Billionaire's Contract Engagement (Kings of the Boardroom #3)(33)

His eyebrows shot up and then he crawled onto the bed until he loomed menacingly over her.

“Oh, really. Which one?”

She circled her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss. Then she slid her mouth to his ear to whisper in shocking detail exactly which fantasy she was talking about.

Evan’s plane landed in San Francisco close to midnight. He helped her down the steps onto the tarmac and stood next to her as they waited for his car to pull forward.

He touched her cheek, pushing aside a stray strand of hair. In truth, she looked and felt disheveled from head to toe. What had started as a quick interlude had turned into an afternoon of wanton, hedonistic pleasure. They’d made love more times than she could count.

They’d stumbled out of the hotel looking like a pair of illicit lovers hurrying back to their spouses after a hot weekend affair.

She shook her head to clear that notion. There was nothing dishonorable about her liaison with Evan. It was separate from business, she asserted firmly. Separate.

“Are you sure you won’t let me escort you home?” Evan asked.

He glanced between her and the car that was now parked a few feet away, and his lips were drawn into a fine line.

She shook her head. “No, you still have to fly back to Seattle, and it’s already past midnight. I’ll be fine.

Your driver will take good care of me.”

He looked as if he was going to press the point when she raised her hand. The diamond caught the glare from the headlights. Slowly she removed the thin band from her finger and pressed the ring into Evan’s palm.

“I won’t be needing this anymore,” she said lightly.

He frowned as he stared down at the delicate piece of jewelry lying in his hand.

It was ridiculous that this felt like a real break-up. Her heart seized and she had the absurd urge to snatch the ring back out of his hand and put it back on her finger.

She leaned up on tiptoe and brushed her lips across his cheek. “Goodbye, Evan. Have a safe trip home.”

She turned and allowed the driver to usher her into the backseat. As they pulled away, she saw Evan standing in the same place she’d left him, his hand closed around the ring. They stared at each other through the window until the car got too far away for her to see him any longer.

Twelve

Evan tucked his hand into his pocket to touch the diamond engagement ring Celia had given back to him the night before. His finger ran over the edges, took it out and let it lay in his palm to catch the light.

For a long while, he stared down at it before closing his hand over it. As his driver pulled to the curb in front of Maddox Communications, he shoved the ring back into his pocket.

Celia wouldn’t be expecting him. Hell, he wasn’t expecting him. To be here, that is. He was supposed to have flown back to Seattle. He had any number of issues to deal with including talking to his team about Noah Hart. They needed to come big with an offer, and they needed to make sure any offer they made was tied up neatly with a big bow.

Yet, here he was, getting out at Celia’s building because he wanted to see her again. And business had nothing to do with it.

He instructed his driver to find suitable parking and to swing back around when he phoned to say he was ready. Then he headed into the stately building to take the elevator up to the sixth floor.

When he stepped off, he was immediately impressed with the very modern, “in touch” feel of Maddox Communications. There was a lot of attention given to comfort, and it worked, because he felt relaxed.

Two large-screen plasma televisions were positioned on either side of the large reception desk, and Maddox’s latest ad campaigns were predominately displayed in a series of commercials.

Behind the desk, a cheerful looking younger woman smiled a warm welcome as he approached.

“Good morning and welcome to Maddox Communications.”

He returned her smile. “Can you tell Celia Taylor that Evan Reese is here to see her?”

The sudden awareness in the receptionist’s eyes told him she knew well who he was. She recovered quickly, though. With brisk efficiency, she rounded the corner of her desk and gestured toward the set of couches in the waiting area.

“If you’ll have a seat, I’ll get her at once. Would you care for some coffee?”

“No, thank you.”

She turned to stride down the hallway, leaving Evan standing there. He walked to the window to look down on the street instead of sitting. If he had his way, he wouldn’t be here for long anyway.

A few moments later, he heard the tap tap of heels and turned to see Celia approaching, a confused, wary look in her eyes.

“Evan,” she greeted. “I wasn’t expecting to see you. I thought you were going back to Seattle. Is anything wrong?”

She’d put her impersonal business face on the moment he looked up. It annoyed him that she was pushing him away, already distancing herself from the weekend they’d shared. It should be him doing the pushing. He should have gotten her out of his system after making love to her more times than he could count.

But he hadn’t, which was why he found himself standing here, trying to come up with an excuse to see her again.

“Nothing’s wrong. My plans changed. I thought we could have lunch. If you’re free, that is.”

She checked her watch, a quick, nervous motion that told him she was merely stalling—and trying to think of an excuse why she couldn’t.