Reunited in Love (12 page)

Was
she
having a good time?

How could a woman want him as much as she did, then push him away once they were done like she was embarrassed by a lapse in judgment? She still snuck from his room to return to hers every night as soon as she thought he’d fallen asleep. Women had never treated him that way. He was smart and capable, wealthy, his family impeccable…and he didn’t have any glaringly bad habits that might turn a woman off.

And humble
, he thought with a sour wryness.
Don’t forget humble
.

Had he miscalculated Kerri’s attraction to him? Was it really just based on how much she liked his cock? But no, she enjoyed his company outside the bedroom too. So what the hell was her deal?

“Hey.” His date, Elizabeth Pryce-Reed, poked him in the side. “You don’t like educating the poor children in Somalia?”

“What?”

“You’ve been glowering ever since we got here.”

“Sorry. I’m just tired. And worried about Natalie,” he said.

“That poor woman. Can you imagine getting food poisoning on your honeymoon? Yuck.”

He forced a smile. “I know, right?”

It wasn’t Elizabeth’s fault Kerri was proving more difficult than he’d imagined. Elizabeth was a dear friend, someone he’d known since grade school, and she’d done him a big favor by coming since her social calendar was always overflowing. Not only was she a wealthy heiress, she was also gorgeous with bouncy blonde curls and warm brown eyes. Ethan didn’t know a single person who didn’t like Elizabeth, and she received invitations to all the best parties.

She gave him a penetrating look. “Natalie isn’t the one who’s making you grouchy, although I’m sure it’s a woman. You have that look men get when their relationships aren’t going the way they want. Like you’ve got indigestion or something.”

Despite everything he laughed. “Do I?”

“Uh huh. So what’s the problem? Too clingy? I know how you hate scenes.”

“No…no, not at all clingy.” He wished Kerri were clingy. Then everything would’ve been easier.

“Well, whatever it is I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out. And remember” —she put a hand on his sleeve, the gesture friendly and reassuring— “no matter what happens, things always work out.”

“Thanks. You’re a doll.”

“True. Now, are you going to take me out on the dance floor, or am I going have to bat my eyes at some poor defenseless man?”

*

By the time Ethan got back to the penthouse it was past two in the morning. He’d left the ball as quickly as decently possible, but everyone had seemed bent on getting in his way, wanting to inquire about his family—probably to sniff out how things were going on the Jacob front—talk about a potential business deal or get his opinion about something. Navigating the crowd had felt like he was wading through a kind of social molasses. And then he’d had to go 15 miles in the opposite direction to drop Elizabeth off.

He figured Kerri would be asleep in bed, but she was in the study, her head resting on the desk, laptop open and her screen-saver showing cards falling in slow motion.

He sighed. He should’ve left her some movies. Or maybe made an appointment at a spa. Or better yet, locked her laptop in his car.

He put one arm around her back, the other under her knees and lifted her easily out of the chair. Her eyes still closed, she burrowed her head into the nook between his neck and shoulder like she knew exactly where she belonged.

“Hey,” she murmured, her voice slurred with sleep.

“Hey,” he whispered back. “Let’s take you to bed.” He started walking in the direction of his bedroom.

“M’kay.” She said something else that he didn’t catch.

“What?”

She roused herself a bit. “I said, I sent you an email.”

“You did?” He hadn’t checked his account.

“Yeah. Gonna be unhapp’ when you see it, but I checked ev’rythin’ twice.”

“Why?” he asked, keeping his voice casual. What had she found?

She mumbled something into his shirt.

“What?”

She blinked up at him. “You wan’ talk about it now? I don’t mind.”

“No. Work can wait.”

She nodded. “’Kay.”

Her delicate presence in his arms gave him a small comfort. She smelled amazing, ripe apple and drowsy woman. He cherished the way she burrowed into him, so trusting.

He placed her on the bed in the master bedroom suite, where she curled up on her side. He should let her sleep, but he wanted to touch her, make her shudder in passion and bury himself deeply into her. If they’d gone to the ball together, maybe he wouldn’t feel this urgent need to reaffirm their connection, but right then, it seemed paramount that he remind her of their crazy chemistry and emotional ties.

Quickly, he undressed and tossed his clothes over a plushy reading chair. He climbed in next to her, nude, then lightly massaged the back of her ears and the sensitive spot where her neck met her collarbone. She sighed, then turned fully toward him, her eyes still closed but her body knowing exactly what it wanted.

His lips traced the beautiful curves of her body, while his hands worked at getting rid of her clothes. She was so warm and sweet he ached with emotions he couldn’t name.

This time their union wasn’t as frenzied as before. This was about languid pleasure, and he took advantage of her drowsiness to overwhelm her senses before she realized what was going on.

She moaned softly as he slid into her, and her grip on him tightened. Her breath tickled his neck. “Ethan,” she whispered.

That was all the urging he required to give into the rising need between them. She wrapped her slender legs around him, her inner muscles contracting tightly and pulling him to a peak.

He shuddered into her, holding on tightly. Afterward, spent and languid in pleasure, she laid an open palm against his chest without even opening her eyes.

He put his hand over hers and kissed her forehead. He wasn’t used to women as elusive and yet as generous as Kerri. Whenever she was awake, with her brain working normally, she pulled back, as though she was afraid of being too close to people, to him.

Who had hurt her to make her so wary? Women this passionate didn’t insulate themselves without good reason, and the notion that someone had crushed her tender heart sent a streak of fiery anger through his chest.

He might never find out who was responsible, but he could make sure she’d never be hurt again.

KERRI OPENED HER EYES and blinked several times, slowly making her way back to wakefulness. She remembered falling asleep in the study, but then…

Her mouth parted as she took in the big bed and rumpled sheets laced with Ethan’s scent.

She’d spent the night in Ethan’s room. She stared up at the ceiling fan and sighed. How could she have slept so soundly?

Well, whatever. She was done with what Ethan had hired her to do. No need to stick around much longer, was there?

Once she explained to him the sad state of affairs at The Lloyds Development, she was free to go.

She waited for the sense of ease and lightness that always came at the thought of breaking it off with a lover. It didn’t take more than three or four weeks for her to feel claustrophobic in a relationship, and they had been together for close to seven .

But now, it felt like there was a boulder lodged inside her heart. One that seemed to grow heavier and heavier as the ceiling fan spun, that might have pinned her to the bed forever.

With a massive effort she forced herself up and went out, shrugging into a thin satiny robe. Time to face reality.

Ethan had her breakfast ready, plain yogurt with fresh fruit cubes and berries in a pretty Venetian glass bowl. The lines of his white robe said he was naked underneath. He poured her coffee and slid the mug across the counter. “Here.”

She took a big swallow. First things first. Soon she felt almost normal, the gears in her brain jolted into motion by the caffeine. “You having breakfast?”

“Already ate. It’s ten. I couldn’t wait.”

She blinked. “Ten?” She shook her head. “I can’t believe how long I slept in.”

“Well, you worked late.” He made it sound like she’d been out hustling on the streets.

Him and his anti-weekend-work mindset. “No, that’s not it. I’m used to late nights.” She spooned the yogurt—perfect as usual. She regarded the bowl. The recipe had to be simple, but whenever she tried any recipe at all, nothing came out the way she imagined. It was always just sort of “good enough.” Was there anything Ethan couldn’t do?

She thought,
I’ll miss this,
then caught herself.

This
—the delicious food and coffee—she could get from any decent breakfast bistro.

What she’d miss would be Ethan.

Her coffee mug clattered slightly as she placed it on the counter. She cleared her throat. “I’m done with the TLD review. Have you taken a look at it yet? I emailed it to you last night.”

“It can wait until after you eat.”

“I can talk and eat at the same time.”

He closed his eyes briefly.

She ignored him. Some of the clients she’d dealt with had been worse. “I sent you an email last night,” she repeated.

“Okay, okay. What’s in this apocalyptically important email?”

“Ethan,” she said, trying her best for a gentle tone, “I think somebody’s been fooling with the TLD accounts.” The business wasn’t just any entity. It belonged to and was run by his family, and she didn’t want to sound like she was accusing them of impropriety. Though honestly speaking—if it had been some other company she would’ve given him a list that contained items like possible embezzlement, gross mismanagement and incompetence that bordered on criminality.

Ethan’s gaze suddenly sharpened. “What do you mean, ‘fooling with’?”

Ah, now I have your attention
. “Several million dollars seem to be unaccounted for, among other things. Of course, you’ll have to get an audit team to know for sure.”

He swore.

“Look, don’t jump to any conclusions. I might be mistaken—”

He turned to look directly at her. After a moment she broke eye contact. “Right,” he said. “People like you don’t make mistakes.”

Kerri cleared her throat. “Oh. Well, thanks.” She fiddled with her spoon and yogurt. “Anyway, the numbers don’t look great.”

“How bad?” he asked.

“Long story short? The company’s bleeding cash.”

*

Bleeding cash.

What the hell? That wasn’t how The Lloyds Development was supposed to be. Jacob had always said he knew exactly what he was doing. Every Christmas, he toasted to another successful year. The money kept flowing to every member of the family who owned a piece of the company. Ethan had always received his share of the profits as well, direct deposited to his bank account every quarter like clockwork.

He didn’t particularly care about the money coming into his account. The TLD income was minor compared to his other business interests. But several members of the family depended on the dividend, some of whom were retired. Though the quarterly payments were generous, they needed to keep coming; quite a few of the family had expenditures that ate up the whole amount—yachts, fancy club memberships, private beaches, vacation homes. Most of them would be able to downsize if they had to. They could handle the scandal involving Jacob’s bigamy and TLD’s financial trouble. But not both at the same time. The humiliation was too devastating.

Had Jacob run to avoid facing the consequences of his mismanagement? Was the sudden “Vegas stripper wife” just a convenient excuse? He was a prideful man, and hated admitting mistakes or failures.

“Ethan?” Kerri said, her tone calm. Despite the cool “this is just business” expression on her face, her gaze flickered.

“How did you find the problem so quickly? I gave you five years’ worth of data.” Intentionally, as he’d assumed it would take her at least three months to go through everything alone.

“Oh, I’m just, you know. Good with numbers.”

“I’ll say.”

She shrugged. “It only takes one look for me to memorize a column of figures, and I can do most kinds of math in my head.”

Ethan stared at her. “You have a photographic memory?”

“No, nothing like that.” She blushed. “It’s just this weird thing with numbers.”

“That’s amazing.”

Her answering smile was so uncertain, Ethan had to wonder if this was the first time anyone had ever complimented her on her gift. Perhaps her family thought a talent for math made her odd or something. “Well, I’m glad you found the problem so soon.”

“Was this something you suspected?”

“No. I actually thought the company was doing fine.”

“I see.” She took another sip of coffee. “The quarterly reports actually look pretty convincing on the face of it. But if you start digging into the line items…”

He nodded. “And none of us had any reason to do so.”

“Right. Jacob is family.”

She still hadn’t eaten most of her yogurt, even though she had to be starving. She’d only had half a sandwich for dinner—he’d checked. None of the leftover chicken parmesan or roast beef had been touched. She’d gone for the artificially flavored, sodium-laden turkey slices he’d bought for the rare occasions he wanted to indulge in culinary slumming. Hardly the kind of food someone with cholesterol problems should be having.

“You know, Kerri, this is your home too, even if it’s temporary,” he said.

She looked up with a small frown.

“You’re welcome to take whatever you want.”

Her mouth curved into a smile, though her eyes remained a little wary and uncertain. “Okay.” She drew the word out, and the intonation almost made it a question. “Thanks.”

“I want you to feel at home and relaxed.”

“Okay.” Her lips stretched further into a bigger smile, though her eyes were still somewhat distant. “Again, thanks.”

His hands curled. He hated her uncertainty, like she didn’t know how to share the penthouse with him or what to do with his suggestion that she treat it as her own home. He wanted her to be more at ease, take what she wanted because she could. Hadn’t she understood she could do that and more in the last few weeks? Yesterday in the study, he’d had to force her into demanding something from him with words. Explicitly. Selfishly.