Billionaire Erotic Romance Boxed Set: 7 Steamy Full-Length Novels (140 page)

One room was full of racks of wines. She’d known Henry enjoyed wines, but hadn’t realized he had such an extensive collection. The dining room and kitchen were both empty as well, though there was coffee made and some fresh cut fruit.

“Well, at least there’s breakfast.” She fixed herself a mug of coffee and popped a bite of sweet melon into her mouth. She munched at the fruit and sipped her coffee, listening intently for any noise in the vast penthouse.

Had he gone out for something?

She heard a soft ping and followed the sound to a closed door beneath the stairs that she hadn’t noticed before. It was slightly ajar. She pushed lightly with her fingertips and it swung open on silent hinges.

Henry sat behind a huge mahogany desk, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, frowning over a packet of papers. His laptop was open beside him, the source of the ping that had drawn her.

Sophie took a step backward, biting her lip. He was clearly working and she didn’t want to interrupt. His eyes flicked up to her face before she could retreat.

“Sophie, come in.” His brow smoothed and he beckoned her closer.

“I didn’t mean to disturb you. I wasn’t sure where you were.” She leaned her hip against the side of his desk, biting her lip. She couldn’t meet his eyes for very long, the anxiety she thought she’d suppressed trickling back into her brain. She ran a finger around the rim of her mug instead.

His tentatively circled her wrist with his fingers, lifting her knuckles for a brief kiss. “It’s fine, Sophie. I was just looking over some paperwork.”

“Oh?” She licked her lips, her pulse leaping at his touch. Their eyes met. Sophie saw the flare of desire in Henry’s dark gaze, but there was still some wariness there too. She was surprised when he tugged her down into his lap and wrapped an arm around her waist.

His fingers stroked her side absently and he waved the papers in his other hand. “Plans for a building in Switzerland. The location is prime, I’m just not sure what for.” He sighed. “Sorry, I thought I would come wake you soon, but I guess I lost track of time.”

She stroked the soft hair at the nape of his neck. “What time did you get up?”

“Too early,” he groaned. She chuckled, poking at the sheaf of papers.

“This was bothering you, wasn’t it?”

His brows curved upward. Was he surprised that she’d guessed correctly or that she wasn’t angry with him? Sophie couldn’t tell.

Henry’s lips quirked. “It was. Not while I was sleeping of course.” He squeezed her waist. “But once I was awake...” He shrugged.

“That big, sexy brain started working?” Sophie ran her fingers through his hair. Henry tilted his head, eyes wide with surprise.

“You think my brain is sexy?”

Sophie shifted on his lap, a flush staining her cheeks. The truth was, she thought everything about him was sexy. “Maybe. So, where in Switzerland is this project you’re pondering?”

His lips twitched into an amused smile, but he let her change the subject. “Lausanne.” He pronounced it with the French accent, low-zen.

“Oh! I love it there. It’s a beautiful city. Is the property on the lake?” Joy sprang in Sophie’s chest as she remembered the lovely Swiss city on Lake Geneva. Henry blinked in surprise.

“You’ve been there?”

It was Sophie’s turn to raise her brows. “Of course! The Prix de Lausanne is a big deal in the dance world.”

“I didn’t think you were interested in ballet.”

“My training is classical. I just prefer the energy of tango.” She shrugged one shoulder, dismissing her past as a ballerina. “So, where in Lausanne is the property? Are you thinking of apartments or hotels? There’s a fair bit of competition of you’re thinking hotels.”

“That’s true. The city is fairly cosmopolitan, based on the report. Perhaps a club would be better for the location.” Henry frowned at the packet of paper as if he expected it to chime in.

Sophie held out her hand. She didn’t want to just take the report. This was new ground for them and she didn’t want to push. Still, the business conversation had at least helped diffuse some of the awkward, morning after tension. She smiled when Henry slid the thick bundle of pages into her grasp.

“Have you never been there? Oh, but you said you oversee the construction phase, so someone else chose the location and the property, I guess.”

“Precisely. All I’ve got is an empty plot, in this case.” His lips thinned.

She flipped through the pages of the report. Demographics, median incomes, popular tourists spots. All the information he might need to decide what to put up in the location. “Well, a fair percentage of the population are foreign nationals, so you could do something in an American style and it might feel like home to people. When we were there, the clubs were more in the style of the European disco. We’d have killed for someplace a little more...” She trailed off, unsure of what word she was looking for.

“American?” Henry’s grin flashed.

“Yeah. That’s terrible, I know. But when you travel as much as I did, a little bit of home can be nice. But you must know, you travel a lot too, right?” She couldn’t help herself, she reached out at stroked his chest. The temptation to touch him was just too great. Henry’s eyes heated, but he didn’t remark on her caress.

“I do understand. The travel can be a bit wearing at times.”

Sophie toyed with a button on his shirt. “Where was your favorite place to go?”

“That’s hard. There are so many great places. I enjoyed Germany, and Turkey. Oh, and Italy, of course.”

“I love Italy. I think I would live there if I could. At least some of the time.” She grinned, remembering a cascade of memories from various trips to Italy. She loved the history and the food and the weather of the place. She sighed.

Henry brushed a lock of damp hair back off her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist. Sophie settled a little against his chest. They sat silently for a moment. She was content to relax against him and just feel him breath. At least for a little while. But quickly, the tension began to mount again. The conversation they hadn’t yet had.

She felt him growing tense too, most likely for the same reason. Was he thinking about sending her away? Had he made his decision already? If so, Sophie wished he’d just tell her and get it over with. The anticipation was killing her.

“Sophie, I—”

“I should get going if I’m going to get to the studio on time.” Maybe it wasn’t the anticipation that had her tied in knots, because she bolted to her feet as if he’d lit an actual fire under her butt.

Henry frowned. “I thought the studio didn’t open until eight?”

“I have to go change first. And I should probably get there before Darren just to make sure we didn’t leave any... um... evidence of our activities behind.” She flushed, remembering their heated encounter the night before. The muscle that jumped in Henry’s jaw said he was remembering too.

“Okay.”

“We’ll talk later?” She was being a big old scaredy-cat. Sophie knew it. The prospect of him saying he didn’t love her, didn’t want to give this relationship a chance, terrified her. Give him a little more time to think, make sure he’s sure of what he wanted. They could talk tonight. Or tomorrow. Or maybe they didn’t have to talk at all. They could just keep doing like they’d done last night for the next, say, fifty years.

“Later,” Henry confirmed, making her heart drop into her stomach and then leap into her mouth.

Sophie swallowed, cupped his chin, and brushed her mouth across his. “I love you, Henry.”

She hurried out of the room, and his penthouse, before he could say anything else.

***

“Listen, girl, you can’t just hang up on me in the middle of a conversation and then never call me back and tell me you’re okay! I almost called the cops!”

Darren stood in the office doorway, hands on his hips, green eyes blazing at her.

“Sorry, babe. Henry showed up just then and...” She dropped her gaze, heat staining her cheeks as she thought about the “and.” Darren quirked a blond brow.

“That’s what I figured. It’s the only reason I didn’t call the cops. I didn’t guess you’d want New York’s finest bursting in on your make-up time.” He sank into the desk chair and crossed his arms. “So, the plan went well then?”

Sophie swept past him, heading for the front classroom. The first class of the day was due to start in twenty minutes, their professionals class, and she should really stretch before getting into the more complex routines she tried with her working dancers.

“Yes, and no.”

Darren followed her with a put-upon sigh. “Meaning what, Sophie? Did he fall at your feet and pledge his undying love?”

“Yes to the first part, no to the second?” She could barely look at the barre without picturing Henry’s muscled form bending over her, the hot length of his cock pushing inside her. She shook herself and began a series of floor stretches instead. Darren frowned.

“Sophie,” Darren groaned. “Can we get to the part where he didn’t confess his love?” He leaned to the side, stretching an arm over his head.

“I confessed mine,” she replied with a small sigh, avoiding Darren’s gaze. Her friend froze mid-stretch, his eyes going wide.

“You did?”

She forced her gaze up to Darren’s. The worry she saw there made her smile. “I love him, Dar. I wanted him to know. If he’s going to make a decision about whether or not we’re worth fighting for, he needs all the facts.”

Darren’s lips pursed, but he went back to stretching. “Okay. Let’s say I don’t think you’re looney tunes. He didn’t say he loved you back?”

“He said he cared about me.” She bit her lip. It wasn’t the same thing, and the bleak expression on Darren’s face, the thinning of his mouth and the tightening of the skin over his cheeks, said he believed Henry was going to hurt her again. “And as far as non-verbal communications go, he was pretty adamant about his feelings.”

“Sex is not love, Sophie. You know that.” His words were spoken with a gentle inflection, but she still flinched.

“I do know that. But I’m not just talking about the fact that we had sex. I’m talking about
how
we had sex.”

“I do not need to know your kinky details, Soph.” Darren held up his hands. Sophie slapped at them.

“When he touched me... Dar, he touches me like he loves me.”

Darren face lost some of its tension, but his eyes still roamed hers with concern. “So, why do you still look like you might possibly cry?”

He knew her too damn well. She bit her lip. “I know he’s holding back. I don’t know what, but there always seems to be something he’s keeping away from me.”

“Not the Nicole thing?”

Sophie shook her head. “No, not the Nicole thing. I don’t know what. Just, things he seems determined to keep close to the chest. He keeps me at arm’s length, emotionally. And I’m not sure he’s willing to bring me closer. Or if he even wants to.”

Wouldn’t he have said he loved her back last night, if he really wanted to? That was the thought that plagued her. She’d said it, and he’d told her he needed to think. But the way he’d made love to her, the intensity with which he’d looked at her each time she said the words. Surely she wasn’t misreading all of that?

Darren hopped to his feet and pulled her to hers as the first couple of students began to stream in. They tossed Sophie and Darren waves and hellos and began to warm up themselves.

“What are you going to do?” Darren asked softly, his hand still on hers. Sophie shrugged, her smile slipping a little.

“Whatever happens, I’m glad I told him. I’m glad he knows someone loves him. If...” She swallowed. “If he doesn’t love me back, then at least I’ll know I didn’t leave anything on the table. I won’t have any regrets.”

She spun away from him and clapped her hands, drawing the class’s attention. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

Darren’s eyes were solemn on her, but as soon as he turned on the music, his teacher persona slid into place. She was the task master, he was the joker. It was a nice balance between the two of them and kept the classes from either degenerating into chaos or becoming boring and stuffy.

Sophie tried to keep her attention focused on the class, on Darren, on the dance steps, and not on Henry. He would meet her half way, or he wouldn’t. She’d done everything that she could think of to convince him they had something worth fighting for. Now, the ball was in his court.

“Make sure your partner’s attention doesn’t wander, class!” Darren’s voice was laced with a sharp edge of irony that yanked Sophie out of her daze as he spun her around. “If your partner’s not focused on you, you could both get hurt. It’s your job to keep them engaged.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled, heat flushing her cheeks.

Darren’s smiled crookedly as they executed a complicated volcado. “Thinking about Henry?”

“I know I need to stop. If he’s not willing to risk it, then I need to move on.” She exhaled a short breath at the pain that clutched at her heart.

“I wouldn’t be in quite such a hurry.” Darren’s eyes twinkled as they flicked over her shoulder, and then he drew them both to a halt.

“Darren, what—”

Henry’s fingers brushed her shoulder. She’d know the electricity in that touch anywhere. “May I cut in?”

Darren clapped his hands. “Class, let’s all direct our attention to Sophie and our special guest for the day, Mr. Henry Medina.”

Sophie shot Darren a glare, but he just grinned wider. Henry extended his hand. “I’d hate to disappoint your class,” he said softly out of the corner of his mouth.

His dimple flashed at her and Sophie relented with a sigh, slipping her hand into his. And just like last night at the party, they moved together with a passion and grace that she had never felt before. When Henry lifted her against him, she didn’t tense, and when he tilted her suddenly backwards, she didn’t worry about falling.

Here, he had never let her down.

He spun her out, brought her back. She kicked up her leg and he caught it, bending her back. Once again, the hoots and hollers surrounded them. Henry grinned down at her. Sophie couldn’t stop the smile that curved her lips in reply.

“Will you come with me? Now?” His voice was low as he righted her. Sophie’s heart jumped into her mouth and refused to return to its place in her chest no matter how many times to swallowed.