by Ciara Cole
Gwen always remembered … though for some time she’d never let her mind wander back to the past. Becoming a mother in her teens had given her more purpose and determination than normal. She could have given up on life, crawled under her bed or locked herself forever in a closet of shame but somehow she’d rebuilt that self-belief she’d always had even as a child. It reminded her that her future was worth fighting for.
It had been a slow ascent but she’d climbed back out of the ashes and found her conviction that the only one who could stop her was herself. She had her baby and took the needed steps that steadily brought her to the present stage of her life where she felt like she’d achieved a lot in both motherhood and her career.
Why should she suddenly get beset with worry that someone could take it all away in a flash? Perhaps it was because she knew the power of the Matthews—their billions, their royalty-like influence, and fame. She’d closed her eyes and ears to anything about that name for too long, and now she realized her foolishness. If only she’d been more careful, then the happenings of that morning weeks ago wouldn’t have taken her unawares.
Trent Matthews showing up in her office had had Gwen trying to pretend everything was normal and thinking she could keep things professional … only for Jonah to appear and have it all get out of control.
Even if Trent hadn’t yelled or smashed anything, when he’d left it had felt like the whole office had had a wrecking ball crash through its walls. Gwen knew she’d never be the same again.
The effects of seeing him again left her shaking at night and sleeping with the covers over her head, trying to ward off the images in her mind. His smile, his touch, the heat of his love or what she’d felt was love when they’d been seventeen. Trent had done nothing wrong, had he? They’d both made the mistake and she had gotten pregnant, but he had never even known about that.
He was a good person, wasn’t he?
But he had a crazy family. Gwen definitely didn’t want her or her son getting mixed up with them in any way.
Too bad Trent Matthews turned out to be behind the donor organization that Gwen was meant to work with. She could refuse to see it through, and risk losing government funding—or face up to her task. Gwen just wasn’t sure how confident she was about keeping it together around Trent. Even if she had to for her career.
Just why did it have to be him of all people? The one man she thought she’d never see again?
Gwen shook her head and tried to get back to work. She looked up when her secretary knocked and walked in, her hand holding a few typed sheets.
“I did the research you asked for, but I couldn’t find any alternative prospect for our donor collaboration,” Amy said apologetically, setting down her report in front of Gwen.
“I haven’t been able to come up with any solutions either,” was Gwen’s rueful reply.
“Is there any particular reason why we can’t just go with the Matthews Foundation? Trent Matthews seemed nice enough to work with. In fact, he’s far more approachable than I’d expect of a billionaire heir to such a fortune. And he does look like a walking sex god.” Amy teased adding, “Now don’t go looking at me like you didn’t expect me to know what a sex god looks like.”
“That’s not it, trust me,” said Gwen, though she could understand Amy’s point. Just what was it about Trent that got women’s panties, even sensible ones, in a twist? He was hot, sexy, and rich, but there was just that extra something surrounding him, a mysterious aura that had you wanting to run and hide while feeling magnetized by him at the same time.
Gwen exhaled a tired breath. “I just want what’s best for the school. If it’s someone I find that doesn’t fit the whole concept we’re looking for, I’m not going to be comfortable moving ahead with it.” Gwen meant it genuinely, or so she told herself. Working with Trent would mean all sorts of complications and that would not bode well for the outcome. And as such, the school would suffer for it.
But what if she had no other choice?
Chapter Two
Gwen felt a strange acceptance when she opened her front door that evening and found Trent standing there. She should have known he’d find her sooner or later. Dodging calls from him and his office had been merely a short-term option. Now she had to figure out how to tackle the unpalatable situation about to unfold.
Gwen took in the sight of him now standing in her living room, almost like a phantom. A very virile, gorgeous, and remote looking phantom, to be exact.
“Where is he?” he asked simply, his voice like a rasp.
“Who?” Gwen cocked her head, then sighed when he arched one winged brow in warning. “If you’re talking about my son, he’s away having a sleepover at a friend’s house.”
Luckily, Gwen silently added with a hidden sigh of relief.
Trent’s response was to shove his hands in the pockets of his stylish peacoat and turn slowly on his heel as he surveyed his surroundings. Gwen flushed slightly, wondering what the high and mighty Trent Matthews would think of her home. Would he consider it shabby compared to his sprawling mansions and country homes with the vast, perfectly tended grounds?
“Why are you here, Trent? What is it you want?’
“What do you think I want? Take a wild guess,” he murmured, facing her again.
“I’m not up for any of your games,” said Gwen with a furrowed brow.
“Games? I should have thought that would be your specialty. For the whole of his life, you’ve kept the knowledge of my son from me. Just what the hell kind of joke did you think you were pulling?”
“Don’t growl at me!” Gwen snapped, losing her cool just the same as he seemed to have. “And don’t come in here with your interrogations. If I’m guilty, then so are your parents. They knew the whole time and paid me off.”
She tried to catch her breath, her chest heaving as if from great exertion as she glared at Trent. He showed hardly any emotion, and Gwen wondered how much he’d found out and why he didn’t seem too surprised by her revelation.
“They made it clear I’d get nothing if I contacted you, and that they would forbid a relationship. What was I supposed to do?” Gwen asked more calmly. “I was raised by a single mother, Trent. I knew enough that money is worth more than the long shot of a relationship between two seventeen-year-olds working out.”
“I can understand the situation based on a year or two, maybe three of staying apart. But all this time you could have given me one hint that I had a son. Did it give you some kind of satisfaction knowing I was in the dark about Jonah?”
“Nothing gave me satisfaction,” Gwen blurted, then bit hard on her bottom lip thinking about how that must have come out. She saw Trent’s eyes glint darkly, and just like that, a pulse began to thrum in her most intimate spot. She gasped and backed away a step.
Trent’s mouth tilted with a smirk. “That rings true for me, too, in a way. The time with you felt like the only one in my history where I remember having any real emotion—trust, love, passion.”
He stepped forward, and this only sent Gwen backwards. She kept edging away until she felt the wall behind her, and stiffened. How did the air grow so thick and humid? It felt impossible to drag in a decent breath.
Trent closed the space between them. He enclosed her easily in her spot, his arms lifting to prop on either side of her head as he rested his hands against the wall. He stared into her face with an intensity that turned her knees wobbly.
Gwen hadn’t seen this coming at all. The look in Trent’s eyes, the crush of dominance and heat that seemed overpowering, which he emanated so effortlessly, had her trembling in mystic arousal. She didn’t understand it, didn’t even know where it sprang from. She didn’t want to want him, but she did. And she could tell, with her deep-rooted feminine intuition, that Trent wanted her, too.
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered, as she saw him lean his head closer to hers, and brush his firm, silken lips against her earlobe.
“It’s time you stopped questioning
anything that happens between us from now on,” he said in her ear. “You owe me, Gwen, after keeping your secret, and making a fool of me. Depriving me of my flesh and blood.”
His words sounded gritty on the final sentence, as he slapped a palm against the wall for emphasis. Gwen’s eyes flew up to meet his and saw that beneath his anger, lay desire like a burning echo. It was almost like he was furious with himself for having any feeling of lust where she was concerned.
“We had something real. But you blew it away.”
“None of that matters now,” she worded desperately, pressing up against the wall as if to distance herself one more inch away from his descending lips.
“Oh, it matters, Gwen. Because I never forgot and I bet you didn’t either. I can see it on your face.”
“Please don’t do this.”
“Do what? Make you admit that I’m right?”
Gwen didn’t plan on admitting to anything. Not even if every ounce of her was already about to betray the truth. That she was still affected by him, and couldn’t hide the way her body responded to his nearness, and the promise of his kiss, his touch.
“Now to make my intentions clear,” said Trent, his lips a whisper against her trembling mouth. “I want you. I want him. I want all that’s been denied me these past eight years and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
***
Gwen woke up believing she must have dreamed the whole of the last few weeks, of Trent, the whole confrontation last night, his kiss.
Oh, no. Gwen pressed her fingertips to her mouth, and somehow, they still felt bruised and swollen. Everything she imagined had actually happened. All of it, Gwen realized. The next moment, she was crawling underneath the covers again with a groan.
She couldn’t believe she’d let Trent get away with almost seducing her and taking her unceremoniously against the wall. Where the hell was all the self-control she’d exercised all these years?
When it came down to the crunch, Gwen had been unable to lie to Trent or even herself anymore. She’d felt it with him, all the burning, churning need between a man and a woman. It had seemed almost critical in its effect on them both. Trent’s groan as he clamped hot lips over hers, her whimper as she melted against the wall and let him take his fill of her open, willing mouth … It had been wild and unstoppable, that physical connection she’d even forgotten her nerves could feel.
She wasn’t yet thirty and already it seemed like she’d given up on the very prospect of passion and other carnal interests. Anyone would want the warmth of another’s touch, but it had to be special, and there had to be true affinity. Loathe as she was to admit it, Gwen had been blown away by how right, how insanely perfect, it had felt to be kissed and held by Trent.
Their little make out session had ended far too soon, as moments later Trent had pulled back. One glimpse of his face had told Gwen he’d been appeased by her unbridled response. He’d dragged her arms from where they’d been linked around his neck, and he’d backed away, leaving her panting with unquestionable need.
“I don’t think you’re sure yet just how far you’re willing to go,” he’d said. “I need you to think deeply about it. Because I already have. At first, I admit I was numb and just felt blitzed from all sides. Finding you, then the boy—it felt like fate had finally stopped playing false and given me a second chance.”
“I’m sorry if I gave the wrong impression just now,” Gwen had said as she ran a shaky hand through her hair. “But whatever you have planned concerning either me or Jonah, you should clear it from your thoughts.”
Trent’s jaw had hardened, his eyes growing icy. “You’re the one with the wrong impression if you think anything is entirely up to you anymore.”
“Trent …”
“I’m not so inhuman to bombard you all at once with demands or conditions. This has been as much a shock for you as well. I had one or two things I speculated on, but now I have the answers I need.”
Gwen hadn’t liked how those words sounded, nor had she liked the look on Trent’s face. “Answers? Trent, don’t get ahead of yourself. There’s no way I can have you in my life. Or in Jonah’s. Why can’t you get that? We aren’t in high school anymore. Whatever we shared is long buried, and now I just want things to continue as they were. Jonah believes his father is dead and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“At the risk of repeating myself, Gwen—nothing at all is up to what you want or not. The moment I realized he is my son—my heir—everything changed.”
He had been up close against her again, surprising Gwen with how quickly he could move with barely a sound or warning. He’d placed a hand on the small of her back, and had tugged her hard into his formidable, solid length. Shocking her system was the feel of his arousal, like a time bomb ticking at her abdomen, an almost menacing ridge of muscle that triggered an answering constriction inside her sex. She’d had to hold in a moan at the feeling of his erection rubbing against her. It had been so big, bigger than she even remembered. Her nipples had hardened beneath her bra, leaving her breasts feeling tender and full. How long ago was it since she’d felt like this?
Gwen had stared as if mesmerized into his glittering green eyes, wondering to herself how a man could be so beautiful. Pressed so tightly to him she felt tense all over and quivery all at the same time.
She’d been alone for so many years, and now seeing Trent out of the blue was about to change her life in so many ways she wasn’t equipped for.
“I just found you,” he’d said. His lips once again brushing her ear as he leaned down. “I’m not going to simply let you out of my sight. I’ll leave now, but though I can promise that you’ll be safe with me, I can’t promise I won’t take what I want when the time comes.”
“When the time comes?” Gwen’s voice had sounded much squeakier than she’d planned it to.
He’d chuckled darkly. “The moment you submit to me. Then I’ll be all up on you, Miss Stanton.”
The arm he’d snaked around her waist was slowly withdrawn. Gwen had stumbled slightly back when he’d released her, while her temperature had given no sign of lowering even with her freed from his hold.
Gwen could remember, even now in the cold light of morning, how empty she’d felt when Trent had chosen that moment to leave without another word.
Why had kissing him felt so good? It was a whole different level from when they were far younger. The taste of him invading her mouth, his lips even lusher than ever … Gwen couldn’t help but cringe, remembering how her hands had found their way around his neck, and how her fingers had run so proprietarily through his silky chocolate tresses. He’d had to prize her arms from around his neck, she recalled, and she groaned into her pillow in embarrassment. She’d acted so in heat, he could probably tell it was a long while since she’d had any kind of male interaction. Ugh!
***
She was glad to have the respite of a few days before Trent chose to contact her again. Gwen knew the deadline was coming to a close. It wasn’t like the school was bombarded with donors. Just thinking of the funds Trent planned on pledging for the numerous school projects as well as new classrooms, had her feeling extra guilty for dragging her feet.
By the end of the phone call, she’d agreed to meet him for dinner after work. Gwen had never been more nervous or reluctant about a date—until she realized she couldn’t even consider it a date.
She’d enlisted her cousin Tricia, who just graduated as a nurse, to babysit while she was out. Gwen hated the thought of leaving Jonah, especially now that Trent knew about him. What if Trent’s family stepped in and tried something? Gwen had all sorts of wild notions and worst-case scenarios jumbling her mind and making her even more uneasy about meeting Trent again.
She was surprised to find a black stretch limo waiting outside her door. Men in dark suits wearing ear pieces stood outside by the blacked out windows, waiting to usher her inside. One would think she was meeting with the president himself, thought Gwen with a huff. She slid in
to the luxurious interior of the limo and found herself sitting next to Trent.
The door closed after her and Gwen settled into the plush seat that felt as soft and comfy as a feather. She felt every inch a modern-day Cinderella, getting to ride a limo for the first time. All that was missing was getting Bruce Wayne to escort her on her way. Oh wait, check that—she had her own version right here next to her, looking every inch a dreamy hunk in that suit and tie, his hair brushed back sleekly from that disgustingly good-looking face. Gwen sighed and folded her arms on her lap and decided she was not getting taken in by any of this.
“It’s good to see you, Gwen. You look great,” he said.
Gwen felt like a peasant, next to his Tom Ford mannequin looking self. Did he always have to seem like he just walked off the runway at New York Fashion Week: Men’s?
“Thank you, and you look well yourself. You could have warned me, though. I didn’t expect you to go all out just for a pickup.” She indicated the classy and elegant surroundings with a wave of her hand. It seemed like they glided over the roads, and even the upbeat music purring from the sound system felt amazing. The soothing lights, the fabulous air-conditioning, and just the overall ambience of voluptuous affluence had Gwen just short of gaping.
“This is just how I roll, Gwen,” Trent said drily, and smirked when she sent him a side-eyed look.
Yeah, she wished she could tell him to stop being such a billionaire right now. She knew he was worth more money than he even knew what to do with.
She also knew that would never factor in with whatever decision she had to make. Money wasn’t the be-all and end-all, even after the choice she’d made all those years ago. She’d hated having to accept all that money from Trent’s parents. At the time it seemed the best thing for her and her unplanned pregnancy, instead of the risk of being abandoned with nothing to support her and the baby.
Deciding to quit any morose thoughts, Gwen graciously accepted the glass of champagne Trent poured out. She wasn’t in a celebratory mood, but she did need some alcohol in her system to get her through the ordeal ahead.