Gilded Secrets

by Maureen Child

  “Right,” she said, nodding. “Decorator.”

  Just one more way that they were different. Even if she could have afforded a professional, Charlie never would have paid someone to furnish her home. The place that would be both haven and refuge. She would want to put her own stamp on this place. For example, she thought, in the great room, she would have had overstuffed furniture, less expensive but softer rugs and tables you could put your feet up on without having a bottle of Windex handy to wipe off the smudges. And she would have brought color into the place—blues, greens, even a sunshiny yellow. Anything to relieve the black and white and gray monochrome feel.

  Oh, boy. Stop it, she told herself. This isn’t your home. You’re not staying. You’re a guest and probably a short-lived one, so just smile and be nice.

  Vance opened the door to a guest room and Charlie was actually relieved to see pale blue walls, dark blue chairs drawn up in front of another fireplace and a bed done in pale blue and green. It was so different from the rest of the place, she could hardly believe it. “It’s lovely.”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “Well, it’s not what I was expecting.” She’d been thinking, of course, more black. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. The bathroom’s through here,” he said, showing her a palatial space with sky-blue tile, white sinks and tubs with what looked like teak wraparounds. The back half of the bathroom was a glassed-in shower space that looked big enough for—all kinds of things, she thought before she ruthlessly shut down that thought.

  Like the rest of his home, the bathroom was stylish and elegant and intimidating.

  “There’s a connecting room through the bathroom and it should work great for Jake. I can have a crib up here in an hour.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” she said, glancing around the third bedroom, another study in blues and greens. Apparently, his decorator had run out of ideas when it came to the guest rooms. “In fact, Vance, you don’t have to do any of this. Jake and I will be fine.”

  “Yeah, you will,” he agreed. “Here.”

  He laid both hands on her shoulders and she felt the heat of his hands sliding through her system. Seductive. That’s what he was. God, how had she ever believed he was cold and closed-off? In the past two weeks, he’d shown her more care and more attention than she could ever remember receiving from anyone.

  Now, he’d even opened his home to her. Why? She had told him the truth about who she was. He had to know that whatever it was that sizzled between them when they were close couldn’t last. Wasn’t real. Wasn’t anything that should even have gotten started. So why hadn’t he turned his back on her?

  He said he believed that she wasn’t trying to undermine Waverly’s. So was it something a lot simpler? Was he simply planning on using her for sex and then firing her later? No. She refused to believe that. Vance Waverly wasn’t that kind of man. He was being kind, and she wasn’t going to second-guess that. But oh, it probably hadn’t been a good idea to move in here, however temporarily.

  “This guy knows where you live, Charlie,” Vance said as if he were reading her mind and knew that she was regretting the decision to come here. “What if he gets tired of email and wants to make a personal visit. Then what?”

  She actually shivered at the thought. “I know, but I feel guilty. You’ve already been so nice, Vance… .”

  “Dammit, Charlie, you don’t have to go this alone.” He pulled her in to him until she had to tip her head back to look into his eyes. “I’m not being nice. I want you here where I know you and your son are safe. You can see I’ve got the room. What’s the problem?”

  She reached up and laid her hands on his. “Vance, I appreciate it, I do. But you’ve never lived with a baby and I just don’t think you know what you’re getting into.”

  “Let me worry about that, okay? Let me help.”

  His features were tight, his eyes blazing as he looked down at her, practically willing her to agree. And though she knew she might one day come to regret this decision, Charlie knew she would be staying.

  “Okay,” she said softly, admitting at least to herself that there was nowhere else she wanted to be.

  “Good. Now,” he said, taking her hand, “drop your stuff. I’ll show you around.”

  The tour of the rest of the condo had Charlie shaking her head in amazement. Vance’s house was lush and beautiful and she would never be comfortable there. Even the kitchen was set up more for a professional chef. It was like a model home. Meant to intrigue buyers and seduce them with clean lines and elegant furnishings.

  But it wasn’t homey. It wasn’t comforting.

  In fact, the only thing it had that appealed to her was Vance.

  “I don’t want you to worry about bringing Jake out here to the garden,” he was saying now. “It’s perfectly safe for him.”

  She stepped through the sliding-glass doors from the great room to a rooftop terrace oasis and gasped. They were at least thirty stories high and the views were incredible—as long as she didn’t look straight down. Potted plants and summer flowers burst from dozens of containers along the wall. A glass-topped table and chairs were set up at one side of the terrace and several lounge chairs, covered in white fabric, were gathered around one of those outdoor portable fire pits.

  “No worries on the fire pit, either. It’s gas and it’s not as if Jake could turn it on.”

  “Oh, I don’t think Jake needs to be out here,” she said, moving closer to the wall so she could take one very brief glance all the way down to the street below. Her head swam and she closed her eyes. “Yeah. He’ll be fine inside.”

  Vance laughed. “Charlie, it’s perfectly safe.”

  “It’s a long drop.”

  “And we’re surrounded by a three-foot-high stone wall that is then topped by four feet of Plexiglas. There’s no way he could fall.”

  Just the thought of that made her stomach sink. “I’m sure it’s safe, but we won’t be here that long anyway.”

  Vance was at her side in an instant. He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her in close. Looking down into her eyes, he said, “Stop doing that. Stop talking about leaving.”

  “I’m not,” she argued, even though a small voice in her head was urging her to do just that. Pull away before it was too late. Before her heart was even more engaged than it was already.

  Before she did something so stupid as to fall in love with Vance Waverly.

  “Yeah, you are.” He laughed shortly. “Mentally, you’ve got one foot out the door already and you’ve been in the house maybe ten minutes. So stop it, Charlie. You’re here now. With me. And I’m not letting you go.”

  She should have argued with him. Should have told him that she came and went as she pleased. That he didn’t have the right to order her around or make demands or anything else outside of her job at Waverly’s.

  But she didn’t say any of that. Instead, she gave in to what her heart and body were demanding she do. Charlie simply leaned into him and whispered, “Good.”

  He grinned, fast and sharp, then bent his head to hers and, once more, Charlie was swept up in the rush of sensation that only Vance could cause. Every cell in her body sparkled into life. Every square inch of her skin buzzed in anticipation of more, and deep inside her, something opened, as if it had been waiting for just this moment. She was seriously afraid that it was her heart.

  He pulled her closer still, hands running up and down her back,
molding her body to his, caressing her until she moaned and pressed herself into him. Good. It felt so good to have him hold her, touch her. It felt…right.

  Her fingers raked through his hair and skimmed across the back of his neck. He wasn’t wearing his suit coat, so she felt the strength of his shoulders beneath the soft fabric of his shirt. And she wanted to feel more.

  The sun shone down on them. A breeze dove over the top of the Plexiglas wall and stirred the flowers until their scent was overwhelming, drowning Charlie’s senses as completely as Vance was taking over her body.

  “I feel as if I’ve been waiting years for this,” he admitted.

  Charlie knew just what he meant. His hands swept up and down her back, caressing, exploring. And every touch was fire. Magic. Her skin felt flushed and sensitive. As if she’d been waiting for his touch to come suddenly, almost painfully, alive.

  He kissed her again, like a man starved for what she alone could give him. Their tongues met, tangled together in a frantic exchange of passion. Desperation, need, fueled every move, sighs lifted into the air and seconds ticked into minutes.

  Charlie’s heart was pounding so hard she could hardly breathe and she didn’t care. All she cared about was the next touch, the next kiss, the next sweep of his tongue against hers.

  Her mind splintered and all thoughts dissolved. Her body roared into life, hungering as it never had before. Her blood raced and desire was nearly strangling her. This was so much more than she’d expected. So much bigger than anything she’d ever felt before.

  “You’ve been driving me crazy for days, Charlie,” Vance murmured when he tore his mouth from hers. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  She laughed, feeling a rush of pure, feminine power at his confession. Reaching up, she pulled at his dark red tie, loosening the knot, then slid it free of his collar. “How? What have I been doing?”

  “Your hair,” he admitted, tearing off the clip she wore so her long hair spilled down around her shoulders and lifted in the wind. “I’ve been wanting to see your hair down since that first day I saw you. It was worth the wait.”

  She shook her hair back from her face and looked into his eyes. “My hair’s been making you crazy?”

  “And those shoes you wear,” he said, undoing the buttons of the simple white blouse she wore tucked into the waistband of a slim-fitting gray skirt.

  Confused, she said, “My shoes?”

  “God, yes,” he said, pausing to take a look down at the plain, black pumps. “What they do to your legs should be illegal.”

  “Really?” she asked, ridiculously pleased.

  “Really.” He shook his head and gave her a quick grin. “I’m thinking of having them bronzed.”

  She laughed, delighted, and felt suddenly more carefree, more alive than she’d felt in years.

  “Sure, you can laugh. I’m the one suffering, watching you walk across the office… .” He shook his head again in memory, then he finished unbuttoning her shirt and pulled the tail of it free of her skirt. He swept the edges of the material back to expose the lacy bra covering her generous breasts.

  He took a quick breath and exhaled just as fast. “You’re amazing.”

  Her fingers worked at the buttons on his shirt, too, her skin heating not just from his compliment, but from the intensity of his gaze, as well. She felt it as she would a touch. He looked at her with such…hunger, such need, that she swore she could feel actual flames licking at her insides.

  Charlie wanted to see him, too. Wanted to run her fingers over his skin and feel the warmth of his flesh beneath hers. He stood still under her touch and once his shirt was unbuttoned, she laid her palms flat on his broad chest and smoothed her fingers through the thatch of dark hair dusting his skin. He hissed in a breath and she knew he was as susceptible to her touch as she was to his.

  “Can’t wait another minute, Charlie. We’ve already waited long enough. I’ve got to have you.”

  “Yes, Vance. Oh, yes,” she said. This, she told herself, had been inevitable. From the first moment she had walked into his office as his new assistant. They had always been headed directly to this moment.

  She felt beautiful and desired and so ready.

  Charlie lifted her hands to the front clasp of her bra—then stopped and looked around. Broad daylight. Outside. Okay, maybe no one could see them but for passing planes and the occasional bird, but… “Maybe inside would be better.”

  “What?” He looked around much as she had. “Oh. Yeah.” He choked out a laugh. “I actually forgot where we were. What do you do to me, woman? I’m always on top of things. Never lose focus. But with you—” He huffed out an exasperated breath and reached for her. Bending, he hooked one arm behind her knees and the other around her back and lifted her right off her feet.

  “Vance!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. Laughing up into his eyes, she said, “I can walk, you know.”

  “Yeah,” he said with a shrug, “but this way, I get to keep my hands on you.”

  “Can’t argue with that,” she said as he headed back inside.

  His legs were long and his pace was brisk. He carried her through the penthouse into the master bedroom so quickly, it was only seconds before Charlie dropped onto his bed and lay there, looking up at him.

  Nerves jangled inside her, but she quieted them. If this was a mistake, then she was going into it with her eyes wide open. Even if she regretted being with Vance one day, in this moment, she was reveling in it.

  Shaking his head slowly, he let his gaze wander over her thoroughly. “I can’t tell you how many nights I imagined you lying here just like this.”

  Charlie smiled. She liked knowing that she’d been in his thoughts as much as he had been in hers. “In your dreams I was fully clothed?”

  One corner of his mouth tipped up briefly, but it wasn’t humor shining in his eyes, it was hunger. For her.

  “Nope,” he said. “All you were wearing were those shoes and a satisfied smile.”

  A curl of something wickedly exciting started in the pit of Charlie’s stomach and spread like a wildfire, rushing through her veins, making her skin feel tight and hot. She’d never felt anything like this before and she was suddenly eager to feel so much more.

  Keeping her eyes on his, she wiggled out of her skirt and kicked it off. His eyes flashed as she sat up to take off her shirt and toss it to the floor, too. Then she was wearing only her white lace bra, matching panties and the shoes he seemed to have such a fondness for.

  “Well, don’t stop now,” he said, voice sounding strangled.

  Muted sunlight slanted in through the glass wall behind him, throwing his features into shadow as he stood so still, watching her. But even in the dim light, his eyes blazed with such ferocity, it took her breath away.

  With him watching her like a starving man eyeing a feast, Charlie slowly unhooked her bra, then slid it off her shoulders, baring her breasts to him. As the cool air in the room kissed her heated skin, she felt ripples of gooseflesh course over her body. But it wasn’t just the air. It was Vance’s gaze that gave her chills. She was both embarrassed by her nudity—hello, she had had a baby and wasn’t quite as toned as she used to be—and excited, an interesting combination that had her heart throttling into high gear and turning every breath into a hard-won battle.

  She lay exposed to his gaze but for the panties she still wore. But when she hooked her fingers under the elastic band, he stopped her.
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br />   “No, don’t,” he said, his voice still that low thrum of need and hunger that filled her with so many different sensations she couldn’t even sort them all out. “Let me.”

  While she watched breathlessly, he tore off his clothes. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Even in the backlight of the sun, he was amazing. His chest was broad and muscled, his legs were long and lean and his— She swallowed hard and lifted her gaze to his.

  “No more waiting, Charlie,” he murmured and she nodded, lifting her arms up to him.

  Like him, she was done waiting. She wanted to feel. Wanted to be held and touched. By Vance.

  He joined her on the bed and his heated skin was a counterpoint to the cool silk of the duvet sliding against her. Cupping her breasts in his palms, his thumbs and forefingers tweaked her rigid, so-sensitive nipples, until a moan ripped from her throat.

  Then his hands shifted, moving over her body with an expert’s touch. As if he were playing her, he coaxed a symphony of sighs and groans from her. He explored every curve, every valley; he slid one hand down the length of her, across her abdomen, down to the narrow elastic band riding low on her hips.

  Charlie sucked in a gulp of air. “Vance…”

  Dipping his hand beneath that tiny swatch of lace covering the juncture of her thighs, he cupped her heat in his palm, making her twist and writhe beneath him as she ached for more.

  “Please,” she whispered and didn’t care that she sounded desperate. She was desperate. For his touch. For the orgasm she felt couched inside, ready to crash down on her body and splinter her into shards of trembling release. “Vance, please…”

  He turned his head and looked down into her eyes. Smiling now, he whispered, “Not yet, Charlie. I’m gonna make you want me as badly as I want you.”

  “I do,” she swore, rocking her hips into his hand as he held her. The heat of his palm pressed to her core was agonizing, thrilling. And not nearly enough.