by Hazel Taylor
“Cam is going to flip,” she said in a whisper, looking around in amazement. “All his hard work... You have to go now, wife or no.” She looked at me with wide eyes. “I will fix this, but we have to get you out of here for a few days. Go to a hotel. Leave me your number, and I will call you after he has cooled down. We will figure this out.”
I didn’t know what to do. I was confused and afraid that Cam would be mad at me. My heart was breaking, but I decided the housekeeper probably knew best.
15
Cameron
Unable to believe what Monique was telling me or understand her hysteria, I rushed home to find Lily gone and my lab in shambles. Everything was destroyed and conveniently, my secret recipe and a few bottles of cream were gone.
Anger tore through me. Why would she do this? I should have never shared with her, trusted her. Donnie and Paige didn’t know Lily that well. Looking around, something seemed off, but I was too angry to bother. I sent the housekeeper home and drank myself into oblivion. Just when I’d thought perhaps I could let someone in again, trust someone, this happened.
I didn’t hear a word from Lily that night or the following morning. As I cleaned up my lab with the help of Monique, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. As if on cue, Erin called.
“Hello, darling,” she purred. “Are you okay?”
What the hell was this about now? “Fine, why do you ask?” I huffed.
"Your voice seems off."
“My wife stole something from me and ran off.”
“Oh, you poor man! Do you want some company?”
“As I told you before, Erin, I am not interested,” I snapped, barely paying attention to what I was saying. “You need to leave me alone.” My agitation was growing as years of work were swept into the trash.
Her voice went even more syrupy. "I would be so much better to you than her, you know. She doesn't deserve you, Cam."
I hung up on her without a thought.
“Who was that?” Monique asked from the other side of the room, where she was putting the books back on the shelves.
“Erin.” I wiped a hand over my face. “I wish she would leave me alone.”
“You know,” she said thoughtfully, “she is the only woman who has stood by you through thick and thin. I like her. She seems to really care for you.”
I stared at her. "What the hell are you talking about, thick and thin? We don't have a relationship. I don't want her. She is married and crazy."
Monique just tsked as she turned back to her cleaning. I shrugged. Must be some pre-labor hormonal thing; she was off her rocker today too.
16
Lily
Two days had passed as I sat in a hotel room waiting for the housekeeper to call me. Nothing. I fretted and worried myself to death, missing Cam so much. It hurt to think that he was in pain and I was sitting in some stupid hotel. It upset me that he might think I had done that.
Suddenly it hit me: something had been off that morning. He had been gone, and Monique had been late, showing up conveniently when I was in the room. Thinking back, I remembered seeing a cell phone on the coffee table that wasn’t mine or his. I’d somehow ignored that until now.
Without another thought, I headed over to his house. His car was in the drive so I went in. As I walked in the door, I saw Monique on the staircase. "Cam, she's here," she called loudly over her shoulder, then she scurried past me and practically ran away.
When he came down the stairs, it took everything I had not to run to him. He looked like hell, but I didn’t care.
He glanced toward the kitchen. “Monique, go home.” Then he walked past me and headed for the living room. “Where the hell have you been, Lily?”
I could feel his anger..
“I didn’t do what you think, Cam,” I began as I followed him into the room. “I would never.” I sat down, not knowing what else to do.
"Right. You were the only one here." He took a swallow of beer that, judging by his mannerisms, he didn't need. "Why?"
"I didn't do it, Cam."
He paced like a caged tiger back and forth from the glass windows to the sofa.
“I don’t believe you,” he growled. “You’re just like every woman: Heather and every other woman after her. I am a pawn in your sick chess game.”
“Cam, I don’t know how you could say that after everything that has happened.” Tears welled in my eyes, but I forced them back, swallowing hard.
“Why would you do this after I shared so much of myself? I’ve never shared those things with anyone, ever.”
I couldn’t control it anymore. The tears burst free, and I began to sob, my heart aching. He didn’t believe me, couldn’t trust me. There was so much pain, I thought I would stop breathing, my heart would stop beating. I had gotten too close, too involved, after I’d promised myself I wouldn't, and now I would suffer again.
Swallowing hard, I vowed to myself that before I left, I would tell him everything. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I calmed my voice. "I left because Monique told me to,” I said. “She told she would take care of everything and call me in a day or two. When she didn’t, I came back. Cam, I don’t know what happened. I was checking out your house, and I came upon that room and saw the wreckage. I was so shocked I started to pick things up while trying to figure out what happened.”
"Well, she is going to be fired for that. What else?" He didn’t even look at me, just stared out the windows. His coldness was more than I could bear.
“I recall a phone being on the coffee table when I went by. I just remembered that this morning. It had a purple glitter cover. That’s all I know, I swear. I just wanted you to know.” Standing up, I left without another word.
17
Cameron
Her words hit home, but not before the door slammed. It was like a bucket of water had been dumped on my head. Swallowing back the pain, I hurried to her car just as she was opening the door.
“Don’t go, please stay.”
“I can’t.” It ripped my heart apart, knowing I had caused her tears. She turned from me to get in the car.
"I won't let you." Wrapping my arms around her, I held her tightly as her tears spilled out again and her sobs seemed to release the pain. Turning her around, I kissed the tears from her cheeks, her eyes, and her lips. "Please, cara mia, come inside.” I didn’t wait for her to answer picking her up and carrying her into the house and the bedroom. Laying her down, I wiped the tears from her eyes and got her a drink of water.
“Cam, I’m…”
I stopped her words with my finger upon her lips, kissing her forehead.
Slowly I undressed her, taking time to remove each piece of clothing, discarding them on the floor. Visibly she shivered and I longed to stop that chill by covering her with my body. Her beauty was more than I had ever seen before, something I could never perfect as a surgeon in a million years.
I proceeded to undress before her, watching as her eyes raked over my body, eliciting sparks and heat everywhere. When she lifted her arms for me to come to her, I was lost. All thoughts of formulas, labs and who might have taken what was gone. There was only this moment, me and her.
18
Lily
My heart ached as never before, but the thought of never touching him again, holding him, kissing him was more than I could bear. I told myself I would be okay later; I just needed this now, the beauty of us, together.
I didn’t think it was possible to feel so much anger, sorrow, passion, pain. And yet I did as I enveloped him in my arms, his weight heavy upon my body and soul. I would love him as no one ever had.
His hands were gentle, touching me in a way no one else ever had, as if they had the power to wash away all my pain, my sorrow, my unhappiness. He kissed every tear away, and my mind emptied of all thought except for the sensation of his warm flesh against mine. When his lips made a trail from my ear to my breast, stopping briefly on my collarbone, shivers of delight overtook me.
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He knew exactly what I needed when I needed it. Each touch brought me higher to a peak I thought I couldn't withstand, and just when I thought I would surely fall off the edge, he paused, waiting, as if he was building a storm within me that he controlled completely, and he did.
My body cried out for more as he tasted my nipple, stroked my belly, kissed my womanhood. I felt like I was touching the stars for the first time, just me and him alone in the universe.
When I tried to hurry things along, reaching for his manhood, stroking his belly, offering wanton pleas, he merely smiled and kissed me again slowly and seductively. When I thought for sure that I would burst into a million pieces, he thrust himself into me putting an end to my passionate torment.
Bliss washed over me, and I couldn't tear my eyes away from his. The longing, the need, and something else that scared me were revealed completely in them. When my heart, mind, and body were spent, I thought that he too would finally surrender, but he didn't. Instead, he stopped, held himself still inside me, and waited for me to recover, cradling my head in his hands as he kissed me tenderly.
“I want you again…”
“But… you didn’t….”
"I wanted to see you, enjoy the beauty of you as I brought that pleasure to life within you. I can't tell you how beautiful you are, a perfection I thought I could never hold. Now I am ready to reach that peak right along with you." And just like that, he took me high into the sky again, soaring to the edge of the universe.
This time wasn’t tender or slow but intense and deep. I thought for sure it had penetrated my very soul. It was hot and sweaty and oh so exciting, and I allowed him to carry me over that edge right along with him, our bodies becoming one.
My throat seized, and our bodies stiffened, the synchronicity of our soulful surrender echoing through the night as he spent himself within me. My body shook with pleasure as he lay atop me, cupping my breasts, his breath fanning my neck.
It took me a long time to catch my breath and see clearly beyond the love-induced haze we had created. When I finally had a clear head, I realized he had fallen asleep. Closing my eyes, I decided to do the same.
During the night, he woke to caress my back and kiss my neck. It was then he revealed to me that the phone belonged to Erin and that he had recovered his recipe and formula without much fuss once he threatened to tell her husband of her cheating ways. Before he drifted off to sleep, the word sorry rolled off his lips, but somehow it wasn’t enough.
The morning came way too fast, but he still slept. It was time for me to go. Silently I got dressed and placed the rings on the nightstand and left without another thought. It was time for me to return to my own life.
19
Cameron
I woke to the sound of a door slamming. Reaching over, I felt emptiness and I knew. She was gone. Last night she had given herself to me one last time. If I had been a man to cry, this moment would have been the one. My chest hurt so much I thought it would explode. In such a short time she had whittled herself into my life and I didn't know how I was going to be the same.
Suddenly my old life, the women, my work didn’t matter. The formula I had created meant nothing without her. I had to find a way to prove that to her.
After cleaning up and dressing, I saw the rings she’d left on the table. Tossing them in my pocket, I carried on with my day, determined to stop her from leaving the city. Arriving at the airport, I didn’t know if Tony had gotten my message, but I hoped so.
“Cam, they have been waiting. We told them we had some mechanical trouble. What’s going on?”
“I will tell you later, but right now I need to get on that plane.” I never abused my station in life, treating everyone with respect and never flaunting what I had, but today was a different story. I was in no mood to mince words with anyone—except Lily.
When I stepped on the plane, the passengers all looked at me with questioning gazes, caution and mild fear in their eyes. As I reached her, it was all I could do to not toss her over my shoulder and slip from the plane like Tarzan with his Jane.
She stared up at me with wide eyes. “Cam, what are you doing here? Are you the reason we haven’t left?”
Looking around at the curious faces, I decided to deal with them first. “I do apologize, everyone,” I said, holding up my hands. “We will be giving each of you $1000.00 for your troubles. Please bear with me." I knew how to appease the masses when necessary. "Excuse me." My eyes landed on the man in the aisle seat. He understood and removed himself quickly.
I quickly sat beside her, my chest tight with so much emotion. “Lily, please don’t go. I know you didn’t do it. I was completely wrong in the way I treated you and what I said. I hope you can forgive me and give me another chance. I am sorry, I was wrong, I don’t know what else to say.” The last words caught in my throat. “I love you.” Slipping to my knee, I swallowed the fear and threw all caution to the wind. This was the only moment that mattered to me. "Marry me, Lily."
20
Lily
When I first saw him enter the plane my heart leaped with joy thinking he had come for me. Sadly, then the anger returned. He didn’t trust or believe in me.
I couldn’t breathe when he sat beside me and spoke those words, that he loved me. I didn’t know what to say. As he waited for my answer, all the pain and sorrow of the past left my heart. At that moment I knew there would never be another man for me. Every emotion, every thought, every moment I wanted to spend with him, forever. The love I felt for him, his love for me. Neither of us had planned any of this, but we had been found—love had finally found us both.
Joy filled my heart as I took his face in my hands, tears slipping from my eyes. “Cam, I didn’t plan on falling in love with you, but I did. You are everything I have ever wanted in a man and more. Yes, I will marry you, with all my heart. I love you!”
Cheers could be heard as his lips touched mine tenderly. “I love you.”
"All right, you two lovebirds. It's time for this plane to take off." A man stood behind Cam smiling.
“You know, Tony, you’re getting paid extra for this.” Cam didn’t shift his eyes from mine as he helped me up and wrapped his arm around me. Nothing ever felt more right.
"Well, in that case, by all means, take your time." Tony smiled down at me. “Congrats, miss, somebody finally caught him. If he doesn’t treat you right, come find me and I’ll straighten him out.”
By the time we got off the plane, every passenger had been paid by the airline which Cam owned part of and we drove off down the road. I felt so happy and bubbly I couldn’t do anything but laugh as I caressed the hand that rested on my leg, an engagement ring upon my finger again. This time it was forever. “You know, you owe me $1000.00.”
"However, you want it, baby." He grabbed and kissed my hand as he drove, while the wind whipped my hair.
“Oh, I know exactly how I want to be paid.” Laughing wickedly, I said no more. He would find out soon enough. No sense revealing all my secrets.
The Billionaire’s Lie
1
Jason
I was running ahead of time as always, and my last stop at the bank would be short and simple, keeping my day on track.
At least I thought that would be the case, but when I entered the bank there was a line of five people. A petite woman in black tight shorts and a crop top with bouncy crimson curls stood in front of me. As I inhaled her intoxicating vanilla and citrus scent, my hands itched.
She began to sway from side to side, dropping the card in her hands. Forever the gentleman, I quickly picked it up.
“Here you go.” As I stood, she turned, gifting me with sparkling eyes and a full-lipped smile. It was a shock to my system. If ever I had tried to describe love at first sight, this moment would have been it. My body revved up as she eyed me from head to toe.
“Oh, thank you so much!” Her voice was a mix of seductive woman and girly teenager.
Giving her the card, my hand
brushed hers. It was like lightning, and I just knew. She was the ONE, this fiery pixie, my ONE. I wasn’t looking, mind you; I wasn’t even sure at that moment how I felt about it, but I knew, which I hadn’t believed before now was possible.
“Jason Wagner.” Thankfully she couldn’t see me assessing her from head to toe, or how I lingered a little too long in certain places.
“Tiffany Berke.” Her smile seemed to deepen, making me think of soft kisses on my couch.
"Nice to meet you, Tiffany. You know, judging by this line, we both should probably just use the ATM." I decided it was only polite to remove my sunglasses.
“You’re probably right.” When she met my eyes, they seemed to sparkle brighter. “You know, your eyes are such a deep blue. I have never seen that color before. It’s so beautiful.”
A thousand times women have commented on my eyes, and usually, I just find it tiring. Today not so much.
“Thank you,” I said. “I must say, yours are equally lovely, as is that fire engine hair. You Irish?” I started walking to the outer doors, slowing my pace so she could keep up beside me.
She laughed. “No, it comes out of a box. I love color—lots.”
“I can tell.” I mock assessed her outfit now, which was minus any color whatsoever.
She simply blinked as she turned to the ATM to make a withdrawal. “Oh, this is just my workout clothes. I’m a fitness instructor and nutritionist.”
I decided my deposit would have to wait—it was too important for an ATM—but her revelation sent my thoughts on a different path, one filled with soft skin and warm caresses. I must have zoned out a moment, for her voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
