by Carrie Elks
Not to sleep, because god knew he wouldn’t be able to. But to put distance between them. And two thin walls. The only defenses he had left.
“I need to check my insulin levels and take a shower,” he said, as much to himself as her. “Do you have everything you need?”
She nodded silently.
“If you don’t, please call reception and have it billed to the room.” He was aware of how clipped his words were. Like he was talking to an employee.
Which was exactly what he was doing, dammit.
Becca swallowed and nodded again.
“Good night.” He felt like an asshole. Maybe because he was exactly that. His eyes softened as he looked at her, taking in her wide eyes, swollen lips, and messed up hair. “And thank you,” he told her. “For everything. You were wonderful tonight.”
He turned and opened his bedroom door before she could say anything, gently pulling it closed behind him.
The bed was too big. And too hard. She felt more like Goldilocks than Cinderella as she twisted and turned, the sheets tangled between her legs as she tried in vain to find a comfortable position.
She’d been trying to sleep for two hours now. The alarm clock told her it was one in the morning. In a few hours she’d need to get up and drive straight to work. Unless she got some sleep now, she was going to be a wreck.
Sighing, she dropped her head back on the pillow, gazing up at the ceiling. The kiss in the elevator was playing over in her mind. The way he’d tipped her head with his demanding fingers, as though her lips were made only for him. The way he’d pressed his body against hers so she was left in no doubt exactly how turned on he was.
He’d kissed her softly at first, then harder until every line between them blurred. As she’d stroked her fingers over his warm, muscled stomach, it had seemed inevitable that they’d end up in bed together.
Yet now she was here alone.
She glanced at the clock, disappointed that only one minute had passed since her last time check. She gave a grunt of annoyance and sat up. This was stupid. When she was little and she couldn’t sleep, Aunt Gina always told her she needed to break the pattern.
“Come downstairs and have a cup of hot chocolate, then try again. I bet it works the second time around.”
And it always did. Becca doubted there was any hot chocolate in the elegant suite kitchen, but she knew for sure there was ice water. That would have to do.
The living area was dark when she walked out of her bedroom. Only the light from the city outside helped her find her way past the sofa to the kitchen area, her feet padding softly against the cool tiles. She’d reached out for the light switch, sliding her hand up and down the wall until she finally found it.
And then she’d jumped like hell, because Daniel was sitting on one of the leather stools, leaning on the breakfast bar and staring out of the windows.
“You nearly gave me a heart attack.” She pressed her hand against her chest, feeling her heart hammer against it. Daniel’s gaze followed her movement.
“Sorry.” His smile was almost boyish. “I kept the light off because I didn’t want to disturb you.” He looked a little gaunt beneath the harsh strip light. His hair was mussed, and he was wearing a black t-shirt and grey sweatpants. It was the most casual she’d ever seen him.
“Are you feeling okay?” she asked. “Have you checked your blood sugar?”
He lifted a brow. “You sound like my mother.”
“I’m just worried, that’s all.” She opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.
“My levels are fine. I checked when I came in here.” A smile played at his lips as he looked at her. “Thanks to you.”
Silence fell between them. A trail of condensation ran down her hand from where she was holding the bottle. “I guess I should go back to bed,” she said, twisting the bottle in the air as though it explained everything. “Good night.”
She turned to go and he called out to her. “Becca?”
“Yeah?” She looked over her shoulder.
He lifted his head, his eyes catching hers. They looked bluer, less dark than earlier. “What’s keeping you awake?”
She turned around, her fingers still curled around the bottle. “Knowing I have to get up early tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to get up early. You can sleep in.”
She shook her head. “I need to leave first thing. I have a hundred things to catch up with at work.”
“Because I dragged you away at lunchtime yesterday.”
She smiled. “Something like that.”
“At least stay for breakfast. I’ll order in. If you’re desperate to leave you can go after that.”
She nodded. “Sounds good.”
She took half a step back, but didn’t turn away from him. There was something softer between them now. Not the heat of earlier. But more of a gentle cotton sheet that caressed and soothed her.
He exhaled heavily. She could see a cord of muscles in his neck. “We should probably talk about what happened earlier.”
Becca’s chest tightened. “Should we?”
He gave a little laugh. “Maybe something to talk about when it isn’t the middle of the night.”
Her muscles relaxed at the reprieve. She really didn’t want to hear him telling her what a mistake it was. It had been written on his face as he ran away from her earlier. “My job’s okay though, right?”
He blinked, absorbing her words. “Of course your job’s okay. What do you take me for?”
“I don’t know.” She tightened her grip on the bottle. “It’s just that I love working at GSC. It’s important to me.”
His gaze locked on hers. “Your job’s not in danger. Not only because you could sue me if it was.”
“Oh.” She pulled her lip between her teeth. “I see.”
He raked his fingers through his dark hair. “That didn’t come out as I’d intended. I just wanted you to know you’re protected. You don’t need to worry about your job.”
“It’s fine.” It really wasn’t. She took another step back. “I’m going to try to get some sleep.”
“Good night.” He turned away from her, frowning at the breakfast bar.
“Sleep tight,” she whispered, though she was pretty sure he hadn’t heard her.
Chapter Fourteen
“What do you want?”
Becca blinked her eyes open at the sudden sound. She looked around, trying to center herself. It took a moment to remember she was in the guest room of Daniel’s hotel suite.
“Is that any way to greet me? You were eager enough to open the door.” A woman’s voice. Vaguely familiar. Becca sat up and twisted until her feet hit the floor.
“I thought it was room service. I’m hungry.” Daniel sounded almost bored. “Is this a social visit? Because I’d have put a tie on if I’d known you were coming.”
Becca padded across the bedroom, putting her ear against the door. Why didn’t they put peepholes on interior doors? It would make eavesdropping so much easier.
“I was on my way to the gym, thought I’d drop in and say hello. Where’s your friend? Did she go home?”
“Her name’s Becca. As you well know.”
“It’s a cute name. She’s a cute girl.”
“Is that why you’re here? To tell me you like her? Because you didn’t show it last night. And since when do you go to the gym, especially at seven a.m.?”
“Since Lawrence decided to renovate the west wing. My yoga studio is out of bounds. So I have to go to the club instead.”
Becca’s eyes widened in recognition. Melissa, Lawrence’s wife.
“Don’t let me stop you.” There was a click, as though Daniel had opened the door to the lobby.
“Oh stop being such a grump. I only stopped by to see how you are. You were in a terrible mood last night. No wonder Becca didn’t stay.”
“I’m fine.”
There was a shuffle of feet, then silence for a moment. One of them cleare
d their throat.
“I miss you,” Melissa said, so softly that Becca had to push her ear against the wood until it hurt.
“Don’t.” It was the same tone he’d used on Becca the time she’d tried to touch him in the rickhouse. It made her grit her teeth together.
“I miss you smiling at me the way you used to,” Melissa said, her tone full of sugar. “Why didn’t you smile at me last night?”
Becca’s heart was hammering against her ribcage.
“You should go to yoga.” There was that bored tone again. Becca almost smiled at the sound of it.
“We should dance at the ball. To show everybody there’s no hard feelings. I’ll save one for you.”
“But there are hard feelings, Melissa. For both of us I imagine.”
“Are you ever going to forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive. It’s history.”
Her voice dropped so low that Becca couldn’t hear what she was saying. She heard Daniel say something in response, but she couldn’t make that out either. Frowning, she slumped down on the edge of the bed, trying not to imagine his sister-in-law touching his chest with her elegant hand. Or Daniel gazing down at her the way he’d looked at Becca last night.
What an idiot she was. No wonder there was bad blood between Daniel and his half-siblings. He’d lied to her, told her it was all about his mother. He’d let her touch him and kiss him and pretend to be his girlfriend, all while he was sitting opposite Melissa.
They must have all been laughing at her behind those excruciatingly polite stares. He should have told her. Warned her. Was that why he played along? To hide his feelings for his brother’s wife?
Not wanting to hear anymore, she rushed through her morning routine, showering and brushing her teeth at light speed. Putting on the same clothes she drove up in yesterday – nobody except Mia and Naomi would even notice at the distillery – she looped her hair into a bun and slid the dress Daniel had bought her onto a hanger, leaving it in the closet.
When she walked out of the bedroom, Melissa was gone and the breakfast had arrived. There was way too much for just the two of them. The pastry platter could have filled every stomach in the still room at GCS. It didn’t stop her stomach from rumbling to look at it.
Daniel turned around, his brows knitting as he saw her slide her purse up her shoulder. “Breakfast is ready. You can sit down.”
She gave him a smile. “I think I’m going to head back to the distillery now.”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
Another twist of her stomach told her she was. “I’ll take something to go.” She grabbed a danish from the pastry tray, wrapping it up in a napkin. “Thank you for dinner. And for a bed for the night.”
His jaw twitched. “Is there something wrong?”
Becca shook her head. “No. I just need to get to work, that’s all.”
He poured a glass of juice, tipping his head to the side. “You heard Melissa.” It was a statement, not a question.
Becca put her hands up, giving him a shrug. “What you do with your brother’s wife is your business.”
“I’m not doing anything with my brother’s wife.” His eyes looked dark.
“That’s not what it sounded like to me.”
His eyes narrowed. His stare was uncomfortably piercing. “You think I’m sleeping with Melissa?”
The harshness of his words were like a bucket of ice water. “I don’t know...” she stuttered. She just wanted to go home.
“Jesus, is that what you think of me? That I’m having an affair with my brother’s wife?” He stood up, his face flaming as he pressed his hand down on the breakfast bar.
Becca took a step back. He was too big, too angry, too menacing. “I…” She glanced at the door, trying to work out how quickly she could get to it.
“Get out.”
Her heart started hammering against her ribcage. He was angry. Maybe she was, too. “I was just about to.”
“Good.” He turned away from her. She could see the tenseness of his shoulders. She’d almost made it to the door when he spoke again. “And for the record, I’m not sleeping with Melissa. I slept with her. Past tense. When we were in a relationship years ago. Before she decided my brother was a better bet.”
Her hand froze on the handle as his words seeped in. Her stomach churned as she realized he wasn’t the one doing the cheating. She’d made assumptions. The wrong ones.
Becca looked over her shoulder. Daniel had walked over to the huge window, and was staring out at it, his hands jammed into his pockets, his shirt taut across his back. The sun was shining brightly, casting a halo around his rigid body
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.” Her chest felt achy. Tense.
“Just go.”
But she couldn’t. She felt so damn bad. “Daniel, I…”
“Go!” His voice was harsh. Loud. It sent a shiver of fear down her spine. With a shaking hand she managed to open the door to the lobby, hearing it swing softly closed as she jabbed her finger on the elevator button.
Chapter Fifteen
He drove like a maniac back to Hartson’s Creek, testing out his new Corvette Stingray to the limit. Not that it made him feel any better. The combination of last night’s tense family dinner followed by the goddamn aggravating events of this morning were still rushing around his mind as he parked at the distillery just before lunchtime.
Not to mention the memory of that elevator kiss.
And that was all before Becca realized how messed up his family was.
Her car was parked in its usual spot, to the left of the main door. He’d gotten used to checking if it was there every morning. The sun was reflecting off the red hood, making him squint.
Sandy smiled at him as he walked through the sliding glass doors. “How was Charleston?”
He inhaled deeply. “Charleston was… interesting.”
“Well it’s good to have you back.”
“Is my mother in today?”
Sandy nodded. “Her driver dropped her off this morning.”
“And is there anything else I need to know?” Like whether Becca Hartson is feeling as fucking confused as I am right now?
“One of the stills stopped working, but Joe got it up and running half an hour ago. I heard Becca say we’d be running it until late tonight.”
The sound of her name danced through his ears. He curled his fingers, giving no other visible sign that it affected him. “What time did Miss Hartson get in this morning?”
“Just after ten. She said she’d been running errands for you.”
“Yes, that’s correct.” He nodded. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
“Sure thing.”
There was no sign of Becca in the still room as he walked through. He’d stopped to talk to Garrett Rhys about the broken still, and authorized the overtime it would take to meet today’s production numbers. Then he walked into the administration wing, glancing at the kitchen to see it empty, and pushed through the door to the executive corridor, stopping to look through his mother’s door.
“You’re back. How did it go?” Eliana stood and walked over to him, turning her head so he could kiss her cheek.
“As expected.”
“How were Lawrence and Nina?” She walked back to her black leather chair, taking a seat, and gesturing to him to sit on the chair opposite.
“Again, as expected.”
She looked at him carefully. “And Melissa?”
“Was there.” His voice was short.
A smile played at her lips. “I can always rely on you to regale me with a story.” She lifted an eyebrow to let him know she was joking.
Daniel ran his finger along his jaw. It was freshly smooth from his morning shave. “Nothing was decided. I have to go back for the weekend. I agreed to go to Lawrence’s ball.”
“I know. His assistant called me this morning and asked if I’d mind you sitting at my table.”
“You’re going?�
� Daniel asked, surprised.
“I always do. You haven’t been here to notice. And don’t look so shocked, it’s for charity. I can sit there and deal with Lawrence’s glares for a couple of hours. And he likes my donations too much to turn me away.”
“I’ll never get why you put yourself through all this family bullshit.” He only had last night and that was already enough.
“The same reason you do. Pride.” She glanced at the paper in front of her, then back up at him. “You’re bringing a plus one, they said?” Her voice was even, but he could tell from the spark in her eyes that she was desperate to know more.
“I was thinking about it. But I’ll probably go alone.”
“Becca Hartson?” She wasn’t letting it go. Daniel sighed heavily.
“It’s a long story. And as I said, it’s likely I’ll go solo.”
“You should bring her. Becca’s a lot of fun. It’d make a dull night a little lighter.” There was a hint of hope in her voice. The sort that needed to be quashed immediately or it would grow like crazy and ruin his life forever.
He shook his head. He’d learned by experience that it was better not to run headlong down his mother’s rabbit holes.
“Maybe I’ll ask her as my guest,” Eliana said, looking carefully at him to gauge his reaction.
“Don’t.” His voice was firm.
“But, darling,” she protested. “I want her to be there.”
He shook his head. “It’s complicated, and I don’t need you making it worse. So no, don’t ask her.”
His mother sighed. “I wish you’d let me in a little more. It’s like talking to a brick wall. Or your father.”
Daniel’s nostrils flared. “Thanks for that comparison.”
“Your father had many good qualities. And so do you. But communication isn’t one of them.”
Daniel stood and tapped her desk with his fingers. “In that case, I guess I should get back to work. I’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
“I’ll keep the seat free. In case you change your mind.”
“I won’t.” He headed to the door, shaking his head. His mother was obstinate. When she got something in her mind it was almost impossible to get her to let go.