Kiki's Millionaire (7 page)

The spanking stopped. Jim bent to look her in the eye.
His jaw was tight, lips a thin line as he stared at her. “And the date. One
more date. Don’t forget that part.”

She nodded into the wet pillow. “Yeah! One more date.
Whatever you say! Just no more spanking, please.”

He gave her one more mighty swat, then stepped away.
Kiki flopped onto the bed face first. There was no way she was going to sit on
her beleaguered butt for at least a week. Well…the stinging was subsiding into
a capsaicin burn, so maybe a little less than a week.

She heard him shuffling around behind her and pushed
herself up off the bed. Standing was likely to produce fewer painful twinges on
the skin of her butt. Jim was getting dressed. Kiki stood there, admiring him
for a few moments. His broad chest was so good for snuggling up against, as
they’d done through the night—well, snuggling and other things. It would
be heaven to have him there for cuddles on a regular basis. Unfortunately, no
matter how much she wanted it, it just wasn’t likely to happen. He clung to the
memory of his dead wife and wasn’t available to the likes of Kiki.

They dressed in an awkward silence. Kiki thought maybe
Jim was still mad at her for being stubborn, and really, she was annoyed with
him for being stubborn as well. Just one more date, though. Just one.
Irritation became unhappiness. Jim had become a force in her life; she’d miss
him so much.

“I can’t be there with you when you interview with
John Heath.” He was putting his hair back into its tidy queue.

“That’s fine. If I have to do this, I want to do it on
my own. I don’t need a dam- dumb babysitter.” Kiki felt that now-familiar
bristling that occurred whenever Jim treated her like a fragile flower.

He sent her a sharp look. “That’s not what I meant,
and you know it.”

“I know nothing of the sort, Jim. I don’t know you
well enough to know how you think.”

“You know me well enough to sleep with me.”

Kiki’s ire rose at his smug comment. “That was a
mistake. Won’t happen again.” Cool
 
sandals felt good on her bare feet and her jeans were worn and
comfortable--comforting. She headed for her purse, intending to take a walk
while Jim finished up and left. She didn’t want to argue with him, not when
their time together was so limited.

He blocked her way without touching her. His size was
intimidating, but she knew he’d never harm her, so she set her jaw and confronted
him. “Excuse me!”

“No. I don’t like the way this has gone, Kiki. We had
a good night, but this morning you’re acting like I’m nothing but a thorn in
your side.”

Was she mad at him, or at herself for making herself
even more vulnerable by sleeping with him? The wind went out of her sails and
she turned away and began straightening the coverlet on the bed. She felt
emotional and wanted to hide her face. “I’m sorry. Things just haven’t been
going too well for me lately. I guess I’m taking it out on you.”

She heard him approach and stiffened as his arms came
around her from behind.

“Look, sweetheart,” he said softly, his mouth close to
her ear. “I can make things so much easier for you. Why don’t you let me?”

“I can’t, godda-..um. I just can’t.”

“Why not?”

Gentle kisses on her ear were distracting, and she
couldn’t help but relax in his arms.

“I have to do things on my own. I don’t want to be
dependent.”

“Have you ever been dependent as an adult?”

She shook her head slightly. “Not really. I wouldn’t know
how. I’ve been on my own since I started college.”

“Sometimes, Kiki, a person needs a little help from a
friend.”

Kiki straightened and stepped away. Her jaw tightened
as she faced him. “Not me. I can do it on my own. I don’t need any help. If I
fail, I’ll only have myself to blame.”

A wrinkle formed between his eyebrows. “You agreed to
the job interview.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I’ll do it too. And give it my best
shot. A deal’s a deal, even if I don’t like how it came about.”

He nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Good. Unfortunately,
I have to be in Los Angeles for some meetings on Monday. I’ll be leaving
tomorrow because my first meeting is at eight a.m.”

“Fine.”

Jim took her arm gently. “I’ll call you between
meetings, Kiki. I want things to go well for you. Just be yourself.”

“Can I fu- frig-” She sighed. “Flippin’ be anyone
else?”

He smiled. “No, and I wouldn’t want you to be. I like
you the way you are.”

She snorted. “Except for the way I swear.”

Jim rubbed her arm then got his suit coat and slipped
it on. “Well, there is that. No one’s perfect.”
 
He bent and gave her a sweet kiss as she opened the door for
him. It was a meeting of lips and light tongue caresses, nothing demanding,
just a coaxing tenderness. “I’ll call you on Monday. We’ll do that date on Monday
night.”

Kiki sighed and nodded. “Okay. Have a good trip.”

* * *

The late spring morning was warm, and Kiki was
regretting wearing her red wool suit. But it was her best business attire.
Combined with a white satin blouse and black mid-heel pumps, she felt confident
that she looked ready for work. She was nervous about the interview. The
private school’s headmaster wasn’t a direct friend of Jim’s. He was, in fact,
doing a favor for the parent of one of his students, and that parent was a
close friend of Jim’s. She didn’t know what kind of job she could do at a school.
Maybe an administrative position. Secretary, maybe, or file clerk. Beggars
couldn’t be choosers. Damn but that statement fit her.

There was a plinth on the sprawling lawn in front of
the brick-fronted school. It said, “Wildwood Academy,” in perfectly etched
letters. Kiki had looked them up on the internet. It was a day school with a
boarding option. According to their website, they worked with children in
grades seven through twelve. Basically, it was a college-prep school for rich
kids; the kind of place a girl who grew up on pancakes rather than steak could
never even aspire to belong in. But here she was, walking up to the
administrative offices like she had a right to be there.

She squared her shoulders as she approached the
administrative assistant outside a wooden door with a nameplate saying, “John
Heath, PhD, Headmaster.”

It took only a moment to introduce herself to the
young woman admin. About five minutes later, after Kiki took a seat on a
leather chair outside the door, a man came out of the office. He had a genial
smile on his face—a very attractive face. “Hello, Ms. Mackenzie. I’m John
Heath.”

Kiki smiled and offered her hand. “It’s a pleasure to
meet you, Doctor Heath.”

“Call me John, please.” He held her hand a moment
longer than she would have expected.

“Only if you’ll call me Kiki.”

“It’s a deal. Please come in. Let’s talk.”

His office wasn’t the wood-paneled, old fashioned,
scholar’s space she was expecting. It had forest green walls with white crown
molding, and blonde woods complementing the beige leather sofa and club chairs.
Kiki took a comfortable chair across the desk from him.

John seemed to have all the time in the world for her.
They chatted about the weather, books, and a new art exhibit in one of the
local galleries. He seemed genuinely interested in her comments, and his brown
eyes were engaged and intelligent. Eventually, though, he asked to see her C.V.

He looked it over carefully and asked a few questions,
focusing his queries on an obscure paper she’d written as a grad student. They
talked about it for a few minutes, and then the real grilling started.

“So how do you know the DiMaggios? Their children are
shining stars here at the academy.”

“Well, John, I don’t actually know them in person.
They’re friends with one of my friends and thought maybe I’d be a good fit for
Wildwood.” She tried to sound confident, as though friends of friends gave her
opportunities all the time.

“I see. The DiMaggios are nice people. Renzo is
prominent in his field. You might say that he’s got some powerful friends.”

She nodded, beginning to feel like her blouse was
tight around her throat.

“Who directed you to the DiMaggios, Kiki?”

“Um.” What kind of impression would Heath get if she gave
James Chesterfield’s name? She wasn’t a name-dropper by nature. Would he even
believe her? She decided to just plow through. If they didn’t offer her a job,
well, so be it. That was about the worst thing they could do to her—they
couldn’t hit her. “Actually, James Chesterfield is a friend of mine and he’s
also a friend of Mister DiMaggio.”

John slowly smiled. It was an unpleasant smile, a
greasy smile, very much unlike the toothy expressions he’d shown her up to that
point. “James Chesterfield.” He seemed to savor the syllables coming out of his
mouth. “I’ve always wanted to meet him. How do you know him?”

Now they were getting into personal territory. She
could hardly say that they’d met in a coffee shop and had dated and slept
together. She could hardly say that she basically traded sex for this
opportunity. She tried evasion. “Well, it’s a long story.”

He seemed to take the hint, steepling his fingers in
front of his face. He looked at her legs, and after an uncomfortably long time,
his gaze traveled up to her face to focus on her lips. Kiki’s skin went hot and
she knew she was blushing under his scrutiny.

“We might have something for you here at Wildwood,
Kiki.”

How desperate was she? Was he expecting her to sleep
with him to get a job? She’d already slept with Jim for favors, although she’d
done the sleeping before the favors were offered. The timing was a technicality
she chose to overlook.

Kiki clutched her leather portfolio tightly in her
lap. “What did you have in mind?” Ack. Wrong question! Too provocative! “I
mean, I might be interested. Depending.”

He sat back in his chair, staring at her, looking her
over once again. Kiki squeezed her knees tighter together, feeling like he
might be trying to look up her skirt. She almost hoped he’d change his mind
just so she could get the hell out of there.

“Have you ever taught children?”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Not children. Undergrads
for two quarters, yes.”

“We might have an opening for an English teacher for
our seventh- and eighth-graders when the Fall semester begins.”

A moment’s consideration made her hopes crash down
with a thud. “I don’t have a teaching credential.”

He waved a well-manicured hand. “You don’t need one to
teach at a private school.”

“I don’t? Well… Certainly, I’d be interested.”

“I hoped you’d say so, Kiki.” John licked his lips and
Kiki thought maybe he was going to proposition her, but he didn’t. “Let me give
you some details.”

After twenty minutes of friendly negotiations, Kiki
thought maybe she had a job offer. John was looking her over again. “If the
particulars are acceptable to you, Kiki, I’d like to extend my invitation for
you to join our teaching staff on August first. The semester begins on the
fifteenth, but teachers have to start preparations a couple of weeks early.”

“So, not for several months?”

He shook his head. “No. We have a teacher retiring
after this Spring semester is over, so there’s nothing sooner than the Fall.”

A bird in the hand… She’d find a way to make ends meet
somehow. Maybe she could find a temporary waitressing job. The economy was
pretty awful, though. She’d just have to find a way. The opportunity to teach
at a prestigious school, to use her education and her interest in children for
something worthwhile, well, that was practically too good to be true. From
under her eyelashes, she looked at John again, and saw the gleam in his eyes.
Maybe it was too good to be true. Maybe he had an ulterior motive. Judging from
his posture, the way he considered her, she was almost certain there was more
to this job than he was telling her. Her instincts told her to get away. Jim
would certainly tell her to wait for something that didn’t make her so
uncomfortable.

Jim’s over-protectiveness, however, was not going to
sway her. She needed a job, and this would be a wonderful job she could stick
with for a long time and really enjoy. She’d manage John Heath and avoid his
smarmy looks. She may have gotten a little help getting her foot in this door,
but she’d landed the position on her own merits and no one else’s.

“I accept.”

* * *

“I’m packing.”

Jim’s frown was instantaneous. “That’s what it looks
like.” He took Kiki’s arm as she bent over a cardboard box. Her friend, to whom
Jim had never been introduced, was standing nearby, her eyes wide. “Why are you
packing?”

Kiki shrugged out of his grip. “I have to move before
the first of May.”

He watched her put another armful of books in the box,
and he reached over it to offer the other young woman his hand. “Jim
Chesterfield.”

The dark-skinned, dark-eyed woman simply nodded, confirming
his assertion, and offered a limp handshake. “I-” she paused to lick her lips,
“I’m Madhuja. I mean, Maddie.”

Jim tried to smile a friendly smile, but he was
distracted by Kiki’s packing nearby. She wore shorts and a t-shirt, a bandana
over her hair. There was a piece of packing tape stuck to her left forearm.
“Nice to meet you, Maddie.”

“Kiki,” he said firmly, turning back. “Stop for a
minute and tell me why you have to be out by the first.”

She sighed deeply and looked at Maddie. The girl was still
standing there, embarrassingly awestruck by Jim. He hated it when people did
that, but aside from reassuring smiles, there was little he could do for it.

The day had been full of frustrations. The new
hardware division of Rocket Flare was over-budget and pushing its schedule
back. His plane hadn’t passed the pilot’s inspection, so there was a delay
getting it off the ground. He trusted his pilot, though, so although it was
annoying, he had to deal with it patiently. But he didn’t feel inclined to be patient
with Kiki. Two days away and all hell had broken loose. She was half-packed
already.