Rush: A Second Chance Romance

by Ellen Lane

  The notion was enough to make me more than a little nervous. It wasn’t as if I was afraid of Jeb on any level. I had the weight of twelve years success behind me, and even as a kid, I’d always been bigger than him. Though Jeb and I had once had a kind of haphazard friendship, in that moment, what I most remembered was how protective he’d been of his little sister all those years ago.

  To say that Jebediah hadn’t liked me dating Cece would be an understatement. When I first tried to explain to him that I had a thing for her, he refused to accept it and banned me from their house. Of course, ultimately, he’d forgiven me - on the condition that I dated another girl. When that hadn’t happened, he’d taken to following us around - trying to catch us in something that he deemed inappropriate.

  Luckily for us, while Jeb had been getting into all kinds of trouble, Cecily and I had been establishing secret meeting places around the neighborhood - places we could go to avoid her brother.

  It was the only way we’d been able to keep our little romance going. If Jeb had his way, his sister would never have dated. In his opinion, no man was good enough for her, let alone someone who’s dark side he already knew.

  And now, twelve years later, he was calling me. He’d left a voicemail, and I hesitated for only a moment before putting the phone to my ear.

  Hey Rhett! I can only imagine how shocked you are to hear my voice after all these years, but I heard Cece was doing an article with you and got your number! I’ve been down in Macon for a few years, but I’m headed up to Atlanta for a week or so next month. We should get together and catch up! I’ve never had lunch with a billionaire before. Call me and we can plan something. Hope to hear from you.

  I listened to the message one more time. In it, Jeb sounded so congenial that I was almost tempted to call him back. Almost. Though I hadn’t seen the man in a long while, I couldn’t assume that very much had changed about him - and that meant that he still wouldn’t approve of my dating his sister, monied or not.

  After contemplating for a moment, I deleted the message. It would do me no good to talk to Jeb - and beyond that, it might be detrimental for Cece. From what I understood, her parents left the country to teach abroad shortly after I headed to the west coast, and she’d been under her brother’s thumb for a number of years. As an adult, I wasn’t about to subject her to that again. Much as I respected the relationship between a brother and a sister, Cece was her own woman. The last thing either of us needed was for Jeb to interfere all over again.

  I had other plans.

  Chapter Nine

  ~ Cece

  I didn’t hear Rhett come in the night before, but when I woke up early to make myself breakfast before my run, there he was. After three days of absence, the sight of him surprised me so much that I paused in the doorway to the living room and merely stared. It looked like he’d fallen asleep right after coming in. He hadn’t bothered to do much more than take off his tie and jacket before slumping onto the couch and passing out.

  I wondered how long he’d been sleeping.

  It was obvious he’d nearly worked himself into a coma. There were dark circles under his eyes, his hair was mussed and a few days’ worth of stubble dotted his chin...but none of that stole from his allure. Soundlessly, I crept, barefoot, across the expanse of the living room to stand over him, looking my fill for the first time in three days.

  I wanted to kiss him. To slide into the small expanse of space between him and the back of the couch and feel his warmth against me. I wanted him to wake up, take me in his arms, and ravish me until I didn’t remember my own name - just like he’d done in the mountains.

  But I’d have to settle for this. I wasn’t selfish enough to wake him when he needed rest - and atop that, I still wasn’t sure how I was going to operate for the next few weeks. We still had a good five or six interview sessions left, and if I wanted the material that guaranteed my promotion, that meant giving into my desires - the one thing that petrified me more than anything else.

  Carefully, I knelt next to the couch so I was eye-level with the object of my fascination. If I hadn’t known Rhett was completely unconscious I might never have been so bold. How many times over the years had I wondered what it might be like to get this close to him again? I couldn’t say I had obsessed over the man but I could certainly admit there were times when I lie alone at night contemplating where we might be if he’d never left.

  If I hadn’t let him leave.

  In that moment, I had to remind myself that this wasn’t some storybook romance. I wasn’t here to try for a second chance or to get the man to fall desperately in love with me. I needed information for my promotion - I just needed to decide how much I was willing to do to get it.

  Reaching out, I drew my fingertips through Rhett’s dark blonde hair.

  I could understand why women were so drawn to him. Beyond the riches - beyond the money, influence and shark-like business sense, there was a strange vulnerability to him. Something that endeared him to you and made you long for his wellbeing. That was something that hadn’t changed...not even in twelve years.

  Once he managed to stop messing around, I had no doubt Rhett would find a woman that made him deliriously happy.

  So why did the notion make my stomach twist in regret?

  “So, this deal you’ve just made -it’s one of the largest in your company’s history, is that right?” Sometime around three in the afternoon, when Rhett finally came around, we had a late lunch in the penthouse. We ordered from his favorite restaurant - some ridiculously expensive seafood place that I didn’t want to admit was delicious.

  “The largest.” That wide, infectious grin of his sent butterflies winging through my stomach. Rhett, I’d noticed, had a myriad of different smiles - smiles for his business partners, smiles for his employees, smiles for his staff, and smiles for me. The wide, unfettered, unabashedly enthusiastic ones…. the darkly promising ones that meant that he would bring me untold pleasure...I couldn’t decide which I liked more. “It’s going to mark a twenty-five percent increase in income in the eastern market over the next four years. Worth the three days crunch time.”

  “And now you have some down time?” I inquired, hating how hopeful my voice sounded. I’d never tell him, but spending three days in his penthouse by myself had been surprisingly lonely. At least in the Savannah manor I had Mason and Mona to keep me company.

  “Never downtime,” He returned, taking a bite of perfectly seasoned flounder with relish. “But things will be a bit quieter for a while. Which means we’ll have more time for your interviews.” That garnered a small smile from me, before Rhett continued in a lower tone. “As well as anything else you might like to do to pass the time.”

  A week ago - hell, three days ago, a line like that would have had me running for the hills. Now, I felt the slow burn of want spreading through my lower belly. If I indulged now, I told myself, it was for the article. Just to get my facts straight and to make things...juicier. That’s what Jim wanted, wasn’t it? It was what I wanted, and we’d already crossed that particular boundary, hadn’t we?

  “Right.” Somehow, I managed to deflect his comment and reign in my lust. The middle of the day was no time for an erotic jaunt. I had notes I needed to send off, and I was sure that he had work to attend to. “Well, maybe when you have some time you can walk me through your home office set-up.” The man had a gorgeous office and library with a glorious view of Piedmont Park - and I definitely wasn’t imagining him bending me over his desk and having his way with me for all of downtown to see.

  “Anything you like.” He folded his hands under his chin, his gaze never straying from my face. I could feel my cheeks burning as he searched my features. Freshly showered, clad in just a pair of loose silk pajama bottoms and a robe open over his gorgeous chest, he was like a vision right out of a particularly memorable wet dream.

  Shit. Now that I’d given myself an excuse to give into my desires, what was keeping me from jumping his bones right over
his kitchen table? From demanding that the man take me to bed for the next twelve hours? Only my very righteous sense of dignity...but that hadn’t held up so well in the face of Hurricane Rhett a week ago.

  Now, I supposed it was just a matter of time.

  Surprisingly, over the next few weeks, Rhett didn’t pursue me as flagrantly as he had when we were in Savannah. At first, I was hit with a sinking worry that he had lost his interest in me. That I was like every other woman he’d been with, and slaking his lust meant that he was done on his end. I supposed that would make for a fairly commonplace article about celebrity trysts, and would still get me my promotion...but the idea left a sour taste in my mouth.

  Eventually, however, I realized that I had things all wrong.

  Our next two interview sessions were fairly mild - despite the fact that I vividly remembered the slightly racy text message he’d sent me in the wake of our hiking trip. We lounged around his living room when he wasn’t working from his home office and I went through my laundry lists of questions - questions that mattered much less now that the article had taken on a new angle. Rhett, of course, could never know that, and I had to keep up appearances. During the interviews, I didn’t backpedal from his flirting as I had before. I had certainly never been flirted with as flagrantly as Rhett did, so it took a little adjusting, but the man didn’t drag me off to his bedroom - much to my great disappointment.

  Instead, he sent me flowers.

  It was ridiculous, really. I was staying at his penthouse. He could have just brought them home. But after our third interview, the doorbell rang and the man feigned ignorance. When I answered the door, I found a teenager fairly staggering under the weight of the four dozen red roses he’d carted up to the penthouse. When he dumped them into my arms, I assumed they were from one of Rhett’s many admirers and did my best not to turn my nose up. After the man himself raced into the foyer to help me, a casual question directed my attention to the card that had come with the insane display.

  “Who’re they from?”

  I scowled at him before rooting through the mass of red blossoms to retrieve an unmarked envelope. There was an elegant white card inside, and when I flipped it open to read it, the words caught in my throat.

  Cece,

  I would have ordered more, but I’m pretty sure this is all you can carry.

  Hope you like roses.

  Rhett

  For a moment, I forgot how to speak entirely. It wasn’t as if a man had never gotten me flowers before. A few of my exes had bought me bargain store bouquets or a single rose, perhaps, if I’d hinted I might like one on Valentine’s day. Those instances, however, were nothing like this. Each of the blossoms that had arrived were perfect - unbruised and gloriously scarlet. They must have cost a fortune - and Rhett had them delivered for absolutely no reason at all. Embarrassingly, I felt moisture pricking the corners of my eyes and turned to face him with what I hoped was an imposing scowl.

  “Did you really waste money to have these brought here?”

  Rhett, however, seemed far from intimidated. He was grinning from ear to ear. “I really did.”

  “Rhett, these are...well, they’re…” I wanted to say outlandish. Opulent. Completely unnecessary. But my mouth acted without my brain’s consent. “They’re beautiful.” I reached out to finger one of the buds, marveling out how perfect it was. “I’ve never seen roses like this.”

  “They’re from a specialty shop down town.” He’d moved behind me, his larger form pressing up against mine as he reached around me to feel the texture of the petals as well. “Best in the Southeast, ten years running.” He dropped his head to rest his chin on my shoulder, and when he spoke again, his words were murmured dangerously close to my ear. “You like them?”

  Swallowing thickly, I nodded. There would be no tears here. By this point, the deal was half-done. Rhett was just being Rhett. No need to get all weepy. He was doing what he thought would win my affections. “Good.” He placed a kiss on my neck that was more gentility than sensuality, but it warmed me just the same. I felt myself leaning back into his embrace - wanting more.

  But he surprised me by moving away to round the table and read the card for himself. I could have stomped my foot in frustration. First, the man couldn’t get enough of me and now he was playing hard to get? “Probably should have hand written the card, right?”

  “The card is fine.” I couldn’t keep an edge of ire from my tone. Why couldn’t he just come back over here and kiss me, damnit?

  Rhett chuckled, gazing up at me teasingly. “Cece, I want you to come to Nepal with me.”

  The man had such a propensity for shocking me that the question shouldn’t have caught me off guard - but I couldn’t curb my natural impulses. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped in surprise. “Pardon?”

  The man before me smirked. “Nepal? As in the country between India and China. Lots of mountains. Winter Wonderland.”

  He was purposefully riling me, I realized, and I should have shaken it off, but I was still a bit taken aback. “Why are you going to Nepal?”

  “Business trip - mostly.” He replied, leaning against the table. When he crossed thick arms over his chest, I pressed my thighs together at the way his muscles contracted. Dear God, I needed a better constitution when it came to this man. “I also want to fuel the adrenaline junkie. It’s been a while.”

  “It’s been a few weeks!” I insisted, flummoxed. “We just climbed a mountain!”

  Rhett’s smirk stretched even further. “You climbed a hundred feet up a very small cliff. Not to minimize your achievements, but I’d like to take things to the next level, if you’re up for it.” I couldn’t even imagine what the next level could possibly be. Of course, this was Rhett Wilder we were talking about. The man had climbed Everest, gone spelunking in Mexico and gone down three miles into the Mariana Trench.

  I had never been an adventurous person. My one trip to Paris had been spectacularly eye-opening, and while I didn’t mind the idea of travelling, the notion of putting my life on the line had never particularly appealed to me.

  But that was before I met Rhett. When I’d nearly gone tumbling down the side of the mountain, something strange had roused inside me. Something that enjoyed that rush of fear and anticipation - maybe even craved it. At first, I’d lain awake wondering what was wrong at me. It couldn’t be natural to want to repeat a near death experience. But since the Blue Ridge Mountains, the memory had been there, in the back of my mind, lingering like an unscratched itch.

  “What’s the next level?” I found myself asking with a tentative mixture of anticipation and trepidation.

  Rhett leaned across the table until his face was scant inches from mine. When he spoke, I could feel the warmth of his breath feather across my mouth. “Why don’t you come with me and see?”

  A shiver ran down my spine as the spicy scent of him enveloped me. I met his gaze steadily.

  “Rhett, I’ve hardly left the country.” The excuse was a last bid to save myself from the inevitable. I knew that if I accompanied Rhett halfway across, things might get messy. Maybe I wanted them to get messy. Something about him managed to toss my formerly strong sense of self-preservation right out the window. “I doubt I’m the best person to take schlepping through the snow in Southeast Asia.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” He rebutted, reaching up to cup my face in a large, warm hand. As he spoke, his thumb swept over my lip tantalizingly, and my breath caught in my throat. “I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather schlep with.”

  And then he kissed me, and the decision was all but made.

  I’m sure any woman with a pulse can imagine that I would very much have liked Rhett to spirit me off to his bedroom at that exact moment. Unfortunately, a spontaneous trip to Nepal necessitated quite a bit of preparation that I had never even considered. I tried to go back to my apartment for warmer weather clothes but Rhett insisted that I didn’t own the type of clothing I’d need for a place like Nepal.


  And then he took me shopping.

  I’d like to say I fought it. That I cursed him five ways to Sunday and refused to set foot inside any of the shops he directed me to. The sad truth of the matter was that it took woefully little convincing for him to get me right where he wanted me. I needed warm clothes - and Rhett argued that he knew the best and most reliable brands. Who was I to question him? The last thing I wanted was to freeze to death somewhere in the Nepalese mountains.

  That said, he didn’t need to buy me two down parkas that cost over fourteen hundred dollars apiece, name brand long underwear and cashmere sweaters. I put my foot down at a pair of snow boots that came in at a cool five grand. Rhett merely went behind my back and bought an only slightly cheaper pair, making me swear I’d reimburse him if it took putting aside portions of my salary for the next five years.

  The plane ride was set to be about twelve hours, which made me slightly nervous. I’d never been in the air for more than six. The idea of being crammed into a commercial airplane like a sardine for that long literally made me hyperventilate in fear - but tackling the journey in Rhett’s private plane was something else entirely.

  “I don’t want to imagine how much money you’re spending on just the transportation?” I swirled my flute of champagne in little circles, reluctant to endure so much extravagance in twenty-four hours.

  Rhett sat next to me, working on his laptop. The man was so burly that his arm brushed against mine every time he moved, and I resisted the urge to lean into the gesture. “Then don’t.” He glanced at me with a chuckle. “Sleep. That will make the trip go faster.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever slept twelve hours in my entire life.”

  He smirked. “Are you asking for my help?”

  My heart stuttered in my chest as heat flared through me. “N-no. That’s not what I meant-”