Making herself available had seemed like a pretty good plan to Lucy, even if it had been Steph who’d suggested it. Yet there seemed to be one key thing missing from their important plan—Cal.
For the last few days, Cal had been MIA. First, he was whisked off by Julia to another meeting of the contractors—this time to confirm details regarding changes to the Gold Coast property’s pool—then, the Insight Marketing team had been informed that he’d needed to spend a few days at Hawthorne Incorporated to finalize yet another acquisition to the empire’s property portfolio.
If Lucy hadn’t known better, she would have wondered if Cal was now avoiding her. But that was ridiculous—wasn’t it?
It seemed strange to her now that she’d spent so much time hiding from him, avoiding him, that when he seemed to be doing the same it actually began to worry her. For some reason, she kept questioning if she’d truly ruined her chances to get to know him better, to get to know the new Cal. What if she really had stuffed things up by rejecting him so blatantly? It actually scared her. She’d only just gotten him back. She didn’t want to lose him now, not before finding out how he really felt about her and not after what happened the other night. Lucy didn’t know if she could survive a life without the promise of his touch, without hoping to once again be lost to her desires in his arms. Even though she still couldn’t be sure of his intentions, she realized now—maybe too late—that she, at the very least, wanted to find out what they were.
Lucy was sick of sitting around in her office waiting and procrastinating, staring at the same document that still required the same proofread that she’d started over two hours ago. She really needed to do something, to keep busy and stop her mind from going over and over different scenarios in her head. Of course, Cal was coming back in and of course, he couldn’t possibly avoid her forever—even though she had done a pretty good job of hiding from him for nearly half their lives. It was time for her to stop stressing about mistakes she might have made and focus on something current that she had firm control over.
Lucy glanced over her desk. Piles of paper, some with colorful sticky notes attached, stretched from corner to corner like a white, miniature, mountainous landscape. Her computer monitor was pushed to the far-left side and her keyboard perched in front of it atop a peak of colored plastic folders. To the right sat Lucy’s in and out trays, but only one overflowed with various files and dull, buff-colored manila folders, while the other contained a single lonely file.
She had meant to pass that file on to Rosie or one of the assistants in her own team to have it photocopied in triplicate before filing a copy, but she’d planned to do that once she’d proofread the document that still sat before her. Seeing an opportunity to escape the suffocation of her office and the incessant procrastination she just couldn’t seem to shake while sitting there, Lucy grabbed the completed file and headed for her office door.
Sure, the photocopy room was just another dreary space like that of her office—with no sign of Cal in sight—but at least in there she could keep her hands occupied, actually doing something if she found her mind wandering again.
Lucy had made it halfway through photocopying the document before the door to the small private room opened. Although her mind reasoned that it was just another work colleague, maybe even Steph or Mia, Lucy’s heart did an excited, little flip-flop in her chest at the sudden hope that maybe, just maybe, it was Cal.
When Trent took one look at her and stepped inside, closing the door carefully behind him, Lucy was almost pleased to see him. He had barely spoken to her since her outing with Cal to the Cardinal Winery and she was beginning to feel anxious about his sudden quietness.
“Hey there.” Her cheerful voice pierced through the sudden silence of the room as she paused in her photocopying.
The room itself was rather small, not exactly claustrophobic, but only big enough to a fit a large, multifunction photocopier at each end and an expensive, specialist A3 printer in the middle.
His expression hard, Trent strode the few steps toward her. As usual, he presented a handsome figure in his fitted black slacks and tight mustard business shirt. Even his jet-black hair was perfectly slicked in place. His stylish appearance had Lucy questioning her own.
Although Lucy had made a substantial effort to look a mixture of professional and sexy over the last few days in her hope of seeing Cal, today—whether out of hopelessness or laziness—she had dialed both down a few notches. Her knee-length draped skirt was black and so too, was her short-sleeved cotton cardigan. Only her white silk camisole had a wisp of color in the form of a floral design along the hem. She hadn’t even bothered with heels today, instead wearing boring, but comfortable black flats and she was pretty sure—without looking at her reflection—that her hair needed a good brush through too.
With that thought, Lucy’s left hand went to the side of her dark, straight, shoulder-length hair and she made a half-hearted effort to smooth it even straighter.
Even though Trent’s expression remained firm, Lucy offered him a small smile as he reached her, and she tried mentally to quell the uneasy feeling that was building in her gut.
“Trent?” Her tone surprised her, sounding almost fearful.
Still, he remained silent. He was staring at her, then at his hands, then back up at her, his jaw clenching with each minute movement.
Just over a foot away now, Trent suddenly seemed too close to her. Lucy began to wish the photocopier had been between them. Unable to hide her feeling of discomfort, she took a step back from him and ended up nearly flush against the cold, cream wall behind her.
“Trent? Are you okay?” The words slipped out before she could think them through. Trent was not a person who liked to be asked that question when angry.
His dark green eyes bore into hers, before he closed them and a deep, steadying breath escaped his lips. When he looked at her again, his expression softened slightly.
“Lucy, I’ve been trying to find the right time to talk to you.” He spoke slowly as though trying to retain control over the darkness Lucy had seen in his gaze a moment ago.
“Okay,” Lucy said, sounding more like she was trying to pacify a man with a gun than just agreeing to what was said. “Is now the right time?”
Instinctively, she crossed her arms over her chest as though trying to put some sort of physical barrier between them.
Trent’s eyebrows furrowed tightly, and he breathed out a loud, frustrated sigh. “I think so.” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
His expression appeared pained and Lucy had a sudden urge to comfort him. Her arms relaxed over her chest, but she fought the impulse she had to reach out to touch him on the shoulder reassuringly.
“It’s okay, Trent.” Lucy spoke soothingly. “You can tell me whatever you need to.”
Abruptly, a strong hand flew past her face and landed solidly on the wall behind her. The sudden movement scared Lucy causing her to press herself back against the wall as Trent leaned in over her.
“Lucy,” Trent breathed, his head lowered to hers, his mouth so close she could smell the remnants of his mid-morning coffee on his breath. “I want you to stay away from him.”
Lucy swallowed nervously and forced herself to look away from him, tilting her head to the side. “Stay away from whom, Trent?” Her voice was breathy, but she found the courage to finish more strongly. “You’re really starting to freak me out. Maybe you were right, this isn’t the best time.”
“No.” Trent’s voice was firm and defiant. “I think now is perfect.”
Fearful and with her heartbeat racing, Lucy’s arms stiffened over her chest until she felt as though she were hugging herself. How had she gotten herself into this situation?
As Lucy silently weighed her options, wondering whether or not she could be quick enough to dart around him, Trent’s head lowered and she felt the warmth of his breath blow through the strands of her hair to tickle her neck. Still, he was careful not to touch her.
“I know about the winery,” he said sharply.
Lucy held her breath. Had one of the girls told Trent about what had happened? Surely not. The Girl Code had to count for something.
“He’s just using you, Lucy. You need to know that he doesn’t really care about you.” Trent sighed again as though releasing further frustration.
Lucy’s hair swayed against the delicate skin of her neck and she thought that for a second, Trent had caressed a strand between his fingers—but she wasn’t brave enough to turn her face to see.
She took a shaky breath. “You might be right,” she told him, both in an effort to appease him and because she had questioned the same issue herself for a long time.
“It would be best for you to keep away from him.”
Although Trent’s tone was almost caring, non-threatening, Lucy couldn’t help but take it negatively. It was bad enough that he had her cowering below him, using his height and bulk to intimidate her. She had even felt it best to ignore the defamatory remarks about Cal because she had yet to have real evidence to prove them otherwise. But to threaten her, to remove her free will—even if he was just implying it—well, that was going a little too far.
“Sorry?” she questioned him, her anger subduing her fear just enough for her to turn her head toward him. “Did you just threaten me?”
Trent pulled his head back to look into her eyes. He looked surprised. “Lucy—no—”
Lucy glared at him, fury overwhelming her. She felt as though the exasperation of the last few days, the distress and worry that had consumed her with each second that had passed without seeing Cal was finally culminating in this moment, in this feeling of rage.
“Who the hell do you think you are, Trent?” Her voice was low and menacing. Pushing herself free of the rigid wall behind her, Lucy unclasped her arms and then pointed her index finger at Trent accusingly. “Going on a couple of coffee dates with me doesn’t give you the right to tell me who I can and cannot see.”
Grimacing, Trent took a step backward, dropping his hand from the wall, before Lucy’s finger could poke him in the chest. “I just wanted to warn you,” he told her, his voice gentle and sincere. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Yes, you did,” Lucy snapped. “I’m sure you already know that Cal and I have a history, and I know all about his womanizing reputation, so what is there to warn me about? Why else did you come in here? What else were you planning to tell me?”
Trent looked away, his look of concern disappearing. When his dark green eyes returned her gaze, his expression appeared assured and determined. “You have to know that I care about you, Lucy. That we’ve grown to be more than just friends.”
Lucy fought the urge to roll her eyes as her fury began to fade. Sure, she thought Trent was reasonably good-looking, if a little too perfectly preened—and his facial features were a little too harsh—but they’d barely made it beyond first base and that was only because one of their coffee dates had happened to have a unisex bathroom.
As she was searching her brain for a nice way of letting him down without telling him that he was essentially a romantic fill-in, the door to the photocopy room opened.
His expression contorting, obviously annoyed by the interruption, Trent turned away from Lucy to glare at the intruder.
“Lucy, Rosie told me you were—” Cal paused mid-sentence, obviously noticing the tension in the room. Narrowing his stare, he gave Trent a fierce, tight-lipped smile, which seemed to promise grievous bodily harm if his adversary stepped out of line. “Clearly I’m interrupting.”
“You bet your ass you are,” Trent growled.
The brief excitement that made Lucy’s heartbeat quicken when she’d first seen Cal quickly diminished as Trent took a menacing step toward him. Irritated once more and concerned she may be about to witness a fight that could potentially destroy a photocopier, Lucy hurried forward and around Trent.
Cal slipped farther into the room. His body language became protective as his shoulders squared in his stylish merlot-colored jacket and his chest puffed up beneath his eggshell white business shirt.
“Cool it,” Lucy told them, but her authoritative gaze was locked on her volatile colleague.
Trent’s ominous scowl flicked to Lucy, and he watched her carefully for what felt like a long time, before straightening brusquely. “Fine. Remember what I said.” He walked toward her, leaning close to her as he passed. “I’ll be in my office when you’re ready to continue our conversation.” His glare was icy as he took a wide berth around Cal and then exited the room.
Cal was quick to close the door behind him. Once they were finally alone, Cal’s stiff posture relaxed as he turned back to face Lucy. “Do I need to have a chat with Julia to see about getting that asshole fired?”
Lucy hugged her arms around her waist. “No.” She shook her head as she thought it over. “He’s just been a little off recently. If I had to guess, I’d say it was because of you.”
“No, kidding.” His chuckle sounded jaded.
Cal held her gaze, his eyes searching hers.
“I’ll be okay,” she told him quickly, seeing a look of concern contort his handsome features. “He just surprised me is all.”
Cal frowned. “It looks as though he’s done more than that.”
Shrugging, Lucy glanced away from him and wandered aimlessly toward the other end of the small room. “We’ve had a couple of minor dates—just coffee really. Trent’s got it into his head that we’ve got something special together—never mind that I’m not really feeling it.” Lucy stopped walking and faced him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to overshare. It’s nothing really. I’ve just got to find a way to tell him otherwise.”
Cal’s gaze narrowed almost suspiciously. “For any reason I should know?”
Lucy swallowed nervously and then forced a smile. “So, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you around the office?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I could say the same thing to you.”
She lowered her head and looked at the floor as she tried to muffle the anxious giggle that fought free of her mouth. “Okay, bad choice of subject,” she told him.
Cal took the few steps toward her, closing the space between them in an instant. Catching his movement out the corner of her eye, Lucy skipped free of him at the last minute. She turned her back to him and pretended to be interested in the photocopier, the opposite one to the device she’d been actively using moments before. Lucy could sense Cal move up behind her.
“Are we okay, Luce?” His voice sounded hoarse.
She nodded enthusiastically, then wondered whether the movement had been more to convince herself than to prove to him that everything between them was all right. “Yeah. I guess I’m still a bit flustered about before with Trent.”
Taking a steadying breath for courage, Lucy spun to face him. She smiled again, but she could feel that it lacked sincere luster.
Cal’s smoky-blue eyes flickered with hurt as his expression furrowed with worry. “I’m sorry I let everything get so out-of-control at the winery. I hadn’t meant for things to move so quickly.” His grimace was full of self-deprecation. “But, Luce—” Cal’s eyes brightened as he said her nickname. “You have to know that everything that happened that night meant the absolute world to me. I may not have expected them to happen so soon, but I wouldn’t take them back for anything. Kissing you—” He sighed as though at the thought. “God, touching you—it was everything I’ve always wanted since I met you all those years ago.”
Lucy’s eyes widened as her heart did a somersault in her chest, making her stomach feel as though she’d just started down the steep descent of a rollercoaster. But it was all too soon. She still hadn’t gotten to know this new Cal, to discover whether these feelings he was willing to offer up so freely were for her alone or for her right now. She needed more time to find out whether the Cal in front of her might be mature and honest enough to trust with her heart.
Cal’s gaze narrowed as though in response to her silence and he moved to speak again, but Lucy stopped him, raising her hand between them.
“I know, Cal.” She stared deep into his eyes, willing him to understand while she spoke slowly, as though that would make what she had to say less hurtful. “I know. I’m not saying that I didn’t feel the same, but for the moment, I just need everything to slow down.”
Cal’s jaw tensed and he reached out to her, his hand moving toward her shoulder. Again, Lucy stopped him, grabbing his hand with her own. His large palm felt warm and sturdy beneath the smallness of hers. His frown deepened.
“I like you.” She returned his frown as she struggled to find the right words. “I like what I know of you so far—of this new Cal, but I need more. I need us just to work together, to get to know each other properly, to become friends again first and then maybe—” Lucy’s voice trailed off as she realized she wasn’t quite ready to define what she hoped might be their future relationship.
For what felt like an eternity, Cal just looked at her, his gaze analyzing her face and then his expression softened. “Does that mean I’ll actually get to see you around the office from now on? That maybe you’ll even work together with me?”
Lucy nodded, feeling her features hardening in suspicion. “That would be the idea, yes.”
A mischievous smirk spread his lips. “So, that means I don’t have to threaten you with the old I know where you live—now—thing to convince you to spend time with me? You’ll be ready and willing on your own accord?”
An exasperated sigh escaped her lips as Lucy rolled her eyes and snatched her hand back from his. “Obviously, I was wrong. You’re still a jerk.” Although her words sounded sharp, Lucy knew they were only half-hearted.
Cal might have been used to getting what he wanted, throwing money at someone and having them jump or playing the intimidation card and watching people cower, but those weren’t things that would work on her and he was sure to know that by now. He was just lucky that this time, what she needed right now and what he was happy with for the moment happened to mesh. It was what he wanted in the long term that still had her guessing.
“Don’t be like that,” he all but cooed to her as his hand, now free from hers, moved to its previously desired destination.
Lucy resisted the need to push his strong hand from her shoulder. She glared up at him, the corners of her mouth itching to return his inane smirk. “Did I say that I liked you? Yeah, that had to be a slip of the tongue.”
Cal chuckled and his hand crept higher, his fingers gently caressing the soft material of her cardigan. Yet, Lucy felt it lower as though there were no barrier between his touch and the skin of her shoulder and then deeper, from the tight tips of her nipples to the spark of a tempting tingle at her feminine core. She was suddenly very aware of how close he was. They’d been mere inches from each other the entire time, the curves of her slender figure so close to melting against the hard lines of his.
Cal leaned down just a little, his full lips nearing hers. “I may be a jerk,” he whispered, “but you like me, anyway.”
Lucy meant to snort at his blatant cockiness, but as she went to do so, Cal’s wandering fingers reached the bare skin of her neck and instead, it became a sharp intake of breath and then Lucy was lost for words.
Cal chuckled again and Lucy knew her expression must have given her away. Of course, her eyes had widened at the shock of electricity that had passed through her at his touch and of course, her face had heated as her thoughts had turned sensual. Although, a small part of her was screaming for control, wanting to regain the upper hand, the rest of her was focused on the sensation flowing through her, the flame of desire that had ignited and now coursed through her veins craving even more.
She caught herself staring at his mouth, thinking of the kisses they shared not that long ago. When she forced her gaze back to his, she noticed Cal’s attention was focused intently on her own lips. The hunger inside her grew and the tip of her tongue snuck out to lick her lower lip. Cal’s eyes widened and his blue-grey eyes shot back to hers, clearly darkened by his own desire.
Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, almost painfully as her excitement built. Her skin felt so sensitive, it nearly ached. She wanted to reach out to touch him, lean up to kiss him, but she couldn’t move. Lucy breathed out a slow breath in an effort to calm her speedy heartbeat.
All of a sudden, Cal’s fingers stopped their gentle caress on her neck and time seemed to stop with them. An instant passed, a lifetime, and then his mouth covered hers. As he kissed her, devouring her, his tongue probing, dancing with her own, his body melded with hers, their forms becoming one as she fit perfectly against him.
Lost in the wonder of their embrace, her hands stroked the firmness of his broad chest and then up over his shoulders to rest behind his neck and in the silkiness of his sandy blond hair. When the frolic of his soft tongue became even more passionate, Lucy felt herself moan low in her throat. With a groan of his own, Cal pressed against her, the iron rod of his confined erection a weighty pressure below her bellybutton. His warm hand still cupped her neck below her ear, keeping her close, while the other had found a happy home on the roundness of her derrière.
His lips left hers and he nibbled at the sensitive skin of her neck. Lucy tried to breathe, but all she could muster were sudden gaspsand weak little whimpers. It was overwhelming, yet she still needed more. The feeling of Cal’s hot breath against the damp skin of her throat sent the tingle of goosebumps down her body. As her insides quivered, craving more, she moved her hips, rubbing against the rock-hard length of him. Cal groaned again and his mouth returned to hers. He nibbled at her lower lip, sucking it into his mouth before sending his tongue searching deeper inside her, stroking her whole mouth, her teeth, her tongue.
Then his hand slipped from its possessive hold below her ear and made its way down to join the other, resting on the adjacent cheek of her curvy bottom. With his grip firm, he pressed her harder against him and then groaned hoarsely into her mouth. In a quick movement, he lifted her, hands securely under her rump and then she was seated on the photocopier, Cal’s hands caressing the top of her thighs.
Lucy heard herself make a small, startled cry as she landed on the uneven plastic of the copying machine’s lid, but it wasn’t enough to distract her from her desires. Her hands left the safety of their posts and instead explored the muscular figure beneath the starchy fabric of Cal’s merlot-colored jacket. The hem of her skirt lifted and she felt his fingers push the dark material higher, removing the restriction it posed and baring the smoothness of her pale thighs. She gasped as she felt him press himself against the moist center of her and then his fingers were there, stroking, touching and her toes curled as the yearning inside her built.
Lucy’s lips left his as her head fell back loosely, her mind spellbound by the experience. She wanted him now, needed to feel him inside her. She didn’t care where they were or who might see. She was desperate for him, intoxicated by him as though she had always belonged to him—and he had always been hers.
Cal’s soft lips found her neck again, kissing the length of her throat and then along her jaw. As his mouth reached Lucy’s ear and another surge of goosebumps traveled down her body, his fingers poised to slip beneath the fabric of her black silk panties. A gasp caught in her throat.
The click of the door to the photocopier room caused them both to freeze.
“Oh, crap! Sorry.” Mia’s tone was high-pitched with embarrassment as it pierced the muffled peace of their intimacy.
It was instantly followed by the louder click of the door being shut quickly.
Lucy could hear the quiet clip-clop of Mia’s heels outside as she hurried away down the hall. Slowly, she lifted her head, Cal appeared to do the same, and they caught each other’s gaze.
Cal’s expression contorted with a mixture of innocence and embarrassment. “I guess this wasn’t what you meant when you said you wanted to take things slow?”
Lucy stared up at him, at the concern and helplessness in his wide eyes and at his anxious frown. She tried to stop herself, to control that final, inappropriate desire, but she just couldn’t—she laughed.