Deceptive Nights (12 page)

“
You really should start
trusting me, Phoebe. Have I done anything to harm you?”

“
Not yet,” she said warily,
but she was definitely teasing by the silly smile on her face. “I’m
not holding my breath though.”

“
You don’t have to because
it will never happen.” He came to double thick oak wood doors that
were closed. Jacoby pulled her in his arms. “Can you promise me
something just for today?”

“
Maybe.” That distrustful
look was still in her eyes.

“
Just for today, could you
act as if you were the happiest woman alive and trust that if just
for today, you’ll have the full attention of a man who wants you to
experience the greatest pleasure there is.” He gave her a peck on
her nose. “Now let’s get all clean again, then we’ll
eat.”

She blushed at those words.

“
I meant food,” he said,
seeing her turning red, with a gently tap on her
posterior.

Opening up the double doors, she gasped at
the beautiful black marbled tub filled with bubbles and smelling
like honey musk. He had to nudge her a little bit for her to enter
the room that seemed almost sacred as it was decorated with candles
and flowers.

“
You did this for me?” she
asked spellbound by the romantic notion again. “Why?”

“
Why not?”

She shook her head still not believing he had
gone through so much trouble. “This is unbelievable.” Sitting down
on the edge of the tub. “Why Jacoby would you go through so much
trouble to arrange this? You don’t owe me anything and you’re
definitely not sorry for anything?”

He snorted annoyed narrowing his eyes at her.
“Is that your ex-husband wisdom again?” Reaching behind her, he
calmly unzipped her dress, which came down quite easy now that he
wasn’t in such a rush.

She flushed remembering what he had asked her
to do before. “It’s hard to change from what you’re use to.”

Kneeling down at her feet, he took off her
shoes, then guided her to stand up. With a tug on her dress, the
soft velvet fell to her feet. He planted soft kisses on her
stomach.

Her breath caught in her throat at the
pleasurable sensation he could cause within her by doing something
so simple. Swallowing hard and licking her dry lips, she said,
“Even I find it rather strange you would go through so much trouble
for me when I didn’t ask for it or expect it, Jacoby.”

He looked up at her. “That’s why it was done.
I wanted to do it for the effect it would cause.”

“
So you do these things to
see me surprised?”

“
Were you?”

“
Yes.”

“
And did it make you feel
something?”

She only smiled not answering the question.
“Is that what you are trying to do?”

He stood up and handed her a thick terry
cloth robe to adorn then began to undress himself. Phoebe found
herself watching him reveal every inch of skin closely admiring the
muscles and tone of his body, which he was not a bit ashamed of.
While he undressed he spoke matter of fact, as if he was discussing
the weather.

“
I realize that we both
were in the same rut. Feeding off the hurt others had done to us,
but I also realized something else. In order for anyone to
experience the thing we call life, one must experience the terrible
hurt and the pain life gives so that we can also truly experience
the unbelievable happiness life delivers.”

“
Does that mean I make you
unbelievably happy?” she allowed to slip out.

“
I wouldn’t have asked you
back if you didn’t.” He checked the water. “Are you
ready?”

“
For what?”

“
To take a
bath.”

She frowned looking at him as if he had lost
his mind. “Together?”

He pulled her to him. “Trust me, you’ll love
it.”

Phoebe watched as he slipped himself into the
water, and then looked up waiting for her. “When are we going to
talk?”

“
Soon as you get in.” He
patted the space in front of him.

Filled with hesitation, she took off the robe
and stepped into the water. He guided her down until she was
sitting in front of him with her back resting up against his large
chest. She was stiff as a board.

“
Phoebe, you should relax.”
He chuckled at her uneasiness.

“
Why?” Phoebe asked
uptight.

He took a sponge and began to wet her arms
and stomach. “That’s what baths are for.”

She tilted her head back and looked at him in
an awkward position. “You really don’t expect me to relax with you
sitting right behind me.”

“
It’s not like I haven’t
seen anything, Phoebe.” He kissed her pouting lips.

She straightened back up. “Point well taken,
Jacoby.” After a thoughtful moment, she said, “Madeline’s going to
fire me when she finds out about this.”

He nudged her to lean forward and began to
wash and massage her back at the same time. “Madeline and I had an
arrangement. I wasn’t seeing anyone and neither was she. Now that
she knows that I have an interest elsewhere - and she doesn’t know
who and she didn’t ask - she understands that it is the end of our
arrangement.”

“
Then you don’t know how
serious Madeline took your arrangement. She told me things and she
was very fond of you. Just because you thought differently, that
doesn’t mean everything is fine.”

He pulled her back and began to spread soap
all over her chest, arms and stomach. Phoebe’s body was very
relaxed but her brain wasn’t. “We’re friends and only friends. We
spoke about it and I think she took it quite well.”

“
Madeline’s very good at
hiding her feelings. Especially when she’s been properly dumped.
I’ve seen it before. I really don’t see why you had to tell her
about us. This wasn’t planned to happen again.”

“
Whether I saw you again or
not, after being with you, Phoebe, I had a different outlook on
everything and would have still ended the arrangement with
Madeline.”

“
She’ll still fire
me.”

“
Then you can work for
me.”

Again she tilted her head back in the awkward
position. “You don’t pay very well,” she snorted.

Jacoby burst out in a booming laughter
immediately catching her meaning. He laughed so hard, Phoebe had to
hold on to the sides to keep from sliding in the water. “Oh damn. I
haven’t laughed like that in years, Phoebe,” he said through his
laughter wiping the tears off her face. “Your sense of humor is
truly refreshing, but in no way was I speaking about our situation
right now. I was speaking of a real job.”

She turned her whole body around to look at
him. “Our situation would have nothing to do with a job with
you?”

“
I don’t mix business with
pleasure, Phoebe. I find it a very bad combination.”

“
I don’t sleep with
co-workers. I find it in very bad taste. I couldn’t work for
you.”

“
So you’d be fired and
that’s it.”

“
I’m good enough. I believe
I can find another job.”

“
But with no references
then what? You think Madeline’s going to give you a good
reference?”

“
I’ve had temp jobs before
her. I can use those.”

“
Everybody’s going to
wonder.”

“
Are you trying to make me
feel better?”

He stole another kiss with that same look of
amusement in his eyes. “Work for me and you’ll never have to worry
about that. I assure you I wouldn’t be hiring you because I feel I
owe you. I’ll hire you because I know you are a great employee. If
this distances me with Madeline, I really don’t care. I would value
your skills, unlike she has done and kept you just over broke.”

“
What’s that suppose to
mean?”

“
It means, you should be
getting paid more than what she pays you.”

Defensively she asked, “How do you know what
she pays me?”

“
Let’s just say the old
girl loves to brag about your skills and how cheaply she had to
acquire them.”

There was still perplexity in her eyes.

He sighed tiredly. “I don’t want to get into
anything right now, Phoebe, but if I were you, go see how much the
other managers were getting paid before you. Right now, we’ll drop
the subject and speak of other things.” He handed the sponge over
to her.

She began to wash his chest and arms just as
he had done her. “So now we can talk about the loan?”

He rolled his eyes heavenwards exasperated.
“Do you ever just enjoy the moment or are you always business?”

“
What moment am I suppose
to enjoy?”

“
Lovemaking always has its
afterglow. If you’d relaxed you’d feel it.”

“
There we go talking about
feelings again. I think you do enough feelings for the both of us,
Jacoby. Before we go any further we should talk about this loan,”
she demanded.

He leaned forward and rested his head against
her chest to indicate for her to do his back. As she did this while
kneeling on her knees, he said, “I have the money, what else is
there to discuss, Phoebe?”

“
How I plan to pay you
back?” she stated obviously.

“
Hopefully with money,” he
teased.

“
Jacoby, I’m being
serious,” she said in frustration rubbing hard on his
back.

He looked at her. “Fifty dollars a month. Is
that reasonable?”

“
No. I’ll be paying you
back for the rest of my life.”

A wicked smile touched his lips.

She sat down pushing him back to look
directly in his face. “You are not taking this serious enough.”

“
You have enough
seriousness for the both of us, Phoebe,” he shot back
sarcastically.

Phoebe didn’t like him taking her words,
turning them around so they could benefit him. “Fine, I’ll pay
three hundred a month. Will you adding a percentage to that?”

“
No.”

Frowning, she asked, “How do you expect to
make any money from all of this? No one just makes loans for the
fun of it?”

His amusement quickly returned as his hands
came up to cup her breast. “Trust me, I’m having a lot of fun.” His
mouth attacked the pert dark nipple that seemed to cry out for his
touch.

Her breath became erratic and the room seemed
to spin. Phoebe held on to his broad shoulders for support as he
moved over to attack the other areole. She could not believe taking
a bath would be so indulging and just as he had said relaxing.

Hours later, they winded up in the bedroom
famished. He ordered room service and laid next to her under the
sheets to await for the food to get there.

When she sat up and looked down at him,
Jacoby chuckled knowing she was about to try to get back to
business. Putting his hands behind his head, he pretended
surrender.

“
We are never going to get
anything done if you continue to distract me,” she said trying to
sound angry.

“
What more do we need to
discuss, Phoebe?”

“
Are you always this
playful?”

“
Only when I’m enjoying
myself immensely.”

“
Are you often in the habit
of giving loans out?”

“
Actually, no. The last
loan I gave out was to help Desmond and Lawrence open up their
company. They borrowed over half of million, which was why I wasn’t
so thrown off when you ask.”

“
You are use to people
using you?”

“
I get my money back from
them. Especially since I own twenty percent of their company in as
a silent partner. I occasionally tag along with them on
appointments, but I really stand back and let them make the money.
They are quite good at doing that.” He gently rubbed the back of
his knuckles against her cheek. “You aren’t using me, Phoebe. I
think it was a very fair trade off.”

She snorted. “Sex for that amount of
money?”

“
I don’t see it as just
sex.” He stood up hearing someone at the door and put on a robe. “I
see it as nice companionship, plus you’ll pay me back. Although I
do love the interest on this loan much better than any loan I’ve
ever given out.” Again he stole a kiss from her before leaving out
the room.

In frustration, Phoebe laid back and stared
up at the ceiling. She had to admit she was having a wonderful
time, but all of this came at a very high price. If she wasn’t so
businesslike and serious it was almost easy to forget why she was
with him today and if he kept up this wonderful demeanor and easy
going character, she would find herself very much in love with
him.

Sitting up again, she looked around the room
to see a briefcase sitting on the table. Would that contain a
little bit more of the answers she craved to know about him, but
was afraid to ask?

Getting out of bed and putting on the robe he
had given her earlier, she walked over to the briefcase and opened
it. There were lots of files and important documents, plus
sundries, but nothing to really pinpoint on his business. From what
she read, his company was small, yet it handled large clientele
with lots of money and spent abundantly on marketing research.

“
Did you lose something?”
he asked from the doorway holding a tray of food and staring at her
his eyes filled with curiosity.

“
No I didn’t.” She closed
the briefcase guiltily and sat down on the bed. He set the tray
down beside her and reached in his pocket in his robe.