For Business...Or Marriage?

by Jules Bennett

  Abby didn’t know a lot of the details surrounding Lani Kaimana—which meant Royal Diamond—but she did know that somewhere in the middle of all the turmoil and backstabbing of companies, Brady and Sam had fallen in love and were now expecting twin girls in a few short months.

  Talk about a romantic story. She couldn’t wait to get the scoop from Sam later. There was no way a woman who beamed that much at a man wouldn’t want to tell every detail about their journey to the altar.

  “Let’s get started on business so we can get you to that relaxation,” Brady told Cade.

  Sam leaned up and kissed her husband on the cheek. “Use my office. It’s bigger.”

  He hugged her with a smile. “You always have to brag.”

  Abby looked to Cade expecting…what? A hug? A kiss?

  Nope. No PDA for them.

  She wished that didn’t hurt, but she could no more stop her feelings than she could stop the evening tide from coming into shore.

  Cade glanced her way as he started to walk with his brother. “We’ll meet up later.”

  Abby could only nod and will away the lump in her throat. This was the man who’d just given a whole new meaning to the “mile high club,” right? So was he being distant because he was in businessman mode now or because he was around Brady?

  “Being in love sucks sometimes, huh?”

  Abby tore her gaze away from Cade’s retreating back and stared at Sam. “Yes.” Obviously the woman had been in Abby’s shoes or she wouldn’t be able to read her so easily.

  “Well, you’re doing better than I was. I denied being in love for a long time.” Sam took hold of Abby’s hands. “Come on. Let’s go shopping and eat lots of chocolate.”

  Abby laughed. “You can eat all the chocolate you want because you have a reason. Me, I just say the word and gain a pound on each thigh.”

  As if they were old friends, Sam wrapped an arm around Abby’s shoulder and led her to the front entrance where a driver was waiting.

  “Oh, I just wish I could have the sexy, pinup-girl figure like you,” Sam said as the driver opened the door for them. “Tell you what. I’ll eat a lot of chocolate while you watch and you can try on clothes that don’t have an elastic waistband while I watch. Deal?”

  Abby nodded and got into the car. “Can’t argue with that.”

  “What the hell were you thinking?”

  Cade knew the bombshell wouldn’t be pretty. And he’d only dropped half of it.

  Brady slammed a hand down on Sam’s desk causing a picture to tip over. “You got yourself engaged to Mona Tremane because of some absurd notion that we needed to go global and couldn’t do it on our own?”

  Because he wasn’t in the mood for a fight, Cade eased back in the black club chair and crossed his ankle over his knee. Maybe if he appeared nonchalant about this situation, Brady would settle down.

  But probably not.

  “Basically, yes.”

  Brady ran his hand through his hair. “And when is the big day?”

  Good question. “That’s complicated.”

  “Because you’re in love with Abby.”

  Cade’s heart literally stopped for a fraction of a second. How could Brady assume to know these things when he himself had no idea what name to put on his newfound feelings?

  “If you’re thinking of a lie, don’t bother,” Brady went on. “I’ve known for months that the two of you were going to wind up together.”

  “Months? What the hell are you talking about?”

  Brady shrugged. “I’ve seen the way the two of you argue in the office about petty things like an old married couple. Besides, I’ve also seen how you look at her when she’s not looking at you in the same love-struck way.”

  What? Abby had been giving off vibes and the one person who should’ve picked up on them—meaning himself—hadn’t?

  “You can’t possibly know what I feel,” Cade corrected, suddenly not so relaxed. “Let’s get back to this business merger with the Tremanes.”

  Brady leaned back in the oversize office chair and smiled. “Business merger? That tells me, and you, right there that you shouldn’t be going through with this.”

  Cade didn’t say a word. How could he argue with the truth?

  “I’d already decided I couldn’t marry Mona,” Cade confessed. “I can’t hurt Abby that way.”

  “Or yourself,” Brady added.

  Cade remained silent.

  “So what are you going to do?”

  Cade shrugged. “I have no idea. When I first started with this plan, nothing was going to stop me from going global just like Dad wanted. But now…”

  “Since you’re already down, I’d like to kick you some more.” Brady’s seat creaked as he leaned forward and put his elbows up on the desktop. “Why the hell didn’t you talk this over with me? We are partners, not to mention brothers, and there’s no way I would’ve let you go through with a wedding if that was the only way.”

  “I honestly saw the opportunity and jumped on it. I knew you’d disagree and try to talk me out of it.” Cade swallowed and realized he’d left out the biggest part of his confession. “I asked Abby to plan the wedding.”

  Brady cursed and shook his head. “Are you trying to kill the poor girl? Did you not know that her mother passed just before Dad and she’d had to leave her job as wedding coordinator to care for her?”

  “How did you know all of that when I just found out in the last few days?”

  “Because I listened when she talked,” Brady ground out through clenched teeth. “I knew when Abby started working that she was depressed, but she did everything not to let it show. I would just speak casually and pick up hints she didn’t know she was dropping.”

  God. Cade didn’t know what was worse, the fact that his brother knew about Abby’s problems or that he knew she’d fallen for him.

  “Did you tell her to stop planning this preposterous wedding?”

  Cade nodded. “I told her I couldn’t marry Mona, but I haven’t talked to Mona, yet. She hasn’t returned my calls. I’m still trying to figure out a way we can sink into this amazing opportunity that will still allow me to keep Abby.”

  “And if you can’t?” Brady prompted.

  “Then I’ll have to decide which one is more important.”

  Sixteen

  “He what?”

  Abby watched as Sam’s hand froze halfway to her mouth to sink into yet another bite of caramel-filled chocolate. They relaxed on lounge chairs overlooking the ocean, gossiping like teens and old gal pals.

  Abby cringed, hating the words. “He asked me to plan his wedding.”

  “Jerk.”

  Sam bit into the chocolate, then just popped the whole thing into her mouth. Abby really felt she deserved some kind of award for sitting through the agony of not only watching Sam eat her weight in chocolate, but also for rehashing the nightmare of planning the wedding for Cade and Mona.

  “Well, I can’t say too much,” Abby amended. “I kind of manipulated the situation to get closer to him.”

  A smirk crossed Sam’s face. “I knew you wouldn’t let him go without a fight. I want all the details.”

  Could this conversation be any more juvenile?

  But, she really needed a female opinion, so Abby trudged on.

  “Well, at first I refused to travel with him, but then I told him I needed to look into honeymoon destinations and he needed to accompany me.”

  Sam’s face lit up. “I love it. Go on.”

  “I told him this would be the perfect opportunity to look into resorts that were floundering due to the economy.”

  With a hoot of laughter, Sam clapped. “Beautiful. You obviously know him well enough to know you needed to discuss business. Keep going.”

  “The first night in Cancún I had a dinner set up on the beach with a harpist playing in the background.”

  Sam ran a perfectly polished fingertip over the row of chocolates in her box and finally chose another. “I love th
is. Romance, the cat-and-mouse game and eating chocolates. Don’t stop.”

  Abby smiled and settled into the chaise lounge. This was a nice recap.

  “We walked a bit and he nearly kissed me, but his phone rang. It was Mona.”

  Sam cringed. “Oh, no.”

  “Yeah.” Abby reached for her own piece of chocolate. What the hell. “But that night was not totally a wash because he was looking at me like he never had before so I knew I was getting somewhere. And he kissed me.”

  “He what?” Sam all but shouted.

  Abby chewed on her lip. “But it was an angry kiss.”

  Sam smiled. “Oh, the best kind. Keep going.”

  “He actually apologized and I was so hurt, I just left the room.”

  The other woman closed her eyes and groaned. “Idiot. Him, not you. What happened next?”

  “At our next stop in Puerto Vallarta, he booked a bed-and-breakfast for us and arranged a quiet dinner around a small pond and tropical plants. I couldn’t believe it.”

  “He’s a romantic at heart whether he knows it or not,” Sam said. “Then what?”

  “Our next stop was Cozumel and I requested the Honeymoon Suite so he could see the amenities they offered. Of course I booked another room in my name so there was no pressure, but he didn’t know that.”

  Sam extended her tan legs and crossed her ankles. “I love blindsiding a man.”

  “As soon as we arrived two ladies came to give us our couples’ massage. Once they were gone, he did kiss me. And I can’t even describe that to you, because I’ve never been able to find words.”

  Sam glanced over, patted her stomach and smiled. “I understand.”

  Yeah, she would.

  “The next morning we went snorkeling,” Abby went on, shoving her sunglasses up onto her head so she didn’t have white lines around her eyes. “When we got back, I passed out. Heat combined with no breakfast was not a smart move, but we, um…”

  Sam darted up in her seat, which was not an easy feat considering the added midsection. “You…did? Oh, Abby. You really do love him, don’t you? There’s no way he’ll marry Mona. No matter what’s at stake.”

  Abby’s heart leaped in her chest. “What makes you so sure he won’t change his mind?”

  “Cade isn’t like that.” All joking now gone. “I’ve only known him a short time, but I know Brady and those men aren’t the type to play with a woman’s heart. Cade may not realize that he loves you, but he does. He wouldn’t put billions of dollars at risk by sleeping with you if he didn’t.”

  Abby sighed. “That’s what I thought, what I’ve prayed for, but hearing someone else say it eases my mind a bit. But then I think of Mona. Have you seen her?”

  “Mona Tremane? Once or twice.”

  “She’s beautiful.”

  Sam nodded. “She is. But do you think she’s the only beautiful woman in the world? You do look in a mirror for your daily grooming, right? You’ve got that simplicity that Mona doesn’t. There’s something wholesome and…angelic about you.”

  “That doesn’t make me sound like a catch. It makes me sound like a Sunday School teacher.”

  Sam reached over, patted Abby’s leg. “Listen. Cade has dated actresses, models and gorgeous women from all over. But I’ve never seen him so relaxed, so at peace with himself, as when I saw the two of you in the lobby. He was beaming just as much as you were.”

  Did she dare hope? “Really?”

  “You two seemed like just another honeymooning couple to onlookers.”

  Abby looked back to the turquoise water and the white caps rushing to shore. “I don’t want to just portray the image. I want to actually be that couple.”

  Cade escorted Abby back to her room after they’d dined with Sam and Brady. The bellboy had taken their luggage to the honeymoon suite, where they’d changed for dinner, but the sleeping arrangements were still unclear. She wasn’t sure if they were sharing a room or if they were keeping things simple.

  Simple? Nothing about this whole situation was simple. She was sleeping with her boss who was recently engaged to someone else.

  Abby cringed. Her mother would be so disappointed.

  The elevator dinged at the Penthouse and Cade gestured her ahead of him once the doors opened. There was only one room on the top floor so no keycard was required since they’d needed it to get on this particular elevator.

  She stopped in front of the door and turned to tell him good-night, but was taken by surprise when he pushed her against the wall and ravaged her mouth, her neck, tugging at her off-the-shoulder blouse.

  Abby arched into him, her greedy body wanting, demanding more.

  “I’ve been dying to do this all day,” he murmured against her heated, moist skin.

  As his lips continued to torture the tops of her breasts, now nearly spilling from her top, his hands went to work on doing a little torture of their own.

  He lifted her skirt and slid his fingertips along the edge of her bikini panties.

  Needing no more coercion than that, Abby started undoing his trousers. With a quick flick of the hook and eye closure and a careful tug on the zipper, Abby sent Cade’s pants to his ankles, but not before his quick reaction pulled a condom from his pocket.

  He lifted his head, smiled and jerked her panties down, easing back just enough for her to get one foot out of them.

  “We’re still in the hallway,” she reminded him.

  His cocky smile widened as he lifted her. “I know.”

  Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist and forgot about being in the hallway. Well, she hadn’t entirely forgotten as the penthouse door was at her back, but at the moment she didn’t care.

  Cade covered himself with the condom as Abby tilted her hips and welcomed him in.

  Too much. Too fast.

  “Cade.”

  She didn’t know what she was begging for, but her whole body tightened as he captured her mouth once again. Tongues tangled, bodies moved in a quick, frantic rhythm.

  Abby’s release swept through her body as she tightened her hold on Cade. His shoulders, his hips, she curved her body around him like a well-tailored suit as she crested.

  Before she could come up for air, Cade released her mouth and let out a low, sultry groan as he found his own release.

  Once all tremors had ceased, Abby unlocked her legs and slid down Cade’s body. Limp, sated and more than shocked at their current locale, Abby smiled.

  “We’re still wearing clothes.”

  He pulled up his pants, not bothering to fasten them and reached around her to open the door. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait another second to be with you.”

  Horror spread through Abby. “Please tell me your family doesn’t have security cameras installed on this floor.”

  Cade’s rich laughter mocked her as he ushered her into the suite and closed the door. “This is the honeymoon suite, Abby. Everything that goes on on this floor is private and between the couple. Your reputation as a good girl remains intact.”

  Was she supposed to take that as a compliment? Did men actually like “good girls”? Hey, so long as Cade was happy with a good girl, she didn’t care.

  She took in her surroundings and sighed. A perfect suite in a perfect resort. Everything about Kauai drew her in. Even inside, the tropical theme of the island carried throughout.

  The canopy bed with white sheers draped around the mattress sat in the corner on what she considered a stage. Two small steps led up to the romantic bunker and Abby got chills all over again just thinking about lying there with Cade.

  Would he want to sleep in that bed all night with her? Would he make love to her again?

  Double doors led out onto a balcony overlooking the gorgeous crystal blue water and mountain peaks in the distance.

  She turned to Cade. “If you ever open a Kauai office, please, I’m begging you, let me run it.”

  “Deal.”

  Barefoot, Abby padded from the open living a
rea, bedroom and small galley kitchen and found her way into the bathroom. And holy cow, what a bathroom.

  Dark green tile covered the floor. Miniature mirrored tiles formed a shower so large, she figured at least ten people could wash at once. Showerheads from all directions pointed toward the middle.

  She couldn’t wait to explore that with Cade.

  A huge garden tub sat off in the distance just under a skylight.

  “Never mind the office,” she told him when he came in behind her. “I’d like to make this my apartment.”

  Cade chuckled, slipping his arms around her waist. “You deserve this.”

  His soft words combined with his warm breath on her cheek only added to the multiple goose bumps she had.

  Could this be for real? Could she really believe that he would choose her over Mona and a multi-billion-dollar business deal?

  Sam seemed to think so. Besides, everything in Abby’s heart told her not to give up.

  Unless, of course, he did end up choosing the business over her. No matter how much she loved him, she would not play second to anyone or anything. She deserved better.

  “I feel as if I should apologize again for attacking you in the hallway,” he told her. “I really wanted to bring you up here and relax and talk. We don’t talk enough.”

  Abby smiled, turning in his arms. “That’s because we’re either working or having sex.”

  Oh, Lord. When the words came out and hovered in the open they didn’t sound so good. Was that all this…relationship consisted of?

  “I can’t seem to get enough of you, Abby.”

  She knew the feeling. So, when Cade slowly undressed her and kissed her as they made their way to the king of all showers, Abby realized that talking was definitely overrated.

  Seventeen

  Cade stripped his clothes and slipped back into bed, thankful that Abby was still sleeping. He took just a moment, as he had when he’d had to leave her an hour ago, to admire the simplicity, the beauty.

  Flawless. She was magnificent in every way. Creamy skin, soft, subtle blond waves spread over the stark white pillow, full pink lips parted just so. Yes, it had been difficult to leave her this morning, but he’d had another important call to make and he’d had to make sure his package arrived.