The Billionaire Bargain (Millionaire's Club) (3 page)

Her foot tapped on the wood. Impatience radiated from her. “Then when’s a good time for you? I don’t have long.”

He discharged the thought she’d be in any real trouble. Her climb-the-corporate-ladder-at-all-cost mentality was the reason she stood in his hallway. Greed. Everyone wanted something from him. Like the parasite who kept calling, insisting he knew where his long lost son was.

Impossible. He didn’t make mistakes. Meticulous planning ensured it. His guard had never faltered. He took extra measures to be certain there were no surprise pregnancies.

The only shocking blast from his past stood right in front of him. She was as beautiful now as she had been three years ago with her full pink lips and porcelain skin. Even so, something had her rattled. Her emotions were tightly gripped. He’d have to find a way to lower her defenses if he wanted to know the truth about their past. Even after all this time, he couldn’t seem to let it go. If he were going to put it behind him, he needed answers. They were about as likely as a snow storm in Borneo in her present state. She looked ready to flee if a cricket chirped too loudly. He needed to get her to relax.

“Why don’t you unpack? Eat something. Rest. I have a few company issues to contend with before I can discuss your business proposition.” On closer scrutiny her blue eyes carried dark circles.

“I thought you had a rule against working here,” she said, her delicate brow arched.

“Yeah? A lot has changed since you knew me.”
Because of you.

“People don’t change, Daegen. Circumstances do,” was all she said.

She was thinner than he recalled, not that it hurt her figure any. His gaze roamed a body that had been eager to please him before. Her attempt to dress down did nothing to mask her sensuous curves. A blast of blood pulsed south. Daegen knew exactly what kind of figure lurked underneath her conservative attire. Long, sensual lines ran the length of her body in a lazy S-curve. Taut skin smoother than freshly spun silk.

He couldn’t stop himself from wondering if her breath would still catch when he stroked behind her knee? Or when his tongue rolled behind her ear and he breathed on her lobe? Would her body vibrate when his fingers grazed her swollen nipples?

Seeing her again brought out a dormant thirst no woman since her could quench. Her reason for showing up didn’t matter. He had every intention to get her back in his bed where she belonged.

Only this time, they’d part on his terms.

Lifting her wrist ever so slowly, he held her gaze while brushing a kiss on the tender place where her arm joined her palm.

She held secrets. He intended to find out what. “Your room is over there. Don’t get too comfortable.”

A breath came out in a huff. Her pink lips pouted. “No threat there.”

Threat? Interesting word choice.

Threat could be measured. Threat weighed a hundred-twenty-five-pounds and stood five-foot-seven-inches. Threat had a name. Rae Stevens.

Chapter Two

Daegen’s stare pierced right through Rae as he reappeared in the hallway half an hour later. Her chest squeezed, and the pain between her shoulder blades shrieked. She had less than sixteen hours, plenty of time, before she absolutely had to be on a plane. She pushed everything aside and focused. “Do you have a minute now?”

“You’re still in the hall?” he asked with a hiked brow and surprise on his lips.

A shiver shot up her arms straight to her heart. His coppery eyes, hooded by thick lashes, seared right through her. Five thousand years of DNA behind him, he was Darwinian perfection to a T. Was it really such a good idea to be in this man’s company?

She could scarcely wrap her mind around the fact he stood there, all six-foot-four-inches of maleness and glory, still with those dark Asian features and perfectly contrasting golden skin. She could see the outline of his muscles underneath his hand-tailored, perfectly-fitted shirt. Her fingertips tingled with memories of stroking every curve of his lean powerful chest. A pang of guilt nailed her. She shouldn’t be thinking about his chest while her father was dying.

She picked up her suitcase.
Secure his help and get the hell out of here.
“I was hoping to catch you as soon as your meeting ended.”

“You haven’t changed,” Daegen said with the smooth masculine voice that made every attentive hair on the back of Rae’s neck tingle. He smiled a coy, close-mouthed grin that only showed at the corners of his upturned mouth.

Her stomach flipped.
Oh, but I have.

“Good to see you again too,” she said sarcastically.

His long dark eyelashes lowered, carefully guarding the secrets held by his gaze. He was even more alluring than before. This close she could smell the unique scent that was all Daegen. She could see the white fabric of his button down shirt pull over the muscles in his broad chest when he moved his arms. She could imagine his strong hand splayed at the small of her back, moving her closer to him. She’d have to work harder than ever to keep her emotions at bay.

He released a throaty laugh. “You’ve come back to ask for more. My heart wasn’t enough?”

She’d never owned his heart. Had she?

She crushed the thought. He never opened up enough for her to get near. Every time he got close to lowering his walls and letting her in, he stopped. It was as though a heavier gate fell between them each time. Iron replacing wood.

No use analyzing the past. She needed to focus on the here and now.

If she were to have any chance at gaining his help, she would have to tell him the truth. Rae hugged her arms into her chest. “I lied earlier. This is personal. I need a favor. I’m not here for reasons you might think.”

Before she could blink he was standing toe-to-toe with her, and she was forced to look straight at him again. Heat crept up her neck, warming her cheeks. He’d have to be blind not to see the arousal in her flushed face. Damn. This close, his heady scent, a mix of lemon, ocean air, and sun-drenched teak, charged her senses.

Powerful legs rooting him to the floor, Daegen mockingly opened his arms, “Personal? Isn’t this the point where you run into my waiting arms and beg to be forgiven?” His dark gaze narrowed, closing off her view to his pain.

In spite of his angry façade, all he had to do was crook a smile to make her heart flutter like a trapped butterfly.

“That you came to ask for something is a fact we both know. Don’t pretend you’re here to benefit me,” he said dismissively. “We’ll discuss your price later.”

“My what?” she asked, incredulous.

“You’re a business woman, right?”

She nodded, afraid of where this conversation was headed.

“Then you won’t mind a little personal proposition from me.”

She rubbed her arms to stave off goose bumps. “Make your point and get it over with.”

“I don’t have one,” he said coolly. “I’m ready to negotiate. Strike a bargain.”

“Go on.” Damn the chills his presence brought. This close, her hormones were going rogue again. And she battled against the flood of frustrated tears.

“You want something from me. I want something from you.”

“Which is?”

“I want you back in my bed. For old time’s sake. Surely a woman like you has no problem with sex without attachments.”

Rae struggled to hold back tears blurring her vision. Damned if she’d let him see how much his words pierced right through her. He didn’t mean it. His anger was speaking. She knew that on some level.

Rather than dress herself with an outfit of hurt and rage, Rae remembered the doctor’s words. Her father had days left, maybe less. The last time she’d been allowed to visit he looked small and weak in his hospital bed. Even though he’d never been there for her, she couldn’t leave him to a desperate and lonely fate. If he was determined to die, he wouldn’t do it alone. No matter how determined he was to prove her wrong.

The sickly image of her father needed to stay close to her thoughts because being near Daegen again made her feel like she was a broken ship out in the middle of the sea taking on water. She couldn’t afford to drown.

“Not a good idea.”

“Are you saying you haven’t thought of me since you left?”

Her heart gave a little flip. She tightened the grip on her elbows and looked him straight in the eye. “That’s none of your business.”

He rolled his impressively broad shoulders. “Then why are you really here? Did you come back to play games?”

“I wouldn’t—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Daegen’s hand closed on hers sending a jolt of awareness riveting through her body. The comfort with which he touched her alarmed her senses. She picked up her bag.

She didn’t flinch when he said, “Tell me the truth. You know you can’t lie to me.”

Damn that he still knew her better than anyone else. “I was always honest with you.” A wave of panic washed over her.

His ringtone broke the tension. He pulled his cell from his back pocket and said to Rae, “This conversation isn’t finished.”

He spoke a few terse words in Chinese before switching to English as he turned to face the wall. His voice deepened. “Nancy, listen carefully. I don’t care what he’s threatening. Let him go to the papers. He’s no different than any other parasite out there. I won’t be blackmailed. There is no boy.”

Was Daegen in some kind of trouble?

Then again, he led a very public life. All kinds of people crawled out of the woodwork to get a piece of the Tan fortune. The scrutiny under which he lived had always terrified Rae.

The pain in her shoulder intensified as she silently cursed the timing of the call. Her nerve endings already vibrated with the heat created by his powerful physical energy, which magnified with his darkening mood. She released her grip on her overnight bag sending it tumbling onto the floor. She simply had to get what she needed and get the hell out of there. Fast. Sooner than fast. Warp speed.

And since nothing motivated her more than the power of a deadline, she palmed her Blackberry and checked for Internet connection so she could search for air travel home. Besides, Daegen was doing things to her body and mind she couldn’t afford.

The Wi-Fi worked.
Yes.

She scrolled through return flight schedules to Dallas for the following day, Sunday, while forcing her gaze away from Daegen’s strong back. She needed to leave by tomorrow morning at the latest to get home in time to make the meeting. She silently cursed the fact she’d have to stay the whole night with the one man who’d imprinted her heart. Whom she could never have for more than just a speck of time. Who had the power to crush her insides with a few heated words.

She couldn’t hate him though.

This was her fault. All of it. She’d been the one to walk out of paradise without so much as a glance back. She’d ignored his attempts to contact her. She’d broken his heart...

Under the right circumstances, wouldn’t he have done the same?
a little voice said. Nothing was permanent in this world. The only person Rae could count on was Rae. It was only a matter of time before Daegen would’ve moved on anyway. Everyone did. By choice or by force, everyone walked out of her life eventually.

A deep sigh escaped as the band tightened around her chest again and the pain between her shoulders intensified.

She focused on the two-inch screen in her hand and scrolled.

Having located a flight, Rae entered her payment information and waited for confirmation. DENIED. She had to squint to read the shocking word on her screen.

How could that be?

She dropped to the floor, folded her legs, and then pulled up her credit card statement online.

Intensely, she studied the screen. She’d been a few days late on her last couple of payments, sure, but she’d paid her bills, fees included.

Please don’t do this.

Desperate, she scanned every line of her statement for a clue, some reason as to why her credit would be denied. The knot in her stomach tightened shooting waves of nausea rippling through her body.

There it was. Plain as the day is long.

OVER THE CREDIT LIMIT. And way in over her head.

Panic gripped her causing painful stabs in her chest. The tone in Walt’s voice had been clear. Be here for this meeting or don’t come back.
Oh God.

The little bit of financial security she’d meticulously amassed for five years was gone. Poof. Worse yet, she was in debt. And now she would lose her job if she didn’t make it back in time. And her father would be dead.

A stab of regret speared her. A momentary indulgence of self pity ripped through her. If she’d known she would have ended up broke anyway, she should’ve quit cleaning her own toilets years ago and hired a service. Or better yet, she should’ve spent lavishly on parties or clothes. She should’ve taken vacations to exotic places while being pampered with massages and pedicures. She damn well wouldn’t have scrimped and saved every penny, sacrificing anything that didn’t fit into her ultimate goal of financial security—a goal that had disappeared as quickly as stardust trailing behind a shooting star.

She folded over in a heap on the floor and bit back bitter tears as the reality of her current situation hit. Not only was she broke, but she was in the hole. Stranded. She’d fallen from a small mountain she’d carefully climbed to the top of, and everything was gone. Her dreams of settling down someday and having a family went poof along with her financial security.

And yet, she knew in her heart she was glad she’d saved every penny to give more time to her father. He’d be gone already without her support and backing. Her only real regret was that it wasn’t enough.

Either way, she wouldn’t change the past if she could. She wouldn’t trade any of those
things
for what she was doing for all the perfectly painted pink toenails in the world. She’d always known it wasn’t her father’s fault he’d had to turn her over to CPS.

Besides, her childhood had made her self-reliant and strong.

The whole experience had taught her a valuable life lesson early on. Under the right circumstances, even the ones who loved her most would let her down.