Unspoken Bundle - Box Set Books 1-6

by Danes, Ellie

  I found myself slipping off into another daydream as Reese’s unmistakable grumble could be heard approaching from down the hall and he eventually made his way into the conference room with a handful of folders as well. “Here’s a few more to add to the pile for invoicing and review.” Reese had officially cut back to only coming into the office two days a week. The rest of his time was apparently spent fly fishing on the river and relaxing. He had begun to transfer his workload to Paul Riggins, the ex-military police officer who had started with the firm almost three weeks ago.

  He followed closely behind Reese with a few folders of his own. “Morning, ma’am. I have the following files to be reviewed at your convenience as well.” Paul’s military bearing and formal manner of speaking were sorely out of place in our more than laid back office.

  “Paul, please, don’t call me ma’am. Jennifer is fine.” I smiled.

  “Yes, Ms. Dunning.” Paul laughed. “I mean, Ok, Jennifer.”

  “Better.” I grabbed the files from his hands and flipped through them, looking at his notes. “Reese showed you how to fill out the tracking forms and reports?”

  “No, Aimee did. Are they not correct? I can complete them again.” Paul almost stood to attention; his perfect posture accentuated his perfectly fit physique. A stark contrast to the older and much shorter, out of shape Reese.

  “They are spot on. I was beginning to wonder whether Reese had started to enjoy paperwork.” I smiled at Reese as he grumbled back. “Nice work, Aimee.” I nodded at her.

  I leaned back in my chair, confident of the team that we now had in place and how the business had grown. I wondered whether I had really made the right decision by pulling back from Cain; it seemed everything was under control here. Aimee and I finished the file reviews as Reese and Paul left the conference room.

  The conference room had become a revolving door; Brice stood in the doorway, attracting our attention with a brief knock. Aimee’s face lit up as she spun to see her man standing there, eventually coming in and taking a seat at the conference room table. He held a stack of thick colored folders and dropped them on the corner of the table. “You two having fun?” Brice chuckled. I thought I’d escape from the office a bit. It’s crazier than ever up there.”

  After the initial shock of the Harritans arrest for my mother’s death had worn off, Dad returned to his old self. He had been impressed with Brice’s work, even more than before, and offered him a job. It was something that Brice had said he had wanted for a long time. I think it also had something to do with the fact that Dad was in much better spirits. He still had his rough days, but Cynthia was able to keep him on track. They decided to start their relationship again. They both seemed to need each other, and it was a welcome addition to my own life as well. Dad needed someone to look after him at times, especially when I couldn’t be there. I stared at Brice, thankful that things worked out for both he and my dad. “You see? Careful what you wish for. Any regrets so far?”

  Brice shook his head and starred at Aimee. “Absolutely not. I’m not only just a floor away from her, but I’m working with one of the best firms in the city.” Brice smiled at me. “I can’t thank you enough for putting a word in with your father and his firm.”

  “You did that all on your own, Brice…and please, you can stop thanking me. You’ve been there for almost three months already.” I laughed. “Speaking of which, how long has it been for you two?”

  Aimee smiled. “Almost five months.”

  “Wow, who would have thought?” I took a verbal jab at Brice. “Time flies when you’re on good behavior.” I giggled. “I can’t believe it’s going to be a year for Cain and I.” It was a bittersweet thought. We’d made it a year, but it seemed to be a very rocky place for us, at least from where I was standing.

  “When? Is he going to be home for it?” Aimee had a look of concern on her face.

  “Tomorrow. He’ll be flying back late tomorrow night, but I doubt he’s remembered. I haven’t mentioned anything to him. Maybe we’ll do something this weekend.”

  “Well, he and I have plans on Saturday.” Brice chimed in and I met his comment with hatred and a nasty glare, only matched by Aimee’s evil look. I decided I’d let Aimee discipline her man for cutting into a girl’s one-year anniversary.

  “Oh, Jennifer, you need to stop worrying. You’re all Cain thinks about. Trust me, it’s a non-stop conversation about you and­­–” Brice cut his statement short.

  “Me and?” I stared at Brice trying to read what he was hiding.

  “Nothing. I was just saying you’re all he talks about.” Brice hopped up and made his way back to the door. “By the way, those are new cases from DDC that we’d like your help on. Your father said to work them in toward the front, they’re pressing.” Brice slipped out of the office before I could make another comment.

  “Well, maybe I will be working this weekend after all, especially if Cain already has plans with his new best friend.” I knew there was no point trying to hide the look of disgust on my face. “Maybe a little girl time for us on Saturday?” Aimee agreed it sounded like a perfect escape for us both.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  I loosened the top button of my blouse as I exited the courthouse with Aimee. The courtroom had been sweltering and after having sat through three hours of jury selection, I was ready for an ice cold drink to start the weekend. Unfortunately, I still had several more hours of work and calls to take care of before I could slip away.

  I raced down the interstate back toward downtown and our offices, as Aimee clutched the overhead handles of my car. In high school we would joke that they were called the “oh shit” handles due to my erratic driving, which caused her to scream profanities as I raced through the streets around our neighborhood. It appeared that my driving hadn’t improved over the years, at least according to her.

  “I can’t believe he didn’t say a word to me about it last night on the phone, Aims,” I barked out at her as I sped down the road weaving in and out of cars. “Not a single damn word.”

  Aimee clutched the handles as her face whitened along with her knuckles from the tight grip she had on the plastic. “It’s Ok, Jen. Some guys are like that. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t care.” Aimee seemed to be trying to rationalize Cain’s forgetfulness around our anniversary.

  “He’s not who I thought he was. Everything has been about work and this new company. He spends so much time out there. All I hear about is merging centers and financials and new software and blah, blah, blah.” I was mad enough to spit as I mashed the gas pedal harder, making the needle shoot up. “Damn him.” I grasped for blame to throw at Cain. I knew I had some responsibility, but at least I hadn’t forgotten the day. A year ago, this very morning, he ran right over me and changed my life forever. I thought back to our elevator encounter and smiled, only to allow my anger to take over again.

  “Jen, you’re scaring me. Can you slow down just a tad?” Aimee stomped on the floorboard, acting as if she had a brake on her side of the car. “Please?”

  I finally gave in and slowed down, not saying a word for the rest of the ride to the office. Aimee seemed grateful. I attempted to put my frustration on the backburner as I debated whether I wanted to do something special for Cain when he arrived home, or whether I should play coy and not give the importance of the day any additional attention. I decided to do neither, as I returned to the office and buried myself in work. I cut out of the office an hour early to enjoy the silence of my quiet condo. I had already worked myself up and I wasn’t sure I would be able calm down, no matter how late Cain showed up.

  I raced home, still hanging on to my anger and punched the button for twenty-three. The elevator flew to the top without a single stop along the way. I had a bag of work from the office and my usual binder. I wasn’t sure whether I would actually immerse myself in work or not, but at least I had a back up plan. I carefully jostled the bags as I unlocked the door and pushed it open ,ready for the peace and quiet tha
t awaited me.

  My mouth hung open at the muted glow from hundreds of candles reflecting off of the areas of the shiny wood floor that weren’t covered in rose petals. Light danced off of the walls and reflected from the wall of glass doors. Cain stood at the far end of the room, holding a single red rose. He was dressed in a jet-black suit and perfectly pressed white shirt that hugged his body. He looked more handsome than ever. His eyes twinkled in the candlelight as he smiled at me and slowly made his way toward me. I stood in the open doorway, speechless. All of my anger and frustration immediately dissipated.

  “Why are you here? I thought you weren’t getting back until late tonight?” A look of confusion covered my face as I stepped inside and shut the door, careful to not knock over the candles or ruin the effect of the path of petals.

  “Tonight is our anniversary, right? Tell me I got the day right?” Cain smiled as he looked at the date on his watch.

  “It is, but I thought­­–”

  “Whew, good.” Cain chuckled. “Well, as I was saying…you don’t think I would have missed the single most important day of my life, do you?” Cain moved closer as I carefully dropped my bags to the floor and reached for him. A flood of tears took over as I didn’t wait for his kiss, instead giving him my own.

  I reached up and firmly placed both of my hands on either side of his face, lovingly kissing him and then wrapping my arms around him.

  “Why are you crying?” Cain hugged and held me.

  “I thought you had forgotten. I thought it just wasn’t important to you.” I sniffled as I wiped the tears away. I immediately felt guilty that I hadn’t made the effort to do anything special for him.

  “Jen, there isn’t anything more important than you. Everything I do is for you. Tonight is about us.” Cain led me to the couch where he already had a bottle of wine chilling. He poured a glass as we sat and I began to calm down.

  “I’m sorry.” I reached out and touched his hand. “I didn’t­­–”

  He immediately kissed me and I tasted my own salty tears on his lips. “Jennifer,” Cain looked deep into my eyes as he held my hands. “I’ve never told you this, but that day we met, when I bumped into you in the elevator, you were on my mind all day long. It was fate that brought us together in that restaurant. I was supposed to be someplace else that night, but decided last minute to change my plans and ended up at Tarrant’s.” Cain smiled. “And there you were. I never looked back.”

  “Really?” I didn’t doubt what it said, but I wanted more reassurance. “You’ve seemed so preoccupied by your new business. Then with this trip being scheduled and you never mentioned anything…” I took a big gulp, trying to swallow the lump building in my throat. “I felt as if we were beginning to fall apart.”

  “Oh, Jen, I’m so sorry. That’s never been my intention. I do have a lot going on, we both do. I didn’t want to distract you from your own work. When you decided not to travel as much with me I realized I was dominating your attention. I wanted to give you space to do your thing.” Cain continued to hold my hand as he looked deep into my eyes. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.” He smiled and gave me a quick kiss. “I promise.”

  I took a longer soothing breath and smiled. “That’s exactly what I needed to hear.” I grabbed the glass of wine and took a big sip, hoping it would calm me down even more.

  Cain joined and took a drink and then slid closer to me on the couch. “Jen, a year ago I could have never imagined we would be here. I seemed like the furthest thing from your mind at times. I felt as if I were chasing you for a while…and then with everything else that happened–” Cain froze momentarily on the thought and moved on. “­I just wasn’t sure you wanted to have me in your life…but I’m glad you do.” A small tear formed in the corner of Cain’s eye. It wasn’t often that he showed that he was vulnerable, but when he did, like this, I found it incredibly sexy.

  He reached in to his suit pocket and pulled out a small, cream-colored velvet box and my heart sank and then began pounding out of my chest. “Cain­­–” I stumbled for what I wanted to say as I everything in the room began to move in slow motion. I wasn’t sure what exactly was about to happen, but I had an idea, and it terrified me.

  Cain continued. “Jennifer, I know that my parents would have loved you, just as I do. I wanted to do something special today, something we would both remember.” Cain held the small box in his hand as he lovingly looked me in the eyes and then placed it in mine. “This was my grandmother’s.”

  My hands trembled as I held the box, staring at it, then back at Cain. I waited, unsure if I should immediately open it, or wait for what was to follow. A million thoughts ran through my mind as I sat there. I wondered if Cain wasn’t as traditional as I had believed he was as I waited for him to drop to one knee, I wondered how long he had planned this, I wondered when he was going to ask, but then I didn’t wait for him to as I blurted out my answer. “Yes!”

  “Yes?” Cain raised an eyebrow as he stared at me, then his mouth fell open. “Oh my god, Jennifer, no, I’m not­–” The blood rushed from Cain’s face leaving it as white as a piece of paper and I could feel mine turn a bright shade of red. “I’m sorry, I wanted to do something special, give you something special that means a lot to me.” Cain reached over and opened the box revealing a large four-carat solitaire diamond necklace on a platinum chain. “My grandfather gave this to my grandmother. It was one of the few pieces of jewelry she wore.”

  I smiled, both from embarrassment at the misunderstanding and the story of the necklace. I stared at the box, unsure exactly what to say. It was absolutely stunning, and probably worth more than my car and everything else I owned. I carefully gathered my words and looked at Cain, his face still white. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume. It just looked, well, you know what it looked like.” I watched as Cain nodded. “It’ amazing, but it’s too much Cain.”

  “No, it’s not…and I’m sorry, I didn’t really think how it was going to look. Someday, though.” Cain smiled. “As hard as I tried, this evening just isn’t going as smoothly as I had envisioned.” Cain chuckled a little. “Can I help you put that on? I’d like to see how it looks.” Cain gestured toward the box.

  “I have an idea. I’ll be right back.” I left the room and returned a moment later wearing my red silk robe. I walked in front of Cain, who was still sitting on the couch and I smiled. “There, much better. So, you were saying? Oh yes, you wanted to see how that looked on me.” I pulled the tie on the robe allowing it to open freely, exposing my body to Cain, the candlelight casting shadows across my body. I eased the robe from my shoulders and dropped it to the floor.

  Cain stood and slowly removed the necklace from the box and placed it around my neck as he smiled and then admired it. “Perfect.” His fingers traced the outline of the necklace as it lay on my chest and then gently brushed his hands over my hard nipples. His touch sent electricity through my body as he watched my reaction and then pulled me close. “You are perfect.” He whispered in my ear and then gently kissed my neck.

  I craned my neck upwards, exposing more, allowing him to kiss and feel me. His hands found all of the right spots on my body as he pressed his lips firmly against my neck and then moved his way downward. My arms wrapped around his body as I pulled at his clothes, attempting to get him as naked as I was. Cain assisted me while not missing a beat and continued to kiss me. My flesh burned from the raw intimacy. Before I knew it, Cain’s golden skin was glowing in the candlelight. I caught his reflection in the glass and the vision of his firm back and ass sent my body into overload. I slowly moved him back to the couch and with a small push he landed, staring up at me. I gave him a sly smile as I straddled him, allowing his hardness to rest on my sweet spot, but not going any further. I grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his head as I held them with one hand using the other to caress his body.

  “That’s not fair.” Cain smiled and tried to wriggle his hands free.

  I tightened my grip as I
quickly placed a finger over his lips and then followed it by a kiss. “Shh–just behave and don’t move.” I gave him a sultry smile as I kissed down his neck and released his hands. I slowly ground myself on him, driving both of us crazy. I leaned back, giving him a full view of my breasts and the gorgeous pendant that hung elegantly between them. He began to move his arms and I gently scolded him. “No cheating.” I ground on him more, gyrating my hips and rubbing on him. I could feel his hardness between my legs as I tingled. I traced his well defined chest with my finger and followed it with a kiss as I placed his nipple in my mouth. I wasn’t sure how he would react as my tongue circled his round flesh. I could feel it rise in my mouth as I gently bit down. Cain moaned as he laid his head back, enjoying the moment.

  “You’re driving me crazy.” Cain flexed his hips, pushing himself hard against me and I couldn’t resist any longer. I reached down and guided him inside me as I took control of our rhythm. I reached up, grabbed his hands and guided them to my hips as I continued to send waves of pleasure through my body. Cain leaned in and gently returned the favor of my earlier nipple experience, placing my hard nipple in his mouth and began licking and sucking. My back arched as I moaned for him. Cain immediately responded to my request as he overwhelmed my body with pleasure. I felt the wave start from deep inside of me and then shake my entire body as we both continued our rhythmic motion. Cain’s breath was hot on my breast as he reached around and grabbed my back tightly, pulling himself closer and tighter, thrusting and moving until we both reached our climax together, my body now hypersensitive to his touch and movement.

  I fell beside Cain on the couch and lay next to me, holding me. I grabbed the blanket that lay just above my head and tossed it over us. “Happy anniversary,” I said through gasps of breath.