by Parker, Ali
“He’d like that a lot.”
“Would he?” She laughed sardonically but didn’t look up. “I didn’t think your dad would ever want to lay eyes on me again after what happened between us. I know my mom would want to pull Daddy’s shotgun on you if you set foot on the drive.”
“Would she? Your momma used to love me.” I put my hands on my hips, feeling more like myself talking to her than I had in six years. She brought me back to the core of who I was at heart—a country boy trying to play like I wasn’t. Never in a million years had I imagined myself wearing a suit, and yet here I was, in the middle of someone else’s life.
“Used to. Past tense.” She glanced up and smirked. “After all that shit our senior year, she wrote you off. You stole my innocence and condemned me to hell, remember?”
“All right, you got me there. Dad grounded me for life for the summer after we… you know, but it’s not like it mattered. Losing you shut me down completely.” I brushed my fingers across my lips. Were we getting into this now? Before this big presentation? I felt like I was skating on thin ice with steel-toed boots on.
“You losing me was your choice. Your actions closed the door on what could have been.”
“I used to think you were going to be my wife, Olivia. The mother of my kids.”
“Used to. Past tense.” She glanced down and Zander walked back in the room, closing out the conversation completely.
Chapter 24
Olivia
We worked through the rest of the presentation and didn’t say another word about our past, which I was more than grateful for. The mention of a ring almost bent me over emotionally.
Why in the world had he thought to buy me a ring and then stabbed me in the heart with his rumors about us? Why would someone do that? Nothing matched up. The good-hearted boy that held me on the swing every evening in the summer on my momma’s front porch was not the same guy that told the school I was a slut. No way.
But it had happened just like that. I had to shake it off and get myself in go-mode. It was time to step up and win more business for the firm, which would not only impress Luke, but seal the rightness of his decision to bring me on board.
“We done? Ready?” I picked up my copy of our notes and walked toward the door.
Caden glanced over his shoulder, his eyes moving down my body and leaving me weak in the knees.
“Yeah. Let’s meet up in ten minutes in the large conference room in the lobby. You going to grab Luke?”
“If he’s here. Yeah. See you in there.” I turned and walked out into the hallway. People bustled by me, saying good morning here and there. I walked into Luke’s office to find him on the phone.
He motioned for me to close the door behind me.
“Yes, Sam. I understand. Talk with Annie and get on my calendar. We’ll figure it out together, or I’ll bring Caden in and he can work through it with us.” Luke laughed. “He’s the brains behind the operation and I’m the suave.”
I rolled my eyes and moved over to stand by his windows. The view of the city was spectacular from that high up.
He finished his call and moved up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning down to kiss my cheek. “I miss you. It’s been three or four days since I’ve had you. That’s far too long.”
“I was trying to spend some time with Dana.” I turned in his arms and slid my hands up his chest. As much as I wanted something to spark back to life with Caden, it was wrong to want it. Even if everything worked out between us, there was still the issue of Luke. I couldn’t ask Caden to do something so vile to his brother, nor could I. Not to mention the loss of our partnership, which I was just starting to work toward. It would ruin everything. Was love worth that? Some part of me knew it was, but I had to ignore it—for all of us.
“When is she gone?” He leaned down and brushed his lips by mine.
“She took a cab this morning to the airport.” I lifted to my toes and pressed my lips against his again, closing my eyes and enjoying how good of a kisser he was. His tongue rolled past mine and I groaned as my nipples budded. “I need you.”
“Good. I need you too, baby.” He slid his hands down my back and cupped my ass tightly before leaning in for a more aggressive, hungry kiss.
I slid my hand into his hair and tightened my hold on him as the sound of the door opening behind us caused my heart to almost stop in my chest.
“Luke, we need—” Caden.
I moved back and brushed my hands down the front of my shirt as Luke turned toward his brother and growled. “Fucking knock.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just used to walking in.” Caden’s eyes moved over to me, and I couldn’t help but feel incredibly ashamed. I’d been thinking about Caden just before making out with Luke, but I couldn’t give up my life for a hope, a wish that wasn’t going to come to fruition. By the look on his impossibly handsome face, he was hoping that I would.
“No worries. We ready to do this?” Luke glanced over at me and back toward Caden, whose expression had hardened. He was pissed.
“Yes. I’ll meet you guys in there.” I walked by Luke, who popped my ass and growled softly.
Caden moved back and opened the door wider. “The computer is set up and everything is ready to go.”
“Thanks,” I whispered and averted my eyes from him as I moved into the hallway. Some part of me wanted to crawl in a hole and stay there for a while. I felt like I’d cheated on him, which was absurd.
“Hey.” His voice stopped me.
I turned to see him closing Luke’s door. “What?”
“Do you love him?” He stood in the middle of the hall, reminding me so much of the little boy I grew up to love with every ounce of my heart. We’d been through so fucking much together, but we were grown now.
“I’m with him, right?” I turned and walked down the hall toward the conference room. Why couldn’t I just fucking lie? If I could just tell Caden that I loved Luke, he would back off.
Because I don’t want that. It would be worse than death to see him back off, to feel him leave again.
“That isn’t an answer, Olivia.” He moved in behind me in the conference room and gripped my arm, pulling me back as he closed the door. “I have to know. Please. Just tell me if you love him.”
“Love is irrelevant, Caden. It’s for little girls with stars in their eyes. This is the real world, and Luke fits into my life.”
“Which is a lie.”
“What?” I pulled from him and put my hands on my hips. We were headed back into a fighting match, which was exhausting me more than the desire to take him down to the floor and fuck him mercilessly.
“Your life is a lie.” He shrugged and slipped his hands into his pockets. “So is mine. It’s all good, just don’t sugar coat a turd. It doesn’t work.”
“At least I don’t try to put lipstick on a pig.” I laughed in spite of the anger still rolling through me. “Sugar on a turd. Interesting.”
I moved toward the front of the room, only to have him grab me and pull me back toward him. I pressed my hands into his thick chest and looked up slowly, coveting the delicious muscles of his neck and the strong masculine features of his face. His green eyes left my heart racing, my stomach tightening painfully.
“Do you love him?” He reached up and touched the side of my face. “Tell me. I’ll shut the door on the past and leave it alone if you love him.”
“Do you love me?” I slid my hands down his chest and over his sides to rest on the tightness of his stomach. “Not back then. Now.”
“Not fair.” He brushed my hair from my shoulders and cupped my neck. “You have no clue how precious you are, do you? From your button nose to your goddamn quick and wicked tongue. The strong confidence and intelligence that radiates from you, and best of all.” He moved one hand down to rest above my left breast, rubbing softly as his eyes followed his movements.
My breath caught in my chest as need attacked every inch of me with hot desire.
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“Your sweet heart. There are so few women like you. Stop living a life that isn’t yours.” He moved his hand back up to cup my neck and brushed his thumb under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “You asked me if I still love you. You sure you wanna know? You seemed pretty content with my brother.”
“He’s my boyfriend.” I started to pull back as guilt left me feeling like a whore, but Caden held on tightly, locking me into place with his strength.
“No. You don’t get to run right now.” He brushed his thumb by my lips. “I’ve loved you since I was ten years old. That hasn’t changed a bit, nor will it ever. I’m damned to test every woman against who I imagine you to be, none of them measuring up at all. Seeing you with Luke destroys me, and yet I can’t walk away. So yeah, I did love you with all of my heart.”
“And you still do.” My lip quivered as I lifted on my toes and pressed against his hold to kiss him hard. I didn’t know what it meant or how we could figure it out, but I couldn’t leave him standing there vulnerable and broken in front of me. I would never leave him hurt for a minute if I could find a way to make it stop.
I just wasn’t sure if he would return the favor. We had a lot to figure out.
Chapter 25
Caden
Olivia and I had pretty much avoided each other for the first part of the next week, neither of us too sure what to say to the other. One thing was for damn sure. She still had feelings for me. Whether it was love or something less intense, I wasn’t sure. I planned on finding out on our trip to Texas for sure.
What was impressive and equally frustrating was her ability to keep her head on her shoulders at work. The presentation we’d done together last week had been more successful than I could have dreamed. Olivia’s wit and charm had won the board and the CEO over, and we’d obtained the remaining percentage of the company. Within four business days.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. Olivia always got what she wanted. And so did Luke. Their relationship left little wiggle room for anything less than exceptional.
Recognizing her efforts had been a direct order from my brother but it hadn’t been easy to look her in the eyes and tell her she’d done a great job when all I wanted to do was shut my office door, lift her up onto my desk, and kiss her hard enough to make her forget her first and last name.
I adjusted my tie on the way into the restaurant that morning and glanced around to see if Luke had arrived yet. We were meeting with Frank Billingsly, which was one of my favorite clients that Luke and I had picked up. He was a Texas oilman, and where my brother had very little in common with him, I had tons. Luke always made sure to have me at the meetings with Frank so that we had a better chance of keeping the old coot happy.
Frank waved me over as I continued to scan the faces in the old-timey diner.
I walked over and extended my hand. “Mr. Billingsly. So good to see you.”
“You too, son. Sit on down.” He chuckled heartily as he shook my hand. “Your uppity brother is late, as per usual.”
“Traffic is a bitch today. I had to leave the house half an hour early to make sure I could get over here in time.” I ignored his comment about Luke. “Are you staying in the city for a few days?”
“No, I’m headed home later today. I’ve had enough of you fancy-pants guys. Well, those guys.” He pointed to the people around him as I laughed. “Not you. You’re home grown. You’re just in the wrong city. When are you coming to work for me in Houston? Don’t your folks live out that way?”
“Yes, sir, they do.” I turned my coffee cup right side up, and a waitress came right over and filled it up. “I’m sure our paths will cross sometime in the distant future. I miss home a lot.”
“Shit, I bet. I hate it here. Everyone rushes around like they got someplace to be, and you know what?”
“What’s that, sir?” I lifted my cup to my lips and tried to contain my smile. The guy reminded me so damn much of Olivia’s dad it wasn’t even funny.
“They don’t have anywhere to be. People that rush around all the damn time are just scared of what they’ll have to face if they pause for a minute.” He huffed loudly.
“And that would be?” I set my cup down and glanced at my watch. Luke was late. Idiot. Frank was going to give him hell and waste half the meeting on why it was imperative for my brother to learn respect. Though I agreed, it was rather uncomfortable.
“That without busyness they aren’t anything. They have no assets of true value.” He shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “Though, unless something has changed in your life, you don’t either.”
Here we go.
“And why don’t you remind me of what those assets are? You know I love learning something new from you.” I relaxed enough to let the twang of my accent seep back into my words. I tried like hell to hide it most days of the week and had gotten rather good at it. For some odd reason, New Yorkers thought that anyone who spoke with a slow drawl were slow people, which wasn’t true at all.
“Do you have a big piece of land in God’s country somewhere, Caden?”
“No, sir. None other than the land my momma and daddy own. That’ll be mine one day.”
“And what about a nice house with a porch all the way around it where you and the missus can catch the kids all afternoon on Sundays. You got that, boy?”
“No, sir. I sure don’t.” I smiled at the old man’s excitement about the kind of life he had and the one I wanted.
“Right. How about a sweet southern belle? You got one of those to keep you warm at night and mend your heart when the world chews you up and spits you out? You got some little ones running around, tearing shit up and reminding you that a house of love is often overused and dirtier than one where busyness rules the day?”
I sat back as my smiled faded. “Damn. I want all of that.”
“Right you do.” He popped the table and laughed, pulling me from my thoughts. “All country boys want that. Just because you’re wearing this fancy-ass suit and are smarter than all these Wall Street junkies doesn’t mean your heart doesn’t long for the things that belong to you as a man. Stop living someone else’s life.”
“Frank, are you trying to steal my brother away from me again? I’m almost jealous of your power.” Luke patted my back and took the seat beside me as he extended his hand to Frank. “Good to see you.”
“You’re late.” Frank winked at me and shook my brother’s hand. “That’s what’s wrong with you city boys.”
I picked up my coffee and tried to stifle my smirk as our biggest investor gave my brother shit for twenty minutes on the hidden meanings of being late. I usually hated it, but this morning, I rather enjoyed the show.
* * *
I leaned against the side of my Lexus and waited for Olivia to come down from the office. Luke had texted her after the meeting with Frank to get her stuff together and be looking for me. She walked out of the building and the wind picked up as if on cue. Her hair flew up, as did her blue wavy dress.
Her white panties were lacy and looked like sin on her as I jogged toward her as quickly as I could. I knelt in front of her and trapped her dress to her legs as a laugh bubbled up out of me.
“Did you see my panties?” Her sweet face was painted pink.
“Everybody did, but I’m thinking it didn’t affect them nearly as much as it did me.” I smiled as she swatted at me. “You remember old Frank Billingsly?”
“Let go of my dress, Caden. Get up.” She tugged at my shoulder.
“The wind is still blowing. It will die down. Chill out.” I brushed my hand down farther toward her knees so I wasn’t holding her thighs. Every part of me ached for the chance to see those white panties again, to take them off with my teeth before giving her a night she wouldn’t forget. I had to get my mind off of it all or I’d likely throw her over my shoulder and take her in the back seat of the car. Frank had unfortunately unlocked all the parts of me I kept tucked away. The old bastard had a way of doing that every time I saw him
. I’d work for him one day, and I’d have the ranch with the big house, the beautiful bride, and a whole yard full of kids.
“I know of Mr. Billingsly. He went to college with my dad.” She stepped back and grabbed her luggage. “Come on. It’s better now.”
“I’ll walk behind you just in case.” I chuckled at the look she gave me over her shoulder. Where we’d been avoiding each other for the last few days, now was the time to make amends and figure a few things out. I wanted to start slow, to learn where she’d been and what she’d been up to since high school instead of diving into the trauma of our youth. Going to Texas together would give me that chance. I just had to play my cards right.
“He looked a lot older than your dad.” I popped the trunk and took her bag for her.
“He’s not. Daddy just aged well.”
“How have you never met Frank if your daddy was good friends with him?” I lifted an eyebrow and closed the trunk before walking to my side of the car.
“They would have coffee in town at the Texan Restaurant. I just never went by there. I was too busy with cheer practice or running around with friends.”
“Or sneaking kisses from a certain football player behind your daddy’s barn?”
She rolled her eyes and got in the car as a laugh bubbled up in the center of my chest.
“You didn’t really just bring that up, did you?” She glanced over at me with a smile on her lips. Her dark blue eyes seemed to have the power to drag me into the most tranquil of places.
A soft sigh left me as I nodded. “I did. I can still remember the taste of cinnamon on your lips.”
“Stop it.” She popped me in the chest and turned in her seat to face the front as a smile drew up her lips. “You’re so damn corrupt.”
“No, I’m not. I’m a good southern boy. I was just reminding you of a fun time in our lives.” I shrugged, feigning innocence as I pulled out into the busy downtown. “What did you think your life would look like? Before all that shit happened with us. What did you want life to look like when you grew up?”