The Millionaire Affair(33)

"Tell me about yours and Lissa's relationship," she blurted.

His fingers stilled halfway up her leg before starting back down again. "You want to talk about Lissa?"

She didn't answer.

Taking a breath, he spoke. "Lissa and I didn't have a romantic relationship."

He'd told her about their "arrangement," but their relationship hadn't  been a romantic one at all? The thought hit her like a dead fish to the  face. A slimy slap that made her want to scrub her skin with both hands.  At least when she'd been with Mick she'd convinced herself she loved  him at the time.

Is that what you're doing with Landon?

She refused to answer that question.

Trailing his fingers back down her leg, he let a few seconds pass, even  though she was sure he saw her unfavorable reaction to his admission. "I  met Lissa at a party for RedAd," he continued. "I was employed there  right out of college. Stayed ten years. They still want my head for  branching out on my own." He smirked, proud of that achievement, she  could see. "Anyway, the cocktail party celebrated some account we'd  landed and they'd hired pretty girls to hand out drinks at the event.  She was one of them."

"I'd ask what drew you to her, but I think that's fairly evident," she  said, picturing Lissa's long, honey-colored hair, slender, tanned body,  perfectly proportioned breasts, and an ass that defied gravity.

"She's very beautiful."

Why it hurt to hear him confirm the obvious, she had no idea.

"In a commercial way," he added.

He was downplaying her. For Kimber's sake. That was nice of him, but she  didn't need coddling. "Is this the part where you tell me I'm  beautiful, too, so I don't get jealous? Because I don't need you to."         

     



 

He didn't have to move much to reach her lips since they were nose to  nose on the pillow. He kissed her, a soft brush of his mouth over hers.  "Sure you do. I'll make you a promise. When we're done in here, I'll  take you to my bed and kiss all the parts of your body I like better  than hers." He watched her, gaze steady. "Will that convince you?"

"Will it be more than my nose and my earlobes?"

The twitch of his lips told her he was about to smile, but he reeled it  back in and had her on her back a second later. Startled laughter  tittered from her throat. He tucked her beneath him and spread her  thighs with one knee. Eyes on hers, he nudged her. She wasn't surprised  to feel him half-hard already. She wanted him again, too. To show it,  she rubbed against him like a shameless hussy.

But he backed away, laying a harmless kiss on her forehead as he did. "Don't break the rules. This is the talking bed."

She pouted. "I hate this bed."

He rolled off her but stayed close. "And to answer your question, I'm  planning on kissing you everywhere but your nose and earlobes."

Flattered, she smiled.

"Since we're massacring the rule of discussing exes in bed, tell me  about yours." Back on his side of the bed, he shoved an arm under his  pillow.

"My ex … "

Where to start? Not with the truth. She couldn't very well tell him that  she'd gone out after a particularly bad breakup with a guy she thought  she'd loved with frightening intensity only to find out he'd cheated on  her. At Gloria's suggestion, Kimber had sought out a one-night stand to  scrub Joey from her mind. She couldn't tell Landon that she'd spotted  shaggy, disheveled Mick Stringer across the room and decided yes, that  will be who I turn and burn. Or that she'd failed on every level with  Mick. She'd been attempting a fling with him, too, and had blurted out  an I-love-you not in a dissimilar fashion as she'd done with Landon. And  she sure as heck couldn't tell him that.

But she'd been wrong when she'd made that declaration to Mick. She'd  fallen into lust and had mistaken it for love. Had been trying to make  him permanent since he'd moved in to her place and bought a business  with her. Because without a commitment, all of that had seemed …  wrong.

"Must be some story." Landon's expression was sullen.

She poked his chest. "Now who's jealous?"

He smoothed his features. "Impossible. I am the Tin Man, remember? And  you love me, so who would I have to be jealous of?" Before her face  stoked enough heat to catch fire, he said, "Spill it. Or I'll cut your  kisses down to half as many."

The threat, though an empty one, coaxed her into talking. "Because of a  lapse in judgment, or debatable temporary sanity"-she paused to admire  his quirked lips-"Mick owns half of Hobo Chic. Truth is I didn't really  think things through. We'd only been dating a year when we bought it. We  broke up shortly after and now we're stuck." She shrugged. "Unless I  agree to sell it."

"Is it sellable?"

"Probably. But I don't want to sell my shop. I want to keep it."

"Is it profitable?" Whoa. Landon had snapped into business mode. His  brows were drawn in concentration. He watched her like an eagle might  watch a prairie dog. Intently.

"It does okay. Hobo Chic is a solid business; it's in the black. But  it's not one Mick and I want to run together. He can't afford to walk  away, and I can't afford to buy him out. Yet."

She held up a finger to make her point, stopping short of saying, But I  will soon, thanks in part to your monetary contribution. She knew it was  silly to feel badly about having accepted money from him, but she  couldn't help it. Sure, she'd done a job and he'd paid for her nanny  services, but the line had blurred between babysitting for Lyon and  flirting with Landon. She couldn't help struggling with separation.

"I can help you with traffic," he said. "One visit to the store and I  can assess several attributes, look at your numbers, find a way for you  to advertise to your potential customers. Do you-"

She pressed her finger to his lips to shut him up. Landon at Hobo Chic,  helping her advertise, giving her business advice …  that all sounded very  un-fling-like. Kimber didn't need another man entrenched in the  business she should be running by herself. She didn't want him to be  anything more than he was right now.

Unless he ends up being the father of your child.

The thought crashed into her brain like a runaway shopping cart into a minivan. She shoved it away. And ignored the dent.         

     



 

Putting on her "Everything's Okay" mask, she threw back the covers and  climbed out of bed. "Race you to your room. You owe me a few hundred  kisses."

As she rounded the bed, he lashed one strong arm around her waist and  pulled her back in. Laughing, she bounced on the mattress as he arranged  himself on top of her and kissed the underside of her chin. "There's  one."

Her laughter ebbed as relief rushed through her. The intensity from  earlier fading. If he was willing to overlook her verbal grenade, and  the gaffe of failing birth control, so was she.

"This is the talking bed," she teased as he licked a path to her collarbone.

"So, talk." He kissed her arm. "Start with something like Oh, Landon"-he  tongued her shoulder-"then yes, Landon." He smiled, his teeth lightly  nipping her flesh. "Maybe throw in a please and a don't stop."

As he slid down her body, she found herself murmuring those words in  order, then out of order. Until there was nothing left but incoherent  syllables.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN


This is how a fling works." Gloria snatched the ringing phone out of  Kimber's hands and pressed Ignore. "You have to let it end. That's the  point."

Glo had insisted that now was the best breaking-off point since Kimber  and Landon had parted without promises or plans to see each other again.  Just a kiss good night after they'd fulfilled the list, then her cab  ride home.

"It feels immature not to answer," Kimber said as her voice mail chimed,  alerting her about a new message. "Even if it is to tell him it's  over." She swiped her finger to unlock the screen.

Glo took the phone.

Kimber fiddled with her thumb ring. "Fine! I won't check it!"

Her best friend handed over the phone and moved to a jewelry display on  the other end of the counter. She lifted a pair of feather earrings to  her ears and admired them in the small, round mirror by the display. "Is  it over for you?"

Not unless she started her period, she thought with a tremble. Until  they knew for sure she wasn't pregnant, she and Landon were intertwined.

On a sigh, Kimber looked around. The store was empty. Neil was at lunch.  She and Gloria were alone in the space. Kimber desperately needed  someone to confide in. Despite the fact there was no one around to  overhear, she whispered. "We had a condom break."

Gloria's ink-black eyebrows lifted. "Whoopsie."

"Yeah. Had a little size issue."

"Condom too big?" She asked with a smirk.

"Too small. I bought a box but didn't know there were …  sizes."