Seduction of Steel: The Complete Series (14 page)

“I'm sorry, Jess, but I do have to go.  We can spend today together, and tonight, too, if you'd like.  Then I have to go to Vegas for a week or so.  I can probably come back afterwards, but I have to go to Vegas tomorrow.”

“I'd love to spend today and tonight with you, but I'd really like to see you on a more regular basis.”

“I understand.  Believe me, I do.  I know that my job is a strange one, but I like it.  It may not be as dangerous or exciting as you thought it was, but it does have variety, and it does pay well.”

Jessica took a moment to look around at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton room, and said, “Yes, I guess it does pay well.”

They spent the day together, doing a bit of shopping and taking a drive to do some sightseeing.  Ryan hadn't spent a lot of time in Denver, so Jessica took the time to show him all of the sights, including the nearby mountains. 

“Thanks for driving me around.  It
is
pretty here, Jess.”

“Isn't it?  I just love the mountains.  It's why I love living here.”

“I guess you can write your books pretty much anywhere, can't you?”

“I can...provided that I have something to write about.  The only reason you met me on the cruise ship is because I was blocked.  I hadn't written anything in months.  I took the job on the ship to take my mind off my writer's block.”

“How did you become a writer, anyway?  Is that something you always wanted to do?”

“I sort of blundered into it.  I have an English Literature degree, but I thought I'd be teaching at some point.  That meant going back for more school.  Somehow, I never got around to that.”

“No interest in grad work, I take it?”

“Partly that, and partly not having the money for it.  I was working as a waitress when my roommate, Amber, introduced me to erotic ebooks.  It just seemed like a natural fit for me to write in that genre.”

“From the little that I've read of your writing, you seem pretty good at it.  Your stuff is pretty steamy.  Are any of the sex scenes based on your personal experiences?”

Jessica smiled, but ignored the question.  “Thanks for the compliment.  Writing erotica is fun.  OK, it's your turn. How did you become a spy?”

“I have an engineering degree, and the company I went to work for was always having problems with people stealing their patents and other stuff that was supposed to remain in-house.  I managed to catch one guy who was doing that, and my bosses saw I had a knack for that sort of work.  Eventually, I began to freelance.”

“Sort of a 'spy for hire'?”

“I guess so.  Once you solve someone's problems, other people find out about it.  One day, you're working on a software patent case, and the next thing you know, you're running around the planet, saving the world by tracking down stolen chicken recipes.”

They both laughed, and continued driving through the mountains, which at this time of year were covered with snow.

They had another great meal together, and spent another delightful evening back at his hotel.

After a repeat of room service and a leisurely round of lovemaking the next morning, Jessica took Ryan to the airport.  She got out of the car to help him get his bag out of the trunk.

“You'll be back for another visit when you're done in Las Vegas, won't you?”

“Yes, Jess.  This is a fairly straightforward job.  I'll spend a few days checking out the situation and then I'll do what I need to do.  I should be back in a week or so.”

“I'm worried about you.  I'm afraid something terrible is going to happen to you.”

“No worries, Jess.  I've told you - this isn't a dangerous job.  It's pretty boring, really.  I need to get something.  I'll go get it and come back.”

“I guess I'm just a bit of a worrier.  Could you at least tell me where you're going to be staying while you're there?”
 

“I guess there's no harm in that.  I'll be staying at the Bellagio.”

“Ooh.  I love that hotel.  It's beautiful.  Thanks.  Now I'll know where to look if I don't hear from you soon.”

“No need to look; you'll hear from me.  I told you - this assignment is no big deal. It's as routine as it gets.  I'll be back soon.”

“I hope so.  I miss you already.”

He put his arms around her and pulled her to him.   He began kissing her and she felt all of her concerns slowly melting away.  His tongue danced on her lips and then entered her eager mouth.  She returned his kisses with equal intensity with her tongue responding with a fury of its own. They kissed passionately for several minutes, but Ryan finally had to pull away.

“I'm sorry, Jess, but I have to go or I'll miss my flight.  I'll call you in a week or so.  I promise.”

With that, he was gone.

Chapter 4

Jessica spent the rest of the day in a romantically induced haze, basking in the glow of the two amazing nights she'd just spent with Ryan.  She did a bit of editing on her latest book, caught up on some reading, and turned in early.   She woke up the next morning and went out to the kitchen to get some coffee.   She was catching up on the news on her laptop when Amber stumbled out of bed, looking a bit more disheveled than usual.

“Morning, Amber.  You look kind of worn out.”

“Oh, Jason and I were up late last night, watching a movie over at his place.  Some zombie thing.  Not really worth staying up for.”

“You're probably right.  I never liked those scary movies. Coffee?”

“Sure.”

Jessica got up to pour a cup of coffee for her roommate.

“So, Jess.  I haven't seen much of you for the past two days.  Have you been all hot and heavy with Ryan?”

Jessica smiled.  “Yes, I've been with Ryan for the past couple of days.  He had a room at the Ritz-Carlton.  It was
really
nice.”

“The Ritz-Carlton?  Really?  Tell me more...”

“Well, we met at the restaurant and had a great meal and then went up to his room...oh, you can imagine what happened after that.”

“I
can imagine
, but why should I?  Why don't you just give me all of the juicy details?”

Without going into too much detail, Jessica described the previous two days with Ryan - the dining, the sex, the amazing hotel, and the sightseeing.   It was pretty obvious to Amber that Jessica was completely smitten with Ryan as she was just beaming throughout the entire conversation.

“...so anyway, that's kind of how it went.  And now he's gone to Las Vegas for a week.  At least that's what he said.”

“You don't believe him?”

“I don't have any reason
not
to believe him.  I don't know, really.  He's got such a strange occupation.  How many spies do
you
know?”

“Well, none.  But it does sound like his job isn't nearly as exciting or adventurous as it sounds.  It's certainly not as adventurous as what you've written about in your stories.”

“You know how the stories are.  You've got to keep them exciting, or else no one will read them.  Besides, at the time I started writing about the fictional spy, I didn't know too much about Ryan's real work. I was mostly guessing.”

“It sounds like you might have made him out to be a little more adventurous than he is in real life.”

“Maybe, but that's OK.  Like I said, the more exciting the story, the more books people buy.”

“True.  So...are you two getting serious?”  Amber took a sip of her coffee.

“Well...I'd like to think so.  It's hard to say, really.  We haven't spent all that much time together yet.  I mean, the sex is great, but sex isn't a relationship.”

“No, but it's a good start,” Amber said with a laugh.  “If the sex is terrible, the relationship is probably going downhill from there.  You could do worse than starting with great sex.”

Jessica smiled again.  “I guess if good sex is a good start, then we're on the way.  That's not the problem.  The problem is that I'm here and Ryan isn't.  It's worse than that, really.”

“In what way?”

“Well, it's not just that Ryan isn't here.  Ryan isn't really
anywhere.
  He doesn't have a place to live.  He has a bank account and a P.O. Box in Pittsburgh.  No house.  No apartment.  Nothing.”

“Where does he keep his stuff?” Amber asked.

“I don't think he has any stuff to speak of.”

Amber responded with a confused look on her face.  As a woman in her mid-20s, she couldn't even fathom the idea of someone not having either “stuff” or a place to put it.

She looked around the kitchen, taking notice of all of the decorative knickknacks that she and Jessica owned.  She shook her head.  “Everyone has stuff, don't they?”

“I don't know, and I'm not sure it matters.  I don't really care about what he does or doesn't own.  What I care about is whether I'm going to continue to see him or not.  It's one thing to not live in the same city or state, but in this case, one of us doesn't seem to live anywhere at all.”

“He must have some downtime every now and again. Surely he could spend that time here just as easily as anywhere else.”

“True, but so far, he's mostly been elsewhere.  Then again, I haven't known him that long.”

“I guess having him constantly on the move is a bit of a problem.  You're probably not going to be happy with just the occasional visit, are you?”
 

Jessica thought for a minute about spending the last two nights at the Ritz-Carlton.  It
was
a really nice place to spend some time. 

There are benefits to him not having an apartment,
she thought.

“The visits are nice; no question about that.  But I'm getting to that point where I think I'm ready to at least think about settling down.  Having a relationship with someone who is only here every now and again for unknown lengths of time isn't going to work for me.”

“I probably couldn't go for that, either, Jess.  If you're always available whenever it's convenient for him, he'll probably just take you for granted.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“I don't know.  I guess you need to figure out what's good about the relationship and what isn't, and see if the pros outweigh the cons.  What are the good parts?”

“Besides the sex?  Obviously, I like his company.  He's so good looking.  I just can't get enough of looking into his eyes.  He's attentive.  He's gentle.  He really does seem to care about me.  He's funny.”

“And the bad parts?”

“Well, I never know when I'm going to see him.  I never even know when I'm going to hear from him.  He's pretty secretive about his work.  I don't know what he's doing, or when he's doing it, or where he's going to be next week.”

“Anything else?”

“I have to admit that knowing him has made it easier for me to write.  I've been able to create this interesting new character, Bryan, for my books.  The better I get to know Ryan, the more I'll be able to write about his fictional alter-ego.”

“It sounds to me like you've got some incentive to keep spending time with Ryan, then, even if you don't know when you'll get to see him.  I mean, it's important that you be able to write, and if he's made it possible for you to create a new character, then you should probably let the relationship go where it's going to go.”