The Billionaire's Masquerade Page 0,19

giggled, a combined reaction from his words and his mouth nibbling on her shoulder. “You said that a few minutes ago.”

He sighed and pulled her closer. “It’s true,” he told her. He pulled himself up higher in the bed, stuffing the pillows behind his head. With one arm, he turned on the light and looked down at her. “Okay, so explain now how someone who looks and walks like you has remained a virgin until a few minutes ago.”

Rachel almost laughed at how he lifted her up, positioning her exactly how he wanted her to be. She didn’t mind since it felt too good to be curled up next to him. Her hand wandered over his flat stomach, still finding all those muscles and enormous expanse of tanned skin fascinating. “I guess I never really thought it was worth the effort.”

“And now?”

She grinned and looked up at him. “I thought I’d made my opinion of the activity pretty clear,” she laughed.

He laughed as well, the sound reverberating through her whole body, making her feel special and feminine.

“You’re going to have to give me more of an explanation.”

She shrugged and shifted against him. “It isn’t that big of a deal,” she replied, but couldn’t look him in the eye. “I just never really thought any of the previous men I’d dated were worth the effort.”

“And I fit your criteria?”

She bit her lower lip, wishing he fit all of her criteria. She couldn’t help it. They were from two different worlds and had different goals in life. “I’m here, aren’t I?” she asked, her hand shifting lower to distract him.

Emerson suspected that she was holding something back, but he wasn’t really sure what. And at the moment, he didn’t care. He rolled over so he was on top of her again and proceeded to make love to her in a much slower, more thorough fashion. By the time he was ready to enter her slender, responsive body this time, he was damn sure he knew what was on her mind. And he was in full agreement with her thoughts.

Chapter 3

Rachel sighed as she stared at her computer screen. The week had completely flown by and she’d been so productive, her boss had even pointed out her achievements at the morning staff meeting.

She wished she could figure out what was different but the only thing that had changed was Jack. They’d spent the whole weekend together. It had been magical. They’d eaten out at the various local restaurants, walked along the shoreline and she’d learned a lot about the man. She’d asked so many questions about his ambitions and thought he was amazing.

But now, she wasn’t sure what to think. She was back in Washington, D.C., working hard, getting things done….and all she wanted to do was fly back up to Maine and be with Jack again.

“Congratulations on that CyberOne bid,” one of her co-workers said with his head inside the doorway. “What made you think to recommend that one to your clients?” he asked, stepping in so he was leaning against the doorjamb.

Rachel considered carefully how to answer the man. She’d never been friends with him, nor any of her co-workers. There was simply too much competition among her peers for there to be any real camaraderie. She had Nikki and Brianna and they were the only friends she truly needed. They were so close, they were more like sisters.

Besides, she wasn’t really sure why she’d recommended that particular company anyway. She’d read an article about it on the flight back from Maine last Sunday night. The company had struck her as a good idea. When she’d looked into it on Monday, she suspected that the company stock was lower than it should be. She’d convinced several of her clients to get on board and, miraculously, Tuesday afternoon, CyberOne announced a new cell phone. The stock had doubled in less than four hours!

“Just pure, dumb luck,” she finally said. She’d replied with a smile but it was actually the truth. The guy left after that, realizing that he wasn’t going to get any good tips from her and left her sitting in her small office with confusion.

Was Jack the magic pill that had given her such a wonderful week? She’d been unperturbed by the daily chaos around her from the other brokers and just excited about each day – energized to find new companies. And she’d found several, although none with the same dramatic effect as CyberOne. But the most astounding part