Some Like It Charming

Six


Ethan passed three convenience stores before he decided he should go in to get a Snickers. Chocolate was not exactly what he wanted right then, but it looked like it was as close as he was going to get.

When this thing with Mackenzie had first started, he hadn’t really planned on sleeping with her. She was going to be his buffer from other women, give him a break. But sometime after signing the pre-nup, it had become all he thought about. Since that kiss in the limo, hell, since the softball game, chasing Mackenzie Wyatt had become the only game he was interested in.

Her objections were getting weaker, her pauses were getting longer. Instead of tightening up when he got near, she got looser. Instead of cutting him down when he crossed the line, she was getting flustered. Flustered, but still fighting.

The thought of Mackenzie flustered and fighting, naked beneath him, was driving him crazy.

He grabbed the first candy bar, ripped open the wrapper, and took a big bite. The woman behind the counter watched him and fanned her shirt.

He smiled at her. “I’ll pay for it. I’m just not sure how many I’m going to need.”

She nodded slowly, and when he licked caramel off his lips, her eyes widened and her mouth opened.

Ethan took another bite and remembered Mackenzie’s pulse pounding against his lips.

Bad idea?

He didn’t think so. He was pretty sure she didn’t really think so either. But not entirely.

He was going to have fun getting her to yes. If it didn’t kill him first.

He grabbed a second bar, decided he didn’t need to give the shop girl any more of a show, and paid.

He walked back outside and couldn’t think of anywhere he wanted to be except back home with Mackenzie. Or out with Mackenzie, if they weren’t going to get naked.

But he couldn’t go back home yet, if they weren’t going to get naked. A man had limits.

He needed to burn some energy, get rid of some of this sexual frustration, because chocolate just wasn’t working.

He thought about heading to the gym, wondering if Mackenzie would go with him. Then he grinned.

He’d take Mackenzie to the batting cages. Get rid of his frustration, and maybe talk her into wearing some short shorts while they knocked some balls around.

He couldn’t think of any better of a day.

If they weren’t going to get naked.



A few days later, Mackenzie handed him a typed piece of paper when he came home at lunch.

“What’s this?”

“A bill for all the balls jokes. You reminded me.”

He glanced at it, then looked up at her. “You’re kidding.”

“I don’t think I am.”

“I just paid you a million dollars!”

“And a half.”

“We’re quibbling over half a million dollars and you give me a bill for $57,000?”

“You’re the one who keeps opening your mouth without thinking it through. Just because it’s costing more each time doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have to pay for the earlier blunders.”

He snapped his mouth shut. “I’m not paying this.”

“Why not? You agreed to it.”

“Circumstances have changed.”

“You mean instead of making embarrassing sexual comments in front of my co-workers, you are now making sure the world believes that I am sleeping with you. Somehow I don’t think the circumstances have changed in my favor.”

He muttered, “You are really hung up on that.”

He looked down at the paper again and she said, “It’s itemized.”

He read through it slowly. “So it is. Good thing we didn’t have to go through all the balls every time we walked you. Cheaper to just send you to your base.”

She showed him her teeth and he grinned. “Fine. I guess the memory is worth $57,000.”

She waited.

He said, “Do you want me to whip out my checkbook right this minute?”

“Maybe we should wait. You’ll probably do something else soon.” She tapped her chin. “I wonder if I can get that half mil out of you next time.”

He shook his head. “I usually just buy jewelry. I’ve never actually had to write a check before.” He glanced down at her empty hand. “Where is your ring? Don’t tell me you’ve lost it.”

“I haven’t lost it. I just don’t like wearing it.”

He narrowed his eyes, unreasonably unhappy she didn’t like wearing it. “Go get it.”

She stared at his expression. “I didn’t lose it.”

“Go get it.”

She sighed, then grabbed a stool from the kitchen and headed for her bedroom.

He followed and said, “You need to wear it every time you go outside.”

“It’s too big. I keep catching it on things.”

“Like what?”

“Like my jeans. I try to put something in my pocket and it gets caught. It’s irritating.”

“What you’re telling me is the ring is too big.”

She nodded.

He shook his head at her back. “How can a diamond engagement ring be too big? Too small, sure. Too big? Absurd.”

She walked into her closet, placing the stool right in the middle of the room.

He said, “What are you doing?”

“Getting the ring.”

She climbed up on the stool, unscrewed the frosty dome on the ceiling light, and took out a small white envelope.

He shook his head and took the envelope from her. “I have a safe.”

“Then you should keep it in there.”

He laughed silently, watching her screw the dome back on, then helped her down from the stool. “Seriously. In a light fixture?”

“I didn’t want the housekeeper to accidentally find it.”

He snorted. “You didn’t want me finding it while I was looking for your stash. Do you have valuables hidden all over your house?”

“Of course not. I have a safe deposit box.”

“I don’t know whether to believe you or not. You hid things in your office; you’re hiding things here.”

He opened up the envelope, dumping out the ring. He grabbed her hand and slid it on to her finger. “Wear it.”

She looked down at her hand, wiggling her finger and watching the ring sparkle, then took it back off and handed it to him. “You try it. Put it on your finger and put your hand in your pocket.”

“It can’t be so big of a deal that you have to hide it in a light to keep from wearing it.”

She crossed her arms and nodded towards his hand. “Just try it.”

He laughed, sliding the ring as far up his finger as it would go. He slid his hand into his pocket, the ring catching.

She nodded. “Now do it twenty more times and you’ll start to understand.”

“That’s. . .”

“Annoying.”

He tried it again, reluctant to agree with her. “A little. But this is the first complaint I’ve ever heard about it.”

“Do the women you date not have pockets?”

He shrugged, thinking back. Mackenzie was quite a bit more fond of jeans and pants than any of his previous girlfriends. He hadn’t seen a glimpse of her legs since the limo.

He said, “Maybe it’s like high heels. Worth the pain.”

“It’s not to me.”

He smiled at her. “Okay. We’ll go get something else.”

She shook her head. “We’ve only got a few weeks left. I don’t really need a ring.”

“An engagement’s not real unless there’s a ring on your finger.”

“Show me where that’s written.”

“I’ll have my grandma bring over a copy.”

She pouted. “I don’t want a ring.”

“Too bad. It shows the world that you’re taken.”

She gave him a look. “That’s just lovely. Where’s your ‘private property’ stamp?”

“A man doesn’t get one until he’s actually married.”

“I like where this conversation is going. I’m starting to smell a half million dollars.”

He laughed again, taking the ring off his finger. He held it up to the light. “You’re really not going to wear this?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“I guess it was just supposed to be a temporary one, anyway. Let’s go get you the real one.”

He took her hand in his and began pulling her out of the closet. She dug in her heels.

He said, “You really don’t want me picking it out, do you? I believe in the ‘bigger is better’ mantra.”

“I’ll just find somewhere else to hide it.”

“Or you could come with me and pick one you’ll actually wear.”

“I’m not sure we’re ever going to meet on this issue. I’ll pick small ones and you’ll pick big ones. This engagement will be over before we can agree.”

“What else are we going to do today?”

“You should really go back to work.”

“Hey, I haven’t taken a vacation in years either. And I get the feeling shopping with you is going to be a new and entertaining experience.” He tugged gently. “Didn’t we have fun going to the zoo?”

“I feel like I should say no.”

“You can say it as many times as you want, I’m not going to believe it.”

She shrugged. “It was fun imagining feeding you to the lions.”

“That’s why we spent so much time watching the polar bear cub.”

“She was pretty cute. And in a year or two, I could feed you to her.”

He nodded, finally understanding. “Oh, you were taking notes.”

She snickered.

He took a deep breath, inhaling her laugh. He took a step toward her. “Or we could stay in.”

She blew out a breath, looked around as if just realizing they were in her bedroom, and started pushing him out of the closet.

She said, “We’ll take the subway,” and he nodded. “Of course we will.”

The subway was crowded and they remained standing when they got in the car. Ethan wrapped his arm around her waist. She glared at him and he grinned at her. And kept his arm around her.

She leaned into him and said, “You’re just nervous about riding the subway.”

He nodded. “Absolutely. That guy over there is staring at me.”

She glanced where he was looking and saw three guys in suits. All of them reading.

She shook her head, but didn’t say anything else. They watched people getting on and off, and Ethan tried not to think about how he could feel her heat through her shirt and how she smelled like a mix of laundry soap and warm female. And really didn’t think about why the smell of laundry soap was messing with his libido.

He grabbed her hand when they exited and joined the mob climbing the stairs.

When they stepped into daylight, she tried to tug her hand free. He held tight and she looked down at their hands intertwined. “What are you doing?”

“Holding your hand.”

She looked back up, the alarm clear on her face. “Out here? Why?”

“Because you don’t have a ring wrapped around your finger and I’m feeling the need to lay my claim.”

She tried to pull her fingers away and he held on.

She said, “Lay your claim. You’re just trying to get me mad.”

“Actually, I’m just trying to distract you long enough to get you into a clothes store.”

She shook her head. “I will go shopping. But not with you.”

“Why not? I have fashion sense. And dressing you in short skirts and high heels sounds like fun.”

“That’s only one of the reasons why I’m not going shopping with you.”

“But we need to get rid of that muumuu. Maybe today.”

Honestly, a muumuu. She couldn’t broadcast any clearer that she was planning on getting through their six weeks together without getting naked. It would piss him off if he wasn’t enjoying the challenge so much.

He was enjoying the challenge, dammit.

She squinted her eyes at him. “Have you been talking to Cassandra?”

“I don’t need to. I’ve got eyes. And I don’t think that muumuu does what you want it to.”

“I want it to be comfortable.”

“I want to rip it off your body and throw it in the garbage.”

She jerked and he adjusted his hold on her hand. She said, “It makes me want to go to Hawaii.”

He cocked his head. “Where you will wear a bikini and high heels? Because I can take some time off.”

“I’m sensing a trend. Do you need to stock up on some late-night reading material?”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “No.”

“‘Cause if you need to take care of something, you should do it.”

He grumbled under his breath and dragged her into a jewelry store.

It was quiet and cool inside, and a few well-dressed customers were already being helped.

Ethan bent his head in to Mackenzie and indicated a woman looking at earrings. He said softly, “She doesn’t seem to have a problem with large rings.”

Mackenzie murmured, “I notice she doesn’t have any pockets, either.”

He nodded. “I think we’ve figured out it’s a pocket problem, not a jewelry problem. We could skip this store and go buy you some new clothes instead.”

“Why don’t we just skip all the stores and call it a day?”

“Only if you slip back into that muumuu when we get home.”

She turned her head away from him and saw Ellen and Christine coming in the door. She yanked her hand out of Ethan’s. “What in the world?”

He looked up. “I invited Mother and Grandma.”

Mackenzie let out a low groan. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“They like shopping. And they know jewelry.”

“You don’t bring your mother along when you’re buying an engagement ring.”

“I didn’t do such a bang-up job of picking out your first ring. And I thought you were probably right that we would never come to an agreement. I needed reinforcements.”

“I think we could have handled it between the two of us.”

His mother ignored Mackenzie to kiss Ethan on the cheek. “I thought you already got her a ring.”

“She didn’t like it.”

His mother sniffed. “I thought it was lovely.”

Ethan said, “She thinks it’s too big,” and Ellen chuckled. She said, “You keep him guessing, girlie.”

Shards of ice shot out of his mother’s eyes and she wandered away, taking out her cell phone.

Mackenzie muttered, “Let’s get this over with.”

Thirty minutes later they were still arguing. Ellen had snorted at Mackenzie’s first choice, saying no O’Connor would buy a piece of wire for his bride. Christine had murmured, “Does it even matter?” while staring at Mackenzie with her icy eyes. Ethan kept pulling out rings too big, too expensive, too noticeable. Anything but what Mackenzie would be comfortable wearing.

He leaned in close. “Doesn’t it worry you that my mother is agreeing with every choice you make? I think you should take it as a sign.”

She’d take it as a sign that at least one other person wanted to get out of that store as bad as she did.

Christine smiled and waved when a tall, buxom red-head entered the store. The red-head kissed Christine’s cheek, leaned her boobs into Ethan’s face, and looked Mackenzie up and down.

The woman turned out to be a fashion consultant and she grabbed Mackenzie’s hands, turning her this way and that. The woman laughed and said, “A minimalist marrying into the O’Connor family?” She smiled at Christine. “Now I understand why you needed me to rush down here.”

Mackenzie glared at Ethan, then at Christine. And when the vixen/consultant brought over a selection of rings that no one objected to, Mackenzie glared at the rings. There was just something about having her ring chosen by a consultant chosen by Christine. A consultant who kept pressing herself against Ethan and giving him come-hither looks when she thought Mackenzie wasn’t looking. While they were shopping for an engagement ring.

Ethan’s grandma said, “You’re going to have to choose something. An engagement’s not–”

Mackenzie interrupted her. “I’ve heard the saying.” She pointed to the smallest of the lot. What did it matter, anyway. She was only going to be wearing it for a couple more weeks.

She wondered if they had return policy.

The consultant smiled and said, “Now. Clothes.”

Ethan quickly thanked her, eyeing Mackenzie’s mutinous expression, saying he was saving that pleasure for himself. The consultant giggled. Christine looked like she wanted to vomit. And Mackenzie couldn’t decide whether to laugh or vomit herself.

Ellen grabbed Christine in one hand and the consultant in the other. “Now that we’ve helped solve the ring emergency, we’ll leave these two lovebirds to shop alone.”

Mackenzie didn’t even argue with her. As soon as they left the store, Mackenzie dug a chocolate bar out of her purse.

Ethan eyed it, then her. “Thank you for not attacking the consultant. Or my mother.”

“I do have some tact. It’s just when you’re annoying me that I can’t seem to control it.”

He took her hand, looking at the ring. “Control is overrated, anyway. Are you going to wear this ring?”

She took her hand back, shoving it in and out of her pocket a few times. “It’s okay,” she said, and he laughed and laughed.

Mackenzie felt marginally better and put the chocolate back in her purse.

She said, “The consultant was pretty. Your type.” She didn’t know why she said that. Every woman was his type. “You could probably get her number from your mother. Take care of that problem you’re having.”

He glanced down at her lips.

“I am a one-woman man, Mackenzie. And right now, you’re my woman.”

She tried to feel offended by that but all she felt was a flop in her belly.

He grabbed her hand when they left the store and she said, “You can let go. I’m wearing a ring now.”

He shook his head. “Now I’m used to it. I don’t have to worry that I’m losing you in the crowd.”

They spent the day roaming. They ate, Ethan tried to get her inside a few clothing stores and failed, and they finally spent a couple of hours in a book store, comparing investing books.

She bought a few saying, “Now that I’m part of the idle rich,” and he snorted.

“And how much longer do you think you’re going to last having nothing to do?”

She held up a book. “I’ll have to invest my millions. That’s something to do.”

“Million. Singular. You’ll be surprised how quickly that goes.”

He took the bag of books in one hand and her hand in the other when they left the store.

He said, “Really. What are you going to do if you don’t go back to work?”

“When. And I don’t know. Move to some middling town.” She thought. “Or maybe travel.”

“And do what?”

“See the world?”

“Boring. You don’t want to see it, you want to conquer it.”

She couldn’t argue with that and she shrugged. She didn’t know what she was going to do when this was all over.

He said, “Don’t leave. You can move to the London office and I’ll stay away until it all blows over. Go see if you can win over a foreign market with your particular brand of ‘charm’.”

She could feel her blood start heating at the thought of a new challenge and she pushed it back down.

She said, “Doesn’t HGC have offices in Tokyo? Now there would be a real challenge.”

He groaned. “HGC! I forbid you to work for them. In any country.”

She laughed. “Good thing for you that I’m getting used to sleeping in.”

He muttered, “I should have forbid you from working for them in the pre-nup.”

“You’ve still got that half million to work with.”

“It would almost be worth it.”

She smiled at him and he shook his head. “I’m saving it for a real emergency. You’d work for HGC a week before you realized they were a bunch of sneaky, no-good thieves only out for themselves, and come crawling back to me.”

“You’re just pissed that Bob Givens got the cover of Forbes.”

He glowered at her and she patted his arm with her free hand. “Just remember you looked better on your cover. And probably sold more copies.”

“Did I? Look better?”

“Of course you did. And you actually said something instead of just hyping your company.”

He looked mollified, then said, “It’s because he went public.” He shook his head. “Now he’s focused on selling bits of his company instead of selling product.”

She shook her head. “It’s because he’s not making any money. He only has hype.”

“Revenue has tripled! What a fantastic year!”

“And he forgets to mention that costs have quintupled.”

He looked at her. “Would you buy stock in it?”

She shook her head, then paused. “I might trade it. HGC is flavor of the month right now. But when the buzz fades?” She shook her head. “I’ll be shorting it at the first hint of a turn-around.”

“Would you buy into O’Connor?”

She looked at him in surprise. “Are you thinking of going public?”

“Not while there is breath left in my body,” he said and she laughed.

“But if we did, would you buy it?”

She shrugged. “I’d have to see a few years of annual reports first.”

He smiled slightly and squeezed her hand. “Come on. Tell me you would.”

“The OC will be there to mop up HGC’s clients when they go bankrupt. So, probably I would buy stock.”

“Then why didn’t you take the shares when I offered?”

“Because I have a personal issue with the owner. He keeps stealing my chocolate.”

He nodded at the doorman, then leaned down to murmur, “I’ll have to think of a way to make that up to you.”

He held on to her hand on the elevator ride up to the apartment.

And all the while he stroked her hand with his thumb. Up, down, on the inside of her palm. Again and again.

Her breathing picked up and her skin became extremely sensitive. She tried to pull her hand out of his and he pulled her out of the elevator and down the hallway. He shut the door and crowded her back up against it.

She said, “You can stop now.”

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I’m just getting back at you for the reading material crack.”

“It wasn’t a crack. It was legitimate concern.”

He nuzzled her neck. “That’s nice. How concerned are you?”

He scraped her neck with his teeth and her hands curled into fists. She shook her head but couldn’t get any breath past her lips.

He paused, his mouth hovering over hers. “I’m going to kiss you.”

Mackenzie thought about his mother inviting that red-headed vixen to pick out her engagement ring and murmured, “Okay.”

He moved his lips a smidgen closer. “Mm-hm. I was looking more for ‘God, yes’ or ‘what took you so long’.”

She found some spare air in her lungs and said, “Okay is all you’re going to get.”

He ran his hand down her hip. “Is that so?”

She nodded and he smiled. He laid his lips against hers and whispered, “Ethan. God. Yes.”

She looked at him out of lidded eyes and whispered back, “It’s never going to happen.”

She rose onto her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck, and opened her mouth. He groaned and kissed her, his tongue coming out to play.

His hands slid up her shirt and he said, “Aren’t you tired of fighting it, yet?”

Oh, she was. Tired of her stomach flopping every time he got near. Tired of his cologne turning her panties into one big, wet puddle. Tired of being the only person trying to keep their relationship not a relationship.

But she said, “I live to fight.”

Ethan ran his tongue up her ear. “Don’t I know it. I’ve been imagining you fighting beneath me for weeks.”

Weeks? It felt like years since she’d moved in with him. She said, “Who says I’d be beneath you?”

He grabbed the back of her thighs, lifting her and pinning her against the door. “I remember. You like to be on top.”

She wrapped her legs around his waist, felt his hands cup her butt, felt her control slipping. She tilted her head back, stared holes into the ceiling, and tried to talk some sense into herself. He was Ethan Howell O’Connor. He was a celebrity playboy. He dated models and debutantes. He was too handsome, too charming.

He was a charming rat bastard. The kind of man she hated most in the world.

He was a charming rat bastard who was slowly grazing his stubble across her exposed neck, slowly kneading her butt with his magic fingers. Oh. . . so. . . slowly pushing himself against her, rhythmically banging her against the front door.

He wasn’t ever serious, always playing some game.

He hefted her higher, fitting himself even more snugly between her open thighs.

She thought he seemed pretty serious about this.

She might have bit his earlobe when he whispered her name. She might have whimpered when his fingers dipped down the back of her jeans.

He exhaled, letting her slide slowly down the door, still trapped against him, still feeling every last inch of him.

He took a step backwards, grabbing her hands and pulling her away from the door. He said, “Your bed or mine?”

His eyes bore into hers, his hands held hers, and his erection probed her stomach.

She mentally counted down the days. Four more weeks of this? Four more weeks of a near constant barrage of Ethan Howell O’Connor trying to get into her pants?

She wasn’t going to last.

Maybe if they got this out of the way, he would lose interest. Move on to the next game.

Plus, she really, really wanted to.

She said, “The hell with it. Mine.”

He smiled slowly and kissed her for one long moment. Then he bent, hoisted her fireman-style over his shoulder, and briskly walked toward her bedroom. “Excellent choice.”

He put her back on her feet in front of her bed and went to his knees, slowly unzipping her jeans and tugging them down.

She ran her hands through his hair. “Don’t I get any kind of foreplay here?”

“What the hell do you think I’ve been doing this last week? I’m foreplayed out.”

He looked at her exposed underwear, blinked, and sat back on his heels.

“What are you wearing?”

Mackenzie glanced down, then groaned. “Spanx. I forgot.”

“Under jeans?” He shook his head. “This craze has gone far enough.”

She couldn’t help the flush that spread across her face. “Um. . . It’s to keep you out. I didn’t trust myself.”

He smirked. “With good reason.”

“I could always change my mind.”

He helped her step out of her jeans, then hopped up. “No. I’ll be right back.”

She watched him walk out the door, then stripped the Spanx off as fast as she could. She really had forgotten she’d been wearing them. It was not an undergarment that came off sexily. She pulled up a pair of panties just as he came back in, carrying scissors.

She took a small step back. “Er. . . What are those for?”

He picked the Spanx off the floor and started cutting it into long strips.

She yelled, “Hey!”

“I was going to cut it off your body. Would have been fun.”

“For you, maybe.”

He looked down at her panties. “We can still try it.”

“No.”

He dropped the destroyed Spanx on the carpet, along with the scissors, and turned back to her. “Sorry for the interruption. I had a foe to vanquish.”

“Glad you got that out of your system. But it disturbs me that you somehow got a pair of scissors in here.”

He grinned and reached down to grab the scissors, throwing them out the door. They hit the hallway wall and she jumped. He wrapped an arm around her waist and tumbled them to the bed.

He said, “Where were we?”

“I can’t remember. The scissors distracted me.”

He kissed the side of her mouth. “Let me remind you.”

He ran his hands underneath her shirt and said, “This shirt makes me want to rip it off you as well.”

“I think it’s a personal problem.”

He grabbed her shirt and ripped the two sides apart, buttons popping off and flying everywhere.

She slapped his hands. “Come on! You’re destroying all my clothes.”

“I’m in the throes of passion here. I can’t be held responsible.” He placed his hands on her black lace bra and nodded approvingly. “The underwear’s not bad, though.”

Ethan reached behind Mackenzie and unsnapped the bra. He filled his hands with her bare breasts, then bent to suck one nipple. She ran her hands under his shirt and he grazed one nipple with his teeth. She pulled his shirt over his head and when he laid his hot skin against hers, she caught her breath.

He popped his head up. “Have you remembered yet?”

She nodded. “It’s coming back to me.”

“Good.” He nipped his way down her stomach and fingered her panties. “I don’t know why you bothered with these.”

He pulled them down her legs and flung them across the room. He sat back, looking at her, and smiled. “Nothing but my ring on. Could only be better if you were wearing heels.”

She shook her head and he said, “Maybe next time.”

He leaned down, licked her belly button and made her jump, and kissed his way back up.

She popped the button on his pants and he said, “Not until you say it.”

She rubbed the front of his pants, felt his erection straining the material, and said, “You really think I’m going to be the one to break first?”

He took a deep breath. Then another. Then he said, “Yes. Absolutely.”

She laughed and pushed his pants down his hips. “Prove it.”

He jumped up, kicked his pants off, and climbed back on the bed before she got more than a peek. He ripped open a condom packet.

She took it from him, pushed him onto his back, and knelt between his legs. She rolled the condom down his length, her hands cupped together, stroking him, rolling it down inch by slow inch.

He broke out into a sweat. “I’m starting to hate you.”

“Looks like it.”

He flipped her onto her back, his hot penis sliding between her legs, and said, “Please, God. Say it.”

She groaned. “Never.”

He rubbed the top of his penis against her cleft and she said, “Oh, Jesus.”

“Getting closer.”

“Ethan!”

He whispered, “Ethan, God, yes.”

“You goddam–”

“Yes.”

She growled at him and he used his teeth to nip the side of her breast. “Say yes.”

“Yes! Please, yes!”

He entered her in one smooth thrust, sliding into her ready wetness, and she shattered.

She heard him say, “You broke first,” and she groaned, long and low. She dug her fingernails into his back and he ground out, “Oh, shit.” And followed her into oblivion.



Ethan lay where he was for a few minutes. He’d get off her in a second, but he was relearning how to breathe. There was definitely something to be said for the chase.

He pushed up, finding her flushed and sweaty beneath him, and said, “That was nice.”

Her eyes opened slowly, the gold nearly engulfed by black. She blinked, focusing on him, then stretched. “Nice and short.”

“I’m surprised we lasted that long. I haven’t had to work that hard to get into a woman’s panties since I turned sixteen.”

She huffed a laugh and he pushed himself off her, laying on his side next to her. He fingered a few love marks on her pale skin.

She’d closed her eyes again and he studied her face. Soft and relaxed, so unlike her normal ferocious intensity. He felt a stab of half-regret, half-fear. Maybe Mackenzie wasn’t as O’Connor-proof as he’d thought.

He said, “We’re still safe here, right? This was just a friendly tickle between friends?”

Her mouth curved. “A tickle? Was that what that was?”

“It’s just that we happen to be engaged, and I happen to be a one-woman man.”

She opened her eyes and looked at him, clearly amused. “You’ve really got a thing about that.”

He rolled onto his back. “You try having that phrase drummed into your brain since childhood and see if you don’t have a thing.”

Mackenzie scooted under the covers, rolling onto her stomach and plopping her chin in her hands. “Are you telling me that you have issues?”

“Everyone has issues. It’s a rule.”

“And yours is?”

He crawled under the covers with her and their knees bumped. “If I tell you I have to marry you.”

She shivered. “Sorry. Involuntary reaction. I was picturing your mother’s face when you told her we were getting married for real.”

He froze and she said, “You’re supposed to laugh, not look terrified.”

“I’ve been here too many times to laugh about casual wedding comments.”

She stared at him before letting out a loud laugh. “You think I’m planning a wedding now? I’ve hopped into bed with you so I must be laying here dreaming of white dresses and pink flowers?”

He groaned. “You already know what color flowers?”

A smile broke over her face. “You’re seriously freaked, aren’t you?”

He had been, but was starting to realize he probably shouldn’t be. She seemed to find the thought of marrying him extremely funny.

She leaned close and murmured, “You just think you’re irresistible, don’t you?”

He snaked his arm around her waist, running his hand down her naked back. “I would like to refer to exhibit A.”

“Mm. And I would like to refer to the last two weeks of you trying to get in my pants. I simply couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Wore you down, huh?”

“It’s not really a compliment. I don’t know why you’re smiling.”

“I’ll take whatever works with you.”

She started to scoot away and he clamped his arm around her.

He said, “That was a compliment. I’ve never wanted to sleep with a woman more. I’d be happy no matter what made you change your mind.”

“That’s not as big a compliment as you think. You only wanted to sleep with me because you’re a horny bastard and you trapped yourself into being celibate for six weeks.”

Ethan blinked, trying to remember if he’d ever been called any kind of bastard before.

She said, “You could have gone and got yourself some strange but noooo. Ethan Howell O’Connor is a one-woman man.”

“I don’t know why you’re getting mad about it.”

She tried to pull away from him again but he kept her anchored. He was enjoying the feel of her breasts pressed against him. Enjoying her breath coming faster and faster, the flush returning to her skin.

She really was getting angry with him.

He stroked his thumb along the rise of her buttock. “I’m pretty sure it was you I wanted to sleep with. I don’t want you thinking any woman would have done.”

“I’m pretty sure it was you I didn’t want to sleep with. But you kept touching me–”

“So it was the touching that did it.” He brought his other hand up to stroke her shoulder.

Her eyebrows slammed down. “I should have bought you a hooker.”

He shook his head. “Never would have happened. I’m not the kind of man who cheats on a woman. I don’t ever want to be that kind of man, so I won’t let myself slip even once. Even with a woman who is only technically my woman. Even if that woman gave me permission.”

“Don’t ever call me your woman again. Not even technically.”

He laughed and she poked his side. She said, “Remember you have some unprotected soft bits within striking distance.”

He murmured, “It’s not that soft.”

At her outraged look, he said, “You’re threatening me. Seems to really get my motor running.”

“Sick bastard.”

“A horny bastard and a sick bastard? That seems unlikely. I would have heard something about it before now.”

She said, “I would like to refer to exhibit A,” and he laughed.

When she started to go for exhibit A, he pushed her onto her back, grabbing her hands and trapping them against the bed. She started to fight him for real and he was forced to drop his full weight onto her. Her breath whooshed out and he said quickly, hoping to distract her, “If I’m going to give half of the O’Connor fortune to my wife, I can’t give her any reason to destroy it. That’s why the O’Connors are one-woman men. Why I have to be.”

Mackenzie was panting shallowly and he eased off her rib cage slightly. She took a deep breath and said, “Or you could just not give her half your fortune.”

“It’s tradition.”

She raised one eyebrow. “That’s no excuse.”

It wasn’t an excuse. He didn’t have to give away half his fortune to get married. But ever since he’d started noticing girls he’d known that money changed things. Money changed how people acted around him, what they hid from him, and how they responded to him. Knowing he would have to give half of his shares insured he would take it slow when it came time to settle down. It was insurance against tricking himself into thinking he’d found a woman worthy of the O’Connor name when he really hadn’t.

Ethan said, “My great-grandfather thought he was in love when he got married. And realized too late that she’d conned him, that he’d let himself be conned. He never would have married my great-grandmother if he’d had to give her half his fortune.”

“I don’t know that any man would get married if he had to give half his fortune to do it.” She cocked her head. “Or any woman, for that matter.”

“Maybe not. But it worked for my grandfather, and it worked for my father. They had long, happy marriages. Because they were sure of the women they married. Because their women were sure of them.”

“I could maybe see where they were going with this, but all it’s done is freaked you out. Not only do you have to give half your money to your wife, you have to give all your pecker as well. Any man would balk at that.”

He stared at her, relaxing his grip on her wrists in surprise.

She said, “Just don’t do it.”

“Don’t do what? Give all my pecker or half my shares?” He snorted, trying to keep his face in line.

“Just choose one. Sign a pre-nup.” She rolled her eyes to the heavens and mumbled, “For the love of God, sign a pre-nup. Forever love is just luck. Your grandfather and father got lucky.”

“Now who’s got issues?”

“Oh, it’s you. All you.”

Mackenzie thrust one hip up, rolling him over onto his back and climbing on top of him. She trapped his wrists in her hands and leaned forward, her weight pinning him to the bed, her breasts bouncing and grabbing his attention.

He grinned at her and she said, “You can just give your future wife a nice severance package in case of divorce and keep your company. And then give her all your pecker.”

He barked out a laugh. “Please stop saying that. It puts a picture in my head I’m afraid I won’t ever get out.”

“I’m just saying that if I was your wife I would be more concerned about love and fidelity than a couple million dollars.”

His eyebrows rose. “A couple million dollars?”

Mackenzie narrowed her eyes. “A couple hundred million dollars?”

“Hmm.”

She shrugged her shoulders and Ethan didn’t bother keeping his eyes on her face.

She said, “I don’t think a wife is worth fifty million dollars. Any wife.”

He looked back up into her eyes. “Now you’re just fishing.”

She laughed, leaning back and taking her weight off his wrists. “Don’t tell me. It’ll just make me want to break out the snake oil.”

He sat up, wrapping his arms around her and whispering a number into her ear.

She choked. “That’s just disgusting. Why would any one person need that much money?”

“You getting the itch to relieve me of some of it?”

Ethan laughed at her guilty look, squeezing her. “I don’t believe you. I already tried to give you part of O’Connor Capital and you turned me flat. That’s not the action of a gold digger.”

She looked at him through lidded eyes. “Maybe I’m just waiting for half.”

He didn’t feel even a blip of fear when she brought up marrying him this time. “You’d have to marry me for real to get it. I don’t think you’re willing to pay that price.”

She ran her hand down his arm slowly, fluttering her eyelashes at him. “My information about your net worth has changed recently. It’s making me doubt how much I detest you.”

He grinned. “You can lie all you want to yourself but I know you don’t detest me. No matter how much you try and make yourself.”

She stopped the fluttering and said matter-of-factly, “You’re too beautiful not to detest.”

“I find that a strange reaction to beauty.”

“And all that money. Blech.”

He laughed. “What if I gave it all away? Would that help?”

She groaned. “And then you would just be altruistic. There’s no hope for you, I’m afraid.”

He nuzzled her neck. “No hope? None at all?”

Mackenzie breathed in, sliding her body down to sit on his lap. She sounded only a little reluctant when she said, “Maybe a little.”

“Let’s move this to my bed. I only brought one condom.” He nibbled her ear. “It was short-sighted of me.”

She muttered, “I got the Depo shot,” and Ethan pulled back.

“Oh, did you? So you were just playing hard to get this whole time.”

“No. I was playing I don’t want to sleep with Ethan Howell O’Connor. And then I was playing I don’t want to sleep with Ethan Howell O’Connor but I might need a back-up plan.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “I didn’t know such a game existed. I could use a few more women playing it.”

“You say that, but you didn’t like me playing it.”

He rolled backwards, dragging her down on top of him. He ran a hand down her hair and said, “I loved you playing it. I love it even more that you lost.”

Mackenzie pushed herself up. “I see what you’re doing there. Either I have to admit I lost, or tell you I didn’t lose by sleeping with you. You win either way.”

He grinned. “It’s not about winning or losing.”

“So says the loser.”

“I wasn’t the one that broke first.”

“You didn’t last all that much longer. You think the Enquirer would like that exclusive?”

He tickled the inside of her arms and she dropped her weight back on him. “Before you call them up, give me another chance to defend my reputation.”

“I think a story about your non-existent stamina would sell better.”

“So make me lose again and you’ve got your headliner.” He kissed her lightly and whispered, “Make me lose, Mackenzie.”

She thought about it for a half-second, then smiled.

And then she made him lose.