Perhaps it was the light streaming in from the curtains that hadn’t been closed all the way, or maybe it was just that somewhere in my subconscious I could feel the heat of his gaze on my face.

Whatever it was that woke me, I did so to discover Caine lying beside me on his side, his head resting on his hand and his eyes on me.

He’d been watching me sleep.

Memories of last night flooded me. After our first round we’d drifted to sleep for a little while, but I woke up in the dark of night to find him beside me and I’d instigated an energetic round two.

Sated, we’d fallen asleep right after it.

It was the best sleep ever, after the most wonderful sex ever, but now we were awake in the light of day. I didn’t know what it meant that Caine had stayed in bed with me until morning. I didn’t know what it meant that he’d watched me sleep.

My stomach flipped as I realized that I was about to find out for sure.

“Hey,” I greeted him, my voice soft, uncertain.

Caine reached out with his other hand and stroked his thumb along my cheekbone. “Hey.”

The fact that he wasn’t bolting out the door suggested that this might turn out to be a good morning after all. But I wanted to know for sure. “You look pensive.”

“I’ve been lying here thinking about the way I’ve treated you.” He frowned. “I don’t like guilt, Lexie. I try to avoid it.”

His perturbed countenance made me snort. “You have your moments.”

“I’ve made you work your ass off.”

“True.”

His eyes grew black. “I put you in a shit position with Phoebe.”

“Also true.”

“I was insulting because I didn’t want to admit I was attracted to you.”

Wow. Okay. I had not expected him to freely admit that. The fact that he could apologize caused the warm, mushy feeling in my chest to expand. “And now?” I held my breath, waiting in hope for a positive answer.

Caine’s eyes dipped to follow his fingers as they whispered across my collarbone and down over the rise of my breasts. I shivered under his touch and he looked up at my face. “I held who your family is against you when I shouldn’t have. You can’t help where you come from. Just like I can’t.”

I stared up at him, relieved he’d finally realized the truth in that.

His lips curled at the corners in this sexy smirk. “You know you’re the only one who dares to yell at me. I’m not sure I like it.”

I assessed him and the amused arousal in his expression. I grinned. “I don’t think you hate it.”

Instead of smiling at my retort, Caine grew suddenly serious. “You were right last night, you know. You deserve better. That’s why … I have something I need to tell you.”

My stomach dropped. “You do?”

“I don’t want to hurt you, but you need to know the truth about your father and grandfather.”

The look in his eyes told me I did not want to know whatever it was he had to tell me. “Caine …,” I whispered.

“Edward was the one who paid off my dad. Not Alistair. Your grandfather gave my dad the blood money to keep my mom’s death and your dad’s involvement in it quiet.”

I felt like the bed had disappeared beneath me and I’d just smacked into the floor. Hard. I stared at Caine as I attempted to process what he’d just told me.

My grandfather, the one person I thought I could rely on, was a part of the ugly family history. He’d tried to cover up my father’s sins? Why? It wasn’t for my dad obviously, because he’d gone on to disinherit him. It was to protect the Holland name. To protect their place in society. I felt sick.

If Grandpa was capable of that…. then what kind of man was he really?

Memories of his soft words, his tenderness flooded me. The man I knew was so at odds with the man Caine was telling me he was. And if Grandpa was the one who’d paid Eric off, then that meant my father wasn’t as terrible as I thought. He was still terrible … but he wasn’t the only catalyst for Eric’s suicide.

Oh my God.

“Are you sure? How do you know?”

Caine’s eyes were hard. “Because I was there when he did it.”

“Oh my God.” My chest ached so badly.

“Lexie?”

I looked up into Caine’s troubled gaze and realized something. Caine had just told me the last thing I wanted to hear … If it had been anyone else, if they had kept this from me and then blurted it out in a moment when I was vulnerable, I might have held it against them. But not Caine. In fact, my concern was not only for myself but for him too, and that was when I realized that what I felt for him was real. “You must hate them so much.”

“Hate is giving them too much power.”

In that moment his strength washed over me, and the hurt, the pain I was feeling at his revelation was diminished a little by the fact that he was here with me, and the look in his eyes was tender. “You’re the one real thing in my life right now,” I said upon the sudden realization. “You should know I don’t want to let that go.”

He brushed the tips of his fingers across my cheek and said, “I’m not the guy you’re looking for, Lexie. I’m never going to be that guy.”

That hope I was feeling unhooked itself from my chest and plummeted into my stomach, causing a flurry of nervous ripples in it. “What are you saying?”

Regret clouded his gaze. “You’re looking for something special even if you won’t admit it. And me? I can’t compromise, I can’t change, and I can’t do forever. It’s just not in me.” He caressed my arm with his knuckles and there was the heated purr of a growl in the back of his throat as he continued. “But I don’t want this to end just yet either. We like each other. We want each other.”

I looked up at him, surprised. I’d thought we were about to discuss my departure from his life, not—

“And the sex is …” He grinned wickedly. “I don’t know about you, but I’d really like to explore that some more.”

My body tingled just at the thought of it, but I didn’t know how to respond. I already knew I was emotionally invested in Caine. Sex wouldn’t be enough for me. Would it?

“I’m selfish enough to ask for more time with you, Alexa. We could enjoy this together for however long it’s good, and then we would walk away when it was time to end it—no harm, no foul.”

Looking up into his handsome face, I wondered how on earth I was supposed to respond to such a suggestion. As Caine looked at me I caught the warmth in his gaze while he waited for my answer. He’d never looked at me that way before. There was something in that look. Something … more.

No.

It was a dangerous idea.

Yet … wasn’t it worth a try?

The worst could happen, of course. I could fall for him and he could still want to walk away from me at the end of it all.

But Effie said Caine needed a woman who was bullheaded and persistent. I had no hope of changing how he felt about me, about us, if I wasn’t there to do it. He said he was selfish, but I’d seen another side of him with Effie. Caine could be a sweet, good guy. He just didn’t realize it.

I felt guilty before I even opened my mouth because I knew I was about to agree to have an affair when the truth was I was angling for more.

“Okay.” I gave him a tremulous smile that strengthened under his answering grin.

And as he kissed me I tried to quiet my guilt. After all, my little white lie was told for the greater good. It would all work out in the end if Caine and I both found the happiness we were searching for.

Or so I hoped.

One minute we were kissing and then the next Caine was up and out of bed getting dressed.

I leaned up on my elbows, watching the muscles in his arms flex as he pulled on his pants. He looked over at me as he reached for his shirt. Obviously noting the confusion on my face, he explained, “We have a flight to catch. I need to shower.”

Right. “So do I.” I watched in disappointment as he buttoned up the shirt, hiding his gorgeous abs from me. “We could shower together, save us some time.”

He threw me a look. “Somehow I think we won’t save time doing that.”

I smiled at the thought. “Yeah, probably not.” Heaving a sigh, I swung my legs out of bed. “Fine. I’ll meet you in the lobby in an hour.”

Caine nodded, grabbed his jacket, and started toward the door.

I stared after him, more than a little nonplussed that he was leaving without giving me a kiss. Of course, I’d just agreed to a no-strings-attached affair with him, so I guessed I shouldn’t hold out for silly little important things like affection.

Not that Caine struck me as the type. And I’d bet all my money he wasn’t into PDA either.

Suddenly a thought crossed my mind. “Caine.”

His hand was on the door when he glanced back at me. “Yes?”

“Maybe we should keep what’s happening here between us a secret.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Because you’re not exactly low profile and I don’t want anyone in Boston to find out who I am, because then the rest of the Hollands will find out who I am. I don’t want that.”

“Don’t you mean your grandfather doesn’t want that?”

I flinched at the mention of Grandpa. I knew, after Caine’s revelation about him, that I shouldn’t care, but it wasn’t so easy. I couldn’t just flip off my emotions. Only fifteen minutes ago I’d loved and trusted Edward Holland. I was gutted, shocked by the truth about him, but I was also confused as to how I was supposed to feel about him now. I lowered my gaze and shrugged. “Same thing.”

“Is it?”

I got off the bed and reached for the robe that was draped over the nearby chair. Caine watched me with great interest as I pulled it on to cover my nakedness. “Look,” I said, “I don’t know what to do about my grandfather now, but I do know I don’t want anything to do with the rest of the family. If that means keeping who I am a secret, then fine. Can you just do this for me?”

He contemplated the request for a moment and then gave me a sharp nod. “Fine. We’ll keep it a secret.”

“Thank you.” I smiled gratefully and I could have sworn Caine’s eyes warmed in response.

“I’ll probably end up telling Effie, however,” he said with an air of weary inevitability. “That woman is like a bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out secrets.”

I chuckled and nodded. “That’s okay.”

Caine gave me a small smile in return, just the tiniest of little lip quirks, and it warmed me.

And then he was gone.

My answering smile slipped from my lips and I stared after him, forlorn. I already wanted more from him and we were only five minutes into our casual fling.

Once we landed back in Boston, the driver took us to the office instead of home. Caine had a meeting with the board of directors and he couldn’t miss it.

I discovered quite quickly that everything between us was the same as before except that it wasn’t. Although our working relationship had the same efficient rhythm to it, things were definitely more pleasant between us. Caine was naturally quite abrupt in manner, but his grumpy impatience with me was gone.

Then there was the tension between us.

It had always been there.

But now it was actually intensified—the air between us thick with knowing and sparking with electric chemistry.

We did a good job of ignoring it in public. On the plane we ate lunch and discussed business, and when we got back into the office we each pretended we didn’t know what sex sounds the other made. I caught up on my work while Caine met with the board of directors. Every now and then I’d find myself drifting off, thinking of my grandfather and his betrayal. I’d push those ugly thoughts aside, replacing them with memories of the night before and the absolutely sensual adventure my boss took me on.

I smirked.

My boss.

That was kind of naughty.

I grinned even harder.

I’d never done anything naughty before.

I laughed quietly to myself.

“What’s funny?”

I glanced up, taken by surprise at the sudden appearance of Caine. He approached my desk, eyes alight with humor. I spun around to face him in my chair and grinned back. “I could tell you, but I won’t.”

Encroaching on my personal space, he stopped so his knees were almost touching my legs and I had to arch my neck to look up at his face. His eyes washed over mine before roaming lower. They lingered a little longer than appropriate on my legs before traveling upward. “I’m going to be here a little late tonight, but you should head home. I’ll have my driver take you.”

This was different too. Usually Caine delighted in cutting into my personal time. “Are you sure you don’t need me?”

His eyelids lowered slightly in an unconscious smolder that sent off a rush of tingles between my legs. “Not just now. But I’ll come by your place when I’m finished up here.”

“My place?”

“Mmm.” He put his hands on my armrests and leaned into me so our mouths were about an inch apart. His hot breath whispered across my lips. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way.”

My whole body tightened at the thought of what he’d do to me once he got to my apartment. I sounded a little breathless when I replied, “Shouldn’t you wait to be invited first?”

His eyes narrowed. “Lexie, may I come to your apartment tonight so I can fuck your brains out?”

Lust whooshed in my lower belly.

I lifted my gaze from his mouth to his eyes and a smile tickled my lips. “I suppose that would be okay.”

That was when he grinned at me—a full-on grin that made my heart flutter and turned me into a puddle of warm mush.

I was still staring at his office door in wonder minutes after he’d disappeared inside it.

Sun poured in through my windows, illuminating Caine as he sat at my breakfast bar, sipping coffee and reading the Saturday paper. I tried to keep my attention on the omelet I was making for us, but I found I was easily distracted by the fact that Caine was sitting, casual as you please, in my apartment waiting on breakfast.

The night before, I’d waited with those darn butterflies in my stomach for Caine to finish up his work and come to me. I killed time by calling Rachel and updating her on the situation. She thought it was exciting and announced she wanted absolutely every detail so she could live vicariously through me. Grandpa called not long after my conversation with Rach. I’d thought when I heard from him I would be able to confront him about the blood money he’d offered Caine’s dad. But I found the words stuck low in my throat, painful and resistant. I told myself that when I finally saw him in person, we’d discuss it. It wasn’t a conversation I could just start up over the phone. Yet the truth was … I was scared. I wanted Grandpa to have a reason that made sense for what he did, but I knew that he couldn’t. I knew no reason would be good enough, and I wasn’t quite ready to face the reality that he wasn’t the man I thought he was. So when he asked me if I’d found a new job I told him Caine and I had worked it out and I was going to remain in his employ. Somehow Grandpa read between the lines and he was not happy. But that didn’t bother me like it would have yesterday. Who was he to be disappointed in me, after all?

After the phone call with my grandfather I pushed him to the back of my mind in favor of overanalyzing this thing with Caine. I went over and over whether I was doing the right thing. I swung back and forth, reaching for my cell to call Caine and tell him not to come to me. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it because I wasn’t ready to give him up.

Just before midnight I let Caine into my building and opened the door to him. I was wearing a tiny silk camisole and matching shorts.

The tiredness in the back of his eyes faded when he took me in. He’d stepped into the apartment, kicked the door shut behind him, pressed me back against the wall, and slid his hands up to my waist. His lips brushed mine. “I was wrong. This is what you should wear to work.”

My laughter had been swallowed up in his deep, hot kiss.

Sex this time had been slower, headier, as Caine took his time getting to know my body and allowing me to get to know his. We’d only drifted to sleep a few hours before dawn, but Caine was an early riser. In every way. And that meant I was awake early too, although I wasn’t complaining. An orgasm was a nice way to say hello to the day.

And now here I was.

Making him breakfast in my kitchen like we did this all the time.

I put his omelet down in front of him and slid onto the stool opposite him to dig into mine.

“Thank you,” he said before cutting into it.

“You’re welcome.”

We ate in silence and I realized that Caine seemed perfectly happy for us to remain in silence.

I frowned.

Suddenly the whole kitchen scenario didn’t give me the warm fuzzies.

When Caine said he wanted this to be an affair, he literally meant sex. Just sex. And the occasional quiet breakfast, obviously.

Hmm.

I wanted to get to know him better, but how did I go about drawing him into conversations that actually meant something?

Well, first you need to get him talking. About anything.

“Why my apartment?” I blurted out.

When Caine looked up from the paper, confusion wrinkled his brow. “What?”

“Why did you come to me? I could have come to you. Is it because of Effie?”

“No.” Caine shook his head and returned to his paper. “I just like your apartment.”

Surprised, I was quiet a moment. I gazed around at my apartment, trying to work out what it was about it that Caine liked. It couldn’t have been more different from his place. “Why?” I said.

He shrugged and kept eating. He frowned at something he read and turned the page.

Okay, that wasn’t an answer, and it looked like I wasn’t going to get one.

I decided not to push it and take the fact that he’d admitted he liked my apartment as a score for the day.

We sat in silence until we’d finished breakfast, and when he was done Caine thanked me again, leaned over the counter to kiss me, and then left. There was no arranging to spend the day together, no word of meeting up at night. Nothing.

I stared glumly at our empty plates.

But at least I’d gotten a kiss good-bye this time.