Between the CEO's Sheets / House Calls: Between the CEO's Sheets / House Calls

If her heart hadn’t been broken, Gina would have laughed at the irony. Blake wanted her out of the picture but how would he feel knowing that it was really Sarah and her unborn child that would disrupt his plans? Gina had wished she could have stayed around long enough to see the look on Blake Beaumont’s face when he realized his troubles were just beginning.

Gina accepted the check and ticket out of town. She knew Blake was too ruthless not to tell Wade about the bribe. And that’s what she’d counted on.

Wade had a baby on the way with Sarah and that had been all that mattered. Sarah hadn’t known about Gina’s feelings for Wade and she’d kept it that way. By accepting his father’s bribe, Gina guaranteed that Wade would stay in El Paso with his family. She’d hoped that he would realize his responsibilities to Sarah, too.

Gina lost contact with Sarah then, deciding to deal with her pain in her own way. She moved to Los Angeles and dug her heels in, determined to make a good life for herself. It wasn’t until a few years later that Sarah had come looking for Gina with the whole truth.

“Answer me, Gina. Why did you run away?”

“I had good reason, Wade. It’s not important now. But you have to believe that leaving El Paso when I did broke my heart.”

“It broke your heart?” he said, coming to stand right in front of her, his anger almost tangible. “Funny, but I remember it differently. I remember you letting me strip you naked and take you in my uncle’s barn. I remember every little moan, every whimper, every time you cried out my name. I never once heard you say your heart was broken and that you were leaving town the next day.”

Tears welled in Gina’s eyes and her body trembled with unspoken grief. She had loved Wade then and had felt the cold slap of his betrayal. She shed tears all the way to Los Angeles, but had made up her mind not to look back.

“Wade, when I came to see you that night I didn’t know I would be leaving so soon. I…wanted you.”

Wade let out a derisive laugh. “And Gina always gets what she wants, right?”

Gina hadn’t gotten what she wanted. She’d lost her best friend that summer and the man she’d loved.

Wade had been so sweet, so caring. Once he kissed her and touched her skin, she’d reacted with primal, desperate need. She’d wanted Wade, thought maybe they could have a future together. His every touch and caress excited her, warmed her, told her that she’d been smart to wait to give up her virginity to the right man. They’d spoken of love and the future in vague terms, the relationship too new to know for sure. But Gina fully believed that Wade Beaumont had been the right man for her.

“It wasn’t like that,” she said in a calm voice, one that she almost didn’t recognize.

But Wade didn’t really want her explanation. He wanted to lash out. “You were a virgin, Gina. Don’t think that didn’t weigh on me. I wasn’t a boy. I was a twenty-one-year-old man. I didn’t know if I’d hurt you physically or emotionally. I didn’t know what to think. I was half out of my mind when I learned that you had left El Paso the next day, catching the soonest flight out of town.

“I made the mistake of telling dear old Dad that I’d found the right girl for me during a phone conversation days earlier. Even before we made love, I knew I wanted you in my life. Next thing I know my father makes a rare visit to El Paso. He couldn’t wait to tell me that you’d taken a hefty bribe from him. The man was so damn cocky. He didn’t realize that I’d hate him for his part in it. He thought I’d appreciate knowing that I’d been wrong about you. But it didn’t matter anymore. I pretty much wrote you off as the biggest mistake of my life.”

His harsh words cut like a knife. He didn’t know the agony she had gone through that night, her emotions running hot and cold, thrilled to have finally given herself to him only to find out later that he had been deceitful. She managed to bolster her courage and hoist her chin. “If that’s the case, why did you bother seeing me today? Why did you hire me?”

“Because Sam asked me to. I did it as a favor to him, Gina. And now we’re stuck with each other.”

She gasped silently from the immediate shock to her system. She’d seen Sam a few months ago, crossing paths with him at the airport, his new family in tow. They’d exchanged pleasantries and when he’d found out that she was living in Los Angeles he’d offered her a job if she ever needed one.

With her pride deeply injured, Gina shot back. “Consider yourself, unstuck. I won’t ask you to work with the biggest mistake of your life.”

Gina turned her back on Wade and walked toward the French doors. She wanted out, away from Wade for good. But just as she stepped inside the house, Wade grabbed her from behind, his hands holding her gently just under her breasts, the zipper of his jeans grinding into her derriere. She felt the pins being pulled from her hair, freeing the tresses from their knotted prison. Wade wove his hand in her hair and brought his lips to her throat, his voice a gruff whisper. “Don’t run away again.”

Gina’s traitorous body reacted to Wade and, angry as she was, she couldn’t deny the overwhelming heat pulsing through her. “You don’t want me here.”

“That may be true.” And then he added softly, “But I need you.”

Gina slammed her eyes shut. She felt herself softening to Wade and when she turned in his arms to face him, she witnessed the depth of his sincerity. “You need me?”

She glanced at his mouth just as his lips came down onto hers. He cupped her face and deepened the kiss, slanting his mouth over hers again and again. Gina reacted with a little whimper, urging her body closer. His heat was a fire that burned her. And when she sighed, he took the opportunity to drive his tongue into her mouth, mating them together. Soon, Gina’s body swayed in rhythm and Wade wrapped his hands around her waist, his fingers pressing into the curve of her buttocks, drawing her closer.

She felt his erection, the hot pulsing need rubbing into her. Heart pounding out of control, she felt dizzy and wanted Wade with undeniable urgency.

“Yoo-hoo, Wa-ade? Are you home? I brought you chili, honey. Just the way you like it, hot and spicy,” the low throaty rasp of a woman’s voice startled Gina. She pulled away from Wade in time to see a young redhead coming up the deck steps from the beach. In a flowery bikini covered only by a hip-riding sarong, the woman held a hot bowl in her potholder-clad hands. She stopped up short when she reached the deck, finding Wade and Gina together. “Oh, sorry, Wade. I guess I had the wrong night. I thought we were on for the hot tub. My mistake,” she said casually. “I’ll just leave this here for you.” She set the chili on the deck table.

“Shoot, Veronica. Sorry. I forgot.” He winked at her and smiled. “I’m working tonight.”

“I can see that,” she said, taking a quick glance at Gina, before backing down the stairs. “Don’t work too hard, honey.” Gina heard her chuckle as she disappeared onto the beach.

Gina stared at Wade and abruptly everything became clear. For a moment she thought that she was back in El Paso with the young, sweet man she had given herself to unconditionally. Suddenly, she felt foolish. And stupid for thinking that nothing had changed, when, actually, everything had.

She tried to brush past him to get away, but he was like a block of granite, too strong to move without his willing surrender. He reached for her arms and held her without budging. When she glared into his eyes, he shrugged and said calmly, “She’s a friend.”

Gina wasn’t a fool. She doubted Wade had female “friends” who came over just for a quick meal and a splash in the hot tub. She shook her head adamantly. “I think not. I’d better go. Will you drive me home or shall I take a taxi?”

“Neither. We have work to do. When I said I needed you, I meant it. I need a personal assistant for this project and we have to catch you up on the details.”

“You mean you’d give up your hot-tub date?” Her voice was deliberately rich with sarcasm.

“I just did, didn’t I?” Wade shot back.

Gina bristled. “Yes, you did. You dismissed her quite easily. But what about what just happened between us? Can you dismiss that just as easily?” His kiss had stole Gina’s breath, but she had regained normal breathing.

Wade pursed his lips. He stared at hers, well-ripened and swollen from his powerful assault. “I never could dismiss you, Gina. You’re hardly the kind of woman a man can forget.”

“That does not answer my question.”

“Listen, maybe I was out of line a minute ago. But I’m not kidding when I say I need you. As my assistant. We’re setting sail first thing tomorrow so—”

Gina snapped her head up. “Setting sail? For where?”

“For Catalina island. You should have been briefed during the first interview with Helen in Personnel. It was a stipulation of the job.”

Wade seemed full of surprises. First he stunned her with that incredible kiss and now this unexpected announcement of an island trip. “I wasn’t informed about a trip.”

“You knew about the latest project the company plans to bid on. It could be the biggest contract in Triple B’s history and I intend to get it. It’s right there in the file I gave you to review.”

“Yes, but I didn’t think—”

“It’s the reason for the big bonus, Gina,” he interrupted to clarify.

“But that’s what I don’t understand. That’s a great deal of money for a trip to Catalina. It’s only a few hours away. Surely, one day isn’t worth such a large sum of money.”

“One day? Gina, we’ll be on that island for a minimum of one week and I guarantee you’ll be working long hours.”

Gina slumped her shoulders. “One week?”

He nodded. “Seven days, including the weekend. So are you in or am I going it alone tomorrow?”

Gina slammed her eyes shut. She hated her own cowardice. She hadn’t been on the water in any capacity since the boat accident that claimed her parents’ lives. She’d dealt with the guilt at being the sole survivor, but she hadn’t been forced to face her fear—until now. And she was ready. She’d been praying to find a way to conquer her anxiety and now she had the opportunity. If she didn’t face her fears, she’d not only lose the revenue to rebuild her future, she’d lose part of herself all over again.

Gina made a split-second decision. She needed this job for more than one reason. But she would accept the position under one condition, and one condition only. “I’m in. Under one condition.”