by Jade Powers
“Let’s say I want the whole package. Would you date a guy working as a spy for the competition?” The question floated in the air between them.
If Kendall found out, he’d try to use the relationship. Still, Lauren wanted to feel Lucas breathing in her hair, his arms wrapped around her shoulders, his fingers trailing along her thigh. God, she wanted him.
“Let’s start over. We’ll pretend we don’t know each other and go on dates and find out what we are to each other and if we’re suited.” Was that lust talking? She said date and imagined him shirtless on the beach with saltwater dripping off his skin.
“Want to go out on Saturday?” Lucas asked.
“Let’s swim in the ocean.” Lauren loved the ocean. It was one of the reasons she bugged Drake for so long to move to Miami.
“You’ll wear that awesome bikini?”
Lauren could just imagine Lucas with eyebrows waggling up and down, a saucy grin plastered all over his face. Ha. That gave Lauren a new idea. She could torture Lucas with the threat of a one-piece
“Ah, no. Since this is going to be our first date, I’ll wear my one piece. It has a skirt and everything.” She said it dead-pan. Lauren only had the bikini, but Lucas didn’t know that.
Lucas sighed dramatically, “I was planning a first, too—my first fist fight when some dumb-ass wolf-whistled you. I’ll check the tide charts and call you back on Friday?”
It was Monday night. Saturday seemed so far away. She really wanted to see Lucas before then.
“We could talk about what you found in the tide charts over lasagna on Wednesday at my place?” Lauren put her hand over her mouth. It totally broke her rule. She never let the guy come to her place. Never. It led to the awkward moment where she wanted him to leave. Or the even more awkward moment when she broke up and found him drunk-knocking on her door at eleven at night.
Not that either of those things had ever happened...because Lauren’s active imagination had already planned for those instances. She should have counted on her boyfriends having as much imagination, Drake as a case in point. He imagined that she had tossed a baby out of her womb. His assumption infuriated her to the point where she couldn’t stand to look at him. She must not have loved Drake as deeply as she thought, evidenced by this deeper attraction with Lucas. She had no idea she could feel so strongly or so deeply for anyone.
Lucas was different. Somehow she knew Lucas would trust her when it counted, as long as she didn’t screw things up early in the relationship.
Lucas said, “Count me in. I’ll bring Merlot and French bread. Is Merlot appropriate for lasagna? I don’t know the wine rules.”
Lauren teased, “I have a feeling you don’t care much for rules. Bring whatever you like. Wednesday at 7:00. We both have work in the morning, so we’ll say two hours. Do you have a pen handy?”
“Ready and willing,” Lucas said. He scribbled Lauren’s address as she gave it to him. Lucas added, “We’re still doing the ocean thing, right?”
“Definitely.” Lauren twisted the phone cord around her finger.
“Wait. If we’re seeing each other on Wednesday, that means Saturday is a second date. Surely that would rate the bikini.”
“You wish.”
Life was fantastic.
Chapter 10
THREE MONTHS INTO THEIR romance, and Lauren’s cheerful grin followed her everywhere, from the office, home, and back to Lucas. The days passed quickly. Lucas planned a special outing, requesting the entire weekend with Lauren. She was looking forward to a weekend away.
Lucas and Lauren drove over two hours to make love on a beach in the November moonlight. The air was chilled with the start of autumn. Under a full moon, Lucas and Lauren sank into the sand, their bodies entwined as they started with gentle kisses.
“I’ve always dreamed of this,” Lauren said, her voice low as she tickle-kissed Lucas’s neck. He always laughed when she nuzzled there.
“Yeah, but the sand is scratchier than I thought it would be.”
“And colder. Do you think there is anyone else on the beach?” Lauren asked.
“Probably, but they won’t know who we are,” Lucas said.
That was true. Lauren took the opportunity to relieve Lucas of his shirt. A computer geek with abs. It was unheard of, kind of like finding the Lochness monster or Big Foot. And yet Lucas was proof that such a beast existed.
He growled as if to prove the point. Lauren played the piano on Lucas’s ribs with her fingernails. She threw him on the ground, or perhaps pushed him down with his full approval and support. At any rate, he was on the ground, and she was on top of him. In the moonlight, he was the most yummy thing she had ever seen.
“We are wild tonight,” Lauren giggled, and lifted her hands the better to allow Lucas to raise her shirt. He spent some quality time with her breasts. Touching, tugging, and teasing until she squirmed against his body.
He licked her nipples, and Lauren could feel his hardness against her body. A cold breeze blasted her skin. Lauren shivered. She said, “Are we going to dally around all day or flash the moon?”
“Oh, I like dallying,” Lucas said, cupping Lauren’s head and bringing her down for a kiss so hot that it could have boiled the ocean. Maybe she could handle those breezes as long as Lucas compensated.
“You dally so well,” Lauren said with husky appreciation. The stars twinkled merrily above, the waves crashed steadily against the shore, and somewhere in all of this wonder, Lauren found that there was more magic in reality than in her dreams. The heat pouring off Lucas’ body kept her warm in the cold ocean air.
Lucas tugged at her shorts, and then had a go at her underwear. The underwear almost won, darn those lacy things, but Lucas managed to remove them eventually. He set upon tormenting her with lovely soft caresses against her sex until she thought she would die of ecstasy. When she could take no more, she said, “Now. Now is good.”
He smoothed on a condom and pressed into her, his body bucking and diving until he exploded in release. Lauren was in ecstasy.
With a gasp, he slid away.
“You are a wonder,” Lucas breathed in an awestruck whisper.
Lauren laughed. She kissed Lucas and said, “Next time we bring a blanket. I have sand stuck to my butt.”
They shared a giggle over that. Lucas disembarked from her body with a joyful grunt. He said, “This was the finest moment in my life. I shall remember it when I’m seventy.”
“You’ll probably leave out the logistical nightmare of finding an uninhabited beach with proper sand on which to make love.” Lauren held out her hand, inviting Lucas to pull her up.
They dressed as was only proper under the stars with ocean waves crashing all about. Lucas stood with the condom. He said, “I’m not sure how to get this into the hotel, ehrm, you know.”
Lauren dug into her pocket and pulled out a Ziploc bag waving it for him to grab. “There’s some benefit to dating a scientist. We tend toward organized thought.”
They stayed at the hotel overnight, returning on Sunday afternoon. Lauren never expected to fall in love so quickly. She never anticipated so much joy in living. They parted Sunday night with a warm hug. The vacation away only served to highlight how perfect Lucas was for her.
“See you Friday for game night?” Lauren asked. Lucas was the GM for a dungeon crawl, which Lauren found surprisingly entertaining ever since Lucas talked her into joining last month. They spent every Friday pretending to be magicians and knights while Lucas found methods of terrorizing the group through story. Tom’s son, Bryce, often joined the games as well.
“And Monday for date night?” Lucas asked.
“Definitely,” Lauren whispered. They kissed at the car, and Lauren skip-hopped up the first stair to her apartment.
MONDAY MORNING LAUREN started the sequence for connecting slug nerve cells to a mechanical arm. So far the work had not gone well. Her former coworker Tom had a knack for the mechanical side of the process while she was the biology wh
iz. Together they had often come to a solution for various problems that cropped up. Alone at SpaceTech, Lauren had no one with whom to bounce ideas. She tried a few times, but her coworkers all acted as if she were some first year intern without experience or knowledge.
Maybe they thought she would betray them to Drake or worse, Kendall. That wasn’t Lauren’s style. Halfway through her morning, she got a phone call from the upstairs admin. “Kendall would like to see you at eleven o’clock.”
Lauren’s heart sank. She could have gone her whole life without ever talking to Kendall again. It helped her forget that she worked for someone so evil when she never saw him. She said, “Do you know what it’s about?”
“No idea. Just that he wants to see you.” The admin said.
Lauren finished up, cleaning her workspace as the hour approached eleven. She scrubbed the counters especially hard, her hand clenched and her brow furrowed. Feeling a little scared and a lot intimidated, Lauren grabbed a notebook and pen, pretending it was a normal meeting which it might be, and headed upstairs to see what Kendall wanted.
She waited in the exact seat she had taken during her interview. This time she waited longer. When Lauren was ushered into Kendall’s meeting area, she immediately noted the cold reception. He didn’t smile once. His face had that distant façade, not angry or upset, but more like she wasn’t even worth a frown.
“You asked to see me?” Lauren lifted her chin and waited on the threshold poised for anything that might come. She’d spent too many years building a career to have it tanked by politics.
“Indeed, come sit.” Kendall rolled his hand indicating a chair in front of a television screen.
Lauren took the seat. She had already gone through the human resources videos, the safety videos. There was nothing missing in her training that the VP of SpaceTech should be involved in.
Kendall said, “You realize that our occupation is a confidential one. We must be always at our guard, ever ready to cut off any potential issue that might arise.”
“Of course,” Lauren said, thinking Is this going to be another Drake lecture? How many times do I have to prove myself?
Kendall turned on the television. He said, “I have a home movie. I believe you will find it...educational.”
The movie started with a starry night, the ocean waves crashing on the shore, and soon Lauren was watching herself in an incredibly compromising position making love to Lucas.
“Turn it off.” Lauren pushed up from her seat, ready to walk out of the company forever. She shook with anger. “You have no right. I want every copy you have destroyed.”
“On the contrary, you are conspiring with the enemy. You made an agreement with me, and now have broken it. Do you care about Tom at all?”
“This has nothing to do with Tom.” Lauren said through gritted teeth.
“Who do you think is going to suffer if you don’t break off this relationship?” Kendall asked. He flipped off the television which was just as well because he had paused at the point where Lauren had removed her shirt. She felt sick and angry and frustrated and angry again. And wave upon wave of bitterness. What an asshole. But he would hurt Tom...and Lucas...if she didn’t play his game.
Lauren sank back into the chair, rubbing her temples. “I’ve gotten you a lot further on the prototype than you would have without me. You know I’m valuable. And you damn well know I haven’t shared any secrets.”
“Here’s the deal. You break up with Lucas tonight. Tom will live. I will then destroy all evidence of your encounter with Lucas, and you’ll get that prototype up and running.” Kendall stood imperiously above Lauren.
She breathed through her nose, exhaled through her mouth. Give up Lucas or Tom dies. That really sucked. Lauren didn’t speak. She couldn’t. She kept running in circles trying to think of a way to get what she wanted.
Kendall turned on the television again. He said, “How fast do you think it would take one of my men to capture Lucas? A day? Or is that giving him too much credit?”
Lauren had never been a sales person. Every thought crossed her face, good or bad. She didn’t have the knack for hiding her emotions. That meant Kendall would know she thought he was a dick. Well, he was. She said, “Fine. You could have trusted me. I am loyal and have honor, something you know nothing about. I’ll break up with Lucas, but when this project is over, I want an out from this company.”
Before V.P. Kendall could give an answer, she stormed out of his office, slamming the door behind her. The secretary looked up sharply. Lauren didn’t bother stopping. His receptionist was a dick, too. She returned to her office, grabbed her coat and purse, and left.
Somehow it was worse sitting in her apartment watching reruns. Lauren couldn’t stop thinking about her relationship with Lucas. She would break up with him, but she would tell him the truth. If he knew why, maybe he wouldn’t feel so heart-broken...and maybe she could get back with him when this nightmare with SpaceTech was over.
LUCAS HAD NEVER IMAGINED in his wildest dreams that he would find ‘the one’. He’d dated plenty but always found reasons to stop calling. Now he stood in a jewelry store shopping for an engagement ring and wondering if it was a fool’s errand. He and Lauren had approached the topic of marriage and children. Lauren seemed amenable to marriage and wanted children someday, which he also wanted. His questions seemed so blatant now that he was planning the big moment. He wanted it to be a surprise, but not the kind of surprise where he ended up kicked to the curb because he overshot expectations.
He found a $3,000 engagement ring that felt right. It wasn’t the kind of rock an actress or socialite would expect, but the stone sparkled in the setting. Lucas pulled out his credit card. Until this point he had done a fairly good job of keeping his personal finances in the black. This would set him back a half year, but if Lauren said yes, it would be well worth every penny.
“What is your return policy?” Ever the realist, Lucas hedged his bets against a no.
“30 days for any reason. We also offer a warranty and insurance if the ring is lost or stolen.” The woman behind the counter was in her late forties. She belonged in a jewelry shop. Her nails were perfectly manicured, her hair colored and teased to perfection. She wore a three-piece business suit in midnight blue, approaching black with a scarf in cheery pinks, yellow and the same blue to balance.
Lucas felt serious doubts about his selection, but this woman would up-sell him into bankruptcy. Lauren was the kind of person who would love the ring he chose. Otherwise he had picked the wrong woman.
“I’d like to buy this one.” Lucas pointed to the ring. His terror was greater than when he’d scaled the wall to spy on Kendall’s minions. Handing over his card took a lot of courage. This ring-buying venture was completely out of his element.
“That’s a lovely choice,” the woman opened the display case and pulled it out. There was a lot of paperwork, more than Lucas was expecting. The jewelry store would do free cleanings for the first year, a free resizing. By the time he was done, Lucas felt dazed.
Such a tiny bag. Such a hefty weight of responsibility. But he wanted this. Lucas knew without a doubt, without the tiniest hint of hesitation that Lauren was the woman for him. His only worry was that she might not feel the same way.
With ring in tow, Lucas made reservations at Michaella’s on Coconut Grove. He and Lauren had a standing date on Wednesdays. Everything tomorrow night would be perfect. Lucas whistled as he tucked the jewelry bag in the top of his closet.
He called Lauren at six the following night.
Lauren normally had a bounce in her voice. Today she sounded depressed. Lucas said, “I was just confirming our date for this evening.”
Lauren hesitated. She said, “Everything is all screwed up, and I don’t even know how to get through it.”
“Through what?” Lucas felt as if he’d been punched in the chest.
“We can’t go out anymore. I can’t see you.”
Lauren was breaking up with h
im. Perfect timing. Lucas felt like he couldn’t breathe. He said, “Oh. Okay. Was it something I did?”
Lauren’s voice shook when she said, “No. It was Kendall. He called me into his office, and he threatened Tom’s life if I don’t back away from you. Then he threatened your life. Lucas, he had a video of us on the beach.” Lauren spoke faster and faster, the words rising into a frantic crescendo.
“Don’t let him dictate to you. If you do anything for him because you feel threatened, he has you. He can make you do anything.” Lucas thought of the ring in his closet. To lose love because of some kidnapping ass was untenable.
“I can’t. It’s not just you. It’s Tom, too. He’s threatening everyone. It’s only for a little while. I was thinking we’d just back off for a few months and then when things are calm, pick up where we left off.” Lauren sounded so damn reasonable. It made Lucas want to punch the wall.
“Let’s go out tomorrow night. One final goodbye, and then we’ll separate for a few weeks. Maybe we can go undercover.” Lucas hated his emotions just then, hated how much he needed Lauren to agree.
“I’m sorry, Lucas. I can’t risk it.”
“But I love you.”
There it was.
Lucas waited in the silence, his heart pounding. Lauren could destroy him with a word. She could ruin his hopes, his dreams. She could send him fleeing from Miami to search for a job, any job away from her.
The phone was quiet—too quiet.
Then Lauren sobbed. She wasn’t the type to cry. In the many hours Lucas and Lauren had spent watching movies or making love, he had never seen her shed a tear. She said, “I love you, too.”
