Getting his vote had been more of a principle thing than necessity. The truth was, Cole had the votes he needed to get his grandmother kicked off without Jasper. But when he sprung the vote on his grandmother at Monday’s board meeting, he wanted to serve his vengeance cold with a 100 percent vote minus Max.
Jasper Whittaker’s capitulation represented a huge victory. By this time next week, The Benton Group would be his to run as he saw fit when he took his rightful position as Chairman of the Board.
Yet the whole time he was on the call with Jasper, some foreign emotion had nagged at him. An emotion he dimly recognized from a very long time ago, as guilt.
And, though the call was supposed to be all about the business at hand, even after he hung up, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Sunny. What she’d looked like curled up in his bed when he’d left for the gym. How much trust she’d given him over the summer, in the bedroom and out.
How he still hadn’t quite figured out how to spin to her what he’d done in order to get Nora off his board. How he hadn’t quite come to terms with the fact that she’d be leaving for New York in a few short weeks.
He also thought about the text message she had sent him early that morning.
Can I head out to Palm Springs early to do some shopping? And if so, what do you think I should buy with my own money to wear tonight?
He’d texted her back yes on the condition that Tomas drove her. Then typed out his exact requirements for what she should buy with his money, but hadn’t gotten a response.
And now hours later, he was more excited about seeing what she’d picked out than he was about his victorious phone call with Jasper Whittaker. He picked up his smartphone and tapped Sunny’s name, which had somehow worked its way on to his list of “Favorites” over the course of the summer.
“Hey, Cole,” she said, when she answered on the third ring.
“Are you in Palm Springs yet?” he asked.
“Of course I am. I’ve already finished my shopping, and they were nice enough to let me in the hotel room early—I’m assuming because the reservation’s under your name.”
Cole grunted. He could almost hear her smiling on the other side of the line when she reminded him. “You said I could go early.”
That, he realized, had been a bad decision on his part. If she were still on the premises, he’d tell her to come down to his office for a quickie, if only so he could concentrate on getting the rest of his board meeting speech written up before he left for the weekend.
That was another reason the situation with Sunny wasn’t going to his liking. This was the eighth weekend in a row that he’d spent on vacation with her instead of working. And she’d somehow managed to wrangle a promise out of him to spend his next Saturday night starring as what she’d dubbed “the lead lifter” in the community center’s summer recital.
True, nothing had fallen to the wayside at work, and nothing other than his dignity would be compromised when he danced with Sunny’s girls at their show. It was also true that Agnes had been in a much happier mood lately. He suspected she was using her free weekends to spend more quality time with her husband, and Cole was afraid that if he kept this up too much longer, she’d start expecting to have every weekend off.
Though it wouldn’t be that much longer. Sunny would be moving soon, a voice in the back of his mind reminded him.
“What are you wearing?” Cole asked, not bothering to keep his irritation out of his voice.
“I found a silk romper that sort of looks like the one you destroyed back in July. Seriously, Cole, maybe you should pick a new favorite outfit, one that’s not so delicate.”
“And underneath it?” he asked.
“My blue lace panties—or was it my black thong?”
“I said no panties in the text message,” he reminded her.
“Oh, did you?” Sunny asked. “Then it might be nothing at all. I can’t remember for sure.”
Cole gritted his teeth against the immediate hard-on that punched out against the fly of his pants. “I don’t believe you,” he said.
“It’s true!” Sunny insisted. “I really don’t remember, and the bad thing about this new romper is I’d have to take the entire outfit off to check.”
“Sunny...” Cole growled. He’d been right about them not fitting traditional labels with their relationship. In Sunny’s and his case, it was less Sub and Dom and more Button Pusher and Button Pushee.
As if to prove his point, Sunny said, “Okay! Okay! If you insist, I’ll check.” The sound of rustling came from the other end of the call, then, “Oh, that’s interesting.”
“What?” Cole bit out, his hand opening and closing as he resisted the urge to palm his erection.
“It looks like I forgot to put on a bra when I changed into this outfit,” Sunny answered. “Which is weird, because that’s so unlike me. Especially, since, oh, my gosh, they’ve really got the A/C turned up high in here, and my nipples are so hard. Maybe if I massage them a little, they’ll go down— Oh, no, actually that only made it worse.”
Cole’s hand was on his cock now, acting with a mind of its own as he listened to Sunny talk.
She moaned. “I should definitely stop rubbing them. Mmm, it’s making it so much worse, Cole, and I can feel myself getting all squirmy down below...” She whimpered. “I’m sorry, Cole, but I’m going to have to pull up my romper and get off the phone without checking to see if I’m wearing panties. If I’m not wearing them, I’m going to ruin this outfit, and it was the last romper they had in stock at the store.”
“You can order another one online,” Cole bit out.
“Yeah, but that would be a waste of your money,” Sunny answered. “Plus, you said you wouldn’t be headed out of the office until after six, and I don’t want to get in trouble like the last time I touched myself without your permission, so I’m going to have to cut this short. See you when you get here!” she said cheerily.
Before Cole even had a chance to bargain with her to finish taking off the romper while he listened, she hung up.
Cole cursed long and hard.
Then he called her back.
And got her voice mail.
More cursing. Cole punched a few words into his computer thinking about how bad he was going to punish her when he got to Palm Springs five hours from now. Five long hours from now. More if he hit traffic, and considering it was Friday night, that was more than likely.
He called her back again. Straight to voice mail. Then a text message popped up on his screen. Not out of contact, but not answering your calls. For the romper’s sake.
He could just imagine Sunny laughing at him while she pranced around his company’s luxury suite in the romper, with maybe nothing on underneath it. He’d punish her for that, too, he vowed to himself turning back to the computer.
He typed in a couple more sentences, reminding himself that he had to get his speech for the board done. Sunny almost always used her “control take back” whenever he tried to work while they were spending time together. Nora’s big end of summer charity ball was on Sunday, with the board meeting scheduled for first thing Monday morning.
He wasn’t going to let Sunny distract him from the last step in his plan, the one he’d been working toward all summer. With determination, he typed a few more words.
Then he punched the intercom button with his index finger. “Agnes?” he started.
“Leaving for Palm Springs early?” she finished.
Cole gritted his teeth. “How did you know?”
“Sunny texted me a few minutes ago that I could make dinner reservations to go out with Greg tonight if I wanted, because I’d definitely be getting off early,” Agnes answered with a laugh in her voice.
With a grunt, Cole snatched the jacket off the back of his chair. He was going to
make Sunny pay for that one, as well.
Chapter 22
And make Sunny pay he did, as soon as walked in the door. Her poor romper never had a chance, and Sunny gave it a mental apology as it landed irreparably torn less than ten feet from the suite’s front entrance.
Cole made Sunny pay for teasing him right there in the outer room, then he made her pay for assuring Agnes she’d be getting off early in the hot tub after they had dinner. Then for the rest of the night, he made her pay and pay again for the ultimate crime of “distracting him from his work.”
When she woke up much later the next morning, it was to the feel of his mouth on her now very tender sex, bringing her to completion with long, wet strokes of his tongue over her naked core. He hadn’t permitted her to get it rewaxed until a week ago, when he’d gone on an overnight to Los Angeles to talk with one of The Benton Group board members in person.
But now Cole was going at her like a man on a mission, and she came yet again with her fingers threaded through his hair, fully awakened as she arched off the bed. Cole, she decided right then and there, was much better than a morning cup of coffee.
“What was that payback for?” she asked, when he came back up to lie down beside her.
“For looking so beautiful when I woke up,” he answered with an affectionate smile.
He’d been smiling at her more and more lately, and it was its own kind of punishment. A total heart-stopper that made Sunny feel all goopy inside.
“Kiss me,” he commanded.
She did, pulling his tongue into her mouth as she fused her lips over his. She didn’t stop until she felt his length harden against her stomach.
“Very good,” he said when she finished. He moved against her, and the bottom of his shaft moved against her slit in a way that made her whimper. But then he shook his head. “Not yet. Not until you’ve had a bath. We went too hard last night to do it again this morning.”
What he was saying made total sense.
However, Sunny had obviously stopped prescribing to total sense when she agreed to this arrangement in the first place.
“But I want you now,” she whined, her voice low and husky. Then she said a few more things. Button-pushing things that she knew never failed to make Cole lose control and go against his better intentions.
Words that worked every time. Soon he was parting her folds with his long, thick length, pushing in carefully. Too carefully. Sunny had to say some really nasty things to get him moving the way she wanted, hard and rough inside her aching sex, until they exploded at the same time, both lying on their sides, chests pressed together as her core drank in his spasming cock.
“You’re definitely not a doormat,” Cole said when the orgasm finally let them go, and he pulled out of her.
Sunny knew that. This fling, affair, arrangement—whatever they wanted to call it—had taught her there were ways to give over control without being a doormat. Really fun ways.
She laughed, and sighed with total contentment. “I love you,” she thought to herself.
Cole went completely still. “What?”
That was when she realized she might not have only thought that to herself, as she’d promised herself she would when she’d first made the realization that her feelings for Cole extended beyond good sex and pretend dates.
“Nothing,” she said quickly and began to move away.
Cole caught her around the waist keeping her there in bed with him. “You think you’re in love with me?” he asked her.
Of all the ways she’d been embarrassed in front of Cole, this was easily the worst. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Sunny, I thought the arrangement was clear,” he said.
“It is. I’m going to New York. You’re staying in Las Vegas. We’ll both move on. It’s clear.”
“But you think you love me.”
“I know I love you,” Sunny answered. “But it’s fine, I know where you stand on...feelings. I’m sure I’ll get over this love thing when I’m in New York without you right there all the time. It’ll take me a few weeks, a couple of months top.” Probably years, Sunny edited inside her head.
“Sunny...” he began.
“I’d like control back now,” she said.
“Sunny...”
“Cole, you promised.” She pushed against his chest, desperately wanting to get out of there. “Let me go.”
He let her go and Sunny ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
* * *
Cole was beginning to think Sunny might hide in the bathroom forever, but she crept into the outer room fully dressed in yoga pants and a tank top sometime around three. He was seated at the striped couch between her and the front entrance.
She jumped.
“You thought I left?” he asked her.
“I thought maybe you’d gone out. I hadn’t heard you moving around for a while.”
“Sit down, Sunny,” he said.
She hesitated, but came to sit down across from him on the couch.
“So I’m back in control?” he asked her.
She nodded, looking miserable, like this entire conversation was making her unhappy.
“Good,” he said. “Then I have another command for you. Stay.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Stay in Vegas until this—whatever this is—runs its course.”
Sunny blinked her eyes. “You want me to give up my plans? My scholarship?”
“Whatever money they’re giving you, I’ll double it, and if you want to get a dance degree, you can go to UNLV. I’ll pay for it.”
He thought these were pretty generous terms, but Sunny looked at him like he’d slapped her. “The University of Nevada Las Vegas doesn’t offer a graduate degree in dance. There’s no dance program anywhere in Nevada that compares to the one at NYAU. It’s the number one program in the nation.”
Cole thought about that. “Fine, I’ll fly you out every weekend and you’ll spend breaks and the summer in Vegas.”
Once again, more than generous terms on his part, but Sunny’s eyes narrowed. “So your new plan is that we announce our engagement tonight at Nora’s ball, and then we what...just keep on acting engaged with me flying back and forth from New York, until when?” She shook her head at him. “Until you get tired of me?”
Cole sighed, not liking at all how Sunny was deciding to take his offer. “I’m not trying to insult you.”
“Too late,” Sunny answered. “You already have.”
Sunny got up from the couch and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Cole demanded, following her.
Sunny didn’t answer. Just grabbed her purse from where she’d left it on a chair near the front entrance.
“Tomas won’t drive you anywhere without my permission.”
“It’s Palm Springs!” she informed him. “I’m sure I can find a shuttle to take me back.”
“What about tomorrow night? The engagement announcement for Nora?” he asked her, furious that she wouldn’t even consider his terms, even though she claimed to love him.
Still, he knew it was low to use Nora to manipulate her into turning back around—even for him. Especially since he’d soon have to tell her that Nora was fine, and he’d just been pacifying her until he could make his power move.
Sunny stopped and swung back around to face him. “You’re right,” she said, her voice even. “I’ll come to the party tomorrow. For Nora. But only if you let me go now and don’t try to follow me or get in contact with me or evict me or do any of the devious stuff you’re always doing to get your way. And you don’t have to worry about putting me up in The Benton New York anymore or paying me the money you promised me, because this—” she waved her hands between the two of them “—wh
atever it is—has run its course.”
With an angry sadness marring her beautiful face, she turned back around and left, leaving Cole with no choice but to watch her walk away if he ever wanted to see her again.
Chapter 23
It had only taken twenty-four hours to get over having all the hair pulled off one of the most sensitive areas of her body with hot wax. Surely, Cole thought, it should have taken Sunny less time to get over their fight in Palm Springs.
But Sunny had shown up at the entrance outside of The Benton’s main ballroom in a light gray ball gown, looking as frosty as an ice princess. Frosty and beautiful.
“Hi,” he said, bending down to kiss her on the lips.
Sunny received his kiss, but in a stiff, blank-eyed way. Like she was cardboard cutout of her former self.
“Where did you sleep last night?” he asked her. “I told Agnes to offer you any of the hotel rooms, but she said you’d already made arrangements.”
The lease had run out on Sunny’s other apartment back in July, so he’d known she hadn’t gone back there.
“Jakey’s away at a leadership camp, so Pru’s couch is free,” she answered, no feeling whatsoever in her voice.
“Oh,” he said, wondering if this was what it felt like for her when he went cold. “Well, if that couch becomes unavailable, you can come back to The Benton. I want to make sure you have somewhere to stay before you leave for New York.”
Sunny didn’t answer, just shifted her eyes. “If we’re going to do this, we should do this.” Then she went into the ballroom, leaving him to follow her in.
Cole couldn’t take his eyes off of her after that, even though she’d refused to so much as meet his gaze or say more than a few clipped words to him. Within an hour, he began wishing Nora would get there already, just so Sunny would have to at least pretend to be in love with him, like she claimed to be in Palm Springs.
He thought of that moment with a pang, wishing he hadn’t let it catch him so off guard. But he’d been unprepared for the shock of her words, or the way it made him feel. Honored, like having her fall in love with him was the best thing that had ever happened to him, even better than getting named CEO of The Benton Group.
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