Bella Andre: Just To Be With You

Rain fell steadily outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Sullivan Investments skyscraper, just as it had for the past several days. Coffee shops seemed to outnumber all other retail outlets in the city two to one. And Ian Sullivan’s sister, Mia, had already texted him a half-dozen times to remind him that he’d better not show up late to dinner at their parents’ house tonight because of a last-minute meeting.

And yet, despite all that, it was good to be back in Seattle.

Surprisingly good.

Ian had worked out of the London office for the past several years, and his European investments were thriving as a result. But now that Sullivan Investments was on the verge of making a massive investment in eAirBox, an innovative cloud-based digital storage company based in Seattle, it had made sense to finally head back home. Plus, two of his siblings would be getting married and starting families soon, and Ian had already missed too many pivotal moments in his siblings’ lives by being an ocean away.

In any case, Ian was glad that he’d been able to keep it all in the family with the deal he’d made today with Jake McCann on his very successful chain of McCann’s Irish pubs. Jake was not only a genius at coming up with artisanal brews, he was also married to Sophie, one of Ian’s cousins from San Francisco. Though he knew he was breaking one of the tried and true rules of doing business, in Ian’s experience, working with family had always been not only enjoyable, but also extremely profitable.

“I’m glad we were able to make this deal work, Ian,” Jake said through the video conference feed set up in one of Ian’s smaller conference rooms on the 15 thfloor.

Jake’s T-shirt put his tattoos on full display, and though he was an incredibly intelligent guy with great business sense, it wasn’t much of a stretch to look at him and guess that he’d come from a pretty rough upbringing. Ian would never have imagined that his soft-spoken librarian cousin and Jake would work as a couple, especially considering the story that Jake had gotten Sophie pregnant during a one-night stand. But they’d turned out to be one hell of a good team, and Ian was happy for both of them.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for what you’ve done with your pubs, Jake. Everyone here is glad we can be a part of your expansion.” When Ian’s head legal counsel excused himself from the meeting to take an urgent call, he took the meeting in a personal direction. “How are Sophie and the twins doing? Smith and Jackie must be getting big.”

“Hold on a sec and I’ll show you.” Jake got up from the chair in his home office and returned a short while later with a kid squirming under each arm. “Kids, say hi to your Uncle Ian.”

Jake and Sophie’s twins were ridiculously cute as they waved and grinned at him. Jackie had crumbs all over her hands and face, and Smith’s dark hair was standing on end as if he’d just woken up from a heavy-duty nap.

Ian didn’t have a clue how Jake managed to run his business so well and have time to take care of his wife and kids, too. Marriage was the only thing that Ian had ever failed at, so badly that he’d come out of it one hundred percent certain that a wife would never—and should never—be in his future again. Which meant kids were out of the picture, too. Fortunately, there were plenty of Sullivan babies to spoil rotten.

Ian had just said his own hellos to the twins when they wriggled out of Jake’s grip and made a break for it. Ian heard Sophie’s laughter as she scooped them up just before she came in range of the camera’s lens.

“Hey, cuz.” Sophie seemed utterly unperturbed by the fact that her kids were not just squirming like crazy now, but were also trying to pull each other’s hair. “I’d love to catch up more, but since it looks like I’m going to have to break up a baby brawl in a minute, I wanted to let you know that I’m supposed to tell you not to be late to your mom and dad’s house for dinner tonight. Or else.”

“Mia texted you, too?”

Jake and Sophie just laughed as they split the kids between them and Smith’s and Jackie’s wails began. “Say hello to everyone for us.”

After shutting down the video conference feed, Ian headed for his office down a long open hallway that looked over dozens of cubicles. At fifteen minutes past six on a Friday night, everyone had already left. Though he’d been back at the Seattle headquarters for only a week and a half, Ian had seen for himself that everything in the office was running with perfect efficiency. Organization and order had always been crucial components of his success, along with a laser focus and an unwavering determination.

Only once had he made the mistake of letting himself be spontaneously thrown off course. But in the wake of his messy marriage and even messier divorce, he’d been even more careful to make sure that the women he connected with were willing to play by the rules that would keep them all safe from future messes: no entanglements, no emotions. Just hours of pleasure when they were together, and nothing at all that lingered when they weren’t. And if anyone thought giving up love was something to grieve, that’s because they didn’t know how much relief there was in knowing he would never hurt a woman again by promising her something he would never be able to actually give.

At the threshold of his office, Ian shook all thoughts of love and romance aside before he stepped inside. Love had no place in the worldwide empire he’d built, and he was glad for that fact, especially when he needed every ounce of his focus right now to do whatever it took to finally close the eAirBox deal.

Mentally drafting an email to his board regarding the new counter-offer he was planning to make on Monday morning, Ian was halfway to his desk when he realized he wasn’t alone. His large leather chair was turned away from his desk so that the back was facing him...and the most stunning bare legs he’d ever seen were crossed over the arm of it, the woman’s shiny red heels tapping out a fast rhythm in the air.

He couldn’t immediately place the legs, but the scent was one he’d come across only once before, at his cousin Marcus’s wedding in Napa Valley a handful of months earlier. Equal parts vanilla and spice, the combination was at once innocent and so powerfully sensual that he was overwhelmed with the need to breathe her in just one more time, and then one more time again.

Tatiana Landon.

If she were anyone else, Ian would immediately have alerted her to his presence. But he needed to take a few moments to steel himself against the powerful way the beautiful actress affected him. And at the end of a long, hard week, he found it took him more than a few seconds not only to solidify his walls, but also to make absolutely sure that they would remain impenetrable.

Finally, he cleared his throat. But her feet didn’t stop tapping out the beat and she didn’t turn the chair around. Her evocative scent grew stronger when he moved closer, and he gritted his teeth against the potent impact it had on him as he reached for the top of his chair to turn her to face him.

He’d only just begun to spin the chair when she let out a little shriek and jumped halfway out before falling back into it. One hand was pressed over her mouth, the other over her chest, her legs tucked beneath her on the big leather seat as she stared up at him with big green eyes.

Before he could stop himself, Ian was drinking in the gorgeous expanse of skin on display from the way the skirt of her dress rode up her thighs. Her long hair was loose around her shoulders and her skin was flushed from the fright he’d given her.