Babysitting a Billionaire #3 - Taking Control(23)

"And why's that?"

"Because you're mine. You're just too stubborn to admit it." He gave her a long slow look and all of a sudden her skin was tingly and that pulse was beating frantically between her thighs.

She hated that. Why was he the one man who could do this to her? Why couldn't Harry have made her all tingly? Was Declan hardwired into her system? But no way was she his. And no way did she want to be. But how to convince Declan of that.

She shifted her chair so she could watch him as she spoke. "I've been thinking this through," she said. "You want to keep me around because you're bored with your perfect life and I make you feel alive. But I won't be used like that."

His brows drew together. "It wouldn't be using you."

"No? If there's something wrong with your life, Declan, you need to work out what and make some changes. Not just keep doing the same shit and having sex with me to brighten up the dull moments." She pushed her chair back and stood up. "I'm leaving. I'll say my good-byes to Harry on the way out." 

For a second, she thought he would try and stop her, but then he sat back. "Okay, I'll let you go … this time. But Jess, be in no doubt. While you might not be ready to accept you're mine, you're certainly not going to be any other man's. Forget the dates."

She wanted to say or else? But decided, maybe this time, discretion was a better idea. She turned around and walked away, his eyes burning into her back the whole way out.

Chapter Eleven

"Are you avoiding me?" Declan lounged back in his big leather seat, but he felt far from relaxed. His hand gripped the phone, his fingers tightening at the silence on the other end of the call.

"Yes," she finally answered.

He hadn't seen her alone in the five days since he'd gatecrashed her date with Harry. She kept to her word, and she was part of the job; she'd accompanied him to two dinners in the last week, and she'd been the perfect girlfriend as long as she was in company. But she always managed to slip away before he could maneuver her somewhere alone. And the guys followed her like hawks. They were doing a better job guarding her than they were him.

He was pissed off and frustrated as hell. And he couldn't get her words out of his head. Did he need to work out what was wrong with his life? Was there even anything wrong? Or was everything fucking wrong? He didn't know anymore.

"Are you going to tell me why?" he asked.

She was silent for a long time.

"Jess?"

"Sorry, just working out what to say to make you bugger off and leave me the hell alone."

"Why not go ahead and try. I'll tell you if it's working."

"Hmm …  How about it was fun for a while, but rehashing old affairs never really works."

"And how would you know that. Have you extensive experience?"

"Enough."

The strange thing was he was pretty sure she had very little experience. She'd been a virgin when she'd first gone with him. He could still remember the surprise that had dealt him. She'd been so wild, even though she'd been only seventeen. She'd dressed like a tart and mixed with an older crowd. He'd just presumed.

Back then she never talked about her family. He'd guessed they were fairly well off; she'd been attending private school. And when he'd met her sister that had been confirmed, though Jess and her sister had seemed almost like different species.

So why had she been the way she was? What had made her crave danger? She'd pushed him and pushed him as though she needed to see how far he would allow her to go.

Why did he suddenly feel like he had let her down all those years ago?

"Declan, you still there? Or did it work."

"So you're bored with the sex?"

"Yeah."

She was lying.

But why?

"Come here and tell me that to my face."

"Thanks for the invite, but I think I'll pass."

"You can't avoid me forever."

"I think I can." She was silent for a moment. "Anyway, after tomorrow night the trial will begin, and once you've given evidence, then this whole thing will be over."

It would never be over. He knew that now. He just needed to convince Jess of that. She was definitely running scared, but he wasn't sure exactly what she feared.

Trusting him again, obviously. He'd let her down. But he suspected it was more than that.

"Come over tonight," he said. "We can talk."

"We have nothing to say. Besides, I can't. Girls' night out." And she broke the connection.




 

 

 …

Okay, so she shouldn't be here. It was over.

Jess had been doing a great job of avoiding Declan, but since that phone call earlier, she hadn't been able to settle.

She'd convinced herself that the only way she was going to convince him that she was serious about the no-more-sex thing was face-to-face.

Delusional or what?

But somehow she had found herself out on the street, hailing a cab and giving the address of Declan's office to the cabbie. And now here she was, sitting in reception, trying to give herself a stern talking to about the meaning of face-to-face, and how it did not mean chest to chest or pelvis to pelvis.

Or she had been doing until one minute ago when the elevator doors slid open and Declan had emerged. With a woman. A very beautiful, smart-looking woman, who he ushered out of the elevator with a hand at her waist. Now he was standing by the reception desk, leaning in toward her, listening to something she was saying, a small smile on his face. He obviously knew her well; it was there in the body language.

Steve and Rick, today's bodyguards, had followed him out, keeping a discreet distance. Jess scowled as she caught Steve's gaze and shook her head slightly.

Maybe now wasn't the time to do the face-to-face thing. Maybe now was the time to work out what the hell was going on in her brain.

Because her first inclination was to head over there and rip that woman's hand away from Declan's arm. Then probably drop-kick her to the ground and tear out her perfectly styled hair.

And that was way beyond rational.

She was in so much trouble.

The thing was, she didn't actually believe there was anything going on between Declan and Ms. Perfect. But that was beside the point. She had this voice screaming in her head.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

And Declan wasn't hers. And more to the point, she really didn't want him to be hers. She was supposed to be getting him out of her system once and for all. Not going all manic possessive.

She'd thought he was hers once before and look how well that had turned out. She had a flash of remembered pain, and then the memories flooded over her. The rage and sense of powerlessness that there was absolutely nothing she could do to make him stay. The knowledge that she would have done just about anything for one more night in his arms. How much she had needed him after the accident, and he hadn't been there for her. She'd even swallowed her pride and gone running after him. Only to find him gone. She wouldn't go through that again.

A movement from her left dragged her gaze away from the couple. Rory McCabe. He sank into the chair beside her. "Good afternoon, Jessica. You look a little tense."

She shrugged. "Not at all. Just checking in." 

He waved a hand toward where Declan stood his head bent over the woman. "That's Penny."

Why did that name sound familiar? "Penny as in Declan's ex-fiancée Penny?"

He grinned. "Yes. From the look on your face, you were thinking about taking her out. But she's no threat."

Did those words have a double meaning? Why had Rory thrown her and Declan together again after all these years? Would he tell her if she asked?

"They look perfect together," she said just to find out what he thought about the other woman.

He snorted. "Yeah, they look like a couple of perfect corporate … robots."

She let out a small laugh, loud enough to be heard across the way, but Declan was obviously engrossed and his head didn't lift from where it was bent low over Penny the ex.

"He knows you're here," Rory said.

"How do you work that out?" He seemed oblivious to everyone but the woman in front of him.

"Because he's never been that attentive to Penny in his entire life."

She dragged her gaze away from Declan to study his father. In some ways, he was so like Declan; in others, he was completely different. Rory had deep lines of experience-and laughter-etched into his face. His dark eyes looked like they had seen the worst the world could throw at him. And they probably had. But she suspected the two men were more similar than appearances suggested. It was just their lives had led them in different directions. Suddenly she needed to understand just what had brought her and Declan together again after all these years. "What are you after?" she asked.

"After?" He sounded so innocent. Except Rory McCabe didn't have an innocent cell in his body.

"Come on, Rory, you can tell me," she coaxed. "Why did you employ me to protect Declan? You could have employed another company. We're good, but there are others just as good."

He pursed his lips and looked at Declan and Penny. He was leaning against the wall now, seemingly totally absorbed in his ex-fiancé. "Because I love my son." He turned back to her. "You might not believe it, but I did my best to split you up all those years ago because I thought it was the best thing for Declan."

She reached across and patted his arm. "Don't fret about it. I'd already come to the conclusion that we would have been hell together. It wouldn't have taken us long. You just sped things up."