“Hmm?” I replied, almost asleep, our naked bodies intertwined in the water.
“I love you,” he stated simply. “Thank you for going to meet my family, and for braving my father. It meant a lot to me.”
“Me too. I love you too, Liam. I love you more than I ever dreamed I could love anyone,” I whispered as he turned me in the water to face him. Feeling his arousal at my hip, I slid my leg over him and straddled him in the water. He picked me up out of the water and settled me down on top of him, filling me. I gasped as his lips covered mine. He began to move, spilling water over the side. I grasped both sides of the stone tub as he moved, pumping harder and faster as my breath quickened. I stilled and looked down into his eyes as he thrust deeply into me, causing me to collapse on him as both our orgasms washed over us.
He held me tightly as I lay on his chest. “I can’t get enough of you. You’re amazing, Kel. I’m one lucky son-of-a-bitch,” he said playfully, slapping me on a wet butt-cheek.
“Back at you, Covington. Who knew there was a reason behind all that athletic ability?”
“Yeah, well…right now I’d be shit on the field. That was some workout, Hellcat.”
“Speaking of workouts, I haven’t been running in three days. I have to go in the morning,” I said as I rose and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around me as he slid his hand up my wet calf and then the backside of my thigh.
“If you start that again, we’ll never get out of the tub. I’m tired,” I complained. He laughed and pushed up, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist as I padded into the bedroom.
“I need to go to the apartment for some of my things. I know you bought me some clothes, but I need lingerie and other stuff,” I said, before stopping in my tracks. Clothes spilled out from the right side of his closet, and ten or so shoe boxes were stacked in the corner. I picked up the first box…a box containing a pair of Jimmy Choo pumps. The price tag was still on them…$900.
“What the hell? Covington, this is over the top. You said we were using the gift certificates,” I ranted, shaking a spectator pump at him. “It’s too much!”
He met me at the closet door, propping himself against the door facing with a wry grin on his face.
“I mean it! You know I had a problem with this! And once more, what will your father say when he finds out you spent this much money on me? The money at the gala was one thing. That’s a tax write-off. But this,” I gestured to all of the clothes and shoes. Flipping through the sleeves of the dresses and blouses in the closet, I realized he hadn’t made any choices for me. He’d simply bought everything I’d tried on. There had to be at least $25,000 dollars’ worth of clothes on my side of the closet.
The grin on his face only deepened, pushing my anger level higher. His eyes were drawn to my chest, heaving with the shallow breaths I was taking as I continued to rant at him.
“If you want to fight with me, Hellcat, you need more clothes on than this. I’m a little distracted,” he teased, grabbing the towel and unceremoniously rolling me out of it.
“Damn it, Liam…I’m serious! I’m mad as hell!”
He grabbed my naked body, pulling me into his arms and crushing me to him.
“First of all, Miss Sanger, I do with my money as I please. My grandfather has a rather large trust set up for me, which I never touch. I have an obscene salary and investments of my own. So don’t worry. My dad quit having any say in what I spend about seven years ago when I graduated from college. And knowing what he’s spent on my mother all these years, I don’t think he’d think twice about what I’ve spent on you, even if it was his business. I’m in love with you, Kel, and I want you to have the best of everything.”
I was shaking. He just didn’t fathom how I felt about his money.
“You just don’t get it…how uncomfortable this,” I threw out my arm for emphasis, gesturing to the beautiful clothes in my closet “makes me feel. I have no experience with any of this. The intimate relationship, the overwhelming love I feel for you, the way you shower me with expensive things…I don’t know how to process it. It’s like I’m on overload, and my nerves will shatter any minute. And that’s just the surface. I can’t begin to tell you how it makes me feel when I just did what I did to you, and then you buy me nine-hundred dollar shoes!”
He grabbed my hair, tipping my head back. His eyes flashed fire. “Kelly, stop it right now. That’s exactly the reason I hesitated to let you go down on me. Your self-esteem is so low. You’re worth so much more to me than any “thing” I could ever buy for you. I want you to stop, and stop thinking of yourself in terms of the way the men in your mother’s life treated her. You’re not your mother, and I won’t have you doubting yourself anymore!”
As he ranted, I felt the anger leave me. I’d never seen him so worked up, and it shook me to the core.
“Kelly?” He shook me gently, bringing me back into the moment. I nodded meekly as he covered my lips with his. His kiss was soft and tender. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he picked me up and carried me back to his bed. After placing me in the middle of the pillows he stood back.
“Now, how about something to sleep in?” he asked cockily.
I smiled in spite of my anger, the corners of my mouth betraying my mood. “Yes, please. One of your t-shirts. I can stop for underwear at my place on my way to work in the morning.”
“No need, Cat. Here, catch,” he said as he removed something from his top dresser drawer and tossed it at me. I caught it and brought it up to find a lacy pair of boy-cut panties. As I smiled and shrugged into them, something covered my face. I pulled the fabric down to discover a sheer white gown with lace straps.
“As much as I like to see you in my t-shirts, I had the girls in the store sort out some lingerie and night wear for you. You’ll find it all in the top drawer here. You only get the top drawer, though. Don’t be thinking I’m giving up any more,” he complained in a mocking tone. I grinned as I threw the gown over my head and pulled it down around my waist. He shrugged into a pair of boxer briefs, and then pulled a pair of pajama bottoms on before climbing up the bed toward me.
Just as he pulled me into the fold of his arm, my cell rang on the nightstand. He leaned over and retrieved it for me.
“Kelly-cat’s phone, this is her assistant,” he said jokingly in to the phone. I giggled, attempting to retrieve it from him.
“Wait just a minute, here she is,” he answered as he handed me my phone.
“Hello?”
“Kel, its Dana. I just wanted to make sure you saved my number in your phone.”
“Sure. I’ve already got it. I wrote it down at the store, remember?”
“Yeah, and put it in your new purse, which is now in my possession. Did you forget?” she asked, laughing.
“Um…yeah, I guess I did. Sorry. I’ll save the number under your name.” It was one of those rare moments when our roles reversed, and Dana seemed the more mature.
“This guy Liam. He’s really doing a number on you, isn’t he?” she asked in a giggly tone.
He obviously heard her comment, for he smiled knowingly, playfully nuzzling my neck under the phone.
“You could say that,” I replied. “Oh, by the way, be careful. My gun is under the front seat, and I forgot it was there. Keep my car locked,” I warned.
“Okay, I will. I’ll probably be bringing it back to you in a couple of weeks when Rick gets mine running again,” she replied.
“How’s Masen?”
“Great. Kelly, thanks again for everything. The lady downstairs said there is actually a job opening up at the county day-care. It’s just part time, fixing food at lunch and helping watch the kids on the playground. But the great thing is I could take Masen with me. It’s perfect,” she gushed.
My jaw dropped. It was the first time I’d ever heard her excited about a job prospect.
“Dana, that’s great!” I exclaimed.
Liam pulled back to look at me.
“Well, it’s a s
tart. Rick is excited too, and now that I have wheels the pressure is off of him. He said to tell you thanks.”
“You’re welcome. But it’s really Liam you should thank.”
“I know. Thank him for me Kel. I’ve got to go, now. I love you, Kelly. I’m really happy you’ve found someone.”
“Me too. Kiss Masen for me. Bye,” I said, clicking the phone off.
I leaned across Liam, placed the phone back on the nightstand, and then lay my head down on his chest. He curled his hand in my hair absent-mindedly.
“Dana and Masen okay?” he asked, kissing me on top of the head.
“Yeah, thanks to you, they are. She’s going to see about a job tomorrow. She sounds happy for the first time, ever. She said to tell you thank you.”
“You’re entirely welcome. She’s your sister, Kel. Therefore, she’s important to me, too.”
“I’m beginning to get that,” I replied, pulling him into my lips.
Sixteen
Liam kissed me warmly in the pre-dawn darkness of the hotel room. I stirred, realizing he was up and dressed. When he pulled away, I snaked my arm around his neck, drawing him back down on top of me.
“Baby, if you keep this up, I’ll crawl back in there with you instead of going to my meeting.”
“Don’t make threats you don’t intend to keep,” I murmured against his neck. He slid his hand down my side, taking the sheet with it. My gown was hiked around my ribs. My panties had long since been kicked down to the foot of the bed sometime in the middle of the night. Liam slid both hands across my abdomen and then grasped my hips, pulling me closer against his body. I couldn’t believe I’d been asleep only minutes before, and now I wanted him…in the best way. He’d turned me into a sex-craved monster. I slid my leg up between his as he moaned in my mouth.
“I’ve got to go, Kel. I promise you, we’ll pick up right where we left off -- as soon as I can get you home and naked tonight.”
“Mmmm. That thought might hold me through the day,” I murmured. “Kiss me once more, and I’ll let you go.”
I could feel Liam smile against my neck. He slid his lips over my jawbone, up my cheek, and then found my mouth, his wet and hot already from our first kiss. I returned his boldly, tangling my hands in his unruly hair, still damp from his shower. He finally broke the contact and looked down at me, his eyes sparkling in the darkness.
“Don’t go running this morning, Kel…please. I don’t want you running alone. We’ll go this evening,” he offered. I nodded my consent. “I’ll see you later,” he promised.
* * *
I checked myself in the mirrored doors of the elevator as it made its way up. Out of my new wardrobe, I’d chosen a pair of cocoa-colored silk crop pants and matching sleeveless fitted jacket. It was double-breasted and pushed my breasts up just enough to make the outfit sexy without showing too much cleavage. The round-toed princess Kate pumps were just shy of a stiletto heel, making me a bit self-conscious. The buzzer pinged as the doors opened, revealing my office floor and a surprised Tana.
“Kels, what the hell? Where were you yesterday?” Tana began her rapid-fire line of questioning before I even made it to my desk.
“Liam called in and insisted I take the day off to rest after the gala.”
“And obviously he wasn’t here. Where did he take you?”
As she continued her assault, she propped herself on the corner of my desk. “Precious outfit, by the way. He definitely has good taste. Took you shopping, did he?”
“Yes, he did. He gave me some gift certificates he won Saturday night,” I replied as I picked up a stack of mail perched on the middle of my desk, sitting in my chair as I began to filter through it.
“Yeah. According to the accounting figures I went over yesterday, he was by far the night’s biggest contributor aside from the people who bought the antique cars. Is he really worth that much money?”
“Tana, it’s none of your business, or mine, by the way! Don’t be rude,” I admonished.
“Well, it’s a curious situation, that’s all. If he’s loaded, why is he working here? No one seems to know why he’s here, and why he’s holed up in the office by Dan’s….who, by the way, was canned yesterday. Did you know?” she asked, her eyebrows shooting up at the question.
“Um, yes. Liam told me what was going down yesterday,” I replied, barely glancing up at her.
“The jewelry from him too?” she asked after a pause. I stopped and looked up at her exasperatedly.
“He dropped some bucks on you, sister, and if you don’t come home and give us some details, I know some roommates who are going to kidnap you and make you talk! Seriously, Kel! You’ve never dated anyone, except for that one guy senior year, and now this?”
I looked up at her and smiled, all of my happiness pooling in my belly. It felt as if I might burst. I’d never been so happy.
“We’ll talk, Tana, I promise. I’ll probably be home tonight.”
“Well, bring him around, would you? We need to grill him,” she said playfully as she hopped off my desk.
“I’m sure you will,” I answered to her back as she flitted down the hallway. I’d barely made it through the pile of mail on my desk before Stuart Drake rang my phone.
“Advertising, this is Kelly,” I answered.
“Kelly, would you come back to my office please? I need to meet with you this morning,” he asked.
“Sure. I’ll be right there.”
I hung up, butterflies suddenly erupting in my stomach. I knew he’d want to meet with the department today in view of the change in personnel, but I’d assumed it would be all of us, not just me. I grabbed a notepad and pen, and then stepped around my desk and down the hallway to the large mahogany door. I pushed through to find Stuart standing just inside, waiting for me.
“We’ll just meet in my office instead of the conference room,” he said as he ushered me into the corner office. His view of downtown Austin and the lake were breathtaking. When he motioned to two chairs arranged by the windows, we each took a seat.
“I assume Mr. Covington’s already filled you in about what transpired yesterday. We’ve let Carter go.”
I nodded, taking a deep breath.
“Since the gala we’ve been made aware of just how much you ladies in the department have contributed to the advertising campaigns we assumed Carter was handling. It seems you’ve had much to do with the execution of those campaigns.”
“Lisa and Gabby make a great team. They’ve really pulled together with me to make things work,” I replied, not sure where he was going with all of this.
“Kelly, for the time being, we’d like for you to take over. Just do what you’ve been doing and report directly to me. Nothing is changing, except now Carter won’t be in your way. I’m not sure he even played a role in our day-to-day functions. We’re not going to replace him immediately, so we’ll feel our way for a while. If you need any guidance, you can come to me or to Mr. Covington for help. You know the budgets for the projects you’re already working on, so the transition there will be effortless. For the time being I’d like for you to move your things in Dan’s old office. Have Lisa move to your desk. Do you have any other questions?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m sure I’ll think of something later,” I said as I smiled at him nervously.
“You will do fine. We have an open-door policy, so feel free to seek me out if you have questions. Oh, and Kelly…I’d like for you to sit in on the Monday morning meetings with the VP’s from now on. That in itself will probably keep you in the know, and will let you in on what you need to keep things going on your end. “
I nodded, barely able to breathe. He was putting me in charge of the department!
“You can meet with the other girls, and let them know it will be business as usual. Assure them that their jobs are secure. I know how rumors can run rampant at a time like this,” he said, rising to walk me out.
I stepped back into the outer offices and relaxed. Deep in th
ought about all the implications of our meeting, I barely noticed one of the VP’s, Cal Justin, turn and pause beside my desk.
“Well, seems you’ve moved up in the world, Sanger. It took Carter five years and some sweat. You’ve managed it in five months. Oh, but wait…I bet a little sweat was involved.”
My head snapped up at his inference.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“Just stating the obvious.” He paused, and then looked me up and down, slowing at my heels. “Sucking up to the new consultant, well, we figure it moved you on up the ladder, sugar. Just be careful. Those ‘fuck-me’ heels won’t keep you on top forever,” he whispered, glancing around and then disappearing down the hallway.
The elation I’d felt just a few moments before left me like I’d been sucker-punched in the stomach. In one moment, all of the confidence I’d been working up left me.
I rose shakily and moved back to the small kitchenette by our office and poured myself a cup of coffee. Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I stirred creamer into the cup and then returned to look around Dan’s old office.
“Kel, what’s up?” Gabby startled me from the doorway. Lisa stood behind her, looking over her shoulder.
“I’ve just met with Mr. Drake. Come in and sit down a minute.”
They both grinned and sat down in the two armchairs opposite Dan’s desk. I perched my hip on the corner, not wanting to sit down in his chair just yet. I was still unnerved by Cal Justin’s comments. I took a deep breath and then continued, pushing negative thoughts aside.
“I guess you both know by now, Dan Carter no longer works here,” I began.
“Yay, us!” Lisa gushed.
“Lisa!” Gabby silenced her.
“You know you feel the same way, Gabby. Admit it. He was an ass, and he had no respect for women.”
“Well, I’m not sure he was the only one,” I remarked as they both looked at me.
“So did you get Dan’s job? Are you our new boss?” Lisa asked.
“No! No, Stuart asked me to assure you our jobs are secure and nothing is changing. They’re well aware the three of us have been handling most of the projects anyway, so for the time being we are to carry on. I will be the go-between attending the VP meetings on Mondays, and we’re to consult Stuart or Mr. Covington if we have any problems. He said they aren’t replacing Carter yet, they want to see how things go.”
Texas Hellcat Page 17
