this. Like one of his mistresses. The dress wasn’t as revealing as she’d feared, but the daring attitude carried more than a promise of sex. It suggested her status and her price.
She abruptly turned her head and a memory collided with the movement she saw in the mirror. She froze. No, no, no! Slowly looking back, Ashley stared at her reflection with a mix of panic and horror. Big hair. Little dress. Bold color.
For a moment, she resembled her mother.
Linda Valdez had always worn bright and daring colors. She had wanted Donald Jones to notice her whether she was watching his tennis match from the players’ box or whether she was in a room filled with nubile women. When that didn’t work, Linda’s dresses started to get shorter and more revealing. She had been afraid to change her hairstyle in case it displeased Donald.
Everything her mother had done was to keep Donald’s interest. If his eyes strayed on to another woman, Linda would become desperate for his attention. Ashley knew her father never cared about her mother’s interests or opinions; his only concern was that Linda was beautiful, sexually available to him, and that everyone knew it. He would dress Linda in cheap and tasteless clothes and publicly discuss their relationship in the crudest language.
Ashley squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered one dress her mother had refused to wear. The bright red dress had been unforgiving. The corset bodice had painfully thrust Linda’s breasts out while the tight skirt had puckered and stretched around her bottom.
Her mother had been extraordinarily beautiful, but that unflattering outfit had exaggerated her curves and made her appear almost cartoonish. Yet what Ashley remembered most was, despite the epic argument about the dress, her mother had reluctantly worn it. That dress represented the inequality in her parents’ relationship. Ashley remembered clearly how Linda had hunched her shoulders and bent her head in shame when she wore that dress, defeated and humiliated.
Ashley’s nails bit into her palms and she choked back the panic. She fought the urge to kick off the delicate heels and rip off the dress. She wanted to get them off before they tainted her.
It was too late. The clothes weren’t the problem. Ashley flattened her hand on the mirror and bent her head as she exhaled shakily. For years she had been determined not to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She didn’t dress up for a man or try to gain his attention. She didn’t barter with her looks. And yet, here she was, a rich man’s plaything.
The only difference was that her mother had worked hard to gain Donald Jones’s attention. It had taken strategy to become his mistress. She had tried to bump up her status to become a trophy wife with an “unplanned” pregnancy. Unfortunately, Linda Valdez had not been Donald’s favorite trophy.
“You are nothing like Mom,” Ashley whispered to herself. She made sure of it. Once she thought her mother had been as perfect as a fairy-tale princess and she wanted to be like her. But as Linda got older, and Donald refused to marry her or give her his name, she became more insecure. She felt her beauty fading and knew she was losing the battle with her younger competitors.
Linda Valdez had been beautiful but fragile. Jealous and tempestuous. Ashley had seen the dark side of love and passion even before her mother had killed Donald before turning the gun on herself.
Ashley had been eighteen when that happened. Before that fateful moment she had been wary of men and kept her distance. As she struggled with the aftermath and scandal of the murder-suicide, she knew she would never allow love or sex to influence her life. Ashley had suppressed her passionate nature and hid on Inez Key. She didn’t mind being celibate. She had believed sex wasn’t worth the tears and heartache.
There were times when the isolation was almost too much to bear. But it was better than what she had witnessed in her parents’ relationship. She was ready to spend her life that way until Sebastian showed up on her island.
She had relaxed her guard under his charm and attention. One night with him and her quiet, contained life had spun wildly out of control. Even now, a month later, she found it difficult to hold back. She was too aware of him. Too needy for his touch.
Sebastian had proven her deepest fear. Ashley knew that she was very much her mother’s daughter. She was stronger and more disciplined, but she had been wild in Sebastian’s arms. The desire had been primal. Almost uncontrollable. She hadn’t been the same since. She didn’t want to feel the heights of passion because she knew the crash and burn was inevitable. If she wasn’t careful, she would succumb to the same torment as her mother.
* * *
Sebastian glanced at his watch and strode to the door leading to the walk-in closet. He was not used to waiting for a woman. They followed his schedule and didn’t cause any inconvenience. Ashley needed to learn that she was no different. He would not give her any special treatment. “Ashley, I’m not a patient man. It’s time to leave.”
As much as he would like to stay in and reacquaint himself with Ashley’s curves, this was one party he couldn’t miss. Wouldn’t. The opening of his newest club would bring in hundreds of thousands for charity. His old neighborhood needed that money. And yet, even now, he was tempted to strip off his gray suit, knock down the door and reclaim Ashley. He went hard as he imagined sinking into her welcoming body.
“Ashley?” he snapped.
“Have fun without me,” she said through the door.
Sebastian closed his eyes and inhaled sharply. He should have known that she would pout and sulk. Heiresses. It didn’t matter if they lived in stilettos or sandals. Each of them knew how to throw a tantrum.
“You’re coming with me,” he said in a low voice. “That’s the agreement.”
“Actually, I didn’t agree to it,” she said, her voice loud and clear. “I said I’d share your bed. I didn’t say anything about dressing up like a whore and being put on display to stroke your ego.”
Whore? Sebastian shook his head. The dress and shoes were bought at one of the most exclusive boutiques in South Beach. He had paid the hairstylist and makeup artist an exorbitant fee to give Ashley a natural look.
Even if Ashley rolled out of bed and only wore a wrinkled sheet, she couldn’t look like a whore. There was something in the way she carried herself. She acted like a queen. Like she was too good for the rest of the world. Too good for him.
“Fine,” Sebastian said as he walked away from the door. He could find another woman in a matter of minutes. Someone who was so grateful to be on his arm that she wouldn’t challenge him every step of the way. “You don’t want Inez Key that much. Understandable. It really isn’t much of an island.”
“Wait,” she called out.
Sebastian hesitated. He didn’t wait for anyone. That was one benefit he discovered after making his first million. The powerful people who used to ignore and instantly dismiss him would now wait endlessly for a minute of his time. Why should he treat Ashley any differently?
And yet he was compelled to turn around. Because he wanted Ashley. No other woman would do. She had already invaded his dreams and captured his imagination. When Ashley wrenched the door open and stood defiantly in the threshold, his breath caught in his throat.
Her long brown hair fell past her shoulders in thick waves. He bunched his hands as he remembered how soft and heavy it felt. His gaze drifted down to her face. Only the scowl marred her exquisite beauty.
He
