Work Like You Don't Need the Money (16 page)

She turned and caught him staring. Putting her hands on her hips she raised her eyebrows. “Are you going to stand there all night, Bigshot? What's a girl got to do to get a drink in this place?”

“I was simply admiring the view,” he replied. “I like it more than ever tonight. And your wine is on its way. Patience, it's coming.”

He beckoned for her to join him at the bar. She slid up onto the stool next to him and took the glass he offered.

“Thanks for coming, Holly. I didn't want to wait until weekend to see you again.”

She chinked her glass against his. “I didn't either. Though had I known you lived in a place like this, I probably would have chickened out.”

That surprised him. “Why?”

“I don't belong in a place like this. It reminds me how different we are.”

“I thought we covered this?” He was frustrated. “We're no different, you and I. Why do you keep saying that?”

“Take a look at my old car sitting on your half-mile driveway, come by my house and take in the view of the bus depot, then tell me we're no different.”

She said it with that bitter laugh that was starting to annoy him. “Granted, I've made a lot of money, but other than that there's no difference. We both work hard doing something we love, using the best of our abilities so we can feel proud of our achievements, true or not true?”

“True, but my achievements are a lot smaller than yours. And though you dismiss it, the amount of money you make does make a big difference. It gives you a different lifestyle and a different outlook.”

Why wouldn't she see it? “Holly you've got that backwards, it's the having a different outlook that allows me to make the money. And,” screw it, he was going to say it, “I'll bet the amount of money you make right now would give you a different lifestyle if you weren't giving it all to loan sharks to pay extortionate interest on a debt that's not even yours.”

She clearly didn't want to go there. “I'm a simple girl, Pete. Even if I had more money, I wouldn't change the way I live. There's nothing I need that I don't have.” She smiled. “Well, except maybe a new car. A BMW, a blue one. That'd be nice.” She flashed him a grin, but he wasn't going to let her sidestep it that easily.

“That's not the point though, is it? You don't need to be forking over that kind of money to criminals.”

Her eyes narrowed. Damn! He shouldn't have kept after her, but it was eating away at him.

“I thought you agreed to drop that subject?”

“I know. I did. I'm sorry. But, Sweetheart, it's driving me crazy, let me help? Please?”

 She shook her head, but he wasn't ready to let it go.

“I'm not trying to be a Bigshot asshole. I just don't see why you can't borrow the money from me instead of from dangerous criminals. If you let me pay it off, you can still pay it back. I'll even charge you interest if you insist, but at bank rates instead of whatever ridiculous percentage they're gouging you for. Look at this from a purely business perspective, you know it makes sense.”

He looked at her, waiting for the worst, but hoping for the best, surely she could see the sense in what he was saying.

She shook her head again and let out a long sigh. “That's very sweet of you, Pete.”

“I'm not being sweet, dammit, I'm trying to make you see sense, keep you safe!”

 She put a hand on his knee. “I am seeing sense. I appreciate your kindness, but we need to be realistic. In a couple of months we'll be done with our little interlude. You'll go back to your life, I'll go back to mine. Even if I weren't too proud and stubborn to accept help, it doesn't make any sense for me to accept help from you. So, once more, can we please drop the subject, or do I have to get mad and leave?” She smiled to soften the words.

He opened his mouth to argue some more, but she slid her hand further up his thigh. “We did plan to have dinner, and I really don't want to leave.”

Pete blew out his cheeks, exasperated. He didn't want her to leave either. He accepted that he'd lost the battle, but was still determined to win the war on this one. He couldn't do as she asked and butt out completely, it wasn't right.  

“I don't want you to leave either, Sweetheart, but I still think you're being....” he jumped as her fingers dug in the ticklish spot just above his knee.

She raised her chin in challenge, “Being what?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with amusement now.

“A stubborn little....” Her fingers dug in again and he almost jumped out of his seat. They were both laughing now. “Are you looking for a tickle war, lady?”

She held up her hands, eyes wide. “Nooo, no tickle wars! I'll stop, I promise!”

Pete lunged to tickle her, but she was too fast and was down from her stool and gone. She ran to the far side of the pool and stood laughing, eyeing him to see what he would do. He followed her, adjusting his pants to accommodate his growing erection as he went, for some reason their childish games turned him on, in a big way.

She backed off as he approached. “No tickle wars, okay?”

He grinned and kept coming.

“No, Pete, you can't tickle me, you're too good at it!”

He laughed. “You shouldn't have provoked me then, should you?”

She was backing up to the loungers and had nowhere to escape.

He grinned. “I've got you now!”

“Nooo!”

“You could surrender?” Why did he want so badly for her to surrender to him?

“Never!” she shrieked as he made a grab for her. She managed to get both hands against his chest and gave an almighty shove. As Pete stepped back, he realized he was going into the pool. Just as he toppled, he managed to catch hold of her and take her with him. They made a huge splash as they disappeared under the water. As he surfaced, Holly's face emerged next to him, laughing and spluttering. Her hair was plastered to her head like a drowned rat. Even so, she'd never looked more beautiful than she did in that moment, so full of fun. He pulled her to him and kissed her, her arms came up around his neck as he crushed her to his chest. He stroked his hands down her legs and brought them up around his waist.

He'd thought this evening should follow a more traditional pattern, that they'd have dinner
before
taking it to the bedroom, but with her lips parted to allow his thrusting tongue inside and her legs wrapped around him, he knew that wasn't going to happen. He touched her breasts through the wet fabric of her dress and felt her quiver in his arms. He managed to unfasten his pants and get out of them without breaking the kiss. The feel of the water swirling around his cock heightened his desire. He wedged her against the side of the pool and pulled the skirt of her dress up to her waist. She clung tighter to his neck as he pushed her panties to one side and stroked her, tracing her folds then teasing her nub. When she moaned he guided himself to her opening and thrust deep. Her legs tightened around his waist as he moved inside her. He cupped her ass cheeks in his hands and held her wide open to receive him. He was so close, she must have sensed it because she dug her nails into his back. He let himself explode deep inside her, taking her with him. They came together, gasping in the water as their bodies strained as one, carrying each other through the waves of a climax that left them both panting, clinging to one another.

He rested his head on her shoulder. “What are you doing to me, lady?”

“I thought it was you doing it to me? Either way, I like it.”

“Me too.”

When the strength returned to his legs, they waded to the shallow end of the pool where he took her hand as they walked up the steps.

“You ever won any wet T shirt contests?” He loved the way her wet dress clung to her, showing off every contour of her body.

She laughed. “Not my style, Sweetie.”

He took a towel from the stock by the bar and began to dry her down.

“Hang on.” She peeled the dress off and wriggled out of her underwear.

Pete took in the beautiful naked body before him.

She laughed. “You can tell that guy to go back to sleep for now.”

Since he was wearing just his shirt, it was quite apparent that his cock was enjoying the view and getting ready for round two. He wrapped her in a fresh towel and hugged her to him. “Sorry about that, I think he likes you.”

She smiled. “I'm flattered, and I like him too.” Her stomach grumbled loudly. “But I'm starving and somebody promised me dinner.”

He pulled off his shirt and tied a towel around his waist. “Then let’s go find you something to wear and get you fed.”

******

Holly munched on her pizza and took a sip of wine, “Mmm, this is sooo good.”

“Isn't it? I probably eat too much pizza,” he patted his stomach.

She laughed. “There's not a scrap of fat on you. You're solid muscle.” And he was, she was enjoying the view. He was only wearing boxers so she was able to admire his solid frame. Strong shoulders and muscled chest above rock hard abs and that V that led down to… She licked her lips at the memory. He caught her looking and smiled. She didn't mind, she knew she was having the same effect on him. He'd given her a plain white button  up shirt to wear and of course as soon as she had it on, he'd undone the top three buttons. She was naked underneath it, his eyes had hardly left her.

They were sitting on the sofa in the den, their legs entangled in the middle as they each leaned back against an arm facing one another. She felt so comfortable with him and, despite what she'd said earlier about not belonging in a house like this, she felt so at home here in his space.

“So, do you want to hear my ideas for the plaza?” she asked once they were done with the pizza.

“I do, if you've had time to come up with anything.”

“Not much yet. I've set aside time tomorrow night to go through the data you sent, but I did want to share the main idea that struck me.”

“What's that?”

“You said that you wanted to keep the retail in-house, but Ben thought it would be too much of a hassle. I came up with a hybrid where you could contract with independent retailers, but still have the in-house control you're looking for.”

“Tell me more.”

Holly launched into the details of what she had in mind, hoping it would make sense to him and that he wouldn't laugh at her. She detailed an option where the resort would keep control of staffing and store layout and independent retailers would manage the actual supply and stocking of merchandise. When she'd finished, she looked up at him, holding her breath, hoping he wasn't about to point out all the reasons it couldn't work that she wasn't smart enough to see. He looked at her for a long moment, the  pulse working in his jaw. Oh no. He must think she was stupid!

“That's brilliant, Holly, sheer genius.”

She gasped. “You like it?”

“Like it? I only wish you'd come up with it years ago so we could have rolled it out as a solution to a couple of our projects that have struggled on the retail side.” He grinned. “We may have to negotiate you some kind of fee if we run with it. Think about it.” He took her foot and began to massage it between both hands. “I should warn you though, I negotiate hard.”

“That's not fair, you're asking me to think about something, something important and then you're, mmm, making it.... ooh... impossible to..” She couldn't think straight as he massaged his way up her calves. “That feels so good.”

“It gets better and better,” he grinned.

“I believe you, but you'll have to remind me later what I was supposed to think about.” As he worked his way up her legs, stroking and massaging, Holly lost herself in the feel of his warm hands on her skin, not caring anymore what else he wanted her to focus on. It was gone.

Chapter Eleven

Holly stared out of the window as they took off from the little airport at Summer Lake. She couldn't quite believe that for the fourth time in less than a week, she was flying around in a private jet. She looked across at Emma and Missy sitting opposite her.

“So, ladies, are you ready to shop?”

Missy grinned. “Ready, willing, and able!”

“Oh yes,” said Emma. “Look out San Francisco, here we come!”

“Where are we meeting Laura?” asked Holly.

“The car is picking her up first and bringing her to the airport,” said Emma.

“This is just so Pete,” laughed Missy.

“I know,” Emma smiled. “He and Jack went back and forth so much about a wedding gift they drove me nuts. They are so competitive. Jack didn't want Pete doing anything he could do himself. Since Pete is my brother in all but blood and my parents are gone, he wanted to foot all the costs that the parents of the bride normally would. Of course Gramps wouldn't hear of it. Jack was pissed and I wasn't being heard above all the testosterone!”

Holly and Missy laughed.

“Then Pete came up with this, he'd take care of all the dresses and of course he has to fly us to San Francisco and lay on a car and driver.”

Holly smiled to herself. It really was such a very 'Pete' thing to do. She loved that she was part of it, but knew that, for her, this life would soon be over. With Emma living up at the lake now she'd be seeing much less of her friend too, as well as saying goodbye to Pete.

Missy looked over at her. “Are you going tell us what's going on between you two?”

Holly shook her head. “We're just having fun, I doubt it will last after the wedding.”

Missy wrinkled her nose. “I cry bullshit!”

Emma laughed. “Right there with you Miss. Have you seen them together?”

“I haven't seen them apart!” cried Missy. “They're inseparable. I thought you and Jack were bad with all the face sucking goodbyes, but Pete is even worse. The big macho man with his 'See you later, Sweetheart' and wrapping himself around her, the temperature goes up about a zillion degrees whenever they get within three feet of each other. The man is smitten I tell you, smitten!”

Holly couldn't help but smile, she wished he really was smitten. It was a nice fairy tale, for now, but that was all.

“And you,” added Missy, “You're totally besotted with the man, so why won't you both admit it?”

Holly didn't want to hide it from her friends. “Listen guys, be gentle with me, please? Yes, you're right, I admit I am rather taken with him, but I'm trying very, very hard not to be.”