Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (37 page)

“Except for Sean,” Marcus said as he looked
at Krista closely.

“Sean’s never really been a pack
follower.”

“No, he hasn’t. But with you, he’s doing
everything he can to try and make it easier for you. If anyone has
a bad word to say about you, they do it away from him. He and Blake
almost got to fighting over it when Blake was shooting his mouth
off about—“

“I don’t want to know,” Krista interrupted.
She had a pretty good idea what types of things Blake was saying to
protect his ego.

“Well, let me tell you, Blake has a bad rap.
He slept with two admins this weekend. He has no fans among the
gals. I’ve been spreading word that he has a small penis. Again,
you’re welcome.”

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “It’s nice
to have a man on the inside.”

“I do my best. Plus,” Marcus continued,
leaning toward her conspiratorially, “I hear Sean scared the
be
jesus
out of him.”

“I don’t doubt it. Sean can get a little
intense.” She’d seen Sean fight—she bet Blake wet himself when Sean
took off the suave exterior and showed the crazy lurking. “You’re
looking good, by the way.”

Marcus looked down at himself and turned
around to flaunt his tux. “Borrowed it from a friend, and then had
a tailored.”

Krista raised her eyebrows.

“He’s too fat—he’ll never fit into it again
anyway,” Marcus said as he waved away her concern.

“What are they saying about Sean?” Krista
asked, suddenly fearful that his chance at success was going to be
cut short by his support of her.

“Well, I imagine you know what the gals are
saying. What they always say—hot young stud, well groomed,
gentleman, a great catch, yada yada.” Marcus rolled his eyes.

“And the managers?”

“Are worried. He’s had such little experience
in the Big Cat game, no one thought he would get the VP position.
He beat out a great many guys, apparently. They thought it was a
fluke and he would go down in flames. Then he goes and promotes a
chick. Nail in the coffin, right?” Marcus smiled and leaned back.
“
Wrong
. He starts making changes right away. His chick
starts turning Phil’s old job upside down. The pair of you save
money left and right. Sean shows up here, and his chick and him
take the best awards. Oh yeah, they’re all talking. Sean’s making
waves, as always. He’ll be the best in no time. Mark my words.”

“He’s different and he gets acknowledgement.
I’m different and I get outcast.” Krista muttered.

“Get over your pity party. He’s a young,
ambitious white guy with bucks. All these guys started there once.
No one started as a young, ambitious white gal with nothing but
college debt. Or a black, gay guy not taken seriously, for that
matter. You aren’t the only one put upon.”

“Yikes. Can’t I have a moment to feel sorry
for myself in peace?”

“Yeah, yeah. Ten nanoseconds. Anyway, tell
Uncle Marcus, what’s going on with you and the young stud?”

“Don’t know. Don’t want to talk about
it.”

“Uh huh. I hear he k-i-s-s’ed you in the
tree. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes little
Krissy’s in the baby carriage.”

“Funny. And yeah, he did.”

“And you told him to f-off.”

“Yeah, I did. Thought I was going to fall off
the side or something.”

“So, not because you didn’t like it...”

“Marcus, you said yourself, he’s a hot young
stud. Who wouldn’t like it?”

“Krista, listen.” Marcus turned his whole
body toward her. “From what I’ve heard, he hasn’t been with many
people since you left. No one consistent, and no one even
pretending to be permanent. When are you going to realize he’s in
it for the long haul?”

“Don’t know. Don’t want to talk about
it.”

Marcus’ brow furrowed. “What does he…” Marcus
stopped talking and looked over Krista’s shoulder.

Krista followed his gaze and saw Emily
leaning on the bar next to her. When she turned back, Marcus said,
“Alright Geegee, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Marcus wandered away in an easy lope.

Krista turned back to Emily. “What, do you
have a Marcus-be-gone spray or something?”

“You’d be surprised,” She laughed. “People
usually suffer me, not have a desire to talk to me. Hey Krista, two
things.” She looked around her, saw no one listening, then
continued, “First, I don’t know if anyone told you, but Tory has a
special reason for hoping you succeed. As do I.”

“Um…Okay?”

“Our youngest is in her first year at Harvard
Business School. Tory wants to place her when she has graduated.
Now, I’m sure I don’t have to impress upon you that this is between
you and I…”

Krista nodded her assent.

“Well,” Emily continued, looking around her
again. “There is a different world out there. More women hold
higher positions in companies. And Tory has to retire someday—he
hopes Emma will step up. Anyway, long story short, your success
makes it easier for her to emerge as a star here. To be taken
seriously. So you have a very special place in his heart. He is
ecstatic you are turning heads.”

“So my getting MVP was a political thing?”
Krista asked, losing heart in her trophy.

“Oh god no! Don’t get me wrong, Tory loves
this company as much as he loves me. He wouldn’t rig anything like
that. No, you earned that. That is why you’ve cemented that place
in his heart. You and Sean.”

“Every time someone gives me success, Sean is
mentioned.”

“Krista,” Emily gave her a stern look. It was
daunting, “Sean made it where he is because of you. He’s worked his
butt off for you. To win you, I think. And don’t think for a second
you would be where you are without him pushing and believing in
you. You guys work as a team. Tory knows that you excel
exponentially with him, and he with you. He’s the idea man, and
you’re the girl that gets it done. Maybe you don’t want to hear
that, but…”

Wouldn’t everyone just drop it? All Krista
wanted right now was sex. Everything else was brain fodder for a
different day.

Emily smiled as if she read her thoughts.
“That brings me to my second thing.” She produced a room key. “This
is also between you and me. Tory and I are leaving within the hour.
My oldest has a sick daughter and a useless husband. I hate leaving
her alone. So our gorgeous suite will be vacant tonight. Starting
in an hour. Just thought I’d mention it.
Between you and
me
!”

Emily leaned in and gave Krista another stern
eye, then a wink. “Have fun. Talk to you later.” And she was
gone.

Krista watched her leave for a moment before
she looked at her hand. Emily basically just said, ‘Go have sex
with Sean in my room. Thank me at the wedding’.

Emily liked to play match maker, but this was
getting to be a bit much.

The next two hours were a daze of
conversation, together with Krista’s growing certainty that Emily
wanted her to use the room that night. So, Krista decided that if
were was the case, the least she could do would be to do it
right.

Krista talked to Marcus, asked a huge favor,
and got him to take Sean’s stuff to the suite. When he got back,
Krista learned that his socks stunk and he was a clothes horse. She
next asked Marcus to go persuade Janice to keep a lid on Krista
being away that night. When Janice found out, she insisted on
moving Krista’s stuff, as well. Apparently she was worried people
would notice if she was gone.

When she was done, she informed Krista that
her dirty clothes should have been put in a plastic bag. She also
said that Krista couldn’t leave the bar area for at least another
hour. Everything that was done was under the desire to dispel
gossip. Little did she know that Krista was already the cause of
loose lips and didn’t much care anymore.

Krista talked to her region, she talked to
Perry, and she even talked to Ron. She made her rounds and smiled,
seeing Sean doing the same thing. They caught eyes often, and he
seemed like he wanted to come talk to her, but he was networking,
and she let him. Finally, though, when she couldn’t stand it
anymore, and also when Janice gave her a disapproving nod, she made
her way to Sean.

Krista felt eyes on her as she crossed the
bar area. She got more than one scowl, mostly from the admins, but
no one stopped her progress. Sean was talking to someone from Utah,
and turned to her when the guy he was talking with noticed her. His
eyes lit up before he opened his body to include her.

“Krista, I was just telling Jared how we plan
to switch things up,” Sean said.

Krista had no idea how they were trying to
switch things up. She also had no idea how she was going to get him
away from Jared.

“Well, Sean, I need to head out. Call me on
Monday,” Jared said, making her job easy.

Sean looked surprised. “Great. See ya,
Jared,” he said in confusion.

Sean watched Jared walk away before he turned
to Krista. “That was weird.”

“Weird. Hey, I want to show you something.
Would you mind taking a walk, or are there other people you need to
talk to?”

“Always time for you, beautiful,” Sean said
smiling.

Krista got a shiver from the ground up. “Uh
huh. C’mon.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sean smiled at various people as they headed
away from the bar. Krista seemed nervous as she led the way into
one of the non-glass elevators.

“So, where are we headed?” Sean asked,
slightly apprehensive himself, wondering if they were finally going
to cross the line. Wondering if she was finally allowing him back
in.

But when she pushed the button for the pent
house, and not their floor, a cold fear gripped Sean.

“Krista, what are we doing?” Sean asked,
trying to stay calm. He wanted warning before they faced Tory. He
didn’t want to hear that Krista was quitting tonight. He needed
more time to figure out a way to keep her—for Tory to look at the
finances and figure out how much they could offer her.

“I want to show you a cool view,” Krista
answered, not looking at him.

The needle on Sean’s mental record slipped.
It wasn’t the answer he was expecting.

Krista opened the door to Tory’s room
with
a key.
She walked in like she was staying there. Sean stayed in
the doorway, double-checked the number—it was definitely Tory’s—and
hesitated.

Krista noticed and stopped in the middle of
the large, beautiful room. A look of worry and indecision crossed
her face. She suddenly looked like she had gone out on a limb, and
Sean had just sawed the branch off.

He stepped in and let the door close. Tory’s
desk was empty. So was the bedroom. But it didn’t explain why they
were in his room. Sean walked in slowly, looking around.

~*~*~*~

“Do you want a drink?” Krista asked, going to
the mini bar to gather some courage. He’d said he loved her. He’d
acted like he wanted her. Hopefully that was still the case.

“Sure,” Sean answered, walking toward the
sliding glass door.

He liked scotch on the rocks, so Krista made
him that and made herself a vodka and cranberry. She went to join
him at the sliding glass door. He hadn’t crossed the threshold onto
the balcony.

“Isn’t this Tory’s room?” Sean asked as he
received his drink. He was looking out at the blackness. There was
not much of a moon and no city lights, so it was a dark sky and
darker horizon.

Krista looked up at the stars. “Technically,
yes. But they had to leave for a family thing. View is probably
better when there’s light.” Krista tried to keep it light and
casual. It wasn’t working. She could hear the small nervous quiver
in her voice.

Sean turned to look at her. He was waiting
for what came next. He apparently wasn’t going to make this
easy.

Krista put her drink down on a table on the
balcony and stepped closer. Sean leaned toward her slightly before
he overcame the impulse and straightened up. Krista breathed in his
intoxicating smell and drank in the sight of him. His eyes were
slowly smoldering, waiting for a gust of wind to burn them
brighter.

“I thought maybe we could…um, give things a
try again?” Why was she so nervous?

Sean must have seen it because his face was a
war of wariness, hope, and plain sexual desire. The guy had
ironclad control, though. He backed up a little against the door
jam.

“I thought you weren’t ready, Krista?” Sean
asked, wariness winning the expression war.

“I’ve heard a lot of things from a lot of
people. I think I’m just scared. So…”

“I don’t want to do this until you’re ready.
This is too important to me. I’ll wait for you, as long as it
takes. I’ll wait.”

If Krista wasn’t decided up until that point,
she was now. She stepped closer. Their bodies were mere inches
apart. Sean’s breath was coming in fast puffs. His hands were
balled at his sides. Krista rubbed her palm up his chest.

“Krista—“ It was a whisper. It was a plea. He
was close to losing control.

Good idea? Bad idea? She didn’t know. She
didn’t care. If she couldn’t reconcile herself by now, she wasn’t
going to. It was time to roll the dice and see if she got
sevens.

“
Sean
.” It was lazy breath, as hot and
sweet as a midsummer evening. It was the final push to unlock the
dam.

Sean’s arms convulsed around her, drawing her
to him in a flex. His mouth crashed into hers, their tongues doing
the dance of love as their bodies closed the gap. Krista threw her
arms around his neck and dared him to drag her under the throws of
passion.

She was swung around so her back was to the
door jam, Sean’s large, hard body pushing against her, trapping her
with desire; his and hers both. His knees parted her legs and his
hand pulled her dress up as his other hand was still wrapped around
her, keeping her immobile.