She saw that she was exactly right about his smile.
Then it occurred to her what an effective tactic he had been using on her—it seemed whenever he wanted to force her to look at him, he remained silent. But even knowing that, she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist his silence, wanting to have some indication of what he was thinking.
“How many days do you have left?” he asked, still smiling.
Janet sighed dramatically.
“About sixty,” she said. Fifty-nine to be exact.
Eric laughed, and Janet was struck by the richness of it and his gorgeous smile. He even had an adorable light dimple on one of his cheeks.
“Good luck with that,” he said going back to his food.
***
When Eric took her back home and she got out of the car, to her surprise, so did he. He parked, shut the car off, and climbed out.
She looked at him, disbelieving, but he simply said:
“Nightcap?”
She couldn’t understand why she found it so hard to resist him—for any reason.
“Don’t try anything,” she said lightly.
He said nothing in response, and when she glanced at him, his expression was unreadable.
She was worried about letting him in, especially with the way her heart was fluttering and her body seemed to have become unstable, but she reminded herself she was a grown-ass woman. She could handle anything that happened; she was aware of the potential consequences.
She was letting him in with eyes wide open.
When they got inside, he seated himself comfortably on the couch.
Janet resisted the urge to check her house for David, suddenly seized by the thought he could be hiding out, then she felt a bit silly about it.
“Sit with me?” Eric asked, tapping the spot next to him.
“You came in for a drink didn’t you? Now what would you like? I wouldn’t feel right giving you hard liquor when you still have to drive, so how about some tea? Coffee?”
She ignored the slow smile that had formed on his face when she said that he had to drive, but she couldn’t ignore the way her heartbeat sped up.
What did that smile mean? He did have plans to leave didn’t he?
She felt like she was going to have a heart attack.
“Happen to have some Scotch around?” he asked, and she knew for he didn’t plan to leave anytime soon.
She shook her head.
Luckily, she didn’t have Scotch or any of the usual hard liquors that David had appreciated around now. But then she remembered one she could offer.
“How does Bailey’s and coffee sound?”
He smiled.
“Sounds wonderful,” he said.
Janet put a pot on to brew.
She decided to stay in the kitchen for as long as she could—sitting close to him was not a good idea.
He looked at her as he patted the seat next to him again.
Janet felt her legs start to move.
This is stupid. You’re so stupid. You know, you deserve whatever you get for going along with this and being so stupid!
Instead of sitting next to him on the couch, however, she sat in her recliner several feet away.
“So it’s like that?” he said, smiling.
She nodded.
“Yup.”
“Okay, I’ll respect that. By the way, I appreciate you liquoring me up before my drive, and I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that it was your suggestion.”
Janet didn’t know what to say.
“Well how long do you plan to hang out here?”
He shrugged.
“However long it takes for you to not feel guilty about sending me back out there intoxicated.”
Janet leaned toward him.
“Just coffee then?”
Her voice sounded hard to her, harder than she thought she was capable of around him.
He appeared to get the message as he nodded.
She felt his energy pull back, his flirtatious manner vanishing.
Janet was proud of herself.
When the coffee machine signaled, she got up and asked him how he liked his coffee. She was surprised when he didn’t give her a suggestive response.
She brought both of their mugs over, handed him his, then sat back on the recliner with hers.
“Why’d you let me come in?” he asked.
“Truthfully I just...you’re a whirlwind. You were already out of the car, and I had already taken back an invitation to you before...” She shrugged.
“You knew what could happen if you did.”
She nodded, looking away.
He said nothing else.
They sipped their coffees in silence for a minute.
Then Janet found her eyes drifting to him, starting with his wrist, his arms.
She could still smell his cologne and she was lost in it.
Her eyes went to the peek of his chest.
She wanted to see more damn it, and she knew he knew it.
“Do not look at me like that Janet.”
“What?” she asked, tearing her eyes away from his body, trying to look innocent.
But she knew it was clear she had been undressing him with her eyes.
Still, she felt defiant.
“Like I’m a piece of meat,” he said.
“Spare me. Since we’re being so honest with each other, you’re quite the specimen and you know it. Besides, you have not spared me such glances. What’s the big deal?”
“You really want me to show you?” he asked, putting his coffee down and getting up from the couch in one quick, smooth movement.
Janet’s defiance deflated as he reached her, carefully taking the coffee from her hands and pulling her up from her chair.
“Okay never-mind—I think I get the picture...”
“No, you want to know what’ll happen, and that’s fine with me,” he said.
He pulled her tight to him, then his mouth came upon hers with fierce possessiveness, his tongue finding its way into her mouth, demanding she give in.
Janet moaned in pleasure as she accepted his demands, wrapping her arms around him.
What am I doing? she thought, alarm bells ringing.
Part of her mind shouted for her to stop, but the majority ruled—her heart, doubling its beat, her body warming—tightening in some places, lubricating in others.
She knew if she let him continue, she would be lost. She had no weapons against his desire, for she wanted him too.
She had to force her next words out:
“Okay, Rick, I get it...”
“No you don’t—not yet. But don’t worry, I’ll give it to you.” And as if to emphasize his point, his hands travelled down her back to her buttocks and he clasped her to him hard, as if making sure she felt all his firm parts and knew what was coming.
The other hand held the back of her head, burning through her scalp by its mere presence as he continued to kiss her hungrily.
His scent, and the feel and taste of him intoxicated her, and when his mouth moved to her neck, leaving a trail of heat everywhere it touched, she knew it was over.
The hand at her butt came up her back and across her waist, then reached the swell of her breast causing her to shudder.
She savored the feel of his hand slowly exploring her body, finding its way under her top. He delicately touched her breast, sliding his thumb over her nipple which hardened instantly.
Janet had to stop herself from telling him to take her right then.
“We can’t do this,” she said, finally able to break the spell for a moment.
“Why not?” he asked thickly.
She had no response and knew that she had lost the quick battle with herself she had started.
What about tomorrow? she thought, then the thought disappeared as he reached her other breast, giving it the same treatment as the other.
His hands left an electric sparkle everywhere they touched.
When his hands grabbed at
her dress as if about to pull it off, she panicked and pulled away, keeping a distance with her hand out.
“No,” she said firmly.
“Are you talking to me or you?” he asked, taking a step closer to her.
“Eric I don’t know...” she began, her voice pleading, and he stopped abruptly and looked her in the eyes, his face still holding desire, but alert.
“You don’t know what?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready,” she said, and it came out as a whisper.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, his voice still thick and Janet could not answer. She knew she couldn’t say yes—it would be a blatant lie. But if she said no, she knew her abstinence goal was blown.
“No,” she said, and to her ears, it sounded like a whimper, and in a way it was. “Eric, I want...”
Her words were smothered by the pressure of his mouth on hers. His tongue traced the outline of her lips and that was all the “open sesame” she needed.
He probed her with his tongue again, and Janet was suddenly terrified.
She thought she had experienced him losing control before but his frenzied actions made it clear she was really in trouble this time—he had completely lost it.
His mouth left hers and trailed down her neck and down to her bare shoulders.
She moaned in pleasure.
“Thanks for giving me easy access,” he said in his desire-thickened voice, and Janet was too distracted to understand if he meant her dress or the fact that she was braless. Or both.
He started fiddling with her dress again, and she was too weak to protest about anything anymore.
Her body betrayed her, screaming in protest at the interruption of his hands on her skin. She almost arched her back to him so that her breasts touched his body, and to encourage him to continue.
There was no more fighting it—she couldn’t control the way her flesh responded to the touch of his hands. She couldn’t control the way her heart leapt when he looked at her, couldn’t control the way she felt when they were together anywhere, and how she hoped their partnership would never end.
She started tearing open Eric’s shirt. She wanted him to be a part of her desperately.
She gasped a little when she saw his chest—hard, smooth and tanned. He was muscled like a god. She ran her hand over it and felt him shudder.
“You’re not making this easy,” he said.
She had no idea what he was talking about and didn’t care.
She saw his eyes before he came for her lips again, and knew there was no turning back.
Then all of a sudden he stopped kissing her and grabbed her hands, holding them together.
His eyes were closed and remained so for a few seconds as he silently breathed in and out deeply.
When he opened his eyes, they were still dark blue with desire yet his words said:
“Just wanted to remind you who’s really in charge.”
He smirked a little as he let her hands go and re-buttoned his shirt, but it failed to have the confidence of the previous ones she’d seen on his face.
Once composed, he thanked her for the coffee, then left.
Janet watched him close the door to her apartment in utter disbelief, her mouth hanging open.
She was slightly offended, but his weak smirk and assertion tempered the offense.
She wasn’t sure he had the upper hand anymore, and she got the feeling he wasn’t either.
CHAPTER SIX: RESENTMENT
Janet got madder and madder as she thought about what Eric had done, and this time, as she deliberately avoided him at work, he let her. He didn’t call her or stop by with any questions, didn’t leave any messages for her anywhere.
She also had no problem coming up with excuses not to see or talk to him, did not need to pretend she was angry with him and didn’t want to interact with him—he had humiliated her, and all she could do was hold it against him.
She couldn’t risk looking into those blue eyes and seeing laughter in them at her expense, the smug satisfaction of his power over her dancing in them.
What kind of game was he playing?
When her desk phone rang, she stared at it with narrowed eyes thinking it better not be him before she checked the screen.
She was relieved to see the receptionist’s extension.
“Your dad on line eight,” she said when Janet picked up, and Janet thanked her and took a breath before picking up the line.
“Hi dad! What’s going on?”
“Hey hon, same as usual. Making some new connections, and things are looking good for some of our new ventures. Look, I just called ‘cause I know someone’s got a birthday coming up, and I don’t know what you’re planning this year for it, but I know you usually use at least one of your vacation weeks for a birthday week and guess what—I got you two tickets to Fiji! Five-star hotel, all expenses paid, all that good stuff.”
“Oh my god dad, that’s awesome! Thanks for doing that!”
“You’re welcome baby. Brenda knows all the details and will handle the rest of the arrangements—just confirm the dates and who you think you might take with her. By the way, is there someone in particular you think you’d take with you?”
Janet thought about it for a moment. There was only one person who made sense.
“Probably Liz if she’s planning to take a vacation week soon.”
Her father made a sound as if thinking about something out loud.
“Interesting,” he said.
“What’s so interesting? You know Liz and I are tight.”
“But have you guys ever left the country on a trip before?”
“Well sorry dad, clearly you have someone else in mind for me?”
“No, no. Just wondering. Thought you might have someone special you’d want to take along by now.”
“Dad, seriously? David and I just broke up like five weeks ago.”
“I know, I just...look, it was a just-in-case situation anyway. I just hope you and Liz have fun and get a chance to drop your worries for a while. I love you pumpkin.”
“Love you too dad,” Janet grumbled before they both disconnected the call.
She sighed in frustration.
Who was she fooling? There was no way Jason would let Liz leave the country without him—he barely let her go shopping without scrutiny. That left no one since she was certainly not asking Eric—they were still just coworkers after all.
Which meant she had to take her dad’s awesome gift and go to some awesome place all by her awesome self like some loser.
She felt some embarrassment when she thought about what others might think if they could hear her thoughts. She knew what the others thought of her, and she knew she’d get no sympathy.
Poor little rich girl, they’d probably say sarcastically.
Well, I guess I can catch up on some reading, she thought. And work on those other projects...
But again the thought of doing such a thing by herself made her incredibly sad. Who went on vacation in a strange, new country alone? No one. She’d never heard of it. Who enjoyed eating at five-star restaurants and taking sailing lessons or swimming with dolphins or whatever else one did on some exotic island all by themselves? No one—unless that person was on vacation with the intent of hooking up with locals—which she had no intention of doing. She preferred taking sand to the beach.
She sighed again. She wished she and Eric were on better terms, although even if they were by the time her vacation started, she knew it was still a bad idea to take him along; they weren’t ready for it.
She wasn’t ready for it.
If he could do to her what he did the other night, who knew what else he was capable of?
She suddenly started resenting her dad’s gift. It was so impersonal like so many gifts before. He was always throwing money at her—gift cards, Black Cards—anything that screamed: “I don’t know a thing about you, nor do I care to find out, but go buy yourself something nice” year after year.
<
br /> Finding out she liked Versace, Louboutin and Tiffany & Co. for gift cards was easy—he probably found out where she liked to shop from the secretary or her other coworkers because there’s no way he’d know otherwise.
She tried to remember the last time her father bought her a thoughtful gift and couldn’t.
Probably when she was a little girl.
The more specific gifts he had gotten her—like her sixteenth birthday Mercedes and her college Porsche, she had told him specifically what she wanted, not trusting him to pick up on just hints. He never knew enough about her to venture an educated guess.
Still, she was glad she no longer had to think about what to do for her birthday this year—she inevitable got stressed out planning for it.
For her twenty-fifth birthday, she had wanted to throw a party, creating a company gathering of it, but luckily, Liz had talked her out of it.
“That probably won’t go over well,” Liz said gently, and by the softness of her approach, Janet knew she was missing something.
“Imagine all of these guys feeling obligated to bring you something. What do you get a girl like you?”
“What do you mean a girl like me? I’m not much different from anyone here! My salary is to scale...”
Liz was shaking her head.
“Not everyone has a trust fund.”
“Are you kidding me? I don’t even know if I have a trust fund anymore...”
“That’s not the point Janet—you still have access. Your father has not cut you off and you know it. You tell him you need money to buy an island and he’ll probably wire the funds to you. You know what I mean? Come on Janet, what are you here for if not to be his heir? You are not our equal, and everyone knows it.”
“Well, I can tell them they don’t have to bring anything—I’ll have entertainment, great food...I’ll provide everything...”
Liz was still shaking her head.
“You don’t understand—not many people would feel right about that. People would still feel obligated to bring you something or feel guilty for not doing so. And they’ll resent you for putting them in that position.”
So instead of throwing herself a huge party for her quarter-of-a-century milestone, she sent herself on vacation. She was with David by then, so she and David spent a week in Hawaii. He had luckily been able to get the week off.
Playing With Fire (Sweet Redemption) Page 6
