Tessa held up the box of cupcakes. “And why were these on the floor of the living room?”
Josh ignored the panties that were also dangling from her finger, but he didn’t ignore the cupcakes. He took the box from Tessa, and opened it to see if the treats had survived being flung halfway across the room. Not bad. One was smooshed against the side of the box, but it was still edible. The other one looked okay, the one with glossy, dark-chocolate icing. He held the box out to Tessa and when she reached for the chocolate cupcake, he regretted making the offer.
“Not that one?” She was grinning. Great.
“Oh, uh...”
“Well?” Tessa was messing with him. She knew.
“That’s for Caroline,” he said with a grumble. Jesus, was he that done in already?
Tessa took the almond/coconut cupcake and smirked as she took a taste of the icing. “So tell me about you and my buddy.”
“Nothing to tell.”
“No? There was underwear hanging from a lamp in my living room. I think there’s something to tell.”
“I’m not getting into this with you. If you want information, talk to her.”
Josh turned to leave because her smug attitude reminded him of Meg, and Josh had no intention of feeding into it. Tessa touched his arm, probably realizing she’d overstepped. “I’m sorry. I’m worried about her. She doesn’t do anything halfway and she has a history with you...”
“A history?” There was a history? She dreamed about him? He had to get to the bottom of this.
“Never mind. Be good to her. She’s the best person I know.”
“I happen to agree with you.” Josh grabbed his glass of water and headed back to the bedroom with the remaining cupcake. Maybe Caroline would be awake. They could eat and maybe... Damn. He had to stop. She was like a drug and Josh was becoming more and more addicted.
But when he walked into her room and gazed upon her sleeping under the puffy down comforter, just looking at her gave him a wash of happiness. He flashed back to the whole pretty sister-smart sister conversation they’d had the first time they were together, and let it roll around in his head. Taking her in, he had no idea what she was talking about, because from his vantage point Meg couldn’t hold a candle to her.
But there was more, and that’s where things got dicey.
Climbing into the bed, he wrapped an arm around her and held her against his chest, and let her scent seep deep inside him. He’d never let this kind of feeling take hold. And tonight, between the awareness he felt at the restaurant and making love to her, Josh wondered if he could do this. He knew he could fall in love with her. Hell, he was already on his way, but could he avoid hurting her? He never figured himself to be a guy in a relationship, and he still didn’t. But she was becoming his everything and he couldn’t give her up.
Feeling her move, Josh thought about making love to her again. He had a feeling he’d be thinking about that a lot, and that’s when Caroline turned to face him. Her hand came up and stroked his face, and his heart twitched.
“Is Tessa home?”
“We ran into each other in the kitchen.”
“Was she nice to you?”
“Yes.” Sort of. It was hard to say how she acted. Except for the fact that she looked at him like he was an ax murderer.
“She gets protective. I love her, but she’s scared off a bunch of guys.”
Okay, so Josh liked that. He had to thank Tessa for being scary because he didn’t even want to think about Caroline with another man. The thought made him crazy.
He hadn’t noticed that the weather had turned until he heard the rain start to hammer against the windows. Caroline turned into him and he noticed she was tense. Rubbing his hand up and down her spine seemed to help, until the first thunder clap.
“Oh, shit,” she muttered.
Josh pulled her close, although she was pretty close already. If she could climb inside him he thought she might. “You’re afraid of thunder?”
“Don’t laugh at me!”
He chuckled. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Liar,” she hissed.
“Why are you afraid?”
“I was caught outside in a bad storm when I was younger. The noise gets me.”
“Okay. But you’re safe here.”
Now he was lying. She wasn’t safe with him at all. Maybe from the storm, but he couldn’t vouch for anything else. While the thunder was loud, Josh knew that there were other things that were a lot scarier.
Regardless, he kept hold of her, rubbing her back until the thunder and lightning stopped and her body finally relaxed. She had to be exhausted. Her body had tensed at the first clap of thunder and had been tight as a strung bow for at least fifteen minutes. He’d never seen anything like it. She wasn’t just afraid of thunder, she was fully and completely terrified. “I have the cupcakes.”
Cupcakes had to help.
Caroline’s sleepy face popped up. “Really? They survived.”
“One was trashed, but edible; I gave that to Tessa. But the dark chocolate made it. Interested?”
“Are you kidding?” She turned over and pushed herself up, looking at the crushed box on her dresser. “I had a dream about the chocolate one.”
“Hold on,” he said, grabbing her hands and pinning her to the mattress. “We made love and you dreamed about a cupcake?”
She giggled. God, it was the sweetest damned sound.
Obviously knowing his feeling, she raised herself up and kissed him lightly. “Jealous of a cupcake, are you?”
“Hmmm...” He rose and brought the box to the bed. Caroline’s face was a mix of sweetness and seduction and Josh took the chocolate cupcake from the box and ran his finger over the icing. Her eyes were sparkling in the dim light streaming in from the window. When she licked her lips, he brought his finger to her mouth and she licked the creamy chocolate. Jesus Christ.
The cupcake ended up on the night table. He hovered over her and pushed her hair back from her face, marveling at the delicate beauty of her features. The women they ran into tonight, women from his past, had no appeal, but the woman in bed with him was driving him insane.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“I’m thinking about you. About what I’m going to do about you.”
“Oh? Is there some kind of decision?”
“You know I’m having a hard time with this.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. But I shouldn’t be here.”
“Uh-huh. I know.” She reached around and slid her hands into his hair, pulling him down for a kiss. “You shouldn’t be here and this is a huge mistake.”
His mouth played with hers, sipping and nipping at her lush, full lips. “It’s a disaster.”
“Right. A disaster.” Her hips lifted and pressed against him and Josh heard himself groan. She may have been inexperienced, but she knew exactly how to make him respond. He got hard immediately.
“You’re too easy,” she said with a laugh. But she stopped laughing when he didn’t hesitate and slipped inside her and started moving. It wasn’t fast and hard like before, but slow and soft. Sexy. Hot.
“I know I shouldn’t say this, but I’m glad it was you.”
“What?”
Her voice was dreamy and Josh wondered if she was just so tired she’d crossed into another realm.
“I’m glad my first time was with you. I always wanted it to be you.”
His thrusts became deeper and she matched his passion, arching to get closer. What she’d just said surprised him, scared him even more, and made him face what he felt for her one more time. But everything blurred as they moved together. She was his right now. No other man knew her body. No other man had been inside her. She was his, and every movement made Josh aware that he didn’t want anyone else to have her.
“Josh, mmm...”
Hearing his name slip past her lips tugged at his heart and then he felt the gentle wave overtake her. This wasn’t the soul-stealing orgasm she’d had earlier, but as he felt his own climax approach and he spilled himself into her, he wondered what made this so perfect. They fit each other. Their bodies were in tune.
None of this made any sense. None. But as he settled back and pulled her to him, he wondered where this would go if it took its natural course. Could there be a future for them?
That’s when Caroline sniffed and burrowed into him, falling right to sleep. Josh’s mind started to race because he realized how far-gone this really was. They’d just had unprotected sex and Josh didn’t really care.
He knew he was clean, and Caroline had never had another partner, so STDs weren’t the problem. The reality was that Caroline could get pregnant, and as Josh let that possibility sink in he realized it didn’t bother him.
He never forgot protection. Even if he’d been seeing a woman for a while and she swore she was on birth control, he took responsibility. But Caroline made him think only about being with her, about making love to her, and this was a new and scary place for him.
But as he looked down at her curled against him, Josh understood that he was in this. He just didn’t know if he could find a way to stay.
Chapter 11
Caroline double-checked her list of grocery items and was satisfied she’d gotten everything. Over the course of the past few weeks she’d stocked Josh’s kitchen, making him more than a few wonderful dinners.
In return, over the past week he’d managed to make her a couple of wonderful breakfasts.
Caroline was floating, and for the first time in her life she wasn’t waiting for the bubble to burst. It was amazing.
She and Josh spent as much time as they could together. They cooked, they joked, and they talked about anything and everything. Sometimes he’d bring work home and she’d have something to write and they’d hole up in his den and spend time together, and that was when Caroline felt what they meant to each other. When the words didn’t matter.
She was having dinner with her mother the next night and Caroline was thinking about asking Josh to come along. She hoped he would. It was time for her mother to know about the two of them. It was time for Mom to know about her life.
And it was time to talk about changes that were coming. Instead of worrying or wallowing in her feelings about the situation at work, Caroline had taken action. A few weeks ago, taking advantage of her contacts through her grad school program, she’d started looking for a new job.
Today she got an offer. And it was with a big, prestigious engineering firm that was seen as female-friendly. Pretty soon she’d be able to kiss Roberts and Michaels good-bye.
Josh had taught her that she was in charge of her life. Whether it be engineering or writing, or family, she was the one who would make the difference. And he was right.
The writing was coming along. She had a ways to go on that front, but sending out her work and learning to deal with the rejections had given her more of a stake in what she was doing. She was hungry. She had a desire to be successful, and she’d stopped thwarting her own efforts.
Everything was pretty much perfect. Josh would be happy about the job offer. He hated the firm where she worked and she couldn’t wait to surprise him with the news and to thank him for pushing her. For having faith in what she could accomplish.
With regard to his project, he hadn’t asked for anything from her except advice on how to handle small glitches in the planning, but she knew the whole business was getting to him. The scuttlebutt at work was that there were delays getting the physical survey done. Possibly intentional ones. Caroline couldn’t put a finger on the reason, but she suspected Josh’s father was pulling Mark’s strings and she couldn’t figure out his motivation. It was in his best interest to move the project forward, but every time a test was scheduled, something went wrong. She asked Josh about it, but he wasn’t saying much and it seemed he was trying to protect her from knowing the details. She understood why he’d do it — Josh was nothing if not protective — but she knew she could get to the bottom of the problem. Caroline knew whom to ask, and how to get the survey nudged forward, but Josh was keeping things to himself. Maybe tonight she’d get it out of him.
It was their cooking-date night, and this time, instead of going straight to his apartment, Josh had asked her to meet him at his office. Chewing on her lip, she admitted to herself that she was a little giddy that he’d asked her there, that he wanted her to see his world. He was letting her in, and that was no small thing. Miraculously, she wasn’t running behind, and as she left the building she noticed Mark on his cell phone, near the fountain on Sixth Avenue. He looked formidable. Square, strong, and every inch the boss she didn’t want to piss off. But soon she’d never have to see him again.
Since the trouble with him had kicked into overdrive, Caroline had done some digging and unearthed a bit about Mark Strickland’s past. The man was a Princeton-trained civil engineer with almost twenty years of experience at high-profile firms. He’d moved up the ladder because he was a master game player. He was handsome and a great talker, which drew people to him, and he always managed to get the job done. When he did something questionable or unethical, he often got away with it, but there were lines even Mark Strickland couldn’t cross. And that’s when he got into trouble.
Mark “loved” women, almost as much as he loved himself, and she’d found out that in his last position more than one female staff member had lobbied for his removal. Whatever had happened went away quietly, but he did leave his firm, landing in the corner office at Roberts and Michaels, where he ran things with a combination of fear and finesse.
Most of the time he went for fear.
The man did every adrenaline-junkie thing out there from high-altitude skiing to skydiving. It was no wonder he engaged in high-risk behavior in his career with regard to women. He wanted a thrill, a challenge, and his latest target was Caroline.
She was hoping she could get away from the building quickly, so he wouldn’t see her. But as she was making the turn toward the subway, she heard her name.
“Miss Rossi?”
It wasn’t Mark, but he’d surely noticed her leaving.
There was a uniformed man standing near a black luxury car and Caroline realized Josh was picking her up. In his way. She made her way toward the car and the waiting chauffeur, and just as she was about to enter the open back door, Mark caught her by the arm.
“Well, look at you. Going somewhere special?”
Cringing, Caroline pulled her arm away. He didn’t miss one intimidating trick, one chance to make a woman uncomfortable. He may have been a crappy manager, but he was good at this.
“I’m meeting someone,” Caroline told him. It was more than he needed to know, but she thought maybe it would keep him from doing anything truly horrible. “He sent a car for me.”
“Ah. Is this someone a client of ours, perhaps?”
“He is on the firm’s client list, Mr. Strickland, but I’m not assigned to the project. If you’ll excuse me, I don’t want to be late.”
Mark stepped back when he saw the chauffeur, who could have doubled for an NFL linebacker, step forward. Josh had sent more than a car.
“Very well.” Mark stepped back. “Please keep in mind that you are to be loyal to your employers and to your co-workers. Discretion, Caroline, is always best.”
She didn’t answer because the comment didn’t deserve one. He was a bastard and he should take his own advice.
Getting into the car, Caroline’s dark mood was threatening to ruin her evening, until she saw the flowers on the seat next to her, and everything inside her warmed. How did he do it? How did he know exactly what she needed when she needed it?
It wasn’t anything as clichéd as roses, but a bunch of sunny yellow tulips. Perfect.
Everything about this relationship was scrambling her brain, and Caroline didn’t know if it was Josh or her own doubts about herself.
Picking up the flowers, Caroline fingered the soft petals and thought about how her life had changed over the last month and a half, and if she could handle it. Could she handle him?
The car wove its way through rush-hour traffic and it gave Caroline a lot of time to think. She thought about herself, about Josh and about her family. Her family who loved her, but didn’t understand her.
Work had been hell since she’d talked to Josh about the site evaluation. If she wasn’t being trusted to do real work before she’d advised him, now it was worse. But the strange thing was that for the first time in a long time she really didn’t care. She truly didn’t. She’d taken steps to change her situation, and once she’d done that, nothing Mark Stickland did mattered.
Confidence was a heady thing.
The buildings changed as the car went farther downtown and the towering skyscrapers of Midtown gave way to the shorter residential buildings as they passed through SoHo and Greenwich Village. Caroline’s stomach lurched as the car finally turned onto Water Street. Campbell Holdings had been in a century-old building in this area for three decades.
Josh had told her how his grandfather had started the business, and how his father was running it into the ground. Josh’s job, as he saw it, was to save the family legacy.
Of course, just as the car pulled to the curb, her sister called.
“Hi, Meg,” Caroline said.
“Hey, we’re in the city tonight. Meet us for dinner.”
Thankfully, things were much better with her sister, but Caroline still hadn’t told her about Josh, and she knew the longer she waited, the more angry Meg would be. But she didn’t want a lot of questions. Not right now, while she was still figuring it out herself.
“I can’t. I have plans.”
“You have... you have plans?”
Okay, that pissed her off. “Meg, you do realize I have a life, don’t you? I have friends and there are people I see...”
“I know, but I want you to come to dinner.” The woman could pout over the phone. How did she do that?
“Well, I can’t. I’m busy with a project and then I have dinner plans.”
There was nothing. Caroline couldn’t even hear her breathing.
“Where are you going? We’ll join you.”
“NO! No,” she said quietly the second time. “I’m not sure yet and besides, this is a date. I’d rather do this on my own.”
“But I want to meet him.” Meg sounded almost sweet. Caroline knew better. “Is it your
boyfriend
?”
Meg had been consistently calling Josh her boyfriend and no matter how many times Caroline corrected her, Meg kept at it. It must have been sisterly ESP.
“Look, I have to go. You’ll have your chance, I promise.”
“It’s nothing yet?”
“Meg, I don’t know what it is yet. It’s confusing, but hey, that’s the way it is, isn’t it?”
“Call me tomorrow. I want details.”
“There may not be anything to tell.” There wouldn’t be. Caroline had no intention of telling her sister anything until she talked to her mom.
“Okay,” Meg finally said. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
With her call ended, Caroline could tamp down the nerves that were flaring up just at the thought of walking into Josh’s office and seeing a different side of him. Frankly, she didn’t know why she was nervous. Fear of the unknown, maybe? “Neil?” she said to the driver. “Did Mr. Campbell say whether we’d be taking this car to his apartment or did he drive? Should I bring my things or can I leave everything here?”
“I’ll be driving you both to Mr. Campbell’s apartment.”
She stroked the soft petal of the tulip and looked up at the building once again. Then Neil cleared his throat.
No reason to stall anymore. Leaving everything but her purse, Caroline exited the car and walked through the doors toward the unknown.
There was a mirror in the lobby and Caroline used the opportunity to check out how she looked. Her blue wrap dress was simple, but had a huge circle skirt that swept around her legs with dramatic flair. She wore high-heel pumps today instead of flats and her hair was down, her natural wave pushing the strands around her face. She wasn’t sure if she looked like herself, but she wasn’t going to walk into Josh’s office, with the myriad of gorgeous women who probably worked there, looking like a frump.
Satisfied that she still looked professional even though she had gone into full girly mode, Caroline boarded the elevator and pressed the button for the eighth floor.
It seemed to take forever.
But within the minute, Caroline was standing in the reception area of Campbell Holdings.
The office was much like hers. Understated, classy— but Caroline knew in the world of big money things could look great on the surface and stink on the inside.
From the way Josh talked about the business, that’s exactly what was going on.
The receptionist got up from her desk and extended her hand. She was a lovely woman in her late fifties with sparkling brown eyes and a friendly smile. “Miss Rossi.” Caroline took her outstretched hand and immediately relaxed. “I’m Amelia. Please come with me; Mr. Campbell is expecting you.”
“Thank you. Please call me Caroline.”
“Caroline it is.” Amelia looked her over. “He said you were beautiful, but I don’t know if that word alone does you justice.”
“Oh, ah...” She was stunned. “Ah... thank you. It’s a good day. I dressed up.”
“My dear, you could wear a paper bag and be a stunner. It’s doesn’t have anything to do with the clothes.”
Caroline suppressed her grin. It was fun feeling like the pretty one for a change.
“Josh has been smiling like a fool for the past month. We finally got it out of him that he’d started seeing you.” They walked down a corridor lined with framed photos and Caroline caught glimpses of the Campbell kids when they were young. “I love him like a son; we all do. So we’re thrilled. We were getting worried about him.”
“Worried?” That had her wondering. Josh was male perfection personified. How could he be a worry?
“You’re the first woman he’s ever seemed invested in. He’s dated, almost pathologically, but has never seen anyone seriously.”
“It’s still pretty new.” Caroline knew she’d already crossed over. It was serious for her, but she couldn’t speak for Josh. It certainly seemed like he was serious, but she wasn’t going to assume anything. She also had to wonder why his receptionist was telling her this. It seemed so ... personal.
“Trust me, he’s smitten.” It was very personal, but that bit of information made Caroline tingle from the inside out.
Smitten
. She loved that.
As they approached the end of the hall, the space opened into another reception area with desks occupied by two women and one man. Caroline could hear Josh. He was talking with someone, and his voice, so deep, so assured, caught her attention.
One of the women, who was round and lovely and wearing a bright red power suit, jumped to her feet. “Is this her?”
Amelia nodded. “It is.”
“It’s a pleasure, Miss Rossi. Josh... uh... Mr. Campbell... hasn’t been able to stop talking about you. I’m Clara, his assistant. Let me see if he’s free.”
Caroline didn’t even have time to respond before Clara took off and poked her head into the open office door.
She came back. “He’s on a call on his cell. It will be just a moment. I’m so sorry you have to wait.”
“It’s not a problem.” Caroline walked around the space, taking in what she might call the intimidation factor of a place like this. The old building, the dark wood, the moldings—originally it was about quality; now it was about establishing power.