She was lost in concentration on the sensations swirling in her body, chasing her climax. His was right there, waiting for hers, if he could hold onto it. When her eyes scrunched together and she pressed her hips down hard on him, he knew it was time. At the first ripples of her body around him, he let go and fucking exploded. They both yelled out in release.
After she finished, Allison rolled off beside him on the bed and he pulled his hands free so he could hold her close.
She looked up at him with a satisfied smile. “Six more to go,” she said.
Damn. How was he going to let her go?
Allison didn’t wake until mid-morning on Monday. She and Hunter had spent the night making an effort to use all the condoms. They managed to get down to two before they were too exhausted to keep going.
Hunter still snored softly, so she stood and stretched, then headed to the bathroom. After relieving herself, she threw on a robe and went to the kitchen to make coffee. She’d call room service, too. She was hungry enough to eat everything.
While the coffee brewed she sat—gingerly—at the breakfast bar and reached for her purse. Her lady parts were sore, in a wonderfully pleasant way, but still sore.
She rummaged and came out with her phone. There’d been no need for her purse over the last couple of days, and since she was only a personal assistant, she never had to worry about business calls or texts over the weekend. But now it was Monday, so she should probably check in with the real world. Even if she didn’t want to. Even if it meant bursting the bubble.
Her phone showed two missed calls and a text, all from the HR department at National Energy Group, a company where she’d applied for a position in the legal department. It was an up-and-coming alternative energy producer, developing solar, wind, water, and other renewable energy sources. It was also one of her top choices of employer.
Before she’d taken the job with Dalton Caine, she’d done an initial Skype interview with National Energy Group, and a couple of other companies. She’d hoped she’d make the cut to an in-person interview with one or two of them, but it was a slow process and until now she hadn’t heard from any of them.
The text read: Left a message for you. Would like to set up a time to fly you out for an interview. Please call.
She listened to the message, which reiterated in more detail the desire to set up an interview, and left a number to call.
The company was located in California.
She glanced to the bedroom. More than ever, she was hopelessly connected to Hunter. Their whole weekend agreement had been a disastrously bad idea. As she’d figured, it was impossible to have casual sex and get someone out of your system. If you were attracted enough to someone to feel the need to get them out of your system, sex was only going to sink them deeper into your system.
Hunter was deeply rooted in her system, to the point that she knew she’d have to quit her job as his assistant because she wouldn’t be able to go back to work with him as if nothing had happened. He was in her blood now. She needed him, and if he could just go back to normal she wouldn’t be able to be around him.
So maybe this job opportunity was a blessing. She’d be able to make a clean break and put him behind her before she fell desperately in love. She could feel herself on the brink already. Hunter wasn’t the kind of man who made commitments, and he certainly wasn’t the kind of man who fell in love. He’d certainly enjoyed the weekend, and he’d loosened up and shown her a different side of him, but that didn’t change who he was.
While he slept, she made the call.
Allison ordered room service, and while she waited for it to arrive, she called the spa and explained they’d slept through their massage appointment. She apologized profusely, but they assured her it happened often, so they kept a waiting list for walk-ins and had filled the time when Allison and Hunter hadn’t showed up.
She called and confirmed the pilot would be at the airport at one o’clock. She called to the concierge and arranged a limo to the airport.
When she had no other chores to do, she went to the bedroom to wake Hunter.
He wasn’t in the bed, though. She heard water running in the bathroom, and a moment later he came out, still naked and beautiful. Holy crap was he beautiful. How could she even consider leaving him behind?
When he saw her, he grinned. “Good morning, gorgeous. Ready for a shower?”
She rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you have enough energy for another round.”
“We still have two condoms left. Don’t want them to go to waste.”
He came to give her a morning kiss. It was the kind of kiss that implied everything he wanted to do in the shower, and her body readily agreed. So did his when his cock came up and bumped her thigh.
When he took her hand and led her to the bathroom, she didn’t argue. Not only did she want to go again, but it saved her from having to tell him about the interview she’d scheduled for later in the week.
They showered, they satisfied each other, they dried each other and murmured nonsense as they left the bathroom to find clean clothes. She didn’t want to face packing because it had such a finality to it.
Thankfully, she was saved from the immediate need to pack by room service. The cart wasn’t as laden as the first breakfast she’d ordered, but it still had plenty of food. It made her stomach growl.
Hunter appeared dressed in jeans and a white buttoned shirt—he was halfway through his transformation back to real life.
“Do I smell breakfast?”
“Yep.” Allison poured herself some more coffee and dug into an omelet. It satisfied the growling belly and the need to refuel after the energetic night, but it tasted flat.
Hunter, on the other hand, dug in with gusto. “You check with the pilot?” he asked between bites.
“Yes. He’ll be on time. I reserved a limo, too.”
“Good.”
An awkward silence fell between them, and Allison didn’t need to be a mind-reader to know what he was thinking. She was thinking it, too. The weekend was over. It was time to head back to real life. How were they going to behave with each other? Pretend it never happened? She didn’t think she could do that.
She still had her letter of resignation on her computer. She could just give it to him when they got home and save herself the mess of explaining the interview. But how would she fill the employment gap? What if she didn’t get the job? She’d have a much bigger gap to fill.
The bottom line was, if they weren’t going to acknowledge the weekend full of sex, and more importantly, the deeper connection, she wouldn’t be able to work for him anyway. So when they got home, she’d print the letter again and give it to him.
Her heart sank. She didn’t want to have to do it. She wanted to be able to hug him, touch him, see him every day. But if they worked together, that would never happen.
“Excuse me.” She left the breakfast bar and headed for the bedroom to pack.
“Allison? Are you okay?”
She stopped halfway to the bedroom and looked at him. His billionaire CEO mask had already started to slip back into place.
“I’m fine.”
In the bedroom, she started packing her things. He followed her, taking hold of one of her hands to still her.
“I don’t believe you.”
She looked into his eyes, as honestly as she could, hoping he’d take a hint. “What do you think?”
“Look, I’ve been thinking about this weekend.”
“I have an interview in California on Thursday.” She didn’t mean to blurt it, but she wanted to cut off his rationalizing how they’d made a deal, she shouldn’t be so emotional about it, it was just sex.
“What?”
“Before I took the job with Dalton, I applied for positions in legal departments at several national companies. I got call-backs for Skype interviews with three of them, and this one called me this morning for an in-person interview.”
“And you’re going.”
/> “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I?”
The muscles in his jaw bunched and his eyes darkened like a thundercloud about to blow. Why would he be so pissed at her? Did he really think they’d just go back to work as if nothing happened?
“Fine.”
He stomped into the closet and went about packing his things, but didn’t say a word to her the rest of the morning.
Hunter hadn’t been so pissed off, or felt so betrayed, ever.
It was Thursday morning, the day of Allison’s interview in California. He sat at his desk, not getting anything done, trying to ignore the corner of the last condom packet, stabbing his thigh through the fabric of his pants pocket.
He was such a wuss for keeping the damn thing. But he couldn’t let it go.
The trip back from Costa Rica had been painfully tense. They’d spoken only when necessary, and when they returned to Houston, he’d had a driver take her home.
In the two days of work since then, they’d avoided each other, and when they’d had to talk it was strictly business and as brief as possible.
He didn’t know how things had gone off the rails so badly. He’d meant to tell her that morning that he’d been thinking about their agreement, and that he wanted to renegotiate. He’d wanted to tell her that she’d made a difference in his life in only a couple of days, and that he didn’t want to go back to the way things had been. He wanted to figure out a different way forward.
But she’d dropped the interview bomb on him as if she couldn’t have given two shits about the time they’d spent together.
Now she was gone to California to interview for a job she’d probably get, and he’d never see her again, which was completely unacceptable.
The problem was, he couldn’t figure out how to fix it.
His phone rang, interrupting his moping. It was Missy.
“Yes, Missy?”
“Your brother’s on the phone.”
“Which one?”
“Alexander.”
“Fine. Put him through.”
He had no desire to talk to any of his brothers, but he didn’t want to sit and dwell, either. He needed to suck it up and stop being such a pussy. Maybe talking to Xander would help.
“Bro,” Xander said.
“What is it, Alex?”
“Stop fucking calling me that. You guys know I hate it.”
“I’m in a shitty mood. I want everyone to share.”
“Great. Listen, Damian’s shipping out tomorrow so I thought we should get him good and sloshed so he’s miserable when he leaves.”
Getting good and sloshed sounded like an excellent plan. Something Hunter could get behind.
“The rest of the family on board?”
“Yeah. I managed to corral all the sibs.”
“Even Bishop?”
“Yep. But Dad’s out. He and his wife are leaving for Europe tomorrow, so he doesn’t want to be hung over.”
“That’s okay. It’ll be better without him, anyway.”
Xander chuckled. “Yeah, it will.”
“Okay. I’m in. When and where?”
“Your place. Seven.”
“My place?”
“You have a massive condo. The rest of us are either nomads or have shitty apartments.”
“What if I’d said no?”
“We’d have shown up anyway.”
“Of course.”
Nothing like a pack of alpha siblings who rode shotgun all over each other. He thought of Allison and the way she’d referred to them as a lot of testosterone in one house.
If he left the office now, he could be a few drinks ahead by the time everyone else showed up.
“So,” Xander said. “Seven?”
“Yeah. That’s good. See you then.”
He hung up and checked the clock. Two. Had Allison had her interview yet? Was she nervous?
Fuck. Why should he care? She’d snubbed him. It had never happened before, but now that it had, he had to figure out how to deal with it.
Drinking sounded like a good place to start.
“You’re a fucking bitch tonight,” Damian said, shooting some unsuspecting zombie on whatever video game he played with Colton.
The brothers had all shown up precisely at seven and now they lounged around Hunter’s living room playing his games, drinking his alcohol, and eating the buffet of takeout they’d ordered in.
Hunter knew Damian was right, but he couldn’t help himself. The more he drank, the crankier he got. Allison hadn’t called him to let him know how the interview had gone. Hadn’t even texted him.
But why should she? She didn’t owe him anything. He hadn’t said, hey, maybe we should talk about this.
“Fuck you, too.” He sat at the breakfast bar and gulped beer.
“What crawled up your ass?” Damian gave him a sidelong sneer, keeping most of his focus on the game.
“Maybe you should ask who.” Five sets of eyes shot to the other side of the room where Bishop sat in a leather chair, sipping a beer.
Hunter felt the uncomfortable shift as all of his brothers considered the wisdom of the youngest, and realization finally hit them.
Damian turned to him with a shit-eating grin. “Well, fuck me. Hunter’s in love.”
“I. Am. Not. In. Love.”
From one of the couches, Xander paused from shoveling Chinese in his face with a set of cheap chopsticks. “Never thought I’d see the day the king of cold would get all warm and mushy over a woman.”
“He’s not all that warm and mushy,” Jaxon said. He propped his booted feet on Hunter’s coffee table and laced his fingers behind his head. “He’s bitchy, like Damian said.”
“So maybe he loves her, but she doesn’t love him.” Xander raised a brow as if asking a question.
There was a collective intake of breath and five faces filled with pity turned to look at him.
“Oh for Christ’s sake.”
Hunter went to the bar and poured himself a shot of whiskey. Beer wasn’t nearly strong enough for him to deal with his brothers. He swallowed it down and tried to figure out how to change the subject. Knowing his brothers, though, they’d work it to death.
“What happened?” Colton asked, pausing the zombies to turn his full attention to Hunter. Leave it to him to get straight to the point.
“Nothing,” Hunter said.
“Maybe that’s the problem,” Damian offered, snickering. “I thought you knew how all that sex stuff worked.”
Hunter leveled a hateful glare at Damian. The others laughed at Damian’s joke.
“Who is she?” Jaxon asked.
Hunter tried not to growl his frustration. He didn’t want the third degree. It only made him think about Allison and where he went wrong.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s over.” He refilled his shot of whiskey.
“Doesn’t look like you want it to be over,” Xander said.
“It’s not like the great Hunter to take no for an answer,” Damian teased.
“You should talk. Your list of conquests must be five miles long,” Hunter said.
Damian opened his arms in a magnanimous gesture. “I like to spread myself around. Gotta keep all the ladies happy.”
Jaxon snorted. “Can’t wait for you to fall in love Damian. That’s going to be fun to watch.”
“Not gonna happen, little bro,” Damian said, shaking his head.
Hunter smirked. “Jax is right. That’s going to be fucking karma.”
“Don’t change the subject,” Damian said, pointing the gaming controller at him. “If you love this chick, why aren’t you fighting for her?”
“She’s a woman, not a chick. We had a short term agreement. We’d,” he paused and ran his hand over his short hair, trying to figure out how to say it without sounding ridiculous. “We’ve been attracted to each other for a while, but weren’t able to act on it. We decided to spend a weekend getting each other out of our systems, and move on.”
They all looked at hi
m as if he’d clucked like a chicken, then they broke out in guffaws of laughter. Everyone but Bishop, who just looked at him with eyes far too wise for a 21-year-old.
“Dude,” Bishop said while his brothers fought for breath through peals of laughter. “That never works.”
Hunter gave him a withering look. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“So, how’s it feel to realize you can’t control every tiny thing in the world?” Xander asked.
“Shitty, actually.”
“What’re you going to do about it?”
“What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Tell her,” Colton said, as if Hunter was an idiot and should have figured that out himself.
“You’re a 23-year-old kid. What do you know about women? They get more complicated the older you get, by the way.”
Colton shrugged. “Seems like talking to someone’s the best way to clear stuff up.”
“What the fuck is it with the children in the family? How’d they get so smart?” Damian grumbled.
“They’re not saturated in alcohol yet?” Xander asked, sipping his beer for emphasis.
“I think maybe they just haven’t been jaded by life,” Hunter said.
“In this family, jaded is relative, brother,” Xander said. He saluted Hunter with his bottle.
“When are you going to see the lucky lady again?” Damian asked unpausing his game and half-turning back to the big screen.
“Tomorrow.”
“Wait, you work with her?” Xander asked.
That set off another round of laughter. Bishop even smirked.
“Fuck you all,” Hunter said.
Allison’s interview went spectacularly well. The company was a perfect fit. She liked the people. She liked the corporate culture. She liked the job description and the potential for advancement. She liked the money. She even liked California. And California meant she’d be close to her brother and get to see him more often.
What she didn’t like was that Hunter didn’t fit anywhere into a scenario where she worked at National Energy Group.
She’d called Jesse from the airport after her interview and told him all about it.
HUNTER (The Caine Brothers Book 1) Page 9
