by E. L. Todd
It’s Just Business
Hawke
Samantha spoke through the intercom. “Mr. Taylor, I have Olivia from Thick Whiskey on the line.”
I immediately rubbed my temple at the mention of her name. She was a snooty brat that inherited her father’s company. The rest of her team was a pleasure, but she was a bit of a nightmare. “Thank you, Samantha.” I grabbed the phone and hit the flashing button.
Without saying a word to indicate I was on the line, Olivia spoke first. “Hawke.”
I spun a pen in my hand, the one that held my financial logo along the side. “Hello, Olivia. Hope you’re well.”
“I’m very well. Actually, I have new business for you.”
Olivia allowed me to invest her money in life insurance companies, and I ended up making her a ton of extra money she didn’t even need. “You know me. I love new business.”
“Great. Let’s meet in the Bahamas. I love it there.”
Olivia and I had a business relationship. Together, we made a lot of money. But we also had a personal relationship as well. “My schedule is really tight right now. Can we have a meeting over the phone?”
“Busy?” A sarcastic laugh escaped her mouth like that was completely absurd.
“Yes.”
“I’m a lot more adventurous when I’m at the beach with a drink in my hand.”
I knew she would be pushy. She was pushy in the bedroom as well. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I’m no longer available in that regard.” She was a good lay and didn’t want something serious, exactly what I wanted when we were together. She and I were on and off, usually taking a trip together to screw and plan her investments. But now that couldn’t happen anymore.
“No longer available? Does that mean Hawke has settled down?”
My eyes drifted to the picture frame on my desk. Marie took it years ago. Francesca and I were in the kitchen with a batch of fresh muffins. We were both taking a bite out of one with my arm around her shoulders. “Yes.”
“Oh really?” She was disappointed because there was something she wanted but couldn’t have—something very rare.
“Really.”
“Who’s the lucky girl?”
“Her name is Francesca.”
“Please don’t tell me she’s an Italian model.”
“She’s not.”
“How long has this been going on?”
I didn’t like all the personal questions. My relationship with Francesca was my private business, and I didn’t like sharing it with anyone, especially a woman I had a meaningless fling with. “If you want to do business, give me a call. If not, I’ll talk to you later.” I grabbed the phone and prepared to put it back on the receiver.
“Whoa, hold on.”
I sighed before I returned the phone to my ear. “Yes?”
“Didn’t mean to upset you, Hawke.”
“So, can we schedule a meeting for next week?”
“I’d still prefer to meet in person. How about our usual place?”
This woman was unbelievable. She actually thought she could seduce me if we were alone together. “Fine by me. I’m always looking for an excuse to get away. But Francesca will be accompanying me.”
Olivia’s silence showed just how pleased she was by that.
“Leave the details with my secretary.” I hung up before Olivia could say anything else.
***
I just stepped out of the shower when my phone lit up with a text message.
What’s my grizzly up to?
Anytime I saw her name light up my screen, I smiled. Eating a jar of honey.
If I came by, would I be eaten too?
It’s a real possibility. I leaned against the wall with a towel wrapped around my waist.
I guess I’ll take the risk. The second her message lit up, there was a knock on the door.
My eyes moved to the entryway, and a slow smile spread on my lips. Is that you?
Maybe…
I set my phone aside before I opened the door.
Francesca’s eyes immediately darted to the towel around my waist. Her eyes grazed over my hard chest, which still had a few water droplets, and then a mischievous smile spread across her lips. “I think I found the honey jar.”
I pulled her inside my apartment before I shut the door behind her. “Why didn’t you just knock to begin with?”
“I didn’t want you to think I was weird for stopping by.”
I guided her against the door, my head craned down toward her. “You can stop by whenever the hell you want.”
“I can?” Her eyes glanced at my lips before they moved down to my chest.
“Yeah.” I kissed the corner of her mouth, loving the way she responded to me. Even though I couldn’t feel her heartbeat, I could see her slight reactions. When her lips parted, she took a quiet breath. Her eyes became hazy, like she couldn’t see anything farther than an inch in front of her face. She was drowning in me, just the way I drowned in her. Without reading her mind, I could tell she craved me. She wanted to lick her tongue across my chest and taste every water drop.
She eyed the towel around my waist before she grabbed it in her small fingers. Then she looked up at me, her intentions written all over her face.
The second she texted me I got hard. Whenever it came to her, I was turned on. I’d been with a lot of gorgeous woman in my time, here and back in South Carolina, but none of them had the effect Francesca did. She had an unnatural touch, a sexy charm that couldn’t be compared.
She yanked on the towel until it came loose. When it thudded against the floor, she looked down at me, unashamed at her open gawking. “Grizzly is happy to see me.”
“Always.” My arms hooked around her waist, and I lifted her to my chest. Being with her was such a gift that I could never take for granted. She chased away the darkness when she came into my cave and brought the light. Now I was whole.
I was happy.
***
Francesca slithered out of the bed.
I snatched her and dragged her back. “Where do you think you’re going, Muffin?” I returned her to my chest then brushed my lips past her hairline.
Her stomach rumbled loudly, answering my question for me.
I smiled from ear-to-ear.
“Hope you didn’t hear that…”
“I did.” I guided her to her back before I placed kisses over her flat stomach. “I need to feed my girl.”
“Yes. Feed her pizza.”
I avoided eating out as much as possible, unless it was a restaurant where I could order something remotely healthy. Francesca was the opposite. She ate whatever she wanted when she wanted it. She had a perfect figure no matter what she ate. I suspected every woman in the world hated her because of that. “I’ll make the order.”
“Yay.” She kicked her feet playfully.
I chuckled. “The little things make you happy, huh?”
“No.” She ran her hands up my chest to my shoulders. “The big things do, actually.”
Seeing the spark in her eyes brought my dick back to life. Sometimes, I wondered if this was all a dream, one of my regular fantasies. I hadn’t been happy in so long that I couldn’t recognize when it was right in front of my face. So much time had been wasted without her. How did I survive for so long? “We’ll order that pizza later.” I moved on top of her because I wanted another round.
Instead of insisting on being fed, she wrapped her legs around my waist and gave me a gentle squeeze. Her hair was sprawled across the sheets, and her eyes were lit up like the fourth of July. Sometimes, I couldn’t believe how we met. She was working behind the counter at a coffee shop, and the rest was history.
And I found my other half.
***
Francesca consumed half the pizza on her own. She sat at the table and inhaled her food like she was starving.
Amused, I watched her.
“What?” She grabbed another large slice from the box and dropped it onto her plate.
&nb
sp; “Nothing.”
“You’re staring at me.” She picked up a pepperoni and shoved it into her mouth.
“Maybe I like to stare.”
She grabbed another pepperoni and threw it at me.
I shifted my body and missed it.
“I know I eat a lot but I’m hungry.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t thinking that.”
“Well, you shouldn’t stare at a lady while she’s eating.”
“Even if I think she’s cute?” I missed our playful banter. I could be myself around her—completely and absolutely.
“Well…in that case.” She held up her slice and took an enormous bite.
I whistled quietly. “Day-yum.”
She laughed before she took another bite.
I glanced at the clock and noticed the time. Whenever Francesca was with me, a weird time vortex was created, and time passed at a remarkable pace. Every time I glanced at the clock, two hours had passed but it felt like five minutes. “Can you take time off work?”
“Why?” She finished the slice and pushed the plate away.
“I have a business trip in the Bahamas, and I’d like you to come with me.”
Her jaw dropped and practically hit the table. “Say what?”
I pressed my lips tightly together and tried not to laugh.
“A free trip to the Bahamas with a hunky man?” She jumped out of her chair and started to do the hula, shaking her hips like she wore a grass skirt. “Hell yeah, I’m in.”
“The hula is a Hawaiian thing.”
“Whatever.” She kept dancing in the middle of my kitchen. “I’m going to paradise.”
I decided to leave the part about Olivia out of it. She didn’t need to know.
“Wait.” She stopped dancing and her sadness emerged. “Are you going to be working the whole time?”
“No. I should only have one meeting. The rest of the time we can relax.”
She returned to doing the hula, waving her arms around like she’d done this many times before when no one was watching. “Marie is gonna be so jealous.”
“She just went to Bora Bora for her honeymoon.”
“Yeah, but that was then. This is now.” She fell into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Since you’re taking me somewhere nice, I should do something for you.”
I liked the sound of that. “You’ll be working the entire time we’re there.”
“What? I’m not baking. The humidity would ruin all of my creations.”
“You’ll be working for me.” The look in my eyes said everything my lips didn’t.
She nuzzled against my cheek then brushed her nose against mine. “I never thought I’d be so excited to go to work.”
Bad News
Francesca
I just finished washing my hands when Marie walked into my kitchen. She wore a tight purple dress with black shoes, and judging the flustered look on her face, something was wrong. “I have to tell you something.”
“What’s up?”
“When I was talking to Axel, I mentioned we ran into Kyle the other night. He said he was going to tell Hawke because he had the right to know.”
I sighed then rolled my back. “Goddammit, Marie.”
“I honestly didn’t think he would say anything.”
“Hawke is gonna rip into me.”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” Her hair was in loose spirals, but it didn’t look as pretty as it did before she ran all the way back here. She seemed genuinely distraught for blowing my secret. “It was my fault.”
“It’s okay.” She kept all my other secrets. “Hawke just asked me to go on a trip with him so this is going to put a damper on the mood.”
“I know. You guys have only been together for a few months, and now I put unnecessary strain on it.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Breaking up was the last thing I was worried about. We would fight and butt heads often, but that didn’t mean we weren’t staying together forever.
“How pissed do you think he’ll be?”
“I—”
“Extremely.” His dark voice entered my kitchen and made us both stiffen. He walked through the hallway and emerged without either one of us noticing.
Marie cringed then glanced over her shoulder, seeing him stand there in a black suit and tie. If we didn’t know him, we’d both be terrified for our lives. She shouldered her purse tighter then slowly headed for the hallway. “Ugh, I have to go. Just remembered I had to…”
Hawke kept his eyes glued to me, the insufferable rage marked across his visage. He slowly stepped farther into the room, his aim trained on me.
I smoothed out my apron but didn’t give in to the fear. “We really shouldn’t have this conversation at work.”
“You shouldn’t have been with him at all.” He didn’t yell, but his quiet voice was somehow more terrifying. He closed the gap between us and stood right in front of me.
“We talked for a few minutes. That was it.”
“Why do you keep talking to him at all?” He rested his hand on the counter beside me, blocking me in so I had nowhere to run.
“Because we ran into each other. It happens. Don’t tell me you don’t see your bimbos from time to time.”
“I do.” His hand formed a fist. “But I don’t have a drink with them.”
I understood why Hawke was jealous. He’d seen Kyle in the flesh and knew we had a relationship. I even met his parents. It wasn’t just a meaningless fling. While I didn’t love him, there was something there. “Hawke, of all people in the world, you shouldn’t be threatened by anything or anyone. I told Kyle you were my soul mate and the only man I would ever love. He and I spent time together and had some good times, but he always knew you were the real person I wanted. Your jealousy is unfounded, and frankly, it’s ludicrous.” I stepped away and removed my apron. It was covered in flour and sugar and I needed to replace it.
Hawke didn’t move. His hand remained on the counter, and he stared at me with a stoic expression. His thoughts were invisible, even to me.
This would probably lead to one of those fights that stretched on for days, maybe even a week. But I refused to apologize for a crime I didn’t commit. I would run into old flames for the rest of my life. I refused to be rude to them just because they were a lover in the past. “I should get back to work. I have to make a birthday cake for—”
“You’re right.”
Whoa, did he just say that? I grabbed a clean apron from the pile then looked at him.
He removed his hand from the counter and placed it in his pocket. Then he slowly walked to me, the hostility in his eyes now gone. “I’m sorry.”
First, a free vacation, and now, a quick apology. It was going to be a good week. “It’s okay.”
“I already lost you once, and I don’t want to go through that again. My life without you was…” He rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to find the right wording. “Agonizing. I don’t want to go through that again, not when I’m so happy.”
My fingertips kneaded the fabric of my apron, and my eyes softened.
“But I should never worry about losing you, not when we’re forever.”
My lips automatically lifted in a smile, loving the way he said those final words.
He pressed his forehead against mine and closed his eyes, feeling the resonating sound that erupted between us. Everything else faded to the background. It was lunchtime so the front of the store was packed with customers. The constant ringing of the cash register was heard in any part of the shop. But the circle that surrounded us isolated us from everything else—from the whole world.
***
I could hardly sit still in my seat. I stared out the window and rubbed my palms together anxiously, excited to get off the plane and feel the heat of paradise.
Hawke watched me with an amused expression. “Excited?”
“That’s an understatement.”
“Practiced your hula?”
&n
bsp; “In fact, I did.”
He grabbed my hand and rested it on my thigh. “I want a private show—the coconut bra and everything.”
“Deal. It’s the least I can do since you’re bringing me along.”
“You can come to all my business meetings if you want. I won’t have to beat off in the shower.”
My spine prickled at the imagery. The idea of Hawke pleasing himself and thinking of me was the biggest turn on in the world. When we were just friends, I used to think about it when I had a go with my vibrator. “You can still do that…”
He turned to me, the same amused expression on his face. “I will. If you do something for me.”
I suspected I already knew what it was. “I’m down with that.”
***
We were led to our private bungalow over the water. There were a hundred spaced out across the quiet cove. Far past the lagoon were sailboats and fishing boats. People even cruised by on jet skis.
It was better than the pictures.
“This place is amazing.” The only vacation I ever went on was Disneyworld, and I was young so I don’t remember it very well. This place gave the word vacation a whole new definition.
“I’m glad you like it.” He moved his arm around my waist and guided me inside the bungalow. Our luggage was already sitting there, and the room was decorated with finery.
I opened the backdoor and saw the private plunge pool and the deck that led to the water below. “So sick!”
Hawke leaned against the doorway with his arms across his chest. He still wore the same amused expression that had been glued there all day. “It’s a nice view.”
I stuck my feet in the water of the pool and felt the coolness wash over my skin. “Have you been here before?”
“A few times.”
“Now I understand why you aren’t as excited.”
He sat beside me and removed his shoes. “I am excited. You make me excited.” He stuck his feet in the water and sat beside me, staring across the cove and to the world beyond.
“Thanks for bringing me along. It’s the greatest trip I’ve ever been on.”
He rubbed his nose against mine before he kissed the corner of my mouth. “Paradise doesn’t mean much when you’re alone and miserable.” Love was in his eyes as he stared at me, showing me a world of hollowness before we found our way back to one another. “But now I can truly cherish it, see the beauty of it, because I’m complete.”
