Return to Gray Harbor (14 page)

She led him into the dark carriage house. Once inside, his hands moved up the sides of her hips, up to her ribs, and then she slowly brushed his thumbs against the side of her breasts.

She felt like the whole world was hushed. He continued to kiss her lightly up her neck, his teeth scraping lightly over her earlobes. He slowly undid her belt buckle, which was preventing him from touching her, and threw it to the floor in one swift motion. He moved back to her mouth now and parted her lips in a deep kiss before returning his attention back to her shirt. His hands were underneath her shirt and she was in ecstasy and in hell, all at once. He pulled away and watching her face, he lifted up her shirt while still pressing against her and rolled one nipple between his fingers through the lace of her bra. She moaned with pleasure. She pressed her hips against him, indicating she wanted much, much more than just this. She needed a release from the ache inside her. She reached down and pressed her palm against the hardness just underneath his zipper. She unzipped him and slipped her hand inside.

He let out a low growl and looked at her searchingly. “Are you sure about this?”

She nodded and he moved to get something on the floor. That’s right, he had a backpack. He opened it and removed a blanket, spreading it on the floor.

She arched an eyebrow and looked at him questioningly.

“I had packed this cause I thought we might do some stargazing tonight, there are some great constellations out there. But now I’m glad I have it since I’d rather look at you,” he said, as he pulled her gently to the ground with him.

As they moved to the blanket, she tugged his shirt free and she skimmed her fingers over his taut stomach. He let out a gasp. He pushed her hands away and returned to kissing her neck and whispered huskily, “I just want to concentrate on you.”

While kissing her, he made quick work of her jeans, unbuttoning them and pulling them off and then he removed her shirt. He paused and smiled, looking down at her red panties and bra. He reached around her and released her breasts from the fabric. He then lowered himself and sucked gently, his tongue darting across her now very hard nipples.

He thought to himself, God, Beth was sexy. She was soft, but well-toned, and her creamy, yet slightly tanned, skin perfectly complemented her masses of red hair.

He moved his hands across her thighs, then smoothed his hands over her hips and over her stomach as he looked at her intensely. His fingers then dipped underneath the elastic edges of her panties. She sucked in her breath and pushed her hips back.

She gasped. “Michael, please ...”

He touched her, his fingers seeking her heat. He slipped his fingers inside her softness and used the other hand to cup her breast. He gently bit her nipples.

The sensations built up inside her and she didn’t know if she could hold out any longer. She held onto him tightly as she began to lose control. Her body moved in a rhythmic motion against his hands, against his body. Pleasure rushed through her until she was gasping for air. She stared blindly at the ceiling as Michael held her in his arms after her orgasm. He then began to kiss her softly.

He held her there for a long time. Beth couldn’t help herself, she was feeling vulnerable and raw. She had to say it. “Now what? What does this mean, Michael?” She looked at him searchingly, hoping that he would give her the answer she wanted.

Michael looked at her. He had no idea what to say, so he tried to speak what he was feeling. “What happens next,” he repeated slowly, “is that we see each other again and again. And I kiss you again and again.”

He began to kiss her neck, moving his way down her stomach.

“But what happens when you have to leave, Michael? To go back to New York in two weeks?”

He sighed and looked up. He was afraid of this moment. “I will have to leave, but not for good. I just need to settle things in New York before I can move forward. But Beth, this is good and I want to see more of you, I don’t want this to end.”

So many thoughts were going through Beth’s head ... but one thing was for sure: she didn’t want this night to end, either. They looked at each other with a mix of desire and questioning. Beth decided then it was time to trust herself and stop always searching for answers. She reached for him and whispered, “I want you now.”

A groan escaped from Michael and he kissed her, gently at first and then more aggressively. He whispered, “You’re amazing,” pushing her red panties down.

She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her bare breasts against his smooth chest. She decided it was time for her to take the lead ... she kissed his chest, tasting the salt of his skin. Her hands roamed and worked their way down his body. At first she was nervous but her confidence grew as she followed the contours of his hard planes. His strong shoulders, muscled arms, the indent of his navel — and lower still.

He sucked in a breath and stopped her. “Hey, I wasn’t finished,” she said breathlessly.

He looked her. ”Oh, we aren’t finished ... but you’re driving me crazy.”

He took charge and turned Beth on to her back. He held her hands over her head. And teased her with his tongue starting at her ear and then he went for her neck. She wanted him badly and was lifting her hips and pressing against him seductively. He let go of her hands and worked his way down her body. He sucked each nipple slowly. She pressed his head against her and he began kissing his way down to her waist.

“Michael, you’re driving me crazy, please,” she said breathlessly, “I want you inside me!”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. He reached for a condom in the pocket of his jeans and then unzipped his pants. He stood up and in a matter of seconds he had sheathed himself and had his arms wrapped fully around her. He gently kissed her as he moved between her legs. He flexed his hips and then pushed gently inside.

All thought was gone; for once Beth’s mind was quiet and she was just in the moment, just feeling the sensations that radiated from where they were joined. She clung to him as he took her deeper and deeper. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her body rising to meet his. She teased her nipples as he surged into her.

“You have no idea what seeing you do that is doing to me,” he said to her.

She looked at him half-lidded and then he plunged into her deeply. As his hands went to her back, he lifted her, changing their position so that she was now seated on top of him. She began rising and falling, sending tremors through her body.

She gasped, feeling herself tighten against him. He continued with his upward rhythmic thrusts until Beth released a guttural moan from her throat. He immediately released a moan of his own as they both collapsed onto the ground into a sweaty and satisfied heap.

The night had ended reasonably well considering the awkward moments Beth and Michael had after their encounter in the carriage house. Should he refer to it as an encounter? He smiled. Whatever it was, it was amazing. As their evening came to a close, they both got up and rushed to put on their clothes and say their goodbyes. He guessed they couldn’t very well sleep in the carriage house all night. But he would have.

Beth excited him on so many levels — definitely physically but also intellectually and emotionally. Something that he had never really experienced before, something he’d like to experience more of.

That morning, he went to the hospital early with his mother to visit his father. They sat with him for a long while and told him all of the happenings at the store. Michael even showed him the draft of the new website. James seemed very pleased. They spoke with Dr. Williams, who let them know that in another week James could come home, but that they should ready the home for him. Perhaps have him sleep downstairs, because even though he could walk, he would be challenged so many other ways each day that making something easier would be best for them all.

After they left the hospital, Michael decided to take care of things on the home front and take a break from the market for the day. He called Bob and discussed having a few guys come over and move his parents’ bedroom to the den. Michael also wanted to redecorate. Bob agreed to come over in a few days and get it sorted out. Next, Michael made a call he was dreading, but it had to be done. His life needed to be put in order. At ten he got a call from his lawyer and decided to actually answer it.

“Duffy! Hey, how are you?” Michael asked. His lawyer was Peter Duffy, a great contracts attorney with lots of experience in employment law, and probably one of Michael’s closest friends in New York.

“Michael! After reading the paper this weekend, I thought I’d hear from you, considering what was said about Krol Industries.”

Krol was one of Michael’s accounts that the twenty-five-year-old weasel was also working on.

Duffy continued. “You didn’t see it did you? An announcement went out in the Journal this weekend. It got leaked to the press that Goldfarb wants the company sold, and Harry replaced.”

Michael was stunned, Harry was Krol’s CEO, and a friend.

“I need to call Harry and I need to go to Goldfarb now…” Before Michael could think, words poured out of him in a rush. “Duffy ... I want to quit. And I think I’m going to do it tomorrow morning.”

“Whoa, Michael, are you sure about this?” said Duffy, his jovial tone gone now.

“I am. I really am, Duff. I just need to get a flight and close up a few things here. Can you get started on my severance negotiation paperwork and meet with me tomorrow morning?”

“You got it, meet me at seven for breakfast. We can go to Perishing at 42nd Street.”

After their call ended, Michael spent the next hour making travel arrangements so he could be back in New York tonight. He was hoping to see Beth tonight, but this was important. His career and his reputation were at stake. He knew she would understand.

After arrangements had been made, he dusted off his computer and ran the numbers for Krol. It didn’t look good to him, it seemed like a ‘fire sale.’ People would lose their jobs, and all because Goldfarb and some twenty-five-year-old kid were in a profit-taking mood.

Michael called Harry, the CEO of Krol, on his cellphone. Harry answered on the first ring.

“Michael, where the hell have you been?” said Harry in a rush of words.

“Harry, my father had a stroke, I’ve been out on vacation for over a week.”

Michael paused, waiting for Harry to say more, and then he said, “Jeffrey Stevens has been working on my accounts and, judging from what I heard this morning, he’s done a number on this one.”

“Harry, I hate to say it, but I ran the numbers and I see why they’re doing it. But they’re missing some key information. I really think all the plans you have can really turn things around and give shareholders value. I will fly back and go talk to them tomorrow. But if this goes through ... well, I’m sorry to say, Harry, that I don’t agree with it and I can’t be a part of this kind of thing anymore.”

“Michael, I’m not sure what to do now with all of this, but if I were you, I wouldn’t want to be associated with Goldfarb. I’m not going down without a fight, I’m not ready to dust off the old resume yet. I got to go but we’ll be talking.”

With that, Harry abruptly hung up, but Michael knew as Harry put it, that they’d be talking. Michael, however, was going to be doing a different kind of talking to Goldfarb. This was ridiculous and highly unprofessional. Sure, the stock price could go up — but the media attention could also hurt them. And Goldfarb was usually very careful about these kinds of things, this was the first time something like this had leaked to the press. He needed to do damage control and he needed to leave right away to make it down to Portland in time to turn in his car and make his flight.

One hour later, Michael was saying his goodbyes to his family and everyone at Malone’s Market. He had pulled his mother and Annie aside and explained the situation.

“I can’t believe it, Michael. These people are ridiculous. You are right to quit. And poor Harry,” said Annie. She continued to ramble but Michael didn’t pick it all up. He waved his goodbyes and told them he’d be back soon. He had to deal with this first.

He got in his car and gunned it all the way to Portland. He was ready to move on with his life. He was ready to do the right thing.

Beth woke up a little late that morning. Lisa covered Monday breakfasts, which tended to be lighter than the weekend rush, so Beth didn’t feel bad about sleeping in. She had had a great time with Michael the day before. The whole day had just been so romantic. The picnic, the bike ride, the impromptu dinner. And what happened in the carriage house was better than any stargazing she had ever done. Sure, the end of the evening was a little rushed but she thought that she and Michael could make it be more than a fling. Except she wasn’t sure what her next move should be. Maybe she could cook him dinner and they could have a private night here at the Inn. She smiled at the thought as she got ready to face the day.

Mondays were generally slow at the Inn so she’d be prepping for the evening’s dinner service alone for both the dining room and the Tavern. As she was chopping onions she thought it was hard to believe that she had only met—or rather, became reacquainted—with Michael that night in the Tavern just one week ago. She really wanted to call him, but knew that he had work of his own to do today, Anyway, they would see each other at the Market tomorrow when she did her weekly shopping.

Today, she was going to do some things she hadn’t done in awhile: she’d go for a run, she’d read, maybe even experiment on some new recipes before her shift started. It was going to be a great day, she could feel it, she thought to herself as she smiled.

Michael landed in New York at about five thirty. Before he had even made it off the tarmac, he called a real estate agent about listing his apartment for rent for now, and eventually for sale. He also called a moving company about picking up his things Tuesday afternoon, and found a storage place in Gray Harbor that he could use until he found his own place. He was stressed out about the next day and knew he had to keep himself busy. He reminded himself that this was the right thing to do. As he waited in the cab line at John F. Kennedy airport, he thought about the night before with Beth. She was so sexy. Just thinking about her made him picture the night before. Okay, he thought to himself, perhaps the airport is not the right place to think about this.

A few minutes later on his way home, he had put all thoughts of Beth out of his mind and focused on the tasks at hand. He had made some decisions about his future this past week and on the plane ride. He needed to get out while he could. Out of Goldfarb. Out of finance. And out of New York. Now, what he was getting himself into, he wasn’t exactly sure. But he knew one thing for sure. It would be an adventure.

Beth looked at the clock on her cellphone, frustrated. Okay, she knew she’d see him tomorrow, but why hadn’t he called? It was already nine and things were slowing down at the Warren, allowing Beth too much time to think things through. Maybe she should have held back the night before? Maybe she should have told him to call her today so they could make plans? Maybe — maybe she should have handled everything differently. She was second-guessing herself and that wasn’t good. She knew she had had a good time and Michael had certainly gone through a lot of trouble planning yesterday. That’s not something any man would do just to sleep with you. If he did, that would be completely twisted, and that wasn’t Michael. He might not call today, but maybe he was just playing it cool. She smiled and relaxed, shaking her head. I’m being ridiculous, she thought to herself. And besides, she was going to see him tomorrow. Tonight she just needed to focus on getting things cleaned and prepped for the next day and make her shopping list.

When Michael had arrived at his apartment, the first thing he did was order Chinese food. The next thing he did was take a good look around. Packing wouldn’t be too difficult. Michael went for the minimalist approach in his apartment. It was a tidy studio with a small kitchen. He never cooked so he only had the bare necessities, all of which could probably fit in one box. To his left, his bathroom was much of the same thing; nothing really to pack in there except for his shampoo, shaving cream, razors, toothpaste, and his toothbrush. The living room/bedroom was also fairly simple. He had a bed from West Elm that was dark brown and quite low to the ground. Beside it was a small stool that doubled as a nightstand and held an alarm clock and a lamp. In front of the window and in the corner stood the most expensive items in the whole apartment: his Eames Lounge chair and ottoman. They faced a small media console, which had a thirty-two-inch flat screen TV. He looked around and realized that in the four years he had lived in this apartment, he had barely put any personal touches around; he literally just ate and slept here. Well, and he ate takeout here, too.

Now was as good a time as any to start packing up what he could in terms of his clothes and other personal items. The movers would take care of the rest on Wednesday morning. His Chinese food came and he ate and then planned his attack. By the time he went to bed that evening, everything was packed except for one suit, shirt, tie, and pair of shoes he left out to wear the next day. It was amazing that he could pack up his entire home, his entire life, in just one evening.

That next morning, Michael was up at the crack of dawn to meet with Duffy. He took a cab over to Pershing Square to make it to the seven o’clock meeting on time. Duffy was already there, drinking coffee.

“Hey, Michael! How you doing this morning?” Duffy asked, grinning.

Michael shook his head. Duffy had to be the most cheerful lawyer in Manhattan. It frustrated Michael sometimes, but it also was one of his favorite things about the man. Michael sat down and nodded good morning. Duffy waved over the server to bring him more coffee, and a cup for Michael.

“So, find anything for me in the documents?” Michael asked.

“Well, no severance, of course. The agreement is pretty ironclad if you quit. The good news and bad news is that your contract was up three months ago. You know the one they delayed resigning? So we can’t get the rest of your promised income, which would barely be worth the fight since it’s based on profits. The thing that’s really great, though, is your stake in the company. “

“I think I’m at five percent now. What does that have to do with anything?” Michael asked, confused.

“That means they owe you five percent of the holdings ... in cash. The better part is they have it, and don’t even know it yet. Check it out.” Duffy pulled out a copy of the paper and passed it over to Michael. Goldfarb announced a new partner who was going to be putting in cash ... which meant Michael’s five percent just got a lot larger ... that meant Michael could walk away with eighty million dollars.

He was stunned. When he came to the fund five years back, they were a small, two million dollar shop. He must have done something right for them to now be worth several hundred million dollars. He was absolutely floored.

“Wow. How is that going to affect them when I pull out a stake like this?”

“They should have thought about that before all of this. I got us a meeting at nine with your whole team. They think it’s a contract negotiation though … that’s how I got the meeting. And I don’t think they’re expecting you to be with me, as they let me know you’re on vacation. But I think that is a good thing, don’t you?”

Michael smiled. He knew that no one at Goldfarb, especially management, liked surprises. Especially a surprise that meant hem losing money, along with the threat of more negative press including the fact that Michael was leaving, in part, due to their mishandling the Krol situation and to Goldfarb uncaringly deciding the fate of thousands of people. That kind of news always left a bad taste in people’s mouths and would really hurt business.

Three hours later, Michael and Duffy were sitting before the board, negotiating the terms of separation. The board members were certainly not pleased with Michael, but they were also displeased with the bad press that had been leaked out to the media about their dealings with Krol. During all of it, Michael couldn’t stop thinking about Beth. Before Beth, he had only dated self-interested women who really didn’t care about him. He knew things with Beth were new ... but he also knew they had something. Something special. He couldn’t wait to get back to Maine and back to Beth.