Reunited in Love

Chapter Four

KERRI LAY ON HER SIDE, dazed, with Ethan flush against her. Whatever she’d felt way back when hadn’t been a fluke. God, he really was just freaking amazingly good in bed, and she hadn’t been romanticizing the past in the slightest. If anything, he was even better than she remembered.

Or maybe it was just added experience on his part. The thought made her a little less happy.

His warm hand caressed her belly. She liked the weight of it. It was solid, comforting and seemed to create a new kind of connection between them.

She swallowed, careful to keep her body relaxed. This was just a fling, a one-night stand—a repeater, of course, but a one-night stand nonetheless—with a man who made her heart beat a little faster. There was no shame in that. This was the twenty-first century, and she was a modern woman. She was no longer the young girl who tried to please others, passively waiting for approval from those around her.

Having sex with Ethan was part of who she was—a woman who went after what she wanted. A woman in control.

He kissed her shoulder. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured.

She put a hand over his. “So are you.” She twisted so she could look at him.

“Spend the night with me,” he said, already semi-hard against her.

She gave him a feline smile and wrapped her hand around his cock, which instantly stiffened and grew to the point where her fingers couldn’t quite meet her thumb. “What do I get if I do?”

“Let me show you,” Ethan said. And the magic began all over again.

*



Kerri felt Ethan leave the bed. What time was it? The bedroom was still dark—maybe past three?

He moved quietly, a phone clenched in his hand. She surreptitiously watched his gorgeous nude body, limned by streetlights from the outside. A set of shoulders wide enough to carry the weight of the world, then the thickly muscled chest, and the clean lines of his torso flowing into a tight ass and powerfully sculpted thighs and calves. The man was simply a work of art.

She lay there and soon heard his low gravelly voice coming through the slightly ajar door. It didn’t sound like the call was going to be a quick one.

The luxurious gold-trimmed sheet glided like silk against her skin as she pushed herself up. He’d asked her to spend the night with him. They’d already made love three times and slept for a bit. He had to be sated by now. Besides, she’d never said she would spend the entire night anyway. Her answer to his question had been a question, not a definite yes or no. She couldn’t be responsible for how he decided to interpret it.

She gathered her clothes from where they lay strewn around the room. The thong wasn’t salvageable. Oh well, time to go commando. She shoved the fabric into her pants pocket and put on her outfit. The stilettos dangling from her fingers, she padded quietly past his study as his voice grew tense. She grabbed her purse from the dining room chair and quietly slipped out the door, putting her shoes on once she was in the hall outside his penthouse. She felt vaguely like a thief, stealing away, but there was no reason to stay. Why ruin a good night of sex with a bunch of sappy post-sex moments? She wasn’t good at them, and frankly, what could they possibly do in the morning? Have more sex? Engage in pointless small talk to alleviate the inevitable awkwardness? Make promises they would both know were lies?

Leaving on a high—and clean—note was far better.

The doorman looked at her with curiosity.

“Any chance of catching a cab at this hour?” she asked.

“Not a problem, ma’am. Lemme call you one.”

She didn’t have to wait long. She slid inside the taxi and let out a breath. Spend an entire night at a boyfriend’s—or lover’s—place? Hadn’t happened yet, and probably never would. She preferred to keep things at a proper distance and didn’t plan on changing her ways, especially not for Ethan. She knew she’d been right to peg him as being unmanageable. When dealing with such men, it was even more imperative to stick to her rules: don’t get too attached; don’t give them any power over you; keep things in perspective. Rules that ensured nobody could ever hurt her again.


*



“Anyway, Jacob’s missing. His stripper wife too. They—”

“Wait, what?” Ethan blinked. “Catherine’s become a stripper?”

“No, no. He apparently married some Vegas bimbo years ago. Some spur of the moment thing, but she showed up in Houston last week demanding to see him.”

“What, at his house? Was Catherine there?”

“No, thank god. At our office. But Catherine, ah, well…she’s not, ah, married to Jacob anymore. Technically speaking.” Simon Caldwell, an executive from The Lloyds Development, cleared his throat. “Actually, she was never his wife. He married this other woman before he met Catherine, and he didn’t, ah, resolve that union  . So Catherine and Jacob’s marriage was never valid in the first place.”

Ethan swore and kicked. His wheeled chair spun lazily.

“Look, Ethan. We’re up against Sterling & Wilson on another critical bid, and there’s nobody here to steer TLD.”

Ethan knew what that meant. Jacob was apparently MIA, and his family didn’t believe in letting strangers control their company; too many Lloyds depended on the dividends to maintain their lifestyles.

“You haven’t been involved in running the company, but you’re next in line,” Simon continued.

Ethan put his foot down, stopping the chair, and stared out the giant floor-to-ceiling glass wall. The neighborhood sparkled with night lights and traffic on I-66 flowing in and out of Washington DC. The oldest of the Lloyd siblings, Jacob had made sure his brothers and sister weren’t welcome in the family business. Ethan had joined the company after graduating from college, but left within two years when Jacob had made it clear Ethan’s presence was unwanted. It had been easier to step aside and avoid unnecessary conflict. Jacob could not only be stubborn but hot-tempered as well. There hadn’t been any reason to provoke him, especially when the business was doing well.

“It’s not the first time TLD has gone up against Sterling & Wilson, so it’s not like you don’t know what needs to be done. I’m not free at the moment to devote much time to a new project,” Ethan said, thinking of Global Strategies and glancing briefly at the wall adjacent to his bedroom.

“I know, but you’re the second oldest and have the experience and business savvy. It makes sense that you take over until Jacob comes back.”

Ethan tapped the arm of his chair with his index finger. What would they have done if he’d remained overseas? He’d been in charge of European operations at Global Strategies and worked out of its London office until a few months ago. There was always Gavin, his youngest brother, but he didn’t seem to get along with Jacob…or Catherine, for that matter. Gavin wouldn’t want to deal with TLD if Catherine remained in Houston or on the TLD board.

“Have you tried Jacob’s cell or email?” Ethan asked.

“We’ve tried everything. Messages go straight to voice mail. Email has so far been unanswered. We couldn’t locate him by the GPS on his car either. He left it at a motel in Louisiana. Probably using the stripper’s car now.”

A stripper. From Vegas. What a cliché.

Ethan rubbed his face, suddenly weary. “Catherine knows everything?” He needed to tell her if she didn’t. He didn’t like her much, but he didn’t relish having to give her the bad news.

“I believe he texted her, so yes.”

Ethan sighed, both disappointed and furious with his brother. A text? Jacob should’ve talked to her in person. That was the least she deserved after four years of marriage, even though it was no secret she was a gold-digger. Jacob hadn’t cared so long as he had a beautiful, well-bred wife to grace his home. And Catherine certainly did fit that particular bill.

“How about Mother?”

“I imagine Mrs. Lloyd has been informed by now,” Simon said carefully.

And she would be upset. The Lloyd family matriarch put the well-being of the family over everything else. Ethan’s hand clenched. He hated it that he wasn’t going to be able to shield his mother from the taint of the scandal. People would talk, that was inevitable. And there was nothing good about the situation, no way to put a better spin on it.

Damn it, Jacob.

Ethan turned his chair away from the glass wall and back to his desk. “Okay,” he said. “Let me see what I can do.”

He hung up, thinking quickly. Clearly, there needed to be a shift in his priorities. Delegate some tasks at Global Strategies and let Alex know he might need some time to look into the family business. It shouldn’t be that difficult. The Lloyds Development was solid, with a good balance sheet and strong cash flow. He just needed to establish systems so that it would run without him, then check on it every quarter or so to make sure the company was on the right track. The family would be taken care of regardless of who was nominally in charge at TLD.

Meanwhile, he also needed to get in touch with Pattington. He was the owner of a large PI firm on retainer with the Lloyds to handle everything the family needed, and they paid a premium for both excellent service and absolute discretion. Pattington would be able to locate Jacob. His brother liked money and the kind of lifestyle it afforded him. It wouldn’t be long before he accessed his accounts or used his credit cards, and Pattington was excellent at locating missing people and hidden information. If it hadn’t been for his efforts fifteen years earlier, Ethan himself might have been one of those who were cleared by law but guilty in everyone’s eyes.

Feeling more optimistic now, Ethan returned to the bedroom, then stopped short when he saw only a rumpled sheet on the empty bed. Had Kerri gone to the bathroom? He scanned the master suite.

No. Her clothes were missing…along with her shoes.

Who wore stilettos to the bathroom in the middle of the night?

He let out a vicious curse. Of all the… He’d turned away for fifteen minutes, and she’d run.

Again.

His mind sorted the night’s events. He’d noticed the way she’d refused to speak about her family, evading his gentle probing questions like an eel. Not even her career, which she must’ve worked very hard at, seemed to hold much emotional appeal to her—she’d spoken casually of leaving her job. And Ethan didn’t buy the idea that she’d left because she’d gotten tired of the hours. People who climbed as far as she had didn’t quit without a good reason or a better and more lucrative position waiting for them.

From what little he’d been able to piece together, she kept everyone and everything at arm’s length, except possibly for Natalie. And she was very good at not revealing personal information. Which, when he thought about it, was really kind of amazing. What woman didn’t like to talk about herself?

Ethan sat on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes, concentrating on his breathing for a few moments. He needed to calm down and think. First point: it would be a mistake to go after her. If her MO was to stay aloof—which she’d apparently perfected over the years—he would have to come up with a targeted plan to neutralize it. Unlike the last time, he didn’t have to leave on business. And he knew exactly where to find her come morning.