“What’s around the corner?” she asked with impatience. She hated not knowing a secret. It drove her crazy and she even had to shake Christmas and birthday presents to try and figure out what was inside the boxes.
And then she gasped when the truck climbed up a particularly steep incline. She gripped the door handle and his own hand, not even aware of how tightly she was gripping his fingers. Her body was even turning towards him in an effort to stay away from the drop beside her window. “I guess this is a good time to tell you that I don’t really like heights.”
He glanced over at her, all amusement gone when he saw her genuine fear. This wasn’t about what they meant to each other or what he could make her feel. The fear in her eyes was all about something stronger and scarier. “Don’t worry,” he said with a strong, reassuring tone of voice, squeezing her fingers again to help her. “I’ve done this trip many times. This truck can handle the road.”
Sierra didn’t have his confidence. In fact, if it weren’t for her seatbelt holding her in her seat, she might actually climb onto the console to get away from the cliff on her side of the truck. The road seriously didn’t look like it was wide enough to accommodate this huge truck and if it did, there wasn’t any room for error.
A moment later, he pulled around a corner and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then gasped in pleasure at the amazing house perched on the side of the mountain. “Oh my,” she sighed, her eyes taking in the complex architectural structure. She’d read about this place in the architectural magazines but it was even more astounding in reality than in the pictures. The photographer hadn’t really captured the amazing structure. The house seemed to be balanced with cantilevers on both sides, using the mountain as part of its structure. There were walls of windows on three sides with large, metal columns holding up the jutting end of the house.
“This is magnificent,” she breathed. “I’ve always wanted to design something like this for a client.”
“Why haven’t you?” he asked, unsnapping his seatbelt while he watched her.
She shrugged as she too got out, her eyes never leaving the house that looked like it was dangerously perched on the mountain, about to slide down the cliff at any moment. But her eyes noted the sound structure, the impressive way the designer had stabilized the house and she instantly fell in love.
“Because my clients haven’t wanted it,” she sighed with happiness just to view the building. “I think I’m going to marry the man who designed this.”
Drake watched carefully as Sierra walked around the truck. He was leaning against the hood of the truck, his arms crossed over his chest in an attempt to not pull her into his arms and kiss her. Hell, he wanted to make love to her right here, uncaring of the rocks or gravel. She might object, he thought. Well, actually, she objected to any kind of touch from him most of the time.
He smiled as he clarified his thought. She only objected to his touch before and after he touched her. She never objected during the actual physical contact. In fact, she was a tigress when it came to touching him back.
Damn, he liked that about her. Not the resistance. No, that was something he’d have to eliminate completely from her. He much preferred the sensuous beauty she was when she was in his arms versus the straight-laced, tense woman she was when she was avoiding his touch.
And marry the person who had designed the house? He liked the idea. He liked that a lot. As he watched her look at his house from different angles, he couldn’t help but admire her long legs in those tight jeans giving him a glimpse of her adorable butt and her trim waist. He would prefer her hair down around her shoulders, but she’d probably need it pulled back for what he had in mind today.
Tonight though. He’d have that hair down around her shoulders tonight.
“Come on inside. I’ll get you a different shirt. That sweater won’t help you a lot for what I have planned.”
Sierra pulled her eyes away from the house, her attention captured by the man and his comment. “What do you have planned?”
He took her hand and pulled her along, tucking her hand onto his arm and then covering it with his other hand to keep her from pulling it away. This kept her closer and she kept bumping his hips as she walked quickly to keep up with him.
“I’ll lend you one of my shirts. That should cover enough of you.”
She blinked as she looked up at him, curiosity getting the better of her common sense. She knew she should tell him to just go ahead with his plans and she’d be happy to wander around inside his house. She wouldn’t mind spending an hour simply investigating the support system built by the architect.
But she couldn’t help the question that escaped her. “Why do I need a shirt big enough to cover me?” Despite herself, she was intrigued by both his comment as well as his excited expression.
“Because we’re going to get a bit dirty today.” He unlocked the front door of the house and led her straight through the great room and into a hallway. She tried to get a glimpse of the house but only got the impression of comfortable furniture, soaring ceilings and magnificent views.
“I’ll take you on a tour of the place when we are finished,” he said, chuckling at her as she strained her neck to get a better view of his house.
When he led her into a large bedroom, she sighed with awe of the view. She didn’t see the extremely large bed or the furniture that looked like it should be in a museum. All she saw was the mountains and the city spread out below. There was definitely a different feeling when one looked down from the mountains versus being inside of a tall building. She couldn’t quite define it, but the view was exceptional.
She stood in the middle of his bedroom, unaware that he’d released her hands and had disappeared into a closet. He came out a moment later and just stood about six feet away watching her as she stood enjoying the view. He admired her for several moments before he glanced at his watch. With a chuckle, he walked over to her. “Want some help taking off the sweater?” he asked, holding the large, flannel shirt up in front of her eyes.
Sierra looked at the shirt, confused and nervous. “Definitely not. I can take off my sweater by myself.” She took the shirt and glared up at him.
Drake shrugged and sat down on the bed, waiting. “Go ahead.”
Sierra took a step back. “I’m not doing a striptease for you,” she stated firmly.