“I can assure you that this property is something that will take you by the throat and never let go. The previous owners are on an extended vacation in Europe with their family. I have received multiple offers, but the owners have been unwilling to budge. I’m sure with the right offer they will jump at it, but it’s going to have to be something quite the eye opener.” Claire was sipping from her champagne glass and still feeling the phantom touch of his fingers gripping her wrists.
The image of being manhandled into submission using the silk scarves that she had acquired at the market was immediately blazing in her mind. Struggling and looking up at her captor with those bedroom eyes was going to become something of an obsession.
“I can be quite generous if given proper motivation. A woman of your persuasion can probably make me do things against my better judgment,” He said. “I feel like I shouldn’t look directly at you or risk having my eyes burning out of my skull. I’ve never been in a position of being tempted by somebody quite like you. That’s not an insult.” He couldn’t help but admire her curves.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Learning about a potential buyer is half the battle. I like to think that I bring to the table a lot more than other realtors. A personal attention to detail is something that I aspire to. A hands on approach is not something that I shy away from.” She was feeling the bubbles of the champagne tickling her nose and the intoxication of the liquor was making the temperature rise a few degrees.
“It’s very difficult to sit beside you and not want to touch you inappropriately. I want to savor every minute in your presence. I regret this evening and I can only imagine what the rest of the night had to offer. I’m already kicking myself about this damn merger with…” He felt so comfortable with her that he almost spilled the beans. Eric had already warned his people about loose lips and here he was about to commit the same cardinal sin.
“That sounds like it has a story behind it. I’m not going to pry and it’s really none of my business. I hope that is not a hardship, but maybe you can drop me off back where you picked me up. It’s such a waste to wear such a knockout dress and have no place to go. I might have to go out and I find myself a fresh piece of ass to take to bed. Boys my own age are only after one thing and will lie through their teeth to get it.”
“I have the same problem and you might not think so, but women tend to become quite transparent when they are looking to cash in on their pot of gold. They are gold diggers and they don’t even care that I’m wearing a wedding ring. I know how hypocritical that sounds considering the circumstances.” He kept looking at his phone and getting the sense of somebody playing a dangerous game to get his attention.
“I feel a little sick to my stomach for even taking you up on your offer. It might be a good idea to keep things civil without the entanglement of getting physical. We can treat this as a strictly professional relationship. You have acquired my services to find you a property.” Claire was shutting the door on the possibility of romantic overtures. It was going to be interesting to see how he was going to handle this obstacle.
“I can’t say that I’m happy about this latest turn of events. I look forward to seeing what you have up your sleeve. If this is the same property I’ve come to know and love during my childhood, then selling it is not going to take much effort on your part. It is a lot of money for something I really don’t need.” They arrived back at the restaurant where she had waited patiently for him to collect her.
“This evening didn’t go according to plan, but I think it’s for the best. There’s no reason to pout and we are going to see each other quite extensively in this search. They say that you should never buy anything without making comparisons. I will show you a couple of other properties before we make our way over to the one that has you bouncing like a kid in a candy store.” She was bending over in a compromising position at the window.
“I haven’t seen the place in quite some time and it looks like it has gone through some major renovations over the years. I could see potential in every room and I was prepared to make an offer before getting shut down by his parents,” Eric said. "They said, as much as they appreciated the offer that there was no way they could ever let it out of family hands. I don’t know what made them change their minds. It doesn’t seem like them, but circumstances change on a dime. They might be desperate for cash.” He took her hand and gave her a kiss like a gentleman.
Claire fanned herself with the other hand. “I don’t need this drama in my life. If only you didn’t have that damn ring around your finger. I guess there is truth in the saying that the good ones are either married or gay.” She heard the incessant buzzing of her phone and looked down with a sneer of dissatisfaction on her face.
“I look forward to the next time I see you, Claire. I will be ready bright and early tomorrow morning unless something comes up at the last minute.” He seemed to recall there was no discussion about what he did for a living. He had no problems throwing his money around and it wasn’t like he was going to be able to take it with him.
As the car rounded the corner, she picked up the phone and pressed the signal to receive.
“Everything is on schedule and I hope that I can put this to bed quickly. There’s a beach in Mexico with my name on it.” She didn’t even give him a chance to make any sort of rebuttal and closed off communication with what felt like somebody punching her in the stomach.
Chapter Four
“I have to say that you have gone out of your way to make this trip as pleasant as possible. The three properties had promise, but I’m not sure it’s exactly what I’m looking for. We both know that I’m going to have to get approval from my wife. A happy life is a happy wife or maybe that is just something that has been repeated so often that it becomes a way of life for some.” He stepped from her silver Lexus with the smell of Corinthian leather.
Claire was dressed in a white form fitting ensemble with oversized designer sunglasses to complement the outfit.
“You don’t seem like a man with a lot of stress in your life at the moment. I can only assume that you were able to fix things last night when you departed quickly.” Claire was nudging him for information, but doing it in a way that seemed perfectly natural and innocent.
“I had to make some concessions, but they were worth it. Never trust somebody to do something for you that you can’t do yourself. I try to delegate, but sometimes I have to be there in person to oversee things. It’s the nature of the business I’m in. I suspect that if anybody would understand it would be you.” Eric looked at the property and the differences from what he remembered were like night and day.
“I admit that working for myself has been a pleasure. I don’t have anybody to tell me what to do and I make my own hours. Of course, I have to cater to my client, but I enjoy what I do for a living. It’s almost better than sex. Chocolate can be a woman’s guilty pleasure, but it’s the dollar signs that does it for me.” Claire had her white purse over her shoulder and it was big enough to handle all the paperwork needed to finish the deal.
“I have all this money and I’m not happy. People envy me and wonder what it is like to live in my ivory tower. Money doesn’t make you happy, but I would rather be flush with cash than without.” In the right light, he could see that she wasn’t wearing any underwear with her high beams ready to pierce the lining of the dress.
“I do like what money can buy and my bank account is not even near what yours is. I make a good living and acquisitions like this one can make my month.” Claire opened the door and the classic black and white motif greeted their eyes.
“I like what they have done with the place and it has this modern touch of class. There was only one sliding glass door in the back. It has been replaced with a wall of windows taking advantage of the view. The crashing waves and the white sand beach are worth millions of dollars. You never did tell me the price tag. Not that it matters.” Eric felt like he was transported to a different time where things were simple. F
un was the only thing that mattered.
“I do like the look I see in your eyes, Eric. You’ve gotten lost in old memories. There are a lot more memories that can be made. Don’t you think that you deserve a place that you can call your own? This can be yours for the low price of $20,000,000. It’s the steal of the century. It’s not even listed on the open market and you’re getting in on the ground floor.” Claire slid open the doors and the sound of the water crashing against the shore were causing her to question what she was doing.
The feeling of his hands wrapped around her waist cinched tight and his hot breath on the back of her neck made her feel powerless to resist.
Claire looked down at the beach and could see herself making sweet love in the sand.
“I just wanted to see how it felt.” Eric let her go, but it took an amazing amount of fortitude to pry his fingers loose.
They made their way outside and then down the stairs until they were both taking their shoes off. In the distance, there was a boat bobbing up and down in the water with its sails showing a certain freedom from living on the water.
“I hope you won’t laugh, but I’ve always wanted to cast out amongst the stars. I am very good at sailing. Going from port to port and enjoying other cultures would be a dream come true. I carry this with me.” She pulled out a weathered piece of paper and handed him the photo of the sailboat with her name emblazoned on the hull.
“Play your cards right and you just might find your wish coming true. I get so caught up in business that I don’t take the time to smell the roses,” he said. “I promised myself that I will retire and then travel abroad, but nobody really knows when their time is up. There’s no time like the present. Don’t let anything stand in your way of your dream. Trust me; you don’t want to live with regrets hanging over your head.” Eric was spellbound by not only the beauty of the property, but the woman who looked good enough to eat.
“I’m not sure paradise is in my future. It might be for the short term, but I would probably get bored with a continuous diet.” They held their shoes in their hands, wading into the water and then racing each other to make sure the waves didn’t catch them. It was a juvenile act. They were laughing like kids during spring break.
“Life doesn’t have to be a never ending exercise in futility. I take more insane risks just to feel alive. I know that I have the fate of the company on my shoulders. I enjoy the uncertainty. I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody that before.” Eric sat down with the water dripping off his legs and onto the sand.
“It’s so peaceful here and we both know people with money take this for granted. Those who have lived robbing Peter to pay Paul would find this something they have been working for all of their lives.” She had this feeling of melancholy and looked at her life as a work in progress.
“I should be with a woman like you. I can live vicariously through your eyes of innocence and wonder. I’ve had money all of my life and I gravitated to those who spoke my language. It’s the only reason why I got together with my wife, Michelle. She was a friend of the family and we had so much in common. There was no real passion and the wedding night was nothing more than sex.” He felt relieved to get this off his chest. Not even his therapist could make him open up like this.
“I don’t want you to say anything that’s going to make me yearn for something I can’t have.” Getting to her feet, she wiped off the sand sticking to her legs.
“I could stay in this moment with you trapped in time for eternity. I know reality is going to ruin everything. Buying this place would give me a refuge and I can’t say the idea doesn’t appeal to me. The stillness in the air has me understanding why people go on vacation to recharge. I always thought they were fooling themselves and a week didn’t seem long enough to shed the layers of responsibility.” Eric watched the waves converge and the look of adventure on those surfing the waves had him wondering where his youth had gone.
“I’ve learned the hard way it’s never too late to start over. Reinventing yourself takes more than finding a change of scenery,” Claire said. “Paradise has been right here and you have let it slip through your fingers for too long. This place can open you up to the possibilities. You might scoff, but yoga and meditation are something you should seriously consider.” Her spiel was rehearsed, but this was the first time that she really believed the words coming out of her mouth.
“If you were running the classes, I would be teacher’s pet.” Eric wondered about her ability to stretch more than creativity. The idea of making her feet go over her head was causing him to look at her with fire in his eyes.
“I want to show you where the master bedroom is and how you can utilize the view to rid yourself of frustration and stress.” She went up the metal spiral staircase, looking over her shoulder and knowing that she was giving him more than he bargained for.
With a flourish of a magician, she opened the double doors with the red silk sheets on the bed calling attention to the sexual chemistry in the air.
Walking to the railing, she made sure to put an extra shimmy in her step to make him pant with hungry determination.
Chapter Five
Eric waited at the threshold, feeling the breeze from the ocean tickle the hairs on his arms. It did nothing to quell the passion raging with intensity between the uprights. He stood there motionless watching the wind ruffle her dress and it lifted to reveal that her legs went to heaven and beyond.
“The view is everything you described and more. I’m not just talking about the landscape.” He lifted her with ease and heard her squeal with surprise and delight. Putting her over his shoulder, he could feel her playfully slap at his back in a vain attempt to get away. It wasn’t like she was fighting very hard.
“You are a brute and I don’t want you to be just another man that is going to let me down. We can stop this before it goes too far.” She wasn’t too proud to say that the feel of his hands was intensifying everything around her. The flash of the fireplace in the corner gave off a glow which satisfied her need for romance.
He deposited her on the bed and helped to pull back the sheets to what was going to become their love nest. This was highly unlike him. Eric could feel that he was no longer immune to a woman of her sophisticated charm and style.
He unbuttoned his shirt with the cool wind from outside keeping the temperature from boiling over. The fireplace gave off warmth which was in perfect contrast to what his back was feeling standing in profile.
“I want you to take off your pants slowly. We have all afternoon and I think that I can put off my other clients until later. It’s going to be worth it to see if you are everything you say you are.” He had her undivided attention and the look of pure unadulterated lust on her face wasn’t something that she could hide easily.
“I like the way you think. Do you think that it would be inappropriate to give you a lap dance? I know primarily women are usually in a position to do that, but I feel empowered to show you something different.” He was fiddling with a multitude of buttons on the remote control.
He finally found a soft number and he decided to show her the many hours he had endured at his parents’ request. When his friends were throwing the ball, he was being taught the finer points in various forms of dancing. He might’ve been a white man, but he knew how to move his body to the music playing over the speakers in the bedroom.
“Be still my heart and it appears that I have lucked out with someone that knows how to dance,” Claire said. “They say you learn a lot about a man from the way they can handle themselves on the dance floor. I get this feeling I have no idea what I have gotten myself into.” She was fixated on a certain part of his anatomy and was tempted to grab onto the stick of dynamite unfurling down the left side of his leg.
“I cursed my parents for making me take lessons, but I do believe that I owe them a sincere apology.” The feeling was unlike anything he had ever felt before and he wanted to bottle it to keep for those rainy days.
“I w
ould say they did you a favor and not a lot of men know how to show that kind of sensuality,” she said. “A woman usually judges a man in the first couple of minutes when they meet them. I was mistaken in thinking that you were not worth my time. Your tenacious attitude was the only reason why I succumbed.”
“I like to think that I don’t give up easily without a good reason. I was willing to see this as a strictly professional understanding, but then you wore that dress. I don’t think I have to mention that all bets were off after I saw you in a compromising position of bending over in front of me.” He needed something deeper and couldn’t find that with his marriage of convenience.
Eric and Michelle were destined to unite the forces of their families. With their combined resources, they were practically capable of getting their hands on just about anything. It was a matter of power and playing with that kind of money could become addictive.
He was grinding on her knee and she could see the form of his package. She was trying to keep her hands to herself, but then she couldn’t imagine a better feeling than running her hands down over his naked chest.
“You’re one to talk and what you’re wearing made me weak in the knees. I don’t know if that was by design or completely unintentional on your part. It doesn’t matter and I’ve been itching to see what you have been packing.” She reached out and grabbed onto the waistband of his sky blue underwear. Pulling it down and unleashing the beast from within caused her to lose her breath momentarily.
“I think that one of us is wearing too many clothes and it’s not me.” He attacked her with a vengeance, tearing away the defense of her attire by unzipping it from the back.
“I do have some catching up to do. It looks like you’re going to have a hand in how fast I get out of my clothes.” Claire covered her breasts with her hands in mock modesty.
Stroked by my Dad's Best FriendA Billionaire Secret Baby Romance Page 30
