Reforming the CEO (South Beach)

by Marisa Cleveland

  As the sticky liquid stained a bright blue over Reece’s left breast, the familiar terror at ruining a dress slammed into her stomach. Accidents happened, but she couldn’t stop the way her heart raced and a thumping increased in her temples. They were in public. The dress was ruined. She was so embarrassed. Ever since she was a child, whenever she stained her clothing, she panicked. Now, as an adult, it was a little different—she didn’t burst into tears—but the physical symptoms accompanying her anxiety were still present. That, combined with the woman’s mention of champagne flutes in Vin’s office, practically blinded her to rational thought. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to keep focused. To keep breathing.

  Tami’s face morphed from shock to a satisfied smirk and then polite apologetic indifference. “I am so sorry.”

  With a tight smile and short breaths, Reece said, “It’s fine.”

  Vin grabbed the attention of a passing server and requested soda water, and then, with his hand on Reece’s lower back, he excused them, turning Reece to face his approaching marketing people. “I’m sorry about that.”

  She reached into her bag and pulled out another sundress, this one pale pink. “The soda water should help, and I have a backup dress.” With most of the people walking around in their bathing suits, Reece didn’t hesitate to drag the yellow mess over her head and slip into the pink one. She knew better than to make a big deal about a stain or about the champagne flutes. Waterfords.

  “I don’t know if I should be impressed or confused you have a second dress in there.” He gestured toward her bag.

  “It’s just this thing I do.” She tried to act casual as she stuffed the ruined dress into her bag. She was relieved the stains had been minor spots and not soaked through to her bikini top.

  “Carrying extra clothes to parties?”

  She gave a nervous laugh. “Childhood paranoia, you could say.”

  “Childhood paranoia?” Vin raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice. “Care to share what happened as a child so you carry around a change of clothing decades later?”

  Now wasn’t the time to bring up her insecurities, especially with two people approaching them. “Not really,” she said as she nodded her chin toward the newcomers.

  Vin looked over and shifted into work mode. “Hello, you two. I believe you know Reece. Reece, this is the head of FH’s PR team and her cyber-marketing analytics guru.”

  The woman wearing a muumuu frowned at the departing blonde. “Reece, lovely to meet you.” When they shook hands, the other woman’s eyes brightened. “Oh! You’re wearing a band. How perfect!”

  The guy in surfer shorts clapped Vin on the back. “Hey, boss. Great night for a full moon, huh?”

  Vin cringed. “No more drinks for you if you call me boss again.”

  Reece exhaled a soothing breath. Tami hadn’t said when she’d left the Waterfords. Maybe it had happened months ago. More than two months ago. She wouldn’t ask. She wouldn’t care. She’d focus on Vin’s head of public relations. Wearing a muumuu. That had a wonderful print. Not solid, like her pale yellow, now stained, sundress. Why hadn’t she thought to wear a printed muumuu?

  “I’m so into Boho fashion right now. That’s a great print.”

  The woman smoothed her hand down the fabric. “Thanks! I’m really loving anything Hawaiian or anything that makes me feel like I’m on a vacation.”

  She nodded. “I’ve heard about your month. Sounds like you deserve a trip to Hawaii.”

  She’d been joking, of course, but Vin scowled at her. “Don’t give them any ideas.”

  The cyber-marketing guru brightened immediately. “Remember last year’s retreat? We should definitely to do that again!”

  “Big Sky? No. That retreat was earned because your team launched a kick-ass campaign for those online workshops.” Vin shook his head. “This year feels like the year of dousing fires.”

  The head of PR sipped on something fruity. “Well, tell your coders to keep it together.”

  The pineapple on the side of the glass slipped, and the cyber guru caught it, taking a bite. “The growing pains of success.”

  When the server approached with the soda water, Vin also took two rum runners from the tray and handed one to Reece. “I never dreamed we’d grow this big this fast.”

  There it was again. That word that caught in Reece’s ear. Dream. She touched Vin’s arm, and his attention turned to her. “Have you always known you wanted to run a company?”

  “No. As a matter of fact, after I sold my first app, I thought I’d just keep creating more of them. But then I had too many ideas and not enough time, and I convinced some friends to help me code them faster, and one thing led to another, and well”—he shrugged—“here we are.”

  His head of PR shook her head and wrinkled her nose. “I have never heard you tell the story that way.”

  Vin laughed. “That’s because I knew you’d cringe to hear the randomness of it. You like a tidy story with a hook to sell the company image.”

  That sounded like the Vin she was coming to know and lov—

  She choked on her rum runner and then coughed. Where on earth did that thought come from? And why would she love Vin’s randomness? She liked lists and plans and measurable results.

  The cyber guru waved to someone in the distance. “Looks like they’re ready for you, Vin.”

  Vin winked at Reece. “I have a surprise for you.”

  Reece glanced to where the stage was being rearranged. “Are those fire dancers?”

  As she followed Vin to a beach towel near the front of the low stage, he hopped up and took the microphone from the emcee. “I hope y’all don’t mind that I’m gonna sing one song I wrote for a very special lady in my life.”

  The crowd collectively sighed, and Reece bit her lip to keep from tearing up. Vin wrote her a song? More than that, he called her a very special lady. It might be for show, but he didn’t have to go to such lengths in front of his employees. Not one single board member or member of the press was here—that she knew about—and still, he’d written her a song. It was the most romantic gesture she’d ever received, and he hadn’t even strummed a single note.

  The band started playing, and the magnitude of the whole thing hit her hard.

  Vin wrote a song and found time to practice with a band to play it for her.

  She listened to the words. While not a love song—what did she expect?—the song did speak volumes to her and, more exactly, to their situation. Chaos, joyrides, and living for fun. But it was the chorus that caught her heart and squeezed.

  I can’t slow down for should’ve could’ve beens.

  That sounded perfectly like Vin.

  Just get crazy.

  When the last note ended, Reece—and everyone else—clapped wildly, but he just returned the mic and hopped off the stage, striding forward until he cupped Reece’s face and planted a kiss right on her mouth, in front of everyone. Someone might have whistled. She might have heard a get a room. But all that was blocked out as his tongue slid along her lower lip and they parted for air.

  With his forehead pressed to hers in an intimate moment, Vin smiled at her. “Come up with a dream yet?”

  “Not yet.” It made her sad to think she still didn’t have a dream to pursue. But then again, she’d never really thought about it. I just want to be good enough.

  “Hey”—he nudged a finger under her chin—“I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

  Sad wasn’t exactly the right word to describe the hollow ache in her chest.

  Why didn’t she dream? Why hadn’t she ever imagined being more than she was? It was ingrained in her DNA to prove to her family she was good enough for them, to somehow thank them for adopting her when no one else wanted her, but she’d never dreamed of more. Somehow, she’d allowed herself to slip into this mediocre existence willingly, and she knew what happened to people like that. People who played their part. People who played it safe. People who played by the rules.


  They didn’t have cosmic sex with the hottest guy on the planet.

  “I’m dreaming of you naked right now. Does that count?”

  …

  That was twice now Reece had blindsided Vin. Yesterday, he’d asked her to accompany him to a Flag Day parade on Marco Island that ended with sex in the bathroom and again on the renovated bridge. Hot. So hot. And the blow job she’d given him in the car riding back across Alligator Alley? Illegal and the hottest road head he’d ever had.

  And now, she’d switched from having no dreams to dreaming about him naked.

  He’d be a fool not to accommodate her. He’d fully expected her fury after the Tami disaster. First, the mention of the champagne glasses and then, dumping her drink on the front of Reece’s dress. But even though he’d seen anger in Reece’s eyes, he’d seen something else. Panic. And her comment about childhood paranoia… His mind cycloned back to twenty years ago, and a rush of something unexpected flooded over him.

  Her companionship at these events had showed him how different it could be if he had the right woman by his side. Dangerous line of thinking, for sure, but also realistic. This evening could have gone so many ways sideways, with his team and Tami and… He didn’t want to recount all the women who’d waved to him with hopeful expectations, only to back down once they saw he had his arm around a woman. He wasn’t used to showing up places with someone else, so he’d always left his options open about who he’d take home, but tonight…he knew who’d leave on his arm, and he couldn’t wait to get her alone and naked.

  With the sun fully set and most of his marketing team spread around the beach, he could disappear with Reece for a solid hour and not be missed. But looking at her in the pink dress, recalling the bikini he glimpsed when she’d changed, he figured an hour wouldn’t be long enough.

  Burying his nose in her hair, he whispered, “Should we check balcony off your list?”

  Her face brightened with the mischievous grin he recognized well. “Yours or mine?”

  “National’s. I booked a Cabana Suite with a balcony overlooking the beach.”

  She glanced toward the hotel, a slow smile spreading over her face. “Perfect.”

  “I thought so.”

  She grabbed his hand and all but dragged him toward the path. “Well, let’s go make my dreams come true.”

  He’d checked in earlier in the day, so he wasted no time getting her inside the room. As requested, a bottle of champagne, a charcuterie platter, and freshly dipped chocolate-covered strawberries greeted them on the sideboard, and the moan that whispered from Reece’s throat when she first tasted the bubbly gave Vin an immeasurable amount of satisfaction.

  Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she murmured, “A girl could get used to this kind of treatment.”

  “So could a guy,” he said, running the backs of his fingertips over her bare arm. There was a lot about Reece a guy could get used to. From cocktail dresses to tank tops and upscale casual in between, the woman proved to be a damn chameleon, a trait that made her impossibly easy to be around.

  She opened her eyes and held his gaze for a long moment, and then she kissed him. Her lips parted to let him in, and as his tongue teased and explored, his hands pushed the straps of her sundress over her shoulders and down her body. Then his fingers found her bikini top’s one hook, and with an expert flick, he exposed her nipples. With their mouths fused, she rubbed her bare chest against him, accompanied by a low moan. Any sense of control disappeared with her bottoms, and then she was naked, her clothes in disarray around her sandaled feet.

  Reaching for his shirt and yanking it over his head, he said, “If we’re going to check off that balcony fantasy, I think you might want to leave on the dress, as much as it pains me to say it.” He toed out of his loafers and grabbed one of the condoms from his pocket before unbuckling his belt.

  “Hold that thought.” Without hesitating, she disappeared into the bathroom and returned wearing one of the thick, white robes—backward. “How about this?”

  He liked this unexpected Reece. The one calling the sexual shots. This woman had an imagination unmatched by any of his previous women. During their time together, he forgot how different their backgrounds were and how bad she’d made him feel when he was a child. Whenever he had his hands on her skin, he only cared about pleasuring her, and that should have warned him to detach, but it didn’t. If anything, it drew him to her like those mosquito zappers.

  “You”—he turned her around and inspected the robe from behind—“have a beautiful”—he opened the robe just under where she’d belted it and cupped her bottom—“mind.”

  She whirled around on him. “I was thinking I could have a glass of champagne and lean on the rail, looking at the beach.” She picked up the glass of champagne and held it up for him to refill. “And you could come behind me and… You get the idea.”

  “I do. Let’s get you outside.” He opened the door and gave her a light push onto the balcony.

  He could playact with her all day and all night, and if that meant lying to himself, too, well, that was something he’d do. Make believe these fantasies would last forever.

  Holy shit.

  When did forever come into the equation?

  The protection rolled on with lightning speed, and he drove into her with a force that should’ve cleared his head. He blinked into the horizon, the sparkling water, the sway of the palm trees, but none of that held his desire in check. She was so damn wet, and the way her hair fell down her back…

  “The moon is so huge,” he mumbled, distracting himself from the building pressure.

  “You’re so huge,” she panted.

  With one hand anchored on her hip, the other circling her core, he felt her muscles clench hard at the same time she pleaded, “Cover my mouth so I don’t scream.” He cupped his palm over her mouth as she spasmed over and over and over again around him.

  When she giggled, he brushed the hair from her neck and finished, and she sagged against his chest and said, “That was better than any dream.”

  A tight ache formed in his chest. Yeah, that was better than his best dreams.

  On a low sigh, she said, “I’ll never look at another moon and not remember this.”

  Her words wound around his brain and connected the full moon with her bare backside. Like he needed another thing to remind him of her utter perfection. He’d never spent much time with a woman during the day, and he was awed by how easy it was to be with her now. Her sugary scent filled his nostrils, and three things became all too clear. She was the sexiest woman he’d ever fucked. When she said sex fantasy, a few of his own popped into his head. When this ended, he’d have to sell his condo and move somewhere far away, because he just might kill whoever the lucky bastard was to marry his dream woman.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Even with his face a stoic mask of indifference, Vincent Ferguson stood in the back of his boardroom, throwing one hell of a party in his head.

  Everything was unfolding exactly as planned. He’d hired rock stars, and his chief financial officer played a fucking concerto to the mock audience. They’d invited business leaders across the industries to attend the mock IPO presentation, and their opinion was important. Impressing the community’s top dogs mattered, because technology didn’t stay put in one field. It weaved its way into everything, entwining into agriculture, oceanography, medical, and beyond. If his CFO performed this well when the real team stepped into the conference room next month, the IPO win was in the bag. August and then September for the first day of trading.

  God, he loved his life! And he’d never grow tired of the taste of success. Little wins that amounted to significant gains. Fucking right, he did it. He went after everything they said he couldn’t have, and he wolfed it down with a cherry on top. And what a delicious proverbial cherry.

  Of course, in the past month, Reece had been keeping him pretty busy with her added sexual fantasies, not that he was complaining. But the Full Moon Party ha
d him ready to sit Reece down and ask her to go steady with him like a damn teenager. The woman had several added ideas once they’d crossed the balcony off her list, and after the third shower and second bottle of champagne… He barely even liked champagne before the Full Moon Party, and now he had an unquenchable craving for another bottle. His cock thumped at the image that landed in his mind. He’d never look at another chocolate-covered strawberry and not think about Reece.

  Hell, he hadn’t even looked at another woman since he and Reece first hooked up.

  And he still had a river and an orange grove to plan. How the heck the woman decided on an orange grove baffled him, but he wasn’t going to question her requests, just honor them.

  Simon elbowed him. “Nice touch.”

  “What?” Fuck. He should’ve been paying attention. His sharpest chief counsel had stepped up to add his magic closing touch.

  “The bit about focusing on local underdeveloped talent.”

  Right. His chief counsel’s brainchild. “Man is brilliant.”

  He’d reiterated FH’s objective to continue to foster regional relationships with area schools, promote technological growth close to home, and not forget for one moment that South Beach, known primarily for the water and weather, could still be a powerhouse on the New York Stock Exchange. That had been in response to NeoQuantics’s concern over their headquarters location.

  The chief counsel finished his closing remarks, and the room exploded with applause. As the mock attendees stood with impressed smiles on their faces, Vin accepted their handshakes and compliments. His assistant directed the attendees to the adjoining room with refreshments and swag items, and Vin focused on the undisputed shark still standing in the room.

  Landon Rowe.

  Having Landon here, instead of someone sent in his place, proved how significant this IPO could be. Had Rowe’s CEO liked the preliminary road show enough to seek an IPO allocation?