Californian Kings. Maureen Child
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sunlight poured down on him from a brilliant blue sky. Traffic down Main Street was light, but the sidewalks were filled with people strolling in and out of the shops in the newly rehabbed business district. Everyone in Morgan Beach was happy with what he’d done there. Everyone but the one woman he was interested in.
Were the fates finally getting back at him? His entire life, women had come easily to him. Now, there was Bella. A woman whose memory had haunted him for three years and now that he’d found her again she wanted nothing to do with him. Even worse, she had something going on with that Kevin guy. But what? he wondered. Was she in love with the other man?
Scowling at the thought, Jesse told himself it didn’t matter. Whatever she felt for someone else could be dealt with. He wanted Bella and Jesse King didn’t lose. Ever.
“Well, you look fierce.”
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked down into chocolate-brown eyes. She’d slipped up on him unnoticed and he couldn’t figure out how. Her scent alone should have alerted him. It was a blend of flowers and spice that somehow reminded him of summer nights. Well, one summer night in particular.
“Sorry,” he said, smiling at her. “Just thinking.”
“Couldn’t have been happy thoughts.”
“You might be surprised,” he said and took her arm, turning her toward the front door of King Beach headquarters. When he took a step forward though, she didn’t move. Turning to look down at her again, he asked, “What’s the problem?”
She frowned, chewed at her bottom lip and finally admitted, “I feel as if I’m walking into enemy territory.”
“Expecting an ambush?”
She whipped her long, thick, brown hair out of her way and stared up at him. “Honestly, I don’t know what to expect.”
“Well, then,” Jesse said, enjoying her nervousness a bit, “let’s get started and satisfy your curiosity.”
He led her through the door and paused just inside the threshold. A receptionist’s desk sat just opposite the door and the woman seated there was busily answering a phone that rang incessantly. Smiling at the woman, Jesse walked past her to the elevator bank, pushed the button and waited, still holding on to Bella as if he were worried that she’d bolt.
But she didn’t. She stood there with an expression that made him think of martyrs about to be burned at the stake. He wished she would smile. Amazing how this one badly dressed woman could get to him so easily.
Over the last few days though, his mind had been filling in some blanks. Now that he knew who his mystery woman was, his memory of that night three years ago was becoming clearer. He could see her face now, as she’d looked in the moonlight. He could hear her voice, sighing. And he damn well remembered that she hadn’t dressed like a Hungarian peasant back in the day. So he couldn’t help wondering why she was dressing that way now.
Only one way to find out. “So, want to tell me why you wear those shapeless clothes?”
“Excuse me?” She turned her face up to his.
He waved one hand to encompass her loose, pale green shirt and flowing, floor-length yellow skirt. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. After all, he was trying to charm and seduce her, not piss her off further. But dammit, he’d seen the body she had hidden underneath all that fabric and he couldn’t understand why she was so determined to disguise it. Especially, he thought, since she hadn’t before. He distinctly remembered her wearing faded jeans and a low-necked, body-hugging T-shirt.
She flushed and Jesse was charmed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a woman blush. But her one moment of embarrassment was gone an instant later. Her dark eyes flashed as she said, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I like wearing natural fabrics.”
He should have backed off, but couldn’t help himself. “Natural, sure. But why…” He shook his head, clearly baffled.
The elevator chimed, the doors hissed open and Bella stepped inside. Turning around sharply, she lifted her chin, glared at him and said, “I stopped wearing formfitting clothes three years ago when I discovered it attracted men who were interested in only one thing.”
In the harsh, overhead glare of the fluorescent lights, she looked ferocious and proud. Like a female Viking. And Jesse felt a shot of admiration rip through him, along with a quick flash of shame. Because of him, she was dressing like a refugee from a rag factory? She was hiding that glorious body because he’d slept with her and disappeared from her life?
Vaguely disgusted with himself, he walked into the elevator beside her and punched the second-floor button. Strange, but until this moment, he’d never before considered what a woman thought of him after their time together was over. He’d always enjoyed himself, made sure his lady of the moment had a good time and then he’d moved on.
Uneasiness settled over him as he wondered how many other women he might have left wounded in his wake. He’d never thought of himself as a hurting women kind of guy. Hell, he liked women. But now…he had to wonder.
Still, he felt compelled to say something, so he said, “I don’t think your strategy’s working.”
“Really?” she asked, her voice just carrying over the distantly annoying Muzak playing over the speakers. “I haven’t been bothered by unwanted men in three years.”
He found that hard to believe. “Then the men in this town are blind or extremely shortsighted and probably stupid to boot, so you’re better off without them.”
“Is that right?” She glanced up at him from beneath long, dark lashes.
“Damn straight,” he told her, meeting her gaze squarely. Fine. He’d messed up. But that was in the past. And she might as well know that whatever she was wearing, she got to him on levels no one else ever had.
“The clothes are ugly, I grant you. But they don’t disguise your eyes. Or your mouth.” He lifted one hand and smoothed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. She pulled her head back quickly, and he smiled, shaking his head. “And even if you’d been dressed like this three years ago…I still would have noticed you.”
She blinked at him, obviously surprised, and Jesse felt like a jerk. For the first time in his life, he was faced with a woman he’d used and walked away from. And for the first time in his life, he regretted what he’d done. A new experience for him. And not an entirely comfortable one.
The elevator opened, sparing them both from having to continue the conversation. A buzz of activity and conversation rolled toward them in a thick wave and Jesse smiled. He may not have started out as a businessman, but he certainly enjoyed the sights and sounds of his success. He knew all too well that it was because of him that this company was growing beyond all imaginings. And he had a real sense of pride in what he’d accomplished in a few short years.
“Come on, Bella,” he said, holding out one hand toward her and smiling. “Let me show you around the enemy camp.”
She glanced from him to the room and back again before reluctantly slipping her hand into his and following him out into the middle of organized chaos. Phones were ringing, printers were hissing as they shot sheet after sheet of paper onto trays and the low rumble of dozens of conversations almost sounded like the roar of the ocean.
He walked her through King Beach like a king overseeing his estate. He made sure she saw all the latest technology and the swarms of people he had handling sales, marketing and publicity. Really getting into his spiel, Jesse pointed out the wall maps with the locations of the hundreds of King Beach stores and turned to bask in her admiration.
But Bella wasn’t watching him or his presentation. Instead, she was marching up and down the aisles, peeking into cubicles and rummaging in trash cans.
“What are you doing?” he asked, coming up behind her.
She straightened, spun around and faced