An Improper Affair (Millionaire of the Month #4)(30)
Author: Anna DePalo

She hung on to him, her hands low on his hips, meeting his thrusts, which sent them higher and higher, until they came at the same time.

She called his name as she felt him groan harshly against her neck. Afterward, they lay together in bed, hearing the storm wreak its havoc outside. "I can’t believe you drove here in this weather," she said in disbelief.

His hand smoothed up and down her arm. "My month is almost up. I came as soon as I dealt with the fallout from my takeover of Sperling, Inc. I knew I had to resolve what was between us before I left."

"Just think," she responded, "if you hadn’t been forced to spend a month at the lodge, we would never have met."

"I didn’t come to Hunter’s Landing looking for a woman," Ryan said, placing a light kiss on her lips. "In fact, it was the furthest thing from my mind. I was closing in on Webb— just about at the point where I had enough shares lined up to oust him— and I was pissed off about being forced to take off a month to cool my heels."

Kelly turned toward him fully. "Why were you set on taking over Sperling, Inc.? I mean, I know you dislike Webb, but— "

"It wasn’t just revenge for what he did to my mother, thougli that was part of it," Ryan admitted. "He was mismanaging the stores, squandering the family heritage."

"And now that you have control, what do you plan to do9" she asked curiously.

"Sperling has been treading water at best under Webb’s leadership." he responded. "Sales and profits have been lackluster. I’m planning on taking the stores more upscale and improving customer service. We need to stock cutting-edge fashion. There’s no point in trying to beat discount merchants at their own game."

It was exactly what she’d do, Kelly thought, then realized she shouldn’t be surprised by Ryan’s business acumen. After all, he was the man who had thumbed his nose at taking his rightful place in the family company and had instead, in ten short years, built one of the most dynamic, profitable cable companies around, buying up competitors for a song and turning them around, in part with the synergies created by his own burgeoning empire.

"So now you’re a retail mogul as well as a cable-company tycoon," she teased.

"Yeah," Ryan conceded, "but I’m planning to delegate most of the work for the stores." He arched a brow. "Are you interested in helping?"

Kelly laughed. "I went looking for just an outlet for my designs, and wound up with the whole chain at my disposal."

"Honey, you have me at your disposal."

Kelly felt a quiver run through her. "Just a few hours ago, I was sitting on the couch thinking we were over."

He gave her a quick, fiery kiss. "My victory over Webb didn’t give me the satisfaction I thought it would. Instead, I spent my time thinking about you. Thanks to Hunter’s will, I’ve had time to figure out what’s meaningful"

"I wonder if that was Hunter’s motive all along," she mused.

"I’ve wondered the same thing," Ryan admitted. "He knew me and the other guys well. There was no way he could have predicted what our lives would be like ten years on, but maybe he had an inkling, since we were all hard-charging types, that we might need a little incentive to force us to take a breather, to assess how far we’d come and where we were going."

"You mean, he might have had a clue you’d turn into a driven corporate shark9"

"Maybe." He grinned good-naturedly. "I don’t know how seriously the rest of us took that pact that we’d made to reunite in ten years. I’d forgotten all about it before my stay at the lodge. Maybe Hunter knew that would happen— that it would be up to him to make sure the Samurai weren’t lost forever. Now I can’t wait till I see the others. We have a lot to thank Hunter for."

".And thanks to you," Kelly said, "I realized we can’t run from our past— " "— but we can run toward our future, together," he finished for her.

And then there was no more talking, as he showed her exactly what some of their future would hold.

Ryan looked around the lodge one last time. It had been a hell of a month. He’d walked in seeking one thing and he was walking away with something else entirely.

Something better. Purer. Love in an unexpected package, in an unexpected place. And he was a better person for it.

He sat in the great room, looking out at the midday sun, contemplating the note in front of him. It was part of his plan to begin building bridges to his old college buddies.

"What are you doing’?" Kelly said, walking into the room and coming to sit on the arm of his chair.

"Composing a note to Matt Barton." He tapped the top of his pen against the coffee table. "He’s due to arrive soon to start his month at the lodge."

Kelly smiled. "Telling him what a wonderful time you had here?"

"This place really is the Love Shack," he responded, then grinned. "All four of the guys who’ve spent a month here have wound up finding the One. And you know what they say. Forewarned is forearmed."

Kelly swatted him playfully.

They were about to embark on a trip to Napa Valley, where they planned to have an intimate wedding. Then they were heading back to the real world, so he could get back to work at El Ray Technology.

Kelly was already helping him get Sperling, Inc. back on track, offering advice about how the stores could be revamped. She was also placing production orders for her designs, so that they could be found in Sperling stores in the coming months.

Kelly had asked Erica to run Distressed Success for her in the meantime, and had hired a couple of local college students to help out. She wanted to keep the shop open while she expanded nationally.

Kelly leaned forward. "What did you write11"

Ryan picked up the piece of paper and read it aloud: "Matt, good luck, bud. I’m passing on a piece of advice. You’re about to begin your month at ‘the Love Shack.’ Remember the universal truths about women we came up with on New Year’s Eve our senior year9 They tie you down and won’t let you do anything dangerous9 Scrap ’em. Here are the new universal truths about the One: She’ll set you free. Loving her is the most dangerous thing you’ll ever do. Ryan."

"Aww…"

Ryan smiled. "Don’t get all weepy on me. Knowing Matt, he’ll read it and think it’s a load of BS."

Kelly looked at him archly. "I’m surprised there was nothing in your universal truths about sex. You know, seven college guys, lots of testosterone… you must have been thinking about it all the time."

Ryan grinned. "Yeah. well…I didn’t want to say the sex doesn’t get boring. Some things a guy wants to keep to himself."