To Catch a Man (In 30 Days or Less) (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (9 page)

Of course, when she did speak to
him he was none too pleased at the short notice and he held nothing back in
telling her so.  Still, after much cajoling and wheedling, she got him to agree
to prepare a simple meal of chicken stew with mashed potatoes and sweet corn.

That settled, she hurried back to
her cottage-cum-office where she did paperwork  until about five o'clock.  At
that point she had to break to get herself ready for her dinner date.  She was
pleasantly surprised when the meal arrived at five-twenty, long before she'd
even had a chance to dress and fix her hair.  Not that there was much to fix,
it was so short.  But still, she wanted to look her best.

This evening she softened her look,
forgoing the slacks for a flowing, ankle-length dress with a slit that ran up
her left calf and halfway up her thigh.  She knew she had nice legs.  She'd
received her fair share of compliments.  And tonight she planned to give Stone
a peek so he could see what he was missing.

And that idea was all her own.  No
Tessa, no Cosmopolitan Magazine, all Indie.

She set the table and, on an
impulse, she set a short, fat scented candle in the middle and lit it.  She'd
found the candle in one of the kitchen cupboards and why should she let it go
to waste?  More importantly, she was trying to draw this man in so she might as
well go all the way. 

As the sun began to slide toward
the horizon Indie went to the door and looked out.  And there, striding toward
her house, tall and dark with the setting sun to his back, was Stone.

At the sight of him her heart gave
a flutter.  Sure, she was expecting him and, of course, this wasn't their first
dinner date.  But still, she couldn't stop her heart from jerking in
anticipation.  Involuntarily she pulled at her dress, letting it fall softly
around her legs, then she reached up a hand and smoothed her hair back and away
from her face.  The fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach told her she was
nervous as hell. 
Come on, Indie, you've done this before.  Just chill out.

Stone was at her door now, and as
he stepped forward she tilted her chin up, her face deliberately cool and
serene, and accepted his peck on the cheek.  He would never guess that her
placid exterior was just a sham.  Inside she was as jumpy as quicksilver.

“Now it’s my turn to welcome you,”
she said with a soft smile as he stepped inside.

He didn’t reply but the intensity
of his gaze was all the response she needed.  He was taking her in, all of her,
from the top of her head down to her sandaled feet peeping out from under the
hem of her dress.  And his eyes lingered in all the right places – the sweep of
her collarbone, the slope of her neckline and all the way up that all-important
slit in the side of her dress.

His glance slid back to her face and
when he realized that she’d been following his eyes he straightened his back
and cleared his throat.  A hint of a flush told her he was embarrassed at being
caught.

But she didn’t mind the attention
at all.  She welcomed it.  It was a very encouraging sign.

“Make yourself comfortable.”  She
gave him a reassuring smile.  “You must be thirsty after your walk.  I’ll get
you a drink.”

When she got to the kitchen she
drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly.  Staying in control was not going
to be as easy as she’d thought.  Having him so close – the woodsy fragrance of
his cologne, the fact that he was sitting right there in her living room – was
sending her pulse racing like she’d just done a five mile run.  Even her
fingers were shaking.  Yikes!  She really had to get a hold of herself or he’d
think she’d gone batty.

She let a few seconds pass and then,
pasting a smile on her face, she exited the kitchen carrying the two chilled
glasses of wine.  She was surprised when she saw that Stone had found the chess
game that had been sitting on top of the bookcase.  He'd opened the box and was
laying out the pieces as she entered the room.

“You like chess,” she said
matter-of-factly.  It was not a question.  He just looked like a man who would
be good at that sort of game.

He shrugged and continued to place
the pieces.  “I’m competitive.  What can I say?”  Then he looked up at her and
grinned.  "Want to play?” 

She gave him a crooked smile.  “I
don’t know…”  He looked like he could give her a good whipping and she didn’t
know if she wanted to lose to him tonight.  Maybe some other time but tonight she
wanted to be a winner in every sense of the word.  She handed him his glass of
wine and went over to sit on the seat across from him then she slid back in the
chair, relaxed, and took a sip.

“Chicken?”  He gave her a cheeky
grin.

“Never.”  But still, she didn’t
move closer to the board.  “I’ll take you up on your challenge,” she said, “after
dinner.”  With any luck after dinner they’d be too occupied to even remember about
a chess game.

Stone seemed unperturbed.  He
shrugged his broad shoulders and lounged in the sofa, watching her over the rim
of his glass as he sipped.  With his brown eyes near golden and the dark-brown
hair framing his rugged face he could have been a lion basking in the warmth of
the South African sun, casually regarding his prey.  But she was the hunter,
not the hunted.  She didn’t like feeling like prey.

“Let’s head for the dining room
before our food gets cold,” she said and stood up so he would, too.  He
complied and followed her out of the living room.

When Stone saw the romantic setting,
the meal laid out, the tiny vase with bright orange daisies in the middle of
the table and the stout red candle beside it, he whistled.

That brought a blush to Indie’s
cheeks.  Had she been too presumptuous to make this look like a real date?  The
man was her employer, after all.

But no, he was looking at the table
then at her with nothing but appreciation.

She relaxed then, and they sat down
to a meal punctuated with laughter and ribbing until Indie couldn’t even
remember what she’d been uptight about.

After that they moved to the living
room where Indie was able to convince Stone to try Monopoly instead of chess. 
With that game choice, she thought, she would have some hope of winning.  No
such luck.  Stone whipped her three times in a row till she threatened to
confiscate the board and send him packing.

He only laughed.  “Now it’s time
for you to pay,” he growled and moved closer to her on the sofa.

“Pay?”  Her brows shot up and her
eyes widened.  “I didn’t know there was a penalty for losing.”

“There is,” he said, his tone
unapologetic.

“Since when?”  She gave him her
sternest look.  She was not used to being bullied, especially not by a man.

“Since now,” he said, his voice a
sexy whisper. 

Indie’s breath caught in her
throat.  Stone Hudson was trying to seduce…her.

She had no time to dwell on that
thought.  He was reaching for her and her body, eager as it was for his touch,
was leaning toward him, betraying the depth of her desire.  And then she was in
his arms, her breasts crushed against his rock-hard chest, her lips pressed
against his.

Stone kissed her urgently,
plundering her mouth, wiping from her mind everything but the feel of him, the
taste of him, the scent of his cologne.

And as urgent as he was kissing her
she was kissing back.  Indie wrapped her arms around Stone’s waist and held on
as they rode the waves of passion together.

When Stone released her lips he was
breathing hard.  “I want you, Indie,” he said in a ragged whisper.  “I want you
so bad.”

He reached for her again and just
like last time he dragged her onto his lap but this time his lips skimmed past
hers and slid down the length of her neck to her collarbone and then to that
sensitive valley between her breasts where his hot breath tickled and
tantalized till she arched up to meet his mouth.

Yes, he wanted her.  She could hear
it in the heavy thumping in his chest, see it in the perspiration that beaded
his brow and feel it in the hardness that pressed up into her thigh.

And she wanted him.  And when his
lips slid even lower to kiss the top of her right breast, she reached up to
pull his head down, urging him on, wanting more.

When Stone slid his lips lower and
captured her nipple, Indie gasped.

A jolt ran through her body and
then she was melting inside as pure pleasure flowed from his lips.  She sank
against him, her body weak and pliable in his arms.  And when his hand slid
down to the slit in her dress and slowly ran up the length of her thigh she
could only moan at his sweet seduction.

Indie was floating on air when
Stone lifted his head then slid his arm behind her knees.  He got up from the
sofa and, in one smooth move, he had lifted her into his arms and was striding
out of the room.

“What?”  Confused, Indie clung to
his shoulders but when she looked up into his face what she saw left her in no
doubt as to his intentions.

In just a few purposeful strides
Stone was in her bedroom and then he was laying her gently on the bed.  He lay
down beside her and his golden-brown eyes flashed as he gazed down at her. 
“You know what I want, Indie,” he said, his voice hoarse, “but do you want
this, too?”

“I…” She swallowed.  What should
she say?  The question wasn’t if she wanted him – there was no doubt in her
mind about that – but would he want her?  How would he react when she told him
she was, at almost the grand old age of thirty, still a virgin?

“I…” She tried again, but no words
came.  For a woman who was used to being in control it was as if she’d lost the
power of speech.  The sad thing was, when it came to sex she was out of her
depth.

“It’s okay,” Stone whispered.  “If
you’re not ready I can wait.  I want this to be your decision.”

A wave of embarrassment washed over
Indie.  She ducked her face and pressed it against his shoulder.  Oh God, this
was awful.  Should she tell him and risk being laughed at or should she remain
silent and leave him thinking she was being a tease?

She gritted her teeth and reached
out to cling to him.  Then she drew in a deep breath and took the plunge. 
“I’ve never done this before.  This would be my…first time.”

Stone went still.  Even his
breathing stopped.  Then he reached up and loosened her fingers which still
clutched his shoulders.  He pulled back and looked into her face.  “Your first
time?”

She dropped her gaze, her heart
aching at the incredulity she’d seen on his face.  She nodded then waited for
the anger.  Or the ridicule.

But none came.  Instead, she was
shocked when he pulled her into his arms and gave her a sweet, gentle kiss on
the forehead.  “Thank you,” he said softly as he held her close.

Indie frowned.  Of all the things
he could have said she was not expecting a thank you.  She pulled back and
peered up at him.  “For what?”

He reached up a hand to stroke the
strands of disheveled hair away from her face.  “Thank you for telling me.”  He
smiled.  “Your first time…it has to be special.  And it will be, but not
tonight.  I will wait till the time is right.”

At his words Indie closed her eyes
and laid her head on his chest.  She’d waited so long to share that special
moment with the man of her heart.  Now that she’d found him how much longer
would she wait?  When the time was right, he’d said.  She prayed it would be
sometime soon.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

It was now nineteen days to Indie’s
deadline and although her relationship with Stone had progressed, with him
checking up on her at least twice a day, she was still nervous.  A lot could
happen in nineteen days.  And on the other hand, nothing could happen.  Had she
come this far only to fail?

But who was she kidding?  Where on
God’s green earth did two people meet, fall in love, and get married in thirty
days?  Not counting Las Vegas.  Maybe she should have gone to Vegas to do her
manhunt. 

But seriously, was this a lost
cause?  She looked again at the calendar on the wall, at the big red X’s marking
off the days, and she heaved a sigh.  Somehow she had to find a way to speed
things up…without Stone noticing, of course.

Ever since he’d found out she was a
virgin he’d backed off.  It wasn’t that he was ignoring her.  He came by the
school every day and greeted her with a warmth she should have no complaints
about.  Except that it wasn’t warmth that she wanted.  It was passion, craving
and even…love.  But was she destined to ever find that elusive prize,
particularly within the next two and a half weeks?

She set her lips in a determined
pout and got up from behind the desk.  If anything was going to happen she
would have to make it happen.  She’d always believed in creating her own
destiny and she wasn’t going to stop now.  She marched out of the cottage,
intent on finding Stone.  She had no idea what she would do when she saw him
but whatever it was, it was going to take her a whole lot closer to getting
married than where she was now.

But when she went to Stone’s
cottage he was nowhere to be found.  She went in search of Jenna.

“I’m sorry, Indie.  He was called
suddenly to the HBC office in Johannesburg.  He wanted to tell you before
leaving but you weren’t in your office or at the school.”  Jenna gave her an
apologetic look.  “He asked me to tell you but I was swamped this morning.  I
didn’t get a chance to come find you.”

“No, that’s okay,” Indie said, her
thoughts scattered.  “I understand.  I know you’re busy getting ready for the
baby.”  She bit her lip.  She would just have to be patient.  Stone would be
back soon enough.  Johannesburg was only two and a half hour's drive away.  She
turned back to Jenna.  “Did he say what time he’d be back?”

“He said he’d be gone three, maybe
four days.”