The Tycoon's Resistant Lover (4 page)

She shivered and shook her head. “Edward never…” she started to say he never even explored her body but that would contradict what she’d told him earlier in the evening about how serious their relationship was. She desperately needed Edward as a buffer against this man. She lifted her chin defiantly and looked up at him, her hands plastered against his massive chest and she forced them to be still, to not explore as they desperately wanted to do. “Edward would never be so unchivalrous as to touch me so inappropriately,” she stated emphatically.

James watched her face, knew that she’d been about to say something and wondered for a split second why she stopped. But he already knew what she was going to say. “Edward doesn’t care what you wear underneath all these prim and proper dresses, does he?” James demanded, pushing her backwards so that she was against the wall. He should be furious that Julianna was trying to make him jealous or, more likely, using Edward once again to push him away. But he’d felt her in his arms, he’d heard the way she moaned when he touched her and her lies weren’t going to sway him. In fact, they only made him more determined because it showed that she was scared, and he wasn’t going to let her run simply because she was scared of what they had between each other. No, this was one of those incredible twists of fate that happened to two people only rarely.

She reached up to push him away, terrified of what he knew. “Edward is a gentleman.”

James chuckled at her description of a man that James knew was just as testosterone laden as he was, which made him no more of a gentleman than he was. “Edward is an ass if he doesn’t want to find out. But I’m not and I do.”

No, this wasn’t how he was supposed to respond! He was supposed to cower and apologize for being so forward! “You can’t!” Oh, why couldn’t this man follow the rules!

His grin was slow and sexy and his hands moved down from her wrists to her waist, then lower. “I already do,” he said softly, his hands moving against her body and re-discovering that this woman who showed the world that she was cool and calm was actually a wild cat, desperate for someone to wake up the inner kitten in her. “And believe me, Julianna. I like it a great deal.”

She shook her head frantically as the trembling increased while his hands started exploring once again. She could already feel her resistance melting and she fisted her hands to keep them from grabbing him once again and pulling his head down so she could kiss him, lose herself in that incredible, wonderful feeling that only James seemed to be able to bring out in her. “You know nothing,” she cried out.

His hand slipped upwards, cupping her breast that he could mold freely with his hand as he proved that she was not wearing a bra. “I know that you’re gorgeous and sexy and that I want you. Is there anything else to know?” he asked, his thumb flicking her hardened nipple through the fabric and watching as her body melted, her eyes closed and her head rolled back against the wall.

“No. Nothing else to know,” she sighed, not feeling defeated, but her body unable to resist.

He shook his head, groaning at her response and tried to get control of his raging lust. “I think there’s a great deal more to find out about you, my dear.”

With an audible groan, he pulled back and gripped her hands together inside of his. “But not tonight,” he said firmly.

Julianna’s eyes snapped open and she looked up at him with both pain and relief. “What do you mean?”

James watched, trying to determine if he was being a fool by leaving right now. Something told him that he could get her into bed, he could make love to her and it would be good for both of them. But he suspected that, if he could wait until she was more aware of the decision, if she was a more active participant and he wasn’t just seducing her into the action, it would be even better. A night both of them would never forget.

For a man used to taking what was offered as well as seducing the more reticent of ladies in his past, he wasn’t sure what was going through his mind. But he wanted all of Julianna. He wanted her so absorbed in their decision that she would be on fire, just as much he was with no regrets after the fact.

“Soon,” he promised and kissed her gently on the mouth. “But not tonight.”

He turned and walked out of the foyer, looking back at her with a conspiratorial wink before he pulled her front door open. “Be sure and lock this after I leave. You wouldn’t want me changing my mind and joining you in what I expect to be your gorgeously decorated bedroom full of frilly, feminine antiques, right?”

Her outrage was priceless! He caught just a glimpse of her angry demeanor and her cute, fisted hands at her sides before he stepped out of the house. She really was wonderful to rile up, he thought. He might be doing himself a disservice by generating that anger, but it really was fun and she looked adorable. And sexy!

He pulled the heavy door closed and laughed softly, shaking his head when he heard the lock slam into place. He was glad she’d done that, afraid she’d be too out of things to remember to lock the door after he left.

Chapter 3

Julianna sighed and erased the number she’d written for the fourth time. It was the wrong number and she’d even added up the wrong column of numbers. She’d been making mistakes like this all day long and it was all because of James Cavanaugh!

She was shaking so badly and the whole day had been a complete waste of time. She’d barely been able to concentrate today, her mind wandering back to last night and being with James. He was the only man who had discovered her secret and she wasn’t sure if she hated him, or if she loved that he knew.

Oh why hadn’t she anticipated him discovering her habit of not wearing underwear and done something different last night? It was a crazy habit she’d gotten into when her parents had been lecturing her on the appropriate clothes to wear. It had all started one day when she was in her late teens. She’d been sent up stairs to change for the fourth time that day and she’d been exasperated by the ridiculous waste of time and energy and all because one social engagement required a certain look of clothes while a meal required another. There had been no arguments, and the dress she’d been wearing for afternoon tea was perfectly acceptable for a family dinner, at least in her mind. But her mother had a different idea. She’d worn the dress to tea and some neighbors had arrived. Therefore, a different dress was needed for the evening meal where other guests would be attending.

In her opinion, she’d wondered how anyone had enough time on their hands to compare what she had been wearing to afternoon tea versus a dinner party. Who even cared? But she’d dutifully went up to her room and changed into what her parents might consider appropriate dinner attire, which for that night had meant a different colored dress.

Julianna had rarely argued with her parents, knowing that it was pointless. Her mother would simply walk away from any form of dissension while her father would start berating her for her lack of tact, diplomacy, decorum or manners. But these small, secret battles she’d won. Going without undergarments had been her secret victory and, to date, no one had ever even suspected.

Unfortunately, James was more bold than any man she’d ever met in her life and she had no clue how to deal with him, how to put him in his place so that he followed the strict rules upon which her entire life revolved. There were moments when she actually hated him for being so brash and other times when she wished he would just finish what he’d started.

Was she wanton for wanting him in that way? She was supposed to be waiting to marry Edward, to whom she was fully prepared to marry and have a family with him. So why was she having feelings like this for James?

Edward was a good man, had been a member of her social circle since she was a child so he knew the rules and understood all the parameters around which their world worked. He would never be so bold as to kiss her in the back of a limousine, unless it was a chaste kiss goodbye.

She shivered, wondering what other rules James ignored. Tapping her pen against her nose, she imagined that he was enormously fun to be with. What was his family like? What were his parents like? She suspected that they might be just as fun-loving as he was. He had to have gotten that plow-through-the-world attitude from someone.

The bell over her front door chimed and she was reminded of how much work she still had to accomplish tonight. No more fantasizing about the brash Mr. Cavanaugh, she told herself firmly.

She looked back down at her ledger and plugged several more numbers into her computer, knowing that her store manager would take care of the remaining customers for the day. It was near to closing time anyway so whoever had just entered would need to be turned away until there was more time to shop. She was rigid in her store hours, unconcerned with selling something to someone when it was outside of her normal operating hours. She refused to cater to obnoxious people who demanded that they were important and her store had to remain open just for their convenience. It happened, but very rarely especially since her reputation for having the best items had built up over the years. She was still young, but she had an excellent eye and didn’t like being pushed around.

“So this is where you hide all day long, eh?” a deep voice broke through her concentration.

Julianna dropped her pencil and stood up, her hands floating up to her neck, then to her hips, then back again, flitting nervously about as her eyes drank in the amazing man standing in her office doorway. “James! What are you doing here?” she asked when she could finally speak. She was completely flustered that the man she’d just been thinking about, dreaming about, was here now, in the flesh and looking more delicious than any man had a right to look. Goodness, she loved the way he smelled!

He was leaning against the door frame, one shoulder propped against the wood while his arms crossed over his massive chest. He was dressed in a dark suit but without the tie, the collar of his tailored shirt open at the neck to reveal small, dark hairs that tempted her unmercifully.

He grinned at her fluttering hands and eyes, enjoying her nervousness since it revealed so much. “You said you’d tour through my new house and help me make some selections.” He said that as if they had made special plans for the night, which she was fairly certain they hadn’t. “Do you have time now?” he asked and lifted a large basket that he’d been carrying. “I brought dinner.”

Despite her warnings to herself, she was intrigued. She hadn’t eaten anything since an apple earlier in the morning, the afternoon too busy to stop for a sandwich so she was particularly famished at the moment. Peeking over her desk at the heavy looking basket, she asked, “What’s inside?” Then she shook her head. “Never mind. I’m sorry, I’m not hungry and besides, I have a great deal of work to catch up on. Can we do this another time?”

James smiled, knew that she was interested but trying to pretend like she wasn’t. He ignored her protest, lifting one side of the basket and looked inside. “I think it might be interesting stuff. I’m not exactly sure about everything, but there’s a bottle of white wine, something that looks like chicken, cheeses, a loaf of crusty bread, chocolate for dessert…”

He was about to say something else when she perked up and interrupted him. “Chocolate?” she asked almost involuntarily.

James glanced back at her and smiled. Again, he looked down into the basket and shifted the other items out of the way so he could see through the clear cover of the box of chocolates. “Dark chocolate, milk chocolate and something with little bits on the outside.” He thought it was adorable that she was a chocolate fan. So was he, in fact. There really wasn’t a chocolate that he didn’t like from the inexpensive to the imported, chocolate was just one of life’s little indulgences that should not be ignored.

Julianna couldn’t help herself. She slammed her ledger closed, shut down her computer and came around her desk. “Let’s go,” she said, still staring at the basket.

He was delighted and impressed. She looked like a little girl who was about to open her Christmas presents. “Your driver awaits,” he replied and offered his arm.

She hesitated only a moment to take his arm. She would feel silly if she ignored it, but she still didn’t want to touch him knowing what seemed to happen whenever their bodies even accidentally touched.

She thought it would be okay since he was wearing the suit, but she should have known better. Just her fingers on his arm started her pulse racing. Goodness, just him entering the room created that reaction.

They walked out to the street and Julianna had been expecting yet another limousine, exactly what all of her previous dates had moved about London in. But there wasn’t a long black limousine. Nor was there a powerful, sleek car that could race down the country roads at amazing speeds. Instead, sitting by the curb was a shiny, red, 1968 Ford Mustang in perfect condition. He placed the picnic basket onto the back seat, then pushed the leather seat back into position and stepped out of the way so she could sit down in the passenger seat.

She stared at the car, then back up at the man who was waiting expectantly. “Really? This is your car?”

James looked down at the perfectly restored muscle car, then back at the diminutive little beauty. “This is a classic car! Please don’t tell me you’d prefer something more modern. You have to experience this lady to understand her allure.”

Julianna laughed and shook her head. “Are you kidding me? The 1968 Ford Mustang has to be the best car ever made!” She approached the vehicle with veneration and awe, staring at all the details, impressed beyond words. She smoothed her hand reverently down the polished chrome details and shiny red exterior. “V-8 engine, two hundred and thirty horsepower….” She breathed in the sight of the beautiful, powerful and legendary car with amazement. “I’m more than impressed, James.” She turned towards the man and looked up at him with a different perspective on who he was underneath all that amusement he showed to the world. “I think I might have misjudged you.” She saw his eyes light up and had to laugh. “About some things at least.”

James crossed his arms over his chest and tried to control the new and more powerful surge of lust that occurred as she stared at his pride and joy. Not only was the woman smart, intelligent and gorgeous, but she also knew her muscle cars! “I might have to marry you,” he said with a deep, husky voice.

Julianna laughed and shook her head. “Just because I like your car?”

He moved closer and shook his head. In a low voice filled with desire, he said, “Well, that and the fact that you’re not wearing underwear again.”

 Julianna blushed and opened her mouth to contradict him, but he bent and kissed her before she could reply. It was just a quick kiss, affection more than passion but it still flustered her.

Deciding to ignore that kiss so that she didn’t have to explore the flutter in her heart as a reaction, she slipped into the car, excited to feel the powerful engine of the car. When he turned the key, she wasn’t disappointed. The eight cylinders revved loudly, then purred as he pulled away from the curb. She thought she might be purring as well and her face split into a wide grin as she looked over at him, feeling the power as much as hearing it through the vibrations beneath her.

She felt like a kid again, giddy with excitement and anticipation.

Well, not really like a kid again because she honestly couldn’t ever remember feeling like this when she was a child. There had been too much discipline during her growing years, even when it came to simple joys like opening birthday or Christmas presents. Excitement was to be tamped down and controlled. When around James, she didn’t feel the need to hide her enthusiasm. Just the opposite in fact. As she grinned over at him, she felt the same burgeoning excitement in him that she was feeling and it thrilled her to have this kind of freedom around him.

He drove with confidence as he made his way through the streets of London. The streets couldn’t do the car justice since there was so much traffic but it was still fun to ride in. When he pulled into a large, beautiful house filled with mature trees and shrubs, she had the impression of a secret garden type of environment. The early fall weather had the chrysanthemums blooming, but also the last of the summer roses and she even spied several autumn camellias with their pink and white flowers peeping out of the dark leaves. The whole driveway was paved with bricks that looked to be older than she was so they had an worn, weathered patina to them that couldn’t be duplicated with modern techniques. Some of the trees were so tall and old, there were lightening rods run up the sides and grounded into the earth to protect them from dangerous weather.

“This is lovely,” she said with amazement as she stepped out of the car. She looked around and was already thinking of several wrought iron seating arrangements that would enhance one of the small, enclosed areas created by the higher bushes. She had to pull herself back because he might prefer the newer outdoor furniture with the plastic-like wicker that resists wear and tear from the elements. She had to admit that there were pros and cons to both, although she still preferred the old world charm of the iron furniture, or even the real wicker furniture that had to be repaired and painted almost constantly.

He picked up the picnic basket from the back seat then came around the hood of the vehicle to meet her as she stared up at the house. “What do you think?” he asked, his arm touching her shoulder as if accidentally, but she knew it was on purpose. She didn’t mind though. At least not this gentle touch. She was too busy enjoying her first view of James’ house with all the elaborate brickwork and three stories of windows not including the dormers that gave people a view from the roof.

She saw seven chimneys and thought that was odd since most of these old houses tended to be very balanced in structure. If someone wanted a fireplace in one room, generally the builder would put a fireplace on the opposite end of the house. But this seemed a bit more….chaotic. And it fit James perfectly.

“I think it’s exactly like you,” she replied, smiling when she felt him look down at her curiously but she kept her eyes on the house, not acknowledging his glance but smugly thrilled that she’d thrown him off balance even slightly. He’d done it to her often enough, it was about time she threw him off kilter somehow.

“Show me the inside,” she encouraged, eager to view the space in which he wanted to live. She had pictured him in something ultra modern and almost sterile in appearance. This was nothing like what she’d imagined. The complete opposite, in fact, so there was yet another nuance to this man, another piece of twine to unravel.

Not that she was going to do any unraveling, she told herself as she moved forward, stepping onto the stone sidewalk leading up to the front door.

James put a hand to the small of her back as he led her through the house. She could see that he’d done several repairs and remodeling already but more work was still underway. As she walked through the stained glass front door, there was a new security system that looked state of the art and very complicated, although he disarmed the alarm with only a few buttons. There was a large parlor area that looked to have been expanded and all new windows were installed. She had to admit that the new windows were a good idea. They helped save energy by reducing the air leaks through the older wood holding the previous glass in place, but the multiple panes also helped to filter light so the sun wasn’t so hot in the summer, and didn’t allow the cooler temperatures to seep in during the winter.