The Proposal (8 page)

She was trying to find a
safe position in which to sit down. She chose the bed and then sat down on it,
first crossing her legs, then uncrossing them, them choosing to move further up
the bed and finally she propped her head against the headboard, with her legs
out in front of her.

"You did good Ethan,
you just need to string it out for another day and a half," her green eyes
looked at him wistfully. He looked most handsome, sitting there across the room
from her with his short cropped hair giving him an almost military look.

“I’m sorry I was so nasty
earlier when we were up here. I don’t know what came over me. I think its
because this means a lot to me. Sandra is always on my case. I’m paranoid that
she’s going to find out about us.”

“Why are you so scared of
her?”

Nadine paused. “Because
she makes my life hell.”

“So why do you put up
with it?”

“Because I’ve just been
promoted and I want to prove myself here except that she’s placing the most
crazy demands on me.”

“She sounds like a total
bitch.”

It fell suddenly silent
in the room.

Here they were, two semi
strangers sharing the intimacy of a hotel bedroom. The absence of conversation
hung in the air.

"You're
staring," she whispered, feeling a little bit unsure of herself.

 "I was looking
at you," he replied, his eyes twinkling in the now dim light of the room.
Quickly, he got up and adjusted the lighting, turning on the sconces on either
side of the bed. The light from them bathed Nadine in a soft, warm light. Ethan
came over to the bed and sat down beside her. His sat sideways, with his feet
on the floor and he swiveled around from his waist and turned to her. 
"I was just wondering how we were going to sleep." Nadine blushed.
She knew she was blushing, and got mad at herself for doing so, which made her
blush even more.  She looked around the room, skirting her eyes over the
glaringly massive bed. He enjoyed watching her discomfort. Nadine, feeling his
strong presence so near to her, felt her heart racing and prayed that he didn't
hear it.

He traced a finger
delicately over her lower lip. 

Breathless, with the
electric feel of his finger on her lips, she said shakily, "Don't you go
making any funny moves now." She glared at him, determined to have the
upper hand and to maintain a sense of control. "I mean it Ethan, don't
assume I'm an easy shot. We had a deal remember." 

Instinctively, he
withdrew his finger.  "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. I just
thought we had a.......connection." He stared at her, seeing the look of
fear in her face. What was she afraid of?  

He got up and walked
away, "I thought we had a connection. That's all. I don't want you to feel
that I'm going to be making any dodgy moves, because I'm not. You don't have to
be so scared."  He moved over to his luggage and got out a sleeping
bag which he spread out across the chaise longue. "This is going to do me
just fine," he got his possessions and disappeared into the bathroom,
leaving Nadine sitting all alone on the bed.

It was almost midnight.
Had they really been downstairs for so long?

It was time for bed and
tomorrow there was an eight thirty start for Nadine. First on the agenda was an
informal breakfast meeting with the marketing heads from the international
offices. Then there were various meetings and presentations, some with Michael
Zimmerman and some with Sandra and she was booked up all day until seven
o'clock. 

She hoped Ethan would be
able to keep himself busy and out of trouble for most of the day. She made a
mental note to ask Melissa to keep an eye on him and to make sure he was
alright.

Just as she was thinking
these thoughts, Ethan walked out in his boxers and a white t-shirt. He had a
beautiful physique and she knew he knew that this was what she was thinking.
She tried to avert her gaze but it fell from his face, to his t-shirt and
skimmed over to his boxers.

Her heart missed a beat
and she felt her pulse quickening.

"Well, good night
then," she said, rather tartly, getting up to hide in the comfort of the
bathroom herself. "I'll be out of the way early tomorrow. You’ve got the
day free to yourself. Enjoy yourself, if you want treatments or food or drink,
just charge it to the room." She tried to look at his eyes, to gauge his
mood. She didn’t want to be nasty to him. But she felt she needed to set her boundaries.

As he got into his
sleeping bag, striking quite an absurd pose, for which she had no option but to
blurt out laughing. "You have no idea how funny you look!"

"Oh, I have a pretty
good idea," he replied, grinning widely and watching her reaction.

"I hope you'll be
comfortable Ethan," she got her belongings out of her suitcase.

"Don't worry your
pretty head about me, I'm good," and then he wriggled his feet in the
sleeping bag and his legs, from just under the knee downwards, hung over the
edge of the chaise longue. He shuffled around trying to find a comfortable
position for his head but the hard, high arm of the chaise longue made this
almost impossible. The higher up he put his head on the edge, the more of his
legs he was able to get on the chaise longue. But it was uncomfortable. If he
moved his head down onto the level surface of the chaise longue, then most of
his legs dangled uncomfortably off it.

Nadine felt sorry for
him. "You don’t look comfortable at all.”

Should she offer to
share her bed?

"No, no, no, no, it
isn't," he said, mocking her absurdly. "I'm going to sleep like a
baby tonight." But he didn’t seem convincing at all.

"And from the babies
I know, it means you'll be up every hour, on the hour."  She headed
into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it behind her.

In his sleeping bag,
Ethan chuckled to himself softly. Nadine was such a prude. Where most women
would openly and flagrantly show off their bodies in front of him, Nadine was
the opposite. He half expected her to emerge from the bathroom in a sister's
habit.

When, a little while
later, she slipped out in a checked blue and white night shirt, Ethan was
already fast asleep. Which made Nadine exceedingly happy. She stared at his
sleeping form, watching his face intently from as near as she dared and tried
to suppress a giggle at the sight of his long, legs spilling over onto the
floor.  Poor man, he wasn't going to sleep very well at all. 

She set the alarm for six
in the morning and sunk blissfully into her large and luxurious bed.

Nadine was already
stirring in her bed long before the alarm went off.

So when the first gentle
beeps of her alarm started to sound, she slipped out her arm and quickly
switched it off. She slipped her arm back into the sumptuous bed and
stretched fully on the soft mattress. With a start she remembered where she
was. Her eyes darted over to the chaise longue but it was empty and she saw
that in the middle of the floor lay Ethan.

He was still in his
sleeping bag, with his head on the pillow that he had also thrown down. 

She got up and lay on her
bed on her stomach with her feet on the pillows and her head hanging over the
edge. She watched Ethan sleeping; he seemed so peaceful and calm as though he
had really slept like a baby.

He started to stir just
then so, quick as a shot, she got up and collected her things quietly before
disappearing into the shower.

When she came out in her
cream colored tight fitting skirt and with white silk blouse she looked very
much ready for her power breakfast meeting with Michael Zimmerman. Thinking
that Ethan would still be lying on the floor, Nadine hopped around in the
corner, putting on her cream patent leather heels.

"You’ll turn heads
in that outfit,” he said softly. He was sitting up in her bed, bare chested.
When
had he taken his t-shirt off
? The sight of his perfectly toned chest
distracted her before she figured out what he had said.

"Thanks," was
all she could manage to utter. With both shoes on she stood with her arms
akimbo. The light from the wall lights created a dark and intimate atmosphere
and with the curtains still drawn inside the room, it was easy to forget that a
new day had begun.

He looked so sexy and so
inviting sitting in her bed. "I-I, was going to wake you up to tell you to
move to the bed but I see you got there anyway." She moved over to the
dresser and picked up the earrings she had decided to wear. She managed to
thread one of them through but she was having problems with the other one.

He could easily watch her
for hours. "Here, let me do that for you." It was almost an
order.  Nadine obeyed and walked over to him, aware that once again he was
half naked and so close to her.

"You're going to
have to sit down Nadine," he said, when she stood before him, unsure of what
to do. "Either that or I'll have to get up but I might not be wearing my
boxers under here. It’s up to you whether you want to find out."  He
raised one eyebrow, almost daring her to. She sat down quickly and immediately
became conscious of how close they both were. Lifting his hands, he gently
touched her ear, taking the butterfly piece from her and moving it carefully
onto the earring post. His fingers felt so warm and tender and he was being
very careful not to hurt her.

Yet as composed as Ethan
looked, he was having trouble concentrating because Nadine smelled so clean and
fresh. The heady scent of her musk perfume heightened his senses sending
exciting signals all over his body. He saw that the tight fitting skirt hugged
her womanly curves and showed off her super small waist. He could also sense an
abundance of her breasts, hiding behind the white silk blouse.

It was enough to drive
him wild with desire but he managed to maintain his composure. "There, all
done," he said in a low voice, as Nadine pulled her head back
slowly.  She looked at him with renewed interest. Their faces were an inch
apart from each other and they stared into each other's eyes for a fleeting
second. As Nadine stood up, Ethan's gaze took in her full body as she straightened
herself up before him.

"Knock them dead
Nadine," he said, not wanting her to go.

"Keep busy and stay
out of trouble. If you need something and can't find me, call me. I'll tell
Melissa to keep an eye out for you."

She didn't want to leave,
but knew she must. She headed for the door, giving Ethan one last pensive look
before she left.

Ethan slipped back under
the soft covers and replayed in his mind the scene that had just taken place.

Nadine walked into the
comforting and safe atmosphere of a high powered breakfast with Michael, Sandra
and the overseas marketing managers.

She felt safe here, in
meetings, talking about work, discussing proposals, finding ways of marketing
the services of Zimmerman Group better. She could easily spend all day in deep
discussions and meetings. She knew what was required of her and it didn't
require any emotional investment from her.

But, as she smiled
vacantly at Mario next to her, and caught Sandra discreetly trying to stifle a
yawn and while Michael Zimmerman was talking, a part of her mind was
pre-occupied. A part of her mind was still upstairs with Ethan. Now that she
was not physically in the same room as him, she could retrace and re-observe
the events of this morning, knowing that she was safely sitting at breakfast,
away from Ethan. Ethan. The mere thought of his name bought back images of his
naked body sitting upright in her bed.

"I totally
agree," she heard Sandra's sharp voice a notch louder than usual and then
as she looked up, she saw Sandra looking her way. "What do you think
Nadine? Is that something we can implement?"

Sandra's sharp eyes cut
into her thoughts. Nadine had no idea what they had been discussing, let alone
know whether it was something that she could implement. She faced them blankly.
Now was a do or die situation. She felt the mouthful of porridge stuck in her
mouth, unable to push it down, as her mind quickly processed what her options
were.  Swallowing, she decided the honest approach would be best. She
would confess that she hadn't been following the conversation but just as she
opened her mouth, she felt a warm kiss on her cheek, coming from behind.

"Hey honey, sorry to
interrupt but you forgot this upstairs." It was Ethan; he placed her cell
phone alongside her cutlery.  Unsure what to make of this but thankful
that he had given her the phone thus saving her from a potentially embarrassing
situation, Nadine was temporarily stunned and barely uttered her thanks.

Seeing Ethan drop by
Michael Zimmerman piped up, "Good to see you Ethan." He seemed
genuinely pleased to see him. "Perhaps I'll join you in the gym
later," he said, eyeing Ethan’s gym clothes.

"Definitely, looking
forward to it," Ethan answered back happily, "you were up working too
late last night honey, take it easy huh?" He pecked her on the cheek again
while she gave him a faint smile. He winked and strode off. It was as though a
mini hurricane had hit their table and left in a matter of seconds.