"And that is?"
"I can"t look at you without wanting to kiss you and make love to you. I want to strip you naked and take out all my frustrations over your actions on your lovely body."
"s.e.xual revenge?" she asked. His words thrilled her, sent molten heat pooling between her legs and made her nipples hard. She"d be lying if she said she didn"t want Cam. That he wasn"t the only man she thought of night and day.
"Yes," he said.
She shook her head. "Would you forgive me if I gave in?"
"I don"t know. I think so."
She didn"t know if she could do what he was asking. Being in his arms was one thing; knowing he wanted her just as some sort of way of getting back at her...well that wasn"t exactly what she was into.
"Think about this," he said, lowering his head. His mouth took hers slowly and gently. She felt the warmth of his breath over her lips and then the first foray of his tongue rubbing over hers. His hand tightened on her waist and the other one went up to the back of her neck.
His fingers tunneled through her hair, and he held her head firmly in his grip as they continued to kiss. She wanted to think that this wasn"t making her agree with his idea, but it was. It reminded her of how long it had been since she"d had a lover. And she wanted him; she wanted release.
She put her hands on his shoulders and slid them down his arms. He was strong and muscled, and she liked the way he felt under her touch. She continued touching him, finding his belt with her fingers and caressing her way along the edge of his waist to the center of his pants and the belt buckle. She tiptoed her fingers lower until she felt the hard ridge of his erection. She rubbed him through his pants, up and down until his hips canted toward hers.
He lifted his head and stared down at her. His eyes narrowed, and the flush of desire burnished his cheeks.
"Let me know what you decide," he said and walked back to his seat.
Becca stood there aching, wanting, and realized that Cam was still angry at her. She slowly walked to her seat and sat down, taking a magazine out of her bag. She flipped through it but didn"t see the pictures or articles on the pages. She only saw herself and Cam, and she knew that if they were going to have a chance at a future together, one of them was going to have to bend. Was it going to be her? She wanted so badly for Ty to have everything she never had, and that included the family of her dreams. One with Cam.
Five.
They arrived at Cam"s house safely in the early evening. The drive was quick. The estate sat back from the road at the end of the palm-tree-lined drive. The yard was lusciously landscaped with blooming trees and perfectly mowed emerald-green lawns. The building itself was something out of a design magazine, and made Becca feel a bit like she had when she"d met Amelia. Out of place. She liked it, but it didn"t look like somewhere she would live.
As she went in, she glanced around the high-ceilinged arched entryway and let out a low whistle between her teeth.
"Nice digs."
"Thanks," he said. She"d put Ty down, and he was crawling toward the living-room area. "I will show you both to your rooms."
The little boy toddled over and tugged on his pant leg as he had earlier, and this time, Cam bent down and picked him up.
"h.e.l.lo, there," he said to Ty.
"Hi," Ty said before putting his thumb in this mouth. He shook his head; Nate used to do the same thing when he was little. Cam"s memory of that time was a little fuzzy, but this boy reminded him very strongly of his brother.
"How am I going to convince your mommy to just do what I want her to?" he asked Ty.
"Coffee," Ty said.
Cam lifted one eyebrow at the boy. Did he even understand what was being said? Cam suspected he did to a certain extent, but having a conversation with an eighteen-month-old wasn"t going to give him any answers to Becca.
The boy held on to his shoulders as Cam turned to face Becca. There was something sweet about holding a baby-his son.
"I"ll take him."
She held her arms out, but Ty didn"t make any move to go to her. "Ty."
The boy took his thumb out of his mouth. "I like the man."
"I"m glad," she said, taking him from Cam and putting her son on a blanket where she"d laid out a couple of toys. She took Cam"s hand and led the way to the hallway where they could still see Ty but he couldn"t see them. "I...I wanted to talk to you."
"What about?"
"I..."
"Stop hesitating. You are a woman who knows her mind," he said.
"You have shaken me. I didn"t expect to see you or tell you about Ty. Not like that. And then you kissed me and got me all hot and bothered but you want to make it about revenge and I"m not sure that"s healthy for me."
"I think it would be excellent for me," he said. "But I am willing to talk to you about this. I"m still so angry, Becca."
"I get that. But we need-"
She glanced over at her son. And he saw the biggest change in Becca compared to the woman she was over two years ago. She had someone else to worry about when she made decisions.
"Is it because of the paternity suit that you"re so bitter?" she asked.
"Not at all. I"m mad at you and you alone, Becca," he said. "You owe me an apology after the secret you kept from me. But if you choose to beg forgiveness in my bed, I won"t complain."
She nodded. It was a moment of truth for them both. The chances of them changing each other"s minds and actually getting to the point where they could trust each other were slim. He wasn"t going to deny it.
"Don"t judge me too harshly. I never knew my father. He left before I was born," she said.
"I"m sorry. My dad was the greatest influence on my life. My mother wasn"t very maternal, but my dad...I think you missed something really important there, Becca."
"I know I did. And I don"t want Ty to grow up the same way," she admitted.
"I"m not making any promises," Cam said. "But you and I had something electric and I think it"s time we explored it more fully."
His phone rang.
"Stern."
"Cam, it"s Nate. I"m glad you are back because we have an emergency at the club. Some of the local leaders are raising a stink about the Mercado again. Can you get down here and handle it? I"m supposed to be upstairs with Jen practicing a waltz for our first dance for the wedding."
Jen was Nate"s fiancee. Cam"s little brother had fallen in love with the dance instructor at Luna Azul, and they were planning a wedding in less than a week"s time. Love had hit Nate hard and Cam had a little bit of trouble believing it. But his brother had never been happier and Cam wished him the best.
"I"m on it. You go do your dancing thing. I"ll be there in less than thirty minutes."
"Thanks, bro, you"re the best. I want to hear all about the trip."
"I"ll be happy to tell you about it later. Bye, Nate."
He turned to Becca. "I"m needed at the club. We can continue this discussion later."
"It"s fine."
"Good," he said. "Becca, I know I said I"d put Ty first...not be a workaholic, but this is an emergency."
"I get that, Cam, but you said that family was important and we"ve just gotten to your house."
"In the future, I will be here more often. This is an emergency."
"Okay, but I"m not going to let you do it too often," she said, relenting.
He tipped his head to the side. He was still angry she hadn"t told him about Ty, but he could see that she wasn"t going to be resentful toward him about his work. "Thank you."
She just nodded. He pulled her into his arms.
She flushed and felt the stirring of desire deep inside her. She put her hands on his shoulders, then wrapped her arms around his neck. She lifted herself toward him. He rubbed his hands down her back, cupping her b.u.t.t and bringing her closer to him.
She felt his erection nudging at the bottom of her stomach and looked up at him. It was a powerful feeling to know that she could make Cam react.
She leaned up to kiss him, but he controlled the embrace. His mouth moved over hers, and no matter how hard she tried to deepen the connection he wouldn"t let her.
"Kiss me," Cam said.
She shook her head. "I want you to kiss me. I want to know that there is still a spark of something that"s not motivated by your need for vengeance."
"Not yet," he said, rubbing his lips lightly over hers. "I want to make sure you really want me-and not just to get me to forgive you. You do want me, don"t you, Becca?"
"I do," she said. "My entire body is vibrating waiting for your kiss. I hate to admit this but I"ve thought of you and our time together often in the last two years."
"Why do you hate to admit it?" he asked, stroking his thumb back and forth over the base of her neck.
"I think it makes me seem weak and gives you an advantage over me," she admitted.
He cupped her face with his big hands and leaned forward to kiss her so tenderly that she almost melted on the spot. Her knees weakened and her heart beat even harder in her chest.
"I will take any advantage I can get," he said.
He angled his head to the left and kissed her again. This time it was more pa.s.sionate. He thrust his tongue deeply into her mouth. She shifted in his arms, holding on to his shoulders as he ravaged her mouth.
She wanted more from him. His tongue couldn"t touch her deeply enough. She was aching for his weight to be more solidly against her. For his erection to be pressed against the apex of her thighs where she was so empty and needy. Her dreams of Cam had fed her libido for the entire time she"d been pregnant, when her hormones had been out of whack and she"d needed a man.
Now Cam was here and this was everything she remembered. The feel of him pressed up against her made her desire him even more. She wanted to touch his flesh, not feel him through his clothing. He shifted around until the wall was pressed against her back and he was pressed against her front. She lifted one leg and wrapped it around his hips.
He moaned and thrust his hips toward her. He rubbed himself along her pleasure spot until she thought she"d go insane from longing. She tunneled her fingers into his hair and held him to her as his mouth continued to taste hers.
He pulled back, breathing heavily. "I have to go," Cam said. His skin was flushed with desire, and she knew that leaving was the last thought on his mind.
She nodded and turned around to go get Ty. When she brought him back, Cam gave Ty a kiss on the head. His hands brushed Becca"s and their eyes met. She said nothing as he walked down the hall and out the door.
Ty was the one man she could trust in her life. It was something she"d do well to remember; otherwise she was going to end up letting Cam Stern break her heart again.
Cam drove through the rush-hour traffic in Miami. He"d taken his new Tesla sports car and wanted to let the car run full out but knew better. He was the responsible Stern, the one who kept his own wants and desires well-hidden from the world, and he sure as h.e.l.l wasn"t going to let Becca change that.
He realized this wasn"t the kind of car a family man should have. h.e.l.l. He was a dad. He"d had no way of planning for this. It was the one eventuality he hadn"t hadn"t planned for. He knew he could do it-he"d raised his brothers and given them a secure platform to launch from when their parents had died. planned for. He knew he could do it-he"d raised his brothers and given them a secure platform to launch from when their parents had died.
He"d do it for Ty. He knew he could be a good dad. But he had no idea what to do with Becca. She was the fly in the ointment of his plans for the future.
There was no discounting the s.e.xual attraction between them, and he wished he could honestly say that he only wanted her in his bed...but he knew that he wanted her in his life. He really liked her as a mom. He knew that there were women who loved their children and would put them first. But this was the first time he"d actually encountered one. Then again, Becca had always been different. When their affair had ended, he"d felt her absence in his life. He"d wanted to somehow reconnect with her but...had been afraid of an emotional commitment. That had come back to bite him in the a.s.s-now he had a son and a woman he wasn"t sure what to do with in his life.
He pulled into the parking lot at Luna Azul and got out of the car. He walked toward the building and felt that sense of home he so often experience here. This was the place he"d poured all of his dreams and desires into. And the club had taken off. It was more than he and his brothers had ever expected it to be.
Luna Azul was in the heart of Little Havana right off Calle Ocho. It had been a cigar factory in its heyday but had closed and fallen into disrepair when Cam had found it and purchased it for a very good price. He"d decided to make it the premiere club in Miami and had done just that, transforming the former cigar factory"s entryway with a Chihuly gla.s.s sculpture installation of the night sky showing two moons-a blue moon. And then decking out the rest of the club all in dark Latin tones. Upstairs there was a rooftop club that echoed the streets of Havana back in their pre-Castro glory days.
Now he knew he had to find something else to pour his energy into and Justin had suggested a club in Manhattan. Nate liked the idea because the A-listers there were more accessible than other areas of the country, but Nate had said he"d make it work wherever they wanted to open their new club. He had to think through he details, and he would need to start putting together a team to bring the project to life. They"d all agreed that another Luna Azul wasn"t exactly what they wanted. They needed to make that club unique from the one in Miami.
Opening a club was time-consuming, which was why he"d always been into short-term affairs. He"d had to raise his brothers and he hadn"t had for another emotional commitment.
"You look very serious, bro," Nate said, coming up behind him and patting him on the shoulder. "Don"t worry. I calmed down the local leaders over the latest Mercado drama. We have a meeting set for tomorrow."
Cam turned and gave his brother a quick hug. "I"m glad. I"m thinking about the new club idea."
"Good," Nate said. His brother looked like he"d stepped off the pages of GQ GQ magazine, which was why he was the public face of the company, the one who always showed up in the tabloid gossip columns. "What are your thoughts?" magazine, which was why he was the public face of the company, the one who always showed up in the tabloid gossip columns. "What are your thoughts?"
His ideas were rough, but they were starting to take form. He needed something different. The club scene in New York was just as compet.i.tive as in Miami, maybe even more so, and they"d need to be different to stand out.
"That we need something to reflect whatever community we are a part of up there. I was hoping to do something in Spanish Harlem."
"Really? Tell me more."
They"d played a key role in revitalizing the stylized Little Havana area here in Miami, and he was pretty sure they could do the same thing in New York. They just had to have the right idea.
"I know. I was thinking a retro-styled club that captures the glory of the old days. It might fit the city better than a Luna II-type deal."
Nate rubbed the back of his neck. "I like the idea, but it"s really different from what we"ve done before. That will mean a new design team and everything. I think we should stick to doing what we do best and that"s a Little Havana-style club."
"I have the perfect designer in mind for this new project. In fact, she"s going to do the interiors on all the redesigns of the shops in the Mercado."
"Of course you know the perfect person. Cam, when are you going to realize that life isn"t perfect? You always have every angle covered," Nate said.