A Cinderella Affair

by A. C. Arthur

  And, yes, he was very charismatic with the ladies. The salesperson in the fabric store they visited had thrown herself at him from the moment they walked in the door. She hadn’t given Camille more than a second glance until Adam announced that he and his wife were looking for fabric for drapes in their new home. The woman had quickly backed down and even sent another salesperson to help them. Although she was initially uncomfortable with Adam’s lie she eventually found the woman’s reaction funny instead of humiliating, and continued shopping.

  Adam had that effect on her. Things that normally would have crushed her spirit didn’t seem so bad with him by her side. Maybe because he didn’t feed into any of it or maybe it was the way he held tight to her hand or brushed her hair back from her face. These actions made her feel special, cherished almost.

  “Well, this tour guide has officially retired. And the next time I come to Vegas you owe me bigtime.” Slipping her shoes off Camille crossed her legs beneath her and turned to face him as she sat on the couch. He’d taken the seat next to her as she’d expected.

  “Most definitely,” he said with a smile. “There’s a lot more to Vegas than the casinos I’d like to show you.”

  “I’d like to see that house again. You know the one we had lunch at. Are you finished building it?”

  Adam had lain his head back on the couch so she had a great side profile of him. His strong chin was covered with a light coating of hair and she found herself wondering how he’d look with a full beard. He had thick eyebrows which gave him a sexy but dangerous look until you got a glance at his eyes. The eyes and that smile were deadly; Camille had already figured that out and tried to react to both appropriately.

  “Not yet. I don’t get as much time to focus on it as I’d like.”

  “So it is your house?” she asked.

  He turned his head to look at her. “No. I mean, not exactly. My cousin Ben, Max’s brother, will be moving back to the States in a couple of months and he asked us to get something together for him. I got the land in a package deal with another property we’d already sold so we figured we’d take this opportunity to build something from scratch.”

  “Where is your cousin living now?”

  “He works for the FBI and for the last four years has been on assignment in Rome.”

  Camille was shocked. “We have jurisdiction in Rome?”

  Adam smiled. “It’s a long story.” He took her hand in his. “One that I’d rather not spend my time with you talking about.”

  All thoughts of FBI and international jurisdiction fled Camille’s mind. She loved when he touched her. Looking down at her hand in his she felt a sense of security coupled with longing. And reality threatened to intercede.

  “Hey, what happened?” Adam asked with concern.

  Camille blinked and focused on him again. “What do you mean?”

  “Your facial expression changed, you looked seriously stressed for a minute. What were you thinking?”

  “Nothing,” she answered quickly.

  Adam sighed. “You know, when I first came over my purpose was to reassure you.”

  “Reassure me about what?”

  “I saw the article, Camille. And I’m fairly positive that you did, too.”

  He’d moved a little closer and still held her hand. She tried for a light tone. “What makes you think I read the paper?”

  With his other hand he stroked her cheek. “Because you’re a very smart woman and you’d want to know what was said about your showing last night.”

  She hunched her shoulders, not really wanting to discuss the hurtful words that had been printed. “It’s no big deal.”

  “That’s what I said, but then again, I’m used to being lied about and misconstrued.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, it’s tough being one of the Triple Threat Brothers.”

  “I’m afraid to ask,” Camille said, chuckling.

  “It’s a silly nickname my brothers and I earned by Vegas’s socially elite. A few years back it was said that we were a triple threat to all women because we were each good looking, had money and were basically unattainable.”

  She shifted and acted as if she were examining his face carefully. “Okay, I see the good-looking part and without a look at your bank statements I’m pretty sure by the private jet your family owns that you do have money, but you’ve got me stumped on unattainable.”

  He tweaked her nose. “Very funny.”

  “I’m serious. I mean, unless you’re not into women, why would you be unattainable?” She knew why it wasn’t possible for her to have him, but there were plenty of women who could possibly steal Adam’s heart.

  “Because that’s the way we like it. Long-term relationships weren’t on any of our lists of achievements. And after a few women we’ve dated got that impression they started talking. Rumors boost circulation.”

  “But Linc married Jade,” Camille said slowly. The room was dark and she was alone, sitting closely on the couch with Adam. They’d had a really good day together and she’d almost thought it was the perfect date. But what he’d just said raised more alarm in her mind.

  “That was amazing. He and Jade had an affair in college and then she turned up in his life again. At first he didn’t want to think about anything permanent, but I guess she changed his mind.”

  She’d begun twirling the gold necklace she wore around her finger, her mind totally focused on the fact that Adam was basically admitting to not wanting a relationship. “They seem to be very much in love.”

  Adam recognized the shift in her mood from the sound of her voice and wanted to kick himself. He’d readily admitted that his intention today was to assure her that his interest in her was genuine. And yet he’d told her about his reputation. There was no doubt in his mind what she was thinking now. He immediately released her hand, shifted so that they were face-to-face and cupped her cheeks. “Linc loves his wife very much, proving that the Triple Threat Brothers story is all rumor and speculation. They don’t know us or what we want in our hearts, in our lives.”

  She looked at him seriously and Adam felt himself falling into the deep brown pools of her eyes. His thumb grazed her bottom lip and he moved in closer. “They don’t know what I want.”

  She licked her lips and Adam felt his groin tighten. “What do you want, Adam?”

  Damn! He was positive she had no idea what she was really asking him. If she did she wouldn’t be so calmly waiting for his reply. He couldn’t possibly tell her that he wanted her naked, hot body beneath him, poised and ready for his possession. And he didn’t dare tell her that the urge to feel her nipples against his tongue, her wetness on his lips, was threatening to drive him insane.

  But he wasn’t in any mood to lie to her, either.

  “I want to kiss you.”

  She surprised him with a small smile as she leaned in closer. “Then do it.”

  That was all the prompting Adam needed. He’d intended to take her lips slowly, to slip his tongue into her mouth and languidly stroke her until she moaned for more. But his blood was pumping so loud and fierce through his veins that his mind was a bit distorted. So the second he was close enough his lips plundered hers, pulling the soft flesh of her bottom lip between his teeth. He sucked until she hissed and then he swiped his tongue over the now swollen lip, her bottom row of teeth. Her hands went to his chest and she kneaded urgently.

  Adam’s entire body shook with desire and he thrust his tongue into her mouth. He’d expected her to let him retain the lead, guiding them both into a blissfully romantic kiss. But she captured his tongue instead, sucking it greedily into her mouth and holding on. He groaned and raked his fingers through her hair.

  They devoured each other hungrily, groping and tugging at clothing until her blouse was unbuttoned and his shirt was pulled completely from the band of his pants.

  The moment his hand cupped her breast she hissed. He whispered her name and wanted nothing more than to take the plump
mound into his mouth but then he paused. Pulling both his mouth and hand away from her he moved back across the couch so that there was at least a foot of space between them.

  He’d glanced at her briefly as he moved away, saw the complete look of confusion on her face and cursed himself silently.

  Rubbing his hands down his face he took a deep, steadying breath. What the hell was he doing? This was Camille, his business partner and, as of lately, his friend. Yes, he wanted badly to make love to her and at this moment he figured she wanted the same thing. But he couldn’t. Something just wasn’t right.

  He heard her whisper his name and struggled for something to say to her. Looking over at her in that instant he knew she didn’t understand. Hell, he didn’t quite understand it himself. The kiss had been great, intoxicating actually. She’d been soft and pliant in his arms. He was hard as steel in his pants. There was nothing stopping them from reaching for the pleasure they both knew would come from their joining. Nothing but him.

  “Camille,” he began.

  “No.” She quickly began shaking her head. “Don’t say anything.” Her fingers trembled as she buttoned her shirt.

  She wouldn’t look at him now and he knew that she was embarrassed, knew that she’d been thinking the absolute worst of the situation. She stood and tried to walk away when he stood up and blocked her retreat.

  “Camille,” he whispered, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Listen to me.”

  “You don’t have to explain. It’s okay. I’m okay,” she said, looking across the room.

  “It’s not okay,” he said and grasped her chin, turning her to face him. “Believe me when I say that I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any other woman in my life.”

  She opened her mouth to speak and he touched her lips with his fingertips. “I don’t want you thinking for one moment that what just happened was a result of anything you’d done wrong. It’s me.”

  “No. Don’t lie on my account,” she said softly. “You’re perfect.”

  Adam threw back his head and laughed. “Not hardly.” He gazed into her eyes and knew now why he couldn’t take her to bed tonight. “You are the closest thing to a perfect woman that I’ve been privileged to come by. You are blatantly honest, frighteningly intelligent and sexier than you can possibly imagine.”

  “Then why did you stop?”

  Her tongue skittered over her bottom lip and he lowered his forehead to hers and groaned. “What are you doing to me?” he murmured.

  She shrugged. “Do you want to keep things on a business only level? If we obviously want different things, maybe that’s for the best.”

  He was already shaking his head negatively. “No.” He took a deep breath and repeated, “No. There’s no way I can continue to work with you and not want to touch you. And if I can’t touch you or call you when I just want to hear your voice I’ll go crazy.”

  She reached up a hand and rubbed his cheek. “Then, Adam, I really don’t understand.”

  “I’m not real sure what’s going on myself. All I know is that I enjoy being with you. A lot. Tomorrow morning I’m going to hate getting on that plane and heading back to Vegas because I know you’ll still be here.” He leaned into her touch, loving the feel of her hands on him and closed his eyes a moment to gather his thoughts. “I don’t want to make any mistakes with you, Camille.” And that was the truth. She was fragile, her emotions an open forum for anyone to take advantage of. Above all else he wanted to protect her from all hurt and harm. Even if that meant protecting her from himself.

  “I’m a grown woman, Adam. I can handle an affair with you.”

  And those words were his undoing. He knew the moment she’d said them that he was going to say something that he hadn’t given any thought to, that he hadn’t considered in a very long time. “I don’t want an affair with you, Camille. When I look at you I see so much more than a couple months of really good sex.”

  She giggled. “How do you know it’ll be really good?”

  He gave her a smirk then brushed a finger over her breast. “Trust me, I know.”

  Her body tensed against his and he let out a whoosh of air. “Yes, I definitely know. But I want more than that for us. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

  Camille understood his words but couldn’t believe the underlying truth in them. And she couldn’t think straight over the loud thumping of her heart. This could not be happening to her. Good things like this did not happen to her.

  This was the man who wanted to buy her father’s house and sell it to some strangers. He was a reputed playboy, a savvy businessman, a loyal brother and a threat to her libido. And he was saying that he wanted a real relationship with her. Camille wanted to scream like she knew Dana would when she told her.

  “I understand,” she said in as calm a voice as she could muster.

  “So you understand but what do you think about that?” he asked, still holding her in his arms.

  He was staring at her intently, his hands moving freely up and down her side, where she knew he could feel her slight bulge and for a minute she almost reverted back to her insecurities about her body. She took a deep breath, determined to have faith in his words about liking her the way she was. “I think that we’re both mature enough to know what we want. If you say you want something more, then I believe you.”

  He nodded, his hands resting at her sides, and she shifted trying to get them to move farther up and around her back.

  “What do you want, Camille?”

  She wanted him to throw her on that floor and make wild, passionate love to her. She wanted him to fall desperately in love with her the way she was afraid she was doing with him. She wanted the type of love Linc and Jade seemed to share. She wanted the happiness she’d seen on Jade’s face. And then she knew she wanted the impossible.

  So as she’d learned to do all her life, she decided to take whatever she could get. “I want to be with you in whatever capacity that I can.”

  Adam opened his mouth to say something and Camille knew she didn’t want to hear it. What she wanted was his lips on hers and since he wasn’t making that move she did it for him, effectively ending the conversation.

  Chapter 8

  Beverly Donovan sat to her husband’s left at the head of the table in the dining room of their Las Vegas home. They’d just returned from an eight-week international cruise. She loved the time alone with her husband but admitted to being homesick after the first few days. A good portion of her life revolved around her family, her kids especially, and even though they were all grown up, she felt she was needed at home to make sure things were running smoothly. Still, whenever Henry said it was time for them to take a trip, to spend some time alone, she happily packed her bags. He was her husband and she loved him.

  However, from her viewpoint this time she’d stayed away too long. Linc and Jade had come over for dinner as they usually did when there was a family meal planned. And Jade’s younger sister, Noelle joined them, as well. Beverly’s gaze rested on the energetic young woman for a minute. She was pretty as a picture but still had a lot of growing to do. She’d calmed down substantially in the months that Jade and Linc had been married, so much so that the job Linc had offered her in the casino almost a year ago had promoted her to shift manager where she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself.

  Her nephew Max also decided to join them. He was the spitting image of his father, Henry’s brother, Everette. Everette’s boys had always spent a lot of time at her house and she loved them as if they were her own sons. As such she had high expectations for their lives, as well. Truth be told Beverly wanted to see all her nieces and nephews happy in marriage with kids and successful in business. That was an ambitious goal she knew, but it wasn’t impossible.

  Trent sat across from her brooding about something or other, but then that was Trent’s way. He’d always been her most serious child to the point that he seemed agitated most of the time. Tonight his brow was drawn so tight she could
probably bounce quarters off of it. He looked to be in deep thought. After dinner she’d have to find out about what.

  And then there was her baby boy, Adam. He was such a handsome man now that he’d turned thirty. His boyish cuteness had grown into an allure that she’d watched women battle for. Unlike her older two sons Adam always had a twinkle in his eyes and a joke on his lips. He was carefree but great with business. The company he and Max ran together was doing a wonderful job and she couldn’t be more proud of him. Tonight, however, Adam resembled Trent a little too closely.

  While all her sons had her husband’s deep brown eyes and strong build they were each different in their own way. Adam had the smooth almond complexion and wore his dark wavy hair cropped close to his head. He had allowed a goatee to grow in and it was cut precisely giving him an older, distinguished look. But that wasn’t the only difference Beverly noticed in her son tonight. He was abnormally quiet.

  “So, Adam, Max was telling me this morning that you’ve entered a different type of business venture. Something about a house in Los Angeles,” she said hoping he would extend the conversation to the woman who currently owned the property. The woman who Max had also mentioned captured Adam’s attention.

  Adam was sipping his wine so he took a moment before answering. “It’s a great property that I had the chance to see inside and out before the previous owner passed away. We made an offer to the new owner but then ran into a—” he paused a moment, gazing across the room out the window. “A guess you could say a roadblock. Only she moved out of our way in her own time.”

  Beverly raised a brow and noticed the smile on Jade’s face as Adam had spoken. “Oh, the owner’s a woman?” she questioned.

  “Yes, ma’am. As a matter of fact she’s Camille Davis of CK Davis Designs.”

  There it was, that light she was so used to seeing in Adam’s eyes. Funny how it brightened at the mention of this woman. “Really? I was just reading a magazine article about her on the plane ride home. She’s a pretty young thing. And she built that business all by herself. Talented and pretty, that’s a good combination.”