Seduction on the CEO's Terms (15 page)

“How much do I owe you?” she asked, opening the door and fumbling with her cash.

“Not a thing. I owe you.”

A sharp gasp escaped when Ali recognized Joe's deep voice.

He stood on her threshold, dressed in blue jeans and a black polo shirt, looking more delicious than hot fudge melting over a mound of rich vanilla ice cream.

He smiled, and his dark eyes gleamed; Ali thought she'd be melting soon. “What are you doing here?”

Joe peered over her shoulder, taking note of the boxes she had stacked up. “I owe you two things, Ali. The first one is an apology. I wasn't happy with you the other day. In fact, I was disappointed and well, pissed. No one likes to be made a fool.”

“Joe, I said I was sorry. It was a big mistake,” she implored. At the very least she wanted him to know she regretted how she'd tried to trick him.

“I know, Ali. But I shouldn't have reacted that way. I didn't let you explain. Instead, I assumed the worst about you. I shouldn't have said those things about your mother, either. She's actually a very honest woman.”

Ali put her hands on her hips and ignored the hope that filled her heart. “And you know this how?”

“We spoke.”

“You spoke…on the phone? Did my mother call you?” Ali's heart raced.

Oh, God, Mom, what did you do?

“No, she didn't call me. She came to see me. Yesterday. She gave me a lot to think about.”

“She was here? In Napa? I didn't know,” she said, shocked and fearful of how that encounter went. “I didn't put her up to it, Joe. You have to believe me. I understand
how you feel about me. I know we're incompatible. We're different as night and day and you don't want—”

Joe leaned close and put two fingers to her lips. “Shh, Ali.” His touch caused a quake to rumble through her body. “You don't know how I feel.”

When Joe removed his fingers, she opened her mouth to reply, then clamped it shut.

“I said I owed you two things. The first one is my apology. And I hope you accept it.”

Ali nodded. “I do.”

“And the second one is our bike tour. I regret not following through on that. I owed you that much for all your help, and I keep my promises.”

Her heart could have been swept aside with a broom. All the hope she didn't dare count on faded to nothingness. “It's okay, Joe. As you can see, I'm moving. I don't need to see Napa anymore.”

“But you do. At least let me take you to one place that's very special to me.” Joe moved away from her door so she could see the two touring bikes with helmets on the seats, waiting for them.

Ali furrowed her brows. He seemed so adamant, and what did she have to lose? At least, maybe the two of them could wind up as friends. Okay, maybe not friends. But they could end their relationship on a better note. It would just about kill her to be with him today, but Ali had always been a fool when it came to Joe.

“Fine. I'll put my tennis shoes on.”

And five minutes later, Ali, dressed in her moving clothes, a tank top, workout pants and a slick red-striped helmet followed Joe down the highway. It was a road she'd seen a zillion times. An occasional car whizzed by them, and Joe looked back to make sure she was okay. They'd gotten only a few miles from her condo, when Joe pulled
off the road by a white wooden fence that separated two properties. Green grass, with vineyards in the distance, sloped down to a little clearing. There, Ali saw a blanket laid out, with champagne cooling in a bucket and flowers set in a little vase.

Joe removed his helmet and got off his bike. Ali did the same. He approached and led her to the blanket just a few feet off the road. “Joe? What is this?”

“It's the only stop on our bike tour, Ali. Come, have a seat.”

Joe waited for her to sit on the blanket and then he took a place next to her. Ali looked out, but all she saw was the road ahead of them and vineyards in the background. Confused, she shook her head. “I don't get it.”

Joe took her hand, and a jolt of electricity coursed between them. Ali knew it wasn't one-sided. She could tell by the gleam in Joe's eyes that he felt it, too. “Neither did I for a long time. After our fight the other night—”

“You mean, the night you walked out on me after we nearly burned up the sheets in bed?”

Joe appeared chagrined. “Yeah, that night. I walked and walked and thought. I was angry and hurt. And all sorts of things entered my mind. But the one thing that kept coming back to me, over and over again, was that I was so angry with you because I'd fallen in love with you. It was here, right here, as I waited for Nick to pick me up, that I figured it all out. I was ready to tell you that night, but then…”

“I blew it,” Ali said softly.

Joe squeezed her hand. “I was burned really badly with Sheila, and I didn't want to even consider another relationship, much less one with my very best personal assistant. Maybe, I'd been a little obtuse about it.”

“You think?” Ali said with a grin, her whole world looking much brighter now.

“Yeah, but I'd always liked you. Maybe too much. That's why I couldn't bring myself to fall for you. I held back, but if you think I didn't notice you, you're dead wrong. I noticed. How could I not? You're smart and fun and gorgeous, Ali. I noticed it all. But I was protecting myself. It wasn't so much that
you'd
changed that drew me to you. It was that
I'd
changed. I was ready to give us a chance, finally. It took me a long time, I know. So sue me. I'm slow on the uptake.”

“You make up for it, though. In bed.” Ali smiled sweetly, and Joe's eyes widened. Then he chuckled.

“Ali, I don't think I can live without you. You and I are like night and day, but who said that's a bad thing? Opposites attract, sweetheart. And life would never be boring. I love you, Ali Pendrake. Marry me. Be my wife, the mother of my children and please,” he pleaded, “come back to work for me.”

Ali threw her head back and laughed, her heart filling with joy. “I want a raise.”

“You got it.”

“And a house of our own.”

“You got that, too.”

“And children, right away. I'm not getting any younger.”

“Right away?” Joe cast her such a loving smile that her nerves tingled. “I'm for that.”

“I love you, Joe. With all my heart.”

Joe leaned over and brushed a soft kiss to her lips. “I love you, Ali. Just the way you are.”

Ali's heart warmed, believing that her mother had finally come through for her this time, and that compounded her joy.

Joe poured champagne, and they toasted to new beginnings. Cars continued to whiz by, but Ali sat back on the blanket off the side of the road in Napa Valley and thought it was the most romantic proposal a woman could ever hope to receive.