Hell in a Handbasket - The Journey (7 page)

"Then let me
hear it and we'll decide together…" He gave me another one of his famous
smiles.

"Okay, but
just remember, you started this. I was minding my own business. And I am way
out of my depth here." I looked at him with pleading eyes and a hopeful
expression.

"Okay,
Maeve, I'll keep that in mind."

"I'm just
sad that this has to end."

"Who says it
has to end?"

"Come on,
Ryder, this isn't normal. It has to end some time."

"Well then,
let's make the most of it while it lasts and see if we can't make it last a
long time."

"What's your
definition of a long time? Because the plane is about to land and I have a
business meeting to go to as soon as it does."

"I've been
thinking about that. Why don't we share a ride to where you have to go and then
we'll take it from there?"

My eyes lit up
and I smiled a sincere, happy smile. "If it's no trouble…that would be
great."

"It's no
trouble, Maeve, in fact it will be my pleasure. And if you're a good girl, it
will be your pleasure too!" Waggle, waggle.
He really does love to
waggle his eyebrows at me! And it makes me laugh.

"Come on
Maeve, get your things. The plane will be landing shortly and we have a car
ride to get to."

I only had
carry-on luggage and was surprised to see Ryder only had carry-on luggage as
well. "Are you only visiting like me?"

"No, I'm
returning from my trip."

"Oh
really?
Where were you?"

"Checking
on an investment."

"How did it
turn out?"

"Better
than I had hoped.
And if things go right it could turn out very well indeed."

"Well that's
good." I smiled up at him. He was almost a full foot taller than me. I'm
five feet six inches so he had to be six feet three inches or taller. I
couldn't stop staring at him, he was so gorgeous. Long dark hair framing a
strong face not chiseled, just strong.
Strong jawline and
chin.
His nose was a bit crooked…I wanted to ask him what happened, but
I got distracted by his mouth. And oh my, he had full, kissable lips…Okay, my
opinion. I just couldn't tear my eyes away from his lips.

I wasn't watching
where I was going and I tripped.

Ryder grabbed me
by my elbow. "Be careful, Maeve, we have a lot more writing to do and I
don't want anything bad to happen to you!"

I looked into his
eyes, a deep green with flecks of gold. Man, he's too pretty for his own good.
I smiled.

We left the plane
and entered another airport lobby. I glanced at Ryder and smiled. What was it
about this guy that had me doing things that were way out of my normal? Ryder
looked down at me and smiled his hell in a hand basket
smile. He grabbed
my hand and interlaced our fingers. I thought I was going to have a meltdown
right there in this,
new to me,
airport lobby.

I was so glad we
didn't have to wait at the luggage area. I hated waiting and watching the
luggage return. It made me nauseous. We walked farther into the lobby when
Ryder suddenly stopped and started to look very serious, no more smiling mouth
or eyes. He even dropped my hand. I looked up at him, startled. He glanced back
at me and smiled. "I'm looking for someone and truth be told,
they
should
be looking for
me
."

"Oh…" I
squeaked out.

"It's not
what you think Maeve." Hell in a hand basket!

Then he took my
hand and rubbed it against the soft squish in the front of his pants. He
smirked. "Remember Maeve, I have your panties and this is where they will
stay until I feel you deserve to have them back!"

Oh, crap on a
cracker! How could I forget I had given him my panties in the airplane bathroom
when he inducted me into the Mile High Club, and he still had them in the front
pocket of his jeans? Better yet, how could I forget that I wasn't even wearing
any panties at this very moment? This man had gotten my head all jumbled and
messed up!

Before I could
say anything about how much I needed to be wearing my panties when I went into
my meeting, Ryder placed his hand on the small of my back and all coherent
thought was gone.

"There he
is."

"Who?"

"My
driver."
He led me over to where a very large muscular man lingered. He
was tall, nearly seven feet and big,
close
to
three-hundred pounds and those muscles? I swear he must work out six hours a
day every day! He was wearing a black chauffeur uniform complete with hat and
was standing off to the side of the lobby. He was holding a sign that read
"MADSEN
.
"

"Hello
George."

"Mr.
Madsen."

"George,
this is Maeve Bendis. She'll be sharing the car ride to the tower."

I looked at Ryder
with complete shock written all over my face. "How do you know where I'm
going?"

"Everything
happens for a reason…
Intoxicating Maeve
." Again, he did a little
sing-song with those last two words, just like he did in the last airport lobby
where we met. Only this time it didn't make me smile.

We walked
outside,
It
was a bit cold and without my panties and
the fact that my mound was still slick from Ryder's ministrations, I really
felt the chill under my skirt.
Just outside sat a black
limousine.
Ryder was still guiding me with his hand placed firmly into
my back. He leaned down and whispered, "Get in the car Maeve. Although
it's a short ride to the Prudential Tower, I would like to make the ride as
memorable as the airplane bathroom." He smirked and resorted back to his
waggling eyebrows. I wasn't so sure they were a turn-on anymore. I was really
starting to feel scared. It was bad enough that I threw all of my morals out
the window and allowed myself to be convinced to have sex with a total stranger
a couple of times in some very public places, but now it seemed that although
he may have been a stranger to me, I was no stranger to him. Did I just give up
my dignity to a stalker? Oh God, I was in big trouble!

We climbed into
the back of the limo. The glass partition that separated us from the driver was
already up. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Maybe if it was down and
something bad happened, the driver could help me. But
,
he seemed too familiar
with Ryder. What if the driver was in on this? What if he was going to drive us
somewhere secluded and have his way with me too? Ryder made me lose my mind,
fighting him was a useless venture. And as big as George was, there was no way
I would be able to fight him off. Oh God! What have I gotten myself into?

Ryder must have
noticed that I wasn't my cheerful yet shy self.

"Maeve, is
everything alright?"

"Um,
sure
!
"
It came out of my mouth as a squeaky leak.

"Maeve? You
don't seem alright."

"Do you know
me? How do you know me? How do you know where I'm going? How do you have this
power over me that made me throw all of my morals away simply to have sex with
you repeatedly in very public places? Are you a stalker? Is the driver in on
this? Are you two gonna hurt me? I won't tell a soul, I promise. I just wanna
go
home
." All of that whooshed out of my mouth with such rapid-fire I'm
surprised he understood any of it. I was scared nearly to death.

"Maeve,
Sweetie, just relax." His face showed true concern. He reached into his
pocket and pulled out my panties. "Here, Maeve, put your panties back
on." He looked a bit sad.

I have no earthly
idea what came over me but I refused my panties.

"No! You
answer my questions and then we'll both decide!"

Hell in a hand
basket. His smile warned me every time and yet I kept ignoring the warnings.

Looking at his
hands, he started playing with my panties, running them through his fingers.

He glanced up and
over to meet my face. "I don't know you personally. You said you were an
Erotic Romance writer and you were going to a business meeting. It may have
been presumptuous of me but I figured there aren't too many options in this
town for publishers, especially those who work with that genre. I told you in
Tom's office I would never hurt you…not in a million years. I'm not a stalker.
I've never been to your house. And I say that because I'm guessing you write
from home. The only thing George is in on is driving you to your meeting. And
as for telling a soul, I was hoping you would use our previous experiences as
fodder for your writing. I guess that makes me a bit of an exhibitionist but
not a stalker or rapist."

"Oh God, I'm
so
sorry! I-I-I'm just…this is just so…it isn't me and I…I don't know
what I was thinking…it's just that you seemed to know so much about me and I
don't know anything about you and…and…well…You make me crazy! I've done things
with you I've only fantasized about before and now here you are and my
fantasies are coming to life and…well…to be honest it kind of scares the hell
out of me!" Whoosh…again. I tried to give him an apologetic grin, which
earned me his oxygen-stealing smile.

"Maeve, the
car ride is about over and although I didn't get to make it the kind of
memorable I was hoping for, I would like to see you after your business meeting
and maybe we can get to know each other a whole lot better. Is that okay with
you?" Ryder slid his hand into his pocket, returning my panties to their
previous entrapment.

"I think I
would like that a lot." I smiled sweetly over at him.

"Maeve?"

"Yes,
Ryder?"

"Have you
ever done it in an elevator?"

I looked at him
in complete shock…"Ummmm…No!" I practically squealed that last word.

He smirked.
"Would you like to?"

"I can't do
that in front of people!" Shock danced across my face.

"What if the
elevator is empty?" His eyes glittered in mischief.

"Uh…don't
they have cameras in the elevators?"

"That isn't
the same thing as in front of people."

"Can we keep
things a bit more private?
Maybe later…much later we can
progress to the elevator."

He rewarded me
with that breathtaking smile of his and his green eyes darkened. Man he was
gorgeous! What in the hell was wrong with me? OK, so it didn't end when the
plane landed and it wasn’t going to end with this car ride. But it obviously
couldn’t be a permanent thing…could it? No, I had to get that thought out of my
head. Thinking like that is what gets your heart broken. And I was just coming
out of my
shell,
I didn’t need my heart broken then to
have me crawl back in.

"How about
this…I'll ride the elevator up with you…but I won't fuck you in the
elevator…yet…" Waggling eyebrows…this man was dangerous!

"Okay. But
you promise to behave? Remember I have a very important meeting and I can't be
all flustered and wet."

"I never
said I'd behave. But I'll see what I can do about making sure you aren't wet
for your meeting…deal?"

"Deal.”

The car stopped
and George's voice came over the loud speaker. "We're here at the tower,
Mr. Madsen."

"Thank you
George."

A few moments
later, the door opened and George was standing there holding it for me. Ryder
and I got out and then Ryder leaned into George and softly said
,
"I'm going to be going inside with Ms. Bendis. Could you take our
belongings to the house?"

"Certainly,
Mr. Madsen."

"Thank you,
George."

Ryder placed his
hand back into the small of my back and led me into the building.

Chapter
Five

Ryder kept his
hand on my lower back and walked me through the doors of the tower. We walked
into the lobby. It was a huge and cavernous place, with some plants and glass
but mostly empty except for the information desk at the far end. The desk was
huge and rounded. There was a huge sign over and behind it, which told of what
types of businesses were in the building and where they were located. Three
people sat behind the desk.
A woman with soft brown shoulder
length hair, who appeared to be in her early forties looked up at us.
She looked as if she was going to say something then stopped. I thought I saw
an almost imperceptible nod before she returned to what she was doing.

Ryder continued
to guide me through the lobby and over to the elevators. My heart was racing
and I was having trouble catching my breath. My experiences with Ryder at the
airport and on the plane taught me that he was exciting and unpredictable. Not
to mention sexy as hell. I was worried because he didn't seem to have any
hang-ups about having sex in public. Which frightened me because I did and yet
when I was anywhere near him I couldn't deny him anything…so I knew if he
wanted to have sex in the elevator then we would be having sex in the elevator.