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Chapter Two
She didn’t know what Ethan had been doing the last three years, but if Philip had really cut him off, clearly he had done well for himself without the Cartwright fortune. The home they stopped before was a sprawling thing, spreading out over at least a half-acre. The white residence, with its palatial columns and four stories, was even bigger than the monstrosity Philip Cartwright owned.
It was a lovely home, but over-the-top and way bigger than what one single man should need. Assuming he was actually single. It should have been the farthest thought from her mind, but as she stepped out of the limousine with ill grace, she paused to catch his eye. “Is there a Mrs. Cartwright in attendance? Twins waiting in the private jet? A harem in the east wing?”
He shook his head. “I won’t pretend I’ve been celibate for the last three years, Ambra, but I always knew I was waiting for you to grow up. You’ve belonged to me for three years, and it’s finally time to claim you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Will you stop saying claim me? I’m not a contest prize.”
Ethan took her hand in his as he laughed. “If you were a contest prize, babe, you’d be like the megabucks lottery with the highest amount in history. You’ve been worth the wait, but it’s been incredibly difficult to do so. Come with me to my room.”
She stopped, truculently refusing to go any farther up the stairs or into the house. “You’re out of your mind. I haven’t seen you in three years, and you expect me to jump into bed with you?”
“It’s because it’s been three years since we’ve seen each other that I anticipate you’ll be willing to jump into my bed, as you put it.”
He groaned. “I know I’m not being very suave, but I’ve been aching for you all this time, and I know you have to feel the same way about me. You loved me once, Ambra, and you will again—if you ever stopped. In the meantime, there’s no reason we can’t indulge our desire for each other now that we’re both mature adults.”
Her stomach rumbled with nerves, and she hated how her body wanted to melt into him, and even her mind was trying to sway her to accept his words. If he was telling the truth, what was there to lose? It wasn’t as if she had really allowed herself to move on over the past three years. Oh, she had told herself she’d never really loved him, that it was simply a teenage crush, but if that had been true, she would’ve found it easier to take the next step and have a real relationship with another man.
She’d spent the last three years in limbo, and when her stepfather had asked her to marry Perry Statler for the good of the company’s employees, she hadn’t greeted the idea with enthusiasm, but she hadn’t really cared much either way. Perry seemed like a nice enough guy, and she was apathetic about the whole thing. At what point did she decide love wasn’t for her, and there was no point waiting for Mr. Right, because he didn’t exist?
Still, it had been too long. Ethan had hurt her too deeply for her to just overlook everything that had gone before and hop in to bed with him. Not to mention there was still the contract on the table with the Statler Company, and her pending marriage to consider. She wasn’t just disappointing her stepfather if she gave in to Ethan.
She was also letting down eight-thousand employees and their families, people who had worked for Cartwright Consolidated sometimes their entire working lives and had few options if the company closed. Ambra had traveled with Philip to a few of the company’s locations and had seen the towns built around the factories.
Cartwright Consolidated was often the major employer or even sole economic support for entire communities. She couldn’t just throw that away, no matter what her body wanted.
Ambra tugged her arm free from his and turned back to the car. “I have to go, Ethan. I just can’t do this, and it’s unfair of you to expect to do so. If you wanted me, you should have taken me the night I offered myself to you.”
She licked her lips, humiliation burning through her as she remembered his gentle, but definite, rejection of her affections. God, she had been so naïve, believing he’d felt the same way and was just waiting for her eighteenth birthday. Two days after, she had crept into his room, wearing hardly anything except her love and puppy dog adoration.
She almost snorted aloud at the thought. Back then, she had certainly felt that way for her stepbrother, but affections had withered and died. Or mostly. She knew she wasn’t over him, and she might never be completely over Ethan Cartwright, but she couldn’t indulge in a fling with him now.
“I’m not taking you anywhere, Ambra. I’ve said this before, and I won’t say it again. You’re mine, and I’m keeping you.”
She rolled her eyes. “You just can’t do things like that. As soon as I enter the house, I’ll call the police if I have to. Do you really want that kind of scandal?”
He stalked toward her with the air of a predator seeking its prey. Ambra shivered, though she wasn’t entirely certain if it was from dread or anticipation as he reached her, pressing her body against the car and framing his hands on both sides of her shoulders to lock her in.
She was trapped between the limousine and a fiercely determined man who clearly wanted her to be his lover, judging by the hard length of his erection pressing against her stomach. She licked her lips with anxiety, and he groaned low in his throat.
“Let’s strike a deal, Ambra.”
She tipped her head slightly, intrigued despite her better intentions. “What kind of deal?”
“Give me the rest of this weekend to seduce you. If you decide you don’t feel the same way anymore, and you don’t love me or want me, I’ll take you home Sunday night.”
She hesitated and then shook her head. “What good would that do? Even if I discovered I somehow still loved you—not that I actually loved you back then, because it was just a teenage crush—it would make it even harder for me to marry Perry. I can’t go back on that agreement. It’s not just my future at stake, or what I want. Like I said before, eight-thousand people are relying on the merger to keep their jobs and their communities running.”
With a harsh groan, Ethan pressed his body tighter to hers, though she wouldn’t have thought he could get any closer without their flesh melding together. “I’ve done extremely well for myself the past three years with just a small inheritance from my grandmother. I can buy and sell Cartwright Consolidated three times over without a blink of an eye.
“I swear to you if you give me these two days, I’ll bail out the company and make sure everything continues to run smoothly. Even if you decide you don’t want to be with me, I’ll still do that. I’ll pay for the company to carry on, and you won’t even have to marry Statler. With that off the table, will you give me two days to prove I’m sincere?”
Ambra’s blue eyes widened, and she stared up at him, his face a millimeter away from hers. It was a tempting offer, and she couldn’t find a down side. After all, though Perry was a nice guy, she certainly didn’t want to marry him. Ethan was offering her a way out of the marriage and a way to guarantee the company survived. Her eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you just save the company anyway? It’s your birthright.”
He shook his head, his mouth tight. “It’s not my birthright, Ambra. Dad made it clear there’s no place for my new-fangled ideas there.”
She nibbled on her lower lip. “If he’s being so stubborn, will he really accept your help to bail out the company?”
Ethan’s lips compressed. “To be frank, babe, it doesn’t matter if he wants my help or not. I can leverage enough stock to force a buyout. All the shareho
lders have to do is agree to let me step in and run the company. I’m also close to having enough shares to own a voting majority of the company. I started buying them quietly when I learned Cartwright Consolidated was in serious trouble. He won’t be able to stop us.”
Despite his protests, he clearly still cared about the company if he had started buying up shares. That softened her toward him.
She also liked the sound of us when he said it, and a frisson of awareness swept down her spine. Two days was all he really wanted. No, she couldn’t fool herself. If he was being sincere, Ethan wanted a lot more than two days from her. He might want months, or maybe even years? Did she dare hope for something like that? It seemed too good to be true, like Prince Charming sweeping in to rescue Cinderella.
She was naturally skeptical of his motives, but she was human enough to weaken in the face of temptation. The deal he offered ensured her freedom not to marry Perry, guaranteed the workers remained employed, and communities remained stable.
Though it would clearly anger her stepfather, she knew he would eventually get over their intercession. Wouldn’t he? She didn’t know for sure, considering he’d willingly cut off contact with his own son. Still, was she willing to sacrifice her entire future to please the man who was like a father to her?
“Two days. That’s all I promise.” If she could hold out for two days, proving to both of them that she wasn’t interested in anything more than what they’d had very briefly, and he had rejected, she would have everything she needed.
“Great. Let’s seal it with a kiss.”
As his mouth covered hers, his kiss confident and demanding just like before, Ambra melted against him even as she cursed her own weakness. It was going to be an impossible task to withstand his every attempt at seduction for the next two days.
***
Eventually, Ethan showed her to her room, and she was unsurprised to find it was part of the master suite, with her room connecting to his. Luxuriously appointed, clearly with a feminine guest or resident in mind, the pastel colors were soothing, though she could have done without some of the frilly lace on the bed skirts and the swag on the walls. She stood in the center of the room eyeing Ethan, who stood near the connecting doors. “Now what?”
