Resisting Destiny: Sullivan Brother's Book 3 - Cayson's Story (Resisting Love - Sullivan Brothers) (8 page)

“Phaedra
had to be to work early. So, I had to be ready too.”

Her willingness to do whatever needed to be done pulled at his heart strings
. She never bitched about anything. She merely accepted her duty and dedicated herself to the task at hand. Others could take a lesson from her. “You know, you don’t have to carpool with Phaedra all the time. You can ride with me.”

One of her sculpted eyebrows jumped. “
I thought you said no personal contact at the office. I understood that to mean we can’t be seen together coming into the office or leaving together. I may not pay attention to a lot of the things you say, but I didn’t miss the part about you being ashamed of being associated with me.”

“I never said that.” 
All this time that’s what’s she’s been thinking?
  “I only instituted that rule because I don’t want you to get a reputation.”

She sat on the edge of his desk and folded her arms across her chest.  “
You’re the one with the reputation.”

He leaned back in his chair, his eyes
appraising the firm lines of her thighs.  “What have you heard?”

“You’re a h
ard man to keep interested. You like to have fun but that’s about it. And you’re not looking for a serious relationship.”

“Y
ou’ve been here four weeks and you learned all that?”

“Ac
tually, I learned it the first day I started work. You’re a hot topic around here.”

“Oh!” He clutched
his heart. “And what do you think of me now?”

“
You mean do I think you’re a man-whore?”

“Damn
! When you put it like that, it sounds so self-centered.”

Sh
e shot him a dazzling smile that warmed him from scalp to toenail.  “I don’t judge anyone. I figure you haven’t found the right woman to make you settle down.”

He l
iked her thinking. It was true: he had no plans to settle down. Why should he? He was enjoying his freedom.

“But,” she wagged a finger at him. “
If you were my man, you wouldn’t need to stray. You’d be fully satisfied.”

He nodded.  “Like I was last night.”

She gasped, her pretty glossed lips commanding his attention.  “I guess you weren’t as drunk as I thought.”

“
Maybe.”

“
And to think you let me carry you in. My shoulder still hurts from dragging your butt in the house!”

“You give an amazing foot rub.”

She smirked. “I’m a woman of many talents.”

The stirring in his trousers wanted to explore that thought further. The racket in his head knew he was not up to the task.  Would he have been last night? Hell yeah. He relived their kiss in his mind like a sport
scaster narrating a highlight reel on ESPN.

Sullivan moves in for the kiss. He goes deep. Destiny clings to him. It’s
in the bag, folks! Cayson Sullivan scores!

Sadly, that was all he remembered. He’d fallen asleep dreaming of peeling lacy underwear from Destiny’s body.  He hadn’t meant to bring up
last night, but Destiny’s flirtatious conversation prompted him. The woman exuded sexiness. And she had no clue how she affected him.  There could only be one reason why she’d pulled away last night. She wasn’t attracted to him. Usually, he could catch whatever woman he pursued. Hell, more often than not, he was the one being chased. He merely obliged his pursuers.  But Destiny was different. It seemed she could care less whether he was interested in her or not. In fact, she’d gone so far as to dismiss his overtures as what amounted to frat boy antics.

Well,
” she stood with her hands on her hips, “if you’re done sexually harassing me, I’ve got work to do.”

Her nonchalance challenged him. She was hot when she was in his arms, but outside of that, she kept her cool.
He knew he shouldn’t force the issue, but some rules were tempting enough to bend.

“
Hey,” he suggested, “let’s have dinner tonight. My treat.”

“Yeah
, right. By the time you make it home, nothing will be open but
Pork and Pancakes
.”

He c
huckled.
Pork and Pancakes
was a local restaurant known for serving pancakes and bacon twenty-four hours a day.  The sign above the restaurant showed a sumo-sized pig wearing wrestling trunks and lounging on a pancake.

“A
ll that hard work doesn’t count if the partners aren’t here to see it,” she chided.

He had been burning the midnight oil lately.  “
I promise, I’ll come home early tonight. Will you wait up for me?” he entreated.

She rolled her eyes.  “
Don’t hold your breath, counselor.”

He smiled as he watched her exit. His fingers twitched thinking about how he’d had his hands all
over her backside last night.  Oh yeah. He’d be there on time tonight. He set his the timer on his Blackberry for six p.m.  That would give him plenty of time to fight the traffic and arrive home at a decent hour.  He’d made plenty of promises to women.  Some of them he kept. Some of them he made only to get what he wanted. For the first time in a long time, he meant to follow through on this one.

********

It was amazing how much work Cayson could accomplish when he didn’t have a zillion interruptions. Byron picked up on his cranky mood and acted as a sentry, guarding the door to his office from the constant barrage of people who insisted upon meeting with him.

He was working on a brief for a client when
his oldest brother, Dane called.
Cayson closed the door to his office and took the call in private.  “What’s up, bro? I haven’t heard from you in damn near a month.”

“Through no fault of mine,” Dane answered. “You’re the busy attorney babysitting those plutocrats you call clients. Tell me something, do
they pay you to wipe their asses too?”

“
Only if I put it in their billable hours.”

Dane howled with laughter.  “Thanks, kiddo. I needed a good laugh.”

Cayson chuckled with him. “I bet you do. There’s nothing funny about ‘til death do us part.’ I heard Charly is dragging your ass down the aisle.”

“
Yup. We’re doing it next month.”

“
So soon?” Cayson propped his feet on the edge of his desk. Most people took months to plan a wedding. The bride wanted the perfect dress. The perfect venue. The perfect everything.

“
We figured why wait? It’s the second time around for both of us, and we both know what we want.”

“It s
eems like yesterday when you brought her to Mark’s party and messed up my plans for your blind date.”

Dane
’s deep laughter filled the line.  They could joke about it now, but the night it happened over a year ago, Dane was livid. Cayson learned not to set his brother up on any more blind dates. Besides, from the moment Dane met Charly, he didn’t have eyes for any other female.

“
It’s been a year and a half.  And we’re practically living at each other’s houses now. We wanted to make it official.”

“I have to admit,
I never thought you’d date anyone after Nichole’s death, much less get married.”

He heard Dane’s deep sigh.  “
Me either. The love I had for Nichole was deep, but it’s nothing compared to how I feel about Charly.  She’s everything I want in a woman. I mean, we have our arguments, and we get on each other’s nerves from time to time. But I can’t imagine my life without her.”  Dane paused.  “She’s my reason for getting out of bed every morning.”

Cayson had never heard his brother utter such profound words. He
wondered how it felt to be so connected to someone like that.

What am I saying? I’m happy playing the field. I don’t need to be tethered
to some ball and chain.

“I want you to be a groomsman,” Dane told him.

“I’d be honored.” This would be the second wedding he’d attended in almost as many years. He was the groomsman at Mark and Kendra’s wedding too. “The best part is that all we have to do is show up. The women do all the planning.”

“
We’re having an island wedding. Going back to The Maldives where we met.”

“
Wow! I hate to sound like a chick, but that’s really romantic, dude.”

“
Yeah, I’m that kinda guy. Romance is in my blood.”

“
Spare me your bullshit. Your idea of romance is chugging beers at the bowling alley.”

“
Don’t underestimate the bowling alley. That was where I got laid for the first time.”

“
Okay, I stand corrected.”

“
But you were right. It was Charly’s idea to get hitched in The Maldives.”

Cayson chuckled.

“I hope you can make it. 
Kendra is getting all of us discounts on rooms and airfare.”

“
All of us?”

“
Ma and Pops. You. Me, Charly, her kids, her parents, and her cousin, Shontal.”

“
This’ll be a real family affair.”

“
Exactly. That’s why I need both of my little brothers there with me.”

It had been a long time since any of them had been
little
. Cayson was approaching thirty. Mark had just turned thirty-four, and Dane was pushing forty. Growing up, Cayson felt both bullied and protected by them. Now, they were thick as thieves. “You can count on me, bro.”

“
And if all goes well,” Dane hinted, “you might get a hot bridesmaid to walk with.  Charly’s got a good-looking cousin.  Not that you need any help with the ladies.”

As if prompted by some internal ethics clock, Cayson’s timer buzzed on hi
s cell phone. “Oops! Gotta go. I promised Destiny I’d be home early tonight.”

“Destiny? 
Is that the latest victim of the Cayson Sullivan charm? Or should I say curse?”

“Oh, I forgot–you don’t know.”
Cayson gave Dane the quick and dirty version of what happened in court three weeks ago. Unlike the conversation he’d had with his mom, he felt it was safe to give Dane more details. He explained how the Barracuda had him by the balls with her vindictive judgment.

Dane was incredulous. “Let me get this straight. Y
ou turned down some free pussy that landed in your bed in the middle of the night?”

If you’r
e referring to La’Treece sneaking into my bedroom, yes.”

“
And you have some smokin’ hot babe living with you too?”

Cayson chortled. “
I didn’t say she was hot.”

“
I know she is. All the bad girls are hot.”

“Okay, she’s hot.” He di
dn’t like talking about Destiny as if she were some random bimbo. But the fact was–she was hot. Long legs. Pretty mahogany skin. A little on the slender side, but that’s how he liked his women.

Oh shit! What am I saying? She’s not my woman.

“At any rate, the Barracuda
released Destiny into my custody just to be a spiteful bitch.”

“And you swear you’re not laying the pipe to this chick?”

Not yet!

“Jeez, Dane. I’m not
that horny.”

“Yeah, sure
. And now, you’re rushing home to answer Destiny’s summons.”

“
It’s not a summons. You don’t understand. I’ve been working late, and I promised her I would be home.”

“Dude
, I’ve never known you to be at the beck and call of a woman.”

Cayson
sat up and started packing his briefcase.  “It’s not like that, bro. I promised I’d take her to dinner tonight. You know how it is.”

“Uh huh.
Admit it. You may have met your match. Destiny is laying down the law.”

“
Whatever. I’m hanging up now.”

“Wait a minute.
Does she have long hair?”

Cayson thought of Destiny’s face framed by cascading thin braids. “You could say that.”

“Yep. Just like Sampson and Delilah. Delilah brought Sampson to his knees.”

Cayson stood. “You dumbass.
Sampson was the one with the long hair.”

“
But Delilah had long hair too.”

Cayson hung up
laughing.  Charly had definitely brought out the fun side of his brooding brother. He had to remember to thank her when he saw her again.

He raced from the office, jumped into his Porsche, and headed toward the freeway. The speedometer barely registered seventy when he was forced
to slow down. He joined a long line of brake lights that stretched for miles. Traffic had come to a standstill.