Hating Him Wanting Him : A Contemporary Romance Collection

by Summer Brooks

  A grin moved across his lips, a very genuine smile. He didn’t say another word. Instead, he put his beer down, stood up, and lifted me up onto my feet. Pushing his hands up through my hair, he leaned in and kissed me deeply. My knees shook and I felt weak and out of control. There was something about his kiss that touched me…in all sorts of places.

  He lowered his hands down to my hips and ran them up my sides and under my T-shirt. He was so warm against my skin but at the same time sent chills up my spine. Gripping the bottom of my shirt, I put my arms up and let him pull it up over my head. I loved the way that his eyes roamed all over my body as he leaned down and licked my breast with his hot tongue. I was suddenly glad I hadn’t put a bra back on, it would have been a waste of precious time.

  When he stood back up, we stared at each other for a moment before lunging at each other. He gripped me under the arms and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he charged across the patio, pushing my back against the window. Our mouths ran all over each other, and there was a desperation, a need between us unlike anything I had felt before.

  Pulling his shirt off, I tackled his pants, undoing them and letting them fall to the ground. With a simple pull, my pajama pants followed. He bit his lip, running his fingers up my thigh and over my beating mound. I gasped as he pushed harder against it, exciting every nerve in my body. With a jerk, he grabbed my chin and kissed me again. His other hand pulled my thigh up to the side.

  Keeping his mouth open to mine, he gripped his rock hard cock in his palm and quickly slid it through my wetness. I grabbed onto his shoulder and moaned, pressing my head to the window as he slid fast and hard inside of me. I wanted him so badly. I wanted him to rock me, make me explode.

  He grabbed my waist and lifted me up again, bringing my legs up to his hips and pushing me hard against the glass. With our eyes latched he began to pulse, pulling slowly out and ramming hard into me. His body was so hot against mine. Picking up the speed, he bounced me up and down on his cock, spiraling me closer to ecstasy.

  With a sharp movement, he put me down and spun me around, bending me over, and spreading my feet. He reached around and rubbed my clit as he slammed into me over and over again. I could hear his skin smack against my ass and echo out into the air. As I rose to my peak, so did he. He slammed in four more times before gripping me by the hips and pushing as deep as he could.

  As his dick pulsated in explosion inside of me, I erupted, vibrating back. We gripped tightly, letting the orgasms meld together, finding a pleasure I had never known before. It was amazing. When both of our bodies began to relax, he stood me up and pulled me into his arms.

  “Come to bed with me,” he whispered.

  “Only if you ask nicely,” I grinned, kissing his lips.

  That turned out better than I thought.

  18

  Mia

  The sun trickled in through the floor-to-ceiling blinds in Evan’s room. The bed was so comfortable, and I could still feel his warm body next to me. Slowly I opened my eyes, finding him lying there watching me sleep. I giggled, my cheeks getting warm, and my eyes looking down at the bed.

  He reached up and tilted my chin toward him. “Good morning. You look absolutely beautiful today.”

  I laughed feeling the wildness of my hair. “You’re either a very good liar, or you like me a lot more than I gave you credit for.”

  He laughed and kissed me on the nose before turning and jumping out of the bed. He waved his arm at me. “We’re off today. So, get dressed, and let’s go spend the whole day together. Did you bring a bathing suit?”

  “Yeah,” I cringed. “I’m pretty sure Lily threw one in my suitcase. Though I can’t promise that it’s appropriate or even flattering.”

  Evan rolled his eyes at me with a laugh. “I can’t imagine anything being unflattering on you. Come on, go get dressed and brush your teeth. I’ll be ready in 10 minutes.”

  I smiled as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Putting my hands over my face I silently squealed and kicked my legs in excitement. Maybe he and I were going to have a second chance after all. I ran to my room and changed my clothes quickly, meeting him in the living room. He put out his hand and I took it, butterflies fluttering in my stomach as we made our way out of the condo and down to the car waiting on us.

  We had a full day, an amazing day. We went by the local bakery and got coffee and danish before heading over to the beach where we spread out blankets that he had snagged from the condo, and sat there talking for hours. He told me about what it was like for him growing up, and even how he noticed when I was no longer around as a kid. I was flattered that he remembered me at all. He asked me questions about my childhood, about my aspirations and dreams, and I was shocked at how well he sat there and really took in what I was saying.

  Halfway through the day, we rolled up our blankets and threw them in the car before meandering down to the little section of beach businesses. We walked along holding hands, window shopping, and then grabbed lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall diner at the end of the street. The whole day was filled with laughter, jokes, and not one bit of stress. We didn’t talk about our fathers very much, we didn’t need to. It was a topic of conversation that we had been stuck in the middle of for far too long. I was just happy to get to know him for who he was, not who his father was, or who he was in business.

  When the sun began to set, we headed back to the car where the driver was waiting for us. Evan pulled a box from the back seat and smiled, handing it over to me. I narrowed my eyes and looked at him suspiciously. “You were with me all day, how could you possibly have done this?”

  He shrugged and grinned. “Magic. And a really amazing driver that did me a favor.”

  I opened up the box to find a beautiful summer dress and a pair of cute wedge sandals. When I looked up at him, he was pulling a shirt over his head and buttoning a pair of khaki shorts. He put his arms out to the sides doing a turn so I could see his outfit. “I figured if we’re going to go out to eat and watch the sunset, we should probably put on some regular clothes, at least for a couple hours.”

  I laughed, pulling off the bathing suit cover-up I was wearing and slipping the dress on over top of it. It fit perfectly, and fell tightly against my curves. He held my hand as I slipped my feet into my sandals and put my hands out doing the same type of turn. He whistled loudly and then pulled me close to him, kissing my lips softly. At that point I didn’t even care about dinner, but I could tell he put some thought into it.

  The driver took us about two miles down the beach to a small restaurant that had a balcony jutting out into the water. When the hostess walked us out onto the deck, I found just one single table, with white linens, candles, and a single red rose.

  He laughed at my surprised look. “I also managed to get the deck booked for us at sundown.”

  I shook my head and kissed him on the cheek before sitting down in the chair he had pulled out for me. “You better watch out, you’re spoiling me.”

  His eyes glistened as he stared across the table at me. “I really like spoiling you. In fact, I’m hoping I get to do it more often.”

  Good Lord, I hope so too.

  We spent the sunset eating tapas, drinking wine, and talking about everything from starting a company to our first boyfriend and girlfriend, and even our favorite foods. By the time we were done, I was more than ready to go back to the condo and just cuddle up with him. It had been one of the best days I’d ever had.

  We rode back to the house, sitting closely together, holding hands, and letting the wind blow on our sun-kissed skin. I could have ridden in the back of the car with him forever. Even when we got to the condo, walking to the elevator and making our way back up the hall, we stayed close, our hands clutching together. It was almost like we were afraid to let each other go, to put any distance between us.

  Once inside, he rubbed his hands down my arms and kissed me softly on the top of the head. “Why don’t you, while I start a fire
in the firepit on the patio, go change into something comfortable and we’ll continue our evening.”

  I smiled, feeling my heart begin to beat faster. “I will do that. Be careful though, don’t set the place on fire.”

  “Hey,” he laughed patting me on the butt as I made my way back to the hallway. “I was in Boy Scouts… For one year… When I was six.”

  I laughed, shaking my head as I walked into my room and shut the door behind me. I leaned back for a moment cupping my hands over my face and smiling wildly. It felt like I was in a dream. Like something that would happen in some cheesy romantic comedy. I knew that the real world would eventually hit us right in the face, but hopefully we were creating a strong enough bond that we would be able to get through it together. But I didn’t want to think about any of that at the time. I wanted to get back out there with him.

  I took off my dress and my bathing suit and laid them out in the bathroom to send out to be dry cleaned. As I turned to walk back into my bedroom, I caught a glance of my naked body in the mirror. I stopped for a moment, biting my bottom lip and gathering the courage to do something a little bit wild, a little bit out of my comfort zone.

  Letting a smile crack across my face, I grabbed the blanket off my bed wrapped it around me like a towel, and then tiptoed out of my room. As I reached the end of the hallway, going over in my mind how I was going to surprise him, I heard him almost whispering right around the corner in the kitchen. It was strange to me, so I quietly inched towards the edge of the doorway listening to what he was saying.

  He hissed with irritation into the phone. “Dad, I get it. Here’s the deal, I just need her to finish this project. The client requires it.”

  My smile fell and I bit the inside of my lip, trying desperately not to cry. It felt like somebody punched me as hard as they could in the stomach. I couldn’t face him, I knew I couldn’t. He just betrayed every single conversation and apology we had shared. I very quietly swiveled back around and tiptoed to my room. Holding the doorknob to the side, I eased it shut and then hurried over to the bed. Climbing in, I laid my head down on the pillow.

  Just a couple minutes later, I could hear his footsteps coming down the hallway. He knocked lightly on the door and I turned my head away from it, shutting my eyes. I could hear him walk across the room, and brush his hand over the side of my face, but I didn’t move. I had to hold my breath in order not to give away the fact that I wasn’t sleeping, especially when he leaned down and kissed me on the cheek, pulling the blanket up over my shoulders.

  As soon as the lights were clicked off and my bedroom door shut again, I cupped my hand over my mouth, and began to cry.

  19

  Evan

  The alarm blared loudly right next to my head. Normally, I would groan, slapping the alarm until it either broke or turned off. That morning though, was completely different. I lifted my head and tapped the off button, with excitement brewing in my chest. Laying back down, I turned over on my back and stretched my arms up high over my head, pointing my toes. As I relaxed, I let out a long deep breath, a smile forming on my lips. I would’ve preferred waking up next to Mia, but just knowing that I was going to see her soon was enough for me to be motivated.

  I couldn’t believe that I was acting this way. Mia was literally right down the hall but I couldn’t wait to see her. In fact, I wasn’t planning on waiting. When I went in to check on her the night before, after dealing with my father, I found her asleep on the bed. From the silhouette of her body under the thin blanket, it looked like she was naked. It took everything in me not to climb in the bed with her but it had been a really long day, and I figured she could use the sleep.

  Covering her up, I felt this strong and vibrant need to always protect her. I had never felt that way about anyone in my life but unlike the women I had dated in the past, my feelings for Mia didn’t scare me in the least. Sure, it was complicated and it would be complicated for a while but complicated didn’t have to mean that we couldn’t pursue our feelings. She changed her entire life to get away from the stigma of being the daughter of a billionaire businessman. It was time for me to break that connection as well. My company was thriving and it was at the point where if my father was no longer on the board, it would continue to grow and strengthen.

  I had to stop being afraid. I had to start taking life into my own hands and stop living in the shadow of my father. It may have taken a woman like Mia to show me that, but it was better than never. Healing the wounds of the past would be good for him and it would be good for everyone involved, including me, Mia, my mother, her mother, and everyone else that had been dragged through the drama of something that happened so many years before. This was real life, not a movie and my father needed to learn how to accept responsibility for his actions and forgive others.

  For that morning though, I wasn’t ready to tackle the world quite yet. Breakfast on the other hand, I was definitely ready for but mostly because Mia and I had made plans to drive out early to this little breakfast restaurant on the water before we had to go to work. We only had one day off, but the more that we worked the quicker we could get back home. While I liked being out there in a little bubble with Mia, I knew eventually we would have to rejoin the real world. My father made that very obvious the night before on the phone but I wasn’t worried about what he thought.

  I pulled myself out of bed and headed into the bathroom to take a shower. While I wanted to see her as quickly as possible, I also wanted to look absolutely amazing for her when she saw me. We had both been exhausted from work and from the drama between the two of us and I felt like I hadn’t taken care of my body since I had arrived. The entire time I was in the warm shower, my mind slipped through the images of Mia from our date the day before. It was no longer just images of her naked body, though I didn’t mind those too much, it was also her smile, the way she laughed, and the way she looked at me when I was talking about my past or my future. She made me feel like what I had to say was important and it was the first time that anybody had made me feel that way in a very long time.

  I’d showered, shaved, and pulled out one of my nicer casual business suits that had been pressed before arriving. I wished I had brought more casual clothes, not realizing we would be working frequently inside the warehouses. It didn’t matter though, I was so used to wearing a suit I could probably go for a jog and it wouldn’t even feel strange.

  Looking at myself in the mirror, I began to pick myself apart. I combed my hair about 10 times, changed my button-up shirt twice, and smelled my own armpits about 10 times to make sure that I was fresh and clean for Mia. We may be on work leave but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make it as special and nice for her as possible. I wanted her to leave California to go back to Chicago with beautiful memories and a readiness to continue whatever it was that we had between us when we got back.

  After about 30 minutes of primping and poking I finally talked myself into letting it go and waking her up so that we could go to breakfast. Regardless of how much I wanted to just do whatever we wanted to do, we did have to get in to the client’s office that morning and go over some important stuff. I walked quietly through the hall and down to her room. As my knuckles lightly hit the door, it creaked open. I thought I had closed it all the way the night before but I’d been really careful not to wake her up so it was possible that it hadn’t latched properly.

  I pushed the door open and stepped inside, my eyes falling on the perfectly made bed in front of me. Mia wasn’t there. I glanced around at the bathroom, but the lights were off and nobody was inside. I could only assume that she was already up and waiting on me in the living room. I chuckled at myself remembering how focused and professional Mia could be. She had probably been up for hours but just didn’t want to wake me from my sleep.

  When I made it out to the living room though, there was no one there. The balcony doors were shut and locked, the front door was locked, and it was uncomfortably quiet. My heart began to beat a little bit faster, w
ondering where she had gone. I trotted up the stairs from the sunken living room, heading back to my room to grab my phone. However, as I passed the counter to the kitchen, I saw a tented piece of paper, folded in half, with my name written in cursive on the front.

  Standing there, I just stared at it. I don’t know why I was so afraid to pick it up and read it but I think just the setting of everything going on told me more than I was willing to admit. After staring at the piece of paper for several moments, I finally grabbed it and opened it up. I could smell the sweet scent of lavender wafting from the paper. It was the same shampoo and body spray that Mia wore.

  The handwriting on the letter was meticulous just like Mia was in everything that she did.

  Dear Evan,

  I’m not sure how it reached this point. I’m not sure how I even worked up the courage to wake up so early and take care of everything that I had to this morning. I really thought after our talk that we had worked things out to the point in which we could both feel comfortable with the past and the future. But it was obvious from the conversation I overheard with your father last night, that’s not the way things are. I get it. You need me to finish this project and the only way to do that was to make me feel comfortable enough about our father’s rivalry to stay on until it was done. Trying to see it from your point of view, however, is difficult for me considering I’m not the kind of person to manipulate others, especially when it has to do with the heart. That being said, there was no way I could stay here. There is no way to fix this, and there was no way that I could look you in the eyes and pretend that it never happened.

  If you’re worried about the project, don’t. Early this morning, I met up with the client, and explained that I had a family emergency and that I needed to go back home. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to come back but I told him that he was always welcome to contact me with any problems that may occur. He was comforted in knowing that you would be here, and that his staff had reached a full understanding of the technology. I attempted to lie to him so that he would not look negatively on you or your company. He thinks we’re doing a great job so just make sure that you keep up with it. I left all the information for the project, the information books, and the project notes concerning risk factors on the flash drive in the front pouch of your briefcase. You shouldn’t need any more information than that.