Blackmailed by the Billionaire Brewer (8 page)

“I wonder how many babies she’s got in there? Maybe they’ll be able to tell us when
she has her operation.”

“Maybe.” He stood up and stretched. “She made the funniest noise while she was eating
earlier.”

“Like she was saying nom nom?”

“I’ve never heard a cat do that before.”

“Yep, she’s definitely an odd creature.” Piper kneeled down to pet her. “Makes a barking
noise sometimes, too.”

“For real?” He poured hot coffee into two cups. “Are you hungry? There’s toast, eggs,
bacon, and cereal.”

“I’m still stuffed from dinner,” she said as she accepted the cup of steaming liquid.
“And I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m eager to get out of here and back to real life
again.”

“I looked around outside and I think we can make it to the main highway if we take
it nice and slow, but I’m not letting you out of my sight until I know you’re completely
safe.”

“I’m a big girl these days,” she said with a frown. “Been on the planet twenty-six
years, I think I can look after myself.”

“Your car is buried somewhere in the snow and needs rescuing. You’ll get a fine if
you just abandon it, and I’m sure you want your wheels back so it can get fixed. Also,
your furnace won’t have repaired itself overnight unless you have very special mechanic
fairies in downtown Passion Creek. And getting big fat Princess into a pet carrier
and down to the vet’s is a two-person job. Agree?”

Piper sighed and nodded. He was right—she was up to her neck in practical problems.
She should be gracious, not stupid, and accept his offer of help. “So what’s your
plan?”

“Today we need to dig out your car, and tomorrow we have to take a certain somebody
to the vet, start getting you photographed for the launch campaign, and attend an
art gallery event. We’re completely booked.”

“Hm.”

“And somewhere in between we need to get you something to wear, unless you’ve already
been shopping.”

She could feel herself bristle. “I’m sure I’ve got something I can wear that won’t
completely shame you.”

“It’s not me, Piper, I like you with no clothes on, but there’s a good chance there
will be a lot of cameras and a few famous names around. It’ll be less intimidating
if you blend in with the rich list.”

He was right, but she wasn’t going to let him know that. Big fancy social occasions
hadn’t featured highly in her life and she hated things like weddings at the best
of times. The whole thing was going to be stressful enough without having to endure
people looking down their noses at her for not being smothered in designer labels.
“Okay, I give up, you take over. My brain can’t cope with all this.”

He smiled and bit down onto the hot toast he’d just buttered. “You won’t regret it,
I promise.”

Chapter Eight

Piper felt dizzy as she slumped down into her own sofa for what seemed like the first
time in weeks. It hadn’t been that long, of course, but her normal, boring life had
been superseded by a whirlwind of activity and new experiences with a man who quite
literally took her breath away. Not only was he the sexiest, most charismatic male
she’d ever encountered, he was equally infuriating and exasperating in the way he
went about everything. Matt was the ultimate “can do” person.

Nothing seemed impossible to him.

Piper figured it was a characteristic of high achievers with high intelligence. He
must’ve been super smart to be a self-made billionaire by the age of twenty-eight,
if he wasn’t lying about his age. And she didn’t think he was lying about his age.
He was totally fit and there wasn’t a hint of gray in those lustrous black locks.
A few delicious laughter lines around the eyes, but definitely under thirty.

He’d sent a twenty-four-hour furnace specialist to her condo and settled the bill
without her even knowing what had been done and how much it had cost, and now she
and Aspen, fresh from the operating room, were warm and snug. The car had been recovered
from a snowdrift by another of Matt’s many contacts and was in the garage having its
ignition coils and spark plugs replaced. It was terrifying to think she could have
been frozen solid inside that car if she hadn’t been rescued.

Being pampered, preened, and photographed by the hippest studio in the county had
also been a revelation. She’d been made to feel like a film star and the end results
had been incredible, even though they’d had to work at top speed to get enough shots
in time for the PCB No. 68 campaign. There was a memory stick full of photos of her
wearing some of her best jewelry pieces, too, all sultry and sophisticated—right up
there with the best of the glossy magazine ads. She could never have afforded to have
it done on her own. Things were certainly going better than she had ever imagined.

She glanced happily at a big pile of flashy-looking shopping bags and boxes piled
up in the hall: at least three brand new designer outfits, down to the underwear to
unpack and marvel over. Matt hadn’t insisted on coming shopping with her, but had
sent her off in a chauffeured car with the promised company credit card and strict
instructions not to economize. She felt exhausted, but in spite of herself, pretty
happy. Spending other people’s money was fabulous once you got the hang of it. No
wonder her wedding planner friend, Mel, loved her job so much.

She closed her eyes and gave herself a little hug as she remembered the white silk
pantsuit she’d be wearing that evening to the opening of a prestigious new art gallery.
It had cost way beyond anything she would even dream of paying for an outfit, but
the store manager who’d guided her through all her choices was adamant that she’d
been briefed to deliver the absolute best. There had been something about the woman
that persuaded Piper to just give in and not argue. After all, the woman was good
at her job and the commission on this would probably be a big deal to her.

And the finished result, even if clichéd, had blown her away. Red hair, green eyes,
and pale skin wasn’t the easiest combination to dress, but the ice-white silk, deep
red, patent leather skyscraper heels, and matching glittery clutch ensemble was amazing.
She’d have to ask Matt if she’d get to keep the best outfit she’d ever set eyes on
when their deal was at an end. Her instinct was that he wouldn’t even bat an eyelid,
which just went to show what different lives they led.

Three hours later, the doorbell rang and she was more than ready to go out and party.
Matt lounged against the outside railing as she opened the front door. He looked as
relaxed as a tomcat lazing in the sun in spite of the biting chill. He oozed sophistication
and confidence in a jet-black dinner suit, like a panther with silk lapels and covered
buttons on the cuffs. A snow-white shirt did little to tame the striking effect of
a thin black tie loosened at the neck, the top button of his shirt undone, screaming
suppressed rebellion. His dark hair had been artfully tousled into film-star nonchalance
and his full lips formed a straight line as he looked her up and down as well.

He let out a low whistle of appreciation and excitement ricocheted up her spine.

“Will I do?” she said, and was surprised at how sexy her voice had sounded for a second.
Dear God, did a pheromone spike do that to a woman as well as make her go weak at
the knees?

He eased his body away from the railing. “I think we’d better step inside before I
drool all over your steps.”

She laughed. “You have such a way with words, DeLeo. You’d better come in and get
over your dog tendencies.”

He closed the front door behind him and slid his arms around her waist before she
could turn round. “You look incredible, Piper. I don’t think I can share you with
anyone tonight looking so hot and sexy. No man in his right mind is going to be able
to keep his eyes off you. It could spell trouble.”

“We have to go,” she said firmly and wriggled around to face him. “Business is business.
That’s why you spent a small fortune on all this silk and leather, remember? To make
me suitable arm candy for the workaholic billionaire playboy?”

Dark brown eyes so large they only just fit into the arc of his eyebrows stared down
at her and she shivered. His eyelashes were indecently long and dark for a man, and
he should be made illegal for exploiting their lost little boy charm and making her
insides turn to jelly. And then he kissed her, long and slow, and there was nothing
she could do to resist him. Firm lips melted to soft and longing, tongue gently probing
as he ran his hands up the sleek silk of her jacket, and she moaned a little with
the delicious pleasure of being wanted by a man who had women falling at his feet
on a minute-by-minute basis.

She broke the kiss, but didn’t pull away—she wanted to savor his minty breath feathering
her mouth and the subtle spicy fragrance that clung to his skin. “You have scarlet
lipstick on your face now.”

“And you think that bothers me?” He kissed her lightly on the lips again. “See? Don’t
care one little bit.”

“We’ll never make it to the gallery at this rate.” She reluctantly eased out of his
embrace, not wanting it to end, but knowing that every time his kissed her, another
piece of her heart and soul became his to keep forever. She couldn’t let him take
too much and still expect to survive when all this was over. “I’ll need a couple of
minutes to freshen up and then we should go.”

Matt looked around the apartment and fiddled with the buttons on his jacket cuff.
“I like it here. Can I stay here tonight?”

His bald request rendered her speechless for a second before saying, “In my apartment?”

“Yeah, why not? I get to feed Princess and I promise to clean up both our poop.”

“I really don’t think my place will cut it with you. It’s a whole lot more basic than
anything you’re used to. Except for that place over the fried chicken joint in Sanibel,
of course.”

“Exactly. I liked it there, too. And it was also where you lost your panties for the
first time.”

“It was a complete dump.”

“So is that a no? Get lost, Matt? Your sister clearly isn’t here right now, it’s way
too clean from what you’ve told me about her, so you can’t use that as an excuse.”

“Well spotted, Sherlock. My sister’s had a remarkable reunion with the baby’s father.
It won’t last two minutes of course, but I don’t have to worry about her for now.”

“Yet, you’ll be here with open arms when she decides she needs to treat this place
like a hotel again?”

That was harsh, even if he did have a point. “She’s my sister. What else am I supposed
to do? You can’t choose your family.”

“You can’t choose your family, but you can choose how you deal with them. Sounds to
me like she takes full advantage of your sweet nature.”

“Sweet nature, my eye.” She saw him looking at a pile of unopened mail and hoped he
wasn’t observant enough to notice that they were mostly reminder bills that needed
paying. “Anyway, my relatives are none of your business, and I don’t think you staying
here would be a good idea. The neighbors gossip like crazy.”

He shrugged. “Then we can go someplace else, anywhere you like.”

“You’re not very subtle.” She glanced at him and then looked away. “Aspen is just
out of surgery and I’m scared to leave her on her own right now.”

Matt strode across the room to her bookshelf, plucked a cookbook off the shelf, and
began to flick through the pages. “You know Super? The lady who stayed really calm
when you did the Japanese yen thing with all my money?”

“I’d bet you fifty dollars it wasn’t
all
of your money.” She watched him as he stared down at an open page and rubbed his clean-shaven
jaw. “I still find it hard to believe I made such a huge mistake. If this was a movie
and I was watching it, I’d be thinking the male protagonist set me up. In fact, the
more I think about it—”

He snapped the book shut and the abruptness of it made her start. “She had cats for
years, Super, that is. Her husband was a breeder. Siamese seal point, I think. Anyway
she misses the noise and hassle of having a vocal cat around, and let’s face it, Aspen
is quite a talker when she gets going, so she said she’d cat sit anytime.” His eyebrows
rose questioningly, or he was feigning an absurd amount of innocence with those big
brown eyes of his. “They never had kids,” he added quietly.

“I never knew you had such a deep and caring nature,” she said suspiciously. “Super
seems like a tough cookie to me and, as you said to me back at the cabin, Aspen is
my cat, so therefore my problem. I find your interest unnerving, almost as if—”

He shook his head. “It’s my fault I’m taking her mommy out on the town tonight and
we might be back late.”

“We’ll be back before midnight,” she said firmly. “Or somebody will be turning into
a pumpkin, a pumpkin ready to be carved up. And that pumpkin will be you.”

…

“Are you okay?” Matt studied Piper’s pale face as she took his hand and stepped down
from the sleek, black helicopter. “There were a few gusts up there, but we were completely
safe.”

“I thought you were kidding about taking a chopper for events outside Passion Creek.
You could have warned me before we turned up at the helipad.” Her fingers were cold
and trembling wrapped inside his and he gripped them a little tighter when she tried
to pull free. “I wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”

“I didn’t picture you as a nervous flyer. You made it to and from Florida on your
own.”

“Flying by the seat of your pants in a helicopter is a different experience from being
squeezed into a big tin can for tourists, that’s for sure. But I’m fine now.”

He held on tight to her hand in spite of her trying to wiggle it free. “Good. It always
makes a statement arriving by helicopter.”

“Hm, something along the lines of ‘Look out, I’m considerably richer than you’?”

“Yes, I like that. I’ll make sure to get that remark into the conversation every chance
I get this evening.”

She giggled and, astonishingly, his heart skipped as she squeezed his hand. “I so
dare you to do that.”

“Only to complete jerks, though,” he whispered as they made their way toward a beckoning
meet and greet official across the building’s rooftop. “But there will be plenty of
those here tonight.”

Once inside the building, Piper shook her long, glorious mane of hair free of the
snowflakes that were beginning to fall again outside. She reminded him of a modern
day ice queen dressed head to toe in white like that, striking, even scary if you
were the kind of guy who was easily intimidated. It wasn’t very often a woman could
teach him new tricks or take him by complete surprise, but Piper was the mistress
of that. He had no idea what to expect from her in a social situation like this. She
might be a complete liability, but he didn’t care.

The risk he was taking with his reputation and sales campaign just served to heighten
the thrill of being with her. He loved the danger. He loved the contrasts, the frosty
exterior which vaporized when she caught fire in his arms. He needed to get her to
stay there more often. He wanted her to melt into a puddle for far more than a few
snatched hours in a snowstorm—he needed a period of total saturation if he was to
get her out of his system before it all came to an end in under a couple of weeks.
And it needed to end on launch day–no strings, no commitment, that was the deal.

They were shown into a mirror-lined elevator that silently transported them a couple
of floors down to a front desk area where a glossy blonde smiled a welcome.

“Mr. DeLeo,” she purred with a hint of a European accent. “So good to see you here
with us tonight. You really don’t need this as I’m sure everyone here knows who you
are but, for insurance purposes and security, I’m sure you understand?” She tipped
her head to one side in a coquettish manner and slid an identification tag across
the front desk with neon pink fingernails that clicked on the polished surface. Then
her bright blue gaze and false smile found Piper. “And you must be Miss Reilly. Welcome.”

It never failed to amaze him how bitchy and predatory women could be with each other
when there was an eligible billionaire in the building. Or maybe it was just him;
maybe he brought the worst out in a certain type of female. Still, he didn’t like
the way the blonde receptionist had changed her tone from sexual simpering when addressing
him to clipped ice as she handed Piper her ID and then tossed her hair back. It was
an unspoken girl-to-girl challenge, he was sure of it.