Love Me Like No Other

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“No,” she said quickly.

“Jade?”

It was her turn to sigh just before stepping aside and allowing him entrance. “What are you doing here?” she asked, closing the door behind her.

“As I said, we had dinner plans.”

She was instantly uncomfortable as she watched him peruse her apartment. It wasn’t a hovel by any means but Jade was positive it was below Lincoln Donovan’s standards. Just as she’d always been.

“And you left this in the car.”

His voice interrupted the beginnings of her pity party and she looked down at his outstretched hand.

“Oh,” she said then reached for the necklace. “It must have fallen off.”

Before she could take it from him Linc pulled his hand back. “Was it a gift from someone special?”

She blinked wondering why he’d asked. “From Grammy. I mean, my grandmother.”

He nodded, profoundly relieved that it wasn’t from a man. He looked down at the necklace in his hand then back at her. “The clasp is broken.”

Jade reached for the necklace again. Since his arrival it had become increasingly harder for her to breathe. She feared his large form simply took up too much space in her small apartment. She had to get him out of here as quickly as possible. “I’ll have it fixed.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said simply then slipped the necklace into his pocket. “I’m hungry. Can we go to dinner now?”

Jade opened her mouth to speak then quickly closed it again. He’d asked her nicely this time, his voice velvety smooth as his gaze bore through her. She didn’t know how to respond.

“Are you hungry, Jade?”

“Ah…I…I’m not dressed for dinner,” she croaked. Damn, he was getting to her again. She looked down at her robe that had begun to gape a bit at her chest. Hastily she pulled it closed then cinched the belt around her waist.

Linc followed her gaze. “I’m certainly not complaining about your attire but you might want to change just in case other people get the wrong idea.”

“I most certainly am not going out like this. I’m not going out at all. Our deal doesn’t start until tomorrow.”

“I think you’re mistaken.” Linc took a step closer to her. “Our deal started the moment you took my credit cards and hit the mall.”

Jade thought about what he’d just said, recognized the logic and could have kicked herself. Again she reminded herself why she was allowing him back into her life. It’s only for a week, she told herself—seven days and six nights then she’d have what she wanted and he could go back to his rich, polished life. The one she’d never be a part of.

“Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll change.”

He nodded his approval as she stalked past him.

She’d change all right and Lincoln Donovan would regret coming here forcing her to do this tonight. While she wasn’t financially or socially in his league, she had one positive thing going for her—she was a woman.

And he was definitely a man.

A man that wasn’t above being tortured.

She wore red, come-and-get-me red, that fit her like a second skin. He swallowed as he reached for her hand to help her out of the car. The drive back to the Gramercy had been one of hell on earth. Her scent was intoxicating, coupled with that barely there dress. His blood pressure had steadily begun to rise.

They’d talked amicably in the car, she seemingly without a care in the world while he struggled to keep from blabbering how much he wanted her. They walked through the lobby, Linc noting the stares both from his staff and the guests milling about. He didn’t like that. He’d never really cared before that people watched him, made conclusions about him that were false and unfounded. But the thought of them wondering what was going on between him and Jade didn’t sit well with him at all.

She wore light makeup. A gold frost on the lips, something to darken her eyes and that was it. Her hair had been pulled up to a pile of luminous curls. She looked absolutely delicious and he was ravenous.

“I thought we were having dinner in the room,” she said with a pretty smile.

“We’d better stay in public for as long as possible,” Linc said through clenched teeth.

He escorted her to the restaurant and then to a booth reserved especially for him in the back. Sitting down, she picked up the menu. “I hear the food here is fabulous.”

For endless moments Linc couldn’t speak. He’d watched the sway of her hips as she walked. Then she sat while he remained standing. Her dress was cut low, very low. The view of those luscious mounds had all the blood rushing from his head. He gripped the back of the chair to steady himself then lowered his quaking body down into the seat.

This was not what he’d expected.

She was not what he’d expected.

He wanted her, yes. He’d thought making her spend the week with him was a good idea. But now, he had a sinking feeling that in the next week he was going to get more than he’d bargained for.

“I don’t like when my plans are changed.” He frowned.

Jade lifted a brow. “I hadn’t planned on having dinner with you. Actually, I hadn’t planned on ever seeing you again and I most definitely did not plan to spend the week with you. But life is unpredictable. Nothing ever goes exactly as planned.”

Her voice was alluring, soft and sultry in the dimly lit restaurant. His gaze fell to her lips as he listened to her words. Yes, life was unpredictable and most times things didn’t go as planned. And if he had his way his plan for a week would last much longer.

Chapter 3

Jade sighed as she sank into the deep cushioned couch in the living room of Linc’s penthouse. She was stuffed. Dinner had been magnificent. Giving Linc his due, the restaurant, the casino, the hotel, all of his hard work was apparent. His establishment was every bit as classy and elaborate as his competitors’. But then she’d expected nothing less of him. What did come as a surprise was the fact that he was great with his staff. He knew everyone by their first name, their job title and specifically the shift they worked. And when he spoke to them he seemed genuine. In her experience rich bosses didn’t treat their staff like they were personal friends.

Now he moved comfortably through the room. He’d slipped out of his suit jacket and tossed it on the back of an armchair. Under the pretense of resting her eyes she watched him through slit lids. A white dress shirt had never looked so good, but then she’d yet to see him in anything that looked bad. The way the material draped over his broad shoulders and muscled arms had her heart thumping in her chest. Her gaze traveled down to the gold cuff links at his wrists, then toward the gold belt buckle at his waist. And rested there.

Lincoln Donovan was a well-built man. She could not only see that but had the memory of it permanently emblazed on her brain. The thought of him inside her again made her mouth water. Their one night together had been beyond anything she’d ever experienced since then. As far as initiations go she was sure Linc had been the best. He’d been slow and gentle with her as if he’d already known her inexperienced status. There wasn’t a part of her body his hands hadn’t explored. And it had happened more than once. After the first time he’d continued to lavish her body with attention throughout the night. She thought she’d died and gone to heaven. Until she woke the next morning, alone.

That single thought had her sitting upright on the couch, which was difficult because the cushions were so deep and so soft that keeping her balance was almost impossible.

Maybe if she hadn’t been nursing a crush on him since the first time seeing him one year prior to the night they’d spent together, she wouldn’t have been devastated when he left. And maybe if she hadn’t been filled with silly romantic notions that she would defy her bad luck and fall madly in love with a man who loved her back, she wouldn’t have cried for the duration of that next day.

“Do you want a drink?” he asked, startling her from her thoughts.

“No.” She wanted to stand up, to go to whatever room she’d be sleeping in, and break this connection they still seemed to have. She wanted to get away from him, plain and simple. But she couldn’t get out of the damned chair. She struggled to stand, bracing her hands on the cushions at her sides and attempting to lift herself up.

In seconds he was there, his hands going beneath her arms, pulling her to a standing position, parallel with his tall, rigid form. She sucked in a breath, looked up at him, then to the side. Staring into his eyes was deadly. It made her feel vulnerable, too open for his assault. “I’m ready for bed.”

His hands remained on her, his thumbs grazing the side curve of her breasts. Heat spread through her rapidly with waves of desire building steadily. Her knees wobbled and her nipples hardened—damned traitorous body of hers. He was the enemy. He’d hurt her once, no way was he going to do it again.

She tried to move out of his grasp but he held firm. “There’s a big bed in the master suite,” he said seductively.

He pulled her closer to him until his burgeoning erection was positioned between her thighs. His message was very clear. “I’m ready to go to sleep,” she corrected her earlier declaration.

“I know just how to put you to sleep.”

Jade’s breath caught in her throat. How could one man’s touch erase all intelligent thought from her mind? It hadn’t been this way with Charles. Then again, she and Charles never shared an active sex life. Come to think of it sex had never been the same for her since that first time with Linc, hence the reason she didn’t indulge as much as the average twenty-eight-year-old. Still, she was determined not to indulge with Lincoln Donovan again.

She pressed her palms against his chest and tried to push him away. That in itself was a mistake. She loved the feel of his rigid muscles beneath her hands and reflexively moved them over his pectorals, to his broad shoulders and down those hard biceps. “I don’t need you to help me sleep,” she whispered in a voice that didn’t sound like her own.

He exuded strength, masculinity and pure unadulterated sex appeal and she wanted him. She didn’t want to, but it was undeniable. She could accept lust but she didn’t have to act on it. She wouldn’t act on it.

Linc’s pulse raced. Had he ever wanted a woman so badly before? Blood pumped fiercely to his groin until his erection strained against his zipper. He pressed into her center again marveling at how perfectly they fit. Her breasts rubbed against his chest and she was touching him. Damn, her hands on his arms of all places were even driving him wild. Each time her fingers flexed over his taut skin he felt the urge to lift her dress and thrust himself inside her grow stronger. She was trying to tell him that she didn’t want him, he could hear it in her voice. But her body was telling him something different.

He stared at her mouth. Propelled by need he leaned down and captured her lips. His mind was full of her as his tongue slid seductively over her closed lips. Her lids fluttered and he drew her bottom lip into his mouth and sucked. Her fingers clenched on his arms. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. Heat raced through his loins and he nipped her lip. She whimpered and he suckled the spot gently. Her taste was simply intoxicating, filling him with something he was sure he’d never felt before.

His tongue plunged inside seeking hers then stroking, suckling and mingling. Her arms went around his neck, pulling him down closer, opening her mouth, taking his tongue and twirling it against her own. Linc closed his eyes to the sensations, the room beginning to slowly spin out of control. Desperation spread through his body like a disease. He could not get enough of her. His hands moved to her back, down to her bottom where he cupped the voluptuous mounds, pressing her center firmly into his erection. Her legs parted with the movement and he moaned deeply into her mouth.

Hot and wet, the kiss continued deepening until his hands finally slipped to the hem of her dress. Fiercely he jerked on the material, pulling it up to her waist. As if following an unknown signal his hand grazed the rim of her panties. Deft fingers pushed the material aside, slipping into her dewy folds.

What had started as a way to get out of a debt was quickly turning into a disaster in the making. She loved kissing him, loved the feel of his hot mouth on hers. But then he’d touched her there and was now touching her even more. Intimate strokes between her legs were like a beacon in Jade’s head and she summoned all the strength she had to wrench herself out of his arms and step away. Breathless from the kiss and thoroughly confused from the emotions he’d aroused, she turned her back to him and tried to regain her composure.

Long seconds ticked by in the silent, sexually charged atmosphere and she wondered briefly what he was thinking, then decided that she didn’t care. This was business. There was no room for her feelings to get involved, not with this man, not with any man again. She turned back to find him staring at her, hands fisted at his sides. His eyes were dark with desire, his chest heaving.

It didn’t matter. She was his employee for one week. She had to make her stand now or she’d lose before the game had even begun.

“I will sleep alone.”

Never, in all his thirty-two years had Linc entertained the idea of forcing a woman to do his bidding. That thought alone caused him to tremble and hesitate. He wanted her fiercely, could imagine his erection slipping inside of her the way his finger almost had. Dragging a hand down his face he inhaled her essence, felt his gut clench and swore. “We made a deal.”

Jade squared her shoulders and stared at him, fighting the urge to give him what they both desperately wanted. “The deal was for a date for the week. When I sleep with a man, it’s on my terms, my decision. It’s not a part of a job.” She walked out of the room slowly enough for him to stop her if he wanted to although she knew he wouldn’t.

Linc might be arrogant and he might be domineering but—even though she’d accused him of it—he was not cruel. He wouldn’t force her to do something she didn’t want to do. He’d proved that the night of the party. He hadn’t done anything to her without her express permission first even though they’d both been drinking. No, if she slept with Lincoln Donovan again, business or not, it would be because she wanted to. And because her heart still hammered in her chest, her lips still tingled from his kiss, her center still pulsed from his touch, that thought alone frightened her.

Linc awoke the next morning in the master suite. Alone. He hadn’t taken a cold shower in years, but last night after she’d almost kissed the wits out of him then left him standing there panting like a dog in heat he’d had no other choice.

He’d lain awake for hours trying to get her out of his mind, trying to erase the feel of her body against his, the scent of her desire out of his head, that look of fear he’d glimpsed seconds after she’d pulled away. Another hour was spent kicking himself for moving so fast. They hadn’t been together in eight years. It was foolish of him to instantly try and pick up where they’d left off. Because he hadn’t stuck around he’d never known how she’d felt about that night they’d spent together. He’d immediately moved out of the dorm, returning to campus only to take his remaining classes. He hadn’t wanted to bump into her again.

Had she been hurt by his leaving?

He doubted that. A week later he’d had a close call when leaving the campus library later than usual one night. He’d seen her in the arms of another man smiling happily up at him as they walked. No, Jade Vincent was not pining over him at all. He silently thanked his instincts and made an even more concerted effort to never see her again.

In the morning he faced the fact that she’d probably been right to stop them. This was about money for her. Every woman’s bottom line was money where he was concerned. She’d agreed to be his date, not to sleep with him. As she’d made perfectly clear last night, if she slept with him it would be because she wanted to.

He amended that statement. When she slept with him, it would definitely be because she wanted to. He wouldn’t have it any other way. As far as her terms, well, he wasn’t willing to think about them right now.

In an hour they would leave for his parents’ house. That thought soothed him a bit. Fifteen years ago Henry Donovan had acquired a stretch of land in the Pahranagat Valley, just ninety miles northeast of Las Vegas. Initially he was going to sell it until his wife had seen it and fallen in love with the rich scenery. Henry had had a mansion built there instead and about five years ago added horse breeding to his repertoire.

Linc continued to think of his parents and of the forty years they’d been together. Henry and Beverly were the epitome of love and happiness. Funny how their sons avoided the same things like the plague. But lately Beverly had begun hinting at the fact that she had no grandchildren and that her sons were sorely disappointing her. Sure, she loved them, would do anything for them, but she wanted them married and settled. It was that simple. At least in her mind it was. Linc knew differently.

In the past months he’d grown tired of the women his mother not so discreetly sent his way. They simply didn’t appeal to him on a long-term level. Up until a week or so ago he hadn’t even thought he wanted someone on a long-term level. While he still wasn’t entertaining thoughts of marriage, he had begun to think that his discontent centered around his lackluster personal life.

His mother would love to hear that and Linc had no doubt she would have more than enough women at the house this week to perk up that personal life of his. She had a surprise coming.

The first half hour of their ride passed in virtual silence after a brief breakfast of fruit and coffee. Jade’s stomach growled and she coughed to muffle the sound. Linc had offered to order a full meal but she’d been stubborn, and anxious to get this show on the road. She’d barely slept last night and was having second thoughts about this deal with him. Maybe she would have been better off applying for a personal loan herself to pay Noelle’s debt. But she had enough overhead right now. Another bill wasn’t the answer.

With a sigh she decided she’d have to find some way to deal with this attraction to Linc and the business deal they’d struck. He fully expected her to sleep with him. She had no intention of getting her feelings tangled up in him again. Linc had broken her heart once and she wasn’t about to give him the opportunity to do it again.

Last night she’d wondered how she considered the one-night stand with Linc a lost relationship while her six-month engagement to Charles was written off as a fatal mistake. She’d liked Charles well enough—Grammy had liked him more—but she had to admit to feeling a small sense of relief when she opened his e-mail that fateful morning. There was no love lost where Charles was concerned. Anger was more likely the emotion of choice when she thought of him. Her fists clenched at the memory. If she ever saw Charles again she’d…

Linc reached over, touched her hands, slowly pulling her fingers out as he stared at her. “What are you thinking about over there?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing. I wasn’t thinking about anything,” she said, embarrassed that he’d obviously been watching her.

“It must have been something. You were about to draw your own blood.”

She shrugged. “Just something that’s better left in the past.”

“Did somebody hurt you?”

Jade stared at him blankly then quickly turned away. “No. Nobody hurt me.”

“They made you angry?”

She opened her mouth to speak then clamped it shut again. Why did he care either way? “Let’s just say my life’s been full of lessons learned.”

He folded her hand in his and Jade felt the familiar heat stirring inside.

“I’d be interested in hearing about those lessons.” He smiled and then held up a hand to stop her when she would have spoken. “But for now I’ll settle for hearing about what you’ve been doing for the past eight years.”

Making one mistake after another, pining for you, losing a fortune… Where should she start? Jade shifted in the seat. What was it about him that made her want to scream one minute and melt into his arms the next? At any rate, telling him about her past mistakes was definitely out of the question. Switching the subject would be better. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you give me the rundown on your family? Since I’ll be spending a week with them I should probably know some basics.”

Linc gave her a half smile. She hadn’t admitted it but he was sure there was someone in her past who she was still pretty angry with and he was willing to bet the person was a man. He looked into warm hazel eyes and wanted instinctively to protect her from all hurt and harm. She had secrets, ones that caused her great pain. He wondered how long it would take her to tell him, then decided it didn’t really matter. At least he didn’t want it to.

“I am the oldest of three boys. I have two brothers—Trent and Adam. Trent’s an ex-Navy Seal and Adam’s into real estate. My parents, Henry and Beverly, have been married for forty years and will invite every living member of the Donovan family to the house this week to help them celebrate.”

“Hmm,” she sighed. When her mother had died it had been just her, Noelle and Grammy. She’d always longed for a big family. “What do your parents do?”

Linc chuckled. “Not much of anything anymore. My father was a third generation rich kid, following in his father’s footsteps. He ran the family oil company for about twenty years before deciding to retire. Now he finds hobbies. For a few years he was a racing sponsor, then he dabbled in marine biology and right now he’s into horse breeding.”

“He sounds like an interesting man,” Jade said wistfully.

“He is. Mom comes from money. Her father was an oil tycoon. Now she has her charities and her clubs. But her main job as of late seems to be finding a wife for me.”

Jade’s heart skipped a beat. “A wife?”

His thumb continued to move absently over the back of her hand. “Yeah, she’s pretty focused on the task.” Then he looked at her. “That’s why I needed you this week.”