Taming the VIP Playboy (13 page)

“But not with you,” he said. “Never with you.”

He didn't like that she made him react the way she did but that was the truth of it. Jen was the one woman he couldn't control his reactions around. Maybe that was why he loved her.

Dammit. Did he really love her? He was trying so hard to keep her at arm's length. Sure he said it was to keep her from getting hurt, but he knew he was also trying to protect himself.

He hadn't the first idea of how to love a woman other than like this. Reaching between her legs he tested her passion and found her wet and wanting. He pulled her down on his rock-hard length. She tipped her head back and moaned loud and long.

He felt his spine tingle with the need for release but he held it off, wanting her to come first. He found her most sensitive spot and stroked it until he felt her inner muscles tightening around his shaft.

“Nate…”

He kept touching her and thrusting in and out of her
body. She grabbed his shoulders and dug her nails into him as another orgasm rocked through her. This time he wanted to come with her and he pulled her down closer to him.

He felt her hot breath against his neck and her velvet perfection around him as he jetted his orgasm deep inside of her. He came long and hard, calling her name and holding her tightly to him.

He held her like that until they both started to drift to sleep and still that wasn't enough. He woke her in the night and made love to her again. And in the morning when he dropped her off at her house and drove away, he knew he was going to have to figure out either how to live with his fear of commitment or live without her.

J
en didn't realize that Nate hadn't told her he loved her until two days later when she noticed that he was avoiding her. She hadn't seen him since that night on the yacht and to be honest, she was worried about that. He'd made passionate love to her and she'd thought…well, he had a hard time with commitment, so maybe that had been his way of showing her how he felt. Instead, she thought it had been his way of keeping her busy until he could get her off his yacht and out of his life.

She had a troupe of local dancers that were working today on the country routine they'd be doing on stage with Ty and Janna. The group was good and she saw some real talent in the bunch. And two of the dancers had that hungry look in their eyes that she remembered from when she was younger. Of course, she'd never wanted to do this kind of dancing but now she wondered
why she hadn't. The choreography was fun and she really enjoyed it.

“Let's take it from the top.”

She cued up the music and then called out the rhythm to the dancers. She sat in the front of the room watching everyone carefully and looking for mistakes but her mind wasn't on the dancers, it was on Nate. Carlos had been a fling so when things had ended between the two of them, it had been expected. But with Nate…she'd invested more of herself.

That hadn't been her plan but it had happened just the same, and she had no idea how she was going to move on from this. She knew she couldn't just let him drift out of her life. If he wanted things to be over, then she was going to confront him and find out for sure. She needed Nate. She loved Nate and she wasn't going to give up without a fight.

She hit the stop button on the music. “Back row, I need to see more passion from you. Let's start again with the back row in the front. No matter where you are on stage I want you to be one hundred percent engaged. If you can't be, then I will find another dancer to take your place.”

The dancers went through the routine again and Jen started to see them come alive in the dance. The same way she knew she'd come alive with Nate. When the session ended and she dismissed everyone, she glanced up to see Cam standing in the doorway.

“Do you have a minute?”

“Yes. What's up?”

She wondered if he was here to fire her. If Nate had sent his big brother to get rid of her she was going to hunt him down and give him a piece of her mind.

“I'm in an awkward position.”

She felt tears sting the back of her eyes. “Just say it. I think I know what's coming.”

Cam walked farther into the room. “I doubt it. Do you know Russell Holloway?”

“The New Zealand billionaire? No, I really don't run in those circles.”

“He wants your number,” Cam said.

“I'm not interested in any man but Nate. You can tell him thanks, but no thanks.”

“Not for dating you,” Cam said. “He wants to hire you. Are you okay?”

She felt stupid when he said that. What had she been thinking? This situation with Nate was making her paranoid. “I'm tired.”

“You have been working nonstop on the tenth anniversary celebration and I'm really happy with that, but don't kill yourself for the club.”

“I'm not going to. Why do you think Russell Holloway wants to hire me?” she asked.

“He told me he was going to try to steal you away. He heard from some of your more famous students that you are one hell of a dancer and I think he wants to add a stage show to his clubs.”

“The Kiwi Klubs are world-famous. I mean, everyone has heard of them.”

“I know. It would be a position with a lot of exposure for you.”

“Are you unhappy with me?” she asked.

“Not at all,” he said. “But it's a good opportunity and I didn't feel right not letting you know.”

“I couldn't leave Luna Azul,” she said. “Not after all you guys did for me.”

Cam handed her a business card. “You make the decision that's right for you. That's what we did when we
went to bat for you. After you talk to him let me know what he offered, we might be able to match his offer.”

Cam left a few minutes later and she sat down on a stool in the back of the rehearsal room. She wasn't looking to travel the world and be a choreographer for the Kiwi Klubs. But it couldn't hurt to talk to him. Especially if things weren't going well between her and Nate.

She needed to have options and to keep them open. Working at Luna Azul was one of the best things that had ever happened to her—hell, it was the best thing.
Period.
But she knew that if Nate and she didn't make it she wasn't going to be as happy here.

She looked at the business card and wondered what Russell Holloway would say if she called him. She was confused. Life was easier when all she had to do was think about dancing and about the moves that the choreographer had taught her.

She realized how unpredictable life was. She'd had an inkling of it when she'd been forced out of her safe world of competitive dance and when she'd seen her sister give birth to her son all alone.

But this was different. This was her having to make a decision and deal with the consequences. In a way, the impulsive leaping was easier. There was no time to debate the outcome.

But that was what she did all afternoon. Debated with herself. She stared at that card. Even dialed the number more than once and hung up before the call connected. She had no idea what to say to Russell Holloway. Mainly because the one person she could turn to for advice wasn't around for her to get it from. She wanted to know what Nate thought. He was more than a lover to her, he
was also a trusted friend and she knew she didn't want to lose him in both areas of her life.

 

Nate was having a pretty crappy day by the time he got to the club and Cam's office. “What's up?”

“Just some news about Jen. But what's going on with you?”

Nate furrowed his brow. “Speeding ticket, Lori O'Neil is demanding I go out with her tonight or she's going to stop mentioning the club in her celebrity blog and I have to fly to New York to film guest spots on two different shows.”

“Sucks to be you and have to go out with a beautiful woman and be on TV.”

Nate glared at his brother. “
Don't.
Don't try to shame me into remembering that I have a great life and that I don't have anything to complain about.”

Cam shrugged those big shoulders of his. “I guess I don't have to then. Seems you know that you have nothing to bitch about.”

“Yeah, I know it but it doesn't change the fact that I'm having a really pissy day.”

Cam laughed. “I'll give you that.”

Nate threw himself down in one of the large leather guest chairs in Cam's office. On the paneled wall was a portrait of Cam standing in the foyer of their boyhood home dressed in a tuxedo. “Don't you wonder why Dad had those paintings of us done?”

Cam shook his head. “He wanted to create a legacy for us to pass on to our children.”

“Are you thinking of having a family?” Nate asked his brother. That very thought—a family of his own—had been on his mind too often lately. “I always believed us Stern men made better bachelors than husbands.”

Cam shrugged. “I feel the same. I mean business is a lot easier to figure out than a woman.”

Nate laughed. “Tell me about it. Who are you dating?”

“None of your business.”

“A secret love?”

“Not really. Not love. Just sex.”

Was that what Nate had with Jen? Was it just really good sex? “Have you ever been in love, Cam?”

“One time,” his brother admitted. “But it was a long time ago and I was young.”

“What did it feel like?”

Cam quirked one eyebrow at him.

“I know that's a silly question but I'm not sure if I know how to love. I mean you and Justin are my brothers and we're blood so I know I can count on you. But a woman…how do I know if I love her or not?”

Cam came around his desk and leaned back on it. “I have no idea, Nate. I wish I had an easy answer for you. But women are complicated and I have no idea how to unravel the mystery of them.”

“You're not really helping me,” Nate said.

“I know. I'm sorry about that.”

Nate thought about the fact that Cam, who was very smart and very sure of himself, wasn't sure of love. Did that mean he had been right in thinking that the Stern men weren't meant for love?

“On a related note to this woman talk—Russell Holloway called me this morning and asked if he could have Jen's number.”

Nate went very still. “Why?”

“He's heard some good things about her and he wants to offer her a job.”

“I hope you told him to step off.”

Cam shook his head. “That's not my call. I gave Jen his message and his business card. It's up to her if she wants to take the job.”

Nate didn't agree with his brother but he kept that to himself. He needed to talk to Jen anyway—it was something he'd been avoiding since she'd confessed her love.

He hoped he hadn't driven her straight into Russell's hands by ignoring her the past few days.

“What's the matter?”

“I don't want her to work with Russell,” Nate said.

“Then tell her how you feel. I don't know a lot about love but I do know that women are big on talking.”

Nate knew that, too. “Do you think talking would have fixed the problems between Dad and Mom?”

Cam walked back around his desk and sat in his leather executive chair. “I don't know that anything would have helped them. They weren't suited to each other.”

Nate had thought so, too. Their dad had been so warm and caring and always put Nate and his brothers first, even over his pro-golf career. Made them feel so important to his life. Just the way Nate had observed Jen doing with her nephew. He wondered if he could feel the same about her.

“I don't know what to say,” Nate said at last. “To Jen I mean.”

“What do you want her to do?” Cam asked.

Nate wanted her to stay, but saying that would let her know that he was as vulnerable to her as she was to him. It would even the scales in the balance of power between them.

He'd heard once that the power in a relationship belonged to the one who cared less. And he was
beginning to believe that was true because Jen had all the power. And that was what scared him. He just figured out that it wasn't love. It was the fact that he was going to have no power over anything with her if he admitted how much she meant to him.

And to a man like him, a man used to controlling the world around him, that was almost like saying he'd lose the ability to breathe. It was unthinkable.

“I don't know,” he admitted to Cam. “I want her to stay but I'm not sure how to say that to her.”

Cam nodded. “Let me know what you decide. I want her to stay for your sake, Nate. If you want Jen don't let her go.”

“Aren't you concerned about the club, too? She's a very good dancer.”

“There are other good dancers in South Florida, bro, but only one Jen where you're concerned.”

Nate knew that Cam had a point and was very glad that his brother had told him about the offer. Even though it was the work day he had a reason to see Jen. Not knowing what Jen was going to do was making him a bit crazy so instead of avoiding her, he sent her a text and asked her to meet him at the park where they took Riley to play baseball. Time to find out what she was thinking and where she wanted her life to be.

 

Jen was eating an early dinner with Riley and Marcia when she got Nate's text message. Riley had finished his dinner and asked to be excused to the living room.

“Who was that?” Marcia asked once Riley was out of earshot.

“Nate.” Jen hoped that he wanted to talk because he'd had time to think about her confession of love and
maybe he was ready to move on to the next level of commitment with her.

“What does he want?” Marcia asked.

“To talk, I imagine. Why are you still treating him with distrust?” she asked her sister.

“Why aren't you? He hasn't been around for a few days. Is there something wrong between you guys?”

“I don't know. Can I ask you something…not about Nate?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Marcia said.

“I got a rather strange message today.”

“What? What was it?” Marcia asked.

“Cam said that Russell Holloway is interested in talking to me about working in his Kiwi Klubs.”

“Do you know what you would be doing?” Marcia asked.

“Same as what I do now except you know he has an entire chain of clubs all over the world. My guess is that he'd want me to develop shows for each of the clubs that is unique to their location and then train a dance instructor at each place.”

Jen played with the food on her plate. She'd been around and around this in her head and she still couldn't decide if she should call him or not.

“Does he want you to live in New Zealand?”

“I'm not sure where he's going to want me to live. But I like living here with you and Riley.”

Marcia sighed and then put on her big-sister face. That serious expression she got when she was about to give advice and make it stick. “You'll never know what it is you are passing up if you don't at least talk to the man.”

“Okay. I can talk to him, but what about our family?”

“Jen, we're always going to be family no matter where you live. In fact, you'll probably have a home of your own before too much longer if you stay here. Don't let me and Riley make this decision for you.”

Jen shook her head. “This is too hard. It's not like a dancing competition, you know. I loved that and I had to travel but this is my livelihood.”

“It's life,” Marcia said. “Life is complicated.”

“Thanks for nothing,” Jen said with a small smile.