Dangerous Deception (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (7 page)

Dani screamed but this time it was from the thrill of
racing down a runway at full speed, feeling like they were in a plane ready to
take off.  With her adrenalin pumping, her heart racing and her mouth gone dry,
all she could do was cling to Storm and shriek.

When he finally slowed the super powerful machine and
pulled it off the runway Dani was panting like a dog in need of water.  She
slid off the back of the motorbike, unbuckled her helmet and staggered over to
the grassy bank where she flopped down.

Storm laughed at her dramatic departure then he set
the bike to stand, took off his helmet and went to sit beside her in the
grass.  He looked like he was trying to seem casual but he, too, was breathing
hard. 

Dani looked up at him as he leaned over her and she
burst out in uncontrollable laughter.  She had never felt so exhilarated in her
life.  This man had scared her half to death and then he had dragged her over
the edge, past her fear, and into a daredevil realm that had her wanting more. 
When her laughter finally died down she was still breathless.  “That was the
greatest,” she whispered as she stared up into his laughing dark eyes. 

But then as she stared up at him something in his eyes
changed.  The laughter disappeared and he was looking down at her with an
intensity that took her breath away.

As he lowered his head, blocking the sky from view,
she closed her eyes and stayed still, afraid to move and break the spell.

And then she felt it, his mouth pressing against hers,
firm yet mobile, demanding her response.

And she gave it.  She responded with an eagerness that
surprised her.  She must still be high from the ride because, instead of
pulling away in shock, she pressed her lips against his and her hands slid up
and around his back.

He must have taken that as license to go farther
because his tongue teased then probed and then he was plundering her mouth with
a fervor that spoke of pent-up passion.

Dani answered in kind, kissing back boldly, giving in
to the raw desire that flooded through her.  Then she was clinging to him,
pulling him into her, drowning in the feel of his rock-hard chest against her
breasts.

When he drew back to look down at her she moaned,
wanting more of the same.  Her nipples were hard as pebbles and she could feel
a trace of moisture between her legs.  Even if she were of a different mind
there was no denying it.  Her body wanted him.  But now he was moving away from
her, taking his sweet lips and hard body with him.

Storm moved from over her and sat by her side.  When
he looked down at her, still lying on her back in the grass, there was a rueful
expression on his face.  “I don’t know what came over me,” he said, his voice
slightly hoarse.  “I just had to kiss you.”

Dani gave him a soft smile.  “I don’t mind.”

He gave her a real smile then and reached out both
hands to her.  “Come on, let’s ride some more.”

They stayed at that abandoned airfield a whole hour
more, riding and laughing and enjoying each other’s company.  There were no
more kisses that evening but Dani felt there was a connection between them that
was special.

When Storm finally dropped her back at her apartment
Dani was exhausted and happy.  She couldn’t remember when she’d had so much
fun.  Over the last four years her existence had been dreary, with her main
focus being the care of her younger brother.  She’d never had time to go out
and have fun.  She’d been made a parent at the age of eighteen and had lived a
life of responsibility since then.

But this evening Storm had given her back the girlhood
she’d lost.  She’d been free and crazy and she’d had wild fun and for that she
was grateful.

Storm walked her into the lobby of the apartment
building then shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket and looked down at
her with a grin.  “Now it’s my turn to get to know a little about you,” he
said.  “Tomorrow evening we’ll do something you love.  What will it be?” 

That took her off guard.  What did she love to do? 
What had she had time to do outside of work?   She thought for a moment then an
idea flashed into her mind.  She grinned up at him.  She had the perfect plan. 
“Let’s buy some fabric and make a quilt.”

Storm’s smile faded and his brows lifted in what
looked like horror.  “Let’s do what?”

“My mom loved to make quilts,” Dani gushed, “and I
used to help her.  I’ve always loved the peace and serenity of needlework.  I
haven’t done it in years. That’s what I want to do tomorrow.” 

Storm frowned, the look on his face one of doubt. 
“Somehow you don’t strike me as a needlework kind of girl.  Roller-skating, maybe. 
Even bowling.  But needlework?’

“You asked me what I want to do and that’s it,” she
said, giving him a look of defiance.  “So you get your stitching finger ready,
mister, because tomorrow we’re going to make a quilt. “

“Well, if you say so,” he said, dragging the words as
if they were the hardest things for him to say.

Dani gave him a firm nod.  “I do say so.  I’ll see you
tomorrow at five.  Don’t be late.”

She waited for him to turn and watched as he crossed
the lobby and went through the door, still mumbling in distress and confusion. 
She laughed to herself as, from the door, she watched him climb on his motor
cycle and ride away then she headed back to the elevator, punched the button
and headed up to her apartment.

She was still laughing when she went inside.  Storm
Hunter had forced her to explore a wild side she never knew existed.  Now she
would force him to explore his softer, more sensitive side.

It was going to be fun watching him squirm.

CHAPTER FIVE                                   
                    

“Lola, calm down.  There’s no need to be so dramatic.” 
Storm had to grit his teeth to keep his voice calm and under control.  The
woman was impossible.

“Dramatic?" she shrieked as she clenched her
fists and glared at him from tear-filled eyes.  “Is that what you call it? 
No.  This is dramatic.”  She grabbed a stapler from his desk and threw it
across the room at him, missing his head by mere inches.  He’d had to duck to
keep from being brained.

“Lola, stop it,” he said in his most imperious voice
but it was like talking to a mad woman.  She was already reaching for the heavy
tape dispenser and he had to dive for it and wrench it out of her grasp.

“How could you do this to me, Storm Hunter?  How could
you?”  Lola’s face crumpled and she collapsed into a chair and covered her face
with her hands.  “I love you.  You know I do.  Why would you torture me like
this?”

“Lola, please.  I’m not doing this to hurt you.” 
Storm let out a heavy sigh.  He hated to see a woman cry.  “You don’t love me,
Lola.  Its just infatuation.  It’s only because our parents expect-”

“Don’t tell me what I feel for you.”  She lifted her
face and spat the words at him, her eyes flashing with a rage that made her
look crazed.  “For years I’ve waited for you.  Years.  And you led me on,
making me think you felt the same way.”

“But we never-”

“It doesn’t matter.  I was waiting for you till we
were married.  I know you had other women, playboy that you are, and I let you
have your flings.”  She sucked in her breath, her nostrils flaring.  “I was
giving you time to grow up.  He’ll come around when it’s time, I told myself. 
He’ll settle down one day soon and when he does it will be with me, the woman
who's loved him faithfully all these years.”

Now Storm was getting pissed.  What kind of guilt trip
was Lola trying to throw on him when he’d never made any commitment, not even a
promise, to her?  Despite what their parents wished, as far as he was concerned
he was not about to be forced into an arranged marriage.

“Get serious, Lola,” he said, his voice cold.  “We
were never going to get married and you know it.”  He shook his head.  “You
turned up here suddenly and started with your usual antics, acting like we’re
lovers...which we’re not.  I had to tell you because this behavior has to
stop.  I can’t play those games with you anymore.”

“So that’s all it was to you, a game?”  Her voice was
a bitter, broken whisper.  “All this time I was loving you, you were only
playing a game.  With my heart.”

She stood up then and hugged her purse to her chest
like a protective shield.  “And now you tell me you’ve got a fiancée.  Where
the hell she came from, I don’t know.  Well, if this is something you cooked up
to humiliate me you can give yourself a pat on the back.  It worked.”  With an
injured sniff she turned on her heel and walked to the door.  This time,
instead of her usual ‘Love you, darling’, she opened the door then turned and
said,  “Don’t think this is over, Storm.  We are not going to end like this.”

Storm let out his breath and shook his head then he
dropped himself onto the leather sofa by the window.  He hadn’t meant to reveal
the engagement - fake though it was - until after he’d announced it to his
parents, but Lola had been more annoying than usual.  She’d always been
expressive with her feelings but today she’d become more physical, throwing her
arms around his waist and planting an unexpected kiss on his lips.

It wasn’t that he had anything against her.  He was
just tired of playing her game, a game that their parents wholly endorsed.  And
that was why he’d seized onto the idea of Dani as his fiancée.  She was the
perfect solution to getting everybody, including Lola, off his back.

The sad thing was, it looked like he had just created
a brand new enemy.

******

Dani dashed around the apartment for the too many-eth
time, making sure everything was just right.  Her heart was pumping like she
was on the edge of a cliff ready to bungee jump.

She could beat herself.  She’d invited Storm to join
her in making a quilt, not even thinking about where they’d be executing the
project.  Of course, it ended up that it would be at her apartment.  She
couldn’t very well lay out fabric and put him to work in the lobby of the
apartment building.  And it wasn’t like she had any other place she could take
him to do that.  It was too bad she had blurted out her idea without thinking
about the consequences.

Number one question - what would he think of her
modest apartment, with him being a billionaire and all?  Number two dilemma - shouldn’t
she have suggested something that would allow them to be in a neutral place rather
than an intimate setting such as her apartment?  Number three disaster - now
that she’d had a taste of him how was she going to be able to keep her hands of
the ‘merchandise’?

When the buzzer sounded Dani jumped.  She was so tense
she had to take two deep breaths before pressing the button to answer.  Storm
was on his way up to her apartment and she wasn’t ready.  She felt like she’d
never be.  She checked the mirror one last time then slid her damp palms down
the sides of her jeans.

She heard the elevator door open then footsteps coming
down the hallway, the heavy footsteps of a man.  They stopped right in front of
her door.  She pasted a practiced smile on her face and opened up.

The face that greeted Dani was not the one she’d
expected.  Instead of a smiling, relaxed Storm she saw a man who looked like he
wanted to be anywhere but there.  His lips were drawn tight and he was almost
scowling.

“Are you alright?”  She stared up at him, momentarily
taken aback, and then she stepped aside so he could come in.

“Uh, sorry,” he said then just like that he seemed to
snap out of his trance.  It was as if he just realized where he was.  The creases
on his brow disappeared and his lips relaxed into a smile.  “Forgive me.  It’s been
a long day.”

She nodded and smiled, accepting the apology, then
reached up to take up his jacket.  He shrugged out of it and as she went to
hang it in the closet he looked around the apartment.

“Neat, “ he said as his eyes roamed the living room
then the dining room and the kitchen.  He could take it all in with one sweep
of the eyes.

She came back to stand beside him.  “Neat as in
organized or neat as in cool?” she asked in a teasing tone, trying to hide her
nervousness.

“Both,” he said.  Typical man.  He was playing it
safe. 

“Nobody says neat to mean cool anymore so I’ll take it
you mean organized.”

“Okay,” he said with a drawl then he gave her a
quizzical look.  “So where’s the quilting stuff?”

“My, aren’t we eager?”  She laughed then directed him
to have a seat in the living room.  “I’ll go get the basket with the supplies.”

When she returned to the living room he was lounging
in the sofa but as soon as he saw her he sat up and dug into his pocket.  He
came out with something small and shiny.  “I brought my thimble,” he said and
held it up proudly for her to see.

Dani had to laugh at that.  She set the basket on the
coffee table and plucked the thimble off his palm.  “Now where did you get
that?”  She could not imagine a man like Storm having something as domestic as
a thimble lying around his house.