Chapter 33: Chapter 33

DANIEL

Daniel landed in Beijing later than expected. Then there was traffic on the road. His driver bobbed and weaved until they arrived safely at his hotel.

After checking in quickly, Daniel rushed to the conference room, where the other members of the board were already waiting. All of them were dressed in dark suits and wore serious expressions. Even Carlos had showed up to support and give wisdom to his son.

Fortunately, the meeting went smoothly. Afterward, the former CEO congratulated him, “Good presentation, son; I’m so proud of you. I had a few concerns about the project and launch, but as always, you’ve won me over.”

“Thanks, Dad, I appreciate that. I’m looking forward to spearheading this—and making us some more money.” Daniel sounded confident, but he couldn’t help checking his cell every five minutes.

“Is everything okay?” Carlos asked, concerned.

“Yeah, everything is fine. See you later.”

Daniel patted his father on the shoulder and then walked off, still looking down at his cell phone. Once he was in his large suite, he paced, worried about Draya.

Last time he tried to call, the connection was terrible. Then he’d received a text saying that she was going to Target late at night, possibly alone.

Daniel was about to dial her number again when there was a knock on the door. He put his phone into his back pocket and walked over to unlock the door.

“Camille,” Daniel said, surprised.

“Hey, baby,” she flirted shamelessly, entering the suite as if she owned half of it. She wore a white thigh-length coat with a broad belt and Christian Louboutin heels.

“What are you doing here?” Though Daniel wasn’t surprised Camille was in China, since her father’s company had an eye on this project and she was the acting CEO, he was annoyed by her unexpected visit to his room.

Camille sat on the mini-couch and crossed her legs. “I came up here to prove my point.”

Daniel was too irritated to ask what the hell she was talking about. So, he pointed to the exit and attempted to walk to the ensuite bathroom.

Then she shouted, “I KNEW SHE WOULDN’T BE HERE! You never take your little sex buddy projects on business trips.”

He stopped and turned immediately. “What?”

Camille grinned from ear to ear. As if she had won an award too precious to part with.

“Lexi or Draya or whatever…that’s all she is. A new but soon-to-be-old sex buddy. That’s it. If you cared for her, she would be here with you. You would introduce her to your dad. But I just saw him downstairs, and he didn’t mention anything about you having a girlfriend, so that means he doesn’t know.”

She stood up, unbuttoned her coat, and revealed the sexy lingerie she was wearing. “I know exactly what you want, Daniel. You want a drama-free life, and I can give you that. The thrill of sex…multiple orgasms without the annoying emotions that mess everything up.”

Camille slid her coat down her shoulders until it fell to the floor. “Remember how much fun we used to have together? We can have that again—and so much more.” She unhooked her bra and her perky C-cup breasts sprung free.

Before she could step any closer, Daniel asked, “Are you done?”

Camille halted. He walked over to where she had dropped her jacket and handed it back to her.

“It’s sad that you can’t accept that what we had is gone. I’ve been with six women this year alone, and nobody ever made me stop and rethink things the way Draya does. It’s like she’s a constant reminder that I used to want what my parents had before my mother died. I just lost sight of it.

“You and I have been friends since kindergarten; we should’ve never slept together in the first place. And your father was right: at your age, you should be thinking about marriage and love and babies and all the things I know you are afraid of. He had every right to be mad about you shagging all over England last year.”

Camille was so stunned she couldn’t move.

“I’ve done terrible things in my lifetime and never been apologetic or ashamed or regretful about any of them. But when I saw the disappointed look on Draya’s face after she found out about my assistant’s abortion, I felt like someone had kicked me in the ribs a thousand times.”

Daniel paused to get the horrid image out of his head.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen between Draya and me, but that’s between us. Stay out of it, and from now on, try to remember where you stand. We are friends, not lovers, not sex buddies. Just friends. I don’t want to disappoint her again.”

Ignoring the tears in Camille’s bright eyes, he paused to take a breath before finishing, “She is kind, sweet, innocent, gentle, and beautiful inside and out. I don’t want to ruin her or whatever it is we’re doing. As my friend, I’m asking you to be happy for me and encourage me to be the man that she needs.”

After an eternity of silence, Camille removed her panties as well. Standing naked, with only her heels on, she walked toward Daniel, clearly hoping he would reconsider.

“Have some pride in yourself, Camille. Even if I gave in, I would only be thinking about her.”

LEXI

After Chris dropped her off and drove away, Lexi unlocked the door to her apartment and walked inside. Her cell phone had died shortly after she’d finished texting Reece, so she placed it on the charger and began setting up the new DVD player.

When she was finished and switched her phone on, Lexi was shocked to find eight missed calls from Daniel. She texted him immediately.

Lexi

Hey I just saw the missed calls. My cell was dead.

Lexi

I’m sorry, I miss you.

Lexi felt giddy as she stared at Daniel’s number. She knew he wasn’t the type to call anyone more than once, so the fact that he called eight times made her feel special.

As soon as her phone began to ring, Lexi swiped to answer. “Hello stalker.”

She giggled as she heard him breathe a sigh of relief. “Hey busybody.”

Lexi couldn’t miss the opportunity to tease him. “I’m being branded with that name because my phone died. You’re being named a stalker because eight phone calls is a bit much. Did you miss me?”

“What do you think?” he asked, though she could sense his smile.

Lexi rolled her eyes and sat on her bed. “People who answer a question with another question can’t be trusted.”

Her teasing seemed to make him relax. “I do miss you. I needed to hear your voice.” After a moment, he added, “Next time I’ll bring you with me.”

“You’re so cocky, you think I’ll just drop everything in my life and follow you across the world? Just because you ask me to?” She meant to start an argument, but she was smiling from ear to ear.

The bastard had his reply lined up for a quick ejection. “Yes.”

Lexi curled up on her bed. “Could you at least try to pretend you’re not in control?”

“I’ve pretended with a lot of people, Draya, but I never want to pretend with you. About anything.”

Her cheeks burned, and her chest felt as if it was hosting a derby. But as sexy and irresistible as Daniel sounded, she couldn’t shake the fact that there was some sadness in his voice.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly.

“Yeah, I…um…I had a rough day.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, not right now. I’ll tell you when I see you. Right now, I just want to hear your voice and make you smile before you go off to bed.”

Daniel was being so sweet, but Lexi couldn’t help but wonder what kind of crappy day he must have had for him to sound like this.

After a moment, she blurted out, “I went to church.”

He was quiet for a few seconds, then asked, “Church?”

“Yes, church.”

“Uh oh. What did you do? I’ve never heard you talk about church, so forgive me if I’m a little worried.”

Lexi curled up smaller in the bed. “I was a good girl, don’t worry. It’s just… I got fired from the café, and you’re not in town, so there was nothing else for me to do on a Sunday morning. I felt like going, so I went.”

Daniel mumbled something about prayers, and she giggled again.

For the first time in a long time, Lexi didn’t need to watch fairy-tale endings to fall asleep. She fell asleep with the voice of her own prince speaking softly in her ear.