Summer Heat Wave

by Lauren Smith

  Paul turned and walked out the door.

  A moment later, Simon entered the office and closed the door before sitting down in the chair facing Denver.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know,” Denver said, still stunned by the encounter. The hate and anger he’d expected to feel at the sight of the man who’d ruined his life seemed to be fading fast. The man who’d just left his office hadn’t been the villainous nightmare he had remembered. He was a man aged by guilt, a man who understood the gravity of his sins against Denver’s family. He was also a man who wanted his daughter to be happy, at any cost to himself, even the cost of leaving her life forever.

  “You could call Blair, for starters. She may still be at work.” Simon picked up the phone on Denver’s desk and dialed the number on the contract paperwork that sat before him. Then he handed the phone to Denver.

  “This is Bay Breeze. How may I help you?” the receptionist asked.

  “This is Denver Ramsey. I’d like to speak with Blair Ashworth.”

  Simon got up to leave him alone.

  “She’s no longer employed here. I’m sorry. Would you like to speak to the account manager?”

  “She’s no longer working on my account or at the agency?” Denver demanded. Simon stilled at the outburst and turned back to stare at him.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Ramsey. She’s no longer here . . .” Denver heard a scuffling sound, and a new female voice spoke to him in a whisper.

  “Mr. Ramsey, this is Kayley. I’m Blair’s friend. Please call this number in five minutes.” She rattled off a cell phone number, Denver wrote it down, and then she hung up.

  “What the hell was that about?” Simon asked.

  “Blair is gone. She’s not working at her uncle’s firm anymore.” I wonder why her father didn’t tell me.

  He and Simon sat in agonized silence for five minutes before he called the number Kayley had given him.

  “Hi,” she answered, more loudly this time. “Sorry for the cloak-and-dagger stuff. I was quitting Bay Breeze myself and had just left a minute ago. I knew you’d want to know what happened to Blair.”

  “What did happen?” Denver asked, his patience flagging.

  “You knew she was up for a promotion if she got your account, right?”

  “Yes.” An ominous feeling rose in his chest, making it hard to swallow.

  “Well . . .” Kayley’s voice was temporarily muffled. “The day after she got back from the Bahamas, she found out her uncle had hired somebody else. He said he never planned to give her the job. He didn’t even believe she would succeed in getting you to sign. He just wanted her gone for a few days so he could work out the hiring of the new account executive. When she found out, she quit. She’s my hero,” Kayley gushed. “Now I’m leaving too. Half the staff is going as well. We’re all going to work with her. After all, she’s the real genius behind the agency, and everyone knows it.”

  She had walked away from her family’s company. He knew that had to mean something to her, so much so that she’d come all the way to the Bahamas, to him, and had even accepted the fake engagement plan. Damn, he was proud of her for going after what she wanted, but he hated that her uncle had put her in such a position. Blair deserved a promotion and an ownership stake based on her work, not her ability to seduce a man.

  “I don’t know if you can find a way out of the contract, but you shouldn’t have to work with Randall and that jerk he hired to manage your account.”

  Denver scowled and started to reach for the contract paperwork, but Simon was already rifling through the pages. He grabbed a pen and circled something before he slid the papers over to Denver. When Denver read the clause that Simon had circled, he grinned wolfishly.

  “I believe we’ll be able to get out of it just fine,” Denver told her.

  “That’s a relief. If you want to sign with Blair, you have her number right?

  “I don’t actually.”

  “I’ll text to you, what’s your mobile number?” Kayley asked and Denver gave it to her. “Just sent you her cell. We’ll have our agency set up in a few weeks. We just got an investment group to join us.”

  “Which group?” Denver asked, but he sensed he might know the answer.

  “Fawkes.”

  Good girl, he thought with even more pride. She had gotten Jack and Anne to back her, and they knew how good she was at her job.

  “I might just do that. Thanks for the information.” He ended the call and shot a look at Simon. “You added this clause, didn’t you?” Denver glanced again at the clause that gave him a back door out if Bay Breeze no longer retained Blair Ashworth as his sole account executive.

  “I figured her uncle was still an asshole, and neither you nor Blair deserved to get screwed over by him. The man apparently didn’t even notice the addition of the clause, because he signed it.”

  “I think you might need a raise, Simon.”

  “I wouldn’t object.” Simon chuckled. “Now I’m going back to my office to book your flight to Chicago. I suggest you pack a bag and get ready to leave.”

  Denver stood and opened his desk drawer, his fingers closing around the little ring box. It was time to chase his siren down and bring her to paradise with him.

  12

  Blair returned from the grocery store near her parents’ home and put away the perishable items. It was dinnertime, and she expected her mother to be there ready to pounce on the groceries to help make dinner. Blair had been gone from the house for several hours completing a few errands for her mother, and she hadn’t checked in to see what time they planned to cook.

  “Mom? Dad?” she called out when the house remained quiet. She frowned slightly as she went to check the garage. Their car was gone, which filled her with sudden panic. She dug into her purse for her cell phone and saw that her mother had sent a text message to read a note she’d left in the guest room. When Blair found the note on the guest bed where she’d been sleeping the last few nights, she wondered what her parents were doing with all the secrecy.

  Blair,

  Your father and I are spending the night in the city. We’ll be back in the morning. This package came for you.

  Mom

  Beside the note was a little blue bag stuffed with tissue paper. She removed the paper and found a small blue box she recognized all too well. With shaking hands, she opened the box. A blue-tinted pearl ring lay in a ring setting made of a bed of diamonds. It glittered in the light. Denver’s ring.

  Her heart shuddered at the sight and all the memories she had of wearing it for a few days.

  A small envelope fluttered to the bed as she pushed the package over so she could sit down. She reached for it and removed a small card. The embossed shell on the paper made her chest tighten. It was the Seven Seas stationery.

  Blair,

  I never told you where I got the ring. This pearl was in a clam that washed up that day the tropical storm hit. The pearl, just like you, came crashing into my life, leaving me forever changed. This pearl belongs to you, just as I do. If you want me, you know where to find me.

  He didn’t sign it, but he didn’t need to. She recognized Denver’s handwriting. How did this get here? Did he mail it to her parents? But how—?

  She was up on her feet, slipping the ring on her finger before thinking as she raced downstairs for the back door of the house. A fine mist was coming down outside, and it shrouded the lakeshore, but there was no mistaking the tall figure standing near the water’s edge, his back to her.

  She wanted to run to him, but she halted a dozen feet away, trembling as the cold mist coated her face and skin. She touched the ring around her finger, needing the reassurance of it there like a talisman.

  “You came,” she said softly. At the sound of her voice, he turned. Denver was even more handsome than she remembered him from the first time she saw him that day on the beach when he bumped into her. He wore one of those gorgeous gray tailored suits that made his eyes gl
ow and showed off his muscled perfection.

  “My father used to say that a person should go after what they want most in life and never let go of it when they have it. I made a mistake and let mine walk away. I’m here to see if it’s not too late.”

  “Oh?” She kept her tone casual, though her heart was skittering wildly against her ribs.

  “Yes.” He walked up to her, his hazel eyes searing her. “I couldn’t live another minute without my brown-eyed girl.”

  A blush set her cheeks ablaze. Denver reached up and cupped her face in his palms, their warmth erasing the chill on her skin. She closed her eyes, too afraid that if she kept looking at him, he’d vanish like all her other dreams had. She wanted to stay forever like that, with him holding her, surrounding her until nothing else in the world could touch her.

  “Please don’t let me go,” she whispered against his lips as he faintly pressed his mouth to hers in a ghost of a kiss.

  “Tell me that you’re mine, darling, that you’ll come home with me, and I’ll never let you go.” The whispered command sent a shiver of desire and purest longing through her, and she started to tremble.

  The word darling, among all those other wonderful words, reached her heart, squeezing it and causing a childlike rush of pure joy. “Am I your darling?” She emphasized the word.

  “Yes, my darling pearl.” He leaned his head down until his forehead touched hers and their breaths mingled in between them.

  “Why did you change your mind? I thought you didn’t want me?” she dared to ask, knowing it was stupid to remind him that he once hadn’t wanted her enough to ask her to stay.

  “I’ve always wanted you, Blair. I just didn’t believe I could let go of my hate until your father came to see me.”

  “My father came to see you?” she said with a gasp, her eyes locking onto his.

  Denver’s gaze softened. “Yes. And I realized that my hate for him wasn’t as strong as my love for you, and I realized the foolishness of letting you walk away. I knew I wanted you more than anything else in my life. And like that, something opened up inside me, allowing that black knot of hate around my heart to just fade away.”

  “My father really went to see you in the Bahamas?” She remembered her father leaving for a day on a work trip, but she had never imagined anything like this. He’d gone to see someone who likely would have had him escorted off the resort by security. He’d taken a great risk going to see Denver . . . for her.

  “He offered to leave us alone if I came for you.”

  Blair’s eyes widened. Her father had done that for her? Would Denver really want to keep her away from her family?

  Denver ran his hands down her back and pulled her even closer, comforting her with that simple touch.

  “But I’m not going to take your father from you, not after knowing the pain of losing mine. He and I will never be best friends, but we can make this work. You and I can be happy.” His eyes glowed, and the soft smile on his lips simply stunned her. The hard edge of his anger was gone. He was no less intense, no less intoxicating, but he was full of joy now, and it was even more arousing than his anger.

  “So will you give me a chance to win you back, darling?” He brushed the pads of his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away the sheen of mist that had mixed with the tears escaping her eyes. Then he lifted her hand that wore the pearl ring. He stroked the pearl and the band around her finger, eyeing it, and then he met her gaze with a heated possessiveness tempered with a gentle affection that would have shattered any resistance, but she had none.

  “Yes.” She curled her arms around his neck, pulling his face that last inch to hers and kissing him.

  That kiss, like the first kiss, was one to end all kisses. It was everything all at once. His mouth was hungry and yet reverent as he worshiped her. They tasted each other and the mist, breathing as one and feeling each other with their bodies and souls as they never had before. There was nothing between them now to darken their passion and love.

  When their mouths finally broke apart, she grasped Denver by the hand and led him toward the house. He followed her up the deck steps and inside. Without words, he understood what she wanted, what she needed. As they climbed the stairs inside to her bedroom, they started stripping out of their clothes. By the time they reached her bedroom, she was fumbling with his pants and he had his hands around her body, unhooking her bra. She squeaked as he lifted her up and dropped her onto the bed. Then he helped her shimmy out of her panties, which he twirled playfully on his finger before slingshotting them across the room, and pounced on her, which only made her breathless with laughter.

  Denver gripped her thighs and jerked her toward him before he knelt between her legs and kissed his way down to her slit. She threw her head back with a moan as he licked her throbbing clit, sucking on it before moving down to her folds.

  “Oh my God . . .” She writhed as he licked her and teased her until she was desperate. “Dammit, Denver, just—” She didn’t have time to finish because he slid up her body and slammed himself into her, stealing her breath at the sudden fullness she felt with his shaft inside her.

  “Is this what you want?” he growled, but the heat in his eyes was playful now and not angry.

  “Yes, I want that, so give it to me.” She dug her nails into his shoulders as he bucked against her, riding her until she came with a scream. Then he gentled, his possession of her body sweeter as he moved in slow, gentle thrusts, still holding back his own pleasure. He captured her hands with his, lacing their fingers together as he continued to move inside her until he found his release in a quiet exhalation of her name.

  Blair was captivated by the feel of him and the expression in his eyes. Everything she had sensed he kept locked away—every soft, sweet, compassionate emotion—was laid bare before her. He was undone, vulnerable, full of love. The last bit of weight upon her shoulders vanished, and she felt free enough to spread her wings and fly.

  “I love you, Blair.” He nuzzled her cheek before stealing a tender kiss that sealed her fate forever. She truly was Denver’s brown-eyed girl, now and always. There would be no other in her life, not like this.

  “I love you too.” She trailed her fingers over his strong jaw. He turned his head to kiss those fingertips.

  “I was thinking of a wedding on the beach,” he began with adorable uncertainty. “But if you want something more traditional . . .”

  “A wedding on the shores of Paradise Island sounds like paradise.”

  “And I’ve been thinking a lot about your new agency.” He rolled off her and pulled her into his arms.

  “How did you find out I left Bay Breeze?” Blair rested her chin on his chest.

  “Your friend Kayley. I tried to reach you there, and she filled me in on what your uncle did.”

  “I wasn’t completely honest with you.” Blair bit her lip. “It wasn’t just the promotion I was after. He promised me shares in the company. I wanted to get my father’s company back. But it turns out my father didn’t want that.”

  “I know. He and I spoke this morning. I asked him to leave the house for the day so you and I could talk. I wasn’t sure if you would forgive me for letting you go.”

  She sighed and laid her cheek on his chest, relieved he wasn’t upset about what she had revealed.

  “We’ve only known each other for a few weeks. It would be insane for me to expect you to want me, let alone love me, in so short a time, especially given our history. But I did hope you would come after me.”

  “After one week, I think I know you better than any woman I have ever dated.” He stroked his hand through her hair, and she almost forgot what they were talking about because it felt so good to be touched by him.

  “What were you thinking about regarding my agency?” she finally asked.

  “Right, so you’ll need to be in Chicago for part of the year. I was thinking we could do every other month in Chicago, and the alternating months we could be at the resort in the Bahamas. I’
ll want you there, and once we start building in Bali, you’ll need to get comfortable with that resort too if you’re handling both campaigns.”

  She didn’t mind the idea of spending half the year away from the city. While she liked Chicago, Denver’s employee, Erica was right—her heart now belonged in the Caribbean.

  “That could work. But what about your contract with Bay Breeze?”

  Denver chuckled, the deep rumbling sound rolling through her. “Simon slipped in a clause that said we could terminate if you weren’t the sole account executive handling our account. He dropped it in a different part of the contract, and your uncle rushed to sign it without looking. We’ve already pulled out of it, and Randall couldn’t say anything against it.”

  “Is it weird that your pissing my uncle off sort of turns me on?” She laughed.

  “Does it?” Denver rolled her beneath him. She covered his face with kisses as he tickled her until they were both too breathless and hungry for something more. Then he gave her more until the day surrendered to twilight and the moon rose clear above the lake while the sound of the waves lulled them both to sleep. They dreamed of their future, a future brighter than the sun reflecting off the water of Paradise Island. They were dreams of a life together, a life of love and hope. Dreams that were already becoming a beautiful, crystalline reality.

  Epilogue

  Five years later

  “Blair, watch out! The waves!”

  Denver watched helplessly as a wave crested and headed toward the two greatest loves of his life. Blair laughed and lifted their three-year-old daughter, Savannah, into the air, letting the toddler’s toes skip across the surface of the small wave as it crashed into Blair’s knees.

  “She’s all right, honey!” Blair called back with a laugh, flashing him a knowing smile. Savannah squealed in delight.