This time he blinked, then his gaze turned chilly again. “About spying on Charisma?”
“What are you talking about?”
“First you avoid Fin like the plague, then you don’t want to take the shadow intern assignment, then you do a three-sixty, take the job and tell someone that you’re only doing it to get information.”
What was he implying?
“This is a very competitive situation, Jessie. I don’t put anything past the Elliotts when they want something.”
Realization morphed into a tidal wave of disbelief. “You think I’m spying for one of the other magazines?” Just the sound of it was so ludicrous that she laughed.
But he didn’t even smile. “Can you sit there and deny that you told someone that you were living a lie, and that you referred to the shadowing assignment as a means to ‘dig for information’ and that you made a promise to someone that you’d be back because you loved them? Can you, Jessie? Because I heard you.”
She started to speak, then closed her mouth as the whole situation crystallized in her mind. And another realization hit her: The only way to make him believe her would be to tell him the truth about Fin.
In fact, she realized as the puzzle pieces started snapping into place with wicked clarity, if she didn’t tell him, she had no explanation for what was, under the circumstances, a reasonable assumption.
Of course he would think this. Of course. And if he knew the truth—if she revealed to him that Finola Elliott was her birth mother and what she was digging for was confirmation that Fin wanted to meet her too—then what? Would all be forgiven and understood? Would he take her in his arms and kiss her again?
She had to know.
“If I could prove to you that you’re wrong, Cade, absolutely wrong without a shadow of a doubt, what would you do?”
He stood slowly, looking down at her. “If you could prove to me I’m wrong, Jessie, then…”
“Then what, Cade?”
Love is irrevocably tied to trust.
“Then I would feel like a complete jerk.”
Despite the emotion squeezing her, she laughed softly at that. “You’re not a jerk, Cade. At least, you weren’t until Monday afternoon.”
He reached a hand to her and she let him gently pull her out of the chair to stand in front of him. Neither one said a word as they looked at each other, heat and electricity ricocheting through the few inches that separated them.
“Prove to me I’m wrong, Jessie.” As though he couldn’t stop the power of nature, he reached for her, pulling her just a little closer. “You have no idea how much I want to be wrong.”
His voice was husky, the scent of his bare skin dizzying as he brought her against his chest.
“I know you hate the idea of this,” she said, lifting her face toward his mouth, nearly tasting his kiss, her body already moist in anticipation, “but you’ve made a mistake, Cade. This time you’ve made a mistake.”
His mouth came down hard on hers, a kiss pent up for four long days and four endless nights. She pressed her body against his, loving the substantial erection that pushed against her stomach and the velvet-over-steel feel of his bare muscles under her fingers.
From deep in his chest, he groaned softly, sliding his tongue farther into her mouth as she arched her breasts against his chest. He buried his hands in her hair as he held her head, angling her face to get the full impact of their kiss.
“Jessie,” he murmured into her mouth, kissing her face, her ears, her throat. “If I made a mistake, tell me. Tell me the truth. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You are, Cade. I promise.”
His hands grazed her shoulders and slid over her breasts, squeezing them in his palms before he dipped under her arms to pull her closer. “So? Tell me. What were you talking to your father about? Digging for information about what? Why does it feel like you’re living a lie?”
They were perfectly legitimate questions.
She opened her eyes and backed away from the dizzy, sexy heat of his hands to think clearly. She couldn’t tell him before she told Fin.
And she couldn’t tell Fin yet.
As much as she saw a kinder, softer side of Fin this week, it was still too soon. She had to have some kind of proof that Fin would welcome the news.
“Tell me,” he insisted, pulling her back to caress her backside and drive her against his erection. “Because I want to make love to you so bad, Jessie. I want you so much, so much.” His voice was hoarse, his breathing tight.
Between her legs, a slow, achy throb had begun and creamy moisture already dampened her underpants.
“You have to trust me, Cade,” she whispered between kisses. “You have to just trust me.”
Suddenly, his body stiffened, then slowly, agonizingly, pulled back. His eyes were charcoal with lust and arousal, his mouth slack from the passionate kisses.
“I want to trust you, Jessie, but you have to trust me, too. Tell me why you said those things to whoever you were talking to.”
She heard her own breath turn slow and ragged. “I told you, I was talking to my father.”
“Okay.” He might as well have said “Yeah, right,” it was so clear he doubted her word. “Then what were you talking about?”
“Cade, if we are ever going to have a chance at anything, if there’s any hope that this could be more than lust, then you have to do this for me.” She looked hard into his eyes. “I can’t tell you. You have to trust me.”
He took a step back as though the only way he could have control was if there was physical distance between them. “Why can’t you tell me?”
“I can’t.”
His eyes flashed. “You can’t or you won’t?”
“I can’t.” Please, Cade. Please don’t make this a showdown. “And I won’t.”
Very slowly, he shook his head. “I don’t believe this.”
“I’ll tell you this much. There is something. But I am not some corporate spy and I am not trying to get information from you and I am not in love with anyone else.”
He stared at her.
“Do you believe me, Cade?”
His eyes turned cool, his mouth set in that grim line. Bad news straight ahead. “I want to, but—”
But. Without another word, she stepped past him and walked out without looking back.
Eight
Liam Elliott looked over the cheeseburger he held between two large hands, a glint of pure devil in his blue eyes. “You’re not seriously asking me for relationship advice, are you?”
Cade laughed and set his own messy burger on the plate, wiping his hands, then placing them on the stainless steel tabletop of the EPH cafeteria booth they shared. “Well, you know women.”
Liam looked skyward. “The wrong ones.” He took a bite and chewed while he continued to eye Cade skeptically. “So, you met a lady. You like her. But you think she’s not being straight with you and won’t tell you why. Do I have this right?”
“Basically,” Cade agreed.
How much should he tell the financial operating officer of EPH, anyway?
To be sure, Liam’s official executive role ended when they left the conference room after a morning-long financial meeting. They’d already examined the bottom line for a few hours and Cade knew the Charisma numbers could be better, but they weren’t completely in the tank. He had decent news to report to Fin. But now he and Liam were eating lunch, having chosen the far more casual cafeteria over the executive dining room, and the only numbers up for discussion were the Jets’ lousy passing record in the first two games of the season.
Once they covered that, it was only natural the conversation would turn to women. Cade had purposely steered the discussion that way; he needed some advice. Liam may have a checkered history with the ladies, but he was a true friend.
“So where’d you meet her?” Liam asked.
Cade glanced away, his gaze traveling over the ultra-modern decor of the crowded cafeteria. Even though it was just a few minu
tes past twelve, the room hummed with hungry EPH employees. He didn’t see anyone in particular. Not that he was looking.
Liam blew out a breath of disbelief as realization dawned on him. “Whoa. Haven’t you ever heard the expression ‘don’t get your meat where you get your bread’?”
A wave of resentment roiled through Cade. “This is meat.” He held his cheeseburger up. “She is not.”
“If you say so.”
They ate in silence until Cade abandoned the meat in question in deference to the tightness in his gut. Liam already figured out the woman was an EPH employee; it would only be a matter of time until Cade told him the truth.
“She’s an intern,” he finally said.
“An int—” Liam choked on a gulp of water. His eyes widened as he coughed and managed to swallow. “Not that redhead with the funny glasses who’s been following Fin around?”
“Her name’s Jessie. And she looks a lot better without the glasses.”
“She doesn’t look bad with them,” Liam noted. “But she’s young.”
“She’s twenty-three. Hardly illegal and long past the cradle.”
“All the women in New York City and you pick a twenty-three-year-old intern at Charisma.”
Cade speared him with a look. “As if I need the world’s worst judge of women to point that out to me.”
“Hey, you brought the topic up.”
“I know. Because I need some help. This is complicated and not funny.”
“Okay.” Liam held up a hand. “No jokes, I promise. Talk to me.”
Cade took a deep breath and looked back into the sea of employees filing into the cafeteria. “I overheard a conversation she had and I know that she’s hiding something from me. And she told me I just have to trust her and eventually, she says, she’ll explain everything. Should I trust her?”
Liam shrugged one well-developed shoulder. “I guess it depends.”
“On what?”
“On how much you like her. On how bad you want to get her in bed. On how big her secret is.” Liam wiped his mouth and balled up his napkin before discarding it on the table. “Start with the first one. How bad do we have it?”
Cade snorted softly, not even sure there were words to describe his feelings. Certainly not words he’d share with Liam.
“I’m going to take that as ‘real’ bad.” Liam laughed, then his look grew serious. “Don’t tell me you’ve graduated from ‘like’ to…the big one?”
Damn. Had he? “I don’t know about that. But it’s serious. Not casual. Not just sex.”
“Not just sex? So you already had her in the sack.”
Distaste roiled through him. Jessie and the sack didn’t belong in the same sentence. “We’ve made love.”
“Oh, brother.” Liam held up a hand, fighting more laughter. “I’m sorry. I’m not making jokes. But you’re pretty far gone, pal.”
If he was that far gone, why did he let her walk out last night? Why didn’t he just act on the lust that pulled at both of them, and take what she would have offered if he hadn’t pushed her to confide in him? Why couldn’t he say he trusted her and get her in the sack, as Liam so poetically put it?
“So let’s ask ourselves the third question,” Liam said, copping the voice of authority he used in business meetings. “How big is her secret? What do you think she’s keeping in the dark?”
If the financial operating officer of EPH suspected something like corporate espionage, he’d have to look into it, and if Cade’s suspicions were even remotely right, Jessie would be gone and her professional reputation trashed.
“It’s complicated,” he said, purposely vague.
God, was he protecting her? Even as part of him believed the worst? For a careful man who avoided mistakes, he sure was flirting with disaster.
“You know what I think?” Liam leaned forward and put his elbows on the tabletop, a bit of humor remaining in his eyes. “I think you are well and truly in love, my man.”
This was definitely not the advice he’d been seeking from Liam. “This from the man who hasn’t made it to the fourth date without boredom setting in. Suddenly you’re a love expert.”
Liam grinned. “And how many dates have you had with her?”
“One.” At Liam’s threat of laughter, Cade added, “A long one.”
“You’re in love.”
“What I am is sleep-deprived and distracted.”
“Same difference.” Liam paused, lowering his voice for emphasis. “Listen, Cade, seriously. If you really like her, give her the benefit of the doubt. What’s to lose, really? How bad can it be? She has a stalker ex-boyfriend or she’s got a lunatic aunt hiding in her attic? Whatever it is, you can handle it. It’s not as if she can mess with your job or your life.”
Yes, it was.
Before Cade could respond, Shane Elliott passed their table, carrying a tray of food and wearing a broad grin.
The men greeted each other, and Cade and Liam both offered some room in their booth. Despite the competitive environment Patrick had fostered with his contest, Cade was disappointed when Shane declined to join them. Cade genuinely liked Fin’s twin brother and wouldn’t have minded getting a little intel on how things were going at The Buzz.
“Thanks, but I’m meeting with some of my editorial staff.” Shane tilted his head toward another table, a glimmer in eyes so much like Fin’s, it was eerie. “We’re not ready to rest on our laurels yet,” he added lifting his tray slightly in a mock salute to Liam. “But thanks again for the news.”
Nodding goodbye, Shane walked away, leaving Cade to look questioningly at Liam.
“What was that all about?” Cade asked.
Liam raised his eyebrows. “File it under Patrick’s contest.”
“He’s ahead?” Cade asked in disbelief. “The Buzz took over the lead?”
Liam gave Cade a look of sheer discomfort. “You know I’m not at liberty to say.”
Cade rubbed his jaw and regarded his friend. Liam couldn’t reveal who was ahead, and Cade didn’t want to push him to a breach of ethics. “But that’s what Shane implied. Or was that a fake just to psych me out?”
Liam cleared his throat. “Numbers don’t lie.”
Cade stood slowly. “They’re ahead,” he stated again.
“It’s only September, Cade. There are four months left in the year. Anything can happen. The Jets could make it to the Super Bowl.”
Anything could happen, and if it was up to Cade, that wouldn’t include mistakes of any kind. “I sure as hell better get my mind off the intern and onto business.”
“Now you’re talking,” Liam said, standing as well. “Although I have to say, I’ve never seen you like this over a woman.”
Cade exhaled softly, acknowledging the truth. “She’s not like any woman I’ve ever met. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“Whoa. Way, way far gone,” Liam muttered with a chuckle.
They dropped their trays onto the rolling conveyor belt and headed for the door. Cade stuck his hands deep into his trouser pockets, not even trying to deny how far gone he was.
“Is it possible you’re being too harsh on her?” Liam asked as they reached the elevator. “Maybe you’re jumping to the wrong conclusion?”
Liam may not be able to commit to anything that lasted longer than a dinner date and a possible breakfast, but at the moment, he sounded remarkably balanced and insightful.
“I suppose it’s possible.”
“If she’s that great,” Liam added as he hit the elevator call button, “she’s worth the risk.”
Jessie had asked for Cade’s trust. And, frankly, she’d done nothing wrong but have a conversation that he’d only heard half of. She deserved more than the rush to judgment he’d taken. And, yes, she was that great.
“You know what? I think I will give her the benefit of the doubt.” Suddenly, he had an idea. “And something else.” Cade stepped away from the elevator, toward the lobby doors. “I’ll see you later.”
Liam frowned as the elevator arrived. “Aren’t you going back to your office?”
“I have something to do first.”
As he bounded out the doors to Park Avenue, Cade wondered if he could be fined by the City of New York for what he was about to do.
Didn’t matter. It would be worth a lousy fine to see the spark in Jessie’s eyes again.
Chloe Davenport swung around the door frame of Fin’s office and tapped on the wall for Jessie’s attention.
“Hey there, Miss Shadow,” Chloe teased lightly. “Fin still gone?”
Seated at the round table in the corner of the spacious office, Jessie looked up from the typeset page in front of her. “Hi. She said she wouldn’t be back until mid-afternoon.”
At Chloe’s inquisitive look, Jessie added, “We finished up in here this morning, and I stayed to proof this one last article on hemlines. I have such a hard time concentrating out there in my cube.”
“Boy, do I hear you,” Chloe agreed with a knowing nod. “I can barely spell my name when the phones are jangling like mad. Stay in here as long as you like.”
Bingo. Permission from the gatekeeper herself to be in Fin’s office. Jessie’s heart rate accelerated to a light trot. “Thanks, Chloe. It won’t take me much longer to finish.”
“Well, since you’re here, I wonder if you could do me a favor. Cade’s assistant is at an all-day computer class, and I don’t expect anything earth-shattering to happen, but I’m dying to get something to eat and—” she wrinkled her nose guiltily “—I’d really like to stop by Saks for a quick look-see at the fall stuff on sale.”
God bless Chloe’s shopping habits. “I’ll cover the phones,” Jessie offered quickly. “You take your time.”
“It shouldn’t be busy,” Chloe promised. “Cade’s up in operations most of the day and neither one has anything on their calendars this afternoon. If you wouldn’t mind—”
“If Fin’s phone rings, I’ll take a message.” She waved her hand with what she hoped wasn’t too much enthusiasm. “Go shop.”
Chloe blew her an air kiss. “You are a doll, Jessie. I’m so glad you were the one to get the shadowing job.”
Dynasties:The Elliots, Books 7-12 Page 39