SEDUCTION

Drake’s date was impossible to miss in the busy lobby.
A half head shorter than every other woman in the room, she was also the most acutely uncomfortable. Her pretty cheekbones were stained with a red too mottled to be blush, and she kept fidgeting with the impossibly low collar of her short, flimsy dress. The thing was bright red and barely covered her ass, and it was clear that Sarah was uncomfortable as fuck in it.
It surprised him to see her in the odd choice of clothing. After all, she’d seemed shy, and from what her friend had said, she was old fashioned. The woman in that dress didn’t look like old fashioned a bit. She looked like she was gunning for cock tonight.
Which . . . didn’t make sense. He blinked as her braless breasts swayed as she headed toward him, tugging at the hemline of her tiny blousy dress. She wasn’t exactly dressed appropriately for where they were going, and her shoes were a pair of ugly black heels that made her feet look enormous.
He said nothing, though. With the panicked look on Sarah ’s face, Drake suspected that if he said one word about her appearance, she’d flee and he’d never see her again.
And that wouldn’t suit his plans to get her out of his head especially for the reason she was here.
He raised a hand so she’d see him, and then adjusted his cufflinks as she crossed the room toward him, tugging at her clothing. Her wide-eyed gaze grew even wider at the sight of his black suit, and he watched her clutch her handbag in terror.
“Oh,” she breathed as she approached him. “Oh, I didn’t know we were going someplace important.” Her gaze moved over his double-breasted jacket. “Oh, no. Should I go change?”
“You’re fine,” he told her, and offered her his arm.
She bit her lip in that cute way again, and shyly took his arm like he’d offered her a present. “Thank you.”
For some reason, her obvious pleasure at that small gesture made him feel like a fucking king. He patted her hand. “You look incredible,” he told her. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Her eyes lit up, and once again, Drake was faking the love so well . Damn. He had it bad for this strange, sweet amazon.
“I’m happy to be here with you,” she told him in a soft voice. “Where are we going?”
“A little restaurant called Le Poisson. It’s a few islands over.” He led her to the waiting sedan and opened the door for her.
“How are we getting there?”
“I hired a private boat to take us. Come on. Our reservations won’t keep if we take too long.”
***
The boat ride was mostly silent, with a few comments on the weather. It was clear to him that Sarah was nervous. That was fine with him. He’d get a few drinks in her at the restaurant and she’d loosen up. The silence allowed him to study her.
She’d been so happy and carefree on the plane, and even last night. Right now, she seemed like a different person, continually tugging the dress into place as the wind whipped past and the boat flew over the waves. Her profile was gorgeous, though, and he caught himself staring, fascinated. She turned and noticed him staring, and an overbright smile curved her mouth. “How about this weather, huh?”
“That’s the third time you’ve asked that in the last fifteen minutes.”
“Oh, is it?” She looked crestfallen. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He watched a lock of hair escape her ponytail and dance across her cheek. He wanted to touch it, but she’d probably be too skittish. “You don’t have to be nervous around me.”
She looked over at him and laughed, and for a moment, he had the uncomfortable feeling that she was going to say, But you’re Drake Holt, billionaire and my one-way ticket to sugar-daddy-ville. Of course I’m nervous. But instead, she said, “Do you realize I haven’t been on a date in two years? I mean especially a public one ”
“ it’s a private one , that’s why I let the guards go back.”
His mouth curled into a reluctant smile. Of course Sarah was exactly who she seemed. He was just nervous over nothing. “That so?”
Sarah leaned in, tucking her arms close to her body. “Believe it or not, I don’t get asked out much.”
“Now, I choose not to believe that,”Drake said, but he felt a possessive streak of pleasure at her words.
“I’m afraid it’s true,” she said with an expressive sigh. “ I never had time since we broke up.”
He snorted, enjoying the banter. “There’s no courage involved in asking a pretty girl out.”
“There is if she is ready your ex,” Sarah teased.
“I find that hard to believe,” he scoffed. Why was she putting herself down? So she was short? He dated models all the time and they were tall. Maybe not as short as her, but who cared? He didn’t. “I play a mean round of hoops.”
“Do you?” She looked interested. “I played in high school until some of the parents got upset. We weren’t a big enough school for co-ed teams, so I played with the boys. I was pretty good, though, when I did play. At least, I was once I figured out the secret advantage.”
“Secret advantage?”
“Boobs. Seems the boys were afraid to guard me once I grew boobs.”
He threw his head back and laughed.
Her smile was pleased, easy now. “It’s true. They didn’t know where to grab me and so I could make it all the way down the court in no time. Why do you think the parents wrote and complained?”
“Because they were shi— er, not nice people?” Damn. He probably shouldn’t cuss around her. She was a sheltered lover, right? So his normal foul-mouthed conversation was probably a no-go. He eyed the cleavage she was currently trying to tug her clothing over. The night was a windy one, and her nipples were visible through the thin fabric.
And if he was going to be a gentleman, he wasn’t going to stare at them, goddamn it. Not matter how much he wanted to reach over and touch them.
“Well, that, too.”Sarah said, drawing his attention back to the conversation. He forced himself to meet her gaze, and couldn’t remember exactly what they were talking about. She glanced around as the boat sped through the dark waters and hunched over a little, crossing her arms over her breasts.
“You cold?” He moved to take his jacket off and offer it to her.
“Not cold.”
He studied her, trying not to look down at those enticing and too-obvious breasts. “You sure? You seem . . . uncomfortable.”
She gave him a shy smile. “I’m not dressed all that nice for a dinner date. Not like you.” She licked her lips nervously as she studied his suit, and he wanted to taste that darting tongue. “I didn’t bring anything dressy to the island.”
“You look fine. Don’t worry about it.” It was he that should be feeling all out of sorts. He was in a goddamn suit. With goddamn cufflinks, for chrissakes. But he’d dressed up for his date with Sarah , sure that she wouldn’t want to go out with a guy who tended to wear a slobby t-shirt and jeans to four-star restaurants. Right now he felt a bit like a fucking show pony. Which was a bit ironic, considering that Sarah practically had her tits hanging out of her dress.
Not that he was complaining about that part. It just didn’t seem . . . distance needed.That’s all.
Then again, in his line of work, he didn’t exactly fall over a lot of women. Maybe this was just how they all dressed nowadays.
She glanced around as if seeking something to talk about, then looked back at him. Her eyes were full of amusement. “This boat must have been expensive to charter just for two people.”
“Maybe it was.” He had no idea. He didn’t really look at price tags anymore.
“You know you didn’t have to get this just to impress me. I would have been just as happy eating dinner at one of the resort restaurants.”
He wouldn’t have been, though. With his findings Lilian was surely going to be at the proposed place of date .”Don’t tell me you are falling for me again.”
“ no , don’t flatter yourself.”
Of course, that’s what Normal Drake would have said. Nice, Drake said, “Don’t be silly. I wanted to treat you.”
Man, Drake was such a bland putz. He hoped Sarah appreciated him, though.
She was smiling, though, and leaning over so much that her tits were about to pop out of that flimsy dress. Christ. It took everything he had to keep eye contact with her. “So do you date a lot, Drake?”
It should have been a coy question, but Sarah’s wide-open gaze told him that she was serious . . . and she probably wouldn’t like the answer. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that he could snap his fingers and get more pussy than a regular man could ever dream of.
But she was watching him with that earnest expression and Drake realized that he was probably just as rusty at dating as she was. The girls he normally “dated”? They approached and propositioned, and he let some of them fuck him in exchange for getting on his employment or tv shows or getting into an exclusive party. That wasn’t really dating. Dating was spending time with someone that you were interested in to learn more about them. He sure as shit didn’t want to learn anything about the parade of disposable tits and ass that were readily available.
So he said, “Yeah, I guess I’m pretty out of practice, too.”
She leaned in, and he got another glimpse of those gorgeous shoulders and a hint of cleavage. “You must truly love Lilian, going through all of these to win her back .”
“ I just hope I get her back, will I ?.”
Sarah cough before she replied “ yes if she wants you back .”