Ignite Me (A Burning Desire Novel) (24 page)

“You didn’t give me a chance to explain.” His hands fisted
in the armchair, “You were so angry, so disgusted by me, it broke my heart.”

Landon Davis was a man of few words. His eyes usually did
all the talking, or me. Nevertheless, I felt as if every word that came out of
his mouth brought an extra hard squeeze around my broken heart. I felt the
tears pushing up and swallowed.

I was miserable without him; I hated myself for everything
I said to him that day. I wanted to tell him that my jealousy had gotten the
best of me, that it wasn’t about what he did, but whom he did it to.

I didn’t even want to understand the reason behind what he
did in that creepy room. I just wished he’d been honest about it and told me.
He never suggested anything like that to me, and that fact alone, showed how
different our relationship was.

I decided I’d rather hear him out instead of jumping to
the conclusions.

“When I chased after you.” He said gruffly, “You were in a
cab, and by the time Calvin turned back, you had disappeared. I went to the
apartment, and sent Calvin to your office. Brooke had told him that you weren’t
feeling well and headed home. I thought she might have been covering for you
and had him drive her home.”

Picking up his empty glass, he gestured for a refill
behind me, and poured me some wine, “You didn’t go to your apartment, but when
you saw Calvin waiting outside Brooke’s apartment, you called me. You were
drunk, angry, and sobbing. You said that you hated being in love with me, that
it hurt so much that you’d rather be dead and you hung up and switched your
phone off.”

The waitress came back with a fresh glass of scotch and
walked away, he took a long sip. It was getting hard for him. I scarred him… I
scarred the only man I’d ever loved…

The realization made my stomach turn.

“Where are you going with this Landon?” I asked, feeling
unsettled and ashamed of myself.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, “I didn’t mean to make you
uncomfortable.”

I interjected, “It not about that, I mean what’s the point
of you telling me all this, I know I hurt you, I came to apologize and you
threw me out of your office, you didn’t even blink Landon, you didn’t understand
what my anger was really about, and you chose to humiliate me, in front of
her.”

Gathering my hands in his, I didn’t fight him back; I
missed the feel of his hands covering my own, “We didn’t have the choice Clea.”

I shook my head frantically, “That’s bullshit!”

“No, it’s the truth. I didn’t see myself explain to your
friends what was going on, I mean they grew on me, but it was personal and it
was between the two of us.” He paused, “Not to mention, you didn’t go home.”

“I still don’t see your point.” I asserted.

“The initial plan was to pretend that we were breaking up,
and it included one big installment to dupe Audrey. But you were so angry, and
it was clear to me that you didn’t want to talk.”

He moved my hands to cup his cheek, “When Calvin called
the office, and said that you were looking for me, I was the happiest man alive.”

He nuzzled in my palm, sending a shockwave through my body
and breathing the life back into me, “However, Audrey followed with another
menacing call, and Evelyn, who at the time was also angry by what had went down
between us had an alternative.”

When he spoke again, my heart tightened at the roughness
in his voice, “It was the hardest thing I had ever done. I had to do it; I had
to make you believe that it was really over.”

Landon pressed a hard kiss to my wrist.

“When you called Calvin, Eve had me contact Audrey and ask
her to come to the office immediately.”

He inhaled again, “She had this idea that seeing us
breaking up would convince her that she had won, and we could get on with the
rest of the plan.”

I swallowed, “What was the rest of the plan?”

“It’s not important, it’s over now.” He argued.

I closed my eyes, unable to look at him when I asked my
question, “I want to know Landon, did you sleep with her?”

“God, no.” He let out hoarsely, “I just went on a date
with her.”

I shoved to my feet, ready to leave, but he rose to stop
me, “It was a distraction.” He shouted, “I had a private detective, Calvin, and
Zee go to her apartment while we were out. They found all the copies and erased
her hard drive of any other proof.”

“You did?”

He shook his head in affirmation, “It was the only way
Clea. I had to protect my partners. I have more than ten thousand people
working for me, from hotel staff around the world, to the law firm in Chicago,
and now in New York, and The Davis Holdings.”

Falling silent, he swiftly pulled me to him, “But if I had
to choose again, I’d choose you baby, and only you. You are more precious to me
than any of those things, my reputation included.”

He spoke with moving honesty, pressing me so hard that I
felt his muscles tremble while he squirted the life out of me.

He pulled back only to take me in his arms again, “It’s
not over, it never was, and it never will be, you belong to me Clea.
 
We
belong together, baby.”

Crestfallen by his sincerity, I let out a sob against the
silk of his sweat, “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

Wrapping my arms around him, I held him as if holding onto
dear life.

I
was
… he was
my life
…

“It was jealousy.” I admitted truthfully, “What I saw on
that video, the way you touched her, the lust in her eyes. It killed me.”

Stroking my back gently, he shushed me, “I’m sorry you had
to see it; I’d do anything to erase those images.”

He pushed me, his thumbs wiping my tears, “I understand
baby.” He paused for a second, his body tensing, “I would’ve killed any man,
any man who would’ve touched you before me.” He buried his hands in my hair,
shaking, “But it’s not the same, you are all I need Clea, you are the only
woman I have eyes for, and I don’t see that change for the rest of my life.”

Did he…? Did he just suggest that…?

“What you are… What you represent…” He buried my head in
his neck, as if he read my mind.

He probably did…

“It’s more than I could put into words…”

Brushing his cheek against mine, he brought his lips over
mine and breathed the life back in me. My eyes stung with a fresh bout of tears
that mixed with our lushes. His tongue stroked me, renewing our desire,
reigniting the hunger I had for him… The hunger he had for me…

Our tongues twirled in a swift dance, sweet and salted. I
couldn’t get enough of him, sucking his tongue the way I knew he liked. His
fingers fisted in my hair, pulling my scalp to the point of hurt. I didn’t
complain, I cherished how bad he wanted me and responded in kind.

He pulled away, his chest grasping for air, “God… I missed
you your mouth. It was made for me.” He sealed our lips together and renewed our
kiss, just as passionately, with an uncanny fever and greediness.

“Say it.” He demanded cutting out kiss again.

“I love you.” I said without an ounce of hesitation.

“You do?” The rasp in his voice made my core tightened, I
made him doubt my feelings for him, and I couldn’t feel worse about it.

I nodded my eyes stinging again, “I loved you from the
moment I fell into your arms.” I whined past the tears.

“I loved you for the longest time; I looked for you my
whole life Landon. I’m
yours
.” I wiped my wet cheeks, “God knows what
I’ve been through in the past two weeks, without being able to tell you how much
you mean to me, how much my life is void of sense, meaning, and smile without
you. I love you, I can never say it enough, and it doesn’t even seem suitable
to describe the way I feel about you.”

“It’s more than my heart can bear.” I finished, burying my
face in his chest.

Nuzzling in my hair, he inhaled, “Oh, my sweet baby. I’m
so sorry for what I put you through. Let me make it up to you?”

I pulled back with a pout, “How? You can’t give me those
two weeks back, can you?”

Tilting his head to the right, his thumb brushed over my
curled lips, “I can try. They were taken from me too you know?”

Gripping his nape, I guided him to my mouth and sealed our
lips together.

I was alive again.

“I still can’t believe you two eloped without telling
anyone.” Jenna admonished, jumping up and down to reach the bowls of soup.

Simon walked to her, hovering at least one foot over her
tiny silhouette and removed them.

“It was one of those moments.” He declared with a shrug,
“She proposed and I thought ‘it’s now or never’ so I booked the tickets, and we
were at the airport two hours later, and at the chapel seventeen hours after
that.”

“Please say you have pictures.” I returned to Eve. She was
the happiest I had ever seen her since I’d met her.

Scrambling through her purse, she removed her smartphone,
“We do.” She announced handing it to me across the counter.

Landon slid his hand discreetly under my shirt and stroked
my belly, “Thank god for technology.” He chuckled while I shuffled through a
bunch of pictures.

Gasping in my ear, Jenna pulled the phone from my hand,
her tongue hitting the floor, “Where the hell did you find that dress?”

“It’s not a dress; it’s a
Monique Lhuilier
,
nuance.” Eve stated tartly.

“Where the F did you find a Lhuilier in two hours?” She
croaked out of envy. She was also impressed, as was I.

Eve winked at her, “It’s a pièce unique. I got it right
before I proposed.”

I laughed, shaking my head in astonishment, “You bring a
whole new meaning to ‘Powerful Women’.”

“That she does.” Simon gripped her and kissed her cheek.

“More like a ‘Control Freak’.” Jenna mocked getting back
to stir the soup.

“Quit being jealous Jellybean, you’ll get your dream
wedding too.” Brandon walked in and inhaled the mouthwatering scent of the Pita
Rice.

“I don’t want a wedding.” She asserted decisively, “That’s
Clea’s thing.” She breathed out, “I’ll take a dress like that though.”

“And do what? Sleep with it?” He mocked sardonically.

She offered a shrug, “I don’t know. I’ve never been into
it. I’m not a
dream wedding
kind of gal.” She smiled nostalgically, “I
used to envy Clea for her little album; she had the head of Johnny Depp cut
from magazines and pasted next to hers.”

“Jenna!” I squeaked feeling embarrassed.

Ignoring my glare, she continued, “She used to want an
Oscar
De La Renta
, but now she wants a Ryan Finch creation, the one thing she
won’t change is the venue, but I’ll stop talking now.”

“Good idea.” I assessed.

“Hey Clea, your phone is ringing.” Corinne brought me my
phone from the hallway.

I didn’t recognize the number, so I hesitated for a minute
before answering. I thought it might’ve been my mother calling.

“Hello?”

I stiffened to the sound of his voice, “Miss Dane. Amory
Thomson, I hope I’m not disturbing your holiday.”

I cleared my throat and moved from the bar stool, “Mr.
Thomson. No not at all, how can I help you?”

He fell silent for a moment; I turned to find Landon
watching me with a questioning look.

“I was wondering if…” He hesitated for a second, and I
tensed, “I was wondering if perhaps we could meet.” He said to me.

“Why?” I blurted out, “Is there something wrong with the
strategy?” I chose to talk about work, trying my best not to be rude. It was
almost ten o’clock, which meant much later back in New York.

“No, the strategy is excellent. I congratulate you for
your work, and you have Carte Blanche to start working on it.”

His accent might have had a strong effect on Brooke, and
Silver, and Christy. However, it sounded tacky to me; he was an American. Landon
and Alec spent three years in Cambridge; I didn’t see them lose their Chicago
accent for the tongue of the queen.

 
“Thank you. I
will get to work as soon as I’m back in the city.”

“I thought I’d invite you to dinner. I’ve been under the
impression that you were feeling down lately, so I thought I might try and
cheer you up.”

I tensed. He was assuming an intimacy I’d avoided to
establish during every meeting. I clearly failed at making myself clear, but I
couldn’t take the chance on sounding dismissive. He was our biggest client and
I had to create some boundaries.

“Miss Dane?” He brought me out of my thinking.

“Yes. I’m still here. Let me call you as soon as I’m back
and we can have lunch.” I offered. Lunch sounded more appropriate…
professional.

I’d had dinner with him and Brooke a week earlier. I
wasn’t in a good shape, once we’d stopped discussing the work details, I’d
tuned off, thinking about Landon, missing him.

“We’ll do it your way then. When do you intend to be
back?” He inquired.

“Um… In four days.”

“So you’ll be attending your office New Year’s Party?”

It was customary at Bradley & Miller to organize a
party on New Year’s Eve, and to invite their clients. It was going to be my
first one, and we all RSVP’d yes.

“Probably. Yes.”

“Which one is it Miss Dane? Probably or yes?”

I pursed my lips, trying to tone down my growing
frustration, “Yes.” I said.

“Dinner is ready, Clea hang up the phone.” Jenna yelled,
and I loved a little more in that moment.

“I’m sorry, I have to go.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll be waiting for your call. Merry
Christmas Miss Dane.”

“Merry Christmas to you too Mr. Thomson.”

I killed the call and let out a breath.

“Who was that?” Landon put his chin on my shoulder and
kissed my neck. I brought his hands up, placing soft kisses on his palm.