Come Away With Me (The Andrades) (4 page)

I should have let
Ceci come over.

One of his welcome
-home messages had been from his last hookup. She’d thanked him for
the thoughtful gift he’d sent while he was away. He’d have to ask his secretary what it had been. He hoped she’d followed his normal rule of something generous that didn’t promise anything more. The women he dated expected to be pampered, but they knew the score.

Sex
was just sex.

And good sex,
while necessitating the occasional diamond bracelet, did not require emotional investment or the hypocrisy of vows. Marriage might have made sense back when a person’s life expectancy was forty, or when social norms dictated it, but he saw no reason for it in modern society.

Maybe for the sake of children.

But the world was already overpopulated—it could do with a few less of those, too. As his body continued to betray him and throb beneath the sheets, he rolled over again and punched one of his pillows. He didn’t want Ceci; he wanted his little brunette security woman.

What was it about her t
hat made her unforgettable? Was it the way she’d reprimanded him even after she knew who he was, seemingly unimpressed by his title and wealth? He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been so easily dismissed by a woman. She’d seemed more concerned with upsetting Paul than him.

And I’m the one she hit.

That’s probably all this is—a concussion.

If concussions come with the side effect of a raging hard
-on.

His little security guard was beautiful, but beauty was common in his worl
d. She was lean with a killer ass, but those were common traits, too. What had been novel was the way his gut had clenched with excitement whenever their eyes met. He wasn’t an impulsive man, but he’d found himself cornering her, afraid she was an illusion conjured up by his exhaustion—a dream he didn’t want to wake from.

Desire that intense is dangerous.

Complicated.

A weakness
that topples empires.

Something
I thought I was immune to.

I’m being ridiculous.

This is the result of too much work and several weeks of pent-up sexual frustration.

I’l
l call her into my office tomorrow, and in the light of day my cock will see the truth.

She’s just a woman.

Nothing different than any other I’ve known.

Not worth risking anything for.

“Rena, send Julia Bennett up as soon as she gets in.” He hated that he’d started his day unable to concentrate on his email and instead requested information on a woman he’d spent far too much of the night thinking, then dreaming, about.

He wasn’t happy with himself for
succumbing to his curiosity and asking for background checks ASAP on all of the new hires, merely so he could find out more about her. No one needed to know that hers was the only folder he intended to open.

He’d
half hoped to discover something big enough to negate the building anticipation he felt as he counted down the hours until her shift started. Unfortunately, what he’d read had left him more, not less, intrigued by her.

Although she had no experience with security,
her flowered and scented résumé had somehow won over the head of human resources. Julia’s only prior employment had been at her family’s furniture business, where she claimed to have created a jewelry department and listed her skills as: Ask me.

For the third time that day, he opened the small handwritten card that had been paper
-clipped to her résumé. She had warmly thanked the woman she’d interviewed with and written, “I know I’m not the most qualified person for the position, but I can guarantee you that no one wants it more than I do. I will come in early. I will work late. I don’t mind holidays or double shifts. Looking forward to hearing from you. Julia. P.S. I hope you don’t mind that I included a box of peppermint tea. During the interview you expressed that your sinuses were giving you trouble. I had my father overnight my favorite herbal blend. Our family swears by it.”

Since
most of his business was conducted in the field, Gio wasn’t normally concerned with the level of security at his headquarters, but he could see the error in that now. He’d have that unpleasant conversation with his security team later.

For now he replaced the card in Julia’s folder and shook his head.

This isn’t me.

I don’t sit around waiting for any woman.

Certainly not someone who works for me.

But
I need to see her again.

I need
to prove to myself that what I felt last night can’t be repeated.
He hadn’t realized how emotionally closed off he’d become until he’d looked into the eyes of a woman who had made him uncomfortably aware of it. What Julia made him feel was just as unwelcome as the sensation of pins and needles that fills a limb after it’s been temporarily cut off from blood.

And as impossible to dismiss.

He practically jumped out of his chair when he heard a light knock on his door. Not since his first teenage crush could he remember his heart beating so wildly in his chest at the idea of seeing someone again.

Rena
opened the door. “I have the soil analysis you asked me for.” She stepped inside, placing them on his desk. Instead of leaving as she normally did, she hovered. “Are you feeling okay, Gio? Is your head still bothering you? I have some aspirin in my purse if you need it.”

“I’m fine,” Gio ground out. Rubbing a hand over the small red mark on his temple, he added, “Thank you.”

“You asked me to remind you to call Mr. Atwater today. I did earlier, but his secretary called a few minutes ago. She wanted you to know he’s in his office late tonight. I wasn’t sure if that meant you had forgotten. I told her I’d tell you.”

Cursing under his breath, Gio stood. “He can wait. He needs my investment more than I need the opportunity.”

“Yes, sir.” She went halfway to the door and stopped. “Miss Elson called this morning. I told her you were in meetings all day.”

“Good. I
broke it off with her before I left. I hope you sent her nothing more than the usual.”

“
The three-carat ‘thank you now go away’ bracelet that Tiffany’s buys in bulk just for you? Sent it with the usual note,” Rena replied blandly, still remaining in the room. It was times like this when Gio regretted hiring his friend Kane’s sister as his administrative assistant. She was good at her job, but she often felt personally invested in things that were none of her business.

Gio leaned back against his desk and
folded his arms across his chest. “Say it.”

“
Aren’t you getting tired of this cycle? Dating women you don’t care about and then breaking up with them as soon as they get attached to you?”

For a moment
Gio was back in Kane’s house in upstate New York
.
He and Kane had become fast friends in middle school, and their friendship has survived eighteen years and Kane’s inquisitive sister. “I thought you didn’t like her. Want me to call her, give it another shot?”

Rena
rolled her eyes and shuddered. “No. I’m pretty sure she’s a vampire. All that pasty white skin, perfect makeup, and cold hands. I know she’s the face of Umi Cosmetics, but they should let her eat something now and then. Maybe she’d smile.”

Against his will, Gio
chuckled. “She wasn’t that bad.”

“
Not to you.”

Losing some patience with the topic, Gio said, “
I’ll call her. She knows the score, though. I never lied to her.”

“
Lied to who?” Nick Andrade, Gio’s very silent business partner and younger brother, asked as he sauntered into the office in his custom gray Corneliani suit that had never seen the inside of a boardroom. “You broke it off with Miss Cosmetics already? Damn. I’m going to miss her. She was gorgeous.”

Rena made a sound of disgust deep in her chest.
“I don’t know which one of you is worse.”

Nick smiled suggestively and wiggled his eyebrows in the disarming manner that won him more female attention than was good for him. “That’s because you won’t give me a chance to show you how good I really am.”

“It’s a struggle, but I take it one day at a time.” Rena rolled her eyes dramatically. Gio would have told Nick to back off, but the two of them had bantered like that for as long as he could remember. And Nick was smart enough to know that if he ever actually made a play for Rena he wouldn’t live long. Either Gio or Kane would put a quick end to it.

Nick
’s eyes narrowed. “Luckily, I didn’t come here for you. I came to see Gio.”

Years of f
rustration with his brother’s disinterest in the family company surfaced as a barb. “Putting in your one day of work this year? It’s only September.”

Plopping down in
a chair in front of Gio, Nick propped his feet up on the leather antique chair across from him. “I may come to work every day now. I don’t know what I did to deserve it, but I love it, Gio.”

Gio reached down and shoved his brother’s feet
to the floor. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“The Barbie doll of a chauffer you hired for me. She ca
n drive me anywhere. She thought I wanted to come here, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her no, so here I am.” His smile grew wider. “Then I met my swimsuit model of a secretary and I knew it couldn’t be an accident. What do you want, Gio? I’m in. Just tell me I can keep them.”

Gio looked across at
Rena and frowned. “Get rid of them.”

Rena
turned on Nick. “I hope you’re happy. Two very nice women are about to lose their jobs. Why? Because—”

Nick’
s expression darkened. “Because my brother has no sense of humor.”

Gio sighed.
“You don’t have to fire them. Transfer them.”

She nodded, glared at Nick one final time
, and left.

Nick stood. “
You’re always in a bad mood, so this is probably a ridiculous question—but did something happen I should know about?”

The question hit too close to the truth.
In no conceivable scenario would he discuss what was bothering him with his brother, so he chose a topic that needed addressing. “I didn’t close the Westport deal.”

“No?” Nick’s surprise was genuine
. Then he relaxed and said, “I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. You always get what you want.”

Gio returned to his desk and sat. “Not always.
I can’t seem to keep you out of the papers.”

Nick shrugged. “She said they were separated. Her husband only leaked the story because he was caught getting his own on the side.
Does it really matter?”

“Her husband is an old buddy of one of the bidders for
the land lease. He outbid me, just to screw with us. So, yes, it matters. I don’t care if you never sit in a board meeting or answer one goddamn email I send you. You make sure your personal life does not affect this business. Are we clear?”

Nick’s face reddened with anger. “
Crystal. Cogent is all that really matters. It’s all that ever has.”

As the two brothers faced off, Gio
glimpsed the past in his brother’s eyes. Nick never understood the decisions Gio had made for the family. He likely never would.

Nick stood at the door as if he
wanted to say something more, then turned and strode out the office.

Gio let out a long breath.
As children, he and Nick had dreamed of running the family business together. Only two years apart, they’d once been close. He didn’t normally waste time regretting the part he’d played in changing that.

The past was where it belonged.

Dead and gone.

A light knock on the door
broke his thoughts.

“
Miss Bennett is here to see you.”

A few moments earl
ier, as she’d entered the Cogent Building, Julia had smoothed her hands down the tan slacks of her security uniform and struggled to come up with an excuse for her behavior the night before. Her hair was neatly braided. Her makeup was minimal. Hopefully Mr. Andrade would understand that she hadn’t been herself last night.

What do you say to a man you assaulted with a lamp the night before?

You look well, Mr. Andrade.

No,
he’ll think I’m being sarcastic.

Sorry, sir. It was either clock you with a lamp or wrestle you to the floor
, and I was afraid I’d enjoy the latter too much.

No. No. No.

Honesty is not always the best policy.

A small smile pulled at her lips as she remembered how tempted she’d been to run her hands up those fabulous abs and kiss the arrogance right out of him.
She shook her head. Grabbing the lamp in a desperate move, born in the confusion of unexpected passion, was not likely the best excuse to use either.