by Holly Rayner
“It’s good news… I think it’s good news.”
He sat down and unbuttoned the front of his shirt. I poured us each a glass of wine and he picked his up and touched it to his lips before he said, “So is the news that you’re moving in with him?”
“Not really,” I said. “I mean, yes… eventually I will be ready to do that, probably soon. But that’s not all.”
I saw him glance at my left hand. I looked too, afraid I’d forgotten to take off the ring. He downed his glass of wine in one gulp and said, “Did he propose?”
“Yes,” I said, taking a hefty drink out of my own glass.
He nodded, poured himself another glass and downed that. “Where’s the ring? I know a guy like Seth bought a ring.”
I slipped my hand in my pocket and took it out. I slid it on my finger and showed him. He stared at it for a long time and poured himself another glass. After a drink of that one he said, “It’s really big.”
I laughed, “Yes, it is. Don’t you think it’s pretty though?”
He looked at it again and said, “It’s pretty on you. Congratulations, Adele. I’m happy for you both.”
“Really?” He drained his glass again.
“Really, I am. I’m sorry for me, but happy for you.”
“You know that someday you’ll find a woman you can love who will love you back the way you deserve, right?”
He nodded. “I know. I really do. I love you, Adele. I want only good things for you. I know my good things are coming, down the road.”
“You’re amazing, you know that?”
He made a face at me and said, “No I’m not. I’m just smart enough to know that Seth is better for you than I ever would have been. I would make a terrible husband and a worse father. Babies terrify me. When you have one, please don’t ever leave me alone with it. I mean, seriously… I’m scared to death.”
I giggled again. He was trying to lighten the mood and as usual, he’d succeeded. I gave him a hug and said, “Thank you.”
He poured the rest of the wine into his glass and drank it down. Then he went to his room and I didn’t see him again that night.
***
By the following week, things had settled down all the way around. Grant was acting like his old self again and the atmosphere around the office seemed to get lighter every day. People were coming to accept me more and we were even moving forward with purchasing the record production company. It was not only a sign that they trusted me, but that they also trusted Seth and me to be able to save the business. By the time the deadline for the takeover arrived, the anxiety level had diminished to almost nil. Seth and I came out of the morning meeting that day full of energy and ready to take on the world. It turned out that was a really good thing, since when we walked into Seth’s office; we found Liz Taylor sitting behind his desk.
“What are you doing here?” His assistant was with us and she was visibly appalled.
“It’s okay,” Seth told her. “I’ll handle it.”
As the assistant started to leave, Liz said, “You better be nicer to me if you want to keep your job. I’m your new CEO.” She had such a smug look on her face that I lost any compassion for her I had felt briefly.
“No Liz, I’m afraid that you’re not,” I said.
She looked over at me and then looked me up and down. She looked like she’d drank sour milk as she said, “Who the hell are you?”
I smiled at her and said, “Oh forgive me! We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m Adele Morgan.” I saw her eyes flit to the rock on my finger and then back to my face. She looked like she still had a bad taste in her mouth.
“Oh, I see. You’re the girlfriend.”
“Wrong,” Seth said. “She’s the co-CEO and she is my fiancé.”
Liz looked even more perturbed, but she rolled her eyes and said, “It doesn’t matter, you’re both out. You’re fired. Go.” She waved her hands at us like we were pests.
Seth laughed, “You always were a petulant little brat. You can’t fire us, Liz. This is our company. I suggest you go before I have security remove you.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Today is the deadline. Did the two of you forget to look at your calendar?”
“I’m sorry, were the papers that cancelled your takeover and the ones that talked about ours not served on you yet?” I said, sarcastically.
“What papers? You’re bluffing. The only papers you should be worried about today are the pre-merger papers. Those were served to you, thirty days ago.”
“Yes they were,” Seth said. “But since then we made an amazing discovery. Do you want to hear about it, Liz?”
“No, not really,” she said. Seth told her anyway.
“It seems my father owns controlling stock in Taylor Corp. and he’d like to see the companies come together. I’d like to find a place for you if I can…”
The color had drained from her face as she jumped up from her seat behind the desk. “You’re lying!”
“Babe, do you have a copy of the paperwork there?” I asked Seth.
“I think I do,” he said, going closer to the desk. He shuffled through a few file folders and then opened one and handed it to Liz. She looked at the copy of the papers that we knew would be served on her today. She only read the first page before she ripped the entire thing in half and threw it at Seth with a tiny little frustrated scream.
He smiled at her and said, “You better be nicer to me if you want to keep your job. I’m your new CEO. One of them.”
“I don’t know what voodoo you and your father cooked up to manage this, but I guarantee you this is not over!”
“I look forward to seeing you again, Liz,” I said.
She stepped forward with her hand raised like she was going to slap me. Seth grabbed hold of her hand and in a low voice he said, “You have one minute to vacate this building before I have you removed.”
She jerked her arm away from him and with one last glare at me, she left. It was over, at last. Seth and I had no intentions of taking over Taylor Corp. We didn’t want it and neither did the shareholders. That was just something for her to be aware of… what we could do if she didn’t stay on her own side of Manhattan. Once she was gone, Seth took me into his arms and gave me a kiss that I felt all the way to my toes.
“I love you, co-CEO,” he said.
Breathless, I said, “I love you too.”
SETH
“I think we should celebrate,” I told Adele after Liz was gone.
“Me too! What do you want to do?”
“I was thinking of having a party. We could invite the shareholders and all of the employees and celebrate a new beginning for our company. We never did more than announce the name change and the change in management. I think we need to celebrate it. It could also be an engagement party. We can make a formal announcement.”
“Seth, did you tell your father about the engagement?”
“No, not yet.”
“Why? Are you still worried that he won’t approve?”
“No… I wouldn’t say worried. If he doesn’t approve, it doesn’t matter. I love you and I’m marrying you no matter what anyone says. I can’t wait to start our future together.”
“But you still think he’ll have a problem with it?”
“Honestly,” I told her. “I haven’t heard from him since the night he was so apologetic and willing to help. I called a few times and Hannah tells me he’s fine, but he won’t get on the phone with me.”
“I’m sorry. I was really hoping we had begun to bury the hatchet.”
“Me too,” he said. “Should we invite him to the party and see if he shows up?”
She smiled and put her hand on the side of my face. “Yes we should. None of this would have been possible without his help. I’m always going to harbor some ill feelings about what happened between us, I think, but I’m willing to store it way in the back of my head,” she said. “I was going to tell you later, but I decided that if you’
ll still have me, I’d love to come and live with you.”
I could feel the wave of happiness wash over me. It washed away a lifetime of stress and self-doubt and left me refreshed inside. I finally knew where my life had been headed all of these years, and where it was going from here. I took Adele into my arms and before I kissed her I said, “I will always “still have you.” I can’t wait to make a life with you.”
I kissed her then with an unrestrained passion. It was passion that only she could stir in me. As our lips met I let my tongue slide in between her lips and I brought my hand up and un-fasted the clip she wore in her hair. As it fell loose, I wrapped my hands up in it. God, how I loved that hair. I played with her hair while my tongue explored the caverns of her hot, wet mouth. She had her hand on the back of my neck, pulling me into her deeper as we kissed. I let my mouth leave hers and travel down the line of her jaw to her neck. I licked and suckled there until I found that sweet spot right between the bottom of her neck and her shoulder and then I sucked that soft piece of flesh in between my lips and held it there while I ran my tongue back and forth across it. She let out a long, slow moan. When I finished there, I kissed her mouth again.
“Maybe we should finish this discussion at my place.”
“Our place,” she said in a sexy, husky voice.
“Our place. Ours… yours and mine. The place that we both shall live… I love the sound of it.”
~
CHAPTER SEVEN
~
ADELE
I stood looking at the backyard in awe of what the caterers had done for the party. There were three tables laden with trays of roast beef and marinated chicken. For our friends and employees who didn’t eat beef or poultry, they’d cooked up grilled trout with lemon juice and smoked salmon. There were smoked sausages and pineapple glazed ham. Mounds of fragrant wild rice sat over the butane burners and rolls and butter adorned each end of the table. There were countless cheeses and a tureen or two of hot soup. In between it all were a variety of fresh salads and crackers of every variety.
Another table was dedicated to dessert. I saw lemon tarts and chocolate covered strawberries. There was a rum cake and chocolate bon bons. A crème brûlée and a chocolate cake competed for space at one end and a silver tray lined with apple tarts sat at the other. The bar was stocked with everything from orange juice and punch to hard liquor, beer and wine. There was a sparkling champagne fountain and a waterfall wine chiller.
“What do you think?” Seth asked.
I turned and smiled at him. “I think it’s… excessive.”
He laughed, “Me too. But, I told them how many guests we expected and to make it nice… so I guess they did what I asked.”