by Anthology
She squeezed the lemon into the glass, grateful to have something to occupy her hands as second guessing invaded her thoughts. Would he have made their relationship work against the odds, too? Wondering how far away he was at the moment, she changed the subject. “So where do you all live? Is there a town close by?”
“Twenty miles. A lot of us live there. Some commute farther. My wife and I live in the country. A few ranch hands stay on the premises.”
“Javier is one of them?” She still knew him well enough to be confident he’d live on site, despite his responsibilities extending beyond those of a simple ranch hand.
“He has his own place, two buildings over. Don’t even think about going there,” Mac warned. “In all the time I’ve been here, he’s never taken anyone inside with him—no employees, not his friends, nor a single girlfriend.”
She bit her tongue to keep from asking about his current girlfriend status. None of her business. Anyway, having never invited her to his house, a relationship couldn’t be serious.
She shifted uncomfortably on the stool. Despite welcoming Blake in her physical house, their relationship cruised on a superficial level. She never let him inside her psyche, and he showed no interest in checking it out. Yet the pending wedding pointed to a more serious relationship. If she critiqued Javier’s intimacy levels, she needed to examine her own.
A family entered through the front door, pulling her from her uneasy musings. The parents ordered drinks and snacks, and Caroline chatted with the kids. From the East Coast, they’d enjoyed their ranch vacation so much the previous year, they’d returned as repeat customers.
The kids’ contagious enthusiasm combined with their parents’ high praise for the staff sent her into another spiral of wishful thinking. If only she’d been part of building her and Javier’s dream destination from the ground up.
The mentality at Sunburst Hotels shunned big dreams. Her innovations had been stifled from the start. Life with Blake would be little more than an exercise in maintaining the status quo.
After the family took their food to the porch, another couple came in and ordered margaritas.
“We’re on our honeymoon,” the lady announced. Her husband splayed his hand across her ass, and she kissed him fully on the lips then straddled him on the bar stool.
Their public display of affection stabbed Caroline with longing. In a week, she, too, would be on her honeymoon but couldn’t imagine acting so unrestrained with Blake, even in private.
“You know, we’re going to take a rain check on those drinks.” The groom lifted his giggling bride in his arms and staggered for the door.
“Newlyweds,” Mac muttered, more amused than annoyed, pushing the couple’s abandoned cocktails toward her. “On the house.”
“No thanks.” Raising the iced tea to her lips, she tried to remember acting so embarrassingly lovesick. Memories flashed so swiftly and vividly, she reached for the nearest margarita to blur them.
Javier came into focus anyway. He strode into the bar, radiating his ever-present aura of raw sexuality. Freshly showered, with dark, wet hair curling around his ears and broad shoulders stretching his clean cowboy shirt, he epitomized everything she found irresistible in a man.
Arriving in the helicopter, she’d looked down over the oasis created in an endless plain of land and sky, and fallen in love. After an hour touring the grounds, her affection had cemented into a need to make herself one with the place, and she’d considered interviewing for the top job to run the resort. But working for Javier would never be just a job. And living so close to him, she’d never remain faithful to anyone else.
His exhaustion hadn’t left him too tired to respond to a woman. The purely feminine appreciation in Caroline’s eyes as he walked toward her stirred his awareness and long-suppressed need. Unfortunately, Madame Eve had picked the worst time to set him up with a one-night stand. No matter how perfect the date he had yet to meet, he only wanted the woman who’d stolen his teenage heart.
He offered his right hand. “I’m finally presentable enough for a handshake.”
Curling her fingers around his, she flooded him with heat until he damn near forgot what he planned to interrogate her about.
“Thanks for keeping me company, Mac.” She tipped her head toward his bartender then rose from her stool, leaving her drinks behind with a folded bill discretely tucked under one coaster.
People didn’t end up sipping frou-frou drinks at his resort because they were passing through and needed a place to crash for the night. No, she’d shown up deliberately and very much alone in her fancy-schmancy helicopter, clueless about the job opening.
Was she trying to rub her wealth in his face? He immediately discarded the notion and not because his worth had surpassed her parents’. She’d never put stock in riches and social status, even when everyone else, including him, believed she could do better than him.
He led her to the seclusion of the stable then spun to face her. “Are you buttering up my employees to gather secrets about my resort so you can undermine my success and create your own for Sunburst Hotels?”
She blinked, her blue eyes owlish and innocent. “You think I arrived in a helicopter and announced my presence to the entire county to engage in corporate espionage? Granted, I don’t have any prior experience, but I think I’d take the under-the-radar approach. Arrive in a rental car and check in anonymously. Maybe apply for a job as a janitor.”
Okay, so he’d accused before thinking the idea through. Her closeness rendered him temporarily insane. He gripped her upper arms. “What are you doing then?”
“For Sunburst Hotels? Absolutely nothing. I quit my job a month ago.”
“You want to apply as my private janitor? I’m only in my office at night, and if you came in I guarantee you wouldn’t be emptying garbage cans.”
Her eyes grew even more luminous. “What would I be doing?”
“Stripping, so I could take you on my desk.”
Her lips parted, as if the image turned her on.
The hell with the desk. He pulled her flush to his body, wanting her immediately—in the stable, on his real turf.
“Wait.” She pushed against his chest. “We can’t just pick up where we left off fifteen years ago.”
“Why not? We’re two consenting, unattached adults.”
Of course, they had issues from the past to work through. But when they’d been together, she understood him the way no one else ever had.
“Um.” Her gaze dropped away from his. “Actually, I’m not unattached. I’m engaged.”
Oh. Fuck.
Chapter Three
She’d finally admitted what she should have said the moment she stepped out of the helicopter and came face to face with her former lover. Not expecting any congratulations, Caroline waited for his shocked betrayal to penetrate enough for him to speak.
Indeed, he snatched her left hand off his chest and lifted it in front of his face. “Where’s your ring?”
“I left it at home. I don’t wear it unless I have to.”
“So you can screw around on him?”
She yanked her hand away, stung he saw her actions as a purposeful attempt to deceive him. “I have no intention of screwing around with anyone. I’m going to be faithful.”
“When? After the wedding?”
Her stomach twisted. She’d been true to Blake and always intended to. Her only expectation from a partner was fidelity. Yet, hadn’t she traveled to the resort on the prospect of a one-night stand?
Having no intention of going through with the meaningless hookup didn’t excuse her. Despite knowing the odds were good she would run into the only man she’d ever loved, she’d never asked Blake to accompany her or considered introducing the two men. And within an hour, her litany of what if’s had flamed into raging desire, leaving her aching to betray her principles and jump into the sack.
“When we kiss, are you going to think about your fiancé?” Javier’s deep brown eyes fi
lled with pain.
Hating herself for causing it, she lifted her hand to his cheek. “I’m not going to kiss you.”
He intercepted her fingers and batted them away. “Don’t try your seduction tricks on me.”
“I’m not seducing you. I came here to close this chapter of my life.”
“You closed it long ago then reopened it today when you stepped out of your pretentious helicopter.” Bridging the distance between them, he pressed his lips hard and furious against hers, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, taking possession.
His fury and frustration tasted too delicious to push away, and she welcomed his domination, kissing him back with the same wild desperation.
Every exhilarating, explosive kiss from his sensuous mouth melted away the intervening years, reviving the components of their past relationship—quiet discussions, camaraderie, and instant passion.
Until a horse snorted. No longer accustomed to the smells and sounds of a barn, Caroline jerked and turned toward the closest stall.
Javier shoved away and stalked over to soothe the animal. “What’s your fiancé’s name?” he demanded, not glancing at her.
She stared at him stupidly, her lips swollen and tingling. Every nerve screamed for his touch, leaving her wanting him with such longing nothing else mattered, including her own name, or what it would soon become.
Finally, he met her gaze, glaring with such patent disgust, her haze of lust disintegrated. “I won’t be your dirty, cheap thrill this time, Caroline.”
“You never were.” The specialness of their past connection had brought her to his resort. Discovering it still existed both complicated her life and excited her. She reached out to touch him, but he sidestepped and stormed out of the stable, swearing in Spanish and leaving her alone with impatient, prancing horses. Several of them lifted their heads over the stall doors to snort at her in disapproval.
The dim, unfamiliar environment spooked her enough to keep her from dissolving into a puddle of tears. She crossed her arms over her chest and hurried out of the barn into the glare of a pink and orange sunset.
Javier had disappeared, along with the rest of the resort staff and guests, leaving her alone.
She pulled out her phone and dialed Blake’s number, hating the cruelty of the message she needed to leave. But the truth couldn’t wait for an appropriate opening.
Instead of voicemail, he answered in person, and her stomach twisted.
“I can’t marry you,” she blurted, then cringed. If etiquette for breaking an engagement over the phone existed, surely the first rule would be to break the news gently.
“Caroline? Are you okay?”
“Yes. No. I just kissed another man, a man I’ve been in love with since I was sixteen. I would have slept with him, too, if he’d allowed the kiss to continue.” She pressed her fingers to her trembling lips, still swollen and aching. “I’m sorry.” Not sorry for kissing Javier, just sorry for breaking her vow to Blake.
Sorry for hurting him and her parents and inconveniencing all their guests with travel plans for the wedding weekend. She doubled over, imagining what they—people who liked her, who she called friends—would say about her. “I’m so sorry. I’ll make all the calls. I’ll tell everyone it’s my fault. I never meant to hurt you.”
Her stomach twisted with nausea. If she felt that way, her revelation had to be killing Blake.
“You only kissed him.” His voice remained calm, even a bit distracted. “Nothing serious. You don’t have to call everything off over a kiss. Why don’t you talk it over with Sabrina? She and I are meeting with the florist this evening. She can bring me up to speed then.”
Announcing she was in love with Javier and wanted to sleep with him didn’t count as serious? Her actions exploded, terminated, destroyed their relationship. Her maid of honor might be handling a lot of the wedding details, but Caroline needed to clean up her own mess. “There’s nothing to discuss. I can’t marry you. I won’t go through with a sham relationship like my parents have. I want the real thing.”
“And the guy you kissed is the one to give it to you?” He sounded dubious.
Only Javier could. They’d discovered true love as teenagers, and she’d thrown it away. He might not give her another chance, but she couldn’t stay with Blake and pretend their halfhearted attempt was good enough.
“I know you and I don’t have it.” Admitting so eased her stomach cramps and allowed her to draw a deep breath.
“Well, this is damn inconvenient.” An exasperated sigh gusted through the phone. “I already booked vacation time for the honeymoon. I’ve been putting in extra hours to get ahead of schedule while I’m out of the office. Honestly, Caroline, this isn’t like you at all. You’re usually so dependable.”
She leaned against the wooden fence of a dusty corral while he complained about the inconvenience and her unreliability. Really? Not even a tiny bit of heartbreak? She didn’t want him to cry over her, but his lack of emotion compared to Javier’s fury sealed her decision.
“I’m sorry,” she said again. “But this is the right choice for both of us.”
She clicked off the phone and closed her eyes. When she opened them, Alberto—the well-dressed man who’d greeted her at the helicopter—was approaching.
“Would you like a tour of the inside of the resort, Ms. Sunburst?”
Had Javier sent him, or did the assistant still consider her a viable job candidate? She straightened. As a matter of fact, the position did interest her. Her father was bound to freeze her out when he discovered her broken engagement to his chosen heir. She needed a job and a change of scenery.
“Actually, I’d like to check into my room and relax this evening. Could I possibly meet with you tomorrow to talk about the president of operations position? I really like what I’ve seen so far. And I need a job. I’m definitely interested.”
“Tomorrow it is,” Alberto said, leading her across the grounds. “This resort needs an executive with your experience. Since you arrived, I’ve buried myself in Internet searches, uncovering what you’ve done at Sunburst Hotels.”
“Not nearly as much as I envisioned,” she admitted. She’d let others talk her out of her grand dreams and into settling for ho-hum—in both her professional and personal lives. Well, not anymore.
She didn’t have to pacify her father or tiptoe around family tradition and executives who remembered her back when she wore diapers and still treated her with the same indulgent condescension.
Free of a fiancé who barely noticed her existence, she could search for a man who would love her right—well, except for the man of her past and future dreams. His standards exceeded the disloyal, shady kisses she offered. His rejection stung far more than her broken engagement.
She squared her shoulders, resolving not to dwell on either man. Fated with a one-night stand at her disposal, she had the freedom to indulge guilt free.
Why not? She and Blake didn’t exactly burn up the sheets, and if she ever slept with Javier again, he would no doubt ruin her for anyone else.
***
Engaged. Javier still couldn’t believe it, not when she kissed him like he completed her soul. He rubbed his chest and picked up a supplier contract overdue for a final decision.
The shift of paper unburied the face of the clock on his desk. 8:00 p.m.
After hearing of Madame Eve’s uncanny predictions, he experienced it firsthand. Blowing off steam on a one-night stand might be the only solution to keep his sanity. The matchmaking service paired him with someone who’d signed up for a no-strings fling, which gave him a free pass for a mindless fuck with no guilt. He didn’t care what his date wanted from him, as long as she got his mind off Caroline. Madame Eve was a genius.
After filling his pockets with condoms, he took the elevator to her room and slid his master keycard in the lock. Turning the handle, he opened the door. Caroline sat on the couch, studying the screen of her phone. Her somber gaze lifted, and the phone slipped from he
r fingers to the floor.
Hell, somehow he’d ended up in the wrong room—the worst possible room. Perhaps the details had changed and he hadn’t received Madame Eve’s updated information. He definitely should have knocked.
“You’re my one-night stand?” the former love of his life whispered.
Madame Eve hadn’t provided him with the wrong information. Caroline flat-out tricked him, intending to have a fling with him while engaged to someone else. Like a sucker, he’d given her a tour of the resort built from their teenage dreams. While he bared his heart and soul, she pretended interest, toying with him as if she didn’t have her own hotel chain at her disposal.
His chest ached, and with trembling hands he closed the door and secured the lock. He should leave before she used him to satisfy her itch. But damn, with his dream of holding her in his arms one more time within reach, he didn’t have the saintly willpower to pass up the opportunity.
He waited until his hands were steady then turned to her. “Let me guess. You snuck out on your parents to relive the old thrill before you settled into your perfect life with a man they approve of.”
“My mother—never mind. That’s not important right now.” A smirk almost broke through her pale, strained face.
Yep, she came to use him. He didn’t have the strength to push her away as he had in the stable. He might not be able to deny her, but he would take charge in bed. “I assume you have a position in mind that your fiancé won’t agree to.”
“He’s not my fiancé anymore. We broke up.” She met his gaze. “I broke up with him.”
His cock swelled, eager to claim her. If Javier dared to trust her words, nothing kept them from being together.
He didn’t dare. She’d held out on him the entire time they’d toured the resort. If she really had broken up with her fiancé, she could just as easily have more ugly secrets. He wouldn’t become one of them. “Don’t lie. I don’t care if you’re engaged. If you want to cheat with me, do it. I only want tonight. I don’t care who you’ll be with tomorrow.”