“You’re a naïve kid, Asher.” She shook her head in apparent disbelief. “You should go.”
This was her home, and she had the right to tell me to leave, so I stood up, opened the French doors to her office and put on my clothes.
“Do you want to leave the way you came in, or do you want to exit through my private elevator?” Sadie asked with cold steel strengthening her voice.
“I should leave the way I came in. We wouldn’t want security to think that I stayed all night in your office, would we?” I said with a smirk that quickly dropped to a disappointed frown.
“Goodbye, Asher,” Sadie said as she escorted me through two sets of French doors and out of her apartment.
Chapter 8
“Did you survive an evening alone with my daughter with your heart intact?” Greyson chortled, his voice booming and gregarious over the distance of the phone.
“You never told me you had a daughter,” My voice cracked and then sharpened with a bitter edge as I spoke.
“No, no I didn’t,” I could hear the pain and disappointment in his voice. “Sadie broke your heart, didn’t she?”
“Shattered my heart would be a more accurate description of what occurred.”
“What happened? No. No, don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.”
“You’re right about that, old man; it isn’t any of your business.”
He ignored my disrespect. “Meet me at the office today at 10 am. We have business to discuss.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied, swallowing down the bile and bitterness that had crept up into my throat since I left Sadie’s apartment last night.
***
Every muscle in my body twitched with nervous energy as I walked onto the empty analyst work floor wearing a simple dress shirt, jeans and suit jacket. It had been years since I’d skipped my morning run and workout session and my body yearned for the activity of my daily exercise routine.
Eager to stretch my legs, I sprinted down the long hallway that led to the floor to ceiling steel doors that marked the entrance to the executive floor. When I reached the doors, I pushed forward with both palms and the steel walls swung open easily allowing me access to the executive area. Instead of the silence I expected, the doors swung open to the sound of toddlers giggling and pushing toy trucks across the marble entryway.
“Hi, Ass-er,” the two boys looked up from their trucks and greeted me in unison the moment the doors closed behind me.
“Good, men,” Greyson sat behind the receptionist desk and praised the two tiny cherubs who’d so adorably slaughtered the pronunciation of my name.
My nerves were on edge and I felt like a grump, but I couldn’t justify not acknowledging the adorableness of the toddlers who’d just greeting me. “Hi, Scott and Jason,” I bent down, smiled and waved at them as they went back to playing with their trucks and I realized that I didn’t know which name belonged to which boy.
Greyson must have sensed my confusion. “The boy with straight black hair is Jason, and the wavy brown haired boy is Scott,” Greyson said, introducing his grandsons to me.
I bent down again and addressed each boy by name. I held out my hand and said, “Nice to meet you, Jason,” Surprisingly, he stopped playing with his toy truck long enough to stand up and shake my large hand with his tiny one. Next, I held my hand out and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Scott,” and he stood up and shook my hand with his little fingers as well.
Still in shock at the intelligence and politeness of the little tykes, I stood up, lifted one hand to my head and raked my fingers back through my hair. “Wow, they’re amazing,” I told Greyson.
“Don’t tell me, tell their mother. She’s the one who’s raising them.” Greyson boasted.
“I can’t do that. She called me a kid and told me to leave her office last night. She doesn’t want to see me.” I lifted both hands and slid them back through my hair as I exhaled sharply.
“You’re no kid. You’re a man; an accomplished man in every way that matters.” Greyson set his jaw for a moment then spoke again. “She may not want to see you, but she has no choice in the matter. She’s this company’s CEO; you’re its Chief Financial Analyst, and you both have work to do in California.”
Greyson handed me a large manila envelope. “The envelope in your hand contains your itinerary for your California trip, and a first class ticket to fly into the San Diego airport this afternoon. You already have the dossier on the two California properties whose financials you will be examining. Since you and Sadie are both essentially always on-call, the executive board has arranged for you two to spend tonight and tomorrow in a two-bedroom suite at our most popular property. You both will be mystery shoppers of sorts; experiencing one of our pleasure suites in the same fashion our timeshare and hotel guests do. You will both be reviewing and rating a series of activities that the board has pre-planned for you to experience.”
“Thank you,” I grinned sheepishly. Greyson was giving me a second chance with Sadie, and I was determined not to allow it to go to waste.
“Oh, Asher,” Greyson called out to me as I turned around to leave. “You’re right. I’ve allowed my bitterness over what happened between Sadie’s mother and me to cloud my relationship with my daughters. Starting today, I’m going to tell people that I’m Sadie’s father. I’m proud of my girl, and I’m going to make sure everyone knows it. You don’t have to worry about her. She will never be anyone’s secret ever again.”
Chapter 9
“Thank you, so much!” The couple gripped both mine and Sadie’s hands and shook them furiously.
The harried wife bent over to pick up and rock a toddler in her arms while her husband spoke. “We weren’t supposed to have the kids this weekend—Stop that! Stop that right now!” With his attention called away mid-sentence by warring teenagers, his wife picked up the conversation where he left off.
“When we arrived we thought we would just trade our special suite for a two-bedroom family suite.” Her fidgeting toddler slapped her on the nose, and she continued speaking like nothing unusual had occurred. “Who knew the resort would be fully booked? Right?” She giggled, and Sadie gifted her a warm, professional grin.
“You two are life savers. There was no way our children could stay with us in that room.” Her husband waved her away as she finished her sentence, and she ran after him still thanking us while balancing her toddler on her hip.
Still wearing her professional smile, Sadie turned to face the resort front desk clerk and asked, “What room did they have?”
“They were booked into the Ocean Breeze Suite inside the Surfrider tower,” the clerk said with perky efficiency.
“Perfect—” Sadie responded, blowing out a puff of air, a genuine smile lifting up the corners of her lips.
“I apologize,” The clerk interrupted Sadie mid-smile. They originally booked a room in the Surfrider tower, but then they switched their reservation to a suite in the Romance tower.”
A frown lowered the corners of Sadie’s lips, then quickly lifted, her professional smile controlling her facial muscles again just as the front desk clerk stopped typing furiously on her computer and looked up to tell us the name of our new suite.
“You two are now booked into the Wet Dreams Honeymoon Suite inside the Romance tower.”
Sadie’s wide-eyed, deer in the headlights expression completely betrayed the secret thoughts inside her mind.
Score! I grinned without restraint with the knowledge that we now held a reservation for the second most romantic suite in the entire resort. Our room was to be a palatial water fantasy suite that surprisingly, given its massive size only had room for one enormous bed. Unless she forced me to sleep inside the in-room swimming pool, jet tub or shower cave, the two of us would be sharing a bed tonight.
Sadie regained her professional composure as the front desk clerk handed her then me our room keys and pointed us towards the tiny open air resort shuttle that would transport us from the fro
nt desk to the Romance tower.
***
“Shall I carry you across the threshold, my lady?” I bowed and then lifted my head and hands slightly, motioning for Sadie to step closer and allow me to lift her body up into my arms.
Every bit as coldly as she’d spoken to me during our four-hour first class flight to California, she spoke to me now. “Please, try to behave like the Executive Director you are. We’re work colleagues, not honeymooners. There’s no professional reason for you to carry me over the threshold.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, boss.” I mimicked her smirk and added a wink. “We’re supposed to be reviewing the resort as if we’re a couple. Now that we’re staying in a honeymoon suite, we should be behaving as though we’re newlyweds on our honeymoon.”
Sadie lifted her chin and then lowered it before dropping her crossed arms at her sides and skipping over to me. She smiled widely through clenched teeth and fluttered her eyelashes as she lifted her arms and wrapped them around my neck. “Very well, pretend husband, carry your fantasy wife across the threshold.”
Without hesitation, I slid one arm around Sadie’s back to support her and slid the other underneath the plump sensuous curves of her ass. I hoisted my fantasy wife up into my arms and carried her luscious body across the threshold of our suite. Then I leaned in for a kiss.
Sadie hurriedly pressed her lips forward to mine and counted to three behind clenched teeth before rolling her eyes and declaring, “We’re done here. You’ve kissed your bride, now put me down.”
“That wasn’t the kiss of a newlywed couple,” I protested. “That wasn’t even the kiss of a couple who’s been married for fifty years and just had a fight.” My joke inspired a chuckle from my pretend wife and she parted her lips, leaned forward and gave me a real kiss, a kiss that told me she still loved me and always would.
I held her tightly in my arms and kissed her back, my lips sliding comfortably against hers and my tongue slipping into the soft warmth of her mouth. I kissed the woman cradled in my arms like I was kissing the most desirable and loved woman in the world, because I was. Sadie was everything I wanted. Everything and the only thing I wanted for tonight and the rest of my life.
“What’s next on our agenda?” Sadie held onto my shoulders tightly as I carefully lowered her body to the ground and I answered her question. “Our agenda is open for the evening, right after we play a quick round of miniature golf.”
“Mini-golf!” Sadie practically screamed out her laughter. “My dad’s got a wicked sense of humor!”
“What’s wrong with miniature golf?” I asked, chuckling in response to the infectiousness of Sadie’s laughter.
“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with miniature golf. My dad just knows that I’m horrible at it, that’s all. I’m dangerously horrible. I almost decapitated my sister with my golf club the last time we played.”
“Miniature golf – cancelled,” I playfully held up my hands and backed away from her feigning terror.
“No. No, it’s on the agenda, so we have to do it.” Sadie laughed and reached forward, grabbing my hands, and pulling me towards her before I backed my way into one of the wooden towers separating our suite’s entryway from the short staircase leading down into the heart shaped in-room pool.
“Thanks,” I gasped, spinning my head around to look over at the four stairs that I almost fell down.
“I’m not blind. I know what my father’s trying to do. He wants me to be vulnerable with you; to humiliate myself while we play mini-golf so you can rescue my pride with your sweetness.” Sadie widened her eyes and bit her lip, the features of her gorgeous face shaping into an endearing expression I’d never witnessed her wear before.
“Allow me to rescue you,” I begged, as I bent down and lifted her up into my arms, crashing my lips down onto hers and plundering the soft wetness of her mouth with my tongue. We kissed with the passion of hunter and prey, our tongues invading, searching out and flicking up against the pleasure points in each other’s mouths.
The softness of my love’s mouth turned hard as she raked her teeth against my tongue and nipped at the fleshy center of my bottom lip. Her moans of pleasure soon became animalistic growls, and I had to push her off me before she tore me apart with the fierceness of her lust.
“We can’t be together,” Sadie groaned as she tottered backwards. With surprising swiftness, her heels gained traction against the wood floor, and she lunged forward shaking her balled up fists in my face. Just as quickly as she’d clenched her fists, she opened them, fanning her fingers wide and staring down at the long digits as though they weren’t her own.
“You deserve the love of a sweet girl you can show off. You can’t show off a lioness; she’s dangerous, she’ll eventually bite and kill. I’m sorry, Asher. I’m sorry I said I loved you then called you a naïve kid and told you to leave—”
“You don’t have to apologize—”
“Yes. Yes, I do. I owe you an apology. You are the kindest, strongest, most passionate man I’ve ever known—”
“And naïve – ”
“Not naïve – inexperienced. You work so many hours, I doubt you even have the time to date. I bet you’ve never had your heart broken, and I bet you haven’t even had sex with many girls. You’ve probably made love to less than ten women in your entire life. Am I right?” Sadie looked up at me, her eyes searching for something in mine.
“I’ve had my heartbroken,” I grabbed Sadie’s fanned hands, lifted them to my lips and gently kissed the soft skin covering her knuckles.
I wanted to save what was left of my pride and lie to her. I wanted to tell her I’d made love to countless women, and I’d had my heart broken a thousand times. But that’s not the truth. The truth is I’m still a virgin. And I’ve only allowed myself to be deeply vulnerable to a woman once. That one time was last night with Sadie.
Loving a lioness takes courage. My Sadie is a fierce woman with the power to nurture or destroy. Loving such a powerful woman has strengthened me. She has nurtured within me the desire to love and claim her as mine. I will act on that desire now, and bow down to her strength and beauty, laying my heart bare for her to either cherish or destroy.
“I’m a virgin,” I spoke the truth in a loud, clear voice.
“Ha!” Sadie’s chest shook with the power of her laughter. “Funny! Okay, I’ll play along. I’m a virgin too,” she chortled, then lifted the corner of her mouth in a smirk while awaiting my witty comeback. When I gave her no reply she scrunched up her nose and squinted her eyes. “But, last night...last night you were so skilled with your tongue. You gave me multiple orgasms. How many women have you pleasured with that talented tongue of yours?”
“Just one woman, just you, Sadie.”
“I was your first?” She replied behind still squinted eyes.
“I’m telling you the truth. You were my first and my only, my love.”
“Oh, god,” Sadie ripped her hands away from my embrace and slapped her fingers up against her flaming red cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Asher. If I had known it was your first time I wouldn’t have been so rough with you. I would have treated you sweetly.”
She stepped back and started to pace the wood floor as the speed of her speech quickened. “Oh, god, I blindfolded you and sat on your face. I dominated you and I shouldn’t have. Your first time should have been romantic. And it wasn’t. I ruined that for you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—”
“My first time tasting you was perfect. You were perfect. As gorgeous and delicious as I always imagined you’d be.” I stepped forward to stop her pacing and tenderly removed her hands from her cheeks and clasped them in mine. “I meant what I said last night. I love you for all my life. Did you mean it when you said you’d love me forever?”
“Yes, I meant it. I still do. I do love you forever.” Sadie panted. “It’s just…I’m no good for you. You deserve to be with a girl you can show off to your friends. You deserve someone cute, young and perky. I love you,
but we both know I’m robbing the cradle.”
Sadie tried to lower her head, but I wouldn’t allow it. I reached up and cradled her soft cheeks gently tilting her head up with both of my open hands. “If you think for one moment that I don’t have plans to show you off then you’re insane. You’re the most beautiful woman I, and all of the other twenty-something analysts at work have ever seen. They’ll all be jealous beyond belief that I’m the man who gets to be with you.”
Sadie’s cheeks blushed crimson hot again, their heat melting into my cupped hands. “You have no idea how completely your words heal my heart. You are a remarkable man. But your sentiment doesn’t change the fact that I’m 34 and you’re 22. I’m more than a decade older than you. Twelve years may not seem like much of an age gap now, but in thirty years when you’re 52 and I’m 64 it will seem like a huge age difference.”
I cocked my head to the side in disbelief. “That’s insane, Sadie. Age and time don’t matter. I’ll love you just as much next year as I do today. It won’t matter if I’m 34, and you’re 46 or if I’m 90, and you’re 102. You will always be my one true love and the only woman who owns my heart.”
She gazed up into my eyes, her mouth open, speechless. “You are my woman Sadie Stone. You are my forever love and I will never relinquish my claim on your heart.”
With her silken cheeks still safely cradled in my hands, she fluttered her eyelids closed and allowed her chin to lift up toward mine. Without hesitation, I bowed my head down and captured the heat of her luscious pink lips with my mouth.
Chapter 10
“Is your ankle okay?”
“Yes, it’s much better now that you’ve put an ice pack on it.”
“You weren’t kidding,” I laughed. “You are a horrible miniature golfer.”
“Yeah, I bet you’ve never seen anyone trip, fall and then smack themselves in the ankle with their own golf club.”
Taboo Desires: Dirty Forbidden Secrets Bundle (The Complete Miranda Cougar Collection) Page 21
