From Boardroom to Wedding Bed?

by Jules Bennett

  “Ask her if you don’t believe me.” Cole came to his full height. “Our working relationship is beside the point, though. What you destroyed and tore apart years ago didn’t break me. The only person you hurt was Tamera. I just wanted you to take satisfaction in knowing you did nothing but damage your daughter’s heart and make me a stronger man. When you’re long gone, my agency will far surpass yours because you were too busy trying to run Tamera’s life to actually help her build a career and be happy. I also plan on having her work for me. Your company will flounder and fall.”

  Walter coughed and pointed up to Cole. “You listen to me. You may be wearing a thousand dollar suit, but beneath that tailor-made exterior is a punk who was and never will be suitable for my daughter. She will have no problem running my company.”

  Cole couldn’t resist. The words just came out before he could think twice.

  “No, she won’t have a problem, because when we marry, the companies will merge. You may have sabotaged our past, but you won’t touch our future. You have no way to blackmail me now out of her life. And if you try, you’ll only hurt her in the end.”

  The sharp intake of breath didn’t come from Tamera’s father, but from the doorway. Both Cole and Walter glanced in that direction to see Tamera, white as a ghost, standing there with one hand over her mouth, the other holding on to the doorframe as if for support.

  Cole didn’t apologize, he’d be lying if he did, but he did cross the room to Tamera. “I’ll let you two talk.”

  He left the room, letting Tamera and her father rehash the past he still wanted to get away from. No matter what he’d told Walter, Cole had been devastated years ago. Tamera certainly wasn’t the only one hurt, but no way in hell would he ever let the old man know how much his actions destroyed Cole.

  Cole only wished he’d been able to spare Tamera the pain of hearing the truth. What good would it do now? They weren’t going to be in a relationship, they could barely be in the same room without arguing, unless they were having sex, but still, that didn’t mean he wanted her to hurt any more than he already had.

  Cole exited the building and paused in the late-afternoon sun. Obviously Tamera changed her routine and decided to not wait until after dinner to visit her father. Fate had a funny way of making things happen as they should.

  Tamera was strong. If she survived their breakup years ago, she could survive the truth now.

  Sixteen

  “Is it true?”

  Tamera forced herself to move forward and cross the room to her father. She’d decided it was such a pretty day, she’d skip work and come to get him to take him for a ride.

  “Yes.”

  Her heart shattered all over again. How many times would she have to mend it? Would she get to a point where she just left the pieces on the floor and give up? Because even when she put it back together, there were still shards left behind that couldn’t be mended.

  “How could you?” She sat on the edge of the bed, unable to make her weak legs carry her any farther. “How could you purposely destroy my relationship with the one man I intended to spend the rest of my life with?”

  Her father turned toward her. “I was looking out for your future. I didn’t want you to be with someone that was beneath you.”

  “Beneath me?” Appalled, Tamera waved a hand at him. “Nobody is beneath me. I loved him, Dad. You saw me after he broke up with me. You watched me cry every night for over a year and you still sat by and did nothing.”

  His eyes misted. “I’m not saying I made a mistake, but I did what I thought was right at the time.”

  Tamera clutched her purse in her lap. “Shouldn’t I have been the one to decide what was right for my life?”

  Silence. At least he wasn’t going to keep defending himself. The man was stubborn and proud, so Tamera knew he wasn’t going to apologize or continue to make excuses.

  “So the two of you are working together?”

  Tamera nodded. “I wasn’t going to tell you. I didn’t want you to think I was incapable of doing a project on my own.”

  “I would’ve never thought that, but I am curious as to why you didn’t tell me about the Lawson project.” Her father studied her beneath his sparse brows and hollowed eyes. “I knew you were bidding on it, but that was months ago, so when you didn’t say anything, I assumed we didn’t get it.”

  Aside from the fact she’d been blindsided by Cole on the day of the contract approval from Victor, Tamera had also been knocked down from celebrating when she’d come home to discover her father was only getting worse and would need round-the-clock medical care.

  Added to all of that, she wanted him to be proud of her and how could he be when she hadn’t even landed the project without having to team up with Cole?

  “We did,” she told him. “Victor has approved the preliminary plans and the final design is being drafted. Cole and I are starting to look at the various building materials to present at our next meeting with Victor.”

  Her father swallowed. “I’m so proud of you. I know this company is in good hands, so long as Cole Marcum keeps his off what’s mine.”

  Tamera rubbed her forehead to clear the jumbled thoughts bouncing around. So many questions were fighting to come out of her mouth first.

  “Why did you betray me?”

  “I helped you,” he countered. “Did you really want to spend your life with a man who couldn’t even provide for his own family?”

  “He was twenty years old, Dad,” Tamera cried. “He’d done everything he knew to do with no parents and a grandmother who was well into her seventies.”

  “I wanted a man to take care of my daughter,” he argued.

  “I don’t need to be taken care of,” she shouted back. “I needed love and Cole provided that.”

  And that’s what really hurt. He had loved her and now…who knows what he thought of her. Did it really matter at this point? He’d betrayed her just as much as her father. He could’ve come to her, talked to her. But he didn’t.

  Okay, so that’s the part that hurt the most.

  Oh, it all hurt, who was she kidding? Was she really debating herself over what aspect of this entire decade-long nightmare caused the most damage?

  But Tamera looked back at her father and knew that their time was limited. His body was shutting down, the nurses told her that’s what the yellow around his eyes and the tint to his skin meant. His liver was running on empty.

  She couldn’t leave this room knowing it could be for the last time and not have peace with the man who’d raised her and cared for her, though his intentions obviously weren’t always the best. He was human. He made mistakes and there wasn’t enough time left to argue or place blame. What was done was done.

  “I forgive you.” With a heavy heart, she crossed the room and kissed his forehead. “I love you, Dad.”

  His wrinkled hand came up to pat the arm she’d draped around his shoulders. “I didn’t want you hurt. In the long run I knew it was for the best.”

  Perhaps he was right. Because if Cole did want to be with her all those years ago, he would’ve been. He would’ve found a way to fight for what he wanted.

  But he hadn’t.

  Cole assumed Tamera would come to confront him. He was ready to defend his past actions, but he wouldn’t apologize. Because he’d anticipated this, he’d told the guard to extend an open invitation to Tamera.

  As she got out of her sporty BMW, Cole held the door open to his Star Island mansion. Her heeled sandals clicked on the drive as she marched with precision toward him. So much had changed since she’d been here two nights ago.

  Without a word, she brushed past him and into his home as if she’d done so hundreds of times before.

  Okay, so she was understandably pissed. Anger he could deal with. Hurt, not so much.

  He stepped over the threshold and closed the door. Tamera had already walked through the open foyer and into his sunken living room. She stood with her back ramrod straight as she star
ed out the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the aqua bay.

  “I don’t know that I’ve ever loved and hated someone before,” she said, without turning. “I didn’t even know the two emotions directed at one person were possible.”

  Cole came to stand in front of her. If they were going to argue, they were going to do it face to face.

  But he didn’t see anger, or even hurt. All he saw was regret and exhaustion. Great. How could he confront her when she was clearly running on less than fumes?

  “Was I supposed to come running to you, Tam? What would you have done had I told you your father just threatened to take not only my scholarships away, but Zach’s and Kayla’s as well?”

  She leveled his gaze. “I don’t know what I would’ve done, but I know I would’ve fought. I assumed that the love we shared wasn’t one-sided.”

  Instead of grabbing hold of her and shaking her to make her listen like he wanted to, Cole placed his hands on his hips. “You know it wasn’t one-sided. I’ve never loved anyone like you, Tam. You were it for me.”

  A laugh escaped her lips. The gesture didn’t go with the emptiness in her baby blues.

  “Was I? Should I consider myself lucky?” She threw her arms wide. “I feel sorry for all the other women you’ve had in your life if that’s how you treat ‘the one.’”

  He deserved her wrath, he knew it, but he wouldn’t stand in his own home and allow his past to be thrown back into his face.

  “Your father made it impossible for me to choose,” he argued. “My family had to come first. We didn’t have everything handed to us.”

  Like you did.

  He didn’t have to say the words, they hovered in the air between them anyway. Yes, it was a low jab, but it was also the truth.

  She sighed, stepped aside to focus once again on the stunning view. “I don’t know why we’re arguing. If it was meant to be, we’d have found our way back to each other. I’m just surprised that you let anyone get the best of you.”

  “I’m not that man anymore.” He never would be. “And you’re right. Arguing won’t change the past and we’re different people now.”

  Well, other than the fact that he still found her impossibly gorgeous and sexier than any woman should have the right to be.

  Not to mention she’d burned him up in his bed, even though he was quick to douse any flame that could ignite into something more…at least in her mind. He didn’t want to lead her on.

  No matter what Tamera said, she was a “happily ever after” girl. Once her father passed, she would have nothing holding her back and she would need someone to lean on for support…even if she didn’t want to admit it. Tamera was a strong woman, one of the strongest he knew, but even the sturdiest needed support during a storm.

  She turned sideways, facing him once again. Shoulders back, chin tilted, she said, “Once this project is over, I never want to see you again. I won’t be made a fool of twice. But we’ll give Victor the best design he’s ever had because we’re both good at our jobs. Don’t think for a second, though, that I trust you…with anything.”

  “I didn’t ask for your trust, Tamera.” He clenched his fist in his pocket as he searched her face for something…anything, but all he saw was bitterness. “This project is all that matters.”

  She turned to walk out, but stopped just as her foot hit the bottom step of his living room. She threw a glance over her shoulder.

  “You were wrong. You’re still the same person. All that matters is money and yourself. I just didn’t see that’s who you were back then.” She bit her lip, her chin quivered. “What a lonely world.”

  The echoing of her heels died with the final click of his front door. He would not feel guilty about the truth coming out. If anything, relief swept through him.

  Once they delivered this design to Victor, and it was officially approved, then Zach would take over and Cole could officially close the book on his past and any present involvement with Tamera Stevens.

  But would this ache in his chest linger long after that?

  Seventeen

  Binders upon binders of building materials cluttered Tamera’s desk and her boardroom table. Nothing was just jumping out and screaming “multimillion-dollar fantasy resort.”

  An idea slammed into her. Tamera picked up her cell and dialed an old friend who would certainly be able to help in this respect.

  “Hello.”

  “Kayla? This is Tamera. You know that lunch date we mentioned?”

  Cole’s sister laughed. “I certainly do. When do you want to meet?”

  “How about now?” She glanced at the clock on her desk. “I can have something delivered.”

  “Now is perfect. I just got done meeting with Victor and my brain is fried. I’ll grab something from the deli next to the office. What do you want?”

  Tamera gave Kayla her order and hung up. Cole would be furious that he was not included in this little impromptu meeting, but she wasn’t too concerned with what Cole thought of her right now. Kayla was the decorator and Kayla was the one she needed to consult with.

  If Cole stepped through her door, Tamera feared she’d unleash her fury on him. She’d definitely gone easy on him considering he’d damaged her heart so long ago. She’d mended it just fine and didn’t need a replay.

  But what really irked her in ways she couldn’t even express was the fact he’d gone and slept with her anyway. Twice. Even after betraying her, giving her up, he still thought he could have her when he wanted. And she’d fallen right for his seduction. She’d practically begged for him to seduce her.

  Jerk. Yes, she should take a portion of the blame, but she wasn’t. All of this mess was his doing.

  Tamera stood up from her desk, dropped her cell back into her purse on the floor at her feet and moved around the room.

  What she really needed was some female bonding time. It had been so long since she’d really talked to a woman, and her elderly assistant didn’t count.

  The topic of Cole couldn’t come up. She couldn’t talk to Kayla about her older brother. Not right now when her emotions were still so open and hurtful.

  Did Kayla know about the reasoning behind Cole’s breakup? Had everyone known but her? Not that it mattered at this point in time, but, well, it did.

  Tamera walked from her desk to the table she’d made a mess of. She closed a few of the binders with samples and pictures of past projects and moved them onto one of the chairs. She could certainly rule out several samples that just wouldn’t fit in the fantasy, sexy role this hotel would play.

  A light tap on her office door had Tamera jerk her head. Kayla stood in the doorway holding a plastic bag.

  “Lunch,” she said with a wide smile holding the bag up. “Looks like I’m just in time to save you from yourself.”

  Tamera laughed. “And I just cleared a spot for our lunch.”

  Cole’s sister was a knockout. She had that coal black hair and those chocolate brown eyes like her brothers. She also had that bronzed skin that had nothing to do with spending time on the beach and everything to do with an awesome gene pool.

  “How was the meeting with Victor?” Tamera asked as Kayla pulled out the two chicken salads. “Are you eager to get started on your part with him?”

  Kayla flopped into a vacant chair and sighed. “I’m not sure about that. He’s a bit…intimidating.”

  Tamera took a seat, opened the salads and passed one across the table. “That’s because you’re so quiet. Don’t be afraid of someone with all that power, Kayla. You underestimate your own strength.”

  Strength that was a family trait.

  No, no. She wasn’t going to think about Cole right now.

  “I know I’m good at what I do,” Kayla said, stabbing a cherry tomato. “I just don’t know if I can handle the way he was looking at me.”

  Tamera froze, mid-bite. “Looking at you?”

  Kayla closed her eyes. “I know it’s my imagination.”

  “Why don’t you
tell me and I’ll let you know if you’re imagining things.”

  Kayla took a bite, chewed, and Tamera figured the woman was trying to figure out the best way to tell the story without sounding conceited.

  “Forget it.” Kayla jabbed her fork into her salad. “It’s not even worth discussing. Tell me what’s happening on your end. How is it working with my brother again?”

  So much for not talking about Cole.

  Tamera chose her words carefully. “It’s been a good thing for this project.”

  Kayla gave her an “oh, really” look. “Now tell me the truth. What has this been like on a personal level?”

  “Honestly? It has been trying at times. Your brother is so…so…”

  “I know.” Kayla smiled, reached over and patted Tamera’s hand. “He’s been that way since the two of you broke up. Nothing gets in his way, nothing is ever good enough and he doesn’t settle for anything that isn’t the absolute best.”

  Again, Tamera chose her words carefully. “Did he ever tell you why we broke up?”

  She really hoped Kayla hadn’t known. She didn’t know why, but just the thought of everyone being in the know but her really bothered her.

  Kayla shook her head as she chewed. “He just said that he realized you needed more than he could offer and we were never allowed to mention you or the breakup again. He wanted to move past it completely. I do believe Zach knows the real reason. Those two are like one being. I’ve never seen closer siblings.”

  The knife Cole had jammed into her heart years ago just turned again. She shouldn’t have pain every time she thought of or spoke of the man.

  Tamera pasted a smile on her face. “Well, it was a long time ago. I’m sure he’s fallen in love numerous times since.”

  Kayla continued to study her salad as she poked around. “Not really. Sometimes he’d bring a woman around, but nothing serious. He’s too busy building our empire and moving on to the next big project.”