Too Tough To Tame. Annette Broadrick
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“You received my flowers,” a deep voice said in her ear.
“Are you lurking outside my home?”
“Not at all. I told the florist to have them delivered promptly. I felt certain they would have arrived by now.”
If he but knew it, he had given Kelly the opportunity she needed if she decided to follow through with her plan to help Hal. Did she have the nerve? Did she really want to be around Chakaris again?
Stalling for time, she replied, “I suppose you own the florist shop.”
There was a brief silence before he said, “As a matter of fact, I do. The shop is here in the building.”
“Is there anything in this city you don’t own, Mr. Chakaris?”
“Please call me Nick. And yes, there are a great many things in this city over which I have no control.”
“That’s reassuring,” she said dryly. “That should keep your ego somewhat in check.”
“My ego is already suffering from the shellacking you gave it yesterday. I was hoping for the opportunity to convince you I’m not really the monster you seem to think I am.”
Had he always sounded so sexy? She’d been too agitated yesterday to notice…or at least had done her best not to consider his physical attributes.
She swallowed. “Saturday?” she repeated faintly. Three days from tonight? Could she do it? She studied the calendar near her phone.
“I have business meetings back to back until then. I’ll be distracted, I’m sure, thinking about you, but I’ll force myself to sit through them.”
She rolled her eyes at the obvious line. “I’m afraid I can’t on Saturday. I already have plans.”
He didn’t respond right away and she wondered if he’d hung up when he said, “I would really like to see you again. Is it possible that we could start over from here and see what develops?”
“I’m available Sunday evening,” she said with reluctance.
“Good. I’ll be there at seven.”
She hung up thoughtfully. If this were anyone but Dominic Chakaris, she might get the idea that he was personally interested in her, but she knew that Chakaris, the corporate raider, would see her simply as a challenge. Even if he were interested in her, he would soon move on to his next conquest. He had a reputation for refusing to become seriously involved with anyone.
In any case, she was committed to spending only one evening with him—to having dinner, nothing more. If she intended to help Hal—and wasn’t that the reason she’d given herself for agreeing to see Dominic again?—she would need to be around him more.
That being the case, she’d taken the first step.
Saturday evening, William Comstock III arrived on time to take her to the benefit dance for one of her mother’s charities.
“You’re ready?” Will asked, placing his hand over his heart in surprise.
“Very funny,” she replied. “As though you’ve ever had to wait for me.”
He hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Oooh, that’s right. I must have you confused with one of my other women.” He stepped back and looked at her. “Great outfit. I’m not going to ask how you manage to keep the top up.”
She shook her head and grinned. Will had dated Anita, her college roommate, during which time he and Kelly had become best buds. Their friendship had outlasted the romantic one. Since his family insisted he attend so many of these functions, Kelly and Will had made a pact to go together and “guard each other’s back,” as Will so quaintly put it.
Kelly was glad for his undemanding companionship tonight. Had her date been anyone else she would probably have cancelled. Instead she’d bought a new dress—black sheer with a silk lining. When she first saw it she had wondered, like Will, if she’d be able to lift her arms to dance without losing the bodice. She was amazed at the masterful engineering that had gone into the dress to prevent such a thing from happening.
Will opened the door and escorted her to his late-model roadster. “Hope you don’t mind if we don’t stay long. I’m promised to someone else tonight.” Kelly laughed, as he knew she would. “How about you?” he asked once he was behind the wheel. “Has some lucky guy swept you off your feet and promised you the world?”
“Not yet. I can always hope,” she replied, chuckling. “Of course you know that’s not true. I have too much to do to encourage a relationship right now.”
“Uh-huh. That’s what you’ve been telling me since you graduated. If you don’t accept some invitations soon I’m going to drag every single male I know over here for your inspection and review and insist you go out with each one at least once.”
“You wouldn’t!” Kelly said, mortified. “What a horrible thought. Besides, you needn’t worry about me. I actually have a dinner date tomorrow night.”
Will threaded his way through heavy traffic. He glanced at her in surprise. “No kidding! Somebody I know?”
“I doubt it.”
“So who is he? C’mon, Kelly. I keep you up to date on my love life. Don’t be shy.”
“I’m not being shy. And this isn’t about a love life. It’s just a dinner date, for Pete’s sake.”
“Ah, you’re going out with Pete, are you?” He waited a couple of seconds and asked, “Pete who?”
She hit his arm. “You idiot. I don’t know why I put up with you…I really don’t.”
“I do,” he said, suddenly sounding serious. “You feel safe with me. I’ve known that for years. If I ever made a pass at you, you’d take off so fast you’d leave skid marks.”
“I’m not going to discuss this anymore,” she said with dignity. “Besides, we’re here,” she added with relief as he swung into the valet parking area in front of the hotel.
“Fine with me. We can sit here in the car all evening as far as I care. Who is he?”
“Oh, all right,” she said with irritation. “It’s Dominic Chakaris.” She smiled as one of the parking attendants opened her door. She waited for Will near the entrance and he soon joined her. He took her elbow and escorted her into the hotel.
“Oh, all right. If you’re going to make up somebody, I give up. All I’ll say is you must be ashamed of him if you have to keep him a secret.”
She grinned, suddenly in a better humor. “This time, I’m telling you the truth. It is Dominic Chakaris.”
They paused as the other invitees moved ahead of them into the ballroom. “Oh, yeah. I believe you. The man you hate, the man you painted with so much ferocity that I felt sorry for the poor canvas at times? This is the guy you’re going to see?”
She chuckled, her eyes on his face as they entered the ballroom. “What can I say,” she replied, fluttering her eyelashes at him, “the poor man was swept away by me. I wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of tomorrow night he isn’t pleading with me to have his children!”
Nick saw her as soon as she walked through the door, his head turning like a magnet to the north. The strong surge of lust at the sight of her caught him off guard. Not that he should be surprised. Wearing that dress, she was going to cause every man in the place to suffer whiplash. The dress, what little there was to it, clung to her as though it were wet, emphasizing her bare shoulders, her gentle curves and very attractive legs. She looked small as she stood beside Adonis…the top of her head barely came to her partner’s shoulder. And who the hell was he? In addition to his good looks, he had the build of an athlete, with broad shoulders and slim hips. His blond hair fell boyishly across his forehead and