“I want to talk to you about something important.”
I put aside the sheets of paper I’m studying. I know it’s old school to print stuff out instead of looking at it on a machine, but there’s something about the feel of it in my hands that makes me think better. I need something tactile and tangible to sink my teeth into.
I give her my undivided attention. “Shoot.”
Her tongue flutters out to lick her bottom lip, and I remember how her lips slid along my cock last night, slow and seductive, really putting her whole heart into it.
I refocus as she starts to speak. “I talked to Wyatt and Jackson this morning.”
“All right.” I’m having a hard time being interested in them right now. I want to think about her, and me, and later on when it’ll be just the two of us and I can have my filthy way with her.
I’ve lusted after plenty of women in my time, but I’ve never been distracted and preoccupied by one. I think only Cat is capable of that.
She clears her throat. “I told them I wanted to pull back from my responsibilities.”
I think of her story about the horses. “Oh yeah, and do what?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know yet, but I want the opportunity to find out, and that’s what I told them.”
“How’d they take that news?” I can’t imagine all that well.
“They’ll get used to it.” Another shrug. “They don’t need me anyway.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
She smiles. “You’re just being nice because we’re sleeping together. We both know I’m not vital to the operation. Wyatt and Jackson are the visionaries. I’m just the executer.”
I lean back in my chair and lace my fingers across my stomach. “Don’t knock it. Without that person, not a lot gets done.”
“True, but I’m not talented.” She meets my gaze. “Not like you are.”
It doesn’t sit well with me that she believes this. “We all have different talents, Catarina. It doesn’t make one person more or less valuable than the other.”
She shifts in her chair. “I want to find out what my talents are, though. It bothers me that I have no idea.”
“So what are you saying?”
She blows out a long breath. “I told Jackson and Wyatt I want to turn over a big chunk of my responsibilities to you.”
I start shaking my head before she even finishes the sentence. “No, Cat.”
She nods. “Yes. You’re better than me.”
“I’m not.”
She laughs. “Name one thing I’m better at than you.”
“You charm those executives into buying rum in a way I never could.”
She tilts her head, as though thinking about it. “Only ’cause you’ve never tried. Wyatt and Jackson are both hard marks, and they took to you in about thirty seconds. And anyway, that’s nothing. That’s not the hard stuff.”
I sit forward and take her hand. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Minimize all your value. Can’t you see how everyone needs you?”
She shakes her head. “Not really. I just take care of all the leftovers.” She tilts her chin with something that sparks like defiance. “I want to be the main attraction.”
I lean over the desk and stare intently into her eyes. “You’re my main attraction.”
She rises to meet me in the middle, her free hand snaking around my neck to pull me close, sucking me in with her mouth and tongue and teeth.
When we break apart, she whispers against my lips, “I want something that feels like mine.”
She has it; she just doesn’t see it. And if I can help her find it, I will. Because in this moment, I would do anything for her. “I’ll do what I can to make it happen.”
“Good.” She kisses me again. “Say you’ll take over the operations.”
A sense of foreboding slithers down my spine, but I decide that’s the past, an old script playing its tired story. I want a new story, with her.
“I’m not sure that’s smart.”
“Why’s that? You’re so good, Caden. Better than I’ll ever be.” She licks across my lips, and I groan.
“This isn’t why I came here.”
“Maybe not, but this is what you’re getting.”
“I don’t think I should.”
“Why?”
The words tumble out before I can stop them. “I think I’m in love with you.”
I expect her to stiffen and pull away, but she doesn’t. Instead she gets up, climbs over the desk, and slides onto my lap. “Oh yeah?”