In a subtle move, I remove her fingers from my lips and place her arm back at her side, before glancing around the room to make sure no one is really watching us.
Victoria doesn’t back down, she stretches up and whispers in my ear, “You would forget she even existed after I finished with you.”
“Vickie,” I plead because I desperately want her to stop. Her offer does nothing to stimulate me. There’s only one woman I want right now, and I’m afraid she has run off with Evan Dunning.
Victoria smiles stiffly. “We make sense together, everyone sees that but you.”
Sure, I’ve heard that before from friends and colleagues. And she might be right about us making sense together, but only on paper. In all the years that we’ve been friends and then business partners, I’ve never once thought about entering a romantic relationship with her, not even a sexual one. She’s pretty, and we’re well matched, but the feelings aren’t there. Plus, it’s not in my nature to have romantic feelings toward the women I have a professional relationship with.
Honestly, I haven’t welcomed the idea of romantic relationships with anyone in years. There have been women here and there, I’m a man after all, but I haven’t let anyone in, that is until I met Cara. Her vulnerability has freed my own, and her spark has ignited a desire in me. I want her, desperately.
“Vickie, we’re perfect as we are. We’re great business partners and friends. Let’s not mess that up.”
Victoria flinches ever so slightly. A man that doesn’t know her like I do would have missed it. She isn’t one to handle rejection well since she detests losing in any capacity, but she has amazing control. “What makes this girl so special that you’re willing to jeopardize our business at this critical time?”
“I’ve got it under control,” I bark, but in the back of my mind, I worry she’s right.
“Hardly. We need you back in London.”
“Listen to me, because I’m only going to say this one more time. The work I’m doing in Wells is also important to the business. If we need the capital, this is the best opportunity to get it. I’ll be back in London when it’s finished.”
Yes, I’m justifying my actions, quite defensively, but there is some truth in my statement.
She places a hand on my chest, and it feels like a violation, like I’m somehow already taken. “Then it all needs to go to auction. Her sentimentality, and dare I say yours, is costing us.”
“I’ve heard enough. Excuse me,” I say and try to turn away from her, but she grasps my arm.
“Don’t be a fool,” she warns. “If you must, do what you have to do to get her out of your system, but then come back to London as quickly as you can.”
I pull out of her grasp and walk away. She calls after me, but I don’t do the decent thing. I leave her behind in search of Cara.
Cara
Evan guides me through the throngs of tipsy millionaires and exhausted event staff, down through the lobby, and out the door. The air is crisp and welcome. We don’t stop. He leads me to a nearby bridge that overlooks a park and the river Avon. Beneath a dim streetlight, he pulls me near to him, then slips off his tuxedo jacket and wraps it around my shoulders.
“I never thought we’d get to be alone,” he says while making tractor beam eye contact. It’s impossible to look away, no matter how much I want to. “Last week I was playing squash with an MP in London. It’s a standing match we have. I was telling him about your grandfather’s house. He’s quite interested.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes, although he’s a shrewd one, a Torrie through and through. Negotiations will be challenging.”
“Negotiations?”
He pulls me closer and talks down to me. “Do not worry your little mind over it, my dear. I know what I’m doing. I’ve moved millions and millions of dollars in property.”
“I have no doubt,” I tell him, letting his condescending comment go. “You seem well suited for your profession.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he says and takes hold of my hand. I try to ignore it. “Reid, on the other hand, could learn a thing or two from me.”
“How so? Reid seems well suited for his profession as well.”
Evan laughs and grabs my other hand in the process. I tug my hands back a little bit in hopes that he’ll let go. He squeezes harder. “Reid is a good friend of mine, of course. Pity about his family and all that. I’m just not sure how much of Reid’s success is his own or due to your grandfather.”
“Reid is incredibly capable. I’m sure he can take credit for his success,” I argue.
“Well, I’m about to purchase a seven bedroom villa on the coast of Saint Jean Cap Ferraton in the Côte d'Azur. That’s the French Riviera if you’re not fluent.”
I force my eyes to stay put and not roll into the back of my head. “Congratulations.”
“And I’ve got my eye on a yacht to accompany it.”
“Of course. You can’t really have a beachfront villa without a yacht. That’s just bad form.” I chuckle, and he joins in, but I’m not sure he’s catching my sarcastic drift.
“You see, I’m always looking forward, always making the right connections. Reid works with his head down. Thank God he has Victoria. She’s good for him.”
My eyes close and I inhale a sharp slice of his cologne. My brain tumbles his words around like the delicate setting of a dryer. Slowly. Rhythmically. Repeatedly. I imagine Reid and Victoria. I’m sure they’re still dancing, pressed closely together. She’s probably whispering naughty propositions into his ear as his hands glide down her back to rest on the top of her behind.
When I open my eyes, Evan is still staring at me and smiling, but he’s standing closer than I remember, and his hands are still holding mine.
“You’re shivering,” he says and closes the distance between us even more.
“Am I?”
“Yes.” He lets go of my hands and cups my face. “Let me warm you up.”
He kisses me, and while I should have expected it because all the signs were there, I’m surprised and end up taking a step back. But, his lips are glued to mine, and he follows my move. He’s completely overbearing. No doubt that’s how he gets what he wants in life.
Kissing Evan does nothing for me. I let it happen because I figure I don’t have much to lose. I’m a million miles from home, and I’m alone if you don’t count my romantically attached co-beneficiary. So why not kiss Evan? Does it really matter that he doesn’t ignite a fiery rush of hormones the same way Reid does? So what if he isn’t the lit match to my gasoline?
I’m about to kiss him back when I hear someone approaching us.
“Cara?”
Chapter Thirteen
Turning Point
Cara
Reid’s voice breaks right through me. The polite, malleable girl that’s let Evan kiss her is gone. I push him away as hard as I can to seek out Reid. He’s standing beneath a different streetlight with balled up fists at his sides. I take a chance and look at his face. It’s red, perhaps from the crisp air, most likely not. His mouth is firm. His eyes are slim and dark. The usual spark between us is gone.
“Reid? What are you doing here?” Where’s Victoria?
“The car is waiting,” he spits out and takes off toward the cars.
“Reid, wait,” I shout and chase after him.
“Cara!” Evan calls.
Right. Evan’s jacket. I slip it off and give it back to him.
“Thank you so much for tonight,” I say. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”
He’s not amused. “I can take you home.”
No way. I have to sort this out with Reid. Christ, he’s almost out of sight now.
“I’m sorry Evan, I have to go with him. I’ll call you,” I lie and take off without looking back.
My Prada heels I loved so much at the beginning of the night are now my worst enemy. I push through the pain and somehow keep my balance as I try to catch up with Reid, praying he doesn’
t leave me here.
When I get to the front of the building, he’s gone. In a sea of black luxury cars, I try to remember which one is ours. I bob and weave around, peeking in tinted windows, until I find ours at the front of the pack. Reid is already sitting in the back staring at his phone. The driver pops out of the car and opens my door.
I slide in beside Reid, but he doesn’t acknowledge me in the slightest. He reads his email or checks his stocks or does whatever it is that obsessed money guys do. I stare at him as I catch my breath and wait for him to look at me. That doesn’t happen. I’m about to say something to him when he starts typing on the damn device. The driver eases us out of city center, and we head back to Wells.
The back of the car is dark except for the glimmering light of Reid’s phone. It reflects back on his sullen face. I can’t find the right words to start the conversation. I’m not even sure what I want to discuss with him. Why is he so upset?
The drive feels twice as long. When the car finally parks at the side entrance of the house, Reid pulls his wallet out of his jacket and tips the driver handsomely.
“Thank you, sir,” the driver says and gets out to open our doors.
Reid doesn’t reply, nor does he wait for the driver. He opens his own door and starts toward the house.
“Thank you,” I tell the driver as I get out and chase after Reid. Again.
“Wait,” I plead.
He unlocks the door and leaves it open for me.
“Will you wait for me? Please!”
He doesn’t wait. He heads toward the staircase, and I follow.
“Reid, what’s wrong?”
He takes the steps two at a time and slips off his tuxedo jacket. I kick off my heels and lift my dress as I run up the stairs after him. He strides down the hall toward our bedrooms.
“Reid! Talk to me,” I shout, my throat starts to clench up.
Nothing.
“What did I do? Please, tell me,” I beg, and a small sob escapes me.
He turns toward me and stares at me with vicious eyes.
“What did I do?” I repeat.
He’s flabbergasted. “What did you do?” he asks rhetorically. “What did you do? What do you think you did?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. Yes. You. Do,” he sneers and takes a step closer to me. “Do not pull this naïveté routine on me. You know exactly what you did.”
“I kissed Evan,” I admit. “So what?”
“So what?” he shoots back at me through gritted teeth.
Now I’m pissed. Reid isn’t making any damn sense. “Yeah, so what?” I repeat and get up in his face.
“You know exactly what the problem is. Don’t act like you don’t see it. Don’t act like you don’t know.”
“I truly don’t know.”
He grabs my arms as if he’s going to shake me. “Are you really this daft?”
“Apparently, cause I don’t know what you’re talking about Reid, so just say it.”
He steps away and lifts his hands to his head as he paces around. “You’re so God damned maddening!”
“Right back ‘atcha,” I reply and stick my hands to my hips.
He turns and glares at me. “Fine, fine. I’ll say it,” he starts and walks right up to me. “How could you kiss him, Cara? How could you let him touch you like that when you don’t let me touch you? Won’t let me kiss you?”
“You can’t touch me. You can’t kiss me,” I argue.
“And why the hell not?”
“You know why,” I declare. Two can play at this game. Now he’s the obtuse one.
“Because you want him?”
“God, no,” I reply, repulsed by the idea.
“Then why? Am, I not good enough for you?”
I shake my head. “Are you insane? Did you forget about something?”
“Is it your mother?” he pleads and holds my arms tightly.
“Christ, Reid. Victoria! It’s because of Victoria.”
“Victoria? What the bloody hell does she have to do with it?”
“You’re taken, and I absolutely refuse to be the other woman, I refuse to be like…” I stop myself before I say it.
“Like my aunt?”
“Sorry, you know what I mean. You’re with someone else. How can I let you touch me?”
He pulls away again and starts to laugh. “So that’s what you think? You think I’m with Victoria?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No! We’re just business associates. Isn’t that obvious? My God, Cara,” he says and shakes his head in disbelief.
“No, it’s not obvious at all! The funeral, the phone calls, the dancing. She was your plus one for Christ’s sake. Evan even alluded to it. Why wouldn’t I think that? That’s why I wouldn’t kiss you that night on the couch. That’s why I’ve been trying to keep some distance between us.”
He laughs and stares at me.
“What?” I ask back, annoyed.
“You.” He marches over and put his hands on both sides of my face, covering my ears, and putting his lips on mine with urgency. I’m enveloped in a rush of flutters and hormones. I drop Anna’s handbag and open up to him. His tongue rushes to mine in urgent need. It’s a wet, greedy kiss that pushes us both into a frenzy. Suddenly, his hands are all over my body, pulling me and squeezing me. I tug on his hair, and he groans into my mouth. Our tongues entwine in a wild, frantic way. I can’t get enough. I’m hungry for him.
Everything I thought I knew about passion was wrong. So wrong. My body has come alive with Reid’s touch. His lips, his tongue, his hands are the sparks that ignite me.
I fold my arms around his neck while he pulls me hard against him. He moans my name between kisses and lifts me up against the wall outside his bedroom. The slit in my dress opens allowing my legs to wrap around him.
His eyes meet mine. “I’ve wanted you like this, since that first night.”
“You have?” I ask, staring at him in wonder.
“God, yes.” He kisses my mouth again, and suddenly we’re in motion. I hold on tightly as he effortlessly carries me into his bedroom, kissing me the whole way, our breath and tongues mingling in hot passion. He sets me down next to his bed and turns me around.
“When you asked me to zip this dress in the shop, I could barely control myself. Your skin, your scent, your hair, all of it right there, inches in front of me. It nearly pushed me over the edge. I almost dragged you back into the dressing room so I could have my way with you.”
Hearing that makes me emit a low growl, deep from my belly and I barely choke out my response. “Really?”
“Yes. I’ve had so many fantasies about taking you out of this dress,” he says, and in one swift fluid motion, he unzips it.
He slides the dress off me, and it pools at my feet. I stand before him in only a white corset and a pair of white lace panties I bought on our shopping spree.
“I remember these,” he says and runs a hand slowly down my backside, then squeezes one of my cheeks. My thighs press together tightly.
“I thought you weren’t looking,” I murmur.
“I’ve always been looking.”
He snakes his other arm around my stomach and pulls me back against his hard body. The fabric of his pants grazes against my skin while his erection nudges against my lower back. I lean my head back against his chest and reach up for his head. He nibbles at my ear, moves down to my neck, and onto my collarbone. His warm breath is heavy against my shoulder, and my eyes flutter closed as my own breath becomes harsh.
“I’m mad for you, you know that?” he says into my skin, before nipping at it.
“You are?”
He presses his erection into me. “Can’t you tell? Tell me you feel the same way. Tell me it’s okay. Give me permission, please.”
I exhale. “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“To all of the above.”
My nipples strain against my corset, as his hands roam over my breasts and
down over my belly, to my panties where he brushes over my sex. The breath I take is sharp and sudden. With his left arm wrapped around my waist, he slips his right hand beneath the delicate lace and cups me. An aroused groan slips through my lips. He continues to nuzzle at my neck, his heavy breath against my skin as his middle finger dips between my folds and goes right to my center. His touch is electric. Every nerve ending in my body sparks.
“Christ, Cara.” He nuzzles against my ear. “You’re so wet.”
He begins a sweet torment while holding me tightly with his other arm. Overwhelming sensation sweeps over every inch of my skin. I’ve never been with someone who has touched me so effectively.
“Come for me, Cara,” he pleads as his fingers pleasure me to the brink of orgasm. “I need to be inside you. Please come for me.”
The pressure between my hips grows and grows, and I know there is no way back to where we started. I fall apart in his arms, completely flooded in tingles and vibrations. I may have called out his name, but I’m so lost to the sensation that I don’t know what I’m actually saying. I’m weightless and heavy at the same time, my body sinking into his arms.
He groans and turns me. Our mouths meet once again. “You’re incredible,” he murmurs against my lips.
“I want more. I want you to feel what I’m feeling,” I tell him.
He stares at me, long and hard, then yanks at his bow tie. It comes undone easily. I pull it out, fling it across the room, and use nimble fingers to unbutton his tuxedo shirt.
“Cufflinks,” he says breathlessly.
I take pleasure in undoing them in the same way he enjoyed unzipping my dress. I place them on his nightstand as he quickly slides out of his shirt and drops it on the ground next to my dress. Here I am again, at his bare chest. It’s just as I remembered it from when he held me after my nightmare. It’s so beautifully sculpted. I trace down his torso, along his happy trail and land at his pants. My eyes snap up to his. They’re hooded and fierce and full of desire.
His belt buckle is next my next obstacle, so I get to work. The sound of the metal unlatching makes my mouth water. With his arms hanging at his side, and his hands in tight fists, he watches me with a wicked grin as I pull his belt through the loops. I giggle nervously when I unfasten his pants and maneuver the zipper down, over his erection.
Be What Love Is Page 15