by Emily Bishop
Too fucking bad.
“Area’s clear. I’ll hear you out. What do you want to say?” I rested my back against the wall and slid down, until I was seated flat on my ass on the gleaming marble floor, both legs kicked out in front of me. It was absurd, yet strangely comforting.
“I love this company, you know,” Bart said, sniffling.
I nodded. “I know.”
“I’ve poured nearly three decades of my life into this place. I can’t just turn around and walk away. I’ve always dreamed of leading it one day.” His voice cracked with emotion.
“So, you thought you’d go to the board behind my back and try to steal it from me?” I asked dryly. “I’m still trying to pull the knife from my back, Bart. So you’re going to have to explain this to me.”
“I swear, Shane, those papers that you found were only contingency plans to help us make it through to the end of the year at the most. Things got pretty heated for a while there, and I wanted to have back-up plans in place.”
That doubt I felt about firing him flared up again. In a big way.
“Look,” I said, taking a fortifying breath to carry me through my admission. I hated backing down. “I may have been too swift in my judgment before. I acted on little evidence and in the spur of the moment. I want to talk to you about the possibility of coming on as managing director. I’ll work remotely and have phone conferences with you daily.”
A sob came through the door a moment later. “You’re just saying that to get me to come out.”
“No,” I said with a sigh. “I’m dead serious about this.”
“Why would you change your mind now?” he asked.
“Because I’ve changed.”
“How could you have changed so much in just a few weeks?” He sniffed, disbelieving. “The old you never would have trusted someone else at the forefront.”
“Let’s just say that I met someone who showed me how much could be gained from trust.”
And I’d realized that there was more to life than Perkins Enterprises. Bart’s plans, as egregious as they’d seemed, were only really unforgivable if I really wanted this job. The truth was that I didn’t. Not anymore.
“Someone you met has made you trust me again?” Bart asked, the barricaded door swinging open to reveal his sad, hunched figure.
“No, but she did show me that second chances aren’t complete bullshit,” I told him earnestly, pushing myself up from the floor.
I was barely upright before Bart caught me in a completely unprecedented bear hug. “Is security waiting to throw me out?”
His eyes darted to the empty hallways, the unoccupied cubicles, and the elevator that was open and carried no security force.
“There’s no security here,” I said. “I was being serious. I want to stay on as CEO, but I could authorize you to act as director and to take over some of my duties that need to be exercised from Houston. I will teleconference at least once a day with you and dial in to other meetings when necessary.”
Bart, who I’d never seen shed so much as a single tear, burst into fresh sobs. “Thank you, Shane. I promise that I will not let you down.”
“I hope so. Second chances might not be bullshit, but there will not be a third chance.” My voice was stern. He had to be absolutely crystal fucking clear on that point.
He nodded enthusiastically. “I understand. Thank you so much. When can I come back?”
“Is today too soon?” I asked.
I was in a rush to get back to Mystic, and there was a lot that I had to do if I wanted to ensure a smooth handover.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Fiona
“Will that be all for you today?” I asked, ringing up the purchases of a sweet elderly customer.
The bell above the door jingled. From the corner of my eye, I saw Shane enter the store.
My heart jumped into my throat. He’s back.
I blinked but he was still there. Still coming toward me with long purposeful strides, his mouth set in a determined line.
My world shifted on its axis. I was barely aware of the customer nodding and leaving. All that I knew was that we were suddenly alone.
The store seemed smaller now, dominated by Shane’s presence. Every time he came back from Houston, it took him a few hours to adapt back to the laid-back life in Mystic, to shed the layer of CEO that came back from Houston with him.
His back was ramrod straight, and he stalked through the store like a conqueror, ready to claim everything around him, myself included. And his eyes bored into me imperiously, making me want to cave to his every demand.
He was on me a second later, crushing his lips to mine as though he was seeking something. Reassurance. Redemption. I didn’t know but I opened for him, kissing him back with a fervor that was entirely inappropriate for the workplace.
I was breathless by the time that I broke the kiss and took a step back. “Did you take care of your business?”
“I did.” He nodded, his voice low. “Can you take a break?”
I glanced at the clock. “Sure, let me just get Drew.”
Drew was in the backroom, doing inventory, which meant that he was watching every funny compilation video on the Internet.
He was laughing when I walked in, flipping his screen toward me. “Check this out.”
I smiled but shook my head. “Maybe later. I’m going to take a break. Can you cover for me?”
“Sure thing.” He jumped up from the bags of potting soil he was sitting on and followed me into the store. As soon as he spotted Shane, his eyes widened in understanding, and he smirked down at me. “Have fun, lover girl. Hey, bro,” Drew called to Shane. “Welcome back.”
The two exchanged a handshake. Shane was surprisingly warm to Drew. “Thanks, I hope you don’t have to say that again too soon.”
What the hell does that mean?
“You ready to go?” Shane asked, resting his palm at the small of my back.
I glanced at Drew, who waved me off. “Go, go. I’ve got your back.”
“Okay then, let’s go.”
I swallowed nervously. I had no idea what kind of hit might be coming this time. It could even be that he had realized that he couldn’t make the remote working thing work and was saying goodbye. For good.
His expression when he’d arrived at the store was definitely determined but determined to do what? That was the million, or billion, dollar question.
It was cloudy outside, and the air was heavy with humidity. I could feel the rain coming in my bones. I just couldn’t help but wonder if it would be to wash away the old and be a new start for Shane and me, or whether the heavens would be opening up to cry with me for a relationship that could never be.
Either way, there weren’t a lot of people out as Shane and I made our way down the street to the marina. He held onto my hand so tightly that it was like he was scared I was going to run away at any moment.
Shane was quiet at first, so I asked the question burning a hole in my heart. “When are you going back to Houston?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. We were still strolling toward the marina but he glanced at me and pulled me to a sudden stop. “Not soon.”
He turned me to face him, his eyes the color of springtime ferns as they bore into me. “I mean it, Fiona. I’ll explain everything. Let’s go sit down.”
My heart hammered all the way to the pier beyond the marina, where we eventually settled on the beach below the lighthouse. We were surrounded by moored boats and thickets of brush. It was surprisingly romantic and isolated, especially since the lighthouse was closed to visitors on Thursday, and the weather was keeping all but the most hardened of fishermen inside for the day.
“You’re being really quiet,” I remarked, settling between his spread legs and cuddling into his warm chest.
His arms came around me, forming a loose circle around my waist. He dropped a light kiss on the back of my head, breathing in deeply.
“I’m trying to find the wo
rds that I need to say what I want to say.” He raked a hand through his thick hair.
“It’s easiest to start at the beginning,” I prompted. “I’m dying over here.”
He laughed quietly, a low rumbling sound in his chest that reverberated into mine. I sighed, loving being this close to him.
“I think you’re going to prefer if I start at the end.”
“Of course you do,” I pouted but I couldn’t hold it for long before I was all smiles again. It sounded like I was going to like the ending of whatever he was about to tell me.
He laughed again and shook his head, tightening his hold on me. “My stuff is in the process of being packed up in Houston, and my assistant is overseeing the transportation tomorrow.”
I went completely still as I thought over what he’d just told me, unable to process the possibility that it meant that he was moving to Mystic permanently. Eventually, I managed to find the words but not quite my voice, so I whispered, “Does that mean you’re staying?”
“It does,” he breathed, his lips against my ear.
I turned in the circle of his arms, needing to see his face and look into his eyes for the conversation we were about to have. “How?”
His expression was soft, his eyes almost loving. “Do you remember when I told you that the president of my company was trying to oust me?”
“It’s not what I remember most about that night.” I smiled, my sex clenching at the memory of his low moans. “But yeah, Bart or Burt or something?”
Shane’s eyes lit up at my expression, mischief glinting in his eyes as he placed a quick kiss on the tip of my nose. “My naughty girl. It’s not what I remember most either, but it’s what’s relevant now. Don’t distract me with your fuck-me eyes.”
I was momentarily distracted by the fact that he’d used the words “my” and “girl”. The butterflies in my stomach started zooming around. I ignored the fact that the word “naughty” had been in there, too. That was entirely his fault.
“I do not have fuck-me eyes,” I protested but I knew that he was right. “But I don’t know how to make ‘hurry the fuck up and tell me your story’ eyes.”
Shane laughed hard. The joyous sound of it was light and almost carefree. I’d never heard him laugh quite this way before. Something in him had changed, like some terrible burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
“All right,” he said. “I can’t help it if you distract the hell out of me.”
I shot him a smile. “Would it be easier if I left?”
I pretended like I was pulling away from him but he wrapped his arms tightly around me.
“My story,” he said. “When I found out Bart was trying to take my job, I fired him the next day. But I think I might have acted too fast. He insisted that he was just making backup plans for the time that I was in Mystic. He barricaded himself into one of the conference rooms at Perkins Enterprises. That’s why I had to go back.”
“Oh, wow.” It was all I could get out amid all the different questions and thoughts vying for attention.
“Yeah. Crazy shit. But it turned out to be a good thing because it gave us time to talk. He’s been with me a long time, and he’s always been my number one supporter. I decided to give him a second chance. I signed him into a directorship at Perkins, and he’ll be taking over the operations of the company from now on.”
“What? You signed away your company?”
He chuckled. “No, I’m still the CEO. I’ve just delegated most of the duties that require physical presence in Houston. I’ll still have daily meetings with him, and I’m having my home office set up as we speak but I’ll be able to do just about everything from here.”
Shane looked nervous, like he was afraid of my response. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him like the ship was going down.
He didn’t hesitate. He kissed me back like he never wanted to stop and leaned us back on the sand, positioning me so that I was half on top of him.
“Why?” I asked, my lips still against his mouth.
He pulled back just enough to look me square in the eye. “Because I love you, Fiona.”
Tears welled in my eyes and the biggest smile ever spread on my lips. The butterflies went mad and turned into bubbles of joy that flowed through my bloodstream, making my whole body warm and tingly.
“I love you, too.”
His mouth slanted over mine once more, sending shuddering thrills through my entire body. It was the kind of kiss that stretched into eternity and was too short at the same time. The kind of kiss that blew your mind and kept you in the moment.
I don’t know how long we laid there before our kisses turned more passionate, more desperate. Hotter. I needed to feel him inside me, to make me whole and cement the words we’d just said to one another. It felt like the only way to make them concrete was to become one physically.
Shane’s breathing grew as heavy and rapid as mine, his kisses punctuated with groans as his hips moved against my stomach. The seemingly involuntary movements set fire to my veins, and the heat shot straight to my core.
His fingers grasped the edge of my sundress, and his mouth hungrily consumed mine. He lifted the dress to give him enough access to slide a hand across my thighs. He urged my legs apart and slipped his hand against my sex, groaning as he felt the juice flowing. Slick and needy.
He traced my slit with deliberate but gentle strokes over my panties, finally sliding his hand past the elastic and nudging a finger between my soaked lips.
“I need to be inside you,” Shane groaned.
I moaned a yes. My breath hitched in anticipation of the way that he stretched me, filled me, and loved me.
He reached for his zipper and freed himself fast, pulling me onto his lap to straddle him when his cock jumped free from its constraints. He didn’t stop until he was nudging against my slick sex. I sank onto him slowly, gasping when he was completely inside me. I circled my hips against him, savoring the feeling of the man I loved inside of me.
Shane’s eyes were dark with desire. He grabbed my hips and pushed up as I came down. I whimpered. He found my clit and rolled it between his fingers, sending a wave of pleasure rolling through my body. He massaged my aching clit, and my cleft stretched as he thrust into me. My whole body trembled.
The hunger and love reflecting in his eyes melted through me as he pounded into me relentlessly. I shattered against him, bursting into fragments as I came around his cock. Shane growled and arched his back, driving into me as he started coming.
We collapsed against each other, and he pulled me into his comforting embrace. I’d never felt more secure or loved than I did in that moment.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Shane
I walked Fiona back to the store, my arm around her shoulders. I felt like I was walking on air. Or sunshine. Or whatever element of nature that signaled intense happiness.
I’d finally told a woman that I loved her, and she loved me back. It was the best fucking feeling in the world, closely followed by the powerful orgasm I’d emptied into her not half an hour ago.
It felt like I was finally making progress on removing all those nails from the coffin of our relationship. Maybe we could turn it into a bed, after all.
As good as I was feeling, I knew that there was still something big I needed to get done today.
I gave Fiona a chaste kiss on the lips when I said goodbye to her at the store, but it quickly became deeper and hungrier, despite our very recent, very intense orgasms. We were interrupted by someone catcalling, and we broke apart.
Fiona looked vaguely startled but laughed when she saw Drew starting to clap on the other side of the window.
She rolled her eyes and gave a slight bow before flipping him the bird. I grinned. She was something, my girl. I fucking loved her so damn much that my heart had been physically hurting with the need to finally tell her.
Fiona rose onto her tiptoes and gave me a quick kiss on my cheek, smiling shyly as she so often did after
we made love. “I’ll see you later?”
“Wild horses couldn’t keep me away,” I told her, then followed her example and gave Drew a quick bow before I made my way back to my truck.
It felt like I was leaving a part of myself behind with Fiona but I couldn’t exactly spend the day glued to her side at work. Besides, I had more nails to deal with. Little by little, I needed to prove to Fiona how serious I was, and how much I loved her.
My next stop was going to be significantly less fun than my first. But I had to man up and get through it.
Back in Houston, I was known to be somewhat of a ballbuster and ruthless in my pursuit of what I thought was best for the company but no one could accuse me of unethical behavior. My father, on the other hand, couldn’t be accused of being ethical.
He’d screwed over so many people in so many different ways that my head had been spinning with it for months. I’d spent at least one weekend in my life draining bottle after bottle of scotch as I did some soul-searching about who I really was if I came from stock like that.
My mother was my saving grace, I believed, but it had still been a bitter pill to swallow. I had been trying for years to right my father’s wrongs. One by one, the dodgy contracts that my father entered into reached the end of their lifespans, and I had been switching them back to American suppliers. I started a multitude of trusts for the families of all those injured on duty for the company, and I made sure that those employees my father fucked out of their pensions were placed back on payroll.
Guilt over the things that he had done often ate at me, especially when I saw the effects of them firsthand. I was often confronted with it in Houston but I had never imagined that it spread all the way to Connecticut.
I was on a never-ending path of redemption for the Perkins’ family name, and today, it led straight to Randy Hall’s doorstep.
I took a deep breath and knocked, waiting for Fiona’s father to open the door. To my mind, it was even odds if he was going to slam it in my face or let me in.