Her legs came up around his waist, so erotic, so fucking hot he almost lost his mind, sliding deeper into that hot haze. With her taste on his tongue and her scent filling his head, her tight, hot pussy pulled him in as he rocked into her over and over, the sensation building, and the heat sliding down his spine right to his balls. She lifted her hips into him, meeting his strokes, deeper, harder, still not rushed even though his blood raced. She gripped his fingers and gave a soft cry, her body tightening beneath him and around him, gripping his cock in tiny pulses, and the heat in his balls suddenly spread everywhere as he came, too, pouring himself into her as waves of hot pleasure swept over him.

They lay curled up together for a long time, half asleep again, drifting on a cloud of post-coital languor and bone-deep sexual satisfaction.

When much later he opened the bedroom door and peeked out into the hall to make sure Dayna wasn’t around, he grimaced. This sneaking around had to stop.

Getting his own place was the answer, but then he couldn’t help but wonder how that would change things. Living in the same house as Samara brought them into close proximity every night, and even though he didn’t much like the “sneaking” part, it was convenient that her room was just down the hall from his. How would they explain to Dayna when Samara slept over at his place?

Or would she sleep over?

He slipped quietly into his own room and stripped off the clothes he’d just dressed in to step into the shower.

What if he moved out and suddenly the “hot sex” stopped?

His gut clenched. Christ, he wished they could just tell Dayna what was going on. Why couldn’t they? Dammit, he was going to broach that subject with Samara that afternoon.

But that didn’t go quite the way he planned.

“Are you kidding me?” she said later, in his car. They’d just left the first apartment building. “Tell my mother?”

He gripped the steering wheel of the rental car. Another thing he needed to take care of. He couldn’t drive this rental car forever, but how the hell would he get his own car from Los Angeles to Portland? He rubbed his forehead. “I don’t like keeping this from her,” he said.

“It’s my business,” Samara said, her little chin lifting. “I don’t tell my mother about every guy I have sex with.”

His insides leaped. “There’s a nice thought,” he muttered, his mind going to all the other guys she’d had sex with. Whoever they were. Shit.

“What?”

He looked at her and caught a glimpse of softness in her eyes before she turned her look into cool detachment.

“Nothing. Never mind. What’s the address of the next place?”

Of course all the landlords thought they were a couple looking at the apartments. They didn’t bother to say anything to correct that. After all, that didn’t really matter.

“Which one do you like best?” Samara asked as they headed home later.

“All of them.” He shrugged, unenthusiastic about any of the places. They were all fine. But he was going to have to fly back to L.A. and make arrangements to move his belongings, and this was not a good time for that. “I guess the one downtown is most practical. It’s closest to the office.”

“True.” She nodded. “And it had nice views.”

“Yeah.”

After a few moments of silence while he drove, she said, “What’s wrong, Travis?”

He slanted a look her way then back at the road. “Nothing. Why?”

“You’re acting weird. Like you don’t really want to move.”

One corner of his mouth kicked up. “It’s just a lot right now. But I know I need to do it.”

She nodded and bent her head, her hair falling over her face.

He sensed her unspoken questions. Hell, they were probably both thinking the same thing. They’d gotten into this...affair, and neither of them really knew what it was or where it was going. They were on opposite sides of the battle for job of leading Cedar Mill Coffee, but in bed, they were totally on the same side. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Once again, guilt at letting down Parker rolled through him, along with guilt in general about being with Samara. After so many years of telling himself she was too young for him, it was still hard to accept that she was a grown woman. Once again, he asked himself if he should be the responsible one who put an end to this before things went too far.

He had a feeling things had already gone too far.

* * *

The following week, Samara took her seat at the long oak table in the boardroom. Parker’s seat at the head of the table sat empty, and even she didn’t have the guts to go and sit there. Yet.

She focused on breathing. Nerves fluttered in her stomach. This had become so important to her. She’d always known that one day she would sit in this boardroom as a member of the leadership team of Cedar Mill Coffee Company but hadn’t anticipated it would come this soon. She could do it.

Travis walked in and took a seat across the table from her. She met his eyes but didn’t smile. The fluttering inside her turned into a cyclone. Why did she have to go all warm and soft every time she looked at him? It totally distracted her from her purpose and made her self-conscious and edgy. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

Hank came in and took a seat, followed by Simon Fast, Vice President of Merchandising and Production, and Daniel McInnis, Vice President of Wholesale Logistics and Operations. Samara greeted them all with a smile. Then Paulette took a seat at the end of the table where a laptop had been set up to take minutes.

Travis took the lead. Damn him.

“We’re meeting today to discuss our management structure going forward,” he began. “With Parker gone we need to have at least a temporary plan in place se we can reassure our partners and stakeholders that the company is still being effectively managed.”

Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement.

“Samara is here because Parker left her his shares in the company,” Travis explained, looking from person to person as he spoke, including everyone. “She believes she can contribute to running the company.”

Travis put his fingertips together, hands resting on the table. “We didn’t have a formal succession plan in place,” he noted. “Unfortunately. Certainly we never expected anything to happen to Parker, but in hindsight, it should have been done in any case.” He paused. “We don’t have to make any long term decisions today, but I do think we need to have an interim plan in place. Already we’ve heard from one stakeholder who expressed concern about moving forward with Parker gone.”

“Who was that?” Hank asked with a frown.

“Duane Scanlon.” Travis paused. “Samara spoke to him last week.”

They all looked at her, and she tightened her quivering stomach and again related the conversation she’d had with Scanlon. “I’d like to say that, in my father’s absence, I think I could step in and smooth things over with some of the stakeholders who are concerned about where the business is going.”

She glanced at Travis, expecting to see his scowl, but his face was clear and neutral. The others, however, did look concerned.

“The only problem with that,” Travis said, “is that they’re concerned about more than just Parker being gone. Word is out that Cedar Mill is struggling financially.”

Now the faces around the table creased deeper with concern.

“I’ve heard rumblings about that,” Hank admitted. “I’m not sure how that word got out, but I guess it’s not surprising given the challenges we’ve been facing lately.”

“It doesn’t take long for talk to spread in the business community,” Simon said. “We definitely need to put a plan in place to deal with that. Once people get the idea that we’re in trouble, no one will want to do business with us.” He glanced around the table. “This is very bad news.”

Travis nodded, and Samara’s stomach knotted up even more. “I agree, which makes it even more imperative that we have solid leadership at a time like this. We also want to reassure our employees that their jobs are safe, that the company is strong.”

He’d been talking about layoffs last week. How could they reassure staff their jobs were safe when they clearly weren’t? She nibbled her bottom lip.

“There are a number of ways we can do this,” Travis continued, and Samara observed with reluctant admiration how everyone else listened to him and seemed to respect what he said. “One of us could step into Parker’s position and take over his duties. That leaves a hole and other duties to be assumed.”

“Travis, the rest of us can cover your work until we find someone to replace you.”

Samara turned to Hank in amazement. He was just giving him the job? Just like that? Without even discussing options?

“Just a moment,” she interjected, trying to keep her voice steady. “You seem to be assuming that Travis will step in as CEO.”

All eyes turned to her, including Travis’s, which were not shining with triumph as she would have expected, but rather were shadowed and solemn.

“Who else would it be?” Hank asked.

Samara licked her lips. “Me.”

Eyes widened. Jaws dropped. She swallowed.

Silence thickened in the room for a stretched-out moment. Then everyone looked at Travis.

Heat flooded into her cheeks at their reaction to her proposal. Nobody was jumping up and saying, “Hell yeah, Samara, you should take over.” Nobody. She pressed her lips together but kept her chin lifted.

“Actually, I do believe Samara can have a place here,” Travis said.

Now her jaw slackened. She stared at him.

“Perhaps not as CEO. But I think we could restructure some of the duties we all have, to take advantage of her presence.”