Californian Kings: Conquering King's Heart

She frowned, chewed at her bottom lip and finally admitted, “I feel as if I’m walking into enemy territory.”

“Expecting an ambush?”

She whipped her long, thick, brown hair out of her way and stared up at him. “Honestly, I don’t know what to expect.”

“Well, then,” Jesse said, enjoying her nervousness a bit, “let’s get started and satisfy your curiosity.”

He led her through the door and paused just inside the threshold. A receptionist’s desk sat just opposite the door and the woman seated there was busily answering a phone that rang incessantly. Smiling at the woman, Jesse walked past her to the elevator bank, pushed the button and waited, still holding on to Bella as if he were worried that she’d bolt.

But she didn’t. She stood there with an expression that made him think of martyrs about to be burned at the stake. He wished she would smile. Amazing how this one badly dressed woman could get to him so easily.

Over the last few days though, his mind had been filling in some blanks. Now that he knew who his mystery woman was, his memory of that night three years ago was becoming clearer. He could see her face now, as she’d looked in the moonlight. He could hear her voice, sighing. And he damn well remembered that she hadn’t dressed like a Hungarian peasant back in the day. So he couldn’t help wondering why she was dressing that way now.

Only one way to find out. “So, want to tell me why you wear those shapeless clothes?”

“Excuse me?” She turned her face up to his.

He waved one hand to encompass her loose, pale green shirt and flowing, floor-length yellow skirt. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. After all, he was trying to charm and seduce her, not piss her off further. But dammit, he’d seen the body she had hidden underneath all that fabric and he couldn’t understand why she was so determined to disguise it. Especially, he thought, since she hadn’t before. He distinctly remembered her wearing faded jeans and a low-necked, body-hugging T-shirt.

She flushed and Jesse was charmed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a woman blush. But her one moment of embarrassment was gone an instant later. Her dark eyes flashed as she said, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I like wearing natural fabrics.”

He should have backed off, but couldn’t help himself. “Natural, sure. But why…” He shook his head, clearly baffled.

The elevator chimed, the doors hissed open and Bella stepped inside. Turning around sharply, she lifted her chin, glared at him and said, “I stopped wearing formfitting clothes three years ago when I discovered it attracted men who were interested in only one thing.”

In the harsh, overhead glare of the fluorescent lights, she looked ferocious and proud. Like a female Viking. And Jesse felt a shot of admiration rip through him, along with a quick flash of shame. Because of him, she was dressing like a refugee from a rag factory? She was hiding that glorious body because he’d slept with her and disappeared from her life?

Vaguely disgusted with himself, he walked into the elevator beside her and punched the second-floor button. Strange, but until this moment, he’d never before considered what a woman thought of him after their time together was over. He’d always enjoyed himself, made sure his lady of the moment had a good time and then he’d moved on.

Uneasiness settled over him as he wondered how many other women he might have left wounded in his wake. He’d never thought of himself as a hurting women kind of guy. Hell, he liked women. But now…he had to wonder.

Still, he felt compelled to say something, so he said, “I don’t think your strategy’s working.”

“Really?” she asked, her voice just carrying over the distantly annoying Muzak playing over the speakers. “I haven’t been bothered by unwanted men in three years.”

He found that hard to believe. “Then the men in this town are blind or extremely shortsighted and probably stupid to boot, so you’re better off without them.”

“Is that right?” She glanced up at him from beneath long, dark lashes.

“Damn straight,” he told her, meeting her gaze squarely. Fine. He’d messed up. But that was in the past. And she might as well know that whatever she was wearing, she got to him on levels no one else ever had.

“The clothes are ugly, I grant you. But they don’t disguise your eyes. Or your mouth.” He lifted one hand and smoothed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. She pulled her head back quickly, and he smiled, shaking his head. “And even if you’d been dressed like this three years ago…I still would have noticed you.”

She blinked at him, obviously surprised, and Jesse felt like a jerk. For the first time in his life, he was faced with a woman he’d used and walked away from. And for the first time in his life, he regretted what he’d done. A new experience for him. And not an entirely comfortable one.

The elevator opened, sparing them both from having to continue the conversation. A buzz of activity and conversation rolled toward them in a thick wave and Jesse smiled. He may not have started out as a businessman, but he certainly enjoyed the sights and sounds of his success. He knew all too well that it was because of him that this company was growing beyond all imaginings. And he had a real sense of pride in what he’d accomplished in a few short years.

“Come on, Bella,” he said, holding out one hand toward her and smiling. “Let me show you around the enemy camp.”

She glanced from him to the room and back again before reluctantly slipping her hand into his and following him out into the middle of organized chaos. Phones were ringing, printers were hissing as they shot sheet after sheet of paper onto trays and the low rumble of dozens of conversations almost sounded like the roar of the ocean.

He walked her through King Beach like a king overseeing his estate. He made sure she saw all the latest technology and the swarms of people he had handling sales, marketing and publicity. Really getting into his spiel, Jesse pointed out the wall maps with the locations of the hundreds of King Beach stores and turned to bask in her admiration.

But Bella wasn’t watching him or his presentation. Instead, she was marching up and down the aisles, peeking into cubicles and rummaging in trash cans.

“What are you doing?” he asked, coming up behind her.

She straightened, spun around and faced him, holding an empty soda can aloft as if it were a gold nugget she’d scraped out of the earth. “Look at this! You don’t even recycle!”

A muffled snort of laughter came from the guy whose cubicle had been invaded, but one steely look from Jesse ended his amusement fast. Everything he’d shown her. Everything he’d done to try to impress her hadn’t meant a thing. No, she focused on empty soda cans. He admired her passion. She practically vibrated with it, and he wanted nothing more than to see it up close and personal again. Hell, there she stood, telling him off and his body was more than ready for her. Was it any wonder she fascinated him?

“Sure we recycle, Bella,” he said, his voice patient. He shook his head and looked into her eyes, fired now with righteous indignation. “It’s just not done up here. The janitorial staff handles it every night.”

“Of course they do,” she mumbled, dropping the can back into the trash, then glaring at him. “You hire someone to do the right thing for you rather than making the effort to do it yourself.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” she said, her voice low, but vehement. “You don’t care what your company does as long as there’s a healthy bottom line. You don’t even ask your employees to recycle. How hard would it be to put two trash cans into every cubicle? Is it really so difficult to take personal responsibility for what your company produces?”

The resident of the cubicle hunched his shoulders, lowered his head and started typing, actively trying to ignore both of them. Jesse shook his head again, took Bella’s arm and drew her out of the cubicle. He was not going to defend himself to her in front of his employees.

When they were far enough away from curious ears, he said, “In case you hadn’t noticed, those cubicles are too small to cram much more into them.”

“Easy excuse.”

“What does it matter how the recycling gets done as long as it is done?”

“It’s the principle of the thing,” she muttered, folding her arms beneath her breasts and unintentionally, he was sure, outlining them nicely.

“The principle. So it’s not recycling. It’s having me recycle.”

She frowned.

“I hire people to do that job.”

“Hmph.”

“Okay,” Jesse said, leaning in closer to her, bending low so that he could look directly into her eyes. “Would it make you feel better if I fired the entire janitorial staff and did it all myself? Would that make the world a better place for you, Bella? Putting twenty people out of work? Does that help the environment?”

She was scowling now and her mouth was working as if there were words locked behind her grimly closed lips fighting to get out. But after a few long seconds, her shoulders slumped, her mouth relaxed and she huffed out a breath. “All right, I suppose I can see your point.”

Jesse grinned. She might be a hard case, but she could admit when she was wrong, which was more than he could say for a lot of people. She didn’t look at all happy about seeing his point, but that didn’t matter. She had seen it.

“I think I’m having a moment, here. I’ve just scored a point off Bella Cruz.”

She snorted.

He held up a hand, grinned even more broadly and said, “Wait. Not finished relishing. I want to enjoy the glory of this small victory.” Seconds ticked past, then with a deep breath said, “Okay, I’m done.”