Designed for Love (19 page)

"Look, I'm busy right now. I don't
care what I saw. I don't care what you did or didn't do. Makes no difference to
me whatsoever." I flipped the lid on the phone and hung up.
 
Enough was enough. Just hearing his voice
made me want to lash out. Hurt someone. Tears stung my eyes, and I fought to
hold them back. Never had I experienced such pain. The knot in my stomach
gnawed at me. I just wanted to curl up and cry. I didn't know how I'd go on
without Bill. Worse, how would I feel when I saw him again? It was inevitable.
I couldn't avoid him forever. I really thought I'd met someone I could spend my
life with, and I was wrong.

* * *

Bill heard the click and closed his cell
phone. She sure was making this difficult. Not that it surprised him. He knew
what she saw, and it couldn't have looked good. But he wasn't responding to
Kathy's kiss. If she hadn't had such a grip on him, he'd have pulled away
before their lips connected. Somehow he had to make Wendy listen. But how? She
wasn't home, and no one seemed to know where she was. Not her assistant, not
Nick. No one. No point in calling her again. She'd either ignore the call or
just hang up.

She'd have to come home sometime. He'd
talk to her then. Damn it, he wanted it settled now. He wanted to tell her how
he felt about her. Waking up in the morning wasn't the same without her next to
him.

She at least owed him a chance to
explain. Not that he didn't understand her jumping to conclusions. He'd have
thought the same thing if the situation was reversed. No, he didn't really
blame her. He probably wouldn't listen either.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Alex pulled into my drive, and I almost
jumped out of the car. Thank God that was over. I swore if someone mentioned
Bill one more time I would have screamed. I didn't think I could feel so much
pain.

Okay, so my friends hadn't had the
opportunity over the years to discuss my sex life. They didn't have to make up
for it now. Every time someone mentioned him, I felt like I was being ripped
apart.

At least the weekend wasn't a total loss.
I did enjoy the dinners with Gary and Mike. Julie certainly was smitten. Not
that I blamed her. Mike might just be the one. Both of them acted genuinely in
love. Who knew, maybe before the year was out, they'd be engaged. It certainly
wouldn't surprise me.

And Jenn's new house, I loved the way it
was built on a hillside and the basement entrance faced the woods. Terrific
view all around. I almost envied my friend. Not that I begrudged her. Not by
any means. I just wished it could've been me and Bill.

Bill, everything came back to him. I couldn't
get him out of my mind no matter what I did.

"Hey, thanks for coming." Alex
said. "Sorry about you and Bill. Maybe you should listen to what he has to
say."

More advice I didn't need. Not from Alex,
not from anyone. "Sorry about you and Scott, too." No reason to
mention Bill.

"You know," Alex leaned back in
her seat. "It doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. It hurts,
don't get me wrong. But the more I think about it, the more I saw it coming. We
haven't been happy for a long time."

"Well, who knows, maybe your Prince
Charming is right around the corner." I pulled my overnight bag from the
back seat.

"Maybe he is. And you never know.
Yours might be lurking on your doorstep."

"Huh?"

Alex nodded toward the house. Bill stood
next to the door with Leo.

I groaned. "What's it going to take
to make this guy understand?"

"You know, someone that persistent
might be worth listening to."

I leaned in and hugged my friend.
"Maybe he is. You take care."

"You too," Alex said.
"Call me."

I turned toward the house, prepared to do
battle. I didn't have much of a choice about talking to him. He leaned against
my door, his arms and legs crossed. God, he looked good. Maybe he was sincere.
I walked up the step and dug in my purse for the keys.

"I have these." Bill dangled my
other set of keys in front of me.

"Where'd you find them?"

"You're not going to believe
this."

"Try me."

"In Leo's crate."

"You're right, I don't believe
it."

"I told you."

Leo nudged my leg, and I reached down and
patted his head.

"Are you trying to tell me Leo took
them?"

"Only way they could have got there.
Maybe he didn't want you to leave either."

My heart pounded so hard I thought it
would burst through my chest. So he hadn't wanted me to leave, yet he let me
go. Hadn't tried to force himself on me. I couldn't quite figure him out. Of
course he wouldn't have to. He had Kathy on the line. It didn't matter to him
whether I stayed or not.

"Thank you for returning them."
I took the keys from his hand and tried to put them in the lock. My hand shook
so bad I could hardly insert it in the hole.

"Here, let me." Bill took the
keys back and accidentally brushed my hand with his.

Of course my body responded to his touch.
Even now I wanted him. Wanted his arms around me, wanted to feel his skin against
mine.

Bill turned the key and pushed the door
open. "We have to talk." He followed me inside.

I didn't want to talk. I wanted his lips
on mine, wanted to feel his tongue entwined with my own. I wanted to make love.
I set my bag on the steps and went to the kitchen. Make coffee, keep busy.
Don't look at him. I'd melt if I did. I'd give in and throw myself in his arms.

"Will you look at me?"

I shook my head. I couldn't. I didn't
trust myself. "Say what you have to say and leave." I took my time
setting the coffee maker up. I'd listen. I had no choice. But I didn't have to
look at him. Didn't have to let him see the desire I knew reflected in my eyes.

I felt his breath on my neck, his hands
on my shoulders and already I drowned in my own desire. How was I going to
resist him if he turned me to face him? Thankfully, he didn't.

"I know what you saw the other day.
But what you don't know was that I wasn't kissing Kathy back. She had such a
grip on me I couldn't pull away."

The memory of the kiss flitted through my
mind. I gripped the sink. Oh, no, he was kissing back. I saw him. I tried to
move away.

I stiffened beneath his hands and held my
breath. He turned me to face him. "I dated her a while a few months back.
It's been over for a long time, but she won't let it go."

I lowered my head, and he put his hand
beneath my chin so I had to look at him. I lowered my eyes.

"You have to believe me. I don't
know how it happened but I'm in love with you. These last few days while you
were gone were the worst days of my life."

I looked at him. I had no choice. I could
have closed my eyes, but I guessed I owed him this much. Besides, I had to see
if he was telling me the truth. He was going to kiss me, and I wasn't going to
stop him. I wanted him to, needed it.

Was it true? Was he in love with me? I
didn't know. I wanted to believe him. Wanted to, desperately, because I was in
love with him.

He brought his lips down to mine– first
gentle then he increased the pressure. Flames burst through my body. I clasped
my hands behind his head and drew him closer. I couldn't deny I wanted him.
Couldn't deny I loved him. I wanted, with all my heart, to believe him. My
heart overruled my head. His kiss deepened. Small moans came from my throat.
How could I give in so easily?

Suddenly, something nudged my leg. Leo. I
pulled away from Bill and looked down at the dog. "Looks like someone is a
bit jealous."

Bill kept his arm around me. "When
you left that day, I followed you but you were in Frank's car before I even
came outside.

"I saw you. So did Frank. He asked
me if I wanted him to stop."

"Of course you didn't. I understood.
I would've felt the same way."

"So why was Kathy there? I heard her
ask if you missed her."

"She works for me, and for some
reason she's thinks we still have this thing going on. No matter how many times
I tell her, she just doesn't get it." Bill slid his hand under my blouse
and rubbed my back. "Well, she didn't until I told her you were my
fiancée."

"You told her what?" I wanted
to pull away, but the way he massaged my back felt so good.

"Well, that's what you told Nick,
wasn't it?" He slid his hand around to my front and cupped my breast. I
shivered.

If he kept that up in another minute I
was going to jump his bones. I loved the way he slid his hand under my bra and
fondled my breast. Love the way his rough calloused hand felt against my skin.
I especially loved the way he squeezed the tip of my nipple between his thumb
and finger with just enough pressure to send me reeling.

I felt his warm breath in my ear.
"You did tell him that, didn't you?" he whispered. He moved his mouth
across my cheek and kissed my nose, then down to my neck, just skimming his
lips across my throat.

I was drowning in passion. Small moans of
pleasure came from deep inside me. He moved his hands from my breast, down
along my stomach. I arched against him.

His cell phone rang. "Son of a
bitch."

"Let it ring."

Finally, it stopped only to ring again a
second later. I moved away. "You better answer it. It sounds
important."

He flipped open the phone but pulled me
back to him and cupped my breast with one hand. "Hello." He snapped.

"Is something wrong, honey, you
sound angry."

I heard the woman's voice come through
the phone. Kathy's voice. I pushed his hand from under my blouse and moved away.
Not again. How gullible can one person be?

"Yeah, you're what's wrong. I told
you before there's nothing between us." He snapped the phone closed and
came toward me. "Damn bitch won't quit. I swear I'm going to put a
restraining order on her."

He wasn't lying. I heard the tone in his
voice. I walked toward him. "We have some unfinished business."

Bill stared at me.

"Something told me you liked this
side of me. Liked when I became the aggressor."

"Liked it, hell, I loved it."
He pulled me to him and lowered his mouth to mine.

It amazed me the way he read my mind. I
nibbled his lips as I backed him out of the kitchen toward the stairway. By the
time we reached the top step, I had his shirt and my blouse off and unbuttoned
his pants. I slid the zipper down and pushed him through the doorway to my
bedroom. I stopped at the bed and slid his pants down, brushing his bulging sex
with my hand. I lowered him to the bed and fell on top of him. I vaguely
recalled seeing Leo lie down at the foot of the bed.

Chapter Twenty-Six

I woke up to a strange whimpering noise.
I tried to roll over but an arm pinned me down. I smiled. For a minute I forgot
Bill was sleeping next to me. The whimpering must be Leo. I raised my head. Leo
sat with his head resting on the bed. "What's wrong, boy, do you need to
go out?"

"Huh?" Bill rolled against me
and brushed against my breast. His eyes flit open, and he smiled at me.
"Morning, sunshine."

"I think Leo wants to go out."

"Leo?"

"Yeah, Leo. You know, your
dog."

He leaned up on an elbow and looked at
the dog. "Leo, I forgot all about Leo." He shoved the blanket aside
and stood up.

I lay there staring at him in all his
glory. Already heat flared between my legs. I stretched. What time was it
anyway? I looked at the clock. Only seven o'clock. Too early to get up. I
reached out and pinched Bill's butt as he slid his pant leg on. "Hurry
back."

Bill grinned at me. "Are you
serious?"

"Damn right I am." I smacked
his butt playfully. "Ah do declare, Mr. Rhett, it's not nice to keep a woman
waiting."

He leaned down and kissed me. A long,
slow, arousing kiss. "I swear, Miss Scarlet, your appetite is
unquenchable."

"Why, Mr. Rhett, whatever makes you
say a thing like that? And don't you just love it?" I cupped his bulging
sex with my hand and gently squeezed.

Leo barked and Bill looked at him.
"I swear your timing is the worst. Come on, let's go." Leo followed
him from the room.

I stretched lazily on the bed. Lord
almighty, I'd never felt so good in all my life. Words couldn't describe this
glorious warmth that enveloped me. I curled up on my side and hugged the
pillow. Never had I dreamed love could be so fulfilling. I felt so alive.

Bill came back a couple minutes later and
stripped off his pants the minute he hit the door. "Why, Miss Scarlet, you
look ravishingly beautiful."