Slave to Love (16 page)

Nodding, “I do. The whole thing fits. It makes sense.”

Squeezing her hands, “What do I have to do to get you to trust me?”

“I don’t know. I want to, but look at you.”

“What does that mean?” I’m perplexed by her statement.

“You’re you. You’re kind of this international figure. Magazines write about you. You have some kind of clandestine military background where Presidents know who you are. They follow you and your business. You might just be a little too, what’s that saying, rich for my blood.”

I’m shocked. Clearly we’ve spent too much time apart and she’s had way too much time to think.

Giving her hands a last squeeze before I let them go, I come around to her side of the desk and sit down in the chair next to her. Taking her hands again, gently I rub my thumbs over her soft skin. Her eyes don’t look as open as I’ve seen them in the past. I need that door to reopen.
Let me in, Sierra.

“You started out by saying ‘You’re you’ and out of everything you said, that was where you nailed it. Everything that followed that is just stuff, details to sort through. I want you to trust me, Sierra. How do I get you to trust me?”

As she looks at me I realize there is a story there, a story she is not yet ready to share. That will only come with time. I want to know everything now. That’s the only way to save her, but she has to choose to share with me of her own volition.

“I miss your nightly pictures, mermaid.”

“Hale…”

“Shhh.” Bringing her hands to my face, I kiss the center of each palm. “I know what we have to be for the next few weeks until the event is over. I respect that. Universal was an eye-opener for me, but I watched and learned. You handled yourself with so much finesse and grace. You’ve worked hard and with integrity and it makes me look at things differently. You’ve set the benchmark and you’ve set it high.”

“Thank you.” And with a small smile, “So, would you think less of me if I kissed you?”

Sitting forward in the chair, I laugh. “Expect the unexpected from you.”

As she leans in with a smile, I cup her small face with my right hand. “You’re safe with me, Sierra. Don’t run. Please don’t run.”

“I just don’t want to ruin everything.”

Kissing the edge of her mouth, “I need you to have faith that this will all work out. Can you do that?”

“I can try.”

“That’s my girl.”

Her look is priceless.
My girl.
I place a small kiss on her lips, “Want to hear something else?”

“Only if it’s good.”

“It’s very good.”

“Okay, then.”

“That same night, with Susan and Robyn right there, one of the ladies in accounting asked me if I had a girlfriend.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her the truth.”

“And what is that?”

“I told her that there’s someone very special in my life. And they said, ‘Call her. Have her come meet us.’ And I told them I can’t, she lives in Austin.”

“Anyone I know?” Sierra looks most amused.

“I don’t know, you might know her. She’s a really pretty, intelligent blonde. Very driven. I’m working with her on an event and she’s got amazing, kissable lips.” Putting my lips close to her ear, “And nipples that like to torment me.”

“Where have you been, Bev
and I have been trying to reach you?”

Putting my cell phone onto speaker, I bring Monica into the bathroom with me so that we can talk as I wash my face and brush my teeth.

“I was having dinner with Hale.”

“Dinner with Hale? Oh my God, we have so much to talk about.”

“What’s going on?” Looking in the mirror I can see how much happier I look. One conversation that set everything straight was like lifting a hundred pound blanket of gray gloom. Being out of sorts with Hale causes this odd, empty pain. Everything feels out of sync and I’m too distracted to function properly. I hate the feeling.

“The rumor mill is spinning wildly. Have you spoken to Kemp?”

“What’s the rumor and no. He was flying back to New York today. He’s been at that seminar in Seattle all week.”

“Rumor is Mannon is going to announce his so-called retirement soon and will be out the door December 31
^st
.”

“Where did you hear it? I mean, we’ve been hearing this same shit for eighteen months now, when is he just going to fucking leave already?” Toweling off my face I leave it a little wet and grab my Vitamin C serum. With a squeeze to the rubber tip of the little medicine dropper, I release some onto my fingers and start to massage the slightly viscous liquid into my cheeks. “Just think, Robyn will need to find a new mentor,” I laugh. “So, where did you hear this tidbit?”

“From my little buddy in HR.”

“Ohhh, he’s usually a good source. So maybe this is going to happen.”

“Oh my God, you are going to be promoted,” she practically sings the words.

Pulling my tank top over my shoulders, I take a seat in the middle of my bed. “We don’t know that. It really could go either way with me and Cuntessa or they could totally fuck both of us and bring someone in from the outside. And if they did, you know it would be a man.”

“Ugh, I know. They always find places for the boys, even if they are incompetent. Seriously though, what will you do if you don’t get it?”

“Start looking immediately for a new job. Someplace where there is room for advancement and opportunities for women.” Opening the drawer of my nightstand, I pull out a small white box and lift the mermaid from her bed of satiny, cloudlike billows and fasten it around my neck, patting her down in place at the apex of my cleavage.

“You are so driven.”

Smiling, “Hale used that word today to describe me, too. But you know I have to be, Monica. My dad left us high and dry after making the commitment to support his family so that my mom could stay home and raise us. He just unfortunately made that commitment to more than one family. I will always be able to take care of myself and my family. That can never be left to anyone else to make good on that promise.”

“Speaking of Hale, what happened with him?”

I recount the story for her of Robyn and the selfie, “You know, I actually believe him. It all fits. Do you believe him? Was he believable when he was telling you?” Monica usually has a really good bullshit meter.

“I do. The whole thing makes perfect sense and he seemed really sincere.”

“Sierra, you know I’d tell you if you were chasing your tail, but I think this guy is crazy about you and I think that you two make a really good pair. You’re both so serious about business and so smart. And you look good together.”

“I don’t know about that. After Googling him and seeing pictures of him with model-types at all these events, it’s intimidating. I try not to let it get in my head, but it’s hard. He keeps telling me to trust him.” I realize I’m holding onto the mermaid when I say that.

“Well, you’ll see if he earns it. What he doesn’t know about you is that your trust issues with men go back to when you were just six. That’s a lot of fucked up to fight, Sierra.”

Sighing, “I know. I wish he’d just leave me to my career.” I get under the covers and turn off the light.

“Is that what you really wish?” Monica is not buying my story.

“No, I really wish I wasn’t so fucked up. I wish he wasn’t a colleague. I wish I trusted him. I wish all these stupid things to make me not trust him, like sluts rubbing their hoochie on his legs, would stop happening. And I wish he were falling in love with me.”

“Really on the last one?”

“Yeah. I feel like I’m a train barreling down these tracks on a mountainside. Totally out of control. I’m falling so in love with him and I can’t stop it. I’m so far out of my comfort zone and I’m really afraid I’m going to end up there alone.” Tears are springing from my eyes but I’m trying to keep them out of my voice.

“You are beautiful, smart and successful, so don’t sell yourself short. I don’t think he knows what to do with you, Sierra. I don’t think he’s used to women who can challenge him in the way that you do. And face it, girlfriend, you are a bit of a challenging personality. So now the only question that remains is this, is Hale Lundström up for the challenge?”

“You are so good for my ego.”

“You know me, I only speak truth.”

“I hope you’re up for it,” I later whisper to no one as I approach the edge of sleep and it welcomes me into its fold.

“If you invite me over sometime, then I can stop showing up unannounced.” Hale is smiling down at me, the sun low in the sky behind him making me squint up at him.

It’s Sunday morning. 8:30 A.M. My hair is a tangled rat’s nest. No make-up. White tank top (No bra. Nipples plotting devilishly) and a pair of UT sweat-shorts that says TEXAS across my ass.

Lifting up two bags to show me, he thrusts one at me and I take it to the dining room table.

“You’re not a morning person, are you?” his smile tells me he is most amused.

Unloading the bag, there are two large coffees, I pop the lid of the first one, then the other and hand Hale the black coffee. Two croissants, four breakfast tacos, a bag of beignets and a large container of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Grabbing plates, glasses and utensils from the kitchen, I bring them out to the dining room table and sit down across from Hale.

After the first sip of coffee has permeated my bloodstream and the caffeine has done what it’s paid to do, I am finally able to speak. With a smile, “What a nice surprise. Thank you for bringing over breakfast.”

How can a man make sipping coffee from a cardboard cup look so damn sexy? I wonder how many days it’s been since he last shaved, his stubble beard is so thick and dark. So masculine. I want to run my fingertips over it to feel the sharp sting and even more than that, I wonder how it would feel scratching the skin of my neck following his lips and teeth. My thighs twitch at the thought and I’m too afraid to look down and see what my nipples are doing. I can hear them screaming,
“Bite me through the shirt.” “Yeah, bite her, but suck me.”
I silently tell them, “Shut up, sluts.”

“I hope you like the assortment.” He’s looking for validation.

“Perfect. Coffee and tacos make me very happy.”

“You were so cute that you couldn’t speak before you drank coffee.

Laughing, “I’m glad you find that cute.”

“Your mussed up morning look is very cute, too.”

The Google images flood my mind, “Yeah, not quite what you’re used to. I don’t quite have that model in the morning thing going.”

His coffee cup comes down with a thud and he’s looking at me like I’m crazy. “Sierra, they don’t hold a candle to you.”

“Yeah, right,” I scoff.

Shaking his head, like he’s disgusted with me. “Starting this week we are going to be sleeping, eating and breathing TFV1, so I was hoping we could take some time before the craziness kicks in to get to know each other better. We’ve known one another for several months now and I hardly know a thing about you. And I want to. I know that after today you’re going to be seeing a very different person in me at the office. As we go into the homestretch, there are matters that are going to require my complete focus. So, I might seem more than a bit distant to you.”

I want to tell him everything about me. I want him to know and understand who I am. It’s just not as easy as he makes it out to be. But I fear this window of opportunity he’s describing. Like the Hale I know is about to disappear. And I don’t want him to go.

“I have an idea,” I smile at him. “Give me a few minutes to get dressed.”

“You look fine to me.” He’s staring at my nipples.

I look down at my high-beams. “They like you, too. But I really need them to behave in public.”

He laughs, totally surprised by my admission.
I’m talking about my nipples to the man.

A few minutes later I emerge in jeans and sneakers, wearing a hoodie over a black tank top that is much less revealing, and hand Hale a long clear plastic pack filled with bright rainbow colors.

He looks at it for a moment, “A kite?”

“A dual control kite,” I clarify. “I got it as a gift and I’ve never used it. And today is cool and breezy, so I thought maybe we could go over to Zilker Park and fly it.”