he reflected back on that evening, Max‘s attention was
undeniably on the other woman during dinner. He was surprised
he missed it, because he was usually more astute. Who could
blame him? She was perhaps the most stunning specimen of
feminine sexuality that he‘d ever seen and he still meant to have
her.
The familiar hum of a jet caught his attention. Glancing
at his watch he smiled, right on time. Within minutes, Max‘s
private jet was just rumbling down the laneway toward him. Lily,
he thought. He‘d already come to terms with the fact that he was
going to try and win her away from Max. Engaged or not
engaged. Nikos may have only been twenty six but he‘d had his
56
The Billionaire‘s Secret Desire
share of women and none gave him the rush that Lily did. First
of all, he wasn‘t sure if this engagement was a ruse to deter him.
It may be, but either way it didn‘t matter. Also, he‘d found out
that Luke was Lily‘s brother and it all began to make sense. Was
the engagement a cover to protect Luke‘s precious gorgeous
sister? He wasn‘t sure, but over the next few days he would
certainly find out.
The jet‘s engines powered down and the door opened.
Nikos watched Max emerge holding Lily‘s hand. Even though he
expected her to be beautiful, she still surpassed his expectations.
She was absolutely ravishing in a white strapless dress that fit
her curves flatteringly coming to just above her knees. Her long
sun-spun hair trailed about her shoulders and spilled to her
waist. He stepped forward to greet them shaking Max‘s hand
and kissing Lily politely on the cheek telling her she was
beautiful. ―My father wanted to greet you Max, but he wasn‘t
feeling well. We‘ll see him at dinner.‖
―It‘s nothing serious is it?‖ said Lily with genuine concern
that brought a rakish grin from Nikos.
His dark eyes settled on her with a warm glint, ―No
nothing unusual, just his diabetes. It makes him tired at times.
He‘ll be flattered at your concern.‖ He said watching her blush.
Priceless, he thought , you couldn’t pay for that humility.
Max tightened his grip on Lily‘s hand possessively not
missing the look of interest in Nikos eyes, ―That‘s good to hear.‖
If the man thought he was even getting near her he was
out in left field. Unknown to Lily Max was sharing the same room
with her whether she liked it or not. He was confident enough in
his abilities as a man to know she wouldn‘t argue. He didn‘t miss
the way she had been looking at him for the past few weeks when
she thought he wasn‘t looking. Although he wouldn‘t
compromise her virtue, he sure as hell wanted to. However Max
wasn‘t the only protective man around Lily, Luke threatened to
57
Lietha Wards
disembowel him if he laid a hand on her like he wanted to. Lily
wasn‘t the type for a one night stand and Max was well aware of
it.
If she‘d walked into his office sooner last week she would
have heard the real argument between Luke and himself.
Luke knew of his affections and had asked him the first
time he saw him look at his sister more than just a friend four
years ago. He knew of Max‘s reputation with women and had no
problem voicing his opinion on the matter. Although Luke was
his employee, he treated him as an equal and respected him more
than anyone else in his life. Luke had been a good friend to him
and didn‘t let Max‘s wealth stand in the way of their friendship.
If he disliked something Max did, he told him so. One good
example is when he caught Max looking at his sister with desire
clearly registering in his expression while she wasn‘t looking.
―What are your intentions toward my sister?‖ Luke had
asked him shortly afterwards.
Max didn‘t pull any punches. He respected Luke too
much as a friend to mislead him, ―I want to marry her.‖
―She‘s sixteen!‖ Luke said with a mixture of disbelief and
possessiveness.
―Yeah, I know Luke, I‘ll wait. Besides, she certainly
doesn‘t act or look sixteen.‖ He watched Luke purse his lips and
stare at him . Max waited patiently for his reaction while he
mulled it over. Luke was right, she was young and normally he
would have found the age difference distasteful, but he wanted
her. In fact, the more he was around her, the more infatuated he
became over her. No other woman had brought that out in him in
all of his life. This was an attraction that he had absolutely no
control over and he wasn‘t a man to look a gift horse in the
mouth.
He figured he‘d wait until she was at least twenty-four
before he sprung the question because he was twelve years older