Bound By His Desire (5 page)

The plane taxied down the runway, gathering speed as if running from demons. Pam tried to let her concerns stay behind. It didn’t matter what she looked like or how she dressed, she was there to help Nick. She would push aside the secret part of her that wanted him to find her attractive. She couldn’t let that thought take root and spread through her. If she did, she’d be like every other assistant he’d had. Thinking herself in love with him and ending up being fired. She wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. Besides, the chances of Nick finding her sexy enough to take her to bed were slim to none. He had probably already forgotten about the kiss they’d shared at the wedding. If only she could. His kiss had been amazing. It was highly unlikely that he had been affected by it as much as she had. To him it would’ve been just another kiss.

As the plane rose in the air, Pam let her eyes close and she made one wish — that while on this adventure she would finally experience what it was like to lose herself in a man’s arms.

Nick rubbed his eyes as the figures on the sheet of paper in front of him started to blur. He moved his head from side to side, then up and down, feeling the neck muscles crack as they loosened themselves after being locked in one position for so long.

Out the corner of his eye, he noticed Pam curled up in her seat; she looked as uncomfortable as he felt.

Nick collected up the papers and stuffed them back into his briefcase. Undoing his seatbelt, he stood and placed the case on the chair opposite his seat. He made his way to the front of the plane where the pilots were.

‘Hi Darryl, how much longer before we have to stop to refuel?’

‘About another six hours, Mr Rhodes.’

That was enough time for him to get some sleep and then to get back into work. ‘Will we be flying into some bad weather or does everything look smooth?’

‘The radar shows that everything looks pretty clear, but you can never tell. Are you thinking of sleeping?’

This was the reason he’d never been jolted out of the bed by bad weather — he always informed the pilot, and if they knew they were flying into any bad weather they would wake him.

‘Yes.’

The pilot nodded. ‘If we see anything we’ll let you know.’

‘Thanks.’

Nick turned and walked back to the main cabin, stopping beside Pam as she slept. He couldn’t let Pam continue to sleep the way she was. She would only wake up even more tired than if she had no sleep at all. He needed her ready to go when they arrived. It wouldn’t be helpful to have an assistant who fell asleep at their first meeting.

He reached over and gently undid her seatbelt. She stirred but didn’t wake. He removed her shoes, tucking them into a side pocket, before gently scooping her up in his arms. She was soft and pliant from sleeping. His body automatically responded to having Pam in his arms again. Strands of her hair tickled his nose; sniffing, he caught the light scent of oranges. The desire to keep her in his arms took him by surprise.

This was no good. He needed to move. Nick made himself think of the frigid air on the outside of the plane, instead of Pam and what his body wanted to do with her. It didn’t do anything to cool him down.

He strode down the small aisle and, with his fingertips, flicked the door handle down. He shouldered through the small gap he’d made and walked over to the bed.

He’d used the bed on numerous occasions and each time he’d been alone. This time he was going to be sharing it with his someone — his new assistant. He had to keep pounding that into his mind. She was his assistant and that was all she could ever be. No matter how sexy she looked sleeping. He’d never been tempted to do anything but deal with his work issues with any of his other assistants. He had to remember what he’d walked into that fateful afternoon, a sight no teenage boy should ever see. He shuddered as he recalled the look on his mother’s face. Her eyes so empty and dull.

Nick pushed the thoughts aside. He couldn’t let himself go there. It hurt too much and he was done being hurt by his past.

He placed her gently on one side of the bed. He pulled the covers back and then gently moved her so that she lay on the bottom sheet and not the covers. Once he had her settled, he unbuttoned his shirt and trousers. He hung them in the small wardrobe and returned to the bed. Pam had curled up on her side. Though she was still fully dressed, she was looking infinitely more comfortable than she had in the chair.

Nick slipped in beside her, lying on top of the sheet that covered her and under the bed’s comforter. In his mind, the barrier of the sheet was the same as a thick layer of concrete: no matter how badly he wanted to, he couldn’t penetrate it to get to the treasure that lay beneath.

A yawn shook his body and the weariness he’d tried to keep at bay overcame him. He settled himself on his back and closed his eyes. His last thought was a mental reminder to wake up in a couple of hours.

Pam stirred and tried to work out what had woken her from her sleep. The bed beneath her was soft and didn’t feel like her normal bed. There was a heat behind her and something heavy lay over her stomach. She didn’t know if she was dreaming, but she felt so safe and secure that she snuggled back against the warmth. In response, the weight over her stomach tightened its hold.

It didn’t feel right, yet it did. She was missing something. Something significant about the whole situation.

She pulled a hand from under the blanket and touched whatever was laying over her. When she came in contact with flesh, covered in soft hair, she pulled her hand back as if it had been burned. She opened her eyes fully and tried to take in the strange surroundings. She wasn’t in her bedroom.

A knock sounded at the door.

‘Mr Rhodes, we’re preparing our descent so we can refuel. You need to move back to your seats.’

The body beside her, which only seconds ago had been soft and relaxed, now became tense, like a piece of unbreakable steel.

‘Nick?’ she whispered, as she rolled over and bit back a gasp at the sight of a bare-chested Nick. She’d known from dancing with him he was well-muscled, but seeing him without his shirt had her mouth drying out in seconds.

In a blur of movement, he flung the cover back and was up and at the small closet in the room. Her view now was of an impressive back and an even more impressive butt, clad in black boxer briefs.

‘You’ll need to get up, too.’ His words were clipped and cold. The warmth she’d felt while she’d been lying beside him gone.

As she moved out of bed, she saw she was still fully clothed. She looked like a rumpled mess.

Great, just great
, she thought.
He’s going to look as fresh as a daisy and I’m going to look like that final dandelion before it’s ripped to shreds by the first winter squall.

It was then she also remembered she had fallen asleep in her chair and now she was in the bedroom and had slept in the same bed as Nick.

‘How did I get here?’

‘I carried you. Let’s continue this conversation in our seats. We’ll be landing to refuel soon and then we’ll be taking off again. We should be in New York in another few hours.’

He walked out the bedroom and left her staring at the closed door. A little jolt as the plane hit a patch of rough air had her moving into action quickly. She hurried from the room and made her way back to the seat she had occupied earlier.

She noticed that Nick had taken the seats on the opposite side of the plane. If that wasn’t a glaring, I’m-avoiding-you gesture, she didn’t know what was.

Pam shivered as she sat back down. The seat had cooled in her absence and she missed the warmth of the bed.

‘There’s a blanket under your seat if you want it.’

She stole a look over in Nick’s direction; he was busy reading through some papers, blatantly ignoring her.

Fine, let him be a jerk. It wasn’t like she’d asked him to take her to bed. She’d been asleep when he’d carried her. She stopped her thoughts right there. She’d been carried to bed by Nick Rhodes. He had held her in his arms and she’d slept through the whole thing.

It was probably going to be the one and only time he would ever carry her and she’d missed out on the whole experience. Pam sighed and slammed the door on the thoughts. There was no point going there, nothing was ever going to come of it.

Another shiver swept over her, so she reached under her seat and pulled the blanket out. She huddled beneath it and lifted up the window shade. She had no idea where they were but the sun appeared to be setting over the horizon. The sky was a beautiful combination of reds and pinks and purples. The clouds beneath the plane were like fluffy beds of cotton wool. The scene so beautiful and tranquil. It made her aware she was such a small part of an amazing world and she was seeing something so few people got the opportunity to see, much less appreciate. Everyone was always so busy these days, they never took the time to appreciate the beauty surrounding them.

Keeping her look firmly fixed out the window, the plane slowly descended. Trees and buildings became larger the lower the plane got. Only when they’d touched down did she risk a glance at the man sitting opposite her. His eyes were locked on her and she couldn’t quite read what was in their chocolaty depths. For long seconds they contemplated each other. She thought she saw something akin to longing, but with a quick lowering of his eyelids the moment was gone. When his lashes flicked back up, his eyes had returned to chips of granite.

Even with the blanket covering her, coldness seeped its way into her bones. She turned back to the window as the plane taxied to a halt. Gone was the beautiful sunset she had watched and now all she saw was blackness. She hoped it wasn’t an omen of what was going to happen on the rest of the trip. Had she made the right decision to take this job with Nick? Or had she made the biggest mistake of her life?

Even in her jet-lagged state, the buzz and excitement of actually being in New York was something Pam couldn’t ignore. They were travelling in a large black SUV, but all around her were the yellow cabs synonymous with New York.

She tamped down the strong desire to press her nose against the window to take in everything. Imprint it on her brain, so when she was back in a boring job she would remember the small time in her life when she had taken a leap of faith and worked in one of the most vibrant cities in the world.

She had to contain her excitement. She didn’t want to seem gauche to the cool and sophisticated Nick Rhodes.

‘Even though it’s only been a few days since I was last here, the excitement of this city gets right into your soul.’

Words spoken so softly, but they surprised her. She’d thought for sure this would be a normal occurrence for Nick. She looked at him to see if she could decipher the meaning behind his words.

Was he mocking her because he could feel her excitement? Or was he indulging her and her fascination with being in the city?

‘I’m surprised you say that.’

‘Really, why is that?’

Pam pulled her look from Nick and back out the window. They were stuck in traffic, but she hadn’t expected anything less. ‘I would’ve thought after all this time and countless visits,’ she waved her hand around. ‘All these people and this traffic would become second nature and nothing could surprise you anymore.’

‘Clearly, you don’t know me,’ he replied in a clipped tone.

She almost recoiled at his words. No, she didn’t know him and the deep-freeze he’d been sending her way since they’d gotten into the car only reinforced her thoughts. He was never going to be interested in her.

There was no more conversation as the traffic started moving again. Before long, they were pulling up towards a large building. The bottom of the building held shopfronts, and she was pleased to see that some of the shops were boutiques and were still open. Perhaps she would have time to get something new to wear for tomorrow. She recalled the old song about New York being the city that never slept. Hopefully that song was right and the shops would stay open long enough for her.

Pam let her eyes travel up and saw that it was a mid-rise building, but didn’t blaze a neon light representing a hotel.

‘Where are we?’

‘My apartment.’

Her hand had been on the door handle, ready to open it, but she pulled it away. What was happening here? Was he being dropped off first and then she would be taken to a separate hotel? If that was the case, how was she going to find her way around? Where was the office they were going to be working from?

‘Your apartment? Where am I staying?’ She thought she’d done a good job at leaving her panic out of her tone, but even she heard it.

‘You’re staying with me.’

That didn’t alleviate her panic any more; it only increased it. She was going to be living with Nick? How professional was that?

‘I’m staying with you?’

Her door was pulled open and she jumped slightly in surprise. It was the last thing she had been expecting.

Nick’s hand touched hers briefly, the first contact they’d had since she’d woken up beside him on the plane. He had kept his distance from her after the plane had taken off from their refuelling stop. She’d fallen asleep again in her chair and the hostess had woken her when they were approaching New York. It had been abundantly clear to her Nick regretted taking her to the bedroom. But she hadn’t asked for it, so his attitude grated.

‘It will be fine, Pamela. We’ll discuss everything inside. I’m sure you want to take a shower after the long flight.’

He was right. They couldn’t have this conversation while they were seated in the car. She stepped out and immediately noise engulfed her: horns beeping, the muted sound of people talking as they walked past and music playing from a street vendor’s cart. Her first experience of New York, and it was everything and more than she had expected.

Nick’s hand landed on the small of her back; her skin hummed to life under the lightest of touches. He guided her towards the entrance of the building. The door immediately opened and a distinguished looking, uniformed doorman smiled in welcome.

‘Good evening, Mr Rhodes, and welcome back.’ The doorman paused and inclined his head in her direction. ‘Miss.’