To Catch a Man (In 30 Days or Less) (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (8 page)

“Six is fine with me.”

“Want me to come get you?”

“I’m sure I’ll find it.”  Indie got
up, too.  “The compound is big but not that big that I can’t find you.”

“Great.  I’ll see you at six then.”

He headed for the front door with
Indie right behind him.  As he let himself out she couldn’t help but admire his
broad shoulders.  It must be because he was standing in the narrow doorway.  It
made him look big and strong, every bit the macho man.

He waved goodbye and as he walked
away Indie stood in the doorway, staring after him, a soft smile on her face. 
Lady Luck was definitely on her side today.  She couldn’t have wanted a better
turn of events.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

Stone splashed water on his face
and stared into the bathroom mirror.  What was it about Indiana Lane that had
him sweating like a damn teenager every time he was in her presence?  For God’s
sake, he was a thirty-three year old man, way past the sweating and trembling
stage.  Was he regressing?  That made him smile at his own reflection.  That
was a laugh.  It must be the setting, all the way out here in this wilderness
as Indie had called it.  He couldn’t remember reacting this strongly to a
woman.  Not since high school, anyway.

But now here he was, totally captivated
by the woman with the emerald green eyes.  And that was why, when he’d seen
that opening, he hadn’t been able to resist asking her over.  At her place he’d
acted nonchalant, like he’d already ordered dinner and everything was
arranged.  No such thing.  He’d had to send a message to Cook real fast to fix
a special dinner for two.  Luckily, he already had wine chilling in the fridge.

He grabbed a towel and dried his
face then headed for the living room.  He hadn’t been kidding when he said he
needed to tidy up before Indie got there.  He wasn’t the neatest of souls and
his mind immediately went to his mother.  She’d been at him since he’d been
able to understand the words 'pick up your clothes'.  Where that was concerned,
he was still a failure
.  Sorry, Mom.

At twenty minutes before six Cook’s
packages of food arrived.  Stone slipped them into the oven to keep them warm
then he went and got dressed in dark slacks and a creamy silk shirt.  At three
minutes before the hour of six there was another knock at the door and the
long-awaited lady stood there looking elegant in gray slacks and a
peach-colored top that showed off her bare shoulders. 

“Welcome.”  He held the door open
for her and as she stepped past, her perfume brought back memories of that
first night they’d dined together.  That night she’d looked exquisite, like a
perfectly painted porcelain doll.  Tonight was different.  Tonight she looked
relaxed, natural and so inviting.  He wanted to bend down and press his lips to
the smooth skin of her shoulder then to her collarbone, her neck, then her lips.

He began to grow hard again and he
had to step back and take a deep breath.  What was with him tonight?  Just the
sight of her, her fragrance, had him thinking crazy thoughts.  She fit so well
into this earthy, untamed setting that his thoughts ran to things hot and wild
– like her, straddling his hips and making mad love to him.

Stone shook his head.  If he didn’t
slow down he was going to get himself in a whole lot of trouble.

“So,” he said, shoving his hands
deep into his pockets, “welcome to my home.”

“You already said that.”  She gave
him a look of amusement then her eyes scanned the room.  “You were right.  It
looks just like my place.”

He spread his arms wide.  “See? 
We’re all equals in this place.  No need to bash the rich guy.”

“I wasn’t going to.”  She cocked an
eyebrow at him.  “Not unless he gives me reason to."

“I won’t.”  He put his hands up and
backed away.  “Trust me, I know when I’m in the presence of a warrior woman.”

He’d meant that as a joke but at
his words she looked a little hurt.  “I mean, you look like you can defend
yourself,” he said quickly, trying to do damage control.

“It’s okay,” she said, her voice punctuated
with a sigh.  “Part of the territory, being taller than most other women. 
People see you as a whole lot tougher than you actually are.”

“I didn’t mean that-”

“It’s okay,” she said again, her
voice insistent.  “Let’s just eat.”

That shut Stone up for a while. 
This was something she was obviously sensitive about and pressing her further
would only make things worse.  As much as he found every inch of her to be a
tantalizing treat now was not the time to tell her that.  She would think he
was just trying to make her feel better. 
Great going, Stone, you just put
your size twelve foot in it. 
Wanting to melt her frosty mood, Stone turned
on the CD player and the sounds of Shania Twain's 'From This Moment' filled the
room.  The soothing sounds should calm her down.  As he went to pull out her
chair he saw that her mouth was just a little less tight and the furrow between
her brows gone.  Whew.

He lifted the white wine from its
bed of ice and poured her a glass.  Then he got the meal from the oven – salmon
in a light lemon sauce with wild rice and a vegetable medley.  Indie’s eyes
widened at the sight of the elegantly prepared trays.  “Cook did this?” 

“Yep.  A man of many talents. He
can serve the Queen of England, if called on.”

Indie nodded.  “I have no doubt.”

After that, it was as if that
awkward moment had never happened.  They fell into easy conversation, with
Indie plying him with questions about his family back in Canada.  He told her
about his older sister who lived in Vancouver and was a professor of Medieval
History at the university there, and his younger brother, also a businessman,
who had moved to Australia with his young wife and infant son.  And then there
were his mom and dad, stalwarts in the Toronto community, members of the
Chamber of Commerce and philanthropists in their own right.

“The Hudson wing at the Toronto
City Hospital is named after them."

“So that’s where you get it from,
this philanthropy thing."

He shrugged.  “I do my own thing.”

“Yes, you do,” she said, her voice
a sultry whisper that made Stone wonder if they were still talking about
philanthropy.  Somehow, it didn’t sound like it.

Indie had leaned forward, her
elbows on the table, her hands folded in front of her, her chin resting on
those folded hands.  And she was looking at him with half closed eyes, her lips
slightly parted. 

And if she kept that up she was
going to get a whole lot more than dinner tonight.

Stone clenched and unclenched his
hands under the table.  If Indie only knew what he wanted to do right now.  Then
again, maybe she already did, and that was why she was playing temptress
tonight.  And he wanted to make a move, no doubt about that.  But he had to be
sure.

“All right,” Stone said, picking up
his napkin and giving a last swipe at his lips, “looks like we’re done here.” 
He got up and held out his hand to Indie.  “Why don’t we head to the living
room?  There’s something I want to show you.”

“Oh.  All right.”  Indie took his
hand and rose to stand beside him.

It took a whole lot of willpower
for him not to drag her into his arms and kiss her breathless.  But no, now was
not the time.

Stone led Indie to the small sofa
in  the living room then crouched down in front of the VCR on the TV stand.

“Old movies,” Indie guessed.

“Yes, but not just any old movies. 
My old movies.”  Stone slid the first tape in, pressed play then went to sit at
the other end of the couch.  “These are recordings of my earlier trips to South
Africa.  I made a lot of cultural mistakes and maybe you can learn from some of
them.  And I had a lot of fun.”

They settled back in the chair and
watched shots of Stone arriving in South Africa, meeting with government
officials, then his first meeting with Moekebi.  The child was thin but with
eyes so bright and full of life you couldn’t help but be buoyed up by his
spirit.  Then there was the opening of the boys’ home and the installation of the
teachers.  And, to Stone’s horror, there was also a clipping of him in native
dress doing a traditional dance.  He’d forgotten about that.

Indie howled with laughter at that
one.  “Oh, my Lord, what were you thinking?” She was laughing so much tears
filled her eyes.  “No, that was not the act of Stone Hudson.  That had to be
Gladstone doing that dance.  There’s no way a ‘Stone’ would be doing that.  You
can’t even dance!”  And with that she burst into peels of laughter again.

“You’d better take that back,” he
growled.  “Or else.”

“Or else what?”  Her mouth curled
in amusement and defiance.

“Or else you’ll be punished,” he
said, moving closer.

“Yeah?  How?”  she challenged, her
eyes flashing in the light.

“Like this,” he said with a groan,
then he was reaching for her, unable to deny himself any longer.  He dragged
Indie off the sofa and onto his lap and then he dipped his head and was kissing
her with all the desire he’d been holding back for so long.  As his arms
circled her, pulling her close, his mouth held hers captive, demanding her
response, and when she gave it, kissing him back with a fervor matching his
own, he moaned. 

When Stone finally lifted his head
and looked into Indie’s eyes they were no longer sharp but had turned
misty-green with passion.  She sighed and leaned against him, soft and pliable
in his arms.

It was too much.  He lowered his
head and kissed her again, this time more softly, more sweetly, more deeply,
until she was clinging to him.

“Stone,” Indie whispered, “I’ve
wanted this for so long.”

Stone’s heart swelled inside him. 
Indie wanted him.  Could it be possible that she wanted him as badly as he
wanted her?  He could only hope.  But her whisper was enough to give him that
hope.

“Oh God, Indie,” he groaned.  “I
want you…too much.  But I’ve got to stop now or else…”  He didn’t say the
rest.  He knew exactly where this would end if he didn’t regain control.  Stone
slid Indie off his lap and back onto the sofa.  Then he got up and shoved his
hands into his pockets.  As he looked down at her he shook his head.

“It’s okay,” she said with a small
smile.  “I understand.”  She got up and reached out to touch his arm.  “Walk me
to the door?”

He stared down at her, his eyes
burning into hers.  “See you tomorrow?

She lifted her eyebrows.  “We’ll
see.”

“Have dinner with me again.”  He’d
said that on an impulse, but he meant it.

“I’ll do better than that,” she
said.  “Tomorrow I’ll fix dinner for you.”

That took him by surprise.  Things
could not have worked out better.  “I’ll be there at six.”

She went on tiptoe and kissed him
on the cheek then she whispered in his ear, “I look forward to it.”

******

Twenty-four days to the deadline
and things were heading in the right direction.  And the surprise was, she
hadn’t even been the one to send them down that road.

Just like she’d planned, he’d
kissed her.  Because he wanted to.  She hadn’t had a thing to do with it. 
Well, almost nothing. 

She had to admit that she might
have had just a tiny bit of influence on him.  She’d worn that perfume she knew
he’d fallen in love with that first night they’d had dinner together.  She’d
seen his reaction when he breathed in the fragrance.  And then she’d worn her
killer blouse, the one that revealed a whole lot of shoulder and just a hint of
cleavage.  And, to top it all off, she’d given him the ‘eye’ just like Tessa
had taught her, keeping her eyes half closed and setting her lips in an
inviting pout.

And then he’d kissed her, so her
preening must have worked.  Or he must have really, really liked her.  She
liked reason number two better. 

The fact was, she wanted him to
like her.  For real.  Because, for her, all of this was growing a lot more
serious than just like.  She was beginning to fall in love.

It was strange.  Could a woman fall
in love in the space of six days?  According to the Psychology books she’d read
it was men who would usually say they’d fallen in love at first sight.  Women
spent more time in getting to know the man before admitting to such feelings.

But, from that first meeting, she’d
felt that connection.  It was freaky but the mere sight of him had set her body
blazing.  Had he felt the same way?  Was that the real reason he'd kissed her
last night?

She drew in a deep breath, the
thoughts bumping around in her head, and stared out her bedroom window at the
sun rising over the plains.  With all she had to do, today was going to be
hectic.  And she would have to fix dinner for Stone.  Well, actually, she
planned to ask Cook to do it.  Cooking was not exactly one of her best skills. 
Fishing?  Yes.  Maybe even catching some wild game, like birds or rabbits.  But
cooking?  Please.

She pulled the mosquito netting
aside and slid out of bed.  She might as well get started early.  She was
looking forward to a productive day and, if all went well, a very exciting
evening.

Anita came to get Indie just after
eight o'clock so she got a chance to have breakfast with the boys.  Then after
they'd filed away to their classes she toured each room and got to know them
individually.  The little ones were really excited to have her, and climbed
onto her lap and pulled her hair which was growing a little longer.  They
wouldn't let her leave until she'd read them a story and then another until
finally, hugging them and laughing at their antics, she was able to slip out. 

She toured the other classes and
was able to note their needs.  Later she would write a requisition list.  After
that it was time to examine the housing facilities and determine what needed to
be done.  By the time she'd done her tours it was almost three in the
afternoon, she'd missed lunch, and she hadn't even had time to speak to Cook
yet.