Stolen:The Billionaire Deception(16)

I started to get out of the jaguar and open the door for her, but by the   time I was halfway out, she was already sliding onto the passenger   seat.



"Hi," she said, with that trademark smile of hers that I'd come to love.   I realized then and there that I would probably do anything to see  that  smile. So far, she had made that easy. Erin wasn't looking for  money or  a family name that would take her to the top of the high  society crowd.  She seemed to be happy just being with me and although  that was a new  feeling, I was quickly becoming accustomed to it.



"Good morning. Look at you. You look like a tennis professional."



She laughed. "I haven't played tennis since I was in middle school."



"Why?"



She shrugged and I knew she was going to leave it at that. Her   background seemed so strange to me sometimes. It was like she had a life   of privilege where she rode horses and played tennis and attended  grand  parties and once she was grown, she had literally done nothing  except  work towards her future. I respected that greatly, but as a  child of  privilege myself, I found it odd.



"I just haven't had the time. I was too busy working towards my degree, and then just plain working."



"Hmm," I said.



"Hmm, what?"



"Have you had any fun at all over the last ten years?"



She looked at me with a look that left me smoldering and said, "I've had lots of it in the past two months."



For the time being, that answer was good enough. The conversation turned   to light discussions of the agenda for tomorrow morning's executive   meeting and as we turned onto the tree lined street that led up to the   Country Club my family had belonged to for ages, I basked in the simple   comfort that spending time with her gave me.



When we got out of the car at the club Erin's green eyes filled with joy   as she looked out across the gardens. They were filled with blood red   roses and lavender lilies. The fragrance from them wafted across the   parking lot and I just stood there for a few minutes watching her   breathe it in. I walked around and when she saw me her attention was   refocused. "This place is beautiful," she said.



I took her hands in mine and looked into her dark jade green eyes and said, "Not as beautiful as you."



She smiled, "You probably say that to all the girls."



I leaned in so that I was so close to her ear that when my mouth moved,   my lips brushed up against it and I said, "Not anymore. I've finally   found the only one I want to say it to." I felt her shiver and when I   looked at her face; her eyes were wide like she didn't believe what I   had just said. I knew that she thought I was a player and when she first   met me that was true. Something about knowing Erin had changed me. I   didn't want to be that man any longer. I wanted to be a better one. I   wanted to be the only man that she wanted.



"So, are we going to play tennis, or what?" Erin said, in a little shaky voice.



I smiled, "Of course. We can't have that crisp, white …  and if you don't   mind me saying, incredibly sexy, tennis dress going to waste."



"No we can't," she said. She flipped that long red hair that drove me   mad over her shoulder and turned to walk towards the entrance of the   club. I had done my best once I realized she was different from most of   the women I knew to hide the pervert that dwelled at my core. But with   that sexy little flip and the V-neck, starch white dress that   accentuated every one of her delightful curves …  It was on the verge of   being unleashed.





ERIN





I could feel Seth's eyes on me as I pranced along in front of him on the   way into the club. He brought out a playful side of me that I had all   but forgotten and I loved it. When we reached the door I felt him reach   around me to open it. "You look so damned hot, I almost forgot my   manners," he said. I shivered for the second time that morning. The feel   of his warm breath against my neck was sending signals to just about   every part of my body. In a playful voice I said, "Is there any chance   you'll be distracted enough not to notice how rusty my game is when we   get out on the courts?"         

     



 



He laughed and said, "At the very least I'll be polite and pretend not to notice."



"Thanks," I said with a grin. He took me into the pro shop where I   thought he was going to rent or borrow a racquet for me since I'd told   him I didn't have one. Instead, five hundred dollars later he'd bought   me a top of the line one and two cans of tennis balls.



We went out to the clay courts and took our places on opposite sides of   the net. "We'll just warm up," he said. Then I watched as he bounced a   ball in front of him and his sexy biceps flexed against the cotton   material of the polo shirt he was wearing as he pulled back his tennis   racquet and let it fly. I let it fly too …  right past me. He laughed hard   and said, "I forgot to tell you that you're supposed to hit it back." I   stuck my tongue out at him.



"Hit me with another." He did and again, I watched it go by. Laughing   myself now I said, "Maybe we could start out with me hitting one to   you."



"Sure," he said with an amused expression. He tossed me one of the balls   and I tried to look confident as I bounced it up and down with my   racquet before at last turning loose and lobbing it over the net. He hit   it back; I'm positive with much less force and finesse than he would   have against a real opponent. I hit it back and when it cleared the net I   jumped up and down and squealed loudly. I was so happy that I forgot  we  were still in a volley and the ball landed in the center of my gut. I   let out an, "Oomph!" as it did and within seconds, Seth was at my  side.



"I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"



I was looking at him like he was a magician. "I'm fine. How the heck did you get here so quickly?"



"I came over the net," he said. "Are you sure you're okay?"



"You jumped over the net?"



"Yes, why is that so odd? I thought you were hurt." He looked so   concerned, I felt both bad and impressed that he cared so much. I   wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.



"It's not odd, it's sweet," I said. "Thank you. I'm a dork, but I'm fine."



Laughing, he said, "You're not a dork. Here, let me just show you a more   efficient stance." He stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around   mine. The warmth of his body pressing against me and his breath on the   side of my face was making me dizzy. He slid his hands down my arms   sending goose bumps scurrying in every direction. Then he slid one of   his knees in between mine to reposition my leg and I went weak in my   own.



"Shift this outer leg over like this," he said. His mouth was closer to   my ear then and my arms and hands were shaking so badly that I actually   dropped my racquet. I felt him smile against my face. The arrogant son   of a … . His lips were on the bottom part of my ear and then started   sliding down my neck. My body was convulsing now. We were in public, he   needed to stop.



He took his sweet lips from my neck and turned me around to face him. He   was looking at me with pure desire in his blue eyes and I was rendered   speechless. Then I felt the warmth of his lips on mine and the soft   touch of his hand against my cheek as he pulled me in for a kiss. Our   tongues found each other and intertwined as we lost ourselves. For that   moment I once again forgot that people were watching. It was just he  and  I, the only two people on the earth. When he at last let me up so  that I  could breathe I said in a ragged, forced breath, "We should  stop,  people are watching."



"Or …  we could get a room," he said, in that sexy, throaty, seductive   voice of his. Any small piece of willpower I had left was left melted on   that clay court and I stepped right over it as I took his hand and   followed him back inside.









CHAPTER TWELVE









I fell asleep in Seth's arms after we made love and woke up hours later   disoriented and confused at first. As soon as I looked over and saw his   face that warm, delicious feeling he gave me returned and I snuggled   back down against him. I lay there in the silence of the plush, up-scale   room and listened to the sounds of his breathing and the rhythm of his   beating heart. I let myself revel in it for a while before allowing  the  seeds of self-doubt to slip back in.