Monroe, Marla - Hot and Bothered (Siren Publishing Classic) (22 page)

“It isn’t anymore.”

“But it was. There has to be a reason,” he said.

He watched her nibble her lower lip then draw in a deep breath.

“My father rarely worked when he lived with us. Then he just decided he didn’t want the responsibility of a family anymore and left. Mom kept bringing men home who were the same way. They couldn’t keep a job and were always looking for easy money, some way they could strike it rich and not have to work anymore. It was tough on us trying to live that way. I didn’t want to ever be in that situation again.”

“So because I don’t seem to have a steady job, you assumed I wouldn’t be able to provide for you.” He watched her eyes as they widened.

“I wasn’t really thinking so much about you providing for me as remembering how it was when I was a child.” She looked down at her clasped hands on the table. “If I had been thinking, I would have realized that I loved you and I could take care of myself as far as that went.”

The waitress returned with their drinks and took their pizza order. They settled for one with everything except olives. He ordered a large and planned to be sure she ate. He couldn’t believe how much weight she had lost in the space of a month. He hadn’t slept much in that time either. He now owned two more companies he hadn’t really wanted.

“Are you not very close to your brother and sister, or was it just that you didn’t want to talk about them with me?” Dustin asked.

“Oh.” She took a sip of her drink. “We aren’t as close as you and your sister seem to be, but mostly, I didn’t want to get real personal with you. I was trying to keep things casual, I guess.”

“I sort of screwed up your plans though, didn’t I?”

She smiled at him. “You could say that.”

Dustin reached across the table and stilled her fidgeting fingers. He squeezed her hands and pulled them across to his lips.

“I want to know all about you. Everything.”

Her laughter lifted his heart. “There isn’t really that much to tell you. I mean, you know about my childhood. The best thing during that time was being friends with Karen. We sort of gravitated to each other and stayed friends all through school and college.”

“How is she doing?” Dustin asked.

Savanna nodded. “She’s doing okay. She and Ben are at least talking right now. That’s a good thing.”

Their pizza arrived, and Dustin made sure she ate. It wasn’t until she threatened to throw up on him that he backed off with shoving pizza down her throat.

“I’ve honestly had enough. I’m full.”

“No more skipping meals. It’s not good for you.”

“Like it could hurt me to lose a few pounds.” Savanna yelped when he reached across the table to pinch her on the arm. “What was that for?”

“To show you that you need a little meat on your bones so pinching wouldn’t hurt so much,” he said.

Dustin paid for the meal and led Savanna back out to his truck. They talked about little things on the way back to her place. He learned that she hated asparagus, coconut, and congealed salads. She loved ice cream and enjoyed making cookies. He asked her about college and found out she had a bachelor’s in business management. She told him that she had started her spa using a small business loan for women.

He walked her to the door and wanted to go inside with her, but thought better of it. They needed to take this slow. He reminded himself that she could always change her mind about how she felt concerning his employment or lack thereof. He didn’t want to admit it was a possibility, but it was.

“Would you like to come in?” Savanna had her key in her hand and the other hand on the doorknob.

“I don’t think that is a good idea tonight, Savanna. We need to take our time with this.”

“I know you’re right. But it doesn’t change the fact that I want you.”

“I want you, too.” He took her hand and placed it over his engorged cock. He could feel the heat of her hand through his jeans.

She moaned and looked up at him with eyes that pleaded with him to change his mind. He wouldn’t, though. If they were going to have a real relationship that progressed to something more, it had to be based on something besides great sex. Thinking about it didn’t help his hard-on, though.

He leaned in and kissed her. It started out as a sweet kiss, but she deepened it by opening her mouth and licking along his lips. He was lost at the taste of her. He moved into her and felt it when her back hit the door. He held her face with both hands and kissed her back. Her hands went around his waist, and he felt her nails dig into his back. Pulling away took all his resolve. He bumped his forehead against hers. They were both breathing heavy. The sight of her breasts heaving from the exertion of breathing pulled a groan from his mouth. He stood up and took a step back.

“We need to say good night now. I don’t have a lot of resistance left in me, and this would be a bad idea right now, Savanna.”

“I know. You’re right.”

She swallowed, and he followed the movement of her throat muscles. He wanted to lick up the line of her throat to her jaw and…

“Goodnight. Go on inside, baby. Lock the door. I’ll call you tomorrow.” He took another step back and waited for her to do as he said.

Savanna nodded and turned around to unlock the door. She glanced back over her shoulder then walked inside and closed the door. He listened for the locks, and once he heard them, Dustin walked back to his truck and got in. He didn’t start the engine right away. Instead, he sat and thought about the last couple of hours. When she had called him earlier that day, he had been trying to sleep. He thought at first he was dreaming when he heard her voice.

Dustin had given up hope that she would change her mind. Instead, he spent every waking moment, and there had been a lot of sleepless moments, working. It had been ironic to him that the reason they broke up was because he didn’t have a job, and he was averaging eighty hours a week doing just that. Working.

He realized as he started the truck that he hadn’t told her that he did have a job. He had planned to while they were eating, but it hadn’t seemed like the right time to tell her. Now he was guilty of deceiving her. He would tell her as soon as they saw each other again. It would relieve both of their minds. More than likely, she would be mad as hell at him for keeping it from her, but they would work it out. He would make sure they did this time.

When he got home, he found a message from his assistant that there were problems that needed his attention at one of the new businesses he had recently taken over. It would mean a trip to Portland, Oregon. He would need to leave in the morning. He cursed fate that this had happened just when they were working things out. He needed to let her know, so he picked up the phone and called her, secretly glad to have the excuse to hear her voice again.

“Hello?” She answered on the second ring.

“Hey, baby.”

“Dustin?”

“I have to go out of town tomorrow and will probably be gone the rest of the week. I wanted to let you know,” he said.

“Oh. Is everything okay?” she asked. He heard the worry in her voice.

“Everything’s fine. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back, okay?”

“Are you going on a job? ’Cause you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. We’re good, right?”

“We’re good. This was unexpected, but I’ll be back as soon as I can. Trust me on this, and I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.” Dustin wanted to tell her now, but it wasn’t something he needed to discuss with her over the phone. He should have told her over dinner.

“Okay. Be careful.”

“I’ll talk to you soon,” he said.

They said goodbye and hung up. He felt worry begin to eat away inside of him. They had just agreed to give having a relationship a try, and already, he was keeping something from her. He could kick himself for not getting everything out in the open before he left her place. He sighed. There was nothing he could do now. He had to go out of town tomorrow. He would tell her as soon as he got back in town, even if he had to wake her up to do it. There weren’t going to be any more secrets between them.

* * * *

Savanna put the phone back in its holder and crossed the room to the couch. She sat down and drew her feet up under her. What had happened between her place and his that he suddenly had to go out of town? He said to trust him. She did, but it didn’t stop her from thinking. He said he would tell her all about it when he got back. So why was she still thinking about it?
Because you feel like there is something going on .
What if he had another girlfriend now and he had to break it off with her? If that were true, why didn’t he tell her tonight?

This wasn’t doing anything but making her upset. She needed to stop and focus on work while he was gone. They would talk when he got back. She would make sure he knew that there couldn’t be any more secrets between them. They had to be able to trust each other if they were going to try to make things work.

The next few days passed by in a blur for Savanna. They were double booked at the spa, which meant she had to help out with the treatments. She needed more help, and she wanted to expand the business. It was well past seven each night when she finally made it home, and she was dead on her feet. It didn’t stop her from missing Dustin, though. She couldn’t help wondering what he was doing. She had hoped he would call and wondered why he hadn’t. Finally, she gave in Thursday night and called his cell phone. He answered in a clipped voice.

“Yes?”

“Dustin?”

“Savanna. Is something wrong?” His voice sounded strained.

“No. I wanted to say hi. I guess I’m bothering you.”

“It’s not that. It’s just that I’m a little busy right now. Can I call you back in a little while?”

“Look, you don’t have to call me back. I shouldn’t have called. I missed you and thought I would say hi is all. Nothing’s wrong. Call me when you get back in town.” She started to hang up, but he stopped her.

“Baby. It’s fine that you called. I love hearing your voice. I’m in a meeting, though. So I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay. I’m going to bed now anyway. Talk to you soon.” She hung up before he could say anything else. She couldn’t believe she had done that. She was an adult, not a schoolgirl with a crush.

The doorbell rang, startling her. She jumped and then laughed at herself. Savanna peeked through the peephole to find Karen waiting on the other side. She opened the door and pulled her friend inside before shutting the door behind her.

“What’s going on?” Karen asked.

“I was going to ask you the same question,” Savanna said.

“I think I know what’s going on at work now.” Karen walked toward the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. “Martin is working with someone outside the company to put one of his clients out of business.”

“How do you know all this?” Savanna asked.

“I overheard him talking to this other person. He said that everything was ready for him when he returned. The prospectus was set up so that he would buy this company at what would look like a good price, but it wouldn’t be a good investment. The company he’s suggesting is about to announce a huge recall on something that will probably sink it.” Karen unscrewed the cap on the water and took a few long pulls.

“So, he is setting up this man to take a big loss on a company. How is this going to put him out of business?

“He’s already bought two other companies that are in the same boat. They’re both on the verge of lawsuits. One for some sort of compliance issue, and the other one is a lawsuit about a product that caused someone some damage. I don’t know the details, but I put together those proposals and recommended against acquiring them. I have all the paperwork to prove I was against those sales. I didn’t even know Martin had talked to the client, much less given him information about the companies.” Karen set the bottle on the counter and paced back and forth in front of the bar.