“Do you mean it?” She gasped sharply.
“Would you give up your dream of marrying your boss? Or do I have to be wealthy in order to win your love?”
“Mike, I never wanted money.”
And that was true! Riches had been Jannette’s dream for her future. All Sophia had ever wanted was someone she could count on to be there for her. She wanted what all her friends had found—true and lasting love. Hot, sizzling chemistry was a terrific side benefit, but what Sophia sorely needed from a man was a life partner who would cherish her in good times and as well as in bad.
“Be honest with me, Sophia. If it’s Michael Barrington you want, then have the guts to tell me. If it’s money you seek, let me know.”
“I am being honest with you, Mike. I need a husband who has a steady job. I need a man I can lean on. But I don’t need a fancy car and chic clothes. I don’t need jewelry and a big house or lavish trips to make me happy. Actually, working for Michael Barrington has taught me that lesson more than anything else could have.”
“What about those doodles on your notepad? What about the things you told Olivia?” The tone of his voice changed, became harder:
Sophia frowned. Had she said something wrong? “I thought I wanted to marry Michael because he was kind to me.”
“That’s it? You were going to base a marriage on kindness?”
“Among other things.”
“Like what?”
“Mom would have been pleased to call him her son-in-law.”
“What else? Why were you willing to marry a man you didn’t love in order to please your mother?”
“I thought Michael and I could grow to love each other over time. He’s well established. He has plans and goals. I thought that’s what I needed—a real go-getter. But the longer I’m his secretary, the more I see what an empty life he leads.”
“Empty life?”
“His life has no real meaning. It’s filled with tight schedules, constant problems and nothing else.”
“But Sophia, Michael Barrington’s a busy guy. He’s got lots of employees depending on his leadership. I mean you can’t have it both ways. If he’s a high achiever he’s not going to have a lot of time to spend with his family.”
“That’s what I’ve come to realize. He doesn’t get to stop and smell the roses. I feel sorry for Michael. I know he doesn’t have a girlfriend and I don’t think he’s even got any buddies. I mean, look at you. Everyone at Barrington loves you.”
“They do?”
“How could they not? You think about other people. You smile, you’re interested. You pitch in without even being asked to help out. You really care about people. From what I can figure out, Michael Barrington is only interested in acquiring money.”
Mike winced. Ouch! The portrait Sophia had painted of him was not flattering.
“You never answered my question, Mike. Are you willing to give up your lifestyle? To settle down and find a real job? Can you do that for me? Because if you can’t, all the chemistry in the world is useless.”
“Useless? Tell me this means nothing, Sophia.” He ran his fingers along the underside of her bare arm, heard her hiss in her breath.
“Mike, I won’t be like my mother. I won’t jeopardize my future or the future of any children I might conceive for a few moments of passion.”
“I’m not asking you to do that, Sophia.”
“What are you saying?”
How he wished he could see her face, to observe the expression in her eyes when he told her that he loved her. That no woman on the face of the earth had ever moved him the way she did.
“I love you, Sophia, more than you can ever know. I’d do anything to win your heart.” Words he had not planned to utter poured from somewhere deep inside Mike.
“You’d find a stable and secure job?” She grasped his hand tightly.
“Yes.”
“We could date a while, really get to know each other before things went any further?”
“Absolutely.”
“You’ll be perfectly honest with me?”
“Oh, Sophia...” He was about to tell her everything.
“Yes, Mike,” she said. “It’s you I want. Somewhere inside me I’ve always known it was you from the moment you started to work at Barrington. Nobody had ever been able to move me with just one glance. But you did. I love you, Mike.”
Then Sophia kissed him and he flew straight to heaven.
Sophia had passed his test. She’d chosen poor mailman Mike over rich Michael Barrington. She’d followed her heart instead of her head. She was not, after all, like Erica, who’d only been interested in his money. Sophia Shepherd loved him.
Or did she?
Sophia thought she was getting Mike the mailman. That’s who she wanted. The sexy, rugged, motorcycle-riding Mike, not Michael, the busy corporate executive. Doubt gripped him once more.
“Mike,” she whispered huskily, “hold me.”
He could not resist her. They melted together. Right there on the floor of the elevator. Neither able to control themselves.
Joy beat through Sophia’s heart. Mike loves me.
So many nights she dreamed of this moment, when a man would profess his love for her and mean it. Of course she’d often dreamed that man would be Michael Barrington, but she knew that had been an infatuation. The man she really loved was here in her arms. Honest, sincere, good-hearted Mike. Sexy, adventuresome, fun-loving Mike who was willing to give up his transient lifestyle in order to be with her. If that didn’t prove he loved her, nothing would.
She buried her head into the curve of his neck and licked his skin, reveling in his salty taste.
The strength of her desire for this man hit her like a punch. She wanted him. Here. Now. In the dark and damn the consequences.
Mike plunged his fingers through her hair. She raised her head and met his lips once more. They burned. Fiery, feverish with wanting. There was no denying his feelings for her. She could feel it in the tension of his corded arm muscles, could taste his love for her on his tongue.
She ached to see his face, to stare into those green eyes and observe her love for him reflected back at her.
Mike groaned low in his throat and Sophia was startled to hear herself making mewling sounds. She sounded like Shu-Shu did when she was being stroked and petted.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “Gorgeous.”
“You can’t even see me.” Sophia giggled, wrapping both arms around his neck and clinging to him.
“I know what you look like. In that sexy little outfit you wore to the company picnic, you could raise the dead. I can see it as clearly as if you were dressed in it right now and standing under floodlights.”
“You’re silly.”
“Silly for you.” He kissed the tip of her nose.
“I want you, Mike.”
“You’ve got me, Sophia. Forever.”
“You really mean that?”
He clicked his tongue, scolding her. “Do you really have to ask?”
“I’ve just got to know that you’re telling me the truth, that if I let you make love to me, it’s not the biggest mistake of my life.”
“Sophia, I’m not going to make love to you. Not in a stalled elevator without any lights.”
“Why not?”
“Believe me, it’s not because I don’t want to, but our first time should be special.”
“This is special,” she insisted.
“I don’t have any...er...protection.”
“A guy like you?” she teased. “According to the office rumors you’re always prepared.”
“The office rumors are wrong, Sophia.” His voice was serious. “I don’t give of myself lightly.”
Another thrill raced through her at his words. So Mike was not as free and easy with his love as others would have had her believe. She really was special to him.
“But,” he said, “there is something I can do for you.”
“For me?�
� Sophia was puzzled.
“Shhh.” Softly, slowly, he kissed her again. While his lips kept her mouth busy, his hands were doing some exploring of their own.
He tugged her blouse from the waistband of her skirt and slipped his hand inside. When his palm touched her bare belly, Sophia hissed in air through clenched teeth.
“Oh, Mike.”
“Oh, Mike, yes, or oh, Mike, no?”
“Yes,” she whimpered, and her temperature shot to the ceiling when she recalled what his mouth had done to her breasts on that long-ago Friday night.
She could feel him grinning.
“That’s my girl.”
His fingers caressed. They explored and teased. A gentle grazing across her stomach until Sophia thought she’d go insane from sheer pleasure. He barely touched her and yet her nerve endings came alive with sensations. Fine hairs all over her body stood at attention and a field of goose bumps sprouted over her flesh.
Did he do everything this slowly, this deliberately?
The darkness was a cover for her modesty and Sophia appreciated that but the lack of light was also a hindrance. She wanted to see Mike. The expression on his face, the sparkle in his eyes, his knowing grin.
Then his fingers found the hook on her bra and quickly went about setting her free. He was just as gentle with her breasts. Soon Sophia was writhing against him, begging for more, awash in ecstasy.
Her body was completely pliant under his caring touch. The intense throbbing between her thighs swelled until her entire being was engulfed in a power unlike anything she’d experienced.
He unzipped her skirt. His hand delved lower, his fingers tracing a path from her navel to her panties.
Arching her back, she quivered against his touching, anxious to see how far he would go.
“Mike,” she begged. “Mike.”
He rubbed the outside of her panties, the silken material separating her aching pelvis from his fingers. She wanted more. More!
“Yes, Sophia,” he whispered. “Yes.”
And it felt so right. So good. So perfect.
His lips crushed hers, his kisses growing harder, firmer, his own desire escalating as she grew more excited.
She tore at his shirt. Buttons popped and scattered across the elevator with a flat sound as they hit.
“Sophia,” he groaned, “what are you doing?”
“Getting even,” she replied, splaying her hands across his chest.
“No,” he said. “Please. I don’t know how much longer I can control myself.”
“Tough,” she replied, and playfully nipped his bottom lip.
The baby quilt beneath them was soft and smelled of cotton. Sophia breathed deeply, inhaling other smells. The scent of love. It was on them, between them. It seeped from their pores and mingled as an erotic, exotic perfume of their own making.
“Sophia,” he said, moving abruptly to a sitting position. He grasped both her shoulders in his hands, his fingers digging into her skin. “We must stop.”
“Why?” she whispered, getting on her knees to nuzzle his neck. “I love you and you said you loved me. What’s wrong with us showing that love?”
“Remember what happened to your mother?”
“But if our lovemaking resulted in a child, you’d marry me, Mike,” she said. He did not say anything to reassure her of this. Her stomach lurched. “Right?”
“There’s something I must tell you, Sophia. Something that might make a difference in the way you feel about me.”
“Mike?” Her voice trembled. “What’s wrong? Are you in trouble with the law?”
“No. Listen, I feel like a coward, telling you now, in the dark without being able to see your face, but you’ve got to know sooner or later.”
“Know what?”
His tone scared her, A bubble of hysteria began to build inside Sophia, pressing hard against her rib cage. What could Mike possibly have done that would affect the way she felt about him? A hundred terrible scenarios raced through her head.
Did he use drugs? Did he have a gambling problem? Had he fathered an illegitimate child and abandoned it? Suddenly Sophia realized how little she knew about this man she loved so fiercely.
“Mike,” she said, “you’re scaring me.”
He took a deep breath. His sigh echoed off the metal walls. “I’m just going to come right out and say it.”
She groped for his hand. “Whatever problem you’ve got, Mike, we’ll work through it. I’m here for you. I’m not going to withdraw my love simply because you’ve got a problem.”
“Do you mean it, Sophia?”
“Yes.”
“You say that now....”
“I’m serious. Please, just don’t lie to me.”
“That’s exactly what I’ve been doing, Sophia.”
“What do you mean?” Alarm spread through her as destructive as an earthquake, rattling the foundation of her beliefs.
“I’ve lied to everyone.”
“Everyone? What are you talking about?” Confusion clouded her mind, dissipating the intense ardor she’d experienced a few short minutes earlier.
“I’m a liar and worse.”
“Worse?” She clasped a hand to her chest.
“I’m a spy.”
A spy? Sophia furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m not who you think I am.”
“You’re not Mike Barr the office mailman?”
“No.”
Had the bottom dropped out of the elevator? Was she free-falling through an abyss? What was happening to her? One minute she was in utopia, being kissed and held by the man she loved, the next minute he was telling her she didn’t even known him at all.
“Who are you?” she asked softly.
“Why, haven’t you guessed by now?”
“No.” She had no idea what he was talking about.
“Think about it, Sophia. Who do I sound like?” His voice suddenly changed. Gone was the slow, seductive drawl and in its place was the firm, commanding tones of her boss.
“Oh, no,” she gasped, and plastered a palm across her mouth.
“Yes,” he said grimly. “I’m Rex Michael Barrington
Chapter Eleven
He had lied to her!
The ramifications of his statement sledgehammered Sophia. Over the past few months that she had been working for him, thinking he was away in Germany, he’d been right here under her nose the whole time. Watching her. Spying on her. Leading her on.
He’d seen her romantic doodlings, Sophia realized. He’d heard her tell Olivia she was going to marry him. She’d told him she felt sorry for him and the empty life he lead.
Shame burned her cheeks.
Well, she rationalized, hadn’t he asked for it by hiding his true identity? By sneaking around, hadn’t Michael Barrington laid himself open to hearing unflattering things? She had no reason to be ashamed.
Other thoughts flashed through her mind. The motorcycle ride, the night he’d stayed late and ordered pizza. He’d told her he was coming to the company picnic and had instead shown up as Mike. No doubt he’d rigged the three-legged race in order to be teamed with her.
Of all the audacity! Was everything about this conniving man a lie? What about his profession of love? Was that a lie, as well?
Anger quickly replaced her embarrassment. His behavior was unbelievable, not to mention unethical.
“You...you...” Sophia sputtered, unable to think of the appropriate word to describe what he had done.
Then suddenly the lights came on, dashing them in blinding illumination.
Sophia blinked. She was still on her knees, clutching both hands into tight fists.
The baby quilt was wadded up beneath them. Her purse and the paper sack lay strewn to one side. Mike. No Michael was sitting only inches in front of her, his hair in disarray, the buttons missing from his shirt, her lipstick imprints adorning his cheek and chin.
“I’m sorry, Sophia,” he said. “I never meant f
or things to turn out this way.” He got to his feet, held his hand out to her.
But she was having none of it. Sophia pushed aside his hand and struggled to stand. An apology would not right the wrong he had committed, nor would it mend her broken heart.
In her book, Michael Barrington had committed the ultimate sin. He had lied to her. As her father had lied to her mother. How could she ever hope to trust this man again?
Sophia swallowed hard and glanced away. She couldn’t bear to look at him. Didn’t dare consider that she had almost made love to him.
Her mother had been right from the beginning. Men weren’t to be trusted. They were dirty, low-down, lying snakes! And Michael Barrington was king snake of them all.
She was breathing hard. Her blouse was unbuttoned. Her bra hung unhooked, her skirt twisted. With trembling hands, she reached to repair her clothing.
Sophia registered the sound of a whirling engine. The elevator had come to life.
In that moment the door slid open.
She and Michael stared out to find Rex Barrington, Mildred Van Hess, Sophia’s mother and Stanley Whitcomb staring back.
“Sophia?” Her mother knocked lightly on her bedroom door. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Sophia sniffled into her pillow.
“Honey, please let me come in. I hate to see you hurting this way.”
“You’re just going to say I told you so.”
“Sophia, really, do you think I’m that heartless?”
Sighing, Sophia got off the bed and went to unlock her bedroom door. Her mother wheeled into the room, concern etching wrinkles across her forehead. She held out her arms. Sophia sank to her knees in front of the wheelchair and allowed her mother to cradle her against her chest.
“It’ll be okay, baby,” Jannette soothed, patting Sophia’s hair. “I promise.”
“You were right,” Sophia said. “Mike did cause me trouble.”
“Listen, sweetie, don’t be ashamed. It could happen to anyone. Getting trapped for hours in an elevator with a man who generates such passion in you would make the strongest woman lose her head. No one would blame you.”
I Married the Boss! Page 14
