Justin (6 page)

He nodded. “I’ve never felt like this with any woman. Every time I see you, all I can think about is grabbing you and kissing you.” That wasn’t exactly true. He thought about getting her under him in bed, but he wasn’t going to scare her off by saying that.

She smiled, rubbing her thumb along his lip. “I like it when you grab me and kiss me.” She was surprised by how husky and breathless she sounded.

“
I’ll have to remember to do it more often, then.” He pulled her mouth back down to his while his hands roamed over her shoulders and around to cup her breast in his palm.

Her hands went to the hem of his shirt, sliding up under it. She’d never been so bold with a man, but she had to touch him. He groaned against her mouth, moving his free hand to her bottom to pull her more snuggly against him.

She was shocked at the sensations running through her body. She wanted this man. She wanted to take her clothes off and lead him into her bedroom. She pulled away staring at him in surprise. She’d only known him a week, and she was ready to drag him off to her room to have sex with him? What was she thinking?

She sucked in deep breaths, trying to bring her body back under control. “I’m not ready for this, yet.” She dropped her forehead to his, wishing it weren’t the case. She knew she would be soon, but she had to get her mid wrapped around the idea of it. He was her boss, and she was certain he’d be her lover, but not tonight.

He was breathing heavily as well, but wrapped his arms around her holding her close. “I understand.” He kissed her cheek softly. “How ‘bout now?”

She laughed softly. “Nope.”

He sighed. “Can’t blame a man for trying.”

She moved off his lap and onto the couch next to him. “I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t be.” He stood. “Of course, I’d better get out of here if you don’t want me to ravish you.”

“
Ravish? I kind of like that word.” She cocked her head to one side. “You’re not mad at me?”

He reached down to help her up off the couch. “Absolutely not.” Dropping a quick kiss across her lips, he walked toward the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She nodded. “I’ll be packed and ready.”

“
Lock the door behind me.” He kissed her one last time before shutting the door. She locked it and leaned up against it.

“
Wow,” she whispered, touching her lips with one finger.

Chapter Five

Sarah dug through her underwear drawer and sighed. She had nothing that was even slightly sexy. Never having had a sexual relationship before, she’d never bothered with pretty matched bra and panty sets, and now found she wanted some. She didn’t want Justin to see her old dingy underwear.

She mentally took stock of her finances. She could not send a triple payment to her student loan and instead go shopping, but should she? She’d be getting a big raise with her new position, and she could easily make it up next month. She stood and pulled on her socks and shoes glancing at the clock. She could make the ten fifteen bus, and go to the mall. She grinned. This might be fun.

An hour later, she was wandering around Victoria’s Secret, trying to decide exactly what she wanted. She’d always had a good figure, but she’d never bothered to buy anything to show it off. Spending all her time studying in school, and working since, there’d been no real reason.

She found several things to try on and went into the fitting room. Looking at herself in the mirror wearing a chiffon babydoll, she wondered if she’d ever be able to get up the guts to wear it for Justin. She shrugged.

She left the store with five new underwear sets and three new babydolls. She’d looked at some teddies but knew she’d never be able to wear those in front of Justin.

By the time she got home, it was after two. She rushed up to her apartment and finished packing. She had a few hours, but she wanted to make sure everything was ready when Justin arrived to pick her up.

At quarter before five, she dragged her two suitcases to the living room and set them in front of the door. She thought about taking them downstairs to wait, but decided against it. Surely he planned on helping her carry her things down the stairs and to his car.

She paced her apartment while she waited. She had too much nervous energy to sit down and wait for him. Usually, she was glad she was perpetually early, but this was one instance where it would have been nice to be throwing everything into her suitcase at the last minute.

At exactly five there was a knock on the door. She opened the door wide, and Justin leaned in for a quick kiss. “You ready?”

“
Yeah. Would you mind helping me carry my things down?”

“
No problem.” He grabbed both of her cases, so she got her purse and locked the door behind her. Her neighbor was getting her mail and would watch her place for her while she was gone.

She was halfway down the stairs when she noticed the long black limousine parked in front of her apartments. It didn’t fit into one of the regular parking spots, so it was in the middle of the parking lot, blocking several cars. Surely, he hadn’t hired a limo to take them to the airport. Had he?

She had her answer when she saw the uniformed driver get out to put her suitcases into the trunk. She stopped in front of the car, shaking her head. She’d never ridden in a limo before, and found she was excited at the prospect.

Justin handed her into the car and slid in beside her. She turned to him with a smile. “Do you always ride to the airport in a limo?”

He shook his head. “Only when I want to be able to do this on the way.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately filling her taste buds with butterscotch.

She smiled against his lips. “I guess you can’t do that while you’re driving.”

“
Not and keep the car on the road.”

“
What’s with the butterscotch Life Savers?”

He smiled. Cody had called him earlier that afternoon to tell him he shouldn’t be making out with his assistant on company time. “I started smoking my freshman year in college, trying to be cool. I decided when I graduated it was time to give them up, but I needed something to do with my hands. So I started carrying around butter rum Life Savers. Every time I wanted a cigarette I’d pop a Life Saver in my mouth. They became as much of a habit as the smoking, but now my breath smells good instead of nasty.”

“
I see.” She nestled her head against his shoulder. “Are you going to tell me now where we’re going, or is it still some big surprise?”

He stroked her hair away from her face. “We’re going to a tiny island called Motu Tane. It’s a private island near Bora Bora. My partners and I went once years ago and loved it. It’s a tropical paradise. You’ll be amazed.”

“
It sounds fun.” She wondered how long they’d be in meetings during the week and how much time they’d have to devote to discovering the island.

“
We only have the one meeting, and it should only take a few hours,” he told her, guessing what she was thinking about.

“
So we’re flying twelve hours to a meeting you could have easily had in your office, for an entire week and it’s only going to last a few hours?”

Justin shrugged. “How else was I going to get you to a tropical island with me?”

He turned and dropped another quick kiss on her lips. She glanced out the window wondering how close they were to the airport. She wouldn’t be able to sit this close to him on the plane, so she took advantage of their time alone. She wondered what the rooms would be like once they arrived. If it was a private island, would there be a hotel?

“
We’re coming back Sunday, right?”

He nodded. “We rented the island until Sunday evening. We’ll leave Bora Bora around six or seven on Sunday night.”

“
Monday at work is going to be tough.”

“
Maybe if you’re really nice and talk sweetly to your boss, he’ll give you Monday off.”

She laughed. “Not my boss. He’s an ogre. He yells at me if I so much as sneeze in the office. The work conditions are terrible.”

He seemed to consider that for a moment. “That’s awful. I know. Why don’t I take you away from all that? You can come and work for me as my personal companion.” He wiggled his eyebrows letting her know beyond a doubt what her duties would be.

She blushed. “I think I’ll try and stick it out with the ogre, thank you.”

He kissed the top of her head. “If you ever change your mind, just let me know.” He pointed out the window. “Steven lives just over that hill there.”

“
Does that mean we’re almost to the airport?”

“
Another fifteen minutes probably. Are you eager to get there?”

She shrugged. “I’m excited to be on the island. You make it sound amazing. I hope I’m able to sleep on the plane and it doesn’t keep me up all night.”

“
If it does, you can sleep all day tomorrow. Our meeting will be on Wednesday.”

“
I’m going to enjoy getting to know Amber better.”

He nodded. “Bailey’s going to be there as well.”

“
Who’s Bailey?”

He grinned. “Steven’s nanny.”

“
Nanny? He’s got a kid?”

He briefly explained how Bailey had shown up after the Super Bowl a week ago with a young baby in her arms claiming it was Steven’s. “He says the kid isn’t his, but he kept her anyway. He kept Bailey too. She’s Faith’s aunt.”

“
If the baby isn’t his, why did he keep her?”

“
He’s got a soft spot for kids. He always has. Her mom died in a car wreck and left his aunt to take care of her. Bailey had been told he was the baby’s father, and she believed it. He didn’t see any reason to disillusion Bailey. He’s got enough money to afford to keep the baby and pay the aunt to take care of her. Problem solved.”

“
Wow. He sounds like a great guy.”

“
He’s a geek. He has a hard time dealing with anyone in real life. He’s great in a chat room, though.” He looked down at her. “Don’t get any ideas now. You don’t want me to have to fight my friend for you, do you?”

“
Why would you fight him?”

He shrugged, making her head bob up and down. “Because I’m keeping you. He kept Bailey, and I’m keeping you.”

She laughed. “You can’t just keep me. And he can’t just keep Bailey. You may be richer than God, but you don’t have the right to buy and sell women.”

“
Probably not. I’m still keeping you.”

The car stopped and she noticed they were parked at the airport. “I’m not going to argue about this now.”

“
I don’t argue. I state facts, and you accept them.”

“
Only in the office. Outside the office, you’re just another man.”

He dipped his head and kissed her briefly. “Just another man who is going to keep you.”

She rolled her eyes and followed him out of the car. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered.

The plane was amazing. She stood just inside the door looking around. Each seat was at least six inches from the one next to it. They all seemed to recline. There were only six seats total in the back of the plane and they were all made of leather. “Where should I sit?”

He pointed to a seat up against the window. “Sit there.” He waited until she was seated and settled down beside her, glancing at his watch. “Where’s Cody? I swear that man is going to be late for his own funeral.”

Cody climbed onto the plane then, pulling Amber along behind him. “I told you, you’re going to love it.” He rolled his eyes at Justin. “She’s worried she won’t like the island.”

Justin laughed. “There’s something wrong with you if you don’t like the island. It’s incredible.”

“
That’s what I keep telling her!”

There were two seats across from where Justin and Sarah had settled. Cody pointed to one and sat in the other. Amber rolled her eyes at Sarah. “He points and expects me to just do as he commands.”

Sarah nodded. “Justin told me on the way here that he’s keeping me like I’m a lost dog or something.”

Amber settled into the seat Cody had indicated for her. “These men need to be taken down a notch.” She kicked off her shoes and stretched out in the chair.

“
Only one?” Sarah looked over at Justin. “I think twenty or so would be better.”

A stewardess came from the front of the plane. “You need to buckle up. We’re about to take off. I’ll serve dinner once we’re in the air.”

Cody tilted his cowboy hat back onto his head. “What are we having?”

“
The same thing you always insist on having when you fly. Salad, steak and baked potatoes.” She walked back toward the front of the plane.

Justin smiled. “Sounds good to me!” He turned to Sarah. “So what exciting things did you do with your day off today?”

“
I shopped and packed.”

“
What did you shop for?”

She blushed. “Just clothes.” She couldn’t meet his eyes as she answered him. She’d been thinking about wearing her new clothes for him too much.

He noted her blush, but decided not to pursue the subject in front of the others. Was he hoping too much to think maybe she’d gotten something risqué to wear for him?

“
What did you do?”

“
I got all my charts and graphs in order for the meeting.”