Blackmailed by the Billionaire Brewer (15 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Matt thrummed his fingers with impatience against the steering wheel of the Porsche.
He was eager to get to the trendy little street in downtown Passion Creek that was
their destination, but because of the Arts Festival, the traffic was unusually heavy.

“Are you going to put me out of my misery?” Piper asked with a humorous tinkle in
her voice.

“Only when we get there,” he said. “Which will be in about one minute if this Mazda
in front of us doesn’t stop again.”

“Maybe this was a job for the chopper after all.”

“Not if we want to set straight off for the mountains afterward,” he reminded her.
“And the drive up there is the best.”

“As long as it’s not in the dark, in the middle of a snowstorm with an injured cat
in a box.” She laughed. “That was one hell of a night.”

“Sure was memorable.” he said and winked. He was happy that she seemed to be in a
good mood. Waking in the hotel suite this morning to the realization that it was already
the fourteenth had filled him with an emptiness he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Their time together had gone by so quickly…but anyway, this next part was going to
be really good.

He pulled up outside a sleek modern building, sheets of glass forming its walls, strips
of chrome seemingly holding it all together, and a swank rotating door set at the
center of its façade. “Hermitage Gallery,” she read from the brushed steel sign outside.
“Another one of your ventures?”

“Not exactly. Next door.” He killed the engine and opened the car door. “Come on,
I’ll show you.”

He took her hand and led her to the end of the gallery building and then across a
street to a square property on the corner made of red brick with large, blue-painted
window frames. The road sign nearby was a matching blue color and as he followed her
gaze to it, he felt uncharacteristically nervous.

“Madeira Road,” she said, and then looked at him for some kind of explanation.

“This way,” he said, and took her to the front of the building as he felt in his pocket
for the key.

“It’s looking pretty deserted, Matt,” she said as they stood on the front step. The
blinds drawn down over the broad windows gave nothing away.

“That’s because it is,” he whispered and pushed open the door to a rattle of an old-fashioned
bell. It closed shut behind them and he couldn’t keep the excitement to himself any
longer. “It’s deserted because it’s been waiting for you to step in and bring it back
to life.”

“I’m sorry?” She shook her head and looked around her, wringing her hands slightly.
He’d managed to take her by surprise that was for sure. “I don’t understand.”

He tugged at the nearest window blind so that it flew up in a cloud of dust. “I haven’t
had time to get anyone to clean it. It only came on the market a few days ago and
I bought it sight unseen.”

“You bought it?” Hee jaw dropped open. “Without even looking at it? Does this mean
that you’re expanding your property empire in Passion Creek after all? That you’re—”

“It’s yours, Piper, a big chunk of historic Passion Creek all to yourself. A showroom,
with workrooms in the back, parking, and a three-bedroom apartment upstairs. It’s
perfect. I bought it for you.”

She was silent and as she stared at him, he could see tears welling up beneath her
eyelashes. “I can’t accept this,” she said sadly.

“You have to, it’s all in your name,” he said cautiously, not having expected such
a disappointing reaction. “All legal and everything.”

“You had no right to do something like that.” She kicked at a piece of trash on the
floor.

“This is what I’ve been dealing with for the last few days when we haven’t been together.
It wasn’t easy getting everything together in time.”

“In time for what? Good-bye?”

That remark kind of sucked. He sighed. “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know,” she said roughly. “I just don’t know.”

“I want you to be safe, have some financial security. This place will let you expand
your business, and no more chemicals on the kitchen table.”

“No more unhinged ex-boyfriends knocking at the door, either. That’s what’s really
going on, isn’t it? Control freak to the very end. Planning it all out for poor little
Piper so you have a say in the way things are even after you’ve washed your hands
of me.”

“I don’t get why you’re so upset, Piper. This place wasn’t cheap.”

He jumped with surprise as she stamped her foot and another cloud of dust flew into
the air. “Why can’t you just stick around? You leaving Passion Creek is what’s upsetting
me, can’t you see that?”

He bit down hard on the side of his lip as his stomach flipped and he felt sick. Words…he
needed some words… “Shit, Piper, I—”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said quickly. “Forget I said anything that stupid. Stupid,
stupid, stupid.”

“Not stupid,” he said softly and drew her head into his chest, nestling it into his
shirt as his thoughts ricocheted like marbles around his head. He hadn’t wanted to
hurt her, he wanted to make her happy, to leave her better off than when he’d found
her. But his mouth was suddenly too dry to say anything as they stood in the musty
shell of the empty store. He couldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep or raise her
hopes that they had any kind of future. It wouldn’t be fair, however tempted he was
to give in and do just that. He wasn’t ready, he wasn’t capable. He was his father’s
son…

He felt her push against his chest and ease herself out of his embrace. “Look at me
spoiling everything.” She sniffed and wiped the back of her hand over her eyes. “I
don’t know what got into me. This was all a shock. I’m sure that’s it.”

“And you’re probably feeling stressed about tomorrow.” He felt her tense. “About the
launch and all those cameras.”

“Yes…yes,” she agreed and wriggled completely free. “It’s a lot to deal with.”

“Listen.” He pressed the door key into her hand. “You don’t have to keep it, but it’s
yours. Sell it if you want, but it
is
yours.”

“I really don’t know what to say. It’s too generous, too much.”

“It’s not. I want you to have it.” He knew she’d never accept money; it was against
her work ethic. This was more like a venture capital exercise, an investment in which
he would get no tangible return. Apart from the knowledge that she didn’t have to
struggle so hard and that dickwad Stanley couldn’t get to her. He should have made
sure that scumbag never got a chance to come back, but she wouldn’t thank him for
that—he knew her well enough to be sure she wouldn’t tolerate revenge. “Come on, let’s
hit the road and get some of that mountain air. This place will keep until you decide
what you want to do with it.”

She seemed quiet on the way up to the cabin, commenting on the scenery, making small
talk about snowmobiling and dog sledding while texting on her phone. It was all very
light and civilized, but he knew her calm demeanor was only skin deep. He could feel
it. She’d said she was upset about his leaving, but that was the way it had to be.
This thing with Piper had him feeling both the best and the very worst since Timmy.
Since he’d taken the mutt in, fell in love with the little fleabag, and then had to
watch him die in front of him.

There was a reason why images like that were etched on his mind: visceral, agonizing.
It was nature’s way of making him avoid damage and pain again. The sickness at the
base of his gut he’d felt when his father stopped by, took a cold look at him, and
went to find his gear before leaving. He’d left, just like that, in a blink of a child’s
eye. Feelings like that came back now and again, in periods of stress, when he was
overtired or unoccupied. He had learned to manage it by working hard, going on punishing
runs, and getting wasted, but there were still times when it snuck up and crushed
the life out of him.

They had come full circle. He wanted the fun, fiery, sexy, carefree Piper back again,
but he knew deep in his heart that woman had now gone. Not forever, but for him because
he would not, could not take the next step. And Piper was intuitive enough not to
push the relationship thing. She knew. He knew. And they both felt bad about it, but
there was nothing more he could do about that. He could, however, sugarcoat the bitter
pill to make it easier to swallow.

They spent the day eating and drinking, had a snowball fight with the last of the
melting snow, and laughed over the cushion chucked out the back, which Princess Aspen
had peed on the last time they’d been there. Piper insisted on drinking from the waterfall
and took photographs; for Aspen, she said, to show her where she came up with her
name.

“I can fix you a grilled cheese sandwich,” he said as they sat outside staring at
a glowing moon.

“We’ve had burgers for lunch, giant shrimp, chicken, and steak today.” She rubbed
her stomach. “No, I do not need another mouthful of food. I may never eat again”

“You’d better.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “It’s all gone by so fast. This
fling, us, my bad behavior blackmailing you into seeing me.”

“You probably didn’t have to blackmail me. You could have just asked me out or something
like normal people do.”

“I tried contacting you to do that, Miss Pricklepants, remember? And you never replied
to my messages and voicemail.”

“Oh yeah.” She pulled her hand away and folded it into her lap. “It’s been good. I’ve
made enough contacts to keep me in paid work for about two years, with the promise
of more to come.”

”That’s great and you deserve it. You just needed a chance.”

“Matt?”

“Yes.”

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

The expression on her face made his blood run cold. It was super-exposed, super-earnest,
and she didn’t look like the same woman he had met in Sanibel. She looked like a freaking
angel and his heart flipped over. “You’re not going to tell me you’re in the Princess
Aspen way, are you?”

She looked confused for a moment. “No! Oh my God, no. You know I can’t—that I wouldn’t—”

“Sorry.” He shook his head and chuckled. “It seemed like such a loaded statement.”

She took a deep breath before continuing. “I need to tell you that…I really wish you
didn’t have to leave Passion Creek so soon.”

He pressed his lips together to stop a heartfelt, uncontrolled, and honest response
from spewing forth. Control. Detachment. “I have to go, it’s the right time. But you’ll
be fine, right?”

He heard her intake of breath. “Yes, of course I will.”

She wasn’t very convincing, but what had he expected her to say? She had her dignity.
“And this is how we planned it all along.” He nodded, willing her to agree.

“I don’t think I ever got consulted during the planning phase.”

“Okay, sorry, but we have to be honest about this. You chased me in Sanibel. That
night happened and then I chased you back. We had a few struggles along the way, but
now we’re even, I think.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “I guess I made out a lot better in the end.”

He rubbed his chin for a moment and stared up at the stars. “And speaking of honesty,
there’s something you should know about the stuff you told me in Sanibel, about the
scandalous secrets I pretended to know.”

Her face dropped. “Pretended to know?”

“I tricked you. I’m not proud of it now, but the only thing you really told me was
the Pastor Zimmerman thing. The purple penis…”

She swallowed before answering. “So why tell me now?”

God, he felt like a heel, but he needed her to know the truth. “I don’t want you to
spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder because of something I said.
Whatever secrets you have are still secrets unless you’ve told anyone else. Have you?”

“Not the things that really bug me.”

He wanted her to open up to him, but even he wasn’t that selfish. “I guess I have
no right to ask about them now, on our last night.”

She looked away. “No you haven’t, not really. And I don’t want to spoil our last night
either. Let’s forget about all that.”

He wished he’d kept his mouth shut. “This whole journey has been amazing, Piper.”

“It’s cold now.” She stood up and threw the twig she’d been fiddling with onto the
dying coals of the fire pit. It smoldered with blue smoke for a second and then burst
into red and orange flame. “Let’s go in. Upstairs.”

Her hand slid into his as he watched the flame gutter and die. “Yes, let’s do that.”

Chapter Seventeen

“You’re beautiful,” he said as the bedroom door closed behind his back. He wanted
to tell her how much he would miss her, but he couldn’t. It would open a line of conversation
that would lead them nowhere and ruin the moment, and the time they had left.

“Sh.” She reached out and gently stroked his cheek. Her delicate touch burned his
skin, and he held his breath, unsure how to respond. She had never touched him so
tenderly before, or maybe she had, but he’d been in such a rush to have sex with her
that he hadn’t noticed. How familiar the feel of her was after spending so many days
and hours together. Hours with strangers, hours alone together, and hours of him lying
awake at night when she hadn’t been there imagining her lying next to him, their bodies
pressed together, naked, fingers entwined in the darkness.

He closed his eyes, leaning into her fingers as they found his lips and traced the
outline of them, wanting her to kiss him, waiting for her to make the first move.

“Matt,” she murmured, “you okay?”

His insides melted. No, everything was not okay. This was their last night together
and he had no idea how to play it. He had no idea why he felt so strange, so angry.
He wanted to hear things come from her mouth that went beyond sex, that went deeper,
but he couldn’t begin to imagine what those words would be. Or whether she was even
capable of feeling the need to say those words after the way men had treated her so
far.

He felt her soft breath on his cheek and her subtle female scent filled his lungs.
He pulled her closer and looked down into her apple-green eyes. Raw desire sparkled
there, but he was looking for more than that, and his wanting even more from her frightened
him.

“I want you,” he murmured, three words he’d said so frequently to her, but this time
there was more meaning behind them.

“Then close your eyes,” she whispered and her lips found his, their mouths merging,
her tongue insistent, and he felt pressure and heat building with every touch of her
hands. He needed her closer and put his arms around her slender waist, pulling her
small frame into him, wanting her to feel his strength, to crave his protection.

He groaned as she kissed his neck and throat, small teeth grazing the hard edges of
his shoulder, tasting the soft skin of his bicep and making him feel more alive than
he could ever remember. He moved his hand up the back of her sweater and felt the
deep groove of her spine, the soft angles of her shoulder blades, warm and silky under
his touch. “No bra at all this time,” he murmured and swallowed down the sparkle of
lust that threatened to make him see stars.

He pulled the sweater over her head and took her breasts in his hands, marveling at
the soft, winter-pale skin and the dark red peaks that drove him crazy with desire.
His thumbs grazed both nipples and she arched up, pressing herself into him and signaling
her need to feel his naked flesh by pulling at his shirt buttons and finding his nipples
with her hot, hungry mouth. He shuddered as she nipped at his puckered flesh, inflamed
by how sensitive that part of him suddenly felt. Then he dipped his head, his lips
trailing over her alabaster skin until her mouth left his chest with a small cry as
he found the hard peak of her nipple and sucked it hard.

Her head fell back, exposing more of herself to his lips, rendering herself totally
vulnerable by offering up the smooth ivory column of her throat, breathing heavily
with anticipation. He could sense she trusted him to give her the ultimate pleasure,
to bring her to orgasm like he always had, and for the first time ever, he felt nervous.
This time needed to be special. Special enough so she would never forget…

“Let’s go to bed,” he whispered and silently helped her get out of the rest of her
clothes, trying his best to remain controlled as she stroked the bulge in his trousers
with teasing fingers and feathered his bare torso with hot kisses. Her fingers worked
quickly to get his jeans and underwear off and they fell softly onto the enormous
bed. She was liquid between her thighs before his fingers even began to stroke and
explore her, and the fact that she was so responsive and aroused turned him on even
more.

He ran his hands up over her flat belly, over her rib cage, and cupped her breasts
as he leaned on one elbow over her and dipped his lips over hers. He loved the sweet
taste of her more than ever in that moment and his breath hitched as her fingers curled
around his length.

“Don’t you want me yet?” she whispered.

“I always want you.” He shivered as she pushed her hips toward him. Her body was a
vision of creams, pinks, and copper that made him feel dizzy. She was so beautiful.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to last long—just looking at you laid out here
is enough to make me come.”

He blew cold air over her lower body, teasing her until she moaned with frustration
and pulled his hand down onto her. He put his fingers inside her and she gripped his
wrist hard. Their mouths clashed with lust, tongues tangling like snakes, and her
hips ground feverishly against his hand.

“God,” he gasped as her tight hot muscles constricted around his fingers. All he could
think about was how it was going to feel when he was inside her again, taking her
with him into sexual oblivion. He took a deep breath and slipped in another finger,
his heart kicking painfully as she moaned like an animal and clawed desperately at
his skin.

“You’re too much for me,” he growled, pulling away and then moving over her, one knee
parting her legs even wider as she sighed with relief. He lowered his hips onto hers,
feeling the tip of his erection brush against the soft inviting flesh of her inner
thigh and the hard clash of their hipbones. “I want you, all of you, every erotic
inch of you.” Her heart hammered beneath his chest, hard nipples digging in to him.
Her eyes were closed with pleasure. “I want to watch your face as I make love to you,”
he said and took her mouth with his before she could reply.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he pushed her arms above her head, holding
her wrists with one hand as his mouth found her neck and throat again, biting at the
soft flesh, making her whimper and arch up hard against his hot body. It was all he
could do not to drive hard and fast into her immediately, but he wanted this moment
to last, to give her an orgasm she would never forget.

“Matt,” she cried out and tightened the grip her thighs had around him. “Take me.”

It was too much. He used his knees to open her legs wider. “Oh God,” he whispered.
“I’ll try to be slow.” His breath came in short bursts as he eased himself in. She
felt exquisite as he slowly rocked higher and deeper until she yielded to take him
all in. Bursts of light distorted his vision he was so turned on, and he wasn’t sure
he could hold off.

“Harder,” she whispered harshly and moaned as he withdrew and then pushed deep into
her again. He closed his eyes and did her bidding, losing himself in pure carnal sensation.
“Be rough.”

He knew he must be heavy on top of her, but he reveled in the way she writhed and
bucked between him and the silk bed sheets. He could feel the rippling squeeze of
her muscles each time he pushed down and into her, the soft give of the mattress forcing
their pubic bones to clash and give off sensations like electric shocks. The ferocity
of him taking her like this was turning her on as much, if not more, than it was him.
With one move, he pushed her hands high above her head and thrust hard into her with
all his strength, his climax building. “Open your eyes,” he muttered. “See what you’ve
turned me into.”

Her green eyes fluttered open as he pounded into her, lifting her hips from the bed
with the force, making her breasts shake until her stomach muscles clenched, her eyes
closed shut, and her entire body convulsed around him. She screamed out his name as
wave after wave of contractions gripped on to him, squeezing and pulling until he
could no longer hold back. His gaze was locked on her mouth as that long white throat
swallowed back air. And then he was lost. He helplessly flooded her with long, hot
bursts. Emptying his lust into her with spasms that felt like they were ripping him
apart, he was felled by a cataclysmic orgasm, crushed and sent to his own emotional
death.

That
was
their last time…

…

The fifteenth, launch day.

There was no mistake, no ignoring it, and no possibility of sticking her head in the
sand any longer. Piper’s fingers tightened on the seat belt across her chest, but
it wasn’t the restraint that was causing the horrible, sickly ache in her lungs.

It was on the car radio, on billboards, on bus stops, on the itinerary. Passion Creek
Arts Week and the long-awaited launch of Passion Creek Brewery’s new beer was everywhere.
So were huge pictures of her smiling like she was the happiest poster girl on the
planet when she felt the lowest she ever had. And it was destroying her.

They’d had all night together. They’d made love and lay in the darkness listening
to each other’s breathing, and she’d had plenty of chances to do it. To tell him that
she had fallen in love with him, that life for her would never be the same, and maybe
even beg him to stay… But she hadn’t done any of that and she was disgusted with herself
for being so weak. She was angry, her limbs ached, and so did her head. She was all
messed up inside and she wanted to break something.

Matt slowed the Porsche next to the sidewalk outside her apartment building. “So,
someone will pick you up at about four this afternoon?” She could feel him looking
at her, waiting for a positive response. Business as usual.

She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “I can’t do this.”

A pause. “Can’t do this?”

“Four this afternoon. The launch. You.”

When she dared to open her eyes, he was staring straight at the windshield, hands
gripped together at the top of the steering wheel. “I see.”

“Is that all you have to say?” Anger bubbled up unexpectedly as she unclipped the
seat belt and twisted to face him. “Aren’t you even interested enough to ask me why?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw and his gaze dropped to the dashboard. “Would it make
any difference?”

It might, if you could be bothered.

He was going to get it anyway. “You’re insistent about leaving. You’ve said over and
over again that after today it’s over. That’s it,
finito
—”

“We agreed that’s how it would be.”

Her fury grew at his attempt to calm her, brush her off. “Well, I was stupid to go
along with it, stupid to think I could make you change your mind. Stupid to find myself
in a situation where I’m going to have my heart ripped out and discarded like a piece
of trash.”

“That’s not fair—”

“None of this is fair, but there’s no way I can play out the final scene in public,
Matt.” She fisted her hand and banged it on her knee, willing him to react. “CNN is
just going to love it when your alleged girlfriend breaks down in tears at midnight.”

“It’s not something I saw coming.” His dark gaze met hers and for the first time,
she noticed dark shadows under his eyes. It seemed neither of them had gotten much
sleep last night. “I thought you were stronger than this.”

“Before today, so did I, but I can’t hold this charade together anymore. It’s hurting
me too much. It’s humiliating and I hate you for it.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Piper. That was never part of the plan.”

“Well, that was a fail.” She roughly brushed off his hand as he went to touch her
on the shoulder and felt a second of triumph at the shock on his face. “You know,
for someone who’s clearly intelligent, you’re incredibly stupid. You run away from
anything that provokes a feeling deeper than a paper cut. That doesn’t make you much
of a man.”

His jaw dropped, but she’d started now and wasn’t going to let up until she had said
what she needed to say. “Keep this up and you’ll end up a lonely old man with no friends,
no family, and no hope or joy beyond watching your bank balance swell. There’s more
to life than the top of the corporate ladder and the bottom of a beer glass.”

He stared back at the windshield, his neck and jaw rigid. “You should go.”

“Because you say so?” She laughed bitterly. “You should have said that to your father
before he left you. It might have made you feel better about yourself in the long
run.”

“Get out, Piper.”

That last remark was out of order, but she’d wanted it to hurt, to make him feel some
of the wretchedness she was feeling, to provoke him into doing something that would
kill the love she felt. “But you’re still a kid under all those tattoos and designer
clothes, aren’t you, Matt?” He leaned across her and thrust open the car door. “A
scared little boy who’s grown so used to being unwanted that he’s forgotten how to
love.”

He purse landed with a clatter on the sidewalk. “Get. The fuck. Out.”

So that was that.

Over.

Finished.

The end.