Merediths Awakening (5 page)

The last thing he’d expected to find was a stunning, and stunned, woman watching the show. Her arousal had been a living, breathing thing; a shroud over her tall, slim form. While she watched his workers, looking a bit like a fawn caught in the headlights, he watched her. Watched her clutch at herself, as if she could press away the sensations obviously overwhelming her.

With each little pant, every faint gasp that passed those pale, plump lips, he worked his way silently closer, until he stood so close she couldn’t help but feel his heat. Hell, with one little sway of her tempting ass, she’d be feeling a lot more than just heat.

When she spun to face him, eyes filled with heat and horror, it was all he could do to keep his hands to himself. The flash of recognition was instant and devastating. His Princess. Finally.

Her full, unpainted lips parted on a sharp inhalation, and all he could do was imagine them wrapped around his dick. Her hands flew to her throat, and he pictured them slowly releasing each button, revealing small, firm breasts. Fuck, but she made a pretty picture, all hot and bothered and embarrassed as hell. She was every bit as beautiful and alluring as she’d been the last time he’d had her this close. A lot of things had changed in five years, but not her ability to make him hard as a rock with just a look from those shimmering eyes.

Just as he went to take that one step forward, those silvery eyes widened, and his little fantasy fuck darted around him, fleeing the scene of the crime.

Frustrated and pissed, Tony walked into the cleared area where Tim was rolling off his used condom and Stephen was scuffing at the cum stain on the floor. Happy to have a target for his sexually fueled anger, he was gruffer than usual when he addressed his languorous and unabashed workers.

“I don’t care who you fuck, but you don’t do it on my time or in my fucking building.” When neither man looked particularly repentant he continued. “You had a fucking audience, you morons. You’re just lucky it wasn’t Worthington. He’s due for an inspection today, and if it had been him to see the two of you, your asses
and mine
would be out of a damn good job.” Seeing by their uncomfortable fidgeting he’d made his point, Tony stomped off, sending back “and clean this fucking mess up. No litter,” he sent a pointed look at the condom wrapper at Tim’s feet, “and no fucking
stains
!” With a final look over his shoulder he added, “and put your damn hats on,” then left them to clean up after themselves.

*

Meredith returned to the office in a dither. There was no other word for it. She was hot and bothered, disgusted with herself for it, and burning with humiliation because she’d been caught in such a vulnerable moment. And caught by any woman’s walking wet dream. Hell, caught by her very own private wet dream for the last five years. She’d recognized him about two seconds after fleeing, and heat of another kind had washed through her. Anthony. As big and beautiful and tempting now as he’d been that night at Velvet Ice.

Resolutely she put his image out of her mind. She wouldn’t think about those knowing, melted chocolate eyes, or the way his dark hair curled around his neck under the yellow hard-hat. She wouldn’t imagine those muscular, tanned arms, or his broad, sweat-sheened chest. And she for damn sure wouldn’t remember the heavy, hard bulge between those thick thighs, and how it felt inside her.

She wouldn’t acknowledge the yearning inside, a longing that went far beyond the physical. What would it be like to, for once, surrender her control? To let someone else be the responsible one, and to just feel? It was a heady thought, and terrifying. Every man she’d trusted had somehow let her down. Meredith was beginning to believe the ability to trust had been crushed out of her along with the ability to love.

Oh, God, what if he’d recognized her? She could see the headline now: Millionaire Dom’s Voyeur Sister.

A soft chime sounded, and Meredith looked down at her PDA, relieved by the distraction.

“Well, hell.” The meeting with Marcus.

After making a quick detour by the ladies room, where she splashed her face and pulse points with icy water and gathered her composure, she marched down the hall to her brother’s office. Carrie wasn’t at her desk, so Meredith sailed on in, only to be brought up short by the sight of her brother and his assistant standing a little too close, and looking a little too intense. Carrie’s lips were red and swollen, and Marcus seemed entirely too relaxed for two o’clock on a Friday. Coming on the heels of her own recent sexual humiliation, it was just too much.

“Have you lost your mind?” she snapped, enraged he would open them up to public ridicule once again, but even more enraged that she had done the same a mere hour before. “You must have lost your mind. Tell me this is a joke. It’s not enough you’re the most notorious Dom in the greater Detroit area, but now you’re banging your secretary?

Jesus, Marcus,” Meredith thought regretfully of sweet, efficient Carrie, who always had a smile or a kind word. “You’re going to ruin her.”

Marcus looked at his watch, the very picture of unconcern. “Carrie is no longer an employee at The Worthington Group.” As if that made it any better. One word pulsed in Meredith’s brain like a neon sign: LAWSUIT. Unaware of her mental digression, Marcus continued. “Now, I need you to take the six o’clock meeting I had scheduled with Renatto Construction. I’m leaving in an hour and will be busy all weekend.” And she just bet she knew what he’d be busy doing. Or who. She cut her eyes to the young woman standing uncertainly by the door in time to catch her flush.

Meredith pointed her finger at Marcus, her silvery eyes narrowed, “You listen here, brother. If you think for a minute I am going to go through another scandal like the one you and Karen brought down on this family you are mistaken.” She could all but see the flash of guilt in his eyes at the reminder of those early days after the scandal broke. After Stirling’s death. She’d never allowed him to talk to her about the abuse. Never even let him apologize for his harsh words the night he’d removed her from the club and sent her home with Daniel. Again she thought,
Too little, too late,
Big Brother
.

“Play your little games on your own time, Marc.” She didn’t bother to say anything more. Marcus did what Marcus wanted, and to hell with anyone caught in the crossfire.

When she finished speaking, he walked over to her, putting his arm around her and walking her to the door, “Meredith, you worry too much.” The affection, so rare since the mess with Karen, tore at her heart.

“Marcus, you don’t worry enough.”

Marcus kissed her gently on the cheek, and she felt her heart crack a bit. “One day, little sister, a man is going to sneak into that well-guarded heart of yours and bring you to your knees. Then what will you do?”

Shaking her head vigorously and resolutely putting her tantalizing construction worker out of her mind, Meredith replied, “Oh, Marcus. In order for that to happen, I’d have to have a heart.” Turning her head, she stalked back out the way she had come, trying not to think about the three men who’d nearly brought her to her knees mere hours ago.

* * * *

The afternoon dragged, an endless round of mind-numbing meetings and conference calls, and Meredith was relieved. By immersing herself utterly in the mundane, she slowly put the afternoon’s adventure out of her mind. By the time her secretary buzzed her for her six o’clock appointment with the contractor, Meredith was feeling almost normal. Almost.

*

Tony Renatto was looking forward to this appointment. Sex-fiend workers aside, construction on the Convention Center was on time and nearly on budget. Tony knew Marcus Worthington was a tough employer, but he’d also struck Tony as a fair one, and one who was intimately familiar with every facet of his business. Working for the Worthington Group had been a pleasure, and Tony was proud to know his company was doing a superlative job for them.

When he arrived on the top floor of their downtown office, he had to suppress a whistle of appreciation for the space. Not only was it architecturally interesting, it was decorated with a tasteful luxury that struck him every time he passed through the doors.

To his surprise, the attentive young man at the reception desk did not direct him to Marcus’ office.

Instead, he confided, “Mr. Worthington had an emergency and had to leave the building. You’ll be meeting with
Ms.
Worthington. She’s across the hall and two doors down.”

Tony almost rubbed his hands together in glee. Finally, after five years of hard work, he was in the position he’d been fighting for. Face-to-face with Meredith Worthington, his icy little Fairy Princess, and on equal footing this time.

Thanking the young man, Trey, according to his nametag, Tony headed down the softly lit hall. No buzzing fluorescents for the Worthington’s. Their ambient lighting played up the artwork on the walls, and had the added benefit of not giving anyone stuck under them for too long a raging headache. When he arrived at the correct door, discreetly labeled with a brushed brass plaque, Tony took a moment to straighten the blazer he wore over his jeans and button-down shirt.

For five years he’d worked for this moment, building his company and reputation across the state. Bidding on every Worthington contract to come his way. Hoarding his money and reputation until he had something worth offering her.

He’d studied her. Followed each news story mentioning her. He’d about dragged old Stirling Worthington out of the grave when he’d seen the pictures of her blank eyes and bruised face at the funeral. He’d celebrated with her when she’d earned first her Master’s, and then her PhD in Business Management. He knew every charity she supported, what restaurants she enjoyed, and the long hours she worked.

Tony smiled in anticipation. Straightening his posture, he knocked.

*

Meredith hadn’t really given any thought to her meeting with the contractor. She’d collected the data and scanned his reports, but beyond that she didn’t really have any expectations. So when the door opened to her soft “enter,” she was utterly unprepared for the sight that met her eyes.

Him.

Standing there, big as life, was her walking wet dream. And damn, but he cleaned up well. While he still wore jeans that rode low on his hips and lovingly cupped some of his more noticeable attributes, he’d replaced the sleeveless t-shirt with a white dress-shirt and black jacket. He looked well put together in a rugged, virile sort of way.

Meredith controlled her urge to fidget as Tony Rennato, and it could be no one else, sauntered into the room. As a slow, wicked smile slid across his face she searched frantically for just the right way to handle the situation. Finally, at a loss, Meredith decided to do what she did best: ignore it.

*

Tony felt like the luckiest man on Earth when he walked into Meredith’s office. He’d tried not to get his hopes up. After so many years of planning, it was almost impossible to
not
get his hopes up, but this was too important to screw up. Now here she was, every bit as wide eyed and dewy, and looking almost as panicked as she had at the construction site.

He knew he needed to make some sort of gesture to put her at ease, but he couldn’t quite stop the smile of anticipation stealing across his face, and he couldn’t quite deny himself the pleasure of watching her squirm.

Tony had always found the sight of a powerful woman, laid low by her vulnerability to a man, completely irresistible. He planned to be the one to lay her low.

He couldn’t wait.

*

Meredith pulled herself together with a stern reminder that here, in her office, she was in control. More, Tony Renatto was her employee. Ultimately, this entire situation was in her control. Keeping those facts in mind, she braced herself and began the meeting as she would any other. She rose and offered her hand.

Oh, big mistake!

He quickly crossed the room and enveloped her hand in his. Meredith was used to dealing with powerful men, but powerful in a very white-collar way. Even her brothers, who were prime specimens of male power, beauty and fitness, were ultimately businessmen. Their handshakes were firm, but their hands were smooth.

Tony Renatto’s hand was not smooth.

It was large, dwarfing her own slim fingers, and rough with calluses and scars from his work. His grasp was firm and warm, and he held her hand just a little too long before releasing it. And the minute he touched her, she flew back in time.

Velvet Ice. Her memory happily supplied the details of his hands on her skin, rasping against her thighs, and higher. His mouth on her breasts. His cock with the naughty little bar-ring inside her.

All she could do was hope he didn’t remember their first meeting, too.

Dragging her attention away from the tingles radiating from her hand to her nipples—and thank God for lined bras—Meredith forced herself to focus again on business.
It
is your office. You have the control
.

“Mr. Renatto.” To her relief her voice was relatively level. “Thank you for coming in.” He sat in the chair she’d indicated, and she very deliberately did not look at the full bulge between his sprawled thighs. “I’m sorry my brother isn’t available to meet with you,”
sorrier than he’d ever know
, “but he was called away unexpectedly,”
the low-life,
pervert, bastard
!

Tony smiled. “I’m more than happy to sit down with you. I’ve been on this project for almost six months. I’m amazed we haven’t run into each other before today.” Meredith felt her cheeks flame, the curse of fair skin, and forced herself to ignore his oblique reference to their earlier “run-in.”

“Well,” she cleared her throat and strove for a strictly professional tone as she flipped open the folder containing the reports from Renatto Construction. “I see you’re on schedule as far as our first set of construction deadlines. I assume there’s nothing that’s going to change this,” the last was phrased as a statement, but her question was clear.

“Construction has gone amazingly smoothly so far,” Tony replied. He didn’t seem offended in the least by her implication, which was logical. Fortunes had been made and lost on the quality of a construction company, and while what Meredith had witnessed earlier in the day had been hotter than hell, it wasn’t particularly reassuring from a business stand-point. “We’ve got a great supplier, and my foreman doesn’t believe in cutting corners, so I don’t foresee any problems.” Meredith gave a brisk nod. “And tell me about our budget.” While the reports showed construction was slightly over budget, she knew the overage was minimal.

“Well,” She could swear he was suppressing a hint of amusement at her questions, which made her want to be even more formal and businesslike. “As I said, we aren’t cutting corners, which accounts for our overages so far. Barring any sudden rise in the cost of materials, I don’t see any reason for us to go any further over budget than we already are.”

Nodding, Meredith let her eyes flicker up to meet his before focusing back on the folder in front of her. “Now, if you could, I’d like to go over the timeline for Phase Two of construction.”

It took a superhuman effort, but Meredith managed to keep her attention on Tony’s words. It was much more tempting to focus in on his voice, which was deep and faintly accented, or even worse, to focus on his lips, which were full and sculpted and looked utterly luscious.

Tony was detailed and easy to understand, and Meredith was reasonably bright, so it didn’t take long for them to get through the construction timeline. It was with a deep sense of relief that Meredith thanked Tony for his time, and rose to shake his hand again.

Only the knowledge he would soon be out of her sight and far, far away allowed her to subdue her reaction to his touch this second time.
God, he smelled good.

Relieved and a bit disappointed, Meredith watched him walk to the door, only to feel her jaw drop in shock as he flipped the lock and turned back to face her.