"I had no clue you were there."
"You were fast asleep and then you got up." He smiles softly. "Christ, I almost grabbed you in the hallway when you walked out of the bedroom."
"You were watching me? You just stood there watching me?"
His shoulders slouch forward. "I was mesmerized. It felt like time had stopped and I was breathing for the first time."
I don't say anything. I can't. My ability to speak has vanished because of the pressure of my emotions within my chest.
"Then you went back to bed and I came into the room," he rasps. "I couldn’t control my need anymore. I stood there, willing you to wake back up and when you did I saw it in your face. I saw how much you wanted me."
I'd be wasting my energy trying to deny that. I had been just as eager to taste his lips again as he had been to taste mine. My lust had ruled each and every movement I made that morning and I don't regret any of it. I finally got to have the one man I've longed for my entire life.
"I've never been with a man like you," I confess quietly. "I've never felt those things before."
He's on his feet so quickly, his mouth pressing tenderly over mine. I grab hold of his hands as they cup my cheeks.
"I want to try, Bell," he whispers the words softly against my lips. "I want to try and give you everything you need."
My heart stalls. "You can't push me away if it's too much. You need to talk to me."
"I'm scared," he admits as he rests his forehead against mine. "I'll hurt myself before I'll cause you pain."
"I won't let that happen." I glide my mouth over his again. I will do everything in my power to not let it happen. I'll fight with all that I am to make certain that Caleb and I get the chance at happiness we deserve.
Chapter 45
"Judging by all that lipstick on Caleb Foster's mouth, I'm guessing you're now going to the benefit dinner as his date."
When Clive knocked on my office door a few minutes ago, I'd told Caleb that I had work to do. I do. I need to finish some things before the end of the day and I also need time to absorb what just happened. When dreams finally come true there should be a mandatory adjustment period that comes with them.
"We didn't talk about that," I say sheepishly. I study a file folder that's on my desk completely oblivious to what it contains.
"It looks like you didn't talk at all," he murmurs. "This doesn't mean you're abandoning us to go work for them, does it?"
"At Foster Enterprises?" I chuckle softly as I ask the question. "I'm a Corteck girl through and through. I'd never go to work for Caleb and his brothers."
He plays with his wedding ring. "You know I wish my wife worked here with us. It's a bone of contention in our marriage."
"Really?" I lean my elbows on the desk. Lilly and Clive have an exceptional relationship. They may not have started down the rosy path towards bliss with everything working for them, but they managed to jump over many hurdles to find a way to make it work. "I thought you were all for her working with Alec Hughes."
Alec Hughes is admittedly our biggest competition in the tech world. He runs his own company that is housed just a few blocks from here. Clive and he are old friends and equally old adversaries. When Lilly left Corteck to work for Alec, I tried desperately to get her to come back. I knew it meant a lot to Clive and since Lilly is one of the best programmers in the game today, it's been a loss that all of us have deeply felt.
"You know that Foster is opening a new line of lingerie boutiques, right?"
I only know that from getting a Google news alert about it. The boutiques carry high end, designer lingerie. The press release touted the name of the line as Loire. It's a new brand for the family to nurture, which typically means they'll be fighting over which one of them will handle the reins.
"I read about it." I flip open my laptop cover. "It seems like a smart move on their part."
He cocks a dark brow. "You think it's a smart move because it plays into the woman's brand they've already established."
"That," I begin before I stop to lean back in my chair. "It's not only that. The Fosters know how to sell what women crave. They'll create a demand for it and women will rush to have Loire lingerie."
"You're sure you're not gearing up to be the divisional manager of that?"
I laugh out loud. "No one has approached me. They're not going to. Caleb knows exactly how much I love my job here."
***
"Rowan Bell?" The dark haired woman repeats my name again. "You work for Gabriel Foster, don't you?"
Um, no. I do not work for Gabriel or anyone with the surname Foster.
"I'm here to see Caleb Foster." I look past her to the offices that house Gabriel and Caleb's employees. Normally I'd stroll right past this desk because the woman who generally sits here knows exactly who I am. This woman, who appears to have just started working here, judging by the ultra-tidy desk she's sitting behind, has no clue that I'm an old family friend.