ROYAL BRIDE (A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (44 page)

"Possibly, Mr. Saunders,” I replied. I did want to know more about him, but I didn’t want to overstep any boundaries.

“Please call me Nick,” he said with a smile that was sexy as heck.

“Okay, Nick,” I hesitated. It was weird to address a man so rich and powerful by his first name. “Before you go any further, I have to tell you something," I said, my voice low.

"Sure, Sara. May I call you Sara? You look so beautiful tonight. Do you know that?” he said.

"Yes, of course," I said. Hoping he hadn’t misunderstood, I corrected myself when I saw a grin spread on his face. "I mean, yes you may call me Sara. Not yes that I know I’m beautiful. You know… I mean...”

"You are beautiful and it's okay to admit that." He lowered his voice and drew closer to me. “You are the most beautiful girl here.”

"Thanks." I was too shy to dispute his comments.

"So, Sara it is then."

I nodded, not trusting myself to say another word. I had to stop acting like a teenager around him. “About the necklace you sent me,” I started but was cut off when a female voice called to him from afar. He turned his attention toward her. While he responded, I allowed my eyes to travel over him. He was dressed in a suit that had been crafted on him. His eyes, a deep shade of warm brown, were thoughtful and sexy. His mouth had a curve that deepened the few times he had smiled at me. I stole a glance at his upper torso and could tell he had great definition behind that suit, like someone who spent a good portion of his days working out.

"Oh no," he mumbled as he recognized the woman calling to him.

"What?" I asked as I turned to look at a skinny, dark-haired woman approaching us. She was hot. Damn, she was sexy. As she walked towards us, I felt like I was in some kind of well-rehearsed fashion show and one of the models was approaching me with well-practiced cat steps. She wore a shiny, short dress that fitted her like a glove and left nothing to the imagination, heels so high I wondered how she didn’t fall on her face as she walked towards us, and her lips were a bright red. Her curls bounced and fell back into place with every step. She was perfect, the kind of woman I had always wanted to be, and for an instant, I was jealous of whomever she was and whatever she was to him.

"Hi, Olivia," he called to her.

The way she looked at him told me without any doubts that the two of them had something naughty going on. Her face looked familiar, but I didn't feel like trying to figure out how I knew her. It didn’t matter anyways. I imagined that all the women at the party were A-list celebrities. I had probably seen every one of them on TV or in a magazine at some point in my life.

"Kiss me," Nick said to me, turning around to face me, his back to the fancy Olivia. “Now.”

"What?" I asked, sure he wasn’t talking to me.

"Kiss me now." His voice had lowered and his eyes pierced mine. I could not resist even if I wanted to.

"Nick!" The woman was at our heels. “Baby!”

Nick didn't wait for my response. I felt his hands on my waist, holding me like he owned me. He crushed me against him and put his lips on mine. The world stood still. Cliché, I know, but there was no other way to describe what I felt. I didn't kiss him back; I was still in shock. He broke the kiss as quickly as he had started it.

"Nick?" Olivia was standing right behind him, her voice low and angry.

I dared to look at her since I could feel daggers stabbing at me. This was not going to be good.

"Hi, Olivia," he said as he gave her a quick hug, ignoring the lips she had pouted out for him. They did indeed have something going on. Or rather, something went on between them that was no longer there.

I knew what had happened. He had used me as bait to pay back the woman, whomever she was. An old girlfriend maybe? The kiss was just to spite her and maybe get back at her for something she had done to him. In that instant, I felt so mad at him. How dare he use me like I was a common whore? Yes, I may have crashed his party, but that didn’t give him the right to abuse my mouth. Pleasurable, yes. But that was beside the point. The kiss had been rough and unwanted; well maybe not, but it wasn't my idea of how to kiss a man.

"Excuse me," I said to the two of them as I almost pushed Nick aside to get away.

“Who was that?" I heard the woman ask, but I didn’t hear Nick's response. I quickly rushed out of the tent. Tears were streaming down my face until I had walked for a bit. I heard a voice behind me, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.

"Sara, please stop." Nick was following me but I wasn’t stopping. "Sara, can you please stop? You have something that belongs to me."

That stopped me. He knew what he said would make me stop. Men like him, billionaires like him, knew how to get what they wanted.

"Yes," I said, turning around and wiping my eyes. I reached into my bag to pull the necklace out. The moonlight reflected on its diamonds. I held it out to him, but he didn’t take it. I lowered my arm.

"That too, but that's not what I meant," he said.

"What did you mean?" I asked.

"May I be honest?” he said.

“Be my guest,” I said.

“I just wanted you to stop and listen to me."

“I’m listening. Speak,” I said, surprised by my courage. Hours ago, I hadn’t even dared to look at his picture because I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to face him. Now I was giving him orders in his own house.

"I am so sorry about what happened back there.”

"What are you sorry about? That you kissed a total stranger? With your reputation, that must have been easy to do.”

"Okay, that hurt, Sara. But I deserved it."

"Mr. Saunders, I am not here to figure out what you deserve."

"Sara, a man in my position hardly apologies for anything. You should know that.”

Except I didn’t know that and I didn’t care. Even if I did, Nick Saunders had no right to kiss me without my permission, especially if he was doing it to ward off an old girlfriend. "A man in your position thinks he has a right to kiss a woman without permission?"

"To be fair, I did ask your permission first."

"No, you demanded I kiss you and when I asked why, you forced yourself on me."

"I didn’t force myself on you. You kissed me back."

"Only because you were kissing me and making a show of it for that woman.”

"Olivia."

"Whoever."

"Sara, that was wrong. I'm sorry I kissed you like that, but that kiss wasn’t for Olivia's sake. Trust me.”

"So why did you kiss me?” I asked against my better judgement.

"I wanted to. For my own sake," he said simply, his voice neither loud nor low, just firm.

"Yours! So you exploit women's mouths for your own benefit.”

"I didn't exploit your mouth. I simply kissed you because..."

"Because you think you can buy everything. You think you send me an invitation and a diamond necklace and I'll let you kiss me.”

"I was hoping for that, actually," he smirked.

I saw the smile curve his face before being replaced by fake seriousness. "You what? First of all, you don’t know me.”

"But I want to know you,” he said.

"Tricking me into coming to your party is not a good way to meet me. You know what, I am so sorry I came to this ball or whatever it is. I'm sorry I even came up here."

"Don't say that."

"It's true. I came up here to return this necklace to you. I thought your office sent me an invitation by mistake since I’m neither elite nor rich. I barely have more than ten dollars to my name. And if I have half the sense I need, I would not have let my best friend talk me into coming here.”

"She's a true friend," he said.

"Mr. Saunders, I need to go," I said. I held the necklace out to him again.

"Sara, please keep it."

"It's not even for me. God knows how many women have worn this. I’m not like that. You can’t just pick a woman’s name off your to-do list and send them necklaces, even if you think you can buy the whole world.” My voice was loud, my anger was seeping through. I needed to get out of there.

I watched his eyes change from the sexy brown to smoky brown. I was treading on dangerous ground. Whatever I had just said had taken him over the edge. I needed to stop and think. I was still holding the necklace, but he ignored me and started walking back to his party.

"I'll make arrangements to have someone take you home. I apologize for ruining your night." His tone was flat and icy.

Maybe I should have relaxed and let him explain why he had kissed me. Maybe if I had been calm, I could have talked to him about interviewing with his office for a job. I still needed a job, and now that Amy had spent so much of her money getting me ready for this party, she didn’t have much more to spare if I needed an extra dollar or two. Rent was due in a week, and I didn’t have enough money to cover it. My bills were not going away just because I attended a ball.

I wanted to run after him, beg him to talk to me and explain, but I had to maintain my self-pride. Why should I apologize to him when he had simply used me for his own benefit, and had even admitted to it? This was not how I imagined our first official meeting would go. I had thought he was going to be mad at me for impersonating the real Sara Nolles and would kick me out of his home or have security arrest me or whatever. Instead, I was mad and had the power.

I wished things had been different, but it was too late. I stepped on his toes so hard that it was a possibility I would never see him again. And for some reason, I really wanted to see him again.

"Ms. Nolles, the ride you requested is ready," Diane spoke softly behind me.

I had been so engrossed in my own thoughts I didn’t know she had approached me until she was ushering me toward the parking lot where a different limo was waiting for me.

"Thank you, Diane," I said as I walked toward the limo, desperately fighting back my tears, but I didn’t succeed. As soon as I got into the limo, the tears began to flow freely. I searched for a tissue in my bag and realized I still had the necklace with me.

"Excuse me, sir? Is it okay if I give you something to return to Mr. Saunders?" I asked the driver through the partition.

"I have to check with Mr. Saunders first, ma'am. He has a strict policy on issues like this."

Issues like what? What was so strict about his driver picking up his necklace and returning to him? I looked up and saw the driver looking at me. He wasn't referring to the actual returning of the necklace being an issue, but the interference between Nick and his women. Did he think I was Nick's girlfriend? Mistress? Whore? Did Nick train him to stay out of his affairs?

"It's not like that," I started to explain. But I didn’t really know what to say. "Never mind."

"Sorry I can’t help you, miss." He sounded truly apologetic. Poor guy. How many women did he have to chauffeur around for his boss?

I sat back in the soft leather chair and closed my eyes. A nice headache was brewing. I needed to get home and face another headache - Amy. I couldn’t lie to her. She knew the party was supposed to last all night, and unless something drastic happened and I was booted out, I wasn’t supposed to be home this early.

"Excuse me?” I said, catching the driver’s attention in the mirror, “is it possible to take the longer way? I don't want to go home just yet."

"Sure, miss. My pleasure," he grinned.

"Thank you," I replied, settling back into the chair and letting the headache wash over me. Maybe I deserved to be punished for all the wrongs I'd committed that night. Tears streamed down my face again and I felt my dress getting wet. I looked down, and to my dismay, the tears were dark - my mascara was running. Great. I ruined my night. Ruined my chance of every working for the Saunders Empire. Ruined my chance of giving back the necklace with dignity. And ruined the best dress I’d ever owned. Not to mention Amy would skin me alive when I told her why I was home early. The night couldn’t get any worse!

NICK

Nick watched her as she departed in his limo. He wondered how the meeting had gone from good to bad in such a short span of time. Nick thought about how her lips had called to him and how her deep, thoughtful eyes had pulled him into her. Yes, the timing had been bad. Olivia Newton, his ex-girlfriend, had wanted to say hello. But his need for Sara had overtaken his common sense. He had really wanted to kiss her. Not because Olivia was there, but because he had wanted to. He had kissed her and everything went downhill from there.

Nick wanted to get as far away from the party as he could. He started walking back to the woods, away from all the lights and music, hoping to forget, even if for a few minutes, that he was supposed to be a host. Zia was there, and whenever Zia was around, everything went well. No one would miss him.

His thoughts shifted to Sara the further away he got from the party. She had been getting under his skin, messing with his mind, since he’d met her at the café. And today she was even more beautiful than ever. It was impossible to let her go even if he wanted to. Until he possessed her and enjoyed her succulent curves, he would never get her out of his mind. He wandered further away from the house, his mind playing over the events of that night. He needed to find a way to see her again, and hopefully, talk her into at least accompanying him for dinner. Apparently, the surprise invitation and diamond necklace had not worked. He had to work harder.

Damn her! He sat on a rock, loosened his tie, and started playing with rocks. He was engrossed in his thoughts, oblivious of his surroundings, when he heard Zia asking his staff his whereabouts.

“Shit,” he cursed as he looked at the time. He had forgotten himself and let more time than he had intended slip away from him. He heard Zia curse and tell the staff to locate him as the silent auction was about to start. He couldn’t see her face, but he could imagine she was mad at him, or maybe concerned by his disappearance. He wasn’t one to do that in the middle of an event. Zia would be on his neck as soon as the last guests left.

Nick didn’t want to go back to the party. Given the choice, he would have simply undressed and gone swimming naked under the moonlight. Swimming calmed him, and after his heated incident with Sara, he needed a little more than calming. But not tonight. He couldn’t swim naked with guests wandering around. He sighed and turned to head back to his house. As he got closer, he heard Zia calling out his name. He sighed once more, knotted his tie, which he had loosened, and wiped off the dust which he imagined was on the back of his pants.