The Spanish Tycoon's Temptress (13 page)

They were both thinking about that memory, she realized.  She dusted off her fingers and set the plate behind her.  “Well, it’s a very nice environment,” she said politely, feeling awkward. 

“We’ve both missed the mark on our dreams, haven’t we?” he asked softly. His finger came up and caressed her cheek, the pad of his thumb rough against her skin. 

“I guess so.  But we’re doing okay, right?” she asked hopefully. 

He didn’t answer immediately but finally he said, “Are we?”

She shivered as his finger ran down her cheek, caressing her neck.  “I’m fine.”  She said the words, but they sounded almost defensive. 

His head tilted slightly and she held her breath, wondering what he was going to say.  But he didn’t say anything.  Instead, he bent lower, kissing her tenderly as if he were afraid that she might break. 

Elana sighed and closed her eyes.  “We can’t do this again, Gaston,” she said and was proud of
herself when she took a step backwards.  “We keep falling into each other’s arms but then regret it once we are able to think clearly later.”

He watched her carefully and she knew that he was debating whether to challenge her on the issue or not.  She recognized the exact moment when he decided to let her have her space. 
This time. 

“I don’t regret anything that’s happened in the past week, Elana,” he said.  “Take your plate and let’s head back into the fray.”

She laughed at his description of the party that was in full swing just one door away.  He made it sound like they were going back into a war zone.  As soon as they were back within the noisy din of over one hundred people milling about in his living room, Elana thought that perhaps she might be safer back in the kitchen with him.  At least there she had the bright, overhead lights as well as the catering and wait staff to distract her. 

Back out here, the strategic lighting made things dim and cozy despite the huge space filled with people.  And these guests were too busy laughing and talking, chatting about various subjects and no one seemed to notice Gaston’s hand at her back, or when it slipped up her spine almost making her spill her drink.  She’d even switched to club soda just so she could keep her head about her, but Gaston’s subtle touches and the way he would pull her body against his while they were talking still threw her off balance. 

By the end of the night all she wanted to do was crawl up his chest and beg him to kiss her.  It was only by sheer grit and determination that she found the willpower to slip away from him.  He wasn’t expecting it.  In fact, she suspected that he was waiting for the rest of his guests to clear out of his home before he started a full out assault on her senses.  And since his bedroom was right down one of the many hallways, she wasn’t sure that they would have any way of avoiding the intimacy she craved.

Instead, she excused herself from the group, smiled up at Gaston politely and headed towards the hallway that she knew housed the bathroom.  But instead of turning right that would take her to the restroom, she turned left and pressed the call button for the elevator, her hand shaking with the need to
both run back to him and beg him to finish what he’d been doing all night, and also to get away before he discovered her departure. 

As much as her body wanted her to give in to the sexual pull of Gaston, she would regret it deeply.  She didn’t want to become intimate with him.  She didn’t understand his game
yet and she would be terribly hurt if he disappeared again on her after making love to her.  Or more specifically, having sex with her.  There wouldn’t be any love involved with their connection.  Gaston didn’t love her any more than he had the last time they were together. 

Down on the busy sidewalk, s
he gritted her teeth as she called for a cab to come pick her up.  She was nervous and didn’t have her wrap so she was cold on top of nerves that were shouting out conflicting needs.  Thankfully, a cab arrived quickly and she dove into the back, giving her address to the driver before settling back against the broken upholstery.  She breathed a sigh of relief when she had some space between herself and Gaston. 

She bit her thumb nail, debating when to call him and let him know that she’d left the party.  She had spoken to several of the board members, but all of them seemed to be completely on board with her project so there hadn’t really been any reason for her to even attend tonight. 
Had Gaston purposely tricked her into attending?  What was his plan?  Why was he doing this to her? 

She was starting to suspect that his arrival in her life once again was not an accident.  She thought about talking with her father, but from past experience, her father hated Gaston.  On several occasions, even before their breakup several years ago, her father had gone off in an angry tirade about how horrible Gaston was and
how his family were all a bunch of criminals, liars and cheaters.  It had become somewhat better right after his departure, but was that only because her father gotten what he wanted?  He’d never approved of her relationship with Gaston, had always tried to point out Gaston’s weaknesses, which at the time, she’d suspected he’d made up a great deal of them.  Back then, she hadn’t listened, hadn’t cared about her father’s opinion.  Even after his departure, she couldn’t bear to hear the man’s name spoken so she’d simply walked out of any room in which her father was going on about Gaston and his merciless business practices. 

So why had he shown up now?  What had happened in Gaston’s life that had changed to the point where he would actually look her up? 

No matter how hard she tried, nothing seemed to make sense.  With a sigh, she paid the driver when he reached her apartment, then walked slowly up the stairs.  She didn’t have the energy to go any faster, her mind too filled with doubts and confusing possibilities about Gaston and his intentions.  Despite the cold, she didn’t notice it as much because she kept trying to explain what appeared to be an unexplainable appearance. 

When she was safely inside her apartment, she tossed off her shoes and pulled her cell phone out of her purse.  Dialing the strange number
from her cell phone’s memory, she waited only two rings before he answered her call.

“Elana, are you okay?  I can’t find you.”

Despite her confusion, her heart warmed to the sound of concern in his voice.  “Yes, I’m okay.  I just felt tired and left the party.  I apologize for leaving without saying goodbye.  I just….”

“You had to get away because you weren’t sure if you could resist me tonight.”  He didn’t ask.  He simply stated that was the case. 

Elana bit her lip, wondering how much to reveal.  In the silence that followed his statement, she accepted that she had to be honest with him.  “You’re right.  Things have changed and I didn’t know if you would stop like you did seven years ago.  And I wasn’t sure if I would have wanted you to stop.  So I thought it was better to just take myself out of the situation so that wasn’t a question any longer.”

“I never pictured you as someone who would run away.”

She laughed harshly.  “That’s ironic coming from you, Gaston.”  She took a deep breath, not wanting to get into an argument. “Look, I don’t want to fight.  But I just had to leave.  And I don’t understand what’s going on with you.”

“That’s easy enough to explain.  I want you.”

She almost gasped out loud at his bald statement, but she smothered her reaction at the last moment.  “That’s not going to happen Gaston.  And you know exactly why.”

“Let’s talk about this when I pick you up tomorrow morning.  It will be easier to discuss at my lake house where there aren’t any distractions.”

She was already shaking her head even before he finished speaking.  “I’m not going to any lake house with you.  I’m going to redecorate my apartment and fix it up a bit more.  So you see?  I’ll be perfectly fine without you.  Have a great time at the lake.”

She hung up before he could respond, but she didn’t care how rude it was of her.  She was angry with him for assuming she would go with him, for touching her and making her desire him despite what he’d done, or what she hadn’t done or any of those things. 

She pulled off her dress, washed her face and brushed her teeth, getting ready for bed.  The whole time, her body was tense, bracing herself for the sound of a knock indicating that he’d left his party to come over and demand an explanation.  Or worse, to finish what they’d started before the party. 

She shivered under the blanket as she stared up at the ceiling.  It was almost midnight and she was exhausted, but she couldn’t get her mind to stop thinking, wondering,
trying to decipher his plan.  In the end, because she couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation for his arrival back in her life, she pushed him from her mind and focused on what she would do with her apartment.  By the time she’d thought up colors to paint her walls, she was slowly slipping off to sleep, grateful to have Gaston out of her mind.

The following morning she woke up feeling refreshed and invigorated.  Glancing at the clock, she realized that it was well past nine o’clock in the morning.  She smiled, wondering when the last time
she’d slept that late.  Well, besides yesterday which didn’t really count since she’d been up half the night cleaning.  It certainly hadn’t occurred in the past year, she thought as she slid her legs out of bed.  She pushed her hair out of her eyes and padded barefoot into her kitchen to start making some coffee. 

She was sipping the dark brew when someone knocked on her door.  With wide eyes and a shaking hand, she knew that it was Gaston.  She couldn’t see him, nor
could she see his car, but she could just feel him on the other side of the doorway.  The man sent out a surge of electricity that she couldn’t seem to avoid. 

She opened the door, standing there looking at him with her coffee in one hand and the other one gripping the door.

Gaston was startled to see her, suspecting that she was going to make him call out once again to get her to open the door.  But here she was, standing there looking sexier than he could handle and his body tightened and hardened instantly as he took in the tiny, white cotton shirt and cute little pink shorts.  The shirt was thin and small, hugging her obviously unencumbered breasts and giving him a very distinct impression of her nipples.  The shirt hugged her tiny waist and revealed a flat stomach with the sexiest belly button he’d ever seen. 

His eyes traveled lower, taking in her long, slender legs.  Hell, even her feet turned him on! 

When his eyes came back up to her face, a slow, leisurely pass once again up her body, his eyes were bright and intense, showing her the need to take her into his arms.  As it was, his hands were braced on either side of her door jamb, his fingers gripping the sides to keep from walking in and taking her into his arms. 

“If you don’t go get some clothes on right now, I’m going to make love to you until we both can’t walk straight,” he said with a growl.

Elana had been frozen in place, her body standing there just taking his perusal and becoming hot and bothered by the way his eyes took in everything.  She could even feel her breasts swelling, her nipples peaking and pressing against the thin fabric of her pajamas.  But as soon as he spoke, she jumped and realized that she had been standing in her doorway, for all intents and purposes almost naked since her little pajamas really didn’t hide much at all.

With a
squeak, she jumped and spun around, heading towards her bedroom, almost spilling her coffee in an attempt to move faster.  When her bedroom door closed, separating the two of them, she took a deep breath as she leaned against the solid wood, closing her eyes so that she didn’t see that heat from his eyes, making her feel it right down to her bones. 

She quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, adding a bra along with it.  She initially grabbed a pink bra with pretty lace along the top, but then thought about Gaston being outside in her den area and grabbed the boring tan one, the one that she would be embarrassed to have him see her in.  She
considered the ugliness of the bra as extra protection against the almost painful need that was pouring through her right now. 

She pulled her hair back into a sloppy pony tail and rejected all her makeup, preferring to have him see her just like this, with no enhancement. 
More protection, she told herself. 

Walking out a few minutes later, she took a deep breath to brace herself to see him again.  Standing in the hallway, she watched him for a moment.  His hands were braced on his hips and he was staring out the window at something.  His shoulders looked tense and his whole body language seemed as if he were angry at something. 

“Why are you here?” she asked, not daring to step out of the hallway.  She was protected on two sides at least, which was better than nothing.  Physical barriers might help in some way to help her fight this insane attraction she had to this man. 

He swung around at the first sound of her voice and glared at her, almost making her flinch with the hostility she saw emanating from his eyes.  “Why the hell would you answer your door like that?  Were you expecting someone else? 
A boyfriend perhaps?”

She fisted her hands at her sides, furious at the implication that she was
sleeping with someone.  “For your information, I knew that you were on the other side of my door from the moment you banged on it.  So whatever you are accusing me of, just drop it now.  Understood?”  She didn’t care if he understood or not.  She was furious and stomped over to her kitchen.  “Besides, what I do in my apartment is my business and has nothing to do with you and your horrible mood swings!”