The Tycoon's Defiant Southern Belle Page 0,49

in the sunshine and she couldn’t believe how wonderful everything looked. She wished she could find a better gardener though. The plants that had been put in place were fine, but there wasn’t anything spectacular about them. They didn’t have any personality and this house was too full of personality for it to be lacking on the lawn.

She sighed and rounded the corner and just about ran into Angelo as he was standing beside one of the columns. “Oh!” she said and stopped short, her hands reaching out and grabbing hold of him even though he was already steadying her with his hands.

“First of all, where the hell have you been” he demanded angrily. “I’ve been calling and walking over to your house, knocking on your door ever since you ran out on me three days ago.” He didn’t give her a chance to answer that question before he snapped out, “And secondly, what were you thinking about?” he asked. “I’ve been watching you for the past ten minutes and you keep staring into space.” He impatiently took her heavy laptop case as well as her purse and set them by one of the patio chairs that had been delivered earlier today.

She smiled brightly up into his eyes, her newfound feelings for him sinking through her happy expression, completely confusing Angelo in the process. “I was thinking that I need to get you a new gardener.”

Angelo was startled by her comment and looked down into her eyes. He didn’t believe her for a moment. “Why would I need a new gardener?” he asked, trying to catch up, but not sure what she might say next.

“Because the shrubs don’t have pizzazz,” she stated emphatically. She was suddenly thrilled that she was in love with this man. And he was in love with her, she just knew it!

The plan she’d been forming in her mind solidified and she moved closer, kissing him on the chin. “You look very handsome today,” she said with a smile. She stood up on her toes and kissed him on the bottom of his chin, the only place she could reach unless he was going to help her.

Angelo looked at her, his body already reacting to her smile. But when she kissed him, voluntarily and not just because he’d teased her into letting herself react, he couldn’t stop the intense lust that surged through him. “What was that for?” he asked, but pulled her closer before she could answer him.

Jade wrapped her arms around his hard waist, enjoying the feeling of his muscles underneath her fingers. “I’m going to talk to Betty Sue. She’ll know what to do about the gardens.” She sighed happily when his own arms wrapped around her as well. “Oh, and just so you know, we’re under budget and ahead of schedule. I just ran the numbers. I’ve saved you about two hundred thousand dollars.”

His eyebrows went up with that revelation. “How did you do that?” he asked, feeling better than he had in….well, Jade was in his arms and she wasn’t pulling away or giving him excuses as to why she had to run home. So he could honestly say that he’d never felt better than he did at this moment.

“I’m brilliant,” she laughed. “Okay, so not as brilliant as you, but still, I can wheel and deal almost as well as you can.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Jade, what’s going on?” he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and pulled back to look up at him. “I was talking to Dave at the coffee shop a few minutes ago,” she explained, preferring to be completely honest with him.

Angelo’s body stiffened. “You’re not going back to him, Jade. You’re mine! And you know it as well. You’d never be happy with him. Not after what we’ve shared.”

She laughed and hugged him tighter. “You’re right.” And then her eyes dropped to his mouth, her body shifting slightly as memories surged through her. “Why don’t you show me again?” she suggested, her voice telling him what she really wanted to convey.

Angelo’s body hardened even more. He took a deep breath, his mind trying to figure out what had come over her, but then her hands moved from his back to his chest, her fingers sliding up along the ridges of his stomach and he couldn’t think any longer.

“I have no idea what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth,” he said and