The Billionaire Deception Read online

I could feel Seth’s eyes on me as I pranced along in front of him on the way into the club. He brought out a playful side of me that I had all but forgotten and I loved it. When we reached the door I felt him reach around me to open it. “You look so damned hot, I almost forgot my manners,” he said. I shivered for the second time that morning. The feel of his warm breath against my neck was sending signals to just about every part of my body. In a playful voice I said, “Is there any chance you’ll be distracted enough not to notice how rusty my game is when we get out on the courts?”

  He laughed and said, “At the very least I’ll be polite and pretend not to notice.”

  “Thanks,” I said with a grin. He took me into the pro shop where I thought he was going to rent or borrow a racquet for me since I’d told him I didn’t have one. Instead, five hundred dollars later he’d bought me a top of the line one and two cans of tennis balls.

  We went out to the clay courts and took our places on opposite sides of the net. “We’ll just warm up,” he said. Then I watched as he bounced a ball in front of him and his sexy biceps flexed against the cotton material of the polo shirt he was wearing as he pulled back his tennis racquet and let it fly. I let it fly too… right past me. He laughed hard and said, “I forgot to tell you that you’re supposed to hit it back.” I stuck my tongue out at him.

  “Hit me with another.” He did and again, I watched it go by. Laughing myself now I said, “Maybe we could start out with me hitting one to you.”

  “Sure,” he said with an amused expression. He tossed me one of the balls and I tried to look confident as I bounced it up and down with my racquet before at last turning loose and lobbing it over the net. He hit it back; I’m positive with much less force and finesse than he would have against a real opponent. I hit it back and when it cleared the net I jumped up and down and squealed loudly. I was so happy that I forgot we were still in a volley and the ball landed in the center of my gut. I let out an, “Oomph!” as it did and within seconds, Seth was at my side.

  “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

  I was looking at him like he was a magician. “I’m fine. How the heck did you get here so quickly?”

  “I came over the net,” he said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “You jumped over the net?”

  “Yes, why is that so odd? I thought you were hurt.” He looked so concerned, I felt both bad and impressed that he cared so much. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

  “It’s not odd, it’s sweet,” I said. “Thank you. I’m a dork, but I’m fine.”

  Laughing, he said, “You’re not a dork. Here, let me just show you a more efficient stance.” He stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around mine. The warmth of his body pressing against me and his breath on the side of my face was making me dizzy. He slid his hands down my arms sending goose bumps scurrying in every direction. Then he slid one of his knees in between mine to reposition my leg and I went weak in my own.

  “Shift this outer leg over like this,” he said. His mouth was closer to my ear then and my arms and hands were shaking so badly that I actually dropped my racquet. I felt him smile against my face. The arrogant son of a…. His lips were on the bottom part of my ear and then started sliding down my neck. My body was convulsing now. We were in public, he needed to stop.

  He took his sweet lips from my neck and turned me around to face him. He was looking at me with pure desire in his blue eyes and I was rendered speechless. Then I felt the warmth of his lips on mine and the soft touch of his hand against my cheek as he pulled me in for a kiss. Our tongues found each other and intertwined as we lost ourselves. For that moment I once again forgot that people were watching. It was just he and I, the only two people on the earth. When he at last let me up so that I could breathe I said in a ragged, forced breath, “We should stop, people are watching.”

  “Or… we could get a room,” he said, in that sexy, throaty, seductive voice of his. Any small piece of willpower I had left was left melted on that clay court and I stepped right over it as I took his hand and followed him back inside.

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  CHAPTER TWELVE

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