Millionaire's Secret Seduction(24)

Her skin burned where his lips had touched it.

"May I have this dance?"

Bella felt Fiona's and Samantha's eyes on her as well as Dominic's. "Um, sure."

So cool. So sophisticated. Apparently a vintage designer dress could  only take you but so far. She wished she hadn't let herself be talked  into wearing it. Not her style at all. But the gold knit fabric swished  against her bare legs as she walked, and maybe it was the energy of the  music, but-under Dominic's dark, watchful eyes-she couldn't help a  certain swing in her hips.

Dominic danced close to Bella. Close enough to almost see down the front  of that slinky gold number draped over her curves like an early morning  fog. He could taste the sweetness of her skin in the air and he allowed  himself to feel its warm silk under his fingers.

She looked nervous. Glancing around, as if wondering who might see them.

Which was exactly the point.

Yes, he wanted to kiss her and touch her and flirt with her. Now her mom  was out of the hospital and recovering, and the pressure was off Bella  to "save" her, he didn't feel guilty about enjoying Bella's company.

But there was an ulterior motive. He wanted Tarrant to see him with her.  To know that while he may be his biological father, that did not give  him the right to tell him what to do.

If he was going to take the reins from Tarrant he'd do it on his terms, no compromise.

Tarrant had raged and ranted the Monday after he'd been told about  Bella. After contemplating an enemy in his keep over a solid weekend, he  could think of nothing more than flushing her out and feeding her to  the crocodiles in the moat.

Even Fiona, who obviously enjoyed being a thorn in her father's side,  had been disgusted that someone could work for the company with the  underlying intention of suing it, and had said that Bella should be sued  for breach of contract.

It took all of Dominic's persuasive powers to keep Bella from being frog-marched from the building that very morning.

And now it gave him bittersweet pleasure to run his fingers around the  strings of her gold halter dress and along the bare skin of her back,  under several sets of disapproving eyes.

My way or the highway, "Dad."

The rhythmic refrain of Chic's "These Are the Good Times," pumped through the club and he had to resist a satisfied smile.

Business was great; his absentee father had come crawling back to his  mother begging for absolution; that same father had handed over the  stores he swiped from under Dominic's nose with an apology … and right now  he was dancing with a gorgeous brunette whose slinky dress chafed the  palms of his hands.

What's not to like?

Yes, Bella was trouble, but damn if that wasn't part of her appeal. He'd  always played it straight, been the good son with perfect grades who  worked hard to make everyone proud. In her own way, Bella had done  exactly the same thing-and it had taken her down a crooked path.

He wanted to get her back on the straight and narrow where she obviously  belonged. It was a quest, a mission that stirred his blood and gave  deeper meaning to the pleasures of seduction.

And if his methods involved an element of pleasure-laced punishment, he  could reason that she deserved it. She'd have fooled him as easily as  the others, if he hadn't caught her red-handed at the copy machine.                       
       
           



       

A white strobe hit her face, glinting off a smile. She'd relaxed enough  to enjoy the dance, and let her luscious body swing to the beat. Swing  being the operative word. At that moment it was deliciously apparent  there was no bra under her strappy top.

Heat jolted through him and almost deprived him of his voice. "Come with  me," he rasped, after clearing his throat. He took Bella's hand and  they wound through the tight mass of swaying bodies. "We'll go up to the  balcony."

Her arm stiffened. "I've heard about the things that used to go on up there."

"Yeah." He glanced up. "I was probably conceived up there."

"Dominic!" Her eyes glittered with disapproval.

"Doesn't bother me. I guess when it comes right down to it, I'm just  glad to be here. If Tarrant and my mom hadn't hooked up, I wouldn't be  standing here gazing at the way that gold fabric drapes over your … " He  let his eyes drift to her curvaceous backside.

"You're terrible."

He sighed. "Yes. And don't forget, I have a Xerox copy of your 'assets' to use as bribery."

She lifted a dark brow. "Do you have no scruples?"

"Possibly not."

"Dominic!" Tarrant's voice boomed out through the music.

Dominic felt Bella freeze.

Tarrant, all smiles, gripped Dominic's upper arms with his tanned, bony  hands. "How do you like my re-creation of heaven on earth?"

"I think I'll be disappointed when I get to the real one."

Tarrant raised a brow. "Such delightful confidence of a journey through  the Pearly Gates. I suspect I'll be dancing somewhere hotter. Either  way, I'll find out soon enough."

"Don't talk like that," Dominic protested. "You'll outlive us all."

Tarrant turned to Bella, who seemed to shrink under his aqua gaze.

"Maybe if Bella here can invent something that will make the inside of  my body look as young as the outside. I'm wearing our ReNew right  now-what do you think?"

Bella obviously couldn't resist peering closely. "It looks great."

"I'm sure my son thinks I'm a freak. Dominic doesn't seem like the type to fuss over a few lines, does he?"

"I wouldn't know." Bella gave him a wary glance.

Dominic laughed. "He's right. I'm not. I might be up for a cloak of  invisibility though, if you perfect that. I could see that having some  very interesting applications."

"Cloak of invisibility, eh?" Tarrant's brows lifted. "What exactly is going on in that lab of yours, Miss … Andrews?"

Bella blanched.

"We've been working nonstop on ReNew. No plans to research invisibility, I'm afraid!" Her voice sounded tight.

"Shame, I could think of quite a few places where I'd like to be the proverbial fly on the wall, can't you, Dominic?"

"Sure can."

Bella glanced at him, eyes wary.

Dominic enjoyed having them both where he wanted them. Tarrant playing  nice for once, since he was willing to do almost anything to placate his  newfound son and heir, and Bella under pressure to stop doing something  that could screw up her life.

If this worked out right, everyone would end up right where he wanted them.

"Bella and I are heading to the balcony to rest for a minute."

"Indeed." Tarrant's gaze seemed about to issue a challenge, then  apparently he thought better of it. "Don't stay out of the action too  long. There are some people I'd like you to meet."

Dominic just smiled.

As Tarrant walked away, he took Bella's hand. It was ice cold. "What's the matter?"

"What are you doing? What was that thing about the cloak of invisibility?"

"Wasn't that one of your dad's pet projects?"

"No! Well, yes, it was, but I never told you that." She blinked rapidly.

"I'm good at reading between the lines. You'll need to work on that cloak if you don't drop your plan of suing Tarrant."

Her pretty eyes narrowed. "Can we drop the subject? I told you I'm leaving the company."                       
       
           



       

"And I told you you're not."

Her eyes widened. "What makes you think you have the right-"

"Raw nerve." He grinned.

"You mean being a bully."

"Have I ever bullied you?"

"No, but … " She pressed her lips together.

"You've spent your whole life in an ivory tower. You don't have any  experience with the real world, so it's no surprise that you think every  story has a happy ending. You trying to get your dad's work back from  Tarrant is a story that does not end happily. Trust me on this."

She put her hands on her gorgeous hips. "You think I'm just being a spoiled brat?"

"Hmm. I hadn't thought of it that way, but maybe you could use a good spanking."

Her mouth flew open, and for a second he thought she was going to slap  him. Her breasts strained against the shimmering fabric of her dress and  her cheeks flushed pink.

Beautiful.

"You've got a lot of fire in you. You don't need to beg or borrow or  steal stuff back from someone else. You're sharp and young and you can  do anything you want."

She spoke between gritted teeth. "Right now I'd like to-"

"Finish what we started on that copy machine?" He tilted his head and  let his gaze roam shamelessly over the hot, angry skin of her face and  neck. "That picture does bring back sweet memories."

"You're a beast!"

"I know. Sad isn't it? Do you think you can tame me?"