Rachel gulped. That was a threat, right?
The Vera Chang and Nate Madden public divorce had been years ago, two - or was it one - years ago. Between then and now there had been worse news for the media to strip apart. But the Chang-Madden divorce had really taken the Hills by storm. Nate Madden, billionaire playboy had finally settled down with one woman. No one had expected the fragile, sweet-spoken Vera to be his kind of woman given his dating history and they had been the talk of the town. Everyone said she made Nate Madden look almost human for the first time. So when the divorce news got out every news outlet had latched onto it like vampires on virgins.
The rumor that Nate neither confirmed nor denied was that he was a wife-beater. Even though Nate never went out of his way to make any official statements Vera had evidence to prove it. There were images of bite marks, whip marks…everything that would make Ted Bundy proud. Still, Nate’s lawyers fought hard. Eventually, they lost the battle and Vera had gotten a quarter of his billions as a settlement.
Among those who had triumphed in his defeat was Rachel. She had gloated because like so many others, she was on Vera’s side.
Nate took a step back. Rachel couldn’t decide whether she liked that or not.
“Wow,” she laughed shakily. “You must really hate me.”
“On the contrary,” came his quietly spoken response. “You are no longer a threat to me. You’ve lost your job. You’re on the verge of divorce,” he raised a brow, “and I dare say your husband will be biting into everything you’ve ever worked for. In a way we are almost alike except your prim Mary Poppins attitude complete with the stockings isn’t doing much for you right now, is it?”
Rachel clenched her teeth. I deserve this, she concluded.
“Sit down, Rachel,” he ordered.
She obeyed. Sulkily.
Nate immediately sucked in a deep breath. Obedience…why was his huge, spacious office suddenly feeling tighter?
“I will make you a deal,” he heard himself say before he could stop the words. “But you haven’t answered my question.”
She knew what he was talking about. Squaring her shoulders since he wouldn’t let it be she tipped her chin up in a way that excited him – feisty. “What else happens between a man and a woman in the privacy of their bedroom? The wife lays on her back, the husband gets on top and thrusts in and out. If you get an orgasm all fine and if you don’t oh well…” she finished with a shrug.
He was smiling with a wicked glint in his eyes. “Is that what your husband does? Thrusts in and out and rolls off. Must have been boring.”
She tensed at his mocking tone. “Well, what do you know about sex? You’re the one with a history of domestic violence everyone knows that…”
“You don’t know anything about me Rachel Rivers!” his nostrils flared. “Not you or anyone else. Why don’t you let me show you what really happened between Vera and me? If you’re up for that challenge.”
“I am NOT up for any challenge, Mr. Madden. You called my agent claiming to want to help. If you haven’t noticed my name isn’t exactly worth much anymore and I am a woman desperate to get back on her feet and prove to the world that I am not what it thinks I am!” she rose to her feet again. “Now if you will excuse me…”
But he moved to intercept her path. Rachel fell back in surprise her heart picking up pace again.
“What do you want from me?!” she yelled.
What did he want from her? That’s right he wanted a lot. He wanted to help among other things.
“Mrs. Rivers,” he retreated. It wouldn’t serve his purpose to get her angry. “It seems we have gotten off on the wrong foot.”
“Nothing wrong with my foot. It’s yours that needs checking,” she huffed.
He smiled at her stubbornness. A challenge. He loved a challenge.
“Let’s make a deal.”
She eyed him suspiciously. Rachel didn’t want to admit it but him being so close was doing things to her. It was okay when he was just another image displayed across a screen for her to slay with her dragon tongue but in flesh – God was he hot.
She couldn’t remember why she hated him anymore when gray eyes were staring deep into hers. He was so close she could feel the heat of his body. And the other things she could feel…she never felt them before.
“What deal?” she asked after a while.
“You have a misconception about what happened between Vera and me. There are many things that happen between a man and a woman and sometimes thrusting in and out like you called it is just the beginning of many such things.”
For the first time, she couldn’t speak. An innocent blush crept up her cheek. For the first time since he saw her that morning, he noticed the spray of dark freckles against her pretty dark skin. Her doe-like brown eyes held an innocence that was lost in the sharp edges of her tongue when she played host on her TV show. He found himself aching to unwrap the many layers of Rachel Rivers.
If he was a man with a living, pumping heart he would have leaned in to kiss her. Women melted under a kiss. But he wasn’t the type of man to kiss a woman. There were other things he could do instead…
“Well?” her voice was soft. It jolted him back to life. What was he doing? This was Rachel Rivers, the woman whose gloat was the loudest.
But she was so vulnerable right now. That was what he wanted, wasn’t it?
Crossing his arms across his chest he stared her down. “One month to show you what other things happen between a man and a woman, if you pass I have the power to give you back your life.”
Rachel stared at him dumbfounded.
“I’m sorry?”
“One month.”
“And I’m supposed to say yes?!”
“Do you have a choice?”
Rachel gapped at the audacity. What was with men – especially men like him – that always expected women to fall at their feet? This was why she hated men like him. That was why she went for men like Jacob…actually look where that got her.
Still, it wasn’t enough to send her into the arms of Nate Madden.
“I think I do have a choice, Mr. Madden. Thanks for your help. I’m sure there are many women who will die for a chance like this but not this woman,” she said caustically.
She pushed past him and made for the door and he watched her go without a word – the arrogant man.
If it were only that easy... two days later after thinking of nothing else but his proposal and with her tail between her legs and nowhere else to turn amid the world crashing around her, Rachel sent a message through Larry. For the first time in her life, she cast caution aside for a selfish chance to save herself.
Might as well be the monster the world thinks I am, she thought to herself. What’s the worst that could happen?