The Billionaire's Secretive Enchantress (The Berutelli Escape) (14 page)

“Sort of.  Everyone kept telling me that it was impossible.”

“But the cantilever.  It’s been done before.  Decades ago, actually.  There’s a house in Pennsylvania by Frank Lloyd Wright that basically does the same thing.”

“I know. I visited the site several times.”

She looked at him with blatant confusion. 
“So why was it so difficult to find an architect to do the designs?”

“Because no one is as smart as you are about cantilevers and support systems.”

She almost reared back with that compliment, so surprised by the sincerity.  “But…”

“Give it up, Sierra.  You’re more daring than the others.”
  He winked at her, enjoying her blush at his sincere compliment. 

She looked at the view, her mind racing.  “I was still in
college when you built the house.”

“Yes.  I didn’t catch wind of your work until about a year ago.  Which is when I started negotiating on the project you’re on now.”

She bit her lip and looked down, her appetite completely gone with the rush of amazement that washed over her.  “That’s very nice of you.”

He looked at her curiously, his eyes
squinting slightly in the sunshine.  “You don’t take compliments very well, do you?  But rest assured, I wanted you on this team from the beginning but my research showed me that you were too loyal to Todd.  So I worked it out so that I could get you on the team that will build the next city area, with interesting twists and creative ideas.  You’re an original, Sierra.  Just accept it.”

“There are other architects out there that are more talented.”

“There are others out there that are just as talented and just as skilled, but I like your preferences.  It’s sort of similar to going to a restaurant.  Italian food might be extremely good, but if you don’t like Italian, you’re going to dine at the Mexican restaurant.  Everyone has their own flair, their own preferences.  I think your preferences and mine are similar.  So I got you on the team.”

She blushed and had to look away.  “I’m flattered.”

He grabbed the bag of chips, eagerly taking one out and tossing it into his mouth.  “You should be.  I only hire the best.  Eat up,” he ordered sternly, changing the subject once again and alleviating some of the tension that had come up with her embarrassment.  “I’m not an easy boss.  So you might be wishing I’d left Todd’s firm alone.”

She took another bite of her sandwich, feeling enormously better about the whole world.  Simply because this man liked her work?  That seemed slightly silly.  Others had complimented her work before, she’d even been written up in several architectural journals and asked to speak at conferences.  She’d turned down the speaking offers, preferring to continue working instead of talking about her work.  But nothing compared to the simple statement from
Drake. 

“So tell me why you wanted to be an arch
itect,” he asked, opening the box of cookies.

“You can’t have cookies now,” she laughed, relieved when he changed the subject. 

“Why not?”

“Because you just had
chips.”

He shrugged his shoulders.  “And?”

She rolled her eyes as if he were being silly.  “And…eating a cookie means that you’re finished with lunch.  That means I get the bag of chips.  Toss it here.”

He caught on at that point, slowly shaking his head.  “If you want the chips, you have to come over and get them.”

She looked him up and down and shook her head.  “You’re not going to be a gentleman and hand them over?” she asked, wiping her hands on a napkin.  She surveyed him carefully, wondering how she could get the bag of chips delicately without ending up in a genuine tussle with him.  He was too big and too strong.  She’d definitely lose any physical fight she picked with him. 

She tried to maintain a straight face, but she was pretty sure he wasn’t buying it.  So with a glance over his shoulder, she turned away.  Then quickly turned back around, squinting her eyes at some point over his shoulder.  With a shake of her head, she stopped looking, then glanced right back to the spot where her eyes had been. 

Once again, she shook her head, then shielded her eyes as if she were trying to see something far away.

“What is it?” he asked, his expression indicating that he didn’t quite believe her. 

Sierra knew she had to take more drastic actions.  She put her half-eaten sandwich down on the plastic wrapper and stood up, still shielding her eyes as she looked out over the horizon.  Biting her lip seemed like a good idea because it added to her look of anxiety but also kept her from smiling when he started to buy into the problem.  

“Sierra?  What’s going on?  Do you see something?”
he asked, shifting around to try and see what she was concerned about.  He shielded his eyes, scanning the horizon himself.

Sierra knew she’d never have another chance.  With nimble fingers and a racing heart, she grabbed the bag of chips and took off in the opposite direction. 
Regrettably, she was laughing so hard she couldn’t run fast enough.  Drake realized what she was up to more quickly than she was expecting.  Within seconds, he was up and chasing after her. 

If she had been more creative, she might have thought about getting him a bit farther away from the pilfered chips.  But as it was, he was quick as lightening and was only inches from her within seconds.  Before she knew it, he grabbed her around the waist and she screamed out, laughing at her pathetic attempt to steal potato chips. 

Her hair was flying around her face, blocking out her ability to see what he was doing but she felt the world spin around slightly.  She was also laughing so hard she could barely breathe, gasping for breath.  She tried to hold his hands away, but he was so much stronger and much more agile.  He had the chip bag away from her as soon as he had her on the blanket, holding them above her body in a taunting fashion.

“Are you going to apologize for trying to steal the chips?” he demanded, one hand holding her down and tickling her while the other arm continued to hold the chips over her head.  Because his arms were longer, she couldn’t even reach them when she tried to grab them.  But she was still laughing
too hard and it also required two hands to try and stop his other hand from tickling her.  She had no strength though because of the laughter which was sapping all of her energy.  No matter how much she wiggled, she simply couldn’t get out from underneath him or avoid his tickling hand. 

“No!” she yelled out, still trying to grab his wrists.  “You’re a chip hog and I stole them because you were taunting me.”

“Well, I’m still taunting you.  What are you going to do about it now?”

She giggled uncontrollably, even trying to roll over onto her stomach
to get away from his nimble hands.  “Stop!” she begged.  But he easily flipped her back, grabbing both of her arms in his free hand and holding them over her head.

That was when Sierra knew she was really in trouble.  Her laughter died and her breathing was still heavy, but now for a completely different reason.  Her body was suddenly very aware of his larger frame over hers, his hips pressing against hers.  Even as she looked up at him, she felt his body’s reaction to their closeness and her pulse skyrocketed. 

“I want you,” he said softly but with an urgency that had been controlled before. 

“It can’t work,” she replied but it was hard for her to remember why it wouldn’t work.  In fact, it was painfully difficult for her to remember that she didn’t really like this man, didn’t want to deal with his arrogance and confidence.  At this particular moment, she couldn’t remember that they were not meant to have a relationship because right at this moment, all she wanted was for the moment to go on and on.  And to have him bend down and kiss her, to feel his lips against hers.

When he finally did that, she lifted her head to meet him as much as she could with her arms pinned above her head.  When he felt her lips quiver under his, his hands released hers and came down to cradle her head.  He tried to be gentle, but it was difficult when she was kissing him back just as passionately.  Aware of his size against her slender figure, he rolled off of her but pulled her to his side, his leg shifting ever so slightly so that one of his was in between hers.  His hand reached down and pulled her knee, cradling his hardness against her hips. 

He almost groaned when he felt her hands on his head, her fingers gently tugging at his hair, begging him without words to co
me closer.  She shifted her legs, pressing her own hips closer, finding his hardness and thrilling him with her eagerness to be close to him.  His hands shifted her, pulling her harder against him and one hand slid underneath the flannel shirt, finding the soft, delicate skin underneath. 

With a groan, he pulled back and looked down at her.  “We have to go back to
my place to continue this,” he said and stood up quickly, reaching down to give her a hand as well.  “Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any protection with me.”  When she put her hand into his, he almost lifted her up when he pulled her into his arms to kiss her once again, deeply, while his hands went to her hips and pulled her closer again.  “You feel incredible!  I can’t believe I wasn’t prepared for this.  Let’s go.”

He was already bending down and stuffing the blanket and food items back into the bag, preparing to store them in the back of the ATV when her senses came back to her. 

“Wait,” she said when he lifted her up, about to carry her along to the back of the bike.  “What are we doing?” she asked, her hands braced on his shoulders. 

“We’re going back to my place
.  Then I’m going to carry you into my bedroom,” he kissed her, putting her onto the seat of the ATV and lifting his own leg to straddle the seat backwards before bending low over her as he kissed her again and again.  “And then I’m going to make love to you as we were doing moments ago.”

He’d already stuffed the
picnic materials into the holder when his words sunk in.  “Wait, we can’t do that.”  She was shaking from the impact of both his words and the need to do exactly what he’d said.  She wanted nothing more than to make love with this man but they couldn’t do that.  There was too much between them, too much history and she couldn’t do that to him. 

She’d forgotten that she didn’t like him. 
His eagerness, the excitement, his humor and so many other things had obliterated her irritation with his arrogance and his high-handed nature.  After today, that no longer mattered.  Besides, he wasn’t acting arrogant and conceited now.  He was sweet and kind and gentle.  And fun!  He was a different person out here in the wilderness than he was in the office.  She liked this man.  She’d laughed with him and he’d made her relax.  She hadn’t had a great deal of that in her life so far and she didn’t want to ruin it by having sex with him.  Not with this dreaded secret she’d been keeping from him.

He stilled and looked at her worried features.  With a deep sigh, he came back to stand in front of her.  “Tell me what’s wrong, Sierra.  Because what we were just doing felt extremely right.”

She bit her lip, unsure of what to say, how to convey her regret without telling him everything. 

“There are things about me that you don’t know about.  My past isn’t…nice,” was all she could say.  She tried to tell him everything, knowing that he deserved the truth.  But something
held her back.  A look in his eyes, the patience and kindness she’d suspected before, but hadn’t ever witnessed.  It was probably the perfect time, but she simply couldn’t form the words.

His work-roughened hand came up to caress her cheek and she closed her eyes to keep herself from leaning into his hand and giving him yet another mixed message. 
“Okay, so you’re not ready to tell me what’s holding you back.  We’ve only known each other for a short period of time and you need to know more about me.  You don’t fully trust me yet.”

That wasn’t it, she thought silently with misery overwhelming her.  “Actually,” she said as she twisted her fingers together, “you need to know me better.  There are a lot of things about me that you might not like.”

He almost laughed out loud at the idea of this sweet, gentle, intelligent woman having a past that could be so horrible.  “So tell me now.  I can look at your lips that are still soft and swollen and that might counter any anger I’ll have with you for whatever heinous crimes you’ve committed in the past.”

He was trying to make her laugh, but it really wasn’t funny.  “You joke but…I really am not who you think I am.”

He couldn’t help it when she said things like that.  He threw back his head and laughed.  “Sierra, there’s no way you can convince me that you aren’t the sweet, warm, caring woman I’ve come to know over the past few weeks.”

“I’m not all that sweet,” she grumbled, wishing he wouldn’t make her sound like a saint.  “I’m not really all that kind either.”  He’d
agree with her as well once he heard how cruel her father was before he’d died in prison. 

“I doubt
that you even had a handful of lovers,” he joked.  When she blushed and looked away, he stilled.  “Is that it?  Did you have a lover in the past who…”

“No!” she gasped, pulling away from him.

He still stood before her, motionless.  “Sierra,” he said with a deep, serious voice, “have you ever had a lover?” he finally asked.