16
Slade woke to the most tantalizing aroma filling his nostrils. He pulled the source of the fragrance—a sleeping Mandisa—closer to him and buried his nose in her neck. A deep breath garnered him a lungful of the enticing mix of coconut andpeppermint.
He was certain whatever she was wearing was something she’d made herself. He’d taken her shopping yesterday, and as requested had left her to her own devices when they returned to the ranch. He’d worked straight through dinner and crawled up the stairs to shower and lie down next to her when he’d finally completed his work. His reward was the delectable scent wafting up from herskin.
She smelled edible, and if he hadn’t been so tired, he’d have shown her just how hungry he was for her. Another sniff of her skin, and he was convinced now was the time to make up for his exhaustion last night. But a quick glance at the clock told him there was notime.
Today was the day he rid himself of Bull Hamilton. The man had been a nuisance for years, and today, Slade would take back what was always his. He’d protect his family legacy and the woman sleeping in his arms rightnow.
He placed a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder and smiled as she snuggled into the press of his body. “Hey, if we’re going to make this meeting, we should probably be upnow.”
She moaned seductively, and his traitorous cock jumped with excitement.If she lived here full time, I’d probably never leave thisbed.
“By the feel of things, I don’t believe that’s what you really want todo.”
She was right. There was nothing more he wanted than to bury himself in her right now. But he needed to take care of Bull, and if he didn’t do it now, they’d both suffer the consequenceslater.
“All I ever want to do is lie in bed with you. But I promise, as soon as this is done, we can hightail it back here and spend the rest of your time in Texas inbed.”
Mandisa turned in his arms, a slow smile curving her full lips into a perfect bow. “Well, that’s an awfully tempting offer. You sure you’ve got enough stamina to live up to thatpromise?”
“Darlin’, when it comes to you, I’ll do whatever I must to keep you satisfied. Let’s hope there’s enough energy drinks left in the pantry from the last time Mama wentshopping.”
She kissed him quickly and crawled out of bed. When she reached the bathroom door, she gave him a questioning glance over hershoulder.
“Aren’t you coming with me? Showering together would conserve time andwater.”
“We both know us together in a shower will only prolong our time in that water. We wash off, then get dirty, and then have to wash off all overagain.”
She threw her head back in laughter as she continued into the bathroom. Slade waited a few moments after he heard the shower running behind the closed door to grab his phone and dialAaron.
One ring, and the call connected. “You just crawling out of bed,Hamilton?”
Slade’s shoulders shook with quiet laughter. His friend was always at the ready. “Something like that. We’re getting ready to head over to the offices in afew.”
“You sure that’s such a good idea? Bull might act worse in front ofcompany.”
“I know. She’ll be in my office as we hammer out the details of Bull’s extraction in the conference room. I’m not too keen on leaving her by herself ever since you called with news about New York. At least I know she’ll be safe at theoffice.”
“You think Bull suspects anything,Slade?”
Slade’s answer was quick. “No. It’s not like I called this meeting out of the blue. This is a normal quarterly board meeting. And being the taskmaster that Bull is, he always demands the board’s presence in person or via teleconference. We’re going to stick to the plan, let him run the meeting as he usually does, and then when he asks if there’s any extra business to be brought before the board, we’ll drop ourbomb.”
It was going to take all the patience in the world for Slade to sit through this meeting, knowing what he had planned for his father. But any change from the usual might tip Bull off, and he couldn’t riskthat.
“Just be careful, Slade. We have Bull dead to rights. He can’t prevent us from ousting him today. But he’s unpredictable and ruthless when he can’t get hisway.”
Slade knew Aaron spoke the truth, but he couldn’t allow the fear of what his father might do to prevent him from doing what was right. The best thing for all of them would be freedom from Bull and his callousways.
“I’ll keep that in mind. You just make sure you’re sitting in front of that web camera at nine sharp Centraltime.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Aaron’sstated.
Slade ended the call with his friend just in time to hear Mandisa turn the shower off and close the glass door to the stall. He stood from the bed and walked toward the bathroom door. His future was waiting for him. Time to get up and meetit.
* * *
Slade pulled Mandisa into his office, heading directly for the large wooden desk sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling-window. He sat on the edge of his desk, pulling her into his arms as soon as he wasseated.
