Bachelor Unleashed - Brenda Jackson [52]
But for now she wanted just to concentrate on what had or hadn’t happened tonight. Sex was one of the things that hadn’t happened, and for a reason she didn’t quite understand. A part of her believed it was intentional on Xavier’s part.
She had come here fully expecting dinner followed by hot, mind-blowing sex. That was the only kind she’d ever shared with Xavier, and tonight she had been willing, but for some reason, he had held back.
After dessert he had kissed her a few times, and although she would admit the kisses had been long, drugging and delicious enough to tingle her toes and wet her panties, she had still felt him holding back on her. It was as if he was keeping himself in check, fearful of just what too many slow, deep kisses could do to them.
And then, after they’d cleaned up the kitchen together, he had helped her back into her coat and gloves, had picked her up in his arms and, instead of carrying her upstairs to a bedroom, he had carried her outside and placed her on the backseat of the private car.
He had told her that regardless of whether she stayed in New York over the weekend, he would be seeing her tomorrow and to expect his call. Why was she thinking already that, in addition to the feel of him easing back off sex, she was also losing control of the relationship? Now it seemed as if he had taken the lead role in managing just how things went between them. And she wasn’t sure if she particularly liked giving any man that much control over her.
“We’ll be at your hotel in less than five minutes, Ms. Langley,” the driver interrupted her thoughts to inform her. “Thanks, Jules.”
As they drove into the city, she wondered what would be the best way to take back that control she had somehow lost tonight. She didn’t like any man calling the shots and had dispensed with that nonsense at the moment the ink had dried on her divorce papers from Dustin.
After the divorce she had been furious, even resentful, and at one point out for blood. In a fit of spite, she’d thought about suing the other woman. North Carolina was one of a few states that still enforced a century-old case law that said a wife could sue her husband’s mistress for breaking up a marriage. Her attorney had been more than happy to do it, and Dustin’s attorney had scared her ex-husband shitless by informing him of a recent suit in which the duped ex-wife had gotten nine million dollars richer. Natalie had talked her out of it, but still she’d felt good knowing she had made Dustin sweat for a while.
When the driver brought the car to a stop in front of her hotel, she gathered up her things. She had been so certain about tonight that she’d put her toothbrush in her purse. In a way, she was somewhat disappointed. But then she would be the first to admit engaging in the unknown was kind of exciting. She couldn’t help wondering what Xavier had planned for tomorrow. Surely he wasn’t going to push for another wasted night. If he did try going that route, she would have to do something about it.
Chapter 12
“Hey, man, you okay?”
Xavier glanced across the desk at Cameron thinking that if he looked like a man who’d had a sleepless night then that was definitely right on the money. After he’d put Farrah inside the car and sent her home, he had walked around his house with a hard-on that wouldn’t go down. He’d called himself all kinds of fool. Although he’d known that in the long run he had done the right thing for them, he’d gone to bed with regrets of not having made love to her.
“No, not really,” he said, deciding to be honest.
The necessary documents had been signed, and now Cameron Cody owned yet another company. The negotiations had gone well, better than expected. Sleep-deprived or not, when it came to business, Xavier knew he was on top of his game. But now that he and Cameron were alone, that adrenaline high from earlier was fizzling fast.
“What’s your problem, Xavier?”
He couldn’t help but smile at Cameron’s question. For the first time since Dionne, he was actually having a problem with a woman. Before,