“How is it unfair for you to spend time with an old friend? We’ve been friends since middle school, Z. At times, we were inseparable. And now, because your dad is forcing this...idiotic idea on you, you can’t be free to be the person you’ve always been?”
“Who says I’m the same? People change, Lake. I’ve changed. I’m not the same girl I once was.”
“You always wanted your father’s company, but that didn’t stop you from making room for the things that mattered to you in your life. Friends. Fun. Freedom.”
“Who says that I’m not making room for what’s important to me? This company is important to me, and I’ve known what his conditions were since the first time we had a conversation about it!”
“Maybe you just need something that you lost so long ago to re-awaken. And maybe...just maybe I want to get to know this woman. The one you’ve become. You’re going to deny me the opportunity?”
I didn’t want to play this game with him. He would wear me down if I persisted. That’s what I convinced myself of, anyway. I would indulge in games all day with Lake Chambers if I knew that it was permissible. Yet, somehow, the fact that being around him like this would deepen the connection to him and sever the tie with my position at Sheffield Tech seemed to be inconceivable to him.
“I am engaged, Lake, and I don’t think my fiancé or father would take too kindly to me going out to dinner with a man that isn’t my fiancé or father. I don’t think that Russell would take too kindly to me going anywhere with you.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, his green eyes grew cold.
“Somehow, I doubt that’s true. Russell seems to only care about what makes Russell happy. Tell me something, Xiomara,” Lake said, stepping closer.
My hands balled into fists again and then released. My heart thudded loudly in the room.
My thighs clenched in response to his proximity to me and the words he spoke.
Lake’s fingers trailed from the tips of mine over my hand, across my wrist, and up my arm. He didn’t stop until he reached my shoulder.
He leaned in as if to whisper and then spoke the words that sent emotions swirling inside.
“How can you plan a future with a man who doesn’t even make your pulse jump? Someone who can’t make you feel alive when you’re around them, and you have to wear a mask of emotions in his presence? Doesn’t that get tiring after a while?”
Lake pressed a kiss on the side of my neck that had my belly tightening and me gasping for air. My eyes fluttered closed and open again as he took a half step back.
I shouldn’t have been surprised at how well he had read me. Lake always knew me and, in some ways, better than I knew myself. That scared me now.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Lake, and I would appreciate it if you’d stop presuming that you do,” l lied.
“That’s all that I’m trying to do, Xiomara, is get to know the new you better.”
“What if that’s not what I want?”
“I’d say that you’re lying. I can tell that when I come around, I make you feel alive. I’ve seen you with your fiancé, and you become something else,” he said, tapping his chin as those gorgeous eyes rolled up as if they were considering the ceiling. “Almost as if you have to put on a façade for him and your family. You want them to believe that you’re happy with this engagement, but you’re not.”
“I think it’s time for you to go,” I said, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that Lake picked up on things about me that my family and friends hadn’t seen.
Smiling, he said in a cocky tone, “I’ll be back, Xiomara.”
I watched as he turned and strode with those long, powerful legs of his toward the doors.
“Don’t forget to lock up,” he called over his shoulder as he pushed his way through the glass doors, leaving an aroma of mint and leather in his wake.
I stood there staring after him for several seconds until I came to my senses. I had pressed my hand against my lips for so long that when I pulled it away, I realized I’d been shaking. Only after I’d locked the door and stood against it for several minutes did my heart return to normal.
And as I made my way to the back to grab my purse and other belongings, I sensed his presence all around me. The entire office smelled of his cologne.
How in the hell did I have the strength and power to negotiate business deals and send people scurrying, but I couldn’t stand strong in front of this man?
I knew that I wouldn’t sleep well tonight because dreams of Lake Chambers would plague me.
CHAPTER 7 – XIOMARA (2 MONTHS LATER)
“REMEMBER, TONIGHT IS all about fun. It’s time for you to have a wild night. You’ve been stuck being chaperoned by Russell and your family since your return,” Chanda said, wiggling her eyebrows at me.
“You’re right,” I sighed.
I needed to have a weekend just to let go. My return home had been full of learning the duties at Sheffield Tech, moonlighting at my mom’s company whenever I had spare time, and spending time with Russell and his family when time allowed. I needed something that was all about me and allowed me to be free.
In the last ten years away from home, I’d focused on business. There was no time for partying or dating. I had three colleagues with whom I’d developed intimate relationships over ten years, nothing serious.
I shared a common interest with all of them, building our careers, preserving our reputations, and pleasuring our bodies while holding these secrets from our families. None of us had time to spare for relationships; our focus was on success at whatever cost.
And it was easy to maintain those connections, knowing that each
