Redeeming The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 5)

by Christina Tetreault

  She’d driven by The Hillcrest more times than she could count since its construction five years ago. Not once during all the time had she considered or cared who lived there. After all, The Hillcrest was the city’s premier apartment building. No one she knew could afford the price they asked for even the one-bedroom apartments. Given the building’s luxury status, it made perfect sense that Trent lived not only in the building but also in its penthouse, which occupied the entire top two floors.

  Without taking another step forward she took in her surroundings and hoped Trent hadn’t heard her jaw hit the floor. Since the beginning of her career she’d been in and worked on several luxury projects, but this place put all except one to shame. It quite literally was a designer’s dream come to life. Not one detail had been overlooked, and judging by the looks of it, no expense had been spared.

  “Why don’t you check out the view while I pour us some wine?” Warm hands came down on her shoulders and caressed her skin as they made their way down her arms. “Do you prefer white or red?”

  Even with space between them she felt the heat coming from his body and she began to lean back toward him seeking the intimate embrace they’d shared earlier that night.

  “Or if you’d rather I can make you something else, perhaps a Cosmo?”

  Her bare back rubbed against the front of his shirt, the friction causing goose bumps to form on her arms and her answer to Trent’s question slipped from her mind. Closing her eyes, she focused on the rise and fall of his chest against her as he breathed. Would he consider her crazy if she turned right now and kissed him? And even if he did, it might be worth it.

  “Are you cold?” He moved so that they stood face-to-face. His hand moved back up her arms, but instead of getting rid of the goose bumps, which must have been his purpose, she shivered under his hands.

  “I just got a little chill. I’m fine.” She glanced away as she spoke. When he opened his mouth as if to argue she beat him to it. “Really, I’m fine. See, the chill is already gone.” Addie held her arm out toward him, the goose bumps now gone.

  Without looking away from her face, he lifted her hand toward his mouth and kissed her just above the knuckles. “If you say so, but if that changes let me know.”

  Voice gone, thanks to his brief sign of affection, she nodded and let herself get lost in the moment.

  “I want you to be comfortable here.” His voice became husky and he took a step closer so that now they touched from chest to thigh. “Because I hope to see you here a lot in the future.” The words left his mouth and before her brain could finish processing them, he lowered his head toward hers.

  Adrenaline shot through her as her mind registered his intent, and Addie’s eyes fluttered closed just as his lips made contact with hers. At first his lips moved gently against hers, a mere wisp of a kiss. Prepared to lose herself in the moment, Addie slid her arms over Trent’s shoulders and clasped her hands together, grateful for the extra inch or two her heels gave her. As if encouraged by her response, Trent deepened the kiss and used his tongue to tease her lips apart until she opened for him.

  Finally. Since he’d picked her up he’d wanted to taste her. Back in her kitchen he’d contemplated kissing her, but had held back determined not to rush anything. Only by using all his self-restraint had he managed to hold back then.

  Changing the angle of his head, he rubbed his tongue against hers and an intense urge to walk her up to his bedroom, remove her dress, and just look at her filled his head. Granted he’d desired plenty of women before, yet somehow this time it was different, more intense and overwhelming. And while his body urged him to just do it, his rational self said otherwise. Before tonight he’d never clearly suggested he wanted anything other than a professional relationship with her. If he pushed things too fast it might scare her. And while he’d been known to sleep with a woman he’d known for less time than he’d known Addie, he pegged her for the type who didn’t have sex on a first date.

  Rein it in. There’s no need to rush things. After one more pass over her lips, Trent dug into his self-restraint and pulled his mouth away from Addie. At first she remained still, her eyes closed, her lips moist and rosy from their kiss. In the seconds before she opened her eyes, his body told him to once again take possession of her mouth to kiss her until she wanted him as much as his body wanted her. Reminding himself she was different than the usual women he dated, Trent took a step back and hoped space would get the message from his brain to his body.

  As if waking from sleep, Addie’s eyes fluttered open and met his gaze. He knew the moment she processed their kiss. A hint of color, almost impossible to see unless you’d been watching, crept into her face and she glanced away before meeting his eyes again.

  “If I’m going to be spending time here, maybe you should give me a tour.”

  Her words sent a ripple of unexpected happiness through him that had nothing to do with Marty’s plan. Rather his happiness had everything to do with his desire to spend time with Addie and get to know her better. Something he’d want even if Marty didn’t believe she was the key to salvaging his reputation.

  Trent reached out and brushed his fingers across her cheek. “How about I pour us some wine first and then I’ll show you around. If you want to check out the view before they extinguish the fires, go ahead. I’ll be right back.”

  “I forgot about that,” she said and took a step away from him.

  He watched her walk away toward the living room that overlooked the river and allowed himself a moment to appreciate the tanned skin on her back and legs. Then, before he changed his mind about taking things slow with her, he crossed into his kitchen to the built-in wine refrigerator.

  “You were right. The view from up here is great. The height gives you a whole different perspective,” Addie said, her voice reaching him in the kitchen.

  “You’ll find I’m right every once in awhile. I try not to let it happen too often though,” Trent said as he picked up the two wine glasses. “If you’re right too much, people start to expect it all the time from you.”

  Addie turned her back to the window and faced him as he approached, an amused smile lighting up her face. “A guy who admits he’s usually wrong—I like it.”

  Trent stopped dead in his tracks. “Wait a minute, I never said I’m usually wrong.”

  Walking up to him, she took a glass from his hand. “Sounded that way to me.”

  Leaning in toward her, he covered her lips with his for a brief kiss that he ended before his desire overtook his common sense. “I guess I’ll just have to show you then.” He took a sip from his glass, giving his mouth something to do besides kiss her.

  “You can try,” she said with humor in her voice. “In the meantime, how about that tour?”

  Trent took one more sip from his wine and then set his glass on an end table. “Let’s start down here, then head upstairs.” Taking her hand, he led her toward the back of the apartment and his home office.

  After a quick tour through the apartment, Trent led her back into the living room where they spent two hours talking about everything from movies to music. Although he would have loved to do so much more than that, he decided not to rush things with Addie. So although it left his body aching to touch her, he took her home around eleven o’clock.

  Chapter 9

  Late Friday afternoon Addie examined the kitchen floor plan she’d designed for the Meads and their pre-Civil War era Bristol home one last time before meeting with them that evening. It had taken a few attempts, but Addie believed she now had a plan that fit their vision and also their budget, a task that was sometimes the most difficult part of her job.

  Once satisfied that the plan required no further changes, she closed the open file on her computer and brought up her plans for Trent’s house. Despite her arguments, he’d insisted that she put her other projects first and only work on his when she had the time. According to him, he had no set time frame for getting the house done, so she didn’t ne
ed to rush. Even with his insistence she made sure she got in some work on the project—which was still her biggest one—every day, but she’d stopped informing him of that fact during his nightly phone calls.

  The calls had started the previous Sunday following their date on Saturday night. She’d been home a few hours from the bakery and had made it through half of her paperwork when her cell phone rang. Although not one for long phone conversations, they’d talked for about an hour, and before they’d ended he’d promised to call the following night after his meeting with his campaign advisor. Like clockwork his call came again Monday and Tuesday night around seven o’clock. At the end of their conversation on Tuesday, he’d asked her to meet him for dinner on Wednesday. Her shift at the bakery forced her to decline, but she’d suggested Thursday instead, which he had to decline because of a late afternoon meeting in Maine. With their schedules not cooperating, they’d agreed to get together Saturday afternoon and she wanted to show him the progress she’d made on his house plans. Thanks to the size of the home, the unlimited budget she had to work with, and the open time frame, the sky was truly the limit for the project, and it had taken Addie some time before she settled on a style she believed Trent would like and one that would also preserve the look and feel of the home. Now that she’d settled on the style though, her creative side had taken over and she had at least the plans for the kitchen almost complete. The plan now on her computer screen was perhaps the best work she’d ever done, and the idea of showing Trent excited her almost as much as the thought of spending time with him again.

  Using her mouse, she changed the size of one of the kitchen islands she put into her plans as her mind wandered back to their phone conversations over the past week. During each of them he’d been charming and funny while at the same time open and honest. He answered any questions she asked and encouraged her to ask him anything at all. At the same time though, he kept his questions a little more general and allowed her to decide just how much she wanted to reveal. And while on Sunday she’d kept some of her answers less personal, that had changed as the week went on. In fact, the night before they’d gotten on the topic of their best friends as children and she’d admitted to him how angry and hurt she’d been when her best friend of two years told her she no longer wanted to be friends and that she’d only been friends with her to get close to her older brother Rock, something she’d never told anyone, not even her cousin Chloe who was like a sister. In return, Trent had told her some crazy stories about things he’d done with his best friend and cousin, Jake.

  Addie changed to another page, which showed the kitchen from a different angle, and adjusted the paint color on the walls. While she preferred the first color she’d used, the lighter version brightened the room more. The home’s original designer hadn’t considered that the homeowners would ever want to use and enjoy the kitchen space. Rather, it had been designed for hired help. In order to brighten the room and give it a better view of the ocean, she’d already added two additional windows. The lighter paint shade should be the finishing touch.

  Hitting okay on the keyboard, she watched the change take effect on the screen. The new lighter shade of green brightened the room but didn’t look quite right. Addie reached for the keyboard prepared to darken the color by a degree but paused at the knock on her office door.

  “Can I come in?”

  At the sound of Trent’s voice, Addie spun her chair around and found Trent standing in her doorway.

  “Of course.” Addie smiled, her eyes drawn to the outline of his broad shoulders, which filled out the suit jacket he wore. “I thought you were going to be in Connecticut until tonight.”

  Trent placed two iced coffees on the desk and then slipped off his jacket, hanging it over the back of a chair. “I finished up early and couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see you.”

  His words caused unexpected warmth to surge through her. Before she could answer, he came around the desk and kissed her. In response, her heart pounded an erratic rhythm as his lips moved against hers and she hoped her heart didn’t suffer any permanent damage.

  “I wasn’t sure I’d make it back before you left the office,” Trent said after he pulled away ending their kiss. “It seemed worth a shot, so I raced back when my meeting ended.” He dropped into the seat on the other side of her desk and rolled up his shirtsleeves.

  Addie reached for the iced coffee he’d brought her in an effort to keep herself from sighing like a lovesick thirteen-year-old at his thoughtful admission. “I don’t have a lot of time. The Meads are due at six thirty, but I’m glad you’re here.”

  Trent picked up his own drink and raised it toward his mouth, her eyes following his every move. “Is that your design for them?” He pointed at the computer screen with his cup.

  After a mental shake that refocused her thoughts, she looked at the screen. “No, this is my design for your kitchen. I wanted to have it ready to show you tomorrow. I also started the designs for the two master bathrooms. What do you think?” Beneath her desk, her foot twitched as she waited for his answer. She’d spent hours on the design. What if he decided it wasn’t good enough? No one wanted to hear that, especially after all the effort she’d put into it.

  Trent stood and walked around to her side of the desk. “It’s fabulous,” he said from behind her as he examined the picture on the screen. “I hadn’t considered adding extra windows to the room, but those above the sink look as if they belong there. And I love the idea of the two islands.” He pointed to one of the islands in the picture. “If we put some stools at this one we can eat and enjoy the view from these windows.”

  A new unexpected warmth spread through her when he insinuated they’d be spending time together in the kitchen. “What about the color of the cabinets. Are they too dark?” She heard the little wobble in her voice and hoped Trent hadn’t noticed.

  Warm flesh came in contact with her arms as Trent’s hand settled on her upper arm. “No. They’re just right for the room. And the subtle carvings over here give the room just the right amount of elegance without going overboard.” With his free hand he pointed to the carvings on one of the islands. “I approve of the whole design.” Trent’s hand moved away from her arm and he spun her chair around so that she faced him. “I can’t wait to see what else you’ve come up with.” Taking her by the hand, he pulled her to her feet. “But remember what I said. I’m in no rush on this project. Work on it when you have the time.” Before she could protest he leaned in toward her. “The house isn’t going anywhere and neither am I.” His lips brushed against her as he spoke the last part of his sentence.

  Addie leaned into him as Trent took full possession of her lips, caressing her mouth more than kissing it. As the kiss continued, she felt his heart thudding against hers and a different jolt of excitement shot through her. While she’d never considered herself ugly, she’d never thought of herself as the type who could arouse a legendary playboy like Trent. Yet, judging by his kiss and his body’s reaction, he desired her just as much as she did him. When the need for air outweighed the utter enjoyment she experienced with Trent’s mouth on hers, Addie pulled back.

  “What time will you be done tonight?” Trent asked, his deep blue eyes fixed on her.

  Unable to look away, she shrugged. “I’m not sure. If they like my proposal maybe a little after seven, but if they want a lot of changes it could be later.”

  “Will you come by my place when you’re done?” he asked, his voice low and seductive. “I don’t want to wait until tomorrow to see you again.”

  “Are you sure? It might be late.” Although he looked as handsome as ever, Trent appeared tired and, thanks to their phone conversations that week, she knew he’d spent a lot of time traveling around New England for meetings.

  “Positive.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “It’s almost six thirty so I’m going to head out now. Just come over when you’re done.” His lips brushed against hers again. “Have a good meeting and I’ll see you in a litt
le while.”

  When the door closed behind him, Addie dropped back into her office chair, a giddy smile on her face. Trent had truly missed her. During their conversations he’d said as much, but she’d chalked it up as something he said to everyone. She could no longer do that. He’d rushed back to see her and invited her over despite their original plans to wait until tomorrow. And while she loved talking to him during the week, she’d reminded herself over and over that Trent wasn’t known for his long-term relationships, so she should be prepared for a fun but short-lived fling. Each time she reminded herself of that, she’d think of their time together so far and how his actions didn’t fit with his persona. Was it possible that he viewed this thing between them as different from his past relationships? Either way is fine. Addie repeated the same line she’d told herself all week. If her and Trent’s involvement ended up being short-lived, that was okay because she didn’t have time for a relationship right now anyway. On the other hand, if things lasted she’d be happy, too. She enjoyed her time with him, and if she was honest about it, he made her feel more alive than she had in a long time.

  Reaching for the iced coffee he brought, she took a sip. Yup, whatever happened, happened. She’d be fine whatever path this thing with Trent took. Liar, a tiny voice in the back of her head whispered. You want this relationship to last. Addie took another sip from her drink and blocked out the voice calling her bluff, then turned back toward her computer and waited for the Meads.

  Addie’s appointment with the Meads went so smoothly, she almost pinched herself just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. The couple arrived right on time, both coming directly from work. Both loved her proposal for their kitchen and only asked that instead of a slider leading out to the deck that she have a French door installed, which required only a minor change to her plans. They’d even been flexible with their timetable, willing to wait until the end of the month for the work to begin. As a result, Addie was out of her office and in the private elevator up to Trent’s apartment less than two hours after he left her office.