Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 281 - 19

Chapter 281: Chapter 19

Rayne’s lavender suitcase lay at the foot of the bed, packed and ready to be carried. From the white sofa in the sitting room, she idly petted Eric’s head while she stared at that piece of luggage and nervously tried to recapture the emotions she’d had last night, emotions that had made it seem completely appropriate and perfectly right for her to agree to spend the night with Liam.

This morning, what she was planning to do seemed a little insane and completely stupid.

She thought about how overjoyed she had felt last night when Liam walked up behind her in the garden and held her waist while he answered all of her questions.

In retrospect, she had apparently become totally smitten with a man merely because he’d been reluctantly willing to mention a few things about his personal life and to reveal the languages he spoke. That made no sense at all.

Obviously, she’d been absurdly affected by the setting they were in—the setting, combined with his fantastic good looks and the fact that she’d once had a crush on him, had evidently seduced her—which was exactly what he had intended to happen.

From early in the evening, he’d made it crystal clear that seduction was on his mind, he’d said it himself that he did intend to seduce her.

Even the way he kissed was deliberately seductive. Those slow, stirring kisses that turned hot and demanding—the suggestive way he’d held her hips clamped against his rigid thighs, and his hands skillfully creasing her breast like something he’d done a thousand times before while he kissed her.

That was kissing with a single-minded, unmistakable goal, she realized now. He’d done everything with the intentions to take her to bed and then after that... abandoned her like a piece of banana peels. However, she was not foolish enough to feel honor-bound to sleep with him just because she’d agreed to do it last night.

When she woke up this morning, nothing they did last night seemed as exciting as it had been the night before. In the light of day, she knew she couldn’t go through with sleeping with him while still in a relationship that hadn’t yet ended. Even though Max wasn’t in the picture, was she willing to subject herself to a one-night fling that could forever cause her heartache whenever she thought about it?

Last night, after Liam left, she’d been too nervous and excited to sleep, so she’d sorted through the clothes she’d brought with her to the island club, trying to put together outfits that would be exactly right, no matter what Liam decided they should do while they were together.

By the time she was finished, it was nearly four AM and several outfits were neatly laid out beside her suitcase including shoes, handbags, and accessories. The only thing she hadn’t decided on was what she should be wearing when he arrived to pick her up and how to wear her hair.

This morning, she’d been too preoccupied to worry about her appearance. Instead of fussing with her hair, she’d pulled it up into a ponytail, and she’d chosen the first articles of clothing she noticed when she opened her closet door—a pair of jeans, a mint green short sleeved cropped shirt,

and a pair of sneakers.

With a nervous sigh, Rayne leaned down and rubbed the short hair on Eric’s head.

"This is all your fault," she pursed her lips. "Just because he helped me rescue you, I felt obliged to sleep with him—"She broke off as three short, solid knocks sounded on the villa’s front door. Her heart missed a beat as she knew without a doubt who it was.

She glanced at her wrist watch. It was exactly eleven o’clock. She was out of her seating position in a flash. Anxiously, she wiped her sweaty palms against her pants and began to head towards the door.

Eric rolled to his feet and walked beside her, trailing the makeshift leash she’d created by tying two belts together from the white robes the hotel provided to its guests.

With her hand on the doorknob, Rayne hesitated, nervously bracing herself to confront the handsome man she’d agreed, in a moment of obvious insanity to spend the night with.

She fixed a bright smile on her face, and on the chance that he intended to kiss her hello, she purposely took few steps backward while pulling the door open.

Liam’s tall, wide-shouldered frame loomed in the doorway. Clad in casual black slacks and an expensive-looking navy blue knit T-shirt that deepened his tan and made his arms look even more muscular and strong, the shirt outlined the details of his solid, well-built chest. She swallowed hard as she took in his looks. He looked immortally handsome and incredibly sexy.

Rayne took another cautious step backward to avoid him, knowing if he touched her, she might end up melting into him like she had last night.

"You’re right on time," she said brightly.

He paused momentarily, measuring the distance she’d carefully put between them; then he lifted knowing dark eyes to hers and slowly walked inside.

"Being on time is one of my few good traits," he replied with a shrug, glancing casually around the room.

Rayne watched him register her lavender suitcase lying on the bed side; then he transferred his attention to the dog who was directly in front of him. "How is Eric?"

"He seems to be in a good condition this morning," Rayne replied, looking at the bag in Liam’s hand. "I hope you have a leash and collar in there. I had to tie together two belts from bathrobes to take him outside this morning."

"I noticed. He looks like he’s escaped from a spa," he joked, handing the bag to her.

Memories of the laughter they’d shared last night came flooding back, drowning out some of the uneasy unfamiliarity Rayne had felt all morning.

"I’ll lock the doors for you," Liam volunteered already walking toward the terrace.

"That’s very kind of you," Rayne said to his back as she unrolled the top of the flat, almost weightless paper bag.

"I couldn’t find a store that sold leashes and I ran out of time, so I bought those instead," he said, walking outside to pull the terrace glass door close.

From the bag, Rayne pulled out two of the most garish neckties she’d ever seen, one with palm trees and the other with little drawings of cats in neon orange on an electric green background.

Smiling to herself at how colorful the neckties were, she crouched in front of Eric, hiding him from Liam’s view, and quickly took off the makeshift leash.

Her fingers moved quickly as she tied the palm-tree necktie around Eric’s neck in a Windsor knot. She glanced over her shoulder as Liam pulled the terrace curtains over the glass doors he’d just closed.

Moments later, she straightened the ends of the necktie with a skilled tug. She then took her sunglasses off her head and placed them on Eric’s head, giving him a reassuring pat to keep him from shaking them off.

"Now he looks more like a tourist with those colorful ties," Rayne said as Liam stopped right behind her. Turning around while still remaining crouched down, she gave him a clear view of Eric.

"At least the ties are light," Liam started, then burst out laughing when he saw the dog with sunglasses. He looked down at Rayne with warm eyes and a lazy grin. "Very clever of you,"

Rayne stood up slowly, smiling back at him, her eyes locked with his and she suddenly felt the spell of the night before begin to wrap itself around them.

He obviously felt it too, because he slipped his hands around her waist in a light caress and pulled her to him, and his deep voice acquired a husky, intimate note. "Hi, little red," he said, smiling into her eyes as he slowly began to lean towards her lips.

"Hi," Rayne whispered back, fighting to keep the heat of color that rushed up her face and neck at his words.

The room’s telephone rang, and she jumped back, startled; then she looked guiltily at it, knowing Max was the one calling.

Liam glanced at the ringing phone, mentally grimacing at the boyfriend’s irritating sense of timing. Instead of kissing her as he’d intended to do, he dropped his hands and said, "Let’s get out of here."

Rayne nodded and bent down to remove Eric’s necktie; then she knotted it together with the other necktie in the bag creating a long, makeshift leash.

"He was a little uneasy about being on a leash when I took him outside in the garden this morning," she told Liam as they walked down the path from the villas toward the hotel’s main entrance, "but he didn’t try to get away from me."

"Which proves he knows a good steak when he eats one," Liam replied, but he noticed that the big dog seemed content to walk close by her side, rather than trying to test the length of his makeshift leashe.

He thought it was surprising that a wild stray would come so willingly to her heel. Evidently, he decided wryly, Rayne Wallace had that same effect on male ’strays,’ whether they were canine or human.

"Let’s hope he’s just as submissive about getting into a car," he added.

Liam had already put the convertible top up so the dog couldn’t jump out of the car, but no amount of urging or shoving from Rayne could get the animal to climb into it. After tossing her suitcase into the trunk, Liam went around to the passenger side of the car to help Rayne.

But as he approached, he ended up standing back, enjoying the view instead. She was bending over the dog, trying to plant his front feet onto the floor of the backseat, and for the first time, Liam realized that from the rear, Rayne Wallace looked sexy in snug jeans.

He couldn’t help but notice how her snug jeans accentuated the curve of her hips and the delicate arch of her back. She was bent over the dog, her movements drawing his gaze to the gentle sway of her rear and reminding him the feel of his hands on them last night when he’d kissed her. His pulse quickened, and he felt a primal urge to reach out, to touch her again.

Rayne, completely unaware of his presence behind her, continued to try to plant Eric’s front feet onto the floor of the backseat, her voice soft and coaxing as she tried to guide the dog in.

Liam’s eyes traveled the length of her body, lingering on the small of her back that looked a perfect fit for his arm to wrap around. He imagined his hands there, guiding her closer, feeling the heat of her skin beneath his fingers, and he cursed under his breath and looked away.

"If you get in first," he suggested, his voice huskier than intended, "Eric may be willing to follow you." The ploy worked, and Liam closed the passenger door behind the dog; then he walked around the car and opened the driver’s door so Rayne could climb out of the backseat and get into the front with him.

As Liam’s car speed away from the hotel’s driveway, another car behind them opened and a man with a camera exited it and stretched out his arms while speaking to his partner in the driver’s seat.

"I wonder what Mr. Wallace would think of his sister being with a man he wants to frame and ruin. This family shit is getting more interesting," he said as he went back inside the car and told his partner. "We need to report this to Mr. Wallace."