“I will get lucky again tonight,” I say as I snake a hand under the hem of the shirt. “You’re not leaving here until I fuck you again.”
She cups a hand over my cheek. “You don’t smile enough.”
I move my hand up her thigh, settling it so my fingertips brush against her pussy. “Smiling is overrated.”
“It’s not,” she argues. “If you could see yourself when you smile, you’d do it all the time.”
She’s wrong. I don’t want to see myself smile.
When I do I’m reminded of the last picture ever taken of my father and I. Nigel snapped it on a beach in Miami hours before my father drew his last breath.
I close my eyes. “Juliet.”
I sense her lips hovering over mine. “It’s okay to be happy again.”
I reach forward until my lips touch hers for a soft kiss. “I’m not sure that’s true.”
She taps my chin. “Look at me, Kavan.”
I slowly open my eyes to see the gold flecks in her irises. The color of her eyes is as unique as she is.
“Are you happy tonight?” she asks.
“I’m satisfied.”
“You’re not.” She shakes her head. “I sense you’re the type of man who is never satisfied.”
That may have been true before she walked into my life.
I feel a sense of satisfaction I haven’t before. I’m content.
“Are you happy?” she asks again.
“I’m happy I met you,” I say as a compromise.
“Even though I make you eat PB and J, and I push you beyond your comfort zone?”
I inch my fingers up to skim them over her pussy. “Even then, Juliet.”
Her eyes close on a heavy breath. “You’re going to make me come again, aren’t you?”
I press my lips to the soft flesh of her neck as I slide a finger into her channel. “Again and again.”
This night has been one I’ll never forget, but as Juliet slips back into her dress, I take a deep breath.
What brought us here hasn’t been resolved and I don’t want to leave it until morning.
“Juliet.” I shove my hands into the front pocket of my jeans as I watch her try to slip on one shoe. “I want to talk about something.”
She holds up a hand. “Help me for a second.”
I do that without hesitation, but instead of giving her a hand to balance on, I drop to one knee.
I gaze up at her as I slide her shoes onto her feet.
We stay like that for a moment until I pull myself upright again.
“I think I know what you want to talk about,” she says softly. “Your mom.”
I take a step back to gain not only gather my thoughts, but to breathe.
After tasting her skin, and being inside her, I’m struggling to think clearly.
That’s not who I am after sex.
I fuck, I get dressed, I leave and I forget the encounter within days, often within hours.
These moments with Juliet will never leave me.
I already know that.
“Alvina Bane isn’t who you think she is,” I begin before I pause.
“I think she’s a woman who abandoned her only child when he needed her the most,” Juliet spits out.
That’s my mother in a nutshell.
“I didn’t meet with her because I wanted to hear her side about what happened to your family,” she explains. “I met with her because she handed her voting proxy over to someone other than her son. I wanted to understand that and her motivations. I want to know how she thinks she fits into the future of the company because from where I’m standing right now, she doesn’t.”
I stare at her.
“That’s my opinion, of course,” she adds for good measure.
“I see.”
“I don’t think you know that she’s spoken on record about you.” She sighs. “I’m not going to quote any of it, but it made my blood boil. She has this brilliant, strong, beautiful son that she trashes at every turn.”
I do know everything that my mother has said on and off record about me. I’ve never given it any weight because she was nowhere near Miami when my father died. She’s never accepted my version of the events that happened that night, even when shown proof.
“I saw you two laughing outside the restaurant, Juliet.”
That lures her closer to me again. Her hand lands on the center of my chest as she looks up and into my eyes. “If you disarm your enemy with laugher, they’ll never see it coming.”
I smile. “What exactly is it?”
“The attack,” she explains with a grin. “In your mother’s case, I wanted her to be comfortable so her truths would spill out.”
“Her truths will never spill out.”
Her fingers skim over the scruff covering my chin. “All of our secrets eventually come out.”
“Do you have secrets, Juliet?”
She stares into my eyes and with a silent nod she confirms that she does.
“Tell me.”
Her bottom lips trembles but she quiets it almost instantly with a bite of her teeth.
“Tell me,” I repeat.
Her lips part, she sucks in a heavy breath and then drops her gaze. “That scarf you used to tie up the mugger was my favorite.”
It’s a diversion meant to lure a smile from me, but it’s not the answer I was looking for.
“I have to get home.” She spins around to face my bed. “Do I have everything?”
She has everything she came with, but she’s leaving with more than that.
A piece of my heart is going with her.
I’m falling for this vibrant, sexy, stubborn, and fearless beauty.
I can’t stop it. Hell, I don’t want to, but I do want something.
I want her to confess her secrets to me, but I can’t ask for that until I’m ready to confess mine to her.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Juliet
“How is that assignment going?” Sinclair turns to look at me as we walk side-by-side down Broadway. “The one with the hot single arrogant guy.”
I skirt around a couple that are so enamored with each other that they don’t see on the approach. “Good.”
I rate it good even though the other night was the best sex of my life.
Since then, Kavan has been buried in work so we haven’t had a chance to schedule more interview or personal time.
We have been texting and he did call to ask me not speak to his mother until we’ve had a chance to discuss it more.
I agreed and before the call ended, he told me missed me.
I’ve been devoting myself to helping Margie at her office, as well as hanging out in my office at Marks Creative.
Mr. Marks popped his head in once to ask if I was making good progress.
I gave him a thumbs-up and a nod.
I’m making great progress on the article that focuses solely on the promising future of Bane Enterprises.
The article that Mr. Marks wants me to write that delves into Kavan’s personal tragedy is still just a vision in my mind. I haven’t been able to write one word because it feels like a betrayal to Kavan.
In a perfect world, Mr. Marks would grant me the honor of telling Kavan’s story in a way that doesn’t leave him in more pain than he already is.