gave one free rein in his home. His home—and he had several—was his sanctuary, his private and personal domain. No woman had permission to invade his place. Until now. As he’d told Martha, Vanessa was welcome to his home at any time. If he was busy, he was to be interrupted; if he was asleep, he wanted to be awakened. It was important that he got his point across to Vanessa that she had become the most important thing in his life.
He leaned back against the counter, thinking about how she’d looked standing in the middle of his living room, as angry as any woman had a right to be. While she was standing there giving him what she saw as a much-deserved dressing down, he was giving her a dressing down of another type. He’d been wondering just what she had on beneath that cute pair of red linen shorts with the matching top. Some of the thoughts that had run through his mind had been outright scandalous. She hadn’t been wearing a bra, he could tell that. But then her breasts were just the right size and shape not to need one. And when he had pulled her into his arms and kissed her, he had known the exact moment her nipples had hardened because he’d felt them press firmly against his chest.
After their kiss, when he’d finally released her lips, he couldn’t help but recall how he’d left them moist and thoroughly kissed. And then there had been that deep, dark, desire-filled look in her eyes, just seconds before they turned fiery red and she began spouting off about him staying away from her. But, as he’d told her, that wouldn’t happen.
He would admit her finding out he had bought this house just to be close to her threw a monkey wrench in things for a while, but he was determined not to give up. Eventually, she would get over it, especially when she saw he wasn’t going away. He intended to use whatever means he found necessary to break down her defenses.
With that in mind he walked out of the kitchen and went to the nearest intercom to summon Martha.
“Yes, Mr. Cody?”
“I want a dozen red roses sent to Ms. Steele. And I want a bottle of wine delivered with the flowers. Have the card say, ‘Thanks for the basket. I’d love to share its contents, as well as this wine, with you later today on the beach.’”
“Yes, sir.”
Confident the older woman was capable of carrying out his wishes, he headed toward the study.
“Calm down, Vanessa, and stop yelling. I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”
Vanessa inhaled deeply. Sienna was right. She had been yelling. Pausing, she rubbed her cell phone against her cheek to calm nerves that were already shot to hell. She couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t believe it.
“Now do you want to start over and tell me what has you so upset?”
Sienna’s voice—calm as you please—reminded her why she was so upset. “Cameron is here, Sienna.”
“Here, where?”
Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Here in Jamaica. On this island. Living right next door. He had the audacity, the gall, to purchase the house next door. I am as pissed as any woman can get.”
“I can tell. You’re raising your voice again. Calm down. So, you’re saying he found out you were skipping town and decided to follow you?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Just what am I supposed to do about that?”
“Make the most of it.”
“Sienna!”
“Okay, considering how you feel about the man, I guess that wasn’t a good answer.”
“No it wasn’t,” Vanessa said, walking over to the refrigerator and grabbing one of Cheyenne’s beers. “So come up with something else.”
It was only after popping the top off the bottle that she remembered she didn’t like beer. But what the hell, her day was a total waste now anyway. She took a swallow, straight from the bottle, and decided this particular brand wasn’t so bad.
“Okay, but first I want to know how you found out he was there.”
For the next fifteen minutes Vanessa filled Sienna in. It would have taken less time had Sienna not asked so many questions, especially when Vanessa told her about seeing Cameron go skinny-dipping.
“Well,” Sienna said, sighing deeply. “You’ve warned him to stay away from you and if he doesn’t adhere to your request you can have him arrested as a stalker.”
“Sienna!”
“Hey, I’m serious.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes upward. “Cameron doesn’t pose that kind of threat and you know it. He’s merely being a pain in the ass.”
“All right, then, let’s cover one more time why he is such a pain in your rear end. The man is simply gorgeous, any woman can see that. Even I can and you know that I only have eyes for Dane. Cameron has money, plenty of it. And he has manners. He’s refined, sophisticated, intelligent—”
“He’s also in the business of taking people’s companies away from them.”
“Come on, Van. Are you going to hold what he tried doing to the Steele Corporation over his head forever? Business is business. You can’t hate all the corporate raiders out there. Look at Ted Turner, another self-made millionaire who created more jobs than he took away. Corporate takeovers have become a way of life. Besides, look at the number of people who are benefiting from all those foundations Cameron has set up. He’s on the cover of Ebony this month, by the way. You should pick up a copy and read the article. I did. I was impressed.”
“Stay impressed. There’s nothing that man can do that will impress me.”
“It’ll be your loss, and unfortunately another sister’s gain. I bet there are a number of women out there who would love getting a piece of Cameron Cody right now.”
“They’re welcome to him!”
“At some point I believe I’m going to have to remind you that you said that.”
Vanessa rubbed the bridge of her nose, wondering why she’d bothered calling Sienna anyway. For some reason her best friend could actually envision her and Cameron as a couple. How that was possible she didn’t know. Vanessa couldn’t blame Sienna’s pregnancy for destroying her brain cells since Sienna had reached that conclusion long before she’d gotten pregnant.
She took another swallow of beer before saying. “Look, Sienna, talking to you is getting me nowhere. I called you for advice, not for you to take sides with the enemy.”
“I’m not taking sides with the enemy. You are my very best friend and I love you. But I also think you’re so full of dislike for Cameron that you aren’t thinking straight. If you would put your dislike aside and sit down and analyze the situation, I think you would reach the conclusion that what he’s doing is rather cute, as well as bold. I visited Cheyenne’s place with you last summer so I know what that house next door looks like. Just think about it, Van. He went through all that trouble to buy that place just to be close to you. Why do you think he did that?”
“I already know why he did it. He told me. He wants me.”
“And is that
