The Executive's Decision (24 page)

He pushed away the robe and his explored her with his hands. His fingertips skimmed her stomach, her sides, and breasts. Beneath his touch, her skin came to life. Blood hummed through her veins as her body heat rose. He pressed his lips to her throat as he cupped her breast in his hand, gently running his thumb over her erect nipple. Regan arched back. When he replaced his hand with his mouth, the very breath from her body released on a sigh.

She tugged the T-shirt free from his jeans and pulled it over his head. His smooth skin molded under her fingers as she traced his long, lean muscles. The sun warmed his back under her fingers.

He unbuttoned his pants and slid them off, returning quickly to her body with his lips, tongue, and touch.

He cupped her hips and pushed her legs apart with his body. Eagerly, she wrapped her legs around him, urging him closer. The thought of making love to a man had never enticed her the way it did now. Every heartbeat was too long to wait to have him inside her, on top of her, to be wrapped in his arms forever.

Then he moved into her.

She arched against him, feeling him slide against her, inside her. His lips skimmed her throat, his hands cupped her breasts, and she felt the warmth of him on her and in her. God, she loved the man.

She felt the roughness of the rock beneath her, on her back through her robe. She clung to Zach tighter, pulling him deeper inside her as he kissed her mouth with a passion that breathed new life into her. Their tongues danced, their teeth scraped, and their hands explored the wonders of one another’s bodies. He trailed his fingertips over her exposed skin, and it tingled as he moved to each new area. Her heart beat rapidly, and she could feel his too as he pressed even closer to her. The sun rose higher in the sky and warmed their bodies as they melted together in unity. Every muscle in her body began to pulse as he moved against her, inside her, and his breath in her ear fed her life as she climbed toward that edge only Zach could drive her to. She held tight to him as he pushed deep inside her, and he moaned against her throat. Together they sighed and rode out the waves of their climax.

He lay heavy atop of her, and silently she willed him never to move.

Zach lifted his face and looked down at her. “I love you.”

“I love you. I want to be with you always.” She nuzzled her face into his neck and lay still, listening to the water move beneath them and the trees rustle in the wind.

Zach tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you all right?”

“Never better.”

He gently brushed her lips with his. “Let’s go in and take another shower.” He smiled. “I have the strangest feeling my mother is going to call.”

Warm water ran over her already sensitive skin as Zach slathered soap over her body. She rested her back against his chest as he massaged soap over her breasts and then slid his hands down her stomach.

Regan turned and lathered her hands with the bar of soap. Slowly, she worked her hands over every inch of Zach’s body, paying special attention to the parts of him begging to be touched. They washed each other, sliding their hands over one another’s bodies, and making love again in the shower.

Zach tied the robe around Regan’s waist. He shook his head and bit down on his bottom lip. “I’ve never done this in my parents’ house.”

Though a surge of hope lit in her, she could hardly believe a man as wealthy and handsome as Zach Benson had never taken advantage of what was at his fingertips to seduce a woman. “Liar.”

“Really. Mom was always home, and we had a staff back then.” The sincerity of his confession and the hours of lovemaking made her warm inside and out. There was a sense of pride in knowing she’d been the first to love Zach in a place that was so special to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I wasn’t allowed any privacy.”

“She knew you were trouble.” She could hear her cell phone beeping. Sighing, she went to find it. Zach’s cell phone beeped too, and he walked to the desk in the corner of the room and opened it. Just as he dialed his voice mail, the house phone rang.

He dove across the bed and picked up the phone, laughing. “I told you. I told you. She knows when someone is messing around on that rock! You know, if I knocked you up, she’d know before I did.”

Regan turned away. She didn’t want him to see that when he talked like that it, tore her apart and reminded her there were so many things she hadn’t been honest with him about.

She heard him answer the phone and turned to watch him. Though he was winded and knew his mother was on the other end of the phone, it didn’t seem to matter to him what she’d think about it.

“Mother, how are you? How is New York?” He tugged at the robe wrapped around Regan and pulled her to the bed. He kissed her lip while covering the phone with his hand. She pushed him back and shook her head. Convincing him to make love on the boulder had turned him into a rebel. He grabbed for the tie on her robe. “I’m sorry I missed your call.”

And then he stopped, sat up, and turned his attention to the conversation with his mother.

“Mother, what’s wrong?” He was on his feet now, and Regan pulled the robe around her and watched his face. The intimacy slid away, as well as his color. “Oh my God.”

He sat back down on the bed and pressed his fingers to his forehead. “Mom, I don’t know what to say.” Regan moved to his side. He shook his head as he listened to his mother. “I’ll make arrangements and be out there in a few hours.”

When Zach finally shifted his eyes to Regan’s, she could see the tears welling up. She reached for his hand. “Mom, I can call Arianna to sit with you.” He gave Regan’s fingers a squeeze, and she began to sob, not even knowing what was being said on the other side of the conversation. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He hung up the phone and sat quietly. Regan didn’t want to ask about the conversation. She’d wait until he could speak.

When he was ready, he looked her in the eye. “My father died.”

His father was gone. The more he said it in his head, the worse it got. Regan pulled him to her, and then he let out his sob. Suddenly he was shaking and tears were streaming. He was a child again, he needed his mother, and his father, and neither were in his grasp.

He pulled away and went for his clothes. “I have to go to New York.”

Regan stood, her shoulders shot back, and her professionalism pushed the sentimental lover aside. “I’ll get arrangements made for you.”

“For us.” He looked at her, pleading. “God, Regan, you have to go with me.”

“Zach…”

“You said on that rock you wanted to be with me always. Well, always is now.” He slipped on his pants and went to her, taking her hands. “Please, my mother and I both need your cool head and way of thinking. You’re part of our family. I want you with me.”

She nodded. “Should I call Arianna?”

“She was with them when he died.”

Regan’s eyes widened and her eyebrows rose. He thought about the conversation with his mother and rubbed away the pain forming behind his forehead. “They’d met for brunch. They were laughing over mimosas and eggs Benedict. She and mom had hit it off. They were going to go shopping later. And then…” The words lodged in his chest. “He had a heart attack at the restaurant.”

She raised her hand to her mouth. Tears streamed as freely from her eyes as they did from his own. He said took her face in his hands and wiped the wet trails away with his thumbs. “Regan, I need you. We are a family. My family and yours are already intertwined.”

“Zach, what are you talking about?”

“You’re always here when I need you most. Arianna was there for my mother. Carlos works for me and takes care of you. My mother and Curtis work together with the hospital bettering life for others. Our lives are knotted together.” He took a step back and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m not proposing. That would be so uncalled for at this moment.” He took a deep breath to try and separate the jumbled thoughts that clouded his mind. “But I feel closer to you than I ever have, and closer to you at this moment than I have been to anyone. I want us to make a life and a home together. I want you to think about it.” He pulled his shirt on. “I need you,” he said once more before he walked out of the room, praying she needed him too.

Regan arranged their flight from Tyler’s office. She booked a direct flight into New York City and arranged for a car to pick them up. She’d phoned the hospital, and Zach received the status on his father’s body and was able to make arrangements to claim him and fly him back with them.

Zach knew where his father kept the important papers, and he opened the safe in the wall and handed them to Regan. Her breath caught as he entrusted her with the information and walked out of the office.

In her hands, she held Tyler’s personal plans for being laid to rest. He’d thought of everything, but having had previous brushes with death, she assumed, you’d think of those things. Her cheek throbbed, reminding her that she too had had a few too many brushes with death. It wasn’t something she even wanted to think about, but as she heard Zach move about the house packing for a trip he’d never wanted to take, she knew she’d better think about such things for herself. After all, she had a man who wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

As Zach finished packing his things, she looked over Tyler’s papers and made a list of people she would call on his mother’s behalf, if Audrey would allow it. If she could help it, she wouldn’t let Audrey touch any of the specifics, unless she wanted to. Something told Regan she would want to mourn her husband and would be grateful for her help.

Being Zachary Benson’s executive assistant had taken on greater meaning as she made the few first phone calls to the mortuary. Giving the woman on the other end of the phone the information she had made her feel like less like an employee and more like a wife. It was a warm feeling at such a cold time.

Zach set his suitcase by the door of the office and looked at her. His eyes were hollow and his color pale. But as she discussed arrangements with the woman on the other end of the phone, a weak smile surfaced on Zach’s lips. An appreciative smile. It was something no other man had made her realize before. He appreciated her for more than her organizational skills. He did need her, and she needed him.

At that very moment, she knew she was his forever.

Zach and Regan headed to Regan’s house so she could pack her things. He drove faster than usual, and every thought he’d ever had regarding his father raced through his head. No matter how much he’d thought about his father’s health in the past, and the times Dad had scared them with past heart attacks, Zach wasn’t prepared to deal with his death.

Carlos met them at the door. Before he pulled his sister to him, he scanned a look over her. The cuts and bruises from her attack had settled in, and she looked worse than she had.

Carlos’s lips grew thin and his eyes hard, but silently, Regan shook her head and his demeanor softened. He kissed his sister and then moved her aside and hugged Zach.

He would have expected a handshake. A slap on the back even. But the hug set him off balance.

“Zach, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for your loss.” Carlos pulled back and looked at them both. “Arianna called this morning.” Zach nodded as Carlos stepped back. “If I can do anything, anything at all, please let me know.”

“I appreciate that.” Having someone there who would always catch your back, as a brother would, wasn’t something he’d ever known. He’d had dear friends and employees that would be loyal to him, but Carlos wasn’t acting on behalf of his boss. This was a brotherly offer, and it gave him warmth he’d never experienced.

Regan started up the stairs. “I have to pack. Our flight leaves in two hours.”

“Do you need a ride?”

Zach shook his head. “No, we have my car.”