Jameson
“Are you kidding me?” I reread the file Miles had handed me. “How did he manage to keep this buried?”
“I guess we didn’t dig deep enough because Conrad was a favor to Dad,” Miles said, trying to explain how we missed a potential scandal. “He obviously didn’t want anyone to know about this.”
“Would you?” I looked up at my brother. “We’re lucky you came across this.”
“If I hadn’t heard some people in his hometown gossiping, I wouldn’t have known where to look. Meg did all the heavy lifting. The woman needs a raise. This shit was buried deep but she uncovered it.”
“Favor to dad or not, this information changes things.” I closed the file. “We can’t represent him. I can spin many stories. I’ve molded some shady characters into political candidates but this.” I shook my head because even I knew my limits. I already didn’t like the guy, so it wouldn’t take much for me to dump him. “I can’t do this.”
“Who could?” Miles took a seat. “Are you going to tell Dad what we found?”
“We’re not going to tell anyone what we found. We’re going to drop Conrad. I’ll tell him he doesn’t have what it takes to work in this town. I’ll allude to the fact that there are issues in his past that I’m not comfortable with.”
“You think that will do it?”
“If he’s smart.” He wasn’t. “He’ll back off. He doesn’t have the skin for what comes next. We don’t have the time to ward off what will happen if the press gets a hold of this. He can be someone else’s problem if that happens.” I tossed the file aside. “It’s in his contract. We can drop him. I never thought he was going to get very far. I’m not wasting any more energy. There are other people who will be much more successful. That’s who we should be concentrating on.”
“You’re the boss.”
“Set up a meeting with him in the next day or so and we’ll help him drop out.”
“If he puts up a fight?”
“Then refer him to another firm.” I was washing my hands of Conrad Hayes. Instinct told me he wasn’t right. Now I had a file to back it up.
“Mom told me you’re taking CC to meet them when she and Dad get back from Italy.” Miles smirked. “That’s some serious shit right there.”
“It isn’t a big deal.” It was the biggest deal of my life. Taking a girl home to meet my parents. I’d never considered that before but I did a lot of things with CC that I’d never considered before. “It’s time.”
“Mom has been pumping me for information on CC.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I just mentioned how I met her half naked in your penthouse one rainy morning while you were out buying pastries. That must have been some sex if you were willing to bring her baked goods.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“I’m just teasing.” He laughed. “She is hot though.”
“Miles!”
“I told Mom she’s a sweet girl who makes you happy.”
“You said that?”
“It’s true. It’s a good thing for you, man. You haven’t been happy in a long time. I see the way you look at her. More importantly, I see the way she looks at you. Once Mom sees that, you’ll have nothing to worry about. Unless of course you’re not ready for Mom to start planning your wedding.”
“Wedding, um, well...” It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about spending the rest of my life with CC. I just didn’t think we were ready for that. Were we? “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and for the love of God, don’t encourage Mom. I don’t want to scare CC off.”
“Right, CC?”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means don’t do anything stupid to mess this up.”
“Never.” I glanced at my watch. “Are we done here?”
“Got a hot date?”
“Not exactly.” I checked my messages but there wasn’t anything from CC. “I have to meet with Rayne this evening.”
“How is she?”
“She’s all right. You know, a little wild but she’s trying.”
“Wild, huh? Anything like her brother?”
“No, she’s not Sam but I do feel responsible for her.”
“You’re very generous.” Miles stood. “You know it’s okay to stop making amends for everything and everyone, right?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s okay to focus on you now. It’s not a crime that you’re happy.” Miles open the door to leave. “Just my two cents for today.”
“I appreciate it.”
“You do?” Shock laced his tone. “Maybe I’ll offer my advice more often.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“See you tomorrow.” Miles headed out, stopping to chat with my assistant Elle. I chuckled when I thought about how many times he’d asked her for a drink and she shot him down. Smart woman.
As I gathered my things, my phone alerted me to a text. It was Rayne,
Can you still meet me tonight?”
There was never a time that I turned her down. Tonight would be no different.
Come to the penthouse
Her reply was swift.
Sweet!
I smiled when I thought about her. Maybe Miles was right. Maybe it was okay to be happy. I just had to get used to the idea that it was me who was living this life. The one that I’d been searching for. The one I’d finally found.
Cecilia
Jameson had given me access to his private elevator a few weeks ago but I hadn’t surprised him yet. Showing up whenever I got the urge didn’t seem right. I always told him when I was on my way, but tonight I wanted to be spontaneous. He’d been working so much these past few weeks and I missed him.
This time last year I didn’t think my life would ever look up. I still missed my mom and I suspected I always would, but now I had a new job to look forward to and I was building something special with Jameson. We were learning one another and growing as a couple. My day didn’t seem complete if I didn’t see him. I was never the type of woman who saw myself relying on a man. I still didn’t think that was me, but being with Jameson made me feel like we were in this together. Two destined souls who walked into the other’s life at a point when it wasn’t completely right. Somehow we managed to rectify that.
When the private elevator doors opened, I stepped off to find Jameson holding a woman in his arms. The doors shut behind me not giving me enough time to turn around. I stood frozen as Jameson kissed the top of her head before he released her.
He turned and smiled at me, the girl, who looked to be not much younger than me let go of him. “CC, I didn’t expect you.”
That’s why it’s called a surprise.
“This is her?” The girl came toward me, taking my hands in hers and swinging my arms in the air. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
I had heard nothing about this cute brunette with the creamy skin and wide brown eyes. Her hair was lopped into a messy bun on top of her head. Her blue shorts were way too short and her white tank top showed off her sexy frame.
“Glad you’re here.” Jameson moved toward me, taking me in his arms and slowly kissing me. “Real glad.” He winked before letting me go, making it impossible to be upset that I’d found him in his house hugging another woman. How did he do that? “I’d like you to meet Rayne.”
“Um, okay.” I stared at Rayne. “I’m CC.”
“Jameson, you’re a lucky guy.” Her melodic laughter filled the hall. “You probably don’t deserve her.”
“I know I don’t deserve her.” Jameson took my hand. “But she wants to be here and I’m not going to fight her.”
Rayne bent over, giving us a view of her butt cheeks that spilled from the bottom of her shorts that really didn’t cover anything and picked up her bag.
“Text me when you get back to school.” He opened the elevator doors, pushing a button to hold them. “If I can get out there next month we’ll have lunch.”
“You better and bring CC. I want to get to know her too.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for everything.”
“It’s my pleasure.” He nodded. “Be safe.”
“I will.” Rayne’s hug caught me by surprise. Why was she hugging me and why had Jameson told her about me but I’d never heard of her? “He’s a great guy. I’m glad he found you.”
“Thank you.” This whole meeting was bizarre. Who was this girl and what had Jameson done for her?
“Have a good night.” She stepped onto the elevator. “Tell your family I said hello.”
“I will.” Jameson pressed the button taking the elevator off hold. “Text me.”
“Ok.” She giggled. “You’re such a big brother.” The doors closed before he could respond.
“She’s a handful.” He wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my neck.
“And who is she?” I pressed on his chest. “Are you going to tell me?”
“Oh, sorry.” He looked into my eyes. “I’m distracted by your presence.”
“You’re quite charming but I want to know who she is.”
“Jealous?” He bit the corner of his sexy bottom lip. “I like that.”
“Should I be?”
“Of course not.” He kissed my jaw as he ran his hand down my back. “You are the only woman I could ever want.” He led me into the living room, guiding me onto the window seat overlooking the city. “Rayne is Sam’s sister.”
“Oh.” I settled between his legs, resting my back against his chest. “Does she visit you often?”
“When she needs something.” He snickered. “She’s a great kid. Just trying to find her way. She needs guidance sometimes.”
“You’re helping her?”
“When Sam died.” His muscles tensed, reminding me what a tough subject this was for him. “It was...” He was quiet and I imagined he was composing himself.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me.” I took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry I was suspicious when I got here. She’s so young and a... perky that I was caught off guard.”
“I wouldn’t like seeing you with another man either.” He wrapped his arm around my waist, holding me close. “I want to tell you everything.”
“I’m here to listen. I want to know everything but not if it hurts you to tell me.”
“You seem to make things hurt a little less.”
I understood what he meant. The pain of losing my mom wasn’t as raw as it used to be. Time was a good healer, but having him with me helped to restore some order in my life.
“Sam’s family had a hard time dealing with his death, as you can imagine. They blamed themselves, they wondered how they could have avoided it, and it took a long time to deal with it all. His mother had a breakdown and his father spent most of his time caring for her. Rayne was kind of out there on her own. She went to college two years ago just about the time when her parents fell on some hard times.”
“It sounds like they’ve had it tough.”
“Struggling with Sam’s death wasn’t easy.” He interlocked our fingers. “I didn’t want her to get lost in it all. She talked about dropping out of school because she didn’t want to burden her parents. I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“You’re putting her through college?”
“What choice did I have?” He was quiet for a few moments and I wondered how exhausting it must be to carry around the mistakes of his past. “I owed her. I owed Sam. It was my way of trying to fix my part in all of that. Not that paying for college was going to bring him back but they had enough to deal with. I wanted to help.”
“You’re a very generous man.”
“I’m a man who has screwed up a lot and now I’m just trying to make things right.”
“People don’t expect you to always make everything right.” I turned around so I could sit across from him. “I don’t.”
“You’re very sweet.” He caressed my cheek. “I’ve learned some things about myself these past few weeks. You’ve helped me more than any therapist or sponsor ever could. Miles tries to tell me all the time that I don’t need to fix all the problems around me. Not all of them are my fault.”
“He’s right.”
“I’m learning that.” He nodded. “One day at a time.”
“I’m here with you, you know.” I pushed the hair from my face. “Whenever you need me.”
“I’m very fortunate.” He focused on my mouth just before kissing me. He was soft and tender and in this moment I could finally see what I’d been searching for since the day I’d met him.
“You’re different this time.”
“I told you we all evolve.”
“No, you were always this man but you didn’t want me to see him.”
“I want you to see all of me now.” He rested his hands on my thighs. “Good or bad, I want you to see it all.”
“I do.”
“I hope you can see that I love you.”
His words took me by surprise. I had known for a while that I had fallen in love with him but I didn’t think he reciprocated. His guard was always up. He had been careful with his emotions. When he shared something with me I knew how important it was for him to do that. When it came to Jameson’s tough exterior I accepted what he was able to share with me. I appreciated all the special moments we spent with one another.
“I love you too.” A strange sense of relief came over me. It was as if I was holding my breath but I hadn’t realized it. Saying the words out loud meant more than I could have imagined.
“I never expected for this to happen.”
“You falling in love with me?”
“No, that was the easy part.” He took my hand in his. “I never expected you to fall in love with me.”
“How could I not? You’re kind, gentle, sexy and really good in bed.”
“Well, there is that.” He smirked. “I don’t deserve you.”
“You do and you need to start believing that.”
“I have so much. Too much. I’ve always felt like something was missing. It didn’t really affect me until I met you. Each time you’d leave here after we had sex, I’d get more restless. More unsettled. The purpose of that arrangement was to help me with the stress in my life but when you would leave my anxiety would intensify. I thought it was because what I was asking you to do. Now I know it was because I couldn’t stand to see you go.”
“I hated leaving you.” As mixed up as our relationship was back then I didn’t want to leave him. I wanted to stay and figure out who he was.
“My life was dark and empty before you. Outside appearances can make it seem I have it all but no amount of money or privilege could compare to what I’ve found with you.”
“I love you.” I fell into his waiting embrace, sinking into him. “All of you.”
***
A few hours later I was snuggly wrapped in Jameson’s tight hold. It was raining heavily against the skylight and he seemed restless. He’d mumbled in his sleep a few times and kicked the covers off. I twisted in his arms and set my hand over his heart. It was beating fast.
“No!” he yelled. “He’s not gone. Wake up!”
“Jameson,” I whispered as I took his hand. “It’s just a dream, baby.”
“No!” He sat up, looking around the room, appearing disoriented. “I’m sorry.” He gazed down at me, still appearing confused. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didn’t.” I got into a seated position and rubbed his back. “Can I get you some water?”
“I’m fine.”
“I don’t believe you.” I inched closer to him. “You’re unsettled.”
“It’s nothing.” He put his arm around me, dropping back down on the bed. I cuddled back in pulling the covers over our naked bodies. “Seeing Rayne triggers memories.”
“Sam?”
“It doesn’t happen all the time and it hasn’t in a while.” He sighed. “It was just a dream.”
“It was about the night it happened.”
“Did I say that out loud?”
“Kind of.” I wanted to help him through this. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“Okay.” I tried not to let his dismissive response hurt my feelings.
We were quite for a few minutes. I didn’t know what to say or how to comfort him. Waking up and finding Sam had overdosed in that hotel room would probably haunt him for the rest of his life.
“Don’t be offended.” He finally spoke. “I’ve talked about it with my therapist so many times. If talking about his death could bring him back...” He ran his hand through his hair. “It was just a dream,” he repeated and I wondered who he was trying to convince. Me or him. “Rayne reminds me of him. Sam and I had a lot of good years together.”
“Maybe one day you can tell me about the stuff you guys did together.”
“Yeah.” He laughed. “Maybe not all of it.”
“You can tell me as much as you need or as little as you want.” I ran my fingers along his chest. “I’m here.”
“I’d like you here more.” He turned to face me, putting his hand on my hip. “I don’t want to rush you. I said I’d do things your way and I wouldn’t overwhelm you.”
“Your whole life overwhelms me.” I caressed his cheek. “I’m getting used to it.”
“Move in with me.”
“What?” I swallowed hard, trying to process his words. “In here? With you?” That was a huge step. One I wasn’t exactly opposed to. I liked being with him but was it too fast, too soon? “I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to give up your mother’s house.” He twirled the ends of my hair around his fingers, calming me. “I’ll pay off what you owe. It’ll be yours.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking.”
“Jameson.”
“Gorgeous, I need you here with me.” He brushed his lips along mine. “Can’t you feel how right this is? How good we are for one another?”
“I’m not arguing that. It’s just...” I really didn’t have a solid excuse. “Can I think about it?”
“Is your answer going to be yes?” He hitched my leg over his hip, reaching between us. “Or do I need to convince you?”
“How would you do that?” I braced myself against his shoulders when he entered me. “Oh.” I closed my eyes when he moved inside me. “Hmm...”
“If you were in my bed.” He thrust softly as our bodies met, pulling all the way out and sliding back in. “Our bed...” He kissed me as he maintained his slow, wicked pace. “We could do this every night.”
“It feels so good.”
“All night.” His hot, passionate kisses made my skin prickle with desire. “Move in with me.”
I nodded as I held onto him, meeting his pelvis thrust for thrust.
“Say the words,” he demanded. “I want to hear them.” He kissed me hard. “Once you say them I won’t let you take them back.”
“I’ll move in with you.” I clenched around him, his name spilling from my lips as I gave him everything he asked for. He may have coerced me into saying yes, but I wanted to be with him. I needed him too.
“That’s my girl,” he whispered softly. “You’ll always be mine.”