Ultimate Love (2 page)

"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit Miss Luxford? Or is it Mrs. Luxford?" he asked glancing at her other hand. He noticed with some satisfaction that there was no ring on her ring finger of her left hand.

"It's Miss Luxford thank you," Dinah replied, aware that he was looking at her hand for a ring. She wondered vaguely why he would at all be interested in her marital status. It had nothing to do with her lease!

"I've come to talk about my lease with you," she said hurriedly as she fished his letter out of her handbag. "I received this the other day," she offered as she extended the letter out to him.

He took it and quickly scanned its contents. "Oh yes, Devon Bay. I'm redeveloping that small block of shops and I need them empty for my builders. Your lease is up for renewal so surely you had a business plan for this possibility Miss Luxford? I don't know why you've come all this way, there's really nothing to discuss," he said. He handed her back the letter and turned away towards the double doors of his office.

"But there's everything to discuss!" she cried out. "I can't move my business to another location while you redevelop that block! How can I move the ovens and the whole kitchen? That's ridiculous! It was built for that space only two years ago! It would never fit into another space and I can't afford to rebuild it now!"

Panic had seeped into her voice. He turned around and she briefly thought that she had gotten through to him. The man did have some morals despite all the rumors of a cold-hearted businessman! She allowed herself to feel a moment of hope.

"Hold all my calls and cancel my lunch meeting will you Marilyn please. I'll take Miss Luxford out to lunch and sort this out now," he said. The instruction was given briskly to his secretary before he took hold of Dinah's elbow and steered her back towards the elevator.

"I'm sure you're hungry for some lunch after your long drive. How about we take this to a more relaxed surrounding, hmm? Where we can be more comfortable," he continued. His voice was like smooth caramel. Grabbing a suit jacket from behind the door to his office and throwing it over his shoulder he turned to steer Dinah towards the elevator with a firm hand in the small of her back.

Dinah felt relief wash over her. "I'm so glad you see my point! Thank you for seeing me without an appointment" she said, happy to have an opportunity to save her business and her home.

"No problem, I'm always happy to take a young lady out to lunch, especially one as beautiful as you," he said. His eyes focused on her head, then slid slowly down her body to her feet in stilettos. She could almost feel his gaze touching her skin, and the small confines of the elevator only served to intensify his masculine presence. Dinah gasped as she recognised the same sexual arousal in his gaze that she was feeling, and she briefly wondered if he could see it in her eyes. His slow sensual smile seemed to tell her that he knew exactly what effect he was having on her.

"Well, thank you for taking time out in your busy day to see me. I really appreciate it," she said.

Dinah was trying to keep her mind on the issue of the lease, but it was behaving strangely out of control. She was having images of her fingers undoing the buttons on his shirt and her hands running over that smooth muscled chest. A blush was spreading over her face, deepening into two large crimson splotches on her cheeks.

Jared smiled another slow sensual smile. "It's no problem. Everyone has to eat at some stage or other," he replied.

His hand was again on the small of her back as he steered her out of the elevator and towards the lunchtime crowd on the street outside.

He had every intention of taking her to a fashionable restaurant nearby on the waterfront, but now that he had her downstairs he had another thought. There was a new restaurant a block away and it would provide a more intimate setting.

What was he thinking! He brought himself up short. Was he losing his mind? She had such an effect on him! It was not like him to cancel meetings on a whim with little notice, but the fire and passion in her voice and body was calling to him on a deep animal level. She was absolutely stunning, with fire flashing in those green eyes, and the lift of her chin exposing a long slender neck with tendrils of chestnut hair falling softly over her cheeks. Her flesh beneath her dress was burning into his palm, and it was all he could do to not let his hand fall lower, over the exquisite curve of her hip.

Jared forced his mind back to their surroundings and steered her confidently across the street and down a small side alley towards the new restaurant. He thought that this was just a man enjoying lunch with a beautiful woman. Nothing to get upset over. He would use the experience to sharpen his business sense, that was all. He would enjoy the view over a good lunch and be revived for the afternoon ahead. He had a very important business deal to broker later on in the day, and a little visual stimulation over lunch would fire up his appetite for the negotiations ahead.

While Jared was convincing himself that she had not unduly affected him, Dinah was trying to focus on the thoughts in her head. But the feeling of his hand on the small of her back was making all coherent thought difficult. Her mind was turning to wondering what it would feel like if his hand was on her bare skin, but with extreme effort she managed to marshal her thoughts. She had this opportunity over lunch to show him how much her business meant to her, and how he had to allow her to stay in the premises. A whole lunch hour was more than she had dreamed she'd get and she had to make the most of it!

The maître-d showed them to a small intimate table towards the back of the restaurant. The lighting was subtle, making them feel like they were the only two diners in the room. It was a small Italian restaurant, unique for its intimate atmosphere unlike most restaurants in the area that were loud and open places for people to see and be seen.

Dinah forced herself to smile as she sat down and looked over into the deep blue eyes of Jared Knight opposite her. She had to focus on her business! It was in trouble and she couldn't let her hormones forget that! No matter if he was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. No matter that he exuded sheer masculine energy. She had to convince him not to cancel her lease!

"I'm sure that if you take a look at these figures you'll agree that keeping my lease open is a good business measure. You'll get so much more for the property with a tenant able to pay the lease than with it empty!" she said as she fished out a small sheaf of papers from her bag and handed them over the table to him. He took the papers and glanced at the top sheet before dismissing them with a casual wave of his hand.

"That may be, but when I redevelop the block it will produce a better return than undeveloped as it is," he replied. "Be assured Miss Luxford, I've crunched the numbers and it has to be done."

"Oh no! But you can't! Most businesses can't afford to pay much more than they're paying already! We're all reliant on the permanent population and the people who live there don't have lots of money to throw around like you do down here in the city!" she snapped back at him. "In fact, some local businesses have gone under recently. They can't cope with these tough economic times, and you raise their leases! They'll never be able to pay it!"

He had to admit that she was beautiful when she was angry! Fire flashed in those green eyes, and the heightened color in her flushed face made her look sexy and tousled. He thought he had never before seen a mouth quite as ripe for kissing as hers. He could vaguely smell the fruity lip-gloss she wore, and absently wondered what kissing her would taste like.

"The redevelopment will not take that long and it'll be over in a few months. Why don't you take a little holiday and you can return to a new and better looking premises when you return?" he said.

Oh! He was so annoying! Dinah wondered was is being deliberately block headed, or did he really not understand how different economic conditions were outside of the big city? Many of her friends in her local business community were barely holding on and this redevelopment could mean the end for some of them! Including hers!

"It's just not that simple!" she replied. "We rely upon the summer holiday crowds to boost our annual income and with summer coming the local businesses just cannot afford to take a holiday! You city folk can holiday in summer, but who's going to provide your accommodation? Who's going to cook your breakfast and make your latte's if we go on holiday too? Huh?"

Dinah knew she was being unfair to him. She had no idea if he had a holiday home in Devon Bay or not, but the point was still the same. Summer was when the local business owners worked their hardest, while the holiday spot filled with sun seeking revelers from the city. It was something that they knew they had to put up with in order to live all year round in their slice of paradise, but that didn't mean that they had to roll over to big city developers intent on destroying their community!

He smiled again, that slow lazy sexy smile, as he watched her get herself all worked up. He liked watching the rise and fall of her breasts underneath the fabric of her dress. When she got all emotional her body seemed to come alive, and he had not missed the signs of her physical reaction to him earlier. He thought that she was luscious and ripe for the picking! How hard would it be he wondered to get her into his bed tonight? Now there was a challenge!

She was looking at him with wide eyes, and he realised with a start that he had been staring at her for too long while she waited for a reply. He wondered if she had noticed her effect on him the same way he had noticed his effect upon her earlier. His silent question was answered as a blush spread over the fine soft skin of her face and down her neck. He watched in fascination as he saw her nipples harden and thrust out through the fabric of her dress, and he felt a quickening in his groin.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to concentrate. "Of course, we can look at the timing of the renovations to fit around the summer season," he said and wondered why he was capitulating to her demands so readily. Was it because he wanted her in his bed? Wanted her like he had never wanted a woman before in his life? This was not how he did business! But he found himself going on, as if he had lost control of his faculties and his brain was clouded by pure sexual desire. She was smiling now. He experienced a small moment of pleasure that he had made her smile, before he squashed the feeling with ruthless cold calculation. He could not let his body rule his business decisions!

"I'll have the project manager take a look at the time outline again and we will see what we can do," he continued. He hoped that his vague offer would satisfy her and allow them to move to other, more sensual topics.

The waiter arrived to take their orders. Dinah realised she had only given the menu a cursory glance and quickly scanning the mains she noticed one of her favorites. With a smile she turned to face the waiter and said, "Veal Scaloppini please."

Jared ordered the Lasagne, which was prepared fresh daily on the premises.

As the waiter turned away Jared focused his gaze back on Dinah and presented her with a stunning smile. "Business cannot be done on an empty stomach, as I'm sure you know," he said as he raised his wine glass and she picked hers up to toast with him.

"To what are we toasting?" she asked, liking his playful mood.

"To a mutually agreeable business meeting."

Jared delivered his comment with another smile and Dinah felt her stomach turn butterflies and warmth spread up her thighs. The intimacy of the restaurant made it feel like he was the only other person in the world at the moment and it felt good.

"Well, that sounds fine," Dinah said.

Smiling at each other they clinked wine glasses. The wine felt cool and crisp on her tongue and refreshed her dry mouth. She was feeling quite breathless sitting across from one of the country's most eligible bachelors, and certainly the most gorgeous and sexy man she had ever laid eyes on. At that moment Dinah wanted to live in the moment and enjoy this hour as much as she could. She almost never dated and had never had lunch with a man as sexy as Jared Knight. She decided in that instant that she would just live this next hour in the moment and enjoy herself as much as possible.

As their lunch arrived they settled into small talk, but the body language was the real conversation. It was subtly infused with sexual longing on each side, and they each in turn reflected back the desire they felt for each other. The air between them was charged with sexual tension and Dinah felt her body come alive and vibrant. She thrummed with energy and longing for this man opposite her. Each small movement of his body exuded animal magnetism. She breathed deeply his raw masculine scent.

When coffee was brought to their table Dinah's fantasy came to an end.

"Are you planning on staying tonight in the city Miss Luxford?" Jared said. "There is a wonderful new play at the theatre, which has just been redecorated. The old Regent Theatre has had a full makeover. All its old heritage features have been restored and the interior is looking better than new." He was looking calmly into her eyes trying to hide the inner turmoil she had created in him. He, Jared Knight, who could have any woman in this city in his bed with the flick of his wrist was anxious that she would accept his request to be his date for the evening!

"I have tickets and I would be honored if you would join me," he said.

He was the picture of civility and good manners. How could she deny him? She had only a momentary pause, wondering why of all the women who must be only ready to fall at his feet he would ask her!

"Of course, I'd be delighted," she heard herself reply.

"That's settled then," he said as he left a generous tip for their waiter on the table and steered her to the door. "The play is at nine, I'll pick you up at seven thirty. I thought we could have some dinner first?"

They were on the street again, and the lunchtime crowd had thinned out as the afternoon had deepened. She realised with a small shock that they had been in the small intimate restaurant for over two hours!