by Gage Grayson
“So…” Rose eventually says, venturing to curl her delicate hand over my own.
I look down at the movement, smiling, then pull my hand out from under hers to place mine on top.
“I want you to know why I want to procure so much land in Verona Falls.”
I feel Rosa’s hand tense underneath mine. She looks away from me.
“That’s not something you need to tell me. Your business is your own, Erik. It’ll…complicate my job if I know your personal reasons for wanting all of the real estate.”
“Even still, knowing that, I want you—no, need you—to understand why I want it.”
Rose sighs.
“What are you hoping for by telling me about it?”
I turn her head so that our eyes lock onto each other.
“I want you to know that I’m not…I don’t know. That I’m not just another Oberon Lawson, I guess.”
“I already know you’re not like him.”
I shake my head.
“No, I don’t simply mean that I’m not an asshole or whatever. A seemingly nice and respectful guy can still be an utter bastard in business, after all.”
“Seemingly nice?”
I chuckle.
“Even I can be an asshole when I need to be. But that’s not my point.”
“So, what is it?”
“I’m not planning on building a shopping mall or a holiday resort or a golf course or anything that would even vaguely benefit the rich tourists of the Hamptons.”
Rose’s eyes narrow. She turns her entire body to face me, sliding her hand out from underneath mine as if she’s bracing for an answer that is actually worse than those I just listed.
“So, what are you planning on doing with so much land?”
I take a deep breath, forming the sentences in my head before I say them so that my intentions are loud and clear.
“Affordable housing,” I reply. “Blocks of well-built, well-maintained, and affordable apartments for social housing. A mixture of renting and for-sale properties. All protected from being sold off to businesses and corporations. That’s why I need the land.
“Even if a few of the apartments somehow ended up being bought by a business, they wouldn’t be able to do anything. My company would be the landlord of all the rented properties. Rent would be frozen to prevent it from rising above the rate of inflation. Same for the cost of buying one of the properties outright.”
I finish my explanation there—I don’t need to elaborate any further than that for now. And judging by the look on Rosa’s face, I don’t think she can take in any more either.
“What do you think, Rose?” I eventually ask. “I’ve been wanting to do this for as long as I can remember visiting the Hamptons. If it goes well, I have plans to roll it out to other tourist-heavy regions in the world, to help protect the local backbone of the communities.
“These places—they can’t be allowed to be turned into holiday villages. It’s not right. People live here. For the entire year, like you said. They shouldn’t be pressured financially to have to leave…especially when their livelihood is here.”
I’m aware I’m rambling, but with Rose saying nothing—just staring at me, her face frozen and expressionless—I can’t seem to shut up.
“This is the point when you tell me what you think, Rose.”
She blinks a few times but doesn’t break eye contact.
“You’re not—you’re not just saying all of this hoping that I’ll somehow be able to speed up the land procurement process for you, are you?”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Why, Miss Clark, you wouldn’t be questioning my character, would you?”
Rose doesn’t smile.
“Erik, just tell me that you’re serious with this.”
“I am. Absolutely one hundred percent. It’s been in the works for a while now, but it’s been kept under wraps so other businesses don’t try and buy from underneath me to prevent me from doing it.”
And then Rose does something unexpected: she laughs.
She runs a hand through her hair, laughing wildly up at the sky.
“Rosa…?”
“You’re a fuckin’ saint. Why didn’t I meet you years ago? Or months ago. I’d settle for months ago.”
I smile.
“So, you approve.”
“How could I not? This will change everything for the locals. And if you can demonstrate that it works—if you can make it work elsewhere—it’ll be a massive middle finger to all the rich assholes who think they own everything.” Rose pauses then, frowning. “You won’t get a profit from this, you know.”
“Trust me, I know. My board of directors knows. The intention isn’t to make a profit. The intention is to keep local people in the area to maintain business and trade, to keep their local economy afloat. Tourists can’t expect people to serve them in their precious bars if the waiting staff can’t live anywhere, after all. I plan to breakeven through rent and selling the properties outright over the years, but it isn’t a priority. Trust me…I have the money to spare.”
Rose rolls her eyes.
“Arrogant prick. Thought you said you were different from the other billionaires.”
“I’m fairly certain I mentioned that even I can be an asshole.”
“Ha! That you did.”
Rose kicks out her foot in the water, splashing the two of us in the process.
“So, did it work?” I ask.
Rose looks at me, confused.
“Did what work?”
“Did my explanation change your opinion of me? Am I sufficiently different enough to deserve your respect?”
Rose leans against my side as she slides her hand back underneath mine.
“You know I respected you already, Erik. But…yes. Knowing your intentions are actually benevolent does change things.”
“Then, I’m glad I told you.”
We sit there staring out at the horizon for a long time in silence. Though I badly want to kiss Rose, I’m content to hold her hand and have her lean against my shoulder.
It’s a long time before we finally stand up, and I call Rose a cab to take her home.
I walk back to the house I’m currently staying in—laughing as I recall the state the two of us had left the living room in.
Housekeeping will have a field day.
It’s all I can do to throw my clothes off before I launch myself onto the bed. I can’t wait for the sun to rise so I can spend another day with Rose, enthusiasm renewed now that I have her on board with my plans.
Tomorrow can’t come quickly enough.
10
Rose
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
I’m fucking screwed.
Erik was overjoyed when I told him his explanation for why he wanted the land changed things. He naturally assumed I meant changed for the better.
He didn’t even think to ask for a clarification.
So, I’m fucked.
How can I sell the land to Oberon Lawson now, knowing what Erik wants it for?
But how on earth could I get out of the deal? I’m not one hundred percent certain that a man like Oberon wouldn’t be above threatening or hurting my family to ensure the deal goes down.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
And it isn’t just Erik’s business plan that has me shaken up—it’s him as a person.
He was wonderful last night. The two of us had so much fun, simply doing what I did every week—eating and drinking and dancing with the people I grew up with. And he genuinely enjoyed it.
He genuinely enjoyed it.
He’s a man who wants to do right by people. He’s a man who enjoys cheap, good food, who will drink a dubious shot with a fucking worm in it at the behest of someone he does not know, just for me, and who happily sits with his feet in the water on the edge of a beach for hours, content to do nothing.
And that’s not to mention how insanely physically attractive he is o
r how sexually compatible we are.
I don’t know what to do. I’m screwing over a genuinely good man—someone who I honestly believe I’m falling for.
And I’m pretty sure he’s falling for me, too.
I have to get my act together. I either have to freeze him out until my deal with Oberon is complete…or tell him the truth of what’s going on and face the consequences.
There’s no option left to me where I come out of this looking like a good person in the eyes of Erik Storm.
I’m currently sitting in the kitchen of another beachfront property Erik wanted to view as a possible alternative to the other place—the one whose owner is away skiing. I arrived early so I could collect my thoughts before Erik gets here.
But no amount of preparation can truly prepare me for what I have to tell him.
At the end of the day, I ultimately can’t put my family above the lives of thousands of local people and their livelihoods. Of course, I have to tell Erik about my deal with Oberon. And of course I have to get out of it.
I won’t be able to live with myself if I go through with the deal. I will have become everything I’ve ever hated about this world.
That doesn’t make my decision any easier, of course. I somehow have to make the words come out of my mouth and face Erik’s judgment.
I just hope to God I’m not a coward. I’ve never been one before.
“Honey, I’m home!” Erik suddenly calls out, causing me to jump in my seat.
He had come in through the beachfront terrace, which I wasn’t expecting at all.
“Erik, you scared the fuck out of me. Use the door like a normal person next time.”
He points to the open glass doors of the terrace.
“What do you call those? It’s not my fault you had them open for me to walk through in the first place.”
I wave a hand dismissively.
“Semantics.”
Erik looks at me, a flash of concern crossing his face.
“Are you okay, Rose?”
I gulp. I guess it’s now or never.
“I just…didn’t get much sleep last night. Whose fault do you think that is?”
Coward. Fucking coward.
I can’t tell him. I can’t get the words out.
Erik grins at my reply, then crosses the kitchen to stand very close to me.
He leans down to whisper into my ear,
“I think that would be mine. How about I give you more reasons not to get much sleep?”
I stand up suddenly, aware that my face has flushed at his comments. I make my way through to the bathroom; Erik dutifully follows and pretends to be interested in inspecting the shower head, but I can see him clearly watching me out of the corner of his eye.
“I’m already collectively running on around seven hours of sleep over a forty-eight-hour period, thanks to you. If you take away any more of my sleep, I’m likely to collapse.”
Erik laughs as he follows me through to an office space. But just as I walk through the doorway, he snakes an arm around my waist and holds me to him.
“How about we don’t wait until it’s time to sleep, then? Day fucking is one of my favorite pastimes…especially when I get to shirk work responsibilities for it.”
I don’t move, not trusting myself to withstand Erik’s charms.
“You’re very forward today,” I say quietly.
The skin of my neck heats up as Erik brushes his lips against it; I forcibly suppress a moan.
“I’ve been thinking about you ever since you got in that cab. I should have insisted you came back with me. I regretted not having done so with every step I took back along the beachfront.”
This is getting too difficult for me. I have to tell him. I have to.
Erik is too good a man to be lied to. He doesn’t deserve it.
I turn around within the confines of Erik’s arm; he looks earnest and happy and hot as fuck.
I notice he remembered to shave today. It only serves to accentuate his sharp features further. It makes him appear even more like a god.
“Erik…”
“Rose, don’t say anything. Don’t think. After yesterday—and, fuck, after the day before, too—I don’t think I can cope with not having you in my arms again. I want you so much…even though I know I have to leave sooner than I would like.
“But even still, I want you. And you said it yourself in Dakota’s—there’s no harm in us acting on our physical desires while we’re both in each other’s company. Have you changed your mind on that?”
I shake my head without thinking. It’s still true, of course—now more than ever. Except there are feelings behind those carnal desires that weren’t there before.
And betrayal.
Erik smiles, then leans down and very gently kisses me. He regards me carefully.
I need to tell him.
I have to tell him.
Instead, I fling my arms around his neck and kiss him back, deep and passionate and desperate.
Let me at least have Erik for a few more days.
Give me three days of whatever Erik and I could have been in another life, and then I’ll tell him.
“How much trouble will we get in if we fuck in this house?” Erik murmurs against my lips.
I glance around, pretending to consider his question. As if I’m stopping to move to another location.
“Hampton Properties owns this place directly—no owners to worry about sneaking in.”
Erik chuckles.
“You were against my suggestion of merely trying out the hot tub in the other house.”
“Screw what I said. Are you really going to insist on going somewhere else right now?”
“Of course I’m fucking not. Now…where’s the bedroom?”
Laughing, I take Erik’s hand and lead him through to the main bedroom.
If I’m only going to get a few days of this, I’m going to enjoy every damn second.
11
Erik
I had been set on buying the other property for my own personal use—the one with the hot tub—but taking into account the fact that I’m about to strip Rose naked on top of the bed in this house causes me to seriously reconsider my decision.
A reasonable excuse to reconsider, and not just because I’m sure to feel guilty for having messed up the bed sheets.
Okay, I’ll possibly feel guilty. Maybe.
No, I won’t. I absolutely, one hundred percent won’t.
I can’t seem to unbutton Rose’s shirt fast enough, even as she does the same to me. She hauls my suit jacket and undoes my shirt off my body in one swift movement.
My hand finds the zip of her pencil skirt just as Rose’s mouth finds mine again, all while her hands make quick work of my belt with deft, dexterous fingers.
How is it that with every passing second, I find another part of Rose that I’ve become dangerously attracted to?
As we continue freeing each other of our remaining clothes, part of me wonders if I’m doing the right thing. Rose seems conflicted about something—possibly the same thing as me. If we indulge in each other now, will it ultimately make it more difficult to part ways when we invariably do?
Neither of us can possibly know the future. So, for now, I’m content to give in to my incessant, pressing desire for Rose just as she’s doing the same to me.
I slide a hand through Rosa’s hair and remove the band keeping it tied back; wild and beautiful tendrils come loose as her hair settles around her shoulders and down her back.
All the more to grab on to, I think, as I clench my fist in her hair, pulling Rosa’s head back slightly to run kisses down her neck.
Rose lets out a low moan as I add my teeth into the next kiss, biting her collarbone slightly. The sounds stir my cock into an even crazier frenzy than it already has, and it goes into overdrive when Rose presses her naked body insistently against it.
I feel like I’m about to burst, and all we’re doing is fucking kissing. What is it with this
woman?
I snake my arms around Rosae’s waist and pick her up; she takes the hint and wraps her legs around my hips, my cock acting almost like a seat for her tight, beautiful ass.
I resist the urge to slam Rose against a wall and plunge the length of me in her, choosing instead to carry her over to the bed.
When I drop her down and make to climb on top of her, Rose holds out a hand to stop me.
“Wait.”
I raise a questioning eyebrow.
Rose glances down pointedly at my dick, then back up at me.
“I’d quite like for my mouth to become better acquainted with Mr. Twelve Inches than it did before,” she says, a wicked smile curling her lips.
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” I laugh, rolling onto my back on the bed instead of mounting Rose.
She climbs over me, eyes intent as a lioness observing her prey, then lowers her mouth down to envelop my cock.
Her eyes don’t leave mine as her head begins to bob up and down, her tongue swirling and licking as her wet, hot lips suck and slide over the length of me.
It feels ridiculously good; before long, I’m bucking my hips, thrusting my cock up further and further into Rose’s mouth. My hands find her head, entwining my fingers through tendrils of her hair.
With every thrust and suck, Rose’s mouth gets ever closer to the base of my cock—I wonder where on earth she’s putting it.
When she just barely grazes her teeth against the shaft as she sucks on me, I roll my head back in pleasure and let out a cry.
“Rose, fuck. Do that again.”
She glances up at me, her eyes glittering in acknowledgement as she proceeds to be just a little bit rougher with my dick.
I’ve never had a woman dare to be this full-on with me. They’ve always been content for me to throw them about, to alpha male the fuck out of them, but Rose gives as good as she gets.
I couldn’t ask for a more perfect sexual companion.
