“No wonder you wrapped this little lady up so quick,” George said, helping himself to another serving of the salmon almandine. “For food like this, you can overlook a lot of things.”
Rand’s brows drew together at the implied criticism, and Haley, who was serving dessert, jumped in before he could say anything. “You are so right, Mr. Blakely. The first time we met, Rand told me that I wasn’t his type.” Rand’s quick laugh warmed her heart. “But once he found out I could cook, he fell in love with me.”
Angela watched them closely, a frown marring her perfect features. “I can’t believe Rand would put so much emphasis on domestic qualities,” she said with honest puzzlement.
From his seat at the table, Rand grabbed Haley’s hand. Pulling her closer, he dropped a kiss on her nose and gave her a blatantly suggestive smile. “Haley has a lot more going for her than just her domestic qualities.”
The obvious sexual innuendo drew a chuckle from George and caused a black look to darken Angela’s perfect features. Haley felt a thrill zip through her. Rand was being so charming she had to fight to remember theirs was only a pretend engagement.
All through dinner, he had gone out of his way to touch her in gentle unobtrusive ways, the way a real lover might touch the object of his affection. It was a heady experience, and she had to keep a tight rein on her emotions. Rand, the control demon, had been easy to resist, but the charming, seductive Rand caused previously untapped parts of her to sit up and beg for attention.
After the table was cleared and the dishes stacked in the dishwasher, the four of them trailed into Rand’s office to conduct business. They seated themselves around the circular conference table, and Haley booted up Rand’s computer, planning to type the meeting notes as the discussions progressed.
“I still think we should have had lawyers here,” George complained, slipping out of his suit jacket and sprawling back in the thickly padded leather chair.
Rand shuffled through two folders on the desk and removed a sheaf of papers. “The lawyers will be involved soon enough. We need to hammer out the final details ourselves, before everything gets bogged down in legal mumbo jumbo. We both know what we need for our people to be happy and protected.” It may have been Haley’s imagination, but she thought he emphasized the word “protected.”
“It’s different now that it’s not going to be a family merger,” George blustered. Haley saw Angela warn him off with a slight shake of her head. Smart Angela. Now was not the time for George to start griping about the broken engagement.
Angela hitched her chair closer to Rand’s, ostensibly to get a better look at the papers in his hand, but Haley noted how deftly she relayed covert messages, punctuating her comments by lightly touching his arm or his shoulder. An astonishing flare of jealousy had Haley’s fingers flying across the keyboard with unnecessary force.
To give the woman her due, Angela did understand the workings of a high level corporate agreement. Halfway through the meeting, George indicated he wasn’t feeling well and excused himself. Angela slipped into the discussion without missing a beat, driving an even harder bargain than her father. Despite her involvement in the business maneuverings, Angela still put the moves on Rand in subtle, then not so subtle ways.
While Haley concentrated on keeping up with the business part of the meeting, on another level she planned various ways of ripping out Angela’s beautiful blonde hair. The woman was a barracuda. Poor Rand. Whatever happened to break their engagement, he still cared for her. He was doing a good job of hiding it from Angela, but Haley remembered the look of anguish that crossed his face every time her name had been mentioned that morning.
The meeting finally ended at one-thirty. “Any chance of getting a cup of coffee before we go to bed?” Angela purred, moving close and smoothing her fingers across the back of Rand’s hand.
Witch! Acting as if I
’
m not even here, and she
’
s making a play for my fiancé.
Haley steamed as she ran the documents through the auto editor and then hit the print button.
Rand raised an eyebrow as she snapped the papers out of the computer and stacked them in the middle of the desk. At that moment, the devil seized her. “Darling, you’d better not have coffee this late, or you won’t be able to sleep.” She moved so close to him, Angela had to step back. Haley then stood on tiptoes and kissed him full on the mouth. “Not that I want you to fall asleep right away.”
For a split second Rand acted stunned by her blatant invitation. Then his eyes darkened, and he drew her against him, slanting his lips across hers.
White lightning.
Haley always wondered about the expression. She felt dizzy, as if sparks were shooting from her toes through the top of her head. Rand made an inarticulate murmur and pulled her even closer.
“So is there any coffee, or isn’t there?” Angela’s icy voice broke the spell.
Damn. She’d forgotten all about Angela, forgotten she was just pretending to be in love with Rand, forgotten that Rand was also pretending. Every time the man touched her, she lit up like plastic explosives. If she wasn’t careful, this pretend stuff could become very real, and then where would she be? In love with a man who didn’t even like her all that much, that’s where.
They certainly had the chemistry thing down pat. It would be fairly easy to override her misgivings and let him make love to her. She couldn’t stand next to him without feeling the heat from their mutual attraction. And who knows how long it would last? He had warned her he wasn’t looking for another relationship—she’d just be an available body to help him forget Angela.
When it was over, she was sure to have a broken heart, and he’d probably just feel badly because he’d acted inappropriately. For her own peace of mind, she couldn’t let that happen. She knew she’d been sending Rand a different message, and now he was practically dragging her up the stairs to the bedroom.
Haley looked backed at Angela, staring up at them from the bottom of the stairs, a look of baffled outrage on her face. “There’s still some coffee in the kitchen, Angela. Have an éclair, too,” she called down to her, just as Rand pushed open his bedroom door and hauled her inside.
Chapter Six
As soon as they entered the room, Delphine opened her eyes and lifted her head from the center of Rand’s bed. She jumped up when she saw Haley and pranced back and forth, rumpling the bedspread before settling down once more on the little nest she’d made of the covers. Rand, who had been about to drag Haley into his arms, stopped cold and frowned. “What’s she doing on my bed? Get her out of here.”
Again Haley tried to explain Delphine’s sensitive nature, but Rand cut her off. “I don’t care if she’s on Prozac. She’s not staying here. I don’t like animals in the house, and I certainly won’t have one in my bedroom.”
“Fine. Where do you want us to sleep?”
He gave her an incredulous look. “Are you saying that if I don’t let the dog stay in this room, you won’t stay either?”
She tried reasoning again. “I told you, she has to be with someone when she’s depressed. I know it’s inconvenient, but it’s not like you’re allergic or anything. She can sleep on the floor if you really can’t stand her on the bed.”
“I won’t be manipulated like this. It’s blackmail. You have to stay in this room to convince Angela we’re getting married. And that dog belongs in the garage.”
“I am not blackmailing you,” Haley said, her voice thickening. He always believed the worst of her. “Delphine will howl all night if I lock her in the garage. No one will get any sleep.”
He limped closer, his jaw set. “She’s not staying in here with us.” His voice rose. “Do you understand?”
Suddenly Delphine growled and leaped off the bed to stand between them.
“Delphine is very protective, so don’t threaten me,” Haley said between clenched teeth. “And keep your voice down; you don’t want the Blakelys to think we’re quarreling again.”
Rand slumped on the bed and dropped his face in his hands. “I’m yelling,” he said disbelievingly. “I never raise my voice, and you have me shouting like a lunatic.”
“I am not making you shout. You are choosing to shout because you can’t find it in your heart to be sympathetic toward a troubled animal.” She bent and stroked Delphine, whose sad doggy eyes were lifted toward Rand, pathetic and pleading.
He looked up and nodded, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “All right. The dog can stay. Let’s go to bed, so we can get up early and end this farce.”
He stood, balancing on his good leg, and began unbuttoning his shirt. Haley grabbed her toiletries and nightshirt and fled into the bathroom. Although the Jacuzzi looked inviting, she was too tired to shower, so she briskly washed her face and brushed her teeth.
Despite the argument, which had certainly cooled any ardor they’d been feeling, her stomach muscles clenched as she came out of the bathroom, and he was already in bed. Delphine was asleep on the floor. A small lamp on the nightstand bathed the room in a soft glow. Rand was wearing a t-shirt, so Haley assumed he didn’t sleep nude. Or maybe he was wearing underwear in deference to her. The blanket and sheet were pulled to his waist. Rand watched her, his face impassive, as she slowly approached the bed.
Slipping beneath the blankets on the far side of the bed. Haley pulled them up to her neck. Without a word, Rand turned off the light, and she lay tense and silent for several minutes.
Just as Haley felt her limbs relaxing, Rand said, “I’m sorry I jumped on you about the dog.”
She nearly smiled. He was always turning corners on her. “It’s okay. A lot of people don’t like dogs.”
“I know we got off on the wrong foot this morning, but I really appreciated your help tonight. I’m thinking there are a lot worse characteristics than being cheerful.”
Now Haley really smiled in the dark and ran a finger over the ring on her left hand, almost wishing it were a real engagement ring. Rand McNeil, being nice, was a sexy man, and she was very attracted to him.
It’s fake. All fake
, she ordered herself to remember.
The bed moved as he rolled on his side, facing her. Even though there was plenty of distance between them, her heart started pounding, and a crazy dichotomy threatened to pull her apart. He was close enough for her to smell him. He had a tantalizing, spicy man smell, and she wanted him to move closer. No, she didn’t want him to move closer. The whole situation was confusing. She had never been in a bed with a man—under the blankets anyway. It felt intimate even though they weren’t touching.
She wished she was more experienced. She wasn’t a virgin, if you counted that one time on the seat of Adam Kennedy’s Ford pickup. Someone spiked the punch at senior prom, and before she knew it, her dress was up over her head and Adam was groaning on top of her. She didn’t remember much of it, except that it had been painful and embarrassing. After that night, Haley and Adam never spoke to each other again, but she knew he’d told his buddies. She was glad only a month had remained till graduation.
She’d come close a few other times, but the timing had been off. It just hadn’t seemed right. Now the timing seemed perfect. She wanted to have sex with a man of experience, and although she’d not even known Rand for twenty-four hours, there was a look in his eyes that said he had all the experience she could ask for. She wasn’t certain she wanted to make love with him, but memory of the heated kisses they’d shared tempted her to put aside the inhibitions that had dogged her throughout her dating life. She couldn’t make the first move. Wouldn’t. So she lay in the dark, willing him to do something to show his interest. She heard him exhale slowly and felt the bed dip as he rolled closer and touched her shoulder.
“Haley?” The soft whisper asked all the right questions, and she moved into his arms without hesitation. His lips moved hungrily over hers as his hands brushed her back, bunching the nightshirt. She moaned as a wave of heat shot through her, giving him the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. She tasted him, and he was as delicious as she remembered.
Simultaneously they moved against each other. As he shifted his body to accommodate her small frame, Haley realized he was wearing briefs. She kissed the underside of his chin, and he pulled her hips closer, fitting the hard bulge of his erection to the place where she ached to feel him.
The rush, the heat, made her dizzy, and her head fell back, giving him access to the area between her neck and shoulder. Her body jolted as his hot wet mouth branded a path of exquisite pleasure from behind her ear to the erotic hot spot at the base of her neck. Nearly drugged by the intensity of her reaction, she unconsciously lifted her bottom as he tugged the nightshirt over her head, leaving her clad only in white bikini panties. She held her breath at the first touch of his hands on her naked flesh, releasing it as he moved them from her waist to her breast to gently lift and caress it. He used his thumb to bring one nipple then the other to hard little points. She moaned as all of her senses clamored for more. Haley wanted his mouth to replace his hand. She gently pinched the smooth skin of his shoulder then smoothed her hand over the hard muscle as it flexed in reaction.
“You have sensitive breasts,” he murmured just before he closed his lips over one aching peak and suckled. She nearly screamed in pleasure as he moved from one breast to the other, alternately laving and sucking with increased pressure.
She was desperate to begin her own journey of exploration, and slid her palms under his shirt, down his smooth back, over his briefs to his taut buttocks. Her knee bumped against the cast on his leg and she stilled, afraid she had caused him pain.
“Your leg,” she whispered. “I don’t want to hurt it.”
“The leg’s fine. But another part of me is hurting real bad. Maybe you could kiss it and make it better.”
Tentatively she stroked the hard ridge beneath his briefs, pleased when he uttered guttural encouragement. She ached and pulsed with need between her legs. Seeking relief from the throbbing, she rocked her pelvis against the bulge in his briefs until he groaned in appreciation.