Nina could only imagine what her hair looked like now. “I can’t believe you noticed the difference in my hair.”
“I notice everything about you.”
They lapsed into silence and listened to the storm outside, but her mind stayed busy. His ability to make her feel special was what made Reese so dangerous. He did so with words but also with actions.
He had a ready smile for everyone, especially her. His eyes lit up whenever he saw her, which was one of the reasons she’d fallen so hard for him back in the day. It was impossible not to fall for someone who behaved as if the very sight of you brightened their day the way the sun did when it took its place in the sky every morning.
Reese became unusually still. “I have a question for you.”
“Okay,” Nina said cautiously.
“Did…did losing our baby hurt?” He sounded hesitant, as if unsure if that was an appropriate question.
The memory of her suffering had dimmed significantly over the years but hadn’t completely disappeared. Yet that experience paled in comparison to the emotional trauma of losing their baby after eighteen weeks. She still recalled the sense of defeat she’d experienced. She’d failed in her relationship and failed at having a baby. A baby she’d wanted desperately after her initial fears had been dealt with.
Nina answered his question truthfully. “Yes, losing our baby was very painful, and there was a lot of blood, but the emotional pain stayed with me longer than the physical pain. I never got to hold him. I never got to see his face.”
Reese’s thumb gently stroked across the back of her hand. “Were you alone?”
“My mother and Lindsay came to the hospital with me. My dad flew back from overseas when he found out.” Her mother had never cared for Reese because of her personal prejudice against his mother’s family, but the miscarriage marked the day her father no longer had a kind word to say about Reese.
It didn’t matter that Reese didn’t know about the baby. As far as Tyrus was concerned, Reese had brought her nothing but pain. Their closeness meant he’d seen her cry over the breakup, and then he had a front-row seat to her suffering because Reese had gotten her pregnant. He strongly advised her to stay away from him, but she’d only managed to do that for a little over a year. Reese wore her down, but the truth was, she had missed him all along.
“I would have been there for you, too. I would have held your hand or done whatever you needed me to do. I wish you’d told me.”
“I wish I’d told you, too.” Her voice was thick with sorrow.
Reese kissed her right shoulder blade and tightened his arms around her. She regretted letting her feelings get in the way of sharing such an important event with him. Looking back, she’d been so young and scared and hurt. She convinced herself that his absence didn’t matter, but hearing him now, she realized that the pregnancy and loss of their baby did matter to Reese as much as it did to her.
“Do you…do you think you lost our son because I caused you a lot of stress?”
“No.” Nina twisted around to face him and cupped his right jaw. A frown lined his brow. “Losing him wasn’t my fault, and it wasn’t your fault.”
“I know that stress can cause problems when a woman is pregnant.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“Is that what the doctor said?” he asked, doubtful and carrying a burden that no one should bear.
“Women miscarry all the time, sometimes before they know they’re pregnant. It happens. I miscarried a couple of months after we broke up, so it had nothing to do with you.”
Her thumb rubbed his cheekbone, and she kissed the spot on the bridge of his nose where the freckles congregated.
“Don’t carry that burden. It wasn’t your fault. I promise.”
Reese rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. He smoothed a hand up and down her spine.
“It’ll be daybreak soon, and then we’ll have to get up.” She whispered the words against his collarbone.
“I’m going to call into work. Let’s not do anything today.”
“I’ll call in, too, but what will we do all day?”
“Stay in bed, watch movies, order room service. What do you say?”
He kissed her temple, and she burrowed deeper into his embrace and shut her eyes. For today at least, she didn’t want to think.
At some point, Nina knew she would have to face her actions. But not now.
She smiled. “I like that idea.”
Chapter 22
Reese woke up on Tuesday morning with Nina rubbing her butt against him.
He sheathed his shaft and entered her from behind, and she let out a soft moan. Damn, the sound of her pleasure was its own aphrodisiac. He squeezed her breasts together, and she grew slicker, arching her back and sliding her ass back and forth against him.
His breathing became laborious as he pressed his face to the side of her neck and kept squeezing the fullness of her breasts, massaging and rubbing the hard nipples.
She reached back for a kiss, which he gave. Then she turned away, but he put a hand at the upper part of her throat and twisted her head back to him. Her eyes were closed, lashes on her cheeks, biting her lip. His hard thigh sliced between her softer ones, and he slowly moved his hips as she took her pleasure.
Then her orgasm hit, and her lips parted, and she gyrated faster against him, and he gritted his teeth, fighting back his release so he could watch her come undone. She gasped, followed by a soft wail. When she finished, he grabbed her hips and thrust faster until he climaxed with his head pressed to the back of her neck.
He wanted to wake up like this every morning. Nuzzling her neck, he kept them together with his thigh between her legs. “I’m stuck.”
Nina giggled softly. “Behave.”
He kissed her neck. “Okay.” He sighed. “Guess I’ll get up, but not because I want to.”
He’d had a change of clothes delivered last night because he and Nina hadn’t left her apartment one time yesterday. He couldn’t skip another day of work, and Nina had to go to hotel headquarters to make the announcement that she was accepting the position as CEO and Chairman of the Board and taking her rightful place at the helm of the company.
Reese rolled across the bed and planted his feet on the floor.
“You go first. I’m staying in bed a little longer,” Nina mumbled into the pillow.
“You better get up, or you’ll be late.” Reese walked around the bed toward the bathroom but hung back at the door to watch her.
Nina was buried under covers pulled up to her neck. Her eyes were closed, and she looked peaceful and content—and he felt the same. His mind was finally at ease. All this time, the regret of their broken relationship had never left him. He’d lived with that feeling so long that it was a part of him, stitched into his DNA, until now. The past twenty-four hours cleared his mind, and he was finally at peace.
Nina was his everything. His life’s blood. The beginning, the end, and all in-between.
And she was finally back where she belonged, with him, and he planned to keep it that way.
Reese went into the bathroom to take his shower.
Nina checked her appearance one more time in the full-length mirror in the walk-in closet. She’d changed outfits three times and finally settled on a black pants suit with a black belt and three-quarter length sleeves. The light fabric was comfortable, and wearing black made her feel powerful.
She wore her hair pulled back and had removed the stud from her nose and inserted a nose retainer before applying her makeup. She only wore a few pieces of jewelry—earrings and a silver charm bracelet on her left wrist. Her good-luck charm because it was a gift from her father.
Patting her stomach, she hoped the single slice of toast stayed down. She was so wired about today. She’d called a meeting to announce her decision to take her rightful position in the company. If anyone had told her a year ago that she’d make such a significant step, she’d tell them they were crazy,
but this was the right decision, the decision her father had wanted her to make, and the role in which she could have the greatest impact.
She teared up when she thought about how proud he would be that The Winthrop Helping Hands Program was successful and would be implemented company-wide. Overall, she had a lot to learn, and not everyone was happy she’d returned. But she had the support of most of the staff, and the consultants would help implement the changes she wanted to make. She had Reese’s support, too.
While she was confident about the direction her professional life was going in, she wasn’t so sure about the direction of her personal one. The past day with Reese had been heaven, where they spent the entire day and night in her apartment watching television, talking, and making love. An ideal twenty-four hours, but she had to face reality at some point.
If she thought too long about what was happening, she became emotional and scared about her predicament. What was she doing with Reese, and how would that affect her relationship with Andy, whom she’d barely thought about the entire time? When he agreed to a break, she hadn’t expected to sleep with anyone else and was certain that had not been on Andy’s mind, either.
“How are you holding up?” Reese asked from the doorway, looking handsome in a slimming navy Italian suit.
“I’m a little nervous,” Nina admitted with a shaky laugh.
“You got this.” He walked over and stood behind her. The scent of his aftershave filled the space between them and tickled her nose. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he said, “Repeat after me: This is my goddamn company.”
“Reese, I don’t want to do this,” Nina whined.
“Repeat. After. Me. This is my goddamn company.”
Nina sighed dramatically. “This is my goddamn company.”
“Say it like you mean it.”
“I feel silly.”
“Say it.” He glared at her in the mirror.
Nina straightened her shoulders and stood straight. “This is my goddamn company.”
“And I’m the CEO.”
“And I’m the CEO,” she said with a little more attitude and a neck roll.
“And I got this.”
“And I got this.”
“Perfect.” Reese pulled her back by the waist and placed a loud smack on her cheek. “You’re gonna knock ’em dead, baby.”
Minutes later, they were both ensconced in the back seat of her Mercedes. Nina was going to drop Reese at work first since her meeting didn’t start until ten o’clock.
“You’re so late,” she said.
He looked completely unconcerned. “I’ll just tell my mother the woman she loves more than me made me late, and all should be fine.”
“Don’t say that!”
He chuckled and squeezed her hand.
They pulled up in front of the SJ Brands building, and Reese said, “You should come in and say hi. I’m sure everybody would love to see you.”
“It’s not a good idea.” He was reaching for more than she could readily offer right now, trying to establish their relationship in a way that left her floundering because she wasn’t sure what exactly they were doing.
“Why not?” He must have recognized her discomfort because he immediately followed up with, “Another time. Don’t forget you got this. Call and let me know how everything went. If I need to come up to Winthrop headquarters and kick some ass, let me know.” He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss goodbye.
Nina turned away from watching him walk into the building. She hunched down in the seat and fought back tears. She didn’t know why she wanted to cry. She enjoyed sleeping with Reese, but everything could easily get out of control. He wanted more, and she wasn’t sure she could give it to him. Could she take the leap?
“Philippe, could you drive around for a bit, please?” she asked hoarsely.
“Yes, ma’am.”
What am I doing?
She and Andy were on a break, but she needed to face the truth—how quickly she’d jumped at his suggestion that they take a week or two off from their relationship. One week or two, he’d asked. She’d chosen two weeks—the longer period. Maybe Reese was what she’d wanted all along. She’d fought her attraction to him, but the break gave her the excuse she’d needed. She had to make a decision, but whatever the choice, someone would get hurt.
Nina let out a tremulous sigh, and tears tumbled onto her cheeks. I’m falling apart, she thought, rubbing the tears from her eyes with the heels of her hands.
“Ma’am?”
Philippe extended a handkerchief over the back of the seat. Their eyes met in the rearview mirror, and she saw nothing but compassion there.
“Thank you.” She took the handkerchief.
Without being asked, the driver rolled up the partition and allowed her to cry in private.
Nina spent thirty minutes in her father’s old office—now her office—preparing for the meeting. During that period, she made up her mind that as far as she and Reese were concerned, she didn’t have to make a decision yet. She had ten days left in her break from Andy.
She and the two consultants made their way to the conference room, where members of the board and executive-level staff had gathered. As soon as they entered, the hum of conversation silenced.
With more confidence than she felt, she walked to the head of the conference table and set down the folder tucked under her arm. She remained standing and let her gaze sweep the room. Some of the staff sat in chairs, and others stood at the back and off to the side. Some liked her, some didn’t, others were politely distant, but they all wanted to hear what The Heir had to say.
She took a fortifying breath. She was twenty-nine years old and taking the helm of a multimillion-dollar company.
This is my goddamn company.
I’m the CEO.
I got this.
“Good morning.” She broke into a smile.
“Good morning,” the group echoed back.
Nina placed her hands on the leather chair in front of her. “I was very pleased with the results of the Helping Hands project. I want to publicly thank all of you for your assistance in the testing phase and for pulling together the data. A very special thank-you to Janice Livingston and Nathan Crenshaw, who crunched the numbers and made me very, very happy.”
She clapped her hands, and the rest of them followed suit. Nathan was the vice-president of finance for the entire company, and Janice was the regional vice-president of finance for the east coast hotels. The pilot program had been rolled out in Janice’s territory, overseen by Nathan. They both sat near the back, Janice in a pale-rose dress and matching glasses. She was an interesting character, and Nina looked forward to getting to know her. Anyone who managed to find frames to fit all their colorful outfits had to be fun.
The clapping died down, and Nina spoke again, keeping her voice steady. “We’re going to implement the program company-wide, and the consultants and I have worked on ideas we’ll be going over with the appropriate team members. However, the main reason I asked you all to be here this morning was because I have a very important announcement to make.” Her voice became stronger the longer she spoke. “I have decided to accept the position of CEO and Chairman of the Board, effective immediately, so there are going to be a few changes around here.”
Chapter 23
Groggily, Nina reached for the vibrating phone on the bedside table. Squinting, she peeked at the screen and saw Andy’s name. The second time he’d called today. She had ignored the earlier call while she and Reese were out to dinner. He hadn’t left a voice mail or sent a text, but since he was calling again, she wondered if something was wrong.
Casting a quick glance at Reese’s sleeping form, Nina answered in a quiet voice. “Hello?”
“Hi, Nina. It’s me, Andy.”
She eased from under Reese’s arm and tiptoed across the carpet to the bathroom.
“Hi.” She kept her voice low.
“I called earlier.” He didn’t say anything else,
clearly expecting her to explain herself.
“Did you? I had the ringer turned off,” she said, though that didn’t explain why she’d put off calling him back.
“Oh.”
Andy didn’t say anything more for several seconds, during which Nina eased the door almost closed behind her, leaving it slightly ajar.
“How have you been?” Andy asked.
“Good.” Nina didn’t know what else to say—and she didn’t know the purpose of the call.
She sat down on the edge of the large tub. The city lights winked at her through the one-way window.
“It’s been a week.”
“Yeah.”
“What have you been up to?”
“Um, busy at work. We started the rollout of the volunteer program and picked a candidate to oversee it. That person will report directly to me because I took over as CEO of the company.”
“You did?” Utter shock filled his voice.
“I can head up The Winthrop Hotel Group and be a wife and mother. I can do all three.”
“It’s not easy to do, Nina.”
“If I have support, it would be.”
She waited for him to respond. When he finally did, there was no inflection in his voice. “You’re right, women can have it all, just like men.”
She wasn’t sure if he was serious or merely stating what he thought she wanted to hear.
Andy let out a sigh. “Listen, I don’t want us to argue. I called because I understand that you needed this break, but I miss you and hope you can forgive me.”
“I have a lot to digest,” Nina said, staring at her toes.
“I know, but I want you to remember all the good times we had. Remember the good times? Working on the farm was hard labor, but I enjoyed it. Working with the disabled women in India was also a highlight of the trip. Being able to give back to the world we live in is not only important, it’s imperative. I believe in your vision. If we all do our share, we could make this world an even better place to live. I want to be part of that with you, Nina.
Deeper Than Love (Brooks Family Book 6) Page 14