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"Do you speak Swahili?"

I stiffened but didn't turn. Cade stood beside me. I looked down and saw that'd he'd brought us each a glass of wine. I sighed. I didn't want to fight with him. The trouble was, I didn't know exactly what it was I wanted.

"Is that a peace offering?"

His eyes were serious as he nodded. I let my lips twist in a wry smile. But I took the glass.

"So?"

I sighed, closing my eyes as another breeze kissed my skin.

"Just a bit. I travelled there when I was younger."

"All the way to Africa?"

I nodded. It was a long trip, but not so bad when you travelled first class. I didn't say that though. I knew he already thought I was a spoiled brat.

"You are an amazing woman Camille."

I sneaked a glance at him. He wasn't mocking me. I felt a bit of my animosity slip away.

"You are… an amazing ball player."

He let out a sharp laugh and before I knew it he had taken my shoulders in his big warm hands. I shivered at the feel of his rough hands against my bare skin. These were the hands of someone who worked. Who
toiled.

I'd never felt anything like it in my life.

The men I'd kissed had all been well behaved. Tame. But the instant his mouth crashed down on mine, I knew Cade was different. Wilder somehow. Untamed.

Dangerous.

His lips were soft and warm, almost hot. He wasted no time nudging my lips apart and delving inside my mouth with his tongue. I gasped, my tongue twisting against his desperately. I wasn't sure if I was trying to push him away or pull him deeper inside me.

Maybe both.

The last coherent thought I had was that I really should put a stop to this…

Just not yet.

Chapter Six

Cade

The girl in my arms was not a snotty rich girl. She was not the same fire-breathing bitch who I loved sparring with. She was not even the mischievous girl who had enjoyed scaring me with her cat.

She was all softness and sweetness and femininity.

She was warm and willing.

In that moment, she was
mine.

Something fiercely possessive erupted in me. I growled and kissed her harder, turning her towards the edge of the veranda. I wanted leverage. I wanted to get closer.

I wanted
in.

I lifted her up onto the bannister and spread her knees apart, bunching her slippery dress over her thighs. Hmmmfff… I grunted as I settled between her silky legs, my hips pushing forward until my cock was pressing against the heat of her pussy.

She was wearing panties unfortunately.

But she wasn't wearing a bra…

I held her waist with one hand as the other tugged at her dress, pawing at her through the silky fabric. Her nipple rose up in my hand and I felt my cock twitch. Everything about this woman turned me on. Her smell, the way she looked, the way she felt. The soft, sexy sounds she was making as she twisted me up in little knots without even trying…

BAM

My head snapped back. I nearly dropped her, I was so stunned. I looked down at the woman I was on the verge of fucking. I'd been ready to mount her right then and there.

At least, until the moment she'd smacked me. Hard. The woman had one hell of a swing.

I put my hand on my cheek, trying to figure out what the hell had happened.

Glittering blue eyes stared back at me.

Uh oh.

Camille was not ready to be mounted. Camille was pissed. More than pissed. I was pretty sure she was going to smack me again if I tried any of the many things running through my mind.

I had been planning to carry her out of here. Take her to my car. Or the hotel. I was more than happy to screw her brains behind the fucking shrubbery for all I cared. As long as it happened, I wasn't too picky about the details.

Instead I lifted her up, setting her on her feet. She glared at me until I stepped back. Then she lifted her chin and stalked past me.
 

My jaw still stung from the flat of her palm. I watched her go, rubbing my cheek with my hand.

She was a cold, hard, unfeeling woman.

She was aloof and independent.

She was worse than a damn cat!

But I was smiling anyway. Once the shock had passed. I was smiling for a very good reason.

I whistled to myself as I followed her back inside. Nothing could dampen my mood. Because no matter what she said, or how slappy she got, I had my answer. She'd shown me everything I needed to know when I had her in my arms.
 

Miss Camille Rivers was a wild cat in the sack. A wild cat who wanted
m
e. And when she finally came around to see my way of thinking, she was going to make me a very happy, very
satisfied
man.

I grinned and followed her back to the dining room for desert.

Camille

The stupid man was going to drive me insane!

How he could sit there, calming eating his sorbet when we had just- we had almost- he had-
ooohhhhh!
I was so mad, I could scream!

He flicked his cool blue eyes at me and smiled faintly, as if we had a secret. We did
not
have a secret! We had a moment of temporary insanity!

At least,
I
had.

I caught myself staring at his lips as he pulled the spoon from his mouth. He was nodding and agreeing with my father. I exhaled in relief. He hadn't seen me.

The next time I looked up, he winked.

Damn it! He
had
seen me. I started thinking of reasons to excuse myself when my father suggested we go back into the library for a brandy. I followed them mulishly, wanting to cut and run. But it would have been rude, and I didn't want to let Cade know he'd gotten to me.

I ended up nursing a drink and sitting in the window seat. It was my favorite spot in the whole house. I'd spent much of my formative years curled up here, doing homework, reading and surfing the web. I knew the financial blogs like the back of my hand, and still checked them regularly.

I stared out at the night sky, doing my best to ignore Cade. I could feel it every time he looked at me though. It was warm, like a blast of warmth against my shoulder. The side of my face. My feet where they peaked out from under the edge of my skirt.

It felt like the sun.

"I have an idea."

"What's that?"

"Tennis."

"Come again?"

"Camille is handy with a racket. I'm not. We could have an exhibition match."

"She's more than handy. She could have been a competitive player, but she had no interest in spending that much time on any one thing. Except money of course. My girl loves money."

My father laughed but my mind was reeling. Cade wasn't going to let this go. He was going to keep pecking away at me until I cracked.

I stared at my reflection in the dark window, feeling my stomach clench. I tried to sound bored by the idea. But in reality I could feel myself softening to him, and I didn't like it.

"No one wants to see me play tennis."

"I do."

I almost jumped at the warm intimacy in his voice. My father was right there! He was going to notice something was up sooner or later.

Then again, he wasn't going to fire his prize player because he played footsie with his only daughter. Harrison Rivers wasn't like that. He was a man's man.

Not to say that he didn't love me. He did, if only in an abstract way. But I wasn't a boy. If I had been born male, I was pretty sure he'd love me a whole lot more.

Especially
if I played ball a fraction as well as Cade did.

My father had grown up in a lower middle-class family. He had worked hard, and believed in the 'American Dream.' A big part of that was baseball. To this day, he was never happier than during a tight game with a hot dog in one fist and a beer in the other.

Of course, now his hot dogs were made of grass fed organic beef from a private ranch he owned himself. My father went there once a year and petted the damn cows, who were treated well and slaughtered humanely. But that was beside the point.
 

He was an almost stereotypical American man in a lot of ways. He was proud of his sameness. I sighed. I had grown up so differently. I was nothing like him, other than the smart and ruthless parts. But I loved him anyway.

Maybe it made me love him even more.

Too bad he didn't seem to feel the same.

"Well, I'm going to bed. I'll leave you two to sort out the details."

"Goodnight Father."
 

I bussed his cheek and waited for his footsteps on the stairs before I turned my attention to Cade. Not my attention. My
fury
. He had to learn that I was not up for grabs. Even if I had sort of liked it when he grabbed me.

Once, however, was more than enough.

Cade sat in his chair by the fire, staring at me. There was a slumberous look in his eyes that was doing strange things to my stomach. He looked like he was in bed.

With me.

I stood up and looked down at him with what I hoped was a
very
unfriendly look on my face.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to discuss any future fundraising events over email."

"Camille…"

His voice was so husky that it stopped me in my tracks.

"Don't go."

"Why? So you can maul me again?"

He didn't say anything for a minute. I stood there as his eyes drifted over me. I gasped at the raw intimacy in his face.

Then he put down his drink and smiled at me.

"How about a friendly game of cards?"

I tilted my head, considering my options. I could go up to bed and stare at the ceiling all night, trying to ignore the strange pull he had over me. Or I could sit down, and see this out. If I could figure out what the fascination was, I could end it once and for all.

Hopefully teaching him a little humility in the process.

"Fine. Five card stud."

He raised his eyebrows at me. I walked over to one of the cabinets and pulled out a deck of cards and a chip dolly. Then I sat across from him and started to shuffle the cards. If he thought I was going to be a pushover at cards, he had another thing coming.

I had an excellent poker face.

"What are the stakes?"

"I don't want to play for money."

I gave him a look. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say, before he even said it. I felt my whole body get warm, just at the
idea
that he would dare.

"If I win, you let me… what did you call it?"

I swallowed nervously. He leaned forward and braced his fingers together.

"Maul you."

I almost stood up. He was being outrageous. I couldn't deny the flutter in my belly at the thought.

"I'm not going to bed with you Cade. Just forget it."

He leaned back.

"Who said anything about a bed?"

Chapter Seven

Cade

She had put damper on the game with her rules. The first person to get $100,000 in chips won. If she won, I would do whatever charity event she wanted. If I won, I got a free pass to kiss her again. Only kissing unfortunately. And just once. She'd been very clear about that.

One measly kiss.

Then again, a creative man could do a lot with a kiss. Especially since her full cooperation was part of the deal. So I wasn't too worried. Especially since I was very, very good at poker.

There wasn't much to do on a rig except play cards and whack off.

I grinned, leaning back to watch her deal. She clearly knew what she was doing. The cards flew through her fingers as she looked at me like the cat that ate the canary.
 

Oh yes, Camille was confident she could beat the hick from the sticks.

Too
confident.

And that would be her downfall.

I fingered my chips as she dealt, tossing a few into the center for the buy in. I watched in awe as Camille picked up the cards. Her face changed to one of fierce concentration. Her brow was furrowed. Her feet came up on the seat. She chewed her bottom lip.

She looked like a hen trying to squeeze out an egg.

It was adorable.

Something twisted inside me. Her arm was wrapped around her knee as she made her first move. I could see the little girl she'd once been. Studious. Serious. Competitive.

I glanced down and realized she was about to win the hand.

If I wanted a crack at the grown up version of that little girl, I was going to have to pay attention. I groaned as I realized I had already developed a massive hard on. Just from seeing her little toes poking out from under her dress.

I was in trouble.

I took a slug of my drink and forced myself to pay attention. It worked. I won the next couple of hands. Then Camille won one. Only trouble was, the hands she was winning had higher stakes. We were at a standstill.

The next hour passed in fierce competition. We were like two alligators fighting over a rubber boot. Camille taunted me with every win, but as I gained on her, she got quiet again.

I leaned back in my chair. I let myself enjoy watching her as she mulled over her hand. Her intensity over a game of cards was doing funny things to me, especially in the pit of my stomach. I loved the way she took everything so seriously.

But I knew for her, her honor was on the line.
 

I finished my drink and put my cards down. She looked at me in surprise.
 

"Are you conceding?"

"No."

"The bar is over there if you want a drink. I promise not to cheat."

She grinned at me cheekily. I knew for certain that she would cheat if I turned my back for an instant. I had to admire her for being so honest about it.

"How about a draw?"

She raised her eyebrow.

"So no one wins?"

I shook my head slowly.

"We
both
win."

"So I get my carte blanche for the season and you get-"

"I get you."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"You get one kiss. One. That's it."

"Whatever you say. I'll take what I can get."

She seemed to be mulling it over but I knew I had won. I was going to do whatever charity event she wanted me to do anyway. I loved kids. And I would have done just about anything she asked regardless, just to impress her.