The Millionaire's Convenient Bride (9 page)

“
I have already made the arrangements, so your things are being sent as we speak.”

Louisa didn’t try
to hide her shock this time. He had known she would accept, had gone behind her back to arrange it before he even brought up the idea. She was furious with him. He would have done it even if she said no. She didn’t even have the control to argue with him. turning she strode back to the elevator and jammed the close door button before he could follow her. She had the image of him standing by the windows, and she was glad to see his resolve was broken, with a look of pure surprise on his handsome face. 

Chapter
Six

Cole was home when Dominic finally arrived back at his apartment. He had offered the space to Louisa, and she accepted as he knew she would. She was a stubborn woman, prideful, but she couldn’t deny the logic behind his offer. What he hadn’t expected was her sudden change of mood when he told her he already arranged for her things to be moved.

“
What did you do?”

His brother strode up to him. Had he not known him well he would have thought the other man would hit him.
From a murderous look on his face and set of his large muscled body, Dominic could tell the man had a severe beating in his plans.

He removed his coat and tried to
pacify his brother before he started with a speech. “I don’t know what I did, and in any case it’s none of your business.”,

“
Well she came back about an hour ago and stormed straight into your room.  Did you two have a fight?”

Dominic really wasn’t in the mood to discuss it with Cole
, but as his brother was blocking the hall way he didn’t see he had a choice so explained what happened.

“
You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” Cole said, shaking his head and allowing Dominic to pass.

He headed straight for Louisa’s room and knocked on the door. There was no answer
, and as she currently had the only key he had no way of getting in. Cole watched him as Dominic went to sit on the leather sofa and flipped on the plasma.

“
She abandoned your bed for the spare room, hey? Looks like you’re sleeping alone tonight, little brother.”

It took a moment for Dominic to work out what he was talking about. Of course, they were supposedly sharing a room. He was glad Cole formed his own conclusions
, or he may have just blown the whole arrangement.

“
I’m ordering Chinese.”

Dominic was angrily flipping channels too fast for him to actually see what was on
, but it kept his hands busy whilst he thought.

“
Hey, what do you want?” Cole asked.

From his tone it was not the first time he had asked the question.

“Want? From who?” Dominic asked distractedly. Surely he wasn’t asking what he wanted from Louisa. He wanted everything from her. She made him feel more alive than he had felt in years. He had women to warm his bed, but Louisa was different. She was witty and self-assured. She didn’t look at him as money. She had the whole package, looks, body and brains and a killer sense of business. Just the thought of her soft skin against his body made him yearn for her. He imagined what she would say if he walked up and ripped her sensible sweater right off her body. Would she gasp and let him, or would she slap him and storm from the room? Both options made him smile in longing for the fiery woman. 

“
What do you want for dinner?”

Oh
. Dominic caught on to what his brother was talking about. “The usual, and some honey chicken for Louisa. It’s her favourite.”

Cole left to place the order with a huff. The man enjoyed meddling
, and Dominic was sure he wouldn’t let the subject drop without further argument. He wouldn’t put it past the other man to go and see Louisa himself, just so that he could get them back together faster.  He sighed and put the remote down, scrubbing his face with his hands whilst he thought. There was no reason for Louisa to be cross with him, but on the other hand Cole seemed to think that he was in the wrong. He prided himself on being a smart man, but where women were involved he was ashamed to say he often got it wrong. Before he could make it up to her, he had to work out what exactly he had done wrong.

She hadn’t seemed too put out when he offered her the space, and he knew that she liked the office. She had lit up with excitement. Her eyes had sparkled as she gazed out the window in wonder at the life he could offer her. So no, it couldn’t have been the space. He tried to think back to what had happened after that
, but nothing jumped out at him as glaringly wrong. He finally gave up and picked up the remote again, settling on a game. He didn’t know who was playing, and he didn’t really care.

****

Louisa typed quickly on Dominic’s laptop. She didn’t care if he was angry with her for borrowing it. She needed to work off her frustration. If she still had a company in a month she needed to continue her research and maintenance. She prided herself on being up to date in all of the latest laws and amendments. It helped her clients, whoever she had left, and kept her busy on the nights she couldn’t sleep. This was one of those nights. Milo rolled over her bed covers, chasing her fingers as she ran them along the rumples in the cover. A smile touched her lips. She found it hard to be angry when she looked at the little kitten, not a care in the world, content to simply chase fingers for enjoyment. If only she could let go enough to be so carefree. This was the life she chose, the life she had built for herself, and it would take her more than a day to let that all go. She knew that Dominic hadn’t meant harm in his gesture, and it only made Louisa feel worse to know that he probably didn’t even know why she was angry with him.

“
Are you angry with me, too?” she asked Milo, picking him up so that she could kiss his little nose. His mouth opened, and he uttered a small mew in agreement before trying to suck on one of her fingers. Fetching his milk she fed the little tiger. He really was quite a good distraction Louisa thought as she allowed the milk to drop into his mouth. As amusing as her new friend was she needed someone to talk to who could talk back. She dialled Sophie’s number, praying the other woman was home. She answered on the third ring and listened patiently as Louisa explained what had happened. 

Sophie sighed.
“My dear, what did you expect? Dominic means well. You already know that. He thought he was helping you. He just doesn’t realise that you are too smart to need his help.”

Louisa thought on that
. Had he not already helped her? He offered marriage just to save her company, and if that wasn’t help she didn’t know what was.

“
Louisa?”

“
Yes, I know all of this, Sophie. It isn’t that I’m not grateful. It’s more that he’s so arrogant that he knew he would get his way. How do you live with that?”

She could hear the smile in Sophie’s voice as she replied.

“You get used to it. You’ll have to I’m afraid if you are to be married.”

Her words
rang true in Louisa’s mind. Of course Sophie didn’t know that she would be free of him, and he of her, in a few months.

“
Louisa, is this all that’s bothering you?”

Louisa laughed quietly to herself. Of course Sophie knew that she wouldn’t have called for such a small problem.

“It’s just everything I guess. My business is failing, my love life is failing, and my control is failing. Everything that I know has changed, and I don’t know how to pull it back together.”

“
I think your love life is fine as far as I can see. After all, any couple has their ups and downs. Has it occurred to you that it doesn’t need controlling? Sometimes it can save your sanity to let someone else in once in a while. What’s that thumping noise?” Sophie asked.

Louisa cursed under her breath at her slip
-up. Of course as far as Sophie could see Louisa was a woman about to be married to her long lost love. She quickly answered her question to move the conversation safely away from her mistake.

“
Oh, I’m just playing with Milo.”

“
Milo?”

“
Cole gave me a kitten.”

There was silence on the line for a moment
. “Of course he did.”

There was a knock at the door,
and Cole yelled through that dinner was here. Louisa said goodbye to Sophie and promised to call back soon.

After dinner, she sat and pretended to be interested in whatever game was on the TV. Cole had excused himself to take a phone call after enticing her from her room with dinner, leaving her alone with Dominic. She felt he was as tense as she was and couldn’t understand why. It was
she who had a reason to be angry, not him. Annoyingly he smelt amazing. His hair was wet from washing. She had heard the shower running from her room earlier.  He was dressed casually in a white shirt and his usual black business trousers but went barefoot. He looked almost casual. His eyes flicked to look at her but darted away again when he noticed her watching him.

She tried to relax into the chair. Her skirt rode up slightly as she leant back and slid down the leather. She made to pull it back down but noticed Dominic’s eyes on her again. Was it her imagination
, or had his breathing picked up? His body angled towards her, and suddenly she felt a warmth spreading up from below her stomach. She must have made a noise because Dominic gave her a small half smile that made her breath catch for the smallest second. Her traitor body turned towards him like a magnet, and he responded by running his fingers up the top of her leg, his skin barely touching yet just enough to raise goose-bumps across her flesh.

She sat back up, pulling her legs away from his
wandering hands. He looked taken aback but quickly regained his composure. She cursed herself for being such a fool and allowing herself to get into this situation when all she wanted to do at that moment was curse his controlling name. Even as she thought it, she knew it was exactly that that drew her to him. With him she wouldn’t have to worry about how to make her next mortgage payment, or if she would have someone to talk to who would understand her troubles at work. Dominic always listened to her even if he didn’t understand her. Was that all that she wanted though,
for someone to be there for her? What about her being able to support him? What could she offer that he didn’t already have? She thought back to what Sophie said, to let someone else shoulder some of her troubles.

“
You’re frowning.”

She hadn’t realised he was still watching her. She made an effort to stop thinking about such hard questions. Their wedding was fake
. She didn’t need to love him; she just needed him to sign those papers. She immediately hated herself for thinking that it was all he was good for.  She had dated rich men. Some wanted to marry her, but she turned them away. So why was she so willing to marry this man?

“
Are you okay?” he asked again.

It was there, in the way his eyes sought hers when he talked to her. How he really meant it when he asked how she was and actually waited to hear the answer.

“Just stressed.”

“
Are you still mad at me?” His mouth twitched up on one side, but his eyes were questioning, probing her like he wanted to pluck the answer straight from her mind. Louisa shook her head. He always thought it was funny when she got cross at him. It seemed ten years wasn’t long enough for that to change.

“
Yes.” She turned and pretended to watch the TV. She could see him from the corner of her eye. He raised his hand and pushed her hair back off her face. She revelled in the warmth of his touch and felt herself lean into him again.

“
I can’t understand that. I know why I’m here with you.”

“
Why?” she asked him.

“
Because you are the only person who challenges me. The only one who I can be myself around. I like fighting with you.” His face broke into the smile of a man who looked at the woman he loved, full of heat and passion and yearning.

“
Dominic, I—” She wasn’t sure what she had meant to say, but she was abruptly cut off by his mouth pressed hard against hers in such urgency that she felt her whole body come alive. He broke away and paused for a moment, his gaze sending a passion into her that she hadn’t felt in years. His lips pressed hard against hers again, and she teased his mouth open with her tongue and deepened the kiss. His force stirred her body to yearn for his touch. She reached out and pulled him to her with a hand on his broad shoulders. His body pressed against hers, his spicy scent mixing with the taste of his mouth against hers. She breathed it in, savouring its effect on her body. She had no thoughts of the events of the last few days. She was back to when they were younger. The passion they shared was greater than any she ever experienced, and years apart had done nothing to dull their intensity for each other.

He shifted his weight so that he pressed her back, his body over hers as they lay back on the cool leather. She could feel his excitement against her leg and pressed back against it. He groaned against her neck and moved his hand up her body under her sweater. She shuddered at his touch as he glided his hand up to brush the soft skin under her breast. A shiver passed through her, met by his ragged breathing.

A sudden noise in the hall brought her back to her surroundings, and she looked up at the man above her.

“
Cole could come back.”

“
You’re right. Let’s go to my room.” He lifted her from the lounge and carried her, half running to his room.  She couldn’t help a small giggle escape her lips at his eagerness.