Goodbye Gifts_The Steamy Version

by Elena Aitken

  Without a doubt, her afternoon with Dylan had been the best one she’d had in a long time, and despite trying everything to keep it from happening, in just a few short days, there was no doubt that she was developing feelings for him. Strong ones.

  And more than it scared her, it confused her. Morgan was right: she had to tell Dylan about everything with his brother and their stupid deal or whatever it was. And she would, right after dinner.

  She made her way to Oliver’s, the upscale restaurant that was situated in the heart of the Castle Mountain Village where there were mostly a few shops and some art galleries for guests to peruse. She would have been happy eating at the Grill, but her dad insisted on treating her to an expensive dinner every time they came to visit. It was his way of showing her he loved her, and even though as far as Carmen was concerned, it was unnecessary, she played along and let him make the reservations. If it made him happy, what was the harm? Her parents were waiting for her already, but Dylan was nowhere to be seen.

  Carmen paused at the hostess’s stand before she made her way across the crowded room. Her mom was positively glowing, whether it be from the sun she got out on the lake, or the fun she'd had. Or maybe a combination of both; it didn’t matter. But it was nice to see. Carmen smiled and watched the two of them animated in conversation.

  When she approached the table, they stopped talking and her dad jumped to his feet. "Carmen? You look lovely. We were just talking about you." He kissed her on the cheek and waited for her to sit down.

  "Were you?" She eyed them both suspiciously.

  "Of course we were, dear," her mother said. "We were talking about how wonderful your young man is." She gave Carmen’s dress a once-over. “I didn’t realize we were dressing up quite so fancy.” Her mom pursed her lips and tugged at the sleeves of her cardigan.

  “It’s really all I had clean,” Carmen said. She sat down, determined not to let her mother affect her mood. “And why not dress up once in a while? I thought it would be nice.”

  “It is,” her dad said.

  “You do look nice, dear,” her mother said. “But you didn’t answer my question. Where’s Dylan?” Her mother got straight to the point. “We had such a nice time with him this afternoon. I didn’t know you had a boyfriend, dear. Really, you could have told us, you know?”

  “He’s not my—“

  “Well, whatever he is,” her dad jumped in. “He seems like a nice young man. I for one am looking forward to getting to know him.”

  “Yes.” Carmen looked around and glanced at her watch. “Whenever he gets here. I’m actually surprised he’s not here yet. He was just going to go up and change.” A knot of worry tightened in her gut, but Carmen tried to ignore it. There was no reason to be concerned about anything, she told herself. He was coming. After the kiss they’d shared, and the heat between them, there was no doubt in her mind that he’d be there. “He’s probably just running late,” she said. “He did have to check work messages, so maybe something came up that he had to take care of.”

  At the mention of business, her father perked up. “What kind of work is Dylan involved in?”

  “He’s building an exclusive resort in Cedar Springs. It’s a community just a bit west of here and it has the most incredible hot springs that have therapeutic properties.”

  “Another hotel?” Her mother reached for her water and took a sip. “How nice.”

  Carmen resisted the urge to roll her eyes and continued talking. “It’s going to be pretty amazing,” she said, and she believed it. The way Dylan spoke about his project conveyed the passion and it would be pretty incredible, she had no doubt.

  “It may not be anything.”

  Carmen swung her head around to see Dylan standing next to the table. He was still wearing his jeans and sweater that he’d been in all day, and there was a hard edge to his face that hadn’t been there before.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said and sat down next to Carmen. “I hope I didn’t miss anything.”

  “No,” Carmen said. She shot him a look, hoping to convey her concern at his sudden shift in mood. “I’m glad you could make it. I was just telling Mom and Dad about the Springs and how excited you are about it. What did you mean it may not be anything?”

  He waved his hand, dismissing her and turned back to her parents. “There may have been a snag with some of the investors,” Dylan said. He turned and looked right at Carmen, but his eyes didn’t hold any of the warmth they’d held earlier and fear pricked at the back of her neck. Something was definitely going on with him. “Some new information just came to light,” Dylan said.

  Carmen’s heart sunk. He’d been speaking to Trent. She didn’t even have to ask to know the truth, but she did anyway. “Were you talking to Trent?” Her voice shook and she reached for her glass of wine to try to cover her nerves.

  “As a matter of fact, I was. And it was a very interesting conversation indeed.”

  Carmen swallowed hard, and aware that her parents were watching them with growing interest, she asked, “Can we go and talk about it?”

  Dylan shook his head and gestured around the table. “Carmen, that wouldn’t be very polite. We made a commitment to have dinner with your mom and dad, and that’s just what we’re going to do. There’ll be lots of time for talking later. Don’t you think?”

  She nodded, but all she really wanted to do was grab Dylan by the arm and drag him out of there so they could talk. So she could explain what really happened with Trent and his stupid blackmailing deal.

  “Have you had a chance to look at the menu?”

  Carmen hadn’t even noticed the waitress appear next to the table. She took a deep breath and shook her head. “No. But go ahead. I don’t want to hold anyone up.”

  While the waitress started taking orders, she absently opened her menu and stared unseeing at the choices in front of her. Hot tears pricked at her eyes, and she blinked ferociously to keep them at bay. She would not, could not cry in front of her parents. Not because of a man.

  “Carmen?” Her dad’s voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up into his concerned eyes. “Do you know what you want?”

  She glanced down at the menu and opened her mouth to order, but couldn’t think of what to say.

  “You know what?” Dylan said to the waitress. “On second thought, I think I’d like the special.”

  His words triggered the memory of only a few nights earlier but when she looked at him, Dylan’s face didn’t give anything away. He focused on her parents, and she could practically feel the chill coming off him. “I’ll have the special as well,” she mumbled to the waitress.

  Whatever was going on with Dylan would have to wait until they were alone. For the moment, she just needed to get through dinner.

  She risked another glance at Dylan, who had resumed talking to her father. Whatever Trent had said to him had upset him. That was more than obvious by his attitude, but he was there, and that counted for something. That counted for a whole lot. As did the fact that she cared so much. For Carmen, that spoke volumes.

  Carmen managed to pull herself together enough to get through the evening. She kept sneaking glances at Dylan, unsure of what he was playing at. He made easy conversation with both her mother and father, and they were listening with rapt attention to every word he said. Carmen herself could barely follow the threads of what they were discussing. She did her best to pay attention, but she couldn’t focus on much more than Dylan himself. Something had shifted, that was clear enough, and she knew enough to know it had something to do with what Trent may have told him. But he was there, and as uncomfortable as it was, that meant something. She just didn’t know what.

  By the time the dinner plates were cleared and her father leaned back in his chair, Carmen could no longer stand the tension between her and Dylan.

  “How about some dessert?” her mother asked.

  “I’d love to, Mom. But I actually have to work the night shift tonight to cover for the usual desk cler
k. And before I go, I really wanted to show Dylan the wine cellar here.”

  “Oh.” Her father looked disappointed, but she knew they’d understand.

  “Yes,” she said, and turned to Dylan. “It’s really quite fantastic and maybe something you might want to replicate at the Springs. In fact,” Carmen continued, unable to stand it another minute, “we should probably get going right now.” She jumped up from the table and grabbed Dylan’s arm.

  He looked at her warily, but there was something else in his eyes, too. He knew what she was up to. Dylan stood and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid, thank you for dinner tonight. It was lovely to meet you both.” He shook their hands, and Carmen quickly said a good-night to her mom and dad before dragging Dylan away.

  She didn't say another word until she'd pulled him through the restaurant and into a back storage room. Carmen spun around, so she was facing him square on. “I don’t know what’s going on here, Dylan. But whatever Trent may have said to you, I think we need to talk about it. We can’t just keep pretending that nothing is going on between us and—“

  He swallowed her words with a kiss so passionate, she couldn't remember what she'd been about to say to him.

  He hadn’t planned to kiss her. Hell, he hadn’t planned to meet her and her family for dinner. Not after what Trent had told him. But there was a pull between them that he couldn’t stay away from. And even if he was being royally played, he couldn’t resist one more kiss, one more…the memory of earlier in the boat and the way she made his body thrill flooded through him. No. He had to focus. He couldn’t let her kisses, the taste of her get to him.

  But it was too late.

  Now that he had another taste of her, he was lost.

  There were definitely better places to do what he wanted—no, needed—to do, but a restaurant storage room would have to do.

  “Dylan, I—”

  “No talking,” he growled. “Not now.”

  She caught and held his eyes. It was easy to see the desire there. The very same desire that drove him. There was no doubt in Dylan’s mind that she was on exactly the same page as him. At least for the moment.

  Carmen responded by tugging his sweater over his head and splaying her hands across his chest. Her eyes darkened further and her lids lowered before she bent and trailed hot, fiery kisses down his chest. The touch of her lips on his skin caused his cock to stiffen further and it strained painfully against the rough denim of his jeans. As Carmen’s mouth got lower to his waistband, Dylan thought for a moment that he wouldn’t be able to take any more of her kisses, but then she stopped and knelt in that sexy little black dress that had been torturing him all night.

  She looked up at him with a sinfully sexy smile and slowly worked the zipper down to free his cock. With a kiss that would have been almost chaste, if it hadn’t been so deliciously hot, she touched her lips to his head, and he twitched in response. He wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to hold back. He couldn’t remember the last time he wanted a woman so badly.

  Carmen pushed his jeans down and he stepped out of them moments before she took him in her mouth. With one hand wrapped around his length, and her warm, hot mouth sliding up and down, it wasn’t long before he knew he needed more.

  “God, Carmen.” He bent down and pulled her to her feet. He spun her around and with a yank, released the zipper that held that sinfully sexy dress in place. To his satisfaction, the fabric slipped off and puddled to her feet to reveal the sexiest lingerie he’d ever seen, but still he didn’t turn her back. Instead, he pulled her up roughly against him; his hard, throbbing member pressed into her back so she could feel his desire. “I need you.” His voice was rough and thick. “From the moment I met you, I’ve needed you.”

  Carmen spun in his arms. Her dark eyes challenged him. “Then take me.”

  Three simple words and he almost came right there. In a flash, he bent and dug the condom from his pocket, sliding it on while she shed herself of her lacy panties. There was a mostly clean table at the back of the small room and with a quick swipe of his arm, he unceremoniously cleared it before he laid Carmen back on the hard surface.

  They came together hard and fast and with a passion Dylan never knew he was capable of. Carmen’s fingers gripped his shoulders as he thrust inside her, over and over until their eyes locked and together they cried out their release.

  She never looked away from him, but as the fog of passion cleared, Dylan could see the look on her face change from one of desire to one of hurt and confusion.

  There was still so much left unsaid between them.

  He knew he’d have to leave her, and the moment that he did, things would be different between them. God, how he wanted to stay in the moment with her forever and not deal with what was really going on. But that wouldn’t solve anything. Dylan got up and went to retrieve their clothes. He handed her the sexy black dress, wrinkled now. There couldn’t be anything between them. If there ever really had been, for her anyway. It was hard to know what to believe.

  The silence in the room was palpable as they each redressed. Dylan helped her with her zipper without saying a word. It wasn’t until he slid it to the top and gently pulled her hair off her shoulder to cascade down her back again that she turned and spoke.

  “Dylan, I need to—”

  Dylan held a finger to her lips. “You don’t need to do anything. You don’t need to say anything. Trent told me all I need to know, and I know I shouldn’t even be here. In fact, I should be anywhere but here with you right now because every time I look at you, all I feel is hurt and…”

  “Dylan, what we just—”

  “No.” He shook his head. “My turn to talk. You had your chance to tell me what was going on. That you were just using me for your career. You could have told me that at any point. But you didn’t.”

  Her face crumpled and he thought she might cry. The urge to reach out and touch her cheek, to tell her it was okay and she didn’t need to be upset, was so strong that it twisted him up inside. That was the whole problem. From the minute Trent told him about Carmen and how she was using him, Dylan hadn’t known what to feel and after what they’d just shared. God, it felt so real. But what else?

  Angry? Yes.

  Hurt. Definitely yes.

  She shook her head sadly. “Then why are you here, Dylan? Why did you come?”

  He wanted to answer that question with another kiss. He wanted to tell her that he came because he couldn’t stay away from her and despite himself, he had feelings for her. He wanted to be honest with her and open his heart the inevitable hurt that would follow.

  Instead, he let the anger win. “I promised your parents I’d come,” he said, keeping his face a careful mask of neutrality. “And I wanted you to know that you weren’t the only one with an agenda.”

  “What?”

  She looked up and when he looked into her deep glacier green eyes, he almost changed his mind. Dylan swallowed hard and said, “I was trying to get you to come work at the Springs.” Confusion clouded her eyes. He kept his voice hard, working to control his emotions. “That’s right, this whole time you were trying to get a promotion, but I was trying to butter you up to come work at the Springs when you inevitably didn’t get the promotion here.”

  Confusion turned to hurt as she processed what he was telling her. He watched her face crumple and her beautiful eyes glisten with unshed tears and he almost took it all back and told her the truth.

  “No,” she said with a shake of her head.

  She was right. Of course it wasn’t true. Watching her fall apart, he wished he could take back every word he’d said and start over. He wanted to reach out and touch her. To bridge the gap between them. But he couldn’t bring himself to swallow his pride.

  “No,” she said again. A tear slipped down her cheek and she swiped at it angrily. “I don’t want to hear another word you have to say.”

  “Carmen. I didn’t—“

  “Leave.” She spoke through clenched teet
h. “You think you can come in here and interrupt my family dinner to hurt me and then seduce me and…and you have the nerve to judge me for my poor choices. I don’t do things like that. I never…” She crossed her arms and shook her head. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

  “I was angry. I’m—“

  “You know what you don’t know?” she asked as she paced the small hallway. “You don’t know that I’d already told Trent that his whole stupid offer—that I didn’t even want to be part of in the first place—was off. Did he tell you that part? Did he tell you that I didn’t want anything to do with it?”

  He shook his head because of course, Trent hadn’t mentioned those details.

  She wiped at her face again. “I told your brother that it didn’t matter what the job was, or if he could help me get it. I didn’t care, because what I did care about was you.”

  He took a step back as if he’d been slapped.

  “That’s right,” she continued. “I care about you. Or at least I thought I did.” She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it herself. “I actually thought I might be falling in love with you. I’m such an idiot.”

  “No, Carmen. You’re not.” He reached for her arm and pulled her in to him needing to feel her close. She wouldn’t look at him. “You’re not an idiot.”

  She shook him off her and slipped away. “I am. And if you’ll excuse me, I have to go. I have to work. At least, that is if I still have a job.”

  He watched her go, unable to find the words to bring her back. Uncertain if there were any at all.

  He knew he should’ve have stayed away. He should have just cut his losses and never looked back.

  Dylan watched her walk away from him. He stood frozen for a few minutes before leaving the restaurant out the back door. Frustrated, he pushed his way outside into the cool night air and walked as quickly as he could down the first path he saw. He didn’t know where he was going. It didn’t matter. He needed air. Never in his life had he felt the way he felt about Carmen, and now whatever she may or may not have done, he’d just made it that much worse.