I sucked in a breath as he leaned in, meeting me halfway.

  My eyes were tightly shut.

  My breathing hitched.

  My arms fell to my sides in defeat.

  All the fight in me was gone.

  I had no clue what to do but stand there and feel what I had wanted for so long. The second his mouth touched mine, I was a goner. There’d be no coming back from him.

  From this.

  My heart drummed so fast, I swear he could hear it.

  Feel it.

  Sense it.

  My knees went weak the longer his lips stayed on me. It was the most overwhelming, mind-blowing, all-consuming feeling I’d felt in my entire life. As if reading my mind, he slowly parted his mouth, pulling me in closer with a growl. I placed my shaking hands on his chest, parting my lips to follow his lead. Matching the same rhythm, he set.

  His tongue touched mine, leaving the craziest sensation in its wake. I pulled mine back, and he took it as an open invitation to gently push his tongue into my awaiting mouth. He sought out mine, turning this kiss into something more than I could’ve imagined.

  It felt like he wanted to get lost in me as well.

  No words could come close to describing what was happening at that moment between us. The feelings he stirred deep within my core matched my emotions with each stroke of his tongue. Feelings I didn’t think were possible to experience. I didn’t even think they existed.

  I wanted this to last forever.

  A soft moan escaped my mouth while he pecked my lips one last time before gradually pulling away, leaving me breathless and wanting more. Incoherent thoughts ran wild through my head.

  My eyes fluttered open.

  Only to hear him say, “You got what you came for. Now stop fucking bitching at me.” Softly, he pecked me again.

  There was so much I yearned to say.

  So much I desired him to hear.

  Instead, I blinked and then everything went…

  Black.

  The next thing I knew, my eyes were flickering open from the bright, bold sun.

  “Oh, God…” I moaned, dizzy and disoriented.

  Instantly, I grabbed the pillow, and wrapped it around my throbbing head. Desperately trying to remember what happened last night.

  All of a sudden, I heard, “Splitting headache?”

  Startling me to sit straight up.

  “See, Cherry,” Adrian reprimanded as our gazes connected. “That’s what happens when you drink your weight in liquor.” He was sitting in the armchair near his bed.

  I couldn’t help but ask, “Have you been there all night?”

  He nodded with a blazing fire in his regard.

  For some reason, I looked down at my body, noticing I wasn’t wearing my dress, just his shirt.

  “What happened?”

  “You mean besides you throwing up on yourself?”

  I grabbed my face. “Oh, God.” Suddenly mortified. “Where’s Cade?”

  “Lucky for you, he crashed at Hayley’s last night.”

  I fell back against his headboard, unable to hold myself up anymore. Feeling the relief of not getting caught with my best friend’s brother.

  “I’m just going to sit here and die of humiliation.”

  “Your dress is washed. Although, I do prefer my shirt on you.”

  Peeking through my fingers, I questioned, “You took my dress off?”

  “Mmm hmm. Don’t worry, Cherry. I looked but I didn’t touch.”

  “Kill me now.” I squeezed my eyes shut, praying this was only dream and wasn’t actually happening.

  I couldn’t look at him. All I wanted to do was disappear. Fade into the comforter as if I didn’t make an absolute ass of myself last night. I opened my mouth to say something, but quickly shut it, not knowing what to apologize for.

  The sound of him shuffling across the room made me open my eyes.

  “Here,” he coaxed from above me.

  He was holding a glass of ice water and some buttered toast. I sluggishly sat up, grabbed the water, and gulped it down. Welcoming the cool sensation in my throat and stomach.

  “Take it easy or you’ll make yourself sick.” His eyes bared an emotion I couldn’t quite place, hitting me like a freaking freight train.

  “Oh my God.” It was all I needed for the memories to come back to me. “I walked in on you with some girl, didn’t I?”

  “More like barged.”

  Image by image played out until I remembered what I least expected.

  My eyes widened as I blurted, “You kissed me.”

  He backed away. “Excuse me?”

  “You kissed me,” I repeated, louder.

  “Finish eating and get dressed,” was all he said. “Cade will be home soon. You need to leave before he gets here.”

  Not pausing for my reply, he spun, walking toward the door.

  Again, I couldn’t help myself. “So you’re just going to ignore the fact you kissed me last night?”

  He stopped dead in his tracks.

  I lingered.

  And waited.

  Until he finally turned around, locking his once again cold, dark demeanor toward me.

  “Cade—”

  “Go home, Paige. You can keep dreaming about me kissing you.”

  I winced, but he was unaffected, not caring one bit.

  Did I imagine it?

  The uncertainty played with my mind for I don’t know how long.

  Then all of a sudden, he spoke with conviction. “You’re my brother’s best friend. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

  With that, he left.

  Except this time…

  He took my heart with him.

  Eleven

  Adrian

  Now

  Iwas sitting at the head of the rectangle table in the middle of the room with Paige sitting beside me at this morning’s meeting. The table was filled with the company’s six board members, who had no idea I was there to divide and conquer.

  I waited a very long time for this moment, and I couldn’t have been more pleased it was happening with Paige sitting beside me.

  I’d been buying this business’s stocks for over a year. However, I wasn’t doing this for anyone but Paige. This was solely for her. Every business decision I’d made since I started taking control of this enterprise was to show her my worth. She was the only reason I wanted their CEO’s balls on a silver fucking platter.

  I spent the last three months in his territory, making sure I knew everything I needed for today to go off without a hitch. I met their CEO a few times. The fucking prick rubbed me the wrong way since our first encounter. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Paige, but in this hostile takeover, the pain would lead to the healing she still needed.

  My plate was already full. I didn’t need any more shit piling up. Although, I had to give him some credit. The man had some brass balls for walking in late to our scheduled conference. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to shake his hand for it. He’d yet to figure out who he was fucking with.

  With each stride that led their CEO to sit on the opposite end of the table, parallel to me, I felt Paige tense further into oblivion. Wanting to give her a bit of comfort, I placed my hand on her thigh under the table. Upon impact, she subtly jumped, but never removed my hand.

  Once the son of a bitch was sitting down, his gaze fell on the woman I couldn’t forget. I never understood how he could’ve so easily forgotten her, as if she didn’t leave a lasting impression on anyone who was near her. Our positions were a power struggle at its their finest.

  Except I was a take-charge kind of man.

  I was in control.

  Always.

  Purposely, he unbuttoned his suit jacket and leaned back against his seat, making himself comfortable as if he was the one with the power.

  “What is this?” he questioned, gesturing to her.

  “Don’t look at Paige,” I ordered. “You look at me.”

  He did, tapering his eyes.

  “As of this morning, I own fifty-one percent of your company’s stock.”

  He jerked back, rendered speechless.

  “And my first order of business is,” I didn’t delay adding, “you’re fucking fired. Effective immediately. If you have a problem with that—”

  “You bet your ass I do.”

  I smiled snidely. “You can take it up with my lawyer.”

  Paige’s composure was strained again, and I gripped onto her leg, silently demanding she hold in her emotions. Under normal circumstances, this would be business, not personal, but this takeover was all personal for me.

  I pulled the contract out from my briefcase, setting it in front of Paige. Again, without any reservation, I informed him, “My second order of business,I’m signing your company over to her.”

  Paige lightly gasped.

  I couldn’t blame her.

  After all, this was her father I was hostilely taking over.

  “You can’t do this,” he roared.

  “I already did.” Grabbing Paige’s hand from her lap, I gave her my pen. “Sign right there.”

  Her astonished expression flew from him to me. “A little warning would have been appreciated, Adrian,” she softly whispered for only me to hear.

  Gripping onto her leg harder, I repeated, “Sign, Cherry.”

  “What am I signing?”

  “What’s rightfully yours.”

  The apprehension she felt was written clear across her face. I pulled the only card I had, insisting, “Trust me.”

  She thought about it for a second before her shaky hand signed on the dotted line.

  I beamed, loving that she still trusted me. Even after what I put her through.

  I looked back up at her father. “You have ten minutes to clean out your office.”

  “Or what?”

  “Security will throw you out.”

  He abruptly stood, glaring at his board members. “You’re just going to let this happen?”

  Nobody uttered a word. Instead, they bowed their heads like I knew they would.

  “By all means, gentlemen. The door is right there.” I nodded to it. “You have a problem with my order of business, feel free to follow him out.”

  No one moved an inch.

  I sensed he wanted to go off on his daughter for allowing this to happen and before he could, I warned, “You have nine minutes. I suggest you use your time wisely.”

  “You fucking brat—”

  The sound of my chair hitting the glass window behind me as I angrily stood, echoed through the room. In five long strides I was clutching onto his collared shirt, escorting him to the door.

  Security was prepared for what I was aware would happen. I never expected him to leave of his own freewill. The guards were already standing outside the boardroom as I threw his ass out.

  “You can’t do this!” he yelled while they grabbed ahold of him, and dragged him out of the building kicking and screaming. “I’m going to sue you for everything you're worth!”

  I declared, “Looking forward to it,” as I slammed the door in his face.

  I gathered my composure, adjusting my suit jacket, knowing there was an argument brewing between Paige and me. When I turned around, I found her frozen in her seat.

  She was pale as a ghost.

  Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was open.

  The way she was staring at me, feeling me, hating me, but still loving me was evident in her bright, hazel eyes.

  She couldn’t hide her emotions from me. I never allowed it. This wasn’t why I did this for her though. It wasn’t her affection I was after. It was peace of mind. Her future. The life she deserved at his cost.

  For years she spent holidays, weekends, and vacations with us. I lost count of how many times I overheard her talking to Cade about how much she felt like she didn’t have a father. All he cared about was his company.

  No phone calls.

  Letters.

  Gifts.

  Not one damn thing.

  If she wasn’t there when this all went down, I would’ve found a way to sign his company over to her, even if I had to use a silent partner to make it happen. From the moment I saw his corporation was finally open to the public, I jumped at the opportunity to take it from him.

  She deserved it.

  No matter what.

  I made sure of it.

  The VP announced, “Your reputation precedes you, Drake. Quite an introduction you showed us today.”

  I walked back to my chair and sat down, fully aware of what he was trying to do. I learned at an early age how to read people. I could see who was lying, pretending, bluffing, and who was just full of shit. A person’s body language always told me their story.

  Some of it was instinctual.

  Bred.

  Learned.

  Most of it was bullshit.

  “I’m just saying…” he clarified. “That was a hell of a takeover.”

  “I’m just saying,” I mocked in a condescending tone. “If I wanted your opinion, I’d ask for it.”

  “I—”

  I didn’t give him a chance to reply, grabbing the folder sitting in front of me, and I got right down to business. It was time to go over the numbers, the logistics, and everything in between.

  All while my hand…

  Was back on Paige’s thigh.

  Paige

  I couldn’t believe what just happened.

  For the next hour, I sat there shocked and dismayed, trying to process everything that occurred in such a short amount of time. The last two days were one thing after another. I couldn’t keep up with the turn of events any longer.

  Adrian’s hand never left my leg. Slowly, he rubbed my bare flesh from the slit in my pencil shirt. Back and forth, he caressed my thigh like he’d done hundreds of times. I told myself I didn’t want to feel his touch securing me, but I did.

  It helped with the unease rising in the core of my body. Despite being overwhelmed, I relaxed from his touch.

  Waiting for my time to come.

  Once the meeting was over and the room was clear, I stood, needing some space he was adamant about not allowing me.

  “Cherry—”

  “No!” I bit. “You can’t keep doing this to me!”

  “And what is that exactly?”

  “Playing hero!”

  “I’m not playing, Paige.”

  “What happened to you?”

  “In reference to what?”

  “To everything! Look at you! I don’t even recognize you anymore. How could you do that to him?”

  “It was easy.”

  I gasped. “You had no right! He never did anything to you.”

  “You’re right. What he did to you was enough.”

  “That’s not fair! You can’t just come barge your way into my life and wreak havoc in it.”

  “He deserved it.”

  “How do you know? You don’t know him.”

  “I know more than you do.”

  “Are you listening to yourself? Because you’re sure as hell not listening to me.”

  He stood and I raised my arms to stop his descent. Cocking his head to the side in amusement, he stepped forward as I stepped back.

  “Let me tell you about your daddy.”

  Two steps forward and back.

  “He’s been embezzling money from his own company. Instead of reporting him to the police, I decided to fire him. I only did that for you. If it were anyone else, they’d be behind bars already.”

  Four more strides forward and back.

  “Adrian…” I shook my head, hanging on by a thread.

  “He’s been underpaying and overworking his entire staff for years. I hate to break it to you, Paige, but the piece of shit had it coming.”

  “That wasn’t your decision to make.”

  “Actually, it was.”

  Several steps forward and back until my body hit the glass window behind me.

  Shit.

  “I don’t even know what I signed. I could have just signed my life away to you, Adrian”

  He caged me in with his arms around my head. “Would that be so bad?”

  “It’d be my worst nightmare.”

  “Cherry.” He grinned. “When someone does something nice for you, a thank you would suffice.”

  “I’m not thanking you for that. I don’t want to run my father’s company.”

  “You don’t have to. My team can handle it for you.”

  “That just ties me to you. Was that your plan all along?”

  “No.”

  “Sure seems like it to me.”

  “When are you going to start giving me the benefit of the doubt?”

  “Depends. How many more stunts do you still have up your sleeve?”

  He leaned forward, getting close to my lips. “I know it may not seem that way, but I didn’t do this for anyone but you.”

  “I never asked for this.”

  He shared, “I spent years overhearing you cry to Cade about your father and his lack of responsibility for you. That’s not something a man like me can forget, Paige. If you hadn’t been here today, I would have found a way to give you his company after I took it over. This has nothing to do with me. It’s all for you.”

  I shook my head, dumbfounded. “Jesus, Adrian. I don’t even know what to say.”

  “How about you start with a thank you? I just made you a very rich woman.”

  “Money means nothing to me.”

  “How about the look on his face? That has to mean something.”

  I sucked in my bottom lip. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t satisfied with my father getting what he deserved.

  “I can see it in your eyes, Cherry. I know you’re pleased with me.”

  I tried to look away but he gripped my chin, bringing my gaze back to him.

  “I made you a promise and I intend to keep it. After your contract is up and I find your stalker, I’ll leave you alone and stay out of your life.”

  I winced. I couldn’t help it.

  Seizing my moment of weakness, he simply stated, “But that doesn’t mean you won’t beg me to stay.”

  And I had to wonder was…

  My resolve was fading.Prologue

  Adrian

  Now

  I was a man who prided himself on control, and for a brief moment, I didn’t have any. After ten years of not seeing Paige’s beautiful face, I never imagined she’d be standing right in front of me—in my friend Tristian’s home of all places. They were throwing a party for the baby he and his wife Belle were expecting.