For Richer, for Richest (7 page)

"A beer's fine. Jus always has some good ones around."

"Lager? Ale? Pale? Dark?"

"A dark ale sounds great."

I got him one from the fridge. When I handed it and a glass to him, our fingers brushed. I felt another spark. So did he. I saw it in his eyes. We sat out on the sofa on the balcony, side by side, drinking and looking out at Bellevue and Seattle beyond.

"This heat." Lazer opened the first few buttons of his shirt and rolled up his sleeves.

He'd come straight from work. He was still dressed for business in his tailored, expensive clothes. I was in shorts and a tank top and flip-flops.

Our arms brushed. Our thighs touched as we talked about nothing. He drank his beer. I drank my mixed drink. It was so easy to flirt with a man like Lazer, who was skilled at flirting back. It meant nothing to either of us. It really didn't. We weren't in public. No one was around, so what was the harm?

Our fingers brushed again. Our eyes met. I smiled at him. His arm was over the back of the outdoor sofa in a position that could almost be construed as around me.

I lifted the hair off my neck.

"Hot?"

I rolled my eyes. "When will this heat wave end?" I may have been talking about us. "A few more days and we'll have the record."

His fingers slid down the sofa back and lightly skimmed my neck, raising goosebumps at his touch. My breath caught. Our gazes locked. I released my hair, letting it tumble over my shoulders, down my back, over Lazer's fingers that were still at the nape of my neck. Suddenly, he cupped the back of my head and pulled me toward him.

I closed my eyes. Our lips met. His were warm and insistent. Skilled. Expert at extracting sighs from women. He smelled like expensive cologne. And tasted like Justin's expensive beer—

At the thought of Jus, I came to my senses and started pulling away at the same time he let me go. I wasn't acting my part. And part of me wasn't acting at all.

We spoke at once. "I'm sorry." "I shouldn't have. What was I thinking?"

We laughed awkwardly, embarrassed.

"It's my fault," he said, acting the gentleman. "All that subliminal stalking." His jaw set. "Since I met you I've been wondering what it would be like to kiss you." He stared at me. "Lucky Justin."

"No, it's my fault. Sometimes I barely feel like a married woman. I haven't learned how to turn the flirt off yet."

"Not flirting and acting married is an acquired skill, I'm sure." He set his beer bottle on the table in front of us. "I should go."

I nodded and walked him to the door.

He cupped my chin and tipped my face up. "If only we'd met sooner."

I stared at him until he dropped his hand. "This stays between us." I held his gaze. "I don't want to hurt Jus."

Not that he necessarily would be hurt by me kissing another guy, given what a fake our marriage was. But I'd promised not to embarrass him. Or give us away. And this probably qualified. Worse, there was a big part of me that felt like I had betrayed him. I had no idea where that feeling came from.

Lazer nodded. "Of course."

I watched Lazer walk away, wondering what I'd just done. And how it must look to him. I hoped he kept his word.

J
ustin

I was scheduled to fly home late on the third. My meetings got pushed out. I flew home on the fourth. My flight was late. I was supposed to arrive at one, in plenty of time for Riggins' scheduled three o'clock departure. I didn't get home until three thirty. I texted Kay from the plane and told her to go ahead to the party. I didn't want her missing the boat. I would join up with them as soon as I could.

She texted back,
How? We'll be out in the middle of the sound.

I responded,
Trust me.
And grinned. Some people could be so naïve. She still wasn't used to living the billionaire's life.

A speedboat and driver were waiting for me at the marina. I called Riggins for coordinates and put my driver in touch with his. It felt good to be out on the water. I was so damn eager to see Kay again.

A crowd gathered on the back of Riggins' boat as mine approached. I felt like James Bond on a mission as we sped toward it. Riggins should have slowed down the damn boat. But he had his driver gun it as we neared. It was just like Riggins to pull that stunt. There was nothing he enjoyed more than a chase.

I shouted to my driver over the roar of the engine, "Catch that yacht and step on it!"

I already had a beer in my hand. I leaned back, adjusted my sunglasses, and put my feet up on the side of the boat, enjoying the feel of the spray as we glided across the water. It was hotter than hell on land. But cool and pleasant on the water. If Riggins thought he could outrun us in his state-of-the-art yacht, he was full of bat shit.

Riggins leaned against the back rail, waving me, or some would say egging me, on. Pointing. Exaggerated shrugging. Glancing at his watch. Tapping it. Miming,
Come on, buddy. What are you waiting for? Catch up and join us.

Riggins' yacht was a real white beauty. He could comfortably sleep eight to ten people in his four staterooms. The body was sleek, curved, and modern. The back deck covered except for the sunbathing porch. Lazer, with his arm around a bikini-clad girl, joined Riggins on the lower back deck, laughing while I gained on them.

Kay had been lounging and sunning on a lounge chair on the main deck. She stood now, too, joining the crowd. She wore a skimpy red, white, and blue bikini tied together at her breasts with a red bow. I didn't have much fashion sense, but I thought the top was retro. High-heeled navy flip-flop-style sandals studded with red beads and rhinestones gave her several inches and made her legs look like they belonged on a runway. Her long blond hair blew in the breeze. She looked just as hot and gorgeous as she had on the beach at college. When I had to eye her from afar. Wait a minute! Wasn't I watching her from a distance now and still chasing her?

I smiled to myself. Different circumstances altogether. I was racing toward my wife. I'd fantasized about a moment like this for years.

She brushed her hair out of her face, waving vigorously to me with one arm. Was that my dog she had in the other? At the sight of Kay, my heart did a furiously happy cartwheel.

I fought to keep my cool exterior, leaning back and taking a swig of beer as we closed the gap and Riggins surrendered. He finally slowed the boat enough so we could pull up to the swimming deck and came down from the middle deck to greet me.

"Permission to come aboard, captain!" I saluted him.

"You mean I can deny you?" Riggins grinned and saluted back.

"Not really. I'll just stage a hostile takeover of your vessel." I stood as my driver kept us even with the yacht.

Riggins offered me a hand over. "Nice of you to finally join us."

I set my beer down, ignored the hand he offered, and swung over from my boat to his. "Nice of you to make it so easy."

He laughed. "Get yourself something fresh to drink."

Data still in her arms, Kay rushed down the steps from the deck above toward me. She looked so damn hot and lovely she made my heart ache. I swelled with pride. We were in public. I could let my true feelings show.

"Jus!" She kissed me as if she'd missed me, maybe a little too enthusiastically, while Data barked excitedly.

Who was Kay trying to impress?

"I've missed you so much!" Her eyes sparkled.

Maybe her words were true, maybe not. In any case, they made me happier than they should have.

I scratched Data behind the ears. She was wearing a red, white, and blue collar that exactly matched the straps of Kay's shoes, and a doggy headband. "What have you done to my dog?"

Data barked again, wagging her tail as she answered for Kay.

Kay shrugged. "Dressed her for the Fourth." Her tone was way too innocent.

"I told you not to girl up my dog." I took Data from her as we climbed the stairs together to the middle deck. When we reached the deck, I took the headband off Data. And caught a glimpse of a red, white, and blue bag sitting beside the chair Kay had been in. "Have you been putting my dog in a purse? Damn it, Kay."

She took Data back from me and set her on the deck. Then she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. It was hard to stay mad when she was nearly naked in my arms.

Riggins tapped me on the shoulder. "If you want a room, help yourself." He laughed.

I was tempted. The bedrooms on Riggins' boat were large, private, and luxurious.

Everything on the boat was elegant and modern, with clean lines and square cuts. Tan sofas, white pillows, and beech-colored tongue-in-groove wooden floors. Chrome fixtures. Chrome-edged glass tables.

We sailed farther out into Elliott Bay. It was crowded on the sound. Loud. Hot. The hottest Fourth on record, the weather report said. But it was nice on the water and Riggins had air conditioning inside the ship.

Kay threw on a sexy white cover-up dress for the sit-down salmon dinner prepared by Riggins' personal chef. Riggins' white and stainless steel dining room was my favorite part of his boat. Dark wood tables edged in stainless steel. White chairs. Black lamps. Hard lines. I ate too much. Drank too much. Looked at Kay too much.

Riggins went on again about buying a submarine. Every once in a while he got it in his head that it would be great fun to cruise around the bottom of the sound in a submarine. If he started talking about it, you couldn't shut him up.

"Do they make personal submarines?" Kay asked.

Oh crap. She and Lazer's new girl were the two people at the table who didn't know better than to walk into his trap. And he'd suckered Kay in. He launched into a soliloquy about submarine specs. While she leaned forward and listened intently.

Kay was animated and happy. Bubbly. Charming to everyone throughout the evening. My friends all loved her. Some a little too much. Yes, I knew I was wading in dangerous territory. If I lost Kay, would they take her side?

There was something going on between her and Lazer. They were awkward with each other in a way they never had been before. Shit, they'd hit it off from the start. Now they avoided each other, though they tried not to be obvious about it. Were almost distant. They tried too hard to be pleasant to each other. It was only a veneer. What the hell had happened? Whatever it was, it was good for me.

I smiled to myself.
If Kay isn't interested in Lazer anymore, it opens the door for me.

Kay leaned against the front rail on the top deck as we watched the fireworks. I stood behind her with my arms around her, wanting her badly. I was horny as hell. And happy. Happy to be home. Happy to have Kay waiting for me. Happy with the progress I'd made. Thirty days were nearly up. We were nearly that much safer.

K
ayla

By the time we got home, we were both drunk. Justin wanted sex. That much was clear from the time he first nuzzled me on the yacht. I was happy to have him home. And feeling so guilty I would have done anything to make it up to him.

Inside the penthouse, we settled Data into her bed. She was exhausted and nervous. The fireworks had upset her. She'd spent the night cowering in either my arms or Justin's. I was glad I hadn't left her alone in the penthouse. The booms would have scared her even through our fairly soundproofed walls.

I wrapped my arms around Jus and ran my fingers over his beard. "Did you miss me?"

"Tragically."

"That much?" I brushed his lips with a light kiss. "Did you fantasize about me?"

"You are my fantasy, Kay." His voice was husky.

"Good answer." I looked into his eyes, feeling buzzed and flirty and ready for sex. Being buzzed was dangerous business. "If I could fulfill one of your fantasies, what would it be?"

His Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't hesitate. "Let me make love to you up against the glass wall of our bedroom. While you're wearing the heels you have on now and nothing else. From behind while you face out to the city."

The thought of making love against the windows excited me.

"That's an advanced maneuver." I held his gaze. "Are you up for it?"

His eyes became round and dark. "One way to find out."

"Then what are we waiting for?" I pulled him by the hand to the dark bedroom and shut the door, keeping Data out.

He stood silhouetted against the lights of the city in the windows. I pulled my cover-up off over my head. He kicked off his shoes and shed his shirt. I untied my bikini top and let it drop. He slid out of his shorts and briefs. I stood in my bikini bottom and Fourth of July heels, facing him.

"Take off your swimsuit bottoms." His voice was low and sexy, filled with desire that took my breath away.

"Why? They won't get in the way. Much." I was staring at him, boldly, challenging him to take control. His face was in shadow, unreadable in the dark.

"Take them off." He turned just enough for me to see he was erect and ready.

I was supposed to be the one tantalizing him. But it was the other way around. I was totally tight and hot for him. I looked him in the eye in the darkness, with the lights of the city sparkling behind him in the window, and took a step toward him. I stumbled, laughing drunkenly. "What are you going to do about it?"

Jus leaped forward and caught me, swept me into his arms, and carried me to the window, kissing me on the way with a hot trail of kisses down my throat. He set me down, hooked a finger in the string of my bikini bottom, and tugged it down in a Houdini-like move. I stepped out of it and kicked it away.

"I missed you." He cupped my breast and took me in a kiss so deep and passionate, it took my breath away. "Every minute I was away."

It wasn't exactly a declaration of love. "You mean you missed sex." I grabbed his dick and stroked it.

He caught my chin in his hand and stared into my eyes. "No, I mean I missed
you
."

Something about the way he said it went straight to my heart. I let go of him and stared back. If his eyes were the windows to his soul, they were dark and unreadable now.

He released my chin, took me by the waist, and spun me around to face the windows. "I want you to
see
fireworks while we make some."

"That's a nice visual. You're so corny and sweet, baby." As I stared out over the landscape and felt his heat behind me, a round of red and green sparkles burst from over the hills near the water. "You should write greeting cards."

He laughed and whispered in my ear. "When? In my spare time? I use every minute of that thinking of you."

Oh, damn, Jus
, I thought.
You tease and dance all around it, but you don't say you love me. Do you think it's too soon? Or has it been way too long? Will you wait until the day before our divorce before you decide? Will I? Will either of us ever admit to what's growing between us?

I didn't say anything back that gave him any indication of how I felt. That I was falling for him. I refused to make a mistake. A mistake could cost me everything. He had all the power in this relationship. He needed to say it first.

He pressed up behind me, sliding between my legs as he kissed my neck. "Bend over."

"Any way you want it." I spread my legs into a wide stance and obeyed, bracing my hands against the cool, thick glass.

"Farther." His voice was husky with lust.

I complied, putting my both my forearms and palms against the window now. What would Magda think of palm prints on the windows?

Jus bent over me, kissing my back, tickling me softly with his beard as his kisses trailed up my spine. He slid a finger between my legs. Then deep inside me. I gasped as he thrust with his finger and found a spot that made me weak in the knees.

"There it is," he mumbled, sounding amazed and pleased with himself as he pulled his finger out.

He wrapped one arm around my waist and slid in from behind. His first thrust pushed my breasts against the glass between my arms. I gasped. What would Magda think of breast prints on the glass?

His next thrust pushed all rational, and irrational, thought from my mind. I gasped. He had, indeed, found the spot. I'd begun to think my G-spot was imaginary. As the cities sparkled in front of me, and fireworks burst forth in irregular intervals, Jus pushed me against the glass time and time again, holding me tightly around the waist.

The main fireworks shows were long over. But our private fireworks were just revving up. I arched my back, helping him hit the spot. I'd never felt so full of a man before. So breathless and weak with need and desire. So on the edge for so long.

The moon was large and round, nearly full, brilliantly bright. The man in the moon clear, almost a voyeur as he looked down on us. Lights were on in condos and offices below us. I should have been shy. But no one could see us. Thank goodness, because my face would have given me away.

Jus pounded into me again. I gasped. For some reason, I focused on the near image in the glass, rather than the distant scenery. I was startled to see my reflection.
Oh, crap.
Jus was mirrored in the glass, too, watching me, watching us with an intense, searching look as he drove deep inside me. What had he seen? What had I shown him? Why was he holding back?

"Finish it, Jus. Just
finish
it." I'd never begged a guy before.