by Tina Martin
“Have you posted the position internally yet?” Desmond asked.
“No. I don’t need to post it. I have a candidate in mind that I would like to discuss with the both of you.”
“And who’s that?”
“Melanie Summers.”
“The chick from the hotel?” Desmond asked.
“The woman from the hotel who works in guest services. Yes,” Dante said. “She’s very sharp, professional and I think she’ll make an impact on the marketing team.”
“Cool. I would love for her to work under me,” Desmond said with a sneaky grin.
Dante watched Dimitrius grimace. Then he asked, “What do you think, Dimitrius?”
“I think we should bring her in for a group interview,” Dimitrius suggested.
Desmond frowned. “A group interview? She’ll be reporting to me. I’m capable of handling my own interviews.”
“Des, I think Dimitrius is right,” Dante said. He knew Dimitrius had a thing for Melanie, which is probably the reason he requested a group interview. That would ensure he’d be part of the process and thus have time to interact with her. “I haven’t spoken with her about it yet. I plan on speaking to her sometime this week and if she shows an interest, I’ll set up the interview. So moving on to the next item on the agenda...three weeks ago when I was at the GHC resort, I briefly ran into Steven Harris. He brought up something that Desmond had mentioned a while ago...about how there seems to be interest at the resort from people who are not grieving the loss of a spouse or needing help from therapists per se. These are just everyday folk, looking to vacation at a high-end, exclusive resort and as you know, GHC is just that. Desmond, do you have any thoughts?”
“Steven is right. The interest is there, and as you know, autumn and winter are our slowest seasons. So I was thinking about exploring the idea and making those months available for outsiders, shall we say.”
Dante nodded and said, “Dimitrius, you want to weigh in on this?”
Dimitrius rubbed his chin and said, “Um...I was thinking about how that would work from an accounts perspective, because if these outsiders don’t fit the model, then they have no need in opening an account, so we will lose money from the monthly subscriptions.”
“That’s a good point,” Dante said. “But we could recoup the money as a premium upon booking, can’t we?”
“We could, however, the system is not set up like that currently.”
“Well, that’s not a problem. We can get I.T. to do a system change if need be. I’m just worried about the brand. Right now, as it stands, GHC is strictly for the purpose of rehabilitating and helping people. If we change that and let any and everybody in, then I think we will lose our credibility, and people who really need the help of the services offered there may turn elsewhere...someplace they deem to be more serious than GHC, shall we say.”
“I could see something like that happening,” Dimitrius concurred.
“And that’s my main concern, which I have expressed to Steven,” Dante said. “I didn’t create GHC to be a vacation resort. I created it to be sort of a grief retreat...someplace that could serve as a springboard for new beginnings.”
“Too bad it doesn’t work for everyone,” Dimitrius said, totally off subject.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dante asked.
“Just what I said. It doesn’t work for everyone.”
“GHC works, Dimitrius. You know that. You’ve read the testimonials and—”
“You were there for almost two full weeks,” Dimitrius said. “Where’s your new beginning, Dante?”
“My new beginning?” Dante asked, completely caught off guard by what his brother was hinting at.
“Yeah, meaning, have you heard from her?” Dimitrius asked, referring to Emily.
“As you know, I just got back into town last night after attending a business summit in Indianapolis.”
“So the answer is no?” Desmond inquired.
Dante sighed. “Let’s get back to work.”
“Let’s not,” Desmond responded. “Dante, I’ve watched you immerse yourself in this company and make it the success that it is, but I know you were only doing it to keep Anita off of your mind, and now, you’re doing the same with Emily. You can’t keep on doing this to yourself.”
Dante leaned back in his chair. He missed Emily, but he didn’t want to pursue a woman who was dead set on being alone and miserable for the rest of her life. After a few more seconds, he finally spoke up and said, “Emily has made it clear to me that I’m not the man she wants.”
“Then why’d you spend millions of dollars buying that building so she wouldn’t lose her store?” Dimitrius asked.
“Because I love her and I want her to be happy.”
“And she knows that?” Dimitrius asked. He told Dante before to tell Emily how he really felt, that he loved her.
Dante, however, had never said those words to Emily because he wasn’t sure if she felt the same way about him. If judging by actions, Emily should’ve known that he loved her, but when it came down to love, there was nothing like having those three little words spoken to you by someone whom you have the exact same feelings for – the same affection.
“We still have several more items on the agenda to discuss. I suggest we get back to work,” Dante told his brothers, finally quieting them.
Chapter 36
Dante had been frustrated for the remainder of the workday, because he was sure that after the good deed he did for Emily, he would at least gotten a phone call from her. But she chose to remain distant and that upset him. To make matters worse, all he could do was think about her, about how they’d made passionate love and how she was irate with him at the hospital.
He glanced at the clock. It was 1:04, just after midnight and he couldn’t sleep. He decided to go the kitchen for a drink. He poured some Bourbon in a glass, then sat on a barstool at the island. He tossed it all to the back of his throat and remembered being deep inside of her, making love to her, but the thought was tainted by her telling him to leave the hospital – telling him she didn’t need him, that she wanted him to leave her alone when all he wanted to do was love her.
The chime of the doorbell interrupted his thoughts and brought a frown to his face. He looked at the clock again. Who was at his door at this time of night?”
Wearing only a pair of boxers, he sauntered to the door, then peeped out of the blinds. There she was, Emily, the woman who had caused him so much heartache. The woman of his dreams. The woman who invaded his life with her personality and natural beauty. The woman who was able to excite his heart and make him do things he’d never done before. She had also turned out to be the woman who pained him.
He opened the door and Emily looked him up and down, having flashbacks of the one and only time they’d made love. Dante had been incredible, she could admit. He was strong and caring, there for her emotionally, only she refused to accept the emotional part. She’d pushed him away and now she hoped that she hadn’t pushed him too far, so far that he couldn’t stand the sight of her.
“Hi,” she forced out.
Had Dante heard that she’d spoken? He was startled by the fact that she was even there, at his house. She’d never been there before. Just the feeling of her being at his home was enough to excite him, to make him believe that love between them was possible. But she’d proven that love isn’t what she wanted. She wanted to be left alone. So why was she standing here, at his door at such a late hour?
One thing was for sure. He was done with her hot-and-cold attitude. One minute she couldn’t stand him. The other, she was kissing him, screaming his name louder than he’d ever heard a woman do it and then she was back to hating him again. Not anymore. It was his turn to take control.
“Why are you here, Emily?”
She crossed her arms as if a sudden chill had struck her.
“I just wanted to talk.”
“At one-thirty in the morning, you want to talk?”
“Yes, I wanted to apologize to you for the way I acted.”
Just taking in her beauty had his heart pounding in his chest. She had on a black, flowey dress that fell at her knees. Her curly hair that he loved so much was bouncy and neat. He remembered his fingers submerged in those curls while they’d made love.
“Why are you here, Emily?” he asked again, watching her lips tremble.
“Dante, I’m sorry about the things I said to you. You didn’t deserve them and—”
“And what? You want me to forgive you and then what happens, Emily? You get angry again...regret everything we do together, push me away like I mean nothing to you?”
“No.”
“Well, that’s what you did, and I would never do that to you, Emily. Never!”
Tears blurred her vision. He was upset and now, she knew it was too late. She shouldn’t have allowed so much time to pass between them. The distance only made things worse. “I don’t know what happens, Dante,” she said. “I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry.” She covered her face and turned away from him, heading back for her car.
Before she could walk away, he stepped out onto the porch and grabbed her forearm, pulling her into his grasp, staring into her worried eyes while holding her head between those strong hands of his. “Why are you here, Emily?”
More tears spilled out of her eyes as she looked at him. With trembling lips, she said, “Because I miss you and I love you, Dante.”
He closed his eyes briefly. Hearing her say those words gave him a euphoric feeling even more than when they made love. He longed to hear them and finally, she was able to confess what he had known. She loved him.
Dante attacked her lips, kissing her hungrily, sucking greedily on them and parting them with his tongue so he could reacquaint himself with her taste. Just the sensation of their warm tongues touching made him want to explode.
Before either of them knew what was happening, because it all happened so spontaneously, Emily was in the foyer, pinned up against the wall, Dante’s taut, muscular, naked body holding her there so tightly, she could hardly breathe. He wasted no time removing her panties, nearly ripping them in the process. He needed to be inside of her now and not a moment longer. After sliding his boxers to the floor, his manhood throbbing in anticipation, he settled perfectly inside of her after a few priming pumps.
“Oh, baby,” he said. Being inside of her felt good, too good. Immeasurably good. He could never feel this way with any other woman and that’s how he knew Emily was it for him. She was ‘the one’ and he loved her. He’d always loved her.
Feeling himself losing control and still thrusting while holding her up with the strength of one hand, he used the other to snatch her dress over her head, messing up her hair in the process. But that didn’t matter. Once they made it to the bedroom, her curls were as good as gone.
Their lips connected again. Emily locked her legs tighter around his waist. That gave him an even better penetrating angle. That made him go even deeper if that was possible. While their tongues entangled, she moaned and grunted, feeling every pull of his member against her insides.
Dante felt her muscles tighten around him, squeeze him while her fingernails dug into his flesh as she moved her mouth away from his so she could belt out a scream that his neighbors could hear.
“Dante!”
He threw his head back when he’d heard her scream his name. Oh, how intoxicating it was to hear the sound of her sweet voice call out his name. It was just as exciting as being deep inside of her body, loving her and wanting to please her. At the same time, he needed this, needed her and hearing her satisfied had him over the edge. His face had turned a shade darker when his pleasure finally arrived, washing over them.
“Emily! Oh, baby! Ah!”
Their gazes met and Dante kissed her lips and while their faces were so close together, he said, “I love you.”
“I love you too, Dante.”
“Good, because I need to take you to my bedroom so we can start all over again,” he told her and he’d still had her pinned at the wall, still inside of her.
Emily wanted to respond but all she could do was stare into his eyes. Her words were caught at the back of her throat.
With their souls still attached, her legs still wrapped around him, hanging on for dear life, he slowly ascended the spiral staircase, only breaking their gazes to guide her safely into the bedroom and on his bed – the same bed where, just a short while ago, he couldn’t sleep. Now he had a good reason not to sleep. He’d be making love to his wife, for the first time in his bed. Their bed. Their home.
“I missed you, Emily,” he said in a whisper, their noses touching.
She felt him harden inside of her even more when he’d spoken those words. She knew they were true, because he hadn’t even wanted to separate from her, keeping their bodies joined while coming up the stairs and landing on his bed. “I missed you too, Dante.”
Lowering himself to her again, his tongue took a deep plunge into her mouth, kissing her with so much precision and greed that her toes curled.
Her hands gripped the nape of his neck and massaged him there, and at his shoulders, while he tried with all his might to consume her.
He massaged her breasts, tasting her there and when he felt her thighs tighten and heard the deep moan come from her throat, he knew her pleasure, the pleasure he was delivering to her, was bound to come all over again. She slammed her eyelids together, trying her best to handle him, his strength and his stamina, feeling her legs stiffen, then quiver as everything in the room seemed to have been spinning out of control.
“Oh, Dante!”
And just after she’d climaxed, so did he, groaning and shuddering on top of her. Not once did he close his eyes. He wanted to see her, take her all in, the same way she was taking him. All of him.
“I love you, Emily,” he whispered softly.
“I love you, Dante,” she said breathlessly.
Dante then positioned himself beside of her after disconnecting their bodies, but not their hearts. He looked upon her adoringly, stroking curls away from her face, something he liked to do, she noticed.
“Emily?”
“Yes?”
“I really do want this.”
“I know.”
“And I need you to be all-in because, as you know, I’m very decisive. I’ve always been that way. I know what I want. I want you, and when I love, I love hard, baby. I need you to understand that.”
“I understand,” she said softly.
“Tell me what you want.”
She smiled. “I want to be happy. I want to be with you, share meals with you, wake up every morning to you and eat oysters with you.”
He smiled.
So did she. “I don’t know if I ever thanked you for what you did with the store. It’s beautiful. I appreciate it very much.”
“I know how much the store meant to you and I wanted you to keep it, even if you didn’t want to keep me.”
“I do want to keep you. I love you.”
“Good, because I need you to move in with me immediately. No more pushing me away. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it right. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
“And I want us to start working on our family right away.”
She smiled. “We’ve already started on that. I’m not on any sort of birth control, Dante.”
That made him happy, more than she could ever imagine. He’d always wanted children, a legacy – some babies to further his empire. A son to groom. A daughter to adore, as much as he adored her mother.
He leaned forward to kiss her sweet, juicy lips again. “I promise that, when you open your eyes in the morning, I’ll be here, staring into them, waiting to make love to you.”
Her lips curved into a smile as she stared into the depth of his eyes. That was a promise she knew he’d keep. And she’d keep him, forever and love him forever, the same way he loved her.
The End
* * * * *
Also by Tina Martin:
Accidental Deception, The Accidental Series, Book 1
Accidental Heartbreak, The Accidental Series, Book 2
Accidental Lovers, The Accidental Series, Book 3
What Donovan Wants, The Accidental Series, Book 4
Dying To Love Her
Dying To Love Her 2
The Millionaire’s Arranged Marriage (The Alexanders, Book 1)
Watch Me Take Your Girl (The Alexanders, Book 2)
Her Premarital Ex (The Alexanders, Book 3)
Secrets On Lake Drive
Can’t Just Be His Friend
The Baby Daddy Interviews
Just Like New to the Next Man
Vacation Interrupted
The Crush
Read book descriptions, excerpts and more at www.tinamartin.net.
