Looking up at Keller with her best, wicked smile, Maisy flicked Largo to low and positioned her open mouth at the apex of Keller’s cock. Then she lightly stroked the vibrator over his scrotum.
That single pass was all it took to trigger his ejaculation and an instant later, Keller’s hands were threaded in her hair, fisting it. He roared out his climax as she drank from his spurting cock.
An idyllic, serene eternity passed as they lay together in silence, with her head on Keller’s chest and his arms around her, lazily caressing her. She loved listening to him breathe, feeling his heartbeat beneath her cheek. It was all so perfect. She could stay like that forever.
“What an amazing woman you are, Maisy. I’ve never met anyone like you before. You make me feel happy. Content. Supremely satisfied.”
And so blissfully, entirely, wholly stunned that he’d forgotten about pummeling her with annoying questions, Maisy hoped.
“I can’t think of a better time for a heart-to-heart talk, sweetheart, can you?” Keller asked.
Her eyes flashed wide. What the hell? Did Keller have a one-track mind, for chrissakes?
Maisy contemplated ignoring him by pretending she was asleep and snoring, instead she manufactured a huge yawn.
“Oh boy. I’m so tired,” she said through a second yawn. “All that wonderful lovemaking really wore me out. Too sleepy to talk. I think I’ll take a nap for a little while.” Shutting her eyes tight, she did her damnedest to look like she was asleep.
Keller opened Maisy’s eyelid with his fingers. “Wake up, sleeping beauty. It’s time to talk.”
Heaving a defeated groan, Maisy sat up, with Keller following suit. “In most of the romance novels I’ve read, the hero likes to roll over and go to sleep after sex. Or maybe have a pizza. He never wants to talk.”
“I could definitely go for a pizza,” Keller said, glancing at the clock. “It’s just about dinnertime anyway.”
“Good. I’ll order one.” Maisy started scooting off the bed and Keller grabbed her, holding her in place.
“That sounds great. We can talk while we’re eating.”
“Why don’t you just roll over and go to sleep instead,” Maisy suggested.
“Because I’m not that kind of romance hero. I’m the kind who likes to get all cozy, cuddly and chatty after sex.”
“Chatty, huh?” With a dubious look, Maisy offered, “Okay, so tell me all about your childhood. I’m all ears.”
Keller grinned. “Face it, Maisy. I’ve got you cornered.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and held tight. “No more excuses. Time to spill your guts.”
Maisy gave him a narrow-eyed glare. “Did you have sex with me just so you could give me the third degree?”
“Absolutely. That was the only reason,” he teased, cupping her breast and jiggling it in his palm. “Now let’s have it. Why were you and your crazy boss dressed up like a couple of cold war spies at my sister’s office?”
Maisy’s heart sank. Her time was up. She had to face the music.
Shit!
Well…at least she got to sleep with him one glorious, magical time…
“Okay, Keller, you win. I’ll tell you everything. You see, Norman’s cousin—”
The telephone rang.
Yes! Saved by the bell!
Chapter Twenty-One
Maisy’s demeanor brightened considerably. “Excuse me for a moment, Keller, that might be important.” She crawled over him, reaching for the phone on her nightstand to answer the call, happy for anything that would help delay the inevitable.
A quick glance at the clock told her it was almost five-thirty. “Hello?”
“Hello, ma’am, this is Alice with Surveys USA and I’d like to just ask you a few questions about your radio listening preferences. Do you have a moment?”
Rescued by a telemarketer? Well, son of a gun. The quivery-voiced woman on the other end of the line sounded positively ancient. Maisy pictured a sweet, silver-haired senior citizen, volunteering her time for the arts.
Sending up a silent prayer of thanks, she vowed never to offer curt replies and hang up on telemarketers ever again in the future. Pregnant with possibilities, her mind raced before she responded.
“Um, yes, yes, of course,” she said. “My goodness, Alice, you sound upset. Is anything wrong?”
“I do? Oh…no, I’m just a little tired, that’s all. It’s the end of my shift. Sorry. So, how many hours would you say that you spend listening to the radio each day?”
“Oh dear. You mean now? Isn’t there anyone else available to handle this?”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
“Um…is this a bad time for you, dear? I can call back later or tomorrow if that would be better.”
“No, not at all, Alice. I understand. You don’t have any choice. Of course I’m available. After all, I’m the vice president, it’s part of my job.” She glanced at Keller, who eyed her skeptically. A nervous giggle escaped her lips. “Just give me ten to fifteen minutes.”
“The vice president?” Long pause. “So…you only listen to the radio for ten to fifteen minutes a day?”
Maisy felt guilty for confusing the poor old woman, but she simply couldn’t pass up this golden opportunity to escape Keller’s persistent questions.
“I believe so. I’ll have to find all the paperwork with the stats—it’s in Norman’s file cabinet.”
“Stats? Oh that’s not necessary, dear. We’re just looking for approximates. What about your favorite station? Do you prefer jazz, classical, hard rock, rap or golden oldies?”
“That’s hard to say without going through the documents. It all depends on the client’s preferences. Do your best to hold down the fort, Alice. Just let them know I’m on my way.”
There was that silence again. “Um…what? Let who know?” The woman sounded flustered. “Dear, you don’t have to come down to our office, all I need is—”
“Alice?” Guilt gnawed harder at Maisy’s gut. Jesus, she was screwing with the mind of someone’s sweet, little old grandma!
“Yes?”
“I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re doing a really wonderful job.”
“Oh…why, thank you, dear.”
Maisy said goodbye and hung up the receiver. Taking a deep, cleansing breath, she turned to Keller.
“Oh Keller, I’m terribly sorry but there’s an emergency at the office. Being the vice president, I need to pinch-hit for Norman.”
Keller slanted Maisy a wary look. “A travel emergency?”
“Oh sure. They happen all the time. You know, lost luggage, hotel switches…but this one’s really important. Can I impose on you to drive me to the office? My buddy Norman kind of stranded me, remember?” She gave a little laugh.
Maisy scurried about, scrambling into her clothes.
“Yeah…sure,” Keller said as he got himself dressed. “But what kind of travel emergency—”
Maisy raced out of the bedroom and down the stairs with Keller at her heels. Gathering her purse and keys, she remembered her broken heeled shoe and slipped into a pair of flats from her coat closet.
Just as her hand was about to grab the doorknob, Keller clasped her arm.
“Slow down, Maisy.”
“Keller, I’ve got to go. They need me!”
“Your office isn’t that far. You told them you’d be there in ten to fifteen minutes. I’ll have you there in plenty of time. I believe you were about to tell me about this dire travel emergency.”
“Eh…right. A VIP client just flew in from Austria,” she explained. “He’s there at the office, waiting to go over the travel arrangements we made for him. He’s…he’s, uh…going to travel across the U.S.”
Maisy took in Keller’s disbelieving expression and she swallowed hard. Damn it, if Norman could get away with telling those whoppers of his, then so could she!
“His name is Rudolph Schwarzenegger. He’s a wealthy big shot.”
; “Schwarzenegger?”
Maisy nodded, placing her fingers to her lips. “One of Arnold’s relatives. It’s all very hush-hush.” Now Keller really looked skeptical and Maisy got nervous and licked her lips. She could almost feel one of those awful telltale, nervous staccato giggles of Norman’s rising, but she suppressed it.
“Norman must have forgotten about this client flying in,” Maisy continued. “Evidently, he got stuck having cocktails with the rep from the new cruise line and the office can’t reach him.”
“I see. So…the batteries must be dead in both his pager and cell phone, hmm?” Keller asked with a know-it-all smirk.
Damn! She’d forgotten about that. “Oh…well, when Norman left your sister’s office, he was running late for his appointment with the cruise rep. He rushed back to Persimmon to get the paperwork he needed and…uh, I guess in all the commotion he left his pager,” she cleared her throat, “and his cell phone in his trench coat in his office.”
She smiled brightly, trying her damnedest to look convincing and camouflage her uneasiness. By Keller’s disbelieving expression, she had a sinking feeling it wasn’t working.
“Mr. Schwarzenegger is an elderly gentleman and no doubt feels a little lost here in a foreign country, all by himself. So I really do need to get to the office right away.” She hiked a shoulder in an apologetic shrug.
Keller stood silent for a moment in apparent contemplation. After what seemed like forever, he finally said, “Sure, no problem. Under one condition.”
Maisy blinked. “Condition?”
With a resolute nod, Keller said, “Yup. I’ll be back here at your place this evening at nine o’clock to pick you up. You better be here. No excuses.”
“Pick me up? For what?”
“A date. You know, you, me, food, conversation…more.” Placing special emphasis on the word, Keller jiggled his eyebrows in a devilish manner and Maisy felt her heart lurch.
“And tonight…” he said just above a whisper, yanking her close to slide the tip of his tongue back and forth across her lips.
Maisy’s heart tap-danced through her chest. “Yes, Keller?” She gazed dreamily into his luscious chocolate chip eyes, anticipating his next remark. “Go on. What about tonight?”
She found herself getting all girly and batted her lashes at him. It was going to be something stupendously romantic, she could just feel it. And she was this-close to melting into a puddle of goo at his feet.
He tilted her chin and kissed the tip of her nose. “Tonight, you can give me all those explanations you owe me over dinner.” Winking, he broadcast a self-satisfied grin.
So much for stupendous romance. He was only interested in that damned explanation. Her visions of another hot, juicy, passionate romp between the sheets thwarted, Maisy’s tap-dancing heartbeat slowed to a clumsy box step.
“Sorry. No can do, Keller. I’ll probably have to entertain the Austrian this evening.”
“At nine o’clock at night?”
Maisy shrugged. “It’s part of my job description.”
Keller nailed her with yet another dubious expression. “No problem. We’ll bring the old geezer along if we absolutely have to. But he gets dropped off after dinner—and before dessert.”
Keller flashed a smile and Maisy’s heart leapt at the renewed hope. After all, they had all those varieties of sex to explore to see which he liked best. Maybe they could try them all before Keller asked any more questions.
“Now, any more excuses…Natasha?”
Before she knew what was happening, Maisy heard herself let go with one of those hideous nervous giggles of Norman’s—the ones she positively loathed.
“Nope. Nine o’clock it is.”
Her anticipatory glow faded to black and panic set in when she thought about Keller seeing Norman at the travel agency when he dropped Maisy off in a few minutes.
She had to reach Norman—now!
“Excuse me for a moment while I run to the bathroom, Keller.”
* * * * *
“You can come out now, Norman—Keller’s gone,” Maisy said, opening the door to the office supply room where Norman sat hunched behind a pile of boxes.
Norman peeked his head out. “What was that frantic call all about, telling me I had to hide?”
“Keller just dropped me off. I didn’t want him to see you. I told him you’re with the cruise rep and I have to fill in for you.”
“I don’t understand. Why would—”
Maisy waved an outstretched finger at him. “You miserable, chicken-hearted, lily-livered, hideous excuse for a human being. You just left me out there in that parking lot with Keller all by myself and looking like a clown!” She whapped her shoulder bag against Norman’s side as he rose.
Cringing, Norman rubbed his arm where the weighty purse made impact. “Honestly, I don’t know why you’re so upset with me, Maisy. Granted, I may have been a little hasty locking you out of the car this afternoon,” he lapsed into a nervous giggle when Maisy glared at him, “but it all worked out for the best. You got to spend the afternoon with Keller, didn’t you?”
“Yes…” Maisy couldn’t help the wistful sigh that escaped her throat at the thought of the phenomenal sex they’d had.
“Oh my God,” Norman gasped. “You did it. You had sex with Keller!”
At a loss for words, Maisy just stared at him with a blank expression.
“Yes! I knew it! That means you’re not a semi-virgin anymore. Finally. How was it? As good as you thought?”
“Better…” Maisy whispered on a dreamy sigh, before her attention snapped back to the present. “I mean, that’s none of your business, Norman.”
An elated expression across his features, he was rubbing his hands together. “It’s all working out just the way I planned. Oh this is rich. This is sensational! And before you know it, Maisy, Sharon and Wilson will be sailing for Russia.”
His arms outstretched, Norman beamed a toothy grin. “See? What did I tell you? No problem. Life is perfect. In fact, I think I feel a dance of joy coming on.” He snapped his fingers high in the air.
Maisy gave Norman another solid roundhouse whack with her purse and he winced. “Are you insane, Norman? Is that the problem? I mean, you must be crazy if you don’t realize that, because of you, any future with the man of my dreams might be kaput.”
“Oh come on, Maisy, stop exaggerating. It’s not that bad. I mean, really, how bad could it be if you had sex with him, huh? You snagged him, reeled him in. He’s hooked.” Norman glanced at Maisy, who would have been breathing fire through her nostrils if at all possible.
He quickly averted his gaze. “Okay, so judging by the highly unattractive scowl on your face, I guess it is that bad. What did you tell Keller about our Boris and Natasha masquerade at Sharon’s office? I’m sure you came up with something dazzling.”
“I told him nothing.”
“There, see?” Norman became comfortably animated again and smiled at Maisy. “Keller didn’t even ask. He was obviously so mesmerized by your voluptuous body that all he cared about was dancing the mattress jig, stuffing the taco, hiding the hot dog.” Elbow-elbow. Wink-wink. “So what are you worried about, honey?”
Maisy laughed—it was a sick, strangled sound. “Norman, sex or no sex, that man has a mind like a steel trap. The memory of an elephant. Keller’s determined to find out every last detail of our escapades. I’d finally decided that I had no choice but to tell him the truth—”
“The truth! But Maisy, you can’t—”
“Until the phone rang,” she continued. “I pretended it was the office saying I had to cover for you.” She proceeded to tell Norman the whole Austrian client story she told Keller.
“Brilliant! Good thinking, Maisy. You’re getting more like me every day.” Laughing, he draped his arm on her shoulder. She promptly removed it.
“Don’t add insult to injury, Norman. I figured I could stall for time until you and I could come up with something plausible. At least m
oderately rational.” She slapped her head. “Listen to what I’m saying. I must be crazy too if I think you, of all people, can come up with something logical and believable.”
“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time to concoct a convincing story.”
“He’s picking me up for dinner at nine o’clock tonight.”
Norman glanced at his watch. “Oh.”
“How can we possibly explain being caught in his sister’s office in those ridiculous disguises?”
There was a long pause as Norman sat on one of the boxes and rubbed his chin, while Maisy tapped her toe against the concrete floor.
“I’ve got it!”
Eyes closing in a long blink, Maisy shook her head. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“We’ll tell him we were plotting out the script for our office’s first mystery dinner! It’s a cinch. Remember the one we went to last year at that restaurant downtown?” Maisy nodded. “We’ll just say that we were doing some live-action script testing. And since the plot involves a Realtor, we decided to act out part of the script at the closest real estate office to see if it was believable.”
Beaming a triumphant grin, Norman leapt up and gestured dramatically. “Ta-da!”
Maisy thought for a moment and then nodded. “My brain must be fried.”
“Huh?”
“Because that really doesn’t sound too bad, Norman. It’s simple and not too elaborate. It-it almost sounds credible.” She smiled for the first time since she got to the office. “Okay, I say we go with that. I certainly can’t come up with anything better. Do you think Keller will buy it?”
Draping his arm around her shoulder again and pulling Maisy into a buddy-hug, Norman said, “Are you kidding? Trust me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Maisy’s doorbell rang at eight forty-five and Hershey yipped, alerting his mistress to the arrival.
“Keller’s early,” she said, glancing first at the clock and then down at Hershey. “What do you think, Hershey? Do I look good enough to wow Mr. Fitch?” She gave herself a final mirror check and smiled. Her chic black dress was smart, simple and slimming. The few tasteful gold accessories she’d chosen looked just right. Patting her hair, which she’d pulled back in a sleek twist, she saw Hershey slant his head. He seemed to smile as he studied her.
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