The Billionaire's Housekeeper Mistress (7 page)

‘Love your red bikini,’ one of them said, smiling at her.

‘Can’t wear one any more,’ another remarked ruefully. ‘Having babies gave me an awful jelly belly.’

‘Why not consider cosmetic surgery if you feel bad about it?’ the third woman suggested.

This topic was instantly bandied around. Daisy sat on the middle step in waist-deep water, letting the conversation float around her, trying very hard to appear calm and at home with the party scene. It gradually dawned on her that it hadn’t worried the women that she’d gone missing. They were older than she was, comfortable in each other’s company with the many experiences of motherhood to share. They seemed to view their men as children, too, happy to sit apart and relax on the sidelines while indulgently watching their husbands at play.

Maybe the tradesmen had made some joking remarks to Ethan about her conscientious devotion to duty, suggesting he loosen the work-rein on her today, possibly implying she deserved some time off. The niggling criticism would have irked him, given that she was supposed to be enjoying the party with them. Whatever…she had to be careful not to arouse his displeasure again.

The problem was in not being able to act normally around him. He made her so tense all the time, having to fight the attraction he exerted on her. She should probably check where he was, try to judge from his expression if her swift response to his angry command had mollified the offence she had given. On the other hand, if she just sat here quietly, keeping her attention on the women, she shouldn’t get into any more trouble.

‘Daisy…’

Her nerves instantly twitched at the sound of Ethan’s voice, but at least there was no sharp edge to it this time. The tone held quite a pleasant lilt and she quickly constructed an inquiring smile as she turned in response to the call.

He stood halfway along the side of the pool, beckoning to her, obviously intent on a private tête-à-tête. It meant she had to get out of the water and go to meet him, wearing nothing but a dripping-wet bikini since she’d left her towel on the other side of the pool and she didn’t dare keep him waiting while she went and picked it up.

‘What’s it like working for such a gorgeous hunk?’ one of the women slung at her curiously as Daisy rose to her feet and started up the steps.

Difficult
almost slipped off her tongue. The spectre
of Lynda Twiggley blasting her for indiscretion rattled her just in time. She flashed a smile at the woman, quickly answering, ‘He’s actually very kind, very generous.’

‘Then you’ve got a brilliant package there.’ An encouraging grin was thrown back at her. ‘You should go for him, Daisy.’

She shook her head. ‘Not a good idea. But right now I have to go
to
him, so please excuse me.’

The women laughed at her quip and she left them to their own amusement, forcing her legs to walk around the pool to the man who was, indeed, brilliantly packaged, and the
gorgeous hunk
part of the package was very much on display. It didn’t matter how sternly she told herself not to find him desirable. She did. Any woman would.

He had the physical perfection of Michelangelo’s
David
, every masculine muscle shining under taut, tanned skin, vibrantly alive, not carved in cold white marble. Ethan Cartwright, wearing only a brief scrap of black fabric that seemed like a brazen pouch exhibiting even more sexual power, was hot, hot, hot, and just the sight of him made her own blood race with heat. It was impossible to control the response he drew from her.

Her heart thumped. Her stomach fluttered. She was acutely conscious of her bare thighs rubbing together as she walked towards him. And worst of all, with his gaze directly on her approach, taking in the full vision of
her
body in the red bikini, she felt her nipples tightening into hard bullets with no way of hiding that fact under a wet bra. It was difficult to resist the urge to fold her arms against her chest. Reason insisted that action would only emphasise her self-consciousness
and a stiff bolt of pride refused to give into such obvious weakness.

Nevertheless, anxiety rushed her into speech the moment she was close enough to him not to be overheard. ‘Have I done something else wrong?’

His far too sensual mouth moved into an ironic grimace. ‘No. I want to apologise for being so curt with you. I didn’t mean to frighten you into acting like a scalded cat. Your job here is not at risk, Daisy. I just don’t want you to be scarred by your experience with Lynda Twiggley. It won’t hurt you to be more relaxed with me.’

‘No. Okay,’ she agreed, relieved that he was no longer annoyed with her. To be absolutely sure of not making another mistake, she asked, ‘What is the agenda now?’

He waved towards the group of men at the other end of the pool. ‘The guys and I are about to start the barbecue and put the meat on. Why not rustle up the ladies to help bring down the salads and generally get ready for lunch? No hurry. Keep it casual and friendly.’

‘Will do,’ she promised.

‘They’ll all be gone by three o’clock. Children to be picked up from school and an early start to the weekend for the men. Since you missed out on a game of tennis this morning, I’ll play a set with you then.’ He gave her a cheerful grin. ‘Can’t have you bringing a tennis racquet for nothing.’

He tossed these last words at her as he started strolling back to the barbecue area, leaving Daisy openmouthed, struggling for a protest or an excuse to escape playing with him—being alone with him. She had the sinking feeling he would accept neither, anyway.

He wasn’t going to let her off.

She would have to play the set of tennis.

Maybe she could surprise him by beating him. He didn’t know she was an A-grade player. If his male ego got hurt, that might make him a lot less attractive. And he might not want to play with her any more. In any sense.

It was the only hope she could hold onto for staying on here without this constant feeling of vulnerability where he was concerned. She had to beat him this afternoon. Had to.

E
VERYONE
had helped clean up after the party before leaving. There was nothing for Daisy to do except play tennis with Ethan. At least both of them had changed back into their morning clothes so she didn’t have such an acute physical awareness to distract her. As they strolled down to the court, she tried to keep the conversation between them light and natural, commenting on the guests’ enjoyment of the day, pretending to be completely relaxed.

The tennis court was blue with a green surround and a high green wire fence to keep in wayward balls. ‘Were you pleased with the surface when you played this morning?’ she asked on their way down the flight of steps to it.

‘Yes. No bumps anywhere. No odd bounces. They’ve done a great job with it.’

‘I didn’t watch the game.’ She shot him an arch look. ‘Are you terribly good? Will you wipe me off the court?’

He laughed, shaking his head. ‘You’re quite safe. I’ll play to whatever your standard is, Daisy.’

She didn’t
feel
safe, not from the attraction that was
so difficult to squash. However, his promise to accommodate her tennis standard did give her the chance to beat him. Hopefully that would be a hit to the ego that had just assumed he was the better player and he’d be so put out he wouldn’t want to play other games with her.

‘I think you should serve first so I can judge for myself,’ she said, anticipating that he would go easy on her to begin with.

‘As you like.’

He put down a medium-paced serve which any reasonable player could return and Daisy suspected he deliberately over-hit the ball to let her win the first rally. On the second point she cunningly sidelined him, laughingly declaring it was a lucky shot. The third point was more seriously contested and she was relieved when he netted the ball, giving her three game points. She managed to win one of them with a drop shot he wasn’t expecting, which gave her the first game.

‘Hmmm…’ His green eyes were twinkling suspiciously as they crossed at the net. ‘Am I playing with a closet professional?’

‘How can you even imagine that?’ She grinned at him. ‘I never shriek or grunt when I hit the ball.’

She sliced her first serve so wide it was ungettable. She put her second serve down the T, leaving him standing again. He netted her third serve. The fourth he managed to return in court, but his shot was high enough for her to smash a winner from it. Two games to love. It was a great start.

He walked up to the net, no longer under any delusion that she was an easy beat. ‘Where do you usually play?’

‘At the Chatswood Tennis Club.’

‘How often?’

‘Most Saturday afternoons.’

Until the annual membership fee became due again. She couldn’t risk paying it, not when her job future was still so uncertain and every dollar earned might be important. Her tennis-playing days could soon be over for a long while, but today she was still in good form and very grateful for it.

‘A-grade?’ Ethan asked.

‘Yes.’

He suddenly grinned, which wasn’t the reaction Daisy needed to get from him. ‘What do they call you? The pocket rocket?’

‘No. Just Daisy.’

He shook his head in bemusement. ‘I wouldn’t call you
just
anything, Daisy Donahue. Compared to all the other women of my acquaintance, you are, without a doubt, the most remarkable.’

The compliment went straight to her head like champagne. The fizz of pleasure completely undermined the wish to bruise his ego. Besides, it didn’t seem possible in the light of his amazing admiration. He should be in a snit over being made to look inadequate against her, but he wasn’t. His voice held a relish for the competition as he tossed ‘Game on!’ at her.

She watched him stroll back to the service line, no lack of confidence in his bearing. She couldn’t help thinking he was the most remarkable man of her acquaintance and she was riven with the temptation to simply go with the flow of attraction wherever it took her. Which would probably be terribly foolish, given her job situation, not to mention the huge difference in their stations in life.

However, both these factors lost all significance in the intensely fought contest that followed the revelation of her ability to play at a highly challenging standard. Ethan stormed through his next service game. She had to fight hard to keep hers. It felt as though every point was an exhilarating win or an anguished loss. He had the greater strength but Daisy was a well-practised tactician and she refused to let his power dominate.

Ethan applauded every particularly skilful shot she made. There was no acrimony at all coming from him, more a bubbling delight running through the banter he carried on at the change of ends, making the game even more stimulating, mentally and physically. Daisy loved every minute of it, loved playing with him, loved the contest of wits and skill and the sweet thrill of his admiring comments. He was gorgeous, marvellous, and it was like a cocktail of sheer joy to be his match on the tennis court.

He gradually won his way back to six games all, then insisted they play a tie-breaker to decide the victor. Somehow beating him didn’t seem important any more, although Daisy still fought hard to take the set. He delivered a fantastic backhand to triumph in the end, and she dropped her racquet to applaud it, wanting to fairly acknowledge the great shot.

In uninhibited joy he leapt over the net, tossed his racquet on top of hers, and before she could even imagine what he intended, he swept her into his embrace, grinning wickedly as he declared, ‘Winner takes the prize.’

He kissed her.

Her heart was still banging away from the exertion of their last rally. Her body was hot. So was his. Whether
it was the energy drain of the game, being taken by surprise or the sudden wild surge of need to know him like this, resistance was simply beyond Daisy at that moment. Her arms automatically lifted and wound themselves around his neck, and she kissed him back.

Ethan swiftly took advantage of her surrender to his seductive sensuality, changing his kiss to one of driving passion, tightening his embrace, clamping her lower body to his, and Daisy was bombarded by so many exciting sensations, it was totally impossible to extract herself from them. The desire she’d tried so hard to hold in check burst through her in a raging compulsion to experience all of him.

Her fingers spread into his hair, clasping his head as her mouth ravaged his as intensely as his ravaged hers. Her breasts, pressed so hard against the hot heaving wall of his chest, tingled with wild sensitivity. His hands curled around her bottom, lifting her into a more intimate physical connection. She was acutely aware of his erection furrowing her stomach. It didn’t set off warning signals in her mind. She revelled in his desire for her, the excitement of it consuming all common sense.

With dizzying speed, he broke off their kiss, scooped her up in his arms and was carrying her, striding off the tennis court, mounting the steps to the pool terrace. Her arms were locked around his neck. She didn’t think of questioning his action. She was madly exulting in his strength. Never had a man made her feel so marvellously
taken
, as though she really was a prize. It was incredibly heady stuff and she nestled her face against his throat, breathing in the intoxicating male scent of him.

He charged into the pool cabana. There was a bed in the back room. A last thread of sanity screamed that she
should stop him now, but she didn’t want to. Her whole being yearned to let this happen, to indulge the desire to have Ethan Cartwright, to feel everything he could make her feel. She was twenty-seven years old and no other man had ever affected her so intensely. Her swirling mind rebelled against sanity, against pride, against everything that should stand in the way of letting herself be swept into bed with him.

He stood her on her feet, whipped off her T-shirt and removed her bra in a few breathless seconds. His shirt was discarded just as fast and she was barely conscious of her own semi-nakedness, being so entranced with his. He was beautiful, magnificent, and what she had thought of as untouchable was suddenly there to be touched and she didn’t even have to reach out because Ethan hauled her back into his embrace and was kissing her again, making the excitement of her bared soft flesh pressed against the muscle-toned heat of his even more lusty.

Her hands slid greedily over his powerful shoulders, loving the taut smooth skin, the sense of great strength, of an energy force that was pouring into passion for her. The sheer animal pleasure of feeling him like this completely banished any restraint. She touched everything she could reach—his back, his ears, his thick, silky hair, wildly revelling in the freedom from every inhibition.

He moved her with him to the bed. They tumbled onto it, still kissing each other with a fierce hunger for all they could take from this coming together. He tore his mouth from hers, heaved himself down to kiss her breasts with a hot urgency that drove Daisy to the brink of melting with anticipation for the ultimate intimacy. Her entire body was screaming yes when he lifted himself away to tear off the rest of her clothes and shed his own.

Seeing him so highly charged with desire for her sent a burst of exhilaration through her mind. Her eyes feasted on the glitter of feverish need in his, on the powerful maleness of his perfect physique. Everything female in her quivered with delight at the prospect of possessing some, if not all of this man.

Her legs instinctively spread apart as he came back to her and exultantly wound around his hips as he plunged into where she most wanted him, deep inside, filling her with such sweet satisfaction her throat automatically emitted a soft croon of pleasure. It was so good, and unbelievably better when he began stoking the wonderful sensation with rhythmic thrusts.

She closed her eyes to everything but the inner world she was sharing with him—a world of intense feeling rolling through her in ever stronger waves. She was barely aware of goading him on with her legs, raking his back with her hands, only knowing that she wanted more and more of him, wanted him to take her to a level of ecstasy she had never known and feeling it getting closer and closer, almost unbearably close, her vaginal muscles convulsing out of all control, and she was crying out, begging…

And then it happened.

A glorious burst of release.

The torturous tension disintegrated as a sweet flood of incredible pleasure washed it away, leaving her floating in heavenly happiness with a blissful smile on her face. Ethan brushed his lips gently over hers, sharing her contentment, and she realised he had climaxed with her. Although her arms felt totally limp, she lifted them to hug him, glad that in this moment they were perfectly in tune with each other, and deeply grateful for the
amazing experience he had given her. He kissed the tip of her nose, her closed eyelids, her temples, and it was so nice she couldn’t stop smiling.

‘You can’t hide from me any more, Daisy Donahue,’ he murmured in a tone of deep satisfaction. ‘I was right about you all along.’

Curiosity flicked her eyes open. ‘Right about what?’

He was grinning, a devilish delight dancing in his gorgeous green eyes. ‘You’re a challenging little witch with all the goods.’

Except the worldly goods that could make her a real match for him.

That miserably sobering thought wiped the smile off her face.

Even so she couldn’t regret what she had just done with him, though the reality of her situation rushed in on her, loading her heart with a lump of anxiety. Where did
he
see them going from here? She was his employee and a very temporary one. Their positions in life were hopelessly different.

‘Okay…’ he drawled, placing a finger at the corner of her lips, which had lost their smile, and searching her eyes with determined purpose. ‘What did I say wrong?’

‘Nothing. I just remembered who you are and who I am,’ she answered with black irony.

‘A man and a woman who want each other.’ He shook his head at her. ‘Don’t try to deny it, Daisy.’

She didn’t. It was impossible to lie in the face of the desire that had brought them both to this bed. ‘I’m not sure it’s ever that simple,’ she said ruefully. ‘There are always…other considerations.’

‘Neither of us is in a relationship. We’re both adults,’ he argued with arrogant confidence. ‘We don’t have to
answer to anyone except ourselves for what we do.’ He grinned again. ‘And don’t tell me this wasn’t good. It was great! No reason not to go with it and that’s what we’re going to do.’

In a quick lithe movement he was off the bed and scooping her up in his arms again. ‘We need a swim. Refresh ourselves,’ he said, dictating action as though everything was settled between them.

She
was
hot and sweaty. A swim would be good. Maybe it would clear her head enough to think straight, which was very difficult when she was so very physically linked to him. ‘You don’t have to carry me.’ It was a weak bid for some independence from his overwhelming attraction.

‘I like carrying you.’ There was a glitter of gleeful triumph in his eyes. ‘I would have carried you right out of the Magic Millions marquee except you probably would have screamed abduction when you recovered from your faint. You didn’t like me much then.’

The problem was she liked him too much now. In fact, she was head over heels in love with Ethan Cartwright. Was it possible that a relationship with him could have a future?

Belatedly her mind registered what he’d just told her. ‘Why did you want to do that? Carry me out of the marquee, I mean.’

He laughed. ‘Because you stirred the caveman in me. Still do.’

He plunged into the pool, still holding her in his arms, only releasing her underwater so she could rise to the surface as she wished. She swam away from him, needing a little time on her own to sort through the situation with Ethan. She’d thought—or had she wanted
to think?—he’d given her this job out of guilt. But now it seemed he’d wanted to abduct her, keep her with him until she satisfied his caveman instincts.

He’d called her a challenging little witch.

Said he was taking
his prize
.