Steven (5 page)

He had to fight to keep the grin from his face.  “What was different about my kiss?  Didn’t your fiancé kiss you?”
  He pressed the issue, knowing he was embarrassing her, but hoping she would admit how she was feeling.

She shrugged.  “He kissed me all the time.  I felt like all I did was fight his hands off.”
  She sounded exasperated now, but she wasn’t sure how to hide it any longer.

He couldn’t keep the grin from spreading across his face anymore.  “I see.  You didn’t like it when he kissed you and touched you.”  He paused until her eyes finally met his.  “You liked it when I touched you, though, right?”

She nodded helplessly, mesmerized by his brown eyes. 
How much longer could she stand here having this conversation with him without getting so embarrassed she ran from the room?

“Would you like it if I kissed you again?” he asked, his eyes staring into hers.

When she didn’t answer, he lowered his head slowly, giving her plenty of time to back away if she didn’t want this.  When she didn’t say anything, he brushed his lips across hers, barely touching her, then came back and kissed the corners of her mouth. 

Her arms came up as if of their own accord and wrapped around his neck.  His arms went around her as he pulled her body flush with his.  He deepened the kiss, gently tracing the seam of her lips with his tongue. 

She let out a low moan in the back of her throat, surprising them both.  His hands went to her buttocks as he gently slid his tongue into her mouth.  He kept his passion under control this time, understanding better how innocent she truly was.

His hand moved around to cup her breast, gently molding it in the palm of his hand.  She tore herself away.

He groaned.  What was wrong?  Then he heard it, too.  Faith was crying.  How was he ever going to get the nanny into bed if the baby was always crying?  He needed to get another nanny so he could properly seduce the first
one
. 

She’d already turned away from him and lifted the baby from her crib, bouncing her slowly back and forth.  “You need your diaper changed, don’t you Faithy?”  She carried the baby over and laid
her
on her on changing table, opening the drawer at the top to pull out the things she needed. 
She carefully kept her eyes on the baby and acted as if he wasn’t in the room.  Maybe he’d take the hint and leave.

Faith gurgled happily when she saw
Bailey
leaning over her crooning in a soft voice.

Steven
quietly left the room.  Maybe he could get someone to come in and sit with Faith for a few hours while they were on Motu Tane. 
He would love to
have a special candlelit
dinner on
the beach for
Valentine’s Day.  She needed to be treated like she was special.

As
Bailey
sat feeding Faith her bottle, all she could think about was the kiss she’d just shared with
Steven
.  It was so different from the first, when he’d been demanding and rough.  This time, it was almost as if he were treating her like a porcelain doll.  She wasn’t sure which she preferred.  They both sent her pulse rate through the roof.

How far would she have let him go if the baby hadn’t started crying then?  She liked to think she would have stopped him, but she wasn’t sure.  She certainly hadn’t wanted him to stop. 

Why hadn’t she ever felt that way about Bradley?  When she’d agreed to marry him, she was sure she’d felt passion when he’d kissed her.  She was wrong, though.  What she
’d
felt when Bradley touched her paled into insignificance next to how she felt when
Steven
touched her.  Did he have
electricity in his fingers?  She could swear her did.  He lit her up like a Christmas tree every time he walked into the room.

She said a quick prayer of thanks, she hadn’t married Bradley.  Being married to a man who she only had a slight affection for would have been
horrible
.  She couldn’t imagine having sex with him.
  It would have been a miserable existence. 

Steven
, on the other hand, she couldn’t stop imagining having sex with.  The past two nights, her bed had been completely torn up because she’d tossed and turned thinking of him.  Her body was on fire even now, thinking of how it felt to be in his arms.  How could she keep holding out against a man like that?  Was it even possible?

She looked down at the precious baby in her arms.  “Your daddy is going to be the death of me, Faithy.  I don’t know how I’m going to handle being on vacation with him.  I really don’t.”

Bailey
carried six suitcases down the stairs on Sunday afternoon in preparation for their trip.  After her third trip down the stairs,
Steven
glared.  “How many suitcases does one woman need?  Shorts don’t take up much space, and we’re going somewhere hot!”
  He was getting more than a little exasperated with her.

She pointed to the largest suitcase.  “That one is mine.  The others are for Faith.  Do you have any idea how many diapers she goes through in a week?  How much formula?  Her stuff is going to take up half your plane, so deal with it!”
  She paused.  “You won’t even tell me where we’re going.  I don’t know if I’ll have access to a store.  What if she gets sick?  I’m taking all the medicine I can think of.  This is making me crazy!”

She turned around and marched back up the stairs leaving him staring at her back grinning.  He loved it when she stood up to him.  Not many people did.  His money had given him too much power for too long.  He needed someone like
Bailey
in his life.

At
four
on the dot, he yelled up the stairs.  “It’s time to go,
Bailey
!”

She glared at him, but walked down the stairs holding the baby in her car seat.  “She’s going to need to be buckled in on the plane.”  She paused.  “Just how long is this plane ride anyway?”
  She knew she was being rude, but he was being ridiculous.  Why wouldn’t he tell her where they were going, or at least what type of amenities they’d have when they go
t
there?

“Don’t worry.  I’ll have them put all her stuff on the plane so you can do whatever you have to do with her.”
  He was still vague on what exactly needed to be done for a baby, but she was there, so he really didn’t need to think about it too much.

She sighed.  “You’re going to have to learn to deal with your daughter
,
you know.”
  How long was it going to take him to warm up to his child?

He glared at her, taking the baby from her and holding the door open for her to leave.  “I know how to deal with her.  I give her to you.”  A driver was standing n
ext to a long black limousine, holding open the back door.

Bailey
stopped short when she saw the limo.  “Get in,
Bailey
.  We have a long flight.”
  His hand on her back was pushing her forward toward the limo.

She stood staring for a moment, and then climbed into the back.  He handed the baby to her, and she buckled her car seat
into one side, and slid into the seat across from the baby
.  “You didn’t tell me we were taking a limo.”
  She folded her arms across her chest, as if not telling her which car they were taking was an egregious error.

He slipped into the seat next to her grinning as she moved away from him toward the window.  He buckled himself into the middle of the seat, so she’d have nowhere to go.

“I don’t tell you a lot of things.  Get used to it.”
  It was all he could do to keep the grin from crossing his face as he said the words.  He knew he was driving her crazy, and he wanted to see what would happen if he pushed her over the top.  Teasing her was fun.

She sighed.  “You know, you can be really nice sometimes, but sometimes, you’re a real ass.”
  She turned away from him, staring out the opposite window, letting him know in no uncertain terms she was more than a little miffed.

He laughed.  “Did the word ‘ass’ just come from your innocent little tongue?”

She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.  She never used foul language.  He was going to drive her to drink before she knew what was happening to her. 
“Are you proud of yourself for making me say a cuss word?”
  He seemed genuinely thrilled she’d cussed at him.  What was wrong with him?

He nodded emphatically.  “Sure am.  Pretty soon, maybe I’ll have you gambling and drinking with me.”

She sighed.  Her daddy would not approve of this trip.  He wouldn’t approve of her spending five minutes with her traveling companion.  “I sure hope not.  My daddy would roll over in his grave.”
  She paused and gave him an evil look.  “He taught me better than this!”

Steven
threw back his head and let his laughter roll through the air.  He couldn’t remember ever being with a woman who made him laugh before.  She was good for him, whether she thought so or not. 

She rolled her eyes at him, turning away to look out the window.  He put his hand on her thigh casually.  She picked up his hand and returned it to his lap, trying not to let him know how
his touch affected her
.

He grinned and put his hand back on her thigh.  Without looking at him she put it on his lap again.

“Do you not want my hand there?”
  His voice was full of an innocence she wasn’t buying.

She turned to look at him, giving him a disgusted look.  “What do you think?”
 

He put his hand back on her thigh, squeezing it through the denim of her jeans.  “I think you like my hand there, and you’re not ready to admit it to yourself.”

She blushed, but removed his hand again.  “I can admit it to myself.  It’s you I’m not ready to admit it to!”
  She turned her head away again so he wouldn’t see her blush.

“You don’t have to admit it to me, because I already know.  See how easy that is?”  He put his hand back on her thigh. 

She moved it back to his lap.  “The driver can see us!”
The man was stark raving mad
,
and she was about to get on a plane with him and fly off to God knows where.  What was wrong with her?

He flicked a button and a black shield went up between them and the driver.  “And now the driver can’t see us.”  He put his hand back on her thigh, much higher than he had before.

“I thought this was a business trip!  I feel like I’m in a car with a randy teenager.”
  She brushed his hand off her lap with an annoyed expression.

“Randy?  Does anyone even use the word randy anymore?”  He laughed softly.  “I kind of like it.  You can call me randy anytime you want, baby.”

She elbowed him in the stomach to get him to stop.  “Please keep your hand to yourself
, Randy
.”
 

His laughter filled the car
.  “Since you asked nicely, and said please and everything, I’ll behave.  But just so you know?  In my mind, my hand is on your thigh, and you’re not wearing anything.”

She turned bright red and sputtered.  “You have to stop saying things like that to me!  I’m your employee.”  She couldn’t believe he was acting this way.  Where was the angry man she’d met just a
week
before?
 

“Hiring you was the best decision I ever made.”  He slipped his arm around her shoulders and waited for her to protest.  When she didn’t, he took his other hand and turned her face toward him.  “Anytime you want me to stop, and I mean really want me to stop, you just say so.  I’m not going to force anything.  But I am going to do this as often as I can get away with it.”  He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her lightly.

He didn’t try anything else, because he saw they were about to pull up to
his private hangar at Alliance Airport.  When the driver opened the back door, he dropped his arm from around her shoulders.  “Make sure all the luggage ends up onboard the plane
,
please.  We’ll need to be able to
have easy
access
to
it.”

“Of course, sir.”
  The drive
r
acted as if Steven were royalty. 
That’s his problem,
she thought. 
Everyone treats him like he’s the most important person in the world, so he thinks he is.

Steven
climbed out and waited while
Bailey
unbuckled Faith and handed her car seat to him.  He looked down at the blanket
Bailey
had tucked over the baby’s face before handing her out.  “Are you sure she can breathe okay?”
  The concern in his voice thrilled her.  He seemed to genuinely care about Faith.

Bailey
smiled at him.  “She’s fine.  I just don’t want her to catch cold.”  He seemed to be more interested in his little girl every day, and
Bailey
loved that about him.