When she landed, she dragged her luggage through customs and out to a cab. She shot off a text to Cel, telling her she’d arrived and needed sleep. Then she shot off a text to Nicholas.
I’ve landed. Someone kept me up all night, so I’m going to bed soon. :)
He replied almost immediately.
I’m glad you arrived safely. My night was equally spectacular. I miss you already. Sleep well.
She smiled at the text, trying not to let the unshed tears break free. She missed him too. Of course. But she couldn’t let the thoughts of him consume her. Those two weeks were probably the best of her life. And now it was time to move on. Pack away her lovely, steamy memories of a man who’d brought her out of her shell, who’d showed her an adventurous side of sex, who’d showed her she could move on from the hurt from Jack and not just survive, but thrive.
Cat had no regrets. What Nicholas had given her she would treasure forever. She was a beautiful woman with a lot to give. She didn’t need a man to make her feel that way, but when the time came, she would be strong enough to recognize a real, caring man, and she had no doubt she would find love again.
She’d pick herself up by Monday morning, and pour her energy into work. But that night, as she walked through her apartment door, dropped her luggage, stripped out of her clothes, and crawled into bed, she cried herself to sleep. The tears fell, drenching her pillow.
How could someone survive having their heart broken twice in the same month?
Nic walked into the Orlando office, a week after his trip to the Caribbean, two weeks after Cat had returned home. Every time he thought of her, he wanted to smile at all the incredible memories, but there was something else. Something more melancholy that really shouldn’t be there.
What they’d shared was out of this world, spectacular. He’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Specifically, he’d do it all again with her.
He’d had sex with women—on the beach, or otherwise outside. Thrilling, fucking hot sex. So why did the experience with Cat feel so damn different? Was it because she was no longer around? He had no one to see and talk to after a busy day and he’d enjoyed their companionship.
Juliette Maker, his boss’s boss, rang his line, bringing him back to the present. He had a job to do. Success was just a hairsbreadth away.
He sat straight in his chair and pulled closer to his desk scattered with so much paper one might not know it was brown.
“Hey, Nic. You tore it up this last trip.”
“Thanks.”
“Damn. You got Wilson practically drooling.”
Randall Wilson was the company’s CEO. He was just as driven as Nic. Nic had told him in so many words that one day he’d have his job. Credit to Wilson, he’d said Then, one day you will.
That had been the best fucking day of his life, until he’d met Cat.
“Well, good. Tourism is amping back up down there.”
“Bullcrap tourism. It’s you. Now I just need to figure out how to replicate you. Let’s go out to lunch this week. You open Thursday?”
What? “Yes.”
“Great. See you then.”
What did she mean “replicate”? She better not be trying to divide up my territory.
Nic hung up the phone and stared out the window. It was a bright sunny day. Cat’s sleepy smile the morning she’d left popped in his head. The way she pinched her eyes closed at the light, the way she sighed when he kissed her belly, the way she moaned when he slid inside her warm wet pussy.
He reached for his cell phone, thinking about texting her.
No. He couldn’t, he had a ton of work to catch up on. Besides she probably didn’t want to be bothered by some fling she had on vacation.
She’d want to move on with her life. Find her forever guy. Nic thought of her ex.
Shit! She better not get back together with that dirt bag.
Nic clenched his fist. If that guy tried to weasel his way back into her life, he would fucking level him.
Focus, Nic. That is not your problem.
He spun back to his laptop and plugged in the numbers for next month’s sales forecast.
Cat opened the container of crispy shredded beef in chili sauce, questioning if she was even hungry.
Celeste set her lemon chicken on the coffee table. She strode to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of sauvignon blanc and two glasses. After pouring, she settled into the cushy armchair and eyed Cat. “You seem down. Still thinking about Nicholas?”
Cat shrugged a shoulder. “It’s weird. He was just a rebound guy, but it’s almost like it hurts worse than my breakup with Jack.”
Cel nodded thoughtfully. “Do you regret it? Do you regret going?”
Cel would probably blame herself, if she wasn’t already, for Cat’s broken heart. “No. No way.”
She wouldn’t trade those two weeks for anything. The experience had made her stronger and wiser, opening her eyes to the sensuality of human nature. She was proud of herself for taking risks and stepping out of her safe boundaries. She didn’t know what the future held, but she was forever changed, thanks to Nicholas. She was more likely to take a risk and savor some of the thrill that life had to offer. Nicholas had showed her another side.
“I’m just floored at my response after such a short time being together. How could I have fallen in love with him? It’s been a few weeks and my feelings aren’t fading. Is there such a thing as getting over a rebound guy?”
Cel shook her head. “I don’t think there’s a standard answer for that. Everyone is different. Cat, you may have to face the possibility that you have fallen in love with him, and it’s real. So if you can’t be with him, hold yourself together, and do what you can to take it one day at a time.”
She dipped her head and poked the fork around in her takeout container. Sounds easier than it really is, she thought.
Thursday afternoon, Nic met Juliette in the lobby of their high-rise office building. She motioned with an index finger while she wrapped up a phone call.
Juliette was a driver. She’d worked her way to VP of Sales through a history of strategic positions with mostly Fortune 500 companies. Once, she’d been asked to interview with a company while she was eight months pregnant. They made her an offer that day and told her they’d wait until she’d completed her maternity leave. Wow. She was now a fifty-five-year-old smart, tenacious, bulldog in heels. Nic admired her for all she’d accomplished and how she’d done it. He could learn a lot from her.
“Sorry about that. Let’s head down to Russell’s. I’ve got us reservations.”
Russell’s was an upscale steak and seafood restaurant, a Zagat top choice, and a local favorite known for their fresh seafood and prime beef selections. Most people who dined there during the day were on an expense account.
Juliette sat and, after ordering ice water, pulled a folder from her large handbag. “So Nic, your numbers are excellent. The territory is the fastest growing in the company, and on target to be the most profitable, if it keeps going the way it is.”
“Thank you.” What more could he say? The fact that she was singling him out for a meeting like this, not in her office, and his boss, Alan, wasn’t there, both excited him and made him nervous.