“’Morning.” He kissed the nape of my neck.
Needing last night to not be a complete waste, I pressed my ass to his morning erection. “’Morning,” I teased.
“You’re going to be the end of me.”
“Hmm…”
“You’re mine.” He ran his lips along my bare shoulder.
“Are you claiming me?” I twisted under him until we faced each other and I was greeted with his golden hazel eyes—eyes that made my knees weak anytime he looked at me that way.
Smirking, he said, “Just claiming what’s mine.”
Before I had a chance to complain, he leaned over and took my nipple in his mouth. His tongue swirled, then he tugged my pebbled flesh between his lips before releasing it.
“Mine.”
“Yours?”
“Damn straight. We both know you belong to me.” He smiled before he pulled me closer to him. “I ordered breakfast. You want to get ready so we can eat and head back home?”
“Do we have to?” I whined, placing my leg over his.
“No, we don’t. If you want we can stay here all weekend, all week, or all month. I can have Melissa send down your essentials.” He planted a kiss on my forehead.
“That’d be nice.” I kissed his chest, then pushed myself up. “But first, I need to finish what we started,” I said, and climbed on top of him.
* * *
The raindrops were big and heavy on the roof of the car, making the ride home soothing. The sex filled weekend had passed in a blur and Cole focused on the road as I stared at the trees we passed along the highway.
“What are you thinking about, Katherine?” Cole asked after we paid the toll heading into Manhattan. It wasn’t like him to use my full name.
“Our time together.”
“We don’t have to stop because we’re back in the city.”
I crossed my arms in front of me and looked at the city blocks approaching. When we stopped at a red light a few blocks from my house, he took my hand in his.
“Can I see you again?” His eyes were soft, hopeful. “I can take you out to lunch, dinner? If you’d like, we can order and eat at my place.”
“Cole . . .” I wanted to see him every day, but I knew better. This couldn’t happen again. My job was on the line, and my heart wouldn’t be able to take the pain if it didn’t work out.
“It can stay between us. If we have to get away for the weekend to be together, so be it. Or we can meet at my place if you’re more comfortable. We don’t have to discuss work or the outside world . . . just you and me, Kat.” His bright eyes lit up the gloomy day.
I chewed the inside of my lip as I weighed my options. I wanted him in more ways than I was willing to admit, but could I do this? Could I keep it just sex with no emotions involved? No, you’re going to get attached. He was the type of guy who would end up breaking my heart, but there was no way I could deny myself what I wanted—potential heartbreak or not.
I exhaled and leaned in, placing my lips on his for a gentle kiss. “Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
* * *
We pulled up to my house, and I took my overnight bag from his back seat before leaning into him for a long goodbye kiss. He was mine, the same way I was his. Even if I couldn’t tell anyone.
His hand caressed my cheek as he looked deep into my eyes. “I’ll see you soon?”
“Yeah, I need to check my schedule. I think my mother wants to grab lunch soon.”
“I can meet your mother.” He smiled and kissed the back of my hand
“I don’t think so.” I couldn’t hide the panic in my voice. My mother would drool over him and arrange our marriage within the first five minutes of meeting him
“Why?” He cocked his head to the side. “Mothers love me.”
I shook my head. “Maybe next time.” I kissed his lips one last time before opening the door. “Call me, and we’ll set something up.”
The engine purred down my block as I turned to head up my steps. Ben was waiting for me under the awning.
Fuck.
“Hi.” I could hear the fear in my voice. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed who the driver was.
“Katherine.” His arms were crossed over his chest. “Friend of yours?” He looked down the city block to the turning car.
“Uh, yeah. Some guy I met that night at Shakes. We hit it off, and I spent the night with him in AC.” Maybe I’ll be a kick-ass lawyer after all. Coming up with lies on the spot was something I had never mastered until recently.
“Must be a somebody considering he’s driving through Manhattan in a car worth over a hundred and forty-thousand-dollars.” He threw the fact out as if it was a commonly known thing.
I stopped dead in my tracks. “How much?”
“Kat, that’s a Maserati. He isn’t just some guy. He’s a filthy rich guy.”
I opened my front door and avoided his eyes. “Oh. Didn’t know.” I kicked my shoes off and walked over to the couch. “Can I ask you a favor?”
“Sure. Does it have to do with your beau dropping you off before noon? Before Lila is done at the hospital?” He sat next to me and kicked his feet on top of the coffee table.
“If Lila asks, can you just say I crashed at your place? I don’t want to deal with her twenty questions routine.” I gave him my best puppy dog eyes.
“Did you relapse?”
“No! I just don’t want to explain him to her.”
“Who is he? Cole? He looks like the kind of guy who would drive a car like that.”
Sighing, I sat back and lifted my feet onto the couch. “I don’t want to talk about him yet. It’s new, and I’m not sure how I feel about him. And he’s the first guy that I’ve been sober with . . .”
“Okay, baby girl.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “I won’t say a peep.” I thanked God for placing Ben in my life when I always needed him most.
“Thanks, Benny.”
16
Cole
My mother’s U-shaped driveway led to an Italian-style fountain she had imported and cost the same as if she’d decided to feed a small country. It was a horrible statue, depicting a half-naked couple with their arms missing, but her decorator insisted on a statement piece for the bare yard. I would have chosen better landscaping rather than a massive monument, but I knew better than to argue.
My parents had four different homes they lived in during different seasons, not including their vacation homes. My mother was famous for needing a change. This was not the house I grew up in, but it was the one I most enjoyed visiting. This house was built to look like a European villa, my mother’s idea when she had it designed. The massive home had gray brick, which gave it the castle-like feel she enjoyed, and a garden located to the right of the fountain that stood in front of the three-car garage.
It was their last weekend in the Hamptons before they vacated to Newport for the summer. Since I missed my mother’s last family luncheon, I dropped Katherine off at her apartment, then stopped home for a quick shower and a change of clothes before hitting the road again. Thankfully, the rain let up before I left the city.
Stepping out of the car, I noticed my mother in the garden clipping her flowers. “Mother?” I said, walking over to the woman bent over with a large straw hat covering her face.
“Cole, is that you, honey?” She rose from the grass and tossed her gloves to the ground. “Oh, sweetie. I'm so happy you could make it.” Her smile was genuine when she looked up at me.
I leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Are you getting the garden ready for the summer?”
“Just some light trimming. Ronaldo knows what he's doing, but I wanted to give him a head start.” She wiped her hands on her pants and looked over on the fresh bed that was now weed-free. “It also helps pass the day.”
“How are things?” I wrapped my arm around her petite frame, bringing her close for an embrace. “How’s Grandma?”
“Eh, same as always. Your grand
mother has no idea who I am anymore.” She shrugged and smiled up at me. “Your father refuses to work less, Theo acts like a child most of the time, and I'm afraid you and Reagan will be so focused on your careers that you’ll never give me grandchildren.” She backhanded me in the chest with her last statement.
“Maybe Theo can work on giving you a grandchild, Mother,” I joked. Theo, my younger brother, still lived at home with no intention of moving anytime soon. Like Peter Pan, he refused to grow up.
“Cole, the only thing your brother has given me lately is headaches. You and Reagan were a breeze growing up, but most days I have to yell at Theo to get up so he isn’t late to your father’s office. He is twenty-four years old. I shouldn’t have to wake him every morning.” She shook her head, annoyed. “By twenty-four, you were living on your own and working your way through law school, and Reagan spent her days interning for Vogue and her nights with her nose buried in a textbook, but Theo is a completely different story.”
I slung my arm over my mother’s shoulder, kissing her on the head. Reagan and I were only eleven months apart, and while I was attending Harvard, she moved out west to attend Stanford University. Ever since then, she’d only returned home for quick visits. Theo was the baby of the family, and my father would rather look the other way than admit he was screwing up.
“How has he been lately?” I asked. Her eyes were sad when she looked up at me. She knew from my tone that I was only asking to be polite. I didn’t care how my father was doing. Our relationship had taken a turn for the worse when I graduated high school and didn’t follow in his footsteps. My father wanted me to take over Rhodes Industry. I wanted to become my own person. We had gone through a rough patch and never recovered.
“The doctors asked him to work less, but he refuses. His heart isn’t as strong as it once was. And I know he’s waiting for you to take over.”
“Mom, you know that’s not what I want.”
I had dropped my given name for that reason—I didn’t want to walk in his footsteps and take over his empire. I didn’t want the torch to be handed off to me. I wanted to earn it with my own blood and sweat. And that’s what I had done. Yes, my parents provided me with the funds to pay for school, but my office, my success, that was my doing.
We walked around the house, heading toward the outdoor kitchen and terrace. As lunch was prepared, my mother rushed inside for a quick shower, and I said a quick hello to my aunt and uncle whom I hadn’t seen since the last time my mother hosted one of these before walking to the kitchen.
Dropping the bottle of wine I brought in the fridge, I found Margaret finishing the last touches for lunch. She had been my nanny and fill-in mother, and her husband, Wilson, was the best father figure a kid could have. Since my mother always had a committee to run or a charity to start when we weren’t in school, Margaret and Wilson had helped raise the three of us, attending all our soccer practices, ballet recitals, and football games.
Walking over to the stove, I hugged Margaret around the waist and kissed the top of her gray hair. “Oh, child!” She slapped my hands that were secured around her waist. “You’re going to give me a heart attack sneaking up on me like that.” Her southern voice was high when she spoke.
“Where’s Wilson?”
“He went to the market to pick up a few things for me.” She turned and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Let me take a look at you.” She stepped back, holding me by my shoulders. “My little Cole.” She shook her head in disbelief. “You’re all grown up now. You need to stop being a stranger and come see us more often.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I kissed her cheek.
“Have you seen your father?” Her lips curled up in a kind smirk. “I know he’ll be glad to see you.”
“Yes, I’m sure he will.”
If I knew my father, glad to see me was not exactly how he’d feel. My father hated that I dropped his name and despised that I branched out on my own, leaving the family business he had created to Reagan and Theo.
“You two need to stop this war you have going on. It’s driving your mother mad.”
I kissed Margaret’s forehead again before hugging her tightly. “Will do, ma’am.”
The relationship with my father was complicated to understand. I didn’t want to be the next CEO of Rhodes Industries or follow in his footsteps. I didn’t want to be the next Rhodes heir as he had been with my grandfather. I didn’t want to own a portfolio of enterprises and be stuck traveling overseas for business all the time. Because of that, our relationship had turned. Our pleasantries were now limited to how his work was going and nothing more.
Exiting the kitchen, I walked through the family room looking for my father. Surprised when he wasn’t in the recliner watching CNN, I kept looking and found him in his office reading the Washington Post.
I knocked softly. “Working on the weekends now? Mother’s going to give you an earful if she finds you in here.”
“Coleman, my boy. No, I’m just reading the paper and needed a quiet room. You know how your aunt and uncle get when they have a couple of glasses of wine in them. Can’t shut them up.” Setting the paper aside, he rose and walked toward the bar where I stood.
Reaching for two Collins glasses, I lifted the crystal bottle and poured us his finest scotch. “Sir.” I handed a glass to him, and we raised our glasses to each other before lifting them to our lips. The savory malt aftertaste was smooth down my throat.
His hand slapped me on the shoulder. “How are things?”
“Good.”
“Everything good at the office? Evan’s case okay?”
Discussing my workload or any case I was working was never something we’d done before now. My only guess as to why he was so curious was that I was doing him a favor since he knew how much I hated that prick Evan.
“Yes, sir. Things are moving smoothly. I believe lunch is ready. Shall we?” I nodded my head toward the doorway. I followed my father through the kitchen to the outside patio. My maternal grandmother cooed at me, and I kissed her cheek before taking a seat next to my aunt.
As my mother gushed about the latest charity board she was a part of, I cracked open the beer Wilson handed me as he passed, heading in from the market. Digging into the crudité and cheese platters Margaret had placed on the table, I tuned out the conversation until I heard my mother call my name.
“Cole, I got a call the other day from the event coordinator. She said you left the gala early. Was everything all right?”
“You left early?” my father parroted.
It wasn’t acceptable for a Rhodes to leave their own event early. The only reason I'd stepped away was to confront Katherine about Benjamin. I took a swig of my beer and set it back down. “No, sir. There was a problem in the upstairs restroom that I needed to attend to, followed by a problem in the kitchen that needed my attention.”
“Next time let the event staff handle it,” my father said distractedly. “Where’s Theo?” He looked around. “Lunch will be served soon.”
My chair scraped over the wood floor as I slid back and stood. “I’ll go get him,” I said, dropping my napkin over my empty plate.
“Last I saw him he was on the tennis courts,” my mother said as I walked down to the grass.
The perfectly manicured lawn led down to the tennis courts where the guesthouse was located. I heard my brother’s voice as I cut through the privacy hedge.
“Come on, baby. You know I want to see you.” He held a tennis racquet in one hand, and his phone was glued to his ear in the other.
I lifted the lock on the gate door, pushing it open. “Begging for pussy again, Theo?”
“Fuck you,” he said to me before turning his attention back to the phone. “No, not you, baby. My brother. He just showed up to my house. Can I call you later?” He waited for the response. “Okay, I’ll see you soon. Keep your phone on you.” Dropping his phone into his back pocket, he walked over to me and pulled me in for a hug. “My man.”
“I
didn’t mean to interrupt your groveling.” I laughed.
“Come on, you know I don’t beg.” He shrugged. I met Clarice a few weeks ago. I think she may be the one.”
I scoffed. “Now I know you’re full of shit.”
“Lunch ready?” he asked, zipping the racquet back into its cover.
“Yeah, just about.”
“You sticking around, or are you having lunch and leaving?”
“Why?” I crossed my arms and cocked my head to the side.
“Well, I need a ride back to the city. I’m meeting a couple of buddies later at this club. You want to come with, be my wingman? We can play the brothers card.”
“Didn’t you just say Clarice was the one?” I passed through the hedge again with Theo trailing behind. “I’m not your fucking chauffeur. Drive your damn self. And I’m not in the mood for a club tonight.”
“Why not? If I remember correctly, last time we all went out you had your eye on a smokin’ blonde and you left me your car, so you could call Raul to come get you both.”
I chuckled at his reference to the first night I met Katherine. “Whatever you say, Theo. I’ll join you, but I’m not in the mood to bring anyone home.”
“Wait . . . You don’t want to bring anyone home?” He stopped and tugged on my arm to make me face him.
“What’s the big fucking deal?”
“Holy fuck us all.” He raised his hands as though he were addressing a large congregation. “Ladies and gentlemen, my brother is not in the mood to go catch some tail—something he personally taught me to do so well. What are you, bro? Pussy-whipped?”
“Fuck off, Theo.” Is he right? I liked spending time with Katherine, and I wanted to fuck her a couple more times, but I wasn’t whipped. It was just sex between us, but I didn’t think another woman would do for me. At least not right now.
He jabbed me in the shoulder as he jogged past. “It’s okay, man. I know it’s because you’re old as shit. You have to grab on to the broads who still want to suck your dick. Fresh meat don’t want to deal with your old, sorry ass.” He ran up the stairs, kissing my mother on the cheek before going inside to change out of his tennis gear.
Indiscretion Page 14
