“You forced your father’s retirement. That had to have been hard.”
“Easier than you think. I was about to do it when he had his stroke. You’d think that would tame the bastard in him, but it didn’t.”
“How does Gabe feel about it?”
“Happy as fuck. He’s the one who convinced me to read the letter.”
“You needed convincing?”
“Yes. I did. I’m not one to do the out of sight, out of mind thing, but I didn’t want to know what I couldn’t change.”
I press my hands to his chest and listen to the thundering of his heart, absorbing how very human Reid “the asshole” has become. And I know from the thundering of his heart that while he seemed to speak easily, he has not. He doesn’t share these things about himself, but he has with me. “I’ve failed you.”
He arches a brow. “What does that mean, Carrie?”
“I was supposed to wake you up properly.” I press him to his back and slide down his body, kissing his chest, his cock already hard and pressing to my belly. “Good morning.”
“It most definitely is a good morning,” he says, as I ease lower and wrap my hand around his hard length.
I lick the tip of his cock. “Holy fuck, Carrie,” he murmurs, his voice low, gruff, affected.
I like affecting this man. I like making him feel as out of control in all the right ways as he makes me feel. I lick him again, and he draws in a subtle breath. I don’t want subtle. I suckle him, draw in just the soft head of his cock, and he lifts his hips. I don’t give him the “more” that action requests. I swirl my tongue around him and move my mouth from side to side. His hands go to my head, tangling in my hair. “Stop teasing me, Carrie.” It’s an order, but there is a desperateness to the low, rough command that’s exactly what I’m looking for.
I glance up at him and slowly take more of his shaft, my tongue traveling the underside of him as I do, sliding all the way to my hand that still grips him, and not gently. The look on his face is pure lust and arousal, and it affects me. I’m hot, wet, and my nipples ache. I suckle him and then start pumping my mouth, adding a little side back and forth movement, and his hand tightens on my hair, his hips lifting. His thigh where my hand rests tenses. He begins to thrust into my movement, and I can feel his urgency, his approach to that place of no return and yet he tries to pull me back.
“Carrie, stop or I won’t be able to,” he says. “Carrie.”
I don’t even think about stopping. He wouldn’t stop when I needed more. He wouldn’t stop when he wanted to please me. I feel the moment he stops fighting. The moment he is right there, and then over the edge. He spasms beneath my palms and the salty taste of his release touches my tongue and throat. I don’t pull back. I slow down, I ease him into completion, and when it’s over, when I know he’s completely sated, I let my hand fall away and my mouth leaves his body.
He drags me to him and under him. “Carrie.”
“Reid.”
“Come shower with me at my place. Stay with me tonight after the party.”
I feel no hesitation. “Yes. I just want to gather a few extra things.”
My cellphone rings on the nightstand. I shut my eyes. “It’ll be him,” I say, knowing he’ll know I mean my father.
He presses his forehead to mine. “Yes. It’ll be him.” He kisses my temple and rolls away, grabbing his clothes and heading to the bathroom. My phone stops ringing and I grab it, confirming that yes, it was my father. I throw away the covers, find my own clothes and dress.
Reid exits the bathroom and we stand on opposite sides of the bed. “Call him back, baby. You need to hear what he has to say, and I need to know you see me, and us, despite that.”
“I’m not sure I want to deal with this today. We’ve barely slept and tonight is important.”
“All the more reason we need this behind us.”
I hate that the bed is between us. I hate that I finally have someone in my life I want here, and my father is between us. “You’re right.”
“I’ll go downstairs and make us coffee.” He rounds the bed and kisses me, fast and quick on the lips and then leaves. I watch him disappear out of the door and the fact that he offers me this privacy matters. It’s him telling me that he needs my trust. It’s him telling me that I have his.
Chapter Sixty
Carrie
I walk to the navy-blue lounge chair by my window and sit down. Inhaling, I hit redial. “Hello,” I say when my father answers.
“He’s with you, isn’t he?”
“If you’re talking about Reid, I’d like to know what you and Maxwell Senior have against each other.”
“That doesn’t even come close to answering my question.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t because a) I wouldn’t tell you who was in my bed ever, b) I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction of knowing he wasn’t here, because you and his father split us up, and c) It’s none of your business. Which while a and c might be one and the same, I still needed to say them both. I’m that irritated right now.”
“In other words, you’ve been fucking him or there wouldn’t be anything to break up.”
“Contrary to popular belief, a woman does not believe fucking is a relationship. You have to have a relationship to have a break-up.”
“So are you fucking him or dating him?”
“Refer to a, b, and c.”
“He came here.”
“Okay.”
“That’s it? Okay?”
“Yes. Okay.”
“He told you.”
“You tell me.”
“He wanted me to tell you that he didn’t force the takeover and ruin me or us. He offered me money. Millions of dollars and you know why. That convention center deal you’re working on. He can’t have that go south. He needs to sweeten you up and keep you in his bed until he gets that payday.”
I wait for that to hit home and feel real, but it doesn’t happen. “Because there’s no way I could possibly matter to him? Why? Because I’m not pretty enough? Because I’m not smart enough? Because I’m not what? Not good enough?”
Reid reappears in the doorway with two cups in his hand, his eyes meeting mine, and what passes between us in that moment is full of promise, full of trust, a part of a growing bond that this call with my father has not broken.
“Carrie,” my father says. “You’re a beautiful woman, but he is an evil bastard.”
The evil bastard sits down next to me and hands me a cup of coffee that smells like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I take a sip and glance at Reid. “He’s an asshole, not an evil bastard.”
Reid smiles—God, I love his smile—and he follows it with a wink. “What’s happening in Montana?” I ask.
“He told you, didn’t he?”
“Should I ask him?” I retort, avoiding a lie.
He’s silent a moment that becomes two. “I want you to come here. I want you to see the horse ranch I’m staying at. There’s real money in stallions. With your charm, we can lure in some professional riders, stable their horses, give them a place to train.”
He didn’t tell me about the oil. He’s hoping Reid didn’t. “I don’t even know what to say to that, father. I really don’t. How long does it take for that to get my money back?”
“It’s a long-term investment, but a stable one. We need a stable business this go around and there’s a bonus. There’s oil under the property, so if the horses stop delivering profit, we have a fallback that protects them and us.”
“And how much will all of this cost us?”
“Nothing, Carrie. I’m going to marry Stella, the woman who owns it. Well if she accepts. I haven’t proposed yet.”
“Marry?” My eyes meet Reid’s and he nods, his expectancy at this announcement. “Who is she?”
“A retired school teacher. Forty-four. Widowed. She inherited the ranch. She loves the horses.”
“And you get the oil.”
“It’s not like that. It start
ed out that way, yes. But Carrie, honey, she’s special.”
Reid’s hand settles on my leg, grounding me as I listen to my father ramble for several minutes about this woman, but he never goes at Reid again, which tells me he’s so nervous over the woman, the oil, and my money, that he’s hyper-focused on his defense, not Reid’s execution.
We disconnect, without him asking one question about the convention deal he’s thrown out as ammunition against Reid. That bothers me, but of course, he’s in that hyper-focus mode. I set my phone down and sip my coffee. “Thanks for this.”
He sets his cup on the floor and then takes mine and does the same. “You’re too beautiful, too smart, and too perfect for me, but I am never letting you go.”
I drag my fingers over the one-day stubble along his jawline. “And you are such an evil bastard, but apparently I like you that way.”
He leans in and nuzzles my neck, his lips by my ear as he says, “I’ll show you just how evil if you ever let me use those cuffs.”
I smile, but don’t reply. I think tonight would be a good night to show him I do indeed trust him by letting him have his wish. “I’ll think about it.”
He pulls back. “That’s more than I’ve gotten before.”
“Yeah well, I’m trusting you, remember?”
“I do,” he says, pulling me to my feet. “Just make sure you do.”
I don’t question why he makes this statement. I just heard my father call him an evil bastard.
***
A few minutes later, Reid and I are in his apartment, in his bathroom, and he walks to his closet, flips on the light and sets my bag inside. “Claim your space.”
“What?”
“I plan to keep you here as much as possible. Claim your space.”
He walks forward and catches my hand, guiding me into the closet where his suits are neatly lining one wall and his casual clothes another. He points me toward the empty center rack. “It has your name all over it. And there’s never been a woman’s clothes inside these walls.”
My stomach flutters and I rotate to face him. “What are we doing, Reid?”
“Everything I can convince you to do. I’m just that kind of evil bastard.” I laugh at the reference to my father’s remark, and he drags me to the shower with him and it’s not long before I’m against the wall, and he’s fucking me into a very good morning. By the time we’re dressed, me in my lucky navy-blue dress, and him in a gray pin-striped suit with a gray tie, it’s nearly nine, and we’re walking to work, the hell of the weekend behind us.
“Does it look bad if we walk in together?” I ask.
“It would look bad if we fucked on the receptionist’s desk, though I’m all in, if you are.” He jokes but then turns serious. “We’re working together on a deal that secures everyone’s future. The staff and stockholders better hope we fucking walk in together.”
“There’s the Reid I know. So warm and fuzzy and diplomatic.”
“I tell it how I see it.”
I laugh and we enter the building. Once we’re in the elevator alone, Reid glances over at me. “I don’t believe I saw what color panties you wore today.”
“Perhaps I didn’t wear any panties,” I say, as I did when we did this before.
“I’ll find out for myself,” he warns. “At the most unexpected time today.”
The elevator opens and an older lady steps on, standing beside me. I scoot closer to Reid. “I’ll spare you the work. I’m not.”
He glances down at me, his eyes hot. “You’re not?”
“No. I’m not.”
“Why?”
The elevator dings. “It’s just something I do every now and then.” The doors open and I dart forward. I can feel him at my back, watching me, wanting to pull me to his office and yank my skirt up and see for himself. Connie is at Sallie’s desk when I approach and they both look at me with keen eyes that see too much. “You look happy,” Connie says, and when Reid stops beside me, she eyes him, “Wait. You look happy, too. Who are you?”
“A man about to close a deal so big they’ll be talking about it for fifty years.” He looks at me. “We need to be at the meeting, dressed for the party, by five.” He walks away.
I turn to the ladies. “He brought so much money to the table there’s no way Grayson can’t be impressed. And he’s barely gotten started.”
“Then you two are working well together?” Connie asks, her eyes searching mine.
Sallie snorts. “He orders her around like she’s his plaything.”
My cheeks heat and Connie smiles. “And that only goes well for him when she lets it go well for him.” She winks and walks away.
I quickly bypass Sallie’s curious look and enter my office. I claim my seat, ready for tonight. I want it to be here. That’s when I hear Sallie say, “Sir. Sir, you can’t be here.”
I stand up and hurry to the door to find Reid’s father walking toward his office, because apparently the hell of the weekend is not behind us, and neither is the hate.
Chapter Sixty-One
Reid
I’ve just hung up with one of the investors I’m working with who’s demanding a meeting, and promising fast cash when Connie buzzes my office. “Your father is charging toward your office while Sallie runs after him.”
“Holy fuck,” I murmur. “Get Sallie out of this.”
“Done.”
No sooner does she say that word then my father walks into my office in one of his expensive suits, and he doesn’t bother to shut the door. He saunters toward me like he owns the place and sets a folder on my desk. “I saved you the work. My retirement terms and contract.”
“You aren’t here to give me your retirement contract. You’re here to drive home the fact that you and I are in Carrie’s father’s old office. You want to cut her because she’s his daughter. Or you’re afraid she’ll marry me and get the family fortune.”
“Marry? You’re going to marry that woman?”
I said those words with no hesitation and I don’t back down now. In the back of my mind, I’ve known Carrie was it for me, the final woman, from the beginning. “I could be so lucky as to have Carrie agree to be my wife,” I say, “which should tell you how deeply I will cut you for her.”
He presses his hands on my desk. “How did you become what you are right now?”
“My mother wrote a letter that told me who you really are, and do you know her worst fear? That I would become you.”
He stands up and for the first time in my life, outside of the day we buried my mother, he looks stricken. “She didn’t say that.”
“She did. You hurt her. You cut her. She wasn’t a business conquest. She was your wife and my mother.”
His lashes lower and he cuts his gaze. “Read the contract,” he says and then he turns and leaves.
I don’t believe what I just said to him will change him, but it affected him. There is still something human in that man and I can only hope that means he’s capable of a real truce. I round the desk and I exit my office, crossing the offices and entering Carrie’s office. She’s standing at her window and she turns as I shut the door.
“What are you thinking right now?”
“I’m not. I’m waiting for you to tell me what that was.”
I cross to stand in front of her. “He brought me his version of his retirement contract and he did it to taunt you with the idea of him in your father’s office. And me in your father’s office. He’s afraid of you, Carrie.”
“Why would he be afraid of me?”
I shackle her waist and pull her to me. “Because you have a bigger hold on me than he does.”
Her hands settle on my chest, tiny, delicate, and yet her touch undoes me. “And my father,” she says, giving me what I want, what I was looking for, “fears that you have a bigger hold on me than he does.”
“Yes, Carrie. They’re afraid of us. We’re the generation that ends a war they’ve lived for years. It became a chess match, and they didn’t
care who they hurt to win.” I drag her dress up and cup her naked backside.
“You had to find out if I was wearing panties, didn’t you?” she challenges, her hands settling on my arms.
“You know it, and damn, baby. I wish I had the time to lick you properly right now, but I have to meet one of the investors and then take this contract my father dropped off to Gabe. I don’t want to wait and get sideswiped in some way. I’m going to meet you at the apartment at three-thirty.”
“Do you have a tux?”
“I own one and it’s pressed and ready to go.”
I release her and reach into my pocket, grabbing my keys to remove my extra apartment key. “For you.”
She tugs her skirt into place and the minute she looks up, and spies the key, her eyes go wide. “You’re giving me a key to your apartment?”
“Yes.” I press it into her hand. “I am. Is that a problem?”
“No,” she says softly. “No problem.”
“Good.” I cup her head and kiss her. “I’ll see you soon.” I turn and exit the office, and a few minutes later, with my father’s agreement that I haven’t even looked at in my briefcase, I leave the building, but I have no doubt there’s something in it that I won’t like.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m in my office at the firm, looking over the agreement and I pinpoint exactly what my father wants me to see. The clause that says he retires with the understanding that no West marries into the family, works for the company, or benefits in any way from a Maxwell or Maxwell enterprise. It seems Carrie’s father and my own, are of the same mind, to keep us apart. I stand up, walk to Gabe’s office to find him behind his desk on the phone. He hangs up. “What’s wrong?”
I shut the door, cross to his desk, and toss the contract in front of him, with the clause circled. He laughs. “He’s such a bastard you can only laugh. I have a gut instinct for our move. What’s yours first?”
“We’ll sell our stock and get out and it’s all his or whoever outbids him.”
“My thought exactly.”
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