“Hmm . . . I’ve been incredibly greedy with you.” He withdrew from her, rolled over onto his back, and pulled Allie across his chest. “I’m making up for all the times you said ‘no’ ten years ago.”

“You were very persistent, I’ll give you that.”

He smiled. “I was beginning to think ‘no’ was the extent of your vocabulary.”

“What did you expect? I was a good girl.” She rested her chin on her hands. “And you, Hudson Chase, were every bit the bad boy back then.”

His brow lifted. “Back then? And now?” His tongue traced her bottom lip before tugging it between his teeth for a long erotic moment. “Have I lost my touch?” His finger caressed the contours of her spine.

“Hardly. But you know what I mean. That swagger . . .” Her voice wavered at the end as his hand smoothed over the curve of her ass.

Hudson chuckled. “Swagger?”

“Yes. And the way you looked at me.” Her eyes dropped for a split second, then met his. “From the moment I saw you, I knew you were nothing but trouble.”

“And I knew you were a spoiled, uptight pain in the ass.”

Allie’s jaw dropped and she playfully hit him on the chest.

“And the most beautiful girl I’d ever laid eyes on.” Hudson gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and his eyes roamed over her face. “What would you ever want with a guy like me?”

“Because when I was with you,” her voice softened, “no one ever made me feel so alive. I couldn’t stay away.”

“Yet you still said no.”

Allie smiled shyly at him. “I almost said yes.”

He pushed up on an elbow. “You did?”

She nodded. “The night you took me out on the water taxi, just the two of us. I always wondered if you had permission to take the boat out that night.”

“It might have been a slight misuse of company property.” He eased back against the pillows and smirked.

“I suspected as much.” She laughed. “Well then, I guess it’s a good thing I said no. Could you imagine if we’d been caught?”

Hudson shifted to his side, wrapped his arms around Allie’s waist, and hauled her against his hard chest. “With our pants down? Not a terrible image.”

He nuzzled the back of her neck and sucked the skin at the nape. God, he wanted her again. He wanted her nails scoring his back and her tongue in his mouth as she writhed beneath him. Then when they were through, to sleep with her in his arms once again.

His fingers splayed on the flat of her stomach as he pressed his heavy cock into her behind. Allie let out a soft moan and her body arched back to meet his. “What do you want, Allie?”

“You,” she murmured, her hips slowly rocking against him.

“Show me where you want me to go.” In a slow sweep, Hudson ran his palm down her arm and laced his fingers with hers. As he did, he felt the facets of the rock on her hand dig into his finger. His eyes closed. The juxtaposition of where they’d been moments ago and the reality of how this might inevitably end slammed inside his skull.

“I have to get ready for work.” He flung the covers back and dropped his legs over the side of the bed. Pushing to his feet, he scrubbed a hand down his face and strode to the bathroom. He stood in the center of the room for a moment and breathed deeply, taking a time-out like a fucking toddler. He was pissed. He hated that ring on her finger. He hated the dandy prick who put it there. The more he thought about it, the more it ratcheted up the possessive male in him. He was an idiot to think one lost weekend with her would ever sate his need, though he wished like hell that it had. He wanted more and he was willing to take the time, for now. He’d use the next two weeks to show her how good they were together. But then he had to do it. Before that Julian what-the-fuck-do-you-need-a-title-for returned, he had to lay out his demands for her to choose.

The hell if he was going to be the other man in her life. He wanted to be the man in her life.

Fighting the impulse to go back in there, he yanked the glass door of the shower open and cranked the faucets on full blast. Not bothering to wait for the water to reach steaming, he stepped under the spray. The frigid water hit his chest and sluiced down his abs to his aching erection. He hoped the cold water would shock it into some flaccid state.

No such luck.

He braced his palms against the granite and allowed his head to drop forward, shoving whatever thoughts he had to the side and focusing on the hot water hitting the back of his neck and shoulders. A moment later he heard the shower door open and felt Allie’s arms slip around his waist.

“Please,” she said, pressing a trail of tender kisses along his back. “Don’t ruin this.”

Despite his temper and the strain of keeping his mouth shut doing a number on his brain, he wanted her.

Hudson dropped his arms and turned around. Their eyes met and suddenly he didn’t care anymore about the thoughts poisoning his psyche. His hand slid up the side of her throat and into her hair. As his fingers fisted into the silky blond curls, he slanted his mouth over hers. His tongue parted her lips, going deep and taking over.

Allie arched into him and he groaned into her mouth at the feel of her nipples brushing against his chest. His hands roamed all over her tight body, from the gentle slope of her breasts to the curve of her waist and the top of her hips.

Maneuvering Allie against the glass, his fingers dug possessively into the flesh of her thigh and he curled her leg around his hip. His erection brushed between her legs as he positioned himself. He sucked in a sharp breath. She was so fucking hot and wet.

Primitive instinct taking over, he curled the end of his spine, joining their bodies. A breathless cry escaped her mouth and her core tightened, taking him deeper. She gripped his shoulders and her eyes fluttered closed as she gave herself up to him.

“Open your eyes,” he demanded. “See what you do to me.” His hips flexed forward and pulled back, sending a vicious ache up his cock to be back inside her. “You’ve stripped me raw.”

Allie met his stare as she rocked into each of his thrusts. In that moment he knew she needed this as much as he did. It wasn’t going to help them get through the words that needed to be said, but for now this skin-to-skin contact was what they had. He pushed into her again, staking his claim, and he knew with every fiber of his being that he wanted to be with her.

Forever.

Chapter Twenty-one

Allie’s stomach plummeted as the elevator whisked her to the top of the Palmolive building, but not from the force of gravity. She had a wicked case of nerves. Hudson had been in such a foul mood that morning, and even though their physical connection had been every bit as mind blowing, he’d still seemed somewhat distant when she’d left for work.

The image of him in the shower, his head down as the water pulsed over his tense shoulders, had haunted her all day. She knew what he wanted, and if she was honest with herself, she’d admit she was starting to want the same thing.

If only it were that simple.

And it wasn’t just the fact that invitations had already been sent out. Yes, her mother would be humiliated to cancel “the event of the holidays,” as she’d taken to calling it; but the ramifications of Allie’s actions would run much deeper than that. There was Ingram Media to consider as well. Accepting Julian’s proposal not only meant the joining of two people, but the merger of two empires as well. Her father had worked hard to ensure a seamless transition when Julian took the helm after their wedding. The two of them had met with nearly every subsidiary over the past month. Deals had been made, contracts had been signed. Wheels were in motion that had far greater implications than simply canceling a caterer.