Stolen:The Billionaire Deception(17)

I thought about making love to him and I knew deep in my heart that it   wasn't wrong …  everything about it had felt right …  everything. His touch   was gentle and warm and rough and possessive all at once and I'm not   lying when I say that I've never felt anything even closely akin to it.   But then I had to ask …  what about my task? What about my father's   company …  my company? Was I, now that I had consummated my feelings for   this amazing man, still willing to destroy his family? Could I do what I   had to do without destroying him …  without hurting him?         

     



 



I felt Seth stir and I looked up at his face. He still had his eyes   closed and his long, light-brown eyelashes lay across the tops of his   cheeks as he breathed in and out. I reached up and touched his face and   when he felt my touch, he smiled.



"Hi beautiful," he said.



"Hi gorgeous."



He stretched and then used his strong arm to pull me back into him. He   held me against his chest, stroking my back lightly with his fingers. He   kissed the top of my head and said, "Thank you."



"Thank you," I said, with a smile.



"I wasn't just talking about the sex," he said. "Although, many thanks   for that …  I was talking about you. You make me feel like I can be a   better person."



I sat up, propped on my elbow and looked at his face. "Why would you say that?" I asked him. "You're such a good person."



"I'm glad you think so baby," he said. "But there is so much room for   improvement. I finally feel like I'm going to get there though. I   finally feel like it doesn't matter anymore how wrong my father thinks   everything I do is … "



"He's wrong," I told him. The simple thought of that awful man having   the unmitigated gall to tell Seth that he was anything less than perfect   made me instantly angry. "Everyone who works with you, Seth, knows  what  a fantastic businessman and even better boss you are."



"I work hard and I try to do what's right …  but that's the issue he has with me."



"What do you mean?"



He smiled suddenly and said, "I'm sorry. This is a crazy discussion to   be having after I just made love to the most amazing woman in the world.   I don't even know where this is coming from. You just make me feel so   safe."



The guilt was like a constant dull ache in my chest when I was with him.   When he said that I made him feel safe enough to disclose things it   felt like the guilt had taken ahold of my heart like a fist and was   squeezing it. I took a deep breath and the wicked me decided that this   was too good of an opportunity. I would make it up to him later. I would   explain. "No, it's not crazy. I'm glad you feel safe with me. What do   you mean by him having a problem with you doing what is right?"



Seth shook his head and with a heavy sigh he said, "He just has no   scruples. His moral compass is all skewed, if it's even there at all any   longer. I fought it for so long, but I wasn't strong enough to keep   standing up to him …  until I met you. I was headed in the direction that   he's built his fortune on. I would do what I had to and use whom I had   to and take everything I could get from everyone I met. Thank you,  Erin.  Thank you for making me want to be a better man. I wanted to tell  you  that for obvious reasons but also, because my father will be at  the  executive meeting in the morning."



I hugged him tight. I couldn't speak at that moment because I knew if I   did the dam was going to break. I scooted my body up instead and kissed   him. The kiss turned passionate and before long we were lost in each   other's bodies once more. I'd have to think about what he'd told me and   what I was going to do later. That moment in time was reserved only for   him.



That night when Seth dropped me off at my apartment, I wanted to ask him   in. I wanted to invite him to spend the night with me. I didn't, and I   think he was a little hurt because of it. I think he thought I had an   issue with introducing him to Grant. It wasn't that at all. Grant  wasn't  there and I knew it, but if he had been, I know that Grant would  have  been a perfect gentleman. I was worried because I had photographs  in my  room. They were treasured photos of my family and my childhood  home. I  even had my father's old framed photographs of the first sign  he had  made for the company and a photo of him sitting behind his desk  in his  first office at the company he owned and created. All the lies …everything I'd told him …  or the things I hadn't told him about my past   were right there out in the open for him to see. If I were going to   continue to do this, and continue to see him I would have to make some   adjustments. I'm positive Grant would have a thing or two to say about   that.





***





The next morning, I got to work early as I normally did. The building   was still practically empty except for security and some of the cleaning   staff. I put my bag in my office and when I got to the door of the   conference room for our Monday morning executives meeting it burst open   and a man brushed roughly past me. Once again, I had encountered the   great and powerful James Hunter and he hadn't even noticed me.         

     



 



I had to stand there for a moment until I stopped shaking and then I   reached for the door again and went inside. I hated that he had that   effect on me. I forced all thoughts of him out of my mind and sucked in   the sweet aroma of coffee and cinnamon rolls. As usual, the room was  set  up for the meeting, including muffins and rolls and coffee and tea.   Seth's assistant was in the building at the crack of dawn sometimes.   She's wonderful.



She was sitting in her usual spot and I thought it was strange that she   didn't even look up when I came in the room. "Good morning, Deborah," I   said to her. She looked up as if she just noticed me.



"Oh. Good morning, Erin." Her voice was shaky and I thought that was   odd. It dawned on me that someone needed to tell her how much what she   did was appreciated.



I went over to pour myself a cup of coffee and said, "I don't know if   you get the credit you deserve around here or not, but I have to tell   you what a wonderful job I think you do, and thank you." I turned around   and was instantly horrified at what I had done, although I wasn't even   sure what that was. She was crying.



"Oh Deborah, I'm so sorry. Don't cry, please." I sat down next to her   and lay my hand gently on her arm. She reached over with her other hand   and took mine and squeezed. She wasn't making any noise but the tears   were rolling rapidly down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," I said again. I had   no idea what I was apologizing for. She sucked in a deep, ragged breath.



"Don't be sorry, Erin. You didn't do anything. Thank you for the compliment. I'm sorry. I'm so embarrassed."



"Oh no, don't be embarrassed. Is there something I can do? Do you need to talk?"



She looked up towards the door and said, "I'm just a stupid woman.   Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone can do about that but me." She   looked at me then, right in the eyes and said, "Seth's a good boy, he's   not like his father …  but be careful, don't make the same mistakes I   did."



"I'm sorry … " I was confused. Did she know about Seth and me? I suppose   neither of us hid it very well, the clandestine meetings in our offices,   the laughing and joking and sometimes a pat on the shoulder or a touch   of the hand. Before I could finish my question however the door had   opened again and the room began to fill up with the usual players.   Deborah had wiped her face on a napkin quickly. Then she looked at me   and discreetly placed a finger to her lips. I nodded and looked up in   time to see Seth. He smiled at me and I smiled back. Then I looked   around the room and wondered how many of the rest of them knew what   Deborah knew. Then I wondered if it mattered. Then I wondered what she   had meant about making the same mistakes that she had. James Hunter had   left the room just before that …  Deborah and James?









CHAPTER THIRTEEN









The meeting went as it normally did and I left it with about five new   assignments. Seth was still talking to Harlan and Michael when I left. I   took the folders with the new assignments back to my office and   prepared to go to work. As I sat them down on the desk, I noticed a   rectangular white and gold envelope lying there with my name on it. I   picked it up and opened it, pulling out a white card with gold   engraving. It was an invitation to "Hunter Corp Ball." I sat down in my   chair and looked closer at it. It was this coming Saturday night and   would be held at the family's estate in the Hamptons. Another thing I   didn't know about Seth. I had no idea that his family had an estate in   the Hamptons. He'd mentioned something about riding horses at a house in   Martha's Vineyard …  I wondered how many houses they actually had.