The Russian's Furious Fiancee (6 page)

He considered her carefully as she sipped the excellent white wine he’d opened earlier, almost chuckling as she tried to hide even her approval of the wine. She was cute when she refused to give him an inch!

“I’ll make a deal with you. Two weeks of lunches or dinners together.”

She took a deep breath and turned away from him, taking in the stunning view of the city he had from his living room windows. The wine was superb, she thought, wishing he could do just one thing poorly like choose a bad tasting wine. Did the man have to be so good at everything? “What’s two weeks going to do? I’ll still dislike you and everything you stand for.”

“Ah, but two weeks will give me a chance to show you how charming I can be.”

“Impossible.”

“I see I’ll have to add a bit of incentive.”

“There’s nothing you can…”

“Don’t be too hasty.” He stepped closer to her and watched as her breathing increased and her heart rate sped up. He even liked the fact that her nipples were peaked for him, although he doubted she even realized that her body was reacting like this for him. “Only a few days ago, you were speaking very passionately about the people who use the recreation center.”

Her eyes lit up with excitement and relief. Could he possibly be giving in? Had she convinced him at lunch earlier in the week that the center was a valuable resource? “You’ll give up that site and move your blasted building if I just spend two boring weeks with you?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Not quite, but I appreciate the fact that you think big.”

She sighed and turned away, blowing a lock of brown hair out of her eyes. “Okay, so what do you think might be more enticing?”

“Besides my wonderful company?”

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Get real.”

He smiled. “I must be a glutton for punishment. My offer is that I’ll make a substantial donation to the shelter which will help some of the programs to shift their efforts and help the residents ease through the impact of the move to another location.”

She thought about it for a moment, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at him. “How substantial?”

He watched her carefully, considering what she might consider substantial. “Name your price.”

She stiffened slightly and immediately shook her head. “No, that would make me feel like a prostitute.”

“And me naming a sum would be different?” He wasn’t sure he grasped the difference.

“Yes. It’s probably semantics, but it’s a psychological difference.”

He wasn’t going to argue with that kind of logic. Especially when she looked so adorable as she blushed along those beautiful, porcelain cheeks. “Fine. One hundred thousand dollars.”

“Five hundred thousand,” she countered, holding her breath to see if he’d take the amount.

He almost laughed at both the sum, and the telltale giveaways her body was showing him. Even she considered that amount to be high. She was biting her lower lip again and he desperately wanted to take her into his arms and soothe the area she was abusing. He hid his amusement as he countered, “Two hundred thousand and you’re on call whenever I want you and you’ll act as my hostess during the time period.”

She bit her lip and thought hard, tapping her free hand against her thigh as she frantically worked through a counter offer. “Three hundred thousand and you arrange for our meetings ahead of time with no hostessing responsibilities.”

He moved in closer, seeing that he was winning the negotiations. “Two fifty and you come when I want you, although I’ll try and arrange the meetings ahead of time but you won’t balk if I need you spur of the moment.” His eyes glanced down at her full, lower lip and her pretty, worried eyes. “And I get to try and convince you of my many sterling traits however I see fit.”

She knew there was a catch to his offer somehow but her mind couldn’t work quickly enough to figure it out. Plus a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar donation would go a long way towards financing several of the programs that needed help. Did she dare turn down the money? She knew there was nothing he could do or say that would change her mind about him in two weeks.

“Deal,” she said, but as soon as she said it, she regretted it. There was something in his eyes that made her want to take back the words.

“Deal,” he replied softly and took her hand, kissing the back of her wrist when she curled her fingers closed. “This starts now.” He pulled his cell phone out of the pocket of his slacks and dialed a number. “Send two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the Evlin Street Recreation Center, the normal procedures for donations,” he commanded to whoever had answered the phone, then snapped it shut and put it away.

Without another word, he pulled her into his arms, pressing her against him with one hand on her back while the other hand moved to the back of her head, holding her head in place while his mouth came down over hers. Eva wanted to stop it, but she was stunned by his touch, by the heat slicing through her system and making her quiver with reaction. Before she could even move to resist, the heat invading her bones was melting her muscles, muscles that were no longer able to push him away as her mind anxiously tried to do.

When she felt his tongue tease her lips, she gasped at the electric shock and he took full advantage of that, moving in and tasting her, his tongue teasing hers to participate. She’d never been kissed like this, feeling so helpless, so overwhelmed. A kiss was supposed to be nice and considerate, something to be savored. Not this crazy kind of lust that assaulted her and caused her body to want to press against his while her hands ached to touch him, to feel his muscles and explore.

She was usually the one in charge, the one that moved in on her dates and kissed them good night. She started and stopped their kisses. Damon wasn’t following the rules! He wasn’t being considerate!

Damon could feel the resistance in her body and was determined to make her let go of control. Her hands were gripping his shirt, both pushing him one moment, then pulling him closer the next. He countered her resistance with gentleness, nibbling on her lower lip, sliding his tongue along her mouth and showing her what it would feel like. He felt like a king when he heard the small whimper in the back of her throat and her whole body melted against his, pressing herself closer. The hands that had been fisted on his shirt were now wrapping around his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair and he almost lost control.

Her reaction was so electrifying, so incredibly sweet that he deepened the kiss, pulling her head back so he could taste her more thoroughly, loving the way she continued to make those sexy sounds and his body hardened almost painfully as she slid herself against him. He could feel her breasts against his chest, his mind reeling at how kitten like she could be when she gave in to the attraction.

He pulled back, knowing that if he continued this kiss much longer, he would lift her lush figure into his arms and take her down the hallway to his bedroom, not letting her up until she was screaming out her release in his arms. Damn but she felt good!

He watched in fascination as she recovered from his kiss, seeing her eyes flutter open, the realization that she’d wrapped herself around him and she slowly recoiled, embarrassed by her body’s reaction.

Eva stood there, staring at the middle of his chest and wondering what had just happened. Her mind wasn’t working very well but she tried to form a thought. “Why did you do that?” she asked, whispering in case the noise of her voice melted her body that was still weak from his kiss.

“Because I wanted to,” he replied with a voice deeper with husky sensuality. “And you enjoyed it even though you’re probably castigating yourself for that pleasure.”

She took a deep breath and stepped away, refusing to admit that she might have liked the way he felt against her, or even that his kiss might have engendered a small, tiny, infinitesimal reaction inside her. “I don’t think that is part of our bargain.”

“The deal was that I could try and convince you of my sterling qualities. I consider my….abilities…one of my sterling qualities. Deal has been set, you can’t renegotiate the terms after the fact.”

“That wasn’t part of the negotiations.”

“Too late to add details to the contract. We’re going on implied conditions,” he said and handed her a glass of wine. He didn’t want her to think too much about that kiss or her reaction to it. He was concerned that she would pull away or refuse to meet with him if she was afraid of their attraction. “Tell me what you did today.” He wanted to change the subject, to get her mind off of her reaction, even though his body was still hard and aching for her curves to be back in his arms so they could finish what they’d started.

She stared down at the wine in her glass, wondering what she’d gotten herself into. This was crazy and she was terrified of what he’d just done to her, what he’d made her feel.

Her hands were shaking as she walked over to the sofa, sinking down into the soft cushions and trying to come up with a response. Unfortunately, her mind wasn’t working, it was still back on that kiss and her response. How could she have enjoyed that so much, with a man she hated? Was she that weak? Was she so promiscuous that she would allow a man to touch her that she didn’t respect?

“Eva,” Damon called out, his voice soft but firm as he watched her work through her reaction. He was concerned that she was turning that kiss into something more than it was. But it had served the exact purpose to which he’d wanted; to show her that there was an intense attraction between the two of them that she couldn’t deny. An attraction that would benefit them in their marriage and she needed to accept that so they could move on to the next step.

“What?” she snapped, still looking down at her lap, trying to hide her shaking hands.

“Look at me, Eva,” he coaxed, noticing that she was more affected by the kiss than he’d thought. That was both good and bad, he knew.

“I don’t want to look at you!” she countered.

He chuckled and moved closer. “If you don’t want to talk, then I’ll have to find something else to do until dinner is ready,” he said and started to sit down next to her.

As expected, she jumped up, almost spilling her wine in the process. “Fine! My day was fine!”

“What did you do?” he asked and sat down across from her like he’d originally planned, instead of next to her. He knew she needed space although soon, very soon, he wasn’t going to give it to her. His plan was to ease her into accepting their mutual attraction. But there was no way he would allow her to completely reject it.

She shook her head and looked up, glaring at him once again. “Why in the world would you want to know what I did today?”

He couldn’t believe she really had to ask. “Because I find you fascinating. And I’d like to get to know you better.”

She sighed and relaxed back against the extremely comfortable sofa cushions. “I thought the only prerequisites you had for a wife were a good hostess and procreator. Did I misunderstand at our lunch earlier this week?”

He chuckled, glad that the spitfire was back in full force. He was starting to become disturbed by the quiet Eva. She’d been looking distraught, forlorn, like he’d just stepped on her new puppy. This angry woman, still appearing ravishing and sexy as hell…she was much easier to handle and understand.

“I guess you sit around having lunches with your friends or shopping?” he prompted, knowing that wasn’t the case but he enjoyed riling her.

She tilted her head to the side. “What would you think if I told you that I teach investing classes for underprivileged families and am also a best-selling author of mysteries? That I spent the day at the morgue trying to get gory details out of the medical examiner on the latest murder victims so I can use those details in my own plot line?”

He threw back his head and laughed, thoroughly amused by the possibility. This woman, sitting so erect she might snap if she were any straighter, couldn’t write a gory mystery if her life depended on it. Romance possibly. But not a mystery. She was too sweet. And he also knew that she had a large trust fund given to her by her grandmother, had even reviewed her money manager’s investment strategy and approved of where her money was currently invested.

“So you don’t shop, you don’t spend your days going from one social function to the other and you’re a community activist. What’s your favorite charity?”

His disbelief in her writing and teaching skills actually made her feel stronger. It was wonderful that she could tell him the truth, and yet he didn’t believe her at all. It was like she was keeping a secret part of herself from him, from his all-knowing eyes and it helped her deal with his arrogance.

He’d also chosen a topic of conversation with which she was much more comfortable. It was a safe haven to discuss her charities, and she even considered it a fundraising attempt, although the man had been extremely generous with his donation to the recreation center already. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, just to have lunches and dinners with her? He must be crazy because Eva knew she wasn’t that special. “I have several charities that I favor, but not one that I prefer above any of the others.”

“So you’re a bleeding heart liberal, eh?” he teased, his eyes smiling at her and enjoying the banter.

She leaned forward to argue the merits of the charities she supported, unaware that her sweater was once again giving him a tantalizing view of her breast or that he was paying more attention to the elegant line of her neck.

It was amusing to tease her, to taunt her about the issues about which she was passionate. He didn’t tell her that he admired her for several of her opinions and the actions she took to help out. And he definitely didn’t tell her that he had already donated large sums to several of the charities she with which she worked. That might let her know that he agreed with her and he was much too fascinated by this woman’s spirit to let her calm down now. Her knowledge of his previous donations would keep her from arguing with him and he was enjoying himself way too much to allow that.

So they argued their points, the benefits of each charity and why it was important, what it contributed to the communities or the world, why he should care, why she should just let things go and on and on. The argument moved to the dining room after his housekeeper let him know that their dinner was ready, and he suspected that she didn’t even know that she’d finished the whole meal this time, her vehemence in her beliefs was so strong that it dissipated her anxiety over being near him.