Negotiating Skills (8 page)

Why hadn’t she put up a fight? Why
didn’t she just get up and walk away? She had let Rossi finger fuck
her in a public place for goodness sakes! She could have left at
any moment and despite his arrogance, she knew that he wouldn’t
have forced her to stay.

No, she had stayed because she wanted
to. She had wanted him to touch her. She still did, but she had
needed an excuse and pretending that she had no choice had been the
easy scapegoat. Shaking her head, Veronica reached for the soap and
began to lather herself up.

It really didn’t matter if she
admitted that she wanted Rossi. The man was still an arrogant ass
who saw nothing wrong with manipulating people. Even if she was
willing to forego her rule of not mixing business with pleasure she
wouldn’t break it for him. No matter how tempted she was by him.
She just had to convince her body of that first.

Her hands began to tremble as she
turned to rinse her body in the spray of water. Shudders began to
wrack her body again despite the warmth of the shower. She was
barely able to keep herself upright let alone have a philosophical
argument with herself.

She wearily scrubbed her hands over
her face. She would just demand he tell her why he was there and
she would ask him to leave so that she could continue feeling like
crap in peace. She could work on shoring up her defenses to him
later. She let out a small hysterical giggle at the thought of the
amount of effort that would take.

“
What’s so
funny?”

Veronica heard Rossi’s amused voice
just moments before he opened the shower door. She couldn’t muster
the energy to try and cover herself. She could only look up at him
with chattering teeth.

She took in his handsome
grinning face and let her gaze roam down to his hard chest and to
the still bulging evidence at his crotch. She felt her heart sink
and held back a whimper as the ever true phrase of
Resistance is futile
skittered through her mind.

“
Is the concept of privacy
beyond your comprehension,” she asked him irritably.

The bastard didn’t even have the grace
to look apologetic. He just shook his head at her, wrapped her
efficiently in a towel, and lifted her out of the
shower.

“
Where are you finding the
energy to be so sour when you can barely stand up by yourself,” he
asked as he placed her feet gently on the floor and began to
briskly rub her skin dry with the towel.

“
Yeah, well I’m talented
like that,” she said trying to muster up a sneer. Unfortunately,
the feel of Rossi’s brisk rubbing movements had slowed into teasing
strokes. Veronica never thought the rough fibers of terry cloth
could feel so damn erotic until that moment.

Perfection
. That was the only word
Victor’s lust filled mind could conjure to describe Veronica’s
body. He had started off with good intentions. He really had, but
the moment he opened the shower door and saw all of her juicy,
creamy naked skin he was a goner. Her chattering teeth had been the
only thing to keep him from dragging her to the floor and exploring
her lush body.

When he lifted her out of the shower
he had honestly meant to dry her off quickly and help her to the
bedroom so that she could eat and rest. Unfortunately, the moment
he stroked the towel across her breasts and her nipples pebbled in
reaction all of his good intentions flew out the door.

His earlier observation was right. Her
breasts were more than a handful and her nipples were perfect
complements to them. He slowed his brisk rubbing down to light
strokes wanting to see her nipples extend even further. His mouth
watered when they distended into tight points. He wandered how they
would feel against his tongue and the roof of his mouth. He wanted
to gorge himself on them. He wanted to suck them into his mouth and
have her squirm underneath him. He wanted to bite them softly and
hear her gasp out in pleasure. God he wanted to fuck her
senseless.

His brain clouded with
images of her coming apart in his arms. He licked his lips and
tilted his head forward.
Just one
taste
, he thought, just one taste of her
succulent tits…

“
Ah-choo!”

Veronica’s sneeze rang out through the
air, snapping him out of his daze. His gaze shot up to her face and
he saw her sniffle. He felt like an ass.

Shaking his head he resumed his brisk
rub down. After a few tense moments he lifted her and carried her
over to the bed. He laid her down gently and helped her sit up with
her back against the headboard. He even helped bring the comforter
up to cover her up to her neck.

“
Do you think you can handle
some food,” he asked gruffly, staring down into her wide
eyes.

“
I think I hate you,” she
replied back in a shaky voice.

Victor threw his head back and barked
out a rough laugh.

“
Well there goes your
dessert,” he said turning to her dresser and picking up a tray of
food he placed there earlier.

“
I found some ice cream in
the back of your freezer and now I’m just going to keep it all for
myself,” he continued as he placed the tray on her lap.

He watched as she stared down at the
tray and looked back up to scowl at him.

“
I’m not hungry,” she
said.

“
Yes you are. You’re just
feeling too sick to tell,” he said.

“
If you finish at least half
of the soup I’ll stop pestering you,” he promised.

That statement seemed to galvanize
Veronica into motion. Victor held back another laugh as he watched
her eat. He knew she thought he meant he would leave if she ate.
The woman was just too damn cute. He watched her for a few more
moments before turning and heading back to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen he began gathering
the makings of an old home remedy his mother used make for him when
he was young. He concentrated on the basic movements of the task to
keep his mind from thinking about Veronica and her delectable body.
He boiled some water in a kettle and rummaged around the kitchen
cabinets. After the water was done boiling he finished making his
concoction and poured the excess water into a small mug. He grabbed
a clean dish towel then grabbed both mugs and headed back to the
bedroom.

When he reached the bed he placed both
mugs on the night table and walked into the bathroom to search for
some aspirin. Returning to the bedroom he glanced down at Veronica.
Her eyes were drooping and her hand was trembling as she struggled
to bring a spoonful of soup to her lips.

“
It looks like you’ve had
enough,” he said.

He leaned over and took the spoon from
her hand and lifted the tray from her lap. Her eyes lifted to his
in triumph.

“
Yeah, thanks for the help,”
she said.

“
I’m sure you can see
yourself out,” she continued with a small smile spreading across
her lips.

“
Not so fast Princess,” he
said smiling down at her.

“
You still need to take
something for that fever.”

“
I already told you. I don’t
have a fever. It’s just a cold,” she said belligerently.

“
Yeah well humor me then and
take this,” he said as he handed her the aspirin and home
remedy.

He watched her face and saw as she
weighed her options. Once again she seemed to decide that relenting
to his request would get rid of him faster and she placed the
aspirin in her mouth and raised the mug to her lips.

“
Be careful, it’s hot,” he
warned.

He watched as she sipped the hot brew
and surprise light across her face.

“
This is a hot toddy,” she
said looking up at him quizzically.

“
My mom always makes these
for me when I’m sick,” she stated.

“
My mom used to do the same
when I was young,” he said pulling a chair towards the side of the
bed.

“
She used to use limoncello,
but I figured some rum and lime would work out just as well,” he
continued as he reached for the second mug and dish
cloth.

He poured some of the hot water on the
cloth. Just enough to heat it and make it slightly damp. He reached
over and flipped the comforter up to reveal her feet. Letting the
cloth cool for just a few more seconds he took Veronica’s feet and
wrapped them snuggly in the cloth. He heard her slight moan and
looked up to see her face.

“
God that feels
so
good,” she moaned
out.

He grinned at her as he began to rub
her feet through the warm cloth.

“
I take it back,” she
said.

“
You can stay. Whatever you
do, don’t stop doing that,” she said as a long sigh escaped
her.

Victor smiled and continued rubbing
for a few more minutes before removing the cloth and adding more
hot water. He placed the cloth down on the night table and reached
for the now empty mug in Veronica’s hand.

“
Turn over,” he
instructed.

He saw her struggle with the demand
for a moment before she nodded her head and rolled over to lay her
stomach.

He pulled the comforter down to expose
her back then reached for the warm cloth and placed it gently on
her back. He chuckled when she groaned again.

“
My nephew has a pretty weak
constitution,” he explained as he began to rub her muscles through
the cloth.

“
He was born premature and
even though he’s nine years old now, he still doesn’t have the best
immune system. We learned this trick to help relieve shivers and
aching muscles a few years ago after he got a nasty flu bug,” he
said.

“
He’s a good kid but very
stubborn. He hates getting sick, so he pretends like he’s not
hurting and that only makes it worse,” he said as he worked his
hands down her back.

“
It sounds like you love him
a lot,” said Veronica, her voice coming out in a soft
whisper.

Victor chuckled as he thought of his
precocious nephew.

“
Yeah. His name is David and
he’s probably the most amazing kid in the world,” he
said.

“
His dad died a few years
ago and he considers himself the man of the house. He told me the
other day to start calling him Mr. David,” he said shaking his
head.

He felt Veronica’s shoulders move as
she laughed softly.

“
He sounds like a handful,”
she said drowsily.

“
He is, but I wouldn’t
change him for anything,” he replied.

He told her stories about his nephew
as he continued to rub at her sore muscles. She asked a few more
questions but after a while she drifted into silence. Eventually
Victor heard her release a soft snore and smiled. She was asleep.
He removed the cloth from her back, rolled her onto her back, and
pulled the comforter back up to her neck before her body could
tempt him into doing something stupid.

He glanced down at his watch
and wasn’t surprised to see that it was only seven in the
evening.
Thank God for smart
phones,
he thought as he left the room and
settled onto Veronica’s couch. He figured he could get some work in
and still be around if Veronica needed him.

Veronica shuddered awake and
for
A
moment
thought that she was back in New York. She was
freezing and it took her a moment to realize that she hadn’t woken
up in a cold unheated apartment, she was sick and it felt horrible.
She curled into herself shivering so hard her teeth
rattled.

Her body ached and she felt frozen to
the core. She hated being sick. The helplessness of it always made
her want to scream out in frustration. She burrowed further into
the blankets and tried to fight back tears.

Mother Nature was always the great
equalizer thought Veronica. No matter how capable and strong you
thought you were, Nature would bitch slap you with some virus, germ
or otherwise generally hellacious ailment that had even the
strongest person whimpering for their momma. Veronica had
definitely reached that point.

She wished she hadn’t made Victor
leave. As obnoxious as he was it did suck to be sick and alone.
Tears feel down her cheeks unchecked and she just hoped that sleep
would envelop her again.

“
Hey, you’re
awake.”

The sound Victor’s gruff voice almost
made her sob out in relief.

“
You’re still here,” she
whispered.

“
Of course, I am,” he
said.

“
I told you it was going to
take a lot to make me leave,” he said as he leaned over her and
touched his hand to her brow.

“
You’re still really
hot.”

“
I don’t feel hot,” she
said.

“
I feel like someone dumped
a pile of ice on top of me,”

“
Well to sound completely
cliché, I know how to warm you up,” he said waggling his eyebrows
at her and twisting his mouth into a comical leer.