the Billionaire’s Secret Desire(23)

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