Rekindled Desire

by Hadley Raydeen

  “Hey.” He put a finger to her mouth. “Don’t think so much. This is just you and me. I don’t want to work against each other. I want us to work together.”

  “What if our personal relationship doesn’t work out and we’re stuck with each other as business partners? That would be awkward.” She laughed.

  “Then we would have to do something to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “Like what?” She furrowed her brow, not seeing a way to get around the inevitable with Brandon.

  “Marry me.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Before this, she was almost certain time could not stand still, but here in this moment with hot water swirling around her naked hips, it did. She was pretty sure she stopped breathing, too.

  “Okay, I have never proposed before, but I’m sure silence is not a good thing.” He laughed nervously.

  “No, um…I just…damn. You know how to leave a girl speechless.”

  “Again, not the answer I was looking for.”

  “You just caught me by surprise.” She could tell he wasn’t pleased with her responses at all. “Can we talk about it?” she asked in a mousy voice.

  “It’s okay, Cambria.” He slid his body up and away from her. “I’m going to go use the restroom and take a shower. Could you point me in the right direction?”

  “Through the sliding door, the bathroom is down the hall, first door on the right.”

  “Thanks.” He hopped out of the tub and slipped through the sliding doors before she had a minute to say anything else.

  What the hell was I thinking asking her to marry me like that? She deserves so much more than that blurted proposal after mind blowing sex. He didn’t even have a ring. He was embarrassed and needed to get the hell out of there to find his senses.

  Brandon had never felt so strongly for any other woman—just Cambria. He ran a hand over his face. Letting the hot water from the massive stone shower run over his body, he washed his hair and the grime of the trip from his body. He’d checked the rooms before he entered the shower. She was staying in what appeared to be the master so he left his suitcase in one of the guest rooms. He already made a major ass of himself. He wasn’t going to assume she wanted him in the same room with her after the way that proposal just went. And to add a cherry on top her left her dumbfounded and alone in the hot tub.

  This trip to St. Thomas to retrieve the woman of his dreams was not going as planned. Seriously, what were you thinking? Oh, let’s start a major marketing firm and by the way, marry me. Oh, ‘no’ to both of those plans? Okay, time to tuck your tail between your legs and bolt it out of there. Ugh! Brandon, you fucking idiot. He shut off the shower and toweled himself dry with one of the fluffy black towels in the closet. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he exited the bathroom amidst a cloud of steam.

  Movement made him look up. Cambria leaned against the wall opposite of the bathroom door and appeared to be waiting for him. Her arms folded in front of her bikini top with a look of worry across her beautiful face. He stopped to study her and hesitated while she ran her warm gaze over his half-naked body.

  “How was your shower?” she asked in a quiet tone.

  “Rejuvenating,” he answered and went to move past her down the hall.

  She caught his arm. “We should talk.”

  “Yes, I suppose you are right.” He looked down at the towel covering his semi-erection. “Can I go get dressed first?” He looked over her scantily clad body.

  “Why? You don’t have anything under that towel I haven’t seen already.”

  He looked at her quickly, his body responding to her words. He resisted the urge to rub at his aching cock. “Look, I think we would both be more comfortable—”

  She moved across the hall to him, quicker than he could get the words out of his mouth.

  “I refuse to let you freeze me out because I didn’t answer your question the way you wanted, and as quickly as you wanted. You told me you wouldn’t hurt me. This pushing me away bullshit hurts me.” She placed her fingertips to his mouth. “Now, shut up. I want to talk to you.” He tried to look away from her. She slid her fingers from his mouth, over his chest and defined abs. “I don’t give a good Goddamn about clothes,” she said, working her fingers in the knot of his towel, loosening it, and letting it fall to the floor.

  He cleared his throat, trying to ignore the growing hard-on she caused. “What are you doing?” He didn’t look at her.

  “You are acting disinterested in what I have to say, but your dick says otherwise.”

  “My dick is a traitor.” He gasped as her fingers enveloped his manhood. He dragged his top teeth over his bottom lip. “Heaven help me,” he moaned. “We don’t have to do this. You made your intentions clear, Cambria. And I was an ass to ask you the way I did. We just reconnected after four years to think we could pick up where we left off and—”

  She placed her lips on his to shut him up. “I haven’t made my intentions clear, yet” she whispered against his lips. “I’m in love with you, Mr. McKay. Hell, I have been for a long time. We just need some time to be together like this. To learn each other and discover new ways to please each other.” She kissed her way down his jaw to his ear.

  He groaned his pleasure. “I think you are on the right path.” His shudder made her smile.

  “Please don’t take the proposal off the table. Or the business proposition. Let’s work on us first and all of the other things can be worked out as well.”

  He nodded in agreement, grabbing at her legs to hoist her up around his waist. “I’d like to work on us right now, you know if you have time for an impromptu meeting… of our bodies.”

  “Oh, I believe I have plenty of time for that. Your room or mine?” She chuckled.

  “Who needs a room?” he said, backing her into the wall. “Why did you even bother putting this back on?” He slid the bikini top down over her breasts. Gasps of pleasure was all she could muster in response to his hot mouth on her taut nipples. He pressed his erection against her middle.

  “Aren’t you tired?” she asked as he undid the clasps on the side of her bikini bottoms.

  “No. you give me a new burst of energy every time I touch you.” He growled, entering her the minute the garment fell to the floor. Her back arched as his length pushed into her. She adjusted quickly, sliding down on his cock. “Look at me, Cam.” He moaned.

  She barely opened her eyes and whimpered as he moved against her.

  Brandon said the words he needed her to hear, “I’m in love with you Cambria. I’ll do whatever I need to do to prove that to you.” He crushed his mouth against hers, not wanting her to say anything; not wanting her to feel obligated to return his feelings. He just wanted her to know how he felt about her. He loved her.

  CHAPTER 16

  “I hate the fact we are leaving in the morning,” she whined, taking a sip of her red wine and enjoying the sunset. Brandon sat across from her at the table on the patio outside of the house. “One could get spoiled here.” She wanted to keep the conversation flowing as he hadn’t been much company during the day. Especially after dinner, he hadn’t said more than two words, and he had darted off a few times to take hushed phone calls in other areas of the house. She was starting to get worried. “Brandon, are you okay?” She leaned across the table to take his hand.

  “We are going to have to go back to reality tomorrow. It just sucks thinking about it,” he said, taking a sip of his beer.

  “Is that what has you so quiet?”

  He turned to look at her. “We have to go back tomorrow and face everything at work.”

  “It was only a week-long vacation, Brandon. It wasn’t going to last forever. We had an amazing time together taking in the sights, going out to eat, enjoying the beach…”

  “Making love,” he said, finishing her thought.

  Her cheeks warmed. They had made love every night since he arrived in St. Thomas. She loved every minute of her time with him. She always did.

/>   “Are we going to talk about the company?”

  “You mean the one you want to start together?” she asked.

  “Is it such a crazy idea?” He studied her.

  “No,” she answered, not wanting to destroy his idea with her hesitancy. “I think it’s a good idea. I just don’t know where we would begin.”

  “We are going to work on this project together, when we get back home.”

  “I was taken off the project,” she pointed out. “Jeff made that clear before I hopped on the plane. My boss is just feeling bad for me. That is the only reason he let me stay here for the week.”

  “I’m lead on the project now, Cam. I want you to work with me on it. As a matter of fact, I think the proposal you showed me last week in your dining room would be the perfect campaign. No work will be needed.”

  “Brandon… I don’t know. You know your partner and his team probably have been working their asses off on this thing while we’ve been away, would it be fair to them just to push all that aside?”

  “Like I said, I’m lead on the project and trust me, not a one of them knows their ass from a hole in the ground. They can’t hold a candle to you. I can personally guarantee you not a damn thing was done while we were away.”

  “What are you going to do?” She gazed at him over the rim of her wine glass.

  “I’m not going to do a damn thing,” he said, looking out at the sunset.

  “I don’t understand. We can’t lose this account, Brandon. I thought you worked on this project with your team before you came down here?”

  “Nope,” he answered adjusting his sunglasses. She eyed him, astonished he cared so little.

  “Look, I know you want to start your own company and that is admirable, it really is. I might even be adventuress enough to work with you on it. But to blow this account now would be career suicide. Maybe you should call Jim and see if he needs you to start working on this. The meeting is tomorrow morning.”

  “I know when the meeting is.”

  “Damn it, Brandon. Why are you so calm about this?”

  He chuckled, taking a sip of his beer. “Probably because you are freaked out enough for the both of us.” He reached over and grabbed her hand. “I have it all under control. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Yeah, the fact that I ‘don’t have to worry about it’ is exactly what worries me.”

  T heir flight landed at eight o’clock in the morning, giving them just enough time to catch a cab straight to the office. Cambria had such an uneasy feeling. Brandon hadn’t worked on the project all week. He spent the whole vacation catering to her and making her feel like she was his everything. He took her hand and squeezed it lightly while walking her to the limo waiting for them.

  “Mr. McKay?” the driver asked, holding up the sign with his name on it.

  “Yes,” he answered, shaking the man’s hand. Cambria sat back in admiration of his self-confidence and his aura of masculinity and sex appeal. The driver held open the door.

  “After you, pretty lady,” Brandon said, letting go of her hand.

  “Our luggage?”

  “We will take care of that, ma’am,” the driver explained.

  “Yes, Cam, no worries,” Brandon reassured.

  “Well, if you say so.” She snuggled into the plush leather seat of the limo and Brandon slid in next to her taking her hand back into his.

  “Are you okay? You seem jumpy.”

  “Really, you think?” she asked sarcastically. “We are about to walk into one of the biggest meetings of my professional career and you are all shits and giggles. I’m sorry, but yes, I’m nervous.” She took a deep breath. “You were in the Virgin Islands with me all week, Brandon, and you didn’t work once on your presentation. You didn’t take phone calls or e-mails or texts from any of your team. I don’t know if you trust them that much with your professional future, but I’m nervous for you.”

  He snickered at her. “I’m touched you are concerned.”

  “Don’t be sarcastic. Please tell me you have a plan?”

  “Don’t I always?” he answered, squeezing her hand.

  * * * *

  They arrived at her office at nine o’clock. Brandon’s team met him at the front reception area of the office, nearly pushing Cambria out of the way. He grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him.

  “Hey! Calm down,” he said, looking at his three associates. “Can we speak one at a time, please, and can someone start with a’ hello’? I mean, really, we’ve been gone for a week.”

  Three sets of anxious eyes peered back at him before Jim stepped forward.

  “Welcome back, Brandon. Nice of you to join us,” he said in possibly one of the best sarcastic tones Cambria had ever heard. “Now that the two of you have gotten some much needed Virgin Island sun, I hope to all that is holy, you have a fucking plan,” Jim snapped. “I’ve been calling you all week, man. What the fuck? You don’t have wireless service down there?”

  The icy chill in Jim’s tone made Cambria want to step back, but Brandon held her hand tight.

  “Tell me, Jim, was there any research or work done on this at all while I was gone?”

  “We did the best we could,” a blonde-haired woman in a grey pin-striped suit piped up. “But, Brandon, usually you take the lead on projects of this magnitude and frankly we were out of our element on this.”

  Brandon sliced a glance at Cambria and she could see why he wanted to make a break for it and open his own business. These people were incompetent.

  Jeff came into the reception area at that point and made a beeline for her. “How are you, Cam? Did you get the rest you needed?” He hugged her quickly. “I swear to God you better have treated her right,” Jeff stated, pointing an accusatory finger at Brandon.

  “We are fine,” she answered for Brandon, taking her boss’s hand. “Thanks for giving me the time off, Jeff. It was much needed. Come on, tell me everything that has happened here while I’ve been away.” She linked her boss’ arm in hers. She cast a look over her shoulder at Brandon before Jeff led her away. She felt bad leaving Brandon with those vultures, but he looked more than in control.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Where is he?” Kimi asked, moving her chair toward Cambria. “The client is getting impatient.”

  “I have no idea,” Cambria answered, twirling her pen nervously in between her fingers. “When we returned, his team swarmed him and Jeff came and saved me. I don’t know what he is planning or how this is going to turn out. I’m just nervous for him.”

  “How was vacation?” Kimi eyed her.

  “It was fine…what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “You mean besides the fact you are glowing like the noonday sun?”

  Her cheeks warmed. “He was very…attentive this week.”

  “Oh attentive? Is that what we are calling it now?”

  “Shut up, Kimi.” Cambria laughed. “We got to know each other…again…and again. Everything that made us wonderful friends in college, the fun we had was all there, again.”

  “And at night?” Kimi urged.

  “And at night…and during the day…and in the hot tub…well everything we never tried in college was there.”

  “Everything that was missing?”

  “Yes, everything that was missing. And…” Cambria hesitated.

  “And what?” Kimi said above a whisper. Some of the people in the conference room turned to look at them.

  “Will you keep it down?” Cambria hissed.

  “Well?” Kimi whispered.

  “There was a proposal.”

  “Oh. My. GOD!”

  Jeff eyed the two of them. “Ladies. Please?” he pleaded quietly. His eye lock lingered over, Kimi, obviously knowing she was the culprit. She looked at him sheepishly.

  “Sorry,” Cambria mouthed to her boss. She then looked back at her friend and caught the fleeting glance between her and Jeff. She noticed a glimmer of something between the two of them and she made
a mental note to ask Kimi what that was all about.

  Kimi pulled out her phone and texted Cambria’s phone.

  What did you say!?

  Cambria read the text, looked at Kimi, making a mental note to ask her what the hell went on here while she was away. Then texted back. I didn’t answer him. We were in the middle of making love. I didn’t think he was serious.

  Is the proposal still on the table? Kimi shot back.

  Kind of.

  Kimi gave her a disgusted look, then tapped away. What the hell does that mean? Am I going to be a maid of honor or not, damn it!?

  Cambria stifled a chuckle when Jeff looked at her warningly, then proceeded to tap out her message to Kimi. We are taking it slow, Kimi. When I know, you will know.

  That isn’t good enough. You two would be perfect together!

  She sighed and shrugged, then texted. I know, but let it just move along at its own pace. We love each other. We know that, we just have to work it out.

  That is just…Kimi looked up when Brandon and his team walked into the room. She cut a glance at Cambria. Bull shit! She finished the text. Damn, your man is looking fine today.

  Cambria beamed with pride. He looked so handsome in his black suit. She helped choose his tie.

  He sought her out in the crowd and smiled at her. “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.” He began, “I apologize for the delay. I was out of town for the week and needed to confer with my colleagues. I hope all of you are well. Now, the presentation prepared for you today will be presented by Jim.”

  Jim!? Ugh, he is so sexy. He could definitely get it.

  Kimi!!

  Brandon took a seat at the opposite side of the conference table and laid a folder in front of him.

  What is he doing! Cambria texted Kimi.

  ? Kimi answered in one symbol.

  They sat for the next ten minutes listening to Jim stumble through the worst marketing pitch she had ever heard in her life and that would include all mock pitches she heard while in college. She couldn’t believe Brandon was okay with letting Jim represent this product. She stared at him sitting across the table, silently willing him to turn toward her so she could see what he was thinking.