The Billionaire's Voice (The Sinclairs #4) (6 page)

“Believe me, they’re interested. You’re too damn beautiful to pass
any
guy without him wanting you.”

Tessa heard his
voice
in her head.

In her mind, Micah was almost growling. The imagined tone was low and savage, matching his savage expression.

It wasn’t like she intended to be self-deprecating, but that she was at a disadvantage in the dating world was fact.

She shrugged. “I haven’t met any of those men,” she answered glumly, knowing that it could possibly be her standoffishness that kept men away. She didn’t want to go through the heartache she’d suffered in the past again. Right now, she was safe, and she liked it that way.

“Yes, you have met one,” Micah answered, jamming a finger into his chest. “Me. I want you.”

Micah was an exception. Tessa knew he wanted her, but she didn’t understand why. “You make me feel things I’ve never felt,” she confessed.

Micah could make her body burn with just a glance, like the dangerous look that he was wearing now.

Tessa let him lift her from the wall of the rink, breaking eye contact with him as he lowered her slowly to the ice. He held her hand as she stepped out of the rink and sat down on a bench to remove her skates.

Maybe he was uncomfortable with her confession, but they’d been in the process of becoming friends for the last few days. While she wasn’t always as forthcoming as she’d just been because of her past, she didn’t lie to friends, either. While it was obvious that Micah was lusting after her, she felt more than just lust.

When they were both ready to leave, Micah reached for her hand, but hesitated before leading her to the door.

“Why is it that you haven’t tried cochlear implants? Are you not a candidate?”

Tessa stiffened, pulling her hand from his. “I am. And I tried. It didn’t work.” He was broaching the last subject she wanted to discuss right now.

“Why?”

She sighed, knowing she wasn’t getting away with a partial explanation. “I was thrilled when I had the surgery for the first one and I started to hear again. The voices were kind of robotic and nothing like I remembered, but I got used to it, and the sounds started to sound more normal after a while.” She paused, remembering the pain of losing her hearing all over again. “Then I got an infection, and the device started to fail. They had to remove the implant, and I was deaf again before I even had the chance to have the second one done.”

Maybe it was better that she’d never had the full experience of hearing again. Maybe it had made the loss easier. But she couldn’t help but remember the crushing disappointment of the implant not working. She couldn’t imagine anything being much worse.

“Can’t you try it again?”

Tessa moved toward the door with Micah right on her tail. “I could, but the risk of infection is still there, and it’s expensive. We need the restaurant more than we need me to hear right now.”

“Insurance—”

“Doesn’t cover everything,” she interrupted as she turned and saw the word on his lips. “The implants are outrageous, around a hundred thousand dollars for both sides. Liam and I don’t have the kind of money to try again. We’d just be throwing money away if it doesn’t work. I want the restaurant restored before I even think about doing the surgery. It’s how we make our living. It’s our parents’ legacy. We can’t let it go any longer.”

“But if it could give you back your hearing, isn’t it worth taking a risk someday?”

“No!” Tessa turned her back on him and pushed her way through the door, leaving Micah behind to lock up the skating rink.

CHAPTER 5

Later that evening, Tessa lay in bed and tried to read, but she was restless. She’d been a real bitch to Micah. After all, he’d just been trying to help. Tessa knew that, but the ache of disappointment over the failure of her attempted implant still haunted her. Insurance did cover a lot, but she knew Liam had shelled out money they didn’t have to help her hear again. She’d gotten some offers for endorsements along with her gold medal, but Richard had discouraged her from anything that took away from her skating. He’d said there would be time enough for her to make money later, but that time hadn’t ever come. She’d lost the opportunities in order to be Richard’s personal star. She regretted so many things she’d done, how she’d handled her post-Olympic years. All of that time, all of those offers wasted on a man who hadn’t been worth it.

I was so young and so ignorant.

She sighed as she thought about her failed cochlear implant. She’d had her hearing again, even if things did sound different with the device placement. Her hope had been to get the other ear done and have her life fully restored.

That had never happened.

Instead, she’d been submerged in a soundless world, the same place she’d been living before the implant. Sometimes she was convinced that it was better to never have that experience again, to be satisfied that she was safe and content rather than experience that kind of devastation. She’d plummeted into a depression that had nearly swallowed her whole after the failed implant. It had been the final knockout punch after her parents had died, and it was a place she never wanted to visit again.

Granted, she would probably handle the situation better now. A lot of her heartache was resolved, but there was still a wariness that she couldn’t shake, a desire to protect herself from falling down so far she couldn’t get up.

Tessa shuddered and tossed her book on the bedside table. Shifting the covers aside, she got up, knowing she wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon.

She was already taking a chance by even attempting to perform again. There was every possibility she could fall on her ass and make a fool of herself, but that risk had always been there, even when she’d had her hearing. Tessa knew she could handle that pressure. It was familiar.

The unknown was much scarier.

She felt the rumble in her stomach and realized she was hungry. Not knowing what to do with her restlessness, she stopped in the kitchen and made herself a sandwich. She’d been so thrown off balance by Micah’s questions about her implants that she’d sprinted out of his truck when he dropped her off, not asking him in for dinner like she usually would.

Frowning as she scooped tuna into a pita pocket, Tessa admitted that she missed his company, regretted not asking him to have dinner with her. She was getting used to him being around the house, and her heart skittered as she contemplated what had happened at the skating rink. Micah had turned her world upside down so easily, with little more than a kiss and an intimate touch.

I don’t regret it, but I can’t take this any further with him.

Micah Sinclair was dangerous—a guy she knew she could end up caring about way too much. There was nothing there but heartache for her in her future if she didn’t put her walls up with him now. The difficulty was . . . he was simply hard to set boundaries with. He was bossy, but that wasn’t why she was struggling to keep him at arm’s length.

It’s the connection I feel with him.

For some unknown reason, she really didn’t have a hard time telling Micah how she felt about anything. Hell, he could make her spill her guts if she wasn’t careful. He was just that good at dragging the truth from her, and he did it without being judgmental. Honestly, he was just really easy to talk to. For a man who cheated death for a living, he was incredibly grounded in the real world.

Tessa devoured her sandwich over the sink, smiling at the assortment of chocolate bars she had picked up at the market. Micah ate fairly healthy, but chocolate was his downfall. It was actually one of Tessa’s favorite sweets, too, but she stayed away from it since she was back into her conditioning. Nothing packed on the pounds faster than chocolate for her. She might as well take one from the wrapper and apply it onto her ass. That was how fast it would make her gain weight. Since she had spent years avoiding it, she still only indulged on special occasions.

I think tonight is one of those occasions.

Snatching a Snickers bar from the pile on the counter, she was just unwrapping it when she saw her cell phone light up in the dimly lit kitchen. She took a big bite of the chocolate, nut, and caramel mix with a slight moan of pleasure, then unlocked her phone with one finger as it rested beside the sink.

She noticed that she had a message from Micah, and she flipped the text open curiously. They’d exchanged numbers in case they had to cancel a meet up at the rink or for their runs, but had never communicated that way. There had never been a reason.

Micah: I’m hungry. I think you ruined me by making me meals every day.

Tessa snorted, nearly choking on her chocolate. Then she smiled. The complaint was so typical of Micah that it was funny. And she found it amusing that food was the reason he’d contacted her.

Right now, she was relieved that he was trying to breach the gulf that had come between them at the arena earlier in the day.

She typed a quick message back with one finger as she finished the Snickers, tossing the wrapper in the trash under the sink.

Tessa: You have to fend for yourself occasionally. BTW
 . . .
I’m eating your chocolate.

She knew he was near his phone when he answered immediately.

Micah: It better not be the Snickers. It’s my favorite.

She licked her fingers with an evil grin before rinsing and drying them at the sink.

Tessa: It was. It was delicious. My favorite, too.

Micah: I’m confiscating them all tomorrow if you can’t control yourself.

She picked up her phone and carried it back to the bedroom, typing a response as she sat cross-legged on the bed.

Tessa: I’m sorry about earlier. I wasn’t very nice and I know you were just trying to help.

It took him a few minutes to answer.

Micah: I get it. It was obviously a bad experience.

Of course he understood. He always did. Before she could answer, he sent more.

Micah: Just don’t deprive me of the chance for dinner again. I get cranky.

She rolled her eyes.

Tessa: Is that all you ever think about?

Micah: No. When I’m around you I think about banging you most of the time.

His reply was blunt, but she laughed anyway.

Tessa: That can’t happen again.

Micah: Ok. I’d rather use my mouth anyway.

She sucked in a breath, the image of Micah’s head between her thighs enough to make her squirm.

Tessa: That’s not what I meant. I was trying to say we can’t be intimate in any way. I don’t do casual sex. What happened was amazing, and I got caught up in the moment. It was an emotional day. But I don’t think I’d like myself very much if something else happened.

Micah: I’d make sure you loved it.

She sighed, wondering if she could have a fling with him. Maybe it would never go anywhere, but she needed to sate the aching need she had for him to bury himself inside her, for him to claim her body. She tried to reason with him again.

Tessa: I don’t do casual sex.

Micah: Sex with you would never be casual.

She knew what he meant. Even if something happened, it would never just be a screw for her.

Tessa: What would it be?

Micah: Intense.

His one-word answer made her heart flutter. She knew he was right.

Tessa: Why do you even want me? No other single woman on Earth would turn you down.

He was smart, insanely gorgeous, and a billionaire Sinclair. She was pretty sure women were practically throwing themselves at him.

Micah: I don’t want anyone else. I want you.

Her breath caught, her body on fire and Micah wasn’t even physically near her.

Tessa: You can’t have me. I can’t do it. I’m sorry.

Even as she sent the message, she knew her body wouldn’t be able to resist him if he pushed.
Please, please. For once . . . don’t push.

Micah: Friends?

She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or saddened by his question.

Tessa: Yes.

Micah: I don’t think I’ve ever had a female friend.

Tessa: Stop dating supermodels and maybe you wouldn’t feel the need to do them all.

Micah: I don’t really date. Haven’t for a long time.

Tessa: You’re always being pictured with beautiful women.

Micah: Acquaintances who want to go to a party or event. I don’t fuck them.

Tessa: You don’t?

Micah: Nope. You jealous?

She stopped to think before answering.

Tessa: I have no right to be jealous. I’m just a friend.

Micah: You’re not just a friend, Tessa. But if that’s what you want, I’ll do my best to be that for you.

She knew she would never regard him as just a friend after the intimate moments they’d had together that afternoon, even though that’s exactly how it needed to be.

Tessa: I’m going to bed now.

She needed to stop the conversation before she begged him to come over and fuck her up against the wall or over the table. Anything to stop the frustrated desire pounding at her right now.

Micah: Wish I was going with you. I’ll see you in the morning. Dream about me.

She chuckled at his arrogance as she put the phone on the table beside her discarded book and flopped back onto the pillow, then tugged the cord on the bedside lamp to shut off the light.

Tessa had a hard time falling asleep, and when she did, Micah got his wish.

Her dreams were vivid and erotic.

Carnal.

Breathtaking.

And every one of her dreams featured Micah Sinclair as the man who broke through her outer shell of fear and forced her to yield to their passion.

Dammit!