He stopped, turning to look at me. “Hey there, honey. You look kind of blue. Rough day?”
It hadn’t been rough at all. Mrs. Kramer made sure her game always ran smooth. “Nah. Maybe I’m just a little tired. I’m still getting used to this schedule.”
“Yeah,” Dad put his arm around me, and I rested my head on his shoulder. “Your old job at the boutique doesn’t even compare to this one, does it? But I’ve got to tell you that I’m the proudest I’ve ever been of you, sweetie.”
“You are?” I raised my head to look him in the eyes to make sure he’d told me the truth. I couldn’t remember Dad ever telling me he was proud of me.
“Of course,” he said with a genuine smile. “Emma, you jumped in to help your family when you shouldn’t have had to. I thought we’d be just about broke right now. And now that I’m able to cover all the bills again, you’ve got yourself a nice little salary of your own. And I’m very proud of the way you’ve been conducted yourself at the office; I’ve only been hearing glowing reviews.”
“Dad.” I put my head back on his shoulder, giving him a hug and squeezing him tight. “You’re the best dad ever.”
“Aw, hearing that never gets old.” He kissed the top of my head, making me feel a little bit better than I had been earlier.
“Sebastien, wait up,” I heard a deep voice coming from behind us.
Christopher!
I jerked my head off Dad’s shoulder and looked back to see I’d been right. But the man wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were focused on my dad.
Dad stopped and turned us to face his friend. “Hey, Christopher, what’s up?”
Jogging up to us, a brief waft of the scent of his intoxicating, manly perspiration made my heart palpitate. I didn’t know if that was good or bad. Or maybe I just had an irregular heartbeat and might need to get to a hospital or something.
Wiping his dark brow, Christopher looked smoking hot in workout clothes. His chiseled muscles were on perfect display!
His shorts let me see his tight, toned, rigidly muscular legs. A white T-shirt, soaked with his sweat, had become nearly see-through as it clung to his pecs and abs. A trickle of sweat moved down the side of his thick neck, and I nearly passed out as I followed its trail with my eyes. How glad I was that Dad still had his arm around me so I could lean on him.
“What’s up is that I’m going to need you to step in for Brad from the Vermont sector. He’s out all of next week. His wife just had a baby. You know how that goes.” Christopher didn’t even acknowledge me.
I felt more than a little incensed. I mean a ‘hello’ would’ve sufficed. I would’ve been over the moon with just that.
“I’m not up on the Vermont stuff, but I can read up on it.” Dad let me go, and I nearly fell over, jumping around a bit to catch myself. “Oh, sorry, sweetie. I didn’t realize you were leaning on me so much.”
I ran my hand over my hot face, hoping there was no blush that would give my heated thoughts away. “That’s okay. I’ll get going and leave you two to your conversation. It sounds important.”
“Nonsense,” Dad said. “Wait a sec.”
Never one to challenge my father in public, I waited. My skin felt like it might be on fire, and my head throbbed in a way I didn’t understand at all. To top it all off, my eyes kept on moving all over Christopher’s body as my nose quivered, urging me to just lean in and take a long deep whiff of him.
Christopher went on, “I’m going to need you to go to Vermont this weekend. You can take Celeste. Hell, make a romantic weekend out of it. You’ll be visiting an apple orchard and a vineyard too. Have fun. All I need are lots of pictures. And the company will cover it all, of course. You can’t beat that now, can you?”
Dad looked at me with a frown. “Can Emma come too?”
Christopher’s expression went south, and he lowered his voice as if I wouldn’t be able to hear him. “Why would you want your daughter to come with you and your wife on a romantic weekend, buddy?”
With a shrug, Dad answered, “ ’Cause I don’t like to leave her home all alone.”
The way Christopher’s eyes cut to me for only the briefest of seconds made me think he had a plan, and that my father’s question might just ruin it all. “I’m sure Emma will be fine. She’s not a child, Sebastien.”
“I know that.” Dad looked at me for an answer. “Will that be okay with you if your mom and I go off for the whole weekend?”
“Yes.” I took a quick glance at Christopher and saw the slightest of smiles on his lips.
“See,” he said without looking at me. “She’ll be fine. Hell, if she needs anything, I’ll be home. She can call me.”
My heart really went wild.
Was he trying to get me all alone this weekend?
I knew I was grasping at straws. There was no way that man wanted me in the way I’d been dreaming.
But what a great fantasy.
Maybe if he really didn’t have any designs on me, and I would be alone all weekend, I’d buy myself a vibrator and get to know the sexual side of myself a little better. No one would be home to hear my screams of ecstasy after all.
“Well, if Emma’s okay with it, then okay,” Dad said, smiling. “This actually might be pretty fun. I can’t recall the last time Celeste and I went on a weekend trip alone.”
“Never,” I blurted out. “I can’t remember a single time you and Mom went anywhere alone.”
Christopher blinked a few times. “Really?” he asked Dad.
“I guess she’s right. Maybe it was before she was born.” He shook his head. “Damn, time flies, huh?”
Finally, Christopher looked at me. “Seems it’s high time they did a lot more on their own, huh, Emma?”
“Seems so,” I agreed with a huge grin on my face.
When he reached out his large hand, I didn’t know what he wanted. “Give me your cell, Emma.”
Without hesitation, I reached into my purse, taking out my phone and placing it in his hand. “Okay.”
“What’s the passcode?” Christopher asked.
“A secret,” I said.
Dad looked at me with an expression that told me not to make jokes. “Emma.”
Christopher only smiled. “I promise that I’ll forget it as soon as you tell me.”
“Yeah, he’s old like me; his memory isn’t what it used to be,” Dad had to add.
Christopher wasn’t old like Dad. Not one bit. He kept his body in top shape, and he didn’t look like any other man my father’s age that I’d ever seen.
“Four, six, one, five,” I said quietly.
As he typed that in, he asked, “What do those numbers represent?”
It felt dumb to say it out loud, but I’d never been good at lying. “Four is my favorite number. Six is the number of chin-ups I can do. One is my best friend’s favorite number. And five is the…” I didn’t have a clue what to say, but knew I couldn’t tell him the truth about that number. I’d recently changed the passcode to include the number of days I’d eaten with Christopher. I had to make up a lie, “…amount of pancakes I can eat in one sitting.”
I wonder what he’d think if I told him the real reason behind that number.
Chapter 11
Christopher
I tried hard to not think about Emma during her second week at the office. I kept myself busy and didn’t even go into the office until the end of the week. That was either a terrible mistake or fate. I wasn’t sure which.
When I stepped off the elevator, I saw her walking down the hall, her back to me. As if by some miracle, her sweet scent still lingered in the air. I inhaled it deep into my lungs, setting myself on fire. My cock hardened immediately, and my brain went to work, trying to figure out a way to get the pretty young thing alone for the weekend.
As if by instinct, I thought of something her father could do which would take him and his wife out of town for the weekend. And then I went to work, thinking up something for Emma to do to get her out of town as
well.
By Friday morning, I finally had a plan that would allow me to spend some time alone with Emma. Mrs. Kramer came into my office when I asked.
“You wanted to see me, Mr. Taylor?”
“Yes.” I pulled out the packet I’d put together and slid it across my desk to her. “I want you to send Miss Hancock out to scout for activities to do and a nice place to stay in Concord this weekend for our visitors from China. They’ve expressed great interest in seeing the capital of New Hampshire, and they’ll be here in two weeks, so we’ve got to get on this. After a weekend of sightseeing in Concord, we’ll bring them here for our meeting on the Monday.”
“Okay, sir.” She picked up the packet. “I’ll give her this.” Turning to leave, she paused and then looked back at me. “I’ll make reservations for her in Concord then.”
“I already have. The Centennial is a safe, secure place for a young woman who’s traveling alone.” I had to fight the grin that threatened to give my plan away. “She’ll be fine there.”
“Yes, sir.” Mrs. Kramer looked at me with a satisfied expression before adding, “It’s nice to see you like this. It’s been a long time since you’ve gotten involved in something like that. Sebastien’s friendship has been good for you.” And with that, she left me.
Left me to think about the only person I could count as a friend, Sebastien. Left me alone to reconsider my plan. Left me to think about everything I’d been feeling over the last two weeks and to try to regain control over emotions that were running amok for the first time in many, many years.
The twenty-six year age gap between Emma and me didn’t help things one bit. There were too many factors that could mean bad news for both of us if I followed through with what I’d planned.
I’d made reservations for my own room at the hotel, which was considered one of the most romantic accommodations in the area. I’d also made dinner reservations at the Granite Restaurant inside the grand old hotel for both Friday and Saturday night.
Premeditated romance?
Could that be considered a crime?
I supposed, in Sebastien’s eyes, it might well be considered a crime. At best, he’d likely think it insidious. And he might be right. I had no business wanting to be alone with his young daughter. But for the life of me, I could not stop thinking about her.
My nights were consumed with sexual fantasies about her, making my dreams very interesting. But I had to admit that I did feel guilty sometimes after it was all said and done. Why would I go and get myself all infatuated with someone so young? And why did she have to be the daughter of the only friend I had left?
With the weekend work all set, I knew Sebastien—and now Emma—would be leaving the office at noon to get to where they needed to go. I wondered if Emma was excited by her little scouting assignment.
I almost messed up and went to see her at her office. I wanted so badly to know how she felt about the trip, but then that would be a real mess. She’d tell me all about where she was going and then, when I showed up, I most definitely would not be able to play it off like a coincidence.
For a second, doubt ran through me. What if Mrs. Kramer tells Emma that I made all the arrangements?
I hadn’t thought it all the way through. The whole thing might backfire on me.
A little knock sounded at my door, and Mrs. Kramer stepped inside. “I wanted to tell you something that just occurred to me.”
The worried look on her face made me curious. “What’s just occurred to you?”
“You don’t normally make the arrangements for…” she paused then shrugged, “well, anything, really. If Miss Hancock finds out that you set things up, then she might tell someone else. Then I think we’d have something here that might stir up gossip. I don’t want people thinking I’ve been slipping at my job, and you’ve had to take over. So, I took credit for making the arrangements, I hope you don’t mind.”
I’d never felt more relieved. “Yes, you made a good judgment call there, Mrs. Kramer. I didn’t even think about that. And again, you know I’m very happy with all the work you do.” With a satisfied smile, she left my office.
I was glad Mrs. Kramer had taken care to cover for me, even if she did for her own reason. Convincing her to say that she’d made the reservation was not something I would’ve enjoyed. My assistant certainly didn’t need to know the real reasons I’d set Emma up in a hotel where I would wine and dine her, dance and romance her. And if everything went right, sweep her off her feet—literally.
When my personal cell rang, it jolted me out of my inner thoughts, and I looked down to see Sebastien’s name on the screen. A small amount of guilt had me hesitating to answer the call, but I really had no choice. “Hello, Sebastien. Are you and Celeste packed and ready to head out after lunch?”
“Yes, we are.” He cleared his throat before going on, “Emma just came to my office and told me she’s being sent to Concord to do a bit of scouting.”
Is he going to be mad? “Yes, well, that’s part of her job.”
“Yeah, I know.” He laughed. “She’s over the moon about it. She was gushing about how cool it’s going to be, staying in a hotel room all on her very own the next two nights. So, I guess you’re off the hook.”
“What hook was I on?” I asked, feeling slightly confused.
With a chuckle, he let me in on his train of thought. “You know how you told her yesterday that if she needed something that she could call you?”
“Oh, that hook.” I’d totally forgotten about that whole conversation. “Well, she can still call me if she gets into a bind. Let her know that.”
“She’ll be fine,” he said. “But I’ll let her know, just in case. Thanks, buddy. You’re a really great friend. I know I’ve told you that a lot lately, but it bears repeating.”
And then the guilt really set in. “Oh, I’m nothing special.” I wasn’t special at all. I had an agenda, and my poor friend had no idea about the designs I had on his daughter.
But what if I was honest with him and let him in on my interest? What then?
He had to go and make things even harder for me by saying, “No, don’t do that. You’re very special. There aren’t many like you, Christopher.” He paused to let that sink in a moment before changing the subject. “So what are your weekend plans while the rest of us are out of town?”
To defile your young daughter.
I coughed as the terrible thought crossed my mind. “I think I’ll stay home this weekend. My daughters are going somewhere with their mother, and the house will be quiet.”
“Sounds nice. Maybe get a good book and relax on your deck and enjoy the lake and this lovely summer weather we’re having. Sounds like an awesome plan you’ve got there.” Enthusiasm filled his voice. “Enjoy, buddy. Bye now.”
I put the phone down and then put my head in my hands. “I’m a monster. And now that Sebastien knows that I know where Emma will be for the weekend, my whole plan is ruined.” I hadn’t counted on Emma telling her father everything. Seemed I hadn’t thought things through at all.
In my defense, I hadn’t had a romantic tryst in forever and then some. To call myself rusty was a vast understatement. It seemed I was clueless.
The Governor’s Suite I’d booked would go empty. The dinner reservations would have to be cancelled. And I would have the saddest weekend I’d had in a while.
I was no stranger to lonely weekends, but I knew this one would be even worse than the sad ones I’d lived through after I found out Lisa had cheated on me with every man I knew.
At least those weekends had had some relief to them. They signified the end to my loveless marriage. And the best part about it was that she’d done wrong, and that meant I wouldn’t have to hand Lisa everything I’d worked so hard for.
This weekend the only plans I could imagine would involve sitting around alone, wondering what Emma was doing. Wondering if she was having fun and looking beautiful as she toured the town.
I could imagine her g
olden-brown hair swept up in a high ponytail, blowing in the warm summer breeze as she strolled the sidewalks of downtown Concord. Her pink lips would pull into a smile every time she caught her reflection in a window pane. And I wanted to be there, just on the other side of her, seeing it all with her. Holding her soft hand, our fingers entwined, kissing her hand once in a while as we walked and talked.
Why can’t I be twenty again?
How come I’ve got to be old enough to be her father?
Sitting in my chair, I spun around like a restless little kid and wished that things could be different—that they could be just the way I wanted them. That Emma and I could be together and no one would judge—or worse, make things hell for us.
But I knew Hell was the only thing in store for us if we ever did get to the place I desperately wished for. We’d get it from both sides. Her parents, my daughters, and most likely the staff at my company, too.
The staff I could handle. The other parties I wasn’t so sure.
And there I was again, getting ahead of myself. I didn’t know if Emma even felt the same interest in me that I felt for her. I knew enough from my own kids to know that their generation thought thirty was old.
Forty-six would seem ancient to a woman as young as Emma.
Feeling a heaviness in my chest, I let doubt, fear, and insecurity creep in without even trying to combat any of it.
I’d be alone for the rest of my life. But, just a few weeks ago, I had rejoiced in that. But now that I’d glimpsed something so special with Emma, I knew that that’s what I wanted.
And I knew I wouldn’t ever find any other woman who would do to me what Emma had done. But none of that mattered. What mattered was Emma. She didn’t need the war that a relationship with me would cause. She didn’t need a rift between her and the parents who adored her. And she sure as hell didn’t need the wrath of my daughters.
My plans were officially dead. I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t put such an innocent girl into such a tricky situation. I didn’t know if she’d agree with me or not, but I knew it was the right thing to do.
His Secret Virgin: A Forbidden Romance (The Sons of Sin Book 3) Page 7
