Definitely a warrior, Savannah thought, happily revelling in the secure knowledge that Matt Bradford was not about to accept an ending to their relationship at this point and didn’t care what anyone else thought of it.
“Home,” she instructed. “And then later to a department store. You can pick me up at the taxi rank outside the store at eleven-thirty. I will call you.”
It was only then that she remembered that she had to be at work. She paused, then decided she would call Victoria and ask her to cover for her. She did the same for her most times.
Matt’s whole body clenched with frustration as she walked towards the bathroom, her blond silky bedmussed hair tumbling over her shoulders, the sexy curve of her spine drawing his gaze down to the even sexier derriere, its voluptuous sway reminding him of how provocatively exciting it had been last night. And the supple strength in those long legs…winding around him, inviting, inciting a possession which she now denied.
You don’t own me.
He’d meant to have her again this morning. The sight of her stretching so sensuously had paused him short of the bed, desire for her kicking in so strongly he was amazed by how deeply she stirred him. Then seeing her initial shock at the recollection of where she was, he’d thought a quick assurance that what they’d shared was not a one-night aberration on his part would please her.
The hell of it was, he still wasn’t sure he’d recovered the ground he’d lost with the clothes issue.
You don’t own me.
The urge to stride into the bathroom and make her his again was burning through him—kiss her until passion exploded between them and she was happy for them to spend the whole day in bed together.
Forget the damned horse and its maiden race! He didn’t want anything getting in the way of what he’d found with Savannah Carson.
But his rational mind warned that sex might not hold her. His wealth wouldn’t hold her, either. There’d been no lure whatsoever in having designer gear freely showered on her. Quite the contrary. She hadn’t liked that idea one bit. Hadn’t even flirted with it for a moment. Savannah Carson was up and running her way and that proud streak of independence in her was not about to bend.
Okay, so roll with her plan.
But no taxi.
He’d drive her to home himself, talk with her on the way, make sure she wasn’t running out on him. Matt frowned over that thought as he strode into his dressing room to throw on some clothes. Women invariably hung onto him as long as they could. Why was he feeling a lack of confidence in Savannah’s interest in him?
Because she was different.
Everything about her was different. Which made it new to him. And undoubtedly he was new to her, too. If she had reservations about that this morning—seeing no real future for this relationship —he had to allay them, because one thing was certain in his mind. He didn’t want her walking out of his life. Not at this point.
He had taken her home that day. Picked her up as she had requested and she went with him to horse race. That been the beginning of their relationship.
It had just started. Soon he was picking her up from work, having amazing talks with her, spending almost every spare time he had with her, waking up next to her almost every morning, and five months later, he asked her to marry him…which she had gladly said yes to. Or pretended to be glad —he didn’t really know anymore. Were any of those moments real for her? Had she just been pretending the whole time?
They had been happy —at least he had thought they were. So he just couldn’t understand why she threw all that away. With his brother for that matter. Her betrayal stung… Hurt like hell.
Matt got to his apartment without knowing how he got there. His head was full of thoughts of her. She had hurt him and she still acted like he was the one who had something to be sorry about. She was the one who had thrown away their love.. Their relationship.
He knew he had to walk away from her. For his own peace of mind. But he couldn’t. Because no matter how angry he was at her, he couldn’t deny the fact that he was still in love with her….and he wanted to help her.
“Have you heard? He’s trying to buy her a husband.” Feminine laughter trilled mockingly.
“With his millions, it shouldn’t be hard.” The man the lady was speaking to replied.
“The old man will live to see a hundred and five and keep control of his company right up until he dies,” the woman said. “That means over fourty years married to a woman who is hopelessly introverted, hopelessly ordinary and probably hopeless in bed, to boot. Practically a lifetime before her future husband will see any fruit for his labor.”
“Put in that light,” the man drawled sardonically, “the return on investment does seem pretty low.”
“Why, darling, were you thinking of applying for the job?” Scornful disbelief laced the woman’s too knowing voice.
The masculine laughter that came in reply grated on Dash’s nerves. He had arrived late to the party hosted by multimillionaire, Neal Patchett. Nevertheless, he knew exactly whom the cynical woman and her male cohort were discussing: Tess Patchett—the daughter of their host.
Dash Black hadn’t realized the man had decided to procure her a husband—until Neal told him during their last meeting.
Hell, that wasn’t even the crazy thing about Neal’s idea. The crazy thing was that the man had chosen him to marry his daughter and Dash thought it was the craziest thing he had ever heard in his life.
People didn’t do things like that anymore. This arranged marriage thing was a thing of the past. And Dash wasn’t the relationship kind of guy. Relationships were for guys like his friend, Matt Bradford, and judging from the way his relationship with Savannah had ended, Dash was sure he was doing the right thing by staying away from any commitment with a woman.
He loved women, that was true. But he didn’t really date and marriage was the last thing on his mind.