by Peggy Jaeger
“Look at me, Ella,” he commanded in a voice that fought for control. I opened my eyes, and when my vision cleared and focused, I lost my breath. Never, in all my fantasies, had I imagined a man so magnificent as Duncan Prince. God-like didn’t even come close. With those same slow and controlled movements he’d used to send me over the edge, he kept his own frenzy at bay, sliding in and out of me in a tantalizing rhythm that once again drove me to the brink of madness.
My hands slid around his massive shoulders, and I could feel the tension winding in them and all the way down his back with each thrust of his lower body. Just when I knew I was ready to explode again, he ground out, “Now.”
His entire body shook as he emptied into me on a long, low groan.
Chapter Ten
A bell rang, loud and annoying, somewhere close to me.
I dragged one eye open, then the other. Shards of light sliced through the drapes in my bedroom.
Morning.
Through the fuzzy haze of wake-up brain, I recognized the bell blaring as my bedroom landline phone.
Most people who lived in this century had forgone the landline for a more convenient cellphone. For most of my everyday life, I complied with this as well. But I’d kept the old rotary phone because it had been my very first one, a sweet sixteen present from my dad and I couldn’t bear to part with it. One day I knew I would. Very few people had the number. Two, in fact. Nell and Danny.
“‘lo,” I said after picking it up.
“Where the hell are you?” Nell screeched. I jerked the phone an arm’s length away from my ear.
“In bed. Why are you yelling at me?”
“Because it’s after ten and you’re not here.”
“Oh, shit. I overslept.”
Instantly awake, I jumped up and sprinted for the shower, dragging the phone with me. The extra-long cord made it possible to bring it all the way into the bathroom. I did a quick pan of my bedroom and the bed and realized I was alone. Buddy must have left sometime after the second time we’d made love. Wait, no. The third time.
“I’ve been calling your cell and leaving messages for over an hour. I was worried something happened to you.” Nell’s voice lowered enough that I could put the phone to my ear.
“It’s probably dead again. I forgot to plug it in last night after I got home.” I turned on the shower to heat the water. I was glad I was alone because a quick gander in the mirror told me I resembled a woman who’d been thoroughly and completely ravished.
I couldn’t help the small smile that peered back at me.
“You need to break that habit, El.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Is everything okay at the office?”
“By the grace of God and a good computer filing system. Four of your girls showed up, and thankfully, I was able to send them on their way to the jobs you’d logged in. But you need to get here. Danny’s coming by in a little while to talk game plan and strategy for tomorrow.”
The happiness reflected back at me in the mirror faded. Buddy had done what I’d asked him to, and for a few hours during the night, I’d forgotten all the crazy stuff going on in my life. But it was daytime now, and I had to face those problems head on.
“Okay, I’m getting ready. I’ll be there in less than an hour.”
I disconnected and took one of the fastest showers of my life.
When I was getting dressed, I lifted my head and sniffed at the tantalizing aroma hitting my nostrils.
Coffee. And if I wasn’t mistaken, bacon.
What the—
From the kitchen doorway I found the reason for the delicious scents. Buddy stood at my stove, his shirtsleeves rolled up past his elbows, barefoot, and a spatula in his hand.
“What are you doing?” I asked, giving a voice to the first thing that popped into my head.
He tossed me a quick glance over his shoulder and said, “Making breakfast. And good morning to you too.”
I shook my head. “Sorry. That was rude, but I thought you were gone.”
He flipped something that looked an awful lot like an omelet, over in the frying pan, the sound of bacon frying hitting me at the same time. There was a grocery bag from the market down the street on the counter, an opened carton of eggs next to it, along with a half empty package of bacon. The Keurig light was lit, a filled mug sitting under the spout.
“Did you go out for food?”
“I sent my driver.”
“Oh, good Lord. Was that poor man sitting downstairs in the car all night?”
He turned and tossed me a seeking glance. “No, Cynderella. I’m not that selfish. He texted me this morning, and I asked him to pick up a few things. You’re not exactly stocked up here.”
I couldn’t argue because it was true.
Buddy shut off the burner and moved the pan to the back one. He turned and focused all his attention on me. My stomach did a little jig when his gaze dragged down my torso and then back up to my face. In my haste to figure out why my condo smelled like breakfast, I’d thrown on a blouse but left it unbuttoned to the waist. A thong was the only garment covering the lower part of me.
“I approve of your outfit, but I hope you’re working from home today.”
His cocky grin sent all kinds of sensations down my spine.
My face heated, and I pulled the sides of my blouse together.
“Too late, sweetheart. I’ve already seen it all.”
He moved so swiftly, I didn’t have time to brace myself. He slipped his hands around my waist, shoving the blouse out of his way, and tugged me against him.
My palms flattened against his chest as he smiled down at me.
“Good morning,” he said again.
On a sigh, I echoed him.
“Why didn’t you wake me when you got up? Nell just called and read me the riot act for being late.”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “You looked so peaceful that I didn’t have the heart to disturb you. Besides, you sleep like the dead.” His grin made my toes curl. “I took a shower and the noise never even moved you from your position in the bed.”
“I was tired,” I said. “Yesterday was hard enough, and I’d been going all day on only about two hours sleep from the past two days.”
He had the most conceited look on his face when the reason I hadn’t slept hit him.
“And I didn’t exactly get a solid eight hours last night, either,” I added, tossing him a pointed glare.
Conceit bumped up against smugness and pride.
Damn the man. Even with the arrogant glare he was heart-stopping.
His grip around my waist tightened.
“The least I can do, then, since I robbed you of two nights’ sleep, is feed you.”
“The very least,” I said.
His hand dipped down to pat my bare ass. “Go finish getting dressed. I’ll have breakfast all ready when you are.”
“I can’t believe you cooked for me,” I said ten minutes later when I joined him at the kitchen bar.
He shrugged, and the way his massive shoulders pulled at the seams of his shirt had me remembering them naked, my legs tossed over them.
“I figured you’d be hungry when you woke up. I know I was, so this seemed the best way to spend a little more time together before we both had to start our days.”
I sighed with pleasure and tried to hide it by shoving a chunk of the delicious omelet he’d made in my mouth. Considerate, gorgeous, and he could cook. I could see myself falling seriously in love with this man.
The moment the thought came to me, I squelched it. There was a huge reason I couldn’t let myself fall into anything with him—serious like, or even love. A huge invisible elephant sat next to us at the breakfast bar.
“Hey.” He slid his fingers along my hand. “Where’d you go?”
“Sorry.” I put my fork down, my appetite gone. “I was just thinking about tomorrow and the meeting with Culverson.”
Buddy’s fingers wrapped around my wrist.
&nbs
p; “Ella, look at me.”
I did.
“Don’t let the meeting with Tony get to you.”
“Too late.”
He shook his head, stood, and pulled me into a hug.
“I hate that you’re so torn up about this. Hate that I’m part of the reason.”
I wanted to say, “me too,” but kept my mouth shut, for once.
“I wish he’d never asked me to look at your business prospectus and to give my opinion about it.”
I pulled back. “He did? He asked for your opinion?”
He nodded.
“What did you tell him?”
Was it too much to wish he’d said it was a poor idea, a certified failure, and that Culverson should just pass and go on to something else?
“Unfortunately, I told him the truth.”
“Which is?”
When he swallowed before continuing, I knew I was doomed.
“That your business plan is sound, savvy, and solid. Based on the numbers you’ve already filed, the financial projections for the next five years show only growth. It would be a great addition to his other holdings.”
Did I say doomed? Annihilated was probably more accurate.
He pulled my head down onto his chest and rubbed his hands gently up and down my back. That motion plus the calm and steady beat of his heart against my ear did nothing to soothe away my anxiety.
“I wish I could get out of this,” he said. “Unfortunately, I can’t.”
“It’s okay.” I pulled out of his arms and busied myself with gathering the dishes. “It’s not your fault any of this happened. It’s not anyone’s really.”
He turned me back around to face him. The laughter that had been in his eyes just a few moments before was gone, replaced by concern. “I truly am sorry about all this, Ella.”
I nodded and slipped back into his arms.
“I’ve got to get going,” he said, not letting go of me. “I’ve got a few meetings scheduled today that can’t be changed. I wish they could. I wish we could both just spend the day together.”
A warm sensation settled low in my chest at his words.
“Me too.”
“Can I see you tonight? We can go out to dinner. Or a club. Have a real date.”
“I’d like that,” I said. “A lot.”
We shared a kiss we both kept sweet.
After giving him my cell number, he shrugged into his suit jacket and shoes.
“I’ll text you to see how your day is going,” he said at my door. “We can decide where to go later, okay?”
“‘Kay.”
Before leaving he said, “One more. Just to get me through the day.”
I didn’t need to ask what he meant when he bent and captured my mouth. The last glimpse I had was of him licking his lips and tossing me his signature panty-dropping grin.
A half hour later, I was at my office. I plugged my dead phone into a wall outlet to charge, Nell giving me the stink-eye as she watched me.
“I swear, I’m going to text you every night before you leave work to remind you to plug your damn phone in when you get home.”
That wasn’t exactly a bad idea.
“Okay, so let’s do this,” Danny said.
We worked the entire morning, ordered lunch to be delivered, then spent the better part of the afternoon going over every which way we could to come up with a plan to prevent Culverson from somehow acquiring our businesses.
“The guy’s got a laundry list of private companies he’s bought-out over the past two years,” Danny told us while he munched on a deli sub. “Swoops in, offers them what looks like a fair market value for the business, than invests heavily to move it forward. His growth rate is almost double on everything he’s acquired.”
“He’s a savvy businessman. So what?” Nell said. “That doesn’t give him the right to think he can just come in here and take over what we’ve worked so hard to build.” Her voice shook with anger and, since I knew her so well, fear.
“Babe, calm it,” Danny told her. “I’m on your side.”
She sighed and nodded. “Sorry. But I’m really pissed this is happening to us.”
“I get that,” he told her. “One thing you guys don’t have that all the other businesses did, though, is a cash flow problem, so that’s a plus on your side.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, taking a tiny bite of my salad.
“The others were doing well but had major bills. Loans to banks, stock orders that needed to be paid, balloon payments coming close with an inability to make payment. Culverson wiped them all out on the contingency the companies became his. You guys are solvent. No big bills looming. El, you paid back your business loan in full. Nell, you’ve got one more payment and you’re scot-free. Neither of you needs a big influx of cash for anything business related.”
“Thank God for that,” I said.
I glanced over at Nell. She was staring off into the distance, the corner of her mouth pinched between her teeth. From long hours spent playing cards with her in college, I recognized this as her emotional tell. Something was bugging her, and it wasn’t only this potential business problem.
“Nell? Sweetie, what’s wrong?”
“Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just thinking about all this.” She waved a careless hand in the air.
“Babe, what is it?” Danny reached across the conference table and took her hand. “Talk to us.”
Her long sigh pulled at my heart.
“It’s my mother.”
“What about her?” Danny squeezed her hand.
“I spoke with her doctor yesterday. He calls once a month to catch me up on how she’s doing. Any changes, you know?” She shrugged. “New drug therapy. That kind of thing.”
“So. How’s she doing?” I asked.
“The same.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it? I mean, she’s not worse, or deteriorating, or anything, right?”
“No. No, she isn’t. She’s…stable. Her doc’s…hopeful one day she’ll snap out of this, but…well.”
“Babe.”
Nell, composed, resolute, tough-as-nails Penelope Newbery, had tears just about to fall down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry.” She swiped the back of her hand under her nose. “I don’t mean to get like this, but it’s just, aside from the catatonia, there’s nothing physically or medically wrong with her. She’s sixty years old, and before all this happened, she was going to Pilates three times a week, juicing, and eating clean. She never even got a cold. She could conceivably live another thirty or more years. Longevity runs in her genes.”
“That’s why you’re upset?” Danny asked. “Because she could live to be an old lady?”
“No. That’s not it.” I stood and lowered myself in front of her and took the hand Danny wasn’t holding. Wrapping both of mine around it, I said, “It’s that you’ll be the one who has to pay for her continued care out of your own pocket, isn’t it?”
Grief swam with the tears.
“How selfish is that?” she asked me. “It sounds horrible even to me when I think about it. What kind of daughter does that make me? Pissed off and worried I’ll have to foot the bill when it’s my father’s fault all this happened? Angry that every extra dime I’m going to make for the conceivable future has to pay her care bills? Livid that all I do is work, pay my own bills, and then see to hers? It’s so unfair. I don’t have any kind of a financial cushion. If she needed to be hospitalized tomorrow for an issue, I’d have to cover whatever her regular insurance doesn’t. One quick hospitalization could wipe any savings I do have out.”
“The situation does suck,” I said. “No doubt about it.”
She turned to Danny.
“What are you saying, Nell?” he asked. “Are you willing to consider an offer from Culverson, assuming he wants to make one on your business too, so you’ll be able to pay for your mom’s care if anything happens without having to worry about it?”
“No. No.” She shook he
r head and swiped at her cheeks. “I don’t want to give up my business. I’ve worked hard, too hard, to make it successful. I’m just saying…oh, hell. I don’t know what I’m saying. Just ignore me and my pity party, please. This entire situation is so unnerving.” She pulled up and crossed to the room’s window. With her arms folded over her chest, she gazed out at the lower Manhattan skyline and sighed again.
I snuck a glance at Dan. He stood and together we walked to her and put our arms around her, each taking a side.
“This is one of those times I wish I could see into the future,” she said.
“No crystals balls here, babe.”
That got a tiny smile out of her.
“We’ll get through this, Nell,” I said. “Remember what we used to tell each other in college every time something bad happened?”
“One day at a time?”
“Yup. We take each thing one at time, one day at a time. Let’s just get through tomorrow’s meeting. See what Culverson’s got to say and go from there. Okay?”
After a long moment, she nodded. She turned to Danny first and gave him a quick hug, then to me.
“Don’t worry,” I said as I patted her back. “We’re in this together no matter what.”
When we’d done all the strategic planning we could come up with, we separated, and each went to our own offices. A quick check of my phone and I spotted a text from Buddy. While I swiped to open it, my heart rate kicked up a few notches. Okay, a whole bunch of notches. Enough that I probably needed to have an EKG.
Buddy: I hate doing this, but I have to cancel dinner tonight. Unexpected client meeting just popped up and can’t get out of it.
It was followed by five crying face emojis.
Buddy: Gonna be a late sit-down, and I already robbed you of two nights sleep, so I won’t ask if I can come over when all is done. Even though I want to ask, Cynderella. I really do.
This time, three broken hearts followed.
Buddy: Think about me tonight. I know I’ll be thinking about you.
Me: Don’t worry about it. I understand.
Disappointment flooded through me. My next thought was that maybe it was better this way. While Buddy Prince was a man I’d like to spend as much time as possible with, Duncan Prince worked for the enemy. It would do me good to remember that. I didn’t know a great deal about him other than he made a mean omelet and could make me come with just a flick of his tongue.
