Authors: Roseanne Dowell
Bill motioned to a chair and sat in the
one opposite. "Okay, let's talk about this plan of yours. Why do you need
me to pose as your boyfriend?"
I sat down and looked at him. God, I
loved his eyes. His light blue shirt brought out the silvery gray. I liked that
his smile reached his eyes and the way they crinkled at the corners. Was he
laughing at me? Something told me not. He looked sincere.
"Okay, where to begin? You know I
had dinner with my boss tonight. I thought it was a business meeting with the
client. Well, I was wrong. He had other ideas. To ward off his pass I lied and
told him I was involved." I took a deep breath, let it out slow.
Bill nodded and waited for me to go on.
"Unfortunately, he wanted to know
his name and one thing led to another. I blurted out your name and told him you
were here. Now he wants you to meet us for dinner tomorrow." I held my
breath and waited for his reply.
"I see. So you want me to pose as
your boyfriend during dinner tomorrow. Is that it?"
"Pretty much. Unless he decides to
include us in something else. Knowing him I wouldn't doubt it." I paused,
took another breath and looked at him. He hadn't said no. That was a good
thing.
"So how serious are we?"
"Uh, I told him we're practically
engaged." As usual, heat burned my cheeks. God, I was an idiot.
"I see. So you want me to show up
and pretend I'm in love with you. I assume you want me to shower you with
affection."
Now my face really smoldered. Crap, crap,
crap. He was enjoying this way too much. Maybe I should forget the whole thing
and tell Nick my fiancé got called back home for an emergency. But I knew
better.
If I didn't produce a boyfriend, there'd
be no end to the passes he'd make. This was the only way. I swallowed hard.
"I guess that's pretty much it. I
know this is a lot to ask. I'm sorry. I just didn't know what else to do. I
don't want to lose this job."
Bill stood and came toward me, reached
down and brought me to me feet. I felt his warm breath on my cheek. This wasn't
at all what I planned. Yet, I stood there, mesmerized by the intense look in
his eyes. My heart skipped a beat, then beat faster until I thought it would burst.
He brushed the tip of his fingers across my mouth. I thought my heart would
explode, it pounded so hard.
What was happening to me? No man ever
looked at me with such desire. Yet, I couldn't pull away.
Something smoldered deep in my stomach. A
rush of heat spread throughout me. Helpless to pull away, I continued to stand
there. His hands moved across my back. He pulled me close against him, and his
heart beat against my breasts.
For just a moment I looked at him. His
eyes smoldered. He bent his face to mine and kissed me.
My lips trembled under the slight
pressure of his mouth. He moved his hand behind my head and pulled me closer. I
opened my lips and felt the warmth of his tongue in my mouth. A moan escaped
from somewhere deep in my throat. My body betrayed me, all too ready to give
in.
I gasped. Finally, I came to my senses
and pulled away. I couldn't do this. Dear God, I'd only known him for a few
days. Yet a chill went through me when he moved away and dropped his arms to
his side.
"Is that what you're looking
for?"
I looked away. My lips seared from his
mouth. "Phew." I couldn't help myself. No man had ever kissed me with
such passion before. "I think that might be a bit of an over kill."
"I wanted to do that ever since I
met you." His voice held a hint of an apology.
I walked to the window and looked out.
"Well, I must say, Mr. Johnson, you play your part well."
Too well.
Could I survive his affection? If he
continued to kiss me like that, I wasn't sure I could survive anything. Yet if
he lavished that kind of attention on me, Nick was sure to back off.
"Let's get one thing straight."
I turned back to look at him. "Though I appreciate you helping me out,
let's keep the affection strictly professional. In front of my boss only."
"Hmm." Bill rubbed his chin.
"So, you only want me to pay attention to you in front of your boss? What
do I get out of this?"
My cheeks blazed. I should have expected
that. "I suppose I can pay you for your services." I cringed the
minute the words came out of my mouth.
What made me say that? The murderous look
on Bill's face caused me to flinch. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that the way
it sounded. I just meant...Hell I don't know what I meant."
Bill crossed the room in two steps. I
felt the heat from his body, he stood so close. "I'll go along with your
silly charade, but you're not getting off so easy."
His eyes changed from silvery gray to
soft dusty gray. "I'll expect something from you too." He raised his
hand to quiet me.
"No, I don't expect you to go to bed
with me for payment. But I won't be put off. I'll expect to spend some time
with you other than just in front of your boss."
I relaxed somewhat. Glad he clarified
that.
"For starters, I expect you to have
breakfast with me tomorrow. I expect you to go to the beach with me. And I
expect you to have dinner with me, with and without your boss. Fair
enough?"
What could I say? "You drive a hard
bargain, Mr. Johnson. But okay, fair enough."
"Oh, and for seconds, quit calling
me Mister. You wouldn't want to slip up in front of your boss would you?"
I laughed. "No, I guess I
wouldn't."
"Good, let's go have a drink to seal
the deal."
I thought about refusing, but knew
better. After all this tension, a drink sounded damn good. "Lead the
way." I motioned Bill to the door.
He opened the door and waited for me to
pass. "Do you have your key?"
I snapped my fingers. "Glad you
reminded me." I went back in, picked up my key, slid it into my pocket and
joined him outside.
He put his arm around my waist as we
walked to the lounge. Heat like a smoldering ember started deep in my stomach
from his touch. Sure hope Nick finishes these appointments soon. I didn't know
how long I could control myself.
Chapter Thirteen
I woke the next morning and looked at the
clock. Only seven, plenty of time to get ready for breakfast. Memories of last
night came to mind. I still felt the pressure of Bill's kiss. At least he
hadn't made any more advances to me in the lounge, not to mention he was the
perfect gentleman when he saw me to the door. I slid out of bed, stretched and
smiled.
For some reason I looked forward to
seeing him this morning. As long as he kept his distance, I could handle it.
Besides, I did enjoy his company.
I switched on the shower and waited for
the water to heat up, then stepped inside the stall and lathered my hair.
Dinner ought to prove interesting. How I was going to ward off Bill's affection
was another problem. I liked his touch. In fact I wanted more.
Lots more.
I rinsed my hair and lathered my body.
Thoughts of Bill's touch invaded my mind. I swore I could almost feel him
standing behind me, washing my back. His hands sliding around the front to
caress my breasts. I closed my eyes and imagined leaning back against his hard
body.
The phone rang, interrupting my thoughts.
I rinsed off quickly, snapped off the water and wrapped a towel around me.
What the hell was wrong with me? I never
had fantasies like that about a man. Not that I'd ever met a man who turned me
on the way Bill did. I fell across the bed and grabbed the phone.
"Hello."
"Morning, Sunshine. Ready for
breakfast?"
I glanced at the clock. Just past seven
thirty. "You said nine."
"I know. I just wanted to say good
morning to my almost fiancé."
I heard the teasing in his voice and
smiled. Almost fiancé. What would it be like to really be his girlfriend? I
shook the thought from her mind.
Chill out, girl, a relationship and
marriage isn't part of your plan. Still, I couldn't help but laugh. "Let's
not carry this too far. Look, I have to go I just got out of the shower."
"Okay, see you at nine."
"Nine it is. Bye." I hung up
before he responded.
Hopefully, we'd finish with Mrs. Gilmore
today and I could catch the next flight home. I needed to get away from Bill
before I did something stupid.
A few minutes to nine, I glanced in the
mirror one last time, smoothed my skirt and patted my hair. I pulled the door
open to find Bill, hand raised, ready to knock. He stepped back and looked at
me, top to bottom.
"Nice." He whistled
appreciatively.
I swore you could probably cook an egg on
my face. Lord, what this man did to me with just a look. I moved my gaze from
his head to his feet and took him in, too. Not too bad himself. How a guy could
look so sexy in casual clothes was beyond me.
The steel blue of his polo shirt brought
out the silvery gray of his eyes. The way his faded jeans hugged his small hips
and muscular legs caused a tingle to go up my spine. So taken aback by his good
looks, not to mention the desire in his eyes, I could hardly speak.
"Are you ready? I'm half
starved." I finally found my tongue.
"Ready as ever. Where would you like
to go?"
"You know the area better than I
do." Small volts of electricity rushed through my body when he put his
hand on the small of my back and guided me to the car.
"Okay, I know a little restaurant,
The Brunch Place. It's not too far up the road." Bill opened the passenger
door, waited until I got in, and went around to the driver's side.
He pulled out into traffic and settled
back against the seat. "So what's on the agenda today, besides dinner,
that is?"
His admiring look wasn't lost on me. Nor
was the bulge in his pants. Shivers ran through me. How was I ever going to
avoid a relationship with this man? He did things to my insides that no man had
ever done before. Besides enjoying his company, I had a feeling I could enjoy a
whole lot more.
I leaned back and watched the scenery
pass. I loved Florida.
Loved the warm. Not enough to live here, but sure would be nice to spend part
of the winter here. Someday, maybe. After I opened my own business and it took
off. Then I could afford to take an extended vacation. Yep, that's what I'd do.
Rent one of those condos along the gulf and bask in the sun, walk along the
beach and just relax.
"Here we are." Bill's voice
brought me out of my reverie.
I looked around. We were in a shopping
mall. "Where's the restaurant?"
"Around the corner from the bank.
There weren't any parking places in front. I hope we don't have to wait too
long."
Bill came around the side of the car and
waited while I got out.
I stood next to him. "Lead the
way."
He put his arm around me and pulled me
against him, leaned down and kissed my cheek.
I pulled away. "Watch it." The
kiss felt too familiar. Too unnerving.
"Just practicing for tonight. You do
want to make it realistic, don't you? I mean we have to act like we've done
this before."
The teasing twinkle in his eyes ignited a
flame deep inside my stomach and surged outward. This was a mistake. I never
should have asked Bill to do this. We'd never pull it off. "Let's just get
something to eat."
Somehow I had to get through breakfast,
meet with Nick and Gladys, do dinner, and hopefully be on a plane out of here
tomorrow. Something told me that wasn't going to happen. Past experience with
Gladys for one.
Chapter Fourteen
Later, I put the finishing touches to my
make-up and looked in the mirror. I felt different, did it show? Exactly what I
was looking for, I wasn't sure.
A sparkle in my eyes, something written
all over my face? Here I stood, me, Wendy Seidel, confirmed bachelorette. Was I
infatuated? Ridiculous. Okay, so we had a great breakfast and Bill made me
laugh. So what? A lot of guys made me laugh. Didn't mean anything.
Yet, something felt different. Something
I never expected to feel. I even looked forward to tonight. Hell, I looked
forward to going to the beach, maybe even a moonlit dinner somewhere quiet.
I shook the thought from my mind.
"You're getting in too deep, girl. Watch yourself. You're looking for
trouble."
I laughed and picked up my car keys.
Thankfully, Nick left a message to meet him at the restaurant. I much preferred
driving myself. Especially after last night. How we'd maintain a casual
boss/employee relationship after that I'd never know. Yet, when he dropped me
off, he didn't seem the least bit bothered or upset. Like it was no big deal.
He made a pass. I rejected him, oh, well. Obviously, he wasn't hurt.