15. Clay
CLAY
“N o shit. He actually did it.”
“Who did what?” Mira turned her attention toward me, leaning over on the bed where we had spent the past couple of hours deeply engrossed in emails, news, and generally wasting time.
It didn’t feel like a waste today. The fact that I was able to convince her to take time away from the hospital and let me take care of her meant it was extremely necessary.
She didn’t have it in her to fight the way she had last night.
I tilted the phone so she could see better before explaining. “My friend, Spencer. He proposed to his girlfriend. I was wondering if he would ever get around to it.”
Mira smiled at the selfie, where Rowan rested her hand on Spencer’s chest to show off what had to be a small fortune worth of jewels on her finger. “Wow. That’s gorgeous,” she murmured. “They look so happy.”
“Yeah, they seem happy together.” I had never seen Spencer smile the way he did in the photo.
Rather than hand the phone back right away, Mira studied them another beat or two before returning it.
There was something soft and almost wistful in her smile.
She never got a ring like that, did she?
It had seemed pointless. There were no illusions about our marriage.
Now, I asked myself if I should have bought something for her. It probably wouldn’t have been the same, coming from a stranger. Was she into that sort of thing?
Since when did I care?
That was a stupid question. No matter how often I told myself otherwise, the truth was obvious.
I wasn’t the cold, heartless shell time and ambition had molded me into.
There was still something resembling emotion in me, and Mira had woken it up by falling apart.
All I had to do now was figure out how to juggle it in an already complicated situation.
She checked her phone, frowning at the lack of an update from the hospital.
How did I know? She wasn’t exactly tough to read.
“No news is good news,” I reminded her. No, I was never able to put Alessandro completely out of my mind either.
There was always part of me dreading a terrible phone call from his team urging us to get there immediately.
Mira couldn’t take it easy if I wasn’t able to set things aside for one day.
As it turned out, relaxing was a challenge for me. “So this is what it’s like to take a day off,” I observed, stretching and groaning in contentment but restless at the same time. “I always feel like there’s something I should be doing.”
“Gee, I have no idea what you’re talking about.“ Mira rolled her eyes and snorted. “I’m sitting here, beating myself up. Granted, I’m comfortable while doing it…” She sat up straighter, adjusting the pillow behind her back.
“There is absolutely nothing that can’t wait while you take care of yourself.” When she raised an eyebrow, I had to laugh at myself. “All right, I need to take my own advice. I know it.”
“I can never find the line between work and my life because work is my life.” She set her phone aside, folding her arms, looking pensive. “Is that weird?”
“Look who you’re talking to.” I had to laugh again, harder this time.
“It’s my life like you said. I love it. I dine at my restaurants, sometimes I sleep at my hotels.
I conduct meetings at all hours of the morning and night.
All right, maybe I do need to set boundaries for myself,” I admitted while she chuckled knowingly like she was familiar with every word.
“I’m not being hyperbolic when I say those properties are home to me.
” She sat up, bringing her knees close to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.
Her bare back was so smooth, soft. I couldn’t help but run my fingers over the ridge of her spine until she squirmed a little, giggled, and smirked at me.
“Did anybody ever tell you to keep your hands to yourself, Mr. Manning?” she teased.
“I must have missed school that day.” This time, I tickled her until she squealed and swatted my hand away.
“Stop!” she begged, wriggling away from me. “Here I am, trying to be all thoughtful and sharing and whatever, and you have to be a pest.”
“You’re right. I’ll behave.” I drew an X over my bare chest with one finger.
“Right. I’ll believe that one.” She rolled her eyes but didn’t seem upset. “I was just thinking, I bet most people would think it’s crazy that we ended up married, but it makes sense on paper. We’re both driven, know exactly what we want, and don’t think of working late as an inconvenience.”
“It can be, but that’s why you surround yourself with good people.
I, for one, don’t take meetings with assholes.
I just don’t,” I said with a shrug when she lifted her brows.
“Life is too short. There are plenty of people out there who aren’t assholes whose money is just as green and whose ideas are just as good. ”
“Exactly. Papa raised me not to suffer fools.” The giggle that burst out of her surprised both of us from the looks of it. She covered her mouth with her hand, laughing. “Oh my God. I totally forgot.”
The sound of her laughter was enchanting. I hadn’t heard her laugh since our fight in the pool. It had been nearly a week since then. “What did you forget?”
She wiped tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes.
“One time, I was doing homework in his office. I was probably seven or eight, old enough to understand I couldn’t interrupt.
Anyway, I’m sitting there working on a handwriting exercise, and I hear Papa say to this man who literally just sat down, ‘You’re boring me.
Either come up with something interesting to say or leave.
’ And the guy walked out!” Her laughter rang out again, making me laugh with her.
“Who was it?” I asked.
“I have no idea! And Papa just burst out laughing once the guy was gone as if he couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t thought about that in twenty years.” The memory added color to her cheeks and light to her eyes.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
Once she calmed down, I mused, “It’s no wonder this business is in your blood.”
She turned to me, and her eyes were brighter than I’d seen them in days. “It’s not in yours, though. What brought you to it?”
“Honestly?“ I asked, and she nodded, watching me closely. Genuinely interested. She looked so beautiful with her hair in a bun on top of her head and tendrils teased out, framing her face. The sight of her almost made me tongue-tied until I reminded myself who I was. I didn’t get tongue-tied like some kid with a crush.
“It was obvious I was finished playing ball, so I sat down one day and wrote down everything I wanted out of a career.”
“At such a young age?”
I shrugged. “What choice was there? I needed a new plan. The kind of career where I could travel. Where I could meet people and learn from them. Executives, celebrities. I wanted to live in a different world than the one I grew up in.”
“What kind of world was that, if you don’t mind my asking? You told me a little before when we talked about it, but not many specifics.”
How many times had I shut down this line of questioning in the past? Countless women had tried to crack me open and dig around inside my head like they were looking for a way to get closer. My gut reaction usually involved imagining a brick wall between us.
Not now. Now, I explained without hesitation.
“Life with a single mom, never having enough of anything, always feeling like one false step could land us in trouble. Like the kind of shit some kids wouldn’t think twice about—a broken faucet or a flat tire on the car.
Something that insignificant was life-or-death level for us.
I wanted to work in a world that existed above all of that, you know? ”
She nodded slowly. “I see.”
Her calm, thoughtful reaction made it easier to keep going.
“Then, the strangest thing happened. I realized I liked it. That look somebody gets in their eye, you know? When you’ve perfectly anticipated their needs before they ever had the chance to think them, much less tell you about them.
” Her head bobbed, a smile beginning to form.
“Learning about the guests and their habits, providing for them the next time they come around. It sort of becomes a game, especially when you have the people who visit multiple times a year. The ones you have a relationship with. I challenge myself to always find a new way to wow them.”
“Every week, I get a rundown of the frequent guests at each of our properties,” she confessed with a grin. “So we can prepare something for them. Like an excursion or a gift. Sometimes, when I’m out shopping, and I see something I know one of our longtime guests would appreciate, I’ll pick it up.”
I loved the idea. “Now, there’s a step I never thought to take,” I admitted. “I hope you don’t mind if I steal it.”
“It’s not stealing if I share.”
Her wicked grin paired well with the light dancing in her eyes. I couldn’t get enough of it. It was hypnotic, entrancing. “Since you’re in a sharing mood…” I ran a finger up her spine, making her shiver. There was no helping it. Something about her reached something in me and wouldn’t let up.
“You could find a way to turn a graduate-level lecture into something sexual,” she informed me with a sigh.
“I sure could if you’re the professor.” I couldn’t be bothered to defend myself since she was probably right.
Whenever she was involved, my thoughts tended to go in one direction only.
The way she giggled when I wrapped my arms around her and lowered her onto her back didn’t help matters, nor did her wriggling body.
God, she was beautiful. Perfect. Lush and sensuous, meeting my desire and upping the ante by rolling us over until she straddled me.
I was more than satisfied to lie back with my arms folded behind my head, admiring the sight of a goddess looming over me.
“What do you plan on doing now?” I asked, devouring her with my gaze.
“I was thinking I could take this…” She lifted herself on her knees, taking hold of my throbbing cock. “... and putting it in here.” I couldn’t hold back the deep groan once the head of my cock began to slide through her slickness.
“Good decision,” I panted out, transfixed, heart pounding as she took me closer to eruption. The woman was determined to drive me out of my mind. “Sink yourself on me. I want to feel that tight pussy clenching around my length as you ride me.”
Her soft sigh turned to a sharper sound once she took me inside her and lowered herself to my base. There was nowhere else I wanted to be—gripped tight, the sensation mixing with the sight of her body moving on top of mine.
I couldn’t help but touch her, running my hands over her smooth, soft skin.
Fondling her tits and running my hands up over her chest, cupping her face.
She took one of my thumbs in her mouth and scraped her teeth over it, eyes closing as she moaned.
“Suck it,” I whispered, moving it in time with the movement of her hips.
This was different. Erotic. I followed her lead, exploring her like it was our first time, indulging in every curve, letting her throaty moans guide me.
“Yes, Clay,” she gasped out, falling forward, sending a curtain of chocolate-brown hair fanning out around my face.
I pushed it aside, capturing her mouth in a deep, searching kiss while she continued fucking me as if her life depended on it.
I felt it all. The tightening of her muscles. The pounding of her heart against mine. The vibrations of every moan. Her nipples brushing mine. It all swirled together to create a complete, all-consuming release.
She let out a guttural cry before the familiar squeezing drew me deeper. I gave in, succumbing to the magic I had only ever created with her. Something bigger and truer than the physical alone. Something I wanted to lose myself in, which was dangerous.
Though at that moment, with Mira trembling in my arms and both of us trying to catch our breath, I had a tough time remembering what the danger was.
The ringing of her phone jolted her, making her whisper, “Oh God…” I released her reluctantly, waiting with bated breath to see who was calling. Don’t let it be the hospital. “It’s the hospital,” she groaned.
Sitting up with her, I rubbed her back for lack of anything better to do. If it were bad news, how could I help?
“Yes?” she murmured, eyes squeezed tightly shut, only to pop open again while she gasped. “What? He did? Yes, I will. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
A cross between a laugh and a sob burst out of her before she ended the call and clutched the phone to her chest, beaming. “He’s awake. He’s awake and asked for me.”