Winning the Billionaire (Seattle Bachelors Book 2) (11 page)

Daniel smiled, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Perhaps it’ll be worth it in the end, sir.”

Sebastian let out a quiet laugh. “From your mouth to God’s ears.”

W
hen Sebastian climbed into the car and settled into the seat beside her, Christina immediately stiffened. “Where are we going?”

She didn’t bother to grace him with a glance in his direction, though. Rather, she turned to stare out the opposite window.

Sebastian sighed. He’d spent far too many years building walls between them. Breaking them down wouldn’t be easy. “You’ll see. I’d like it to be a surprise.”

“If you’re planning on seducing me, you might as well give up now, because I won’t cave this time.” Despite the boldness of her statement, she folded her arms over her stomach, her voice quiet in the space between them. “I think it’s best if you leave this where it is.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. Given how he’d kissed her, he wasn’t surprised to hear her say that, but he’d hoped somewhere inside she really did trust him. He released a heavy breath. He’d created this mess, and he had to get himself out of it. From now on, he had to be honest with her. No more holding back.

He scooted closer, until his hip bumped hers; then he scooped her up and deposited her onto his lap. She chirped in surprise, but he wrapped his arms around her, holding her firm. Not that she protested. He wanted to laugh. She put up a good fight, but when push came to shove, she always caved. That she did gave him hope.

He stroked her back, hoping touch would somehow ease the tension between them. “I’m not seducing you, though I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about you naked beneath me all damn night. Never mind that I have memories of exactly that. Your soft body. The way you tremble when I touch you. God, you don’t know what that does to me, and I’m not even sure I have the right words. But for the time being, I need you to believe that you could and will never be another notch on my bedpost. I said it earlier, and I’ll keep saying it until you believe me.”

She turned to stare out the window again. “Right. I’m special. Like I haven’t heard
that
before.”

He studied her profile with a heavy heart. It had always been fireworks between them, but her walls were higher than he’d anticipated. Who’d hurt her so much she put up such high walls to keep people out? Had
he
done this to her? Was this the result of pushing too hard to keep her at a safe distance? Whatever the reason, knowing someone had hurt her to that degree made his heart ache.

He stroked the backs of his fingers down her cheek. He couldn’t help touching her and his hands seemed to have a will of their own. “Yeah, actually, Tina, you are, which is why I’ve always kept my distance from you. There are two people in my life who mean the world to me, and I almost lost one of them recently because of my own stupid pride. You and Cade are family, about the only family I have left. So make no mistake about it. There’s nothing casual about making love to you for me.”

Then he waited. Being that honest with her had him shaking. His heart hammered an unsteady beat. He’d never done the
bare the soul
thing with anybody else. Sadly, not even with Jean. He liked his relationships light and playful. The less he became attached, the less people could leave him. It was a terrible way to live. Doing so left a lonely ache in the pit of his stomach that got to him in the dead of night.

Christina brought out the need in him, which was why he was always so irritable around her. He wanted her too damn much. Oh, being that way was childish for sure, of the grade school variety. Tease the girl you secretly have a crush on because it was easier than saying, “Hey, I like you.” Putting up walls accomplished what he needed them to. If she was so pissed at him she couldn’t think straight, she’d stop being everything he needed. If they never crossed that line, then he could keep her forever.

Except they had crossed that line, and he had two choices now. He could turn around and leave their relationship where it was…or try to fix the way she saw him. Losing his father had changed his view of his world. He’d meant so little to the old man his father had literally left him nothing but more “you’ll never be good enough” demands. He needed to fix his relationship with Christina.

She didn’t say anything for so long that knots began to form on the knots already tangled in his stomach. Tension mounted in the interior of the limo like a living, breathing entity. Finally, the stiff set of her shoulders softened, and she turned her head, meeting his gaze. “Then why are we here?”

He set his hand in her lap, palm up. “Because I hate when you’re angry with me. You have all these wrong ideas about me and it bugs the shit out of me. I told you that morning. Letting you believe what you wanted about me created distance.”

She looked down at his hand but kept hers in her lap. “Why now?”

He sighed and pulled his hand back. “Because I hate that you think I could ever use you that way. I hate you think I’m even capable of using any woman like they’re little more than a warm body. I don’t treat women like that. I never have. I may not like commitment, but I don’t believe in treating people the way my father treated me. I’ve let you believe what you wanted, because it was safer. I hate it when you mother me for the same reason. Because a really big part of me needs it.”

She darted a glance at him and rolled her eyes. “You and Caden. I swear. I do not mother you. I
care
for you. There’s a difference. I happen to enjoy taking care of the people I hold dear to me.”

Her choice of words lodged themselves in his heart. At the very least, she cared about him. That had to be a good sign. “Exactly. Nobody but the damn servants has ever shown me that kind of caring.”

The last edge of stiffness left her shoulders, but the wary edge remained in her eyes.

He trailed his fingertips up the side of her arm, enjoying the suppleness of her skin. Sitting in his lap like this, she was damn distracting. With the partition up between them and the driver, they were relatively alone back here, and God how he wanted her. That she wasn’t wearing panties taunted him. A little shift of their clothing and they could be shuddering in bliss before they reached the lake.

It was the feel of her there that got to him, though, and the truth bubbled out before he could stop the words from leaving his tongue.

“I was raised by a man who went through five wives and the only care he ever showed for me was whether or not I lived up to his lousy ideal. Despite everything I’ve accomplished, I was still a disappointment to him when he died. So, I don’t know if I can be what you need, if I’m built for committing myself to one woman or even if I believe it’s possible. I tried once and all I did was end up hurting her.”

Christina nodded and turned her gaze out her window. “Jean was good for you. You never called her your girlfriend, though. You never brought her over for Christmas or Thanksgiving. You never talked much about her at all.”

Memories rose in his mind, leaving the bitter taste of regret in his mouth. His chest filled with the all too familiar aching emptiness. He’d hurt Jean. He hadn’t meant to, but he had. He still hadn’t forgiven himself, either. She was a good woman, and she’d deserved better. “Mmm. I tried with her, I honestly did, but I couldn’t be what she needed, no matter how much I wanted to.”

He hooked two fingers beneath her chin, turned her head, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, then set her back on the seat beside him. If he didn’t, he was going to seduce her out of that silky dress right there in the limo. Which would get him all of nowhere. This weekend wasn’t about sex. “And to answer your question, we’re here because I’d like you to spend the weekend with me. I want you to see
me
, not what you think you see. Though whether you stay with me this weekend is entirely up to you.”

“You kidnapped me, but I get a choice?” She arched a brow at him, cynical, but the corners of her mouth twitched, betraying her.

His patience snapped. He rolled his eyes right back at her and dragged a hand through his hair. “You’re making me nuts. Do you know that? You are really making me work for this. I don’t know what I want more right now, to kiss your sassy mouth until you give in, or turn the car around and take you home. Do you do this with every guy or am I just special?”

Christina didn’t respond the way he’d anticipated. Instead of the fight she usually gave, her gaze dropped from his. The same fierce woman who always stood her ground and poked him in the chest deflated. Her shoulders rounded, melancholy hanging on her, so palpable his chest ached. “You’re just special.”

Her voice drifted into the space between them barely above a murmur, but she might as well have shouted the words. They had the same impact her bomb had the morning she’d barged into his condo and announced she was in love with him.

He banged his head back against the seat. Damn it all to hell. There went all his good intentions.

He slid from the seat and knelt on the floor in front of her. She turned her head, her eyes wide with wary and alarm. He slid his hands up the tops of her thighs, allowed himself a moment to luxuriate in the incredible creaminess of her skin. She had baby-soft skin, so smooth he wanted to wrap himself up in her. How she achieved such suppleness, he didn’t know, but he was damn grateful for the effort.

“W-what are you doing?” Her voice trembled, those eyes filling with a tangible heat.

He stroked the skin on the insides of her thighs, delighting in the shiver that ran through her. “I’m
trying
to let this be your choice. I’m
trying
to be honest and let you come to me, but I can’t stand it. There’s only so much a man can take.”

He hooked his hands beneath her knees and yanked, pulling her ass to the edge of the seat. Her thighs parted. Her skirt rode dangerously high. God, plunging into her silky heat would be so easy, just a little shift of clothing. He ached to make love to her until she curled herself around him.

He ignored the desire, set his hands on the seat on either side of her, and leaned in, until he took every breath with her. He rubbed the erection pulsing to life in his pants against the heat of her, teasing her. Showing her what she did to him.

She gasped, and her breathing hitched. Despite her need to keep her distance, her hips arched into his, her pelvis rocking into the intimate connection, grinding against his cock. “Baz, please.”

He skimmed his lips over her stubborn chin, across her jaw to her ear, tasting any part of her she’d allow. “You make me crazy. I don’t have pretty words, Tina. I wish I did, but I don’t. I can’t believe you’ve never caught on to how I feel about you, because sometimes it’s all I can think about. The more crap life throws at me, the more I crave everything about you that makes you who you are.”

He worked his way back to her mouth and brushed his lips over hers. When he pulled back, she followed, a little huff of breath leaving her lips. He allowed himself a taste, the soft tangle of his lips with hers.

“You barge into my apartment at eight damn o’clock in the morning and insist on making me breakfast. You’re stubborn as hell and you don’t back down. When you stand up and poke me in the chest, all I can think is how much I want to grab that finger and pull you in. Do you have any idea how many hard-ons I’ve had to hide from you?”

She stared at him, tenderness gleaming from those liquid eyes, capturing him in the time it took him to draw his next breath. Only one woman made him this vulnerable. Her.

“For years, I’ve swallowed my feelings for you and shoved them down. You’re my best friend’s sister and guys don’t go there.” Never mind that if he ever lost her his world would come screeching to a halt. “You
are
different, whether you want to hear it or not.”

He brushed his mouth over hers, the lightest of kisses. Her eyes closed, her lips opening beneath his. His erection, caught between their bodies and throbbing against the seam of his pants, rubbed her mound. She moaned and arched against him, but Sebastian forced himself to pull back.

He ignored his body’s urging and slid onto the seat beside her instead. Turning his gaze out the window, he tried desperately not to focus on the painful throbbing of his cock. “If you really don’t want to spend the weekend with me, I get it. I’m not sure I’d blame you. You’ve got this image of me I purposely set, because it kept you at a safe distance, but I’m done. I’m done pretending you don’t mean anything to me, that you’re just my best friend’s sister. Because you aren’t. You want to know the truth? That’s it.”

He dared a glance at her. Her chest rose and fell at a rapid pace, but Christina hadn’t moved an inch. She sat staring out her window, looking wanton and half fucked, with her legs spread, skirt barely covering the tops of her thighs. His hands itched to stroke over those luscious limbs, to luxuriate in her silky skin, to dive between and stroke her to orgasm. By God she was beautiful in the throes of passion, and he had the unbearable desire to know how wet she was.

He kept his hands to himself. This had to be her choice, so for the time being, until he knew her answer, he’d ignore the lusciousness seated beside him. Instead, he jerked his gaze to his own window, idly watching the trees and buildings blur past. “I would, however, like you to spend the weekend with me. I want you to know
me
. All of me.”

An unbearable silence passed between them. He waited on the edge of a precipice for her to react, to say…something. Anything. His shoulders ached, his thighs stiffened, his feet braced on the floorboards, and his gut churned. She shifted in the seat beside him, straightening, but didn’t say anything for so long he counted the seconds. When he got to thirty, his hands curled along the seat’s edge, short nails biting into the soft leather. No woman had ever mattered the way she did, and his every muscle sat poised as he waited.

“Okay.”

She offered the word on a trembling whisper, but she might as well have shouted it. Heart pounding a giddy beat from the vicinity of his throat, he jerked his gaze to hers. She was staring at him, her gaze full of a mix of curiosity and tenderness.
His
Christina had come back. No longer angry and mistrustful, the tender, caring side of her he loved so much had returned. She’d let down her walls.