In the Eye of the Storm (7 page)

Agreeing, Stephen watched her walk down the hall to her room and waited until he heard her door click.  It had been a strange day all around.  True, it had been mostly pleasant but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been so laid back and carefree on any day of the week, not just a Saturday.  Descending the stairs, he played over the day in his mind:  Holly at breakfast, her leaving and coming back, her cooking in his kitchen…she just
fit
in his home, in his life and he could not lose her!

Why had he called her last night?  She had a point with that one and luckily she let it go after a while but the truth was that he could have called a cab and he could have called his driver.  But after all that Will and Derek had said to him regarding Holly, she was on his mind.  Heavily, and he had to prove to himself that they were wrong, that there was nothing there, no attraction, no anything. 

But the joke was on him.  All that he managed to accomplish was discovering that she was a fascinating woman who was way more attractive than he had ever noticed and she made him laugh and smile more in one day than he had in years.  She made his work easier, she made being in this big house seem a lot less lonely.  What the hell was he going to do if she really did quit on him? 

Wandering around the main floor of the house, the house that he usually loved, he felt lonely.  Growing up poor had made him determined to have the best of everything – everything that he never had growing up were his now.  When Holly had mentioned the house being too big for one person, Stephen realized that he had never thought of it that way.  To his way of thinking, it was a house that represented everything that he had ever wanted.  Never again would he wonder if there was enough food to eat or if there was going to be heat or hot water. 

He
was
this house.  It gave Stephen a sense of pride.  Often he would just walk around it and feel satisfaction.  Tonight, it seemed like a foolish way of thinking.  Damn!  It was really a lot easier when Holly was just his personal assistant who kept her own personal opinions to herself.  In less than twenty four hours, she had turned everything upside down.  Walking in to the darkened dining room, he went to the bar and poured himself a brandy.  He drank it in the dark, it fit his mood.

Deciding that he needed something, anything, to do to get his mind off of the woman sleeping upstairs, he headed to his office in search of his cell phone and decided that he had to talk to Will and at least try and mend that situation.  They had been friends for far too long and had been through far too much to let something like last night come between them.  Suddenly remembering that the last place he’d had his phone was the kitchen, he headed there, found it on the counter next to the cordless phone and then decided to make the call from the sofa in the living room rather than the office.  Again sitting in the dark, he dialed Will’s number.  He was surprised when he actually heard his friend’s voice.

“Hey,” Will answered.

“Hey,” Stephen began, feeling nervous suddenly.  “So, um, how are you feeling today?”  Will went on to tell him how his left eye was purple and his nose, while bruised, wasn’t broken. 

“What the hell happened last night?  I mean Derek was no more obnoxious than usual; why not ignore him like we usually do?”

“I wish I knew, man.  I wish I knew.”

“How’d you get home?  Did you have to call a cab or did George come to get you?” 

“I called Holly.”  Stephen sat and waited for Will to respond.  He waited several long minutes before his friend spoke.

“Really?  You still want to cling to your story that there’s nothing going on between the two of you?  Because I’ve got to tell you, buddy, a normal, unattached guy would have just called a cab or his driver, not his beautiful assistant.”

Will thought Holly was beautiful?  He felt himself getting defensive again and had to take a deep breath before continuing.  “I don’t even know why I called her and five minutes after she got there I wished I hadn’t.”

“Why?”

“She gave me hell for it.  She yelled at me most of the way here.”

“
Holly
?  Sweet, friendly, quiet Holly actually
yelled
at you?  Come on now, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

Stephen went on to tell Will all about their discussion in the car, leaving nothing out.  Stephen had always been able to trust Will with anything and everything that was why it was so important that they talk right now.  Stephen was confused about so many things and he needed the sounding board of his close friend to help him know what to do. 

“Unfortunately, no.  Listen, man, I need to know if we’re cool again.  Can you forgive me for being such an ass last night?”

“Yea, we’re cool.  I know that it wasn’t me you were pissed at.  I was just stupid enough to let myself get in the middle of it.  I should have just kicked back and let the two of you pound on each other for a while.  If it’s any consolation, I lit in to Derek pretty good, too, all the way home.  He hasn’t called today so I guess he’s still sulking.  I don’t think anyone’s ever told Derek how big of a prick he can be at times.”   Stephen agreed.

“I just…well, I need you to know that I really am sorry.  I have no excuses; I’m not going to try to make any.  I was wrong and I’m sorry.”  He paused.  “Listen, now that we’ve got that squared away, I need your advice.”

Will sighed.  “Is it about Holly?”

Stephen pulled the phone away from his ear for a minute in disbelief.  “How’d you know?”

“Just a hunch.  So what’s the problem?  You pissed because she yelled at you?”

“I was, but I got over it when I realized how much I deserved it.  No, my problem is that she wants to quit.”  Will stayed silent.  “She threw that at me in the midst of the fight last night.  I convinced her to think on it for a little bit longer and then she stayed the night and…”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute!”  Will interrupted.  “You slept with Holly?”

“No!  It was three-thirty in the morning and it was storming and I already felt like crap for getting her out of bed in the middle of the night so I set her up in one of the guest rooms.”

“Uh-huh,” Will said skeptically.  “So she went home today?”

Silence.

“Stephen?  Did she go home today?”

“No.  There were trees down in the subdivision and the roads were blocked. She did leave but she came back five minutes later.  We spent the day together, just hanging out and talking and I
swear
to you, I never had a single sexual thought about her before.  But now, after spending the day with her…something’s different.”

“No, it’s not.  It’s always been there but you never let yourself think about it because you were so focused on the business.”  He chuckled.  “You have to understand, being your friend and all, I was a third party watching it all from the outside.  Man, you watch her.”

“Why?  Why should I watch her?  You don’t trust her?”

Will snorted.  “No, you idiot, I mean you
watch
her, like when she’s not looking, you are looking at her.  All.  The.  Time.  It’s been rather entertaining to watch.  I knew that Derek had no idea what he was talking about last night because I knew if you had slept with Holly, that you would have told me.  Plus, the look of pure longing on your face wasn’t a longing of
‘I can’t wait
to have her again’
as much as it was
‘I can’t wait to have her’
.  So what are you gonna do about it?”  Stephen was silent for a long time.  He was staring out the big picture window out in to the moonless night.  “Stephen?”

“I wish I knew.”

“You have to decide what it is that you want.  Do you want Holly as your assistant or as a lover?  It never works when you try to have it both ways.  Trust me.  Which relationship is more important to you?”  Stephen was silent, thinking.  “You know that Holly runs your office like a well-oiled machine.  I think that because of her, you have far exceeded your projections for Ballinger’s.   Is that worth losing for the sake of sex or are you thinking of something more serious?”

Snorting with disgust at the idea, Stephen said, “More serious?  You know that I have no plans to get serious with anyone.  Ballinger’s is my life.  I don’t want to do to a wife and kids what my dad did to me; it wouldn’t be fair.  There is too much going on right now for me to put any kind of energy in to a serious relationship with anyone.”

“Holly doesn’t strike me as the casual sex kind of girl.”

“Not to me, either,” Stephen sighed.  Dammit.

“So I’ll ask again, what are you going to do?”

Raking a frustrated hand through his hair, he murmured, “I still don’t know.”

“Call me tomorrow and let me know what you decided, if you want.”  With that, he was gone.  Tossing the phone down on the sofa, Stephen went to stand by the window and just watched the rain come down.  Off in the distance he saw that the wind was blowing some of his trees practically in half.  He’d be surprised if they all lasted such punishment. 

The sights and the sounds of the storm calmed him even though it was wild to see and hear.  The rumble of thunder started up again and he saw lightning off in the distance.  If his mind wasn’t racing so much, it would be the perfect time to crawl in to bed and just sleep.  There was something about a storm that always lulled him to sleep. There was no way he could sleep right now.  He had to settle this situation in his mind before he’d be fit enough to sleep.  He ran a hand through his hair and muttered a curse.  How the hell was he supposed to know what to do?  Either way he was going to lose Holly in some capacity.  The business man in him knew that she was what kept him and his company going.  The man in him, the one that had been in a state of arousal all damn day, wanted what he wanted and to hell with the consequences.  It shouldn’t be this hard to have it all.  If only Holly were the kind of woman that would have a casual affair.

Feeling more confused than ever, Stephen walked back through the house to the dining room for another brandy.  Now he watched the storm through a front window for a few minutes before going back to the living room to sit in the dark on one of the sofas.  The only light on was in his office; he’d shut off the kitchen light when he grabbed his cell phone earlier.  The occasional flash of lightning lit up the place but Stephen barely noticed. 

For how long he sat there, Stephen had no idea.  There was a grandfather clock ticking somewhere in the distance and yet it still didn’t register with him no matter how many times it chimed.  After some time he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye.  He turned his head and saw Holly tip-toeing towards the kitchen.  Not wanting to startle her, he sat quietly and let her get in to the kitchen before following her there.

He almost laughed out loud.  Holly was sitting at the table, unwrapping a piece of chocolate!  He stood in the doorway watching her.  She wore a white t-shirt of his.  It was huge on her, hitting her mid-thigh when she was standing, he was sure.  But now?  While sitting at the table?  It hugged her bottom and rode high up her thighs which looked amazing.  His mouth actually watered.  His hands twitched.  He had to find a way to let her know of his presence without scaring her and to find a way of making light of the situation so that he didn’t pounce on her. 

Treading lightly in to the kitchen, Stephen noticed that Holly was watching the storm as he had earlier.  It was a flash of lighting that brought his reflection in to the window that made her scream out.  To try and calm her, he said, “I guess I don’t have a big future in the hotel business.  I forgot the chocolates again.”  His tone was light but quiet and he hoped that she wasn’t too badly startled.

“Stephen!  You scared me half to death!  I thought you were back in the office.”

“Nope, I’m done for the night just like you said I should be.  I’m trying to take your advice and relax a little bit more.”  He came and sat across from her at the table – a spot that was somehow never going to be the same after she left.  “Unfortunately, I have no idea what to do with myself so I’ve been wandering around in the dark.” 

Holly noticed the glass in his hand and nodded towards it.  “What are you having?”

“Brandy.  I was hoping it would help me to fall asleep.”

“Any luck?”

“Not yet.” 

Silence.  Holly nibbled on the dark chocolate square and sighed.  “I can’t even believe that I came down here for this.  I mean, I ate a
ton
of food today and yet all I could do was lie in that continent of a bed thinking that I didn’t have any chocolate.  How insane is that?”

“Continent of a bed?”

She gave a wicked smile and Stephen’s blood stirred.  “Silly, I know, but that bed is so darn huge that it reminds me of a small continent.  A family of four could sleep in that thing without touching each other!”

An image of Holly sprawled naked across the bed flashed in Stephen’s mind with the same brightness as the lightning outside.  In his mind, however, it was his bed that she was sprawled across and he was touching her all over those silky thighs he was trying not to stare at.

Holly finished her chocolate quickly and stood up.  “Well, I think that should do it.”  Looking at the bag, she reached down and grabbed one more piece.  “Just in case.”

“Sure.”  He stood and went to stand directly in front of her so that he could see her more clearly in the darkened room as he looked down at her face.  Her eyes looked huge and even in the dark he could clearly see how the t-shirt did little to hide what was underneath – which promised to be a spectacular body.  Her nipples had hardened to tight peaks and he had to fight the urge to lean forward so that they would actually be touching. 

Holly cleared her throat but couldn’t make her feet move.  “I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”  Looking up at him, she waited for his response.  His eyes were intently on hers and while she should look away, she couldn’t.

“I promised myself that I wouldn’t ask you this,” he began.  His voice was low and deep timbered.  “But I have to know…have you given any more thought to our work situation and what’s going to happen come Monday?”