How To Seduce An Heiress: The Reluctant Heiress / Pride After Her Fall / Project: Runaway Heiress

Through the night they made love and at dawn she fell asleep in his arms. Sometime later, she stirred and looked down at Garrett. The sheet was across his waist, leaving his chest bare. Even in sleep, his looks fascinated her.

She had no regrets. Garrett excited her more than any man she had ever known. He was intelligent, interesting, fun to be with, exceedingly sexy. She thought she could still keep her heart intact as long as she ended the intimacy when they returned to their regular lives in Texas.

But could she do that? She was realistic enough to know that she was not wildly in love. She was certain she could say no to intimacy.

She leaned down to kiss his shoulder so lightly her lips barely brushed him. His arm circled her waist, pulling her down against him as he slowly opened his eyes. He rolled over while she opened her mouth to tell him good morning. Before she could say a word he kissed her and all conversation was lost.

It was almost two hours later when he held her in his arms while sunshine spilled into the room.

“I have a suggestion for the day,” he said. “I’ll cook breakfast and then we can ski. Or I’ll cook breakfast and then we’ll stay right here in the cabin.”

She laughed. “I say we cook breakfast and ski because that’s what we came here to do. And we’ve been loving it up for hours.”

“And I’m ready to love it up some more,” he said, rolling over on top of her to end their discussion.

He finally cooked breakfast at one. They ate beside a window with a view of the mountains that surrounded the small town.

“Do we have time to ski for an hour?”

“Of course,” he replied, looking amused. “It’s my plane. We can ski for three hours if you want, or longer.”

“One hour will be sufficient and then I’ll be ready to go back to Texas.”

“One hour it is. But there’s no need to rush back to Texas.”

“Garrett, it’s over.”

He paused, gazing into her eyes. He cocked his head to one side. “Don’t make up your mind hastily. You might change how you feel.”

She shook her head. “No. Last night was special and I wanted it to be with you, but we won’t pursue it because that could to lead to heartbreak. I’m not taking that chance.”

“You’re scared to live, Sophia.” His gray eyes darkened slightly. He looked away and a muscle worked in his jaw, a more intense reaction than she would have expected. For an instant, anger flashed like a streak of lightning and then was gone.

“Maybe I’m just exercising caution and waiting for a deep, true love. This weekend was a brief idyll in my steady life.”

“You’re an artist and I doubt if there is any way you can describe your life as ‘steady.’”

“Let’s clean up and go ski.”

“I have someone who will come in and clean after we’re gone. We’ll spend our time on the slopes.”

She hurried to dress, thinking about their conversation and wondering if she could stick by her declarations. She had never expected to have this night of love and yet she had made the decision clearly and rationally and she had no regrets.

But she began to wonder: Was one of the consequences of her actions last night falling in love with Garrett?

She mulled over the question, unable to answer it. She didn’t feel the same toward him as she had before they’d made love for hours. And to her surprise, the night simply made her want to be with him more, not less. Could she stand by her resolutions, do what she knew she should do?

Could she avoid a heartbreak with Garrett? Or was she blindly ignoring the truth that she might be falling in love with him already?

Or, more likely, that she had fallen in love with him that first night she met him?

They skied and returned to his condo by five after eating burgers on the way back. Garrett made a call to his pilot. “He’ll be ready. I told him we can be there by six.”

“I can be ready in just a few minutes. After all, I didn’t bring much.”

“I’ll call him back and make it thirty minutes from now. Or maybe I won’t,” he said, his voice dropping. He tossed his phone on a table and crossed to take her into his arms, holding her tightly as he kissed her.

Their passionate kiss lengthened until clothes flew and they made love again with a desperate haste.

By seven, they were airborne. She looked below as twinkling lights disappeared and the night swallowed the plane.

“Garrett, it was a wonderful weekend,” she said.

He leaned close to kiss her briefly. When he straightened up, he met her gaze. “It was a wonderful weekend,” he repeated. “An unforgettable one, Sophia. I hope we have more unforgettable moments together. A lot more,” he said.

“I don’t think that will happen,” she said. “We’ve both avoided any lasting relationship so I don’t expect one to happen now.”

“The heart is unpredictable.”

“You sound like a romantic,” she said, amused.

“That’s the first time in my life I’ve ever been accused of being a romantic.”

“Maybe I see a different side to you.”

He smiled at her.

“When will you let me paint your portrait?”

“I’d love to have anything you paint, except a painting with myself as the subject. I can’t exactly see hanging it in my house.”

“Everyone should have a portrait painted. It’s for posterity. You’ll change your mind, and when you do, remember that I’d like to paint it. You have an interesting face.”

“Another first. I’ve never heard that before either. I think you’re seeing different things in me from what everyone else sees.”

“I see good things.”

“Sophia, listen. I want to be in your life for a long time.”

“I’m all for continuing to get to know each other, Garrett,” she said carefully.

He leaned close, placing his hands on both arms of her chair. “I hope you never change your mind,” he said, startling her with his sincerity, a look of deep sorrow on his face.

“What is it, Garrett?”

He sat back and smiled at her, looking himself again. “I just hope we can keep spending time together.”

While they talked, she thought about the past twenty-four hours and was still amazed at how her life had taken an unexpected turn since meeting Garrett.