Resisting the Tycoon's Seduction Page 0,26

So if Betty had known that both Sierra and Marissa were gone, she’d never be able to lie to her employer about the issue.

When Marissa was safely inside of her room, she tucked her old clothes into the closet and hurried to her bathroom to put on makeup. She needed to look presentable, although she wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to do with herself today. She had some work to do on a website a friend had asked her to create, but she wasn’t able to focus on anything important right at the moment.

Laying down on her bed, she stared up at the white ceiling, trying to get her thoughts in order after last night’s experience.

First of all, she couldn’t believe how sweet and tender Zeke was. When he was making love to her, he was gentle and caring, more giving than she would have imagined. Of course, as soon as he entered her, he was demanding, powerful and…she shivered at the memory of how her body had responded so quickly to everything he’d done to her. He wouldn’t let her hide from him either. Inhibitions weren’t allowed. Anytime she’d tried to hide from him for any reason, he’d just chuckled and gone ahead with whatever he’d been trying to do. And he had the strength to pin her down and let him take control.

Goodness, she liked that. She hadn’t thought she would, but she really loved the way he was so strong and domineering. It made her feel soft and sexy, very feminine.

Should she be worried that she liked a man to take control? Probably. Was she going to worry about it? Try to figure out what it meant about herself? She bit her lip and her fingers twitched on the bedspread. Okay, yes, she was going to worry about what that meant. She couldn’t help it. She’d been a feminist all her life, not wanting to be dominated by her father’s orders. So enjoying Zeke’s commanding presence during sex was something she was darn well going to worry about.

He was a sweet, caring man and….oh no!

She sat up in the bed, every muscle in her body tense as she realized something horrible.

“Impossible,” she said out loud to the empty room. “It simply isn’t possible!” She refused to believe that she was in love with the man.

She paced back and forth, her mind refusing to accept the truth. But every excuse she came up with for how she was feeling was a lie. She told herself that she’d just wanted to have sex, but she’d never been even remotely interested in any kind of physical intimacy with the men she’d dated previously. She told herself that she simply wanted to rebel against her father, but that certainly didn’t strike a chord especially when she realized that she couldn’t see Zeke any more for fear of putting him in jeopardy with her father.

With a sigh, and ignoring the tear that seeped out from one eye, she laid back down on her bed and continued staring at the ceiling. She ignored her cell phone when it started ringing, assuming it was just her father. He probably thought she owed him a status update on her mission to marry Zeke. It occurred to her that it might be Zeke calling to check on her, but he’d left her with a kiss this morning, telling her he’d see her later tonight as he rushed off to meetings. So it wouldn’t be him calling her. She had a special ring tone for her sister, so right now, she simply didn’t want to talk to anyone.

Focusing on the important issues, she realized that she had to protect Zeke. She had to stay as far away from him as possible. She couldn’t marry him, even to save herself from a marriage to the repulsive Jimmy. She would marry Jimmy to save her sister and to keep her father from getting his grip on Zeke and any of his contacts. The man deserved better than to be forced into a family like hers.

The sadness that seeped into her body, leaving her cold and shaking, was so intense she wished she could find some sort of escape, some relief. But there wasn’t anything she could do about the way she was feeling. She just hoped with time that she would get over Zeke.

Would being married to Jimmy be so bad? There had to be something good about him, she thought as she pictured the man in