ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance (18 page)

His gaze darkened for a second before returning to normal. “No sweetheart, that’s the money.”

She cupped his jaw, “Don’t sell yourself short Kade, you’re also hot with a sexy body.”

He turned his head slightly and kept those enchanting green eyes trained on her, he kissed the center of her palm. “It’s yours anytime you want it.”

She smiled. He’d said that more than once in the two weeks since she moved in and she always said the same thing. “I don’t think I could handle it.”

“Maybe some other time,” he always said with a smile. This time he pulled her in and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

She sucked in a breath and a lungful of that smell that was all Kade, sandalwood and bergamot and stepped back. “You are way too potent for my peace of mind. Now tell me what I should know about tonight.” It was their first dinner with the Hendersons and Ava wanted to do a good job, not just because they were helping each other out but because she liked Kade.

“Henderson is a dinosaur. Very old fashioned and he thinks a man without a wife and family can’t run a business as well as a man with them.”

She smiled up at him and it was his turn to suck in a breath. “Perfect. I cooked a meal that proves I’ll be a good little wifey, at home cooking for my big strong man.” She squeezed his bicep with a laugh but implored her mind to remember the details for later.

When the Hendersons arrived Kade felt no nerves, he was confident he and Ava would pull it off. Over the past few weeks they’d become friends and even developed a friendly flirtation so they were easy together. She was so natural all evening with Helena and Bruce, surprising even him with her gentle touches and caresses throughout the evening.

Her black forest cake wowed Helena, who asked for the recipe, making Bruce joke that he’d sign a contract with Kade just because Ava got Helena in the kitchen again. It was a good night, fun even. When they left Henderson told Kade, “I don’t know what you did to get a woman as beautiful and talented as that to agree to marry you son, but keep her happy and you will be successful.” Hearing those words had shaken something loose in Kade. He didn’t know what, couldn’t even explain it if forced but he felt different.

“I won’t Bruce.” He shook the man’s hand and closed the door behind him. The first hurdle had been cleared. When he opened his eyes he found Ava’s pink sweater laying on the back of a chair and the coffee table clear of glasses, so he went in search of his fiancé. Fake fiancé, he reminded himself. “There you are,” he said with a smile. “The evening went fantastically. Bruce and Helena loved you.”

Ava pulled two dark brown bottles from the fridge and held one up for him. At his nod she popped open the bottles and handed one over. “I’m glad, I thought they were pretty great too.” They were funny and kind just like her parents, at least what she could remember of them. She turned and walked through the open doors off the kitchen. “It’s such a beautiful night,” she whispered to herself.

“It’s not as beautiful as you Ava. Not by a long shot.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her and here, under the pale moonlight she looked stunning he couldn’t breathe for wanting to touch her. Taste her. Without the sweater the prim and proper dress became a means to torture him, with her long neck on display, the tops of her breasts peeking out and that beauty mark in the center of her back. He wanted to explore her body, to see if there were other marks like it. One finger slowly caressed the length of her exposed back until she shivered.

“Kade,” she whispered and turned to him, desire making her eyes nearly black.

It was that plea, that longing he heard in her voice that snapped his control. Pulling her to him, Kade’s strong arms banded around her middle until there was no space between them and his large hands cradled her face.

Thumbs caressing her jaw line made her moan and reach up for those lips and that mouth she’d dreamed of kissing since the first time her name left his lips. His mouth moved against hers, hungry and seeking, and she gave back as good as she got. His mouth was warm and soft and it tasted like chocolate and cherries. His skin was so soft, his muscles underneath forged steel, his heart hammered his passion against her hands. This kiss, this moment was everything she had ever dreamed of and she had to stop. She would. In a moment. “Kade,” she moaned into the night as his mouth peppered kisses down the column of her throat.

“I’ve wanted to taste you there all night,” he said, his words choppy from his heavy breathing. He had to feel more of her and commanded his hands to leave her face and trail down her body until he cupped her backside to press her deeper into him. They groaned simultaneously when their bodies connected in that perfect spot.

The words were on the tip of her tongue, “Take me to bed Kade,” but she couldn’t bring herself to say them. She wanted Kade, of course she did. He was handsome and smart, funny and kind and he could turn her on with a smile. But she couldn’t give her body to him knowing it was temporary and she knew it could never be anything but. She had to stop. “Kade, please,” she pushed gently on his chest. “I can’t.”

He looked at her in confusion until the lust cleared. “What’s wrong?”

Her head fell to his large, muscled chest. “Nothing’s wrong it’s me. I can’t have sex with you.”

“Are you a virgin?” He knew she was young but not that young.

She gave him a get real look. “No I’m not. But I am a realist Kade and in the real world you don’t fall for a girl like me and if we have sex I know it’ll be good.”

“It would be damn good,” he growled.

She smiled wistfully. “Okay damn good. But I like you Kade, not your money just you and sex would only make me fall in love with you and I know neither of us wants that.”

Kade knew she was right but at the moment his body was in charge. He wanted to be the bastard the world knew him to be and seduce her, he could do it easily here under the moonlight after a kiss so hot it knocked his world off its axis. But he couldn’t do that because he liked her too.

Dammit.

“Your fiancé is quite a peach Kade, Helena is quite taken with her.”

Kade looked at the relaxed features on Bruce’s face. The man was completely at ease as though deciding to sell his life’s work was no big deal. But he too felt a sense of ease as Ava’s jasmine scent wafted over to him. “Yeah she’s the best.” His gaze wandered over to where she sat laughing with Helena.

“Talented too,” Bruce said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Yeah she is. How do you know?”

Bruce laughed, the deep lines in his face evidence of a lifetime of laughter. “She did anniversary shots for Helena and I two weeks ago and,” he leaned in close to whisper, “she did those sexy boudoir shots of Helena. I saw them yesterday and about died on the spot.” He fanned himself and leaned back full of mirth. “Hotter than hell, son.”

Kade shot another glance at Ava who caught him staring and smiled. She scooted back over and laid her hand on his thigh. “If you fellas are done taking over the world, I have a surprise for you.” She waved for the waiter and looked to Helena, “Since your anniversary is tomorrow I wanted to give you something special to honor your 35 years together.” The waiter placed a cupcake tower in the middle of the table and Helena squealed. “I made you red velvet cupcakes to remind you both of your humble beginnings and a champagne crème frosting as a sign of how much you’ve achieved.”

Kade watched in awe as Helena practically leapt over the table to gather Ava into a hug, a few stray tears rolling down her face. Even Bruce, stern and hard-assed Bruce had a watery gaze as he reached for Ava’s hand and kissed it. “You are the sweetest thing,” he said with a hand to his heart.

“Nonsense,” she waved away the compliment. “What you’ve achieved is amazing. I hope to have that one day. Now, let’s dig in!”

And they did, dig into the cupcakes like they were the last food items on earth. Tons of moaning and groaning came from their table until finally everyone was satisfied. “You ought to let her loose in the bakeries Kade, you’d be bigger than any donut shop in the nation.”

He said nothing at what those words meant because right now they meant nothing, not until they were printed on paper and browsed with a fine tooth comb by overpriced lawyers. “You try to take the camera from her hands Bruce, just you try it.”

It was another incredible dinner and without a doubt, it was all thanks to Ava. “They loved you,” she whispered as they waited for the valet to bring his car around.

Ava shrugged. “They’re very nice people. Can you believe they’ve been married for 35 years? That’s amazing. You should have seen them during their photo shoot, kissing between frames and couldn’t keep their hands off one another. It was so sweet.”

Her words made him cold. “Soliciting them for business, Ava?”

She stiffened at his words and his tone. “No. Helena called and asked if I could do it. I couldn’t say no, could I?” She took a few steps away and bit her lip. She couldn’t believe after six weeks living together he would think she’d do such a thing. This is what she got for treating him like a friend. For caring.

The ride home was silent and tense. Kade kicked himself for ruining a great night with his insinuations and insecurities. He knew she wouldn’t go after his clients, potential clients, for business. But he was so used to women using him the accusation came naturally. “Ava, I’m sorry.”

She stayed facing the window, watching the night scenery go by. “Don’t worry about it, Kade.”

He knew he should have kept his mouth shut.

Days later and Ava was still fuming over Kade’s careless words. How could he think she’d try to drum up business over dinner. She had pretty much been avoiding him since that night. She woke up later than usual to miss him in the morning and she ate dinner early and left a plate for him at night. They hadn’t spoken aside from his hasty apology in the car and she preferred to keep it that way.

She was in too deep with Kade Steele. The time they spent together when they didn’t have to—hiking, concerts, dinner and movie nights—had done the one thing she couldn’t abide. They had made her fall in love with a man guaranteed to hurt her. He’d already done it with his words but once this was over, this charade, she would also lose Bruce and Helena whom she bonded with during those photo sessions. It was okay, really it was. She’d known from the beginning that nothing would come of her time with Kade, she was expecting it. What she hadn’t expected was to like him, to love him.

So she decided she wouldn’t think about it. Instead she would spend the day searching the grounds with her camera. After breakfast she made her way to the rose garden, where she spent more than an hour capturing the rainbow of roses, some with the sunlight glinting off the morning dew others in full bloom showing off their color to spectators. She went deeper into the property to check out the manmade pond she’d seen on one of her early morning walks. She took really great shots, a frog on a water lily, a salamander on a slim tree branch and moss growing on a tree.

She was satisfied with the shots she’d taken so far. Her hope was to sell these prints, along with others of Rainbow Springs landmarks and landscapes in her shop. It would provide additional income and give her an excuse to get out in the world and take photographs.

“I’ve been calling you all morning. Where the hell have you been?”

Ava didn’t acknowledge his anger and she didn’t turn to him. But she did answer, “You’re looking at it Kade. I’ve been here at your house all day.”

His house. He heard her words and he knew they were meant to distance them and he guessed he deserved it. “Where’s your phone?”

She shrugged, lining up a shot of a cricket on a fallen white rose petal. “In the guest room, I suppose.” She captured a few shots before it hopped away. “Is there something you need?”

“How long are we going to keep this up?”

“I imagine Bruce will make up his mind in the next month,” she answered, purposely misunderstanding him.

“Dammit Ava,” he traipsed through the muddy grass and spun her to face him. “I’m sorry okay? I shouldn’t have said that. It was a reflex that had nothing to do with you.”

She sighed and looked past him, refusing to take in those green eyes that made her knees turn to goo. “I accept your apology Kade.” She had forgiven him days ago. She should thank him for reminding her that this was fake and temporary.

He wanted to kiss that impertinent look right off her face. So he did.

Ava let the kiss progress for a few minutes, taking these moments for herself, allowing herself to have this time with him. Then she stepped back. “Meet me at the pool tonight after dinner and wear your swim trunks,” she ordered and walked away.

After the kiss that still had her body humming with desire, Ava spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening inside her studio. She had selected about a dozen photos to send to the printer and made her way back to Kade’s mansion. She changed into shorts and a t-shirt over her white bikini and grabbed her underwater camera so she could make her way to the pool. When she got there, Kade was already there.

“I was beginning to think you stood me up.”

The sight of Kade all slick with water and smiling casually from the lit pool made the moisture pool between her legs. She shook her head to answer him and to shake the lust from her brain. “I just needed to change,” she held up her camera bags and set them on the table and pulled the t-shirt over her head. “I thought we’d get a few shots of you in the water, maybe under water.” She kicked off her shorts and looked at him, his mouth open and his eyes burning with desire. “What?”

“You take my breath away, Ava.”

She wanted to run to him, to wrap her legs around him and steal another one of those amazing kisses. Instead she pulled out her camera and captured him, looking like the biggest sexiest predator on the block. Water clung to his eyelashes and his green eyes burned with sensual hunger. She knew these shots would be magic and they would be hers when their fake engagement inevitably ended. “Wow,” she breathed out as she looked at the screen on her camera. “You are stunning on camera.” She looked at him and all that fiery masculine hunger was focused on her.