The One of Many

by M. Jane Early

  There was a loud noise behind us inside the hotel that made us stop. We looked over my shoulder and saw someone walking away inside. I couldn’t make out the figure.

  David focused on me again. “I hope they enjoyed the show.”

  “I know I did.” I leaned in and kissed him again.

  He gently pulled back from me and shook his head. “I want to bring you back to my room,” he whispered.

  I swallowed. I wanted that too. “I feel a but coming on.”

  “But,” he smiled, “we have back-to-back meetings all day tomorrow. We need to be ready.” He ran the back of his fingers against my cheek.

  I looked down and nodded, cursing myself for leaving my rechargeable friend at home. “Can’t spare a half hour, huh?” I teased.

  His eyes intensified. “Farren, what I’m thinking of will take a hell of a lot longer than a half hour.”

  I let out a breath, trying not to visualize his plans. My mind and body were frustrated enough.

  “Come on. I’ll walk you to your room.” He moved me to the side and grabbed my hands to stand me up. “By the way, that swimsuit? My god, woman.” He shook his head and leaned in to kiss me again.

  Between the cool air and everything that had happened tonight, an involuntary shiver rippled through me. I grabbed the robe, then put on my slippers. David took his towel from the chair by the table and patted himself dry.

  He put his hands on my waist from behind, moving me forward. “Bedtime,” he whispered in my ear.

  “I hate that you don’t mean that figuratively.” The words escaped me before I could stop them.

  He laughed. “There’s plenty of time,” he said.

  He intertwined our fingers as we got in the elevator. I looked down at our hands and shook my head. My mind was racing.

  He turned towards me. “What?”

  “Did we just agree to be together?” I asked, confused.

  “I think so. I told you I wasn’t very good at this.”

  I looked at him and laughed as a delayed reaction. The doors to the elevators opened, and I walked forward, letting his hand go. As I turned towards him to say good night, he bumped into me, trying to walk out.

  I shook my head. “David, there are other people from Imperium on this floor.”

  “Farren, it’s after three in the morning. If they catch us now, they’ve earned it.” He walked past me and took my hand again.

  When we reached my door, I pulled him in, still worried about getting caught. He inspected my room.

  “Nice,” he stated with diminutive enthusiasm.

  I rolled my eyes. “What’s your room look like?”

  He tilted his head to the side. “It’s a little bigger. We could share it if you wanted to.” He was kidding, but I was tempted all the same.

  I chuckled and walked into the bathroom to put up my towel. I came out to find him leaning against the wall by the bed. I exhaled loudly and looked down.

  “What’s going on, Farren?” he asked, concerned.

  I peered at him. “What just happened?”

  He smiled. “I said I wanted to be with you.”

  I furrowed my brow.

  “I’m supposed to be the one shell-shocked. What’s wrong?” he asked and laughed.

  “But you’re not.” I walked over to him, pulling my robe together and tying the sash.

  He shook his head. “I’ve thought about this a lot. Being with you and only you. I tried to talk to you about it, but you were so angry with me. I figured you moved past me or the possibility of us. I tried to let it go.” He shrugged and pulled me to him. He rested his hands on my lower back, mine on his chest. “But I couldn’t. When I wasn’t at work, all I wanted to do was to see you. And at work, you wouldn’t even look at me.”

  I gazed at him, fascinated. “I thought you thought I wasn’t worth it.”

  “I know you’re worth it.” He paused. “I didn’t think I was.”

  He leaned down and kissed me softly, pulling me close. We both resigned to stop or, meetings be damned, we would be naked within thirty seconds.

  “We don’t have to talk about this now. Our day starts in five hours, and I need you to be alert.” He intertwined our fingers again and pulled me with him towards the door. He quietly opened it and looked out into the hallway.

  David leaned over and kissed me again. Not a peck, but enough to cause my belly to flutter.

  He pulled back and watched me. “Get some sleep.” With that, he let the door close.

  Eighteen

  My alarm went off in time to take a quick shower and run to the first meeting. While soaking under the nozzle, I thought about the previous night and how it didn’t seem real. Like it was some stupid dream or fantasy I’d concocted to cope with our back-and-forth relationship.

  I went over my itinerary for the day and found, thankfully, David had cut three meetings to lighten the load. Then I saw a calendar meeting in the evening that only included he and I as invitees, with no location or end time.

  David was already in the conference room when I arrived. He was speaking to a few other people when he noticed me.

  “Ms. Hallston.” He smirked.

  I took a breath. “Mr. Powers.”

  I looked over at Gwen, who narrowed her eyes at me.

  “How’d you sleep?” he asked while bending over his computer.

  I stopped moving. “Well. Thank you.” I looked across the table. “How about you, Annie? How’d you sleep?”

  Annie looked up at me, confused. “Good?”

  I nodded and smiled at her, then threw a small warning at Powers with my eyes. He chuckled as I pulled out my computer and phone, then sat. I glanced at Gwen again. She looked between the two of us with mild annoyance.

  “Did you see the change in the schedule today?” He glanced at me while taking out his phone.

  “I did,” I answered.

  My personal device pinged on the table.

  David: Our meeting at 7 tonight is open. I was hoping to take you to dinner.

  I looked up at him, surprised, and he stayed focused on his device. I tried to hide the smile that wanted to spread across my face.

  Farren: I’d love dinner.

  David put his phone in his pocket. His mouth tugged at the corners as he typed again on his keyboard.

  By the third meeting, we had made a ton of progress. The launch was on schedule, and the marketing and sales teams were excited and moving in the direction David and I wanted. The commercial storyboards were fantastic. Hip and fresh, but not so in your face it sounded condescending.

  I was working on a report when David sat next to me. I hardly noticed there wasn’t anyone else in the room besides the two of us.

  “Farren?”

  “Hm?” I said, still fixated on my computer.

  “Did you want to get lunch?”

  I kept typing. “Um, no, I’m good.”

  “Did you eat breakfast?”

  I shook my head. “Didn’t have time.”

  He reached over and placed his hand on my cheek, pulling my focus from the screen to him.

  He leaned in close. “You should eat,” he whispered. I could smell the breath mint that rattled in his mouth.

  I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. “You’re messing up my concentration.”

  He softly laughed. “Sorry.” He ran his thumb over my bottom lip.

  I couldn’t catch my breath. I needed to lean in and kiss him so my body could return to normal. My breath left me, and he was my inhaler.

  The door behind us opened. He dropped his hand and looked over my shoulder.

  “There you are.”

  I sighed. Gwen.

  “I heard you were breaking for lunch. Did you want to grab something to eat with me?” she asked.

  I put my hands back on my keyboard, taking a deep breath.

  “We were just talking about that,” David said, standing. “Farren?”

  I looked up at him in horror and responded, “I’m
good.”

  “Nonsense. You’ll need energy for later.” He gave the slightest of smirks and walked towards Gwen.

  My mouth fell open.

  “If she doesn’t want to come—” Gwen hedged.

  “Oh, she wants to come,” he answered.

  I laughed lightly. “Wow,” I mouthed to myself.

  I closed my laptop and put it in my bag. There was no way she didn’t catch the innuendos flying out of David’s mouth. When I stood and looked at Gwen, she rolled her eyes and walked out the door. David caught it and held it open for me.

  I stopped in front of him. “Seriously?”

  His face turned innocent. “What?” Then the sly smile returned.

  I shook my head. “This is gonna be the longest lunch of my life,” I whispered and walked past him.

  He laughed behind me.

  We found a little restaurant with an outdoor patio within walking distance of the hotel. Gwen talked the whole way about how beautiful the city was. She tried to grab David’s arm more than once. He politely maneuvered away by stopping and pointing out buildings or points of interest. He tried to involve me in their conversation on the way to the restaurant, but because of Gwen’s incessant need to keep David’s attention, I could barely respond. He kept looking back at me, and I smiled. Her diligent display of petty adolescent jealousy didn’t bother me—he was mine now.

  We sat at a table outside under a blue-and-white-striped covering. Gwen was still prattling on about random things. David tried to act interested while I ignored her completely.

  When Gwen finished her hot yoga class rant, David turned to me. “How do you think the meetings are going?”

  I swallowed my food. “I think they’re productive. Seems like everyone’s excited. The ideas are amazing. I’m going to look over the storyboards tonight.”

  David looked down, then at me. “Did you forget?” I turned to him. “We have a meeting tonight.”

  I focused on my food and tried not to smile. “That’s right, we do.”

  “If you’d rather—”

  “No.” I looked at him. “I know we have a lot to talk about.”

  He gave me a tight smile. Gwen cleared her throat. I’d almost forgotten she was there.

  She turned to David. “There’s a group of us going to a club we found tonight. You should come.” He took a breath and was about to talk when she interrupted. “After your meeting.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her when she looked at me.

  “You too, Farren. I know how much you need to get out after breaking up with Crew. Maybe you can find a hot guy here.” She took a sip of her drink, eyeing me.

  I wiped my hands. “You know, Gwen, I wish I could, but I think I’m gonna be way too exhausted after David’s and my meeting. He’ll probably work me pretty hard.” David almost choked on his food. “But thanks for the invitation.” I picked up my fork and glanced at David, who didn’t look at me.

  “Pity,” Gwen answered.

  I chuckled and shook my head.

  “What about you, David?” Gwen asked.

  He was still trying to recover. “Thanks, Gwen, but not tonight.”

  She sighed heavily and went back to her salad. Other than a few exchanges about work, we ate the rest of our lunch in peace. Gwen was visibly irritated and said she wanted to go back to the hotel before her next meeting. She got up in a huff.

  “Bye, Gwen,” I called after her.

  David laughed once and looked at me.

  “We don’t really get along,” I said, leaning towards him in my chair.

  “You hide it really well.”

  I laughed loudly.

  He reached over and took my hand, using his thumb to massage my palm. It was a slight gesture, but the careful way he held that part of my body made me squeeze my thighs together.

  There was nothing I wanted more than to spend more time with him under the warm sun in this beautiful city, but that wasn’t possible.

  I exhaled. “We should go back.”

  He nodded, still focused on my hand. He sighed and let go. I caught a sadness in his face, but I didn’t know where it had come from or why it was there. It was still present as we walked back to the hotel.

  “David,” I said. He looked at me. “Did I do something wrong?”

  He stopped moving and turned towards me. “No, why would you think that?”

  “You just…got quiet.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s not you.” He looked like he was struggling to explain. “I have a lot going on.”

  “The launch?”

  “That’s part of it.” He exhaled and scanned our surroundings. He finally looked at me again. The concern on my face must have been obvious. He moved closer and intertwined our pinky fingers together.

  He bent his head down to meet my eyes and tried to give a genuine smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

  To ease the moment, I smiled back. He let the small connection between us go and walked forward again.

  The next meeting was with the social media group, then the accounting team. Gwen’s pout was still visible from her failed attempt to get David to fall in love with her during lunch. It seemed her plot to seduce and lock David down wasn’t going as she’d planned. Especially since I was the one who would spend the evening with him.

  It made me think, though.

  How were David and I going to handle us in the office? I was certain once people got word of our relationship, it would spread like wildfire through the floor—probably the building. My first reaction was to keep it a secret, but I didn’t know how that’d be workable. He wasn’t Crew. I had no fear of a released Instagram photo to out us, but we’d have to be on our guard around each other the entire time. One slip could call my professional career into question. “Slept my way to the top,” as they say.

  David texted me to meet him down the street from the hotel so we could drive to dinner. It seemed his fears about being caught were as present in his mind as they were in mine.

  Since I didn’t have another nice outfit to wear for dinner, I wore the black jumpsuit again. It didn’t get to see the light of day nearly enough on this trip, and I liked how David appreciated the way it fit me. I wanted to make sure his eyes were on me and only me tonight.

  Yvette had texted me a few times about the club. I told her I wasn’t in the mood to be in that environment again. Given what happened the last time, she understood. I’d eventually tell her about what was going on with David, but for now, I wanted it to be just us.

  I dashed to the car in my incredibly uncomfortable heels, trying to reach the car he’d rented. When I approached, he got out and leaned against the trunk with his hands in his pockets and stared. I stopped before I reached him. His button-down, blue-striped shirt rolled up his forearms and his dark jeans were casually sexy.

  His eyes slowly ran up my body. For a moment, I imagined they were his hands and audibly blew out the air in my lungs. He came towards me, and I smelled an unfamiliar scent on him. Woodsy with a hint of citrus. Masculine and delicious.

  He approached me slowly. “You’re doing it again.”

  “What?”

  “Torturing me.” The tip of his tongue met the corner of his mouth. He placed his hands on my hips, making my abdomen tighten. David pulled me closer as I put my hands on his forearms. “I’m tempted to skip dinner altogether.”

  I smirked at him. “You must think I’m easy.”

  “Not at all.” His eyes blazed. “But you are captivating.”

  I vacillated for a moment. The look he gave made me want to go back upstairs to his room. I wanted him to help me out of the jumpsuit while he kissed me with those incredibly addicting lips. I needed him to feel every inch of my body with his hands and vice versa.

  I shook my head, then cleared my throat. “If you think I’m going to sleep with you before you buy me dinner…” I removed myself from his grasp and walked towards the car.

  He chucked and watched me.

  I stopped and tu
rned to him. “Are you going to open my door, Mr. Powers?”

  He twisted his smile and came over. He pulled me to him by my waist again, then rested his hands on my lower back. I ran my hands up his arms, then down his chest.

  “You do not fight fair,” he whispered.

  “Never said I did.”

  He laughed and pulled the door open, motioning his hand into the car. “Ms. Hallston.”

  I kissed his cheek, then sat. My mind and heart were proud of my resistance to his allure. My body, however, was calling me every vile thing in the book and looking up more to hurl at me. Patience, I thought.

  During our brief car ride, David didn’t say much. He was thoughtfully quiet and even looked…nervous. David Powers was a lot of things. Intelligent, determined, charismatic, and sexy as hell, but any vulnerability was usually pushed aside. It was endearing to see even the slightest hint of it now.

  He took my hand as we climbed the stairs to a restaurant David said was private and the view was unmatched. The large balcony overlooked all of Puerto Vallarta. The sun was setting in the ocean, causing pinks and oranges to crawl across the sky. I stood speechless at the incredible scenery and ambiance.

  His hand moved to my lower back, and I glanced at him. “This is…remarkable.”

  “I’m trying to impress you,” he said and winked at me.

  I eyed him. “It’s working.”

  He pulled out my chair, then walked around the table and sat.

  A server came over and greeted us in English. David answered, making it known he was fluent and comfortable conversing in Spanish.

  When the server left, I looked at David with my eyebrows raised. “I know I shouldn’t be surprised that you speak Spanish, but…”

  He laughed. “I used to live here.”

  “In Mexico?”

  “In Puerto Vallarta.”

  “When?” I asked, shocked.

  “Right after college.” He looked down.

  “How long were you here?” I pressed.

  “Not long.” His voice got quiet. “Three years.”