CHAPTER FIVE
STEPPING OUT OF the air-conditioned paradise of her car into the high-noon, one-hundred-degree desert air was not something Rebecca had missed about Las Vegas. And for a few moments, she found herself wishing for the East Coast and its milder temperatures. She fanned her face with her hand, finding it ineffective, as she made her way to the main entrance of the building that housed Daniels International.
Her gait was gentle. She was sore and slightly bruised from how Brett had taken her roughly the night before. But despite the discomfort, her stomach still fluttered a little when she remembered it as one of the hottest encounters she’d had since their college-days hookups. Despite that he’d made her body sing out in rapturous exaltation, she hadn’t been able to convince him to abandon the takeover; and her company and the livelihoods of everyone she employed still hung in the balance. She couldn’t allow another lapse in judgment. She didn’t have that luxury.
She couldn’t help but wonder why Brett was doing this. He didn’t owe her anything, but she really thought her appeal to his conscience last night would’ve made him stop and think about what he was doing. They’d always seen each other as rivals, but there’d been a time when she thought they might have hit on more.
There was always something about Brett, though. They’d always shared some kind of connection, and it wasn’t just about sex. It was in the moments while straightening their clothes, both tired but also wide-awake, exhilarated from a stellar sexual encounter. It was in those moments of closeness they would let their guards down, and she and Brett had shared things—him, his drug addiction, and she, her feelings of inferiority and never measuring up to her father.
After finding out about his past, she’d admired him more, understood his drive, and he hers. They still battled, but it was not driven by animosity, but by respect and competition...and maybe a little animosity.
Rebecca walked into the elevator and pushed the button for her floor. Thankful for the privacy, she let herself slump, exhausted, against the back wall of the elevator. She had barely slept the night before, and then she’d spent the morning meeting with different shareholders, hopefully convincing them to hold on to their stocks and not sell to Collins/Fischer. She’d been insistent, appealing to each one’s history with the company and their relationships with her father, but she hadn’t gotten one explicit agreement not to sell. She would have to come up with another plan. One that would put her in firm control. She wasn’t going to let Brett pull everything out from under her. Not without one hell of a fight.
What was to be done with a man like Brett? He hadn’t responded to her appeal to his feelings. They’d fought the night before, and if the past few months had revealed anything, it was that there was still a lot of bad blood between Daniels International and Collins/Fischer. On both sides. He was mad. But goddammit, she was mad, too.
Even if she was angry at him, she was livid at herself—she was weak in falling for him again last night. But it couldn’t have been helped. He’d looked so good, smelled so good, tasted even better...even though she should have been engaged in battle, she’d lost her focus. It wouldn’t happen again. Brett Collins was going to find out that she would no longer be distracted.
When the elevator opened on her floor, she walked to the DI office and greeted her assistant, Amy.
“Good morning, Ms. Daniels.”
Rebecca smiled. She’d told Amy to call her Rebecca, but Amy had told her that she’d always called her father Mr. Daniels. It seemed as if old habits were hard to break. Yeah, tell me about it, Rebecca thought wryly as she accepted the stack of messages she’d received that morning.
She thanked Amy and went into her office. She shuffled through them on the way to her desk and frowned when she found that several were from shareholders, old friends and close colleagues of her father’s, announcing their intention to relinquish their shares to Collins/Fischer.
Some of them she’d just seen this morning. How could they have decided so quickly after her requests that they reconsider? Biting back a frustrated cry, she sat heavily down in her father’s chair. His desk was large, and she felt like a little girl behind it, like when she would visit him at work as a child, and he would spin her around in his chair. She looked around. The office was still very much her father’s. But it should feel like hers. She had to make a change. Perhaps if Rebecca looked and felt more like the leader of the company, everyone else would see it, as well. If she could distinguish her leadership from her father’s, let the shareholders know this was just the beginning of an exciting new era at DI, they’d be willing to hang on and give her a chance here, to see what she was capable of.
She buzzed the intercom. “Amy?”
“Yes, Ms. Daniels?”
“Can you please get me some contacts for local interior designers? I’m making some changes.”
* * *
Even though Brett had gotten an early start on his day, the moon was high in the night sky when Rafael suggested he and Alex join him at the gym for a late-evening CrossFit workout. It was difficult to pull himself away, but he relented; there was no better way to release the tension than with a good, high-intensity workout. Well, there’s one better way, he thought as the image of being deep inside Rebecca flashed through his mind.
But exercise wasn’t effective. He still carried the anger and tension from the previous evening and day. His mind wandered, shifting back to Rebecca. He’d been distracted, and it had made for a frustrating day. Even though he failed to expend all the negative strain on his body, he was glad to get out with his friends. After their regular vigorous routine, Brett, Alex and Rafael headed for the sauna to rest their fatigued muscles, and minds, with a little dry heat.
Brett gripped the towel that wrapped around his waist, and he sighed when he finally sat on the treated wood. Immersed in heat, his muscles relaxed all at once. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten through the workout as he was exhausted from a lack of sleep the night before. He’d tossed and turned in bed with the sexual tension that still burned within him. His mind had been ready to shut down, but his body wouldn’t rest. He couldn’t concentrate on anything besides the image of Rebecca the night before, her legs spread, arms around him and could still feel her under his hands, smell her on his skin. He’d showered that morning, scrubbed twice, but there was no way to rid himself of her, or what they would have done together.
The sauna was empty as he sat with his friends along a far wall. Rafael looked over at Brett. “You were a bit slow during our session,” he commented.
“I’m just tired. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”
“Me neither,” Alex added. They hadn’t revisited the issue of the takeover and his meeting with Rebecca.
“Are we going to do this again?” Brett asked, drained.
“No,” Alex said simply. “If you know this is the right move, that’s enough for me. I trust your judgment, unless you give me a reason I shouldn’t.”
“Thanks.”
“Isn’t it nice when we all get along?” Rafael laughed.
Brett didn’t comment.
“Dude. So, what is going on between you and Rebecca?” Alex asked.
“Nothing,” Brett answered with a shake of his head. He should have known that he wouldn’t get away without being questioned by his friends again. “Like I said, she came to the club last night to see if we would back out of the buyout.” He looked at Alex and Rafael and could tell they both knew there was more.
“And?”
Brett blew out a breath. “We had sex.”
“That was obvious,” Alex answered. “How was it?”
“It was great. It was a lot of fun.”
“It was fun,” Rafael repeated, nodding. “How unexpected,” he joked. “I’ve never had sex for fun before. I might have to give it a try.”
Brett and Alex both laughed. “You’re such an asshole,” Brett told him. “But I have to amend my previous statement a little. It was great until I brushed her off, sent her away and she flipped me off as she got into a car.”
Alex laughed before growing serious again. “But do you think she can jeopardize the takeover?”
“She’s already told me that she’s going to fight it. I know she’s tenacious, and she’ll do anything to get what she wants.” He shrugged. “But really, I don’t know much about her approach to business these days. We weren’t exactly close back in college, and I haven’t seen her in five years. But I do know that she’s tough. I did a little looking, and she’s got a rep in New York. A lot of guys think she’s a bit of a shark. I don’t think she’ll make it easy.” It was almost admirable that she’d been such a figure in the New York City business world. It proved Rebecca was intelligent, driven, ambitious and would be a huge pain in his ass. Brett closed his eyes, suddenly drained. He dragged his fingers through his damp hair and wondered when the last time was that he’d taken a vacation.
Rafael blew out a breath, appearing to relax in the heat. “You know, we should all go away sometime,” he said as if reading Brett’s mind. “Take a vacation.”
Brett looked over at his friend, taking in the deep frown lines that marked his face, and he wondered if Rafael’s political life and future run for mayor were beginning to take a toll on him. Brett knew that Raf was just as overworked as he was. They all were. “Yeah, that’d be great,” Brett agreed. “Where are you thinking?”
“I don’t know. Rio, maybe? Bangkok? Amsterdam? Gabe’s grandmother owns that vineyard in Portugal. We can go anywhere.”
Brett nodded sagely. A trip anywhere with his best friends would be amazing. “It’s been too long since we did something like that. Let’s make it happen. When we close this takeover of Daniels International, that is.”
“Yeah, and when I’m mayor of Las Vegas,” Rafael agreed, and Brett laughed, knowing that they would probably never get to take a group vacation, with all of their busy lives and schedules. So he leaned back, and they enjoyed the sauna and the quiet camaraderie. Quiet moments were few and far between for them.
“So, what are you going to do about Rebecca?” Rafael asked.
Brett didn’t answer right away. What should I do about Rebecca?
“If she’s a shark like you suggest, she’s definitely going to complicate matters for us,” Alex said.
And sex was complicating things further... “I’ve got to stay sharp,” Brett said finally. “Sex has always been the main thing between us. I wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to use it as a weapon against me. Hell, maybe that was her aim last night... Maybe she’s planning to distract me somehow, use our chemistry to get me to back off.” Brett caught Alex’s raised brows and the look he sent Raf, who shrugged. If that was her goal, he almost couldn’t blame her... He might try it himself if the tables were turned. “Maybe I’ll play her game.”
“What do you mean by that?” Rafael asked.
“I’m going to use sex to distract her during the takeover. Take her off her game and scoop DI out from under her. But I might as well have a little fun, too.” He grinned at his friend. “I’m going to see her again. Soon.”