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“That doesn’t sound like an ideal childhood.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” She laughed, shocked at herself for sharing so much with a man she was determined not to get involved with.
The same thing had happened the night before. It bothered her, but a barrier that existed between her and the rest of the world seemed to be missing with him. Odd, but apparently it wasn’t something she could do much about.
It was like her normal privacy filter was switched off around him.
Thank goodness he was only in Portland for a visit to his company and would be gone soon.
“Your mother must have had lousy taste in her partners,” he said.
“That depends on how you look at it. She’s drawn to dynamic, powerful men. Men a lot like you.”
“For you to have had several male figures in your childhood, they must have been drawn to her, too.”
“For a while anyway. She’s beautiful.”
“You say that like it’s a curse.”
“None of the men who dumped on my mom would have given her the time of day if she’d been plain.”
“And perhaps Baron Randall would not have been attracted to you if you were not equally as beautiful?”
“I prefer not to talk about him.”
“But he is the reason you are so reticent about becoming my friend.”
“I never said that.”
“Do you deny it?”
“No.”
“And the man your mom married, Colby. I bet he was also attracted to her beauty.”
“Darren would love Mom if she was fifty pounds overweight and had a mole on her chin.”
“He sounds like a great guy, but wasn’t he first attracted by her beauty?”
“I suppose.”
“So, it isn’t always a curse.”
“No, but then there aren’t that many men in the world like Darren.”
“Maybe there are more than you think.”
Did Angelo want her to believe he was one of them?
The prospect that he might was even scarier than her own urge to find out.
Over the next few days, Tara couldn’t help feeling he was trying to convince her of that very thing.
Against her will, she found herself more and more attracted to the business tycoon who admired her brain and never criticized the fact she played down her beauty. He was charming to everyone, making Danette practically faint with excitement when he accepted an invitation to an informal barbecue at her place on Thursday night.
Under her brazen front, Danette was actually pretty shy and this would be the first major event she’d hosted at the condo her parents had insisted on helping her buy. Members of the city’s elite, they had no problem providing their daughter with a home most people couldn’t afford after working twenty years.
Even so, Danette had been worried about the success of her party and told Tara so. Having Angelo’s attendance was a major coup, especially since so many other partygoers would be from Primo Tech.
“And don’t you even think about trying to get out of coming now that you know he’s going to be there,” Danette said seconds after Angelo exited their work area.
“I told you I don’t want to end up with another Baron Randall.”
“Good gosh, Tara! Are you blind, or something? Not only is Angelo a good ten years younger than that swine, but the two men are so different they could be opposite species.”
“Oh really? How are they so different?”
“First of all, it’s no secret Baron Randall built his empire using other people.”
A piece of information Tara wished she’d been privy to before meeting him.
“Angelo buys and salvages struggling companies. He’s gotten where he is through the sweat of his own brow.”
“Please.”
“You know what I mean. He worked to build those companies up, just like he worked on this one. He’s earned his tycoon status, not stolen it. And he’s also not a womanizer.”
“Oh, really?”
“Really. Ray did some checking for me at his newspaper. Angelo hasn’t had a steady girlfriend in more than two years and he doesn’t sleep with other men’s wives.”
“Like Ray could know that for certain.”
“Angelo’s newsworthy enough that if he had been caught with the same woman more than once it would have made at least one headline.”
“The operative word being caught and one of the great benefits of being filthy rich is the ability to buy a newspaper’s silence.”
“Baron Randall is rich too, but there are still stories about his womanizing ways in more than a few scandal sheets.”
“Maybe he didn’t care enough to have them squelched.”
“What makes you think Angelo would?”
“Okay, so you’ve got a point. He’s probably not a womanizer. Happy?”
“If you’ll cut the guy some slack, yes.”
She wasn’t going there. “Is Ray going to be at the barbecue?”
“Sure. He’s bringing his camera and taking pictures for my scrapbook.” Danette smiled dreamily. “It isn’t every day you get such a hunk of a multimillionaire in your backyard eating grilled steak.”
Tara couldn’t help laughing. “You are incorrigible.”
Her friend grinned, her eyes filled with infectious laughter. “That’s why you like me so much.”
“So, are things serious between you and Ray?”
It had been her experience that when her friends started making cooing noises about settling down, they went into matchmaker mode with a vengeance and this barbecue invitation couldn’t be seen as anything but.
Danette chewed on her bottom lip. “I think so. At least for me. He hasn’t said anything about love, but he spends all his free time with me.”
“That’s a very good sign.”
“I hope so.”
And if it were true…what did that say about her and Angelo? They weren’t dating, but he certainly managed to fill up most of her free time.
Thursday dawned bright and clear, the Oregon sunshine for once unclouded by threats of rain. Tara walked to work from the light rail terminal with a smile on her face. It was a good day to be alive.
A strong masculine hand gripped her shoulder before she walked into the building. “You look happy.”
She smiled up at Angelo, for once allowing herself to enjoy her body’s reaction to the devastating man’s presence. It wasn’t as if anything could happen in front of the building in plain view of the parking lot and the rest of Primo Tech’s employees. “I love the sunshine.”
“It’s a great day for your friend’s barbecue.”
“Yes, it is. Danette will be pleased.”
“Speaking of, would you like me to pick you up on my way?”
“I don’t…”
“I’d feel more comfortable arriving with someone.”
“I don’t see you as the shrinking violet type.”
“I’m not.” His expression said he couldn’t imagine such a thing, either. “But I would still like to bring you with me.”
They were both going and a car ride there and back could hardly do any damage. After all, she’d been in the car with him twice now and come away unscathed. “Sure, why not?”
His hand slid up her shoulder and cupped her nape, sending her thoughts skittering to the four winds. “I’ll look forward to it.”
She watched him walk away thinking maybe unscathed was too strong a term to describe her living on the edge of going for another tycoon.
CHAPTER THREE
THE phone was ringing when Tara walked through the door of her apartment at twenty-five minutes after five. She sprinted across the small foyer and picked it up from the hall stand. “Hello?”
“Hey, hon…just wanted to make sure you’re not going to dress like a bag lady now that the big boss is coming.”
Danette.
“Sheesh…you called me to bug me about what I’m going to wear to your casual barbecue? Don’t you have better things to do?”
“Right…it’s casual and that means shorts and a T-shirt. Don’t you dare show up in one of your casual-but-really-they-are-for-work-outfits.”
Tara rolled her eyes. “What difference does it make?”
“Well, now that’s an interesting question. It shouldn’t make any difference…to you. I mean, if you’re really not interested in the boss, then you shouldn’t be bothered exposing a little flesh around him.”
The idea of being around Angelo and wearing a pair of hip-hugging shorts and T-shirt that showed a glimpse of her stomach when she raised her arms made Tara’s body flush with heat…and not from embarrassment.
“Come on,” Danette added, “it’s over eighty degrees outside. Be practical.”
“I won’t show up in a skirt and hose!”
“You’d better not and don’t forget your swimsuit.” Danette had sole use of the pool area at her condo complex to host her barbecue.
Tara loved the water, but if wearing shorts around Angelo made her jumpy, how would she deal with a swimsuit? “I’m not going to be swimming.”
“Oh, please…did I mention it’s eighty-some degrees out there? Of course if you get too hot and want to cool off, I could lend you one of mine.”
Remembering her friend’s penchant for string bikinis that showed more flesh than some bandages, Tara made a note to grab her own suit.
Just in case.
Angelo rang Tara’s doorbell with more anticipation than he’d felt for a date in years.
Tara Peters was every bit as beautiful as her photos had shown, but she was also a very intriguing woman. He had no difficulty understanding Randall’s fascination with her.
Angelo wanted her, too, which made this aspect of his revenge against the other man sweet indeed.
The door to her modest brownstone swung open and his breath suspended in his chest, all thought ceasing in a wave of shrieking male hunger that had him wanting to push her back into the apartment and claim her body as his own.
Denim shorts clung to her curves, stopping high enough on her thigh to make her well-toned, honey tanned legs look miles long. Her lemon-yellow T-shirt did some clinging of its own, revealing the fact her bra was so flimsy he could see her nipples peaking through the soft cotton.
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