He looked down the hall to see the receptionist carrying an oversize bouquet of lilacs toward the editorial cubes.
Cade managed not to smile. The florist had given him a hard time but he knew, in New York, you could get anything for the right amount of money. He stepped a little farther into the hall, just in time to see the priceless look on Jessie’s face when the vase was placed on the corner of her desk.
“My, my, my,” Finola said from behind him as she observed the scene. “Looks like our intern has an admirer.”
“No surprise,” he commented, purposely casual, as he watched Jessie open the card. “She’s a very pretty young woman.”
Fin looked hard at Jessie, whose infectious giggle was almost drowned out by her colleagues’ comments and jokes. “It’s hard to tell. She never takes those silly glasses off.”
As Fin walked away to pick up a message from Chloe’s desk, Jessie read the card to herself and smiled. She shook her head when someone tried to take it, holding his invitation to her chest without sharing.
Then she looked down the hall, toward the conference room, straight at him. It was nearly imperceptible, but he caught her tiny nod.
As Finola flipped through her messages, she asked, “So are you doing anything this weekend, Cade?”
“As a matter of fact, Fin, I have a date tonight.”
She glanced up, curious. “Someone special?”
“Very.” He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face and, of course, Fin was too classy to pursue it.
Four
Jessie dodged across 57th Street with a few other intrepid New Yorkers, and the cab at the corner slowed for her. Maybe it was the yellow sweater…or her decision not to hesitate.
The thought made her smile, something she’d been doing since the arrival of the most incredible bouquet of lilacs, and a note that took her breath away.
Meet me at Columbus Circle at 6:00 tonight for some wide open spaces and a horse…New York style.
Lainie had taken the lilacs home for her, and, being a true friend, hadn’t even teased Jessie about who might have sent them. Nor did Jessie reveal the truth to Scarlet or any of the other Charisma associates. Somehow, she managed to get through the afternoon, then swapped her white blouse for the yellow sweater and blessed her decision to wear nice black slacks to work.
Dressed for a date she hadn’t known she was going to have, Jessie made her way to Columbus Circle in the midst of the late Friday-afternoon bustle of New York City.
A troupe of break dancers wowed a crowd at the corner, their thumping beat of hip-hop music guiding Jessie’s determined steps. As she headed toward the hub of activity known as Columbus Circle, she let her gaze travel up across a sea of high-end stores that dominated the busy area and up the towering skyscrapers that loomed over Central Park West.
For a second, her steps slowed as she scanned the crowds of people for a six-foot-tall hunk with golden hair and mesmerizing gray eyes. There were plenty of men that height, but none who took her breath away. None who gave her stomach that roller-coaster dip. None who made her whole being shiver in anticipation of a kiss or a touch, the way Cade McMann did.
A clip-clop of horse’s hooves approached from behind. Still not used to the hansom cabs and the turned-out ponies who pulled them through Central Park, Jessie paused to check out the dappled coat of a jaunty mare pulling a bright red carriage. At the reins, a young man in a tuxedo smiled broadly at her.
But when he stopped and Cade leaned forward from the carriage seat, Jessie sucked in a breath of total surprise.
“Here she is,” Cade said to the driver, who immediately stopped the carriage so Cade could get out.
For the second time that day, she stood speechless on a street corner staring at Cade.
He indicated the horse with a flourish. “The closest thing I could get to Oscar in New York City.”
All she could do was laugh, shake her head and take his hand. “You’re too much.”
Helping her into the carriage, he said something quietly to the driver, then settled in next to her. Very close to her.
“I just don’t want you to get so homesick for horses and open spaces that you run back to Colorado.”
She took a deep breath, the familiar scent of horse mixed with the not-yet-familiar scent of Cade washing over her like the late afternoon sun.
“Your evil plan is working,” she confided with a contented sigh. “Thank you for this treat.”
“You’re welcome.” His gaze dropped to the zipper, which wasn’t nearly as low as Scarlet had wanted it that morning. “I see you took my advice and kept the sweater.”
And the magic bra, which, from the look on his face, was still creating optical cleavage illusions. “Scarlet said I’d earned it after my impromptu photo shoot.”
He draped his arm behind her and lowered his head to hers. “You looked gorgeous this morning. Still do.”
More warmth spread through her and it had nothing to do with the setting sun. “Thanks.”
“You seemed to see pretty well, too.”
She drew back and blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
“I was forty feet away from you when you spotted me on the street.” Slowly, he slid the glasses down her nose. “You don’t need these, Miss Clayton.”
There was something so intimate about the way he removed her glasses. Something so sensual about being inches from Cade with nothing on her face to come between them. Anyway, it wasn’t as if he was going to look at her and suddenly declare, “You have Fin’s eyes.” She was being too cautious.
“They’re a fashion statement,” she said softly, taking the glasses and closing them. With a sly smile, she reached over and slid them in the pocket of his suit jacket. “I can keep them off for you.”
He rewarded her with a sexy wink. “I’m honored. Now, would you like some champagne?”
“Champagne?”
Reaching to the floor of the carriage, he flipped open the top of a wicker basket to reveal a bottle of champagne in ice, two crystal flutes and a few covered containers.
“Are we celebrating something?” she asked, taking the empty flute he handed her.
“Friday night? Horses and open spaces?” He drizzled a few drops of golden liquid into the glass and it fizzed with the same burst of excitement that bubbled in her blood. “Take your pick.”
“I think I’d like to celebrate how different you seem,” she said.
“Different?”
“You’re so relaxed out here in the world,” she teased. “Like you left ‘the boss’ at Charisma and you’re just a regular guy.” A fun, sexy, intriguing regular guy who was seriously easy on the eyes and appeared to be totally into her.
“As regular as a guy can be who’s traveling around Central Park in a horse and carriage.”
He’d done this for her. He’d done this all for her.
The realization hit her heart like the clopping hooves on the asphalt drive.
“So what are we drinking to, Jessie? Horses and wide open spaces?”
“And surprisingly regular guys.”
He winked as their crystal touched and rang softly. In the background, Jessie heard the occasional shout of some teenagers playing Frisbee on the lawn, and the very distant hum of New York traffic and horns. The carriage rocked and the champagne tickled her nose and lips.
It suddenly seemed very unreal and magical.
“When did you arrange all this?” Jessie asked as she glanced at the rolling vista of green hills and autumn-dipped trees around them.
“This afternoon.”
“Right after you ordered the lilacs.”
His lips tipped up in a smile. “I couldn’t resist.”
She gave him a dubious look. “I’m not that irresistible, even in my bumblebee sweater.”
“I’ll be the judge of what I can’t resist,” he said, leaning back against the leather seat. “And you whet my appetite for horses and fresh air.”
“So you probably don’t wan
t to know how much I miss the cattle.”
He laughed and put his arm around her, tugging her just a little closer to him. “Let’s not push it.”
Colorado seemed a million miles away. And for the first time in more than five months, Jessie didn’t care.
An hour later, as they passed the carousel and skating rink, the sun dipped lower over the skyline of New York turning the treetops a fiery orange-red. The driver stopped at the edge of a lush park, announcing that they were at the Sheep Meadow, a vast green field dotted with dozens of other couples, families and small groups playing football or enjoying a blissful evening in the park.
Within a few minutes, they carried the basket and a blanket to a clear spot.
“He’ll be back in a little while,” Cade told her, indicating the hansom cab driver. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving. What’s in your basket?”
“I have no idea,” he admitted. “I just asked for a deluxe picnic dinner from that deli near the office. It’s not like I actually packed it.”
As they set up the picnic and discovered they had shrimp cocktail and crispy chicken, fresh bread and even chocolate-covered strawberries, they talked about New York and how difficult—or, for Cade, how easy—it was to get used to.
“Once I bought my apartment, I knew I was here for good,” he told her as he settled next to her on the blanket and picked up the container of shrimp.
“Where do you live?” she asked.
He tilted his head in the general direction of south. “Columbus Circle.”
“In one of those towers? The new ones?”
He nodded and offered her a piece of juicy shrimp. “It’s not huge,” he said. “But it’s on the twenty-ninth floor, so the view is indescribable and the location is insane.”
“Twenty-ninth, huh?” She squinted in that direction, able to see the tips of the buildings. “Does it feel like you live in the air?”
Laughing, he bit into his shrimp. “No. I have a floor and walls. Want to see it?”
A blast of heat shot through her. “Are you asking me to go back to your apartment?”
He snagged her gaze, his expression serious. “Only if you want to.”
For a moment, she said nothing, caught in the reflection of his gray eyes, absolutely unable to look away. “Let me ask you something, Cade. Is this a date?”
He touched the corner of her lips and used his finger to slide a teeny bit of cocktail sauce into her mouth. “Yep.”
At least he was honest. “Why?”
“Why?” He let out a quick laugh. “Because I like you.”
“But why?”
He grinned. “You want a mirror? It’s pretty easy to see why.”
“But you don’t date Charisma employees, Cade. I’ve watched you for five solid months.”
“Yeah?” He teased her with that half smile. “Well, that makes two of us. Because I’ve watched you for five solid months.”
“What I don’t understand,” she said, shifting a little on the blanket as she carefully phrased her thoughts, “is why someone as by-the-book professional as you would suddenly decide to break the rules and date an intern.”
“There are no rules about dating anyone at EPH.”
“Unspoken? Unwritten?”
He shook his head. “It’s up to the individual manager. Which, in this case, is me.”
As much as Jessie wanted to follow her father’s ageless advice about not looking gift horses in the mouth, something somewhere didn’t quite fit. She decided to press on. “And you were just suddenly so overcome by attraction that you impulsively asked me out?”
“Jessie,” he said, with a little note of exasperation in his voice, “you ask too many questions. You’re like Fin.”
The words shot the hairs on the back of her neck to full attention. “I am?”
“She always asks questions, wants to get to the bottom of things. In fact,” he said, dipping another shrimp tail in a spicy red sauce and holding it up to his mouth, “she was asking about you today.”
All of Jessie’s cool confidence evaporated. Could he know? Could Fin? “Really? Why would she care about an intern, with all she has on her mind?”
He popped the shrimp into his mouth and chewed it while he regarded her. “Her attention to the staff is one of the keys to her success. She likes to know everyone at Charisma, professionally and personally.”
She didn’t know Jessie. Because Jessie had made sure to stay out of Fin’s range. “So, what did she ask?”
“If you were going to be the shadow intern.”
Jessie busied herself trying to open a bottle of water. “And what did you tell her?”
“That I was still considering the candidate.”
Her hand froze on the twist-off lid. “Did you tell her I wasn’t in the running?”
“No.” He reached over, took the bottle and opened it easily, then handed it back to her. “I told her I would let her know next week.”
Jessie took a long drink of water, letting the liquid cool her suddenly dry throat. Could she do this? Could she date Cade and keep a secret this big from him?
“She thinks you avoid her on purpose.”
Jessie choked and sputtered the water.
“You okay?” Cade laid his hand on her back, patting her gently.
“Yes.” She gasped for air and coughed again. “The water just went down the wrong pipe.”
He slid his hand down her back and pulled her ever so slightly toward him. “Do you?”
“Do I what?” As if she didn’t know.
“Avoid Fin on purpose?”
A million responses flipped through her brain. The only one she’d never tell him was the truth. But she didn’t want to lie, either. How could she date Cade and not reveal her secret? The only way was to avoid the subject of Fin altogether.
Slowly, she turned to him and touched his face, loving the way his eyes darkened at the contact. “Will you do me a favor?”
He looked as though she could ask him for the moon and he’d say yes. But he just nodded.
She stroked the rough shadow of his whiskers with her fingertips. “Since we’ve established that this is an official date, can we not talk about work?”
He dipped his head to kiss her fingertips while he held her gaze. “Whatever you want.”
“Then let’s leave the office at the office.”
For a split second, she thought he was going to disagree, but then he said, “Consider it done.”
“Thank you,” she said and then gestured toward the picnic basket. “And thank you for all this. For the lilacs, and the horse and the…space. You took away all my homesickness.”
“It’s my pleasure,” he said, his gaze dropping to her mouth. When his lips captured hers, all Jessie could do was hang on for the thrill of it and make a mental note to stop asking questions like Fin.
“You taste like strawberries,” Cade teased in between kisses in the back of the hansom cab.
“You taste like chocolate.” Jessie closed her eyes and kissed him again with a soft moan.
“Gotta love dessert.” He pulled her into him, vaguely aware that they were getting closer to Columbus Circle. The carriage ride had to end, but, he hoped, not the night. Not yet.
Their picnic had long ago finished on a high note as they fed each other chocolate-covered strawberries, and he and Jessie remained curled up in the warm leather of the carriage, torturing each other with long, wet, lazy kisses. He glided his hand over the silky skin of her throat, slipped his fingers into her braid and guided her mouth back to his for another taste.
He ached with hardness and need for more of her but still, he hadn’t touched her. At least, not in all the places he wanted to.
He hadn’t tugged that black zipper on her bumblebee sweater and eased it open. He hadn’t lifted her from her seat and guided her legs around his hips. He hadn’t slipped his hand around her backside and braced her against him so she could feel exactly what she did to his body.<
br />
But, man, he wanted to. His breath tight in his chest, his hands hot from the need to touch her, he finally managed to give the word to David, their driver, that they could end the ride.
Jessie leaned forward to gauge their location. “I can grab the train up to my apartment.”
As Cade paid with a wad of twenties, he shot a disbelieving look to Jessie. “You’re not taking a subway at this hour.”
She smiled as he helped her out of the carriage. “All right, I’ll take a cab.”
As the horse trotted off, Cade tugged her into him for a long, close embrace. “Don’t go,” he whispered into her hair.
She leaned back and looked up at him. He could see the desire and arousal in her eyes that matched what he felt.
“Cade,” she said, “we work together. You’re the boss, for God’s sake. I’m an intern.”
“Hey.” He put a finger over her lips. “No talking about work. You made me promise.”
“Yes, but, now…”
“Now what?”
“Now we should say good-night.”
She was right, of course. Making sense, thinking straight. He dipped down and kissed her lips, gliding his tongue between her lips and along her teeth to see if he could get rid of all that sense and straight thinking. This was too good. She was too good.
“You don’t want to leave any more than I want you to leave,” he told her.
Her only response was to moan softly and squeeze her arms tighter around his neck.
“Was that a yes?”
Closing her eyes, she nodded and he didn’t give her a second for her to change her mind. Or for him to change his, as unlikely as that might be. This night, this time, Cade didn’t feel like monitoring his mistakes. Turning her in his arms, he started toward the doors of his building, threading his fingers into the thick braid that hung down her back.
“Good,” he said softly. “’Cause I’ll die if I don’t see your hair down again.”
Wordlessly, they walked over the glossy marble floor of the ultra-modern lobby, past the boutiques still humming with tourists and shoppers, down to the teak-paneled bank of elevators that would take them to the twenty-ninth floor.
Dynasties:The Elliots, Books 7-12 Page 34