Chapter 29 #2
The sassy tone I’d begun to adore washed over me as I did exactly that from the bathroom doorway.
We’d spent the night in my room after Logan told us in no uncertain terms that he was sleeping in his “own damn bed tonight and didn’t want to hear any sex noises.
” Neither of us was willing to give up a night of sex, but when she started arguing with her brother, I did the only thing that came to mind.
Lifted her up, tossed her over my shoulder and carted her sexy ass to my room.
Thank God we didn’t run into anyone on the way, which, given the way she’d been complaining and making a fuss, was a damn miracle.
“You stared at me.” I’d take her watching me sleep over her sneaking out any day.
She turned to her side and propped her head on her hand.
“Yeah, but that was cute.” A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and I wondered how I was going to walk away.
I’d never worried about that before. Ending a situationship had always come easy because it was never more than sex.
I could kid myself all I wanted, but it wasn’t like that with Reese.
I wanted to look at her lying in bed for years to come.
Why didn’t that scare me as much as it actually should have?
Walking over to the bed, I smacked her lightly on the ass, only to have her wiggle it in response. I shouldn’t be surprised given the way she’d responded when I did it during sex. The woman was full of surprises at every turn.
“I thought you wanted to go for a walk?”
“Ugggggh. I did.” Rolling onto her stomach, she buried her face in the pillow. “But I don’t want to leave this bed.”
I don’t want you to either.
“That can definitely be arranged.” A ping sounded on my computer, but I ignored it.
I was in no mood to deal with my brother at the moment or the shitshow that was building in New York.
There’d be time for that when I was back in the city, alone.
Banishing the thought, I sat on the edge of the bed and ran my hand down Reese’s back, taking the sheet right along with it.
Sleek and smooth, I’d rained kisses up and down her spine, loving the way it made her squirm under me. “Is this more of what you had in mind?”
She moaned as she rolled her hips. “As soon as I turn over, it will be.” I found Reese enjoyed my mouth between her thighs almost as much as I enjoyed being there.
“Lose the sheet, Reese,” I commanded as she flipped herself over, somehow keeping the offending piece of cloth over her lower half, while taunting me with her grin.
“Show me my pussy.” The way her cheeks pinkened told me all I needed to know about how I spoke to her.
She ran her hand over her breast and down her stomach, slipping her fingers beneath the sheet.
Oh, there was no way in hell. I grabbed her wrist, halting her movement.
“You have one of two options, and both involve your naked body being visible to me. Spread those legs so I can eat my breakfast, or…” I let my words hang in the air.
“Or what? Aren’t you hungry?”
“Fucking starving.” It’s how I was all the time around this woman.
I’d find it disconcerting if she let me think at all.
“Or spread them and I’ll watch you play?
You want to fuck yourself for me? Slide those fingers you wrapped around my cock last night deep inside your pussy.
They won’t fill you up like I do, but it sure would be a pretty sight for me. ”
Her body rocked with every one of my words. This woman was going to kill me with a type of pleasure I hadn’t even known existed before setting foot in Henley Falls. I’d say there was some magic in the air, but I had a feeling it was all Reese.
“Yes.”
“To which one?”
She winked my way. “Both.” Another ping sounded just as I was about to pounce on her, and I dropped my head back.
“Sounds like someone besides me really wants you. Get that and I’ll slip into the bathroom.
” She jumped off the bed on the side farthest from me, probably guessing I’d haul her back and say to hell with the call, and scurried into the bathroom.
Figures, now she was naked. When the shower turned on, I was ready to tell whoever it was on the other end to go to hell so I could join her.
Except chances are it was my brother, and the situation at Conti-Montgomery was rapidly picking up speed.
Groaning, I stood and re-adjusted my cock in my jeans before hitting the connect button.
“This better be fucking important, Lac—Grandmother.” Goddammit.
“Clayton, that is no way to answer a call.” Her pursed lips conveyed her disappointment in my decorum as much as her words.
“However, your brother is here with me and does indeed have something important for you.” She turned to her left, her glare now reserved for him.
“Lachlain, is this why you suggested I be the one to call? Did you set me up?”
“Of course not, Grandmother. I would never.”
“Bullshit,” I threw out there.
“I think I believe your brother, Lachlain. That is no way to treat me.” She rested her hands on the table, one over the other, and simply stared my brother’s way. I could almost feel him squirming through the screen.
“Apologies, Grandmother.”
We were grown men, called ruthless and demanding in some business circles, but with Grandmother we were still the boys she saw through some hard years with more than occasional tough love.
“That’s better.” She refocused her attention back toward me. “Now, Clayton, why were you so angry when you answered?” She tilted her head. “Is that water running?”
Lachlain’s low chuckle could be heard in the background just as his text came through.
Lachlain
She’s the one who wanted to call now. No way I was busting up morning-time sex, though I do have news. Pull me in.
Bet that’s what you said last night.
I hate you.
My brother could be an ass ninety percent of the time, but my words held no bite or truth. I typed in his number, and his face appeared on the screen next to Grandmother's.
“It is. I was about to jump into the shower. I can go turn it off.” Though walking into a steamy room with a currently naked and wet Reese made the likelihood of my returning to the call quickly, or at all, extremely low.
“I doubt Ms. Henley would appreciate that, Clayton.”
Without thinking, I stared at my brother. “You bastard.”
“Not accurate at all, though you were born awfully close to our parents’ wedding date, but I digress. I said nothing.” A smirk tilted his lips. “Unlike you.”
“That’s mostly true. Your brother said nothing to me.” Grandmother’s face lit in a sly grin that spoke to how she still commanded her social set with a look and a few simple words. “He should, however, be careful when he talks to Gage. Sometimes old ears are listening.”
“Eavesdropping, Grandmother?”
“Merely walking around my own home, Lachlain. You all believe I’m some doddering old fool, and I can assure you, I’m not.”
Nothing could have been further from my mind.
She was a force to be reckoned with, sort of like Reese.
There was a core strength to both of them, one built on family, loyalty, and legacy.
Still, they both had a softness that somehow amplified the intensity.
Crossing either woman would be a mistake a person didn’t make twice.
Like the way I'd lied to her?
I hadn’t exactly lied, nor did I tell her the whole truth.
Something told me the distinction wouldn’t matter. Then again, if or when she found out, the only thing left between us would be business, and I didn’t believe she’d let the past affect it.
Why did the idea of only business sound so terrible?
“Can we get your head back in the game, Clay? It’s about time Grandmother found out what was going on, and since I have more info, I thought now was the best time.”
“Found out about what, boys? I am still the head of this family, and if something affects it, I have the right to know.”
I took the lead, letting Lachlain fill in where appropriate or he had more information. By the end of the conversation, I was thankful Reginald was not in the room with her. I didn’t think he would have survived.
“That man needs to be out of this family.” She slammed her hand down on the desk, causing us both to jump.
“If it can be done today, do it, but I will not let him ruin us the way he did your mother. She would have healed, would have returned to the woman she’d become with your father, if not for this man. I want him gone.”
“As do I. We’re working on it.”
Resolve settled over me. For years I’d been angry with Mother because of Reginald, because he’d convinced her to push me to the side in his favor.
Maybe I should have stood up to him more, shown Mother she could count on me.
Instead, I’d let my anger and frustration fester, ultimately losing whatever chance I may have had with her.
I was not about to let him hurt Grandmother more than he already had.
“Work faster.” Her voice contained a thread of steel I’d rarely heard before.
“That’s what I have to update you about,” Lachlain interjected.
“Gage found our IT guy, and he’s convinced him to play on our side.
I think we have all our ducks in a row, so to speak.
Gage has also brought in some big guns.” His family.
Gage may not get along with his parents because of what they perceived to be his defection to Conti-Montgomery, but his grandfather still ruled the roost and adored his only grandson.
Preston Lockwood would not hesitate to step in with another powerhouse legal team.
“Ideally, we’ll only fall back on that to re-coup the money he stole, but the police should handle the actual crimes.
” My brother turned my way. “They believe we should go to the cops in a couple of days. You need to get your ass home before that. Like now, Clay.”
My world stopped.
I knew the time was coming, so much faster than I wanted it to.
The thought of leaving here, of leaving Reese, cut me to the bone. In my thirty-three years, I’d never found any place that felt right on a soul-deep level.
Why did it have to be the one place I couldn’t stay, with the one woman I’d never be able to have?
“Clayton, I want you to listen to me,” Grandmother’s voice snagged my attention as the water shut off in the other room.
“Do you remember how I said you were alive after your first call with Ms. Henley?” She waited until I nodded in agreement.
“You were and you still are. Those types of feelings, that type of relationship doesn’t come around all that often.
Finding the person who is perfect for you, who brings out the best but will be there at the worst, is difficult.
Some people spend their lives looking for something that even comes close. ”
She looked over, where I knew the picture of my grandfather hung on the wall.
“Some find it early. The important thing is that if you find it, if you find the person and feeling that makes you want to welcome and truly live every day and every experience, you make damn sure you don’t lose it.
” Grandmother leaned in closer to the camera.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t found it. I won’t believe you because I know you.
What I want is for you to tell me how you’re going to keep it. ”
I wish I knew. I wish I knew if I’d even be able to keep it once Reese found out why I originally showed interest.
The bathroom door opened, Reese stepping out in a halo of steam.
God, she was beautiful. Feisty and smart and everything in between.
I didn’t want to leave her. I don’t want to lose her.
Because that’s what it would be, no matter if she believed me or not.
We’d start a business relationship, and I’d lose the one thing I realized I wanted even more than Conti-Montgomery.
“Cl—” Reese’s eyes went wide, and she clamped her hand over her mouth.
“Think about what I said,” Grandmother whispered before raising her voice. “Ms. Henley, I won’t ask my grandson to introduce us right this moment, but I do expect to meet you soon. New York City is lovely this time of year.”
It was a humidity-filled nightmare, was what it was, but I knew an edict when I heard one.
Reese stood there, with a look of shock and panic on her perfect face, before ducking back in the bathroom.
I smiled, having absolutely no doubt my family would adore her.
After all, I already did.