Worth the Challenge (17 page)

Thrusting deep, he pounded inside her, murmuring hot words in her ear all the while. This was it, he wasn’t holding back now. Giving her everything he had, he went balls-deep. Hard. Fast. His orgasm threatened, sitting on that peripheral edge, just out of reach, and he strove toward it. Taking her mouth, he consumed her, ravaged her with his tongue and teeth, all the while slamming his body into hers until they both stiffened and groaned, their orgasms taking them completely over.

Rhett slumped over her for a long moment and then left the bed, disposing of the condom quickly. He returned to the bed, pulling Gabriella to him without saying a word, and she went willingly. She clung to his side, her breaths still coming fast, her body trembling. He smoothed his hands down her side, trying to calm her down. Exhaling slowly, he tried to ease his racing heart with deep, even breaths.

“That was—intense,” she finally whispered.

“Mmm.” He kissed her forehead, infinitely pleased with what just happened. Fuck, it felt good. “You came three times.”

“And you sound rather proud of that,” she teased, glancing up at him. “I never thought that could happen.”

“I told you.” He pressed another kiss to her temple. “You’ve been with the wrong guys.”

“I’ll say.” She ran her fingers back and forth across his chest, teasing his chest hair, and he closed his eyes, enjoying it. He could fall asleep, he was so relaxed, so content. Take a nap, wake up and do it all over again.

Smiling, he snuggled her closer, resting his chin on top of her head.

“Rhett?”

“Hmm.”

“This isn’t going to ruin our working relationship, is it?”

“I think it’s going to make it a lot more fun,” he joked.

“If we keep it temporary.” She paused and the moment suddenly felt heavy. “Right?”

“Right.” He didn’t want to talk about this now. Besides, he kept everything temporary. This was going to be fun, just like he promised. A little bit of romance, a lot of exploring in the sun and plenty of exploring each other’s bodies during the long, sultry nights. The perfect inspiration she needed to create a sexy, island-based scent.

He hoped.

Chapter Twelve

“How’s it coming?”

Rhett literally broke out in a sweat at the sound of his brother’s voice. He clutched the phone tightly, his fingers cramping. If he was feeling like a dirty bastard, he’d tell Alex he had Ella coming day and night, which was a rather arrogant—though honest—statement.

But that wasn’t what Alex was referring to and he knew it.

“It’s going…well,” Rhett said, casting a glance toward Ella. She sat at a small table out on the deck, scribbling inside her notebook, her shoulders hunched and a tiny frown on her face.

“You’ve been there three days. You come back tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, tomorrow.” Rhett’s mouth went dry. He didn’t want to go back, didn’t want to face reality. He wasn’t sure if Ella was ready to face it either.

They’d hardly come up for air, let alone with an idea for the scent, too consumed with each other the last three days. Long, lazy mornings wrapped around each other, naked in bed. Warm, sunny afternoons spent wandering the island, a lengthy dinner at one of the resort restaurants followed by lots of naked playtime—again in bed. Or on the couch. The floor, against the wall, out on the deck, in the shower…

Scrubbing a hand across his face, he banished the memories. He couldn’t get enough of her.

“Let’s set up a meeting for right after you arrive. I want to discuss with you what’s happening with the perfume, what the next stages are. Hunter and Gracie want to go over what the bottle and box is going to look like. They’ve had someone draw up some ideas. I think you’ll be pleased.”

The back of Rhett’s neck grew damper with perspiration with every word Alex said. “Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves? Isn’t it a little soon to discuss such matters?”

“Not really. If you want this by next spring, then we need to get moving. It’s one of the best times—women tend to want a change come the first sign of spring. Plus, we’ll be available in time for Mother’s Day. In fact…” Rhett swore he heard the scratch of Alex’s pen as he jotted down some notes. “I’ll mention we need to come up with gift sets. Elegant boxes with the perfume’s name on it in simple font.” Alex paused. “What are we calling the perfume, anyway? I don’t think you’ve told me.”

“Worth It.” The words just tumbled off his tongue without any thought.

“Hmm. Worth It for Women?”

Rhett swallowed hard. “I think it sounds great.”

“We’ll consider it. I know Hunter has a list already started.” Rhett heard the tap, tap, tap of Alex’s pen. “When will Gabriella be ready to share the scent? Are you focusing on one in particular or does she want to offer a few choices so we could narrow it down?”

Panic clawed at Rhett’s chest. He suddenly felt the need for a paper bag so he could hyperventilate into it. “Probably a few choices. She isn’t stuck on one particular scent at the moment.” Hell, he was making it up as he went along. Like usual.

“And you two are getting along, right?” Alex’s voice lowered. “No funny business involved?”

The king of funny business had the nerve to ask him that? “Aren’t you the one who messed around with your assistant while working in Europe?” Rhett pointed out not-so-kindly. All the questions made him irritable. Real life had a rude way of butting its ugly head in and ruining his good time.

“That was different.” Alex sniffed. “We were halfway in love by the time we got to Paris. You, on the other hand, hardly know this woman.”

Rhett knew he didn’t like the thought of being away from her for too long. Even now, with him inside the villa and her sitting outside nearby, he felt a loss. Like he needed to go to her and touch her, hold her tight. Make everything better just by being connected to her.

“I have to go. I’ll call you when we arrive in New York.” Rhett ended the call before Alex could say another word, guilt lingering within him. He hardly ever cut off his oldest brother, usually saving that sort of behavior for Hunter, but he didn’t want to deal with the questions. It all made him feel like a failure.

And he was going to fuck up this project, he knew it. He could feel it in his bones. It was his fault Gabriella was distracted and could hardly work on the scent. He kept her too busy in bed to think about much else.

Or maybe that was
his
problem. She was all he thought about. He thought his obsession was bad before he slept with her…

He stepped out onto the deck, noticed that she stared off into space, a dreamy expression on her face. Often he found her like that. Thinking, dreaming, over what, he wasn’t sure.

“What are you doing?”

She startled, turning around to glare at him with a hand resting over her chest. “You scared me to death.”

“Sorry.” He leaned in for a quick kiss before he settled in the chair next to her.

“Were you on the phone?”

He nodded grimly. “With Alex.”

“Oh.” She glanced down at her notebook, chewing on her lower lip. “Did he ask about the scent?”

“He did.” He tried his best to keep his voice neutral but it was difficult. “He asked how you were progressing.”

“And what did you tell him?”

A bunch of lies to keep him happy.
“I said everything was coming together.”

Her eyes filled with tears and she turned away from him, covering her eyes with her hands. “Great, so you lied. Your brothers are going to hate my concept.”

“No, they won’t.” He reached for her, but she pulled away, dropping her hands to glare at him. “They’ll love it.” How he wished he could ask what the hell it actually was.

She slammed her notebook shut, making the table rattle with the force of it. “I doubt that. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.” Sighing, she stood and walked toward the ledge of the deck, resting her arms on it so she could stare out at the ocean.

Rhett followed her, suddenly afraid to get too close. She’d been edgy, almost despondent for the last few hours, and he wasn’t sure what was bothering her or why. “Is something wrong?” Christ, he wanted to roll his eyes at himself. He sounded like a chick.

“Nothing you could help me with.” She kept her gaze trained straight ahead and he noticed her eyes were still watery with tears.

“Try me.” He leaned his arms on the wooden ledge close to hers.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at him. “My father called me this morning.”

Rhett frowned. “Is everything all right?” He knew somewhat of how guilty she felt, leaving her father back home. How odd he’d become over the years, how obligated she felt to take care of him. How he hadn’t necessarily encouraged her to take the job with Worth, which had secretly devastated her though she wasn’t one to go into details about it.

“He called to let me know he accepted a job offer. He leaves next week for Italy.” She slowly shook her head.

“With who?” Unease settled within him as he waited for her answer.

“Renaldi.”

He clenched his jaw. The Renaldi brand was one of their biggest competitors. His father had hated Giorgio Renaldi tremendously, had always accused him of being a dirty-handed liar and cheat. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was.” She turned to face him, her cheeks streaked with tears. “Imagine them wanting to all of a sudden launch a perfume when they’d never done so before? Sort of strange, don’t you think?”

“An odd coincidence,” Rhett said carefully.

“This is no coincidence,” she said bitterly. “He told them. My father went to Renaldi and told them about Worth and then offered his services for more money, I’m sure of it.”

His heart sank. Alex and Hunter would hit the roof when they heard this. “How do you know? Did your father tell you this?”

“He didn’t have to. I just know.” She pushed away from the ledge and started for the villa. “I don’t blame you if you hate me. My father double-crossed you, he double-crossed me. He duped all of us.”

Rhett grabbed her before she slipped inside the house, forcing her to turn around and face him. The tears were still there, accompanied by a look of such disgust, such absolute misery, it nearly broke his heart. “You’re overreacting. I don’t hate you,” he said. “I could never hate you. And you’re not your father’s keeper.”

“Yes, I am! I thought I could trust him. He betrayed me, Rhett. And in turn, he betrayed you.”

“How? He’s a perfumer, you’re a perfumer. If you both want to maintain successful careers, you’re going to each have to work at businesses that compete with each other.” He was acting way more nonchalant about this than he felt. “It’s bound to happen.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “I feel like he ran with this information straight to Renaldi.”

“Who’s to say someone from Renaldi didn’t contact him? You know, my father always hated Giorgio Renaldi.”

“Really?” She frowned.

“They were bitter rivals. I don’t remember much since I was so young, but according to Alex, my father always had a soft spot for the wife. Claudia Renaldi is a very beautiful woman.”

“Hmm.” She’d met the Renaldis once, long ago at some industry social event. She could hardly remember them, though she recalled the wife had worn plenty of jewelry, which she’d greatly admired as a girl.

How her father had contacted them and ended up with a job in Italy, she wasn’t quite sure. Could hardly wrap her head around it, really.

“What your father is doing and who he’s working for won’t interfere with our working relationship. I won’t let it.” Rhett wrapped his arm around her slender shoulders and pulled her close. “It’s easy for me to say, but don’t let it bother you. We need to concentrate on our project, not worry about what your father might be doing.”

She sighed, buried her face against his chest. The sensation of her warm breath through the thin fabric of his shirt made his body react like the horny bastard he was. “You’re right. I’ve been gathering notes, coming up with some formulas. I’m not sure if they’re what you’re looking for, but once we return to New York, I’ll send my formulas to the lab and see what we can come up with.”

“Is it enough, you think?” He tried his best to keep the worry from his tone but it proved difficult.

And this ultra-perceptive woman picked right up on it. “I don’t know.” She met his gaze, hers unwavering, her expression daring him to protest.

Well. He appreciated her honesty.

It also scared the hell out of him.

After reassuring Rhett she most certainly had everything under control, Ella had hidden away in her bedroom, telling him she needed to work. He’d tried to convince her to at least go out to the beach with him, where she could sit under an umbrella and pour over her newly created formulas.

But she wanted to do it alone. In private. She needed the quiet, the absolute stillness of the empty, silent room. The only sound the fan whirling slowly overhead, the faint murmuring buzz of the motor soothing her frazzled nerves.

Eventually she started to take notes, redoing formulas, trying to figure what fit best where. The scratching of her pen on the thick paper within her notebook seemed extra loud, as did the clicking of her fingers on the keyboard of her tiny laptop.