Exception to the Rules

by Stephanie Morris

  “What are you getting at?”

  “I’m trying to say we should get together a few times a year. I would say about four to six times a year. For no more than a week at a time. We can make arrangements to go to a location where no one knows us. Make mad, passionate love until we drop. No strings attached. Just fun, sex, and the exquisite expectation of doing it again the next time it’s convenient.”

  “I see.”

  “You don’t look like you think this is a great idea.”

  “No, no. I can definitely see where it would be quite favorable.”

  “You don’t like it.”

  “That’s not it. It makes sense. For you.”

  “But not for you.”

  He smiled, but the expression was more dejected than anything else. “Would you like to know what my question was going to be?”

  She shook her head, even though she was dying to know. Just afraid to find out.

  “I want you to marry me, Gaea. Not any time soon, but not years from now either. I love you.”

  Gaea’s eyes widened at his confession. “You do?”

  He nodded.

  “But it’s been less than a week.”

  “I know. It doesn’t matter.”

  “How can it not matter?”

  “Because I’ve never experienced anything like what occurs when the two of us are together. The reason that I haven’t asked you more questions, aside from my total lack of concentration, is that for the first time in my life, I don’t want to know. I like not being able to figure you out immediately. It’s not disappointing at all, which I would never have believed. In fact, the complete opposite. Not knowing every little thing about you makes the days interesting. I can’t think of a better life than to figure out the conundrum of you.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes, and she blinked rapidly, turning her head away so he couldn’t see. His words baffled her more than an actual refusal. He wanted to marry her? It was the one thing she was deathly afraid of, yet she was flattered in a way that startled her. The idea was insane, of course, but also kind of amazing.

  “Bas, that’s mad.”

  “I know.”

  “The whole reason I agreed to our arrangement was because I didn’t want any sort of commitment. Now that Arnold is sure to be fired, it’s even more important that I stay undistracted and focused. When I’m with you, it’s hard for me to be all work. It’s difficult to accomplish any work at all.”

  “But that would change once we knew it was forever.”

  “Oh, really? Is that a guarantee?”

  He studied her for a long moment. “No. The truth is, I’m certain you will sidetrack me forever. Not that I won’t get anything done. It’s just that you’ll be there, too. You’ll be there first.”

  “Which is what I can’t promise you. Please, Bas. I promised I wouldn’t put myself in a situation where I had to choose between love and work. Don’t make me do it. Take me up on my offer, please. At least try it. We can meet in about two months. That should give me enough time to settle. You pick the place and I’ll be there. Where ever I am, whatever I’m doing I’ll make the time to get away.” She placed her hand over his as the car pulled to a stop in front of their hotel. “Please, Bas?”

  He grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her briefly. “I need time to think about it.”

  “You’re coming up to the room, right?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  She sighed with relief. Gaea didn’t really want to spend the night alone. “Thank you.”

  “You don’t have to ask. You need me, I’m there.”

  She smiled, scared to ask if he meant just for the night, or forever. Surely he could see that it was not only too soon to speak of marriage, but that marriage itself indicated that the relationship was more important than anything else, which she just couldn’t agree to. Not when she was so close to the career of her dreams.

  Bas helped her from the car. He smiled again, the weird, uneasy smile that made her anxious, but she didn’t question him. If she just gave him time…

  She relished in the way he tucked her protectively into his side as they walked to the elevator, and she tried to decipher his expression in the reflective doors, but she couldn’t. Once in the room, he made his way over to the couch, pulling it out to make the bed.

  Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. If he wasn’t going to sleep in the same bed with her, then he definitely wasn’t going to agree to her suggestion. She’d been out of her mind to hope.

  “You really don’t have to spend the night,” she said, passing him on her way to the bedroom. “I’d understand if you’d rather be in your own bed.”

  “No, I want to stay. You’ve had a rough day.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

  “I have a feeling I’m going to be having a serious discussion with the president of the company. Then there’s the fashion show here at the hotel.”

  “That’s right. You’d better hurry then, get to bed. Best have a clear mind when they start offering you the company.”

  “In my dreams.”

  “They will,” he said, his voice filled with conviction. “You’re everything a company could want. They’d be crazy not to offer you the position.”

  “Thank you, Bas. That means a lot to me.”

  “I only tell the truth.”

  Gaea turned, walked over to him, went up on tip-toe, and kissed him on the lips. “You’re welcome to join me,” she murmured, nodding toward the bedroom.

  “And for that, I’m most grateful, but it’s probably better that you get some rest. We both know that won’t happen if I’m in there.”

  She exhaled heavily. “You’re right. I’ll be out of the bathroom shortly.”

  “Take all the time you need.”

  Gaea wanted to say more, to add to her plan, but she held back. Tomorrow would be here soon enough. She was a hell of a marketing guru. He was just one man. She could make him agree to her suggestion. She had to.

  Bas lay awake long after Gaea had closed the bedroom door, thinking about her idea. The arrangement was fair in its straight forwardness, and on the surface, the concept made perfect sense. Inexplicably, he hadn’t thought about that possibility at all, not even once.

  Just about everything surrounding this week had been odd. His lack of focus, his fascination with a woman he barely spent time with, and yet it was all strangely familiar.

  Because, he realized with shock, it reminded him so much of his parents. They’d been with each other four days before they’d known. Actually, his mother had known the instant she met his father that they were going to married. His father had taken a few extra days because of a severe allergy attack. A lame excuse, but one he’d used since their wedding day.

  Did he want to marry Gaea because he wanted the fulfillment his parents had found? Was he putting too much stock into his feelings for her?

  He didn’t think so. If there was one thing he was, it was self-critical. But this time, he just couldn’t be so certain. There was only one logical choice. Agree to her plan until he was positive. If he still felt this sure the next time he saw Gaea in two months, then denial would not be an option.

  Gaea studied Bas from across the room. Tonight’s party was the last event of the fashion campaign, and everyone from Marcella Girardi to the mayor of Dallas had shown up. She was the star of the marketing world and had received a ton of hard to resist offers. The most tempting, at the moment, was to take the executive vice presidency of Begum and Guinn, not replacing Arnold, but instead running the entire marketing and promotion for the global company. The money they’d offered her was in the mind-blowing range, and that had been the first bid. When they got down to the negotiation part, she’d be talking six figure salary, penthouse loft, use of the company jet and all of the company penthouse apartments around the world. She’d have more than she could have hoped for, her dreams surpassed.

  Now, i
f Bas would only agree to her plan, her world couldn’t look brighter. Unfortunately, he’d been cryptic about his choice. She was certain what she had to do to convince him.

  He chuckled at something Kallie said, and in spite of the packed ballroom, his voice rose above the noise. It wasn’t that he was boisterous, just that he was so unique. Everything about him was distinctive. His approach to life, his candor, his sophistication. She didn’t want to lose him, and that was her biggest concern. If he didn’t agree to their casual interludes, what would she do? Say farewell and never look back? How could she? On the other hand, how could she agree to a committed relationship when she had to make her career her first concern?

  Marcella Girardi was only one account, and it had completely occupied over six months of her life. Gaea couldn’t begin to count the nights she’d worked past midnight. She hadn’t even taken an entire weekend off, not even during the holidays. How could she give him her spare time when there wasn’t any?

  Dax, looking handsome in a dark Armani suit, joined Kallie and Bas. He placed his arm around Kallie and they kissed briefly. He grinned at her, she smiled back, and even from this distance, it was obvious the two of them where in love.

  They, too, had met this week. Kallie had told her this afternoon that Dax had asked her to go with him on a trip to Wyoming, and that she’d agreed. While Gaea was happy for her, she wasn’t sure that the two of them would work out. Sure, he seemed perfect, he appeared to care deeply for Kallie, and Gaea felt sure that in his heart Dax believed that were meant for each other. But how could they know? It was insane for anyone to think that after a few unrestrained, extraordinary days, love could happen. Real love. Not lust, but love.

  Her gaze moved back to Bas. How could he know? It didn’t make sense, it wasn’t rational, and it wasn’t even wise. Love was difficult enough when all the circumstances were right. Her father’s best friend had been married over thirty years, then found out his wife was having an affair. Their divorce had been an astronomical battle full of hatred and malevolence.

  Gaea’s mother’s best friend had been madly in love with a singer and had left her own career as a software developer to follow him across the country. Less than a year later, he’d burned through all of her savings and dumped her for a twenty-one-year-old Playboy model.

  Sipping her champagne, she headed toward the trio even though she should be mingling with the heavy hitters all around her. At the very least she should be schmoozing her boss.

  “Hey, it’s the woman of the decade!” Kallie exclaimed, smiling broadly. “Have you accepted yet?”

  “Accepted what?” Gaea asked, her gaze switching back and forth from Bas to Kallie and back again.

  “The executive V.P. position at Begum and Guinn?”

  “The offer has been made, but nothing’s official.”

  “Sweet.”

  Gaea grinned. “If I do accept, that’ll mean a big promotion for you.”

  Kallie’s smile dimmed and her gaze traveled to Dax. He tightened his hold on Kallie, which she acquiesced with a nod. A sense of dread filled Gaea. This wasn’t going to be good news.

  “Uh…well…yeah.” Kallie cleared her throat. “Gaea, the thing is, I’m not certain I’m going to come back to work. After my vacation, that is. Not that I wouldn’t love to work with you again, but I could be, um, moving, to Wyoming, with Dax.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. It’s sort of sudden and all, but see, he’s been planning for this for some time and there’s this ranch for sale. It’s basically his dream place, and there’s no guarantee anything better will come along, so he’s probably going to make an offer on it.”

  “And he’s made you an offer as well?”

  Kallie nodded, looking incredibly contrite. “I’m sure no one better is going to come along.”

  Kallie kissed Dax.

  “I don’t want to move without her,’’ Dax stated. “I’m head over heels in love, and I want to start out new life away from all this chaos.”

  Gaea leaned forward and kissed Kallie on the cheek. “I’m happy for you.”

  “You are?”

  “Yes.”

  Kallie’s grin lit up her face. “What about you and Bas? Are the two of you a legitimate couple?”

  Bas chuckled. “No, more of an unofficial couple. Your soon-to-be-ex-boss has some interesting plans about the future that I’ve decided to explore with her.”

  Gaea spun around to look at him. Was that truly his answer? “Really?”

  He nodded. “Really.”

  She felt dizzy with relief. “That’s great.”

  Bas stepped closer to her, slipped his arm around her waist, and kissed her on the forehead, then he moved his mouth close to her ear. “This doesn’t change how I feel about you,” he murmured. “I love you. I want to marry you. But I can wait. At least for a little while.”

  Gaea closed her eyes, wishing she could be more like Kallie, but she wasn’t. She was Gaea. Obtuse, excessive, ambitious Gaea. She simply couldn’t be any other way.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Bas contemplated allowing his answering machine catch the call. He was late for his mother’s and he had serious reparation to pay. His dog, the one he’d idiotically rescued from a shelter, had not simply chewed up several pairs of her shoes, he’d left other…intriguing…presents in assorted corners and dark places. The bunny had been particularly mephitic, but the bird had been the biggest surprise. It had been two weeks since he’d taken the misbehaving dog back, but his mother was still quite pissed.

  On the other hand, the phone call might be something important. And with him waiting on a phone replacement, another courtesy of Harley, he didn’t have much of a choice. He closed his front door and ran across the carpeted floor to the phone, picking it up mere seconds before the machine would have come on.

  “Bas here.”

  Silence. Nothing. Strange.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey.”

  Holy shit. Bas staggered backward to his chair and flopped down. She wasn’t supposed to be on the phone. They weren’t supposed to talk for at least several more weeks. Her rules.

  “Are you okay, Gaea?”

  “Yes, I’m good.” She cleared her throat.

  He wondered where she was. Bas could go peek at the caller ID, but he didn’t. Given that it was only seven, she was probably still at work.

  “How are you?” she asked.

  He bit back a chuckle. The woman was terrible at small talk. “I’m fine, Gaea. Doing great.”

  “Good. I’m glad.”

  He decided to wait. Something had to be going on for her to make an exception to the rules. It could be that she’d figured out that the entire occasional sexual interlude scheme was insane. During the long two weeks since they’d said goodbye, she could have come to her senses, realized that he was nothing but a complete lunatic.

  Then again, maybe, like him, she’d realized that two months was an awful long time to wait. That the only time they had was now. That love could, indeed, happen in the blink of an eye.

  “I took the job offer,” she said finally.

  “Wonderful. Tell me all about it.”

  “I would love to, but not over the phone.”

  “Oh.” His stomach pitched and rolled. So it was the former, not the latter. She wanted to make a clean break.

  “Oh, no. No, no, it’s not that.”

  He frowned. “Not what.”

  “We’re still on. It’s just that, well, I’ve missed you.”

  He smiled. Hugely. “That’s fantastic. I’ve missed you, too.”

  “So, um, how about tomorrow? Lunch? Noon?”

  “Sounds good. Definitely. Where?”

  “I’ll have my assistant call. I have to go right now. See you tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” he responded. “I love you.”

  But she had already hung up.

  Gaea hopped out of the car and she adjusted her clothes as she raced toward the front door of Ba
s’s home. She was late. Again. Poor Bas. And he hadn’t once confronted her on throwing out her shoving aside her grand plan without a second thought. In the last month, she’d gone from seeing him once a week, to twice a week, to everyday this week alone.

  They shared a pizza in her office. Eaten sandwiches from a local deli near her job. He’d cooked her dinner at his home twice, followed, of course, by two breakfasts.

  He’d never brought it up. Whenever they got together, they talked about her job, his job, Kallie and Dax, Arnold’s disgrace, his family, her family…and the weird thing about it all was that her work hadn’t faltered at all. As a matter of fact, if anything, he energized her. Unwaveringly supportive, he understood the demand of her new position, and he never protested when she had to take calls or change the schedule last minute.

  He’d become involved in a new project himself, which was as thrilling to her as it was to him. It also meant that there were times when he was busy and couldn’t get away himself.

  She smiled and her heart beat faster as she reached the door. But she’d come to expect that. Seeing Bas was the high point of any day, of any night. She felt like a teenager going through her first major crush every time she saw him, and tonight was no exception.

  He opened the front door with a smile so welcoming it made her quiver. Boy did he look delicious. Gray button down shirt, rolled sleeves, black dress pants. His hair slightly unkempt and sexy as all get out. She loved the way he looked at her. And when he kissed her hello, it was the same effect—Roman candles.

  “You’re breathtaking” he said, pulling her into his home.

  She smiled again as she spotted the table, stunningly set, votive candles floating in brandy snifters.

  “Success becomes you,” he stated, tugging her into his embrace.

  Gaea laid her head on Bas’s broad chest. “It’s not success yet. But give me a few months.”