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“I just... It just came out, okay? I didn’t mean...” His eyes hardened as his mind flashed back to the scene in the conference room. “You would have done the same if you saw how Rob was playing those old fools. After everything he’s done, on the same day that...”
The room quieted once more, before Nick eased the conversation along. “All right,” he said consolingly, “so you spoke without thinking. It was hardly the first time.” A faint smile ghosted his face as he stared fondly at his friend. “Now that the challenge has been made, though, can you really see yourself doing it? Can you actually see yourself running the company?”
Please say yes.
Every nerve ending in my body came alive as I perched on the edge of my chair, waiting breathlessly for an answer. It was almost too much to hope for, that James would decide to step up and take command. It was too much, yet I found myself hoping against hope all the same.
James held Nick’s gaze for only a moment before his eyes flickered out the darkened window, reflecting the city lights once again as he gazed toward the horizon. A look of profound indecision settled over him, tightening his jaw and freezing all his handsome features in place.
Oddly enough, it was the exact same expression he wore when I asked him to define what was happening between us. The second that whimsical spontaneity lifted and he was asked to make any sort of commitment, the man just froze.
Nick and Abby were just as tense as I was, and even Ferdie poked his head discreetly out of the kitchen, awaiting his response. Ultimately, no matter what any of us thought, it was a decision James had to make on his own, but no matter how much he wanted to, he just couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
“I-I don’t know.”
JAMES AND I WENT TO bed together that night, as usual, except that when I rolled over a few hours later, he was no longer there. I sat up for a moment and looked around in confusion before I heard it, a faint splash of water coming from above.
As quietly as I could, I slipped into a bathrobe and tiptoed down the stairs. The door to the balcony pulled open without a sound, and I stepped outside, ignoring the billion-dollar view as I crept up the stairwell and onto the roof.
Sure enough, James was in the pool, his body cutting graceful lines across the water as he swam under the moon.
I watched him for a moment before venturing carefully forward. I didn’t want to crowd him, but I wanted to be sure he knew I was there for him, to support him always. “Hey,” I said softly.
He came to an immediate stop and pushed his wet hair off his forehead. His eyes met mine in the dark, and they lingered there for a moment, bright with some uncertain emotion, before he made his way slowly to the edge of the pool. I sat down on the tile, and he stood in front of me in the water, with little clouds of steam rising off the muscular contours of his arms.
“Hey yourself.” He flashed a quick smile, stroking his fingers along the arches of my feet as I dangled them in the water. “Did I wake you?”
“Not at all,” I replied quickly, parting my knees for him to step casually between them. His dark hair glowed silver in the light of the moon, and I combed my fingers through it, pulling him closer to me with a soft smile on my face. “I just wanted to see how you’re holding up. I had to make sure you aren’t planning some crazy stunt to impress your much younger girlfriend.”
He laughed quietly and wrapped his hands around the backs of my knees. “Yeah, I guess I should have told you. You and I can only go so far, because my heart’s already been claimed by someone else.”
“I completely understand,” I said, fighting to keep a straight face. “After all, she’s got a hell of a lot of money.”
This time, he laughed for real, staring up at me with the same enchanting smile that had made me fall for him in the first place. The water sparkled around him as he took a step closer and slid his daring hands beneath the robe to touch my thighs. “Della, I don’t...” He stopped suddenly, staring at me as if I was the one casting a spell over him. “I don’t have any idea what I did before you got here nor any idea what I’d do if you were to...”
The words caught me by complete surprise, stealing my breath and skipping my heart right along with it, but no sooner had he said them than he followed them up with something even better.
“I don’t ever want to find out,” he blurted, unable to stop himself, with a plea in his voice that I was sure was not intended. I heard that wary defensiveness that did nothing to hide the vulnerability just beneath, the fearful desire to keep from being hurt.
My eyes met his, as I stroked a gentle hand down the side of his face. “I’m not going anywhere.”
It was as if those words unlocked something inside him. At once, the frozen indecision vanished into pure motion. He pulled me closer, opened the base of my robe, and pressed his lips against the inside of my high.
A surge of heat rocketed through my body, but even though I literally ached for him to keep going, I found myself pulling away. “James, I don’t... I don’t think this is the right time.”
His hands slid up my bare back, and he wrapped his fingers around my sides, till they lightly grazed my breasts. “It’s the perfect time.”
“I’m serious. Wait a second.”
He paused and took a step back as I struggled to find the words.
“Your father just died, and you just made a possibly life-changing decision. I understand that you’re upset, confused, and overwhelmed. Trust me, James. You don’t want to do this right now. You’re just—”
“This is all I want to do right now.”
I
pulled reluctantly away again, but this time, he held me firm.
