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Her eyes widened, followed by a brilliant smile. “Really?”
He nodded, completely satisfied with staying right here, feeling Abby’s skin beneath his and listening to her talk.
“Well, in that case, I have to admit I sort of set up all these little extras in the hopes you’d see me as something more than your assistant.”
His hand stilled. The fact she did so much for him thrilled him. Her actions certainly spoke volumes of her feelings. Abby bit her lip and looked away.
“I won’t apologize,” she said, still looking off into the room. “I’m not sorry because it gave me the courage to tell you how I feel.”
“Abby.” He waited for her to look back. “I’m not upset and I don’t want you to apologize. You have to know that I’d appreciate the fact you went after what you wanted. I wouldn’t want to be with a weak woman or one who didn’t fight for someone she cared about.”
“You’re really not upset?”
Beneath the water, Cade ran a hand up her thigh, pleased when she eased her legs apart. “Not at all.”
He went on to show her just how much he wanted to give, how much he wanted to take.
No. There was no way he could let this woman go. Not even for a multi-billion-dollar deal.
Fourteen
So far, their trip had been a success. Cade had had contracts drawn up on a resort in Puerto Vallarta and had his eye on another in Cancún.
Oh yeah, and the fact she’d bared her soul to him and made love with him four times. That was certainly beyond her expectations for this trip.
But he hadn’t confessed his love to her, nor had he mentioned Mona’s name.
Abby figured she could look at this two ways—either she was a home wrecker or Cade had already spoken to Mona and was leaving Abby out of the messy ordeal.
Please, God, be the latter.
Cade had told her there wouldn’t be a wedding, but she hoped he didn’t regret his decision or end up resenting or placing blame on her. Was the merger at risk now because they’d acted on their feelings?
Abby boarded Cade’s jet once again. Now they were making a visit to Jamaica, though this one would be brief, only one night. Cade had seen some pictures of a resort in shambles and pretty much decided it wasn’t worth the money, but he still wanted to see it in person.
And since there wasn’t going to be a wedding, there would be no honeymoon, so Abby didn’t have to do research.
During this trip, Abby planned to lie on the beach in her floral bikini with a non-alcoholic drink in hand and relax while Cade met with the owner of the despaired hotel. He’d already told her there was no need to accompany him and she should take some time for herself.
“We’re making a side trip tomorrow after we leave Jamaica,” Cade said as he buckled his belt beside her. “I just hung up with Brady and I’d like to swing by Kauai to talk to him in person. That’ll give you some time to chat with Sam about baby things.”
She raised a brow and grinned. “Baby things?”
“Well, yeah.” He shrugged. “Women all congregate around pregnant women and giggle and chat about booties and diapers and…whatever.”
Abby laughed. “And I assume you and Brady will be discussing man topics like business while Sam and I talk about…whatever.”
His charcoal eyes gleamed, not something she saw often. “Precisely.”
Cade reached for her hand during the takeoff and Abby didn’t know what to think. Actually, she wouldn’t allow herself to think because if she did that, she’d start to fantasize about where this burst of romance was headed. She feared she’d get her hopes up only to be devastated in the end.
Just because he wasn’t going to marry Mona, that didn’t mean he wanted to spend his life with her.
Once the plane reached cruising altitude, Abby unfastened her belt and reached beneath her seat to retrieve her laptop.
“Don’t.”
Settling the device in her lap, she looked to Cade. “Don’t what?”
His hand covered hers, his eyes held steady. “Don’t work.”
“I wasn’t.”
His shoulders sagged just a bit as he squeezed her hand. “I need to explain what’s going on with Mona.”
“Cade, so long as you’re honest with Mona, me and yourself, you don’t have to explain anything to me. Just tell me you’re definitely not going to marry her.”
Please, God, let him utter those words. Otherwise she would be nothing less than scum. Then again, so would he.
“Okay,” he told her.
Not quite what she wanted to hear.
“Because you feel like you cheated on her?” Abby clarified. “Or because you see that it would be wrong to spend your life with someone because of a business transaction?”
