Tori glanced over her shoulder and saw him kick aside his trousers. Soon. Thank goodness. She needed him now. All of him. “Ten, nine, eight,” she whispered as the numbers began counting down, the building pressure of her orgasm certain to beat the clock. “Seven, six, five.”
His fingers glided over her moist flesh, taking her closer to the edge. “Four, three, two, one,” Wade said, thrusting inside her at the stroke of midnight.
The infamous ball dropped to the base, the number of the New Year lighting up, but Tori hardly gave it a glance before closing her eyes and absorbing the pleasurable impact on her body. He barely moved in her before she came undone. As the cheers and shouts rang out in the city below, Tori heard only her own cries.
Wade filled her, pushed her, thrilled her and touched her as no man ever had before. He took her to a place she hadn’t known existed, and she wanted to stay there with him in this moment forever.
“Oh, Wade,” she gasped as the last throbs of pleasure dissipated.
Wade’s arms snaked around her waist, tugging her up until her bare back pressed against his chest. “I could make love to you all night and never have enough.”
“There’s quite a few hours left,” she teased, breathless.
“Is that a challenge?” he asked, thrusting hard into her.
Tori laughed and tightened her muscles around him. “Absolutely.”
In one quick move Wade pulled away and swept Tori up into his arms. She squealed in surprise, but before she could recover, he dropped her, bouncing, to the bed.
He was back over her in an instant, driving into her body with renewed fervor. The laughter died in her throat as the pleasure began coursing through her veins once again. This time when her release came, so did his. He groaned low against her neck and lost himself inside her body.
Tori cradled him against her as his trembling arms and legs threatened to give way beneath him. After he caught his breath, she tipped his chin up so he could look at her. There was a green fire blazing in his eyes, and she was pleased she was responsible for it. She brought her lips to his, this kiss tender and meaningful.
“Happy New Year, Wade.”
* * *
The rest of the champagne was forgotten, the strawberries abandoned. Wade didn’t care. He had his red-haired beauty in his arms, and that was all he wanted. For the first time in months—hell, years—Wade felt at peace. It was possible that he’d never felt like this. The world was stable on its axis. Tori had done that. The woman whose spirit he had been determined to crush so he could get what he wanted.
Now, with her head resting on his chest and the flaming silk of her hair sprawled over her shoulders and his stomach, he knew he couldn’t go through with it. His plan to seduce her had backfired.
The implications were dire. It made him almost sick to his stomach to think of what it might mean for his family. If the body was ever uncovered, it would ruin everything. But that was his mistake. His price to pay. Not Tori’s.
There had to be another way. He’d figure something out. He always did.
“Wade, are you still awake?”
“Yes.”
Tori rolled off his chest and looked at him. “What was this trip about, really?”
Wade frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The hotel, the food, the champagne—that’s a lot of effort just to make up for the whole job thing.”
He supposed it might seem that way, but he didn’t mind. Having money and powerful connections allowed him the luxury of doing things for people when he wanted to. “You’re worth the effort.”
“You are, too, you know.”
Wade had the sudden urge to climb out of bed and go get a drink, but Tori had her arms clasped around him like steel manacles. He swallowed hard. “You’re just supposed to say thank you.”
“Thank you.” Tori held him in place with her icy blue eyes. “What happened to you, Wade?”
He knew what she meant without her elaborating. He was surprised. Few people ever bothered to ask him about his life before the Edens, so he didn’t tell the story very often. Those who mattered in his life already knew. Except Tori. She mattered. More than he ever wanted or expected her to.
“A person doesn’t become such an overachiever, so driven to prove himself, without a reason,” she pressed. “You don’t have to do things to impress me. I don’t need ten-course French dinners and penthouses in Manhattan to want to spend time with you. What are you trying to prove? And to whom?”
With a sigh Wade let his head drop back against the pillows. If he had to talk about it, at least it was dark and he didn’t have to look at her. “For a long time I thought I was trying to be a good son for the Edens. To repay them for taking me in and helping me turn my life around. All the good it did me, since they wouldn’t accept my money when I tried to give it to them. Then I wondered if maybe I wasn’t trying to prove to…those who left…that I was worth keeping.”
“Like your mother?”
“Yes. And others. My mother was still in high school when she got pregnant. I wasn’t exactly part of her plans. So, after she had me, she played at being a mom for a while. When that didn’t work out, she took me over to her aunt’s house. What was supposed to be a couple hours of babysitting turned into seven years. She just never came back.”
Wade could hear Tori’s breath catch in her throat. He didn’t want her pity. That was why he never told anyone about this. He’d rather people saw him as the strong, powerful businessman. That was the point, wasn’t it? To keep this part hidden? And yet he wanted to tell her everything now that he’d started talking. He wanted to let Tori in.
“My aunt never married and wasn’t particularly interested in having children, but it wasn’t bad with her. I didn’t know any different. When she died of breast cancer and my mother was still off the grid, I ended up in the foster system. She had never terminated her parental rights, so I couldn’t be adopted even if someone had wanted to. I doubt anyone but the Edens would have. I bounced around a lot. I was an angry child. Rebellious. A trouble starter. I had a lot of crap to work through for a ten-year-old, but it was how I coped. I guess it was easier to push people away than to get close to someone who would eventually cast me aside. But the Edens didn’t fall for that game. They wouldn’t let me push them away. They believed in me. So I changed my tactic to be the best man I could possibly be.”
“And now you’re successful, powerful and have a family that loves you.”
“And you know what that got me?” he said, a bitter edge creeping into his voice.
“What?”
“A mother showing up on my doorstep with her hand out.”
“What did you do?”
“Well, as you said, I’m always out to prove myself, so I did what I felt I should. I gave her a lump sum of cash and bought her a house as far from New York as I could get—in San Diego. And I made her sign a contract agreeing to never contact me or anyone in my family again, or she’d have to repay me for everything.”
Tori’s grip on him tightened ever so slightly. “And she agreed to that?”
Wade had not been there for the contract negotiation, but his lawyer told him she couldn’t sign fast enough. There was a part of him that had hoped she wouldn’t. That she had changed and wanted to get to know the son she’d abandoned. He’d been a fool for even entertaining that fantasy. “Without hesitating. So in the end, my money and my success didn’t prove anything to anyone.”
“What about to yourself?”
Especially not to himself. No one else on earth was able to see inside him and know what he was truly like the way he could. Strip away the money and the suits and what was he left with? When things were important, truly important, he failed.
He couldn’t protect his family the way he should have. If he had done his job, Heath never would’ve had to do what no thirteen-year-old boy should have to do. Julianne wouldn’t have to carry those dark memories with her. His parents wouldn’t be secretly selling off pieces of the farm to stay afloat. No success in business could make up for that kind of personal failure.
“Is that even possible?” he asked. “Can someone like me ever reach the point where they’ve achieved enough? How would I know when I’ve expunged my sins? There’s always the opportunity to disappoint myself. Or someone else.”
“You haven’t disappointed me.”
Wade chuckled. “I haven’t, now? Well, considering I fired you erroneously, harassed you mercilessly and want to take your land away from you, I imagine you have very low standards.”
Tori sat up on one elbow and looked down at him. “I don’t have low standards. I think I’m just better at seeing past the bull.”
“And where did you learn that skill? Traipsing across America studying the human condition?”
“Something like that,” she admitted. “Attending the school of life has its perks and its pitfalls. I think never building real relationships handicapped me when I grew older. I was too trusting because I’d never had the opportunity to be hurt. I didn’t build relationships, like you, but because I couldn’t. We were gone too quickly. I was naive.”
“You?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “I wasn’t always so cynical. The real world brought that. What life didn’t teach me, my ex-boyfriend did.”
She hadn’t mentioned much about her past relationships, but Wade picked up on the pained tone in her voice. The darkness couldn’t veil that. “What did he do?”
Tori sighed and shrugged. “Like I said, I was too trusting. He took advantage of the fact that I was always moving. I wasn’t going to pressure him for marriage or a commitment, even after years together, because I wasn’t in that place.”
Wade could tell where this was going. “He was married.”
“With three kids. Living happily outside Boston. When I told him I was thinking of buying land in Connecticut, he came unglued.”
“And that was the last man you dated?”
Tori nodded.
Wade already felt like crap for the way things had gone down between him and Tori. Knowing she was trying to recover her trust in men when he showed up, scheming to manipulate her, made it that much worse. She deserved more than just a luxurious weekend in Manhattan. She deserved a week in Paris. Or better yet, for him to go away and leave her life and her plans alone.
“Tori,” he started, not quite sure at first what he was going to say. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
Wade swallowed the lump in his throat. He had so many feelings swirling in his gut. So many things he wanted to say to her. But he couldn’t put them into words. Wouldn’t. At least not until after he’d dealt with the situation that had brought him here in the first place. Whether he intended it or not, Tori could get hurt. And he didn’t want to say or do anything now that might make the pain that much sharper.
“For everything,” he whispered.
Nine
T
ori strolled into Daisy’s Diner a few days later with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face that wouldn’t fade away. Her trip to New York with Wade had been wonderful. Magical. Romantic. Everything she’d hoped for and more than she’d dreamed it could be. They’d strolled through the city, window-shopping and sightseeing. They went to a show. They talked and spent hours in each other’s arms. And then it was time to come home.
Back to Connecticut—and reality. She hadn’t seen Wade since they’d returned to Cornwall. They both had things to do. She was certain he would have to return to his life in Manhattan soon, although he hadn’t mentioned it and she hadn’t asked. He had a business to run. And she had a house to build. But they’d opted to meet here tonight for dinner.
“Hey, there,” Rose said as Tori walked past her usual seat. “No counter service today?”
“No.” She smiled. “I have a date tonight, so I thought a booth might be better.”
“Oh, really.” Rose poured a mug of hot water for Tori’s tea and came out from behind the counter with two menus tucked under her arm. She sat across from Tori in the corner booth she’d selected. “Spill it,” she demanded, pushing the hot water over to her customer.
Tori began fidgeting with the mug, knowing her cheeks were probably as red as her hair now. “Wade is meeting me here.”
“Wade Mitchell? The man who was making you crazy a week ago?”
“The same.”
Rose flung her dark ponytail back over her shoulder and leaned in closer. “So, you wanna tell me what happened between then and now?”
Tori could barely explain it. Everything had changed. Even the past, if that were possible. “It feels like the world has shifted.”
Rose sat back against the padded pleather of the booth, her brown eyes wide. “You’re in love with him.”
“What?” Tori perked up at her friend’s bold assessment. “No, no. That’s silly. It’s only been a few days.”
Rose crossed her arms over her chest and refused to budge on the subject. “I can assure you, with the Eden boys, a few days is all it takes.”
The words were like a fist to her gut. The truth barreling into her at fifty miles an hour. She was in love with him.
“I…I like him a lot,” she countered, even as her mind raced with a different version of the facts. “We have a good time together. But it’s nothing more than that. He’s leaving to go home shortly, so it would be stupid of me to go and fall in love with him.”
Rose nodded mechanically, clearly disbelieving every word of Tori’s argument. Tori understood. She didn’t believe her own words, either. And they were sensible. She shouldn’t be in love with Wade. He
was
leaving. They
weren’t
serious. She couldn’t trust him because he still wanted her land. None of that added up to a fairy-tale romance. Just another disaster waiting to happen like before.
She wished someone would tell her heart that.
The heart in question started pounding madly in her chest when she looked up and spied Wade coming in the entrance. “He’s here,” she whispered.
Rose dutifully got up and flashed a smile to Wade on her way back to the counter. “What can I get you to drink tonight?”
“Coffee, thanks,” Wade said. “It’s freezing out there.” He slipped out of his jacket and tossed it into the booth before sliding in where Rose had been sitting.
Wade looked so handsome tonight. He was wearing a dark blue collared shirt with thin gray pinstripes. His skin was freshly shaved and slightly pink from the sting of the icy wind outside. Tori wanted to reach out and touch his face. She wanted to breathe in his cologne. Some of her clothing had come home smelling like him after their trip. She hadn’t been able to make herself go to the Laundromat to wash them yet.
Tori suddenly felt like a shy, smitten teenager sitting with him. Her realization of love only a minute before left her feeling vulnerable even though there was no way he could know how she felt. She certainly wasn’t about to tell him. She had barely come to terms with it herself, although sitting on the edge of her bed sniffing a sweater should’ve been her first clue.
“How are you?” he asked.
Tori smiled, although it felt nervous and forced to her. She hoped it didn’t look that way. “Good. You?”
“Good,” he said. Wade looked down at the menu and began thoroughly studying it without elaborating.
Tori winced and hid her face with her own menu. Did he notice? Things felt weird when they’d never felt weird before. It was all her doing. She needed to act normal. This was the same man she’d spent a good part of the past week with. Naked. After that, dinner in the local restaurant should be no big deal. She just had to relax.
Rose came back with the coffee; she took their orders and the menus. Now neither of them had anything to hide behind. Once Rose disappeared into the kitchen, Tori took a deep breath. “I had a nice time in New York. Thank you for taking me. You know you didn’t have to go to that much trouble.”
“No trouble at all. I had a great time, too. I’m glad we were able to go. It was certainly more exciting than spending New Year’s Eve here with my folks. They never even make it up to midnight. As kids, we used to stay up in the bunkhouse and watch Dick Clark on television after they went to bed.”
“It must be strange to stay up here this long without the others. Are you heading back to New York soon?” Tori almost didn’t want to know how much time she had left, but she had to ask.
Wade nodded. “In a couple days. I still have a few things to take care of before I go back.”
“That’s right. You still haven’t bought my land,” she said with a weak smile. She’d enjoyed the past few days without the topic coming up. “Time is a-ticking on that.”
He glanced down at his mug and took a sip. “I guess I’m not going to worry too much about that anymore.”
Tori’s brow shot up in surprise. She didn’t hide it well at all. “What?”
“You don’t want to sell it to me. I can’t make you. I don’t know what I could offer to change your mind, so there’s no point in fighting over it anymore.”
What should’ve been a victorious moment didn’t feel quite how she’d expected. Going up against Wade, she’d always secretly thought she would lose. One way or another he would wear her down. And now, although he’d named her the victor, it didn’t seem as if she’d won. After the past few days, a part of her didn’t want to beat him. The thought had crossed Tori’s mind that if he’d stay, she’d consider selling it to him. She wanted to build a home, not just a house. Somehow having Wade there with her was an integral piece of her design.
Selling him the land would make him happy. She wanted him to be happy. She could find another piece of land, but replacing Wade’s place in her heart felt nearly impossible.
And yet, she felt a tug of hope deep inside. If he no longer wanted her property, maybe she could have both him and the land. She’d known trusting Wade would be an issue as long as he had this ulterior motive. If that was gone, what could that mean? Had he really given up wanting the land or did he care too much about her to hurt her like that? He hadn’t said anything about how he felt for her. If he was going back to New York and life as usual, he probably felt nothing at all but had just run out of time.
She’d be left with no reason to hate him when it was all over.
“I’d like to spend the last few days with you before I go.”
She hadn’t expected that at all. If he wasn’t just romancing the property away from her, maybe there was more here than she’d thought. With a sigh of dismay, Tori shook her head. Wade always seemed to want the things she couldn’t give. “I have to leave tomorrow. I’m going to Philadelphia for a few days. They’re having the ribbon-cutting ceremony on my building down there on Saturday afternoon. I’ve got to wrap up all the loose ends. I probably won’t be back until the seventh or eighth.”
“Oh.” Wade’s expression was curious. A hint of disappointment mixed in with something else she couldn’t put her finger on. She could almost see his mind spinning. She remembered that expression from watching him at his desk when she worked with him.
“You could come with me,” she suggested.
He looked at her and shook his head. “I can’t. I’ll need to be back in Manhattan before that.”
“I guess I’ll have to catch up with you in the city sometime. Or the next time you’re up this way.”
Wade nodded, his expression guarded. He must’ve realized, as she had, that this would be their last date. Their last night together. “Do you have another project coming up that you’ll be traveling to soon?”
“Not for a few months. I’m going to Vermont for a while this summer to design a ski lodge. Until then, I’ll be here, working on building my house.”
“Do you have the final plans drawn up yet?”
Yes and no. She had twenty plans completed, but for some reason her clarity about what she wanted had become muddled over the holidays. “I have to make a few final decisions. That’s all. I should be able to get the contractors in place to break ground in the next few weeks.”
Wade’s green eyes widened just a touch at her words, but Rose brought their plates and the expression vanished. “I should give you Troy Caldwell’s number. He’s got a great building team that does excellent work.”
Tori nodded and tried to focus on her food. She’d heard Caldwell was the guy to work with around here. She just hadn’t gotten around to speaking with him before the holidays. It seemed that once she got back from Philadelphia, she’d have plenty of time. Wade would be long gone.
The rest of the meal was spent discussing the neutral topics of local electricians and concrete companies. Every now and again Tori would look up to find Wade watching her. There was a hesitation in his voice, a touch of worry lining his eyes. She wasn’t certain she was the cause of it, though. He seemed a million miles away tonight. Maybe the stresses of being away from work were distracting him.
Tori was absentmindedly drawing the design for the front of her home across her plate with her fork and leftover ketchup when Wade’s voice startled her. It seemed he wasn’t the only one distracted this evening.
“Would you like to come back to the bunkhouse for some dessert? Molly baked a really nice chocolate cream cheese Bundt cake this morning.”
His words were asking her if she’d like to join him for dessert, but the intensity of his gaze promised more than that. He wanted to have her in his arms one last time before they parted ways.
Tori knew she should say no. It would be so much easier if she just walked away now. She could take her land, her dignity and what was left of her heart back to her Airstream.
Instead, she found herself meeting his gaze and nodding yes. She wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to Wade.
Yet.
* * *
They’d spent another incredible night together. He hated to wake her up that morning but knew she had a schedule to keep. He would rather have lain in bed all day with her ear pressed to his heart and her hair strewed across his chest. He had to admit he’d gotten used to having her there when he woke up—grumpy face, wild hair and all.
But he had to.
After they’d reluctantly gotten out of bed, Wade made his way downstairs. Molly hadn’t sneaked in with breakfast today, so Wade made coffee and toasted bagels while Tori showered.
They ate quietly together. There was an awkwardness in the air. For all intents and purposes, their relationship was over. They’d had their last date, their last chance to make love and this was their final breakfast.
Unlike other relationships that ended in angry fireworks or bitter barbs, their relationship would die quietly, because it was the practical thing to do. Neither of them really wanted to say goodbye, but neither was willing to say or do anything to change it. This needed to be the end.
When they were finished, he walked her out to her truck. They loitered at the door, so many unspoken things lingering between them. But Wade wouldn’t say what he wanted to. Not until he’d finished what he came here for. And to do that, Tori needed to go to Philadelphia. If he was successful, maybe he’d call her. Or maybe he’d be smart and just let this whole thing go. If she ever found out the truth about his past, it would be over anyway.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t want one last embrace. He wrapped his arms around Tori, hugging her tight to his chest. She clung just as fiercely to him, letting go only when he pulled away for their last kiss. He pressed his lips to hers, losing himself in the soft feel of her. There was no heat in the kiss. Just…goodbye.
When he stepped back, Tori quickly slipped on her sunglasses and climbed into the truck. He thought he saw the glint of tears in her eyes for a moment, but it could’ve been the morning sun blinding her.
“Goodbye, Wade,” she said, slamming the truck door closed before he could respond. The engine roared to life, and he watched the truck disappear down the road to the highway.
It was over. And he didn’t like it at all. But now it was time to put his plan into action.
If there was one thing Wade knew for certain, it was that he could call Heath at any hour, with any number of crazy requests, and his younger brother would be up for it. Brody second-guessed everything. Xander worried about how things might look. But Heath… He was the impulsive brother, and that was exactly what Wade needed. He headed back inside the bunkhouse to get his phone.
“Hey there, big brother,” Heath answered. “What’s happening?”
“You busy tomorrow?” Wade cut to the chase. His brother knew him well enough not to take offense. Neither of them usually had the time to waste on pleasantries.
“I don’t have to be. What do you need?”
“You, a high-quality metal detector and a large plastic tarp.”
“What, no shovels?” Heath joked.
“Dad has those. And the backhoe if we need it.”
He’d been using the backhoe that day fifteen years ago as part of his chores on the farm. When he needed to bury the body, it seemed like the quickest and easiest thing to use, since he was working alone. No one would think twice about him driving it around the property. But the grave wasn’t really that deep. He hadn’t taken the time to bury the body seven or eight feet as he should have.