The Tycoon's Defiant Southern Belle (5 page)

He raised an eyebrow.  “With your boyfriend?” he asked.

Jade’s hand stopped stuffing papers and she bit her lip.  “Yes.  Dave is meeting me
for dinner.”

“And you’re going to tell him that your relationship is over with him, right?”

Jade looked up at him, the worry in her eyes once again.  “Angelo, you really terrify
me.  I don’t want to break up with Dave.  I’m more…”

“Comfortable with him.”  He moved closer, his hand reaching out and touching her cheek. 
“And is comfortable really what you want?”

Initially her head turned towards his touch and she briefly closed her eyes.  But
then she realized what she was doing and pulled away.  Shaking her head, she grabbed
her bag and slung it over her shoulder.  “I have to go,” she said and hurried out
of the house. 

Over the next week, Jade found herself in Angelo’s company almost constantly.  She
would have suspected that he’d planned it that way, but there was really no way she
could blame him for several of the occurrences. 

Thursday evening, she was sitting in an Italian restaurant with Dave, listening to
him drone on about work, complaining about his boss or the new management that was
put in place over the past few weeks.  According to Dave, they were all idiots that
were going to bring the company to bankruptcy. 

She didn’t mention that she knew the man who had bought out his company.  Nor did
she tell him what she knew of Angelo’s business strategy, why he’d bought one company
or another.  She didn’t want to betray Angelo’s trust, thinking their dinner conversations
had been private and she had no reason to betray that trust to Dave.  But it became
harder to be patient with his complaints, knowing why Angelo had done one thing that
made sense, while listening to Dave complain about that decision. 

She wasn’t really interested, but she felt bad for Dave.  He had a difficult boss
who was pushing him to get tasks accomplished more efficiently.  As an accountant,
they had to “close the books” every month which required a great deal of tedious activities,
according to Dave.  He was griping about the monthly schedule and all the overtime
he had been putting in lately while Jade tried to listen, but she was more focused
on the cheesy pasta and the delicious, crusty bread with the garlic infused olive
oil in front of her. 

So when his boss and Angelo came into the restaurant that night, he quickly halted
his complaining and switched into charming mode.  Jade hadn’t figured out what was
happening until Angelo stopped by their table to say hello to Jade. 

Dave was embarrassingly effusive in inviting them to dine together.  It was more than
a little mortifying to watch Dave schmooze in such an obvious way.  Before the other
two men had come into the restaurant, Dave had been sullen with his shoulders drooped
as if he were a beaten man.  But when his boss sat down next to him and Angelo next
to Jade, he perked right up.  He was so intent on impressing his boss and the new
owner of the company that he completely missed Angelo’s hand on the back of his girlfriend’s
chair.

Jade noticed though.  How could she not notice?  The man’s hand slipped under her
hair, his fingers teased the exposed skin at the nape of her neck and made her shiver
with awareness.  His long, muscular leg was plastered against her own.  When she tried
to shift away from it, he only changed their positions so that their legs were touching
more intimately. 

She poked at her pasta, Dave not even aware of anything going on. 

She glared at Dave, willing him to get a grip and figure out what was happening. 
The man he was trying to impress was irritated with Dave’s conversation.  Jade tried
several times to change the subject but every time she started to speak, either Dave
would switch the conversation back to the original, irritating subject, or Angelo’s
hand would slide along her neck under her hair, distracting her. 

She tried to remove his hand once, but he just moved on to her earlobe.  When she
gasped at the touch, her whole body shivering with anticipation of what he might do
next, she simply closed her mouth and pretended she wasn’t leaning into his touch,
that she wasn’t moving her head so that his fingers caressed her neck and throat. 

By the time the meal was over, she was a quivering mass of need but she took a deep
breath and grabbed onto Dave’s arm, wishing both men a cordial goodbye and walking
away with safe and secure Dave beside her. 

Later that night, Jasper disappeared again and Jade knew exactly where he was.  She
was so angry about what Angelo had done during dinner that she stomped over to his
house.  When she stepped up onto the new stones of his patio, she found him already
sitting in the dark, Jasper on his lap while he sipped a glass of wine. 

“I came to get my cat,” she said by way of explanation, staying far away from him.  
She’d had enough of his heat today.  She didn’t think she could stand having him close
to her again. 

“He’s right here,” Angelo replied, but didn’t do anything to push the feline away. 
Jasper twitched his tail and looked up at her, those golden eyes daring her to take
him off of Angelo’s lap.  “Would you like some wine?” he asked.

Jade sighed and debated silently what to do.  Jasper wasn’t getting up, Angelo definitely
wasn’t going to push the cat off and she wasn’t daring enough to go over and lift
the enormous fluff ball out of his lap.  That was too intimate by far. 

“I’ll have a glass,” she finally said, more because she really wanted to just relax. 
And if he was on the other side of the table, she would feel a bit better. 

They sat in the darkness sipping the amazingly good red wine, talking about different
things.  Angelo even made her laugh as he told her funny stories.  But there was still
that undercurrent of tension that wasn’t going away. 

When Jasper finally jumped off of Angelo’s lap, obviously ready to find his own bed
for the night, Jade stood up.  “Thank you very much for the wine,” she said and started
walking away.

Angelo wasn’t having that.  With a swift, silent move, he stood up and took the two
steps that were separating them, pulling her into his arms.  One hand held her head
in place while his other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her close while his
mouth ravaged hers, his tongue teasing hers until she responded and participated. 

After several minutes of mind-blowing kisses, he lifted his head and glared down at
her.  “Do you know how furious I was when I walked into that restaurant and found
you with that other man?” he demanded.

Jade shivered because he didn’t really wait for an answer.  She tried to push out
of his arms, tried to be the faithful girlfriend and think of Dave, but Angelo’s teeth
found her ear lobe and she couldn’t contain the shiver of excitement at his touch. 
“Get rid of him.  I want you Jade.  And if you were completely honest with yourself,
you want me just as much.”  He bent low and kissed her again, possessing her, demanding
she give back everything too. 

Only when she was clinging to him, her body shivering with need and desire, did he
pull back and look down at her.  “Good night, Jade,” he said with that deep, shockingly
sexy voice of his. 

Jade knew that he would take her back into his arms if she gave him any sort of signal. 
But she pulled up every ounce of determination and forced her feet to follow in Jasper’s
wake. 

The following day, she was sitting in Ellen Finkle’s flower covered sitting room with
her mother when the doorbell rang.  Ellen and her mother had been friends for years
with Ellen’s husband being one of the best legal advisors in the area. 

“I can’t imagine who that might be,” Ellen said but she stood up and walked to the
door.  “Goodness!” she said.  “Come in, Mr. Donati!  What a pleasure it is to have
you.”

Jade’s whole body tensed and she looked up, the delicate china cup in one hand and
her napkin in the other.  She stared at him, her mind freezing up.  With an odd sort
of prayer, she hoped that he wouldn’t see her.  That his head wouldn’t turn in her
direction and catch sight of her. 

But luck was not on her side again.  Those black eyes turned and she knew the instant
that he saw her.  Those lips, the lips that had been in her dreams almost constantly
now, smiled ever so slightly. 

John Finkle came out of his office and distracted Angelo, breaking their eye contact
and giving Jade a bit of time to breathe.  But she was not to have a very long reprieve. 

“Come on in and have some coffee or tea,” Ellen offered. 

Jade didn’t think that Angelo was the kind of man who would want to sit in a flowered
sitting room drinking tea out of a delicate china cup, but damn him if he didn’t just
sit down in the feminine chair, staring at her as if he intended for Jade to be his
next meal.  He sipped the coffee, participating in the conversation whenever someone
said something directly to him, but Jade was so flustered she almost spilled her tea
on her lap. 

When she and her mother finally left, the tension was still not to dissipate.  Thankfully,
Angelo and John went into John’s office to discuss whatever business they had together. 
But Jade wasn’t so lucky. 

“So what was all that about?” her mother demanded as soon as the door closed behind
them. 

“I told you about the big project I’m working on, Mother,” she said as she pulled
her car door open.  “I work for Mr. Donati,” she said as if that explained all of
the undercurrents that were almost tangible in the sitting room a moment ago. 

Leslie Phillips was not a woman to be ignored or put off.  “Don’t even try it, Jade. 
What’s going on between you and Mr. Donati?  And don’t pretend like there wasn’t anything
happening.  Ellen and I practically had to duck with all of those looks that were
flying between the two of you.”

Jade pretended to concentrate on backing out of the driveway, giving herself time
to come up with some reasonable explanation.  “Mr. Donati is a client Mother.  I’m
working very hard to make sure that I treat him professionally at all times.”

Leslie laughed softly.  “I don’t think Mr. Donati is trying as hard as you are.”

Jade’s eyes turned swiftly to her mother’s, trying to decipher what she was saying. 
But with the knowing look in her mother’s eyes, Jade kept her mouth shut.  Jade dropped
her mother off at the house they’d moved into fifteen years ago but before Leslie
closed the door, she bent low and looked at Jade who was still in the car, ready to
drive away as quickly as possible.  “He seems like a very nice man,” she said.  “I
think he would be much better for you than Dave.”

Jade’s mouth fell open with her mother’s declaration.  “I thought you liked Dave!”

Leslie shrugged.  “I do like Dave.  I think he’s a good accountant and a very nice
gentleman.  But I don’t think he’s the man for you.”  She smiled and her eyes twinkled
when she said, “I think Mr. Angelo Donati would be a much better fit for your personality,
Jade.  Think about it.”  With that, she slammed the car door closed and walked up
the short pathway to her house.  With a little wave, she let herself into her house
and closed the door, leaving Jade to sit there in stunned silence after dropping that
little bombshell. 

Her mother’s words were ominous now as she saw Angelo everywhere.  He was meeting
with the mayor as Jade was filing some paperwork for permits, he was at the town council
meetings when she had to make a presentation and he somehow manipulated their seating
arrangements so that he was right beside her, he was walking down the street and since
everyone wanted to speak with him, she had to politely stop and converse with the
man as well. 

Thankfully, she didn’t see him very often when she checked on the progress of his
house or when she had to take measurements on one room or another.  She wasn’t sure
she would be able to resist him if he ever found her alone.  She was so attuned to
his presence lately that she might just throw herself into his arms. 

It didn’t help that Dave was out of town on business.  She wondered if that was Angelo’s
doing as well.  Now that she knew that Dave worked for one of Angelo’s companies,
she wasn’t sure what he might do. 

As she wrote down the measurement of the double set of doors in the master bedroom,
she shook her head at her crazy thoughts.  Angelo wouldn’t do anything as crazy as
send her boyfriend out of town on non-existent business. 

Would he? 

She shook her head and walked out of the house.  Going through the pathway to her
own cottage, she shook her head at the crazy ideas that were shooting through her
brain.  Of course Angelo wouldn’t send Dave on a business trip.  It had been spur
of the moment, but Dave was working on some audit at a branch out in San Diego.  It
was an important trip and Dave was thrilled to be doing it, seeing the work as a visible
sign of his boss’s belief in Dave’s talents. 

Besides, Dave was coming back to town early tomorrow.  She’d see him at the dinner
party Patricia was throwing tomorrow evening.  Patricia was one of the town’s biggest
hostesses and loved throwing both elaborate bashes as well as casual dinners in her
back yard.  Tomorrow’s party was thankfully casual.  It would be a good time for her
to reconnect with Dave, talk to him, be around their mutual friends and remind her
of all the important qualities that she wanted in her life.  One of those being a
sweet gentleman on her arm that she could count on always. 

At home that night, she sipped her tea and practiced relaxing.  She couldn’t believe
how stressful this week had become.  She’d run into Angelo so often, she was starting
to believe it was a conspiracy against her.  And every time she saw him, the need
to feel him, to have him take her into his arms and show her yet again the excitement
that happened when they touched, was almost too difficult to ignore. 

She accepted that she wanted him.  That was obvious.  But Angelo wasn’t the man for
her.  Dave was sweet and considerate and dependable.  She had no idea where Angelo
would be from one week to the next.  He was actually leaving for Paris on Monday. 
How could she deal with a man who had business all over the world?