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“I don’t know the circumstances. I just know you like to win.”
“I’d guess we’re cut out of the same cloth there. I don’t think you like to lose, either,” he said dryly.
“I doubt if winning or losing is as all-important to me as much as it is you. There are other things that I give my efforts to.”
“Is that right? So how do you like to spend your time?” he asked. His voice transformed into a lower, huskier tone that gave his question a hint of sexual innuendo.
“Get your mind off sex,” she said lightly. “You know that wasn’t my reference.”
“I can always hope,” he replied, and she smiled.
“There, that would melt the hardest heart,” he said, touching the corner of her mouth. “What temptation!”
“Perhaps now you should concentrate on getting your yacht into open water.”
He nodded, but his gaze remained on her. With an effort, she pulled her attention from him. Breathless, she left to get distance between them, stepping out into sunshine and fresh air, wanting to fan herself and knowing that her warmth wasn’t caused by the weather. Also knowing that his brief phone conversation revealed how important winning was to him.
She moved to the railing and let the wind tangle her hair as a fine spray blew back over her. She watched gulls circling, swooping down to scoop something from the water. A jellyfish, a pale transparent blob, occasionally floated near the surface and then vanished from her sight. She thought about yesterday afternoon when she had gone to see her granddad, asking him directly if he knew anything about the fire on the Ransome oil rig.
His blue eyes had widened. “No, I don’t know anything about a fire.” He scowled. “Why would you think I’d know? Did Ransome or some of his people accuse us of that?”
“Nick Ransome thought we might have been the reason for the fire. As of now, the cause is unknown.”
“That bastard. He’ll say or do anything, just like his father.”
“Forget it, Granddad. I just wanted to hear you say that we had no part in it.” She had wanted to be sure, but now wished she hadn’t brought up the matter.
Reassured, she looked down at the blue-green water sweeping against the yacht and hoped the fire experts learned exactly what had caused the blaze. Would Nick admit to her that he had been wrong to accuse her granddad? She doubted if he would.
She glanced over her shoulder and could see Nick inside at the wheel. They were alone on this boat for the weekend. She hoped she could hide her stormy emotions from him.
The Gulf was smooth and the breeze was cool, a perfect day that appeared peaceful and gave no hint of the turmoil churning inside her. She enjoyed the ride, but knew if she wanted to win Nick over, she wouldn’t succeed by avoiding him. She wondered how many women he had brought on board that had wanted all his time and attention.
She returned to the pilothouse and when she reached his side, he stepped away slightly. “Want to take the wheel?”
“Sure,” she said, taking it, aware of their hands brushing before he stepped aside. Spreading his feet, he placed his hands on his hips as he watched her.
“So you’ve been sailing since you were five,” he commented. “Is this one of your favorite pastimes or are you doing it to be nice to your granddad?”
“I enjoy sailing. I’ve grown up doing it. Look out there,” she said, waving her hand toward the stretch of blue-green water and the lush green. “This is another world and I can forget the office.”
“There are all sorts of ways to forget the office,” he said in a husky voice, moving closer.
“Careful, you’re coming on again,” she said, smiling at him.
“Nothing wrong with that,” he said, smiling in return, a devastating, knee-melting smile that made her draw her breath. Creases bracketed his mouth and, with an effort, she tried to concentrate on the boat cutting smoothly through the water. “What else have you been doing, besides sailing? I don’t know much about you,” he said, leaning his hip against the bulkhead and giving her his undivided attention. It made her heart race.
“I went to Rice, returned home to go to work for Granddad. I bought my own home and I sail on weekends. A simple life. That’s about it.”
“No special man in your life?”
“No, there isn’t,” she said, turning to look into his dark eyes, wondering about the women in his life. His mouth was wide, his lower lip full, sensual. What would it be like to kiss him? She struggled to get her thoughts elsewhere.
“Was there an important man?” Nick repeated.
She shook her head again. “Not really. No, there never has been anyone.”
“Ah, you’re particular.”
She smiled. “Or busy.”
“The ice princess,” he said softly, his dark gaze filled with speculation. “With your heart sealed away. Who will melt your heart of ice and turn you into a warm, passionate woman?”
She laughed. “Are you trying to offer yourself for that role? If so, save your breath.”
“I know better than to do that,” he replied lightly. “Besides, whoever melts the ice princess then has a responsibility.”
“So, Nick Ransome, you have some old-fashioned ideas lurking.”
“I keep them locked away rather well,” he replied.
“I imagine you do. What about you? I don’t know much about you, either.”
“My life is an open book. I like closing a deal that I’ve worked hard to get, making money, flying, sailing, swimming, passionate women, fast horses and faster cars, long, wet kisses, making love in the moonlight and touching. Pretty predictable, I’d say.”
“Right, just the guy next door,” she remarked facetiously, but her pulse quickened at his answers and the thoughts his remarks conjured up. If only business didn’t stand between them, she thought and then realized the dangerous direction of following what-if thoughts.
“What big goals do you have?” he asked. “To be CEO of Holcomb Drilling? To destroy Ransome Energy? To fight with me and win?”
She laughed. “I think you’re answering your own questions. Except I don’t have ambitions to be a CEO. As for ruining Ransome Energy,” she said, looking at him, “that’s a tempting one. Especially when you’re out to smash us. Now if we can settle our differences peacefully, I’ll be quite happy. Otherwise—” She broke off and gazed out at the water, watching waves come up to meet them.
“But if we don’t, you’re threatening me, aren’t you?”
Meeting Nick’s gaze squarely, she felt the contest of wills. “We’re like two sharks circling each other, part of the time swimming together, part of the time eyeing each other as dinner.”
He leaned closer. “You would be the tastiest morsel I ever sunk my teeth into,” he drawled in a low, husky voice.
“Careful, Nick, I might bite back,” she said seductively, unable to resist dallying with him in return.
“This weekend gets to be a better idea by the second,” he said, leaning closer.
She placed her hand against his chest. “You stay right where you are.”
He grinned with a disarming flash of white teeth. “I’ll check over the place and be back shortly,” he said, leaving her at the wheel. She was surprised he trusted her because he didn’t know whether she could handle his yacht. Yet in the calm sea, there would be few problems and he was probably counting on that.
Soon he returned, making her heart race as he walked up to her. “I’ll take the wheel now,” he said, his hands brushing hers lightly. She tingled, aware of the warmth of him as he stood close beside her. “I have a favorite cove,” he continued. “It’s sheltered, has a beach and we can swim.”
“Sounds marvelous,” she said, barely knowing how she responded as she watched him.
“See,” he said waving his hand and she watched as they followed the shoreline in a sweeping curve.
“It’s beautiful,” she said when she saw his destination, animosity momentarily forgotten as she turned her attention to the breathtaking view of blue water, white sand and tall, swaying palms. “Your cove is paradise,” she said quietly, wishing she were with a companion to share the beauty of the place and make it a weekend of warm memories instead of a chess match with high stakes.
“This is a special escape. I’ve been sailing here for several years.”
“I’m surprised there isn’t anyone else here.”
“That’s part of the charm. Most of the time, this inlet is secluded. And in a few minutes, we can drop anchor,” he said, taking the wheel from her and brushing his hands over hers. “I’ll give you a tour of my boat and then we can swim,” he said.
A few minutes later, he took her arm to go down the companionway to show her the cherrywood and stainless steel galley that opened into the saloon. The galley held a refrigerator, a freezer, a four-burner stove, a built-in table and bench.
“Hopefully, everything we need or want.”
“That’s your life, isn’t it, Nick,” she declared. “Everything you need or want at your fingertips. You have to get your way.”
He turned his attention to her and arched an eyebrow. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “I suspect in a few areas, we’re too much alike. So far, you seem accustomed to getting your way and determined to continue to do so.”
“So I guess we’re locked in a contest of wills.”
“This should be the most delicious, hottest challenge I’ve ever faced.”
“Don’t make me a challenge,” she cautioned. Aware of his smoldering gaze on her, she moved around the galley, lightly touching the gleaming cherrywood cabinets. “This is a beautiful yacht.”
“I like beautiful things, particularly beautiful women,” he said in a low voice.
“Well, now that doesn’t surprise me one degree.” She turned to study him, sensing the sparks flying between them. “I hope this weekend thing was a good idea,” she said quietly, her pulse quickening as he stepped closer. When he brushed a tendril of hair away from her face, his fingers skimmed her cheek lightly.
“This weekend is going to be sweet. The wise choice is always to get to know each other and to garner a clear understanding of what your opponent wants.”
“We don’t have to be opponents, Nick.”
“No, we don’t,” he replied, his voice thick and husky.
“That was not a come-on. Don’t mistake it for one,” she stated and wished her voice held more force. “If we can just work it out where you don’t hurt Granddad,” she said, trying to get back to the purpose of her being on Nick’s yacht, “I’ll try to see that you get business concessions in return that satisfy you completely.”
“You want to satisfy me completely?” he said huskily, sending her temperature soaring. Fire danced in the depths of his eyes, and her pulse pounded. He looked at her as if he were about to kiss her.
“Did you even hear the word business? I still feel as if I’m swimming with a shark that is eyeing me for dinner,” she stated breathlessly.
“There is nothing like a shark about what I want. ‘Satisfy me completely’…that opens visions of possibilities.”
“You know what I meant! I’m not talking about in bed,” she said bluntly. “I meant absolutely no reference to anything personal.”
“Too bad. If you had, I might be more easily persuaded.” His hand rested on her shoulder and his thumb lightly rubbed her throat, then paused. “It isn’t problems with work that has your pulse racing,” he drawled, and her heart thumped. Nick saw too much, understood too clearly, guessed too accurately about her. She was held immobile by his hungry, steadfast gaze. That first searing attraction when they met was escalating at an alarming rate.
“We both know that we have some chemistry between us—it doesn’t mean a thing,” she said.
“I beg to differ,” he said softly. “From the moment you ran in front of my car and stopped me, the attraction has been undeniable. My curiosity’s stirred. I want to discover the depth of this fire that’s between us.”
“There is nothing between us except a disagreement we’re trying to solve,” she argued breathlessly.
“You know better than that,” he responded with a wicked arch of one dark eyebrow. “Right now, your pulse races and so does mine.”
“I think I’ll go on instinct here. Beware the circling shark.”
“You’re the one who wanted to get close,” he reminded her.
“Not quite as close as you have in mind. You’re going way too fast. Slow down, Nick. This time two nights ago, we were barely speaking.”
She was hot—her heart thudding, her breathing ragged—but she knew she had to get control of herself as well as cool him down. She couldn’t stop her body from responding to him, but she should maintain distance between them. A degree of aloofness was becoming increasingly more vital to her well-being. She didn’t want to end up two days from now with her heart lost to Nick Ransome. He was everything she didn’t want in her life. Business rival. Ambitious, ruthless and into risks. She knew he had been in Special Forces, knew he had a reputation for doing as many wild things as his mountain-climbing brother, who had recently died in an accident.
With effort, she turned away. “Let’s finish this tour or the sun will set before we can swim. I like to see what I’m swimming in.” When he didn’t answer and silence stretched, she was compelled to glance back at him.
As soon as she turned, she found him watching her intently, that smoldering anger back in his expression. Comparing him to a shark was apt—he looked like a predator, a danger to her heart. She had to put distance between them. She didn’t trust his motives and his smooth talk. Seduction? The thought shook her, but she reminded herself that if she let him seduce her, she would probably regret it forever because her emotions would be entangled in the act while she was certain his would not.
“Are we going to continue the tour?”
“Sure,” he said and led the way below to his forward stateroom. In his stateroom, she stepped away from him while she gazed at the king-size berth, navy and white decor and mirrors on the bulkhead. Too clearly, she could imagine him sprawled out in that bed. The image of his broad, bare chest, lean length, hard muscles, flashed hotly, making her grit her teeth.
Drawing a deep breath, she turned to see two large hanging lockers, plush chairs and a desk.
“As you already know, your stateroom is luxurious and beautiful,” she said, glancing at him.
He stood with one shoulder braced against a bulkhead while he watched her. He shrugged lightly. “I don’t spend a lot of time in here. C’mon. I’ll show you the rest.”
She drew a quick breath. The yacht that had appeared so large and accommodating was shrinking with each passing hour. She suspected she and Nick would be together nearly every waking minute and the thought of spending the entire weekend near each other fueled her burning desire.
More aware of Nick than her surroundings, she followed him while he showed her the salon where sunlight streamed in through portholes. He had a game room with a pool table and a plasma television.
When they finished the tour, she returned to her cabin to change to her swimsuit, a black two-piece cut inches below her waist, high over each thigh. It was no more revealing than what many other women wore, but now she longed for a one piece that covered as much of her as possible. The expanses of bare flesh she was presenting would be a come on to Nick.
Why had this weekend seemed such a good idea when she had been alone at home? At that time, she hadn’t factored in the scalding response she had to Nick, a reaction that heightened steadily.
“He’s just another man and one you don’t like very much anyway,” she whispered to herself, yet she knew that wasn’t true. But he wasn’t just another man, and while he angered her, he also appealed to her.
Plaiting her hair into one thick braid, she studied herself in a mirror, turning first one way and then another, knowing she was locked in a contest of wills with him. The outcome of their battle would probably be determined this weekend, no matter what transpired between their lawyers. This was one struggle she intended to win, and the unwanted steamy attraction between her and Nick wasn’t going to get in her way or defeat her.
He was a sexy male with a strong liking for women, so he was approachable. She intended to win him over without selling her soul—or her body—to do it.
“You’re playing with dynamite,” she whispered to herself.
She could resist him because their families had feuded for generations. Her granddad despised Nick, his brother, his father and his grandfather when he had been alive. With that history, she could withstand Nick Ransome’s charm. She just hoped he couldn’t resist cooperating with her.
She wondered what the evening would bring as she went to join him, feeling as if she were diving into water that held a shark.
Her conscience told her that Nick would never resort to a shark’s tactics. He would never attack and devour. There was never need to. Nick’s appeal was the most dangerous kind of all to resist—pure seduction.
Three
As Julia emerged onto the deck, Nick’s dark gaze drifted over her like a caress, a slow perusal that sent tingles dancing in its wake. His approval was obvious.
At the same time, she was mesmerized, unable to keep from returning his study, letting her gaze lower across his bare, muscled chest with a mat of brown curly hair. Sunlight splashed over his tanned body, with golden highlights on the swell of hard muscles. His broad chest tapered to a tiny waist and slim hips and a black strip of swimsuit that bulged with his masculinity. His long, muscular legs were covered lightly in short brown hairs. She imagined what it would feel like to be in his arms, pressed against his strong, warm length.
“You’re beautiful, Julia,” he said quietly. “Definitely an unfair advantage in this battle between us.” Moving closer, he reached out to tug lightly on her braid and his knuckles brushed her bare shoulder.
“We’re not in a battle today,” she said.
“Liar,” he accused lightly. “You’re taking unfair advantage here.”
She stepped closer, looking up at him, only inches of space between them. “No more unfair advantage than you do when you flirt,” she said in a sultry voice.
Desire smoldered in his dark eyes. He dropped his towel before placing his hands on her waist. “I have that effect on you?” he asked.
“You know you do. Don’t act surprised,” she chided, more aware of his hands on her than of what she was saying.
“You’re keeping a barrier between us. I want to scale that wall you’ve surrounded yourself with. I want to get to know you.”
“Nick,” she cautioned. “We have to step back and get a lid on the sex and emotion.”
“Let go a little and let’s see where they take us,” he coaxed. He reached out to let his fingers slowly trace her jawline. “Let’s start with a swim.”
She was tempted to tell him to turn the yacht around and head back. She didn’t want a weekend with him coming on to her and turning her into breathless mush, a melting, responsive female who boosted his ego and gave him the upper hand in their dealings. She knew enough about him to know there was a steady stream of women in his life. She didn’t want to fall into his arms and his bed, and then be tossed aside like an old shoe. Only an old shoe didn’t feel anything. She had always avoided heartbreak, and she could imagine the casualties in Nick’s background.
He lowered the ladder over the side and stepped back. “You can go into the water this way,” he said, motioning with a wave of his hand.
“Do you climb down that?”
“I dive.”
“Then I will, too,” she said. He laughed, touching her cheek lightly with his forefinger.
“Ever competitive. Let’s go.” He stepped to the side, going over in a smooth dive, his muscles flexing. Her mouth went dry as she looked at his long, powerful body in prime physical condition.
Trying to stop her flood of thoughts about him, she followed him, feeling refreshingly cool water closing over her. She came up to find him swimming away from her, parallel to the beach, and she followed, catching up with him and swimming beside him. What compelled her to compete with him on every level? She wanted to best him in every way, wring what she wanted out of him, make him as breathless when they flirted as he made her. She suspected on the last, she did. Only she knew his flirting might have a deeper effect on her. She was certain that she couldn’t be as casual about sex as he could be.
He turned to swim back to her. “Want to snorkel or just swim?”
“Snorkel,” she replied.
Nick splashed out of the water, clambering back on board to return in minutes with breathing equipment for both of them.
As she swam under the surface, she looked with wonder at the world of water she had entered. Brightly colored fish, in deep blues and bright yellows swam gracefully near. She clutched Nick’s arm to look at one with brilliant orange-and-black stripes. Then she forgot the water and the dazzling array of fish as her hand closed on his arm. He was sleek and warm and muscular. She released him immediately, but he caught her arm and pulled her close again.
While her heart raced, she looked into his eyes. They couldn’t talk and even submerged in cool water, she was hot, burning with desire that was a constant torment.
She pushed away from him and went to the surface. Nick splashed up beside her. Breathless, she stared at him. “It’s beautiful down there,” she gasped.
“It’s beautiful up here,” he said solemnly.
She placed her finger over his lips, conscious of a current that tingled through her hand. She went under again, gliding away from him. They swam close together, looking at tropical, salt-water fish that were a myriad of bright colors.
When they put away their snorkeling equipment, Nick swam away from her, heading out toward the open water where waves were choppier. She wondered how well he knew the water they were in. Even though he hadn’t said anything, she felt as if he were daring her to follow him.
Wisdom told her to stay in the cove where they had been swimming and where the water was more calm, but her competiveness made her want to keep up with him.
She swam out beside him and treaded water, thankful there wasn’t a stronger chop and wondering how deep the water was. The yacht and shoreline appeared to be a long way back.
“You’re a damn good swimmer,” he said, moving beside her. “And either not scared of this or determined to keep up with me.”
“I figured you hoped to drown me,” she said, and he laughed while they bobbed in the water.
“Not at all. You’re far too interesting alive. Let’s race back.”
“You know you’ll win. You want to win every time, don’t you?”
“No more than you do. I’ll give you a head start.”
She was getting tired of treading water and the open water was choppier than it had looked when they were on the boat. She turned to swim back slowly, watching him slice through the water spreading the distance between them. She wondered why he swam out so far, but then decided he liked challenges. Did he view her as a challenge? she wondered. Probably not.
She swam to him as he waited.
“Have you worked up an appetite for dinner yet?” he asked.
She was standing flat-footed in water that came to her shoulders, and he stood only a few feet away. Water droplets sparkled on his bare shoulders and his curly brown hair was plastered to his head, making him appear sleek and dangerous. Drops of water sparkled on his thick eyelashes and were sprinkled over his skin.
“Now that you mention it, yes. By the time we dress and cook dinner, definitely,” she answered, wondering if she was going to have this heart-pounding reaction to him the entire weekend—or longer.
“Let’s head for my boat,” he said, turning to swim away. When they climbed back on board, he said he would get dinner.
In minutes, their suits were dry, and she pulled on her low-cut, hip-hugging cutoffs and a T-shirt, turning to find him watching her.
“I was hoping you’d eat like you were,” he said.