Katie shivered and pushed that disturbing thought away. She didn’t want to examine it too closely. She had other things on her mind.
Make love in a forbidden place.
“I’ll do it,” she whispered to her reflection in the mirror. “I’m going to use Liam to complete my Martini dares.”
Just saying the words made her feel empowered. Yes. This was good. This was exactly what she was looking for.
But is it fair to use Liam for your own personal empowerment?
The doorbell rang, interrupting her internal seesaw. She turned off the curling iron, got up and padded to the door. She peered through the peephole and spied a bike messenger standing on her front step. She put the chain on and opened the door a crack.
“Special delivery,” he called. “You gotta sign for it.”
What was this? Katie was a city girl who knew how to take care of herself. “Who’s it from?”
“Mr. Liam James.”
Magic words.
Katie signed for the package, then almost ripped it out of the delivery guy’s hands. Her curiosity was piqued. What had Liam sent her?
She tore off the brown paper to reveal a rectangular white box with the name of a famous jewelry store embossed in red letters on the lid. Her heart thumped.
Jewelry? The gift was presumptuous. Jewelry implied strings were attached to their relationship and she certainly wasn’t interested in getting tied to anything. She suddenly felt claustrophobic, as if the walls of her condo were closing in.
Maybe she should reconsider her decision to use Liam as the means to complete her Martini dares.
Tentatively, she slid the lid off the box and peered inside to find…
A dog collar?
The dude had sent her a dog collar.
Albeit a very handsome dog collar. Made of black leather and studded with blue onyx and faux diamond rhinestones. When she lifted it out of the box, the stones glistened in the light.
At the bottom of the box lay a small card. She plucked it out and read the message that had been printed in strong, masculine block script.
Dear Katie,
For when you’re ready to claim Duke as your own. Looking forward to seeing you tonight.
Liam
P.S. You’d make a terrific dog owner.
A dog collar for a puppy she didn’t even own? It was a strange gift, but she found the gesture incredibly touching because Liam had paid attention. And he’d understood both her desire to own a dog and her anxiety over such a commitment.
A wistful feeling swept over her-part longing, and part…hope.
The fact that Liam had gone to all the trouble to pick out this dog collar and have it couriered over stirred something deep. He could have sent generic flowers or candy or nothing at all. But instead, he’d sent the one thing that said I believe in you.
She was moved.
The gift spoke volumes. Clearly, tonight was not just a business meeting.
Katie had a date with Boston’s most eligible bachelor.
7
“THANK YOU for the dog collar,” Katie told Liam when he came to pick her up. “It was very thoughtful.”
“I wanted to encourage you to get that puppy, if that’s what you really want.”
“I don’t know that I want a dog that badly, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Don’t want it? Or too afraid to want it?” Liam challenged.
Damn, being with this guy wasn’t easy. He didn’t let her slide on anything. She darted a quick glance at him. He was standing in her foyer, gorgeous as all get-out.
He wore a black pullover V-necked sweater and a pair of formfitting black trousers. The wind had sexily tousled his well-groomed hair, giving him a relaxed look she found appealing.
Her gaze tracked over his face, soaking up his chiseled cheekbones and strong chin. She noticed that the bridge of his nose was crooked, bent slightly to the right as if once it had been broken.
Liam looked so different from the pampered playboys she normally dated. His life experience was evident not only in the sharp focus of his intelligent hazel eyes and the out-of-character tattoo at his left wrist, but also in the powerful way he carried himself, in the commanding way he spoke.
This was a man of substance.
She was surprised to find the observation made her edgy. Very edgy. Suddenly, all her self-confidence evaporated. What did she know about pleasing a high-powered businessman who’d bootstrapped his way to the top of his profession by age thirty? And she was a woman who’d been born with a blue-blooded spoon in her mouth.
His standards were high. He was a self-made millionaire, well on his way to becoming a billionaire. He was everything she was not. Logical, responsible, dedicated, driven.
Was that why he fascinated her so? Because she could never hope to understand what made him tick?
A smile tipped his lips and as his eyes met hers, his face lit up. He looked as if the Dow Jones had jumped twenty points.
Katie’s heart fluttered. He had the power to make her feel special. It was disconcerting, to say the least.
“Wow, you look amazing.” The appreciative expression in his eyes went a long way in reviving her poise and earning him bonus points for noticing the special care that she’d taken with her appearance.
Approvingly, his gaze traveled from her fresh new hairstyle, across the swell of the tight bodice of her aqua dress to the hemline that hit her midthigh to the three-inch stilettos that enhanced the shapely curve of her lean legs.
Noticing everything. Missing nothing. Making her feel very desirable.
“Thank you,” she said, and tried not to blush at his frank assessment.
“Are you ready to get down to business?” His hazel eyes smoldered with a mesmerizing sexuality that pushed all the air from her lungs.
“Business?”
“You do have your designs with you.”
“Yes, yes,” she said breathlessly. Oh, she’d almost forgotten about the designs.
“Good,” he said. “I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with.”
“I hope you like them.”
“I have confidence in you.” He winked.
He took her to Carmine’s Ristorante, a quaint family-owned Italian restaurant off the beaten path, but not far from Boston’s north end. It wasn’t the sort of place she expected a real-estate mogul to frequent. That alone impressed her.
He’d opened the door for her, lightly placing his hand at the small of her back to guide her over the threshold.
The pressure of his hand had her sucking in her breath. She didn’t know what to make of his proprietary touch or the way her skin tingled.
Her pulse leaped and instantly a dozen erotic images from the night of the Ladies League ball popped into her head. She heard the clatter of coat hangers, the sounds of their delighted groans. She smelled the scent of their merged bodies, musky and rich. She tasted the sweet flavor of sin on her tongue.
“Hello, Mr. James,” greeted the attractive, overeager young hostess. “We’ve got your usual table waiting.”
The hostess led them through the brightly lit dining room to a table in the corner. Katie wondered if he often brought dates here. It didn’t seem like a regular date place. No singing waiters. No candles in Chianti bottles. No private booths to hide away from the crowd. Most of the tables seated six or more and they all seemed to be filled with families or groups of coworkers or friends on an outing.
Maybe this really was a business meeting.
The man was sending mixed messages and she wasn’t sure how to read him. Her interest notched higher. Who was Liam James behind his reputation and his stunning success? What had made him the man he was today?
“I hope this place is okay,” he said anxiously. “It’s not trendy, but the owner and his family are friendly and the food is great.”