Ruthless Seduction: Pleasured in the Billionaire's Bed / The Ruthless Marriage Proposal

Lisa smiled at her son’s obvious delight. And his obeying her orders to go to bed without any further fuss. When she went upstairs five minutes later, his handsome little face was still beaming with happiness.

‘Goodnight and God bless,’ she murmured as she ruffled his soft blond hair, then bent to kiss him. ‘Love you.’

‘Love you, too, Mum,’ he said, making her heart squeeze tight.

Lisa supposed there were some rewards in being a mother. But it was hard, not having a partner to help with the parenting.

Not that Greg had been a firm father. He’d been way too soft with Cory. Way too soft with her as well. He’d let her run the show. And whilst Lisa liked being the boss of the household, there had been times when she’d wished Greg had taken the reins. In hindsight, he’d been a nice, but weak man. He should not have put up with her denying him sex…

When those old feelings of guilt threatened, Lisa pulled herself up sharply. The past was the past. No point in becoming maudlin over it.

As she always did when she started worrying about things, Lisa worked, mopping the kitchen floor and hanging out the washing which she’d put in the machine earlier. After that she went upstairs to the third bedroom, where she kept her iron and ironing board.

A lot of women hated ironing. But Lisa found it quite therapeutic. She ironed everything, enjoying seeing the neat piles of freshly pressed things set out on the spare bed. She was tackling Cory’s school shirts when the phone rang in her office, just across the hall. Knowing that the answering machine would pick up, she kept on ironing, keeping one ear open to see who it was. The office door was ajar and she could hear quite clearly. Her recorded voice came on first, asking the caller to leave a message after the beep.

When she heard Jack’s deep male voice come on to the line, she almost dropped the iron.

‘Jack Cassidy here, Lisa. Unfortunately, it seems I only have your business number. Hopefully, you’re home and check your messages on a regular basis. If so, please call me back some time tonight. You have my number. If I don’t hear from you by morning, I’ll have to ring Gail and find out your home or mobile number. I’m sure she’ll have it. If you don’t want me to do this—and I suspect you might not—then ring me. ASAP.’

After Jack had hung up, Lisa remained standing right where she was for several seconds, still gripping the iron mid-air. Her head had gone into a total whirl with his message, her heart racing like mad.

Eventually, she lowered the iron back onto its cradle, then sat down on the side of the bed whilst she assembled her scattered thoughts.

Somehow, she didn’t think Jack wanted her to call him to organise another cleaner to do his study. If he had, he would have simply said so.

He was going to ask her out again. She was sure of it!

Lisa could not understand why. A man like him could have his pick of women. Why pursue her?

‘Because you said no to him,’ she muttered out loud.

Lisa could think of no other reason.

Under any other circumstances, she would have ignored his call. Lisa didn’t like bully boys. But his threat to ring Gail in the morning was a worry. He was right. She wouldn’t like that. Gail would jump to all the wrong conclusions and start gossiping about her and Jack.

She had no alternative but to ring the infernal man. But she intended to put him in his place. And tell him in no uncertain terms that she didn’t appreciate being harassed, or threatened.

The thought of having a confrontation with him made her stomach churn. But it had to be done. And the sooner the better.

Steeling herself, Lisa stood up and marched across the hallway into her office. The piece of paper with Jack’s number on it was still in the top drawer of her desk, Lisa’s hand trembling slightly as she snatched up the phone.

He answered on the second ring, suggesting that he had been waiting for her call.

‘I’m so glad you rang,’ he said straight away in such a pleased voice that she felt some of her resentment drain away.

But her voice was still sharp.

‘What is it that you want, Jack?’

You, Jack was tempted to reply. But didn’t.

‘I wanted to give you the chance to change your mind about tomorrow night,’ came his diplomatic but still truthful reply.

He heard her sigh down the line. Unfortunately, it didn’t sound like a sigh of pleasure. Or surrender. ‘I won’t change my mind, Jack.’

‘Wait till you hear what I have to say.’

‘Very well.’

‘How long has it been since you’ve been taken out to dinner?’

Another exasperated sigh. ‘I told you. I don’t date.’

‘How long, Lisa?’

‘Over five years, I guess.’

‘And how long since you’ve had a night out in Sydney?’

‘About the same.’

Just as he had thought. She had to be one of the loneliest girls in the world. And ripe and ready for some male attention.

‘What if we don’t call tomorrow night a date? Would that help? What if you think of it as a favour to a business client?’

‘A favour?’

‘A big favour. You’ve no idea what it’s like going to these dos alone, Lisa. Which is what I’ll have to do if you don’t come with me.’

‘Why would you have to go alone? There must be scads of women of your acquaintance who’d be only too happy to go with you.’

‘Believe it or not, I’m not that social a guy. Or I haven’t been, since buying this place a couple months back. I’ve had my nose to the grindstone for weeks, finishing that damned book. Hardly been outside the door, except for the occasional surf, or shop. Trust me when I say there’s no one I could ask.’

‘I find it hard to believe you don’t have a little black book with loads of phone numbers in it.’

He did, actually. But he didn’t want to ring any of them. All of the women in that book paled in comparison to the very lovely, very intriguing and very challenging Mrs Chapman.

‘I think you’re mixing me up with Hal,’ Jack said. ‘He’s the one with the little black book.’

‘Oh.’

‘People do that a lot. Confuse me with Hal. Which is another reason why I want you to come with me tomorrow night. I get besieged by female fans at these awards dinners. He’s a very popular guy, old Hal. Now, if I have a beautiful blonde on my arm, I just might survive the night in one piece. They’ll take one look at you and know they don’t have a hope in Hades of getting my personal attention.’

‘I don’t know, Jack.’

A rush of adrenalin charged through his blood. She was wavering.

‘I promise I’ll be a perfect gentleman all evening. You won’t have to fight me off at the door.’