The Tycoon's Resistant Lover (2 page)

“Tell me how many hearts you’ve broken since last we met,” he said as he took a sip of his own drink.

Jessica glanced over at Edward nervously before returning her eyes to James. “Alas, I’ve been a very good girl since we last met.”

James lifted an eyebrow in her direction. “Why do I find that hard to believe?”

She grinned right back at him, refusing to admit she’d done anything inappropriate. “Perhaps because you have a very suspicious mind?”

He threw back his head and laughed, then shook his head. “That’s true enough, but I also witnessed you in action. Those men in Belgium were fawning over you left and right and you didn’t even notice.”

Julianna was astounded that he took every insult with amusement. Jessica definitely had a special relationship with this man and once again, Julianna tamped down the jealousy she felt at the other woman. Just a friend, she reminded herself.

Jessica waved that aside. “You’re being ridiculous, James. No one fawned over anyone.”

He looked at her with concern. “You really don’t know how many men were in love with you, do you?”

She blushed and rolled her eyes. “You’re exaggerating. Tell me about the house you’re building in Aruba. Last time we were talking you said that you were having problems with the pool. Have you been able to resolve that issue?”

Julianna let the conversation whirl around her. Even Edward laughed and talked about various problems he’d had during a recent renovation, but Julianna wasn’t able to participate as much as a polite guest should. She kept trying to move away from the man, feeling too closed in and overheated. But it seemed as if he moved right along with her each time she inched away. She didn’t see him move, but the air was continuously filled with his spicy male scent and she couldn’t even turn her head away to break that intoxicating scent from filling her lungs.

Beth stepped into the room to announce that dinner was ready and Jessica smiled her thanks.

“I’d like a word with you,” Edward said to Jessica, putting a hand out to stop her from moving out of the room.

James stood up quickly and looked down at Julianna. “I would be honored to escort you into dinner,” he said as he looked down at Julianna’s startled expression. He took her hand in his, lifting her up and almost pulling her into his arms. She thought he was going to wrap his arm around her waist, but he simply tucked her hand into his arm and escorted her out of the room.

“I know the way, sir,” she said stiffly as he led her out of the room on his arm.

When they were out of the living room and alone in the hallway, she tried to pull her hand out of his grasp, but he held her firmly, looking down at her curiously. “Do I make you nervous, Julianna?” he asked softly so the housekeeper wouldn’t overhear.

“Absolutely not!” she gasped and tried to put some space between them but he held her too closely. And the fact was, he didn’t just make her nervous. He terrified her. These feelings coursing through her body were scary, different and unnamed. She didn’t like feeling like this. She preferred the organized, scheduled life she had with Edward while James made her feel completely off balance and chaotic.

“What if I told you that you make me nervous?” he countered. “In fact, I think I’m completely terrified of you.”

She turned her head away, embarrassed that he could see what she was feeling so easily. “I’d say that you are a liar, but since you’re not nervous, and you can’t say that about me, I won’t be so rude as to say something like that to a stranger.”

He smiled, not insulted at all by her words. “But we’re not strangers. We’ve been sitting next to each other for the past hour.”

Her chin went up defensively and she glared at him. “You were sitting too close, by the way.”

He laughed down at her mutinous expression. “Ah, but your lovely perfume was just too much of an allure to hold back.” He leaned down and winked at her. “If you don’t want a man to notice you, then why did you put so much effort into looking beautiful?”

She took a step back, as far as his hand would allow since he was still holding her hand captive on his arm. “I wasn’t trying to entice you! I didn’t even know you would be here.”

His eyes moved over her pale, lovely features slowly at that point. “I know you weren’t trying to entice Edward. So I guess I have to assume you’re just naturally beautiful.”

She looked up at him, her mouth slightly open with surprise as he looked down at her. They stopped in the middle of the hallway and Julianna tried to think of something to say, but no words would come to her. She should argue that she had been trying to impress Edward, but that wouldn’t be honest at all. She’d barely thought about Edward as she’d dressed for the night, had in fact been resentful that he’d disrupted her plans for the evening with his phone call. But how does one respond to such a sweet compliment from a man like James Cavanaugh?

He didn’t wait for her reaction but continued with that disconcerting, introspective gaze. “Actually, I think you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met in my life,” he admitted.

 James looked down at the blond woman and was surprised at how strongly he needed to touch her. He wanted to see if she was real, if she might disappear if he touched her. Giving in to the need, he reached up and ran a finger down her soft, porcelain skin and was shocked at how soft she was under his rough fingertips. And when she blushed once again, he wanted to reach down at kiss her. Never had he been so instantly attracted to a woman before. Women threw themselves at him just because of his size. But when they found out who he was, their pursuit could be embarrassingly aggressive.

And yet this cool cucumber pretended that she wasn’t interested even while she blushed at his touch and tried to pull away. Her laughter enticed him and her reserve challenged him as no other woman ever had. He wanted to break through that reserved façade and see what she was like when she wasn’t so controlled. His body reacted as he pictured her naked, those small, perfect breasts in his hands and her body writhing whenever he touched her. He wanted to make her scream out as she climaxed from his touch and he wanted to hold her in his arms afterwards, letting the shivers subside.

Damn, but she was gorgeous, he thought.

“This is a completely inappropriate conversation,” she said, looking away and wishing that her voice was more assertive. “Please release me,” she ordered.

“Or you’ll what?” he asked, actually moving closer to her, enjoying the way her nipples peaked underneath the ice blue dress she was wearing. His fingers ached to hold those breasts and his mouth wanted to take those peaks into his mouth. He wondered if he could make her climax from that kind of stimulation and he almost groaned from the image that formed in his mind. “Come home with me tonight,” he growled. “Let me show you what we can share with each other.”

Julianna gasped and shook her head. Had the man actually propositioned her? Come home with him? They might have sat next to each other for the past hour but they’d barely spoken. How could he think that she would welcome such an invitation?

Goodness, what was happening with her body? Her breathing was ragged and she felt dizzy with the desire his soft touch of his finger on her arm generated inside of her as he let his long finger trail down from her shoulder to her elbow. She couldn’t believe she was actually considering saying yes! But just his soft touch and that voice were hypnotizing her, making her want things that were wicked and….inappropriate.

“Leave me alone,” she gasped and stepped away, relieved when he gave her the space. But she should have known better. He followed her retreat, backing her up against the wall and shaking his head.

“I don’t think I will,” he said, referring to her command. “I think we’re going to make each other very uncomfortable for a while.”

Julianna couldn’t believe his words. What an outrageous comment. She’d never been around a man who could be so bold, so confident about a woman’s response even when she was rejecting him. “Why would you say such a thing?” she demanded, putting her hands against his chest, intending to push him away but her fingers splayed out, feeling the muscles flex underneath the black material. She was fascinated by his touch despite her mental warning to run as far away from him as she could.

“Because I think we could be very, very good together. If you would just let yourself relax a bit, that is.”

“You don’t even know me!”

“I know that you shiver every time I touch you.”

“That’s from revulsion!” she gasped, praying that he would believe her.

He smiled and shook his head. “Do you really want me to prove you wrong here in your friend’s house?”

Julianna couldn’t believe the gall of this man. She couldn’t come up with a reply fast enough and thankfully, they heard voices coming into the hallway heralding Jessica and Edward’s approach. “Leave me alone!” she snapped and slipped underneath his arm so she could walk into the dining room alone.

James watched as she took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs placed around a lovely round table. He tried to look away since the other two were close, but when she moved, his eyes were drawn to her. Every movement she made was like a choreographed dance. She was so graceful and refined, it fascinated him.

Edward and Jessica joined them a moment later and he tore his eyes away, not wanting to embarrass her, but still struck by her grace and beauty. James purposely sat opposite the beautiful blonde so he could continue to watch her, to learn everything he could as she moved.

He almost chuckled when he realized that she dabbed at both sides of her mouth after almost every bite. She put her fork down in between bites and took a sip of wine or ice water. Everything was perfectly controlled, her movements slow and precise. This woman would never spill soup on the front of her or dribble sauce on her napkin. She didn’t move enough for things like that to happen.

He wondered what she would do if served chips and salsa or something equally as messy. What would she be like during an American football game where sauce covered hot wings were served with cool blue cheese dressing? He almost chuckled out loud as he pictured her horror at those kinds of foods. And he couldn’t wait to test her with each and every one of them.

Julianna was always careful when she ate, having been a messy child whose parents continued to berate her throughout every meal until one day when she was banished from the dining room and forced to eat alone or with the servants in the kitchen during meals. She’d been sixteen before her parents allowed her back into the dining room and even then, there was constant criticism of her, so much so that she wished she could retreat once again into the kitchen where she could eat without an upset stomach or fear of being reprimanded for placing too many peas on her fork or slicing too small a bite of whatever meat was being served.

But as this current meal progressed, she became increasingly nervous because the big, blond man watched every move she made. Was he waiting for her to make a mistake? Was he trying to send her a message, as if willing her to spill her wine or drop her fork?

She refused to give him that satisfaction, concentrating on each of her movements, bringing back every rule her mother and father had drilled into her about dining etiquette. She would not reveal how nervous she was. She’d gone through more difficult trials than this man could present and she would persevere through this one.

By the time dinner was over, she was exhausted and irritated. The man had watched her for most of the meal while Jessica and Edward argued about horses and gardening, which was odd because she’d never heard Edward argue about anything before and she’d had no idea that Edward even cared much about gardening.

As she lay in her high, antique bed with lacy pillows surrounding her that night, she stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom, thoughts of James Cavanaugh running through her mind. She wondered what he actually did as a real estate person, what he was like when he wasn’t being obnoxiously forward and what it would be like to be friends with someone that confident and dynamic.

And whenever an image of what the man might look like without those clothes on came into her mind, or if she started to wonder if he was passionate or gentle when he kissed, she rolled over and punched her pillow, refusing to acknowledge the man in that way. He might be handsome and attractive, but he was also forward and irritating and had no manners at all.

Chapter 2

With Jessica on one arm looking bright and beautiful once again, Julianna took Edward’s other arm as they walked into the ballroom together. She was sure that they made a very odd trio as they entered with Jessica looking so colorful and herself in an elegant, black dress that hugged her figure in all the right places. She felt daring and confident today for some reason and the non-traditional entrance was liberating in a way. She reveled in the stares they received as the three of them made their audacious entrance. How often did she have the chance to make the gossips talk about her in a completely innocent activity? It was thrilling, not to mention more than a little cathartic. She really should break the rules more often, she thought as she greeted their host and hostess at the front door.

As the three of them drew more stares when they entered the ballroom, Julianna thought about James and his outrageous personality. What would he think of her now? She remembered the way he’d watched her eat, just waiting for her to make a mistake. Well, she’d survived that test and here she was, although what she expected of him seeing her like this was still a mystery in her mind. Perhaps she just wanted James to think she was intrepid and outrageous just like he was, that she wasn’t afraid of life and breaking the rules.

She was just about to ask Edward to get both of them a glass of champagne when a large form appeared in front of her. Without even turning her head, she knew it was none other than the man who had been driving her crazy because he kept infiltrating her thoughts and dreams, leaving her more than curious about so many things concerning the man.

Just moments ago, she’d wanted James to see her like this, the second woman in a trio seemed so naughty and inappropriate. But now that he was here, full of life and that ever present amusement in those icy eyes, she wanted to shrink back and hide. She especially wanted to change her clothes, knowing that the black dress clung too tightly and he would see that….no, he would only see…

Good grief, she thought with desperation and a growing sense of panic as he moved closer. She had no idea what she wanted him to see. The man was confusing her, just with that sexy look and that deep voice of his.

After greeting Jessica and Edward, his eyes lit upon hers, that intensity increasing and the heat openly flaming towards her through his eyes and that almost tangible sexuality he wore like a cloak. She held her breath as he turned to face her and she started shivering even before he spoke.

“Lady Holbrook, I was hoping you might be able to assist me with a very important issue,” he said to Julianna before turning to Edward. “Do you mind if I take one of these lovely ladies off of your hands for a moment?” James asked.

He didn’t wait for an answer, but simply took her free hand in his and pulled her gently but firmly into the crowd of dancers. Thankfully Edward released her with his blessing so no scene was made, although she shivered over the idea of James fighting for her. What a delicious idea that was.

She groaned inwardly as her thoughts ran away from her yet again. She stiffened and pulled back when they were a few feet away. “What do you think you’re doing?” Julianna demanded, trying to pull her hand out of his but he wouldn’t let her. He just tucked her hand onto his arm which pulled her closer to his large body. She’d thought he’d look good in a pair of jeans, but now that she saw him in a tuxedo, she was changing her opinion about what suited his large frame best. She was furious when the thought ‘nothing at all’ popped into her mind.

“Let me go,” she whispered furiously, trying not to make a scene but she might if she didn’t get away from him.

He ignored her feeble attempts to draw away and coaxed her onto the dance floor. “I wanted to dance with you,” he replied and pulled her into his arms, holding her close as he looked down into her angry eyes.

Her mouth fell open and she looked up at him with fury seething from her eyes. “That’s what you needed help with?”

He laughed at her outrage. “Well, no. Actually, I was trying to get away from Melissa Melbourne. She was hanging onto me, leaning over to show me her cleavage and it annoyed me. When I saw you walk in, I knew that she would back off if I was with you, so I took advantage of your beauty and got away from her.”

Julianna tilted her head away and contemplated his words. In truth, she wasn’t sure how to respond. Melissa was one of those women in their social circle that liked to attach herself to the most handsome or wealthiest man in the room and have him fall all over her. In this case, James was probably both, but Edward might outrank him on one or the other of those criteria, she wasn’t sure.

One part of her was jealous that the witless Melissa, with her ample breasts and her overly made up face would dare to touch this man who she subconsciously already thought of as hers. But another part of her didn’t want to be held by him simply because he was trying to avoid another woman. It only stung her pride, she told herself. Didn’t he want to hold her just because he liked her?

Stop it, she reprimanded herself. She didn’t want to have anything to do with this man so why was she being so ‘dog in the manger’ about him?

“I don’t like being used,” she said stiffly, remaining in his arms and dancing with him while she worked through her emotions, tried to make sense of them.

James watched her, enjoying the color on those porcelain cheeks that looked like they had been carved by a master sculptor. “Ah, darlin’, don’t think of it as being used, so much as just the fact that it was a convenient excuse to hold you in my arms again.”

Julianna’s eyes snapped up to his and she gasped at the heat that was flaring in those ice blue depths. “That’s ridiculous,” she whispered.  Had he read her mind? Was he just telling her what she wanted to hear?

James spun her to the right, a perfect way to pull her closer against him. And it worked. The move was so unexpected that she had to hold onto him, allowing him to shift her body so that she was pressing against him everywhere.

Julianna gasped when his leg moved between hers and she felt the heat suffuse her cheeks. “Behave,” she begged, but the shivering gave away her true reaction.

Thankfully, the man didn’t laugh at her. But his reaction was just as disconcerting and she tried to pull away from the hardening of his body against her stomach and the heat flaring in his eyes, telling her exactly what was happening to him.

“Come home with me and I promise I’ll behave.”

A streak of desire tore through her and she gasped, her mouth falling open as her mind whirled around the idea of going back to his place with him. And then reality came back and she shook her head, trying to recapture her sanity. “Are you crazy?” she whispered and tried to put some space between them. “I’ve only just gotten here.”

“I’d like to make you crazy,” he said in response, not letting her move away from him. He used the crowded dance floor to his advantage and moved so that she had to lean against him. He could feel her small, perfect breasts against his chest and the need surged through his bloodstream.

She thought frantically, terrified of the desire coursing through her veins. She’d never experienced anything like this and she grasped at the only thing she could think of that might stop him from creating these feelings. “Edward and I are getting married,” she gasped out.

She felt his hands clench and thought he might break her fingers from the pressure. But then he relaxed and shook his head. “You’re not wearing a ring.” His eyes had gone dark but with that declaration, his eyes returned to their previously icy state, still disconcerting, but not nearly as terrifying.

He had a very good point and she bit her lip as she tried to think of her next excuse to keep him at arm’s length. She hadn’t lied though. She and Edward had discussed marriage occasionally but only in a very general sense and nothing concrete. It was true that she assumed she was going to marry Edward, but he hadn’t proposed and not even a general time period had been decided upon. In all honesty, she couldn’t feign a commitment that wasn’t there.

Of course, she could just ask Edward to lie for her. But that would be dishonest and she knew she was now grasping at straws here. She needed to be firm and stand up for herself. Men didn’t treat her like this, she told herself firmly. She was always in charge when a man approached. She set the rules and she’s the one who determined how far each man would be allowed to go during their relationship. She just needed to figure out how to get the upper hand with James, who seemed to be in a different class of the male species.

“It’s just an assumption that we’ll get married,” she said honestly. “A ring would make it formal and we’re not to that stage in our relationship yet. This is still a private conversation Edward and I are having between ourselves.” There, that was the whole truth and he would just have to accept that and give her the space she needed.

Of course, he didn’t react the way he should have, the way he was supposed to. Dratted man! The smile he gave her was victorious and he chuckled. “Then I still have a chance.”

She was already shaking her head. “No! There’s no chance! I don’t want any of this!”

His hand slid down her back, pressing her hips more intimately against his and sending tremors throughout her system. “Your body is sending me a different message, Julianna. I think you’re pretty lips are only telling me what you think might push me away, but the fact that you feel that you need to, only gives me more encouragement.”

He swung her around and the hand that had been on her back, holding her hips close to him moved upward once again, sending more shivers throughout her body and she shook her head, her eyes wide and terrified. When the hand reversed itself once again, kept going lower and lower until it was almost on her bottom she gasped out, “Don’t do that!”

He laughed softly and bent lower. “Why not? You want my touch. You’re practically melting for me and I can guarantee that the feeling is mutual, but you already know that, don’t you?” His hand pressed against her hips more firmly. “This is what you do to me, Julianna. Don’t shy away from it. You should revel in the power you have over me. I want you and I’m not going to let you hide from this attraction that seems to be about to light us both on fire.”

“Control yourself!” she snapped, knowing that his earthy, blatant conversation was making her cheeks burn. With embarrassment? No, but she’d let him think that if it would slow him down.

Thankfully the music ended and Julianna was able to step back, but not completely. James had held her in his arms and he wasn’t going to let her go. As the musicians took a break during the dinner period, James put a hand around her waist and guided her over to the dining room with him.

“I really need to get back to Edward,” she whispered desperately as she smiled or nodded to the guests she knew.

James only drew her towards their table, his hand sliding up her arm in what seemed to others as innocuous but she couldn’t help but shudder as his hand moved along her body. “No you don’t. Edward has his hands full with Jessica and he seems pretty preoccupied at the moment.”

Julianna had no idea what he was talking about until he nodded to one corner of the room. There she saw Jessica poking Edward in the middle of his chest as she said something angrily to him.

Turning away from the scene, Julianna realized she wouldn’t have any help from Edward’s area. “I don’t feel very well. I think I’ll call it a night,” she whispered, looking down at her feet and praying to get out of there with some dignity intact.

James looked at her swiftly, concern etching his face. But what he saw wasn’t a woman in pain. Rather, Julianna appeared to be frightened of him and terrified of what he made her feel. “I’ll see you home,” James said, already relishing the idea of getting her alone and away from all of these people with their prying eyes and the press who were just waiting for some juicy piece of gossip.  He pressed a button on his cell phone, giving his driver warning that they were leaving the building and he should be out front as soon as he could get there.

Julianna grimaced. Well, that wasn’t what she’d planned! It was hard enough to be close to James in a crowded ballroom. She didn’t want to conjecture on what might happen if they got alone in the back of a dark limousine with no prying eyes to slow down this raging lust she was feeling for the man. “No, please, I don’t want to ruin your evening as well. Just stay and have a good time and I’ll talk to you later.”

“Not a chance, Princess,” he laughed. “Besides, I really do need your help. I want you to help me choose some pieces of furniture for my new house.”

She looked up at him, strangely warmed by his unintended compliment. “You want to buy pieces from my gallery?”

He watched the pleasure come across her features and something relaxed inside of him. “I’ve heard you’re the best dealer in the industry. Of course I want your opinion. Where else would I go?”

He held open the door for her and she stepped out into the cool, fall air, taking a deep breath and feeling as if the world had just sprouted sunshine everywhere even though it was nighttime. “I’d be more than happy to help you with your house. Just stop by my gallery when you have time and I’ll show you some pieces.”

He led her over to the sidewalk as they waited for his driver to pull up from the back of the ballroom. “The pieces can’t be too prissy, right?” he cautioned, knowing that she might prefer the daintier examples that he’d break the first time he sat down in a chair.

Julianna laughed and shook her head, enjoying his look of wariness. It was a refreshing change from the heat and lust she usually found in his eyes. “Of course not. Antiques have stood the test of time with grace and dignity and I’d never give you anything that would be too feminine.” She looked at him from the side before she said, “Unless you were really misbehaving and I could get some amusement out of you breaking the chair, that is.” The limousine pulled up at that moment so she thought she could slip away quickly.

He looked down at her, startled by her teasing comment. A joke coming from his beautiful ice princess? Surely not! But the evil look that came over her at that moment shocked him so much that he threw back his head and laughed, delighted in her genteel personality that still had interesting sparks. “So you think my pain would be entertaining, eh?” he asked as he leaned forward, pressing her back against the side of the car, enjoying the way she shifted slightly against him as if she wanted his body in a certain place against her softness.