The Tycoon's Defiant Southern Belle (4 page)

His body had been large on the drive over, but that had been before he’d kissed her. 
Now that she’d felt his legs, his chest and those amazingly broad shoulders, he somehow
seemed bigger and her body shifted to make room for his frame in the seemingly smaller
vehicle. 

The powerful engine roared to life and the trembling started almost immediately. 
Would he kiss her again at her door?  Did she want him to?  Of course she didn’t! 
She admonished herself mentally for even thinking she might want him to kiss her. 
He was a bad man, the enemy! 

And Dave!  What was she thinking?  She had Dave that she was going to marry!  She
had a wonderful man who was sweet and kind and….maybe a little boring at times but
she couldn’t do this to him. 

When he pulled up outside of her little cottage, she practically jumped out of the
car.  His gentle but firm touch stopped her just as she was about to slide her legs
out. 

“I’ll be gone for a couple of weeks but my assistant will be in touch about the house
and how to pay for the expenses so you can get started immediately.”  He waited a
heartbeat, then said, “Break up with your boyfriend, Jade.  I don’t like to share.”

Jade’s mouth dropped open and she shook her head.  She desperately needed to put him
in his place, give him a sound set down.  “Don’t you think you’re assuming too much? 
It was just one kiss.”

Angelo shook his head and Jade could see the heat in his eyes even in the dim light. 
“No.  I’m definitely not assuming too much.  You will be in my bed Jade.  Count on
it.”

She shivered and started to say something, but she couldn’t think of anything appropriate. 
Or even inappropriate. 

In the end, she stepped out of the car as gracefully as her wobbly legs would allow
and raced into the house.  She was grateful that he didn’t follow her because she
wasn’t sure what she might do if he kissed her again.  She almost slammed the door
once she was inside, but remembered that she didn’t want to show the man any weakness. 
She caught her frantic motion and stopped the momentum of the door in time to gently
press the wood closed.  But as soon as it was in place, she clicked the lock and leaned
against the wood, taking in deep breaths and trying to get herself back under control. 

Two weeks later, Jade jumped every time she heard a noise.  And since the workers
were going at their tasks in full force with many strange noises, she was pretty jumpy. 

Unfortunately, her mood didn’t have anything to do with the stress of the renovations. 
In fact, those were coming along better than she could have hoped. 

No, her nervousness was due solely to the fact that Angelo, with his dark, dangerous
eyes, was due to inspect the house today.  She’d gotten word from his assistant that
he was flying in from Madrid and would arrive at the house sometime in the early afternoon. 

Jade wasn’t sure what to expect, but she definitely wasn’t falling into his bed. 
She would just quickly tell him that she appreciated his generous job offer and was
doing an excellent job with the renovations, but he would have to be disappointed
in their relationship progressing beyond professional.  And if that meant that he
no longer wanted her in his employ, so be it.  She loved this house, thought the lines
and structure were amazing and the history of the building needed to be carefully
reconstructed.  It would break her heart if she had to stop and turn over the work
to someone else, someone who might not be as gentle with the renovations. 

But she would leave it all behind her, watch someone else complete the work from a
distance if Angelo continued to consider her his next mistress.  No, that wasn’t what
she wanted for herself.  She was not for sale!  And especially not for some heartless
man who had too much money.  So what if the man fascinated her like no other man had
ever done in the past?  She wasn’t one to be pushed around.  She didn’t want to have
to compromise her scruples…

And then she saw him.  All thoughts of telling him to stuff his offer went out of
her mind.  In fact, every thought left her brain as she watched him approach. 

He didn’t just walk into the house like a normal person.  No, the dark, dangerous,
demon-like man walked towards her with a purpose unlike any she’d ever seen in her
life.  It was as if there was no one else in the house, no one else even close by. 
The hammering, sawing, banging and clattering simply didn’t exist.  All she could
hear was her heartbeat as he took one long step after another closer to her. 

When he reached her, there was no greeting.  There were no pleasantries exchanged
or updates on the renovations. 

Instead, without pause, without giving her a chance to agree or repulse his kiss,
he took her into his arms, holding her against his hard frame and kissed her, his
mouth taking possession of her own and obliterating everything from her consciousness. 
The man’s kiss was more staggering than she could believe and her whole body was quivering
as he continued to kiss her, his mouth taking absolute possession and devastating
her senses. 

When he finally lifted his head, her breathing was ragged, deep and erratic and her
mind completely confused as to how she could be so adamant one moment that she was
simply going to ignore the man and treat him professionally, and the next moment,
she was clinging to him, her eyes dropping to his mouth as if she could will him to
kiss her again. 

“You’re back,” she said, and immediately wondered why she was stupidly stating the
obvious. 

Blinking rapidly so she could regain some focus, she cleared her throat and stood
up, unaware a moment ago that he was holding her in his arms and she was clinging
to him as if he were her only lifeline.  When her knees were able to hold her weight
once again, she slowly un-pried her fingers from her grip on his shirt. 

Clearing her throat, she stepped backwards, giving herself a mental shake.  “It’s
good to see you, Angelo,” she said, blinking and trying to clear the fogginess from
her mind.  How could he do this to her?  Hadn’t she just been lecturing herself on
how she needed to stay clear of him? 

“You look beautiful,” he said, looking down at her with those strange, black eyes. 

“Thank you,” she said, blushing because she knew she looked messy, probably with plaster
dust all over her hair and face.  “How was Madrid?” she asked, clasping her hands
in front of her nervously. 

“Hot,” he replied. “But productive.”

“What were you doing there?”

Angelo was amused by her attempt to bring their conversation back to the professional. 
They’d just kissed as if they were both begging to climb into bed and yet, here she
stood, her body quivering, her lips swollen from their kiss and her mouth spouting
professional niceties.  He would play along, at least for the next few minutes.  But
that kiss told him that she’d been thinking about him just as much as he’d been planning
his next move.  “Buying a pharmaceutical company that holds a patent that I want.”

She blinked at that.  “You bought a whole company just to obtain a patent?”

He shrugged and moved closer, his eyes assessing her health and noticing the dark
circles under her eyes.  “I needed the patent.  It will be very valuable in the future
but it isn’t being marketed well.  Besides, I bought another company last month that
holds a patent on another drug.  If both of them are combined, they are much more
effective.  But since the separate companies aren’t marketing their drugs effectively,
neither is thriving.”

She was stunned at the idea of how much knowledge he must hold in order to know that
one drug interacted with another drug in a way that made both of them better, but
also knew how to not just market both of them together, but how to obtain both companies. 

She cleared her throat and shook her head.  “That’s impressive,” she replied quietly,
feeling suddenly shy and inadequate.  Was this why he was buying up so many of the
businesses in this area?  Was he trying to make everything work better and create
medicines that could save lives? 

His phone rang at that moment and he looked at the number.  “I’ll just be a moment,”
he said and pressed the button to accept the call. 

She looked up at him and shook her head.  Stop trying to make him into a hero, she
admonished herself sternly.  The man was in this business to make money.  And then
more money.  He might be handsome and dynamic and incredibly sexy…no no no!  She wasn’t
attracted to him.  He was just a good kisser!  And she wouldn’t do that anymore! 
She was with Dave and Dave was her boyfriend.  They were going to get married. 

Everyone has these moments when they find themselves attracted to another person. 
It was just part of life.  She had to be disciplined and remember what was important. 
Tradition, history, kindness and generosity.  Those were the qualities she admired
in Dave and which Angelo Donati didn’t even know the meaning of. 

As she listened to him on the phone, throwing out numbers and legal issues to overcome,
giving whoever was on the other end of the line instructions on how to move forward
in what sounded like an extremely complicated negotiation and she couldn’t help but
be impressed.  She might not agree with the man’s morals, but she couldn’t deny that
he was a brilliant businessman. 

Why was he attracted to someone like her?  She was a nobody.  Oh, she could look at
a room and create whatever sort of environment a client wanted, but that was pointless
compared to what he could do.  Angelo could potentially save lives!  She wasn’t even
near his league in intelligence and business knowledge.  All she understood were colors,
history and how to gently talk to people to understand what they were looking for
in a house. 

She sat down with a thud, her legs giving out on her.  She wasn’t even aware that
she was sitting on a stack of tiles. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, slipping his cell phone back into his pocket. 

“What do you see in me?” she asked, forgetting for the moment that she was going to
reject his suggestion that they become lovers. 

“What do you mean?” Angelo asked, moving closer to her.  Something in her eyes worried
him.  When he’d first walked into the room, there had been a sparkle in her eyes,
a glow to her whole being that had lured him closer to her warmth. 

Now she looked like someone who had just lost something significant.  And he didn’t
like it. 

Jade considered her words carefully.  “What is it about me that is in any way enticing?”
she asked.  “Why aren’t you interested in someone like a doctor or a woman of your
intellectual equal?”

He finally understood and he felt horrible for whatever he’d said to make her belittle
her accomplishments and intelligence.  Taking a seat next to her, he ignored her desire
to put some space between their two bodies and shifted closer when she tried to move
away.  Their hips and thighs were now touching and he smiled inwardly when she sighed
with acceptance. 

“I firmly believe that every person has a mission in this world.  There isn’t one
thing that is more important than another.  You create beautiful spaces for people
to live in. I buy up and concentrate drug companies so that people get medicine. 
That doesn’t mean that what I do is more or less important.  It just means that our
talents are different.”

She smiled at his attempt to make her lifelong contributions more significant.  “You’re
a very sweet man,” she said as she looked up at him.

Angelo watched that light come back into her eyes but he shook his head.  He couldn’t
let her think that about him.  He wanted their relationship to be completely honest
and she couldn’t believe a lie.  “I’m not sweet or kind or any of those other nice
adjectives that you might want in a lover, Jade.  You need to know that before we
go any further with this.  I’m not nice.  I will treat you well and I’m very generous,
but please don’t delude yourself into thinking that I’m nice.”

She laughed softly but knew that he was serious.  “Okay, so you’re a mean, horrible
ogre.  Consider me forewarned.  But we’re not going to be lovers.  I have a boyfriend,”
she said and stood up, moving away from him.  Nervously, she tried to shift her brain. 
She’d had a moment of weakness and he’d been kind enough to help her overcome that. 
But he was still the enemy and if she wasn’t careful, she might find herself…Stop
it!  She wasn’t going to be so unfaithful to Dave!  Goodness, she really needed to
get a grip! 

“Can I give you a tour of the house?  We’ve been able to accomplish a great deal while
you were out buying up the world.”

Angelo stood up as well, towering over her and looking down into her blue eyes.  “We
will be lovers, Jade.  I can see that you need more time to get used to the idea. 
Perhaps giving you the past two weeks alone was a mistake.  I guess you just need
more time with me.”  He ignored her comment about the boyfriend.  The man, whoever
he was, definitely wasn’t a factor if her reaction to their kiss was any indication. 
Not that he would allow her to continue seeing him.  No, he definitely wasn’t one
to share.  Jade would be all his, he thought with determination. 

She pulled back, stunned that he would interpret things that way.  “More time?  And
more time…with you?”  She swallowed the lump in her throat at the idea.  “I don’t
think we do.”

He put a hand to the small of her back and nodded his head.  “It’s the only thing
that makes sense.  I’m a large man and a stranger.  You’re used to smaller men and
people you’ve known for most of your life.  I can understand that.  I’ll be here working
on the consolidation of my businesses and making decisions about the house so we’ll
have plenty of time to get to know each other. 

Jade shivered at the idea.  “We can’t….”

“You were going to show me what you’ve accomplished.  I like the new tiles,” he said,
referring to the tiles in the great room that were an almost exact match to the old
ones. 

Jade looked down and pride over her work welled up.  She took him through, room by
room and explained what each of the workers were doing, how they were researching
the previous designs from various sources. 

As Angelo walked beside Jade, he looked down at her, taking in her excitement over
the project.  He was impressed with all the work she’d done, what she was trying to
accomplish but he was also equally impressed when she had to deviate from the old
styles.  Either for comfort or practicality, or even some sort of electrical or plumbing
issue, Jade had managed to adjust the rooms so they would be more efficient and comfortable
to use while still maintaining the integrity of the era. 

The house actually looked worse now than it had when he’d originally bought the structure,
but he could also see where the plans were going. 

They’d come full circle and were now back in the kitchen when she he glanced down
at her watch and gasped.  “I have to go,” she said and started stuffing papers and
plans into her large, leather bag that had been scattered over the plywood that was
being used as kitchen counters until the granite arrived.  Granite was being used
instead of the previous tiles simply because it was a better material.  According
to Jade, food and germs built up in the grout between the tiles.  So she’d selected
granite instead since it would be easier to clean up. 

“Have dinner with me tonight,” he said. 

Her eyes flashed up to his face as shock and longing whipped through her at his invitation. 
But she pushed that feeling down and quickly shook her head.  “I can’t do dinner tonight,”
she countered.  “I have plans.”