The Texas CEO's Secret

by Nicole Foster

  It was tempting, so tempting, to grasp her close, satisfy a base desire as a poor substitute for a deeper emotional need. She would be willing. But he didn’t want her offering herself like a consolation prize. A few days of being her lover wasn’t going to be enough.

  The slight pressure of her fingers recaptured his gaze. “Blake, what are we doing here? I thought I knew. But now—I’m not sure.”

  “I don’t think either of us has ever been sure of what we were doing.”

  “No, but I need to know.”

  If the circumstances were different, if his defenses hadn’t been lowered and he’d been in control of his emotions, he would have given her the easy, glib answer. He couldn’t. Compared to the possibility of another rejection, lying to her suddenly seemed the worst he could do.

  “When I found out about you and Marcus,” he started slowly, “I didn’t expect to feel like you’d betrayed me. But I did.”

  “I felt the same way, but it wasn’t like that.”

  “I know. Even if it was, I didn’t have the right to be jealous, of him—or Tate.”

  That startled her. “Tate?”

  He took her hand, guiding it down from his face but lacing their fingers, unable to stop touching her. “It was hell, watching you with him, knowing you loved him—and wishing it was me.”

  “You? But…you never—” She shook her head as if what he’d admitted didn’t make any sense. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  “What was I supposed to say? That I’d fallen in love with my brother’s fiancée? That all those nights I knew you were with him, I wanted to be the one in your bed?”

  “If I had known—”

  “Then what? You were making wedding plans, Katie. You said you were in love and that you were happy. I doubt you would have thanked me for telling you I thought you were making a mistake.” Letting go of her hand, he fisted his hands over the railing again. “You keep telling me you’re not sure how you feel or what you want. If I’d said anything then, it would have caused complications none of us was ready to deal with.”

  “Maybe that was true then,” Katie confessed, “but not anymore.”

  “Isn’t it? It’s still complicated.”

  “Probably, although right now, it doesn’t feel like it. Blake…” The softly spoken request implicit in her voice compelled him to face her. “I love you. I’ve never been more certain of anything.”

  He could have argued or questioned except she stepped up and pressed her mouth to his and in that instant, swept aside his doubts, leaving him with the fantasy turned reality of having Katie where he’d wanted her for years: in his arms and in love.

  It happened so fast, a dizzying rush of sensation and emotion released by his admission, that Katie could only hold tightly to Blake and let it overwhelm her. It was as if all these years she’d been blind and suddenly she could clearly see everything they both had denied for so long.

  Since that first forbidden kiss after the Labor Day party, she’d known, though she’d refused to admit, that Blake wasn’t simply a friend. He was the man who’d always been there for her, waiting, though for the longest while all she’d seen was Tate’s older brother, not a would-be lover. Now, she didn’t want them to waste any more time avoiding their feelings, arguing, talking and pretending it wasn’t inevitable they’d be lovers. Leaning into him, she let her lips tell him how much she needed him.

  Blake eased his arms around her, returning her kiss but his was more tender than passionate—an affirmation of love rather than desire. The care he took touched her yet she sensed he was deliberately holding himself in check. Accustomed to him taking the lead, his hesitation, lack of confidence almost, concerned her but she thought she understood. He was afraid of repeating his father’s sins, taking advantage of her vulnerabilities to get what he wanted.

  She was determined to convince him the difference was love.

  “Are you going to make me beg?” she teased with a brush of her lips against his ear.

  Instead of returning her light tone, he shifted a few inches back, looking troubled. “Too much more of this and it’ll be the other way around. But we don’t have to take this any further if you’re not sure it’s what you want.”

  “What does a girl have to do to convince you?”

  “Katie—” Framing her face in his hands, Blake looked into her eyes, his reflecting an intense emotion that both excited and humbled her. “I love you. I should have told you a long time ago.”

  “Show me,” she urged. “Please, Blake.” And spurred by the open desire on his face, she began unbuttoning his shirt. “This is right. I know it is.”

  Her certainty overpowered his hesitation. He gathered her to him, kissing her in an imitation of how she wanted him to love her and she moved restlessly in his arms, wanting to give him everything, craving what only he could give her in return. The low hum of pleasure he made deep in his throat intensified the feeling, sharpening the edges of her need for him.

  He honed it further, exploring the hollows and curves of her neck and shoulders, his mouth replacing his hands as he pushed down the thin straps of her dress.

  Katie encouraged him, spreading open his shirt, splaying her fingers over his chest, suddenly greedy for the hard press of his body against hers. She ached, in a way she never had before with Tate or anyone. From their first kiss to now, being with Blake was all heat and need; there was no room for thought other than she wanted more.

  As though she’d asked aloud, he granted her wish, reclaiming her mouth, his tongue sliding along hers at the same time he ran his hands over her back, up her sides, until his fingers brushed her breasts. His thumbs grazed the sensitive tips through the thin cotton of her dress and her breath caught, released as she breathed his name.

  She felt, rather than saw, his smile, and he continued to stroke and tease her a little longer before murmuring in her ear, “Let’s go inside.” His arm was around her waist and he’d made a motion in the direction of the door before he realized she wasn’t going with him.

  Katie glanced around them. The patio was on two levels overlooking the sea, the steps leading down from the upper level where they stood to a swimming pool, tiled all around in a bright mosaic. A small smile curved her mouth and she took Blake’s hand. “Let’s not.”

  “If this is another one of your fantasies,” he said, following her down the steps to the pool’s edge, “I like it.”

  “There is one problem.” She pretended to frown.

  “And that is…?”

  “I don’t have a swimsuit.”

  “That’s okay.” His gaze swept over her, hot enough to make her flush. “Neither do I.”

  Blake cut off any further words by kissing her, long and deep. Without breaking contact with her mouth, he eased down the zipper of her dress, sliding the material off her body until it pooled at her feet and left her wearing only a lacy white thong. Halting to look at her, the almost dumbstruck expression in his eyes had her smiling to herself.

  “I don’t know if you’ve heard this enough,” he said huskily, “but I guarantee that in my lifetime, I won’t stop telling you. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Watching intently, he lightly dragged his fingertips over her lips, tracing a path down her throat, to the valley between her breasts.

  Then, as if the feel of her skin under his broke his patience, he dropped to one knee, teasing her with nibbling kisses on her stomach as he drew down the thong. Tossing it somewhere behind him, he slid his hands back up her legs, shaping her thighs and hips, the caress of his hands and mouth becoming more intimate as—giving this self-appointed task the same focused, meticulous attention he gave anything he considered important—he discovered what she liked and what she needed. Pleasure spiked in her and she gripped his shoulders, gasping at the riot of sensation.

  He made her tremble and burn and forget there was ever anyone else before him. Finally, knees weak and threatening to buckle, she traced the line of his jaw, dr
awing his eyes to hers and took one small step back toward the pool.

  In answer to her silent invitation, he quickly stood, shedding his shirt at the same time he slanted his mouth over hers. Somewhere in between kisses he managed to strip off the rest of his clothes, but he only gave her scant moments to appreciate the subtle definition of muscle and long, lean lines of his body. Scooping her off her feet, he carried her into the pool and braced himself against the side before drawing her to him.

  The sun-warmed water complemented the sensuous slide of skin to skin. Breath ragged, his mouth hungry on hers, Blake’s hands roved over her back to her hips and in one fluid motion, he lifted her up, her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. Their gazes locked and she shifted her hips to meet his thrust, pushing forward to take him even deeper inside.

  Maybe it was cliché, and maybe it was simply love, but for the first time in her memory, a sense of completion swept over her. This was what she’d been missing, the overwhelming combination of desire and pure feeling that she’d dismissed as a romantic ideal. With Blake, it was vividly real.

  They made love to each other, partners in this, too. Blake set the first slow stroking rhythm, loving her with a passion so interwoven with emotion it brought her to tears. Then he let her lead and she tried to give him back the same, to warm the cold places in him and replace painful memories with ones of her willingly yielding heart and body to him. Finally, close to the edge and teetering there, the ache of anticipation prolonged by his skillful touch, she fell, crying out his name.

  And as he always had been, he was there to catch her.

  A slender leg hooked over his and slim fingers trailed over his chest and stomach, twitching down the edge of the sheet that barely covered them both.

  Without opening his eyes, Blake turned his head to kiss Katie’s temple and murmured, “Were you planning on eating and sleeping this weekend, or is this the only activity on the agenda?”

  “Are you complaining?” A few more inches of sheet retreated at the nudge of her hand. They’d made love twice in the pool before moving indoors, promising each other a shower and dinner. Hours later, they’d yet to even glance in the direction of the kitchen.

  “No,” he assured her, “just contemplating my odds of survival.”

  She laughed, the rich, happy sound vibrating against his skin. “I have faith you’re up to the challenge. We have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

  Blake shared that sentiment but he was still trying to work out how he’d ended up with her in his life. Making love with Katie had been so much more than he’d expected or ever experienced; being in love with Katie and her loving him was unbelievable. Unbelievable and daunting. She was the first person he’d let behind his walls and now that she’d gotten under his skin and lodged in his heart, he didn’t dare imagine what it would be like without her.

  “I don’t want to lose this,” he said, unaware he’d voiced the thought aloud until she propped herself up on her elbow to look questioningly at him.

  “This—” she inched her hand lower on his body “—or…”

  “You. I don’t want to lose you.” In a sudden motion, he rolled toward her so they were face-to-face. “I can’t believe I almost messed this up. What scares me is that I know I could screw things up again.”

  “I’m scared I could do the same thing,” she confessed. “I guess there aren’t any guarantees. But I love you, Blake, and I’m willing to take that chance.”

  “Me, too,” he said softly. Very gently, he drew his fingertips over her cheek, relearning the curves and the texture of her skin. “What amazes me is you’ve seen the worst of me and you’re still here.”

  “You’re forgetting something.”

  “And that is?”

  Katie tugged the sheet completely aside and fitted her body to his. “I’ve seen the best, too.”

  Unable to resist even if he’d wanted to, Blake bent and kissed her and for a long time afterward, his world narrowed to a bed in paradise and loving her.

  The planned four-day retreat stretched into six, and then ten and it wasn’t until Blake realized that it had been almost two weeks since he’d bothered to check his messages or e-mail or even thought about his responsibilities that he reluctantly brought up the subject of leaving. They were sitting together on the beach, watching the sunset, the surf lapping at their feet, and Dallas seemed a million miles away.

  “I imagine by now your family and mine are convinced we’ve disappeared for good,” he said. He rested his forehead against the tangled silk of her hair, breathing in the mingled scent of wind and sea and her musky perfume. “I suppose we should have called at least once.”

  Katie’s sigh echoed with longing. “I wish we could stay. Knowing what’s waiting at home…” She left it unsaid but Blake all too well understood her desire to make their escape permanent.

  “It’s tempting—”

  “But we can’t.” Leaning her head back on his shoulder, she lightly kissed the side of his neck then fixed her eyes on the horizon where the last of the day’s sun had painted the sky in pink and orange. “I just don’t want things to change.”

  “They won’t,” he said, the edge to his words betraying his own worries that once they were back home, the love she professed for him wouldn’t be strong enough to withstand reality and his bubble of happiness would irreparably burst. “Not unless you want them to.”

  “No,” she said softly and twisted to face him, “I don’t. Do you?”

  “No,” he repeated and it was a vow. He punctuated it with a brush of his lips to hers.

  “Then I guess we’re going home.”

  The finality in her voice convinced him to act on a sudden impulse. “What would you say to playing hooky for a few more days?”

  “Here?”

  “In Paris.” He’d succeeded in surprising her and he smiled. “There’s a private dealer who has a collection of canary diamonds I’m interested in buying. We could stay a few days there—” he slowly traced his fingertips along the edge of the cotton camisole she wore, rewarded by the faint flush coloring her fair skin “—combine business with pleasure.”

  She smiled back, her eyes alight again with the happiness he’d grown accustomed to seeing in the last two weeks. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you were making up this whole story about buying diamonds just to get me to say yes.”

  “Is it working?”

  Her arms snaked around his neck and right before she kissed him, she murmured, “Oh, yes.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Katie peered out of the window of the jet, hoping to catch her first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Her fingers were laced with Blake’s and she gave his hand a quick squeeze. “Isn’t it funny that as much as I’ve traveled in Europe, I’ve never been to Paris?”

  “Apparently your first time was supposed to be with me.”

  She turned away from the window. “Was it?” she asked, reading a double meaning into his words that she wasn’t sure he intended.

  “Never doubt it.”

  “Are we still talking about Paris?”

  “I don’t know,” Blake said, leaning in to nuzzle her neck, “are we?”

  The look of disbelief she put on wasn’t entirely false. “Are you telling me that Blake McCord, the man who thinks he can control everything, believes in destiny?”

  “Only when it comes to you. But don’t tell anyone. It’ll ruin my image.”

  This side of Blake—loving, teasing, content to forget about responsibilities, happy—made Katie fall in love with him all over again. At the same time, she wondered if she was deluding herself by believing they would last once they were back in Dallas. They hadn’t talked about the future beyond Paris except in vague terms. He loved her, she knew, and he’d promised her things between them wouldn’t change. But did that mean he wanted her permanently in his life and if he did, as what…his friend, lover, or—

  She stopped herself. No matter how much sh
e liked the sound of forever, she couldn’t assume Blake felt the same. For now, she determined to treasure their time together, however long it lasted, and face reality when she had to.

  “Have I lost you?” Blake’s voice, a little husky, pulled her eyes to his.

  “Of course not,” she returned lightly. “I was just thinking of all the ways we could enjoy Paris.” Finding his lips, she gave him a slow, thorough kiss. “Thank you for bringing me here. I can’t think of a better way to extend our escape.”

  “The pleasure’s mine,” he said. He searched her face and she expected questions about her distraction. Instead, he nodded to the window. “You might want to look out again. We should be almost right over the city.”

  She ignored the outside vista, her view of him more tantalizing. “The most romantic city in the world.”

  “So I’ve heard—” and as he said it he gathered her into his arms “—we’ll have to put it to the test.”

  He drew her into a kiss, opening her mouth under his, and Katie forgot about Paris and her doubts. She was on the verge of suggesting they start their testing while they were still in the clouds, but the sounds of footsteps stopped her.

  The flight attendant, the only one aboard Blake’s private jet, approached to check that their safety belts were fastened for landing. Katie was thankful that for most of the trip the woman had stayed discretely invisible as it was clear she and Blake preferred privacy.

  “We’ll be landing at Charles de Gaulle in a few minutes. Your car will be waiting in the usual place, Mr. McCord. Jean-Paul will be your driver, as you requested.”

  “Excellent,” Blake said, his arm still around Katie, “and thank you.”

  The pretty young blonde ducked away and Katie, regretting the interruption, resumed her search out the window for landmarks she might recognize. “I’d hoped to see Notre Dame from up here. I’ve wanted to see it since I was a little girl.”