The Playboy's Proposition(11)

She watched as he strode a few steps away with his broad back facing  her. Something in his demeanor tripped off her antennae. His stance was  tense as if he were braced.

"Damn. Nothing," he said, his voice full of disappointment. "Anything else you can do?"

The taut silence that followed swelled with raw tension. She'd never glimpsed this kind of emotion in Michael.

"Do it, and keep me posted," Michael said then turned around.

She glimpsed a flash of powerful emotion in his eyes, but it was gone  before she could identify it. He narrowed his gaze and his nostrils  flared as he returned to the table.

Bella vacillated over whether to keep silent, but her curiosity and a strange concern won out. "Who's Leo?"

He met her gaze with eyes that lit like flames of the devil himself. "My brother. He was with my father when he died."

Bella winced at the visual that raced through her head. "I haven't heard you say much about him. Where is he?"

"He could be dead, but we don't know for certain." He took a long draw from his beer. "His body was never found."                       
       
           



       

"How terrible," she said and gingerly put her hand on his arm. He  glanced down at her hand for a long moment, making her wonder if she  should pull it away. "Are you trying to find him?"

He sighed and lifted his gaze to hers. "Always. I was the one who was  supposed to be travelling with my father that day. Leo was there in my  place."

Her heart wrenched at the deep-seated guilt on his face. "Oh, no. You  don't really blame yourself. You were just a child. You couldn't have  possibly-"

He jerked his arm away. "Enough. This subject is off limits. I'm going  to bed." He stood and stalked out of the room, leaving her reeling in  his wake.

The depth of the grief and guilt she'd glimpsed in his eyes shook her.  Michael might project himself as a self-contained man with little  emotion, but she'd just seen something different. He had clearly  suffered over the loss of his brother for years. Bella wondered what  that must be like, to blame oneself for the loss of a brother.  Absolution would be impossible for a man like Michael. She sensed that  he would be harder on himself than anyone else. In this case, he didn't  have resolution either.

A yawning pain stretched inside Bella. She bit her lip, glancing into  the gas fire. She felt a strange instinct to comfort him, to salve the  wounds of his losses. He spoke about his upbringing in a matter-of-fact  way, as if the losses had been efficiently compartmentalized. But they  hadn't.

"Miss St. Clair, I'm Glenda. Can I get anything for you?" a woman said from just a few feet away.

Bella looked at Glenda, still hung up on what she'd just learned about Michael. He was human after all.

"Would you like something else to eat?" Glenda asked. "Dessert?"

Unable to imagine eating another bite, Bella shook her head. "No, but  thank you very much. I'll just take my dishes to the kitchen."

"Oh, no," Glenda said. "I'll do that. Are you sure there's nothing else I can do for you?"

Bella picked up her glass of wine and took a sip for fortitude. "Nothing, thank you."

Rising, she glanced in the direction of the hallway that would take her  to her room and the stairway that would take her to Michael's.





Six



H e heard the door to his bedroom open and the soft pad of her feet  against the hardwood floor before she stepped on to the sheepskin rugs  surrounding his big bed. He heard a rustle and a softly whispered oath.  She must have stumbled a little.

He couldn't suppress a twist of amusement. An illicit thrill rushed through him.Bella was coming to him.

He heard her soft intake of breath, as if she were bracing herself.  Before she'd opened the door, he'd been a turbulent mass of emotion.  Now, he was … curious.

She crawled on to his bed slowly. He waited, feeling a spurt of impatience. What was she going to do? When was she-

He felt her body against his. Her bare breasts brushed his arm. Her thighs slid against his. He felt a blast of need.

She skimmed one of her hands over his shoulder and down his chest. He  felt her lips against his throat and his gut clenched at the softness,  the tenderness …

Rock hard with arousal, he was more comfortable with sex and passion  than tenderness. "Why are you here?" he asked, clenching his hands  together, biding his time.

"I-" She made a hmm sound that vibrated against his skin. "I didn't want you to be alone."

He gave a rough chuckle. "I've been alone most of my life."

"Not tonight," she said.

In a swift but smooth motion, he pulled her on top of him. He felt her  breathless gasp of surprise and even in the dark, could see her wide  eyes. "If this is pity sex, you may get more than you bargained for."

She paused barely a half beat. "Pity a superhero?"

He couldn't withhold another shot of amusement, but the urgency to take  her again taunted him. He took her mouth in a long kiss that made her  writhe against him. He began to sweat.

"Hold on," he muttered and slid his hands down the silky skin of her  back and positioned her so that his aching erection was just at the  entrance of her warm femininity.

She moaned and he pushed inside a little further. It took all his  control, but he wanted to feel her need, her desperation. She arched  against him then lowered her mouth to his; this time, she was the  pursuer. Every part of her body seemed to talk to him-her skin, her  hands, her hair …

Pulling away from him, she lifted backward and kept her gaze fastened on  his. He forced himself to keep his eyes open as she bit her lip and  slid down, taking all of him inside her.                       
       
           



       

His ability to wait shredded, he grabbed her hips and their lovemaking  turned-as it had from the beginning-into a storm of passion that sated  him at the same time it made him hungry for more.





After that night, the unspoken connection between her and Michael grew  stronger. When she was apart from Michael, she sometimes wondered if she  imagined the tie, but when she was with him, there was no doubt. It  still wasn't love, she told herself. It was passion and power, but it  wasn't the sweet, comforting love she'd known with Stephen.Progress on  the spa took place swiftly. It was all Bella could do to keep her aunt  from working twenty-four hours a day. Getting a second chance with the  spa seemed to have given Aunt Charlotte twice as much energy.  Unfortunately, Charlotte wasn't budging from her so-called mission to  get Bella back in action.

So far, she'd arranged for four men to stop by to meet Bella. Two of them had asked her out, but she'd demurred.

This morning, she put away inventory that had arrived in the mail and  double-checked the postcards advertising the opening. Charlotte bustled  around, tinkering with the decor to accommodate the new sports grooming  package for men.

A knock sounded on the glass door and Bella glanced up to spot a  nice-looking man in his upper twenties. A familiar dread tugged at her.  Not again.

Charlotte rushed to the door and gave a little squeal. "Gabriel, it's so  good to see you. Come on in. Bella, please fix Gabriel some coffee. His  mother is one of my longtime clients."

"It's good to see you," Gabriel said to Charlotte while Bella dutifully  poured and served his coffee. "My mother insisted that I stop by."

"Cream or sugar?" Bella asked.

He shook his head. "No, thanks. Black is fine. Is Bella your daughter?"

"In every way that counts," Charlotte said. "Gabriel is a lawyer, Bella.  Isn't that impressive? I bet he might want to use some of our new  services for men."

"What services?" he asked, his expression wary.

"Sports manicure and pedicure. Massage," Charlotte said. "You look like you work out."

Bella tried not to roll her eyes at her aunt's obvious flattery.

"Some," he said. "I like to run."

Charlotte nodded then frowned. "Bella, I just realized you never took lunch. Maybe you and Gabriel could-"

The door swung open and Michael walked in. Bella felt her gut twist at  the sight of him. This could get interesting, she thought.

"Michael, what a nice surprise," Charlotte said. "Michael is our new  business partner. If it weren't for him, the spa wouldn't exist. Michael  Medici, this is Gabriel Long. He's a lawyer-his office is down the  street."

Michael nodded and shook Gabriel's hand. "Gabriel," he said.

"Michael Medici. I've heard your name mentioned often by my business clients."

"I was just saying that maybe Bella and Gabriel could go grab a bite," Charlotte interjected.