have time. No need to rush."

Sara looked over her shoulder at him. Today he wore a black Armani suit, the same style Jake favored, with a light blue dress shirt and striped tie, and as he stood there with his legs braced slightly apart and his hands in his pockets, she was once again struck by how much he'd changed since their first meeting years ago.  Nothing from his appearance back then even hinted at the gorgeous man he was now.

"I like to be early. It's safer that way." In fact she couldn't recall an instance when she hadn't been early. It was simply the norm for her and everyone knew it.

Christopher opened the door when she approached. "Okay. I don't have a problem with that."

Sara expected him to lead her to a limo outside, but instead he opened the door to a midnight blue Maserati. "Did you buy this for your parents too?" she asked when he slid behind the wheel.

Christopher laughed.
"Not exactly. I keep it in LA to use when I'm here. I've only convinced my father to try it once." He shifted the car into first gear. With ease he moved into traffic on the road. "He says it makes him nervous. He'd rather stick with his pickup. I keep telling him he doesn't know what he's missing," he said as he accelerated and switched lanes.

She agreed with Christopher there. At the same time, she admired that his parents hadn't changed as their son's economic status grew. Or at least it sounded as if they hadn't.

"Did you hear back from Senator Healy?"

Sara tapped her fingers against the leather portfolio on her lap. "He liked the changes.
Said we should proceed as we see fit." She never doubted that he'd agree. He had never ignored her suggestions since she'd been working for him.

"Excellent. I think we'll get this wrapped up quickly then." Christopher stopped at a red light and looked over at her, his eyes dropping to her fingers.

She followed his gaze and asked, "Are you anxious to get home?" An unexpected stab of pain shot through her chest. Had she read him wrong last night? Was he only looking for another couple nights of sex and used the line about giving her time as a way to soften her up? Maybe he thought she'd be more agreeable if he appeared to be a gentleman?

"It's not that, though LA isn't my favorite place. I thought the sooner we finished this, the sooner people learn about this new education initiative.”

His answer washed away her concerns. Los Angles had never been one of her favorite cities either.  True it had fabulous shopping but she much preferred New York or Washington overall if talking about US cities, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly why.  “What is your favorite place?”

“Depends on the time of year, but overall I'm not a huge fan of cities.”  Christopher turned his gaze to the road.

Thanks to the image he'd cultivated over the last few years, she'd expected him to say New York or maybe London so his answer surprised her. “I love the city.  You can always find something to do,” Sara admitted.  “But it is nice to get away from it too.”

When they entered Bruce Gordon’s office forty minutes later his entire team had gathered around the conference table. He was a well-known executive who worked on ad campaigns for several senators and representatives as well as the previous president, she'd expected someone older. She guessed Bruce was only in his mid-to-late forties. Yet, there was no denying the authority he held. There was also no missing the fact that he thought very highly of himself and assumed everyone shared his opinion.

"With some adjustments we can work these ideas in," Bruce said, his arm brushing against hers again.

Sara tried to inch away a little farther without moving onto Christopher's lap.  Already she'd moved away from Bruce while she explained the changes they wanted. The first time his arm touched hers, she considered it an accident. But it happened too many times now for it to be accidental, especially considering the space between them. The fabric of Christopher's pants slid against Sara's legs as she angled closer to him.
He must think I'm nuts. I'm practically sitting on his lap?
She'd have to explain later.

"How long will it take?" Christopher asked, his voice all business. The more carefree tone he'd used when he picked her up disappeared the minute they walked into Gordon's office.

"A day. Perhaps two. We should be able to start shooting on Thursday as planned."

Sara liked it when everything ran smoothly. From the sound of it, even with the changes everything was right on track. "I will let Senator Healy know." She scanned the questions she had prepared that morning for the second time. A tiny check mark set beside each one now. "We've covered everything on my agenda." She closed the cover for the portfolio.