Seducing the Enemy's Daughter (5 page)

B
rady had just folded his last pair of khakis and placed them in his suitcase when someone knocked on his suite door.

Who could that be?
He hadn’t called down for the bellboy yet.

He opened his door and smiled at Sam.

She clasped her hands together. “I’d like to talk, if you have a minute.”

He motioned her in. “Please.”

She stepped in, bringing her soft, jasmine scent with her. Brady inhaled one good, deep breath.
Enough to fill his lungs with the sweet aroma of Sam and just enough to entice him even more.

He closed the door and turned. “Is something wrong?”

“Depends.”

Sam’s gaze darted about, her teeth worried her bottom lip. She was nervous about something, and he should be glad. But instead he was concerned.

He gestured toward the sofa. “Have a seat.”

Sam glanced across the room toward the bed, noticing the almost-packed suitcase. “Are you leaving?”

“I need to get back to the office for a meeting with my attorney. I was hoping to see you before I left.”

She took a seat on the couch and crossed her elegant, bare legs, allowing her pale blue skirt to inch up just that much more on her tan thigh. Brady swallowed hard and resisted the urge to adjust in his seat.

“Well, then, I’m glad I caught you before you left.” She rested her elbow on the arm of the sofa, clasped her hands together and tilted her chin. “I’ve been thinking about your proposition.”

Did he dare hope she’d reconsidered?

“But first I want to know if you were serious when you said you saw more potential with this
resort, because this place means everything to me.”

He knew the feeling. Lani Kaimana
was
his family. It was the backbone of his father’s legacy and the foundation they’d used to build upon. The Stone’s literally
made
this place, and he would not see his bitter enemy destroy it over bad business decisions.

From this angle of attack, using Sam and her ideas, he could not only have the resort updated, but he’d be doing it all at the cost of Stanley Donovan.

Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

Her questioning eyes held his gaze, so he answered honestly. “Absolutely. I never lie about business.”

She cleared her throat. “In that case, I’d like to discuss working with you on some plans. That is, if you’d planned on coming back.”

Brady couldn’t stop his mouth from dropping open. He’d never guessed she’d actually come to him. Oh, sure, he’d hoped, but what made her change her mind in such a short amount of time?

“May I ask why the sudden change?” Now he did shift closer to the edge of his seat—every fiber of his being was aroused. “Last we talked you weren’t even considering the notion.”

“Let’s just say I had a rude awakening. I’m not committing to anything, but I’d like to discuss how you intend to help me.”

Oh, he intended to help her. He had to stay in control of this situation and use it to the advantage of his company.

The thrill of being one step closer to destroying the Donovans rushed through him.

He reached out, brushed her hair from her shoulder. “Perhaps when I get back we can have dinner and discuss my plans.”

“A business date?” she asked.

“We’ll start there.”

With a laugh, she came to her feet. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Perhaps my coming here was a mistake.”

Brady stood, as well, and, just as Sam turned, grabbed her arm. He couldn’t let her leave, not when he was so close to getting what he wanted—and he wanted her. In his business. In his bed.

Her eyes met his, and he couldn’t ignore the spark of desire. It practically radiated from her baby blues, from the heat in her body beneath his touch. This woman wasn’t getting away so easily.

“Nothing about you being here with me is a mistake,” he whispered. “Nothing.”

Common sense went straight to hell as he
lowered his mouth to hers, all the while keeping his gaze locked. He waited for a sign, something to make him stop. But when she parted her lips and fluttered her lids, he knew he’d received a sign…just not the one he’d expected.

His lips touched hers and a flood of emotions took over. Desire, passion, want. Need.

The sweetness she offered with only her mouth made his knees weak.

He’d never gotten weak knees over a woman before.

Opening her lips, she welcomed him in. His tongue swept through and, other than his hand on her upper arm, they remained apart.

But, God, he wanted to grab her and drag her down to the sofa. How easy this would be to have her clothes off and satisfied.

He knew she wanted this as much as he did, so why wasn’t he taking what he’d wanted since he met her?

Because a woman like Samantha should be handled with care. Obviously something she wasn’t used to. He intended to show her a different side of himself—one she wouldn’t expect. One that would be impossible to dismiss.

Seduction was key in reaching his goal. He could tell Sam was the type who pretended not
to need anyone, but deep down, she wanted the affection, the love.

Brady kissed the corners of her mouth and eased back.

“That’s why we would have a hard time working together on this,” she murmured, lifting her lids.

Her swollen mouth only looked more inviting, especially now that he’d tasted her again. “Because we can’t contain our attraction?”

She nodded, her eyes darting back to his lips.

He stroked his thumb along her arm. “I don’t see why we can’t keep business separate from pleasure.”

“What happens when we decide we’ve had enough of each other?” she asked. “Does your offer to help cease?”

Enough of each other? Since he hadn’t had her yet, he couldn’t imagine getting enough of the lovely Sam Donovan.

“You make it sound as if we’re already sleeping together.”

She shrugged. “Are you saying we wouldn’t if we continued to see each other on any level?”

Brady swallowed the lump in his throat. “You do really speak your mind, don’t you?”

“Are we or aren’t we sexually attracted to each other?”

“We are.”

Her heavy-lidded eyes roamed over his face. “I assumed sex is what you wanted from me.”

Why did that sentence sound so, so…dirty? Even though he did want to sleep with her, why did he feel like he was cheating her, and himself, of something more?

“I won’t lie. The thought of you naked in my bed is more than appealing.”

She smiled. “This is all moving a bit fast for me. I mean, I didn’t even know you a few days ago and now you want me to trust you with my business and my body. I keep asking myself what you’ll get out of all this.”

Brady wasn’t surprised at her hesitation. This was a woman who would make a man beg and not even realize he’s doing it. Damn if he didn’t wish they’d met under different circumstances.

He couldn’t very well tell her what he’d get out of this appealing offer.

“What I’ll get is the satisfaction of helping a woman I’ve come to admire gain her equal footing in her father’s company.” He stroked her shoulders. “I know how hard this industry is. Besides, I’ll get a side benefit of seeing you, touching you.”

She shivered beneath his touch and Brady refused to let the guilt creep up. He reassured her
with a soft kiss to her lips before drawing away. He had to maintain some distance every now and then to keep his own emotions from getting boggled up in this mess.

“I do have to get back to my office,” he told her. “I’ll be returning to the island in a week or so. I plan on purchasing a vacation home in the area and I want to keep my eye on it.”

Samantha nodded. “I can’t wait to get started on the resort proposal.”

“And my personal proposal?”

She lifted one perfectly arched brow. “I’ll let you know.”

Flying several thousand feet above the Pacific Ocean in his private jet, Brady turned off his cell. He didn’t feel like chatting with Cade anymore about Lani Kaimana or Sam—
especially
Sam.

Brady had called Cade when he’d first boarded his jet and explained the progress he’d made, but his brother zeroed in on Sam, claiming Brady was getting in too deep with her.

Cade didn’t understand. Hell, Brady didn’t understand himself what was going on with his emotions. But he did know he had to keep trudging on with this plan.

Sam would get hurt, that was a fact. But would
he? Doubtful. If he had the resort back how could he be remorseful?

Perhaps Sam had gotten under his skin, but so what? Obviously, from the way she’d kissed him last night, he’d gotten under hers, as well. He just had to stay there.

Their sexual chemistry would just make his plan flow that much smoother. He intended to not only get Samantha Donovan in his bed, but gain back his lost property. There was no reason in the world he couldn’t have both.

As far as he was concerned, she didn’t need to find out who he was, and thankfully most of the staff had been replaced since his father’s ownership, so he wasn’t recognized.

Brady watched the pillowy white clouds pass beneath him as he settled deeper into his leather sofa. Samantha was definitely a perk he hadn’t expected, but one he would thoroughly enjoy.

She wouldn’t deny him. He’d seen the look of desire and passion in her eyes, felt it in her kiss. She was a woman and women had needs just like men. He intended to meet her needs until he got what he wanted.

His list of wants was simple: Samantha in his
bed, his resort back and Stanley Donovan’s empire obliterated.

When he returned to Kauai, he wouldn’t leave again without each item on the list checked off.

“T
he old conference room needs to be cleared out.” Sam nestled the phone between her ear and shoulder as she typed up her budget plan for the new day care center. “I want that whole area emptied because we’re turning it into a day care for parents who want some alone time.”

“Are you sure, Ms. Donovan?” the head maintenance man asked. “This is the first I’ve heard about this.”

Sam resisted the urge to sigh as she went on. “I’m sure, Phillip. The conference room hasn’t been used for as long as I’ve been here and nothing is
scheduled. We still have the ballroom for receptions, so if need be, we can hold meetings in there. Now, please, clear out the room and let me know when the job is done so I can get a construction crew in there to build some dividers.”

“You’re the boss.”

Yeah, she was. If only her father would see that.

Samantha reviewed her notes and saved the file. No, the day care hadn’t been approved by her father, but if she wanted to get ahead in his company, and gain his approval, she had to take initiative. Now parents could take at least a few hours to themselves, maybe have a nice lunch or a romantic walk on the beach.

Romantic walk. On. The. Beach.

No matter what she did, her thoughts always drifted back to Brady Stone and his ridiculously affecting charm. She’d never been one to fall for smooth talkers before.

Physically, Brady had left, but the potent man still lingered in her mind, in her office where he’d had dinner for her and along the beach every time she glanced out the window.

Damn. She wished she had more willpower where he was concerned, but she was a woman and he was an extremely sexy man who, for some
insane reason, found her attractive and actually wanted to help her. How could she even try to resist?

Samantha shook her head, hoping to clear all the Brady thoughts from her mind, and came to her feet. She needed to get out of her office and make sure all was running smoothly in her—
her
—hotel. After all, this resort was her baby, and she intended to spoil it.

Even though she and Brady were going to work on this together, she planned on getting a jump start before he returned. Hopefully her days would go by more quickly and she could fill the void he’d left.

“Abby, hold my calls, I need to talk to Brady.”

Brady led the way up to his second-floor office.

“What’s up?” Cade asked, closing the office door behind him.

Brady took a seat behind his desk and rested his elbows on the glossy mahogany top. “I’m going back to the resort in a few days.”

Cade nodded, resting his hands on the back of the leather wingback chair opposite the desk. “Has she given you any ammo we can use against her old man?”

“None, yet. But I have a feeling with a few more one-on-one occasions, it’s just a matter of time before I can really pump her for information.”

“Just be careful,” Cade warned. “She’ll discover who you are eventually.”

He hoped like hell she didn’t. “I’ll have the information we need to destroy the Donovans beforehand. Trust me,” Brady said. “I’ll get what we need. I just want you to be aware that I may be on the island for a while. I don’t intend to come back until the job is done.”

Cade shook his head with a laugh. “An exotic island, a beautiful woman—albeit the enemy—and a plan of seduction. Man, you get all the cushy, rewarding jobs.”

Brady grinned, resting back in his seat. “Just part of being the oldest.”

“Just make sure you get this done right. We don’t want to let Dad down.”

Brady held his brother’s stare. No, they wouldn’t let their father down. And that was all the reason Brady needed not to fall under Sam’s spell.

“What the hell is this I hear about a day care?”

Samantha held the phone away from her ear
as her father’s booming voice punctured her eardrum.

She should’ve known she’d be ratted on. Was she in a corporation or junior high?

“Who told you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he scolded. “Maybe you forgot our numerous conversations where I not only didn’t authorize this preposterous plan, I flat-out denied your request.”

“Yes, I remember,” she agreed like going against the great Stanley Donovan was no big deal. “But I am the manager and I see what’s going on here and what the patrons want. Many couples would like some private time to enjoy the tranquility of the island without kids running around and screaming at them. Surely that’s something you could relate to.”

That last sentence slipped out of her mouth before she could think, but once the words were out, she didn’t regret them. Stanley Donovan had never been a hands-on father. Quite the opposite. Before the death of Sam’s mother, Bev Donovan had done it all. After her death, well, Stanley paid nannies and eventually shipped his daughter off to boarding school in Switzerland.

“As of this moment, you will be checking in
with me at the beginning and end of each business day.”

Sam slammed her fist into her desk. “What? You can’t be serious.”

“I’m dead serious. If you can’t follow my directions, you will have to report every day and let me know what your plans are. I want to know everything from the number of guests to the number of rolls of toilet paper in the storage room.”

Rage filled her. “This is not how you treat Miles.”

“Miles doesn’t go behind my back.”

Samantha gripped the phone. “Fine. You’ll get your daily report, but don’t blame me when your resort fails because you were too bullheaded to see some changes need to be made.”

“Your attitude needs some major adjusting, little girl, or you’ll find yourself out of a job.”

“I bust my butt around here and have never been given any praise, much less a thank-you. You have no idea what I do.”

“Things that I don’t agree with,” he interjected.

“I won’t let this resort go belly-up. You seem to not care about it, but I do.”

Slamming the phone down, Samantha gained a
slight bit of satisfaction in the fact that her father was still talking. She’d really just about had it. She’d never been treated like a problem employee and she’d certainly never hung up on her boss, but she’d never worked for her father before.

Her hands shook from all the anger pumping through her. She counted to five, then ten, and even when she got to twenty, she was still enraged.

How dare he speak to her as if she were a child? He didn’t take the time to discipline her when she’d been young, why would he start now?

Sam shoved back from her desk and stood. She needed to take a walk, cool off and then resume her duties that would continue to go unappreciated.

She flung open her door and slammed directly into a wall of solid muscle and sexy man.

“Whoa.” Brady grabbed hold of her arms. “What’s the hurry?”

She stared up at him. “What are you doing back?”

His soft chuckle penetrated the wall of anger she’d erected. “I told you I’d be back.”

“But you only left three days ago. You said a week.”

He shrugged. “I got done earlier than expected. Besides, I missed you.”

Those three simple words melted her, made her knees weaken.

How could he have known just what she needed and how on earth did he know she was having a really, really bad day? For anyone else, she would’ve made an excuse to be alone but with Brady, well, she wanted his company.

She reached up, wrapped her fingers around his wrists. “Can we talk?”

“Of course.”

With his hold still on her arms, he backed her into her office, shut the door with his foot and captured her mouth.

On a sigh, she molded into him. Like a starving woman, she took everything he offered as she slid her hands up his arms and curled her fingers around his strong, muscular shoulders. His wide hands slid around her waist and drew her closer…as if she’d go anywhere now. She tasted his need, his desire and she was almost certain he could taste hers, as well.

Heat pooled between her legs, her nipples pressed achingly against her silky bra. The need for this man gave her no choice but to respond to his arousing kiss.

If this man could make her damp with just a kiss, what would he do to her in bed?