This week his team of financial experts were handling the due diligence for the Grand Casino. He wanted the Grand in a bad way. It was an older property that sat on a prime piece of real estate, riddled with promise. He was sure he could make it rise to success, but when he’d met with the owner, he’d gotten a bad vibe. It was all he could do to wait out the process and hope he was wrong. He had a feeling he wasn’t. He trusted his gut, and his gut told him something was off. Now it was a waiting game. Mr. In Control had zero control over how things would turn out during the due diligence process, and he hated the feeling of being at anyone’s mercy.
Except Rebecca’s. He smiled as the memory of her taking control thrummed through him. In the blink of an eye, Rebecca went from lying beneath him, savoring every thrust and every kiss, to pushing him onto his back and driving him out of his mind as she teased and tasted, then rode him hard until they both went a little crazy. Relinquishing control in the bedroom wasn’t new to Pierce. He’d give women a little room to play before. Usually that’s all it was, playtime. Something a woman might do to keep his interest and add a little zest to a sexual tryst. But Rebecca brought control to a whole new level. The way she touched him, holding his hips firmly against the mattress while she made sweet love to him with her mouth and taking him right up to the edge and then moving away, leaving him throbbing, aching, pleading for more.
Shit. He was getting hard just thinking about it.
It was five o’clock in the afternoon, and between thoughts of Rebecca and the due diligence that was taking place, every minute had felt like there was a fire under his ass, making it impossible for him to sit still. He’d attended several meetings, and finally he’d taken a walk to the security room, where he was able to sneak a peek at Rebecca in the restaurant through the video surveillance monitors. He’d seen her waiting on tables, looking professional and beautiful, and he filled with pride and much, much more.
What is it about you, Bec?
“Something wrong, sir?” Chappie, the security manager, had asked.
“No. Just had a few minutes and wanted” —to see the woman who is turning me inside out—“to see how things were going.”
He’d wanted to head down during lunch to say hello, but since it was her first day of work, he didn’t want to create an issue. He knew damn well that the minute anyone found out they were dating, she’d be treated differently, as if she were a direct line to promotions and greatness. It was one reason he’d never dated his employees. He’d been chased by many, some probably not intent only on sleeping their way to a better position, but some, he was sure, had chased him solely for that purpose. There were plenty of cards on the table, and he didn’t need to deal from the house deck. He could thank Treat for that advice. It was good advice, too, except now he was dating someone who worked for him, even if he’d gone out with her prior to her actually being hired.
And he wasn’t about to stop dating Rebecca, or pretend they weren’t a couple. But he didn’t need to make her first day difficult or confusing, even if staying away from her for more than eight hours was quite possibly the most difficult thing he’d had to do all day.
He collected his files for the evening with the hopes of seeing Rebecca for dinner. They’d made plans to meet after work, and when his phone vibrated, he hoped it was her. A quick glance at the screen told him it was his sister, Emily, and disappointment washed over him.
“Hey, Em. How’s it going?”
“Crazy good. I’ve got a big passive house project for a school in Denver. I’m really excited about it. How are you?” Emily was tall, slender, and as pretty as she was sharp, with dark eyes and brown hair that she wore to the middle of her back.
“Great. We started the due diligence on that casino I told you about a few weeks ago.” Emily was five years younger than Pierce, and growing up as the only girl in a family of six kids had made her tougher than most women. But Pierce and Emily were close, and he knew that as sharp-witted as Emily was, she was equally as sensitive. He worried about her.
“Good luck. I hope it goes well. I was talking to Max the other day, and she said she and Treat are having dinner with you this week.”
“Yeah, they are. They just confirmed this morning for Thursday night.”
“So…are you going to tell me who she is or do I have to ask?”
Pierce had been wondering what had spurred the call from Emily, and now he understood. Emily loved to be in the thick of her brothers’ love lives, and earlier that morning he’d told Treat that he wanted to bring Rebecca to dinner with them. The Braden grapevine had obviously picked up speed.
“Seriously? It’s been what, a few hours since I told Treat I was bringing Rebecca to dinner?” He pictured Emily’s eyes wide, a grin on her face. He was sure the whole family had heard by now, or would hear within ten minutes of their call.
“Rebecca. I like her name.”
“Em.” He shook his head. “It’s dinner, not an engagement.”
“I know, but you never bring women to family events, and even though it’s Treat and Max, they’re family, so…”
“So you assume it’s something more than a date?” Which it totally was.
“Yup.”
He let her answer hang in the air between them, knowing it would only irritate her. He loved Emily, and he didn’t even mind that she pried into his love life on occasion, but she was fun to get a rise out of.
“Pierce! You’re not going to tell me anything? How about just how long you’ve been dating?”
“Em.”
“Give me something. Are you bringing her to Luke’s engagement party?” Her voice was so hopeful it made Pierce smile.
“Honestly, you’re jumping the gun, Emily. I’m not even sure she’ll come to dinner with Treat and Max. I just wanted the option there. I haven’t asked her yet.” After their intimate weekend together, he assumed that they’d be spending much of their free time together. Now he wondered if he was the one jumping the gun.
“Okay, that’s got me even more excited. You would never tell Treat about a woman unless you really, really liked her.” She squealed.
“God, Emily. You need a boyfriend.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. My brothers are dropping into Loveland like flies. You guys whore away your merry lives while I’m the one hoping for love, and then these amazing women drop from the sky and fulfill your every dream. Totally unfair, Pierce.”
His heart went out to her. It was unfair. Emily deserved to be happy, and she deserved to be with a man who would love all the things about her that he and his brothers did—including her stubborn attitude and quick wit. “You’re right, Emily. If any of us deserves a great relationship, it’s you. Life’s weird that way.”
“Tell me about it. All the good men are either taken or gay.”
He pictured her in her office overlooking the Colorado Mountains, surrounded by drawings of her latest project and daydreaming about finding Mr. Right.
“There’s an idea. You could get a sex change, bat for the other team.” He laughed.
“You laugh. I might just do that.” She sighed. “Well, I just have one question for you, big brother. What is it about Rebecca that flicked your internal switch from playboy to boyfriend?”
“Boyfriend?” He hadn’t aligned himself with that word in years. Boyfriend. Hm. He liked that where Rebecca was concerned.
“That’s what Max said, that Rebecca was your girlfriend. Isn’t she? I mean, you wouldn’t bring her to meet Treat and Max if she was just another casino floozy.”
“No, I definitely wouldn’t. Yeah, I guess I am her boyfriend. It’s all very new, Em. And, to be honest, very powerful. Unreal.” He leaned back in his leather chair and turned toward the window, remembering how ethereal their first kiss had been, and how things had magnified ever since.
“I want unreal. You’re lucky, Pierce. I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks, Em. When do you leave for Tuscany?” Emily had been bummed lately, feeling lonely and needing some excitement in her life, so their brother Wes had bought Emily tickets to go see a villa in Tuscany she’d been dying to see. They each had trust funds that had been passed down for generations, but their mother had brought them up to be frugal, and Emily would never have dipped into those funds for what she would call a frivolous trip. The irony was that it wasn’t frivolous at all. She’d earned it in so many ways. Emily had always tried to take care of her brothers, even though she was younger than all but Luke. She watched out for them, helped them anytime they asked, and she was their biggest cheerleader in everything they did. Pierce only hoped that Emily felt the same love coming back to her.
“I put it off until after the project I mentioned is done. Then I can go with a clear head. I’m excited. It gives me something to look forward to. Hey, Pierce, do you need me to pick up a gift for Luke and Daisy for you?”
Normally he’d have jumped at the chance to have Emily pick out something nice for his brother and future sister-in-law, but as he gazed out the window, he envisioned picking something out with Rebecca.