Propositioning Mr. Raine Read online

  He flinched. “I learned an important lesson and I’ll trust you. It’s just that you were too good to be true, babe. I was looking for the brick to hit me in the head so when Ryder handed it to me, I believed the blow was real. You’re just…hell, as I said, too good to be true.”

  “What do you mean, I’m too good to be true?” She stared at him with astonishment. “I’m not.”

  He walked to the couch and sat down hard. “You loved your husband.” He jerked his head toward the mantle. “The guy is dead and you still have his picture up. Nobody has ever loved me that way. He was shooting blanks even and you didn’t give a damn. I tell women I’m sterile and they run. I told you the truth and you’re the only woman who ever tried to comfort me. You didn’t look at me with pity, horror, or treat me like I’m half a man. I’ve had women react that way.” He paused. “A few even joked about it and it was downright mean. Try to imagine standing there hiding your emotions while a woman is making fun of something that tore you to hell and back. I’ve been there, babe.”

  That made Trina angry on his behalf. What woman was stupid enough to dump a guy like Navarro over a reason like his injury? What kind of cruel person would make fun of a man for that?

  He paused, watching her, not looking away. “Do you want to know why I date younger women? They aren’t ready to have kids and most of them don’t want children when they are in their early twenties so my condition is a bonus to them if the condom were to break. When they reach the point where they want kids they dump me. I’ve had it happen more than a few times. I dated a few older women who had kids but they just wanted a father figure and someone to pay the bills, not really giving a damn about me personally. As much as I wanted to be a father, I didn’t want to get that way by marrying a woman who’d never love me.”

  Trina was shocked at his words. She opened her mouth but Navarro cut her off before she could speak.

  “You baked for me and you made me breakfast. Nobody has ever done shit like that for me. I was married and she never did anything but try to fuck my brothers and she did screw around with my friends. She made my life hell when she realized I wasn’t well off. She punished me daily a dozen damn ways. You…” He sighed.

  “I what?” Trina’s heart was breaking for him and she fought the urge to hug him. She really wanted to put her arms around him, to provide some comfort. She couldn’t stand seeing the sadness in his beautiful eyes. “What did I do?”

  “You made me happy and made me feel like no one ever has before. You always talk about your life with him.” He jerked his gaze toward the frame on the mantel and then back to Trina. “I want to kick the guy’s ass because if I’d had what you gave him of yourself, I would have worshiped you right back. I want that, Trina. That’s why I think you’re too good to be true. You terrify me because you give me hope that we might be happy together. The hope is great but the thought of me falling for you and then you walking away from me, well, it scares the fuck out of me. I don’t think I could survive losing you if I really had you. You make me feel like you want me for the man I am and I know you won’t leave me just because I can’t get you pregnant. You make me feel so damn much but mostly you make me whole when we’re together.”

  Trina moved then, unable to stop herself, and walked right to Navarro where he sat and she placed her hands on his shoulders. She pushed him back and straddled his lap on the couch. His arms instantly wrapped around her waist as she hugged him around his neck and pressed her body tight to his. His arms tightened around her so they were both squeezing each other as he folded her tighter into his arms. She pulled back to stare into his beautiful face.

  “I’m not ready to have sex with you but I want to hold you and I want you to hold me.”

  He nodded. “Having you back in my arms feels right, babe. Doesn’t this feel right?”

  She nodded. “You terrify me too.”

  She took a deep breath, licking her dry lips. She knew it would be totally insane to do what she was thinking about. He’d hurt her, he’d thought she was a liar but she had to admit he had reason to have trust issues. She wanted it back the way it had been too. The time machine he mentioned did sound good. She stared into his eyes and realized they were two people who desperately wanted the same damn thing regardless of the level of pain either of them had suffered.

  She made a decision, deciding to do something totally insane, because to her, he was worth that kind of risk. “I’ll be at your house at eight o’clock on Sunday. If it’s going to work, that’s the rule. This week is erased and we agree to never talk about it again because it never happened.”

  Relief washed over Navarro’s features as he nodded. “Thank God, babe. Can I take you to bed? I missed you and I want to make love to you.”

  She shook her head. “I need a few days. I’ll be at your house on Sunday though. I’ll be ready by then to take us back to where we were.”

  “Thank you.” Joy lit his face as he smiled tenderly at her. “We’re in this together then. You and me, babe.”

  “Yeah. If you hurt me again—”

  His eyes hardened. “I won’t.”

  “If you do I’m going to bake you brownies with laxatives.” She buried her face in his neck, clinging to him.

  Navarro laughed. His large body shook both of them since they were tightly wrapped around each other. “I’ll eat every damn one if I do something as stupid as to not trust you again. I swear.”

  She inhaled his scent, just letting herself enjoy him holding her. She’d missed him so much it had physically hurt her, leaving an ache in her heart. She’d never thought she’d be in his arms again. She’d never let herself believe he might feel more for her than sexual desire but he had admitted that he wanted to try to have more with her than either of them had bargained for.

  “Let’s try this again,” he said softly. “Here’s the new deal. We’ll both be totally honest with each other no matter how scared either one of us is. How about that, babe?”

  She nodded against his neck. “Okay. This is your last chance, Navarro. If you hurt me again nothing will get me back. Am I totally clear on that?”

  “I swear I won’t mess up ever again. I’m tearing up that damn loan statement that says we were even. I still owe you seven weeks and that’s not up for debate. In exchange for those seven weeks I want you to open yourself up for the idea of taking it a hell of a lot farther to a full-blown relationship.”

  She pulled away from him, his hold on her eased but he didn’t let her go. She met his gaze. “I don’t want to pay you for sex anymore.”

  “You aren’t. It’s a damn loan that I’ve always planned on paying back. Every dime. But I want the contract in place. That way I’ll know you’re mine for at least that much time.” He stared into her eyes. “I’m afraid you’re going to walk away from me before I can convince you that those weeks will never be enough between us.”

  Trina stared into his hopeful expression and her heart squeezed hard. She wasn’t falling in love with Navarro Raine. She already was in love with him. How could she not be? They were both wounded by their pasts. He’d believed she was married and using him. She’d believed he didn’t really want her. She didn’t think seven weeks would ever be enough between them either. She took a deep breath.

  “Will you sleep here with me tonight? I just want to hold you and I want to be held by you.”

  “Show me to your bedroom, babe.”

  She climbed off his lap and held out her hand. He rose from the couch, taking it as his larger one closed over hers tightly. Trina knew she’d made the right decision. She could get over the hurt that he’d caused her. What she couldn’t do was lose him.

  Chapter Twelve

  It was eight o’clock Sunday night when Trina walked up onto the Raine porch. The door opened before she even reached it and Navarro grinned at her. His hair was wet and free, brushing his bare shoulders. He was just wearing a pair of boxers. Her gaze raked down his body slowly. He was so damn sexy that just looking