Business and Pleasure (15 page)

With effort, I return my attention to the
manuscript on my laptop screen. Maybe the book will be good enough
to distract me…take my mind off sex, off Alex (somewhat), and off
Bob’s crazy ass. Three-hundred and sixty-five pages…definitely
enough material to keep me busy for at least the next several days,
possibly a week. I begin reading, making notes in the margin with
the word processor’s comments feature. The pain meds kick in, the
ache in my shoulder eases a little, and before long, I’m lost in
the story of boy meets girl…

*****

The liquid in the glass Alex just placed on
the table beside me looks suspiciously like a Cosmo. I look up from
my computer and smile, but I shake my head. No booze. Not for
me.

“Alex,” I say, inserting an apologetic note
into my tone, “I can’t—”

“I know you can’t mix alcohol with your pain
medication, but I thought I would make you something that looks
like a drink, and you can pretend. Might make you feel better.” His
grin is so endearing, like that of a young boy who only wishes to
please.

I giggle at his playful gesture. “Okay. In
that case, thank you.”

As I look around, I realize its dark
outside. Talk about losing track of time. Sheesh. But the
manuscript is much better than I expected, so I’m not surprised
several hours have passed since I began reading. I sigh in
appreciation at the view outside Alex’s top-floor windows. The city
sure does look beautiful.

“What time is it, exactly?” I reach for my
drink and take a sip.

Alex’s smile softens. “It’s nine o’clock,
love. I came out a little bit ago to check on you, but you were
working so hard, I did not have the heart to bother you. You were
so absorbed in your reading, you didn’t even notice when I turned
on the lights.”

Sweet, sweet man. Does he have any
faults
? I have yet to find one.

“Happens to me all the time,” I tell him.
“Especially when I’m lucky enough to find a good submission. I lose
myself in the characters and their story. And I appreciate you
allowing me to work. I did get a lot done, which is a huge relief,
after not working for days. I’ve been stressing…thinking it’d take
me weeks to catch up.”

Alex strolls toward me. He’s wearing a pair
of pajama pants…the kind with a little tie at the waist…and a
matching shirt, which he hasn’t bothered to button. It hangs open,
giving me a lovely view of his muscular chest, six-pack abs, and
the top of a treasure trail that runs downward from just below his
bellybutton, disappearing below the waistband of his pants. Damn,
he’s looking way too sexy. He’s got a drink in his hand, but he
sets it on the table, and then he takes my laptop, closes the
cover, and places it on the table, as well.

So much for keeping my mind off
sex
.

Alex sits next to me, grabs both my ankles,
and places my feet on his lap. As he begins massaging each little
toe, my eyes roll back in my head and I moan.

“Feel good?” he asks.

“Oh, God, yes.” I look up and find he’s got
an evil sparkle in his eye.
What’s he up to, now
?

“If you come upstairs with me, I promise
I’ll make you feel even better.”

His voice is low, filled with desire, and I
suddenly have a hard time meeting his gaze. My cheeks grow hot, and
my hands are shaking. I bury them in the blanket on my lap so he
can’t see how nervous I am.

“Elizabeth, honey, if you’re worried about
your shoulder, don’t. I’ll be careful.
Very
careful. The
last thing in the world I’d ever do is hurt you.”

Before I can tell him it’s not my shoulder
I’m worried about; it’s my heart…this man has stolen it, and I’m
afraid I might get hurt, I’m in Alex’s arms and he’s carrying me up
the stairs. His eyes are filled with hunger. He wants me, and
nothing will stop him from taking what he wants right now. In his
bedroom, he holds my gaze as he carefully lays me on the big, black
bed.

There’s something different about the way
he’s looking at me…something I can’t quite put my finger on, but I
recognize there’s a change in him. He lies down on the bed,
cuddling up to my good side, and places his hand on my cheek.

“I thought I lost you. You have no idea
frightened I was, how badly I feels, to know I could have lost you
in that split second, while I lay right here, only a few feet away.
When I saw you hit the floor, my heart broke into a million pieces.
I never want to feel that way again, Elizabeth.
Never
.”

Mark’s words from earlier start running
through my head: ‘
He blames himself. Let him take care of
you.
’

Okay, but what do I say
?
How do I
show him I have a vulnerable side
?

“It’s not your fault, sweetheart,” I tell
him, following my instincts. “You have to know that. I won’t allow
you to blame yourself for something that…that maniac did to me. The
bastard got lucky, but so did I. Lucky he was a terrible shot, that
is. We’ll both have to be more careful, that’s all…until they catch
him.
I
don’t want to ever feel that way again,
either…believe me.”

Without warning, Alex leans in and kisses
me. Very softly…very gently. He seems stuck somewhere between need
and concern. He pulls back and looks at me once more, almost as if
he’s asking for permission to keep going.

“It’s okay,” I tell him. “Make love to me,
Alex.”

Apparently, that’s all the permission he
needs, because he starts taking off my clothes—very carefully, of
course, so as not to hurt me. He slides my shirt off and down my
arms, and then lifts me up gently to release my bra. I sigh at the
lack of restrictive clothing. If I were born in the sixties, I’d
have been one of those women who burned her bras, no doubt about
it! Alex next unbuttons my jeans, using his teeth, of all things,
and the entire time, he’s looking up at me, giving me that wicked
little grin of his.

God, this man knows how to get me
going
.

My pulse is racing. He slides my jeans down
my legs, kissing a trail down each bared thigh. He drops my pants
on the floor, and then stands to remove his own clothes. He could
stand there all day, and I’d never get bored lying here staring at
him. His chest is muscular and defined, and an image of me kissing
my way right down the middle of that six pack fills my head. My
mouth waters at the thought, but I fight my desires. He needs to
feel like
he’s
taking care of
me
right now. I have to
let him take the lead…
this
time
. Finally, when I
think I may not be able to control myself much longer, he climbs on
top of me, putting one hand by my head and the other by my arm. We
stare into each other’s eyes, and I suddenly know what’s different.
We belong to each other. We’re not just making love; we’re making
each other an unspoken promise.

“I love you so much, Elizabeth. I can’t
believe I feel this way so soon, but I do. You’ve taken over my
heart, my emotions, my body, and my soul. I’m all yours.”

What beautiful words, but Alex isn’t simply
giving me a line of bullshit. The look on his face tells me he’s
dead serious, and I melt beneath his heated gaze.

“I love you, too.” Somehow, I manage to
speak with this lump in my throat. “More than you know.”

He lets out a sigh and then kisses me.
Softly, at first, until the want inside both of us takes over. My
skin tingles and grows warm where he touches me. He kisses a trail
from my lips, down my neck, but stops just short of my injured
shoulder. He looks for a moment at my arm, still in its sling, and
my bandaged shoulder, and then he continues on, placing light
kisses all the way down from my shoulder to my hand.

“That bastard will pay for this.”

He whispers so softly, I can barely make out
the words, but right now, I don’t care. Not about Bob and his
craziness, anyway. All I care about is Alex, and what he has
planned for me next. I want him inside me.

He moves again, to hover directly over me
once more, and with a smile, he kisses down my torso while his
hands find my breasts, my most sensitive areas. He rolls my nipples
between his thumb and forefinger, as his lips find my core. He’s
being ever so careful, so gentle, but I need more. My body feels
energized, like I’m going to fly up off the bed. His hands and his
lips on me are sheer torture.

“Alex.”

“Shh… Let me take care of you.”

How can I argue with such a sweetly phrased
plea? His tongue sweeps across my core, and I buck my hips in
response.

“Easy, baby.”

I’m panting so hard, I can barely breathe. I
throw my head back against the pillows as he explores me with his
tongue, lapping along my swollen pussy, swirling the tip around my
sensitized clit. I moan again, trying to let him know how much I
need him.

“Are you ready for me, Elizabeth?” He
replaces his tongue with his finger, delving into my wetness. “Yes,
I do believe you are.”

He makes his way back up my body, stopping
to lick each hard nipple, and then finally, his face comes into
view.

“You are so wet, so ready for me.”

“Yes! Alex, please. Fuck me.”

He smiles. “I thought you’d never ask.”

He tilts his hips forward and enters me, and
my insides stretch, adjusting to his width. He begins moving in and
out, very slowly, not once breaking eye contact.
Oh,
God
…

“You feel so good,” I tell him.

He groans in response and moves a little
faster, making me moan with each stroke. He moves deeper, and then
faster, still. Unable to restrain myself, I throw my head back
against the pillow and cry out.

“Yes! That’s it,” he says. “Come for me,
baby.” He thrusts inside me once more, and then stiffens.

My muscles tense, and I feel that pool of
warmth at my core, and then suddenly, we both cry out as we find
our release. He kisses me on the forehead then rolls me over so
that my back is to his chest. I feel his nose against my neck as he
places a soft kiss against that little spot between my neck and
shoulder. “I love you Elizabeth.”

“I love you too Alex.”

Chapter Nine

The weekend seems to pass in the blink of an
eye. One minute, it’s Friday night, and Alex and I are making love,
and the next thing I know, it’s Sunday evening, and Nicki, Becca,
and Natalie are on their way over, just as Alex promised. We spent
most of Saturday eating and shopping. Alex found my lack of pajamas
hilarious, so he decided we needed a shopping spree. “How else can
you lounge around the house like an invalid while you recover from
your injury?” he’d asked. I haven’t worn pajamas since I was a
teenager, preferring to sleep in the nude, but it doesn’t take me
long to get used to them again. They’re quite comfortable,
actually, especially the all-cotton ones I picked out specifically
for lying around on the sofa all day. I’m always in suits or dress
clothes, and sometimes, I’ll wear jeans and a blouse, but since I
never just sit around my house, I’ve never had any use for what
Alex calls “loungewear.” I learn real quick that I could get used
to this…both the pajamas and the long, sometimes lazy hours spent
with Alex. Saturday evening, immediately after shopping, Alex
insisted I put on one of my new outfits, and I’d worn one ever
since, but with the girls coming over soon, I insist on putting on
some actual clothes. We compromise, and I throw on a pair of jeans
and one of his oversized, cotton t-shirts.

Alex has gone all out for my friends’ little
visit. He ordered a ton of food for delivery and had his bar
stocked to the max. You would think he was having a party with
fifty people. I have to admit, it’s awful cute watching him get
excited about throwing what amounts to our first get-together as a
couple. Then again, what do I really know about his personal life?
Perhaps he’s something of a recluse, and having a few women over
for an evening of chatting, drinks, and snacks is a big deal to
him.

I want to check my email before the girls
come over, but Alex hijacked my laptop and hid it somewhere,
swearing he’d give it back at the end of the weekend. Honestly, I
think I’m having withdrawals. I’m used to working all the time, and
I’m ready to go back to the office, but Alex thinks I should wait.
Monday, he says, is too soon after my surgery, not to mention, they
still haven’t located Bob. He’s worried, and I get that, but I
can’t stay cooped up in his house for weeks on end until they find
that maniac. I’d lose my mind. But I decided not to argue my point
until after tonight, once everyone leaves. Alex doesn’t know it
yet, but I can be pretty damn bullheaded, and I’m bound and
determined to go back to work. I have manuscripts to read and edit,
and Natalie can’t do everything.

“Wow, would you look at this place?”

Speak of the devil… Natalie follows Alex in
from the direction of the front door, and Becca and Nicki bring up
the rear. I must have been so deep in thought; I didn’t hear the
doorbell ring.

I move to rise, wanting to greet them.

“Stay put.”

“Don’t you dare get up.”

First Alex and then Becca reprimand me. I
sink back down on the couch, and before I know it, I’m surrounded
by my friends. Alex plays host for both of us, bringing trays of
drinks and food over to the coffee table.

“Alright, ladies. Now that you’re settled,
I’ll retire upstairs and get some work done, while you all talk.
Enjoy your visit.” He turns to Becca. “There’s more of everything
in on the kitchen counter. Help yourselves.”

Alex gives me a warm smile, and then heads
for the stairs. For a moment, I forget I’m not alone, and I watch
him go, my gaze pinned on his ass.

“Hello? Earth to Elizabeth.” Nicki, sitting
beside me on the sofa, waves her hand up and down in front of my
eyes.