Reed rested a hand on the roof of the car and bent his head. He was so close now, he saw the individual lashes of her eyes. She pressed a hand against his chest to keep him at bay.
“You can’t deny this attraction between us, Anika. This…thing. I don’t even know how to describe it. Venice was incredible. Fantastic. I’ve never forgotten our time together. Have you?”
“No.” She took a shaky breath. “Reed, we shouldn’t. I can’t.” Her voice shook. “It was so long ago and everything is different. We can’t work.”
“I disagree.”
She was trying to talk herself out of it, but nothing she said would make him change his mind. He’d screwed up by letting her walk away once before. He didn’t plan on making the same mistake again.
Their eyes met, and in an instant, he knew that he would kiss her, and he knew that she would let him.
He kissed her shoulder, taking his time and breathing her in. The scent of her perfume and skin were a subtle aphrodisiac. God help him, he wanted her so badly, every nerve in his body screamed with the need.
Slipping a hand to the back of her neck and beneath the heavy weight of her hair, Reed licked his lips. “I can still taste you,” he whispered hoarsely.
He grazed her mouth with his. It was just enough to give him a taste of strawberry lip gloss. When she inhaled sharply, he took the opportunity to seize her parted lips.
Chapter 13
Reed swallowed Anika’s gasp and soft moan, winding an arm around her waist and drawing her tight to his body. Her soft curves pressed into him, and he swelled in his pants. The longing he’d experienced since seeing her again came to a head, pushing up with the force of a geyser and fixing his lips harder onto hers.
He hadn’t planned for this to happen. He’d truly meant to thank her for the help with his daughter and spend some much-desired time in her presence, but going out to dinner and talking about the past simply made him unable to resist the lure of her mouth and the invitation of her dark eyes. His need had taken charge. It was an unstoppable force that broke down his willpower as easily as a battering ram would a canvas wall.
One knee shifted between her thighs as he pushed her into the cool car. He was moving too fast. Wanting her too much. But he didn’t know how to stop. Certainly not when she purred and allowed him to slide in his tongue. Her soft kisses prompted him to swipe at the interior with eager enthusiasm. She sucked on his tongue, slipping her fingers through the hairs at the nape of his neck and sending heated tingles down his spine.
He kissed her jaw and swept her hair aside to suck on her skin, listening to the breathy moan of pleasure that escaped. The scent of her overwhelmed him and charged heat through his blood as he flicked the tip of his tongue across the racing pulse at her throat and tasted the slightly salty flavor of her skin.
Boldly, he shifted his hand inside the split of her skirt and lifted her foot from the pavement, angling her knee to his hip. Another gasp fell from her lips with a murmured oh god as he ground his hips between her legs. His hand was inside her panties now, rubbing at her swollen clit and sliding through the slippery wetness until her head fell back.
“Damn,” he muttered, watching her give herself over to the pleasure of his touch.
Her hips undulated, rubbing her sex against the palm of his hand, her face twisted into an expression of tortured pleasure as she bit down on her bottom lip and breathed heavily through her nose.
Reed nipped at her neck. “Don’t fight it. Please don’t fight it. I want to hear you.”
He slid two fingers into her and stroked. Then he kissed her, hard. A fierce, intense melding of the mouths that had her sinking her fingers into his hair.
He didn’t let up. His fingers continued a steady stroke between her legs. And then, with a gentle squeeze of her clit, she shattered, gasping and pressing her face to his chest to keep from crying out loud, her hips working feverishly against his hand to capture the last remnants of ecstasy.
Reed gently kissed her temple. Then he moved to her ear and down to her neck. “Sweet, sweet Anika.”
She kept her face hidden against his chest, breathing heavily, while Reed slipped both arms around her waist and held her close. His own body begged for release, but he ignored the discomfort of his rigid hard-on, concentrating on Anika and the fact that he was holding her again.
From a distance he heard laughter, and at the corner of his eye a trio of restaurant guests strolled through the parking lot. The group sent a cursory glance in their direction before exiting the lot to the hotel nearby.
Reed studied Anika’s bent head. “Talk to me.”
His body burned for her. He wished he could scoop her up and whisk her away from there, but he remained silent, awaiting a response.
“I don’t want to get hurt.”
Reed brushed the back of his fingers down her arm. “I won’t hurt you.” She finally returned her gaze to him, and the wounded expression in her eyes cut him straight to the bone. “When you look at me like that, it kills me.”
A slight tremor disturbed the line of her lips. “I don’t know what to think. Maybe you’re trying to recapture the past, but what we had has come and gone. I don’t think it’s possible to recreate that.”
“So you admit that there was something deeper between us?” Acknowledgement. That was a start, at least.
“Yes. Was something between us. Past tense.”
“We can recreate that feeling again. That closeness that we shared.”
She let out an off-pitch laugh. “But why? What difference does it make? You walked away before.”
“What happened between us was unexpected. I planned to explore the city that I had heard my mother talk about for years. I never for one minute thought I’d see you and enjoy myself the way I did. I messed up, big time. I let you go. I won’t do that again. I want a chance with you, a real chance. You can’t deny we’re good together.”
“Chemistry is not the same as being good together. There are things you don’t know about me. Maybe once you find out, you won’t be so open-minded.” She hugged herself.
“I want to know everything—the good, the bad, the ugly. And I want you to know everything about me.”
He tilted up her chin to look him in the eyes. “Listen, I’m not going anywhere this time. I’m in for the long haul. I want you to be comfortable with this, too. We’ll take our time and get to know each other. We’re different people than we were seven years ago. And I’d love for you to spend more time with my daughter and get to know her. It’s obvious Brielle has taken to you, and you did a much better job of calming her down than I ever have.”
He still saw hesitation in her eyes. She was keeping the walls up, but he suspected the reason for doing so wasn’t only because he’d hurt her. Something else kept her guarded.
“I won’t push. Tonight was only supposed to be about thanking you, but I can’t deny I want more.” His voice lowered to a husky whisper. “I want you. Give me a chance and let me make it up to you and prove you can trust me. Will you at least try?”
She didn’t answer right away, staring into his eyes as if seeking the truth.
Finally, she nodded. “I’ll try.”
With utmost relief, Reed rested his forehead against hers. That’s all he could ask of her for now, but knew he had his work cut out for him. Luckily, he was up for the challenge. Venice was not a fluke. The referral to Davenport Design Studio was not by chance.
Fate had brought them together again, and this time, he would not waste his chance.
Chapter 14
“So, what do you think?” Anika bit her thumbnail, closely watching Reed as he reviewed the sketches and images she brought to their weekday lunch. They were eating sandwiches on the first floor of the office building where he worked.
She finally put together all the elements for Brielle’s room and had presented them, but trying to gauge his reaction was not the only reason she kept her eyes on him. He looked striking in a navy suit, nav
y tie, and pale blue shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes. She didn’t miss the fact that other women paid him an extraordinary amount of attention, trying to be surreptitious but failing miserably when they kept their gazes on his handsome face much longer than appropriate.
For Brielle’s room Anika envisioned a beautiful display of butterflies adhered to the wall above the bed. The manufacturer she sourced them from assured her the adhesive was temporary, and as Brielle grew out of her butterfly phase, they could easily be removed without damaging the painted wall.
“Do you think she’ll like it?” She was impatient and desperately wanted to hear his thoughts.
“She’ll love it.”
“Really?” She put a lot of thought into the design and picking the colors for the bed linens and curtains. The room should reflect Brielle’s personality and be a place where the little girl looked forward to spending time.
“I can’t see how she won’t love falling asleep below all these butterflies every night.”
Anika rested her chin on her hand. “And when your cousin builds the window seat, that will give her a new place to store her toys.”
His cousin, Ryan, built custom furniture and had already been by to measure the space.
“He said he can get to that this week.” Reed took her hand and brought her knuckles to his lips. Her skin tingled where his mouth touched. “I can’t wait to see the finished product.” He was talking about the house but the soft expression in his eyes melted her insides.
“The whole house is almost finished,” Anika said.
“Hmmm. So I’ll have to come up with excuses to spend time with you.”
“You won’t have to do that.”
“No excuses necessary?” His thumb gently rubbed across her knuckles.
“None at all.”
They leaned in to each other at the same time and kissed. She could kiss him all day. His lips were soft and delicious, and the physical contact never failed to warm her belly.
They spent the rest of lunch making plans to get together and finalized the details for the house. When the alarm on Reed’s phone went off signaling the end of his break, Anika’s shoulders slumped. Their time together was too short.
“Got to run back to the office,” Reed said regretfully.
“I’m glad we got the chance to spend a little time together.” Even though she was attracted to Reed and wanted to get inside his pants, she nonetheless hoped for more moments similar to this one, where they could simply enjoy each other’s company. And there was no pressure. He seemed to want to just be with her, which made her fall deeper under his spell.
“I’m glad we did, too. You have any appointments this afternoon?”
Anika shook her head. “I’m working in the office all afternoon, and um, I have a meeting with Laura.”
“About becoming an owner?” Reed asked.
“That’s the impression she gave me.” A nervous flutter flickered through her insides.
“Are you ready?”
Reed massaged her shoulder, and the gentle squeeze and roll motion helped relax her anxiety somewhat.
“I’ve been ready for a long time. I just need her to officially make me an offer.”
“It’ll happen. Keep your thoughts positive.” He reassured her with a smile and a gentle squeeze of her shoulder.
They emptied their trays and before parting ways, Reed pulled Anika in for another quick kiss. By the time she arrived at her car, she could barely remember walking to the parking lot. She was so drunk on Reed, she could only assume that she’d floated there.
When Anika entered the office, Jasmine was sitting on the edge of the desk and laughing hysterically as Edgar made exaggerated motions with his hands during the course of telling what appeared to be a very interesting story.
She greeted them and headed for the staircase.
“Mrs. Winthrop called,” Jasmine said.
Anika paused with one hand on the handrail and groaned. “Oh, no. What was the call about?” The Winthrop project had wrapped up weeks ago. There had been no complaints, but no glowing reviews, either, and no response to the customary follow up message left to ensure clients were one hundred percent satisfied.
“She said something about a beach house needing a redesign.” Jasmine raised an eyebrow above her glasses.
Anika raised an eyebrow, too. “Did she?”
Jasmine nodded vigorously. “Yes. I guess we were worried about nothing. She must be happy if she’s calling to have us work on another home.”
“I guess so.” Sometimes you couldn’t tell with clients, but this was definitely good news.
Edgar jumped into the conversation with a smug grin. “She must be happy with our work. Me and my guys did a helluva good job over there. Tell the truth.”
“Oh, of course,” Anika agreed, climbing the stairs. “My education and creativity are secondary to your demolition ability. Why, this whole firm would be nothing without you and your guys.”
“I sense sarcasm,” Edgar called after her.
“And you’ve got great intuition,” Anika continued.
She killed time in her office by returning Mrs. Winthrop’s call and discussing the details of the new project, a beach house in Hilton Head. After a lengthy conversation to discuss her needs, she wrapped up the call in time for her meeting with Laura.
Taking a deep breath, she made her way to her boss’s office and was waved in while Laura was on the phone. Anika crossed her legs and waited, listening as Laura finessed a supplier into giving her a bigger discount than usual, her voice dripping with warmth and pure Southern charm.
When Laura finished the call, she folded her hands on the desk and gave Anika her undivided attention. “I’m not going to beat around the bush. We’ve talked about this in the past, and after much thought, I want to offer you a fifteen percent stake in Davenport Design Studio. Are you still interested?”
Anika remained momentarily speechless but kept her face as neutral as she could, hands clasped in her lap. Meanwhile, her insides turned perfectly executed backflips. Laura had offered her a greater stake than expected. She assumed she would offer around five percent or even ten percent, max. Fifteen percent was a wonderful surprise.
“I am still very interested, and fifteen percent is perfect.”
Laura’s smile widened. “Well, hot dog! I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll have my attorney draw up the papers for your review.”
They spoke for a few more minutes about the dollar amount and other details. Anika would call her business broker to help her negotiate the particulars, but had already secured conditional financing, and with her personal funds could easily close the deal.
She and Laura shook hands, and Anika raced up the stairs to her office. She slammed the door and let out a silent scream, then danced around the room before collapsing into her chair.
“It’s happening. Oh my goodness.” She snatched up the phone and plugged in the first three digits of Reed’s number. Then stopped.
She hung up. She stared at the phone.
He was the first person she thought of calling. Not her mother, who’d be proud, or her cousin, Ronnie. The first person she couldn’t wait to tell the good news was Reed Stewart.
It’s okay, Anika. She pressed her forehead to her fist.
Was it really okay?
She was falling for him. She loved his warm smile, especially when he did that cute thing where only one side of his mouth lifted into it. It was crookedly adorable and sexy at the same time. His sense of humor never failed to make her laugh or lift her spirits. His hotness—lord, that man was fine in a suit!
She laughed to herself. “It’s okay, Anika.” This time she said the words aloud, giving herself a mini pep talk. She picked up the phone and dialed his number. Funny how she already knew all his numbers by heart.
“Hello.”
Anika let the warmth of his voice wash over her. Her heart went berserk and filled with a sensation she couldn’t adequa
tely describe.
“Hi.” Her voice came out much softer than intended and she couldn’t complete another word. She was simply overwhelmed by him and the emotions he evoked.
“Don’t keep me in suspense. What happened? How did your meeting go?”
She perked up and cleared her throat. “The meeting was short and sweet but went well. She’s having the papers drawn up. You’re talking to a future business owner.”
Reed let out a loud whoop. “Congratulations! Sweetheart, I’m so proud of you.”
Anika sank into the back of the chair, basking in his supportive enthusiasm. “I can’t believe it.”
“I can. All your hard work is paying off.” He paused. “How about you join me and Brielle for ice cream this weekend, as sort of a pre-celebration celebration until you sign the actual contract?”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
“I’ll pick you up on Saturday.”
They talked for a few more minutes, and after they hung up, Anika wished it was the weekend already.
Chapter 15
“Just a few more steps.”
With one hand over Brielle’s eyes, Reed steered his daughter into the bedroom where Anika had put the finishing touches only minutes before. She stood aside as they entered, scanning the room one more time to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.
The room had come together nicely. A collage of colorful 3D butterflies were attached to the wall behind Brielle’s bed, and Anika had suspended another ten out of reach from the ceiling, but directly over the pillow so they were the first thing Brielle saw when she woke up in the morning. The outlet covers had been replaced with butterfly switch plates, and the bed was made with pillows and linens in pastel colors that matched the new curtains. A comfy armchair gave Reed a place to sit on the nights he checked in on Brielle, and she’d gotten rid of Brielle’s old toy box after Ryan installed the window seat, arranging the stuffed animals so they could lounge on top of it.
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