Matched to a Billionaire(28)

"Jeez, Leo. Calm down. She's just a woman."

"And you're just a friend." When Dax glanced up, surprise evident, Leo   skewered him with a glare that couldn't possibly be misinterpreted.   "Things change. Get over it."

Slowly, Dax rose to his feet. Eye to eye, they faced off and Leo didn't   like the glint flashing in his friend's gaze as Dax gave Leo's stiff   carriage a once-over.

"I can't believe you'd let a chick come between us. Especially not one   you found through a matchmaker." Dax nearly spat the word. "Let the deal   with Mastermind expire. When you come back from la-la land and realize   you've lost your edge over an admittedly nice pair of boobs, I'll be   around to help you pick up the pieces. We've been friends too long."

Dax stepped back and Leo let him, though his fingers were still curled   into a nice, fat fist that ached to rearrange that pretty-boy face. "I   agree. It's best not to go into business together right now."

"Go home to your wife," Dax called over his shoulder as he gathered his   bag, phone and travel coffee mug. "I hope she's good enough in bed to   help you forget how much money we just lost."

He strode out the door of Leo's conference room without a backward glance.

Sinking into the nearest chair, Leo stared out the window at the green   argon lights lining the Bank of America Plaza skyscraper. Since the   building housed the headquarters of Dax's far-flung media empire, the   familiar outline drove the barb further into Leo's gut.                       
       
           



       

Yeah, they'd lost a lot of money. And a friendship.

He didn't imagine for a second this rift would be easily repaired. Not   because of the sense of betrayal Leo felt, and not because Dax had said   reprehensible things about Leo's wife.

But because Dax was right. Leo had changed since marrying Daniella. No   longer could he stomach being that guy Dax described, who treated women   horribly but rationalized it away and bought them shiny presents to  make  up for it. Or that guy who wasn't bothered by introducing an   ex-girlfriend to Dax because she hadn't meant anything to him.

Dax didn't see a problem with either. Leo couldn't continue to be   friends with someone who held such a low opinion of women. Why hadn't he   seen that long before now? And what would it take to get Dax to   recognize the problem? Maybe Dax should visit a matchmaker himself. If   Elise could find the perfect woman for Leo, she could do it for anyone.

Losing the friendship hurt. Letting the deadline expire for their   proposal to Mastermind Media hurt worse. In his entire professional   career, he'd never willfully given up. And one thing hadn't changed,   would never change-Leo also didn't want to be that guy who lost deals or   worse, lost his edge. For any reason. Let alone over a woman who drove   him to distraction.

He'd lost John Hu. Now this deal. Was Tommy Garrett next?

He refused to allow that to happen. Daniella's invisible, ill-defined   hold on him had to end. Immediately. He'd tried ignoring her. He'd tried   sleeping at the office. He'd even tried going in the opposite  direction  and allowing himself small tastes of her. None of that had  worked to  exorcise his wife from his consciousness.

So he'd have to try the only thing left. He was going to spend the   weekend in bed with Daniella in full-on immersion. By Monday, she would   be out of his system and he'd have his focus back. He could share a   house with her at night and forget about her during the day, like he'd   planned all along.

It had to work. He'd toiled so hard to build a secure company and he   owed it to everyone to maintain it. Especially Daniella. He'd vowed to   care for her and he'd scrub floors at a state prison before he'd allow   his wife to live next door to a meth lab like his own father had.





Ten


The book Dannie was reading held her interest about as well as the last   one. Which was to say not at all. She'd parked on the settee to wait in   hopes that Leo might come home soon, but it was already almost ten   o'clock.

One more page. The story had to get better at some point. If it didn't,   she'd get ready for bed. Leo's alarm went off before dawn and she was   still adjusting to his routine.

The atmosphere shifted and she glanced up from her e-reader. Leo stood   in the open doorway, one hand on the frame and the other clutching a   bouquet of red roses. And he was watching her with undisguised,   delicious hunger.

Heat erupted at her center and radiated outward, flushing her whole   body. The e-reader fell to the carpet with a thunk, released by her   suddenly nerveless fingers.

"Roses? For me?" Her voice trembled, and he didn't miss it. Her temperature rose as his expression darkened.

"In a manner of speaking." Striding to the settee, he held out his free   hand and when she took it, he pulled her to her feet. His torso brushed   hers and her nipp**les hardened. "Follow me."

Anywhere.

Mystified, she trailed him into the bathroom, where he flicked on the   lights to one-quarter brightness and began filling the bathtub. Over his   shoulder, he called, "It probably hasn't escaped your notice that I   work a lot. I have very little opportunity to indulge in simple   pleasures. So I'm correcting that oversight right now. I have this   fantasy involving you, me and rose petals. This time of night, I had to   buy them still attached."

He gathered the petals in one hand and wrenched them from the stalks, then released them into the water.

As the red circles floated down to rest on the surface, her heart tumbled along with them. "You have fantasies about me?"

The look on his face shot her temperature up another four thousand notches.

"Constantly."

"What am I doing in these fantasies?" she asked, her tongue nearly tripping over the words.

"Driving me pomegranates, mostly." He grinned and it was so un-Leo-like   she did a double take. "By the way, I'm taking the weekend off. If you   don't have other plans, I'd like to spend it with you. Maybe we could   consider it a delayed honeymoon."

Honeymoon? Weekend off? She jammed her hands down on her hips and stared   at him. "Who are you and what have you done with Leonardo Reynolds?"                       
       
           



       

His expression turned sheepish and he shrugged. "Let's say I had a   revelation. We're married. I have to do things differently than I've   done in the past. I want to do things differently," he stressed. "For   you. Because you deserve it. You're a great wife."

A hard, painful lump slammed into her throat. He wanted to spend time   with her. Romance her, as she'd asked. The roses were reciprocation-one   great husband, coming up.

Little stabs at the corners of her eyes warned of an imminent deluge.   What was he trying to do to her? She'd just become good and convinced   their marriage was enough as it was. Now this.

I will not cry. I will not cry.

"You ain't seen nothing yet."

"Yeah?" He twisted the faucet handle and shut off the water. "You've been holding out on me?"

"Maybe. Talk to me about these fantasies." A good, strong dose of Leo's   potent masculinity-that was what she needed to keep the emotion where  it  belonged. Inside. At least until she figured out where all this was   coming from. Her husband had done so many about-faces she couldn't help   but be slightly wary. "Have you really had a lot about me? Like what?"

"Oh, I've been so remiss, haven't I?" He tsked and sat on the edge of   the garden tub, feet on the lowest step leading up to the rim. "Come   here."

Her toes curled against the cold travertine as she approached and then   she forgot all about a small thing like bare feet as Leo drew her   between his split legs, his gaze heavy lidded with sensuous promise.

"I've been a very bad husband," he told her. "You clearly have no idea   how wickedly sexy I find you. Let's correct that oversight, too, while   we're at it."

Her insides disintegrated and she had no idea how she was still standing with no bones.

Slowly, he loosened each button on her blouse, widening the vee over her   bra until he'd bared it entirely. The shirt slipped from her shoulders   and Leo reeled in the fabric, pulling her forward.

"My fantasies are no match for the real thing." His open mouth settled   onto the curve of her breast where the edge of her bra met skin. His   tongue darted inside, circling her nipple. Pure, unaltered desire flared   from her center, engulfing her senses.