Riley was watching me carefully and not because she was judging my knife skills. “Are you really as good as you seem, William Moore?”
“I’m not that good.” I took a long drink of wine. “In fact, I can think of several people who would tell you I’m flawed and occasionally even bad.”
“Bad?” Her lips twitched upward. “You’re going to have to prove that to me.”
It had been a long day. Conversation over dinner was light, but it was a comfortable quiet. When we were done eating, Riley insisted on doing clean-up duty. When she was done washing the last dish, she gave me a pointed look and said, “Ready for bed?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Riley
William was a sound sleeper and didn’t even flinch when I rolled out from under his arm. My clothes had been scattered around the room, tossed with reckless abandoned as we had tumbled, entangled together, toward the bed. I found William’s shirt on the floor and pulled it on. Hundreds of miles away from home, I wouldn’t be making any stealthy escapes this time. This time, I didn’t want to escape.
I paused at the foot of the bed and studied William’s immobile form. He was stunning in an imperfect way. Hard muscles over a lean form, covered by pale skin that said he spent too much time inside. His face was full of strong angles, but also hard lines that made him look older than his 32 years. The slight scar over his eye gave the impression that he was a tough guy, possibly a fighter. But I knew the truth. William Moore was a good man and to me, he was perfect.
After a quick stop in the kitchen to make some coffee, I walked down to the beach. The sun was just beginning to peer over the horizon as I strolled toward the shoreline. A light breeze ruffled the air and tossed my hair. It felt great against my skin, still tingling from William’s touch.
I couldn’t believe how fast I had fallen for him. It was completely against my nature and the last thing I had been expecting when I left that bar with him. But part of me had sensed even then that he was different than the others. I had felt a connection to him right away, an intrigue that had stuck with me even as I had crept out of his bed. I couldn’t help but think that maybe there was a reason that he had shown up at my place of employment. Maybe, just maybe, we were meant to be together.
I felt a sudden rush of warmth wash over me and I turned back to the house. William was standing on the deck, holding a cup of coffee and wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. He held my gaze and smiled broadly as if delighted to have been caught watching me. I felt myself being pulled toward him. His eyes didn’t leave me for even a second as I walked toward him, stopping only when I was close enough to put my arms around him.
“I didn’t mean to pull you away,” he said, softly brushing my hair from my face.
“This is where I want to be.” I pushed up on my toes and kissed him lightly on the lips. “I wish we didn’t have to go back to the city today.”
“Who says we have to?” he caressed my cheek with his fingertips.
I groaned. “My job. I really do need to bill some hours this weekend.”
“A woman with a work-ethic. Can’t hate that.” He kissed my forehead. “Just promise me you’ll still like me when we get back.”
“Still like you?” I giggled. “I can pretty much guarantee that.”
“Good.” His arms went tight around me and I rested my head on his bare chest. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
We left for the airport just an hour later. Apparently, William also had some work to do when we got back. I focused on being in the moment, relishing our last hours together before the real world would interfere. I wasn’t looking forward to being the Riley Banks that spent all her time at work and didn’t let anyone into her life. I liked the Riley I became when I was with William.
“Still worried I’m going to kill us both?” William teased as he squeezed my hand.
We were thousands of miles in the air, headed back to Chicago. It had been several minutes since either of us had spoken.
“After the motorcycle ride, this is much less concerning.” I gasped as we hit an air pocket that bounced us several feet in the air.
“Yeah, you’re completely relaxed now,” William said through his laughter. “It’s just a coincidence that you’ve cut off the blood flow in my hand.”
“Sorry.” I grimaced. “I’m not normally a nervous flyer. But you have to admit that this isn’t a normal flying situation.”
“You mean you don’t always break the pilot’s fingers?” William kissed the back of my hand. “Once you fly this way, you’ll never want to fly commercial again. Trust me.”
“You’re spoiling me, Will.” I could see the city skyline in the distance. “We’re almost home.”
William shrugged. “To me it feels like I just left my home.”
“Why do you still live in the city?” I asked. “If you don’t feel at home in the city, you must have thought about moving away for good. We both know you can afford to live wherever you want.”
“I’ve got the company. It doesn’t quite run itself, you know.”
“You could sell it,” I said without thinking.
“It’s not that easy.” The hard lines on William’s face deepened. “People depend on the company, Riley. They need their jobs to pay rent and feed their children.”
I immediately felt embarrassed that I had made such a short-sighted comment. “I didn’t think of it that way. Sorry.”
“I would be lying if I said that I haven’t thought about it. My life would be far less stressful.” He let out a long breath. “When Scott and I first started the company, we never talked about the future. We just wanted to make enough money so that we could keep doing something we loved. Everything blew up so fast I don’t think either of us thought about what it would mean for us personally. Now, we’re in too deep.”
“Would you really ever get rid of the company? You’ve worked so hard to make it successful.” After getting assigned to the case, I’d spent some time researching William’s company. It was on track to become one of the most successful software companies in the world.
“There’s more to life than money and work, Riley.” He gave me a meaningful look.
“Like what? Sex?” I winked at him playfully.
He was serious when he said, “Like us. Like what we’ve had this weekend.” Then he gave me a small smile. “And also sex.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek which was awkward because we were both wearing headsets. Then I settled back into my seat and closed my eyes. It was almost time to land and I still wasn’t brave enough to face that with my eyes open. William’s words were still echoing in my head. For so long I’d been focusing on nothing but my career. It was how I defined myself to the world. Now, I was beginning to wonder if that had been a big mistake. What if I had been missing out on my real life because I was so busy chasing a superficial dream. What if all I really wanted was to have more days at the beach with William? Did that mean my whole life up until now had been a waste?
We ran into traffic on the drive into the city. I didn’t mind the extra time with William. We still had so much to talk about, so many stories to share. Now that William knew my worst stories, I didn’t have to be so careful when I talked about my past. He got particularly hung up on my stories about high school. William was shocked to learn that I had once been a cheerleader.
“Why is that so hard to believe?” I asked when he stared at me in disbelief. “Am I not pretty enough to have been a cheerleader?”
“You are pretty enough to be a goddess, Riley. It’s more of a personality issue with you.” William winced when I punched his arm. “Come on! You have to admit that you don’t have a very bubbly personality.”
“I disagree. I’m perfectly delightful.” I pretended to be offended, but he was right. “Let’s just say, Riley back then was a lot different than the Riley you know. A lot changed for me in high school.”
William knew that I was talking about what happened to my family. He wisely
changed the subject. “If it makes you feel any better, I was the star quarterback on the football team.”
“Why would that make me feel better?”
“Solidarity. We were both stereotypical teenagers back in the day. Then we both grew up and became these interesting, unique people dazzling the world with our marvelousness.”
“Speak for yourself, Moore. I’m still a bubbly cheerleader beneath this gruff exterior.” I gave him a poor attempt at spirit fingers. “Be honest. You’re pretty stoked you bagged a cheerleader over the weekend.”
“I’m certainly not complaining.” William steered his car to the exit and it occurred to me that our weekend together was about to end. We were less than a mile from my place.
I tried to sound casual as I asked, “Busy week ahead of you?”
“They always are,” he said, glancing at me. “Is that your way of trying to find out when you can see me again?”
“Maybe.” I felt my cheeks flush. “I had to do it since you clearly weren’t going to be man enough to ask me.”
“Cute.” He flashed a grin at me that made my heart flutter. “Tomorrow night. I’ve got a client dinner, but I’ll leave early. We can do dessert.”
“Is that what the kids call it these days?” I said with a smirk. “It’s a date.”
We were on my street. Our time together was about to come to an end. It seemed like we had been gone much longer than a day. Everything felt different.
“Thanks for coming with me this weekend. Hopefully it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience.” William seemed hesitant as he parked the car in front of my place. I noticed that his hand was gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary.
“I had a really nice time, Will.” I put a hand on his arm. “Your wooing worked.”
“Did it?” He smiled hopefully.
“Consider me smitten.” I bit down on the inside of my cheek as I considered whether or not to continue. Looking into his eyes, I decided to go for it. “I like you, Will. A lot.”
William’s smile slowly faded and he leaned toward me. “I like you, too, Riley. More than a lot. And more than like.”
I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant by that, but his mouth closed over mine before I could say a word. The passion in that kiss was the answer to an unspoken question. I knew in that instant the William had strong feelings for me. What surprised me, was that I had those same feelings for him. If I didn’t know myself better, I could have sworn that I was falling in love with William Moore.
I was still thinking about that kiss the next morning on my way into the office. We had stayed in the car for almost an hour, making out like teenagers. I was sure that at least a few of my neighbors had probably seen us, but I didn’t care. When William’s phone rang for the third time, I reluctantly pulled away. He walked me to the door and lingered even longer. By the time he drove away, I only had a few hours to get some work done.
Part of me was disappointed when he didn’t call before I fell asleep. Just a few hours apart and I missed talking to him. But I knew that he was busy and I had other things to worry about as well. I was the first one in the office and made a beeline straight for the coffee machine. With the punch of a button, I had a creamy espresso in less than a minute.
I did my best thinking when I wasn’t staring at a computer, so I grabbed my files from my office and headed for the closest conference room. One of our law clerks had printed out the records that William had given me and I started flipping through them. Financial records weren’t my specialty, but I needed to prove to the partners that I could handle a wide variety of cases.
When I finally took a break from highlighting dozens of pages of numbers, I was surprise to see a packed office through the glass door of the conference room. Apparently, I had been working for longer than I realized. I checked my phone and saw that I had several new emails and a missed call from William.
My instinct was to call William first, but then I saw that one of the emails was from Desmond Briggs. My finger was shaking as I tapped open the email. In typical Briggs fashion, it was brief.
Meeting at noon. Prepare to debrief on the Stryke Force account. Briggs.
My stomach instantly twisted into a painful knot. This was my chance to prove to Briggs that I was ready to be a partner. True, I’d only been promoted to senior attorney just over a year ago. But I had won some big cases for the firm in the last 12 months and I had more billable hours than any other attorney, including the junior associates that basically lived at their desks. I couldn’t screw up this debrief.
I went to my office to make some last-minute notes on the case and was surprised to find an envelope on my desk. It wasn’t uncommon to get mail at work, but something about this mail stood out to me. Maybe it was the loopy cursive writing, or the fact that it didn’t appear to be the standard spam mail I usually received. Either way, I found myself reaching for it rather than my laptop.
The small notecard inside the envelope was scrawled with familiar handwriting. My breath caught in my throat as I read the words: You can’t stay away from me forever, Ry. We’re family. Always.
Getting the call from my brother had been bad enough, but there was something especially frightening about realizing that he knew where I worked. Michael was determined to push his way back into my life and there was likely nothing I could do to stop it.
“Hey.”
My heart jumped, equal parts surprise and joy. That voice was already embedded into my soul. I momentarily forgot about the note in my hand as I turned to greet William.
“What are you doing here?” I said because I genuinely had no idea why he was standing in my office doorway.
“Desmond requested my presence. Scott is here, too. I managed to break away pretending that I needed to use the restroom.” He smiled uncertainly. “You don’t seem thrilled by my presence.”
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t know you were coming.” I gestured for him to close the door and set Michael’s note on the desk behind me. With the door shut, I gladly put my arms around William and leaned eagerly into his kiss. “This is a wonderful surprise.”
William relaxed in my arms. “Good to hear. You looked pretty startled.”
“Nothing to do with you.” I hadn’t been planning to tell William about the note, but my eyes involuntarily drifted in that direction.
“Bill collector?” he asked wryly. When he saw the pained expression on my face, he grew serious. “What is it, Riley?”
“It’s nothing.” I took a step in front of the desk, but William went the other way and easily stepped around me.
He snatched Michael’s note and read it with narrowed eyes. His hand shook slightly when he looked at me. “Were you going to tell me about this?”
“No,” I said honestly. “It’s not your problem, Will.”
“Being involved in your life isn’t a problem, Riley.” He sighed. “I get that you’re pretty much used to handling everything on your own. I just thought after our weekend together you might actually let me into your life.”
“Will.” I paused, unable to argue further. He was right. I was still keeping him out. “I warned you that I’m not good at this.”
He flicked the note in the air. “I’m not asking you to share a toothbrush, Riley. Your ex-convict brother is sending you threats. That’s not the kind of thing you keep to yourself.”
“I know. You’re right.” I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost time for the meeting. “Is now a good time to tell you that I borrowed your toothbrush over the weekend?”
“It’s a good thing you are so damn cute.” He lost his battle with a smile. “Let’s talk about this later. You’ve got work to do right now.”
William left my office first and I waited a couple of minutes before following. Everyone was waiting in the conference room when I arrived. Briggs glared at me as I took my seat across from William.
“You gentlemen remember my associate, Banks?” Briggs said with contempt dripping fro
m his words.
“Of course,” Scott said quickly with a smirk turning up his lips. William just nodded silently. “Good to see you again, Miss Banks.”
“Let’s get started,” Briggs said, anxious to move past the formalities. He was not a fan of small talk. “Banks, give us your update.”
I would like to say that I rose to the occasion and dazzled the room with my impressive legal skills. Instead, I was battling thoughts about Michael while also trying to avoid looking at William as I presented the information. I continued to lose both battles and every time my eyes did land on William, my thoughts immediately turned naughty. It didn’t help that he was looking especially handsome in his gray suit. However, I was much more focused on the amazing body I knew was beneath that fabric.
“When was that contract signed, Banks?” Briggs interrupted gruffly.
“Um.” I riffled through my notes. “February 23 of that year. Payment was made two days later.”
“That’s good,” Briggs said. “Draft up a memo and we will send it over. I don’t see how they can continue with their case.”
William shifted in his seat and drummed his fingers on the table. I caught myself staring, lost in the memory of how those fingers felt when they were caressing my body.
“Banks?” Briggs barked.
“Sorry?” I flushed and straightened the papers in front of me. “I’ll have that memo ready by end of day.”
Scott was smirking again, enjoying my obvious discomfort. As long as he didn’t say anything, he could smirk as much as he wanted.
“Gentlemen.” Briggs stood and straightened his ill-fitting suit. “Thanks again for coming in. Things are looking very good for your company.”
We all stood and William and Scott both shook his hand. Briggs then turned to me and said, “You’ll show them out?”
“Sure.” I wasn’t surprised. He typically also asked me to get coffee for everyone. Desmond Briggs wasn’t exactly at the forefront of the feminist movement.
When he was gone, Scott grinned. “This was fun.”
Something Moore (Forever Moore Book 1) Page 8
