Dreams of revenge consumed her fitful sleep. When Bethany awoke the next morning, she was groggy and drenched in sweat. Bright sunlight streamed in through the window of the bedroom, and in irritation she reached over to draw the curtains closed.
She stumbled into the bathroom to take a quick shower, hoping the warm jet of water would calm and soothe her. No such luck. When she stepped out of the shower, she was still haunted by the images of her dreams. Worst of all, Kirk’s words from last night played over and over in her head.
Cheats like that should die in jail.
Her blood boiled as she got dressed for the day. Kirk’s comment about her father had been a cold shard through her heart. It had woken her up from her stupidity. While Kirk had been so kind to her, she had started to fall under his spell last night. Started to let his generosity fool her. But his words about her father had hit her like a bucket of ice-cold water. His kindness was coming at a heavy price, because if Kirk and his family hadn’t ruined her father she wouldn’t have to depend on his kindness in the first place. The Sterlings were the reason she was in this financial predicament, and she wasn’t going to forget that ever again.
Besides, her father’s theory about the Sterlings had only intensified her resentment. If his theory was correct, not only had the Sterlings sent him to prison but they had actually been the real criminals. They had defrauded innocent people out of billions, stolen the family business, and then framed her father for their awful crimes. Underneath Kirk’s generous exterior was a ruthless, conniving criminal who couldn’t be trusted. And she would prove it one way or another.
The phone in the living room rang and she rushed to answer it.
“Hello? Is that Ms. Walker?” Chef Henri’s voice.
“He-hello.” Her heart started pounding. The chef hadn’t seemed to recognize her last night. Despite that bit of luck she was going to avoid him as much as possible, so that she didn’t end up jogging his memory.
“Breakfast is being served in the dining room. Mr. Sterling has already gone out for work, so you may eat all that your heart desires,” Henri said. “Or, I can have the staff deliver food to the guesthouse if you would prefer.”
“Yes, I’d prefer that.” She paused, suddenly remembering the good, old-fashioned, upper class manners her parents had instilled in her. “Oh, and Chef Henri, I loved the dinner you made last night. It was wonderful.”
“Thank you so much, Ms. Walker.” She could practically hear him smiling through the telephone.
Ten minutes later, a maid came down to deliver breakfast and stock her refrigerator.
The moment the maid left, Bethany started to pack some food to sneak into the halfway house for her poor father. He had eaten nothing but prison food all these years. When she had reunited with him, he had looked so frail and thin. Here she was, eating all this rich food, living on this lavish estate while he had to share a cramped room with four other men. He deserved to eat well and she’d take a quick visit to update him. After that, she’d head back here to do some snooping in Kirk’s absence.
With the food carefully packed, she got into her car and drove to the halfway house to see her father. She gave him the food, and filled him in on Kirk’s invitation to stay at his property.
“You be careful at that house, Bethany.” Her father caught her face in his hands, concern flashing in his eyes. “These Sterlings are ruthless. You can’t let them find out who you really are. That Kirk Sterling would have no qualms about destroying you the way he and his parents destroyed me.”
“I’ll be careful,” she promised.
The drive back was a lonely experience as she realized that, as long as she stayed on Kirk Sterling’s property, she really was on her own. Just as it had been for these past ten years, the only person she could rely on was herself.
For the rest of the day she explored the grounds of the estate, getting the lay of the land. She suspected that the real dirt on the Sterlings was in Kirk’s home office, but with Chef Henri around she didn’t want to risk snooping around and getting found out on her first day here. She’d build trust with Kirk, then make her big move to search his office thoroughly.
When evening fell, she headed back to the guesthouse to sketch ideas for the suit she was designing for Kirk. Even though she knew she should resent creating something for her sworn enemy, she loved making designs. Her passion had kept her going all these years, and her dreams of owning her own store one day had sustained her for so long. Plus, she needed the money he was paying her.
She was e-mailing Kirk a copy of the order form on her busted, second-hand laptop when he called her to let her know he was coming over to the guesthouse. Against her better judgment she raced to the bathroom to make sure that she looked her best, smoothing down her hair as she studied herself in the mirror.
Bethany told herself she was going through so much trouble because she was a businesswoman who had a burgeoning fashion brand to protect. Her attention to her appearance had nothing to do with the butterflies that Kirk gave her when he spoke in that deep, baritone voice. If she wanted to be a success someday, she had to look the part.
Liar, said a mocking voice in her head, but she ignored the voice when she heard a knock on the front door.
“Hey there,” she said, unable to mask the breathlessness in her voice as she let Kirk in.
“Hello, Bethany.” He followed her into the living room. “How are you liking the guesthouse?”
“It’s great. I got a lot of inspiration working here today.” She motioned for him to sit down and she sank down onto the comfortable floral sofa. The guesthouse was tastefully decorated and, despite being much smaller than the mansion, had an elegant, cozy feel. There was even a tiny fireplace in the living room and lovely fresh flowers decorating the space.
“Chef Henri will have dinner delivered in a couple of hours.” Kirk sat down beside her, sitting so close that her knee brushed against his as he took his seat.
Her face flushed, a tremble shooting through her at the contact. As angry as she still was at what he had said the night before, it was like her body hadn’t gotten the message. Just being in his presence made her warm and tingly all over, like a high school girl pining over her crush.
Annoyed with herself, she decided to focus on business and keep things professional before they got out of hand. “So, should we get started? I e-mailed you a copy of the order form for your records.”
“I brought some stuff that will help you come up with ideas.” Kirk held up an elegant wedding invitation that she noticed for the first time.
As he handed the invitation over to her their fingers touched for a moment, stealing her breath. Forcing herself to focus, she looked over the invitation. “The color scheme is… powder-blue.” She frowned. “Somehow I don’t think of you as a powder-blue sort of guy.”
“Definitely not,” he said with a laugh.
“We could do a navy-blue with light-blue stripes,” she suggested.
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Stripes?”
“The stripes will be very subtle,” she assured him. “Kind of like this.” She picked up her sketchbook from the coffee table and flipped to one of the designs she had sketched earlier in the evening.
“That is subtle.” He nodded approvingly. “Okay, let’s go with the navy-blue and stripes.”
“I was thinking a three-piece suit would be perfect for the occasion,” she went on. “I could make a vest for you to wear underneath your jacket.”
“Wouldn’t that just be extra work?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. But this isn’t about how much work I do. This is your cousin’s wedding. I want you to look your best. Not that you don’t look good now, because you do.” Bethany cringed as she realized she had started to babble and wave her hands around like a crazy person. Passion about her work always ended up flustering her because it meant so much to her. Fashion had gotten her through so much, but she didn’t want to look like a sentimental fool in front of a client. Especially one who was staring at her as intently as Kirk was.
“Bethany, it’s okay.” He chuckled and reached out to still her fidgety hands with his. “I understand what you meant.”
Swallowing hard, she steeled her spine. She had to remember her professionalism. Six-thousand dollars and getting his trust was riding on her doing a perfect job. “I’ll get my tape measure and we can begin taking measurements.”
“That’s fine.”
She got up to retrieve her tape measure, notebook, and pencil from the dining table. “Ready?”
Kirk nodded and stood up. “Where do you want me?”
“Uh…” The place between her legs clenched. There was nothing intentionally provocative about his statement, but he was looking at her with a hungry heat as he spoke. Or maybe the look he gave her was all in her head. Sure, Kirk had flirted with her. That didn’t mean he had any serious intentions with her.
She reached for his arm and guided him away from the coffee table to stand by the window. Now wasn’t the time to give in to a silly infatuation. Her good breeding had served her well all these years, and she was determined to remember everything her parents had taught her.
Holding on to the tape measure she got behind him, standing as close to his body as she dared. He was so tall, and measuring him was going to take a little longer than usual.
Bethany started measuring from his neck, extending the tape measure down his back until it she had extended it down his firm ass. Her entire body clenched as her hand momentarily brushed against it on her way down.
Of course, his ass had to be perfect. He probably worked out in his private gym all the time to get it that firm.
She cleared her throat, trying to calm herself as she focused on measuring his arm. His bicep was huge, and she realized just how much attention she was going to have to pay to getting the sleeves right. And just how hard she was going to have to forget about wondering how it felt to have those powerful arms wrap her in an embrace.
“Could you lift your arms?” she asked as she stepped in front of him.
“Sure thing.” Kirk obliged her, lifting his arms so that she could take his chest measurement. Warmth poured over her as she wrapped the tape measure behind him and brought the two ends across his muscular chest. Even through his shirt, she could see how hard his torso was. How well-defined his muscles were. As her finger pressed down on the tape measure, she felt the hardness of his solid chest.
Their eyes met.
Images of being under him flashed in her head.
The fantasy nearly made her drop the tape measure, but Kirk reached his hands out to steady hers. A spark jolted through her at his sudden touch. “Easy,” he said. “Take your time.”
But that was the most dangerous thing of all. The more time she spent with him, the more magnetic the pull between them. “I can’t keep you here all night.”
He stared right at her, his green eyes darkening with something she couldn’t describe. Something that was more than concern. More than desire. Something torrid and terrifying. Because if she succumbed to it she would burn out of control. Burn, and destroy the fragile life she had managed to build in the shadow of the Sterlings.
“Bethany.” His voice was rough with unmistakable desire. He dragged his knuckle against her cheek.
She trembled. Sucked in a breath. “I’m not finished.”
Now it was time to measure him for his pants. The most dangerous measurements of all as far as she was concerned.
Reluctantly, she pulled away from his touch to get down on her knees in front of him to start measuring.
He looked down at her, and her cheeks flushed. Flushed because she knew how provocative her current position was, with her face right at his crotch. With shaking hands, she started to measure from the top of his inner thigh all the way down to his feet. Even his thighs and legs were muscular.
When she finished taking his measurements, her heart was pounding so fast she had to grab on to her notebook to distract herself from him. She quickly penciled in his measurements and set everything down on the coffee table.
Bethany took a deep breath, her entire body burning with desire. This was bad. So, so bad. It didn’t matter how good he made her feel in his presence. There was no way she could let her desire for him win.
As she turned around quickly to face Kirk and get him out of here, she crashed into him. Her body just… molded to his as she felt the impact of his crushing weight against her. A tiny gasp escaped her throat, her hands grabbing on to his shirt to steady herself against him. The heat of his hard body spread through her, wrapping her and enveloping her.
He stared down at her, his green eyes so hypnotic she almost didn’t realize how tightly she was clutching his shirt. That harsh, beautiful mouth of his was now only a hair’s breadth from hers. For a moment neither of them moved. All they could do was gaze into each other’s eyes, the sound of their ragged breaths filling the room. Underneath her fingertips, she felt his heart beating as rapidly as her own.
Kirk hadn’t pulled back from her. Which meant that, if she moved closer to him just a fraction, she would upend her world. Smash everything until her life was totally unrecognizable. Her entire body ached for more, not caring that he was her enemy. Not caring, because him being a Sterling was exactly why her body craved something this forbidden. What would it be like? To know what her enemy tasted like? To know how he kissed?
She had to know. Had to find out. Before good sense and reason won out, she moved that fraction towards him. Leaned into him and pressed her mouth to his, setting her body aflame.
