The Billionaire's Secretive Enchantress (The Berutelli Escape) (12 page)

She sighed and shook her head.  “Okay, so no bathing suit.  Where are we going?
”  He was certainly in a playful mood today.  And his mood was contagious.  She was quickly becoming entranced by this new side to him.  She’d seen the serious and lover-like Drake.  She’d experienced his teasing and business personalities too.  But with all the power he wielded, she never would have suspected this playful, eager man to show up.  If it weren’t for his rugged, handsome face and the enormous muscles all over his body, this Drake could pass for a little boy. 

“Tell me what you were working on.  You seemed pretty frustrated when I walked in on you.”

She started to open her mouth to explain what she’d been trying to work into the plans but then stopped herself.  She wanted to do this on her own.  Drake was a genius and if she started to explain, he would simply tell her how to fix the challenge she was facing.  She didn’t want that.  She wanted to figure it out on her own.  “No.  I’m not telling you anything.”

“Why not?”
He eyed her curiously as he expertly controlled the truck.

She glanced outside the
big windows of the cab, impressed with how high off of the street they were inside this truck.  They were now heading outside the city into the foothills.  This was only mildly concerning because there were lots of fun places to explore outside of Denver but she had no idea what “tracks” might be located out in this direction.  The spaces outside of the city were beautiful in a rugged, sometimes dangerous way.  There were lots of things to do outdoors if one could leave the buildings behind.  That would also explain why her clothes were inappropriate.  She was definitely not dressed for hiking through the mountains.

She turned back to face him, cheekily grinning at him across the expanse of the
interior.  “Because you’ll figure out how to get it fixed and I want to im…” she stopped before she could finish.  “Before I have to show it to anyone,” she finished lamely.  She didn’t look at him to see if he’d caught her slip, but she cringed because Drake never missed anything.

“Okay, so you want to impress me with your creativity.  That’s great,” he said and winked at her when she glared at him. “But I’m already impressed.  You’ve used some interesting materials that I wouldn’t have thought about so anything you do from here on out is going to further impress me with your skills.”

She almost glowed with his compliment.  She wanted to ask him what materials he was surprised about but she didn’t want to emphasize the issue too much.  It might make him think that she cared about his opinion too much and that could put her in an awkward position. 

She sighed out loud, wishing things could be different.  Why was life so complicated?  Why couldn’t she and
Drake just be friends?  Why did he have to make everything into this uncomfortable, mind numbing craziness that made her lose control?  She didn’t like that feeling, didn’t understand it.  And even if she could ignore her anxiousness about the way he made her feel, she couldn’t betray him. 

She looked over at him, impressed with the way he handled the
increasingly rugged roads, his strong hands and long fingers confident on the steering wheel, his tall, muscular body relaxed as he drove.  She should just tell him who she was.  She should be honest with him.  Was she being dishonest by not admitting that her father had beaten him and left him to die? 

“No long faces today,” he told her firmly
as he glanced quickly in her direction.  “Today is a non-stress day.”

She had to laugh at his command.  “You’re dictating that I can’t feel any stress at all?  For the next twenty-four hours?”

“Absolutely,” he grinned arrogantly at her.  “Unless it is stress I’ve created because I’m touching you and you want more.  That’s perfectly acceptable stress.”

She laughed, feeling more confident with him on the other side of the big truck and a large console between them.  She wouldn’t feel so confident if he were right next to her saying those kinds of things. 

But his words did help her make a decision.  She would have fun with him today, finish her project tonight at home and then talk to him on Monday morning, admit to everything her father had done and then move on with her life. 

He’d probably fire her, she thought with more than a touch of sadness.  And she knew he would be completely justified.  One didn’t continue to employ the daughter of one’s murderer, even if it turned out to be an attempted murder. 

“Want to talk about it?” he asked, reaching out and taking her hand which had been laying on the console. 

She felt the heat in his fingers and shivered when his thumb rubbed against her knuckles.  “You’re right.  We’ll just enjoy the day.  We can talk about stressful issues on Monday.”

“That’s the spirit!” he replied, squeezing her hand.

He pulled off of the highway onto a road that didn’t appear to be much of a road.  There were no signs of any life this far outside of the city but people who lived out this far preferred their space. 
“Where are we going?” she asked, interested despite her wariness.  They were leaving the urban world behind and climbing the mountains, the trees turning to pines as they went deeper into the woods. 

He didn’t answer, but simply made another left onto what she wasn’t sure was actually a road.  Or not a truck worthy one. 
“Okay, now you have to tell me what’s going on,” she said as the trees blocked out the sunshine.

“I ‘have to’?” he asked, looking at her with
amusement lacing those intense eyes.  “Why do I ‘have to’ tell you?  And what are you going to do to make me tell you?”  He leered at her with sexual innuendo.  “I think I’ll enjoy you trying to torture the information out of me.”

Sierra bit her lower lip as another shiver of awareness laced through her.  So much for the extra space and her ability to control what he made her feel!  She
tried to pull her hand away, but he wouldn’t relinquish her fingers.  “Drake, where are we going?”

He shook his head
, thinking she looked adorable as she sat almost next to him, worried and anxious that he’d just kidnapped her.  It wasn’t a bad idea, he thought.  Being out here for the whole weekend, well, he might just get her to admit why she was so hot for him one moment, then pulling away from him with fear in her eyes the next.  “Nope.  Just a few more minutes and you’ll see.  It’s right around the corner.”

“What’s around the corner?” she asked
with impatience.  She hated not knowing a secret.  It drove her crazy and she even had to shake Christmas and birthday presents to try and figure out what was inside the boxes. 

And then she gasped when the truck climbed up a particularly steep incline.  She gripped the door handle and his own hand, not even aware of how tightly she was gripping his fingers.  Her body was even turning towards him in an effort to stay away from the drop beside her window.  “I guess this is a good time to tell you that I don’t really like heights.”

He glanced over at her, all amusement gone when he saw her genuine fear. This wasn’t about what they meant to each other or what he could make her feel.  The fear in her eyes was all about something stronger and scarier.  “Don’t worry,” he said with a strong, reassuring tone of voice, squeezing her fingers again to help her.  “I’ve done this trip many times.  This truck can handle the road.”

Sierra didn’t have his confidence.  In fact, if it weren’t for her seatbelt holding her in her seat, she might actually climb onto the console to get away from the cliff on her side of the truck.  The road seriously didn’t look like it was wide enough to accommodate this huge truck and if it did, there wasn’t any room for error. 

A moment later, he pulled around a corner and she breathed a sigh of relief.  Then gasped in pleasure at the amazing house perched on the side of the mountain.  “Oh my,” she sighed, her eyes taking in the complex architectural structure.  She’d read about this place in the architectural magazines but it was even more astounding in reality than in the pictures.  The photographer hadn’t really captured the amazing structure.  The house seemed to be balanced with cantilevers on both sides, using the mountain as part of its structure.  There were walls of windows on three sides with large, metal columns holding up the jutting end of the house. 

“This is magnificent,” she breathed.  “I’ve always wanted to design something like this for a client.”

“Why haven’t you?” he asked, unsnapping his seatbelt while he watched her. 

She shrugged as she too got out, her eyes never leaving the house that looked like it was
dangerously perched on the mountain, about to slide down the cliff at any moment.  But her eyes noted the sound structure, the impressive way the designer had stabilized the house and she instantly fell in love. 

“Because my clients haven’t wanted it,” she sighed with happiness just to view the building.  “I think I’m going to marry the man who designed this.”

Drake watched carefully as Sierra walked around the truck.  He was leaning against the hood of the truck, his arms crossed over his chest in an attempt to not pull her into his arms and kiss her.  Hell, he wanted to make love to her right here, uncaring of the rocks or gravel.  She might object, he thought.  Well, actually, she objected to any kind of touch from him most of the time.

He smiled as he clarified his thought.  She only objected to his touch before and after he touched her.  She never objected during the actual physical contact.  In fact, she was a tigress when it came to touching him back. 

Damn, he liked that about her.  Not the resistance.  No, that was something he’d have to eliminate completely from her.  He much preferred the sensuous beauty she was when she was in his arms versus the straight-laced, tense woman she was when she was avoiding his touch. 

And marry the person who had designed the house?  He liked the idea.  He liked that a lot.  As he watched her look at his house from different angles, he couldn’t help but admire her long legs
in those tight jeans giving him a glimpse of her adorable butt and her trim waist.  He would prefer her hair down around her shoulders, but she’d probably need it pulled back for what he had in mind today. 

Tonight though.  He’
d have that hair down around her shoulders tonight. 

“Come on inside.  I’ll get you a different shirt.  That sweater won’t help you a lot for what I have planned.”

Sierra pulled her eyes away from the house, her attention captured by the man and his comment.  “What do you have planned?”

He took her hand and pulled her along, tucking her hand onto his arm and then covering it with his other hand to keep her from pulling it away.  This kept her closer and she kept bumping his hips as she walked quickly to keep up with him. 

“I’ll lend you one of my shirts.  That should cover enough of you.”

She blinked as she looked up at him, curiosity getting the better of her common sense.  She knew she should tell him to just go ahe
ad with his plans and she’d be happy to wander around inside his house.  She wouldn’t mind spending an hour simply investigating the support system built by the architect. 

But she couldn’t help the question that escaped her.  “Why do I need a shirt big enough to cover me?”
  Despite herself, she was intrigued by both his comment as well as his excited expression. 

“Because we’re going to get a bit dirty today.”  He unlocked the front door
of the house and led her straight through the great room and into a hallway.  She tried to get a glimpse of the house but only got the impression of comfortable furniture, soaring ceilings and magnificent views. 

“I’ll take you on a tour of the place when we are finished,” he said, chuckling at her as she strained her neck to get a better view of his house. 

When he led her into a large bedroom, she sighed with awe of the view.  She didn’t see the extremely large bed or the furniture that looked like it should be in a museum.  All she saw was the mountains and the city spread out below.  There was definitely a different feeling when one looked down from the mountains versus being inside of a tall building.  She couldn’t quite define it, but the view was exceptional. 

She stood in the middle of his bedroom, unaware that he’d released her hands and had disappeared into a closet.  He came out a moment later and just stood
about six feet away watching her as she stood enjoying the view.  He admired her for several moments before he glanced at his watch.  With a chuckle, he walked over to her.  “Want some help taking off the sweater?” he asked, holding the large, flannel shirt up in front of her eyes.

Sierra looked at the shirt, confused and
nervous.  “Definitely not.  I can take off my sweater by myself.”  She took the shirt and glared up at him.

Drake
shrugged and sat down on the bed, waiting. “Go ahead.”

Sierra took a step back.  “I’m not doing a striptease for you,” she stated firmly. 

Drake’s eyes went up and down her slender figure. “Pity,” was all he said.  With a grin, he nodded towards the wall.  “There’s a bathroom over there if you insist on being modest.”

She looked at the wall and saw the door.  Turning towards it, she almost tripped when she heard him say, “I’m going to see it all pretty soon anyway.”

She glanced back at him, her eyes wide with the fear that idea generated.  And the heat.