Stormy Weather (8 page)

Sterling was classically handsome with dark hair and light blue eyes that were staring down into hers right now. All of his strong features held a certain sensuality that made her wish he wasn’t her boss, but he was and nothing was going to change that if she landed this promotion.

“Good evening, Mr. Hamilton,” she said, regaining her composure. “Did I get the information wrong? I thought I was supposed to meet you at the office.”

An easy smile played at the corners of his mouth. “No, you’re correct. I was in the area so I thought I could just drop by here and pick you up for our meeting,” he answered in that rich voice she loved so much.

“I wish I could let you drive me, but I have to be somewhere right after our meeting. I need my car.”

His eyebrows slanted in a frown. “Do you have plans with another guy?” he asked, surprising her.

Well, she was going to check out Cash with her sisters, so she did have plans with a man. Cash just didn’t know about it. “Yes and no.”

Sterling’s chiseled jaw clenched, his eyes slightly narrowed at her answer. “I didn’t know you were dating someone. Don’t let me keep you from your date, Ms. Williams. We can reschedule our meeting tomorrow at the office. Have a nice night,” he snapped at her before storming away.

Turning away from her, Sterling stalked off without giving her a chance to say another word. She watched in shock as he got into his car and then sped off from the curb without even looking back in her direction.

What in the hell was that outburst all about?
she wondered as she went back into her house, slamming the front door closed behind her.

Chapter Eight

Snapping her phone closed, Rachelle tossed it down on the floor beside her leg. God, talking to Sasha hadn’t helped her out at all. In fact, she was more confused than she was ten minutes ago. Why couldn’t her sister just give her a straight answer? She needed help and wasn’t getting any.

Cash had been in her life for less than twenty-four hours and she was actually thinking about having sex with him. Why did the guy make her want to break all of her golden rules?

She was so good at staying focused on the straight and narrow. Everything in her life up to now was practical and well-organized. Honestly, her confidence only grew when her family as well as her employees knew that she meant business.

Often she had very high expectations of others. Yet, her take-care attitude seemed to be the downfall of her personal life. Most of her past boyfriends thought she was too independent and self-contained for their liking.

They believed she was so hard to please. None of them could find in her life where she needed their help. She couldn’t help it that she liked doing things for herself, but her independence led to problems with men who wanted an equal part in their relationship.

Rachelle had tried to change her personality more than once, but it was hard to do after so many years. Then why, after only knowing Cash for a few short hours, did she want to become a different woman?

He made her want to find the spontaneous and adventurous side of her, that she never thought existed. Rachelle was drawn to how he just seemed to live for today. Maybe he could teach her to do the same thing.

She would never admit this to her sisters or parents, but she always thought her sisters got away with a lot more stuff than she had. They used being triplets to their advantage and nobody ever said anything about it. They may not be identical, but people still found them cute and adorable. Sasha, Genise, and Akisha constantly got special treatment from everyone in town.

She had to remain the “good daughter” and do everything her parents told her to do—she couldn’t set a bad example for her little sisters. If she didn’t know how to follow directions and listen to the rules, why would the triplets do it?

She was their role model to be a good girl and not get into any trouble.

It wasn’t until years later when Rachelle got accepted to an out-of-state college that she finally felt like she was her own person. She was able to do anything she wanted without worrying if her actions would hurt her precious sisters.

Now, she hadn’t wanted anyone to
ever
believe that she hated Sasha, Akisha, or Genise, because she didn’t. She loved them. Yet, she disliked being the one who constantly had to keep them out of trouble. Half of her life had been spent doing things for them, when she could have gone out with her friends—having fun, dating boys, and sneaking into the house after curfew. All the cool stuff a teenage girl loved doing.

She couldn’t keep living in the past. She could do anything she wanted with her life. She knew that Sasha meant well, but she was going to take her own advice and see where things could go with Cash. All of her sisters would agree that a little harmless flirting with Cash wasn’t going to hurt her.

Just as Rachelle was about look for Cash, the lights suddenly came back on. She had never been happier in her life.

“Yes!” Rachelle screamed. She was overjoyed Cash fixed the breaker problem. “I’ll make sure to give him a proper thank you when he gets back up here,” she said to herself. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with those hellish lights anymore tonight.

Leaning back on her hands, she relaxed in front of the fireplace while waiting for Cash to come back upstairs and join her. She hoped he was in the mood to finish what they had started earlier before she made the mistake of pushing him away. It was way past time for her to start living for herself, and not anyone else.

“Hi, beautiful. As you can tell I fixed the lights,” Cash said, coming back up to her with the flashlight in his hand.

“Yes, I noticed that you did,” she answered. “Thank you very much. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here.”

“I guess I’m more of a handyman than I first thought, which is a good thing for you,” he joked, falling down next to her on the floor.

Rachelle liked how good it felt having Cash sitting so close to her. She was still taken aback at how she was drawn to a man that she barely knew. “I want to thank you again for going downstairs and taking care of the problem. You really didn’t have to do it. I could have called the electrician to come and take a look at it.”

“No, I like the challenge of doing things with my hands. Besides, I wanted to do something to impress you since you’ve been doing so much for me tonight. I had to show you that I am still a man,” Cash said, running his finger down her bare arm.

She shivered from his light touch. Leaning closer to Cash, she whispered, “Well, I think I should give you some kind of thank you gift for your kindness.”

“What do you have in mind?” He cupped her face in his hands. “How about a kiss?” he suggested in a low, desire filled voice.

“I can promise you won’t hear any complaints from me,” she answered, staring into his steady gaze.

As his lips inched closer to hers, Rachelle slowly closed her eyes. The warmth of his breath brushed against her lips, and a second before Cash ended the torture of wanting to feel his lips again the ring of her cell phone jerked them apart.

“Damn it,” he mumbled under his breath. “Who’s calling you?”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized against Cash’s mouth before moving back. She snatched the phone off the carpet. “I never get this many phone calls while I’m at work. Rachelle looked at the Caller ID and sighed. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.”

She was going to kill her sisters and her parents would just have to deal with it. She at least hoped they would visit her in jail after they got over their shock.

“Don’t worry about it. I can clean up our food.” He grabbed their trash off the floor. “It will keep my mind off the kiss that didn’t happen again. Who knows, I still might get another chance later.” He tossed everything back into the basket and then got up.

Cash winked at her before heading towards the kitchen. Her cell phone went off again and she flipped it open. “Why are you calling me?” she demanded. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work? You can’t be doing your job if you’re on the phone with me.”

“No, I’m not at work,” the voice told her.” I’m on my way to
Luxury
to check in on you and this Cash guy who’s staying there. I got a crazy phone call from Sasha about the two of you. How can you even think about sleeping with this guy?

“You know absolutely
nothing
about him. I can’t believe I’m coming there to talk some sense into my big sister. No one paid attention to any of my suggestions, so I left. I’m not in the mood to deal with him tonight. I should be there in less than ten minutes.”

What in the hell!!

Rachelle couldn’t believe Akisha was lecturing her over the phone about having a one-night stand. She didn’t need any kind of advice, especially not from her baby sister. She knew what she was doing.

“Akisha, you turn that car back around and go back to work. Sasha doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She called you for nothing. I’m just having a good time with Cash. I can promise you that I don’t need your help with anything,” she insisted.

“I was only working on some new dietary recipes for one of our clients. I told one of my co-workers that I had a family emergency and I got out of there as fast as I could. Besides, my boss Ethan is on a date with his newest girlfriend of the week, he doesn’t care if I’m there or not. He has more important things on his mind and it isn’t me. If we didn’t work together, he wouldn’t even know that I was alive and we both know it.”

Getting up off the floor, she started pacing in front of the fireplace. She didn’t want Akisha coming here and interrogating Cash for no good reason. Right now, they were only having some fun with each other. Why was it when she wanted to live a little her sisters tried to stop her? She was a grown woman and could do any damn thing she wanted.

“Alright, you need to listen to me. I don’t need you driving all the way out here for nothing. Whatever Sasha told you, she misunderstood why I called her. Cash and I are only flirting with each other. Nothing for you to get all crazy about, so why don’t you turn back around and head home? I’m going to give the place another walk through before the night crew comes on and then I’m going to bed.”

“See, and there lies the problem. Sasha and I both believed that when you go to bed, you will have an extra body in there that shouldn’t be. I can’t believe you’re doing this. It’s so out of character for you.

“You are usually more cautious, reserved with men. I can’t even remember the last time you introduced us to a new man in your life. Now, this stranger walks through the doors of
Luxury
and you’re ready to give him sex. It’s just blowing my mind to no end. This guy needs to be in his own room tonight. How can you think about sleeping with him?”

“Why are you being so cautious?” Rachelle asked. “Aren’t you the one who’s ready to take on any challenge tossed your way? I thought out of all of my sisters you would be the one encouraging me to do it.”

She heard Akisha sigh. “I know you would think so,” her sister admitted. “However, I have known all of those guys longer than you have Cash. I want to meet him.

“I need to look him in the eye for my own peace of mind. I can’t let you do this. You would do the same thing for me. Furthermore, you may not like it, but I’ve every right as your sister to protect you. So, stop trying to talk me out of it. I’ll be there soon. Love you.” Akisha ended the phone call with a click in her ear.

“I can’t believe I’m being treated like a child,” Rachelle complained, snapping her cell phone shut and sliding it back into her skirt. “God, I wish I could have talked her out of coming all the way here for nothing.”

“Rachelle, what’s wrong?” Cash asked from behind her. “Who was that on the phone? Is everything okay?”

Twirling around, she smiled at Cash. “It was my sister Akisha. She called to tell me that she’s coming here to check on me.”

“Your sister is coming here to check
me
out, isn’t she?” he asked. “I’m not upset because I have nothing to hide. Honestly, I can’t wait to meet her. Is there something I should know before she gets here?”

“Akisha is very blunt. I don’t think she was born with a filter. She will tell you exactly what is on her mind, so be prepared for anything with her. I love her dearly, but she is something else,” Rachelle admitted.

“I’m pretty sure I can handle some interrogation from your little sister,” Cash said, walking up to her. “How much longer do we have before she shows up?”

“Probably less than twenty minutes because I’m not quite sure where she was at when she called me.”

“How about we try to finish that kiss before we get interrupted again?”

Rachelle couldn’t deny the spark of excitement at the prospect of kissing him. She probably wanted it more than he did. Wrapping her arms around Cash’s neck, she let him pull her against his body. “I think I would like that a lot,” she answered a second before his mouth covered hers.

His hands explored the hollows of her back. The warmth of his arms was so male, inviting and tempting beyond reason. She had no desire to back out of his embrace. She pressed her body close, enjoying the feel of his arms around her.

Rachelle gave herself freely to the passion and the new spirals of ecstasy coursing through her body. The feel of his tongue sent shivers of desire racing through her. He moved his mouth over hers, devouring its softness—it was urgent and exploratory like he was seeking to find something from her, but she didn’t know what it was.

All the doubts she had earlier were shattered with the ravishment of his kisses. She returned them with reckless abandon because she had a burning desire, an aching need for their kiss to continue for a long as it could. His mouth didn’t become softer as he kissed, only more demanding and she loved every single bit of it.

Rachelle moaned against Cash’s hard lips as she felt his hard cock poking against her stomach. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, and the thought should have scared her. Instead, it pushed her to a level that she had never experienced before in her life. She couldn’t deny the truth because it was right in front of her face. She was dying to get him into the nearest bed.