Bourbon & Branch Water (9 page)

“You’re beautiful,” he said as he
ran a hand down her body and cupped her behind. A little lift and their contact
intensified. “You’re mine for the night, mine to do with as I want.” He rocked
against her, in her, and she moaned. “Like that?”

She nodded, eyes closed.

Jeff’s whisper was right up against
her ear. “Say it.”

Again, she moaned, but the softly
spoken words were said. “I like being yours.”

His pace picked up, and her
excitement rose. She rubbed his hard biceps and reached down to cup his tight
ass, pulling him closer, encouraging his thrusts. Wrapping her knees around
him, she squirmed with the building pleasure.

“Gently, babe, let’s take our time.”

“I’m so close,” she said, her voice
sounding needy to her ears.

“Good.”

“Harder…please.”

He complied, though he still was
almost teasing her with his careful movements.

“Jeff…” The sensation was rising.
She was skyrocketing, but the stars were a little out of her reach.

The next few thrusts of his hips
were hard and
Stormy’s
delight made her squeeze him
with her knees.

“Your pussy is so wet,” he said,
his voice raspy. “You are such a good fuck.”

A thrill of urgency raced through
Stormy’s
middle and she cupped his face as he hovered over
her, stroking his stubbly cheeks, running her hands over his broad shoulders
and strong arms. He pushed harder and her skyrocket exploded. She arched her back,
drawing the sensation out, trying to keep the pulses pounding as long as
possible.

Opening her eyes again, she saw he
was smiling, but his hips hadn’t stopped moving.

“You,” she said.

“Yeah, babe, my turn.”

It didn’t take long, a dozen more
wickedly sharp movements and Jeff’s eyes closed. He shuddered and released his
breath with a low growl.

Stormy hugged him tightly as he
lowered himself on his arms and rolled them both over. When his cock left her,
she felt empty, but it was a pleasant emptiness, as though all the tension was
gone. Built up lust was assuaged for a time. They were both hot and sweaty, so
after a minute of cuddling, Stormy moved away a bit. Jeff took her hand and
squeezed it as they lay side by side.

Stormy fell asleep with Jeff’s hand
holding hers.

* * *

The phone was ringing. It made a
clanging and clashing of cymbals. Stormy rolled over and tried to ignore it.
She didn’t have to try for long. Jeff answered it.

“Hey, Kelly,” he murmured, and got
out of bed. “I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you for dinner tonight. You got my text,
right? Something came up and I had to handle it.” Jeff walked away, the phone
held to his ear.

“Just a situation, so what’s up
with you?”

The bedroom door closed behind him
and anything he said after was lost to Stormy.
Kelly
. Was this an ex-girlfriend? If so, they were on pretty
friendly terms if she was calling this late. Maybe it was someone more current.
Maybe he was seeing two women at once! Maybe Jeff was one big lie, some sort of
Lothario who got involved with multiple partners. She hadn’t asked him. Who
would ask such a question? But maybe she should.

Would he tell her the truth?

She couldn’t figure out why Jeff
would say she was “something” to be “handled.” It was pretty demeaning. If his
relationship with Kelly
was
platonic, then why wouldn’t
he say she was someone special, instead of a “situation”? Hurt feelings made
her roll over toward the edge of the bed. Unfortunately, she was still too
tired to drive, or she’d have left immediately.

He could have his Kelly, but Stormy
couldn’t countenance seeing him while he was dating another woman. She’d either
have to ask him or break it off with him.

But what if Kelly was an ex? Maybe
they were friends now. Yeah right, friends with benefits if she knew her horny Jeff.
Stormy punched her pillow and curled into a ball. How did she get into this
predicament? She’d feel stupid if Jeff’s Kelly was actually nobody to be
concerned about, but she’d be even more stupid if she ignored what could be a
powder keg about to blow up in her face. Nevertheless, she’d have to calm down
before asking or she’d seem like a shrew and not a confident woman who was
reasonably concerned.

Jeff came back to bed while Stormy
was still seething. She pretended to be asleep and he got into the bed gently,
carefully pulling his sheet and blanket up. He even had the nerve to reach over
and pull the blanket up over her exposed shoulder in a considerate gesture.
Stormy wanted to cry. How could he do this to her? Silent tears trickled across
her face to drip on the pillow. After she was less tired, she’d know what to
do.

Eventually, after what seemed like
a long time, Stormy drifted off to sleep again, a small frown furrowing her
brow.

Chapter 5

Tick, tick, tick,
tick.
Stormy drummed the conference table with her fingernails. The
sound was loud and arrhythmic in the small room. Considering the cold shoulder
she’d given him all morning, right from the moment they woke up, and the fact
that she turned down his amorous advances with a sniff and “I have to get to
work,” Jeff wanted to throttle her. Putting her lack of patience as they waited
aside, he wasn’t quite sure how to get things back on track. It was clear that
she was mad at him for something; she’d worn a frown each time she was around
him that day but damned if he knew what it could be. Maybe it was PMS, and if
so, it would be a good thing to know. Dealing with Miss Pissed Off every month
would be pretty frustrating.

Jeff was trying to be patient, but
the sound and hostility was grating. Both the clients were late and that left
Jeff and Stormy marooned in the conference room together. He reached over and
put his hand on hers, stilling the awful ticking. She quickly snatched her hand
away and frowned mightily at him, her high-arching black brows drawing into a
tight knot on her forehead. “Don’t.”

“Do you have to drum the table,
Stormy? The sound is irritating.”

“
Hmph
.”
But she didn’t return her hand to the tabletop. Mumbling low, she said, “Not as
irritating as some people I know.”

“I heard that. What do you mean by
that remark?”

“Nothing,” she wouldn’t meet his
gaze with her own.

“You meant something. I’d like to
know what.”

“Well you know what?” she asked. “I
want to know things, too. I guess we’ll both have to deal with the mystery, won’t
we?”

Wow could she be a bitch. It made
him want to spank the nonsense out of her. He briefly had a vision of her bent
over his desk—a desk that was only a few yards down the hall—with
her prim little skirt up over her ass as he spanked her. Yeah, that would be
gratifying.

“I don’t much like mysteries,
Stormy.”

“Too bad.”

Jeff flashed over angry for a
moment. “What’s gotten into you? Last night you were affectionate and caring.
You were
polite
. And today you’re a
termagant. Have I done something offensive?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“Would you care?” she said,
bitterness dripping from each word.

“Yesterday, I would have said yes,
I would care. But today, I’m not so sure.”

“Fine, be that way.” She went on to
murmur, “fickle bastard.”

“That’s enough!” Jeff picked up the
conference room phone and dialed a four-digit number. After the person on the
other end answered, he said, “
Marny
, have you got an
ETA on the
Portermans
or the
Randolphs
?
They’re pretty late.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have
called you. I forgot you were in the conference room waiting. I’ve been
thinking you were in your office.” She giggled and Jeff tried to cut to the
chase.

“And?”

“Right, so the
Randolphs
can’t make it. Something about a sick horse…or was it cow? Anyway, the
Portermans
will be here, but they’re having trouble finding
us. I gave them directions, but they’d gone way off track.”

He might have just enough time. “Thank
you. Please show them into the conference room when they arrive. I have to do
something in my office and it’ll take a few minutes.”

“Okay, Mr. Hand.”

Jeff put the phone down and looked
at Stormy. She was watching him, a look of suspicion on her face. It kind of
went with the frown. “Come with me to my office. You and I are going to hash
this out.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your behavior is rotten today, and
damned if I can think of why you’d be so pissed off at me.” He paused and her
cheeks flushed. “We’re going to talk in my office.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Stormy, I don’t much like the
hostility you’re showing. Either you want to be with me or you don’t, but you
ought to have the decency to tell me outright.”

She stood and picked up her
briefcase.

“You can leave your stuff here. It’ll
be safe.”

“Oh right! Until one of your
minions steals my case notes!”

“Minions? Baby, are you listening
to yourself?”

She blew an errant strand of hair off
her face, continuing to clutch her briefcase to her chest. At least she had the
grace to blush. “I’d rather take it along, thank you.”

“Fine, if it makes you feel more
secure.”

She nodded, still not meeting his
eyes.

Jeff opened the door for her and
led her down the hall to his office. It was a spacious office, with a modest
view out the one set of windows. His
desk was black lacquer
and spotlessly tidy
.

“Have a seat.”

“I’ll stand.”

Shaking his head at her obstinate
behavior, Jeff came right out with it. “Why do you hate me today? You didn’t
last night, but this morning you’ve been mean-spirited, rude, and anything but
affectionate. Tell me why.”

Stormy bit her lower lip, and then squared
her chin. “I don’t like being two-timed.”

“Two-timed? Where did you get that
crazy idea?”

“You must think I’m stupid. You had
a call with the other woman last night, practically right in front of me. The
dinner date you had with her didn’t work out because I was a ‘situation’ to be ‘handled’.”
Her fingers were white-knuckled on her briefcase.

The only phone call he’d gotten the
night before was from Kelly. Realization struck him and he laughed. It was so
funny that he laughed until his eyes watered.

Stormy took umbrage, if her stiff
body posture meant anything. “Yeah, laugh at me. I’m the biggest joke in the
world. I thought you were special, that we were starting on something. But you
had me fooled. You’re still seeing Kelly.”

He tried not to chuckle, he really
did. “You’re right. And I intend to keep seeing Kelly. I see Kelly every day,
in fact.”

She snorted, but her eyes got wet. “I
knew it. You bastard.”

“Now, now, babe. No need to call
names.” He gestured toward the door. “Follow me for a moment.”

Stormy quickly swiped at her eyes,
and clutched her briefcase as though it was a lifeline. Jeff realized that if
she was this upset, the briefcase might be the only thing holding her together.
Reluctantly, she followed behind.

Jeff opened his office door and
stared straight ahead at the office right in front of him. The door was open,
but the plaque on the wall near it said, “Kelly Macintosh.” There was a tall,
slim black man in a navy suit moving around inside.

The pair took a few steps toward
the office. “Hey, Kelly, how’s it
goin
’, bud?”

The man turned. “Hey, Jeff, I’m
good. Who’s that with you?” His smile was genial.

Stormy dropped her briefcase.

Jeff immediately bent to hand it to
her again, and then turned back to his friend. “This is Stormy Stillwater. She’s
the opposing attorney on the
Porterman
/Randolph case.”

“Ah. Those water disputes are
nasty. I hope you two can resolve it amicably.”

Nodding, Jeff put his hand on
Stormy’s
shoulder in a professional; follow me, kind of
way. “Let’s finish our meeting, Miss Stillwater.”

Apparently, she’d been struck dumb.

* * *

Stormy’s
face was hot. She was sure she was blushing to her roots. If she’d been the
fool before, she was a total ignoramus now. She stepped into Jeff’s office and
he closed the door.

“So now you’ve met Kelly.”

“I’m sorry. I assumed Kelly was
female.”

“That’s one thing, presuming I’d
cheat. But why couldn’t you come out and ask me about it?”

The tears that had threatened before
spilled down her cheeks and Stormy realized miserably that she’d botched the
whole thing. The relationship was probably over. Jeff must be steaming mad. His
usual calm demeanor must be hiding a terrible anger. And it was no more than
she deserved. “I’m sorry. I should have asked, but I assumed. You sounded so
friendly. And you talked about meeting her…I mean him…for dinner.”

“Yeah, we have guys’ night out for
burgers, beer and billiards about once a week.”

She tried to control the tears, but
words would not form. This situation was so embarrassing, she couldn’t have
been more humiliated if she showed up at court naked—a dream she’d had
more than once. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, as if an apology would do.

Jeff nodded and turned to move a
stack of files off his desk and onto the floor. He pushed his pens to one side,
over by the computer monitor. Stormy watched though watery eyes, wondering what
he was up to.

“What do you think we ought to do
about this situation?”

“I-I
don’t
know. Can you forgive me?”

Jeff appeared to think about it for
a minute. Stormy wasn’t holding out any hope. Even if he forgave her, she
figured it was the end of their relationship. It was too botched up to fix.