It was a long time before she moved, which was more than fine with Sean. He knew there was something special about the way they’d made love this time. And it had nothing to do with velvet restraints or Leah’s new turn as the one in control. There was something more there. He’d seen the depth of Leah’s emotions in her eyes. He’d felt it in her touch.
He was pretty damn sure she still loved him.
And he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had never stopped loving her.
Chapter Fourteen
Leah traced the muscular lines of Sean’s chest, weaving her fingers in the wiry curls and letting them brush across his flat nipples. She breathed in every moment of their time together, memorizing each second because she knew one undeniable truth:
Her time on the island was nearly over.
What she planned to do after that was still unclear. All she knew was that she couldn’t lose Sean again. She had to find a way that they could continue to build up what they’d found during the last few days.
“Are you asleep?” She pressed a kiss on the flat plane of his stomach and felt his abs ripple beneath her lips.
“No. More like comatose.” He laughed and the sound reverberated through his chest. “If that’s what you call taking control, you can have it any time you like.”
She smiled even as she wondered if he understood the full ramifications of that statement.
“Control really was an issue for us.” She glanced up at him as she took his hand. “It was part of why we broke up.”
There was a long pause as he examined their intertwined fingers. He raised their hands up and brushed a gentle kiss against her knuckles.
“I’d agree with that.”
She stiffened at that unexpected response. He was admitting it? That was a first.
He snuggled her closer. “But I’d say our control problem really stemmed from both sides, wouldn’t you?”
Pushing up to lean on her elbow, Leah tried to keep herself from following through on her instinct, which was to snap at Sean. That wouldn’t do anything but ruin what had been a wonderful night.
Besides, in her heart she had a suspicion he was right.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged as he pushed a lock of hair away from her face. Her heart softened at the gentleness of the action and the look on his face. He didn’t accuse, he just seemed to want to get things out in the open. And if that wasn’t a step forward, she didn’t know what was.
“I’ll admit I was obsessed with succeeding.” He frowned. “And obsessed with proving my worth to people like your parents. I think I lost track of you along the way, lost track of us. I was so focused on getting what I wanted,
controlling
-
” He winked at her and she smiled. “Controlling my own future that I forgot I was planning a future that involved someone else.”
Stunned he’d summed everything up so perfectly, she nodded. “Those were things that bothered me, yes. And part of the reason why I left.”
He smiled sadly. “And your leaving is where your control came in.”
“What do you mean?”
“Honey, you never talked to me about any of that stuff. I figured it out on my own over the years I spent obsessing over you and what had happened to make you go.” He sat up so that their eyes were on the same level and pinned her with a stare that held her in place no matter how much she wanted to run. “You took control by just bolting. And never looking back.”
She shrugged. “I thought talking to you wouldn’t help.”
Man, did
that
ever sound lame.
There was no anger in his eyes, no censure. In fact, he actually smiled, albeit sadly. “But you never gave me the chance to prove you wrong.”
Leah she sat up in the middle of the bed. Sean was right. She
had
exerted control by taking herself away instead of standing her ground. By not telling him what she felt and what she needed.
But things had changed. She had changed. She was no longer a twenty year-old girl who was scared of fighting for the life she wanted to build. She was more afraid of losing it.
Now she just had to find a way to explain that fact to Sean.
“In my family, we didn’t talk about problems. We just pretended they weren’t there.” She sighed as she pulled her knees up and hugged them against her bare chest. “I wanted things to be different with you. But old habits die hard, I guess, because when things started to go wrong, I couldn’t talk to you. Instead of bringing our issues out in the open, I just left.” The harsh sting of tears started behind her eyes as she realized what a fool she’d been. “I was wrong, Sean. I was stupid and wrong.”
“And young,” he said as he caught one of her bitter tears and brushed it aside. “We were both young and didn’t realize what we had. Well, I realize now what I lost when I lost you.”
“And so do I.” She smiled at him through her tears. Tears that faded away when he cupped her neck and bent his head for a gentle kiss that melted all her barriers, all her memories, everything except for him and the love she felt burning inside of her.
She had so much she wanted to say. She wanted to talk to him about her one last worry, about him not letting her be a part of his problems. And most of all, she wanted to tell him she loved him. She wanted to express the feelings she’d shown him by making love to him.
Now.
“Sean,” she whispered as she traced the line of his cheek with her fingertip. “I-”
Before she could get another word out, the shrill buzz of Sean’s cell phone echoed from his discarded pants.
“Shit.” He shut his eyes. “It’s deja vu all over again.” He looked at her with an apologetic frown. “I’m so sorry, honey. I’d ignore it if we weren’t in the middle of this problem, but…”
He didn’t finish as he rolled out of bed and caught his pants in one hand. He flipped open the phone.
“Yes?” His face hardened as he listened to the person on the other end of the line. Before he spoke again, he turned his back on her, but by the way his shoulders tightened she knew the news wasn’t good. “Are you kidding me, Will?” There was a long, ominous pause. “Yeah, I’ll be right there.”
He flipped the phone shut and let loose with the longest, filthiest string of curse words Leah had ever heard put together. After he’d stood leaning against her table for a moment to regain his composure, he turned back to her with a contrite smile.
“I’m sorry.”
“You have to go?”
“Yeah, all hell’s breaking loose.” He rubbed his temples. “Will needs me in the office right away.”
She climbed out of bed and wrapped her robe around her waist loosely. “Look, are you sure I can’t help-”
He cut her off with a wave of his hand as he pulled his trousers back on. “I already told you, I’ve got to handle this myself. This bullshit with the Alexander Midler Corporation is spreading. I have to take care of it.”
He turned back, but she could see that he hardly saw her anymore. With a distracted kiss on her forehead, he grabbed his shirt and shoes and headed for the door.
“But I really want to-” The door shut in her face to cut her off. “Help.” She sank down in one of her dining chairs with a sigh. “Well, so much for that tender moment.”
She stood back up and crossed to the bed to dismantle the elaborate system of velvet bindings and remove the satin sheets. But as she popped the sheet out from under the mattress, she stopped.
Sean had been distracted when he left. So distracted he’d actually given her some of the information he was so loathe to part with. The name he’d said was one she knew very well. Alexander Midler.
Midler was her father’s age and had built an empire on the established wealth of his family. He was old money and he knew it, but he liked to invest in risky ventures. Ventures like a fantasy resort in the middle of the Caribbean.
Only she knew from her overheard conversation in Sean’s office that afternoon that the Alexander Midler Corporation was suddenly pulling its backing, even though Escapades Resort was doing well. Even though the expansion could only bring more fortune and prestige to the burgeoning vacation spot.
Midler and his staff weren’t stupid enough to do that unless he had an insider tip. And only one man would have given him such bad information.
With trembling hands, Leah picked up the phone on her bedside table and dialed her parents’ number. She prayed her hunch was wrong. Because if her father had interfered in Sean’s business just to settle some kind of vendetta he held against her former fiancé, there was going to be all kinds of hell to pay. And she was going to have to do some serious damage control, whether Sean wanted her interference or not.
***
“Oh, Daddy,” Leah sighed into the receiver as she rubbed her stinging eyes. It took all her willpower not to sob into the phone. “How could you?”
“Making a few calls to tip off Sean Dalton’s investors to the kind of man he is was the least I could do after he practically kidnapped you,” her father said with no remorse in his tone.
“You had no right,” she hissed low as she paced around the room in an angry circle. “No right to interfere in my life or Sean’s business.”
“And what right did he have to trick you?”
God, even his voice was high and mighty. No wonder Sean had struggled with her parents. They hadn’t even bothered to give him a chance.
“I tried to call your cell phone at least ten times,” her father continued and Leah winced. She hadn’t exactly been checking messages. “When you didn’t return my calls, I had no other choice but to intercede.”
“You had plenty of choices!” She finally lost her cool and yelled into the receiver. “You could have let me be an adult and talked to me about your opinion when I returned home. There are no circumstances where sabotaging another man’s business is considered a reasonable option to get your daughter back. You and I both know you never liked Sean from the first moment you and Mom met him. And this is your way of getting back at him.”
Her father was quiet for a moment and she knew he wouldn’t deny her accusation. Just like he hadn’t bothered to deny he was the man behind Sean’s current business woes.
“He was never good enough for you, Leah. And he’ll never be good enough, no matter how many resorts he builds or good suits he buys. He’s beneath you.”
For a brief moment, Leah wanted to inform her father just how much she liked the way Sean felt beneath her, but she knew that just might drive her old man over the edge. Instead, she cleared her throat and prepared to incur her father’s wrath.
“Dad, I love him. I loved him when you and Mom took advantage of my fears and immaturity and convinced me to leave him. And I love him now. The difference is I’m not confused anymore. And I’m not scared.”
“Well, you ought to be.” Her father’s laugh was bitter. “That boy is a loose cannon. Maybe the information I spread to Midler and the others isn’t true at present, but it won’t be long before it is. A boy with his background, his breeding? How could he make it in this business?”
She sighed and counted to ten in her head. Slowly.
“He was making it fine before you interfered.” Shaking her head, she sank onto the edge of the bed. “This argument is pointless. I want to be with Sean. So if you keep trying to destroy him, you’ll be destroying me in the process. And worse yet, you’ll be ending any relationship you and I have. Is that clear?”
Her father was silent for a long moment. “You would chose him over your family?”
She considered that and realized what she had said was more than just an empty threat. “I would if I had to. And you’re forcing my hand. I’m asking you to stop before it’s too late for everyone.”
“Come home,” he ordered.
“No. Not yet. Not until I’ve fixed the damage we’ve both done. You this week and me all those years ago.” He started to speak again, but she cut him off. “I’ve got to go Dad. I’ll talk to you about this when I get back to the city.”
Before he could demand more of her time, Leah hung up. She sighed as she stared at the phone with disappointment, then reached around to unplug it. She didn’t want to talk to her father again tonight. She’d use her cell phone to make her remaining calls. If he tried her there, caller i.d. would make him easy to avoid.
Straightening her robe, she took a seat at the dining table and opened her long-ignored laptop. It was time to do some work, but not on any article. No, tonight she was going to work on helping Sean. On proving to him that she could be a partner in his life as well as in his bed.
***
“It’s just two more, right?” Sean rubbed his temples as he tried to avoid looking into his partner’s bleary, worried eyes. It was very bad when Will looked anxious.
“Yes, but losing three investors in a week’s period is going to be hard to explain.” Will slammed a portfolio onto the desk with both hands. “Damn it, I can’t even explain it to myself when I look at our financials. I have no idea why someone would decide we’re too big a risk all of a sudden.”