Touch of Heaven (16 page)

“What do you—”

He cupped her face in his big hands, lowered his head and crushed his mouth to hers, cutting off the rest of her question.

Raina gasped.

When her hands jerked up to his chest in protest, he scooped an arm around her waist and drew her firmly closer. A melting warmth rushed through her. She resisted only a moment longer before gliding her arms around his neck and kissing him back with equal fervor, making him groan huskily in approval.

She let out a low moan of pleasure as he parted her lips with his tongue and delved inside, ravishing her mouth, staking his claim. Passion and need and a sharp, splintering ache swelled in her loins.

It didn't matter that they were standing on a public street. It didn't even matter that they were bitter enemies. All that mattered was this moment and the explosive feelings Warrick aroused in her.

As they kissed deeply and feverishly, the late afternoon spun away. From somewhere up the street Raina dimly registered the sounds of
downtown traffic. Cars passed by. Music blared through open windows. Horns honked. But all of that seemed far away and disconnected from reality. What
was
real was Warrick's mouth on hers, his tongue tangling sensually with hers, the warm male scent of his body filling her nostrils and her lungs. And, oh yes, he tasted incredible. Hot and sweet, like he'd just eaten a melted chocolate bar. She pressed herself into him, feeling every sinewy muscle of his body, mindlessly grinding her hips against the thick bulge of his erection, greedy for more.

Warrick swore, low and savage, and lifted her off the ground.

When Raina suddenly found her back against the car, sanity returned. As though a bucket of ice water had been thrown in her face, her eyes flew open and her body went rigid with shock.

What the hell was she doing? Had she lost her mind? She was about to have sex with Warrick Mayne in the middle of the street! Wrong man, wrong place!

Raina tore her mouth from his—one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do in her life!—and buried her face in his broad chest, gasping for air. Warrick slowly lowered her to the ground, but he didn't release her. His heart thudded rapidly against her cheek.

Still struggling to catch her breath, Raina slid her arms from around his neck, braced her flattened palms against his chest and tried to shove him away. She would have had about as much luck moving a brick wall. Warrick barely budged.

Nuzzling her throat, he dragged his warm mouth to her ear and whispered, “Don't fight this.”

Raina shivered in spite of herself. She didn't know whether he was referring to their powerful attraction, or the inevitability of his acquisition of her land. Neither was what she wanted to hear.

She shoved at him again, harder, and this time he reluctantly stepped back. His eyes were heavy-lidded and black as midnight, glittering with barely restrained lust.

Raina reached down, discreetly tugging at the hem of her formfitting skirt. Warrick's dark gaze followed the movement and lingered, burning into her as if he could see right through the material.

She frowned. “Warrick.”

His eyes lifted to hers, then slowly roamed across her face as if he were seeing her for the very first time. When his hot gaze settled on her lips, her belly quivered.

“You have the most incredible mouth,” he said huskily. “I could kiss you all day and night.”

Her knees went weak.
“Warrick—”

“I have a proposition for you,” he murmured.

Raina arched a censorious brow at him.

He chuckled, a rough, innately masculine sound. “Not that kind of proposition.” He paused. “Unless, that is—”

“No.”

His mouth curved in a lazy grin. “I didn't think so.”

Again he gazed down at her, looking as if he had suddenly lost his train of thought. Raina would have reminded him, but when he stared at her like that, she could hardly remember her own name. When he reached out and trailed a finger lightly down her cheek, she almost forgot to breathe.

“What did you want to discuss with me yesterday?” he asked softly.

“What?” Raina wondered if she looked as dazed as she felt.

“In the garage. You said you got my number from my uncle because you wanted to discuss something with me. What was it?”

She swallowed with difficulty, wishing he would move back some more. She couldn't think, couldn't function when he was this close to her.

What was this power he had over her?

“It wasn't important,” she mumbled, offering a silent apology to Tina's brother.

Warrick shook his head slowly. “I don't believe you.”

Raina bristled. “That's
your
problem,” she retorted, gratified that her voice didn't tremble. Bolstered by the small victory, she glanced pointedly at her watch and said, “It's getting late, Warrick. I really need—”

His expression darkened. “Why is it that every time I see you, you're rushing off for a hot date?”

Raina let out a strangled laugh. “That is
not
true! And even if it were, how is that any of your business?”

Instead of answering, Warrick reached out and brushed his thumb across her lips, making her pulse quicken. Raina knew she should slap his hand away and tell him to stop touching her, but she couldn't. If she were honest with herself, she would admit that she enjoyed being touched by him. Held by him. Kissed by him. Against
her better judgment, and despite the bad blood between them, her body knew what it wanted, and what it wanted was Warrick.

Forgive me, Reese.

“So here's what I'm thinking,” Warrick murmured, his dark gaze riveted on her mouth, as potent as his touch. “We can spend the next several days and weeks fighting this thing out, sullying each other's reputations, trying to sway the court of public opinion in our favor. Or…” Slowly his eyes lifted to hers. “We can agree to a compromise.”

Raina gave him a wary look. “What sort of compromise?”

“Give me one week to convince you to sell. Let me court you the way I would any other prospective business client.”

“The way you courted Ralston Development?” Raina said sardonically. “The elaborate presentation, dinner, drinks?”

Warrick hesitated, his eyes narrowing. “You spoke to Tyler Ralston?”

Raina gave a dry, humorless chuckle. “I wouldn't quite put it that way, since
he
did most of the talking. But, of course, you already knew that.”

She looked at him, daring him to deny that he'd asked Tyler Ralston to do his dirty work. When he said nothing, she felt vindicated. And oddly disappointed.

Reese's words drifted through her mind.
Now will you believe me when I tell you that Warrick Mayne can only hurt you?

Watching the play of emotions flitting across her face, Warrick said softly, “This isn't personal, Raina. It's just business.”

“Oh, really?” Raina challenged. “So you're telling me you didn't feel the slightest bit of satisfaction when you found out that the site your research team chose for your company's new headquarters happened to be the site of my day spa?”

He looked at her, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

She waited, one brow arched expectantly.

After another moment he nodded curtly. “You're right. I won't deny it. But believe me, if the team had found a better location, I would've gladly moved on. But they didn't, so here we are.”

“Here we are,” Raina echoed.

Warrick gave her a knowing look. “If I were any other buyer, would you be giving me such a hard time?”

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation, “because I'm not interested in selling.”

“How can you know that if you haven't even heard my proposal?”

“I don't need to! I already know how much the spa means to me, and if you would just take the time to find out why, you would understand my reasons for turning down your offer.”

Even as the angry words left Raina's mouth, a plan began to formulate in her mind. If she could somehow make Warrick see the true value of her business, then maybe, just maybe, he would withdraw his offer and find another location for his new office complex.

“One week, Raina,” Warrick said, his gaze intent on her face. “Give me one week to court you, to wine and dine you and give you the VIP treatment. Let me do what I do whenever I've got my sights on a major contract, or I want to lure a client away from a competitor. I know that doesn't sound right to you, but one thing I've learned in this business is that no matter how good your products and services are, what people remember the most is how they were treated. And in the case of prospective clients, they have to be treated like royalty from the start. You know that. Your customers wouldn't keep coming back to the spa and referring their family and friends if you didn't treat them right.”

“Of course not,” Raina said with a dry chuckle. “I'm in the service industry. My business revolves around pampering customers.”

“Then let me pamper
you,
” Warrick said softly. “You have something I want, Raina. Give me a chance to show you why you should give it to me.”

Raina's stomach bottomed out. The look in his eyes made her wonder whether he was still talking about a business transaction, or something else entirely. But then again, that deep, dark voice of his could make the most innocent suggestion sound indecent. And downright irresistible.

“One week,” she murmured thoughtfully.

Warrick nodded. “Give yourself one week to entertain my business proposal. Seven days to be courted.”

Raina lifted her chin, her eyes narrowed in challenge. “And then what? What happens at the end of the week if my answer is still no?”

Warrick held her gaze for a long moment. “Then I walk away.”

“Really?” It was the last thing she'd expected to hear. “You'd walk away? Just like that?”

He nodded slowly. “I wouldn't want to, but I would. I'd ask my research team to go back to the drawing board, and hopefully they'd eventually find a comparable location.”

“Why can't you just do that now?” Raina demanded, exasperated.

He looked her in the eye. “Because I don't believe there
is
a comparable location.”

Raina said nothing.

“So do we have a deal?” Warrick asked.

Raina hesitated. “On one condition.”

One thick black brow sketched upward.

Again she hesitated, biting her bottom lip.

“Name your condition, Raina,” Warrick murmured. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Odd that he should quote a refrain from a wedding ceremony, when Raina had spent much of her childhood daydreaming about marrying him.

Shoving aside the unsettling memory, she said, “One of my massage therapists has a younger brother who's an engineering major. He's a big fan of yours and would love to do an internship at your company. I know the application deadline has already passed for this year, but I was wondering if you could pass along his resume to your internship coordinator for future—”

Warrick's eyes narrowed on her face. “Is that what you wanted to discuss with me yesterday?”

Raina nodded, and waited for him to mock her for having the nerve to approach him for a favor when she refused to sell her property to him.

But instead he said, “What's his name?”

Surprised, she answered, “Alphonse Deveaux. He's from Saint Croix.”

“Is that where he goes to school?”

Raina nodded. “If that's a problem—”

Warrick frowned. “Why would that be a problem? I have engineers working out of refineries all over the Caribbean. Send me Alphonse's résumé first thing tomorrow. After I've had a chance to review it, I'll give him a call.”

Raina's eyes widened. “You will?
You'll
call him personally?”

His mouth twitched. “Is that a problem?”

“Of course not! I—I just wasn't expecting you to. I mean, you're the president and CEO and I know you're really busy, so I just figured it would be good enough if you forwarded his resume to the appropriate person and—”

Warrick shook his head, chuckling softly. “That's the difference between you and me, Raina. I've never been afraid to ask for what I want. If the situation were reversed, I would have demanded that
you
not only call Alphonse personally, but that you fly him out to Philadelphia to take a tour of the facilities and to spend a week shadowing one of the company's top engineers.”

Raina stared at him. “You…you wouldn't really do that for him, would you?”