Passionate Proposals

“What do you think?” Georgia asked tentatively after a few minutes.

Turning the letter over in his hand, Carson ran his gaze over the words one last time. “I think the person who wrote this letter is my father. It’s the biggest lead I’ve ever had and yet somehow, I don’t feel like I’m any closer to finding out his identity than I was before. What good is one initial?”

“It’s more than you had before,” she said in an upbeat tone.

Carson wasn’t feeling quite as optimistic. “Anything else interesting?” he asked.

Georgia shuffled through some more envelopes that were bound together with a rubber band. “These are old pay stubs. She’s kept them going back for years and years. Other than that, not much, sorry.”

Carson nodded and started putting everything back into the shoe box. “That’s okay. We found something. That should make my brothers happy. I’ll hand this over to them and let them analyze to their hearts’ content. Let’s pack up the last of these shoes and call it a day.”

They slowly gathered up all the bags and boxes and hauled them downstairs to the foyer. When he looked down at his watch, Carson realized he’d kept Georgia here far longer than he’d expected to. “Wow, it’s late. I’m sorry about that. I hijacked your whole Saturday.”

Georgia set down a bag of clothes and shrugged. “I would’ve spent it working anyway. I told you I’d help. I didn’t put a time limit on it.”

“Well, thank you. I got through that faster with you here. I might have given up long before I found that box. There’s still more to go through, but I think what I was looking for is right here,” he said, holding the old shoe box. “I’d like to make it up to you. May I buy you dinner?”

Georgia studied his face for a moment, her pert nose wrinkling as she thought it over. Finally she said, “How do you feel about Chinese takeout?”

* * *

“Can you pass me the carton of fried rice?”

Georgia accepted the container and used some chopsticks to shovel a pile out onto her plate beside her sesame chicken and spring roll. The Chinese place a block from her loft was the best in town. She ate there at least three times a week. Carson hadn’t seemed too convinced about her dinner suggestion at first. He must have wanted to take her someplace nice with linen napkins or something, but she’d insisted.

They drove back downtown to her place, then walked up the street together to procure a big paper bag full of yum and grab a six-pack of hard cider from the corner store. That was her idea, too. Lobster and expensive wine were nice, but honestly, nothing topped a couple of cartons of Jade Palace delicacies eaten around the coffee table.

“Wow,” Carson said after taking a bite of beef and broccoli. “This is really good.”

“I told you. It’s all amazing. And really, you have to eat it while you sit on the floor. It adds to the experience.”

Carson chuckled at her and returned to his food. She’d expected him to turn his nose up at eating on the floor around her coffee table, but he’d gone with it. She had a dining room table, but she almost never ate there. It was the place where she worked on her laptop, not ate.

“I lived with a family for a while that ate every meal around the coffee table,” Georgia explained. “They didn’t watch television or anything. It was just where they liked to be together. There were about six of us who would crowd around it and eat every night, talking and laughing. I really enjoyed that.”

“Those moments are the best ones,” Carson agreed. “There are some days when I’d give up every penny I’ve ever earned to be a kid again, watching old movies and eating popcorn with Aunt Gerty and Mom. My brothers and I get together and do it every few weeks, but it’s not the same.”

Georgia watched her boss’s face softly crumble into muted sadness as he stared down at his plate, shoveled some chicken into his mouth and chewed absentmindedly. She knew what it was like to miss people that you could never have back in your life. She’d always consoled herself with the idea that there was something better in her future. “You’ll make new moments,” she reassured him. “And one day when you have a family of your own, your children will treasure the little things you share with them just the same.”

“That feels like it won’t happen for decades. Honestly, just the idea of a family of my own seems impossible. I work so much. And even if I found the perfect woman, I’d feel like a fraud somehow. How can I be a father when I don’t know what it’s like to have one?”

“You’ll figure it out. Just start by being there and you’ll already have both our fathers beat. You’re a good guy, Carson. I have no doubt that it will come naturally to you.”

“What about you? You’re not going to have a family of your own while you spend all your free time at work.”

Georgia knew that. A part of her counted on it. What good was starting a relationship when it was just going to end? People always left her—life had proven that much—so she kept her relationships casual and avoided more disappointment. “Right now, the Newport Corporation and its employees are my family. The only family I’ve ever had. For now, that’s enough for me.”

“So you’re not dating anyone?” Carson asked.

Georgia’s gaze met his with curiosity. Was he really fishing for information or just being polite? “Haven’t you heard? Carson Newport is my lover.” She punctuated the sentence by popping the last bite of food into her mouth and putting her chopsticks across the plate in disgust. She could really put her foot in her mouth sometimes.

Carson chuckled and set aside his own utensils. Leaning onto his hand, he looked at her over the coffee table and said, “Can I ask you something?”

“Why not?” she said. They’d already covered their painful childhoods. What could be worse than that?

“Why did you tell Sutton I was your lover last night?”

That. That could be worse. “I, uh...” Georgia started, but couldn’t think of anything else to say. “It just popped into my head,” she said as she got up and carried a few dishes into the kitchen.

Carson didn’t let her escape. He followed her with the last of their dinner and set it on the counter beside her. “That’s it?” he asked as he leaned his hip against the counter. He was so near to her that her senses were flooded with the scent of his cologne and the heat of his body.

With a sigh, Georgia turned to face him. This wasn’t junior high; she needed to be a grown-up about this. The movement put her so close to him that they almost touched, but she felt childish taking a step back. “It was just wishful thinking,” she said, letting her gaze fall to the collar of his shirt.

Carson’s hand came to rest at her waist. “Georgia?” he asked softly.

She almost couldn’t answer with him touching her. The hem of her T-shirt just barely brushed the waistband of her jeans, and his fingers had come to rest in part on her bare skin. It was a simple touch, and yet it made her heart stutter in her chest and her breath catch in her throat. “Yes?”

He hooked his finger under her chin and tilted her head up until she had no choice but to look at him. She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment and a touch of excitement as her gaze met his. His sea-green eyes searched her face as his lips tipped upward in a smile of encouragement. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Georgia almost couldn’t hear him for the blood rushing in her ears. Had that kiss the other day been more than just excitement and champagne? “Why?”

Carson slid his hand around to her lower back, pulling her body flush against his own. “Because I lie in bed at night and think about that kiss we shared. I’ve fantasized about holding you in my arms again. I know that I shouldn’t because you work for me, but I can’t help it. And now that you’ve announced to half the company that we’re lovers and the world didn’t end... I don’t have any reason to hold back any longer.”

The longer he spoke, the more she fell under his spell. He was right. Their work relationship could survive this if they handled it like adults. They were attracted to each other. A little indulgence couldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t turn into anything serious and impact their business dealings. No one else seemed to care except Sutton.

“Then don’t,” she said, boldly meeting his gaze.

He took her at her word. Carson’s lips met hers without hesitation. His kiss was powerful yet not overwhelming. Georgia stood on tiptoe to wrap her arms around his neck and draw herself closer to him. When his tongue sought her out, she opened to him and melted into his touch.

She had thought the kiss at the hospital property was amazing, but that was nothing, nothing like this. This kiss was like a lightning bolt to her core. As his hands rubbed her back and his fingers pressed into her flesh, all she could think about was how badly she needed Carson.

“I want you,” she whispered against his lips.

Carson broke away from her mouth and trailed kisses along her jawline to the sensitive hollow of her neck. “You’re going to have me,” he said in a low growl at her ear.

His mouth returned to hers, hungrier than before. This was no longer just a simple kiss. It was officially foreplay. Without breaking the kiss, he walked them backward through the kitchen until her legs met with the dining room table. Georgia eased up onto it until she was sitting on it with Carson nestled snugly between her denim-clad thighs. She could feel his desire pressing against her, sending a shiver of need down her spine.

Carson slipped his hand beneath her shirt to stroke the smooth skin of her back and press her even closer to him. He gripped the hem and in one fluid move pulled her T-shirt up and over her head, throwing it to the floor. He took in the overflowing cups of her bra before he reached over his shoulder to tug his own shirt off.

His mouth moved quickly to her collarbone, traveling lower to taste her breasts. Georgia unfastened her bra and slipped it off her arms. She didn’t want anything else between them. This was the skin-on-skin contact she’d craved, and she wanted it now.

Carson groaned at the sight of her before he covered both her breasts with his hands. She felt her nipples tighten as his palms grazed over them. He moved his lips and tongue over her skin, tasting every inch of her exposed flesh before he drew one tight bud into his mouth.

“Carson!” she cried out as the sharp stab of pleasure shot straight to her inner core. She arched her back, pressing herself closer to him and to the touch she desperately craved.

“I can’t believe this is really happening,” she gasped as she looked up at the ceiling.

He planted a kiss on her sternum. “Believe it, beautiful.”

Georgia closed her eyes and gave in to the sensations he was eliciting from her body. Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more of his pleasurable torture, she felt his hand slide down her stomach to her jeans. She lifted her hips as he slid them and her panties down her legs.

As he stood, his eyes devoured her naked body. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a condom and set it on the table beside her. He kissed her again and let his hand wander over her bare thigh as he did. Carson dipped his fingers between her legs, brushing over her sensitive skin and sending a shiver through her whole body.

He did it again, harder, and this time Georgia cried aloud when he made contact. “Do you like that?” he asked.

“Oh yeah,” she said.

Encouraged by her response, he stroked again and again until she was panting and squirming at the edge of the table. He built up the release inside her so quickly, she could hardly believe it until it was almost too late.

“Stop,” she gasped, gripping his wrist with her hand. “Not yet. I want you inside me.”

“Very well,” Carson agreed. His gaze never left hers as he unfastened his pants and sheathed himself quickly. He settled back between her legs, and Georgia felt him press against her.

“Yesss,” she hissed as he slowly sank into her.

Carson hooked his hands around the backs of her knees and tugged her to the very edge of the table. If he let go, she’d fall, so she wrapped her legs around his rib cage and drew him in deeper. Judging by his sharp intake of breath, he wasn’t going anywhere.

He gripped her hips, holding her steady as he started to move in her. Every stroke set off fire bursts beneath her eyelids as they fluttered closed. Georgia arched her back and braced her hands on the table as their movements became more desperate.

How had she even gotten here? This morning, she’d gone into work with few expectations for the day. By nightfall, she was fulfilling her biggest fantasy with Carson and on the verge of an amazing orgasm. She could feel it building inside her. He coaxed the response from her body so easily, as though they were longtime lovers.

“So close,” she said between ragged breaths.

Carson seemed to know just what to do to push her over the edge. Rolling his hips forward, he thrust harder, striking her sensitive core with each advance. In seconds, Georgia was tensing up in anticipation of her undoing.

Then it hit. It radiated through her body like a nuclear blast. She clung to Carson’s shoulders as the shockwaves of pleasure made every muscle tremble and quiver. They rode though it together. With her final gasp, her head dropped back and her body went limp in his arms.

“Georgia,” he groaned, thrusting hard into her. He surged forward and gasped against the curve of her throat as he poured into her.

Georgia cradled him against her bare chest as he recovered. Thoughts swirled through her mind as the sexual haze faded away and she realized she’d just had sex with her boss on the dining room table.

Before she could say anything, Carson straightened up and wrapped his arms around her waist. He lifted her from the table and carried her through the living room. “Bedroom?” he asked.

“Upstairs,” she said.

“Of course it is.”

With a smile, he carried her upstairs to the master suite that overlooked the downstairs. He placed her gently on the bed and moved quickly to strip off his remaining clothes before crawling onto the mattress beside her. He tugged her back against him and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Georgia was surprised to find him ready for her so quickly. “Again?” she asked.

“Oh yes. And this time, it will be in a proper bed.”

“At least I can say I used the dining room table this year,” she said with a wicked grin.

Six

“You won’t believe what I’ve dug up!”

Brooks and Carson were talking business in Carson’s office when Graham charged in with his bold declaration. Carson had been waiting for this moment since he turned over the shoe box to his older brothers. It had been nearly a week since the discovery and his encounter with Georgia.

After giving Graham the box of paperwork, Carson had returned his focus to Georgia. Work had sucked up the majority of their time, as usual, but he was looking forward to the weekend and having another chance to meet up with her outside the office. At work, she was too tense. Despite the fact that he didn’t care if anyone knew they were seeing one another, she still wasn’t comfortable with it.

The contents of the shoe box had slipped his mind as the final paperwork on the hospital property went through and the finishing touches were put on the plans. Then Graham burst through his office door and it all came back to him.

Graham flopped into a chair at the table where Brooks and Carson were sitting. There was a light of excitement in his blue eyes, like he’d get when he had a breakthrough in a legal case. They’d given him the box because sorting through paperwork and finding clues was his specialty as a lawyer. Carson would’ve fallen asleep before he found anything important.

“Well?” Brooks prompted after several moments of silence.

“Well,” Graham began, “as I went through everything, I was surprised to find a few months’ worth of pay stubs from Elite Industries. Apparently Mom went to work there right before Brooks and I were born and stayed until seven months before she had you, Carson.”

Carson frowned. She’d never mentioned that, not once in all those years. Not even when they complained about their competitor around the dinner table. “I thought she worked as a waitress at the café with Gerty.”

“She did until she was in the third trimester of her pregnancy with Brooks and me. She went back to the diner again after her time with Elite. It looks as though she was laid off from her job after six months, although I don’t know why. The paperwork I found showed she was given a very generous severance package and a glowing letter of reference from her boss when she left. Guess who she worked for at Elite? Starts with an S...”

Carson’s stomach started to ache. He didn’t really want to know where this was headed.

“Sutton Winchester?” Brooks guessed with as much dread in his voice as Carson was feeling.

“Yep,” Graham confirmed, nearly boiling over with excitement. “She was his executive assistant.”

Carson pushed up from his chair and shook his head. “I need a drink. Anyone else?”

“I think we all could use one,” Brooks said.

Carson busied himself pouring them each a finger of scotch over ice. He carried the three short tumblers to the conference table and flopped back down into his chair with a sigh of disgust. Without waiting on his brothers, he took a large sip of the scotch, savoring the burn as it rushed down his throat into his empty stomach.

“So Mom was his executive assistant? That’s a big leap from a coffee shop waitress,” Brooks noted with a frown as he picked up his own glass.

It was. How could she have possibly qualified for a job like that? Knowing what Carson knew about Sutton, the answer wasn’t one he wanted to consider. Would his mother really have accepted that sleaze’s secretarial position when it came with sexual duties? Especially when she was seven months pregnant with twins? Or was she already his lover long before she went to work for him?

“Carson?” Graham said with concern in his voice. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

He understood why. He could feel the blood draining from his face as the reality of their past solidified in his mind. He hadn’t had enough scotch to handle this. No wonder their mother didn’t want them to know the truth. No wonder she said their father was a horrible person. He was. Still, he had trouble believing it could be true. It just couldn’t be. And yet...he knew the truth almost instinctively.

“He’s our father,” Carson blurted out.

Brooks narrowed his gaze suspiciously at Carson. “How can you be so sure?”

“The letter I showed you guys the other day from the box. It talks about hurting her, missing her terribly and how sorry he was about everything that happened. How she and the boys would be better off without him. It’s signed ‘S.’”

“That’s still a bit of a stretch,” Brooks argued. “There are a lot of people with a first name starting with S in the world.”

“Yes, but we’re talking about Sutton Winchester here. I don’t know if I told both of you, but when he demanded that Georgia meet with him, he offered her quite a sweet deal to come work for Elite Industries. The job came with a million-dollar signing bonus and the role of his mistress.”

Graham’s mouth dropped open, his glass of scotch hanging in his hand midair. “Are you serious? That old dog!”

Carson nodded gravely. “If that’s how Sutton recruits employees and lovers, it all makes sense. Say he met Mom at the diner and they started an affair. When she ends up pregnant, he offers her the job as his assistant so she would have medical benefits and maternity leave. Being on her feet all day carrying twins had to be rough on her. I can see why she would accept the offer, especially if she was put on bed rest or something until you two were born.”

Brooks looked at him thoughtfully. “If he went to all that trouble when she was pregnant the first time, why would he fire her when she was pregnant with you? It seems inconsistent.”

Carson shook his head. “I don’t know why. But I think it all goes back to the letter I found in the shoe box. It sounds to me like it might not have been Sutton’s decision to let her go.”

“Well,” Graham said, “he was married at the time. Do you think his wife found out about his family on the side and made him put an end to all of it?”

Brooks chuckled. “Have you met Celeste Van Houten? She’s one icy-cold woman. I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“We need proof,” Graham argued and ran his fingers through his blond hair. “If we want to know the truth, once and for all, we’ll need a paternity test. I doubt the old man will just go along with it to be nice, especially when it would mean we’d be eligible for a chunk of that multimillion-dollar estate of his when he dies. There’s no way I can compel a paternity test just on the basis of our mother having been his employee at the time of Carson’s conception. We need something that shows they actually had an affair.”

“Who would know aside from the two of them?” Brooks asked.

“That’s a tough one. Sutton wasn’t likely to broadcast what he was doing, even though it looks obvious to us.”

“Someone would have to know,” Carson insisted. “Maybe someone who worked for Sutton at the time at his office or his house.”

“That’s someplace we can start,” Graham agreed. “I’ll do some more digging and see what I can find. Maybe we’ll luck out and find someone who still remembers that far back. It’s been thirty years.”

Carson knew Graham was trying to be upbeat, but he could hear the discouragement in his voice. The odds of finding someone who knew about their mother’s relationship were pretty low. Most of Sutton’s employees were probably paid handsomely to keep their mouths shut. But if anyone could track them down, Graham could.

“It’s more than we knew a week ago,” Brooks said.

“That’s true,” Carson agreed. “I just wonder what the point of it would be.”

“What do you mean?” Graham asked.

“Well, we take the paternity test and we find out he’s our father. Then what? I don’t see this ending well.”

“It won’t, at least not for Sutton,” Brooks said. “We’re going to make him pay for what he did to our mother and to us.”

“How?” Carson asked. “The man has no conscience.”

“That’s true,” Brooks agreed. “But he does have a multimillion-dollar estate and we would be rightful heirs to it as well as his three legitimate daughters with Celeste. We go in and demand our share as his penance. I don’t care if we blow it all in a year, as long as we pry it from his cold, dead hands.”

“Wouldn’t most of the estate go to his wife?”

Graham shook his head. “Celeste is his ex-wife now and has been for a couple years. Her lawyers have already seized her share. The rest of his estate most likely goes to his daughters. No matter what, Sutton can change the will to include us if he wants to. We just have to give him a little encouragement.”

Carson tried not to frown. It all made sense. Sutton deserved it. He just didn’t like it. “Okay,” he said. “We find a way to push for a test, then go after the estate. There’s just one downside to all of this.”

“What’s that?”

“If we’re right, it means that Sutton Winchester is our father. Mom warned us up one side and down the other to stay away from our father. She said he was dangerous and we were far better off without him in our lives. I always thought that maybe she had exaggerated and that when we met him, we’d find he was a better man that we expected. But if it is Sutton... I worry that our worst fears about our father are about to come true.”

* * *

“Georgia?”

Georgia looked up from her barely touched dinner and found Carson looking at her with concern. She was lost in her thoughts and he’d caught her not listening.

After fantasizing about time alone with Carson for so long, she was letting it slip through her fingers. Tonight he’d insisted on taking her out to dinner someplace nice. He was wearing her favorite navy pinstripe suit. For some reason, that color against his tan skin made his green eyes pop. He was looking so handsome and yet she could barely focus on a word he said.