Mona's Honeymoon Fantasy (Delta of Venus Inc.) (9 page)

Mona felt relief
wash over her. “No. I suppose he really doesn’t need to do much at all, does
he?”

“Never has.
Until you. I think he was pretty shocked when you rejected him on the plane.”

Mona snorted.
“I’ll bet. Gorgeous women throw themselves at him every day. He must have
thought I was nuts to say no to him. An average woman like me.”

“Actually I
think he was shocked because it seemed pretty obvious to him that you two had a
real connection. And yet you still wanted to go through with your fantasy. I
think that was a huge blow to his ego. When I told him that Carlos had agreed
to be your Scene Facilitator he nearly went ballistic.”

“He was
jealous?”

Miss Bright
nodded. “Like crazy. He wanted me to tell him where you were staying so he
could make Carlos ‘cry like the little bitch he is.’ His words, not mine.”

Mona paused to
process this information. The idea of anyone being so possessive of her was
such a new concept, especially on such a short acquaintance. It was thrilling
but also kind of unsettling. She was still having a hard time believing he was
interested in her but why else would he be threatening poor Clark?

 “But you
wouldn’t tell him?”

Miss Bright
shook her head. “No, of course not. I know it must seem like I don’t care about
the privacy of my clients given the circumstances, but nothing could be further
from the truth. I take my job very seriously.”

“I can see that,
but how did you get Sam to pursue me? You said he doesn’t work for you. So why
was he so intent on seducing me?”

Miss Bright
looked uncomfortable. “Well, I may have challenged him a bit.”

“What do you
mean?”

“Well, he
thought it was completely depraved that I was allowing you to pay to lose your
virginity. He actually wanted me to reject your fantasy. When I refused and
implied I might even arrange for another SF to meet you on the plane and ambush
you, he insisted that I put him on the same flight instead. He thought he was
rescuing you.”

Mona held up her
hand. “So, let me get this straight. He thought losing my virginity in a
bathroom to a virtual stranger was better than fulfilling my fantasy?”

“Apparently so.
And they say chivalry is dead.” Miss Bright commented dryly. “Though I’m fairly
sure his own desires were clouding his judgment. He’s not usually so easy to
manipulate.”

Mona pressed her
fingertips to her temples as if she felt a headache coming on. “This is so
confusing. I don’t know who to be angry with. You. Him. Or myself.”

“Forgive me for
saying this but does it really matter? What’s important now is that you have
another chance with him. Are you going to take it? Or are you going to use all of
this as an excuse to run away from him too? Because no matter what brought you
together, there’s definitely something real between you two now. It would be
foolish to ignore the possibility of finding someone special twice. Don’t you
agree?”

Mona stared at
Miss Bright for several long, tense moments. This woman obviously thought she
had a choice in this, but the truth was that running wasn’t an option anymore.
She wanted Sam. Had wanted him from the moment they met. He wasn’t what she’d
envisioned when she imagined her fantasy but that didn’t really seem relevant now,
when her heart was leaping in her chest at the sight of him. He was everything
she wanted right this second.  

She was moving across
the crowded dance floor before she even realized it.

Her stomach
clenched with fear as she approached him but she didn’t slow her steps. She was
terrified that he would look up and stare at her coldly as he’d done when
leaving the plane that afternoon, or worse, be appalled at the sight of her.
But she had to try. This one time when it really counted, she would put herself
on the line and make herself vulnerable to rejection. What did she have to lose
besides her dignity? And she’d probably lost most of that this afternoon on the
plane. Nothing says dignity like being bare-assed and spread-eagled on a
bathroom counter while a flight attendant pounds on the door to the amusement
of the other passengers.

When she was
just a few feet away she stopped and drank in the sight of him. The bar he sat
at was in the furthest corner of the tent from the stage. There were several
rattan stools lined up in front of the long wooden surface but Sam was the only
one sitting there. Everyone else was having fun and enjoying the lovely
setting.

He was facing
away from her, nursing a glass of what looked like Scotch. Just sitting at the
bar by himself, not watching the dancers or the band but looking out at the
ocean with an adorably disgruntled look on his harsh profile. He was unshaven
and his hair looked a tad wild. His white tuxedo shirt was half untucked and
his sleeves were rolled up to reveal those insanely muscular forearms. In
short, he still looked like a dangerous convict, but a very well-dressed and
sexy one.

She took a deep
breath and pulled out the barstool next to him. “Excuse me, but is this where
the Hawaiian Skinny-dipping Club is meeting tonight?”

His gaze swung
towards her and the disbelief and delight on his face was everything she could have
hoped for. She had clearly run in the right direction for once.

“Mona?” He stood
up and stepped close but didn’t hug her. Instead he swept her from head to foot
with that bright blue gaze. “Damn. Woman. You have no idea how glad I am to see
you. Those bridesmaids are circling like sharks. You have to save me.” He
grabbed one of her hands and tugged her towards him, until she was standing
between him and the bar.

She gave him a
prim look. “Oh yes. I can see you were really suffering. That blonde over there
was demonstrating her monkey spanking techniques on your guitar. That must have
been so horrible for you.”

“You were
watching that? I feel so violated.” He tried to look morose but his huge grin
wouldn`t be contained. “It really was traumatic because the only
monkey-spanking techniques I’m interested in are yours and you were nowhere to
be found.”

She burst out
laughing. “You still have a way with words. That was very smooth, in a gross
kind of way.”

“I can do
better.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed one of her knuckles
playfully. “How about this? I was a complete dick-wad this afternoon after that
psycho flight attendant interrupted us. I had no right to act like such a tool.
You made plans before you met me and I should have respected that instead of
pouting like a horny teenager denied second base at the drive-in.” Looking
proud of himself he leaned in to kiss her, clearly expecting forgiveness, but she
stopped him with one hand on his firm chest.

She raised one
eyebrow at him in warning. “Nicely put, Romeo. But FYI – Miss Bright told me
everything, including how you overheard my very private conversation with her
and then proceeded to interfere with my life.”

He had the grace
to look embarrassed. For about five seconds. Rubbing the back of his neck, he squinted
down at her. “Also a major asshole move.” He sighed and sat back down on the
barstool, gently shifting her until she was standing between his spread thighs,
effectively trapped.

Unable to resist
being close to him, she allowed him to manoeuvre her but she didn’t sink into
his strength and warmth as she so desperately wanted. She breathed in his heady
scent and tried to focus on her anger rather than the bone-melting desire that
was already stealing over her senses. They needed to get a few things straight
before they could proceed with her new and improved fantasy. So she gave him an
expectant look and crossed her arms, waiting for him to explain himself.

He sighed and
rubbed her upper arms with his big hands. “Ok. Obviously you want the long
version. I don’t know what came over me but once I knew what you were planning,
I couldn’t help myself. The thought of a woman like you wasting yourself on some
paid dick-head made me go loco. But I should have been honest with you from the
start. The problem was that I didn’t know how to do that without confessing
that I was a creepy eavesdropper. But when it came down to sealing the deal, I
couldn’t go through with it.”

She gave him an
“A-ha” look and poked him in the hard chest. “So you were purposely dragging
out the foreplay. Just like I thought.”

He nodded.
“Yeah. But not because I didn’t want you. The truth was that when it came down
to it I wanted more. For you. But also for me. I didn’t want to be the asshole
who took your virginity and then disappeared. I told myself that it was better
than the alternative but it still wasn’t what you deserved.”

As noble as that
sounded she still resented the fact that he made decisions for her without her
knowledge. She was a tad innocent, but that didn’t make her a child. She’d been
running a successful business for ten years and she hated the fact that he
thought she couldn’t make decisions for herself. “What I deserve? How do you
know what I deserve? You don’t know me. Not really. Maybe I deserve a cold,
disappointing sex life. Just because I’m a virgin doesn’t mean I’m a saint. I
could be a horrible person who cheats on her income tax and kicks puppies.”

He snorted. “Yeah.
I can see you’re a real monster. Even your examples of bad behavior are pretty
tame.” He placed his hands on her hips and held her still, as if expecting her
to run. “Don’t freak out, but I do kind of know you. Your interview with
Elizabeth wasn’t the first time I saw you on video.”

“What are you
talking about?” She gave him a confused look.

“Well, remember
I told you that I work for an IT firm?” She nodded. “Well that IT firm
specializes in video surveillance and has been known to work for the Technical Investigation
Services Branch of the RCMP’s Technical Operations division.” He said this
quite casually, like he worked at an insurance firm.

“Umm. That
sounds pretty impressive. But you can`t be a cop. Look at you.” She waved her
hand at his body. “You look like you just walked off the set of that motorcycle
gang show on TV.”

“Exactly. Which
is why I’m so good at my job. I blend in with the bad guys. No one looks at me
twice. But just for the record, I’m a highly specialized surveillance specialist
who owns patents on some crazy-sensitive equipment. Not an actual cop.”

“Now you’re
trying to tell me you’re a techno-geek? Also, not a good fit.”

He grinned. “I’m
going to take that as a compliment. But yeah. That’s probably an accurate
description. A bad-ass, techno-geek who’s responsible for putting away some seriously
dangerous criminals over the past eight years. We’re talking drug dealers,
human traffickers and even a few terrorists.”

“Wow, Seriously?
I take it back. You are the King of Techno-geeks. But that doesn’t explain why
you’ve been watching me. I make cupcakes for a living, not crystal meth.”

“We weren’t
actually watching you. Or at least not in the beginning. There’s a certain
organized crime figure who likes to have meetings in the steam room at your
gym. I’ve spent the last six months getting an up close and personal look at
his wrinkly old nut sack. But while I was watching him, I also happened to
notice you. Nothing pervy, like close-ups of your thong or anything like that.
I just became aware of you and began looking forward to seeing you every day.
You worked so hard and were so serious. It impressed me. When my case was over
last month, I moved on to something else but I always wondered what happened to
you. Then, when I saw you go into Liz’s office last week I couldn’t resist
checking in. I had no idea you were going to reveal your deepest, darkest
secrets. I thought you maybe knew Liz from college or something. I wouldn’t
have powered up the surveillance equipment and invaded your privacy like that if
I’d known.” She gave him a doubtful look. “Well, okay, I probably would have,
but I’d feel shitty about it.”

She shook her
head. “Wow. I don’t get it. Out of all the hard-bodies at that gym, why me? I
mean, you know I’m forty, right? And a virgin? And how about my former fat girl
status, were you aware of that too? Or did I somehow manage to keep one secret
to myself?”

He frowned at
her, a truly intimidating sight. “Mona. Seriously. Your age doesn’t matter to
me. If it makes you feel any better, I thought you were around 35, but you
could be 50 or even 60 and I would still be sporting wood every single damn time
you came in the room. So I really don’t see why it’s a big deal.”

“That’s sweet. I
think. But since we’re on the subject, how old are you?”

“Not that it
should matter but I’m 32. And, by the way, I’m not a virgin. Does that matter
to you?”

She couldn’t
help it, the idea of him as a 32-year-old virgin made her laugh. “I really
didn’t expect that you were.”

He grinned. “But
don’t you see? It’s the same thing. As much as I hate the idea of you with anyone
else, especially that swollen testicle, Carlos, it’s really none of my business
if you’ve been with a million guys or none at all. As for your weight, I never
saw you when you were heavy but I doubt it would have mattered to me very much.
I like a woman with curves. That being said, I wish I could say it was your
soul I was attracted to in the beginning but on video all I could see was your
hot ass and your killer legs. That’s what drew me to you. But as time went on
and more of your personality came through, I really did start to be interested
in getting to know you outside my perverted fantasies. Which, incidentally,
usually involved tying you to weight-lifting equipment and doing some pretty
dirty things to you. ”

That got her
attention. “Like what?”

“Why don’t I
show you instead?” He leaned in and kissed the side of her neck.

Mona closed her
eyes and savoured the tingling sensation of his warm lips on her skin for a
moment and then she gently pushed on his chest to get his attention before she
forgot entirely why she was annoyed with him. “Didn’t it ever occur to you to,
I don’t know, stop and talk to me at the gym?”