For His Pleasure: The Boxed Set, Books 1-6 (For His Pleasure, For His Taking, For His Keeping, For His Honor, For His Trust, For His Forever) (30 page)

Red’s face was pale and he looked sick to his stomach at what she was saying.

“I’m sorry if we offended you,” he said to her.

“I never claimed to be offended,” Erica replied, putting one hand on her stomach.

“I was just appalled and shaken. At first I thought someone might have been hurt, so I ran upstairs to ask if you needed help. I am a nurse after all.”

Red and Nicole exchanged glances. Both of them were embarrassed, and Nicole suddenly felt like a teenager who’d been caught being naughty under the stairwell at school.

“I’m sorry you heard that,” Nicole said, “but it was an honest mistake—an accident.

I don’t think we need to hear a lecture.”

Erica rolled her eyes. “Oh, no, of course not. Far be it for me—a woman in her fifties—to give advice to her thirty-two year old son and his twenty-two year old girlfriend.”

“Fiancé,” Red corrected her.

“I misspoke. I should have said, ‘your twenty-two year old fiancé who seems to be an expert in and out of the bedroom.’ If she’s managed to keep your roving eye still for even a minute, she must have the all the wisdom of an aging prostitute contained in that young body of hers.”

“Get out,” Red said, his voice almost shaking with rage.

“What did you say?” his mother asked, her eyes so wide she looked like a cartoon version of herself.

“Get. Out.” He stared at her with so much controlled hate that for a brief second, Nicole was afraid of what he might do.

Erica seemed unsure, as if the rules of the game she was winning had suddenly and mysteriously changed. She was playing tennis and now Red had declared it a boxing match.

“My flight back isn’t until the morning,” she whined.

“I’m going to have a car come and pick you up,” Red replied, regaining some of his composure. “It will bring you to a beautiful hotel suite near the airport. You can stay there tonight.”

Erica’s eyes shined brightly, with an insane alertness that turned Nicole’s stomach.

“What a lovely way for a son to treat his mother. First, a loud pornographic display of his sex life delivered via echo chamber. And then a swift kick in the rear when she has the nerve to question his hospitality.”

“You didn’t question my hospitality,” he said. “You called my fiancé a prostitute and that I will never accept. Now get the hell out of my house before I have you thrown out.”

Erica gave a strange, snakelike grin and then moved out of the room quickly.

Red stood in the kitchen, not looking after her, his fists clenched at his sides, chest heaving. “That woman is a monster.”

“I’m sorry,” Nicole whispered. “I shouldn’t have taken the bait.”

“It’s impossible not to, she makes sure of that. If you turn the other cheek when my mother slaps you, she’ll make sure to pull out a knife for the next assault.”

“Are you angry with me?” Nicole asked him, afraid that this awful visit might have sent him into a psychological tailspin.

He looked up at her and now his eyes were soft, concerned. “Angry with you? My angel? Never.” He walked to her and took her in his arms, his face pressed to her hair, whispering in her ear. “I love you, Nicole, and I’ll protect you above anyone or anything else in this world. No matter what.”

A few minutes later, Red was on the phone arranging for car service to drive his mother to the hotel, and Nicole thought she should at least try to make one last effort at smoothing things over. So she decided to see if Erica needed help with her bags.

But when she went to the guest room where Red’s mother was staying, she found the room empty and the suitcases still lying on the floor, one of them opened with clothes hanging out of it.

And the door to the bathroom was wide open, so Erica wasn’t in there either.

Puzzled, but with a slightly uneasy feeling in her gut, Nicole walked out of the guest room and started for the master bedroom upstairs. As she went, it occurred to her that it really would have been nearly impossible for Red’s mother to have overheard their lovemaking unless she’d been in the master bedroom snooping around.

This mansion was enormous, and despite how loud they’d been, Nicole felt confident that Erica must have already been creeping around the house, listening to them, and eventually even going so far as to intrude on their privacy by entering the bedroom while they were in the bathroom together.

What else was she doing in the bedroom? Nicole thought, her heart starting to race.

Her gut told her that the woman was angry, offended at having been kicked out—god only knew what she’d do next.

The truth was, Erica Jameson was mentally unhinged.

Climbing the stairs to the master bedroom, Nicole was surprised but also vindicated to find that her suspicions were correct. She bumped into Erica as Erica was exiting the master bedroom, her eyes downcast, as she seemed to be rummaging through her purse.

“Can I help you with something?” Nicole said loudly.

Erica glanced up, her expression betraying her guilt as she fumbled with closing her purse.

She’s got something in there, Nicole thought. She stole something from the bedroom.

“You know what?” Erica said. “I wanted to apologize to Red for this misunderstanding, and I thought he’d gone up to his room. I was wrong, he wasn’t there.”

She smiled briefly and continued walking past Nicole and down the stairs.

“What were you doing in our bedroom?” Nicole said, turning and looking after her.

Erica looked up and made a face. “What do you think I’d be doing in your bedroom, for god’s sake? What on earth do you take me for? For your information young lady, some people still have a sense of class and dignity in this world.”

Yes, and you’re not one of those people, Nicole wanted to shout after her. But she bit her tongue and watched as the older woman made her way back to her guest room, presumably to gather her things and leave.

Good riddance, Nicole thought. But she couldn’t shake the terrible suspicion that Red’s mother had found whatever she’d been looking for in the master bedroom.

***

After Red’s mother left, Red finally took a business call, and when he was done, his mood had gone south. His eyes were set, grim, and his mouth downturned.

They took a walk around the estate, because Red told her he wanted some fresh air and a different perspective. As they walked along the beautiful property, she saw some of the caretakers mowing the lawn and clipping hedges.

Red waved and tried to appear happy, but it was probably only convincing from a few dozen yards away.

He wasn’t speaking much to Nicole, so she tried to stay quiet and just be with him.

Occasionally he pointed out one of the more subtle qualities of the land, or explained why the bridge over the pond was designed the way it was.

Other than that, there was little real conversation about everything that was happening. Nicole desperately wanted to tell him her suspicions about his mother taking something from their bedroom, but she didn’t think it was a good time to further burden him. Especially since there was no proof, just a hunch she had.

Finally, as they made their way back over the bridge and toward the house, Red stopped and turned to her. “I’ve been thinking about the wedding,” he said, his face still deadly serious.

Her stomach did a double backflip. Was he going to break off their engagement for some reason?

“Okay,” she said, trying to steady her nerves.

“I’m thinking we should get married immediately upon our return from Germany.”

“Our return?” she said, doubly confused.

“Yes,” he said, turning to look out at the water. The duck family was paddling around just a few feet from shore. “I want you to come with me to Germany. I want you by my side, Nicole.”

“What would I be doing in Germany?” she asked. Of course she’d go if he needed her, but she couldn’t imagine what purpose there would be for her overseas dealing with this new, complicated business acquisition.

“You’d assist me,” Red told her, glancing at her briefly. “I need someone I can trust over there.”

“I’m still not sure what you mean.”

His head drooped forward a little bit. “I just got a very, very bad call from my overseas liaison. Word on the street is that tomorrow morning is going to be bloodbath for Jameson International in the markets. The stock’s going to hit rock bottom. All the rats will scurry to leave the sinking ship.”

“Are we really sinking?”

He just shrugged. “Not if we can salvage this company.”

Nicole swallowed. “I’m just a glorified intern,” she said, and then laughed. “This is a big assignment to bring me along for. Isn’t there someone better qualified, like Edward or someone from the marketing department?”

Red shook his head and grabbed her hands in his own. “You’re the one that I trust, Nicole. I have one hundred percent faith in your ability to work hard and be smart under pressure.”

She smiled, feeling her cheeks turn red. “Thanks for saying that. Of course I’ll come with you.”

“And then,” he said, squeezing her hands and looking into her eyes, “we come home and get married straight away.”

For the first time in the conversation, she broke from his gaze and looked into the distance. “Red, I don’t know about getting married so quickly.”

His voice took on a flat quality. “What’s wrong with getting married sooner?”

“What would we do,” she said, “just go to some justice of the peace and do a five minute ceremony?”

He looked at her and she could tell he was wounded. “All I want is to marry you, Nicole.”

“And I want to get married, too. But I want to do it the right way. Why the rush all of a sudden?”

Red shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking again. “Forget I said anything about it,” he said, quickly accelerating his stride toward the mansion.

“Hold on, where are you going so fast?” she cried, trying to keep up with him.

He didn’t respond, just kept walking.

“Red!” she yelled, and then ran the extra few steps to catch up. “Will you stop for one minute and let me explain myself?”

He stopped, folding his arms and staring at her with his hardened, guarded expression. “Go ahead, then.”

“Don’t do this,” she told him, breathing heavily.

“Do what?”

“Don’t push me away because I said something that hurt you.”

His stare grew more intense and his jaw tightened. “What am I supposed to do, Nicole? I put my heart on a plate for you.”

She tried to touch him, but he pulled away.

“Red,” she said, “I already told you I want to get married. But I’d like to have our family and friends there, witnessing it. I want to tell the world that we’re together.”

He snickered. “You mean you want it in the papers and on TMZ.”

She felt a flash of anger course though her veins. “How dare you accuse me of being all about fame and the media? You’re the one who’s made us a public spectacle!”

Now it was her turn to try and walk away from him. She couldn’t believe he’d say something like that about her.

But Red grabbed her by the shoulders. “Wait. I’m sorry, Nicole. Please come back.”

She spun on him. “What do you want from me? I’m here. I’m with you even though your life is crazy. But I love you, I love you more than anything in this world and so I’m going to stick it out with you no matter what.”

He was laughing a little, which only made Nicole more furious. She slapped at his hands, and then he grabbed her and pulled her close. Suddenly he was kissing her hard on the mouth, even though she resisted at first.

But Nicole could never resist Red Jameson for long, and soon she was melting into him, into his kiss, and the warmth and passion that radiated from him.

When they finally broke off, he smiled into her eyes. “I’m a fool. Please forgive me.”

“You are a fool,” she said, shaking her head.

“I know. But I’m smart enough to know that I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy. I wanted to get married sooner because I know that people are going to try and tear us apart. People like my mother…”

“Don’t let her get in the way of living our lives the way we want to,” Nicole told him.

He nodded. “Of course you’re right.”

“And besides, nobody’s going to stop us from getting married and being together.”

He grinned wider. “When did you get so incredibly wise?”

“I just know what we have, Red. You taught me that what we have is stronger than all of the drama and silliness surrounding us.”

They kissed again, longer and just as passionate, if somewhat restrained by earlier standards they’d set. When he was done showing her just how much he loved her with his warm lips, Red grabbed her hand. “Come on, we better get a good meal in and hit the sack early tonight. We’ve got an early flight to Berlin tomorrow morning.”

***

It was strange but also kind of beautiful to be travelling to Berlin with Red Jameson. Sometimes, like when they were sitting in first class on the airplane (no private jet today), Nicole looked over at her future husband and wanted to pinch herself.

This was the man she’d spent months and months idolizing, reading about—setting him up as a kind of god on earth. In the end, she’d found that he really was just a man, but quite an extraordinary man with more layers than she’d ever imagined.

Staring out the window of the plane at thirty-five thousand feet, all she could see were clouds beneath the plane, and the plane’s shadow trailing along on the puffy white surface of them. It was like a dream, an exciting but sometimes terrifying dream where she’d gotten everything she could ever have imagined—but there monsters she couldn’t yet see who wanted to rip it all away from her.

Eventually she rested her head on Red’s shoulder and closed her eyes and slept most of the way to Berlin.

Any hopes Nicole might have had in seeing Germany were soon put to rest, as they immediately were picked up by a car service at the airport, and taken to the Concorde Hotel, a very modern building that looked more like a museum than a hotel.

As they checked in, Red spoke German fluently with the staff. Nicole was shocked, and on their way up the elevator to their suite, she asked him how he knew German.