One Night With Him (6 page)

He must have heard me through the door because his instant reply was, “What’s wrong?” I leaned against the door with a loud thud. “Reagan, what’s wrong, open the door.”

“I can’t,” I said, frustrated.

“Why not?” I looked out the window again. Yep, he was still standing there in a light blue oxford with the sleeves rolled up his forearms, khaki shorts, boat shoes, and a pair of aviators. Even the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. He looked too good to be true and I looked like an overdressed idiot.

“Can you just give me five minutes?” I asked, hitting my head against the door.

“No, open up. We’re going to be late. We need to go.” I didn’t want to open the door out of pure embarrassment, but I did anyway, looking anywhere but in his eyes when I did. “Oh, wow…” He stammered, caught off guard.

“I know, I look like an idiot.” I grumbled, hanging my head.

He stepped closer towards me and lifted my chin with his finger. “You look beautiful. A little over dressed for dinner, but nonetheless, absolutely stunning.”

I flushed at his comment, but groaned at the fact that I had gone all out and here he was casual as ever. “Come in while I change.” I turned on my heels and stormed off to my bedroom, unzipping my dress in the process. Heavy footsteps thumped down the hallway entering my bedroom just as I’d stepped out of my dress. I was standing there, frozen in surprise, in nothing but a black lace matching bra and panty set and my stilettos, watching Cole’s reflection in my full length mirror. He approached me, his eyes running over my body, taking every inch in as he slowly moved closer towards me, placing both of his strong hands on my bare hips, like he was trying to keep me from disappearing. “Out there, what you were wearing, that was stunning, but this, you, right here, just like this, damn babe, there are no words for this.” He leaned in and kissed my neck, his hands tightening on my hips, pulling my backside against his crotch.

My knees went weak and I had to focus on keeping myself from toppling over. He trailed light kisses from my neck to my bare shoulder, his right hand made its way over my belly, slipping a finger underneath the top of my lace panties. I moaned as my head fell back onto his shoulder. “As much as I’d love to continue this, we’ve got to get to dinner with your parents.” I said, almost out of breath, grabbing his hand and returning it back to my waist.

A throaty laugh escaped his lips and he released his grip on my hips pushing me towards the closet. “If you intend on getting out of here without me removing the rest of your clothes I suggest you get your ass dressed, because my willpower is almost gone.”

I smiled at him and ran into my closet laughing. I grabbed a sundress and threw it on, then exchanged my six inch heels for a pair of wedge sandals. Grabbing a matching clutch, I switched my necessities over from my purse. Leaving the closet, I skipped over to him and took his hand. “You ready, Mr. Conrad?”

“Not ready for dinner, more like ready to stay here and get you out of that dress.” Shaking my head I giggled and tugged him towards the front door.

“Maybe we can come back here for dessert.” I winked at him over my shoulder.

Cole pulled up to the valet when we arrived at the The Bellevue. “Good evening, Mr. Conrad.” The valet attendant greeted when Cole beat him to open my door.

“They know you by name, huh, frequent customer?” I asked looking up into his magnificent eyes.

He smiled and took my hand, leading me towards the lobby. “You could say that.”

Cole’s father opened the door when we arrived at their suite. “Good evening, son. Reagan, it’s so nice to see you, again.”

“You, too, Mr. Conrad,” I replied, leaning in to hug him.

“Please, call me Harrison.” I smiled and stepped into the suite. It was beautiful, very similar to what I remembered of Cole’s suite the first night I met him. The windows overlooked the crisp blue water, giving a beautiful backdrop to our dinner. The grand dining room set off to the side, the table fully prepared for a dinner party. Mrs. Conrad came out from the dining room to greet us with a glass of wine and a Yuengling in her hands for Cole and me.

“Hello, darlings, we’re so glad you could join us for supper.” She kissed both our cheeks, passing our drinks off to each of us. Cole and his dad were talking as Mrs. Conrad shooed them away. “You boys go relax in the study, while Reagan and I enjoy a glass or two of wine.

Cole placed his hand on the small of my back leaning into my ear to ask, “You going to be okay?” I nodded, smiling and he kissed my cheek. “She’s harmless, I promise,” he said as he walked away with his father.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” I asked, looking to Mrs. Conrad. “Not at all, dear. I just know Harrison needed to speak with Cole and I didn’t want him interrupting our dinner with business. Now, why don’t we go enjoy the balcony while the staff finishes setting the table.”
Staff?
I thought to myself as I followed her out onto the balcony.

I took a deep breath, the familiar smell of saltwater filled my nose. The wind whipping around relaxed me. I wasn’t nervous to be around his parents, but considering he and I had finally just decided to be nice to each other earlier this afternoon I wasn’t fully comfortable in the situation either. You usually don’t “meet the parents” until you’ve spent some time in a relationship with someone, and Cole and I weren’t anywhere even close to a relationship, yet.

Wanting to break the silence I sat down on an oversized plush white pillow top couch, took a sip of wine for courage, and spoke, “This suite is beautiful, and the view…this sunset is going to be incredible.”

“Oh, isn’t it wonderful. Cole was so kind, designing the suite just for us, making sure we had the best view.”

“Designed the suite, what do you mean?”

“Cole,” she said like I should have known exactly what she was talking about. I tried to cover up my lack of knowledge by taking a sip of wine, but my confused eyes must have given it away. “This hotel, it was Cole’s first project when he started his development company. It’s what brought him to Florida. He’s built dozens more since, but this was his first and his favorite, so he was sure to build out two special suites, one for us and one for him, since this is where he lives, Reagan.”

I leaned back on the couch, pouring the remaining wine down my throat.
He owns this hotel, what the hell, no wonder Addison had all of her parties here.
How had I not put two and two together?

“More wine?” she asked, holding the bottle towards my glass.

“Please” I whispered, still taking it all in.

I must have looked like a crazy person staring at the water, because Mrs. Conrad came and sat next to me and grabbed my hand, bringing me out of my trance. “Reagan, is everything ok?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I just didn’t know, Cole hadn’t mentioned it to me, so I guess I’m just surprised. I didn’t realize he was so established.”

“Oh, he is, Reagan, he has worked so hard to build his company and he has had success upon success. We are so proud of him, but we’re worried, too. We want him to find a wonderful woman who will love him for him, not for all of this. Harrison and I are just so thrilled the two of you are together. The minute we met you, we both agreed you were perfect for our son.”

I stood up and walked to the railing of the balcony, had his mother really just laid that on me? I turned and looked at her sitting there smiling up at me and I hated what I was about to tell her. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Conrad, but I’m afraid you’ve gotten the wrong impression. Cole and I aren’t together, well, I mean, it’s just, he and I are complicated. I just don’t want you and Mr. Conrad to get your hopes up, because I’m not even sure I know what this is.”

She took a sip of her wine and got up to stand beside me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Oh, honey, you may be confused because it’s new, but trust me when I tell you this, my son has had a lot of women and I’ve never seen him look at any of them the way he looks at you.” I sucked in a breath of air as her words kept repeating themselves in my head.

“Would you excuse me, please?” I asked briskly walking away towards the restroom.

Closing the door behind me I sat down on the edge of the giant tub and put my head between my knees.
No panic attacks, Reagan, not now, not while you’re here with all of them, get it together!
Catching my breath I stood up and began to pace the bathroom, “Harmless, my ass,” I whispered to myself, “she’s not harmless, she’s crazy. What in the hell does she mean she’s never seen him look at anyone that way? How was he even looking at me? I’ve got to get out of here, I shouldn’t be here.” Still pacing the bathroom floor I racked my brain for an excuse.
Got it, work, use work, and just tell them you had an emergency.
Better yet, leave first, then text Cole.

I slowly opened the bathroom door and peeked out of it, there was no one in sight and I had a clear shot to the front door. As quietly as I could I tiptoed from the bathroom to the front door, opening it as quickly as possible. I ran into the hallway, lightly closed the door behind me, and jumped on the first elevator I could catch. For whatever reason luck just happened to be working in my favor tonight, a cab sat outside of the hotel lobby. I jumped in and gave him my office address when he drove off.

CHAPTER NINE

I HAD TO RUN, PLEASE APOLOGIZE TO YOUR PARENTS FOR ME. THERE WAS AN EMERGENCY AT THE OFFICE THAT I HAD TO HANDLE ASAP.

I set the phone down next to me in the cab, ignoring the driver trying to engage in small talk. Staring out the window, I wondered what in the hell I’d just done. The sudden ringing of my phone scared the crap out of me. Cole’s name was flashing across my screen. I sighed heavily, pressing the ignore button, not ready to explain to him why I left. The cab driver dropped me off at my office and I swiped my pass card up to the twenty-third floor.

The office was pitch black, since everyone had already gone home for the evening. I flipped the lobby lights on and walked into my office, collapsing into my chair. I argued with myself over my hasty exit. “Why did you leave, you idiot, she wasn’t asking you to marry her son. She was only filling you in on an observation. And why are you so freaked out, aren’t you ready to settle down? This should be a good thing. Cole is a great guy, he’s gorgeous, successful and he likes you.” I kept babbling to myself, until my cell phone illuminated my dark office. It was Cole, yet again. I pressed ignore and turned on my computer, if I was here I might as well start preparing my documents for my City Council hearing next week.

I was plugging away on my document preparation when the security guard knocked on my office door. I jumped in my chair, startled. “Hi, may I help you?”

“Yes, ma’am, there’s a man in your lobby who says he’s here to meet with you? I wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth or not, as it is a little late for visitors, so I suggested I come up and check with you before sending him in.”

“Did you get his name?”

“Yes, ma’am, Cole Conrad.”

My heart jumped, why had he come all the way down here? He was supposed to be at dinner with his parents. “Thank you, please send him back.” The security guard walked towards our lobby and within a few seconds Cole marched into my office.

He stood in the doorway for a moment looking around. “Are you okay? It seems pretty quiet here, must have been some emergency.”

I looked down at my computer screen, not sure of what to say, then I stared back into his eyes. ”Yes, I’m fine. We just had something come up and I needed to make sure it was squared away for a meeting with the council members.”

He came in, sat across from me, and leaned back in his chair, cupping his hands behind his head. “So, whatever it was that you had to work on was so important that you couldn’t even tell me you were leaving, you just walked out?” He looked out the window over the night cityscape, gathering his thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he said, “I’m sorry, Reagan, but I’m not buying it, what really happened?” His mother’s words replayed in my head? How could I possibly tell him what she relayed to me? Instead I looked out the window, unsure as to what I would say. “Babe, come on, talk to me,” he demanded in an irritated voice.

I stood up and started pacing back and forth behind my desk, cracking my knuckles out of pure mortification as I began to speak. “Okay, there wasn’t an emergency, well, not here at the office, at least. Your mom and I were on the balcony talking and she was telling me all about your job and how successful you are and how you built the hotel and that her and your dad are so proud of you, but they know something is missing in your life and then she went on and on about how you have had a ton of women, but she’s never seen you look at a woman the way you look at me and she was basically insinuating that we are perfect for each other and it freaked the shit out of me.” I blurted out without stopping or pausing to take a breath. Before he could interrupt me I drew in a quick breath, and went right on explaining. “I had to get out of there before I had a panic attack. I mean, I know I like you, but I don’t think I’m ready to think that far out, yet. And when she said it, I kind of just freaked and had to leave. I don’t want to disappoint your parents by not being the woman they want me to be for you. I’m sorry, I panicked, but that’s just my nature, the littlest things freak me out and I have to just get away and deal with them on my own. I know it’s immature, but since my parent’s death it’s just how I deal with things, I panic.” I leaned against the side of the desk, catching my breath after the rant I had just been on.

He sat in his chair looking at me. “Are you finished?”

I began pacing again,
I think so, but I’m not sure.
Damn it. Why am I so screwed up when it comes to this man?
“For now.”

“Good.” He rose out of his seat, and walked over to me, picking me up off of the floor and setting me down on top of my desk, he slid between my legs. “First things first, I love my mother, but she’s a meddler. I’m her only child and she doesn’t understand how I am twenty-nine years old and still not settled down, yet. She assumes that because she and dad found each other at eighteen the rest of the world, including myself, has to do the same.” He leaned in closer to my face, cupping my cheeks in his giant hands as he gently placed a kiss on my forehead. “And second off, she’s right.” I gasped for air, panic rising inside me, yet again. Cole ran his thumb over my bottom lip as he leaned back and let out a light laugh. Looking deep into my eyes he continued, “Calm down, we’ve really got to work on these panic attacks, when I say she’s right I mean, yes, I do look at you differently than I did the other women I’ve been with. I’ve got to be perfectly honest here, when I woke up the morning after Addison’s bachelorette party and you were gone I was hurt. For the first time in my life I’d hoped the woman I had gone to bed with was still there when I woke up. And when you weren’t it was like I was finally getting a taste of my own medicine and I was pissed.”