Unravel You: A Hot Billionaire Romance (Cole Brothers Series Book 1)

by Diana A. Hicks

  That was my undoing. I guided her down onto the leather cushion and unbuckled my belt. She stretched on the sofa, pulling her T-Shirt over her head. Her black lacy bra did nothing to contain her breasts. When she scooted up, the soft fabric slipped off her nipple. I stood there and watched her wait for me.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Cole.” A woman crowded the kitchen door, holding a tote bag and a vacuum. “I was told you’d be gone by two in the afternoon.”

  Shit. This was my deer-in-the-headlights moment. I glanced down at Valentina, then up again. From where the cleaner stood, I didn’t think she could see Valentina—not that it mattered, because she’d already managed to put her underwear and pants back on. Just my fucking luck.

  It’s fine. We need to go anyway, Valentina mouthed to me. Her face was flushed, and she looked satiated. This was a good look on her.

  “We...” I stumbled on the words because my cock wasn’t happy. “We were just leaving.”

  “I can come back.” She scurried out the door.

  Thankfully, the driveway was on the side of the house. If she’d come in through the front entrance, Valentina would have been mortified for the second time today.

  “Do you think she saw us?” She squished her face between her hands. “I’m so embarrassed.”

  “You don’t look embarrassed.” I kissed her mouth. When I parted my lips, she pushed me away.

  “Don’t start that again. Let’s go home.” She giggled.

  I groaned and sat on the sofa next to her. “Can I remind you that I saved you from an angry bear before?”

  “Technically, you warned me about the bear.” She glanced down at my crotch and laughed. “But I won’t forget. I promise. Don’t make that poor girl leave and then come back.” Her expression turned serious as she rubbed me. “I think about this all the time too.”

  “You’re trying to kill me, I know. Let’s go home before I change my mind. Or fire that woman for interrupting what could’ve been the come of the year.” I grabbed my phone off the coffee table and texted our pilot to meet us at the landing pad.

  Next to me, Valentina sighed. “It was.”

  Oh, come on. I shifted my weight on the couch, but before I could kiss her, my phone rang again. I glared at the screen. Shit. More problems.

  5

  Derek’s Lilly’s Son

  Valentina

  “So much for a day off, huh?” Derek brushed my lips with his as his deft fingers worked the harness.

  I glanced out the window, letting the picture form in my head, his hands on me, his mouth. It was never enough. Even now, we hadn’t left Vail and the Bear Cabin already felt like a dream. Or a faraway memory.

  “I’m sorry I have to work some more.”

  “Don’t be. You gotta work.”

  He ran his thumb over my cheek, but other than that, he didn’t try to touch me once he tapped his headset and nodded to the pilot. As soon as Derek settled in, my stomach flattened against the seat. The helicopter liftoff wasn’t like an airplane’s liftoff, where the change is slow and gradual. I let the disorientation take over. When the sky seemed to be all around me, I didn’t fight it or try to find my center again. I closed my eyes and pretended I was floating.

  Being in love with Derek was very much the same. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find my footing. And still, I felt safe with him. To my right, Derek yelled into his microphone. Not at me or the pilot, someone else, someone with bigger problems than me.

  The return flight was faster. To my surprise, we didn’t go back to the office. Instead, we landed in a small airport near the house, where a car waited for us. I stayed put until Derek finished his call a minute later. He was pissed about something. I got the feeling he didn’t want to discuss it with me because it all had to do with Bridget. No doubt he wanted me to pretend she didn’t exist, but she did. He didn’t have to protect me from her.

  “Ready?” He offered me his hand, and I took it. Getting off a helicopter was tricky. “See? We made it back before dinner.”

  “So we did.” I adjusted my gait to keep up with him as he escorted me to the car. I climbed in the back seat, and my heart sank when he shut the door. My window lowered on its own, and I sat there gazing up at his beautiful face with the sun shining behind him.

  “I will be home for dinner, I promise.”

  I nodded, mumbling an okay. Before I could ask if he was going back to the office, he darted toward the second car waiting in front of mine. My guess would be he wasn’t. Otherwise, we would have landed at the helipad there.

  “Mrs. Cole. Welcome back,” the driver said. “Home. Is that right?”

  “Yes, Tom. Thank you.”

  Max was already home. No sense in going all the way to the office just to get my computer. What a day. I rubbed the back of my neck. Shit. I agreed to go to Atlanta for thirty long days. And now I had to deliver the news to Max.

  At the house, Em already had dinner going while Max played by the pool with his swimming instructor.

  “He’s getting so good.” She smiled at me when I strolled into the kitchen.

  I joined her by the window over the sink. She had a view straight into the pool deck and beyond that, the cottage where I lived for a month at the beginning of the summer. Had it only been a little over a month since I first kissed Derek in the small house? Did Em see it all? I bet she saw all this coming a mile away. Derek and I had not been all that clever in hiding our feelings.

  “He really is.”

  “How was Vail?” Em tossed lettuce in a strainer.

  “Of course, you know about that.”

  “We all get messages so we know what to expect.”

  My face felt hot. What kind of notices did they get when Derek and I spent all day in his bedroom? How did he not mind the lack of privacy? The life of a billionaire? “So you know I’m also going to Atlanta.”

  She nodded without meeting my gaze. “Check your phone, dear.”

  Now what? I dug my mobile from the back pocket of my jeans. There it was.

  Hey, work is conspiring against us, I swear. Need to fly out tomorrow. Em can help you pack.

  “Seriously?” I tossed the phone on the counter. “I’m starting to feel like his beck-and-call girl. Oh.” I shook my head to apologize to Em. As the housekeeper, she was more or less his beck-and-call girl.

  “It’s temporary. I’m sure.” She wiped her hands, sitting on the counter stool. “Sit.”

  “If you tell me you already have all my clothes packed, I’m going to scream.” I sat next to her. “And also be very impressed.”

  She barked out an amused laugh. “No, dear. No one can keep up with Derek. All we can do is try our best. I’m sure you have questions.”

  Was there anything Em didn’t see or know? Of course, I had questions. For example, how bad was Derek’s fight with his mom? Mom and I were close and rarely fought. We talked on the phone every night. I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life. Derek hadn’t seen his mom in years. How’d that happen?

  “On a scale from one to ten, how much of a monster in-law is Lilly?” I dropped my head in my hands. I could read between the lines and in between Derek’s hesitant tone when he told me about his mom.

  Em laughed again and patted my hand. “I can see why he’s crazy about you. Will Max be joining you?”

  “No,” I blurted out. I wasn’t about to drag my son into this, especially when I didn’t know what awaited me in Atlanta. For thirty days. I rubbed my chest and took a deep breath. Every time I thought of it, my stomach twisted. “He already started school. A month is too long. He needs his routine and his own bed. It isn’t fair to drag him cross-country just for me.”

  “Or in case you need to make a quick exit?” She glanced at me over the rim of her eyeglasses.

  “That too. This next step scares the crap out of me.”

  “You’d be the wrong woman for him if it didn’t. I will stay in Tucson, and if you change your mind, Max and I can fly out for a day or
so. Up to you.”

  “Derek tell you to say that?”

  “Yes. But I want to do it.” She pulled a plate full of cookies in front of me. “Here. Grab one before Max gets done with swim.”

  I took one and bit into it, wishing we’d stayed in Vail and had dessert there. “What am I walking into, really?”

  “Derek’s Lilly’s son. That should tell you something. She’s determined. A fighter. But she also loves her sons. She’d do anything for them.”

  “Anything? Like, I don’t know, tell me I’m not good enough for her son and demand I disappear?”

  Em pursed her lips. The pity oozed out of her. Somehow my question wasn’t as outlandish as I’d first thought. The seconds ticked by and still no denial.

  “Seriously, feel free to lie to me to ease my nerves.”

  “It isn’t that. She would do that. But with you, she has no reason to. Not to mention Derek won’t stand for it.”

  But he’d already said he wanted her blessing. This trip meant so much to him. How could I make Lilly like me? I shifted my weight and faced Em. “Okay, tell me everything you know about her. And I mean everything. Don’t hold back on any and all dirt.”

  She chuckled. I was glad to be here to amuse her. “Well, she does love her house.”

  Em didn’t get to the dirt part of her advice. Both Derek and Max barged into the kitchen.

  “Tell her.” Max climbed farther up on Derek’s wide back. Derek still had on the dark slacks and suit jacket he wore in Vail, though his white-collared shirt had no ketchup stains on it. Why did he change? I hated that he looked so hot and comfortable in a suit. No, I didn’t hate it.

  “He can swim the length of the pool without breathing. He’s the next Michael Phelps. I’m sure.”

  “No, don’t hold your breath under water. That can’t be good.” I jumped to my feet when Max slid off Derek and came at me for a hug.

  “He’s fine.”

  “Where did you go today, Mom? I came home. And you were not here.”

  Max’s tone of voice was eerily similar to Mom’s when I was in high school. I felt as if I’d just stayed up all night partying with my friends. I cleared my throat and opted for the truth. “I had lunch with Derek.”

  “Okay. How come I wasn’t invited?”

  “You were in school.”

  “Oh yeah.” He reached for the plate of cookies. It was almost dinnertime, but I let him take a couple. If he was feeling left out because of an extra-long lunch break, he wasn’t going to like us being gone for a whole thirty days. There it was again. The pang in my stomach.

  “Did you see my message? You didn’t say anything.” Derek placed his hand on my back.

  “I did.”

  “And?”

  “Were you expecting a reply? I guess I didn’t catch the question.” Edgy is how I felt now. Maybe it was for the best that we were leaving in the morning. The wait would have been killer.

  “Do you want to go upstairs and talk?”

  “No more talking. No more wiles,” I said under my breath.

  “Okay.” Derek stepped back and grabbed a cookie. “Max, let’s show Mom how fast you can swim.”

  “Yeah.” Max bolted out the door with Derek on his heels.

  “Dirt. Now.” I turned to Em.

  “I’m sorry. I have nothing. But dinner’s ready. Maybe an alfresco meal might help you sort things out.”

  “Yeah. How can I help?” I wasn’t hungry. I just needed something to do, and since I didn’t have my computer, I had to settle for household chores.

  “Go. I’ll set things up. Look at them.” She beamed at the scene over by the pool. “They’re great together.”

  “I know.”

  She pushed me out of the kitchen. I crossed the living room, where the scent of freshly baked cookies lingered. Did all mansions smell like this? The polished cement floors and the massive stone and very old-looking fireplace anchoring the room didn’t exactly scream homey. But the plush furnishings, Derek’s books, and all the little details that made us, us gave this place the feel of a real home.

  Max’s giggles filtered through the open french doors that led onto the patio. I followed the sound to find him on the pool deck, rolling away from Derek’s tickling fingers. Yeah, they were great together. If Lilly was determined to do anything for Derek, so was I.

  I removed my boots and socks before dropping them by the door on my way to the garden. The plush grass was soft under my feet as I strolled to the pool deck to Derek’s waiting arms.

  “Don’t be mad at me.” He brushed my cheek with the back of his fingers.

  “I’m not mad. Just nervous. It’s all so sudden. I’ll pack later tonight.”

  “Thank you.” He kissed the top of my head. “We leave at six in the morning. That way, we can get there at a decent hour.”

  “Okay.” I left him to meet Em and the cart filled with food she’d dragged onto the patio. She didn’t complain when I grabbed the napkins off her and started setting the table. Probably because I did it exactly the way I’d seen her do many times.

  After dinner, Max decided to go on a walk to find Pirate, Derek’s stray cat with a bad paw. Aptly, his name was Pirate because of the limp and the black-and-white fur. Max was in charge of feeding it, so he and Pirate were inseparable now.

  “When are we going to tell him?” Derek poured wine into my glass.

  “Bedtime?” I shrugged.

  “Em can bring him anytime. It’s up to you.”

  “I think that might work. Maybe in a week. After, you know…”

  He clicked his teeth. “After you’ve confirmed my family doesn’t eat children for supper?”

  “You know what I mean.” I slapped his shoulder, and he caught my hand.

  “You’ll like it there. The house is coming along great.”

  “What house?”

  “Our house.”

  My eyebrows must have shown the panic that settled in my chest because Derek quickly corrected. “No. Not to live in. To visit. You’ll see.” He finished the last sip of his wine and stood. “I have a few more calls before I call it a night. See you upstairs?”

  “Yeah, thanks. Leave me with the cookie monster to deliver the news.” I drank from my glass. Did he have to work now? After the out-of-this-world orgasm in Vail, I’d hoped we’d come home and finish off in our bedroom.

  “You’re right. We should present a united front.”

  “No, I got it.” I waved him away before I changed my mind and asked him to go upstairs with me instead. “Go. Don’t stay up too late. We have a plane to catch in the morning.”

  “No, ma’am. We’re doing this together.”

  I’d be damned if his southern accent and the peck on my hair didn’t make me ache for him.

  “Hey, Max,” he called out. “Come over and talk to us, buddy.”

  “Are we doing the good cop, bad cop thing? You should be bad cop.”

  “Why me?”

  “I’m the new guy.”

  My chest tightened. Was that how he saw us? Max and I were a family, while he was the outsider? That was my fault. I kept pushing him away when it came to Max. We certainly thought of him as family. “You’re not the new guy. I love you. And Max does too.”

  Before Derek, Max had asked on a daily basis why he didn’t have a dad like his other friends at school. Why it was just the two of us. My answers to his questions were always the same. We were a family. We didn’t need anyone else. Derek proved me wrong, and Max loved him for it.

  Since then, Max stopped asking about his real dad. For his own good, our safety, I hoped he’d never ask again. Though I feared that if Alex ever showed up, Max would go with him out of sheer curiosity to meet his bio dad. I hated that there was nothing I could do to change it for Max. To make him see Alex wasn’t a good person. My fault for getting involved with a heartless jerk.

  Max strode back to the patio deck with Pirate at his heels. Derek sat back on the chair, both hands resting on hi
s lap. I’d seen him sit at the head of the table in boardrooms, command meetings of hundreds of employees, looking in control and intimidating as all hell.

  This version of him was something else, like he was afraid of a six-year-old. Max was everything to me. Everything I did started and ended with him. If he had asked me to leave Derek, I had no doubt in my mind that I would have put Max before any feelings I had for Derek. Good thing Max never asked me to make such a choice.

  “What is it, Mom?” Max asked, petting Pirate.

  Right. Would I skip the Atlanta trip if Max asked me to? Was that what Derek was afraid of? That I’d choose Max over something that was obviously so important to him. “Derek invited us to meet his family in Atlanta. What do you think? Do you want to come with us?”

  Max made a face that, again, reminded me of Mom. “But it’s a school night.”

  “Right. So you would have to miss a few days of school.”

  “How many? I can’t skip school. I have homework.”

  Derek cleared his throat. “Well, we were hoping to spend a month in Atlanta. You’ll love the new house. It has a pool and a greenhouse.”

  “A month?” Max crossed his arms. “I wasn’t consulted.”

  Consulted? Derek mouthed the words to me.

  “Maybe you can come visit over the weekend.” I exchanged a look with Derek when Max switched his attention to Pirate.

  “Can Ms. Emily stay with me so I can go to school?”

  “Of course.” Derek sat up. “Em already said she’d love to hang out with you while we’re away. And your grandparents said they could come over as well. You can come see us every weekend.”

  “That sounds like fun.”

  “And I have my own plane. You can borrow it anytime.”

  “My own plane?” Max’s munchkin voice went up a few octaves. “Can I fly it?”

  “Sure. Why not?” Derek chuckled, raising both eyebrows at me.

  “It’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait.”

  “I know. So Derek and I will leave in the morning and you can come join us next Friday. How’s that?” I talked fast because Max had already moved on. Pirate and his squeaky toy had his full attention now.