by Cat Schield
Thirteen
As the cab headed to Sammi’s apartment through the gently drifting traffic-snarling snowflakes, Oliver had plenty of time to sort through the emotions that had gotten in the way of telling her how he felt about her. Instead of being honest with himself and her, he’d denied his growing feelings and marginalized their connection by denying her the closeness and intimate commitment she craved.
So how did he go about convincing her that he had changed overnight? After everything he’d put her through, would she believe that he’d let go of the past and was ready to have a future with her? Yet what could he say that might convince her when he demonstrated over and over that he was ruled by his anger?
Maybe he didn’t need to say anything. Maybe the situation called for him to do something. Since the taxi was crawling along, he utilized the time to call his contacts and find out what advertising agency Ty had landed at. If he couldn’t fix what he’d done, at least he could take full responsibility for his actions and apologize.
Five minutes later, he had a phone number to call. When the man answered, Oliver introduced himself but was interrupted before he could explain the reason for his call.
“What do you want?” Sammi’s ex demanded, his voice an unfriendly snarl.
For a second Oliver was taken aback. Was this how he sounded when his temper flared? No wonder people tiptoed around him. The image of himself as a boorish tyrant was far from flattering and certainly not one he intended to maintain going forward.
“Sammi said she ran into you at the Adina launch party last night,” Oliver began.
“What of it?”
Oliver rubbed his eyes, realizing that keeping a rein on his temper was going to be more challenging than he thought.
“She was upset because you accused her of being responsible for your recent troubles.”
“She got me fired.” Ty’s antagonism came through loud and clear.
“She had nothing to do with it,” Oliver assured him, maintaining his composure with difficulty. “I did. Your beef is with me.”
“You messed with my career. That’s a dick move.”
So was the way Ty had treated Sammi, but Oliver held his tongue. He was starting to understand why Sammi had gotten frustrated with his unwillingness to give up his anger and see reason.
“I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.” Oliver paused to grind his teeth before adopting a conciliatory tone to make it right for the woman he loved. “I’d be grateful if you’d leave Sammi out of it going forward. And if something comes up in the future that I can help you with, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”
After securing Ty’s promise to leave Sammi alone, Oliver’s shoulders relaxed. The traffic started moving as Oliver hung up on Sammi’s ex. To his astonishment, he felt better now that he’d come clean with Ty. It was as if by taking a positive action to undo some of the harm he’d done, he’d benefited as well. Imagine that. Oliver was grinning as the taxi pulled up to the curb in front of Sammi’s building. He paid the driver and got out.
He’d been to Sammi’s apartment often enough in the last month for the doormen to recognize him. Oliver nodded in greeting to the one currently on duty and headed for the elevator. As the car ascended, he was surprised by an eruption of butterflies in his stomach. For the last hour or so, he’d been so focused on his cathartic revelations following his visit to the prison that he hadn’t considered what he would do if her love for him was well and truly broken.
He knocked on her door and waited in a state of agitation for her to answer. It took so long that he wondered if she peered through the peephole, spied him standing outside her door and walked away. His breath hissed out in relief when he heard the lock disengage. A second later Sammi appeared in the doorway, wearing a fluttery black-and-white polka dot dress and white sneakers.
“How’d lunch with your mom go?” he asked, noting her surprise that he’d remembered.
“You didn’t come all this way to ask me that.” She scanned his face and then sighed. “It was nice. She’s really excited about her new job with the Paulson Agency.”
“Can I come in?” he asked, hoping her reluctance wouldn’t keep them apart. “I have a lot to tell you.”
“I think we said all there was to say last night.”
“Not everything,” he assured her, recognizing he had a lot of convincing to do. Oliver took her hands in his and gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “I went to see my father today.”
Her gaze lifted to his, fingers tightening ferociously. “How did it go? Are you okay?”
“Don’t I look okay?” he teased, her concern the perfect balm for his agitated nerves. He grinned. “Are you ready to let me in so I can tell you what happened?”
She drew him into the apartment and closed the door. Although his attention was focused on her, he noticed an abundance of packing boxes scattered around.
“You’re moving?” He didn’t dare ask a destination. She’d already removed her toiletries from his bathroom, indicating she’d chosen somewhere besides his place to live.
“My thirty days is up tomorrow.” Still holding his hand, she moved into the living room. “What happened when you went to see your father?”
Oliver didn’t want to talk about visiting Vernon. He wanted to tell her everything he’d thought about her in the time since. But mostly, he wanted to speak the three words that had been living in his heart for weeks.
“I love you.”
For a long moment, she stared at him without comprehension. “What?”
“You are my everything,” he said, grabbing her shoulders in a tight grasp. With the floodgates open, declarations and promises poured out of him. “I will do anything to make you happy. Whatever it takes.” Realizing his earnest pledges weren’t swaying her, he repeated himself. “I love you.”
She bit her lip and looked equal parts hopeful and wary. “Since when?”
He wasn’t surprised at her resistance. When she’d confessed her love, he’d been unable to say it back. “Since the day you walked into the bar at the Soho Grand. Something happened to me that day, and you’ve been a part of me ever since.”
Sammi was gaping at him with such intensity it seemed as if she’d stopped breathing. He gave her a little shake. She ejected the air from her lungs in an inarticulate squeak.
“But when you asked me to marry you and I said I couldn’t unless you loved me—” she jabbed her finger at him “—you said you didn’t.”
“I never told you I didn’t love you,” he countered, regretting such foolishness. “I just never told you I did. My only excuse is that I didn’t understand what I was feeling was love.”
“But you do now?”
“When I met with my father, I realized I was no longer the child who looked up to him. You were right. Letting go of my anger and my resentment was what I needed to recognize that my happiness lies in you. And our baby. You’re all I need and want.”
Blinking rapidly, she smoothed her hands over his chest while her gaze clung to his in a desperate search for reassurance. “I want to believe that will be enough...”
“Then believe it.” Oliver covered her hand where it rested over his heart and brushed his lips over her forehead. “I don’t have anything to prove to my father, nor do I need his approval. In fact, I can’t believe I wasted so much energy resenting him.”
“But the situation with your family isn’t over,” she murmured. “There’s bound to be one event after another that brings up all the old hurts.”
“You’re right. And I can’t promise you that what comes next will be easy, but I know it will be so much harder without you in my life.”
* * *
Although these were all the things she’d been dying to hear Oliver say to her, she couldn’t quite believe that he’d arrived at such a life-changing transformation in a few short hours.
“And I will be,” she promised him. “We’re having a baby, after all.”
Oliver’s brows lowered. “You aren’t convinced.”
“I am... I mean I want to be.”
“Come with me to visit my father.” His offer was so adamant that she had no words. “Let’s go right now. Come with me and you’ll see that there’s no more anger inside me for him.”
“You were just there,” she said. “You don’t really want to go back, do you?”
He didn’t. She could see it in his eyes, yet he looked resolute.
“I will. And to prove I’ve let go of the past I’ll go every day thereafter if you’ll come with me.” His voice resonated with earnestness as he continued, “Just like you’ve come to understand how what happened to your mother has changed the way you view her decisions and actions all these years, I finally understand what you mean. The only way I can stop letting my anger rule me is to let go of past resentment.”
“And you’re ready to do that.” It was less a question than a statement. She could see from his earnest expression that he believed he was ready to move on.
“Going to see him today was the best thing I could’ve done. I’d built him up to be this figurehead in my mind. A larger-than-life role model for me to look up to. Today, he was behind bars, and all he wanted to do was run me down.” Oliver gave a snorting laugh that held only a trace of his old bitterness. “He’s the one who’s flawed, not me.”
“I guess we expected too much from our parents,” Sammi said, her expression rueful. “They aren’t perfect or all knowing, but flawed and driven by fear like anyone else.”
Oliver nodded. “If I’d understood that when I was younger, I would’ve saved myself a whole lot of trouble.”
Sammi heard the regret in his voice and desperately wanted to make the hurt go away. “But then you wouldn’t have become the man you are. You are a diamond, formed by tremendous pressure and adversity.”
“You are the only person in this world who would look at me like a diamond,” he said, affection mingling with gratitude in his eyes. “Most everyone else sees me as a pain in the ass.”
She touched his cheek, wrapping her love around him. “That’s because you have trouble letting people in.”
“That’s the old me.” He flashed his teeth in a bright, enthusiastic grin. “Things are going to be different going forward. I’ve decided to reach out to both my brothers and fix our relationship. I also need to make peace with my mom. I’ve been too hard on her, not realizing that she was doing the best she could with what she had.” Oliver cupped Sammi’s face in his hands and kissed her gently on the lips. “But most important, I promise to be there for you and our baby. Whatever you need. I intend to live up to your trust.”
Seeing the determination in his blue eyes, Sammi’s doubts receded. She didn’t bother asking him if he was sure. One thing she learned about Oliver over the last few weeks was that he never questioned a decision once he made it. She found his decisiveness sexy. Maybe because she had such trouble making up her own mind about things.
“Before we met, I’d never imagined finding someone who made me feel safe,” she said, her heart clenching. “You’re the only man I’ve ever truly trusted.”
Oliver gathered her against him, and the last bit of stiffness in her muscles eased. She settled against his hard frame with a grateful sigh and slid one arm around his neck, taking reassurance and giving solace.
“Being with you gave me a taste of how wonderful it could be to be a couple, and one day a family, and I’m greedy for more.”
When she’d opened the door and spied him standing in the hallway, she never expected to end up in his arms. Moments before he’d arrived, she’d been gearing up to move into the studio apartment alone and suddenly he was stepping forward to confess his love.
Oliver’s transformation was a sight to behold. The sweetness she’d glimpsed beneath his sometimes gruff, often wary exterior was on full display at the moment. She hadn’t realized how many shadows blocked his soul until they were gone. Awestruck, she basked in the unabashed adoration radiating from his clear blue gaze.
“I love you, Samantha Guzman,” he declared, his whole heart in the smile he beamed at her. “Will you marry me?”
Her breath caught. Brilliant joy suffused her whole body. This was the fantasy. The perfect beginning to their family.
“Yes.” Sammi’s spirits soared. “Oh, yes.”
And as Oliver’s soft kisses turned demanding, Sammi gave herself over to the thrill of his embrace, ready for anything the future might hold with this man at her side.
* * *
Dynasties:
Seven Sins
It takes the betrayal of only one man
to destroy generations.
When a hedge fund hotshot vanishes with billions,
the high-powered families of Falling Brook
are changed forever.
Now seven heirs, shaped by his betrayal,
must reckon with the sins of the past.
Passion may be their only path to redemption.
Experience all Seven Sins!
Ruthless Pride by Naima Simone
Forbidden Lust by Karen Booth
Insatiable Hunger by Yahrah St. John
Hidden Ambition by Jules Bennett
Reckless Envy by Joss Wood
Untamed Passion by Cat Schield
Slow Burn by Janice Maynard
Available May through November 2020!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Temptation at Christmas by Maureen Child.
WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS BOOK FROM
Luxury, scandal, desire—welcome to the lives of the American elite.
Be transported to the worlds of oil barons, family dynasties, moguls and celebrities. Get ready for juicy plot twists, delicious sensuality and intriguing scandal.
6 NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE EVERY MONTH!
Temptation at Christmas
by Maureen Child
One
Sam Buchanan hated Christmas.
Always had, but this year, he had more reason than ever to wish he could wipe the “holiday season” off the calendar for good.
“So go on a Christmas cruise,” he muttered darkly. “Good call.”
He’d known it would be hard, but he wasn’t one to step back from duty just because it was difficult. Sam had a business to take care of and he wouldn’t let the personal get in the way of that.
Didn’t mean he had to like it, though.
From the owner’s suite at the top of the Fantasy Cruise Line ship, Fantasy Nights, Sam looked out on the curved bow with its sky-blue deck and the sea beyond...because he didn’t want to look at the dock. San Pedro, California, harbor was crowded with passengers excited to get their cruise to Hawaii going and damned if he’d look down on a bunch of happy, celebrating people. Once the cruise got underway, he could hole up here, in his suite, only venturing out to check on his employees.
Sam took four cruises a year—on different ships in the Buchanan line—to maintain good communication with both crew and passengers. He’d always believed experiencing the cruises in person was the best way to keep his fingers on the pulse of what his guests and employees needed. Not to mention it was the only certain way to make sure those employees were doing their jobs to his expectations.
Gripping his coffee cup, he narrowed his gaze on the expanse of ocean waiting just beyond the harbor. Once they were on the open sea, he’d slip out of his suite, check in with the ship’s captain and then do a walk through the restaurants.
He wasn’t looking forward to it.
Normally, the Fantasy Cruise Line didn’t allow children onboard. Adult-only cruises were their mainstay. But at Christmas, the rules were relaxed so that families could enjoy sailing together on their smaller, more inti
mate ships.
So for this cruise, not only would he be faced with miles of Christmas garland, brightly lit trees and piped-in Christmas carols, but there would be dozens of kids, hyped up on Santa and candy, to deal with as well. And still, he told himself, it was better to be on this cruise than in his own home where the lack of Christmas would taunt him even more completely.
“Yeah,” he assured himself solemnly, “no way to win this year.”
The phone on the wet bar rang and Sam walked to it. “Yes?”
“Captain says we sail in an hour, Mr. Buchanan.”
“Fine. Thanks.” He hung up and listened to the silence in the owner’s suite. There would be plenty of it for the next couple of weeks and he was looking forward to it even as he dreaded it.
A year ago, things had been different. He’d met a woman on another cruise and two months later, they’d had a Christmas-themed wedding. And they had taken this Christmas cruise for their honeymoon. Yes, for Mia’s sake, Sam had even given Christmas a shot. He hadn’t thrown himself into it or anything, but he also hadn’t been quite the Scrooge he usually was.
Now the marriage was gone. She was gone. And Christmas was back, just to rub it in.
He set his coffee cup down on the bar top, shoved both hands into the pockets of his black slacks and stared around the beautifully appointed room. The owner’s suite was twelve hundred square feet of luxury. Teak floors gleamed in the sunlight, paintings of the sea and several of Sam’s cruise ships lined the walls. On the ocean side of the suite, the wall was one-way glass, affording an incomparable view of the ocean and the wide balcony that stretched the length of the suite.
Leather club chairs and sofas were gathered atop a rich, burgundy throw rug in the middle of the living room and there were tables with lamps bolted onto them, in case of rough seas. There was a flat-screen television on the wall and a dining room off to one side.