Her Tender Tyrant (2 page)

Marcus laughed softly. “I’m your man,” he said.

Juliette glared at him, furious that he was putting her through that kind of inspection. When he said “I’m your man” like that, she wasn’t sure if he was talking to her, or to his mother on the other end of the phone. She wished she knew what they were saying to each other, but she could only hear his side of the conversation and he definitely wasn’t being the gentleman Jemma had assured her that he was. He was being a completely uncivilized brute. Her breast was still tingling where his hand had…groped her! And she didn’t like that. Not one little bit!

He laughed softly to whatever was being said and nodded. “Love you too, Mom.” And he hung up the phone.

“So…” he started out, that smooth, sexy voice making more than just her breasts tingle. She’d thought she was in trouble a moment ago. Now she knew that she was in real danger. His big, muscular body was no longer about to tackle her. But the look in those dark blue eyes was not good.

“So…your parents explained why I am here,” she finally said, wanting to move on, to change that look. She preferred him angry. It was safer somehow.

His response was a slow nod of his too-handsome head.

Her breathing tripped a bit as his eyes seemed to actually darken slightly. Those instincts were firing up once again and she was more wary of him now. “And you understand why and for how long?”

Again, he simply nodded slightly, his eyes watching her closely as if he were waiting for her to do something.

“Any issues now?” she asked.

He shrugged, not saying a word.

She huffed, irritated with his non answers. “I’m going to bed,” she stated and almost stomped over to the sink to rinse off her spoon before slipping it into the dishwasher. “Goodnight. And I’ll get out of the house in the morning. I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted.”

Marcus sighed, trying to hide his amusement. He knew that his mother would be furious with him if he let this cute little woman walk out of the house before she’d finished her thesis. Besides, if his dad was okay with Juliette, than she must be legit.

“Hold on, Juliette. You don’t have to go anywhere. My father explained why you are here.”

“Yes, but you don’t want me here. I can just find another horse breeder to help me. I don’t need charity. I’d get out of your hair tonight but it’s too late and I doubt I’d be able to find a hotel at this point. So you’re just stuck with me for a few more hours.”

He laughed when she started to walk by him. “Hold on, little firebrand,” and he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her back so she was standing in front of him. He noticed that she stepped backwards to put more space between them but he simply couldn’t help himself when he eliminated that space. Damn, she was adorable when she glared up at him like that!

“You’re not going anywhere. Like I said, my dad explained what’s going on and I think it is great that you’re going to work on your thesis here. My mom apparently loves you, my dad thinks you walk on water, so just stick around, finish up whatever you have to do and I’ll be good.” His voice lowered as his eyes noticed her breasts once again. “Very good,” he promised.

Juliette wanted to smack him because of those last two words, but figured his comment was probably innocent. Of course, he had glanced downwards, but maybe it was just the light. She sighed, rubbing her forehead in an effort to release the tension that had suddenly built up. “I don’t want to be in your way.”

“You won’t be in my way at all. I’m here working out some details on an acquisition and watching the horses while my parents are down in Texas oohing and aahing over their latest grandchild. So you’re not in my way at all.”

Juliette had to take his word for it. And she quickly stifled the thought that he was most definitely in her way. She didn’t think he would care and he was finally being nice to her. She didn’t want to ruin it by being a prude, especially when he was probably just acting kind and considerate.

Marcus ran his eyes up and down her figure once more, thinking she was definitely the hottest, cutest and sexiest little thing he’d ever seen. He would say that she wasn’t his type, but his body was telling him differently. He might normally date tall, athletic women, but there was something about this lady that hit him. Hard.

Not that he would act on his body’s desire for her. He needed to admire someone before he fell into bed with them.

He snorted mentally. That was a complete lie, he thought. He didn’t need to know the women he slept with. At least not on any deep level. In fact, the complete opposite was true. He kept all of his affairs light and easy, simple and uncomplicated.

So he might not like the lady much, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t enjoy a bit of teasing. Instead of letting her walk up the stairs alone, which was probably what she wanted, Marcus followed her, enjoying the way her cute butt moved in her jeans. The round globes shifted with each step she took, and he wondered what that adorable bottom would feel like without the denim.

Juliette looked behind her, startled to see that he was following her. “I’m not going to steal the family silver,” she snapped. “I’m just going upstairs to sleep.”

“I know.” But he continued to follow her.

Up the stairs and down the hallway, he matched his steps to hers. It was easy since he was four inches over six feet while she was barely five feet, five inches. His legs could easily keep up with her shorter stride even when she tried to take longer steps to get away from him.

But in the upstairs hallway, she turned around and confronted him. “What are you doing? Why are you following me?” she demanded, poking him in the chest.

He bent slightly lower, trying to intimidate her. He didn’t know why. “I’m not following you, little lady. I’m just going to my room.”

Juliette was startled by the ‘little lady’ term. She definitely didn’t like it at all. Was he laughing at her? Teasing her? She thought of ‘little’ in the same terms as ‘skinny’ and she’d never in her life been skinny. She was just too curvy to be considered skinny. No matter how much she dieted, she simply couldn’t lose the curves. A long time ago, she’d just given up and accepted her body. That didn’t mean he had to laugh at her though.

“Don’t mock me, big guy! Just because you like women who resemble number two pencils, that doesn’t give you the right to make fun of my figure!” With that, she slammed into the beautiful bedroom Jemma had told her to use and leaned against the door, dragging in ragged breaths and trying very hard to calm her temper. Goodness, she never let people get to her like she’d done with him. She was normally very cool and composed, and looked at humans as interesting subjects – always trying to get more information on why they did one thing or another. She loved people watching. It was her favorite pastime. But that man just got under her skin!

“Ugh!” she groaned as she pushed away from the door. Getting ready for bed soothed her ruffled feathers somewhat. The routine and the calming décor of this room helped her put the man’s actions and words into perspective.

So when she slipped between the cool sheets, she thought she had finally rationalized both her own behavior as well as his.

That was when she heard the soft sounds in the next room. Sitting up in bed with a gasp, she realized that the man was right next door! Good grief! How was she supposed to sleep with him sleeping in the room next to this one?

No, she’d have to find another bedroom. But this wasn’t her house! She couldn’t just roam around, opening doors and sleeping in someone’s bed. That was rude.

Juliette flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Surely the man could have chosen a room in this enormous house that was…oh yeah, he grew up here. That was probably the room he’d slept in for his entire youth. Definitely couldn’t kick him out of there, she realized. Juliette sighed and pounded her pillow, trying to ignore the sounds coming through the walls.

But it was impossible to ignore the man. He just wasn’t ignorable. He was just too big.

A few minutes later, she heard a sound against the wall. Sitting up, she glared at the wall, wondering if he was playing tennis against the wall. The thumps were rhythmical and annoying. Thud. Thud. Thud.

She could ignore him, she told herself. Juliette was good at ignoring things she didn’t like. In fact, in her house growing up, she’d become an expert at it. Her parents had fought all the time until they finally decided to get a divorce. After that, it was peaceful, her parents actually becoming friends.

So if she could ignore their fights, she could ignore that man!

Marcus threw the tennis ball against the wall, his mind working through the details of his latest acquisition. He’d need to….

Thud.

Just get the….

Thud.

He could simply….

Thud.

He growled as his normal process for working things through in his mind failed. And it was all because of that bouncy, adorable, sexy woman in the room next door. He could even picture her in Adriana’s bedroom. He imagined her little feet poking out from a flannel nightgown – probably one that buttoned up all the way to her neck and didn’t stop until it almost covered her toes. Hell, even that would look sexy on her. He could just picture those cute toes poking out from the bottom of her flannel nightgown, her hair all mussed as he inched that flannel up higher. And higher. He wondered if she wore cotton underwear or something risqué. Probably white cotton.

Damn, his body was getting hot and bothered just picturing that sexy little bottom in white cotton granny panties! What was happening to him? He liked his women confident and draped in undergarments that were meant to entice. He wasn’t turned on by granny panties!

Okay, so he had to admit that just about anything on little Juliette’s ripe, luscious body would look extraordinarily hot. She was just so perfectly…curvy!

Thud.

He had a controversial, multi-billion dollar acquisition in the works. He didn’t have time to fantasize about the little darling in the next room.

He wondered if she was all curled up around Adriana’s pillows. Mitch, Adriana’s husband, complained about all the pillows that his wife demanded be kept on the bed. Was Juliette’s dark, fiery hair splayed out against the white pillows?

Thud.

He needed to get focused. He was here to take care of his mother’s horses while finalizing the negotiations on the acquisition. And those discussions weren’t going well. The firm wanted too much money for not enough in return. If he hadn’t needed the patents the firm held, he would have moved on to another company – ignoring their petty demands and letting the firm die a natural death as the competition squeezed them out of existence.

Thud.

He could work around them, he thought. Just like he pictured ripping off Juliette’s cotton underwear, he could…

Thud.

“Get them on the trail,” he thought, sitting up on his bed and working through a brainstorm of details quickly. Yes, this would work. Just rip everything off. He pushed the image of Juliette’s round bottom out of his mind and walked down the stairs, determined to make some phone calls. He could rip some of the concessions out from the agreement, move the terms over to his other company, force the hand of the CEO and then transfer the patents in his parent company over to one of his subsidiaries. That would eliminate the arguments the firm had to selling. They wouldn’t have a choice at that point. He could box them into a corner and then…

Yes, Marcus stepped quietly down the stairs and entered his father’s study. Slipping into the enormous, leather chair again, he went through the reports. When he discovered what he wanted, he made calls. The markets in Japan were still open and the markets in Russia would be open in a couple of hours. He had moves to make and a company to box in. And it was all because of one sexy, hot little number innocently tucked in upstairs.

Six hours later, he sat back with a satisfied grin on his face. It was all over. The CEO of the firm was cussing Marcus left and right, but it was all over but the signatures. Marcus was now the owner of three hundred new patents for the bargain price of six point four billion dollars. He only needed three of those patents, but those would go a long way towards closing a hole in his empire. He planned on leveraging those three patents into a bold marketing strategy that would put the firm in the black in six months.

The sun was coming up over the horizon when he heard bare feet padding down the hardwood floors above him. He turned off the light on his father’s desk where he was working and waited.

His patience was rewarded when he spotted a very sleepy and painfully sexy looking Juliette walking down the stairs. And damn! She wasn’t wearing a flannel nightgown. He’d worked his whole black knight campaign around her flannel nightgown and cotton granny panties and she was wearing…

Oh damn!

She was wearing a snug camisole that hugged her full breasts like loving, tender hands. Even her nipples were showing through the thin material. He got a glimpse of long legs and that oh-so adorable derriere was covered by little shorts with the words “stop” on the butt. Oh man! That was going to push his libido into overdrive. And it didn’t need any help!

She pulled on a robe as she stumbled to the kitchen. Now that her sweet body was covered, his eyes moved upwards and his already erect body jolted into the painful zone when he saw that her dark hair was all mussed up. Almost as if his hands had been fondling the shining tresses for the past six hours.