by Audrey Storm
“Nice,” she had said and he nodded.
“Nice,” he echoed.
“But ten years? Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?” she had asked.
“It’s a long story, Cadence, but to cut it short, let’s just say that if I don’t do this, I could lose my company,” he said.
She bit her lower lip and sighed.
“I guess you really do have to go.”
He nodded.
“I really do.”
She took a long deep breath.
“I’m not exactly sure I can handle another long distance… whatever this is… especially after what happened with Clay.”
“And I would never ask you to do something like that.” He reached for her hand and ran his thumb over her knuckles. “I lived my life, baby. But you are still young and you’ve got your entire life ahead of you.”
“Really? Of all the days you could play the age card, today is the day you choose to do it?” she asked.
“Hey, no time like the present,” he said in a soft voice.
That had been the last time she talked to him. And as far as she was concerned, it was better to keep it that way. It was the only way to ensure that she didn’t end up broken hearted. But as fate would have it, three years later she found herself looking for him. Talking to him again. And it was not a usual phone call. It was a video call. As she sat in her office looking at him, she could not help but recall how it felt being in his arms. The way he had held her, ever so lovingly claiming her over and over. It was perfect.
“You look good,” she said and he smiled.
“You look even better,” he said.
“France agrees with you, it seems.”
“France agrees with everyone but to be honest I think it would agree with you too.”
She smiled and shook her head.
“Should I consider that an invite or something?” she asked and he shrugged.
“You can think of it however you want. The truth is that I wouldn’t mind hosting you.”
“I wouldn’t mind hosting you either,” she pointed out. “Have you thought of coming out to Miami? I got a new place in Virginia Key. You would love it…it’s nice, private and…” her voice trailed off when he shook his head.
“No, you come down to Nice. I know you need the break,” he said and she raised an eyebrow over the other.
“Who have you been talking to?” she asked and he rubbed his brow. The same way he usually did when he was trying to hide something. That much she knew about him.
“No one. I just know that expanding your maid service to a corporate cleaning gig is no easy thing.”
She smiled.
“Cyber stalking me?” she asked and he shrugged.
“I also had a few words with Edward. He and your mother are a little concerned that you are not getting enough rest…and you have kind of been pushing yourself a little too hard lately.”
She took along deep breath. She should have known that all those calls from her parents she had ignored would somehow bite her in the ass. She looked at him and sighed loudly.
“If it makes you feel any better, your parents suggested this. Not me,” Liam said and she forced out a laugh.
“I’m twenty eight not eight.”
“Your point being?” Liam asked matter of factly.
“My point being that I know when to call the shots and now is definitely not that time,” Cadence said.
“Ten days,” he said and she shook her head.
“What?” she asked.
“Come to Nice for ten days and then you can go back…it’s perfect. A change of scenery, some R and R…I mean we all know we need it.”
She took a deep breath as she tucked a curly brown strand behind her ear.
“You are really not going to give up on this, are you?” she asked and he shook his head.
“I have to admit that I have a lot riding on this.”
“Which is?” she asked.
“Getting to see you again,” he said. “Granted we put a stop to everything but I still have very strong feelings about you and I care about you.”
A smile played on Cadence’s lips.
“And I miss you,” Liam added in a low voice making her heart skip a beat.
“I miss you too,” she said in a soft voice.
There was a long silence before he spoke again.
“Now please tell me you are going to come over because if you don’t I will personally fly down to Miami and get you.”
“I think I would like that,” she said in a whisper.
“I know you would,” he said.
She bit her lower lip again and nodded.
“Okay. Ten days,” she said and he smiled.
“I have everything lined up. I’ll email you the ticket.”
“Wait, you already got a ticket?” she asked, surprised.
“What can is say? I only play to win,” he said in a soft voice.
*****
It was around four in the evening when Liam finally walked into the living room. Cadence looked up from her laptop and smiled.
“Hey,” she said and he frowned as he walked towards her. “What?”
“Are you still working?” he asked. “You are supposed to be on vacation.”
“Actually I am catching up on some of my TV shows,” she said as she turned the laptop so he could see. “I have been so out of it that I missed out on some of my best shows….I didn’t even know the second season of How To Get Away With Murder was out yet.”
“Still a Shonda Rhimes fan I see,” he said as he sat down next to her. She nodded and punched her fist in the air.
“Shondaland for life!”
“I’m sorry it took too long. I never intended to be away for this long,” he said looking at her. She shook her head.
“Hey, I know exactly how business works. I totally understand.” She put her laptop on the table and looked at him. “I made some butternut soup and baguette if you’re hungry.”
“You know I would never say no to your food,” he said and she smiled as she got up.
“Flattery, Mr. Saunders,” she started as she made her way to the kitchen. “Will get you everywhere.”
She heat he soup for a few minutes before serving some into a bowl. He walked into the kitchen just as she paced his soup bowl on the breakfast counter.
“Is that your world famous cheese bread?” he asked when she out a side of bread next to the bowl.
“I don’t know about the all famous bit but yes, it is cheese bread.”
“From scratch?” he asked and a smile played on her lips as she nodded.
“Yes, from scratch. Now eat up before the soup gets cold.”
He smiled and took a spoonful of the soup into his mouth.
“Still as good as I remember it,” he said as he took another spoonful.
“I’ve never made you butternut soup,” she said shaking her head.
“No, you’ve never made me the soup but you have made it for some of the dinner parties your family have thrown.”
She raised an eyebrow over the other.
“How do you know that was not my mum’s soup?” she asked and he smiled.
“Your mother is an amazing woman God bless her but you and I both know that she is not that good of a cook,” he said and she shrugged.
“I guess you are right.”
“Aren’t you having some? I feel weird eating alone,” he said.
“I already ate. I don’t want to overfeed.” She walked to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of orange juice. “But I will have some juice.”
“I would have gone for a glass of wine but I think I will do juice too,” Liam pointed out and she poured him a glass.
“I didn’t feel like going all the way down to the cellar,” she said shrugging. “So, how was work?” she asked and he sighed.
“I would have rather stayed at home honestly.”
She leaned forward and looked into his eyes.
“Are you a
lright? Is everything okay with the company?” she asked, genuinely concerned.
He took some bread and dipped it in the soup before he looked up at her.
“I would rather not talk about it,” he said in a soft voice.
“Okay, now I am genuinely concerned.” She sat down across him and sipped on her juice.
“I partnered with the wrong guys who gave me a pretty bad ultimatum. Uproot my life and start over in Europe or I forego controlling interest in a company I built from the ground up.” He dipped another piece of bread in the soup and put it in his mouth. “The choice was pretty simple from there.”
“What kind of people would do that to you?” she asked and he forced out a laugh.
“The kind that work with my ex-wife,” he said.
“Whoa…Melanie?” she asked and he nodded. “But I thought she got almost everything in the divorce settlement.”
“Everything but my company. Something I swore I would never…” his voice trailed off. “Setting up in Nice for a few years was exactly what I needed and a small price to pay for not handing over my life’s work to the woman I loathe the most.”
“Loathe. Big word there.” She sipped on her juice. “I thought your divorce was amicable.”
“It was for a while.” He took another bite. “Until she decided to act up on me.”
“I’m sorry…I didn’t know how bad things were.”
‘Don’t be. Turns out that I fit right into France like a perfect piece of a puzzle.”
She took a sip of her juice and smiled at him.
“Yeah, you really do.”
“You know…I’ve been holed up here for long enough. I think I should take a trip down to Paris this weekend. You should come with,” he said in a soft voice and she nodded.
“Yeah, maybe I should,” she said.
“This…this was amazing,” he said after taking the last spoonful of his soup. “Ten days of eating like this and I know I will add a few pounds.”
“So somehow you think that I will be cooking you dinner every single day I am here?” she asked smiling. “I mean fine, you do have a five star restaurant grade kitchen here and everything but you need more than just that.”
“This is you in a five star kitchen. Kind of like the cookie monster and a jar of cookies. You just can’t stay away.”
She bit her lower lip and smiled.
“I guess you might be right.” She took another long sip of her juice as he carried his dirty dish and put it in the sink. “Thanks for calling me out here. I didn’t think I needed a vacation until I came out here.”
“I’m just happy you came,” he said in a low voice. She looked into his eyes and suddenly felt her heart skip a beat. “This big place can get a little lonely sometimes. It’s nice to have someone around.”
She opened her mouth to answer him but he was standing so close that she just couldn’t ignore the fact that his scent was all around her. He took another step towards her and pulled her close to him. She gasped and let out a whimper.
“I can’t do this,” she said in a whisper.
“Do what?” he asked as he brought his mouth down to kiss her. She closed her eyes and hated that she was so helpless in his arms. She didn’t even realize that she had brought a hand up to run her fingers through his hair as he crashed his lips against hers. She was moaning and he was too He suddenly lifted her up in his arms and gently placed her on the counter. “Oh God…Cadence,” he moaned when he finally pulled away. Everything suddenly dawned on her. She was right back in the situation she had been trying to avoid.
“This…this is a mistake,” she said as she pushed him off. She climbed off the counter and ran out of the kitchen. She could not get out of the room fast enough.
Chapter 3
Cadence had initially thought of taking a shower but she ended up starting the shower. She didn’t know how long she had been in the shower when she finally decided to soap herself up. Her heart was racing as she stood under the running water. She could not help but wonder what was going on with her. She had promised herself that she would not allow herself to be sucked into this situation. Deep down, she knew she wanted to be with him but she could not help but think of all the complications that would arise as a result. Telling her parents, probably costing Liam his relationship with her father…plus there was the obvious elephant in the room. The heartbreak train wreck that had been following her around for a while.
She had tried moving on from clay a number of times but she always seemed to be comparing every man to him and even worse, to Liam. She turned off the water and grabbed a towel off the rack. After wiping off her body, she put on a bathrobe and walked out into her room.
“Cadence,” she heard Liam’s voice as he knocked on her door. She took a long deep breath and walked to the door. She took a long minute before she finally opened the door. “I need to talk to you,” she said and she shook her head.
“There is nothing to talk about,” she said before she turned around and walked towards the bed. Liam just stood there looking at her like he had something to say but was holding back.
“You kissed me back, Cadence,” he said.
“I know and maybe I shouldn’t have,” she said crossing her arms over her chest.
He began to slowly walk towards him and she was slowly moving back until she felt the bed against the back of her knees. She was breathing hard and deep as he looked at her.
“There is something different about you. I can’t really put my finger on it,” he said as his eyes ran down her body. His eyes rested on the V of her cleavage. “But whatever it is, I like it.”
“I started a Pilates class a few months ago…just keeping fit and having fun,” she said.
He began to slowly walk towards her and she swallowed hard.
“Please, don’t,” she begged.
“Are you telling me that because you don’t want me or is it because you are afraid of just being with me?” he asked and she bit her lower lip, shaking her head.
“I don’t know…Liam,” she said softly. She wanted to say that the only reason she was afraid is because life…Clay had taught her not to believe in long distance relationships. She had been too engrossed in her thoughts to realize that she had been thinking out loud.
“I am not Clay,” he said in a soft voice.
“What?” she asked, confused.
“You said that Clay taught you not to believe in long distance relationships and I have been trying for the last three years to get someone else but…those other women are not you,” he said as he looked at her. “And I would rather have you for a few months at a time than not have you at all.”
By this time he was standing right in front of her. She looked into his eyes and he slowly pulled on the chord that held her bathrobe up. She whimpered slowly when he gently pushed the robe off her shoulders exposing her naked body to him. He took off his own clothes and stood in front of her before he kissed her. She closed her eyes and her hands fisted on his hair as she kissed him back. Her mouth as feverish against his own and she was consuming him, savoring the feeling of his tongue against hers. And in turn, Liam was devouring her. Being in his arms at that moment was the most heavenly feeling she had ever known.
“I want to feel you. Every part of you,” he rasped greedily. She bit her lower lip as he gently pushed her down on the bed and pinned her arms down on the mattress. His hands moved slowly moved down her breasts before he lowered his mouth until he got to her nipples. Her fingers found their way to her hair, curling in it as he took a nipple in between his lips and tugged hard. She let out a cry as her body responded almost immediately. The sensation washed over her and she could feel the muscles in her groin tightening.
“Baby, I’ve missed you,” he murmured against her hot skin.
Cadence had never wanted anyone more than she wanted him inside her at that moment. He was toying with her nipple making her writhe under him and she could sense his arousal, his longing as his cock pressed har
d against her inside thigh. Her nipple was gently elongating and hardening under his more than skillful touch. His other hand found her opening and glided his finger into her. She moaned and arched her back in response in turn pushing her pelvis up into his hand.
“Cadence…baby,” he said in a soft voice as he rubbed his finger against her. “You are so wet.”
She opened her eyes when she felt him hovering over her. He was staring keenly into her eyes.
“I want you. I want you right now,” he said in a soft voice. He lowered his mouth again and claimed her lips once more. She could feel his need for her. His hunger for her body. The fact that she was doing that to him unraveled her. She was not sure what it was about him that made her feel like she had struck the motherlode. He pulled away from her and looked down at her.
“I want to see you,” he said. “I want you on top of me. Riding me.”
“It’s been a while for me…” she said in a soft voice.
“I would never hurt you, baby,” he said as he flipped them over. He gently guided her, and even though she was a little cautious, eased herself down his girth. She exhaled loudly and his mouth formed a perfect O. She moaned as she felt him stretching her out. At that moment she was not sure whether it was her possessing him or the other way round. He took her hands and interlaced his fingers with hers.
“I’ve missed this,” he said as she began moving herself up and down. “I’ve missed you.”
“You feel so good,” Cadence murmured and he held her waist. She was rising and falling on hos cock steadily watching him come apart under her. He grabbed her hips almost a little too hard. He thrust into her hard and she let out a cry.
“Feel me, baby,” he said. She could hear the strain in his voice as she threw her head back and felt him thrusting into her over and over. She began moving, grinding her hips on his countering his every move in perfect proportion. She could feel herself getting closer and closer to the edge and he was close too. But she didn’t know that he was holding back as best he could.
