She told herself it was just curiosity from finally having the object of her teenage infatuation. Or maybe it was because it had been a long time since a man had roused that kind of passion in her. But she knew better. The sexual chemistry between them was so strong it had consumed her and shattered her resolve to keep him at bay. She was furious with her body’s betrayal. In the cold light of day, it was impossible to ignore that every part of her had wanted Ethan last night. The question was, what was she going to do about it?
Kayla was anxious. The prospectus listing the shares of Adams Cosmetics had gone out confidentially to several private investors and companies, but it had been over a week and she hadn’t heard a thing. She was beginning to worry that their company could be going up in smoke when her assistant, Myra, poked her head in the door.
“Kayla, are you free?”
Kayla smiled warmly at Myra. She had come a long way in the past two years. She’d started out as a mousy mess, but now after working with Kayla she was poised and confident and had no problem calling her by her first name. “Yes, what is it?”
“Ethan Graham is here to see you.”
“Excuse me?” Kayla’s head popped up from the file she was reading. She hadn’t expected to hear that name so soon, especially after their encounter last night. Sure, she suspected they would reconnect at some point, but not so soon.
“Umm, umm,” Kayla stammered and began shuffling the file around to close it. Myra stared back at her, clearly stunned to see her boss at a loss for words. “Tell him I’ll be with him in a minute.”
“There will be no minute,” Ethan said from the door of her office. “We’ll talk now.”
Kayla’s eyes rose to meet his and when she did, she inhaled sharply. Ethan’s mesmerizingly dark, deep-set eyes, the ones she’d gotten lost in as a naive young girl, were directly on her.
“Kayla.” Ethan walked toward her, commanding her absolute attention from his six-foot-three presence.
Kayla managed to tear her eyes away from Ethan for a second to tell her starstruck assistant, who was also staring at Ethan, “That will be all, thank you.”
“Ethan.” Since they were in a professional setting, Kayla offered her hand as she rose, which Ethan shook.
“You’re looking good,” Ethan stated, standing back to admire her in the two-piece navy suit she was wearing. It was completely professional, showing little of what he knew to be a curvy body underneath all those clothes.
“Ethan!”
“I don’t believe in wasting time,” Ethan returned as he sat across from her. “I believe in getting down to business.”
“And you think I’m your business?”
“Not yet, but you will be,” Ethan responded. “I’m here to discuss Adams Cosmetics.”
“I told you I was not interested in Graham International as a potential investor,” she countered icily.
“I think that would be a grave mistake. Why don’t you try treating me as you would any other investor? You might be surprised at what I have to offer you.”
“Fine.” She sighed. She was tired of fighting. “Have a seat.” She motioned to the chair in front of her large executive desk. “All right,” Kayla said, folding her arms across her chest. “Well, we have some great projects in the pipeline, but have run short of capital, as I’m sure you’re aware. If you’d like, I can contact Shane and bring him in to discuss some of the plans we have.” Kayla reached for the phone on her desk, but Ethan placed his large masculine hand over hers. His touch sent a tingling sensation shooting right through her core and she pulled her hand away suddenly.
“I don’t need Shane,” Ethan returned. “I only need you.” Kayla was chattering endlessly because he’d caught her off-guard, which was good. She wouldn’t expect what was coming next.
Kayla swallowed hard and suddenly became uncomfortable. Ethan was looking at her with the same intent gaze he’d had last night before he’d kissed her.
“What is it that you want, Ethan?”
“I want what you offered me seventeen years ago but I couldn’t collect on then.”
Kayla laughed falsely. “What are you talking about?”
Ethan smiled broadly, revealing a set of perfect white teeth behind his large succulent lips. “You know what I’m talking about.” He stared her directly in the eye and watched Kayla’s cheeks burn in acknowledgment of the memory.
“Are you kidding me? I was young and clearly out of mind when I came on to you. And I can’t believe you would dare to bring that up.”
Ethan popped out of his seat to lean across the desk. He gave her body a raking gaze. “I’ve been wanting you since that day, and we both know I’m used to getting what I want.”
Kayla’s eyes narrowed and she smirked. “Yes, we do.”
“You were too young for me to act on our mutual attraction, but we’re both adults now…”
Understanding started to dawn on Kayla. “Oh, I see, in exchange for a romp in the sack with me, you’ll invest in Adams Cosmetics. Get out of my office!”
Kayla hurried to the door to show him out, but with long purposeful strides, Ethan reached her in no time and grabbed her arm. “I’m offering you a darn good deal. Not only do you get me, but Graham International will pour millions into Adams Cosmetics and save it from bankruptcy.”
“There are no limits to your audacity, are there?” She snatched her arm away. “You have no right to come into my office, manhandle me and demand I sleep with you or else you won’t invest in my company. It’s despicable.”
“I have every right.” Ethan stepped closer to her and Kayla could smell his musky masculine scent. “You want a great deal of money to save this sinking ship, and it comes with a price.”
“Sleep with you or else?”
“No,” Ethan returned. “Marry me or else.”
Shane burst through her office door seconds later. “Sis, I heard Ethan Graham is in the building—” He stopped short, blinking in bafflement that he’d clearly interrupted a moment.
Ethan walked toward him and shook Shane’s hand warmly. “Shane, it’s good to see you again.”
“You, as well,” Shane responded and glanced over at his sister. “Kay, are you okay?” he asked, because all color had gone out of her face.
“I…I…” Kayla glanced at Ethan’s smug face and then back at her brother. She was experiencing a gamut of perplexing emotions. “I…I need a glass of water.” With leaden feet, she walked over to her wet bar and with trembling hands opened a bottled water. Marry Ethan or else? What the hell was he thinking? He was the last person she wanted to marry.
She brought the bottle to her lips and turned to face them.
“Are you here to talk about investing?” Shane inquired.
“More or less,” Ethan glanced at Kayla, whom he’d struck into silence with his bold offer. He’d thought long and hard and realized that Kayla was the only woman he’d ever known who shared his love of money and thrived on power. He’d spent years searching for someone who could hold her own with him, when Kayla had been that someone all along.
“That’s great!” Shane said enthusiastically. “I’d be happy to show what I’m working on in the lab, if you’re interested.”
“Absolutely,” Ethan responded. With fluid strides he strode to the door with Shane, but stopped short. “Kayla, we’ll finish our discussion when I get back.”
Kayla rolled her eyes. There was no discussion. He was giving her an ultimatum. Marry him or risk losing her family business.
Ethan returned nearly an hour later and Kayla was no more ready for him than when he’d left. In fact, she was offended that he would think she was for sale.
“Have you thought about my offer?” Ethan inquired. He strolled to her chair and whirled her around to face him.
“Your offer? Is that what you would call it?” Kayla hissed.
“I think it’s very reasonable,” Ethan responded to her hostile tone. “In exchange for my investing millions in this compa
ny and putting my reputation on the line, you marry me. I see it as a win-win for the both of us. You get the capital you need and I get a sexy wife out of the arrangement.”
Kayla wasn’t about to let the compliment trip her up. “Your offer is far from reasonable. It’s disgusting.”
Ethan raised a brow. “Really? I didn’t feel your disgust when I was kissing you last night. In fact, I felt you come alive at my touch.” He leaned down and brushed his fingertips across her arm on the chair. “Come on, Kayla, don’t you think it’s time we finally explored the sexual tension that’s underneath the surface? Think about how much fun we’ll have exploring each other’s bodies.” He caressed her cheek softly.
Kayla was floored by the way he was speaking to her. No other man would have dared speak to her in such a manner, but then again, Ethan was like no other man she’d known. Was that why she could never let another man get close, because she was still holding on to the hope of one day having Ethan? She shook her head and quickly dismissed the idea. He was just tapping into some hidden desires because she’d been celibate for some time.
“Stop touching me.” Kayla moved away from him, her pulse spinning, and looked out of the window. “You’re trying to confuse me.” She was swimming through a haze of anger and desire.
“I’m not trying to confuse you, Kayla,” Ethan whispered softly in her ear as he came to stand next her. “I thought I was being quite clear. Marrying me will solidify this company and our families. Think about the power we’d have. We’d own this town. And I’ve always been part of the Adams family anyway, except now it’ll be official.”
“You think this is so cut-and-dried and tidy. Marry you and that’s it?” Kayla asked, facing him. “How do you know that I don’t have a man? And that I’m not sharing someone else’s bed?”
Ethan frowned. The report had been clear, Kayla was currently single. Had his investigator gotten it wrong? Kayla was his now, and he’d didn’t want any complications. “If you were sharing someone else’s bed, I doubt you would have responded to me as you did, but it doesn’t matter because it’s over now,” Ethan responded. “You’re mine.”
The smoldering flame she saw in his eyes startled her. “I am not something you can take possession of, Ethan Graham,” Kayla replied. “And there are other investors out there, so you can take your offer and shove it.”
“Those are bold words for someone who’s running out of options,” Ethan said. “But I can see that this has come as a shock to you, so I will give you some time to think over my offer. But trust me when I say that there is no escaping the inevitable, as I intend to have you, Kayla Adams.”
A short while later, after she’d had time to stop quivering with fury, Kayla went to Shane’s lab. “Can I come in?” Kayla asked, popping her head inside. She needed a dose of reality. What Ethan had proposed was ludicrous. She couldn’t possibly marry him.
“Of course. Has Ethan gone?” Shane asked as he fiddled with several vials on the counter that were cooling. He’d just finished heating up raw extracts of sandalwood, jasmine and vanilla to remove the essential oils. He needed the right combination of base, middle and top notes for the new fragrance.
“Yes, thank God!” Kayla jumped onto the stool across from Shane. She loved being in the lab with all the bottles lined up in tiered rows on Shane’s perfumer’s organ and watching him experiment with new oils and scents. She’d been terrible at chemistry, but Shane had always excelled. He had a special gift for making something out of nothing.
Shane stared at Kayla. “Are you okay, sis?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine,” he responded. “Earlier, when Ethan was here, you looked really tense. And it looked like I walked in on something between you two. Did he say or do something to offend you?”
How about suggest marrying him and handing over our family business? Kayla couldn’t tell Shane everything he’d said, so she told him a version of it. “That I’m on a sinking ship?” Kayla laughed bitterly. “Then yes.”
“He said that?”
“Oh, yes.” Kayla nodded. “He thinks he’s our greatest hope.”
“Did you tell him we’re looking at other investors?”
“Of course, but the man has a humongous ego.”
Shane stopped working and walked over to Kayla. He picked up both her hands. “True, but I can see that you’re worried.”
“I don’t want to lose Daddy’s life’s work. I would do anything to save it.”
Shane didn’t like the desperate sound in his sister’s voice. “Well, hopefully, it won’t come down to that. Michael will find us an investor.” He squeezed her hand before letting go and walking back to the concoction he was working on.
“I hope so.”
“I noticed how you avoided my first comment.”
“Which was?”
“That I interrupted an intimate moment between you and Ethan.”
Kayla scooted off the stool and picked up a vial to smell the scent. She was anxious about the question her brother was posing. “Smells good, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, yes, you do,” Shane said, pulling the vial out of her hands and placing it back in the holder. “Do you still have the hots for Ethan?”
Kayla laughed. “The hots. Shane, seriously?”
“Oh, c’mon, Kayla. Don’t act like it was my imagination. I may be two years younger than you, but I remember how you used to moon over Ethan every time he came around.”
“I did not.”
Shane smiled. “Did, too.”
“Well, you don’t have worry, Shane. I am no longer carrying a torch for Ethan Graham.”
“If you say so, sis.”
And she did. Or at least she hoped she did.
A week later, Kayla was frustrated. One investor had canceled their meeting at the last minute with no plausible explanation. Another had agreed to a meeting, but, one expensive lunch later, had expressed that Adams Cosmetics was too much of a risk for him and had bowed out. Kayla threw her stapler across the room. It landed with a thud by the door.
Her assistant, Myra, came rushing inside. “Is everything okay, Kayla?” Concern was etched over her round face as she picked up the stapler and set it back on Kayla’s desk.
“Everything is fine, Myra. Sorry about that.”
“No problem. Let me know if you need anything.”
Kayla nodded. As Myra was leaving, Michael came in and closed the door behind him. He sat in the chair across from her with a glum look.
“Today did not go as I’d planned.”
“Ya think?” Kayla asked sarcastically. “Did word of our meeting somehow leak? Do you think the Jacksons had anything to do with this?” She didn’t trust Andrew or his stepdaughter, Monica, and knew they would be circling like vultures looking for a sign of weakness.
“Of course not,” Michael replied. “I had each investor sign a confidentiality agreement. I’m sorry, Kayla, he did seem like a viable candidate.”
Kayla ran her fingers through her curls. “I’m sorry, too, Michael. I didn’t mean to bite your head off. I know you are doing your best. I’m just a little on edge.”
“Trust me, I know.” She’d been riding Michael for weeks about investors. For some reason, it seemed more urgent than ever before for Kayla. “But we have another meeting scheduled for next week. And there’s one other elusive investor out of Germany that I’m tracking down for a meeting. We may be down, but we’re not out yet.”
“Thank you, Michael.” Kayla gave a tentative smile. She needed a pick-me-up talk, because otherwise she might have to give Ethan’s offer serious thought, and that was a frightening prospect.
On a Saturday in mid-April, Kayla prepared to join her family for the annual ritual of attending the horse race at Atlanta Steeplechase, which benefited the Starlight Children’s Foundation of Georgia and the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Kayla was putting on her fines
t spring attire to attend the outdoor event. There would be a fabulous picnic in the picnic box space they owned, all prearranged by Victor, who would be attending the event to ensure everything went smoothly. And of course, there was the hat contest.
Kayla, Courtney and their mother had already gone shopping for just the right hat for the event, as everyone knew it was all about who had the most fashionable hat. Kayla couldn’t care less about horse racing, but it was a chance to schmooze with the Atlanta elite and be seen. The business community had to know Adams Cosmetics was here to stay.
A knock sounded on Kayla’s bedroom door. “Come in!”
It was her mother and Courtney, both holding hatboxes. “We’ve brought gifts!” Her mother held up a box.
“I presume that is mine?” Kayla inquired, pulling a large-brimmed black-and-white straw hat with a big bow and ribbon out of a box. She’d had no time to shop for one. Thankfully, it matched the black-and-white plaid strapless dress she was wearing. Kayla put the hat over her hair, which was in a simple ponytail, and admired herself in the pedestal mirror.
“Sure is,” Courtney answered, coming to stand behind her in the mirror. “It’s just as audacious as this one.” She pulled out a strange hat which had some type of colorful bird pinned on it and looked like it was about to take flight. “I have to win the hat contest.”
“You just may.” Kayla laughed. “Are you participating in the fashion show again this year?”
“Duh, of course I am.” Courtney relished being center-stage, and what better opportunity than being onstage surrounded by admirers? “Guess who I heard is going to be there?”
Kayla took the bait and glanced behind her. “Who?”
“Ethan Graham.” Courtney smiled devilishly at her sister.
“Don’t tell your father that,” their mother said. “You know how he feels about Ethan.”
“I don’t understand why there’s bad blood between him and Ethan. Ethan never did anything to Daddy,” Courtney replied.
“You were too young to remember,” Kayla said, “but Ethan once offered Daddy money to sell Adams Cosmetics.”
Need You Now Page 5