A Will and a Way

she resisted him and herself and what could happen between them.
    “Michael…” But she let her fingers linger in his hair for just a minute more. “This isn’t smart.”
    He kissed her eyes closed. It was something no one had done before. “It’s the smartest thing either of us has done in years.”
    She wanted to agree, felt herself on the edge of agreeing. “Michael, things are complicated enough. If we were lovers and things went wrong, how could we manage to go on here together? We’ve made a commitment to Uncle Jolley.”
    “The will doesn’t have a damn thing to do with you and me in this bed.”
    How could she have forgotten just how intense he could look when he was bent on something? How was it she’d never noticed how attractive it made him? She’d have to make a stand now or go under. “The will has everything to do with you and me in this house. If we go to bed together and our relationship changes, then we’ll have to deal with all the problems and complications that go with it.”
    “Name some.”
    “Don’t be amusing, Michael.”
    “Giving you a laugh wasn’t my intention.” He liked the way she looked against the pillow—hair spread out like wildfire, cheeks a bit flushed, her mouth on the edge of forming a pout. Strange he’d never pictured her this way before. It didn’t take any thought to know he’d picture her like this again and again. “I want you, Pandora. There’s nothing amusing about it.”
    No, that wasn’t something she could laugh or shrug off, not when the words brushed over her skin and made her muscles limp. He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t mean it. But she wanted to believe it. If she couldn’t laugh it off, she had to throw up aguard and block it. “Becoming lovers is something that takes a lot of thought. If we’re going to discuss it—”
    “I don’t want to discuss it.” He pressed his lips against hers until he felt her body soften. “We’re not making a corporate merger, Pandora, we’re making love.”
    “That’s just it.” She fought back an avalanche of longing. Be practical. It was her cardinal rule. “We’re business partners. Worse, we’re family business partners, at least for the next few months. If we change that now it could—”
    “If,” he interrupted. “It could. Do you always need guarantees?”
    Her brows drew together as annoyance competed with desire. “It’s a matter of common sense to look at all the angles.”
    “I suppose you have any prospective lover fill out an application form.”
    Her voice chilled. It was, in a distorted way, close to the truth. “Don’t be crude, Michael.”
    Pushed to the limit, he glared down at her. “I’d rather be crude than have your brand of common sense.”
    “You’ve never had any brand of common sense,” she tossed back. “Why else would every busty little blonde you’ve winked at be public knowledge? You don’t even have the decency to be discreet.”
    “So that’s it.” Shifting, Michael drew her into a sitting position. There was no soft yielding now. She faced him with fire in her eyes. “Don’t forget the brunettes and the redheads.”
    She hadn’t. She promised herself she wouldn’t. “I don’t want to discuss it.”
    “You brought it up, and we’ll finish it. I’ve gone to bed with women. So put me in irons. I’ve even enjoyed it.”
    She tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “I’m sure you have.”
    “And I haven’t had a debate with every one of them beforehand. Some women prefer romance and mutual enjoyment.”
    “Romance?” Her brows shot up under her tousled hair. “I’ve always had another word for it.”
    “You wouldn’t recognize romance if it dropped on your head. Do you consider it discreet to take lovers and pretend you don’t? To pledge undying fidelity to one person while you’re looking for another? What you want to call discretion, I call hypocrisy. I’m not ashamed of any of the women I’ve known, in bed or out.”
    “I’m not interested in what you are or aren’t ashamed of. I’m not going to be your next mutual enjoyment. Keep your passion for your dancers and starlets and chorus girls.”
    “You’re as big a snob as the rest of them.”
    That hit home and had her shoulders stiffening. “That’s not true. I’ve simply no intention of joining a crowd.”
    “You flatter me, cousin.”
    “There’s another word for that, too.”
    “Think about this.” He gave her a shake, harder than he’d intended.