This Is True Love (Exclusive! #1) (17 page)

The question came to him again—had he ever seen a more beautiful sight than Fliss caught up in her own pleasure? Hell no. He grabbed the condom and quickly donned the latex. He covered her body again and met eyes dazed with passion. “Now, it’s time.”

She nodded and arched her hips. He slid inside her, gritting his teeth to keep from crying out his joy. Her delicious warmth hugged him the entire way. So tight. So good. Once he was all the way in, he paused to savor the perfect connection.

“Alex,” she pleaded.

“I’m here.” He looked deep into her eyes, wanting, needing her to see, not just hear, the truth in his words. “I need you, Fliss. Only you.”

“I need you, too,” she whispered, wrapping her long legs around his waist.

She lifted her hips, and the new angle was almost more than he could stand. He withdrew, the motion sending a fresh wave of sensation through him. He sank back in and then retreated. She quickly picked up his rhythm, her hips moving in perfect counterpoint to his. He linked their hands again, wanting, needing their connection to be complete in every way. Their eyes met. He knew the awe he saw in her gaze was reflected in his. Never before had it been like this. He leaned down for a kiss that quickly derailed out of control, tongues and heads twisting. A kiss that was a reflection of the wildness inside him he could no longer contain.

Her breath quickened and her hips moved faster. She was dangerously close. He, too, picked up the pace, unable to deny the inevitable any longer.

“Come on, sweetheart,” he said, holding on by the thinnest of margins. He twisted his hips to hit the special spot inside her. Fliss’s whole body stiffened for a prolonged second, then she shouted as the climax swept through her body.

Her scream and the pleasure washing across her beautiful face were all he needed to reach his own soul-destroying end.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Shit. Damn. Hell.

Not daring to breathe, Fliss slid her gaze down to where an arm corded with muscle was wrapped around her bare waist. A hard chest pressed against her back. Another hard body part pressed against her butt.

He was naked. She was naked. They were both naked.

Panic seized the air from her lungs.

Shit. Damn.
Hell
.

She hadn’t dreamed last night. Every explicit, carnal memory flooded her brain in 1080p high definition.

She’d slept with Alex. Her business partner. Her ex-husband’s best friend. Until a week ago, her nemesis. Had it really only been a week since she’d dreamed about wrapping her hands around his neck and strangling him?

What was she going to do? The sex had been so intense. Too revealing. Had she really told him she needed him? How embarrassing. She couldn’t need him. She was supposed to be standing on her own two feet, not getting involved in whatever
this
was.

“Fliss.” His deep voice sent a shiver down her spine.

Oh, God. He was awake.

“Yes?” she whispered.

“We can’t stay like this forever.”

They couldn’t? She didn’t know if she could face him. Not when she had no idea what he was thinking. Not when she had no idea what she wanted him to say. It would be easy to say she’d slept with him out of pity. That would be a lie. No, she’d slept with him because she’d fantasized about it for almost two months. But she wasn’t falling for him. She couldn’t be. It wasn’t in her plan. It was too soon.

“Right. We can’t.” She leaped out of the bed, taking the bed sheet with her. She didn’t care that he’d seen her entire body. She reached down and scrambled for her clothes strewn across the floor, making sure her eyes didn’t wander in the direction of the bed. Not that she needed to look at him to recall with one hundred percent accuracy every detail of his muscular, mouthwatering body she’d explored throughout the night.

In her rush to get to the bathroom, she stumbled over her feet tangled in the sheet. Thankfully, she caught herself before she made a complete fool of herself and face-planted. Not daring to look back at Alex, she continued on her way, her dignity hiding underneath the sheet trailing behind her. Inside the bathroom, she collapsed against the door and clutched the sheet to her chest. Ordered herself to calm down and breathe normally.

She moved to the sink and splashed some water on her face and did the best she could with Alex’s toothpaste and her index finger. She didn’t look at herself in the mirror. She was too afraid of what she’d see. A well-satisfied woman. A scared woman who might be thinking crazy thoughts like last night meant more than just sex. Except it couldn’t. She couldn’t mistake sexual chemistry for something more like she’d done way too many times before.

She tossed on her clothes, swiping at the wrinkles in her shirt to no avail. She spied a hairbrush on the counter and raked it through her hair. She took a deep breath, then another as the first did nothing to calm her jangled nerves.

Oh, God. She had to go back out there. She couldn’t procrastinate any longer. Well, she could, but that would only delay the inevitable.

When she opened the door, she gulped. Alex sat on the bed facing the bathroom. Facing her.

At least he’d put on some clothes. But he still looked too good for her peace of mind. Disheveled. Stubble covering his strong jaw. Dark chocolate eyes that were worthy of drowning in focused on her.

They stared at each other while silence stretched for an eternity. His face gave nothing away. His eyes dropped to her waist, where she was twisting her hands. She dropped them to her sides.

He stood and paced in front of the bed, rubbing the back of his neck.

The awkward silence only got more awkward. She couldn’t stand it any longer. “Do you want to talk about what happened? With your father, I mean?”

He stopped pacing. “No.” Stark. Final.

She swallowed. “Okay.”

“I apologize for coming on to you,” he said stiffly.

“Don’t,” she replied just as stiffly. “You didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to do.” She paused. “Besides, I get it. You needed the human contact.”

Dark, fathomless eyes peered at her. “I meant what I said. I did want you. I’m not going to lie about that. There’s no point.”

She nodded. She’d wanted him just as much.
Still did.
“Where do we go from here?”

He grabbed the back of his neck. “Damn it, Fliss, you know this is complicated.”

“I know.” Even if she could get past her hang-ups, even if they decided to thumb their noses at anyone who would look askance at their relationship, even if they chose to ignore how a personal relationship complicated their already tenuous professional relationship, even if by some miracle they managed all of that, still…

The specter of her ex loomed large between them.

“Where does that leave us?” She forced the question past a tight throat.

“We have no choice—”

“But to be business partners and friends.” It took a colossal effort to force her lips upward.

Alex looked away for a second. “Right. I don’t want things—”

“To be awkward. Yep, got it. Me, either.” Her throat tightened some more. “I should go.”

“Fliss.” He reached out with his hand, like he wanted to offer comfort. She tensed, but he dropped his hand to his side before he made contact. He nodded. “Okay.”

She hurried to the door and paused with her hand on the knob, but he didn’t say anything else. She walked out with her head held high. An actor to the bitter end.

***

Less than forty-eight hours later—Shit, was that all the time that had passed?—Alex heard the door open behind him. He didn’t turn around to see who’d come in. No need. He knew by the scent of strawberries that drifted through the air. He knew by the way his skin prickled with awareness. By the way his heart picked up speed.

Fliss.

I need you. Only you
.

Had he really said that? He who never revealed his emotions because nothing good came of it? He who always kept his head down and worked toward the next goal, so he had no time to think about the past? So he could prove he wasn’t the worthless piece of crap who couldn’t succeed on his own like his father claimed he was? He didn’t let people in. He didn’t need anyone.

And yet he’d told Fliss he needed her.

He’d said he didn’t want to think, and he hadn’t. Instead, he’d reveled in the intense feelings coursing through him, and the words had come tumbling out. He didn’t mean them. He couldn’t. He hadn’t accomplished his goals. He didn’t have time for distractions or have anything real to offer her. Leaving their encounter as a one-night stand was the only option. And she’d agreed.

The plane ride home had been excruciating. At least they’d been sitting across the aisle from each other, so they could pretend the plane noise and lack of privacy made it hard to talk.

Like he’d done on the plane, he focused on his computer screen and the video playing. Too bad he heard and saw nothing. His concentration was shot to hell, and it was all because of her. Exactly like the plane ride.

“Are you just going to stand there?” he asked without turning around. He tensed when he heard her moving toward him, only looking up when she stopped next to him.

“I didn’t think you’d noticed that I’d come in.” She hesitated, then sat in the chair next to him.

Like there was a chance in hell of that happening.

He paused the video. “I noticed. How can I help you?”

She jerked her head toward the screen. “How’s it going?”

His eyes drifted down to her lap, where her hands were fidgeting. Even though she sounded sure, she was nervous. He’d lost control and taken the relationship somewhere it never should have gone. Now things were weird between them and it was all his fault. But she’d come in anyway because that’s who Fliss was. Someone who met adversity head on. She was here because they co-owned a company and had business to attend to. The awkwardness would have to be ignored. He shifted to face the screen. “Good. I’m trying to figure out where to go next.”

“What do you have so far?”

“I started with a quote from Sue, then segued into Rachel calling Farrah sweet but spoiled, then I moved to a wide shot of all the women laughing.” He hit play, and they watched in silence.

“I like it,” Fliss said when it was over.

A ping of pleasure hit near his heart. When had her opinion come to mean so much to him? “You do?”

“I do.” Again with the unwavering belief in his abilities despite everything that had happened.

“Thanks,” he said. “You were right, by the way. They did give us a ton of stuff to work with.”

A smile, small but genuine, was his reward. “Told you.”

“You did.”

Her smile stretched wider, sending his heart racing. Making him remember how good, how natural it had been between them.

“Fliss?”

“Yes?”

What was he going to say? He couldn’t remember. Something in her eyes drew him closer. Her lips parted, like she was finding it hard to breathe. His gaze snagged on that bottom lip that always drove him crazy. He wanted to tug on it, hear her moan as he did so. Her breaths came faster, lighting a torch to his desire. He inched closer, his gaze laser-focused.

The door creaked open. They sprang apart and whirled toward the entrance.

Pete stood there, his eyebrows lifted. “Am I interrupting something?”

Alex frowned. “No. How can I help you?”

Pete moved in a few steps and held out an oversized envelope. “This came in the mail. Thought you might want to see it. Look who sent it.”

Alex took the cream envelope from him. Phillip Mansfield’s name and address were handwritten in a flowing script in the upper left-hand corner. The envelope was addressed to both Fliss and him. He ripped it open and tugged out the lone piece of cardstock inside.

“Phillip Mansfield and his two children, Stephen and Christina, cordially invite you and your staff to a gala to announce the production company selected to make the movie about their beloved wife and mother, Farrah Blake,” he read out loud.

“When’s the party?” Fliss asked.

“Next Saturday.”

Her eyes opened wide. “We have to get the documentary to him before then.”

Determination and competitiveness thrummed through Alex’s veins. “Time to get to work.”

***

The soft swish of silk alerted Alex to the fact that he was no longer alone. He turned and stared, speechless at the vision in front of him.

“Well?” Fliss inquired politely. She finished descending the stairs and turned in a circle. “What do you think?”

He didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He wasn’t worthy of her. Never had been. Never would be.

She moved closer, her eyebrows drawing together. “Alex?”

People
magazine had gotten it right. She was the most beautiful person in the world.

The strapless dress hugged a flawless figure from her mouthwatering breasts to the waist he knew fit perfectly between his hands to the gentle swell of her hips. A slit in the dress displayed a shapely leg to maximum advantage. The purple silk perfectly complemented her luminous cinnamon skin. Her black hair, falling past her shoulders in gentle waves, shone. Scarlet-red lipstick drew his eyes to her luscious mouth. Tempting. Irresistible. But she didn’t belong to him. And he was okay with that. He was? Yes, yes, he was. Because it was too messy. Because she distracted him from his goals. Making Crescendo as successful as he could make it. Yeah, that was it.