Eraser Blue (3 page)

He’d never been a hearts and flowers type of man.  He’d never needed to be.  If he wanted a woman he took her.  Simple.  But he’d only ever wanted sex or a companion for dinner.  What he was after with Mackenzie was so different and unknown. 
Not simple
.

When he would watch her at work, serving customers, tending to their needs, he wanted her to serve him, submit to him, let him pleasure her and rule her body.  But he also saw her as a nurturer, a person taking care of people.  She was warm and friendly.  He was drawn to her, and it wasn’t just sexually.  He wanted her around him, by his side, nurturing him and caring about him, smiling
for him
. 

And that’s how he’d found himself standing in front of a florist, before they had even opened their doors, early on a Saturday morning.  For her, he wanted to be the hearts and flowers type, it’s what she deserved.

“Can I help you, Sir?” the man opening the back doors of his truck, parked in front of the store, had asked.

“I’d like some flowers.”

The older gentlemen had smiled, nodded his head at the truck filled with flowers, and said, “Well, you’ve come to the right place.”  Then proceeded to unload trays and trays of them.  “Is there any particular arrangement you would like?”

The man opened the front door of the shop and he followed inside.  Eyeing the store laden with flowers he had become overwhelmed.  He was used to being in control and knowing what he wanted, but what did
she
want?

“I’m not entirely sure.”

“Are they for someone special?”

“Very special.”  He nodded.

“Ahh, so you want romance?  Red roses are always popular for that, but so blasé.  What is her favorite color?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, how about a colorful mix then?  Gerberas are a happy flower, tulips are always good for romance, or you could go decadent with lilies…”

“Yes.”

“Yes?  All three?  Together?”  The man crinkled his brow.

“A dozen.”  He walked to the side of the room.  “What are these?”

“That’s a gloriosa lily, Sir.”

“Those too.”  He pointed around the room at other flowers.  “Some of those, those and those as well.”

“I’m not sure how I can put a dozen of each into one arrangement,” the man said, looking perplexed.

“No?  How about a dozen arrangements then?”  The man opened his mouth to speak so he interrupted, done with all of the questions.  “Make them
colorful.”  He thought for a moment before adding, “and large.  I want the biggest vases you have, money is no object.”

He wrote and discarded thr
ee cards before settling on one.  He left instructions with the man behind the counter and exited the store agitated. 
Who knew buying flowers would be so damn difficult?

Mackenzie’s nervous butterflies increased ten-fold when the car left the outskirts of the city.  She had no clue where she was going, but she didn’t really care.  She liked the element of surprise.  Anything has to be better than nothing, which is precisely what she would have been doing had it not been for Sir’s invitation.

Invitation?  Huh!  More like an assumption!

She smiled as she watched the traffic fly by them on the interstate.  She was excited to see him.  Her body buzzed with the thought of having his hands on her body, of having him inside her.  But she had to wonder what he expected of her.  He had surprised her last time.  Would he do it again? 

“
My game… my rules.”

She gulped and her heart rate increased.  Would she be so willing to follow his rules this time?  It had surprised her just how easily she had given in to him last Friday.  Would he use her and toss her aside?  Is that all he wanted?  And would he want it again
after this?  Or is this it?  She didn’t want to assume anything only to be disappointed.  If it was just another night of, whatever last week was, she could handle it.  She would walk away with her head held high.

She could barely contain herself or stop fidgeting.  The anticipation was getting to her as the car drove on and on.

“Not much further.”  The sudden deep sound of the driver’s voice startled her.  Other than introducing himself as Simon when he came to collect her from her apartment, he hadn’t said a word.  She caught the large man’s eye in the reflection of the rear view mirror when a headlight of another car hit it.  She nodded at him in reply.

She hesitated a moment before asking, “Simon, what happened last night, outside the bar?”

“I punched a man that deserved it.”

She waited for him to say more.  He didn’t.

“So you’re just as ambiguous as your employer then?”

“Tha
t’s not for me to comment on.”

She thought she detected a crinkling of his eyes
, as if he was grinning, but she couldn’t be sure in the dark mirror and she couldn’t see his mouth from her vantage point.  She decided not to press the issue, it was obvious he wasn’t going to reveal anything.

She smoothed her hands down the dress that had taken hours to find.  It had cost her a
fortune but she couldn’t help but feel confident in it.  The long blue evening gown was made of a soft material that fitted the length of her body.  Her cleavage appeared larger in the deep V cut of the dress and the curves of her figure were highlighted nicely.  But most importantly, it was elegant - just as
he
requested.  The fact that it was comfortable, too, was a bonus.  The six inch silver stilettos that she paired it with, however, weren’t comfortable, but they made her feel tall and sexy.

She looked out the winds
hield as the car came to a stop in front of a large set of wrought iron gates.  Brick pillars either side held dimly lit coach lights.  She watched the gates slowly open.  As the car rolled forward, she felt her stomach lurch with it.  They drove up a slight incline before she spotted the house in front of them.  Her mouth dropped at the sight of the imposing building.  It was a mansion.  It was dark out, but the coach lights that dotted the garden around it, and the matching ones that ran the length of it, made it fairly clear to see that this was a luxury unlike any she had ever seen up close before.  She suddenly felt way out of her depth.

As the time neared, his heart beat wildly in his chest.  He had never felt this kind of anticipation before.  He made sure the flower delivery had gone smoothly and that the envelope had been placed directly in her hand.  His driver had collected her and they were due to arrive any minute now.  Dinner was cooking.  The room was set with candles and the like.  His staff were good, and even though they weren’t used to these kinds of requests from him, they had complied obediently and set the dining room up exquisitely.  He’d requested a romantic candlelit dinner early that morning and had been met by blank looks on his staff’s faces.

“A candlelit dinner?  For two?” Hilda had asked in shock.

“Yes.  That’s what I said.”

“Yes, Sir.”  She had smiled when she left the room.

And now it was hours later, the smell from the kitchen was making his stomach rumble.  His thoughts of Mackenzie, and her perfectly delectable body, made his blood flow quickly as his heart raced.  He could barely contain his excitement at seeing her again while he paced the length of the room, smoking a cigarette.

Last night had been a mistake.  It had not gone according to plan at all.  He didn’t like when things didn’t go his way.  That bastard Greg must have followed him to the bar.  Surely he couldn’t have just stumbled across his car at one a.m.  Simon, his body guard and driver, was taken by surprise when Greg had shown up.  Simon had thrown the first punch before he had a chance to reach them.  Then his fist automatically connected with Greg’s face, giving the ass his second blow.  Normally he wouldn’t have done something like that in the middle of a city street.  It hadn’t taken long to draw a crowd and the last thing he wanted was a photo of the incident.  He didn’t want to drag Mackenzie into it either.  Leaving her last night had been a difficult, but necessary, decision.

Finally the knock on the dining room door came.  He blew the last of the smoke out of his mouth while stubbing the cigarette in the ashtray on the side table.

“Enter,” he called.

Simon gave him a polite nod when he opened the door for Mackenzie.  She waltzed in like a breath of fresh air.  She was wearing a long, royal blue, evening gown.  Her milky white cleavage was begging to be freed from the formfitting dress.  Her dark hair flowed down her back and over her shoulders in shiny waves of silk.  He met her gorgeous green eyes and blinked his dark ones back at her.

“Mackenzie.”

She gave him a polite nod but didn’t speak.  He took a couple of long strides in her direction.  Taking hold of her hand, he placed a gentle kiss on the back of it, his eyes never leaving hers.  She seemed nervous.

Mackenzie’s heart was racing and her cheeks were flushed.  She momentarily lost her ability to speak.  She was completely in awe of the man in front of her, his looks were so stunning.  He wore a tailored black suit but no tie.  The first few buttons of his crisp white shirt were undone, revealing skin that she ached to touch.  Her whole body tingled when his hand wrapped around hers, his eyes on her.  Just his presence alone, felt so much stronger away from The Blue Room, and from other people.

“Sir,” she eventually greeted him softly, with a small nod.

He liked the sound of her voice, especially when she called him that.  He had big plans for her.  Plans that, as much as he wanted to act out straight away, could wait until after dinner.

“I hope you’re hungry,” he said, keeping hold of her hand and leading her toward the large dining room table.  It was big enough to seat fourteen people but it only had two place settings at the head of it.  He pulled a chair out for her and she gracefully took a seat.

“Thank you,” she murmured politely.

Leaning over her from behind, he collected the carafe of water, her eyes focused on his hand and his hold on the crystal.  It didn’t take much for her to be even more turned on around this man, the view of his hand tightly holding on was enough.  He poured her a drink, then filled his own glass, before sitting in the chair opposite her.  Leaning back casually in his seat, he
steepled his hands under his chin, just as he had on that night.  Mackenzie let out a contented sigh at the familiarity of it.  The strong focus of his eyes on hers, held her in place and made her feel wanted, and that was not an unwelcome feeling at all.