The Love Boss

by Aurora Peridot

  I looked around, but didn’t see Edgar. Not that I would, I reminded myself. Edgar had been a gentleman and offered to sleep on the couch, and didn’t try to persuade me to let him into the bed, even after the drinks. It was probably because he wasn’t interested in me that way. After all, we were just pretending to be in love.

  I climbed out of bed and walked into the living room, looking for Edgar, but he wasn’t there. There was a rumpled blanket on the couch, but my boss was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t deny feeling disappointed, but figured he went out to look for Mr. Coleman.

  I checked my phone and saw that it was ten in the morning. Wow, Edgar had really let me sleep in. I wondered if I should have set my alarm to get up earlier. Looking at my phone, I saw I had a missed call from David. Despite my better judgement, I listened to the message.

  “Babe, it’s me. I’ve been thinking about you and I miss you. Maybe we can meet up sometime and just talk. I swear, it wasn’t what it looked like.”

  For a moment I thought about calling him back, but then my mind flashed back to his look of dismay when I caught him at the restaurant. I remembered how he lied about being at work. I remembered that we were no longer together and with good reason. I erased his message.

  I grabbed my toiletries bag and headed into the massive bathroom to get ready for the day. The bathtub looked like a small jacuzzi, but I decided it would be faster to grab a shower. I stepped into the sleek marble shower and enjoyed the sensation of the hot water hitting my bare skin. I imagined Edgar in the shower, wet and naked. He was far more muscled than he appeared, and I suddenly really wanted to know what the rest of him looked like.

  No, I don’t want to know that, I sternly reminded myself. I didn’t want to see a naked Edgar because I was not ready to date again, especially not my boss. Besides, Edgar didn’t believe in love or working relationships, even if I was interested. I hurried to finish my shower and tried not to think about him.

  I stepped out of the shower and wrapped one of the plush towels around my head, catching up my wet hair. As I stood to grab another towel to dry myself off, I turned and saw Edgar staring at me. I screamed and he ran from the bathroom. I quickly wrapped another towel around me before running into the living room.

  “What on earth were you doing, spying on me?” I demanded. I could feel my cheeks flaming.

  “No, uhh, not really,” he stuttered. It was strange to see such a poised man suddenly start mumbling, but I was too angry to care.

  “What do you mean, not really?”

  “I had gone out to get you breakfast,” he said. “I just got back to the room, and I . . . well, it was an accident.” He looked so uncomfortable, I believed it was an accident. I saw that he was holding a tray and on it was cups of juice, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon. It was a feast.

  “Ok.” I said slowly. “Is that all for me?” It was clearly food enough for two people.

  “I got breakfast for both of us,” he said, quickly setting down the tray. “But I think I’m going to get some air. Let you finish getting ready . . . uninterrupted. How about you meet me on the beach, after you’re done?”

  Before I could say anything, he had fled the room. I quickly got dressed and ate breakfast. The food was delicious, and the fruit was especially fresh and juicy. I left the room and walked out to the beach. The day was perfect and I saw Edgar pacing back and forth on the sand.

  “Hey,” I called out.

  Edgar turned and smiled. But then he seemed to catch himself and tried to look more professional. “Good, you’re dressed, I mean, ready. Sorry about that.”

  “It was a mistake,” I said, not wanting to discuss the events of this morning. What bothered me more than the fact that he saw me naked, was that I kind of wanted him to. “Any progress? On finding Mr. Coleman?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “Ah, yes!” he exclaimed, suddenly excited. “I saw him by the pool bar as I was coming over here.”

  “What’s a pool bar?” I asked. I had no idea what he was talking about.

  “It’s a bar in a pool. Obviously. Come on, we’ll have to go back to the room and change into bathing suits before heading over there.”

  “I don’t have a bathing suit,” I said. It hadn’t occurred to me to pack a bathing suit on a work trip. In hindsight, I clearly should have.

  “You don’t possess a bathing suit? Do you have some hatred of the water I don’t know about?”

  I wondered if Edgar was serious for a moment, but then he smiled. “No,” I said, sheepishly. “But I didn’t think to pack one.”

  “You didn’t think to pack a bathing suit when you were going to a beach-side resort in the Bahamas?”

  “This is a work trip,” I said, sounding lame.

  “No worries. We’ll get you one.” Edgar started walking before I had a chance to comprehend what he had just said. I had to run to catch up to him.

  “What?”

  “What do you mean what? You don’t have a bathing suit, and that’s the necessary disguise we need right now for this case. There’s a gift shop just over here, so we’ll get you one. We can even get you a sexy one. Problem solved.”

  I felt weird having my boss want to buy me a bathing suit, much less a sexy one, but I reassured myself that it was just for the job. After all, we did have to blend in, and I could hardly do that wearing slacks and a blouse in a pool bar. I even felt a small thrill at the idea. I hurried after Edgar to the gift shop.

  Chapter 13 – Edgar

  “I don’t like it.”

  “What wrong with it? Other than the outrageous price?” Bernadette was standing in front of me in the gift shop dressing room, wearing a frilly yellow bathing suit. As she turned around to model it for me, I got a nice view of her ass.

  “Forget the price tag. I’m buying,” I said, trying to stay focused on our conversation. Seeing her curves so clearly visible was very distracting. “But we’re on our honeymoon. You’re not going to wear a granny suit.”

  “This isn’t a granny suit!”

  “It is,” I said coolly. That wasn’t entirely true, but as a one piece with ruffles, it was far more conservative than what a honeymooning woman would wear. At least, that was the justification I gave myself.

  “Here, try this one on,” I said, handing Bernadette a skimpy black bikini.

  “That’s not a lot of fabric,” she said warily, looking at the bikini. “And it’s twice as much as this one,” she cried looking at the price.

  “Forget the price,” I repeated, exasperated. “Consider it a work expense. And it’s an expense you’re not even paying.”

  “It’s so small. I don’t know if it will fit.”

  “Just try it on,” I insisted. “Of course it’s small. It’s supposed to be sexy. Remember, love, we’re on our honeymoon. I’m sure you want to look super sexy,” I not-so-subtly reminded her.

  “Yes, darling,” she said, equally sarcastic. Bernadette rolled her eyes, but took the bikini into the dressing room to try it on. When she came out a few minutes later, my mouth dropped open. I thought seeing her in a modest bathing suit was nice, but this was even better. The tiny bikini hugged her curves, accentuating her ass and giving me a great view of her cleavage. I resisted the urge to take her in my arms then and there. There were suddenly so many dirty things I wanted to do to her.

  “Hey, handsome,” she said, looking at me seductively.

  “You look amazing,” I breathed.

  “Really, you think so?” she asked, breaking her seductive act and looking at herself in the mirror, clearly worried. “You don’t think it’s too . . . slutty?”

  I would have liked some time alone with Bernadette looking so slutty, but I didn’t say it. “You look sexy,” I said truthfully. I stepped closer to her, checking out how well she looked in the tiny black bikini. I could just see the outline of her nipples under the suit, and I had to hold back from reaching out to squeeze them. She was soft and curvy and looked both delicate and s
ultry. She wasn’t wearing her hair in a bun this morning, or I would have pulled it out. I kind of wished she was, as it would have given me an excuse to touch her. I stepped closer, close enough to kiss her if I decided to. She looked up at me with her big green eyes, and for a moment I lost myself in them. I wanted to lean in and kiss her. Her lips looked so full and pink. I wanted to kiss her and taste her with my tongue. I wanted to explore her with my tongue.

  “How does it fit?” came a stranger’s voice. Bernadette and I both turned to see the store clerk, a young woman in her twenties. I quickly stepped back. The moment was lost.

  “Yeah, it’s great, thanks,” Bernadette said quickly.

  “Great. Just let me know if you need anything,” the clerk said sweetly before disappearing into the other part of the store.

  I tried to clear my head and remember to be professional, even though it was so damn hard with Bernadette barely wearing anything. I didn’t step up to her again, instead I said, “It will work very well for looking like we fit in with the crowd that frequents a pool bar.”

  “If you think so,” Bernadette said, hesitantly.

  “I certainly do,” I said and hurried to purchase the bikini before Bernadette could object.

  We left the shop with Bernadette still wearing the bikini. Though she was still acting self-conscious, she looked amazing. As we headed to the pool, she stopped me.

  “What about you?”

  “What about me?” I asked.

  “Don’t you need a bathing suit? Should we go back to the room?”

  “Right. Yes, we should.” I had been too focused on looking at Bernadette to even think about that. I told myself to get my mind back on the case. I couldn’t afford to be sloppy like this. I decided I wouldn’t let this woman distract me from my job. Easier said than done.

  Chapter 14 – Bernadette

  Pool bars are so cool! It was exactly what it sounded like. In one of the resort’s immense pools there was one side that had concrete stools built into the pool right next to a bar on the other side. We sat in the cool pool on the underwater stools and ordered drinks from the bartender on the other side. I thought it was a bit early to start drinking, but I guess at tropical resorts it was common to spend all day in the pool sipping fruity drinks. Edgar ordered us two strawberry daiquiris. I was too surprised that we were drinking before noon to have an issue with him ordering for me. I was also feeling self-conscious about my new bikini. It fit well, but there was a lot less fabric than what I was used to wearing in public.

  While our drinks were being made, Edgar started to make conversation with the other couple sitting at the bar. I immediately recognized Mr. Coleman from the photo his wife had shown us. He looked like a man who might have been handsome once, but had clearly let himself go. He was in his fifties or sixties, white thinning hair and more than a little bit of a gut. I thought Mrs. Coleman could do better.

  “This is such a nice place,” Edgar said to Mr. Coleman.

  “Yeah, we love it,” said the woman with Mr. Coleman. She was sitting in his lap and giggling while fondling his chest hair. Ewwww, I thought. She must have been in her early twenties and definitely looked like she could be a model. Her hair was a burnished gold and fell in waves down her back. She was extremely slender, but with full boobs that were so perky they must have been surgically enhanced. Her cheekbones were well-defined, her lips plump, and she had the longest eyelashes I had ever seen. I felt suddenly very plain compared to this stunning woman. I wished I had gone with the modest one-piece bathing suit.

  “Oh,” said Edgar, sounding casually interested. “Do you come here often?”

  “Whenever James here can get the time off. He works so hard, plus his other, duller, commitments,” she giggled at the last part, as though it was an inside joke between the two of them. Mr. Coleman smiled and pinched her butt. I knew she was referring to Mrs. Coleman. I felt disgusted, but plastered on a smile.

  “That sounds lovely,” I said, trying to sound sincere. “I’m Bernadette and this is Edgar, my husband,” I introduced us and held out my hand to shake. Edgar shot me a look, but it passed quickly. I didn’t know why he’d be upset. We were supposed to act like a couple.

  “Ava,” said the woman, and shook my hand and then Edgar’s. “It’s great to meet you.”

  “James,” says Mr. Coleman, a bit reluctantly. I wondered if he was suspicious of us. To help sell our story, I leaned into Edgar and wrapped his arm around me. He seemed momentarily surprised, but quickly joined in. It felt wonderful to have his strong arm around me. Leaning in to him, my back rested on his firm chest. His skin was wet from the pool and hot from the sun and the sensation was delicious. Unlike David’s body-builder physique, Edgar was lean, but no less muscled. He was slimmer, but his abs were still ripped. I had to resist the urge to run my hands over his chest, and contented myself leaning back into him.

  “Bernadette and I are here for our honeymoon,” Edgar told James and Ava.

  “Oh, that’s lovely. Congratulations!” Ava squealed. “You’ll really love it out here. This is one of our favorite vacation spots.”

  “And they have a pretty decent golf course a short ride from the resort. Do you play?” James asked Edgar.

  “Just casually,” Edgar answered. “I’m not any good at it. You?”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty decent. Got to have a good game ready for charity events and the like.”

  “Sounds fancy,” I said. Our daiquiris had arrived and I sipped mine happily. The frozen strawberry beverage was delightful against the hot sun. It was the perfect combination of sweet and tart. I could really get used to pool bars.

  “Oh hey, could you take a photo of us?” Edgar asked Ava. I was surprised, but decided to go along with it.

  “Certainly,” she said, and he grabbed his phone, which had been on the counter of the pool bar to keep it dry.

  “Great, thanks so much. You know it can be so hard to get photos of us together if one of us is always taking the photo,” Edgar added as he adjusted the settings on his phone to the camera before handing his phone over to Ava.

  “One, two, three, smile,” Ava said as she held up the phone and used the camera setting to take a few pictures of us. Edgar wrapped his arm tighter around me, and I leaned in closer to him. I smiled, and genuinely felt happy to be in his arms.

  “Ok, I think I got some good ones,” Ava told us as she handed Edgar’s phone back.

  “Oh wait, can you get one more?” Edgar asked. He gave an exaggerated wink to Ava and before I knew what was happening, Edgar leaned over and closed his lips on mine. And it wasn’t even a quick kiss, but he held his lips there for a while, giving Ava time to take several photos. She giggled and took the pictures. I was too surprised to move away, and felt a thrill rush through me with Edgar’s lips on mine. He tasted sweet from the daiquiri, and I felt a longing that reached far lower in my body than just my lips. After a long while, Edgar pulled away.

  “Thanks so much,” he said, taking his phone back from Ava. He was smiling. I was blushing, but tried to make it look like I was just shy about a stranger taking pictures of us kissing.

  “Awww, you two are so sweet,” Ava cooed. James gave a small smile, but didn’t say anything.

  “Let me return the favor,” Edgar said. “Do you have your phone on you or I can take your picture and send it to you?”

  “That would be great,” Ava cried, very enthusiastically. I suddenly realized what Edgar had been trying to do.

  “I don’t know . . .” James started. “I wouldn’t want my wif—I mean, there are people I wouldn’t want to see me.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Ava lightly scolded. She kissed his cheek. “I never get pictures of the two of us. And besides, they’ll be on my phone. I won’t show anyone.” Her hand ran along his chest, and I could see James’ resolve weaken.

  Both Edgar and I pretended not to hear him talk about his wife. Ava handed Edgar her phone, which had also been on the counter.

 
“Ok, smile,” Edgar said. He snapped a few pictures. Ava smiled brightly and James smiled, but it came off looking lecherous. He was really grossing me out. “And now one kissing,” Edgar said laughingly.

  James looked like he was about to protest, but Ava immediately planted a large kiss on him.

  “Now just stay there a sec. I think I bumped the camera. Just a moment.” Edgar handed me Ava’s phone and snapped a few pictures of them with his camera before replacing it and taking Ava’s phone back from me to take a few more with her phone. Sneaky and clever, I thought.

  “Just one more moment . . . Got it!” Edgar passed Ava back her phone as the couple disengaged lips. Ava happily took the phone and looked at the photos.

  “Thanks, Edgar. Oh sweetie, don’t we look adorable?” Ava cooed. She smiled at James and licked her lips seductively. “It just makes me want to eat you up. Like right now.” She leaned in and ran her tongue up James’ cheek. So gross, I thought, but I kept my smile firmly set on my face.

  “I think we better get going,” James said, his voice stuttering slightly. “It was nice to meet both of you. Maybe we’ll see you around.”

  “Yes, it was great to meet you,” Ava agreed. She got off his lap and made her way to the edge of the pool. James got up more carefully, and though he tried to lean away, I got a glimpse of a boner he was sporting. I didn’t say anything, afraid I’d start laughing or gagging.

  When they were out of earshot, I started laughing. The whole thing seemed so surreal, and then suddenly funny. Soon Edgar was laughing too. I couldn’t stop for several minutes, and tears were running down my face by the time I had caught my breath.

  “That was gross,” I said, still catching my breath.

  “That is what pays our bills,” Edgar said, still smiling. “Though having you around made it so much easier. People are wary of a strange guy trying to take their picture. Usually I have to be far stealthier.”