The Billionaire's Touch (The Sinclairs #3) (5 page)

Unfortunately, she hated him, and Evan didn’t think fucking her senseless was going to be an option.

He wrapped his fingers unconsciously around the crystal in his pocket, wishing he could find a way to communicate with Randi. What was bothering her? Why did she look so tired? He wanted to strike up a reasonable conversation, but he was afraid of putting his foot in his mouth . . . again. The moment she put him on the defensive, he struck out verbally. It was always this way with her.

“We’re here. This is me,” Randi said breathlessly, pointing toward a vehicle covered in snow, one of the few cars still in the parking lot.

She dropped the remainder of her cold coffee into a trash receptacle close to her vehicle, and Evan did the same. He’d never really wanted the beverage anyway.

“Give me the keys,” he demanded.

Surprisingly, she reached in her pocket to hand them over. She pulled them out, causing something else to drop to the ground. Without thinking, Evan bent and picked up the object. He held the item in his hand for a moment, stunned. “You have one of these, too?” he asked hoarsely.

“The Apache tear. Yeah. I got it from Beatrice. She thinks I’m going to meet my soul mate.” Randi reached for the stone and hurriedly shoved it back in her pocket. “I like her. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.”

Evan took the keys she was dangling in front of him and opened the door of the vehicle. It was hard to tell exactly what kind of car it was when it was covered in snow, but it appeared to be a small SUV. He started it quickly and grabbed the snow brush in the backseat to clear the slush and ice off the body and windows of the car.

“I can do that,” Randi insisted, trying to take the brush from his hand.

“I’m sure you’re perfectly capable, but let me,” Evan requested evenly. “There’s no reason for you to do it since I’m here.” He made short work of removing the snow and scraping the ice as he watched Randi eye him curiously.

She crossed her arms and observed his movements as he worked. “You’re a gentleman underneath all of your bluster.” The statement was almost accusing.

“I’m not chauvinistic,” Evan said carefully. “I employ plenty of smart women, some of them smarter than my male employees.” He put the snow brush back in the car, closed the door so the windows would finish defrosting, and turned to face her. “But I’ll admit that I have a hard time watching a woman do physical work when a stronger body is around.”

She frowned as her eyes drifted over his tall, muscular form. “I have a hard time arguing with the fact that you’re bigger and probably stronger. But it doesn’t mean that you have to always do the physical work.”

Evan looked at her petite figure. Logically, she couldn’t argue their difference in size. At a little over six feet tall, he towered over her. She might be the athletic type, but he worked out every day, and he was a hell of a lot stronger. “I have very little opportunity to do anything physical except in a gym. I have employees who do most things for me. I don’t mind, and cleaning your car is hardly strenuous.” He hesitated before he inquired in what he hoped was a casual voice, “Can I ask you a question?”

She lifted a brow before asking, “What?”

“Does Beatrice give out these stones to everyone?” He pulled the crystal from his pocket and held it out to her.

Hesitantly, Randi reached out and took the rock into her own hand. She turned it over and over a few times before handing it back with a perplexed look on her face. “Hardly ever,” she admitted. “You got one, too?”

“She mailed it to me with a letter a few months ago, telling me I was going to be married within six months,” he answered reluctantly, slipping the Apache tear back into his coat pocket. “I think she might be demented.”

Randi laughed, and a bolt of pleasure raced through Evan’s body at the husky, sultry sound.

“She’s not crazy. She’s just a little eccentric. Sometimes her predictions actually do come true.”

Evan shook his head. “She’s destined for disappointment with me.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Randi admitted, reaching for the door of her rapidly defrosting vehicle. It was a deep-purple SUV that somehow suited her bold personality. Evan could finally see the make and model clearly.

“Randi?” he questioned huskily.

“Yes?” She turned and looked at him, her expression no longer hostile.

“Don’t worry about my coat. I have another one.” It wasn’t what he really wanted to say, but he couldn’t exactly tell her what he was thinking. She was likely to apply a knee to his balls, and he rather liked them intact.

“I told you to send me a bill if the stain doesn’t come out. You might try the dry cleaners here. They’ve done miracles with some of my clothes. Stains are a job hazard for teachers,” she told him amiably.

It was her smile that made Evan snap. Her eyes were warm and happy, her lips curving into a beautiful expression of joy when she talked about her profession. But the grin was aimed at him, and Evan couldn’t possibly resist seizing the moment. He’d never made an impulsive move in his entire life, but he couldn’t seem to control his mind or body when she smiled at him this way.

He stepped forward without debating his options first, pinned her body against her vehicle, and without a cautionary thought in his head, he kissed her.

Evan groaned as his lips crashed down on hers, knowing that he’d just made a mistake that would probably cost him his sanity. Her body stiffened as he wrapped his arms around her, one hand threading through her hair to protect her head and keep it exactly in a position that allowed him complete access to her mouth. An unfamiliar sense of male satisfaction moved deep in his gut as the clip holding her hair fell to the ground and the dark strands tumbled around her shoulders.

She tasted like chocolate and coffee, and Evan savored the delectable softness of her lips beneath his. Out of control, he demanded access instead of asking. Finally, she became pliant beneath him, letting him in, and he inwardly released a sigh of relief as she wrapped her arms around him and met his marauding tongue stroke for stroke. Evan felt himself drowning in sensation, and it definitely wasn’t the cold of the surrounding environment. Every instinct he had was to claim the woman in his arms, make sure she remembered the heat that raged between them as they kissed each other like they were ravenous for each other. His cock strained for release as Evan explored Randi’s mouth demandingly, his body overheating from the way she returned his embrace enthusiastically.

She was panting by the time he finally lifted his head, both of them desperate for air. It took Evan a few minutes before he could manage to release her. He continued to hold her in his arms, saying nothing, their heavy, ragged breathing the only sound he could identify, the cloudy spirals of their every breath visible in the frigid air around them the only thing he could see. Slowly, reluctantly, his hand untangled from her silky hair and he finally stepped back.

“We can pretend that never happened,” Randi squeaked in a panicked voice.

The hell they could! Evan knew he’d probably have wet dreams about what else could have happened if they weren’t in the middle of the brutal cold in a damn parking lot. “I’m not certain I can,” he confided gruffly.

“We can,” Randi chattered optimistically. “We can’t stand each other. It’s just some crazy physical thing.”

It was definitely physical, but it wasn’t crazy or random. He’d wanted to bury his cock so deeply inside Randi Tyler with an unidentifiable primitive instinct he couldn’t explain since the moment they’d met, and he had a feeling that impulse wasn’t going to go away. Not after he’d tasted her, felt her willing response. She wanted him, and knowing
that
changed the entire game they’d been playing since the first time he saw her.

She might not like me, but she feels the same chemistry that I do.

“Do you have an escort for Hope’s party?” He ignored her suggestion that they pretend he’d never touched her. He had kissed her . . . and they had both enjoyed it.

“No.”

“You’ll go with me,” he decided, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and handing it to her. “Call your phone so you have my number. Call me when you get home safely.” He didn’t like the way the wind was starting to kick up and the snow was coming down more steadily now.

She looked dazed as she dialed her own phone number, letting it ring in her purse so his number would show up before handing it back to him. “Evan, I don’t think—”

He put a finger over her lips. “Don’t think about it. Just go with me.”

She nodded slowly as though she was still in a pleasure-induced trance. Evan decided he liked that look on her. He was determined now to see what she looked like as she came, screaming his name, his cock deep inside her, her body shuddering in climax.

She would look exquisite, and Evan was more than eager to share that experience with her. Maybe it would resolve the knot of longing that seemed to be pulling tighter and tighter in his gut right now.

Turning and walking away from her took almost superhuman strength, but he did it anyway. He wasn’t giving her a chance to think, a chance to change her mind. He paused to pick up the clip from her hair before he moved away from her and stuck it in his coat pocket.

He ambled slowly toward his car, satisfied when he saw her vehicle plow through the snowy parking lot and exit the Center.

What in the hell just happened?

Evan picked up his pace after he saw the taillights of Randi’s car disappear into the night, still more than a little shocked at his own behavior. He didn’t give in to urges or impulses, but tonight . . . he had.

He didn’t regret it. Sexual tension like he’d never experienced before had been smoldering between him and Randi Tyler since the moment they’d met. Now that he knew that she was just as attracted to him as he was to her, he understood the real truth.

She was wrong. They didn’t hate each other. What they were both feeling was desire in its most carnal form. He’d tried to ignore it because any loss of control scared the shit out of him. Maybe it unsettled her, too.

What would be the harm in spending some time together? Maybe they could fuck each other until the attraction was out of both of their systems. It was bound to happen if they acted on their fantasies. Evan had never been with a woman more than once before he got bored and was ready to go back to work. He didn’t do relationships. He sought out women who wanted the same thing he did . . . sex for one night to scratch an itch. Most of them were successful women who were busy with their own careers or businesses. Those arrangements had always suited him just fine.

Evan released a masculine sigh as he finally reached his vehicle, admitting to himself that exorcising the lust he had for Randi could take more than just one night.

In fact, it could take a very, very long time.

Strangely, he was good with that.

CHAPTER 4

The Amesport Midwinter Ball was cancelled and rescheduled for the following weekend because the area had been struck by a major blizzard.

Randi sighed and looked out the window of the small home that she’d inherited, glad that she now had five more days to try to find a way out of attending the ball with Evan.

Why in the hell did I let him kiss me? Worse yet, why did I enjoy it so damn much?

She’d been asking herself that very question for the last two days—since he’d rocked her world with the demanding, possessive, scorching-hot embrace that hadn’t left her mind since it happened.

Dammit! I don’t want to be attracted to Evan Sinclair.

Tired and let down because Liam hadn’t shown up at their meeting place, the last thing she’d needed last Friday was to literally run into Evan Sinclair as she was leaving Brew Magic.

Why him? Anybody but him.

She’d only found out after arriving home that evening that Liam had the flu. He hadn’t had her cell-phone number to contact her, and he hadn’t been able to reach Tessa. He’d sounded horrible in the message he’d left on her home phone, and she didn’t doubt for a moment that he really was sick. She’d quickly sent a text to Evan—because calling him seemed too personal—that she’d arrived home safely, and then a message via email to S. so he didn’t worry.

For the last two days, she’d been pretty much snowbound. The flakes were coming down faster than they could be cleared from the roads. She lived ten miles from town on a tranquil five acres of land that nobody really cared about. Dennis and Joan hadn’t been anywhere close to being able to afford waterfront property, but Randi hadn’t minded not living right on the beach. It was too crowded in town, too busy with tourists in the summer. She loved having her own space to breathe.

Letting the curtain she was holding fall back into place, Randi turned back toward the small living room. So much of her parents still remained in the house, but Randi liked it that way. She’d kept as many items as she could that had belonged to them, wanting to somehow keep them with her even now.

Her heart clenched as her gaze fell on a picture of all three of them, a family, huddled together on the beach soon after they’d brought her to Amesport. Dennis and Joan had been the parents she’d never had, even though they were more appropriate in age to be her grandparents. It hadn’t mattered to Randi. They’d filled up an emotional void she had carried all her life. Now, it was like the gaping dark hole was back, and nothing could ever fill it in again.

She tore her eyes from the photo, knowing that eventually the pain would ease. There would probably come a time when she felt nothing but joy looking at pictures of her saviors, but that day wasn’t today.

“I need to shower.” Her golden retriever, Lily, lifted her head off the floor to look at Randi with soulful, curious eyes. “I stink,” Randi told her dog, watching as Lily cocked her head as though she understood.

Randi had spent the morning working out and meditating, so her yoga pants and T-shirt were damply clinging to her body even though a snowstorm raged outdoors.

Lily trotted along behind her as Randi shed her clothes, throwing them all into the hamper as she arrived in the bathroom.

“We need food for both of us,” Randi announced as she turned on the shower and looked down at Lily’s prostrate body on the rug beside her.

She hadn’t stocked up enough on food, and she was hungry. Lily was down to the last of her dog food. Randi would need to clear out her driveway with the old ATV and plow in the garage, and then hope her small four-wheel drive could get through the snow on the road. Another storm had developed behind the one they were experiencing now, so the weather was only going to get worse. Even though the snow was still falling, it might be the only break she’d get for the next few days. If the weather predictions were correct, the next storm would be just as bad as the first.

Feeling less gloomy after her shower, Randi went into what used to be her parents’ bedroom. It was now a home office, since she couldn’t bear to make their room into her bedroom. Not now. Maybe not ever.

It’s only noon. I have time to check my email.

Of course, she was rationalizing. The sooner she got outside to plow, the faster she could go get food. But she hadn’t checked for a reply from S., and she’d love to know what he had to say about her email to him last Friday.

Sitting down at the small desk, she opened her laptop and waited for her email to boot up.

Dear M.,

I’m sorry you got stood up. Oh hell . . . I’m not really that sorry. I never want anything to happen that hurts you, but I really was envious of your date. Maybe he’ll stay sick for weeks so you can’t reschedule.

I did end up getting stuck in the blizzard, so I’m still in Maine. I’ll be here until the weather clears, so talk to me. What stupid thing did you do tonight if your date never showed up?

Sincerely,

S.

Randi glanced at the date on the email. He’d answered back only a short time after she’d emailed him two days ago. She’d been too restless to sit, so she’d kept herself busy and hadn’t checked her email since she’d sent her note on Friday.

She had told him it had been a long day, and that she’d done something stupid. Randi wasn’t certain she wanted to fess up to exactly
what
she’d done.

I kissed Evan Sinclair. Okay, he kissed me, but I kissed him back. I don’t want to want him. I don’t want to be attracted to him at all.

“I can’t stand the guy. Why did it feel so amazing?” she asked Lily, who was now on the floor next to her feet. She smiled as Lily’s head came up and she let out a huge yawn. “Human problems are boring stuff to you, huh?” Randi guessed that her problems weren’t much of an issue to a creature who lived for food, belly rubs, and playing fetch.

Toying with her computer mouse, she contemplated how much she wanted to share with her email friend. Finally, she decided to just tell him the truth.

Dear S.,

Have you been attracted to someone who you don’t even like as a person? I haven’t, at least not until recently. I didn’t think that something like that could even happen. How can you want to be intimate with someone you don’t even
like
?

Randi let the question hang there for a moment before pressing the “Send” button. She talked to her friend about many things, but they’d never gotten quite this personal. But she’d found that being anonymous had allowed her to talk about any number of thoughts and feelings openly. In many ways, she had developed an indescribable connection to S. over the last year. She didn’t think there was much she couldn’t tell him.

She wasn’t really surprised when a reply popped into her mailbox a few moments later.

Dear M.,

I thought your date stood you up. Who are we talking about?

She smiled and quickly typed a response. Somehow, she’d been almost certain he’d start talking to her. What else was there to do in the middle of a Northeast blizzard if you still had an Internet connection?

Dear S.,

He didn’t actually stand me up. He was sick. I’m talking about someone else I’ve known for a while. I’ve always thought he was attractive, yet I don’t like him. How does that happen?

He wrote back.

Dear M.,

I’m not certain, to be quite honest. But I do know that two people can irritate the hell out of each other and still desire each other. I’ve had the same experience myself recently
.

Randi was slightly taken aback and wasn’t sure how she felt about her longtime email buddy wanting another woman. He’d kept her company during some of her darkest times, and it stung a little that he had other women in his life. She’d always assumed he was alone, like her, and that was one of the reasons they’d connected so well with each other.

She shrugged. He was a nice guy, and it wasn’t like she wouldn’t date if the opportunity came up with somebody she could connect with and liked. It made sense that he had women in his life. She’d just never considered the possibility. They always laughed about being alone on date nights.

Dear S.,

Glad to hear it’s not just me. I have nothing in common with the guy, and he’s totally obnoxious. Yet I find him physically attractive. Weird, huh?

It took a minute to get his response.

Dear M.,

Not really weird. However, I think you should stay away from him. You deserve someone who adores you, and he sounds like a jackass. Don’t settle for anything less.

Randi sighed as she stared at his answer. Why couldn’t there be a man in her life as nice as her pen pal?

Dear S.,

Maybe I’m a raving bitch? Sometimes I am, you know.

She laughed at his return email.

Dear M.,

Impossible. I don’t think you have a mean bone in your body except when it comes to agreeing to meet
me.

Randi sighed. It wasn’t that part of her didn’t want to meet the mysterious S., but she knew she never would. Deep down, she wasn’t certain that he really wanted to meet her, either, even though he said that he did. Being anonymous was what made them such good friends. Randi never wanted to lose that connection. Meeting him wasn’t worth the risk of losing a valuable friendship.

Dear S.,

That just goes to prove that you don’t know me well. I’m off to stock up on dog food and junk food to ride out the next storm. Stay warm.

TTYS,

M.

She waited for him to sign off.

Dear M.,

Be careful. Even if you are in a small town, the roads are bad everywhere. Let me know that you got back safe.

After reading his note, she shut down her computer. He had no idea that she lived outside of the city limits, and getting back in was more difficult for her than the average citizen of Amesport. She was actually starting to like his protective instinct. It was nice to know someone cared.

“Want to go for a ride?” Randi waved toward the door as she rose from her seat at the desk. Her dog vaulted up immediately, her tail wagging at the prospect of sitting on the ATV with her owner while she plowed out the driveway.

Randi smiled as Lily whined enthusiastically and ran for the outside door. Her pup knew what the word
ride
meant.

Trying to push all thoughts of Evan Sinclair from her mind, Randi got busy trying to accomplish her tasks before the weather got worse.