The Accidental Engagement (12 page)

* * * *

The threesome was quiet on the way back to the hotel that evening. “Do you think it worked?” Ivy asked.

“I guess we’ll see in the morning.” Daniel was speaking to her but his voice was so cold and his expression so severe that Jack glanced back and forth between the two of them with a look of blatant curiosity.

All three piled into the elevator and when Jack got off at his floor, the rest of the elevator ride was silent. Ivy licked dry lips as she walked the hallway to her room, every bit of her aware of Daniel’s presence close behind her. Again she was struck by the image of a predator hunting its prey.

She stopped beside her door and turned to him. “Good night. I guess I’ll see you at breakfast.”

His expression was dark but she couldn’t tell if it was anger or something else. Whatever was going on inside that head of his, he looked determined.

Taking a step inside, she went to shut the door but his hand stopped her. She glanced up in surprise.

“Invite me in.” It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t a request. It was an order.

Ivy suddenly had difficulty swallowing. She had been playing with fire all day. Hell, she’d been playing with fire ever since she met this man. And it wasn’t until that moment that she feared getting burnt.

He seemed to take her silence for an invitation and let himself into the room. He stalked over to the window and stood there looking out at the view. She closed the door and paused, not sure what she was expected to say or do.

She kicked off her shoes and padded into the center of the room. “Would you like something to drink?”

She thought perhaps he hadn’t heard her because he didn’t respond. When he finally spoke, it was clear he wasn’t interested in beverages.

“Your performance today was impeccable.”

She took a few steps closer, trying to catch a glimpse of his face from the side. “Thank you.”

“One could easily believe that you really are quite smitten with Jack.”

Ivy frowned now in confusion. “That was the point, wasn’t it?”

He finally turned around to face her but his face was cast in shadows, making his already unreadable expression that much more enigmatic. “Yes, I suppose it was. I have to admit, you took me by surprise. I didn’t realize you were such a good actress.”

“Um, thank you?”

He was watching her with an intensity that was alarming. Ivy shifted from one foot to the other. She wished he knew what he was searching for when he watched her like that.

He took a few steps closer and looked straight into her eyes. Her heart rate doubled with his nearness and the intensity of his stare. "Are you that good of an actress, Ivy? Or have you developed actual feelings for our young Mr. Everett?”

Her eyes widened in surprise. So he
was
jealous. That had to be it. Giddy joy nearly threatened to envelop her and she had to squelch the desire to do a little jig right there where she stood. She feigned confusion. “I don’t know what you mean.”

His jaw tightened. “Clearly you’re not that great of an actress. So I suppose it must be the latter.”

Ivy frowned at the insult and crossed her arms in indignation. “Hey! I think I’m a pretty decent actress. Did you know I starred in my high school’s production of—”

“He’s not the right man for you, Ivy. I know he seems charming and witty and he’s filthy rich and kindhearted....” He seemed to have lost sight of his point and Ivy raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

He wiped a hand over his eyes. The man really needed a good night’s sleep and maybe even a proper vacation.

“Oh, hell,” he muttered. “Maybe he
is
the right guy for you. How would I know?”

She took pity on him and couldn’t suppress a grin. Never in her life had she felt more victorious. “But you don’t want him to be the right man.”

He looked up at her in grim resignation. “No, I don’t.”

She took another step closer. And then another, until she was so close she could feel his heat and hear his ragged breathing. He wanted her as badly as she wanted him. She tilted her face up and looked him in the eyes. “Why not?”

It was a demand. She needed to hear him say it.

He reached out a hand to caress her cheek and she nearly melted at the dangerous desire in his eyes. “Because I want you for myself.”

She saw that he was still struggling.

“Ivy, if we do this…no one can know.”

She closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. “What’s one more secret?”

Daniel knew it was a mistake. He’d known from the moment he’d stepped into the room that he would have her. He prided himself on his willpower but with Ivy, he hadn’t stood a chance. When she wrapped her arms around him, all bets were off. Nothing short of a natural disaster could stop him from doing what he’d been dreaming of from the moment he’d seen her damp and barefoot in her apartment doorway. It was a relief to finally give in to the desire that had been consuming him for days.

Drawing her into his arms, he lifted her up so her face was level with his own, one arm wrapped tight around her waist while the other held her delectable bottom. She met him kiss for probing kiss.

He was ravenous. Insatiable. He’d never known such all-consuming desire—the kind that clouded his mind like a drug and heightened every sense. He trailed kisses from her lips to her chin to her ear and down along the smooth, sensitive skin below her ear. When her head dropped back and she moaned his name, he knew he’d died and gone to heaven.

He needed to touch her, explore her body the way his tongue had explored her sweet lips. He laid her on the bed and took a moment to drink in the sight of his miniature goddess before coming to lie down beside her.

His hands were everywhere. Like a horny teenager, one hand fumbled for the zipper on her sundress while the other trailed over her breasts. She arched her back against him, biting her lip when his fingers found the hard nub of her nipple.

He finally managed to unzip the dress and she helped him pull it over her head as he shed his clothes. He stopped dead in his tracks when the dress hit the floor. She lay before him with her hair fanned out on the pillow and her skin milky white and satin smooth. Only a lace bra and a pair of black panties covered her. “Gorgeous,” he said. His voice was so low and ragged he had to repeat himself. He leaned over her on the bed. “You are absolutely gorgeous.”

She smiled up at him and he swore his heart skipped a beat. He wanted this to be good for her. He wanted to make her moan and cry out from sheer bliss. He lowered his head and began the slow exploration that started at her neck and led down past her collarbone to edge of the lacy bra.

Winding her fingers into his hair, she held him against her while his hands were busy roaming over the rounded contours of her belly and hips. She wriggled impatiently and he used one hand to push aside the material before licking and nipping at the sensitive breast. Her breath was coming in short gasps when he finally closed his mouth over her taut bud and sucked.

She gasped and arched against him and he took the opportunity to slide one hand beneath her where he could grasp her bottom and press her against him. “Oh please…please,” she whispered.

He moved up to capture her mouth once more as he slipped a hand between them to stroke her and groaned aloud. So wet and so hot. He couldn’t hold out a moment longer. He slipped off the remainder of her clothes and eased inside of her, into a liquid heat that felt better than anything he’d ever experienced.

They moved together in sync, a building rhythm that brought them both to an epic climax and left them panting for air.

Daniel held her afterward, dropping the occasional kiss onto the top of her head as their breath steadied and their heart rates returned to a normal pace. He felt it the moment she fell asleep. Her hands went limp against his chest and he heard her breathing deepen. He tugged a blanket over them and lay there staring at the ceiling, reveling in the feel of her in his arms. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so content. A little while later, Daniel was fast asleep.

* * * *

Ivy woke the next morning to the sound of her phone ringing. She fumbled for it, half asleep. “Hello?”

“Good morning, sunshine.” Ivy’s toes curled and a slow smile spread over her face at the sound of Daniel’s deep, sexy voice. “Morning.”

Her sleepy brain came awake with a jolt and she rolled over in bed to the place where she’d last seen Daniel—by her side. “Wait a second, where are you?”

She could hear his low chuckle over the phone. “I had some work to do before breakfast. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Oh.” She fell back against the pillows, slightly disappointed that he hadn’t woken her. She had a feeling waking up beside Daniel was a decidedly delicious prospect.

His voice interrupted that daydream. “You’re late, you know.”

“Mmmm?” Ivy snuggled under the covers, basking in the memory of their night together.

“For breakfast,” he added. She glanced over at the bedside clock.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake.” She scrambled to get up out of bed.

“Have you ever heard of an alarm clock?”

She cradled the phone against her ear as she grabbed a pair of jeans by the bed. “I would apologize but you know very well I was a bit distracted before I went to bed last night. Setting an alarm wasn’t exactly my top priority.”

His laugh was better than a hot cup of coffee.

“I’ll be down in one minute, don’t start without me.”

It was a little over ten minutes when she arrived at the breakfast table and Jack shot her a warning look. That look quickly turned to surprise when Daniel greeted her graciously, without the slightest hint of anger over her late arrival.

“How come she gets off the hook?”

Daniel ignored him and threw down the morning paper so they could both see it. There they were in the gossip section. One photographer had perfectly captured their cozy lunchtime tete-a-tete. She couldn’t read the Italian caption but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that their day had been a success.

“Great, so it worked,” Jack said.

Daniel’s reaction was not nearly as enthusiastic. “It helped.” He took a sip of his coffee and Ivy found herself fascinated by the way his hands wrapped around the mug. She tried to catch his eye, hoping maybe he’d give her a little wink or share a look when Jack wasn’t looking—anything to acknowledge their night together. But he was on his best behavior and Ivy was forced to wonder if last night had been a one-night thing. Maybe he’d had his fill. That thought left her feeling empty and cold for more than one reason.

Ivy placed her order with the waitress and their morning meeting was under way. Ivy only half listened for the first few minutes. It had little to do with her but was all about Jack’s new technology. Every other word out of their mouths went over her head.

“As for you, Ivy. You need to go shopping.” Daniel slid a credit card in her direction.

She swallowed the croissant she was chewing. “Again?”

“Tonight’s gala is a special occasion. It’s black tie. Nothing we bought for you will be suitable.”

Ivy slipped the card into her purse. There were worse jobs a girl could have.

“You don’t seem happy about it,” she said.

His scowl caused Jack and Ivy to share a worried look—no one liked it when the General was in a foul mood. Daniel was absently stirring his coffee, clearly calculating. Ivy wished that for just one minute she could get a glimpse into that ever-working brain of his.

Jack tried to lighten the mood. “Come on, Danny, no one hates parties that much.”

“The papers should all have been signed by now. He’s stalling.”

“Do you think he’s having second thoughts about my project?” Jack asked. His face was taut with concern as he waited for Daniel’s response.

Ivy didn’t think she’d ever seen him so serious.

Daniel shook his head. “No, he still seemed enthusiastic about the project. I think it’s you he’s not sold on.”

Ivy waved her hand at the paper, which was still spread open in the middle of the table. “But we’ve done our part. Everyone is buying it.”

Daniel shook his head. “Everyone except for Brunelli. My guess is he wants to see the two of you together with his own eyes.”

“What more does he need to see?” Jack sounded frustrated.

Ivy reached out a hand to squeeze his arm. She knew how much this meant to him. He did a good job of playing the devil-may-care playboy but there was a serious streak in him, especially when it came to his work.

Daniel was watching the two of them. “If I were Brunelli, I’d be suspicious of the timing of it all. I mean, the odds that Jack suddenly falls in love and mends his ways after Brunelli made his objections clear….”

He had a point and they all knew it. Ivy looked back and forth between her new friend and the man she was rapidly falling head over heels for and set her coffee down with a thud. “Well then, we’ll just have to make him a believer.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jack said with a grin. Even Daniel cracked a smile at her proclamation.

* * * *

Ivy studied her reflection in the mirror and tried to be objective. The dress was gorgeous, there was no denying that—it was a deep shade of red, with a plunging neckline. It hugged her curves before flowing down past her hips to the floor. A stylist from the hotel’s salon had done amazing work with her hair and makeup and she almost didn’t recognize herself. This was the first time she’d worn a gown since her high school prom and she was having a hard time telling whether she looked amazing or ridiculous.

She had been chauffeured from store to store in the most exclusive neighborhoods. It should have been an amazing day. Instead, she’d spent the better part of her afternoon either checking her phone to see if Daniel had called or texted or replaying scenes from the night before.

Ivy hadn’t heard from him all day and she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she would never see him again—well, at least not like she had the night before. Not the passionate, caring man who’d made her tremble from head to toe. She didn’t want to lose that. She didn’t want to lose
him
.