Chapter Four
Eva
It really annoyed me that Trace Walker thought I wasn’t capable of taking care of myself. Granted, it might look that way from his perspective, but now that I was going to have a job, a chance at a better life, I’d be fine.
As long he never finds out…
Abruptly, I banished the negative thought from my mind. He’d made a promise, and he wouldn’t break it. I hoped.
I had been upset when he’d told me he’d taken care of my landlord after I asked him not to do it. I had money now, his check safely deposited in my checking account. I was perfectly capable of taking care of my own problems.
We’d argued about the money, too, but he’d insisted on me taking the offered pay of twenty-five thousand up front, and I’d finally decided to just take it. I could give him back what I didn’t need once this farce was over.
Somehow I need to find a way to stop arguing with him!
Maybe if he wasn’t such an arrogant, highhanded dick, we could get along.
I smiled just a little, admitting to myself that his arrogance fueled my temper. Not that I hadn’t met conceited men, but not one quite like him. Even in his most pompous and audacious moments, he was thinking about my welfare. It didn’t completely deflate me, but it made it damn hard to hate him.
Trace Walker was used to being obeyed. Being bossy was obviously in his DNA.
“You look amazing, darling,” a low, female voice crooned, the voice of my new stylist.
I actually have a stylist for God’s sake.
Claudette was superficial, but pleasant enough to be around. I guessed she was probably in her sixties, but she was brilliantly put together, not one dark hair out of place. She was sporting a chic business look that I hoped I could pull off some day.
She stopped fussing with the red cocktail dress I was trying on, and I turned to look in the full length mirror in my assigned bedroom, still not used to being in a place so enormous and elegant.
I’d spent my first night in Trace’s expansive home wandering around in a daze, almost getting lost in the process, before I finally collapsed on the beautiful sleigh bed in this bedroom, a space that Trace nonchalantly assigned as my quarters for the time being.
I froze as my eyes caught my reflection, looking back at an image I barely recognized.
My hair had been trimmed into a sleek style that left it curling around my shoulders. Claudette had worked some kind of magic with carefully applied makeup, and explained how to do it myself. The dress, that ended in a sophisticated swirl right below my knees, had tight long sleeves that clung to my arms like a second skin, and left most of my back bare. It wasn’t a style I was used to wearing, and I’d never felt so naked in something that was long-sleeved.
“It’s…nice.” I could barely keep myself from gaping.
I looked like a different woman; I felt like a different woman.
“You look beautiful, Eva.” Trace spoke low and husky from the doorway of my bedroom.
I turned to him, my eyes meeting his after he assessed me carefully. My body started to burn beneath his heated stare.
“Thanks. But I don’t really think I need this many clothes.” I nearly tripped on my matching high heels as I stepped back from the mirror to face him.
I’d been hooked up with a complete wardrobe. Claudette was taking back the items she hadn’t liked; unfortunately, she liked far too many of them.
Trace looked at Claudette. “Thank you. I think you’re finished here.”
The older woman nodded and started to walk toward the door, skirting around Trace. “I’ll have my staff pick up the equipment and the clothes that weren’t appropriate later, Mr. Walker.” She left hurriedly, knowing she had been dismissed.
Trace lifted his brow. “The clothes are part of the deal.”
I propped my hands on my hips. “Not this many of them. Where am I going to wear this kind of dress?”
He shrugged. “Parties. I have a corporate Christmas party to attend this year, and I need you to be there. I told you that this needs to be believable.”
My heart raced at the thought of being on Trace’s arm for any event. Just being in his company made me edgy. “You still haven’t told me why.”
I let go of my earlier anger, telling myself I needed to treat this as a job.
Trace moved into my bedroom - which was twice the size of my studio apartment, I might add - and sat down on the oversized ledge of the window seat.
I toed off my heels and moved to the bed. I sat in the middle of the enormous beige and floral quilt and crossed my legs, pulling the skirt over them. I could sense he was going to tell me something important, and I stayed silent.
Trace propped a strong shoulder against the wall. “You know that your mother and my father died in a plane crash?”
I nodded. I knew how my mother had met her demise soon after her wedding to Trace’s father.
“My youngest brother was on board that private jet, too, and he survived…just barely. He was burned and scarred, and even with plastic surgery, he still has scars inside and out.” He paused for a moment and then continued, “I was supposed to be on that plane with them, but I had final exams. I was graduating from college. I had to leave as soon as the ceremony was over. So did my middle brother, Sebastian. Dane was the only one whose classes and exams had ended because he was at a different school, so he stayed a few more days.”
Oh, God. My stomach knotted at the thought that Trace could be dead instead of so very much alive. I gaped at him, still able to feel his vitality and energy vibrating through the bedroom. I could also feel his tension. “It bothers you that you weren’t on that plane. You feel guilty.”
Trace didn’t show his hand with his expression, but I was close enough to see a look of pain flash briefly in his eyes.
“I don’t wish myself dead,” he snapped. “But the fact that it should have been me did cross my mind.”
He was so responsible, so damned ready to take on the entire world. “It wouldn’t have made a difference.”
His fists clenched and he shot me an irritated stare. “How do I know that? Maybe I could have gotten Dane out of the wreckage quicker, maybe I could have prevented the surgeries he’s had, so damn many that I’ve lost count.”
My heart bled for the man who thought he could prevent all the hurts in the world. I’d learned that I had to pick my battles. He obviously hadn’t. “And maybe you’d be dead. Maybe you would have blocked people from getting him out. Everybody else on the plane died that day, including the pilot. Do you think you’re invincible?” I shot back at him, trying to make him see what was most likely true: whether he’d been on that plane or not wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
His lips twitched, probably because of my annoyed tone, but I wasn’t certain.
“So you think my dead body would have gotten him dead, too?”
I shrugged. “It might have gotten in the way.”
“Comforting thought.” His tone was sarcastic, but there was a trace of amusement there, too.
Not wanting to think about him not being alive, I prompted, “Go on.”
Trace released a low, resigned sigh. “Dane has been through a lot, emotionally and physically. He’s recently started dating a woman who I’m well acquainted with. She’s seeing him to get back at me, and she’s hoping I’ll take her back. I ended our association over a year ago because she wasn’t satisfied with just me. She was bed hopping with every wealthy man in Colorado.”
“Stupid woman,” I said without thinking. But really, why would any female need another man when she had Trace Walker. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you were faithful to her.”
He grinned at me, and my heart melted. He nodded and said, “I was. I wasn’t ready to make a big commitment, but we had dated long enough that she finally talked me into a monogamous relationship. Too bad she meant only on my side.”
“You still love her?” My palms were sweaty and my heart started to hammer. I wasn’t quite sure I wanted his answer.
“I never said I loved her. I just said we were supposed to be exclusive. I don’t love, Eva. I satisfy a physical need with the women I see.”
It was pretty obvious that he did much more than that. Oh, he might not have ever been in love, but the way he cared about his brother told me he was capable. “So you need me as a decoy?”
“I need you to keep her away from me. Dane would be devastated if he knew all that Britney wanted were the things his money can buy her, and she’s getting back at me.”
“Maybe she really does care now. Maybe things have changed,” I said, hopeful that Britney may have had an epiphany. How could any woman be so heartless to use brother against brother, especially one who had suffered like Dane?
“She called me just a few weeks ago, telling me that she was hoping to win me back at Christmas. She hasn’t changed.” His voice was flat and hopeless. “I want Dane to dump her. She’s a viper. But not because she was making moves on me. I don’t want him to resent me, or to know that I fucked her first.”
I hated that thought, the idea that Trace had done the horizontal mambo with any female. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure he’d done a lot of bedroom dancing.
“I’ll do my best,” I promised him. “But you’re going to have to help me. Pretend that you care.”
“I won’t have to pretend, Eva. If I didn’t want you to have a better life, I wouldn’t have chosen you. I could have found someone else, but you were just too damn perfect. You’re very beautiful.”
He was wrong. I was a loser in a gorgeous dress. “I feel like Cinderella,” I mumbled before I could stop myself. The room was silent for a minute before I added, “What are we doing here together if they aren’t coming until Christmas? Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.”
“I’m well aware of that. I thought I’d take you out for dinner. The time won’t be wasted. I can get you through our pre-employment process and fill you in on details.”
“I’ll cook. I want to,” I said eagerly. It had been years since I’d participated in a Thanksgiving dinner.
His eyes stared at me, penetrating me with an intense gaze. “You actually want to cook?”
“Your kitchen is amazing. And yes, I love to cook. I just haven’t had a chance in a very long time.” I’d never had the money. Lately, I hadn’t had a scrap of food in my apartment. “Do you have the supplies?”
He frowned. “Probably not. And I gave my staff time off now until next Monday. But I can call my assistant here.”
I held up a hand. “No. Don’t you have a car?”
He smirked. “Several of them.”
“You can drive me. I’m not driving one of those fancy, expensive vehicles of yours.” Knowing my luck, I’d crash.
“To a grocery store?” He looked appalled.
“Really? You act like you never get groceries.”
He shrugged. “I don’t. I have employees for that.”
“Then it will be an adventure, right?” I couldn’t fathom somebody who had his shopping done for him, but all I needed was a ride. “I know what to get. I’ll check out your kitchen to see what you already have.”
I scooted off the bed, ready to get out of the fancy dress I was wearing. It made me feel pretty, but also like someone that wasn’t really…me.
Trace stood up. “You don’t have to do this, Eva. I don’t mind shoving something in the microwave or going out.”
“It’s Thanksgiving. You can’t eat a frozen dinner.” If it hadn’t been for Trace, I wouldn’t be eating at all. I wanted to do this for him. “Just give me a few minutes to change.” I nudged him toward the door.
“Can I watch?” he asked mischievously.
His molten green gaze caressed me, and I swear I could feel his stare all the way down to my toes. My core clenched painfully as I caught his scent.
“Leave, pervert,” I insisted.
He turned toward me, stopping as he said, “I’ll be downstairs.”
“I’ll be ready in a few minutes. I just need to get out of this dress.”
I swore I heard him groan before he caught me in his arms, one hand behind the small of my back, and the other wrapping around the nape of my neck. “You’re killing me, Eva.”
His mouth met mine with a single-minded determination that I’d never experienced before. His kiss was hot, all-consuming, and I felt myself going under and caving in almost immediately.
Something about Trace drew me to him, and I kissed him back, opening beneath his demanding mouth as his tongue commanded entry. I sighed against his lips and put my arms around his neck, letting him take what he wanted because I knew I wanted the same thing.
Desire shot through my body like an electrical current as he moved his hand down to my ass and pulled my moist core up and against his swollen cock.
I want him inside me.
I need him inside me.
I resented the clothing that separated our bodies.
He didn’t know anything about me, but he wanted me. I was getting drunk on passion, lost in the way he kissed me like he had to, needed to, or he couldn’t draw another breath.
Tapping into Trace’s need was a euphoric feeling, the fact that a woman like me could cause someone like him to kiss me with this kind of desire was as heady as it got.
I knew we had to stop. My nipples hardened as he pulled me closer, my sensitive breasts abrading the jacket of his suit.
Still, he kept on touching me, the hand that was previously behind my neck now fisting in my hair.
My voice was breathless, my eyes closed as his mouth stopped ravaging mine and moved to the sensitive skin of my neck. “Oh, God. Trace. Please stop.” I knew that I sure as hell couldn’t separate myself from him. I wanted to hold on, let him take me as far as I could go.
“Eva. I want you so damn much,” he rasped into my ear.
“I want you, too. But I can’t do this.” He was my stepbrother, but it wasn’t that knowledge that stopped me. We barely knew each other; the only thing we had in common was an incredible chemistry.
Finally, he released me. “We can do this, but I’ll wait until you’re ready.” He sounded pained.
I’m ready. I’m so damn ready.
He backed away and my eyes fluttered open, the pain of losing contact with him excruciating.
“What are you afraid of, Eva?” he asked hoarsely.
I looked at him, at the molten heat in his eyes.
I’m afraid you’ll hate me some day.
I’m afraid I’ll become addicted to you, and I can’t.
I’m afraid that once I’m intimate with you, I’ll never want to let you go.
“I don’t sleep around, especially not with my stepbrother.” I wanted to tease him, but my voice was cracking with emotion.
He captured my chin and tilted it up. “The last thing I feel for you is brotherly affection,” he told me angrily. “I want to fuck you so badly that I can hardly breathe. You want me to fuck you so badly that you can hardly breathe.”
I was honest enough to admit I wanted the same thing, but it couldn’t happen. “Please. I hardly know you.” I wasn’t sure if I was begging him to do me, or asking him to leave me alone.
In the end, he decided for me. “I’m going. But we’ll get to know each other over the next few days. Guaranteed, I’ll try to get you naked. And I’ll succeed.”
I shuddered at the thought, watching him, my body still trembling, every muscle tight with unspent desire. When he started down the stairs, I closed the bedroom door before I could allow myself to call him back to me.