Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2) (43 page)

“So...Sean? Do you mind if I come in?” Some
people’s bathroom time was their alone time and they didn’t like to
be disturbed. She thought it was mostly people with big families,
but you certainly never knew.

“Nothing you haven’t seen already.”

She figured that
meant
no
. She
waltzed in and sat on the toilet in the buff, checking him out
through the glass shower door.

“What are your plans for today? Should I
skip the spa?”

“Since I’m in the area I figured I would
take Tory up on his offer to golf today. It is a nice day for it. I
can meet you back here and we can head home.”

“That’s thought out. Okay. Hurry up.”

“Come in with me.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. She
stepped gingerly into the steamy shower. Sean finished rinsing his
head and turned to her, his eyes gliding over her body and a smile
lighting his face.

“Come here and let me wash you,” he said,
grabbing for soap and her body at the same time.

As she got closer she slid her hands up his
slick chest. A glance told her he was getting excited again. The
man had quite a sex drive—good news ‘cause so did she.

Sean’s soapy hands turned her into the water
and traced her body, lingering on parts normally covered during the
day. His eyes followed his hands mostly, but every so often he
would glance up and catch her looking at him. Hungry eyes turned
into pools of warmth as he caught the gaze, and turned back to
boyish delight at a naked woman’s body.

She reached between them and took his rock
hard manhood in her hand. He gave a sharp intake of breath and his
smile grew. He couldn’t lean in to kiss her because of the
streaming water, so he settled for closing his eyes and stepping
closer. She bent him to her opening, but he stepped back quickly,
warning in his eyes, a lifetime of worrying about accidently
getting a woman pregnant overriding the logic of the pill.

“We are still protected from that.” Krista
said reassuringly. “And we are both healthy without any...bad
stuff. We are okay to do this.”

Sean wasn’t sure and minutely shook his
head. Fear and logic—sometimes they didn’t line up.

“Okay,” she said quietly with a hint of a
smile at his look of boyish uncertainty. She pulled him closer
again and resumed her hand combat. He pulled her head out of the
water and kissed her heatedly, taking up his own hand combat.

Soon they were both panting and leaning
against each other, cleaning Krista having been forgotten for
cleaning the pipes. She heard him moan and saw his head tilt back.
She felt her own pleasure hit the ceiling in response. They shook
and shivered from the bliss of it, Krista getting doused in nasty
for her efforts. Pipes were officially clean. Thank God they were
in the shower.

“
I’m glad I finally got the
balls to ask you out,” he said.

“You didn’t. You just went straight for the
punany!”

He smirked as his soft eyes looked into
hers. “Oh yeah.” He kissed her on the forehead and made to get out
of the shower. “Rain check,” he said as he closed the shower
curtain.

“Humph.”

Sean dressed and was laid on the bed with an
ease of comfort when she emerged from the bathroom in a towel. When
he saw her coming out, he got up leisurely to make his way
over.

“I have to run. Tee-off in thirty minutes.
Shall I meet you back here?”

“I only have the room until one. I don’t
think late check-out goes any later than that.”

Sean looked at his watch. “Okay, well, I’ll
call you around one, then. Worst comes to worst I will leave
early.” Sean shrugged, as if the whole affair was no big deal. He
was only having golf with the CEO of a major company and their
client. Yup, no big deal at all.

He gave her a wink with a twinkle in his eye
and walked to the door, his khakis never looking so good on his
tight butt and shaped thighs. Suddenly she was ready for a serious
romp. Which was unfortunate, because he was out the door and out of
sight. Damned unfortunate.

Luckily, she was a woman of improvise. When
a woman went through periods of needing sex like it came out of a
dispensary, she had to get creative. She might just take matters
into her own hands.

Although, masturbation wasn’t all that
creative, but whatever.

She was halfway to bliss of her own making
when there was a knock at the door and Sean’s muffled voice. Krista
hesitated, then swore and peeled herself off the bed, still only in
a towel.

When the door opened, Sean stepped in
leisurely as he said, “I forgot my wallet--”

His speech cut off when he noticed Krista’s
messy hair, the flush on her face, and the heat in her eyes. A
devilish grin lit up his face when he realized what she’d been in
the middle of. He cocked his head to the side as his eyes ignited
with fire, “Am I interrupting something?”

Krista was suddenly, intensely embarrassed.
She fidgeted. “Oh, no. I was just getting ready.”

“Ah,” Sean said, looking at her intently. He
stepped closer, his eyes getting hooded and his body heat sending
warmth through Krista’s groin, which was already revved up.

The result was both unexpected and a bit
surprising. She immediately started tearing off his shirt. As she
slid her hands over his naked torso, feeling the muscles bunch
under her touch, she was lifted and carried into the room, her
towel dropped along the way.

All too soon, and yet not soon enough, they
were writhing on the bed, entangled in each other’s arms and legs.
She was crying out her orgasm as he hit that crescendo right
behind. Fire erupted between them, burning along their skin before
it settled into an electric hum of sedation.

She sighed in the aftermath as Sean
regretfully got off her.

“We could always skip the day and stay
here?” she asked, lying back in the mountain of pillows.

His eyes raked her naked body. His fingers
stopped working his zipper up for a fraction of a second, and then
he shook his head.

“Can’t. I need to talk to Tory and golf is
the best way. But tonight I will make it up to you. Promise.”

Krista sighed loudly and moved to get up as
well.

“And we’ll talk about that other means of
protection issue,” Sean said through his shirt.

She got goosebumps. “You mean, you want me
to take your virginity. Is that it?”

Sean chuckled, “We’ll see. Safety
first.”

“Yes Captain.” She ran her hand up his
chest.

“No. No more. I am already late. Off me you
wench!”

Krista laughed as she let Sean go. He gave
her a slap on the butt and headed out the door checking his watch.
She turned back to her pre-arranged day, got loosely dressed, and
headed to the spa. If they could relax her any more than she was
right then, she’d eat her hat.

Chapter Thirty

“Nice hit, Sean,” Tory said from behind him.
“You didn’t tell me you played often.”

Sean didn’t. He didn’t feel inclined to say
it, though.

“So,” Tory said in a conversational tone. It
had been like this the whole day. Tory would bring things up as if
he’d just thought of them, but it was clear they’d been on his
mind. Each “conversational topic” was a well-orchestrated subject.
“Krista seems to have insightful friends.”

“Seems that way.”

“Birds of a feather, as they say.”

Sean stepped aside for Tory to swing. When
he was finished they started walking to the their balls—Tory
apparently thought golf carts were for old men. Too bad, Sean was
starting to get sore from all the action he was getting with
Krista. Not that he minded. The woman drove him wild. She was
easily the best lay he’d ever had. It wasn’t just the emotional
attachment, which in itself made things great, it was the way she
moved; how she enjoyed herself, the sheer delight she took in it.
The woman was a rare treasure. Thank God she was a keeper, or else
she would probably have him hanging on just to be a human sex toy
even if she treated him like crap.

“I’ve talked extensively to Marcus,” Tory
said in a light tone.

“Oh?”

Tory had been hinting about known knowledge
all day, but he hadn’t said anything substantial. He’d been hoping
Sean would give him more information. Fat chance. Sean wasn’t
thrilled about Tory taking his best players.

“Yes, he is a fountain of information. I
didn’t realize your team was so small. From what I understand, your
work with Dell had three times the staff.”

“I was in charge of choosing my team. I
chose people who could work solidly together.”

“Except for Ben, your best-kept secret. It
seems Krista found him.”

“Ben is Krista’s roommate, as you know.”

“Yes, but Krista apparently had him working
for your team long before you did.”

Sean didn’t know what to say to that. Or
where Tory was going with it. He settled for, “Krista and Ben were
friends before Krista was brought on to the company.”

“Yes. As were her two most valuable helpers,
is that right?”

They got to their balls, giving Sean a
thankful break from Tory’s poignant questioning. When they’d both
hit, Sean getting closer to the hole than Tory, Tory resumed with,
“Krista seems to be the crux of your team--besides you, of
course.”

Ah. So that was it. It was an elaborate plan
to speak about the person Sean least wanted to talk about. He
should have figured.

“She is the lead researcher,” Sean said
vaguely.

“She is your backbone. She is your most
valuable player. And if I’m not mistaken, your most valuable ally.
I understand you don’t want to lose her, Sean, but I can offer her
what she can’t get at Dexico.”

“She may have room for growth where she
is…”

“If you are talking about restructuring,
then you haven’t heard the latest, I’m afraid. Me granting you
business will mean a stopper in the structural change your sales
force is planning. Departments will be left as they are, and Krista
will be left to a manager who doesn’t have any desire to move.”

Sean stopped in their walk and stared. “How
could you possibly know that?”

Tory just smiled, continuing to walk.
“Apparently the CFO is gay. Marcus and him are…good friends. I
hear.”

“So Marcus is definitely switching from us
to you, then,” Sean said levelly.

“He has given a verbal agreement.”

“He has no one to decipher his ideas.”

“I am sure I can find someone to work with
him if Krista won’t. Or Ben.”

Sean stopped up short, “You’re approaching
Ben?”

A shrewd look passed over
Tory’s features. “Have approached. I haven’t received an answer
yet. It seems Krista’s loyalty is to you, and Ben’s loyalty is to
Krista. Which means you and I have business.
More
business, I should
say.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Tory.
They are valuable assets. I will try to keep both of them if I
can.”

“I realize that, Sean. But if I am not
mistaken, you have feelings for Krista, and Ben is a friend. Surely
you must have their best interest at heart? Krista thinks you
do…”

Sean stayed silent. She did. She trusted
him. If he said stay, she would. She would stay in her dead-end job
until she couldn’t stand it. He still didn’t think he deserved her
trust, but since she bestowed it, he would protect it. “I’ll think
about it.”

“Do. Think about it. Talk to her. I’ll try
to win her either way, but hopefully you’ll realize that what’s
best for her is with me, and you’ll help her.”

After a while in silence, Tory said, “Emily
hopes you have reconciled. I agree. You are a good team.”

~*~*~*~

Later that day Krista found her way back in
a fog. Surprise her, they did. The spa was filled with masters!
From the second she stepped through their doors and gave them her
name she was pampered and fawned over. She had a facial, a mud bath
and a massage. By the time they were done she had to be poured
out.

Once in the room she noticed Sean wasn’t
there, also noticed she had a missed call from him, and laid down
on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She should call him back. But
she didn’t want to move. Ever again.

Laziness won out.

Sometime later, how much time was impossible
to say, there was a knock at the door. It didn’t sound like room
service, but it was past time for her to have left. She hefted
herself to the door, saw it was Sean, smiled, and headed back to
lay down.

“You okay?” he asked in concern.

“Very okay. They were fabulous. I am
exhausted from being pampered. How did it go with Tory?”

“It went…okay.”

There was something odd in Sean’s voice.
Something on edge. Something very much didn’t go okay.

“Is the account okay?” she
asked, turning to him, trying to read his face. He did look
concerned, also sunkissed and glorious. She tried to push his
godliness out of her mind, but it was damn hard to be serious when
a person was so
relaxed.
No wonder Marcus was never concerned. She had to
ask him his secret.

Sean studied her for a minute, but she
couldn’t tell what the problem was. She got a stab of fear that it
was her. Maybe she didn’t do as well as she thought.

Before she could ask, he said, “The account
is great. He is, um, aware of the size of staff we have working on
it.”

Sigh,
not her, then. “Is that bad? I mean, we are giving him
everything we were asked for. Sometimes more. And fast, too, right?
Didn’t John say we are doing everything well and at light
speed?”

“I know. That’s the point. We have a few
people churning out large quantities of excellent work. Our company
isn’t known to handle large clients all that well, let alone a
gigantic client. With a small staff. It has impressed Tory, which
is hard to do.”