Holding on Tighter

  “Perhaps not,” he consoled, wrapping a gentle hand around her knee. “But even if that’s true, would you sleep with Gardner for the money? Because he made that ultimatum quite clear.”

  “Never. That’s not who I am, despite whatever moral compass Carrington Quinn thinks I inherited from him.” She took another long swallow from the bottle as if wanting to drown out thoughts of the man.

  “Your father?”

  She glared, her mouth in a stubborn line. “I prefer sperm donor.”

  Leave it to Jolie to say things as bluntly as possible. Then again, Heath rather liked that about her. “All right, then. When did you last see him?”

  “Until recently, I hadn’t seen him since I was five. Then about three months ago . . .” She gulped more wine, and booze began softening the edges of her words. “He showed up. It wasn’t long after the D Magazine article naming me one to watch in Dallas came out. I was speaking at a local Rotary Club function. When the presentation ended, I headed to the ladies room. He was waiting for me in the hall. Seeing him was such a shock, and I didn’t know what to say. All the careful speeches I’d planned in my head over the years evaporated.”

  “Of course. You weren’t braced.”

  “That shouldn’t matter.”

  He frowned. The woman was so damn hard on herself sometimes. “But it does.”

  She shrugged off his consolation. “He told me it was time to expand. I knew that but I resented the crap out of him telling me how to run my business.”

  “He’s some sort of executive mogul, isn’t he?” Heath had done his research.

  “Oh, yeah. Big ol’ bigwig. Upper East Side real estate coming out his ass.” She giggled. “Well, not literally. But that would be funny.”

  Jolie was a bit beyond slightly tipsy. Normally, Heath would stop her from imbibing more, but he suspected that she’d never confess why her father impacted her so much if she was completely sober. If he wanted to understand her, he needed to hear what came next. Besides, she’d earned a little mental vacation from all her stress, and if she chose to get pissed . . . well, he’d rather she do it where he could watch over her and keep her safe.

  “Comical, indeed,” he agreed. “So he told you to expand?”

  She snorted. “Yeah. Fucking bastard. First, he told me that I’d been delusional to believe that men smart enough to make hundreds of millions of dollars would invest in a pretty young woman expanding into a complex global operation. Most, of course, would just want a piece of my ass. So unless I didn’t mind whoring myself, he said I would never accomplish my expansion without him. He told me the glass ceiling wasn’t a myth and that, without spreading my legs for others or putting him at the helm, I had no hope. Either way, I was a foolish girl and I should stop swinging for the fences.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” Heath wanted to wring the misogynist’s neck.

  “Of course it is. Women have successfully helmed companies like Kraft, PepsiCo, and DuPont. They’ve led countries. I told him I didn’t see why I couldn’t be a leader simply because I didn’t have half my brains dangling between my legs.”

  Heath smiled, picturing it. “What was his reaction?”

  “To ignore me, just like he has for the last twenty-five years. Where was he all that time, while Mom worked three jobs to make ends meet? When I was little, she used to stock shelves at a grocery store down the street from midnight til five A.M. She left me alone in our crappy little trailer to do it. A lot of people have judged her for that. But we didn’t have family who could watch me. We needed the money to eat. Carrington Quinn sat fifteen hundred miles away in his posh apartment, sipping Cristal—or whatever the hell he drinks—not caring one whit if I was unsupervised all night or starving. So he can kiss my ass.”

  Heath couldn’t agree more. And he understood now precisely why Jolie had sought a silent partner, so that when she succeeded, her father would know all the brain power behind Betti had been hers.

  “He didn’t pay child support?”

  “The bare minimum. When he and my mother divorced, he had all the high-powered attorneys. She’d signed a prenuptial agreement, so what little she got went to pay her lousy lawyer.” Jolie rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe he had the nerve to tell me after that Rotary meeting that he was proud of what I’d managed to accomplish as a mere female.”

  Despite his ancient views and lack of tact, had the man meant to make amends? Or had he merely sought to belittle her in the hopes that she’d second-guess herself enough to turn over her budding empire to him? Either way, Heath was furious on Jolie’s behalf.

  As he pulled into Jolie’s condo complex and killed the engine, he turned and watched her tip the wine up to her mouth again, the bottom of the bottle nearly brushing the roof of the car’s interior.

  She’d polished off the whole bloody thing?

  Yanking it away, she slumped back against the seat and tried unsuccessfully to slot the bottle in the too-small cup holder. When she cursed, he took it from her and leaned in to kiss her forehead.

  “I’m sorry he was an ass. But anything he said would have been too little too late, right?” At her miserable nod, his heart went out to her. “C’mon, let’s get you inside.”

  Heath climbed out of the car, then helped Jolie back into her shoes and onto her feet. She staggered, and he eased her across the lot, toward her unit.

  “Way too late.” She emphasized her point with a nod. “Saying he was proud, despite the fact I lacked a penis, was probably the nicest thing he’d ever said to me. Of course, he killed any warm fuzzies I had for him by telling me next that I was in over my head. But he’d do me the ‘favor’ of investing in Betti so he could take over. I could still be in charge of creative, of course. But since I wasn’t equipped to run with the big boys and ensure my company reached its fullest potential, I would probably crumble without him.”

  Prick. Jolie had built this company from the ground up, with the leftover funds from her student loans and the money she’d scraped together while working odd jobs in school. She had more than enough intelligence and gumption to grow her company and fulfill her dreams.

  Heath opened the condo door, then eased her inside, locking up behind him and flipping on lights before he herded her toward the bedroom. She tripped on her own feet. He caught her, but she righted herself. Fury probably kept her going.

  “I take it you turned him down?”

  She scoffed. “Oh, I told him to go fuck himself. I promised I’d take Betti to the next level without him or a dime of his money.”

  As they made it into the bedroom, she stripped off her dress and tossed it to the floor. She stood before him wearing a bra, a thong, and a killer pair of heels. It was completely the wrong time . . . but Heath couldn’t stop the bomb of desire from detonating inside him. Yes, he always wanted her. Had from the moment he’d laid eyes on her. But this was different. He wanted her not merely because she was beautiful—though she was. He wanted her not merely because he knew how explosive the chemistry between them was—more powerful than he’d ever imagined. No, he wanted her because he was seeing the real her, the vulnerable woman underneath the businesslike facade. He understood now where her ambition had come from. He could see the determination and moxie not just to succeed but to thrive, to be her most successful self. And he admired the hell out of her for that.

  “I can’t fail. I can’t,” she wailed, her frame crumpling. “A-all my life, I told myself that I would succeed, that I wouldn’t have to scrape by like my mother, that I would someday prove to Carrington Quinn that he was wrong about me.”

  As Heath rushed to pull her into his arms, Jolie lifted her face to his. The sight of her tears hit him like a visceral blow to the chest. She never willingly made herself vulnerable. Was it an indication of their growing bond . . . or just her momentary vulnerability? Heath ached to make her world right. “You’re the smartest, most amazing woman I’ve ever known.”

  Her face fell, her bottom lip trembling. “Why
did I have to prove that I had potential? Isn’t a father supposed to love his daughter? I tell myself that he was the deficient one. He had to be, right? What sort of man tells a five year-old that she was his stupidest trailer park mistake?”

  Until now, Heath thought Quinn had merely ignored Jolie over the years and she’d resented him for it. But this was so much worse. Fury fired in his belly. “Whatever he said to make you feel unworthy is utter crap. Do you hear me? Despite the way he phrased his acquisition proposal, you earned his respect—”

  “I don’t want it!”

  He suspected that, deep down, she did. And the fact that she’d even unconsciously sought it only upset her more. But he wasn’t about to refute her. The elder Quinn wasn’t important. Jolie was.

  “I know, love. Forget him. Forget Gardner, too.”

  “I can’t. Carrington called me last week to say that he intended to visit me in the next two weeks to discuss a takeover. He can’t have Betti. That’s my dream. I’ve worked damn hard for it.”

  Quinn had stripped away her dignity as a child, making her feel undeserving and unwanted. She’d spent twenty-five years overcoming his slight. And now the man intended to take her dignity again?

  Over Heath’s dead body.

  “You don’t have to sell to him.”

  “I’ve already started some of the expansion plans and now I’m a bit overleveraged. I knew it was a risk, but if I can work it out, the rewards will be amazing. I just need a year or two to realize Betti’s full potential.” Her shoulders slumped again, and this time he read defeat. “Since Gardner wanted what he saw as easy vagina more than he wanted to make a profit, I have no idea where my capital injection will come from now.”

  “We’ll figure it out tomorrow, love. Why don’t you lie down?” He angled her onto the bed, and for once, she did as he bid without argument. “How’s your stomach? You didn’t eat a thing. Can I get you a bite?”

  She didn’t answer, just looked at him with a puzzled expression. “I was a bitch when you first came to work for me because I wasn’t sure how to respond when the attraction between us was so strong. Why are you being nice?”

  Because she could use a break. Because she deserved it. Because he wanted to give her the world. “I like to see you smile. And maybe I’ve discovered that I quite like a bit of bitchy in my woman. Would you eat soup, if I promise not to make it split pea?”

  She shook her head and tossed a careless arm above her head, onto her pillow. “I don’t need food. Would you . . .” She sighed and looked as if she grappled for words. “Would you just lie here with me?”

  “Of course.” Heath shucked his shoes and shrugged out of his suit coat, draping it across a nearby chair. Then he lifted her sheet and slid in beside her, bringing her soft body against him. “That better?”

  “Yeah.” Jolie laid her head on his chest, closed her eyes, and relaxed against him. “I have to come up with a whole new plan. I have to shake some trees, find some investors—”

  “Don’t worry about it tonight. Why don’t you take a shower and get ready for bed? I’ll find you some water and an aspirin because I think you’re going to have a doozy of a hangover.”

  “You said ‘doozy.’ That’s funny.” She laughed. “You know you’re wonderful.”

  “I try.”

  “You’re good at everything. I mean everything . . .”

  Now she amused him. Heath didn’t imagine for a moment that this debacle was over. In the morning, she’d be on a rampage to combat Gardner if he tried to discredit her, as he’d threatened. And to counter whatever nasty tricks Carrington Quinn might have up his sleeve.

  For now, Heath parried in a tone that matched her lightness of mood. “That’s nice to hear. Let me know whenever you need a reminder of some of my more singular talents.”

  Her smile turned wry. “I’ll bet when you came to work for me you never pictured crazy crushes, sister drama, lecherous investors, or a crying boss.”

  “I’m afraid those are generally out of my wheelhouse, yes. But it’s good to know I’m keeping up.”

  “You don’t regret anything?”

  Heath knew she meant the two of them. Jolie must be feeling off-balance, indeed, to expose her tender heart enough to ask that question. She was too smart not to realize he might say something terribly crushing. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d endured verbal cruelty. Yet she simply kept showing him her backbone.

  “Not one thing,” he vowed softly.

  “Good.” She curled up to him like a kitten, and Heath had no illusions about how often she showed any man her soft side. He understood perfectly well why.

  He curled his arms around her tighter.

  “Me, either,” she added. “Well, I regret letting my sperm donor get under my skin so that a stupid cocktail conversation I had with Richard Gardner a few weeks back made me decide working with him would be a great idea. And I regret that I hurt Karis’s feelings by having sex with you the first time. I’m probably really going to regret the bottle of wine tomorrow. But even if this ends badly—you and I—I don’t think I can regret you.”

  From Jolie, those were words of affection. He wasn’t quite sure whether knowing she reciprocated his feelings should make him happy or scare the hell out of him. But like everything else about this connection with her, his heart decided for him.

  Heath skated his fingertips down the lean curve of her shoulder, then made his way to her waist and glided over her hip. “You really should sleep, love.”

  She sighed and lifted her head with a seeking stare. She wanted something and he wasn’t quite sure what. Affection? Reassurance?

  “Sleep will be nice . . . eventually. Right now I’d rather you take your pants off and get inside me.”

  Chapter Ten

  Rule for success number ten:

  Sometimes you have to take risks.

  HEATH froze and raised a brow at Jolie. Just when he thought he had the woman figured out, she surprised him again.

  “Take off my pants and get inside you, is it? That sounds a bit like workplace harassment,” he teased.

  “You can sue me.” She rose above him and doffed her bra, freeing her breasts in a bounce that stole his breath. Her nipples tightened. A sweet flush was already creeping up her skin. “Or make love to me.”

  Before he could answer, Jolie laid into the buttons of his shirt. Her coordination wasn’t close to perfect since she was still a bit tipsy. And maybe he should stop her, wait for her to sober up, and ensure that she was making a responsible decision, et cetera. Doing that would be the worst mistake. He wouldn’t lament the loss of sex. All right, he would. But he’d mourn the loss of this moment when her defenses were down; when she ached to be her raw, honest self; when she needed him to hold her.

  “Suing you sounds like a dreadful amount of paperwork. Besides, I hate lawyers.” He helped Jolie with the last of the buttons and peeled off his shirt. “Too argumentative and expensive.”

  She nodded as she peeled off her knickers. “They never tell the truth. I had one on staff. He specialized in human resources. I fired him. He wrote Betti’s cyber anti-porn policies, then proceeded to violate them in spectacular fashion. After seeing that video he downloaded, I’d never eat at that kitchen table again. Just eww . . .”

  This sexy, complex woman sometimes frustrated him. She always tied him up in knots. But she never bored him. “Indeed. Do I want to know?”

  “No.” She shook her head emphatically. “Why would people do something so depraved with peanut butter and ricotta cheese?”

  He laughed and shucked his pants, dropping them to the floor, unable to remember the last time he’d been this happy. Not getting by. Not somewhat content. Actually sublimely thrilled to be alive.

  “I shudder at the thought,” he murmured. “So if I’m not going to sue you, I suppose I’ll simply have to make love to you.”

  “Yeah.” She sat beside him, her hip propped against his, and leaned over his chest. “Let’s s
ee if we can make you shudder about something else.”

  Desire razed through him as she bent and took his cock in her mouth. She sucked with a desperation to be close to him. She caressed his thighs, cupped his balls, moaned in appreciation. She worshipped him.

  Heath tossed his head back and hissed. No man in his right mind didn’t love a warm mouth wrapped around him but this . . . He gripped the sheets. Jolie Quinn stunned him. It wasn’t that she gave the best head he’d ever had. She simply gave the most sincere. Anna had done it to please him. The hookups with whom he’d bothered to share more than the standard screw had wanted to dazzle him with their “skills.” Jolie simply wanted to be with him, to give him a part of herself. He felt the difference.