Mistress Minded (2 page)

“It's an endearment.”

“I know. Why are you using it on me?”

“We're supposed to be lovers.”

She tried not to let it bother her—“supposed” to be lovers. This is a big game of pretend, Jayne, don't forget it, she told herself. “Can I call you stud muffin?”

“If you want me to spank you,” he said.

“That's a little kinky, Adam.”

He closed the gap between them. Once again she was surrounded by his body heat and his scent. He leaned closer to her and his breath brushed her lips. She grabbed his shoulders for balance as the plane hit an air pocket, jostling them together.

Adam wrapped her in his arms and held her steady until the plane settled down. Jayne was cushioned against his hard chest, and his arms around her were so strong. He held her in a way that promised he'd be able to help her with any burdens she carried. And for a minute she was tempted to let the line between fantasy and reality blur. She leaned her cheek against his chest and listened to the heavy beating of his heart.

“Okay,
chère?
” he asked.

She nodded, unable to speak. He framed her face with his hands and looked deep into her eyes, making her feel as if all her secrets were laid bare before him. She blinked and tried to focus on the present. Fantasy, she reminded herself. This was all one big fantasy.

He cupped her face in his big hands and tilted her head back. She stared up into his dark eyes, every sense on hyperalert. Every feminine instinct screamed
for her to reach up and touch him. To bury her hands in his thick black hair and pull his face closer to hers. To bring that mouth of his down to hers and then take the kiss that she'd been craving since the first day she'd walked into his office.

“I never said thanks,” he said, his voice a husky growl.

She swallowed and licked her suddenly dry lips. His eyes narrowed and she felt tension move through him. “Are you saying it now?”

He nodded.

“You're welcome,” she said.

He lowered his head even more and his breath brushed over her cheek. Oh, God, was he going to kiss her? She shifted to her tiptoes so that only a breath separated them, and she heard Adam groan.

Abruptly he dropped his hands and walked out of the bedroom. Jayne turned toward the boxes of clothing, telling herself that her heart was beating faster because of the charade and not because of the sexual arousal pumping through her veins.

A
dam paused outside the doorway. After months of ignoring that made-for-love hat mouth, which had tempted him for so long, had been so close, and only at the last minute had sanity intruded on the moment, forcing him to pull away.

Jayne dropped into the chair next to him. “I feel ready for one, Ray. I haven’t had time to read the file on Perla Negra. I think that means Black Pearl, right?”

What was that fragrance she was wearing? It didn’t smell like Chanel or any of the other perfumes he was familiar with. Against his best judgment Adam leaned closer to her, inhaling the scent.

“It does. There’s also a legend around the black pearl. Want to hear it?” Ray asked.

“Yes,” Jayne said.

Adam closed his eyes and turned away. She was his employee. He wasn’t going to act on any feelings he had toward her. He faced the Angelinis, trying to focus on whatever conversation they were having, but it was nearly impossible. Hell, he and Jayne were
play-acting. He’d done enough pretending over the years that this should be a walk in the park.

From this angle he could see the curve of Jayne’s breast, and when she tilted her head to listen more closely to Didi, he smelled the fragrance of her shampoo.

Didi’s eyes lit up as she leaned forward in her seat, as well. “It involves a pirate, a maiden and a fortune lost at sea.”

“Sounds like my kind of story,” Jayne said.

Adam could scarcely pay attention. For the first time a woman was taking precedence over business. For the first time Jayne wasn’t just his girl Friday, but a desirable woman. For the first time a woman was making more than his pulse beat faster, because he realized that Jayne used the same mechanisms he did to hide from real life. The job.

Knowing how important her work was to her, he was determined to make sure their stay didn’t become more than a charade. Because he could never keep Jayne on staff if he took her to his bed. It would compromise the standards he’d set in the workplace and the code he’d followed since his father had run off with his secretary years before.

Adam listened to Ray and Didi tell a tale of forbidden love and piracy. He’d read about it already in the resort’s literature, which the Angelinis had forwarded to him.

La Perla Negra, a strand of precious black pearls,
had been stolen from a Franciscan abbey by the devious pirate Antonio Mantegna. Along with the pearls, Antonio stole Maria Boviar, the only daughter of a wealthy nobleman. Maria and Antonio were rumored to have been lost at sea.

But the Angelinis at La Perla Negra Resort and Spa claimed that Antonio and his beloved Maria had made their way to the small Caribbean island that was now home to the resort. And that the strand of black pearls Antonio stole was hidden somewhere in the resort.

“Wow, do you offer tours of the resort to try to find the pearls?” Jayne asked.

“We don’t have anything formalized, but there
is
a treasure map in every room,” Ray explained.

“The real treasure isn’t the pearls, Jayne,” Didi said.

“What is it then?”

“The treasure is said to be whatever you desire the most.”

“Sounds like fun, doesn’t it, honeybun?” Jayne put her hand on Adam’s arm.

He looked into those pretty blue eyes of hers and saw mischief sparkling in them. Well, at least she hadn’t called him stud muffin. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes narrowed and she sucked in a breath. She wasn’t immune to his touch. A swift rush of triumph swamped him. He knew it would be better for both their sakes if she
wasn’t aware of him as a man, but he was primitive enough to like it.

“It does,
chère.
We’ll have to check it out.”

“See that, babe? I told you we’d found the right couple,” Ray said.

Adam smiled to himself. He wasn’t sure why Ray thought they were the right couple, but it sounded as if he wasn’t going to have any problems closing this deal. Unless he counted Jayne and the desire she’d stirred to life inside him.

La Perla Negra rose out of the lush tropical foliage like a queen from a more elegant time. The main building was constructed in California Mission style. Spanish tile roofs gleamed red in the sunlight. Fourteen cottages dotted the landscape around the main resort. The suite they were given had a private balcony overlooking the ocean. One of the other walls was entirely made of glass and looked out over a cove that housed the resort’s marina. Jayne slipped off the strappy sandals she wasn’t used to wearing and let the thick carpet soothe her tired feet.

As soon as the door closed behind the bellboy, she glanced over at Adam. He’d removed his jacket and loosened his tie. His hair was disheveled from running his fingers through it. This was Adam in work mode. He might look sexy but he’d be all about business, except there wasn’t really any work to be done here.

She glanced wistfully at the beach. She wanted to
change out of this dress into something comfortable and go walk on the sand. She’d never been to the Caribbean before. She hadn’t planned on international travel until she’d completed her visits to all fifty states.

But this was nice and she vowed to enjoy her time here. Even though she was working she planned to enjoy the island. Could she convince Adam to go with her?

And where was the treasure map? She really wanted to search for it.

The silence once they were alone was charged with awareness. She stared at the man she’d wanted to be close to for so long, and couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“Well, honeybun, what do you think?” she asked.

Adam raised one eyebrow. “That you had better stop calling me that.”

“Don’t like it?”

“Listen, Miss Sassy, I’m still your boss.”

“Are you saying you’ll fire me if I call you that again?” she asked him, knowing Adam well enough to be certain he wouldn’t.

“Would that make you stop?”

“No,” she said.

He threw his head back and laughed. She felt pleased deep inside when she made him laugh. Adam didn’t laugh often enough. Most times he was focused
so intently on work that he rarely had time for any sort of fun.

Their suite was set up with a sitting area and desk in the main room. She hadn’t explored further but there was a doorway that she assumed led to the bedroom. Probably the standard issue double beds were inside. And while she wasn’t looking forward to being that close to temptation at night, at least she’d have her own bed.

“What’s first on the agenda?”

“I want to make some notes to send back to the office. Did you bring your computer?” he asked.

Clearly, the beach was out of the question right now. And this wasn’t a real vacation. “No.”

“You can use mine. I have a few ideas. Do you mind if I dictate them to you?”

“No problem, boss. Let me get things set up.”

She crossed to his computer bag and started setting up his mobile office, assembling the laptop, printer and fax machine on the large mahogany desk. Adam arranged the chairs and grabbed some snacks from the minibar. It looked as if this was going to take a long time.

“Tell me about yourself, Jayne.”

“Tell you what?”

“Something that I can use when we have dinner with the Angelinis tonight.”

“Like what?”

“Something only your lover would know,” he
said. He sprawled back in his chair, long legs stretched out in front of him.

“Why don’t you give me an example?” she asked, balking at the intimate question. Her lovers—and it was barely a plural term—knew little about her. Jayne had learned early on to hide her real thoughts and feelings. Men who said anything about her usually remembered her intelligence and her humor.

“I’m generous,” Adam said after a few minutes had passed. Jayne realized she wasn’t the only one with barriers. But then, that was one of the first things she’d noticed about him.

“I already knew that.”

“How?” he asked, arching one brow in a devilish way.

“I’m usually the facilitator of your generosity.”

“Facilitator?”

“That’s the résumé spin on having to do your shopping.”

He gave her one of those half grins of his that made her forget to breathe. She turned back to the computer and opened a file to distract herself. She labeled it Perla Negra.

“It’s your turn.”

Something only her lovers would know? She really didn’t want Adam to know anything about her that was intimate or personal. She had a feeling that only by keeping a wall firmly between them was she going to survive these weeks together.

“Well, I think that was cheating, but I’ll go with it. I like to be outside,” she said at last. It wasn’t something she’d shared with Ben, whom she’d been engaged to, but Adam was different.

“Why?” he asked.

“I like the feel of the wind in my hair and the sun on my face. We spend so much time in air-conditioned buildings, but I like the heat of New Orleans in the summer. The way it seeps into my skin…I don’t know, it makes me feel like I’m really part of the city.”

Adam watched her with narrowed eyes and she blinked and looked away. She’d said too much. God, what had she been thinking? “What about you, honeybun?”

“The heat means something to me, too,” he said after a moment. “It reminds me of my childhood.”

“I don’t know much about that time of your life,” she said at last. Very little was known about the man. He was a legend in the hotel business because he’d carved his success with his bare hands, buying a rundown old hotel with the money he’d earned drag racing in small towns in the South. He’d turned that hotel into a first-class resort and then used that to launch his international company.

He shrugged and looked away. “I don’t like to re-hash the past.”

“Then why do you like the heat?” she asked. Okay, she didn’t really need to know this, but if she
had an action plan to make Adam fall for her, number one would be to figure out what made him tick.

“I didn’t say I liked it.”

She thought about it for a minute. No, he hadn’t. “Why is it important, then?”

“It reminds me of the vow I made when I was fourteen.”

“What vow?”

“One secret,
chère.
That was our deal.”

“Is that the way your domestic arrangements usually work?”

“Why should you care about that?”

“You started this. If I’m pretending to be your mistress I should know the score.”

“You’re right. We should discuss the details of our arrangement. You’re different than other women I’ve known.”

He was watching her so intently she felt heat spread down her arms and over her body. “Smaller chest?” she suggested.

He gave her one of those vague half smiles. “I don’t think so.”

Her eyes widened when she realized he was really seeing her. It was as if he were peeling away the layers of clothing and revealing the body she’d always been too shy to put on display. Not too shy, she thought. Too afraid to put on display. She’d never wanted to be like her mother, who used her feminine form to open doors for herself and make life easier.

“How do your lovers treat you?” he asked her at last.

“They treat me like a friend and not an object.”

“I haven’t objectified you.”

“Every item of clothing in that suitcase will.”

“You usually dress in frumpy clothes, Jayne. Why?”

“Hey, don’t turn this around to me. We’re talking about you.”

“I like the female form,” he said with a shrug.

“I
don’t
like mine,” she said after long moments had passed.

“Women,” he growled.

“What’s that mean?” she asked.

“Just that your mouth has been driving me crazy for months and you’re worried about how you look in a dress that fits you.”

Her mouth. It was an ordinary one, one more plain thing on an average body. “What’s so special about my mouth?”

“It’s made for kissing,” he said.

She swallowed. He leaned forward, closing the gap between them. His breath was minty and she closed her eyes for a minute, remembering that moment on the plane when she’d been surrounded by his body heat. Was he going to kiss her?

Did she want him to? Deliberately she pulled back. She needed to get this back on track, focusing on work. Adam was more complex than she’d dreamed
and their time together so far was too…intimate. She had to make a decision. Did she want to become Adam’s lover or keep her job?

He became all-business after that, giving her a much needed escape from the intense physical awareness. And in the imaginary box in her head, next to the item that said Adam, she put a big exclamation point and the word
danger.

Adam congratulated himself for getting things back on a business focus with Jayne. That moment on the plane had been an aberration, and that instant when he’d confessed that her mouth drove him crazy had been simply a brief bit of craziness. He knew how to handle himself around the women he worked with.

Hell, he’d had a hard time keeping his eyes off her mouth. She bit her lower lip when she typed, which he’d never noticed before. Or, at least, never perceived it to be an arousing habit. But having mentioned his obsession with her mouth, he didn’t intend to let the subject drop. He wanted to know what she tasted like, and wouldn’t be able to rest until he had kissed her.

Jayne followed him into the bedroom and stopped abruptly when she noticed the bed. It was a sumptuous king-size one with a duvet in shades of deep blue. The same color as her eyes.

The rest of the room was done in the same hues. There was an overstuffed chair and ottoman near the
window. The sheer curtains stirred in the breeze and a ceiling fan circled lazily.

Immediately, Adam felt the tension he’d brought with him from New Orleans start to dissipate. This was a room that begged the people in it to stop and stay for a while. To cast off worries and relax. Forget about rules and regulations and indulge. Jayne paused beside him and he knew exactly
how
he wanted to indulge.

He’d carry her to that big bed and lay her in the center of it. Then slowly peel away all the layers of clothing covering her luscious body until she was totally bare. Then he’d start with that mouth of hers that he’d been dying forever to taste and explore.