“I want you to know, Cassie, that I appreciate all you did for everyone this weekend. Everything was wonderful.”
“Thanks, Danielle. Are you all packed?”
She nodded. “I think Adam is very lucky to have you.” She turned to Cassie as they both leaned over the rail of the deck observing the waves. “I mean it. I’ve seen a lot of corporate couples over the years, and while I know you didn’t want to make a big deal about it, I think that you and Adam are perfect together.”
Cassie bowed her head with dread. This was so not the conversation she wanted to be having. Danielle saw her dismay and went on to dispel it. “No, it’s okay, Cassie. Really. Max has had some dealings with Adam in the past, and he cannot believe the change in him. It’s because of you! I look at the two of you, the balance you have, and I think you make it look easy. You helped me to see that it can work.”
“I didn’t do anything—”
“No, you did, Cassie! Everything you said yesterday helped. Last night, while Max and I were in bed, we talked about our future, and for the first time, I feel like I can be the kind of wife he needs. The kind of wife that I know you’ll make for Adam.”
Lifting her head, Cassie stared at her. “Please, Danielle,” Cassie started.
Danielle shook her head. “I have to admit that I didn’t know what endometriosis was when we talked yesterday, but last night, I went online and looked it up. I’m so sorry you had to deal with that, and I think that when I get home, I may speak to my doctor because I have a lot of those symptoms. For all I know, that could be why we haven’t gotten pregnant yet.”
“I hope you get the help you need. I think you’re going to make a wonderful mom.”
Danielle smiled. “You will too, Cassie. I think you and Adam are going to realize what you have, and the next time I see you, you’ll be married and hopefully on your way to having a baby.”
There was no way to make Danielle understand that her relationship with Adam was more than likely going to end before it ever got to the point of marriage and babies. After all, who wanted to admit they were in a relationship that had an expiration date? It would be an odd conversation, to be sure, Cassie thought to herself. Desperate for something else to talk about, Cassie racked her brain for other topics but realized that, for Danielle, these were the things she needed to say and that no one had to know about it.
Until she heard someone clear their throat.
Someone male.
Someone who, when she turned around, did not look happy.
“Oh, hello, Adam!” Danielle said as she walked toward him on her way inside. “Max and I had a fabulous weekend. I can’t thank you enough for making this trip a veritable spa getaway for me. I really appreciate it.” Then, in a very un-corporate-wife move, Danielle leaned in and kissed Adam on the cheek. “You and Cassie made this a very memorable trip for me, and thanks to Cassie, my greatest wish may soon come true.”
She was oblivious to the tension on the deck as she walked inside, and Cassie could only stand rooted to the spot staring at Adam until she was sure they were alone.
“Are your meetings all done?” she asked cautiously.
He nodded tersely. “Yes. Everyone is packing up.” Looking at his watch, he added, “Lunch is still scheduled for noon, isn’t it?”
It was his tone. He had heard the conversation, and he was not happy about it. Cassie knew that tone of voice: cool and clipped. Adam was trying to be civil, but she knew he was deeply agitated by what he had heard and was annoyed to have to wait to discuss it.
“Yes, lunch is set for noon and will be more casual. I’ve got sandwiches and salads that we’ll eat in the dining room. I’ve got dessert goody bags they can take with them for the ride to the airport.”
“Very good” was all he said before turning from Cassie and walking into the house.
Have a baby with Cassie? That was only part of the conversation that had Adam’s head spinning. What in the world had Cassie been telling these women? Granted, she seemed as baffled by Danielle’s declarations as he was, but perhaps that was for his benefit. Adam raked a hand through his hair in frustration.
Dammit! He had no idea what Cassie had been discussing with the spouses all weekend, especially not after her initial run-in with Martin Chapin. He hadn’t wanted to know what was being discussed, except now he felt like he was a fool for not.
While the cat was out of the bag on their relationship, Adam felt that they had been respectful and discreet in their time together in front of everyone. He couldn’t deny that he found excuses to touch Cassie and that more than once he caught himself staring at her and, in turn, found one of his colleagues grinning at him, but it was his own damn business!
Sitting behind his desk, Adam replayed Cassie and Danielle’s conversation in his mind. Sure, Cassie seemed to be emphatic about the two of them not being in love. Maybe a little too emphatic. Did she have any feelings for him? Was he the only one who felt anything? How pathetic would that make him? Here he was, Mr. Big-Time CEO who swore that he needed to have her to get her out of his system, and there was a great possibility the joke would be on him, and she would walk away without a second thought, and he’d be left behind broken.
No! He would not allow that to happen. He’d accomplished what he wanted to this weekend. His business expansion was on the right track; his negotiations went exactly as he had wanted them to and people would be talking about how Adam Lawrence did business and want to work with him.
And through it all, he had had the most sexually satisfying week of his life. Adam knew that days ago he had told himself not to think about ending things with Cassie and to live in the moment, but maybe that hadn’t been such a good idea seeing now how people reacted to it. One weekend together, and there was speculation on them getting married and having children. That was so not in his plans, and he didn’t need anyone trying to tell him how he should be living his life!
He heard voices up on the main level, and a glance at the clock told him it was almost noon. Another hour and everyone would be gone, and he’d have some time to be alone and think. The rental place would be coming by at three to collect its supplies, and Cassie had made arrangements for the cleaning crew to come in tomorrow after they had left.
Somewhere along the line they had talked about the possibility of staying tonight or going home, and Adam felt he had to get out of here and clear his head, to not be around Cassie and be influenced by her. If he was going to get a handle on this relationship and get to a place where he had total control, he had to get away from the temptation.
And Cassie was most definitely a temptation.
He thought about the night before, the sexy lingerie she had purchased for the specific purpose of him ripping it from her body. That image alone—Cassie stretching across his bed in red lace, begging him—made Adam shift in his seat to accommodate his arousal.
Damn her!
Cassie’s laughter wafted to him, and Adam felt a stirring, not only of arousal but of something in the region of his chest. He rubbed his palm over the spot and sighed.
What harm could one more night bring?
Chapter 14
Two hours later, the house was fairly silent. After saying farewell to their group, Adam excused himself to go to the office to make calls and take care of emails. Cassie didn’t argue mainly because she had work of her own to do in preparation of them leaving.
As she wiped down the granite countertops, she stopped to wonder at Danielle’s words to her. She and Adam were involved, physically, but there was nothing about them, that she noticed anyway, that would make anyone believe they had a deep emotional relationship. They certainly didn’t act like they were in love, did they?
She tossed the paper towels into the trash and went to unload the dishwasher. As she placed things in their proper places, Cassie couldn’t help but realize that she liked it here. In t
his house. With this man. In this relationship. She wasn’t foolish enough to think that Adam felt the same way, but Cassie prayed he wouldn’t be cruel when it all ended.
And she had no doubt it would end. Adam would make sure of that.
Cassie longed to surprise him in his office, like she had in the days before his guests arrived. Looking around, she saw that everything was in order. With a secret smile, she kicked off her shoes and untied her apron. She walked quietly to the half bath and checked her reflection. Pleased that she looked okay, she was about to seek him out when the doorbell rang.
The party rental people had come to collect their supplies.
Waves of disappointment rolled over her, but Cassie knew that if she worked with the crew, the work would be done quickly.
If anyone noticed that Cassie was rushing them along, they chose to say nothing. If anyone picked up on her impatience with their attempt at small talk, they kept it to themselves. In less than an hour, Cassie was bidding them a good day and stopped short of slamming the door behind them while stripping.
Relax. Get a grip, she chanted to herself. It wasn’t as if they had abstained from making love while they had people in the house; their lovemaking was more restricted than it had been in the days leading up to it. Cassie enjoyed the sexual, playful side of Adam, and her body was nearly quivering at the thought of being with him again.
Tiptoeing down the stairs, she looked around and saw that the door to his office was open. He was quiet, and when Cassie got to the door, she found Adam simply sitting and reading the newspaper.
“Hi,” she said sweetly as she walked through the doorway.
“Hi, yourself. Was that the rental people I heard?”
“Mm-hmm,” she said, walking around the side of his desk.
Adam put the paper down and looked at her quizzically. “Everything go okay?”
“Oh, yes. Everything went fine. It’s all cleaned up, all the supplies are gone, and I can say with great certainty that it is completely and utterly finished.” Cassie pulled her shirt over her head, shook out her hair, and sat on Adam’s desk directly in front of him.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see where this was going, and Adam was willing to play along. “So…everybody’s gone?”
“Yes.” Cassie leaned forward so that her breasts were near Adam’s face and unhooked her bra.
“And…we’re all alone?”
She pulled the bra from her body and leaned on the desk as she dropped the scrap of silk and lace to the floor. “All alone.”
Adam stood and looked at the glorious sight before him: Cassie, on his desk. Her breasts bared for him. His hands twitched with the need to touch her. But he waited. He liked the buildup of anticipation. “I was reading the paper…”
A throaty laugh escaped Cassie’s throat before she could stop it. “I can lie here and wait until you’re finished with it.”
A grin spread across Adam’s face because he could imagine her doing that. Slowly, teasingly, he began to lean over her. No part of his body touched hers, and Cassie felt her breathing grow ragged; her nipples tightened as they waited for Adam’s touch. When she could feel the heat rolling off of his body, when there were mere inches between them, her control snapped.
One arm came up, snaked around Adam’s neck, and pulled him toward her, her mouth meeting his in a kiss designed to make him insane. Papers fell to the floor, and a lamp crashed down after them as Adam climbed onto the desk, on top of Cassie, desperate for the contact. All thought of earlier discussions fled his mind. All he could think of was Cassie, of getting her naked, of having her wrapped around him, of the pleasure they would give and take.
“This is no good,” he growled in her ear as he tried to find a position that worked for them both. Hastily, Adam stood. He grabbed Cassie’s hand, yanked her from the desk, and threw her over his shoulder as she shrieked.
“Adam!”
He walked out of the office and to the game room and put Cassie on her feet next to the pool table. She never had a chance to say a word before Adam claimed her mouth again as he worked her pants off her body. His mouth trailed a path after her pants, and when Cassie’s knees buckled, he lifted her onto the pool table and ripped another new pair of panties from her body.
Best money he’d ever spent.
Shoving his own clothes away, Adam couldn’t wait any longer; it was too much—his need for her was too great. Foreplay was over. He entered her in one swift stroke that had Cassie bucking off the table and clutching at his shoulders. Their movements were frantic, frenzied. It was over way too soon, and as they both lay breathless and heaving, Adam stared at Cassie’s flushed face and felt his heart drop to his knees.
She was beautiful. She was exciting and wild and represented everything that he had worked his whole life to avoid. Cassie smiled up at him and ran a limp hand over his chest. “Want me to get you that newspaper?” she asked.
Standing, Adam pulled away and held out a hand to her. Taking it, Cassie stood before him, naked and weak. “I want you to come with me upstairs so we can finish this weekend out properly.”
They scooped up their clothes, heedless of their nakedness as they rode the elevator up to his suite. Where in the game room there was wildness, here there was tenderness. Where before it had been fast-paced and frantic, now it was slow and sweet. Adam took his time memorizing every inch of Cassie’s body, knowing that their time had to come to an end. He was beginning to need her too much, and Adam did not want to need anyone.
There was no thought to time or to reaching a climax; all Adam wanted was to go on touching, kissing, exploring, to bring Cassie to one peak after another. As she cried out his name, it was almost a sob. Adam knew that he would never be able to come to this house again. As much as he wasn’t a commitment type of man, he finally found that he did have a heart, and it belonged to this woman.
He didn’t want all that went with it.
It would be enough, the memories of this time. For a brief moment in his life, Adam Lawrence knew what it was like to love a woman and be loved in return. There was no doubt in his mind of Cassie’s feelings for him. She might not have verbalized them, but they were there in everything she did, every move she made, in the way she touched him.
Rising above her, Adam stared deeply into her eyes, and it was all there for him to see. There were tears, and there was love. Cassie dreamily reached up and touched his face, whispered his name as he entered her. Her eyes closed briefly, but Adam pleaded for her to open them, to look at him, to watch him as he loved her.
“Yes,” she whispered to him. “Love me.”
With a slow thoroughness, with a patience that Adam didn’t know he possessed, he loved her endlessly. With mouths, with hands, with entire bodies, they went on through the night with nothing but the light of the moon shining through the windows.
Sated and exhausted, they finally fell asleep as the first rays of the sun were coming through the clouds. Adam pulled Cassie close and kissed the top of her head as she turned toward him and ran a hand over his chest and a leg over his.
“I love you,” she said, so quietly that Adam was almost unsure she’d said it.
It was both everything he wanted and everything he feared all in one. Too exhausted to think, he merely held her tight and let sleep claim him.
Chapter 15
Neither knew what to say when they finally awoke after noon. While Cassie was in no rush to get home, Adam most definitely needed to get to the office. Cassie prepared a light lunch for them, and once they had eaten and packed up their cars, she turned to Adam, desperate for something to say that wasn’t the awkward small talk they’d been sharing all morning.
“Adam, I…” She looked at him and had to hide her disappointment when his face was expressionless, much like it used to be in their business dealings.
“The house closing staff ar
e due this afternoon, aren’t they?” he asked stiffly.
Cassie nodded.
“Good. When you get home, submit everything to Grace, and she’ll take care of your check.” He looked at his watch. “I have to go. Will you be okay driving home?” If there had been a hint of tenderness in his voice, Cassie would have been okay; she would have believed that last night had been real.
Tears clogged her throat as she nodded and turned away. She was reaching for the handle of her car door when Adam spun her around and claimed her mouth ruthlessly with his. The tenderness from last night was gone, and in its place was the kiss of a stranger, a kiss that signaled an end.
Without a word, Adam released her, walked to his car, and sped away. Cassie stood where she was for some minutes, trying to compose herself. What had gone wrong? What had happened between dawn and now to make Adam change so drastically?
As if on autopilot, Cassie climbed into her car and made the three-hour drive home. She had no recollection of the scenery or of anything she saw along the way. Since it was a Monday, there was nobody waiting at the shop, and she was able to unload her car and settle into her apartment in relative peace and quiet. She’d had a magical week. She’d had a taste of what it was like to be in a relationship with someone who understood her and gave as much as he took.
With a mirthless laugh, Cassie swung her suitcase into her closet. She never thought she’d see the day when Adam Lawrence gave anything. But he had; throughout the week, he had given to her time and time again…and that’s what hurt so much. Because in the end, his giving was all an act. He gave so that he could get, and Cassie most certainly gave to him—she gave him the perfect weekend for his clients, and that in turn was going to make him a lot of money.
It was all speculation, and deep down she knew it, but it helped her to keep from crumpling to the floor and crying to the point of pain. If she could make herself believe that Adam was the selfish bastard she had originally pegged him for, she would be all right. In time, she would forgive herself for being foolish and falling for his act, but for right now, it hurt too damn much.
In the Eye of the Storm / Catering to the CEO Page 30