Brenda Jackson - Millionaire Magnates

She was in Lance’s arms!

Lance had no real plan of seduction. He just wanted to kiss Kate because it seemed a sacrilege not to. This was the Fourth of July and he was a red-blooded male, a Texan who’d learned the hard way that you had to fight for what you wanted.

And he wanted Kate Thornton. He lifted her into his arms and stepped off the lighted path. He walked up to his house with patriotic music blaring in the background and fireworks going off all around them.

Kate rested her head on his shoulder and held on to him with a strong grip. He knew that the attraction between them was mutual but until this moment hadn’t realized just how much that would mean to him.

He just wanted to know what she’d be like in his bed. To know if the woman he couldn’t live without in his work life would also be as important to his personal life. His gut said yes.

“You look fierce,” she said.

“Do I?”

She nodded. “Are you sure about this?”

“Hell yes,” he said, reaching down to open the door to the living room. He walked up the stairs to his bedroom without pausing to turn on a light.

“I’m not,” she said.

The shyness in her voice stopped him. He couldn’t force himself on her. He never wanted passion between them to be all about him. He knew Kate well enough, had observed the changes in her and knew she had doubts about herself.

And he wanted to show her that he loved her as she was… well, loved her body, he corrected.

“I’m not rushing you, Kate,” Lance said. He set her on her feet and led her out onto his private balcony, gesturing to one of the lounge chairs that faced the east and the fireworks.

“How about a red-hot and boom?”

She shook her head. “I had one last year and think I still might be a little drunk from it.”

He laughed. It was then that he realized he was nervous. He knew his way around an oil field and a boardroom but a woman—one who mattered to him—that was an entirely different subject. And Kate had somehow become this woman who mattered to him.

“Champagne?” he asked.

“I’m good,” she said.

“Still nervous?”

“A little. You know, I’ve been wanting to be here with you… like this… for longer than I can remember,” she said.

“Is it what you imagined?”

She shook her head, those long silky curls of hers brushing against her collar.

“What can I do to make it better?” he asked. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. She was practically a little bird now with tiny arms and shoulders. He hugged her close. “Why’d you lose weight?”

She shrugged and looked away.

“Sorry, was that too personal?”

She started to nod and then turned to pin him with her dark-chocolate stare. “I had to. It wasn’t healthy for me and I was tired of being invisible.”

“You weren’t completely,” he said.

“Yes, I was. Or you would have invited me up here a lot sooner,” she said, standing up.

She paced over to the railing and leaned back against it, facing him.

“Does it bother you that I didn’t?”

“Of course. But not for the reasons you think. It bothers me because I have wasted so many years of my life.”

“You’re not old, Kate,” he said.

“I’m old enough. And it took your engagement to another woman to snap me out of the trance I’ve been in.”

“My engagement?”

“I told you, I’ve wanted you for a long time,” Kate said.

“I’m sorry, Katie-girl. My engagement… it was done for political purposes.”

“Really? What about Lexi? Does she know that? Don’t you care for her at all?”

Lance stood up, as well. “She knows that we are engaged for our families’ sakes. And to be honest, tonight I realized that I can’t go through with the fake engagement.”

“Why not?”

Lance wasn’t the kind of man who liked to talk about his feelings but he knew better than to keep quiet this time. “It just didn’t seem right to marry her.”

He walked slowly over to Kate, stopping when barely an inch of space separated them. “Don’t you want to know why?”

Kate stared up at him. How could he have ever missed how beautiful her eyes were?

“Why?” she asked in a breathy voice.

“I can’t marry her when you are the one woman I can’t get out of my mind.”

“You can’t… Are you serious?”

“Serious as a heart attack, baby. And I’m not about to let you go until we’ve figured this out.”

Kate felt overwhelmed by Lance. She put her hands on his chest and leaned forward to kiss him, licking her lips the second before her mouth touched his. She kept her mouth open, feeling the exhalation of his breath against her. She closed her eyes and rubbed her lips over his.

She let herself make this moment into a memory that she’d remember for the rest of her life. If the last week had taught her anything it was that Lance was important to her. And that forever… well, forever might not be in the cards for them.

But now was. Right now. She curled her fingers around his arms and touched his tongue lightly with hers, stroking it into his open mouth. She tasted the beer he’d drunk earlier and something that was starting to be familiar to her. A taste that was just Lance.

She started to withdraw from his mouth and felt his teeth close lightly around her tongue. He angled his head and she felt his hand on her ribs right below her breasts. His other hand tangled in the hair at the back of her head.

He held her so strongly as his mouth moved over hers, as he took complete control of the embrace and of her body. Shivers spread down her body from her lips past her neck. Her breasts felt fuller as she continued kissing him. She leaned forward and felt the tips of her breasts brush his chest.

She moaned, and then was embarrassed and broke away.

He stopped her. “What is it, honey?”

She shook her head. How had she thought that she could be with this sophisticated man? Had she forgotten that the hair and clothes were just window dressing? Inside she was still Kate Thornton.

But this was Lance Brody and he didn’t take no for an answer. He pulled her back into his arms, his hands falling to the small of her back, holding her against his rock-hard body. His erection nudged the bottom of her stomach.

She glanced up and saw that he was watching her. And she realized she wanted to see more of him. All of him. How often did dreams come true?

If she walked away now, the makeover would be just what she’d called it—window dressing. Nothing more than a facade on her dusty old life. But she had changed.

She put her hands on Lance’s face, drew his head down to hers. “You are the best kisser.”

He smiled at her, just a little half smile that made her pulse race. “I’m just getting started.”

Kate let herself relax and stop worrying about the future, about everything other than this moment. She wanted Lance. He wanted her. Together, they were going to make this moment one of the most memorable.

Lance kissed her again and then lifted her in his arms. She realized she liked the way he carried her around. She loved the feeling that came with being in his arms. Since Kate was big for most of her life, Lance was the first man to carry her as an adult. And it made her feel beautiful, like the sexy girls that men always carried in the movies.

Lance carried her over the threshold, back into his bedroom. He kissed her so tenderly before slowly undressing her.