by Lauren Wood
“Thank you for breakfast Chris. It was very thoughtful of you. I have had a horrible morning and I appreciate the gesture.”
She made a small plate with a little of everything and opened the patio door. “How long do we have until the last meeting?”
I looked at my clock. We were already late, but I was more interested to be here with her, then to hear about how to make more money. I think it was a first if I was honest with myself.
“We have time. Don’t worry about that.”
“Thanks. I am sorry about this. If you could not tell Keenan, I would appreciate it.”
I waved her off and told her that her secret was safe with me. “We all have one of those bender nights here. It is sort of a tradition. Where were you?” I didn’t want to sound too eager, but it was still something pecking at the back of my head that I just needed to know.
“It wasn’t like that. It was just so peaceful after a swim that I must have fallen asleep. I looked a wreck this morning because of the sand everywhere and they thought I was homeless.” She stopped and looked away, embarrassed.
“What about your date with Ali?”
Her lips tightened and something bothered her. What had her out swimming in the middle of the night alone? Was she alone? I was still assuming she was, but with my question, other ones arose that had to do with the smiling man from before.
“I canceled. I just didn’t feel like going out to dinner, so I stayed around town and shopped, had dinner and went swimming.”
“By yourself?”
“Well of course by myself. Who else would I go with?”
“I would have taken you.”
“Being around you is complicated Chris. Besides, I figure you didn’t want to be burden having to watch me, but I do thank you for the rescue this morning. I have never been so embarrassed in all of my life.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s fine.” I was more than a little relieved that it wasn’t what I thought. My fears included her going to stay the night with Ali and that being the reason she was gone all night. It was a horrible feeling to have and now my mind could rest knowing that it wasn’t the case. After that, nothing really mattered and if I would have stopped to really think about it, that thought would have bothered me more than it did to be so interested in her and her whereabouts. I had never cared before.
“Well the meeting is almost over and we have a couple of hours before we have to leave. Is there anything that you want to do?”
“With you?”
“Yes with me, don’t sound so damn enthused.”
“I just want to get into the water. Do you know how to swim?”
“Of course. I can rent us a boat if you like, sail around and find the perfect spot.”
She shook her head like that wouldn’t do. “No, I was thinking just right out back. The beach is beautiful down there.”
I couldn’t argue. I didn’t want to if it meant a little time with Stacy. What the hell was this woman doing to me?
Chapter 8
Stacy
What a day! I just wanted it to end at first, but the middle was pretty good. Chris let me ditch the boring conference that I didn’t want to go to. He sent someone in his stead and went with me to the beach instead.
It was quite obviously quickly that he was not in his comfort zone. He just kind of looked at the sand at the end of the walk way and then back at me like I was crazy or something. Taking off my shoes, I waited for him to do the same. “How long has it been since you went to the beach?”
He shrugged and I could tell that it was a long time ago. “Well the water is perfect here.”
I walked towards the water and waited for Chris. His dark skin contrasted with mine as I finally had to grab his hand to pull him closer to the water. “You aren’t going to be able to get in from all the way over there.”
“I don’t have any trunks on.”
“Boxers or briefs?”
“Huh?”
“What are you wearing?”
“Um, boxers.”
“Well that will do. I was kind of hoping that you would be wearing tidy-whiteys.”
He looked like he was embarrassed and I knew the feeling all too well. Chris didn’t have anything cocky to say as a comeback and I was just going to take this moment as a small win for me.
“It will be fine, come on.”
“You have a bathing suit on?”
I shook my head and told him I didn’t. I was more worried about getting in the water, then how I was going to look. I mean, it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen me completely naked just a few hours ago. It gave me this feeling of so what if he saw me in a pair of panty and a bra?
I started to take my clothes off and I ignored the looks that he was giving me. I couldn’t focus on that. I needed to focus on something else and I finally just pulled my pants down and kicked them off. Walking into the water, I finally looked back to see if he was coming or not.
His dark eyes were taking in every bit of me like before and I quickly got into the water to use it as cover. No one else was around, but Chris kept looking around like photographers was going to chase him and take pictures. I started to wonder if he was just too shy to bare it all.
“Are you coming in or not?”
“Yeah, just…”
I giggled and started to swim deeper. I was there to get a little workout in if I could. Swimming was the best workout for me, hands down and I knew soon I would be back in the city and it would be a while until I was able to do this at a real beach and not a gym.
Chris came in splashing behind me. He was a lot louder than he was the first night I met him. But then I was reminded of his stealth when the next thing I knew, Chris was wading next to me.
I could see the tanned expanse of his chest and the tight black curls that covered it. He was hard and muscular, not at all what I expected from a spoiled business man.
“So what is that tattoo for?”
I forgot about that and groaned. I didn’t like many people knowing I had it. It was a moment of rebellion when I was seventeen. There wasn’t much thought behind it besides that I just thought it was pretty and I wanted a tattoo. It was really that simple.
“It’s the tree of life. Do you like it?”
“I do, I just wouldn’t have taken you for a girl that had a tattoo.”
A lot of rich people thought they were low class, but I still liked it no matter what. It was a reminder that I should take a second thought before I let myself get wrapped up into an idea. I can be spontaneous at times, but now I tried to learn more control. It was just harder to do around people like Chris that provoked me.
“I put it where it could be hidden easily because I know that there is bias about tattoos and the people that get them. I take it that you don’t have one?”
“Me, no. I never did really care for needles and I change my mind too often. I can’t think of anything that I would want to get. I get bored easily.”
I laughed a little and agreed. “I got it on my back so that I don’t have to see it all of the time. I forget that it is back there a lot. I wouldn’t get it now, just a few years later, but its part of me now.”
“You surprise me Stacy.”
“Why?”
“I have never met anyone like you before.”
“Like me? I am no one special.”
“You are to me.”
He was moving closer and he just had a look in his eyes that I didn’t fully trust. I swam back a little bit and he stopped. Chris wanted to kiss me, it was clear in his face, but I don’t think either one of us was really ready for that again.
“You won’t even remember my name on Monday morning Chris. We are from two different worlds. It was a wonderful time and I will thank you for your help, but I doubt we will ever see each other again after I get off of that plane.”
“It better not be the way it turns out.”
“How could it be anything else? You want a one night stand and I don’t. I like you as w
ell, even though you are infuriating. But me and you were never meant to be.”
His mouth opened and then closed. I had said enough because I could see the withdraw in him. What I said was true and he knew it. I wasn’t willing to give up anything for him, not for a night of pleasure. My body was worth more to me than that and being close to him made me feel like I was losing control of that. I didn’t want my control to slip.
“I don’t think much past today Stacy.”
I smiled at him and could see his expression had changed, almost contemplative. “I know Chris. It’s okay. Some people never change the rambling.”
“Am I a rambling man?”
“I don’t know, seems like it.”
We looked at each other for a time and I finally started back towards the beach. There was a few seconds that I had played out a future for us, but the problem was in every scenario I came up with in my head, there was no future for us. Not past today and I needed more. I wanted more than just one night. I wanted a life time and I knew I wasn’t going to get it with that.
***
The plane ride was less eventful than I thought it would be. I rode quietly to Jamaica with Keenan and I rode in silence on the way back with Chris. I didn’t try to break up the lack of sound, just embraced it. I didn’t want to talk about anything else. I only knew him for a weekend and he was taking up way too much of my thoughts and having too much control over my emotions, which had come in various waves over the last couple of days.
I thanked him for the ride home and he handed me a tape of every conference talk. It was far better than the notes that I had taken.
“I hope that you are wrong about never seeing each other again Stacy. That would never be my choice.”
He didn’t wait for an answer. Chris stalked off to a waiting car and I went to my own car that was parked where I had left it. It looked much smaller that it had before. I don’t know why it looked like it wasn’t enough. I had lived the good life for too long and coming back to my reality was hard.
Looking behind me, I hoped to catch a glimpse of Chris. I don’t know why I had to see him one last time, but I knew that I was saddened because he was already gone. I was never going to see him again.
I called Keenan when I got home and had the tapes couriered over to him. I made sure that I kept it short. I was feeling weird and the way I felt right now, I didn’t want to talk to my boss. I just wanted to take a shower and sleep. I hadn’t done much of that the night before and I still had a crick in my neck from sleeping on the beach.
When I heard a knock at the door, I was irritated because I had just gotten undressed, but there was also a hope that I refused to acknowledge that it was Chris at the other side of the door.
Pulling a towel around me, I opened the door a crack and saw that it was Aunt Ashlyn. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“I just came by to see what you were up to.” She saw what I was wearing as she pushed her way through the door. I didn’t know what to say to her, not after the weekend I had. “Who were you waiting for?”
I looked down. “No one. I was about to get in the shower.”
“Well I will wait.”
She had a tone that threw me off and made me worry. Why would she wait?
“No need. The water isn’t running or anything.” I closed the door behind her as she moved into the small apartment. “So what’s up Auntie?”
Ashlyn flashed a smile at me. “How was your trip?”
I shrugged. “It was okay. It wasn’t at all what I expected, but nothing ever is.”
“I see. So I heard that you ended up staying there with Chris Humphin?”
“Yeah. That was interesting.”
“Did anything happen?”
I looked at her and I wondered what she knew. Did she know that me and Chris had kissed? It was so unprofessional and so embarrassing.
“No, not really, why?”
She shrugged and walked into the kitchen to get some water. “I just know how Chris is. He is one of those men that I would have warned you about.”
“Why is that? He didn’t seem that bad.”
Ashlyn gave me a look that I knew well. She was calling my bullshit. He was a mess and if I hadn’t reined it in when we first met, there was no telling how my time with Chris would have ended up. I was thankful that it hadn’t gone anywhere, but it could have if he had pushed it more.
“Chris is a horrible womanizer. Never found one that he couldn’t have and let’s face it Stacy, you are every man’s dream.”
I felt uncomfortable with that comment. I had heard it before, but it wasn’t always said in a good way. It made me feel like I was never going to be taken seriously in business if everybody only seen the outside of me.
“Well he was fine. I think you are just thinking they are like that. He was a perfect gentleman.”
“Really?” Her brow went up and I looked away, not willing to have my eyes give me away.
“Yes really.”
“That’s good. Keenan thought the two of you were off to a rocky start when he left, but the tapes you had made for him made him happy. He called to tell me that you had done such a good job and that is when I found out he left you there. Are you sure everything was okay?”
“Yes, everything was fine. Really Ashlyn, you don’t have to worry.”
“I can’t help it Stacy, especially if you are going to be alone around men like Chris. You are too sweet sometimes for your own good.”
I may be innocent, but I didn’t particularly think of myself as sweet.
Chapter 9
Chris
“Sir?”
“What?”
“The meeting? Everyone is waiting for you. It started half an hour ago.”
I looked up at the clock on the other side of the room and cursed to myself. What the hell was I doing?
“Sorry Bill. Tell them I will be there in just a moment. I was getting some figures together for the merger.”
Bill was one of my many assistants and he was rather meek. I had never raised my voice to him, but my temper proceeds me and the rumors of it. He thanked me and then backed out of the office. I tried not to show my aggravation at his temperament. If I was honest, it wasn’t just Bill that was getting to me nowadays. It felt like everything was bothering me and there was nothing I could do about it.
I had a one-track mind and the person I was thinking of, wanted to have nothing to do with me. It was insane that I was bothered so much by Stacy, but it was silly to act like I wasn’t bothered to the core. There was nothing I could do about it though. It was just the way it was.
Stacy was a hard woman to get a hold of, especially when she didn’t want to see me again. I was close to finding an investigator to find out where she worked, something had to be done to see her again.
Ever since my weekend on the island with her, things had changed in my life. I no longer wanted anyone else. I wanted her and it became clear after I couldn’t bring myself to bring another woman to my bed, that Stacy was the only one that was going to scratch the itch that I had. It was constant and she held the only key to my relief.
Bill knocked on the door and said my name. “What?”
“The meeting?”
I looked back up at the clock and another fifteen minutes had gone by. My mind was a wreck and I was starting to see the resemblance between me and Keenan. I bet I had that same idiot grin on my face as he had. This was why I never wanted a woman in my life. They complicated everything and I just didn’t need it. Life was already complicated enough as far as I was concerned.
“Right, I am going now.”
I got up and struggled to pull myself together. The meeting was like pulling teeth and even though I was the one that had called the meeting, I let other people have their say. I didn’t want to be there and I finally called it off early. Bill had a cocked eyebrow for me, but I was ignoring him and the surprised looks from everyone else. They acted like I had never left a meeting early before.
>
Maybe I hadn’t.
Leaving the building, I drove over to the bistro for lunch and called Keenan to see what he was up to. I was really calling to see if I could get some information on his assistant, but I wasn’t going to come right out with that. I still wasn’t sure what this obsession with her even was and I didn’t want anyone to know about it.
“Keenan?”
“Chris, how are you doing?”
“Not too bad. Hadn’t talked to you since Jamaica. How did everything go with your wife and the baby?”
“They are fine. The doctor says that it is normal. She just got so freaked out and had me worried. You know how women can get sometimes.”
“Yes I do, but I try to stay away from all of that sort of thing.”
“You shouldn’t. I have never been happier.”
“So I hear. What are you doing right now? I am around the corner at Sunny’s if you want to have some lunch. I remembered that you live not too far from here, right?”
“Yeah, well I am not doing much of anything right now. Sunny’s sounds good. Order me a burger and I will be down in ten.”
I told him that I would and waited for him to show up. I was in the mood for information and I was going to get it. I wanted to see a friend sure, but it was Stacy that I had in mind. I wanted to see her again, no matter what I had to do to make it happen.
***
“I haven’t been here in months. Life is so hectic right now. How is it going with the Bayar merger?”
“Pretty good. I will make a tidy sum and I only had holdings on it for a few weeks. It was worth the investment.”
“Still making the world move.”
“You still out of the game?”
“Mainly. I pulled a lot of my money out and I am just going to put it in less risky investments that are more liquid.”
“Do you know something I don’t?”
“Not really, just can’t take the risk anymore. I used to risk it all because I would make it back up, but now I am thinking of the long term. You know with a family, there is another generation to worry about.”
