Читать книгу Desire Collection: November Books 1 - 4 - Charlene Sands - Страница 23

Thirteen

It was hard to think with his pulse pounding in his ears and his body vibrating at a pitch Eric wasn’t sure he’d ever heard before. But one thought pushed its way through the collection of purely physical reactions to making love with Sofia.

He was in so much trouble.

Because he’d promised Sofia they could have some fun this weekend. He could make her feel good. She could have a break from being a mother and a widow and be... Well, not his significant other, but a woman with wants and needs that he could meet. And above all else, he’d promised her that no matter what happened, they would always be friends. Friends with benefits, yes. But friends first.

He wasn’t sure he could be anything as trite as “just friends” with her ever again. Not after that. Jesus.

He hadn’t had sex in over six months. Closer to ten, now that he thought about it. It was possible this wave of possessive emotion was nothing more than a long-standing itch finally being scratched. He’d gotten lucky again and it was a relief.

Sofia kissed the hollow of his neck. “I’ll be right back,” she said softly, pulling away from him.

He fought the urge to pull her right back into his arms. Stupid urges. Instead, all he could say was “Okay,” as if that were some brilliant pillow talk. He watched her cross in front of the bed and disappear into his bathroom and then he dropped his head back against the pillows.

His blood was still pounding in his veins like a call to arms. He should be good now. Tired. Ready to sleep. An evening of sexual anticipation had paid off for both of them. Now he could stop thinking about Sofia.

Yeah, right. Because one thing was clear—bedding Sofia was not an itch that had been scratched. This was something else. What he’d felt with her wasn’t just satisfaction at a job well done.

Oh, he was in so much trouble.

He wasn’t an impulsive person. He wasn’t. But ever since she’d shown up in his office and his life again, he’d been making impulsive decisions. He’d hired her without running background checks or calling her references. He’d taken her shopping because she’d been worried about what she would wear this weekend.

He’d bedded her. Twice. She was his office manager and he’d been inside of her. And, God help him, if she gave him so much as a half smile and a long look, he’d be inside of her again. He wasn’t sure he could control himself.

When he’d pulled himself together in those months after discovering Prudence’s son wasn’t his, he’d been forced to make the adult, mature decision not to engage in any more casual sex. It scratched an itch but it never made him feel better, not in the long run. He’d needed something more in bed—and out of it.

This weekend was supposed to be casual. Just two friends helping each other out. Getting her back on her feet.

He dropped his head into his hands. God help him, nothing about this was casual. This was Sofia. He cared about her. And her children? Those two innocent little babies who didn’t have a father and yet were so full of joy and laughter?

What was wrong with him? He was a thirty-one-year-old bachelor billionaire. The world was his playground. He could have anything he wanted. Anyone he wanted.

Why did he want Sofia? Not just a sexual relationship. He wanted it all. He wanted to be her family. A husband to her wife, a father to her children. He wanted the perfect ending to this story. He wanted the perfect life. One that he could only have with Sofia.

And dumbass that he was, he’d promised her that he could keep this casual. Just a weekend of letting off a little steam in between billion-dollar business negotiations.

He never should have hired her. He should have listened to his better instincts and immediately gotten her a good-paying job somewhere—anywhere—else and then asked her on a proper date. He’d been lying to himself from the very beginning about what he wanted from her.

He didn’t want Sofia as his office manager. He wanted her as his everything.

He was the biggest idiot in the world.

Because he had promised. And trying to change the terms of the deal now could do more than just ruin the rest of his weekend. They worked together. She was still mourning her husband. She might never want to replace the father of her children. Not even with Eric.

The bathroom door opened and she walked out, her body on full display. She stood at the foot of the bed, her lips curved into a knowing smile as she looked down on him.

He was in so much damned trouble.

He had to get his head out of his ass. He got out of bed and kissed her. He could spend the rest of his life kissing her, he realized. Her warm body pressed against him and his body started to respond.

He stepped back. He wasn’t some randy kid anymore, for God’s sake. But there was no missing that blush high on Sofia’s cheeks. “All right?”

She nodded. “I’m going to go get a few things from my room and check in with my mom.”

“I’ll be here.” Once she was gone, Eric stared at his reflection in the mirror. He looked the same, but everything was different.

He liked sex. He’d always liked sex. But aside from maybe the first few times, where it was as if a whole new world had been opened up to him, he couldn’t ever remember feeling this changed after making love with someone. Certainly not with his ex-fiancée. It hadn’t been bad, sleeping with Prudence. They’d both enjoyed it. It just...

It hadn’t left him a changed man. And he knew damned good and well that after Sofia, he’d never be the same again.

After he pulled on his shorts, he walked out to the kitchen and grabbed a sparkling water from the fridge. He never drank more than a glass or two of anything on a business trip. The last thing anyone needed was for him to get sloshed and torpedo a deal. So his rooms were always stocked with coffee, tea and sparkling water.

Frankly, he could use a drink right now. Something to help him get this wash of confusion under control. Because he wanted everything about Sofia—and he had no idea how to get it. Not without sending her running for the hills.

Sofia came back into the room. She’d dressed in a tank top and a pair of panties—he thought. He was sorely tempted to lift the hem on the shirt and double-check. She didn’t seem the least bit self-conscious about walking around like that and Eric didn’t feel the least bit self-conscious staring at her.

“Mom sent a picture—do you want to see?” she asked.

“Of course.” Those two adorable children were sitting in matching high chairs, looking like they’d rolled around in a plate of spaghetti. Sauce and noodles were everywhere and they were grinning the same huge smile. Strangely, it was everything he needed and salt in the wound at the same time because they weren’t his babies.

Somehow, he managed to chuckle. “I bet bath time is hilarious at your house.”

“You have no idea,” she said, sounding like a battle-scarred veteran instead of a young mother.

He handed her the water. He should be saying things, he realized. Telling her how beautiful she was, how great the sex was. He’d never had any trouble coming up with those sorts of things before.

All of these easy words abandoned him. All he could say as he handed the phone back to her was, “Come to bed.”

She looked up at him through her lashes and it took everything he had not to sweep her off her feet and make love to her all over again. “All right.”

Hand in hand, they walked back to the bed. She was wearing panties, but a different pair than earlier. These were hers, not the ones Clarice had picked out for her. He liked them all the better for that.

He pulled the covers up over them and turned off the light. He didn’t know if he would be able to sleep, but he hoped she would.

Long dark minutes passed before she said, “Eric?”

“Yeah, babe?”

She didn’t answer for second, just flattened her hand against his chest. “I just want you to know—this really means a lot to me. I...I’ve never been with anyone else but my husband. Never even shared a bed with anyone else.”

He swallowed hard. “I’m honored.”

With a sigh, she burrowed deeper into him. God, she felt good there, her weight against his side. “Thank you for holding me. For being here for me. You’ve no idea how much it means to me.”

Her trust was a gift. He honestly wasn’t sure he was worthy of it. “I will always be here for you, Sofia,” he said, because it was as close to the truth as he could get without changing the terms of their deal.

Sleep was a long time coming.

* * *

Even though he was forty feet away and there were probably thirty people standing in between them, Eric had not been able to stop looking at Sofia all night long. She was on the other side of the Starlight Room, a ballroom at the top of the Chase Park Plaza, listening to a conversation between the city planner’s assistant and the wife of the contractor Steve preferred to use for the demolition.

Tonight, Sofia was wearing a cocktail dress of red lace. She was gorgeous in it and the low lighting in the room—supposedly starlight—made her practically glow. She was simply gorgeous, he decided. And he loved her in red.

Maybe he should get her some red lingerie—something lacy and tantalizing. Maybe with matching stockings and a garter belt. And a pair of black high heels. The vision of Sofia made it difficult for Eric to stand upright. All day long, he’d struggled to focus on the deal at hand. The effort it took not to moon over her was harder than he’d expected it to be.

She needed a strand of black pearls looped around her neck, he decided. She hadn’t let Clarice add any jewelry to the outfits. Pearls nestled between her breasts, matching earrings dangling...

“The vision for the space...” someone was saying to him, but he wasn’t paying attention. How much longer until he could pull her away from here? Until he could strip her out of that dress and lay her on his bed? The hours since he’d made love to her this morning felt like a lifetime. He wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

But just then, Sofia stepped away from her conversation. Eric had to crane his neck, but he saw that she was staring down at her phone.

Instantly he went on alert. Something was wrong. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did. That feeling only got stronger when she walked toward the hallway outside the ballroom, her phone already at her ear.

Eric followed her. His first thought went to the kids. Were they all right?

“Mr. Jenner,” the mayor said, pulling him aside. “Have you met...”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Eric said, smiling broadly. He didn’t have time to be the billionaire businessman right now. Sofia needed him. “If you would excuse me for a moment, there’s something I need to see to.”

He managed to get the rest of the way across the room without being intercepted by anyone else who wanted to shake his hand and welcome him to St. Louis. The details of the deal still had to be ironed out, but it looked like this development was going to happen and everyone was in a celebratory mood.

Everyone except for Sofia. He was all but running by the time he burst through the doors and into the hall. When Sofia jerked around to look at him, his heart dropped. He knew that look. She was on the verge of a full-on panic attack. Dammit, he hated being right sometimes. He walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders, willing her to be strong. “What’s wrong?”

Her words cut him like a knife. “The twins are sick.”

For a moment, he couldn’t do anything but stare down into her worried eyes as a feeling of complete and total helplessness swamped him. “How sick?”

He was not going to panic until he knew whether this was a case of the sniffles run amok or something more serious.

“Mom said they started throwing up last night. She...” Sofia’s lips trembled and she clutched Eric’s arm. “Dad rushed Eddy to the hospital a few minutes ago. He wasn’t responding. Eric, what are we going to do?” That last part came out as a sob.

He tried to make sense of what she was saying—but he wasn’t coming up with anything. “They were fine last night. Your mom sent that picture, didn’t she? Spaghetti?”

Sofia was taking in huge gulps of air, but for all that, Eric wasn’t sure she was actually breathing. “She said Miss Rita was sick. And she didn’t want to worry me today because I was working and I was supposed to be having fun. She said she kept hoping that the kids would work it out of their systems today, but Eddy kept getting worse and worse and Addy isn’t much better and my baby is in the hospital and I’m in St. Louis! They need me and I’m not there!”

He didn’t know anything about sick kids or hospitals but he knew that Sofia having a panic attack wouldn’t help anyone right now. He had to keep her calm and get her moving. “I’m going to get you there,” he promised. “We’re leaving. Now.”

The color left her face. “But your deal...”

He grabbed her hand and hauled her back into the hotel ballroom until he found Meryl and Steve. “Sofia’s kids are sick,” he said without any other introductions. “We’re leaving. I want you guys to stay, make my apologies. I don’t care how you get home. You can rent a car, take the train—charge it to the company credit card. I can send the plane back for you—”

“That won’t be necessary,” Steve said quickly.

“Go,” Meryl said, giving Sofia a hug. “Take care of your kids. We’ve got this.”

Sofia let out a little sob. Eric hooked her arm with his and guided her away from the party. While they waited for the elevator, he called his pilot and said, “I don’t care how you do it, but we need to be in the air in an hour. If not sooner. Make it happen.”

Finally, after what felt like a year, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. “It’s going to be okay, babe,” he said again as he guided Sofia into the elevator. Once the doors closed, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her tight. She clung to him and it just about killed him. She was so worried and he couldn’t snap his fingers and make it better.

All he could do was the next best thing. He could get her to her babies a hell of a lot faster than anyone else could. He could make sure Eddy had the very best care. And, God forbid, if anything happened, he’d be there for her. Because that’s what friends were for.

But that wasn’t true and he knew it. Because what he felt for Sofia went well beyond “friends” or even friends with benefits. What he felt for her wasn’t casual and it wasn’t friendly. She’d ignited a passion in his heart that he’d been missing for months. Years. Because he hadn’t felt this way about Prudence. He hadn’t fought for her.

But Sofia? Eddy and Addy? By God, he was going to fight for them. The truth hit him with a lurch.

Sofia and her children were his family. And he’d do anything for them.

And that started now.

He rubbed her back and said, “We’ll be there in a few hours. Everything’s going to be fine,” in his most reassuring voice.

She began to cry and all he could do was hold her. “I’m sorry,” she blubbered, trying to get herself under control and, in Eric’s opinion, failing miserably. “It’s just that when David died...”

He crushed her to his chest. “That’s not what’s happening here,” he said, even though he knew it wasn’t a promise he could make. “Eddy’s going to be fine. He’s a tough little dude.” He prayed. “Did your mom say where he was?”

“St. Anthony.”

Dammit, he didn’t know anyone there, at least not off the top of his head. If they could get Eddy to the Children’s Hospital, then he knew some of the staff there. He donated a lot of money to the Children’s Hospital.

Then it hit him—Robert Wyatt. The man was a doctor and the scion of the Wyatt Pharmaceuticals empire. Even if Wyatt didn’t treat children—Eric wanted to think the man was a surgeon?—he’d be able to recommend the best for Eddy.

Normally Eric would never call in this favor. He had a friendly rivalry with Marcus Warren—but there was nothing friendly about his rivalry with Wyatt. The only reason the two men hadn’t come to blows was that they were in different industries and even then, there’d been that one time...

No, he absolutely shouldn’t call in this favor. But then Sofia looked up at him, tears in her eyes and he knew he had to. Eric would do anything he could to make Eddy better—even bring in Wyatt.

“I’ll make some calls,” he said. Wyatt wouldn’t exactly jump at the chance to help Eric out, but frankly, he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. The man owed him.

Sofia nodded tearfully and made a visible effort to pull herself together. Just then, the elevator slowed and the doors opened. “Let’s go,” she said, her jaw set.

They all but ran to their rooms. It took less than five minutes for them to grab their things and then they were running for the elevator again. Neither of them wasted time changing out of their party clothes. Eric stopped shoving his clothes into his bag only long enough to call down to the front desk and tell them to have a car ready to leave for the airport immediately. Any car would do.

He had to get Sofia to her son. Now.