The Executive's Decision

by Bernadette Marie

  Zach cleared his throat. “You’re sure Carlos isn’t coming home tonight, or your sister won’t be here for some surprise visit?” he asked as he set his glass on the table and walked up behind her, still barefoot and clad in only his jeans after they’d made love all afternoon.

  “I’m sure.” She tossed back her hair, revealing her neck. Taking the subtle hint, he trailed kisses from her collarbone to her ear. He slipped his hands up under the shirt and cupped her breasts.

  “You’re going to make me spill the filling,” she sighed.

  “Sorry for distracting you.” He dropped his hands slowly, skimming his fingertips over her sensitive skin. “You’re sexy when you bake.”

  “I’ve never had that compliment. Thank you.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his chin against her shoulder. Regan dipped her finger into the chocolate pie filling and lifted it to his mouth. His breath was warm against her cheek as he sucked the filling from her finger, and it sent tingles through her core. She closed her eyes and rested against him. His hands wandered back up her shirt as she laid the spoon against the side of the mixing bowl.

  Her skin under his touch was hot, and her breath had quickened. Zach slid his hands to her hips, hooked his fingers into the band of her panties, and pushed them down. She braced her hands against the counter, and he pushed his hard body against her. Zach dipped his finger into the pie filling and ran a line of chocolate down her neck. When she sighed, he licked the trail with his tongue. Regan felt her knees go weak.

  He spun her around and pressed her back against the counter. He pulled her up to him, wrapped her legs around him, and turned her toward the kitchen table. She buried her face in his neck as he set her on the table.

  Zach turned back and brought the bowl of filling to the table. The sexy smile on his lips and smoldering darkness in his eyes told her he was going to devour her.

  He dipped his finger into the filling and fed it to her. She sucked the chocolate from his skin. He let out a groan and pushed closer to her. She set a firm hand on his bare chest and pushed him back.

  Regan reached for the first button on his shirt she’d borrowed and released it. His eyes sparked. She unbuttoned the second, and Zach bit down on his lip. He was putty in her hands now, and she was in charge. When she had opened the entire shirt, she sat before him on the table naked, enjoying the pain she was causing him. She dipped her finger into the pie filling and ran it from her neck, down between her breasts to the top of her stomach.

  Zach swallowed hard, but didn’t move until she reached for him. She pulled him to her, kissing him thoroughly, tasting the chocolate and wine. She intoxicated herself with him and let a moan slip from her throat as his hand moved up the inside of her thigh.

  He broke free from her mouth and slowly licked the chocolate from her body. Every flick of his tongue sent a shiver through her. Her desire for him grew more intense as he made his way to her stomach and lower.

  Unable to stand it any longer, she grabbed for his hips and unzipped the already unbuttoned jeans that kept him from her. Zach slid them to floor and wrapped her legs back around him. He gripped her waist and pulled her to the edge of the table. Her arms flew around his neck as he pushed inside her with a passion, a heat. She kept perfect rhythm with him.

  She stroked him with her body, gripping him, until she drove him with her to the edge and they spilled over together. Their bodies were damp. Their heartbeats rapid and their breath only in gasps.

  “God, what you do to me…” He rested his head on her shoulder.

  “I’ve never been touched like that. You handle me with finesse and care when I need it.” She ran her hand up his chest. “And when you know I’m relaxed with you, you turn up the heat. You’re amazing.”

  “Oh, honey, I think you turned up the heat this time. Watching you let go and unbutton my shirt…” He lifted his head, looked down at her, and blew out a satisfied breath.

  Zach brought out something inside of her no other man had ever been able to do. Not only was she comfortable with him, she was comfortable with herself. She wanted to release the passion, the need, the love she’d bottled up inside for so long.

  She looked up at him with hazed eyes and smiled. Then his eyes changed, and a sudden anguished look crossed over his face. “I’m sorry about this. I wasn’t thinking.” He took a step back.

  “Neither was I. That was the nice part.” Regan reached for him, but he was out of her grasp.

  “No. I just took you. I didn’t think about protection.” He raked his fingers through his hair.

  “I take care of myself.” She pulled the shirt closed around her.

  He stepped closer to her and reached for her hand, which still gripped the shirt closed. “You know I’d take care of you if anything ever happened.”

  She hopped down from the table. “I said I can take care of myself.”

  The tone in her voice had changed. The entire mood had changed. He was treading somewhere she didn’t want him to go.

  He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I love you, Regan.” She rested her head on his chest, and he pulled her against him tighter. “I could really get used to this.”

  “Me in your arms.”

  “Well, that too,” he joked, and she looked up at him and smiled. “Can’t you see it? Sex on the table and then dessert? What a way to end a day.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But never when company is around.” He wrinkled up his nose, and it made her laugh.

  “I’ve had sex now twice in an hour. I’m feeling lightheaded.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m not used to this kind of attention.”

  “I like it in the light. I can see your face.”

  “Yours isn’t too bad either.” She patted it and then looked at the floor. “Where are my panties?”

  “Here.” He gathered them from the floor then knelt down before her. “Let me.”

  She laughed as he held them out for her to step into then he slowly slid them up her legs, pressing lingering kisses to her calves and thighs.

  She tucked in her bottom lip and bit down on it as his kisses rose. Then he stopped.

  “What is that from?” He accentuated his question with a kiss, and her heart stopped as he ran his finger over the scar on her stomach.

  “Nothing.” She pulled her panties from his fingers and hiked them the rest of the way up. Hastily she began buttoning the shirt and turned from him.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you.” He grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. “What happened? What is that scar from?”

  “I said it’s nothing,” she said again and went back to her preparation of dessert.

  He picked up his wine and took a long drink. In a few short weeks, he’d made her forget her promise to herself not to fall for her boss. Thank goodness for that. He’d decided she was the woman with whom he wanted to share his life, but there were still too many walls between them. There were still secrets, and it was killing him. He could wring the neck of the man who had made her so timid around him.

  He loved her. He’d said he loved her, even though she’d yet to return the words. In time she’d tell him what it was she was keeping buried inside.

  Even though Zach kept his promise to remain professional in the office, he always found a way to sneak in a little romance. He’d leave her a note in her drawer or even on his desk in the morning, knowing she’d find it when she laid out his papers. He’d call her from a job site on her cell phone at lunchtime. Without those around her knowing, he’d speak sweetly to her. Certainly, on the other end her cheeks were flushed and her head hung to hide her emotions. This came through in her voice as she giggled and returned sweet thoughts in a soft whisper.

  Whenever they got the chance, they spent the night in one another’s arms. He wondered when she’d open to him and accept him as more than just her boss and more than just her current lover.

  “My mother wants us to come for dinner on the weekend.” He intertwined their fi
ngers in the darkness.

  “I was hoping we could go to New York and see my sister. She opens this weekend.” She kissed the fingers he’d intertwined with hers. Though her body had tensed beside his, she didn’t sound afraid when she suggested changing their plans to what she wanted. His chest filled with happiness.

  “I’ll tell my mother we’ll have dinner another time.”

  “Thank you.” She moved in closer to him, and her body was pliant. She was comfortable with him, and he couldn’t have been more pleased to feel that wall she kept between them crumble.

  In his bedroom, with moonlight casting a glow over the room, she was comfortable in Zach’s arms. But she was beginning to worry the feeling would go away. She’d felt that way in Alexander’s arms too—at first.

  Alexander Hamilton and Zachary Benson were so different. Alexander bullied his employees into doing what he wanted them to do. Zach took care of them, and in turn, they took care of him.

  She’d never met Alexander’s family, and until the day he came looking for her in the hospital, in which he’d put her, he’d never met her family. Already, she’d spent time alone with Zach’s mother, and she adored his father.

  Alexander had whispered things about trips and jewelry. There were promises of riches and houses. It wasn’t like that with Zach. He spoke of his family with love, and he cherished hers. There was talk of travel, but it wasn’t just a job. There was talk of vacations and destinations for them and only them. He’d spoken of marriage, though it was what his mother had wanted, but he’d said it aloud. Audrey wanted a big wedding to plan and grandchildren running through her home. Could it be that Zach was the man she could do these things with?

  What happened to the promise she’d made to herself? Fear settled into her. Perhaps if things were as serious as they seemed, she should think about finding a job away from him.

  No, that would be silly. She loved working with him. She loved being with him, and she was quickly realizing she was head over heels in love with him.

  Regan turned to him in the moonlight and studied the lines of his face. His eyes were still bright as he looked back at her. He hadn’t asked about her scar again. He didn’t ask about the relationship she’d told him she’d had. He’d let her be. Perhaps it was time to tell him everything. Confide in him her travels into corporate America though the law offices in Los Angeles. She could continue about how the tall, dark, and handsome Alexander Hamilton had swept her off her feet. Would it discourage Zach to find out that he wasn’t the first to turn her head in a matter of a few weeks? With Alexander, she left a perfectly good job and moved to Hawaii. She’d given up the connection she had with her family, just to be with the man she’d thought she loved.

  Her heart rate picked up. She’d had a ring. She’d had a condo. She’d been pregnant with a child that she loved.

  Zach would have to know these things. She had to confide in him. She had to…

  She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him everything that had happened to her before she’d fallen onto his lap. But she thought better of it and closed her mouth.

  Zach touched her face gently. “What were you going to say?”

  “Nothing,” she said and cuddled closer to him. She was a coward.

  Regan’s family chose to travel to New York together. However, they kept it a secret from Arianna. Regan knew when she saw them all she’d flood them with tears. Though she was a professional, there was no reason to tempt her fate as an actress. As far as she knew, only Regan and Zach would be there to see her debut.

  “You look beautiful, Mama.” Regan kissed her mother in the lobby of the theater, then she turned to her father and kissed him too. “And don’t you clean up good?”

  “You brought him with you?” he asked softly in her ear as his gaze transferred to Zach, who stood at the bar.

  “Yes, I brought him.”

  Alan Keller nodded his head, keeping his lips close to his daughter’s ear. “He’s treating you okay? Everything is okay with you working with him?” And there was the hesitation she’d known would arrive.

  “We’re doing fine, Daddy.” She moved even closer to him where no one could hear. “I love him.”

  He kissed her cheek, and she knew he already understood how she felt.

  “I’m going to get your mama a drink,” he said with a wink. He took Emily’s arm and walked across the lobby to the bar.

  “I find it amazing that there hasn’t been one murmur of an affair on the job site,” Carlos whispered as he moved to her side.

  “Oh, Carlos.” She gritted her teeth. She was tiring of the inquisition even if she understood their concern.

  “Hey, I know he makes you happy. I live on the couch.” He raised his eyebrows, and heat rose in her cheeks. “They’re just worried about you. You can’t blame them.”

  She turned sharply. “Listen, I love the man. I can’t help myself. But he knows nothing of what I’ve gone through.”

  “You can’t keep that from him if you plan to make this work.”

  “Maybe not, but it’s too early.” She felt tears forming in her eyes as Curtis walked up to them. “You all have to help me keep my secrets. And you all have to trust me that I know what I’m doing.”

  “I ran into his mother at the hospital last week,” Curtis said softly. “She’s got high hopes for the two of you.”

  “I’ve heard.” She gripped the clutch in her hands tighter.

  “Are you ready for that? The Bensons don’t exactly fly under the media’s radar. What about Alexander?”

  “What about him? He tossed me to the curb. He’s no threat to me anymore,” she said, but last week’s lunch meeting in Dallas had renewed the doubt in her mind. Was Rebecca still in contact with him? Had she recognized Regan, and if she had, would she say something to Alexander? Her knees felt weak beneath her. She straightened her shoulders and tried to push away the feeling of fear, which was always so quick to take over.

  “Okay, what about the…” When Regan threatened him with her stare, he stopped. “Fine, but you know Alexander and Zach run in the same circles. With wealth and power like the Bensons have, your paths are sure to cross.”

  Leave it to Curtis to turn over every rock. No. There was no need to get worked up over it. She had regained her life by sheer determination. Alexander Hamilton could no longer do her harm.

  When Regan saw Zach walk toward her with a glass of wine, she stepped back from the tight circle she and her brothers had made.

  Zach handed her the glass. “I love New York. So many wonderful buildings.”

  Curtis gave him a nod. “How many of them have had a sign with your name out front?”

  “More than I know.” Zach gave a self-deprecatory shrug. “My grandfather was partial to New York.”

  “Makes for a nice trust fund,” Carlos added, and Regan jabbed his ribs with her elbow. “Hey!”

  The lights in the lobby flashed, and the crowd that lingered scurried toward the theater doors to take their seats.

  Zach touched the small of her back as they walked through the door. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes. I guess that since you don’t have any, you wouldn’t know how nosy and pushy they can be. They mean well, though.”

  “You forget, I don’t have brothers or sisters, but I do have my mother. I know nosy and pushy.” He gave her back a warm rub. “They’re that way because they love us. No matter how crazy they make us.”

  After the performance, Arianna had arranged for Regan and Zach to visit her backstage. Regan tapped on the dressing room door and heard her sister’s voice giving her permission to enter the room.

  “I’ll be out in a moment. I’m changing. But I’m decent, so Zach can come in.” Her voice was muffled behind a screen and racks of costumes.

  “You’re sure you’re decent enough?” She held in a laugh as she motioned for the family to enter.

  “God, I’m not a prude.”

  Regan looked around the room. Props and costumes fro
m tonight’s show filled every corner. It had all moved so effortlessly, she’d never realized that her sister had changed so many times.

  Bouquets of roses and other flower arrangements filled her counter. They gave a feminine smell to the room that also smelled like hot, sweaty bodies—an odor she was sure was from the heavy costumes her sister must have sweltered in.

  “That’s better.” Arianna pulled her robe closed and tied her hair in a tail atop her head before she turned and noticed her entire family standing before her. She let out a scream of joy. “Oh, God!” She pulled the crowd into her arms and kissed each of them.

  “Mama, Papa, I didn’t know you were coming.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “But thank God I didn’t know. I’d have forgotten every line.”

  “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” Alan kissed her, and Emily dabbed at her eyes.

  “Carlos, the kids. This is your weekend. You said…”

  “I lied. I was coming all along.” He kissed her and held her face in his hands. “You are amazing.”

  “Thank you.”

  Arianna pulled Curtis into her arms and he hauled her off her feet. “You… you…” He set her back on the ground and looked her over. “Well, you didn’t suck.”

  She punched him the shoulder then kissed him.

  Arianna turned back to Regan. “What did you think?”

  Zach stood to the side, Regan’s shawl over his arm. “She was bawling like a baby,” he said, saving Regan from giving her opinion.

  “Zach.” She crossed to him and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you so much for coming.”

  “They’re right. You’re amazing.”

  “You’re a keeper.” She turned back to her family. “Let’s go to dinner. All of us. And then, Daddy, maybe you can spin us all across a dance floor.”