Millionaire Playboys: Paying the Playboy's Price

Anger flared in his eyes and he opened his mouth—to argue probably—but snapped it shut again when the youngest of the girls toddled into the kitchen. She wordlessly held up her arms. Rex set down his coffee mug and scooped her up. “Hey, sweet pea.”

The child popped a thumb in her mouth, laid her head on Rex’s shoulder and then twirled a strand of his hair around the fingers of her opposite hand. The absolute trust in the gesture and the gentle kiss he planted on the child’s crown brought a lump to Juliana’s throat.

“Liza, this is Juliana. She’s going to help me take care of you for a few days.”

A pair of dark eyes briefly met Juliana’s and then the child hid her face against Rex’s neck. The tiny fingers tangled in Rex’s hair wiggled in a wave and Juliana’s heart melted. “Hi, Liza.”

Juliana caught another peep from those shy eyes and smiled as she transferred the French toast onto plates. Kelly had told her Liza was three, Becky five and both girls adored their uncle. To hear Kelly talk last night, you’d think Rex was a big softie, but that wasn’t the man Juliana had encountered.

“The girls must spend a lot of time with you.”

He shrugged. “I try to help out when Mike’s deployed.”

An older girl bounced into the room and vaulted toward Rex. He caught her in his free arm so easily it was clear this was a common occurrence, and then he juggled a giggly girl on each hip. His smile nearly knocked Juliana’s legs out from under her.

Seeing the obvious affection between Rex and his nieces turned her thoughts in a decidedly untemporary direction. She quickly squelched the unwelcome feelings. She’d never been one to listen for the ticking of her biological clock, and she didn’t intend to start now. One month with the rebel was all she’d allow herself.

“This is Becky. Becky, Juliana is going to help out while Mom’s away. You’re going to spend the day at Juliana’s house with her nanny.”

“Hello, Becky.”

The older girl studied Juliana suspiciously and then asked Rex, “Why? Why can’t we stay here with you?”

“Because I have to work.”

She might not have much experience with children, but Juliana could see the protests forming on that pouty lip and decided to head them off. “My town house has a pool and a playground, and Irma, the lady who took care of me when I was your age, is very excited about having young ladies to help her bake cookies.”

Either the pool or the cookies did the trick. Both girls’ eyes brightened. If only their uncle was as easy to bring around. Juliana stifled a sigh.

She had a plan and she would stick to it regardless of this slight detour. Despite Rex’s avowed disinterest in a relationship, his kiss said otherwise, so her plan still had a chance. No one loved a tough case as much as she did, and she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet.

She faced her reluctant seducer. “I need a key to your apartment.”

And that, judging by Rex’s balky expression, was the last thing he wanted to give her.

Five (#ulink_3947921e-289b-586d-956d-352af5d8400e)

Rex’s life was spinning out of control—much like it had when he’d signed his first record deal, and others, his manager, his agent and the record company execs, had seized the wheel and started steering his life. He’d fought a long, hard battle to regain control, and he didn’t like being knocked off track now.

Last night he’d been shanghaied by Kelly and Juliana. Today, Irma, as grandmotherly a woman as he’d ever met, had shooed him out of the way the moment he and the girls had arrived. She’d whisked Becky and Liza into the kitchen to help her unpack the groceries. Juliana had disappeared upstairs to dress for work, leaving him to prowl around her living room and wonder what in the hell he’d gotten into. Not that he’d had a choice. He wouldn’t let Kelly down again.

Who was the real Juliana? The flirty siren who’d bought him at the auction, the innocent seductress who’d ridden his horse, the bold and sexy biker chick or the cautious woman who planned every detail and triple-checked everything? There were too many contradictions to count—contradictions that kept him off balance. He couldn’t plan a defense if he didn’t know his opponent.

Her living and dining rooms looked like something out of a magazine. Not fussy or cluttered, but decorated and comfortable. A soft toast-colored fabric covered the long sofa and matching chairs. The oversize furniture was the kind he could sink into and take a nap—which he sorely needed after tossing and turning on his shorter couch last night. A man could prop his boots on her wood-and-wrought-iron tables without worrying about scuffing the surface. The best part was that, other than a few colorful ceramic pieces on high shelves, Juliana didn’t have valuable knickknacks all over the place that the girls could break.

A noise made him turn. He looked up and saw legs—amazing, long, sexy legs—coming down the stairs. And then the rest of Juliana came into view. In her gray body-skimming suit, twisted-up hair and low-heeled shoes, she bore little resemblance to any of the versions of Juliana he’d encountered thus far. This woman looked like a bank employee. Cool. Collected. In charge. The tap of her heels on the hardwood floor as she crossed to a cabinet drew his attention back to her killer legs.

Damned if he didn’t find her sexy in a librarian kind of way. Not good. Not good at all.

She opened a drawer, withdrew something and then turned to face him. “Here’s a key to my house.”

Whoa. He backed up a step. Other than Kelly, he’d never given a woman keys to his place or even his truck. “Look, Juliana, I gave you my spare keys this morning because you and the girls need access to my apartment, but—”

“Yes, and it was clearly very painful for you,” she said with a dose of sarcasm.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t need a key to your house.”

“You will if you arrive before Irma in the mornings.”

“I won’t. I’ll make sure of it. But if I do, you can let me in.”

She shook her head and the tiny diamonds in her earlobes sparkled, drawing his attention to her delicate ears and the slender column of her neck above the collarless suit.

“That isn’t practical. You live closer to the bank, so it makes more sense for me to go straight to work from Renegade. The earlier I can get to work, the sooner I can leave to be with the girls. Irma’s thrilled to have them, but she’s seventy, and she’s worried that her stamina may not last a full day.”

The skin between his shoulder blades prickled. No way out. Going into a woman’s house without her…He suppressed a shudder. Swapping keys was way too intimate and smelled like a commitment. Commitments led to disappointments, and he’d already handed out more than his share of those. He wanted to unload Juliana and the unwelcome attraction for her, not add another loop to the rope temporarily binding them together.

Juliana reached out, grabbed his hand and pressed the key into his palm. She closed his fingers around the cool metal and squeezed. Her hands, wrapped securely around his, ignited desires he could not—would not—satisfy.

“Rex, it’s a key ring not an engagement ring. There are no strings or expectations attached. Quit being such a guy and take it.” She made being male sound like an insult. “I have to go. I’m running late.”

But several seconds ticked past before her fingers loosened and her hands fell away. From the rapid flutter of her pulse at the base of her neck, he guessed he wasn’t the only one feeling the heat generated by their exchange.

He cleared his throat. “I’ll drop Becky and Liza off about 9:30 or 10:00 each morning.”

She nodded. “I should be back by 6:00 at the latest. The girls and I will find you so you can tell them good night before I take them upstairs. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like. Irma makes great coffee.”

This was so much like playing house, it gave him the willies. Knowing his past and his weakness, thinking about building a domestic relationship with someone was a luxury he couldn’t afford. He backed up. “Right. See ya tonight.”

And then he bolted for the kitchen like a damned coward. Running from what he couldn’t have.

Wally Wilson was perfect for her on so many levels. So why couldn’t Juliana be happy with him and forget this last chance nonsense?

She looked across the table at her companion. Handsome in an understated, preppy way, Wally was blond, blue-eyed and reasonably fit. He kept his skin evenly tanned with weekly visits to the tanning salon. Every hair stayed in place thanks to his skilled barber, and wrinkles didn’t dare crease his suit.

No, women wouldn’t get whiplash or have hormone surges when he walked through a room, but he was stable, responsible and unfailingly polite. He liked order and so did she. In fact, they had so much in common. Background, business, ambition…

As detail-oriented as Wally appeared to be about everything else in his life, he would probably be a conscientious lover. According to her friends, Juliana owed it to herself to find out before marrying him, but the idea didn’t fill her with anticipation. Then again, she hated emotional displays. Life with Wally would be smooth sailing. No highs. No lows.

No fun?

She ignored that pesky inner voice and smiled at Wally. “Thank you for agreeing to switch our date from dinner to lunch on such short notice, Wally.”

“I’m always happy to accommodate your schedule, Juliana. What did you say came up?”

She hadn’t said and she didn’t understand her hesitation in revealing the situation now, but if she was seriously considering marrying him, then they shouldn’t have secrets between them. “I’m babysitting this evening.”

His brows lifted. “Babysitting? Have you ever babysat before?”