The Billionaire Princess (9 page)

Pleased that he'd agreed, Sara found the room service menu. Like most five-star resorts, the room service menu was extensive and it didn't take either of them long to decide on a meal. While they waited for dinner Sara selected a bottle of wine from the suite's kitchenette. The day before she called the hotel manager and arranged to have the kitchenette stocked with beverages as well as fresh fruit and bagels. Then she grabbed the bowl of grapes from the refrigerator and carried everything back into the suite's sitting area where Christopher waited.

Now that his jacket and tie were gone, and he unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt, he looked much more relaxed but just as handsome. She liked seeing him like this. He seemed more like the person she remembered meeting when he'd roomed with Jake and a bit less like the man featured on the cover of business magazines.

"I hope you really don't mind that we stayed in tonight." Sara placed everything on the table,
then poured them each a glass of wine.

"No complaints here."

He smiled as he accepted the glass of wine from her and for a moment she felt more like a twelve-year-old girl meeting one of her older brother's friends than a mature woman. "Do you live in LA?" She asked the first question that came to mind. She remembered he said he was staying at his apartment in the city.

"No. I purchased the apartment in LA for my parents to use when they come out to visit one of my sisters. She's a junior at UCLA. They refused to let me buy it for them, so I own it and they can use it whenever they want."

His answer caught her attention. He talked a little about his family on the plane, but she never read about them in any of the articles she'd seen. "How many sisters do you have?" Sara scooted back into the corner of the sofa and drew her knees up to her chest.

"Four sisters and they are all younger," he answered trying to sound as if it was a huge burden but the smile on his face ruined the effect. "Caroline works for me. Rachel and her husband still live in Wisconsin and have a two-year-old son. Laura is a junior at UCLA and Kristin will graduate from high school this June."

She never would've guessed he came from such a big family. "Lucky you. I'd trade a brother for a sister for a few days. Having two older ones isn't always a breeze." Overall Dylan and Jake were great and she couldn't deny she and Jake were especially close.  However, both men could be overbearing from time to time, especially when she'd been growing up. "Don't tell either of them I said this. I love them both but they drive me nuts sometimes. I always wanted a sister growing up."

Christopher laughed a deep rich sound. "I guess we all want what we don't have. I wanted a brother.  I had a cousin I was close to as a kid, but it wasn't the same. At least you have one now. Are you two
close?"

Sara pressed her lips together in an effort not to frown. "Not really," she admitted her voice low.

Sara didn't miss the questioning look he gave her. "Maybe that'll change. You only met, what two years ago?"

Before she thought better of it, Sara shook her head. "We didn't get off to a great start." Other than Jake no one else knew how much she regretted the way things started with Callie. "I didn't trust her after we all found out and I let her know it."

Sara searched his face for any sign of his thoughts regarding her confession. Most wouldn't understand or would think less of her. Christopher's expression reflected only a willingness to listen. Something only a handful of people offered her.

"Right before the family learned about Callie I had ended a year-long relationship with Phillip." She needed him to understand her state of mind at the time.  "I let my feelings toward him control the way I treated her."

"That jerk from the fundraiser?"

Sara nodded yes as Beethoven's Fur Elise erupted from her phone and there was a knock at the door.

"Room service," a voice called out from the other side of the door.

Without waiting for Sara to react, Christopher rose. From her spot on the sofa she watched him cross the room, and she couldn't help but admire his retreating form. Just what did he look like without clothes? On their one night together the room had been dark and it was difficult to see. The next morning when they'd woken up he'd remained in bed until she left the room. Just by studying the way his clothes fit his body and the way he carried himself, she knew he put her last boyfriend to shame. Although a little taller than her brother Jake’s six foot one, he appeared to be just as muscular.  In her mind a picture formed of how she thought he looked.  Closing her eyes she focused on it for a moment before picking up her phone and hitting ignore.  Her mom could leave her a voice mail.

Her parents’ dinner with Jake and Charlie had been tonight. More than likely her mom's call pertained to her brother's impromptu wedding weeks before. Or more specifically, why she hadn't told her mom about it. Not that she hadn't felt guilty about not telling her parents, but it wasn't her place.  Instead she'd avoided both her parents as much as possible the last few weeks.

"I'm guessing that wasn't someone you wanted to talk to." Christopher removed the covered plates from the room-service cart.

Sara's stomach growled at the smells drifting from the plates and with a self-conscious laugh, she joined him at the table. "My mom. Jake invited them over for dinner tonight. He planned to tell them he and Charlie got married."

"Now that's a conversation I'd love to hear."

Sara grinned at Christopher's playful tone. "You and me both. I can't think of any way you could get me to change places with him though."

Their conversation over dinner covered everything from Elizabeth Sherbrooke's reaction to Jake's news to the commercials they were filming. Never once during their meal did they lapse into silence. Christopher found it refreshing. Rarely did he find a woman he could just talk to. Most didn't share the same interests and values or simply weren't interested in him. Rather they saw him as a big fat dollar symbol that could somehow enhance their lives.

A few weeks ago he wouldn't have thought he had anything in common with Sara
Sherbrooke. Yet the more time he spent with her, the more he realized he'd been wrong. When she spoke of her family, and especially her regrets with her relationship to Callie, he knew family meant a lot to her. The fact that she'd refused a position with a highly respected senator told him she didn't depend on her family name to achieve her goals in life. But despite what he'd learned so far he found himself wanting to know even more. Although he shouldn't consider it, he wanted to dig down even further and get to know her on every level possible. Never before had he met a woman who he wanted to know like that.

Don't do anything you'll regret later.
The warning rang in his head as he refilled Sara's wine glass. He had already taken a step down that path once and while his body wanted to repeat it, his logical brain couldn't decide if it was worth the risk.

"Do you think Jake survived dinner with your parents?" He could picture the way that dinner party and conversation must have played out.

Sara reached to adjust her hair and his eyes followed her every movement. Tonight she had her long blonde hair pulled up in a simple ponytail. Something he'd never seen on her and his fingers itched to pull it down. Her choice of hairstyles wasn't the only thing different about her tonight. He couldn't recall ever seeing her dress so casually, and he found it a definite turn on.

"You could always call him and find out," Sara answered.

He shifted his gaze toward the blank flat-screen TV on the wall. "Maybe I'll do that. Are you interested in a movie?" One of these days soon, he had to return Jake’s call. They'd been friends too long not to.

"The hotel probably doesn't have many choices but what kind did you have in mind?"

Christopher looked back in Sara's direction just in time to see her run her tongue across her bottom lip licking off a droplet of wine.
A few hours in bed with you
. A mental image of them together sprang to life. "Anything but a romantic comedy," he answered grateful she couldn't read his thoughts. “And with this we can access my movie collection at home.”  He held up a small device no larger than a thumb drive attached to his key ring.

Sara stuck out her bottom lip in and over exaggerated pout. "What do you men have against romantic comedies? Have you ever seen one?"

She sounded like his sisters. Women in general just didn't get it. Unless a movie had a lot of action or spectacular special effects men didn't want to know anything about it. "They're chick movies. I'd rather sit through the ballet than watch one again." From across the table she glared at him. "Before you ask again, yes, I've seen them before. Four sisters, remember?"

Sara continued to glare at him. He thought she looked ridiculously cute doing it. Biting down on the inside of his cheek, he waited for her response.

"Fine, but I'm not watching some crazy superhero movie either."

He should've seen that one coming. Standing he plugged the device into the back of the mounted flat-screen television.  Switching on the television with the remote, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and connected to his personal movie collection.  Immediately several movie categories came up on the screen. "How do you feel about the classics?" Before she answered he opened the category file so she could see what titles he owned.

“I've never seen anything like that before.  Where did you get it?”

“It's not available yet.  This is a working prototype I developed since I travel so much,” he answered. "So do you see anything you like?" With his phone he scrolled down the list.

"Casablanca," Sara said, when the title popped up in the list.

She'd get no complaints from him. It was the first Bogart film he ever saw. And it had started his love of movies from Hollywood's early days.
"Great choice." He selected the movie. "It's one of my favorite Bogart films."

Sara made herself comfortable on the long sofa.
"Really? I like it, but I think my favorite is The Big Sleep with Lauren Bacall."

He never would've pegged her as a lover of classic movies. He assumed she enjoyed the latest releases more like his sisters. The only other person he knew that enjoyed the classics was his youngest sister Kristen but only original Alfred Hitchcock movies.

"I'd say that's in my top three followed by The Maltese Falcon."

"Then we can watch it tomorrow night if you have it," she said turning her face directly toward him.

For a moment he got lost in the depth of her gray eyes. Like everything else about her, they were beautiful and framed by incredibly long blonde eyelashes. Unable to blink or look away he held her gaze, glad that she couldn't see what was going through his mind.

"Sounds like a plan. I have all of Bogart's movies." The opening theme of the movie began, and he pulled his eyes away from Sara.

Somewhere around the middle of the film Christopher opened another bottle of wine. When he returned rather than sit back down in the chair, he sat down next to Sara on the sofa. When his leg came in contact with hers she sent him a questioning look but she didn't make any attempt to put space between them. Soon he found himself paying more attention to Sara than the movie. Every time she raised her glass to her lips or shifted her position, he knew it. Every nerve ending in his body sensed her presence. His skin screamed for the feel of her hands on his body.

Clenching his hands into tight fists, he mentally cursed himself for sitting so close. By doing so he was only punishing himself. Next to him Sara leaned toward him, her perfume teasing his overloaded senses even further.

"I know why Rick did it, but I always thought he shouldn't have let her go. It's obvious they love each other."

He saw her lips moving and knew she had said something. His mind didn't register the words though. It stayed focused on her pink lips. Unable to stop himself, he leaned toward her as one hand slid up her arm.

"You're right.” He lowered his head toward hers slowly, giving her plenty of time to pull away. But she didn't move.

Their lips touched and red-hot desire shot through his body. Against his, her lips were soft and initially her kisses remained tentative. Soon she grew bolder and when she opened her mouth Christopher didn't pause before slipping his tongue inside. She tasted like red wine, chocolate and something uniquely Sara. As their tongues met a tiny voice in his head reminded him that he should back away. Jake's sister was off limits. His body didn't care however. It had wanted to kiss Sara like this ever since he saved her from her ex-boyfriend at the fundraiser. No… correction… he wanted to do this ever since they'd awakened in Hawaii together.

Twisting his body he let himself fall back onto the sofa cushions bringing Sara down on top of him. With her entire length stretched out on him, he let his hands travel up her back before sinking into her thick blonde hair. Slowly, he worked her hair free of its ponytail. Her hair felt like strands of silk across the tops of his hands. With his hand he brushed her hair off to one side baring her long slender neck to him. Then he left a trail of kisses from her lips across her jaw and down her neck. She moved against him, causing his already aroused body to harden further, and he groaned before he could stop himself. At the sound, Sara's whole body tensed against his.