Between the CEO's Sheets / House Calls

Between the CEO’s Sheets by Charlene Sands

“Are you in, or am I going it alone tomorrow?”

Gina made a split-second decision. She needed this job. “I’m in. Under one condition.”

Wade narrowed his eyes. “I don’t usually – ”

“We keep it strictly business. Agreed?”

Wade’s lips thinned, but Gina stood her ground and kept her focus on his unflinching face.

Finally Wade nodded. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”

Great, she thought ruefully. Wade hadn’t agreed to her terms at all.

House Calls by Michelle Celmer

What man in his right mind would pass up a few months alone with a woman like Maggie?

The kind of man who knew that she deserved better – that she would expect it. To her, he was just another damaged human being she could fix.

But this wasn’t about her. It was about him, and as much as he would have liked to deny it, he wanted his life back. If he did go, and failed, he’d be no worse off than he’d been before. With her help, he’d at least have a chance.

“If you say no, I’ll have to reduce myself to kidnapping. You don’t want me to commit a felony, do you?”

An honest-to-goodness chuckle rose in his chest and it felt…good. It had been a long time since anyone had made him feel this way. “You win. When do we leave?”

Between the CEO’s Sheets

CHARLENE SANDS

House Calls

MICHELLE CELMER

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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BETWEEN THE CEO’S SHEETS

by

Charlene Sands

Dear Reader,

I’ve always wanted to write a story set on an island. What better place to put Wade and Gina than in a resort I’ve visited dozens of times during my life, Santa Catalina Island! I’d ride the express boat to make the twenty-two-mile journey from Los Angeles to dock at Avalon Bay, the crescent-shaped harbour that was once a pirate’s hideaway.

And to make the story complete, I was fortunate to tap into the expertise of my lifelong friends Allyson and Ross Pearlman, owners of the real catamaran yacht, Between The Sheets. I thank them for their sailing tips, the inspiration for the title (I stole it!) and those wonderful times on the water. Thanks to them I had an easy time sending Wade and Gina off on their romantic and rocky adventure!

Sincerely,

Charlene Sands

CHARLENE SANDS

resides in Southern California with her husband and best friend, Don. Proudly, they boast that their children, Jason and Nikki, have earned their college degrees. The empty nesters now have two cats that have taken over the house. Charlene’s love of the American West, both present and past, stems from storytelling days with her imaginative father, which sparked a passion for a good story and her desire to write romance. When not writing, she enjoys sunny California days, Pacific beaches, and sitting down with a good book.

Charlene invites you to visit her website at www. charlenesands.com to enter her contests, stop by for a chat, read her blog and see what’s new! E-mail her at charlenesands@hotmail.com.

To my husband, Don, sole owner of my heart.

And to Jason and Nikki, our wonderful children

who always make us proud.

One

It was the last place Gina Grady wanted to be.

But desperation was an unwelcome persuasion. And Gina was just that: desperate. Her pride and determination also played in the mix.

She needed this job.

She needed to stay in L.A.

Gina was ushered into an empty office. “Mr. Beaumont will be right with you,” Mrs. Danner from Human Resources announced before exiting the office, leaving Gina alone with her thoughts.

She walked over to the massive floor-to-ceiling window and took in the view from the twelfth floor of the trendy Santa Monica high-rise, praying the interview would go well. She shouldn’t be so worried. Sam Beaumont had been her friend once. He’d always been kind. Yet, having to take him up on his offer of a job at the Triple B ranked with her top-ten most desperate acts of survival. The Beaumont name alone caused her insides to quake and she wondered at her own sanity in coming. However, it wasn’t Sam but his younger brother, Wade, she hoped never to cross paths with again.

The Pacific Ocean loomed on the horizon, the pounding blue surf and white caps filling the view. She shuddered at the sight, and shook off her thoughts of Wade. She had enough to worry about without letting old fears get the better of her today.

She owed money to a whole lot of people and they didn’t give a damn that she’d been swindled by a con man she had once trusted as her partner. GiGi Designs, the company she’d struggled to conceive hadn’t been given a chance. Her lifelong dream had been destroyed in the blink of an eye. All that she’d worked so hard for had come crumbling down around her.

Now Gina was even more determined to rebuild her clothing design business—from the ground up, if need be.

But first, she needed to pay off her debts.

Gina tidied her long dark hair, making sure it hadn’t fallen from the tight knot at the back of her head, straightened her black pinstriped suit and took a seat in front of the massive oak desk, setting her black knockoff Gucci handbag on her lap. She waited for Sam to enter his office.

She closed her eyes to steady her wayward nerves. Calmer, she took a deep breath before opening them again. But when she glanced down, she simply stared in disbelief at the nameplate outlined in solid brass on the desk:

Wade Beaumont, CEO.

“No!” Her heart thudding against her chest, she rose abruptly. She couldn’t bear to see Wade again, much less work for him. She couldn’t possibly swallow that much pride. She set her purse strap on her shoulder and turned to leave.

“Running away again, Gina?”

Stunned, Gina stopped abruptly and stared into the dark-green eyes of Wade Beaumont. His head cocked to one side, he was leaning against the door where she’d hoped to make her escape. He stared back at her, his lips curled into a mocking smile. “You do that so well.”

Gina kept her head held high and tried to appear calm while her insides quivered uncontrollably. She’d foolishly hoped that Wade had nothing to do with Triple B, but now she’d seen the folly in that.

But she couldn’t deny how handsome Wade was, standing there in a pair of black trousers and a crisp white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked older, more mature and those bold green eyes—she’d never forget the way they use to soften when he looked at her. Or the way his strong body felt crushed up against hers.

Or the day, nine years ago, when she’d run away from him.

“I…this is a mistake. I shouldn’t have come,” she said on a breath.

Wade ignored her comment. “You applied for a job.”

“Yes, I, um assumed Sam would be running your father’s company.”

“Ah, so you didn’t think you’d find me here?”

Gina bolstered her courage as she recalled Wade’s onetime contempt for the company his father seemed to love more than his own two sons. Triple B was all Blake Beaumont had ever cared about. When she’d known him back in El Paso, she’d understood Wade’s retreat from both the company and his father. She’d never have guessed that he would be at the helm now. Never. “No, I didn’t actually. As I said, this is a mistake.”

Gina watched his mouth twitch. He walked around his desk and picked up her resume, reading it over carefully.

“I run Triple B now from the West Coast. My father’s dead and my brother’s remarried and living in Texas. The company fell into my hands some time ago.” He stared directly into her eyes. “I suppose you thought I’d work all my life on Uncle Lee’s ranch or wind up with a small place of my own back in El Paso?”

“Actually, I hadn’t given it much thought,” Gina said truthfully. She had thought of Wade countless times in the past—dreamed of him and wondered how his life had turned out—but she never cared what he did for a living. It had never mattered to her.

She’d met Wade while living with the Buckleys in El Paso for the summer. Sarah, her college roommate, had been there for her after her parents had died in a boating accident. Gina had been on the boat, narrowly escaping death that day. Sarah had seen to the funeral, making all the arrangements. She’d held Gina tight, when the caskets were lowered into the ground. And after, when Gina had been uncertain of her future, Sarah had taken her home to El Paso.

The Buckleys’ place neighbored Wade’s uncle’s ranch and the four of them—Sam, Wade, Sarah and Gina—had been inseparable. She came to depend on their friendship and slowly began to heal from her terrible loss, until the day when her world had come crashing down upon her once again.

And now, Wade sat down at his desk and leaned back studying her, his eyes raking her over. She felt exposed and vulnerable, yet unable to draw herself away from his intense scrutiny.

“You hadn’t thought about me? Of course, why would you? My father took care of that, didn’t he?” He gestured for her to sit down, not expecting an answer. “Take a seat. We’ll do this interview.”

“No, I—I don’t think that would be a good idea, Wade.”

“I thought you needed a job?” he said, narrowing his eyes on her.

“I do need a job.” She directed her gaze to his without apology. “Just not this one.”

He looked down at her resume. “You’re more than qualified.”

Gina’s legs wobbled, so she decided to take a seat, at least for the moment.

“You’ve got a degree in business. And then you went on to the Fashion Institute. Did my father’s money finance that?”

He asked that question so casually that Gina had to rewind his words in her mind to make sure she’d heard him correctly. Wade believed that she’d taken his father’s bribe—dirty money that she’d never wanted—to stay away from him.

He believed it because she’d never denied it. She’d let him think that she’d been enticed by a large sum of money to leave El Paso.

But that hadn’t been the case at all.

She’d run out on Wade for an entirely different reason. And to have Wade believe she’d accepted his father’s bribery had guaranteed that he wouldn’t come after her.

She’d hated what he’d done to her.

Hated the high and mighty Blake Beaumont even more.

But if given the choice all over again, Gina wouldn’t have changed anything about that summer. Except the night that they made love. Though the sweet memories of the intense passion they shared were always with her, she wished she could take that night back.

Slinging her purse on her shoulder and holding her anger in check, she stood to leave. “I’m sorry,” she said, and his dark brows lifted, lining his forehead. “For wasting your time.”

Wade stood and glared at her. “You didn’t. You’re hired.”

* * *

Wade watched Gina blink her gorgeous espresso eyes. Nine years had only added to her sultry beauty and it angered him that she could still make his heart race. All Wade had to do was look into those dark, deceitful eyes and admire that voluptuous body and he had trouble remembering the pain she’d caused him. He’d taken her virginity and it had been the highest of highs, claiming her as his own.

She’d run out on him then, leaving town, without so much as a goodbye. She’d gotten what she’d wanted—a load of money from his manipulative father. But if money had been her goal she should have waited. No longer the poor young man working on his uncle’s ranch, Wade was floating in cash. But she’d been bought off long ago and had caused Wade enough steaming heartache to fill a Mississippi riverboat.

Gina straightened her pinstriped suit, her chest heaving, the structured material unable to hide the fullness of her breasts. Wade looked his fill, watching the rise and fall as she tried to hide her hot Irish-Italian temper.

Rosy-lipped, with a full flush of color on her light-olive skin, Gina was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. From the moment she’d shown up in Aunt Dottie’s kitchen with an offering of fresh Italian bread and homemade pasta sauce, Wade had been a goner. She’d knocked him to his knees.

“No. But thank you.”

She spoke the words carefully and instincts told Wade that she’d been tempted to take the job. Hell, one look at her and he knew he couldn’t let her walk out of his office. Not until they finished what they’d started nine years ago.

“There’s a big bonus involved,” he said, catching her attention. Her brows lifted provocatively. He shrugged. “I’m in a bind. My personal assistant chose last month to get pregnant. She’s down with acute morning sickness and took disability leave. The other qualified assistants are busy with their own projects.”

“How big a bonus?” she asked. Wade knew he’d gotten her attention once again. Money, it seemed, spoke volumes with her. Why was he disappointed? He’d known the sort of woman she was, but he had to admit that back in his youth, she sure had him fooled. “It’s a thousand dollars a week to start and once the project is settled, win or lose, you get a ten-thousand-dollar bonus. But I’ll warn you, you’ll be working long hours. Take it or leave it, Gina.”

He could almost see her mind working, calculating, figuring. She must need a job badly. Wade had the upper hand and he knew it. She was tempted.

He sat down at his desk and rifled through papers, coming up with information on the Catalina project. He had figures to check and hours of work to do before making a bid on the biggest contract Triple B might hope to gain.

He felt her presence, breathed in the heady scent of her exotic perfume. His better judgment told him to let her go. He’d be better off not complicating his life by choosing to work alongside the only woman he knew who could turn him on with just one look. He’d had to sit down to conceal an unwelcome yet healthy erection that pulsed from underneath the desk.

He must be crazy.

“I must be crazy, but I accept,” she said softly.

Wade lifted his head and nodded, more satisfied than he wanted to be. “I expect a decent hard day’s work from my employees. If you can manage that, you’ve got the job.”

Her chin jutted up. “I can manage that. I always give one hundred percent.”

Wade’s mind drifted back to his uncle’s barn that night so many years ago. She’d given one hundred percent of herself to him, generously offering up her body with passion and pleasure, but it had all been a trap.

This time, he’d have to be more careful.

“I’ll pick you up later this afternoon. Oh, and dress comfortably. We’ll be working at my home through the evening.”

Gina recalled Wade’s instructions and wondered at her sanity. She would never have taken this job if the compensation hadn’t been so tempting. She had debtors knocking on her door and that big bonus Wade had offered would surely keep them happy for a while.

She’d changed her clothes three times before settling on a pair of white slacks and a soft-pink knit top. She brought the whole outfit together with a matching short sweater. Comfortable, but still a professional enough look for a woman about to embark on a new job with an old lover.

Gina shook her head. She still had trouble believing she would be working with Wade Beaumont after all these years. He resented her. She’d seen it in his eyes each time he glanced at her. No amount of Beaumont charm could conceal that look.

Gina lifted her briefcase filled with documents that Wade had asked her to review this afternoon. She glanced around the tiny guest apartment she lived in behind the large Spanish-style house in the Hollywood Hills. Once Wade saw where and how she lived, he would realize how desperate she’d been for this job. It was a tidy place with three rooms: a small cozy living space with one sofa, a kitchen that amounted to one wall of the living room with a range, a refrigerator and a café table for two, and a bedroom beyond that.

Her apartment suited her needs. She’d had to downsize everything in her life since Mike Bailey had betrayed her. They’d dreamed the same dreams, or so she had thought, and had gone into partnership together. The day GiGi Designs was born was the happiest day in Gina’s life. The day she found out he’d absconded with all of her money and designs only compared with the day she’d had to leave El Paso and Wade Beaumont forever. She’d been heartbroken on both accounts.

Gina sighed and walked out the door, deciding to meet Wade out front. Not a minute later, he drove up in a shining black Lexus convertible. She watched him get out and approach her, his eyes focused on her clothes and she wondered if he approved of her choice of attire. Though not one of her original designs, she always chose her outfits carefully. When the door of the main house slammed, Gina turned her head to find the owner locking up.

“Hey there, Gina. Are you going out?” Marcus’s eyes narrowed on Wade and she couldn’t help but laugh. Her handsome fifty-something landlord was always watching out for her.

“Yes, but it’s business. I have a new job.”

“Ah. Well then, good luck.” He headed for his car in the driveway.

“Ciao, Marcus. See you tomorrow.”

When Gina turned back around, Wade’s intense-green eyes burned into hers. “Do you live with him?”

Gina blinked away her anger. Wade had no right to ask her personal questions. She wondered why it mattered, anyway. He had nothing but contempt for her. “No. I don’t live with him. I live in the guesthouse in the back.”

Wade’s mouth twitched. “How convenient.” He put his hand to her lower back and ushered her inside his car. She took her seat and adjusted the seatbelt as Wade started the ignition. He took one last look at the house and gunned the engine. They drove in silence for a while, until he asked, “Is that guy married?”

Gina leaned her head back against the seat and smiled inwardly. Marcus and Delia had the kind of marriage her parent’s had had. That kind of love and commitment was rare and it saddened Gina to think that her parents’ love had been cut short by a freakish accident. “Yes, happily.”

“He’s your landlord?”

“My landlord and a very dear friend.”

Wade shot her another glance, this time with a dubious look in his eyes. Gina let the subject drop and stared out the window, her eyes focused on the mountain on one side of the road rather than the blue ocean waters on the other. As Wade drove down Pacific Coast Highway, the wind blew her long hair out of its tight knot.

Ten minutes later and completely wind-blown, Gina was pinning her hair back up, noting Wade’s eyes on her as he killed the engine. She marveled at the impressive two-story house that sat on a strip of beach in the Malibu Colony. Wade hopped out of the car and came around to open her door. She stood and looked around for a moment, her gaze traveling past the house to the surging surf and then beyond to the stunning western horizon. “All of this is yours?”

Wade grabbed her briefcase from the car then nodded, staring directly into her eyes. “It’s mine.” She shivered from the cold assessing look he cast her; a look that said, “It could have been yours, too.”

Or maybe Gina had imagined that. It had been nine long years and surely Wade hadn’t brooded over her too long. Handsome and successful, Wade wouldn’t have to look far for female companionship. He had all the markings of a man used to getting his way with women and with life in general.

Gina followed Wade through the front door and into a large vestibule. From there it seemed that she could almost touch the pounding surf as the shore came into view with brilliant clarity through enormous windows. “Take a look around,” he said without ceremony. “I’m going up to take a quick shower.”

Gina watched him toss both of their briefcases down onto a soft moss-green L-shaped sofa before disappearing up a winding staircase. She felt safest standing there waiting in the safety of the living room, but curiosity forced her to walk through the French doors that led onto a sweeping veranda overlooking the ocean. Wade seemed to have all things necessary for the life of a single man; a hot tub surrounded by a cocktail bar sat in one corner of the deck while a fire pit took up the other corner. In the middle of the deck, patio tables and chairs were arranged to enjoy the view of waves crashing into the sand.

Gina walked to the wooden railing and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath she tried to calm her jittery nerves, but the combination of deep waters and Wade was too much for her.

Wade approached with two glasses of white wine. He handed her one. “To unwind.”

Gina accepted the glass, grateful for the fortitude, and both of them stood leaning on the railing, gazing out. “It looks peaceful here.”

Wade sipped his wine. “Looks can be deceiving.”

That’s exactly what Gina thought, but she was thinking of the deceptive calm of the uncompromising sea. She was certain Wade meant something altogether different.

Rather than stare at the ocean, she shifted slightly so that she could consider Wade Beaumont. His dark hair, still damp from the shower, was slicked back and tiny drops of water glistened on his neck. Late afternoon sunlight revealed a gleam in his eyes and highlighted high cheekbones leading to a beautiful mouth and the masculine line of his jaw. He had changed into a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a black polo shirt. Tan and trim with broad shoulders, his shirt couldn’t hide the strength of his powerfully built chest.

Now, as in the past, Gina had trouble keeping her eyes off of Wade. He affected her like no other man ever had. Her heart pumped twice as hard when he looked at her and an unwelcome tremble stirred her body when he came near. In those clothes, he reminded her of the man she’d once known during a time in her life when she could enjoy carefree days and hot summer nights.

Gina took small sips of her wine. She wasn’t much of a drinker and needed to remain in control. She couldn’t afford any more slipups.

“Only one more sip,” she said, “or my head won’t be clear for business.” Gina set the glass down on the table. Turning to Wade, she hoped that he would take the hint and lead her back inside so that they could begin their work together. She needed to prove herself on this job and, more importantly, she needed to keep her mind on business and not the glowing attributes of her new boss.

Wade didn’t move from his stance by the railing. He shook his head, his eyes fixed on hers. “Sorry, Gina,” he said, looking anything but sorry. “I can’t work with you.”

I can’t work with you.

Gina blinked as Wade’s words sunk in. A rapid shot of dread coursed through her system. She’d begun to think of this job as a means to an end. And she’d resigned herself to working with Wade, whether she liked it or not. Now, just like that, he dropped a bomb on her plans. What kind of game was he playing? She couldn’t control the anger in her voice, “I thought you hired me today?”

Wade slammed his glass down on the top rail and turned the full force of his words on her. “Yes, I hired you. Did you think I’d let you walk out of my office without an explanation? Did you think I’d let you go again? You ran away from me nine years ago and I need to know why.”