Resisting The Tycoon's Seduction (The Berutelli Escape) Read Online Free PDF Page A

of in the comfortable looking chairs in front of his desk. “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.
    Marissa immediately started shaking her head, but then changed her mind.  “Do you have any water?  Water would be nice.  I’d really appreciate some water,” she replied, then realized she was rambling and forced herself to stop speaking, pressing her lips together as if she doubted her ability to cease. 
    She looked down at the floor, her mind not seeing the expensive carpeting or the magnificent view of the city’s skyline outside the amazing windows.  Vaughn Enterprises was located in the heart of Chicago with views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.  She didn’t care about any of this, wishing with all her heart that this man wasn’t so successful.  If he weren’t, her father wouldn’t be trying to pull him into the organization, her father wouldn’t be demanding that she marry him and she wouldn’t be in this painfully awkward position about to do something that violated every one of her moral codes. 
    Of course, she could also just walk out of here, get her sister and drive away, never to come back to her father’s house again.  Would he look for her?  Would he care?  How strong was his desire to have a grandson?  If they were gone, would he just accept one of his nephews as his heir?  Would her father hurt Zeke to get what he wanted? What if Zeke refused?  Other men had died after opposing her father. 
    “Marissa?” Zeke prompted and she flinched, looking up and realizing that he was sitting on the sofa right next to her looking like he was ready to catch her if she passed out.  She almost laughed since fainting in this man’s presence might actually happen if she ever worked up the nerve to do what her father had commanded. 
    Pushing her ridiculous thoughts aside, she focused on her mission.  “I’m sorry,” she said and cleared her throat.  “I just need a moment.”  She took the crystal glass filled with water, careful not to touch his fingers.  She desperately wanted to just run away. 
    “Take your time, but understand that I’m intrigued.   I’m also thrilled that you called me.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to get you to meet me again, but rest assured, I would have found a way.”
    She tried to smile, but it probably came across more like a grimace.  She took a sip of the water he’d handed to her.  She would have loved to swallow all of the cool liquid, just toss it back which might help her overheated skin.  But her nervousness was closing up her throat and the best she could do was take a careful sip before placing it meticulously on the elegant, glass coffee table in front of her.
    Clasping her knees, she turned to face Zeke, her eyes unable to look at his face so she chose to look only at his hands which were resting casually on the leather arm rest of the sofa.  Those hands had touched her, gently but with desire.  They were tender hands, she knew but what would he do with her after she proposed?  Or should this be more appropriately called a proposition? 
    She wanted to laugh and realized she was becoming hysterical.  The longer she stalled, the more crazy her thoughts were becoming.  Better to just blurt out her…proposition.  Get it over with and deal with his reaction. 
    “I wanted to suggest…” she started to say, then stopped, trying to figure out the best way to propose to a man she barely knew.  Good grief, she’d just learned his first name two days ago!  And she’d barely even heard his last name that day in the lingerie shop, too angry to have absorbed it. 
    Zeke took pity on the lovely woman, his curiosity ramping up as she sat there working herself into a deeper state of anxiety.  “Why are you so nervous?” he asked, taking one of her hands in his large, hard hand, gently rubbing her knuckles in an effort to soothe her.  Unfortunately, his touch only made her more skittish, but for slightly different,