Seducing His Opposition / Secret Nights at Nine Oaks: Seducing His Opposition

“Have you thought of selling the property back to my grandparents? I think that would be the easiest solution.” Then she could conclude this business in Miami and take the first flight back to New York and her nice, safe, regular life. A place where the businessmen she encountered looked dull and gray like a Manhattan winter instead of like Justin, who was tan, vibrant and hot … just like Miami.

“I don’t think so,” he said, looking back up at her eyes. “Your grandparents don’t …”

“What?”

“They don’t have the resources to make the property profitable the way that the Luna Azul Company does. I mean, they would probably fix up their market but it is going to take a lot of capital to revamp the entire area. And that is the only way you are going to keep your current clientele and get new customers.”

He had a point but she didn’t like the thought of an outsider owning the market. It also irked her that this situation was entirely her fault. If she hadn’t fallen for Raul so many years ago, her beloved abuelito wouldn’t have to deal with the Stern brothers on their terms.

“Granted but if you take away the local feel of the marketplace, you will lose money.”

“That’s where you come in. I liked your idea of forming a committee. I wish I’d thought of it sooner,” Justin said. “But enough business. I want to know the woman behind the suit. I like your dress by the way.”

She tossed her hair and made herself let go of the work part of being with Justin. There was nothing to be accomplished tonight. He’d either come around to her way of thinking or he’d find out how many complications she could put in the way of his business deals.

“I noticed you liking it.”

“Good. Are you finished with your drink?”

“Why?”

“I want to take you for a walk along the beach.” “I’d like that,” she said, getting to her feet. “I miss the beach.”

“I live right on it. That was one thing that motivated me to come back home after Harvard. I like living somewhere so temperate.”

“What else?” she asked. She suspected that family must be important to him. That was at odds with what she usually encountered in type-A, driven business executives, but then Justin didn’t exactly fit the mold of what she expected from guys to begin with.

“Why are you really here?” she asked as they stepped out into the warm early-evening.

“I told you I like to know my opponents,” he said.

“I can see that,” she said. She did as well. Normally when she was negotiating something for her company she spent a lot of time researching the players involved in the deal. Winning almost always came down to who had the most information. “You were trying to throw me off my game a little, right?”

“In part,” he admitted. “But honestly, you aren’t what I was expecting from the Gonzalezes’ lawyer.”

“Because I’m a girl?” she asked using his term. “You know that calling me a girl wasn’t exactly flattering?”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he said. “It’s because you’re so sexy. I can handle going up against a girl but when she is making me think of long, hot nights instead of business—well I figured turnabout was fair play and I should do something unexpected like ask you out.”

She bit her lower lip. He was a very frank man, which shouldn’t surprise her. From the moment they’d met he’d been that way. He was the kind of man who shot from the hip and didn’t worry about the consequences.

And she was a woman who’d been damned by the consequences of her reckless heart before. She had to remember that her grandparents were in this situation with the Luna Azul Company specifically because she’d followed her heart and they had paid the price.

“I’m not looking for a relationship,” she said. “I am focused on my career.”

“I can see that,” he said. “But unless you’re into lying to yourself, you’ll admit that there is something between

us.”

She could admit that. There was a powerful attraction between them. Something that was more intense than anything she’d ever experienced before. She wanted to blame it on Miami and her old self, but she knew that it was Justin. If she’d been here with any other man she wouldn’t have felt like this.

That was enough to make her pause. Justin was different and that very difference was enough to make him dangerous.

“Lust,” she said. “And that is nothing more than a chimera.”

“An illusion? I don’t think so. Lust is our primal instincts telling us to pay attention. You could be a potential mate for me,” he said.

She stopped walking on the wooden boardwalk and turned to face him. He’d put on a pair of aviator-style sunglasses and with his jacket slung over his shoulder he looked like he’d stepped off a yacht. He seemed like a man who was used to getting everything he wanted.

“What?” she asked. “There is no way you and I could ever be mates. I just don’t know if I should believe you or not. You’re not really looking for a mate for more than one night, right? “

“Usually, I’d say so, but the way I am reacting to you throws my normal playbook out the window.”

She shook her head. “Your playbook? Any guy who has one of those isn’t someone I’m interested in.”

“That sounded worse than I meant it to. I was trying to say that this attraction I feel for you is making me forget every rule I have about mixing business and pleasure.”

“I can’t afford to take a chance like that with you, Justin.”

“Because of Tomas?”

She wished it were that simple. “If it didn’t involve my grandparents …”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

She had no idea. She wished she had some answers. “Say I met you on vacation, I’d jump into a fling with you. But this is my home and my family and I can’t afford to compromise anything.”

“There is no need to compromise anything,” Justin said, putting his hand in the center of her back and urging her to start walking again.

She shook her head and the scent of gardenias surrounded him. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Why was it that everything about Selena was a turn-on for him? “I’m not going to take no for an answer. We are both good at negotiating.”

“This isn’t easy for me. My grandparents deserve my undivided attention, I owe them,” she said.

“Why do you owe them?” he asked. He wanted to know more about what had happened ten years ago and he was determined to get some answers, but not right now. “I just do.”

He nodded. “Well, I owe my brothers, and my company deserves my undivided attention, but I can’t think of business when I’m with you. Right now all I can think of is your mouth and how it will feel under mine.”

“Saying things like that is not helping me,” she said, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around her own waist.

If he pushed a little bit harder he could have her. He knew that. But he didn’t want to crumble her defenses. He pulled her closer to him and moved them off the path out of the way of other walkers. “Have you thought about it?”

She nibbled on her full lower lip as she looked up at him. “I have, but I’m not about to play into your hands so easily.”

He lowered his head, wanting to kiss her but at the same time wanting—no needing—her to want it too. He wanted her to be so attracted to him that she forgot her rules and her fears and everything else just faded away.

“Justin, stop manipulating me.”

“I’m not,” he said. “I want to see what it will take for you to forget about business and just see me as a man.”

“Stop trying to play me,” she said. “Just be yourself.”

“I don’t think you’d trust me,” he said.

“I don’t trust you now,” she said. “And that feeling that you are toying with me is never going to help your case. I do want you but I don’t want to be your pawn.”

Her honesty cut straight through him. He really didn’t want her to be his pawn. He wanted her to be his woman. That was it.

He needed Selena no matter what the circumstances. And he was going to do whatever he had to to make that happen. He couldn’t just walk away.

“I’m sorry. I was trying—”

“I know what you were trying to do,” she said, lifting one hand and tracing the line of his lips. “I can understand it because I don’t want to end up the weak one either.”

He could hardly think when she touched him. He slid his hands together at her waist and pulled her more closely into his body.

He rubbed his lips against hers briefly and then stepped back before he gave in to temptation and ravished her mouth.

“We need … to walk,” he said.

He took her hand with his and led her down the path. She laughed softly and he knew she was very aware of his desire. That didn’t bother him at all. He wanted her to be very aware of him as a man and he knew that he’d accomplished that.

“We can’t walk away from this,” he said.

“I know,” she admitted. “But I won’t let this kind of attraction take control of my life.”

He understood that. As a man, part of him was glad to hear that she wanted him that powerfully. The other part, the businessman who never took a day off, was glad to hear it, too, because it meant that he had the potential to use that attraction to get what he wanted.

Walking took the edge off her and allowed him to start thinking of something other than lifting her skirt and finding the sweetness between her legs. “What if we pretend you are on vacation?”

“Why?”

“Then it’s like you said, we’re just two people who are attracted to each other.”

“Like a vacation fling?” she asked.

“Exactly like that. No talking about our families and their business interests. Just two people who’ve met and started an affair,” he said.

“So it ends when I go back home?” she asked.

His gut said no. He didn’t want to think about Selena leaving but he put that down to the fact that she was new to him. “If that is what we both decide, then yes.”

She pulled her hand from his, stopped walking and turned to look out at the ocean. She wrapped one arm around her waist and he wondered if he’d ever know her well enough to know what she was thinking.

“I wish it could be that simple,” she said, “But we both know there is no way we’re going to be able—”

“I’m not someone who takes no for an answer,” he said.

She glanced over her shoulder at him and he saw that fiery spark was back in her eyes. This couldn’t be more than a fling and he wanted to keep it light. But the only way he was going to be able to deal with her in the boardroom was if he had her in his bedroom.

“I’m not going to let you bully me into making a decision like this.”

“Is that what I’m doing or is that what you are telling yourself?”

She turned to face him full-on and walked over to him, hips swaying with each step. His mind went blank and suddenly he didn’t care why she agreed but only that she did. He needed her to be one hundred percent his. And nothing was going to stand in the way of that. Not business and not even the lady herself. He knew that Selena Gonzalez wanted him and now he just had to find the right button to push, to convince her that she was willing to take a chance on him.

“I know my own mind, Justin Stern,” she said as she closed the gap between them. She put her hands on his shoulders and tipped her head back to look up at him. “And I know exactly what I want.”

She went up on her tiptoes, tunneled her fingers into his hair and planted a kiss on him that made him forget everything else. All he did was feel.

Her breasts cushioned against his chest. Her supple hips under his hands as he rested them there. Her soft hair brushing his cheek as she turned her head to angle her mouth better over his.

And then the thrust of her warm tongue into his mouth. How she slowly rubbed hers over his and then lifted her hands to his face to hold him right above the jaw. She kept his head steady as she tasted him and he let her.

Hell, there was no stopping this woman. She had turned his own game back on him and left him standing still. He drew his own hands up to her tiny waist and pulled her off balance into his body.

He sucked on her tongue when she would have pulled it back. Her hands slid down his neck to his shoulders and she moved her head again and a tiny moan escaped her.

His erection nudged the top of her thighs and he shifted his hips against hers and heard her moan again. This was more like it, he thought. This was the kind of negotiation he wanted. Both of them alone together.

Just man versus woman and let the winner take all.

Four

Selena had forgotten what it was like to turn the tables on a man sexually. She did it all the time at work but this was personal and she liked it. A heady mix of passion and power consumed her and she knew that it was well past time she got back in touch with this side of herself.

She’d given in to Justin not just because of the lust that was flowing between them but also because she needed to reclaim her femininity.

She took Justin’s hand and led him back to the hotel. “Why are we wasting our time out here when we could be up in my room?”

“Your room? I thought you weren’t sure about my proposition.”

“I guess you think too much.” Turning the tables on Justin had knocked him off balance and she knew he would be easier to deal with now. “I like the idea of a vacation fling. It’s been too long for me and being with you … well let’s just say you are the perfect distraction.”

He frowned at her, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that even though Justin wanted her—she knew he wasn’t faking his attraction to her—a part of him was focused on how to use the lust they both felt to his own advantage.

And she wasn’t going to let him do that. She wanted him. She needed a distraction from being back here in Miami. She was thinking too much about the girl she had been and Justin was the distraction she needed.

“Come back to my room,” she said, leaning closer and kissing his neck right under his ear. “That’s what we’d do if we were on vacation.”

Justin nodded. “But we aren’t on vacation.”

“Have you changed your mind?” she asked.

“No. But I don’t like the way you changed yours. What’s going on behind those beautiful brown eyes?” he asked.

She pulled back. She couldn’t do this. It wasn’t like her to just impulsively invite a man back to her room. He was right, what was she thinking?

“Nothing. Nothing is going on,” she said. “I think I had a momentary fever but it is passing now.”

She felt small and a bit rejected. She’d actually never been that bold with a man before. The dress and the way that Justin treated her had made her feel like she was sexy, an enchantress, and now she was realizing she was still just Selena.

“I think we should head back to the hotel. I need to freshen up before heading to dinner. I will meet you there.”

She turned to walk away needing to get back to her room. She needed to find someplace private to sit down and regroup. “No.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him.

“No?”

“That’s what I said. I am not letting you run away,” he said, taking her hand in his. “What’s going on with

you?”

She shook her head and swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. You are making me a little … crazy.”

“That’s good. That’s what I was going for … trying to distract you,” he admitted.

“Well, you did a good job tonight. But that won’t affect me in the boardroom when we are meeting with your group and the community leaders.”

“I didn’t think it would. To be honest I’m trying to even the scales. You have me thinking about your curvy body and kissing you instead of business and I wanted you to think of me.”

“Does that mean you don’t really want a vacation fling with me?”

“Hell, no. I want you more than I want my next breath. But I want you to want it for the right reasons—not because you think it will help you in the boardroom. I do believe we can keep this attraction between us private and explore it.”

She thought about what he was saying. She wanted him and she wasn’t going to deny it. “I’m not—Miami is more than just my home. It’s the place that shaped me into the woman I am today and coming back here is stirring up all kinds of things in me I didn’t expect.”

“Like what?” he asked.

Justin was dangerous, she thought. He made her feel so comfortable and safe that she would tell him almost anything. “This dress for one thing. I bought this for

you.”

“I like it.”

“That was my intention, but at home … in Manhattan I’d never wear this.”

“Good,” he said, leading them back toward the hotel. “Be yourself with me, Selena. I want to see that woman you keep tucked away from the rest of the world. I don’t want to be like every other guy to you.”

“There is no way you could be. My family told me you’re the devil.”

He laughed. It was a strong masculine sound and it made her smile. “I haven’t been called the devil before.”

“To your face,” she said.

“Touché,” he said as they reached the hotel and stepped into the air-conditioned lobby.

Chills spread down her arms and she shivered just a bit. “Are we okay now?” he asked.

“I think so,” she said. “I will meet you—”

“Get whatever you need. I want to take you to Luna

Azul.”

“Why?”

“I want to show you my family,” he said.

“After,” she said. “I need some time to myself before we go to dinner at my grandparents.”

“Really? I was hoping you’d go with me. I don’t want to walk in there by myself.”

“Since when does the devil show fear?” she asked.

“I have no idea, since I’m not the devil,” he said.

“What are you?” she asked.

“Just a man who likes a pretty girl and doesn’t want to screw up again.”

Selena watched him walk away, wondering if she’d underestimated him and if that would be at her own peril.

Justin sat quietly in his car parked on the street in front of the Gonzalez home. Selena had withdrawn into herself and there had been no drawing her out. He had a feeling that Selena’s attitude was the least of his problems as he got out and walked up the driveway to the house.

There was music coming from the backyard and the delicious smells of charcoal and roasting meat wafted around him. This was a cozy neighborhood, the kind of place where he could buy two or three houses and not feel the sting in his checkbook, but a place where he’d never fit in.

Was this what Selena had been talking about when she said Luna Azul didn’t belong in Little Havana? “Amigo, you coming?”

The guy who walked by him was in his early twenties with close-cut dark hair and warm olive-colored skin. He wasn’t as tall as Justin and his face was friendly.

“I am indeed,” Justin said. He had a six-pack of Land-shark beer in one hand and some flowers for Selena’s grandmother.

“How do you know Tomas?” the young man asked.

“We’re in business together.” Justin wasn’t about to pretend he had any other reason to be here. In fact, in light of his drinks with Selena he thought wooing her was going about as smoothly as the entire buying-the-marketplace deal. What was it with the Gonzalez family? Was it impossible to find a common path with them?

“Truly? My abuelito usually doesn’t do business with … wait a minute, are you Justin Stern?”

“That’s me,” he said. Great, nice to know that he already had a reputation here and he hadn’t even arrived yet.

“Oh, ho, you have some guts showing up here,” the kid said.

“I was invited, and I’m not a bad guy,” Justin told him. “I am trying to find a way to make that market viable, not to run your grandparents out.”

The kid tipped his head to the side, studying him. “I’m watching you.”

“I’m glad. Family should look out for one another. And I’m not going to take advantage of your grandparents or your family. My main concern is making money from the property we bought.”

“Is money all you care about?”

Justin shook his head. He saw Selena walking up toward the house from where they stood in the shade of a large palm tree. She’d changed from the sexy dress she had worn earlier into a pair of khaki walking shorts and a sleeveless wraparound top. She was enchanting, he thought.

He forgot about how unwelcome this guy was making him feel and focused on Selena.

“Leave him alone, Enrique. He’s not a bad guy,” Selena said as she came up to them.

“He told me the same thing,” Enrique said. “Are you sure about him?”

Selena shrugged. “Not one hundred percent but I’m getting there.”

“If we do business with your family,” Enrique said, turning to Justin, “I want to talk to you about deejaying at Luna Azul. Why do you only hire New York and LA deejays?”

Justin had very little to do with the everyday running of the nightclub he owned with his brothers. “I don’t have an answer for that but I can find out. If you send me a demo tape—”

“I don’t think Enrique wants to work for you,” Selena said.

“I’ll make my own decisions, tata,” Enrique said. He reached around Justin and hugged her. She hugged him back.

“Enrique is my little brother,” she said.

“I’m taller than you now, sis. I think that makes me your ‘big’ little brother,” Enrique said with a grin that was familiar to Justin. He’d seen it on Selena’s face a few times.

“You’ll always be my baby brother,” she said, looping her arm through Enrique’s and Justin was relegated to following the two siblings up the walk to the house.

Justin had the feeling he’d always be an outsider. Too bad his little brother wasn’t here tonight. This was exactly the type of party that Nate was better at than he was.

But he was here to achieve two things: first, to have Tomas lift the injunction against Luna Azul and second, to get Selena to be that warm, seductive woman she’d been on the beach again.

He’d pulled back for her sake, had instinctively known that she wasn’t the kind of woman who could start an affair, even a short-term one, with a man she barely knew.

But tonight he’d change all of that. He slipped his arm through Selena’s free one and she hesitated and lost her footing, glancing up at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Just making sure everyone knows who invited me to the party.”

Enrique laughed. “No one’s going to doubt that, bro. This is Selena’s welcome-home party. Did you know she hasn’t been back here since my tenth birthday?”

Why not? “No, I didn’t know that. I’m honored to have been invited to this party then.”

“Don’t forget that,” Enrique said. He dropped Selena’s arm to open the front door of the house. The air-conditioned coolness rushed out and the sounds of the party filled the lanai.

“Enrique’s in the house,” Enrique yelled and there was a round of applause.

Selena took a deep breath. “I am not sure this was my best idea.”

“I am. I want to get to know your family.”

She paused there on the step so that they were almost eye level. “Why? So you can use it to your advantage?”

“No, so I can start to understand you.”

He put his hand on the small of her back and directed her into the living room. Everyone surrounded her and welcomed her home. But standing to the side, Justin realized that Selena hesitated to be a part of them. She held a part of herself back and he wanted to know why.

Selena was amazed to see Justin actually fitting in with her family. He was standing by the grill talking to the men about baseball of all things. But then she guessed he would know a little bit about the sport thanks to his brother, the former ball player.

“What’s the matter, tata? Aren’t you enjoying your party?”

Her grandmother sat down beside her and put her arm around Selena’s shoulders. For just a minute she felt like she was twelve again and a hug from this woman could solve all of her problems. She put her head on her grandmother’s shoulder and just sat there enjoying the scent of gardenia perfume and how safe she felt at this moment.