Loving the CEO (bundle of five romance novels)

by Noelle Adams

  Damn, he was hoping she’d be excited about going back to be with him but since last night, she hadn’t made one mention of the intimacies they’d shared.

  “I think it’s going to be…” he didn’t want to say perfect because Adam didn’t believe in perfect but he struggled for the right phrase.

  “It’s going to be great; just say it!” Cassie teased and took a sip of her drink. “I think I’ll go down a few days beforehand so that I can make sure the place is clean and aired out and that I can have Debbie come and do a walk-through of our setup so that there’s no awkwardness come time that everyone’s there.”

  “Sounds good. Are you planning on driving down on Wednesday?”

  “Actually, if it’s alright with you, I think I’ll head down Tuesday night and this way I can get up Wednesday morning and get things going. That will give me two full days of prep time before everyone arrives.”

  The wheels in Adam’s mind started turning. He could arrange for some of his executives and VP’s to handle things here so that Adam would be free to join Cassie at the beach and be alone with her for a few days before his meetings began. Adam didn’t feel the need to let Cassie in on that bit of information; instead, he was opting for the element of surprise.

  They sat quietly, as was becoming a habit, until Cassie turned to Adam and asked, “I think I have the makings of a meal down in the kitchen. Would you like to stay for dinner?”

  Here was his chance. It would be easy to let her do what she asked; he could sit here and relax and let her do what she enjoyed. But he wasn’t prepared to let her. “Actually, I was thinking of getting some Chinese. We could rent a movie from Redbox or something and just hang out. It’s been a long day, why don’t you just relax?”

  His words startled her. He had essentially pampered her all weekend. She wasn’t sure what to do with all of this spare time and energy. “Really? Are you sure? It would be easier to just go down in to the kitchen and whip something up.”

  Unable to help himself, Adam leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her nose. “Easier for whom?” Placing his glass on her coffee table, Adam stood and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “What do you like?”

  Cassie rattled off some of her personal favorites and together they decided on their orders. “Why don’t you return your messages and get settled back in while I go and pick up the food and the movie?” Adam suggested.

  Agreeing, Cassie watched him leave and wondered to herself just what kind of a relationship she was going to end up having with Adam Lawrence.

  Later that night, long after leaving the comfort of Cassie’s apartment, Adam lay in his own bed and played over the events of the weekend in his mind. Seduction had been the plan and while things didn’t go exactly as he had hoped, just the taste of what was to come had him hard. He knew that Cassie was a passionate woman but he was not prepared for what she would be like in his bed.

  The countdown was on until they were back on the coast and with any luck, she would be completely recovered and they could pick up where they left off. Adam had visions of having Cassie in every room of his home. A wicked grin crossed his face. Yes, by the time he arrived back at the beach he would be more than ready to take on such a quest.

  Pushing the erotic images from his mind, he turned his attention to the more practical side of survival for now. His mother hadn’t called to invite him for dinner and while under normal circumstances he wouldn’t be bothered by it, knowing that Cassie would be there and he wouldn’t didn’t sit well with him. He made a mental note to call his mother in the morning and fish for an invitation.

  Turning on his side and punching the pillow, Adam sighed as sleep eluded him.

  ****

  At six o’clock sharp the next evening, Cassie stood on Bev’s front porch. She felt naked without holding pots, pans or at the very least, a covered dish. She noticed that her siblings were already here and although Katie had offered to drive with her, Cassie had some bookkeeping to do that held her up a little. Ringing the bell, it was a bit of a shock to see her dad answering the door.

  He gathered her into a big bear hug and kissed her cheek as he led her into the large eat-in kitchen where everyone was gathered. Cassie took in her surroundings and found that Bev’s home was a lot like her childhood one. Large rooms that were comfortably furnished, bright cheery walls and a kitchen that could host large family gatherings. In truth, it felt like home.

  She walked around and kissed everyone hello and when she got to Bev, the older woman embraced her tightly. “I hope that you don’t mind that I wanted to cook tonight. I wanted to give you a bit of a break.” Her smile was sincere and Cassie couldn’t help but smile back with gratitude.

  “Are you kidding? I’ve been looking forward to this all day!” She took the drink that Bev offered and went to sit at the table with her siblings, taking time to pick up Ella and snuggle her in her arms.

  “Adam tells me that you’re going to cater an event for him out at the beach,” Bev said as she chopped ingredients for their salad. Adam had spoken to his mom? After all his talk yesterday of them not being close? Well, maybe Bev had called him to invite him for dinner. She casually looked around for any sign of him and then realized that everyone was looking to her for an answer.

  “Oh, yes; we took a ride out to the house this weekend. It’s magnificent. I had the chance to talk to some local vendors and I think Adam is going to be pleased with the results.”

  “As if he could be anything but,” her father stated with a grin. He liked this; he liked looking around the room and seeing that his children were genuinely happy to be here. His focus was on Cassie as she rocked Ella and talked softly to her. She looked so good and comfortable with a baby in her arms and he could only pray that this surgery was going to make it possible for her to have one of her own someday.

  “She looks good in your arms, Cass,” he couldn’t help but say. Cassie beamed at her father as she placed a soft kiss on Ella’s cheek.

  “She feels good in my arms, dad.” It was that moment that Adam walked into the kitchen. He took in the smiling faces, the relaxed atmosphere and for a moment, felt wildly out of place. Then he caught sight of Cassie with her niece in her arms and his breath felt as if it were knocked out of him.

  She looked positively serene, glowing with love as she held the small child and Adam wasn’t sure why the image affected him so much, but it did. He had to stop himself from staring and called out a greeting to his mother.

  If Bev could have her choice of a perfect evening, this would be it. When Adam had called earlier that morning and inquired about dinner tonight, she couldn’t hide her delight. As her only child, Bev wished that Adam would want to spend more time with her. She was unsure of what exactly had him experiencing a change of heart, but glancing in Cassie’s direction over Adam’s shoulder, she had a pretty good idea.

  Dinner was boisterous with everyone talking at once about a myriad of different topics. Adam realized that this was how the Jacobs family operated and while he still wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable with it, he was unable to stop himself from joining in.

  Matt was talking about a string of break ins that were going on in a residential part of town while Lauren was telling Bev about her college course load. Katie and Cassie were talking about the caterings they had coming up this weekend while he and Stephen talked about business and Adam’s upcoming travels.

  All in all Adam found the whole thing pleasant enough and the look of pure happiness on his mother’s face told him that he’d made the right decision to be a part of this get together.

  “So Cassie,” Bev began, “tell us about your plans for the meeting Adam’s holding at the beach.”

  Cassie looked nervously over at Adam in case he wanted to be the one to tell the details but he just smiled and nodded and that was her cue. He realized that he enjoyed hearing her talk about her work and she was so animated in her descriptions, that even if Adam had never been to the house, he would
have had a perfect picture in his mind as to what she was describing.

  “It sounds lovely,” Bev said with a smile. “I always imagined that house being used for special events and big parties.”

  “I know what you mean. This is just a small event; I could go wild with something a lot bigger. God knows there’s enough space there for a large group. Oh! You and dad should have your wedding there. It would be absolutely perfect! We could do flowers on the railings of the deck and lots and lots of candles all around…Oh, to see you coming down the stairs or maybe going down to the beach…it would be magical!” The words were out before Cassie could stop them and soon Lauren and Katie were chiming in with questions and ideas but she could feel the tension coming from Adam’s end of the table.

  Sensing trouble, Bev cleverly changed the subject and soon the topic of the wedding was dropped. Adam excused himself with claims of a call to make but Cassie knew better. Waiting all of thirty seconds, she followed him outside where she found him pacing on the porch.

  “Is everything all right?”

  He glared at her; that cold hard stare that she’d seen him give dozens of times to his employees. “What could possibly be wrong?” he snapped. “One weekend in my home and you’re already making plans for it yourself. Tell me, do you always make yourself at home that quickly or is it just with me?”

  Her eyes grew wide with shock. “Are you kidding me? She’s your mother, for crying out loud and it’s her wedding! That’s hardly planning something for me! How can you be so cold about this?”

  “Cold? This has nothing to do with being cold, Cassandra. I simply don’t appreciate you stepping in and offering up my home for parties without consulting with me first. I hired you to plan an event for my company; if my mother wants to hire you to plan her wedding then you two can discuss other venues or maybe talk to me privately before you start renting out space that isn’t yours.”

  She looked as if he’d slapped her. Clearly she had crossed a line, again, and he was not happy. Fine. Apparently she was good enough to sleep with but not good enough to make suggestions for things that involve both of their families. She made a mental note to never go there again.

  Stiffening her spine, she nodded her head. “Fine; you’re right. It was not my place to speak up.”

  It was the way she said place that got him. Their conversation yesterday about being the hired help rang out in his mind and as much as he wanted to be pissed off at her offering the house up for the wedding, he felt like crap for making her feel like their weekend together meant nothing to him.

  “Cassandra, look…”

  She held up a hand to stop him. “No, really, let’s not go there right now. You made yourself abundantly clear.” Turning, Cassie walked back into the house, firmly shutting the door behind her, leaving Adam alone in the darkness.

  Ten

  Cassie took a final look around her kitchen and picked up her checklist from the butcher block island to make sure she had everything.

  “Are you sure you still want to do this? Because I can go in your place.” Katie was standing opposite Cassie, arms folded across her chest.

  “It’s going to be fine. I have a job to do and as much as I am still ticked off at Adam for being…well, Adam, I am going to do that job and impress the hell out of those Europeans!”

  In the two and a half weeks since that fateful night at Bev’s, Cassie had refused all of Adam’s calls. She had gotten all of her information to Grace and managed to pick up the keys to the beach house while Adam was out of town.

  He had been relentless that first week in his attempts to talk to her. It had been painful at times and downright impossible at others to completely avoid him. He’d called, he’d sent flowers, and he’d shown up at her apartment late at night. Cassie refused to talk to him or even answer the door. When the family had gotten together for dinner one night the previous week, he had shown up. Her family, while being polite to him, had rallied around her and made sure that they kept her busy and unable to talk with him alone.

  In this whole rotten situation she felt the worst for Bev. After all, none of this was her fault; her son was a grown man who had control issues. Well, Cassie wasn’t going to let that bother her. She had a job to do and while it might be a bit awkward and uncomfortable to be with Adam in the house where they had nearly made love, Cassie knew she would be too busy with her job to pay much attention to him and, in turn, he would hopefully be too busy with his clients to focus any attention on her.

  Walking around the work space, Cassie grabbed her sister and hugged her. “You are the best, you know that?” She kissed Kate on the cheek and smiled. “I appreciate how much everyone wants to fight this battle for me but I am a professional and I am going to do what I was hired to do.”

  “At least he didn’t fire you this time.”

  “Yeah, thank God for small favors.” Pulling her keys from her purse, Cassie took one last look around. “I think I’ve got everything that I need; everything else is already there. Call me if you need anything. The Miller party…”

  “Is a walk in the park, Cass. I can do a party of that size with my eyes closed. Go, get on the road and enjoy the peace and solitude before Satan arrives.”

  “You have got to stop calling him that!” she laughed.

  “I will when he stops acting like that.”

  “I guess we all never outgrow the rubber and glue scenario…” She kissed her sister one last time and walked out the door feeling confident and ready to take on the world.

  The drive to Manteo was the perfect time for Cassie to clear her head and get mentally prepared for dealing with Adam. The only thing saving her was the fact that he wouldn’t be arriving until Friday with the rest of the group. By that time, she should be more than able to handle seeing him. Actually, by that time, she’d be in full-service mode and she could make sure that every second of her time was spent doing something for his guests.

  Her first inclination was to say ‘their guests’ but it was thinking like that that got her in trouble in the first place. Damn him! Damn him for ruining what was looking like being a really decent relationship. Cassie was the first to admit that she didn’t have the greatest taste in men but that taste usually ran to picking men who were unmotivated and content to still live at home with their moms.

  She had finally found someone who was confident, independent and successful and he ended up being a damn control freak. Wait…why was this a surprise to her? She knew this about Adam all along. As a matter of fact, if she were honest with herself, this was the exact reason she had quit on him a month ago! What was wrong with her? How could she have forgotten?

  So now the blame lay fully at her own feet and she didn’t like it. He had seduced her with his kindness and sexy looks and if her feelings were hurt then it was her own fault. Well, there was a bitter pill to swallow.

  No, she was not going to take all the responsibility for this. Adam needed to learn to not be so rude and to treat people with respect. Ha! Fat chance of that happening! Clicking on a CD, Cassie decided to wipe all thoughts of Adam out of her mind for the remainder of her drive. Checking the GPS, she saw that she still had two hours to go and decided to let her inner 80’s child out, and sang along to Bon Jovi for the next stretch of road.

  The clock read six-fifteen when Cassie pulled into the massive driveway at Adam’s house. There were a couple of lights on and she stiffened for a minute but then realized that he must have them on a timer. She got out of the car and glared at the closed garage door and wished that she had asked for the remote to that so she didn’t have to walk up the steps to the front door with all of her stuff; using the elevator would have been easier.

  Deciding to just grab her suitcase, she took the house key out of her purse and climbed the stairs; she could come back for the rest of her supplies later and open the garage door from the inside so she could haul all of her stuff up with ease in the elevator.

  Several things hit her at once as she opene
d the door. First, there was music playing softly; second, something was cooking and third, clearly she wasn’t alone.

  “Hello?” she nervously called out, refusing to walk any further into the house and unsure of what was going on.

  Adam stepped out into her field of vision and she wanted to scream. Whether the scream was of frustration or anger or fear, she wasn’t sure but just knowing that he’d thrown a monkey wrench in her perfectly crafted plan of clearing her head before he arrived had her thrown off.

  “What are you doing here?” she demanded, hands on hips, eyes ablaze.

  “It’s my house,” he stated simply. “How was your drive?” Adam walked towards her and took her suitcase from beside her and moved it to the bottom of the staircase. When he noticed that she hadn’t moved from her spot next to the door, he strode over and closed it and walked back towards the kitchen.

  If she wanted to scream a minute ago, she wanted to howl in rage now. How was her drive? How was her drive? That’s all he had to say after showing up here unannounced after being such a jackass? How dare he! Cassie’s first instinct was to turn around and flee but if she knew anything about Adam Lawrence, she knew she’d be kissing this job goodbye and she’d worked too hard to make it perfect to allow that to happen.

  With no other choice, she sighed heavily and followed Adam into the kitchen. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her. There were candles set along the breakfast bar, a fire roaring in the living room fireplace. Cassie could see steam coming from the grill outside and saw that there was a table set for two under one of the heat lamps and it was covered in linen with tower candles as a centerpiece.

  There were no words for what was going on in her mind. Adam was here and he had prepared a dinner for her. In all of her adult life, no man had ever taken the initiative and attempted to cook for her. She wasn’t sure how to respond to this; what to say, how to act.