The Highest Bidder. Maureen Child
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to do any of this. Jake and I will be fine.”
“Yeah, you will,” he agreed. “Here.”
He laid both hands on her shoulders and she felt the heat of his hands sliding through her system. Seductive. That’s what he was. God, how had she ever believed he was cold and closed-off? In the past two weeks, he’d shown her more care and more attention than she could ever remember receiving from anyone.
Now, he’d even opened his home to her. Why? She had told him the truth about who she was. He had to know that whatever it was that sizzled between them when they were close couldn’t last. Wasn’t real. Wasn’t anything that should even have gotten started. So why hadn’t he turned his back on her?
He said he believed that she wasn’t trying to undermine Waverly’s. So was it something a lot simpler? Was he simply planning on using her for sex and then firing her later? No. She refused to believe that. Vance Waverly wasn’t that kind of man. He was being kind, and she wasn’t going to second-guess that. But oh, it probably hadn’t been a good idea to move in here, however temporarily.
“This guy knows where you live, Charlie,” Vance said as if he were reading her mind and knew that she was regretting the decision to come here. “What if he gets tired of email and wants to make a personal visit. Then what?”
She actually shivered at the thought. “I know, but I feel guilty. You’ve already been so nice, Vance….”
“Dammit, Charlie, you don’t have to go this alone.” He pulled her in to him until she had to tip her head back to look into his eyes. “I’m not being nice. I want you here where I know you and your son are safe. You can see I’ve got the room. What’s the problem?”
She reached up and laid her hands on his. “Vance, I appreciate it, I do. But you’ve never lived with a baby and I just don’t think you know what you’re getting into.”
“Let me worry about that, okay? Let me help.”
His features were tight, his eyes blazing as he looked down at her, practically willing her to agree. And though she knew she might one day come to regret this decision, Charlie knew she would be staying.
“Okay,” she said softly, admitting at least to herself that there was nowhere else she wanted to be.
“Good. Now,” he said, taking her hand, “drop your stuff. I’ll show you around.”
The tour of the rest of the condo had Charlie shaking her head in amazement. Vance’s house was lush and beautiful and she would never be comfortable there. Even the kitchen was set up more for a professional chef. It was like a model home. Meant to intrigue buyers and seduce them with clean lines and elegant furnishings.
But it wasn’t homey. It wasn’t comforting.
In fact, the only thing it had that appealed to her was Vance.
“I don’t want you to worry about bringing Jake out here to the garden,” he was saying now. “It’s perfectly safe for him.”
She stepped through the sliding-glass doors from the great room to a rooftop terrace oasis and gasped. They were at least thirty stories high and the views were incredible—as long as she didn’t look straight down. Potted plants and summer flowers burst from dozens of containers along the wall. A glass-topped table and chairs were set up at one side of the terrace and several lounge chairs, covered in white fabric, were gathered around one of those outdoor portable fire pits.
“No worries on the fire pit, either. It’s gas and it’s not as if Jake could turn it on.”
“Oh, I don’t think Jake needs to be out here,” she said, moving closer to the wall so she could take one very brief glance all the way down to the street below. Her head swam and she closed her eyes. “Yeah. He’ll be fine inside.”
Vance laughed. “Charlie, it’s perfectly safe.”
“It’s a long drop.”
“And we’re surrounded by a three-foot-high stone wall that is then topped by four feet of Plexiglas. There’s no way he could fall.”
Just the thought of that made her stomach sink. “I’m sure it’s safe, but we won’t be here that long anyway.”
Vance was at her side in an instant. He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her in close. Looking down into her eyes, he said, “Stop doing that. Stop talking about leaving.”
“I’m not,” she argued, even though a small voice in her head was urging her to do just that. Pull away before it was too late. Before her heart was even more engaged than it was already.
Before she did something so stupid as to fall in love with Vance Waverly.
“Yeah, you are.” He laughed shortly. “Mentally, you’ve got one foot out the door already and you’ve been in the house maybe ten minutes. So stop it, Charlie. You’re here now. With me. And I’m not letting you go.”
She should have argued with him. Should have told him that she came and went as she pleased. That he didn’t have the right to order her around or make demands or anything else outside of her job at Waverly’s.
But she didn’t say any of that. Instead, she gave in to what her heart and body were demanding she do. Charlie simply leaned into him and whispered, “Good.”
He grinned, fast and sharp, then bent his head to hers and, once more, Charlie was swept up in the rush of sensation that only Vance could cause. Every cell in her body sparkled into life. Every square inch of her skin buzzed in anticipation of more, and deep inside her, something opened, as if it had been waiting for just this moment. She was seriously afraid that it was her heart.
He pulled her closer still, hands running up and down her back, molding her body to his, caressing her until she moaned and pressed herself into him. Good. It felt so good to have him hold her, touch her. It felt … right.
Her fingers raked through his hair and skimmed across the back of his neck. He wasn’t wearing his suit coat, so she felt the strength of his shoulders beneath the soft fabric of his shirt. And she wanted to feel more.
The sun shone down on them. A breeze dove over the top of the Plexiglas wall and stirred the flowers until their scent was overwhelming, drowning Charlie’s senses as completely as Vance was taking over her body.
“I feel as if I’ve been waiting years for this,” he admitted.
Charlie knew just what he meant. His hands swept up and down her back, caressing, exploring. And every touch was fire. Magic. Her skin felt flushed and sensitive. As if she’d been waiting for his touch to come suddenly, almost painfully, alive.
He kissed her again, like a man starved for what she alone could give him. Their tongues met, tangled together in a frantic exchange of passion. Desperation, need, fueled every move, sighs lifted into the air and seconds ticked into minutes.
Charlie’s heart was pounding so hard she could hardly breathe and she didn’t care. All she cared about was the next touch, the next kiss, the next sweep of his tongue against hers.
Her mind splintered and all thoughts dissolved. Her body roared into life, hungering as it never had before. Her blood raced and desire was nearly strangling her. This was so much more than she’d expected. So much bigger than anything she’d ever felt before.
“You’ve been driving me crazy for days, Charlie,” Vance murmured when he tore his mouth from hers. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”
She laughed, feeling a rush of pure, feminine power at his confession. Reaching up, she pulled at his dark red tie, loosening the knot, then slid it free of his collar. “How? What have I been doing?”
“Your hair,” he admitted, tearing off the clip she wore so her long hair spilled down around her shoulders and lifted in the wind. “I’ve been wanting to see your hair down since that first day I saw you. It was