Never Settle

by Kate Richards

  At last, he rolled her onto her back and took in the rest of her beautiful body. Her petite stature would make it easy to take her standing up. Not this time, though. He knew she was almost forty, two years older than him—got that from his googling. But her breasts were full and their dark tips pointed up. Will lifted one of her legs so he knelt between them and could finally get a good look at her dark-pink, shiny pussy. So ready for him. “Bella, there’s nothing here I don’t want to touch, to taste, but, honey, I can’t wait much longer.”

  “If you do, I will probably kill you.” Arabella held out her arms.

  “One second…” He scooped up his shorts and fished in the pocket. “Protection.”

  “You planned ahead.”

  He studied her face. Was she annoyed he’d brought a condom when they’d only planned a run on the beach? “I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to make love to you if you offered.”

  “Then don’t.” Arabella sat up and took the packet from his fingers. She tore it open and smoothed the condom over his stiff cock. He had to count backward from thirty not to come while she did it. “I’m glad you cared enough to bring protection. Now, for god’s sake, let’s do this!”

  As she lifted her hands from her task, he grabbed her to him and kissed her deeply. No longer able to ignore his desires, he grasped her buttocks and squeezed. She rocked her hips up to meet him, kissing him back. They had taken so long to reach this point, but they’d only known each other for a few hours. The juxtaposition of time lost meaning when he drove inside her. She was ready for him, so slick and hot he had to stop and count backward again. He would make it good for her. And for him. He wasn’t going to come within ten seconds like a teenager with his prom date.

  In fact, he hadn’t had that problem since then. What a woman. Smart, sexy, successful. He didn’t want to think about what her success meant about a future for them, not now.

  Keeping their lips connected, he savaged her mouth with his tongue, beyond finesse as his cock filled her over and over and withdrew. She writhed under him, her breathing erratic, and he pulled out then plunged in again, and again.

  He tore his mouth away for air and went back on his heels, kneeling, bringing her with him. Arranging her on his lap, he rested his hands on her waist and lifted her then lowered her. This new angle gave him more depth, more control, and his balls tightened. He wasn’t ready for it to happen yet, wanted to go on all day, but when she buried her head on his chest and shivered, and her core tightened around his cock, his cum streamed out to fill the condom.

  They clung together for a long time, their breathing slowing to something resembling normal, before he lifted her to lie off his lap and removed the condom. Tying it in a knot, he dropped it in the wastebasket by the bed then lay down with his head on a pillow.

  “I’d like to do this again, but I’ll need a rest first.”

  She crawled up and curled up next to him with her head on his chest. “You’re not the only one. I stayed up late last night working on a project on the laptop. I hoped to sneak in a nap this afternoon.”

  “You have Internet?”

  She snuggled closer, drawing circles on his stomach with one finger. “No, but I used to have this idea about starting a business of my own and I was playing with a few things, seeing if they make sense to me, now. Silly idea, really.”

  “Not if it makes you happy.”

  “I have a great career. I am months from becoming president of the company. Why would I quit?”

  He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Maybe because you don’t want to die of stress-related diseases?”

  “Once I get the promotion, I can relax.”

  He cupped her chin and held her gaze. “Is that the lie you tell yourself? That you can have time off then. Go out with friends. See more of your family?” He brushed his lips over hers. “Fall in love?”

  Chapter Seven

  The pounding woke her. Arabella lay still, trying to orient herself. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, a hard body against her back, and the bright light of midday over them both. So, this vacation fling thing wasn’t too bad. She felt limp and relaxed, except for irritation caused by the damn pounding. “Go away,” she called.

  “Arabella! Let me in.”

  “Ohh, no.” She turned over, still within Will’s embrace and hissed, “It’s Earl. What are we going to do?”

  “I can kill him,” he offered. “What’s one less lawyer? Who’d care?”

  She smacked his arm. “You really are a terrible friend.”

  He yawned. “I know. But don’t you want me to kill him?”

  “That’s not the point. What do we do? I can get rid of him while you hide. Maybe in the closet?”

  He rolled away from her and stood, so magnificent in his nudity she almost leapt on him. But before they could get down to it again, they had to get rid of the man at the door. And even if they did feel as if he got in their way, he deserved an explanation. He was Will’s friend, even if Will didn’t seem to know how to treat one. Of course, she appreciated his knowledge of Earl’s past behavior with women, a way of acting the man himself had admitted to while under the influence of a lot of rum and tequila.

  Will strode toward the bedroom door, but she flung herself out of bed after him. “Wait, you can’t go out there like that. You’re naked.” Arabella clung to his arm as he entered the living room. “Will! Put on your shorts at least.”

  He looked down and grinned. “Well, it would save explanation.” But he still veered back into the bedroom and returned wearing his shorts and holding a robe. “This is for you.”

  Dressed, they both headed for the door. Will opened it. “Good morning, Earl. I thought you’d still be sleeping after your busy night.”

  Peeking over his shoulder, Arabella could see Earl holding her discarded clothing in his arms, and her heart sank. “It looks like you’ve been busy, too. After you left me for dead, you came back here and screwed my date.”

  Will attempted to herd him outside, and Arabella was ready to be a coward and let him. But Earl was having none of that plan. He shoved his way in and held the shorts, tank, bra, and panties out. “Why did you lead me on if you were going to sleep with him? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

  She gaped. “And why are you acting like an outraged husband? I’m not married to you. You’re mad because you wanted to get into my pants and instead Will did.”

  God, what am I saying?

  He paused, rubbing his hands on his shorts, leaving damp marks. “Arabella, no, I really liked you, I…”

  The freaking liar! She could see it in his eyes. His bloodshot, shifting eyes, one of them blackened. And his body language. Licking his lips, grooming behavior characterized by repeatedly smoothing his hair. She’d learned to watch for one of several signs of lying. Earl might be exhibiting them all. If she’d ever had the slightest doubts about Will’s comments about Earl, she no longer did.

  Suddenly she’d had enough. Of doing things the way other people wanted them done. Of giving up one part of her life for another. Sure, her job was important to her. She’d worked hard at it. Made the company and its stockholders stacks of money. Received a good salary and nice benefits. But how much actual satisfaction did she gain from the work? From working eighty or ninety hour weeks. “And what do you like about me, Earl? My tits? My ass? The fact I’m the only single woman on the island this week, and you want another notch on your bedpost? You make me sick!”

  He stumbled back, lips moving but no sound coming out.

  Arabella grabbed her clothes from him. “You got so drunk last night, your good friend had to help you home to make sure you didn’t pass out on the beach and wash out with the tide. I blamed him, but you’re not a child. And nobody made you order shots. Go get some breakfast, Earl, and next time you hit on a woman, consider she’s an entire person. Not a collection of body parts for you to hang on your wall. Get. Out!”

  He turned and fled.

  Arabella stood,
breathing deeply, her heart pounding so hard, she wondered if Will could hear it.

  Will caught her up in his arms and spun her around “You were magnificent.”

  “I might have cost you a friend.” She searched his face. “Do you hate me?”

  “Are you kidding? You saved him from my wrath.”

  She slid down his body to stand on her feet again. “Did your wrath do that to his eye? Did you hit him?”

  Will chuckled. “No. I’m more the stern words type. He did that to himself. Walked into a door. And I doubt you’re the first woman to tell him off. But it was the first time I got to watch, so thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, I think.”

  “If that is how you deal with problem employees, no wonder you’re an executive.”

  “If I dealt with anyone at work in such a radical way, I’d be on unemployment.” She rested a cheek on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “Let’s sit down and talk. I can make a pot of coffee, and I think the resort even provided me with toast makings if you’d like to have some?”

  “I love coffee and toast.”

  “Love them?”

  “More than life itself.”

  Once they settled at the kitchen table with steaming mugs of coffee in front of them, Will offered Arabella an encouraging smile. “Okay, what did you want to talk about?”

  She toyed with her spoon, stirring the coffee and pulling it out a couple of times before answering. “It’s the weirdest thing. Since I’ve been on the island, I’ve been remembering things I liked, things I wanted to do. In college, I ran every day. I went out with friends and laughed. I don’t do that now.”

  “You’re busy,” he said. “Lots of people are. Theory is, it’s the only way to get ahead.”

  “But ahead of what? Of whom?” She set the spoon down and laid her hands flat on the table. “I worked sixty hours the first few years then seventy, and now it’s pretty much every minute I’m awake. I was thinking of remodeling my bathroom to be like the one here, but then I realized I don’t actually know what my bathroom looks like.”

  She laughed. “I mean, I do, but not really. I’m in and out of my apartment, like a guest. I have a twice-a-week housekeeper who probably loves me because I never make a mess. I haven’t eaten at home for months. I leave before breakfast and come home after dinner.

  “I haven’t gone out with a friend to a movie or dinner or a Broadway show, and I haven’t even seen my dad since Christmas. I send him checks to help him make ends meet, but I know he’d rather see me. I have headaches all the time, and my neck hurts and my feet…by the end of the day, I want to scream.”

  “I understand,” he murmured, buttering a piece of rye toast and reaching for the jam. “So what are you going to do about it?”

  “I thought I might switch to flats.”

  He blinked. “That’s your solution for the dysfunction you described?”

  She shook her head slowly. “No, just for my sore feet and, I’m guessing, also my back aches.”

  “And about your long work days?”

  “Watch me.” She reached for her cell phone on the counter behind her and slid it closer then hit speed dial 1. “Emily, how is everything? Listen, I want to thank you for buying such nice clothes. I loved everything. Yes. And thanks for all you do. I know I don’t tell you nearly often enough.” She listened a moment then said, “Great. Would you please put me through to Harley?” What was she up to?

  Arabella covered the phone with her hand. “Here’s the part where I apply the solution.” She hit speaker. “Hi, Harley.”

  “I told you you’d be fired if you called again,” growled a voice from the other end of the line.

  “I understand. No problem. It’s been nice working for you.”

  “What? Arabella, you can’t be that mad about taking a vacation. Aren’t you having a good time? You can’t think I’d really fire you for a phone call.”

  “No, you’ve always been a man of your word, and I know this time is no different. I’ve enjoyed working for you, Harley, but I’ve put in enough hours for a lifetime, so I accept the firing and wish you well. Bye, Harley.” She clicked end.

  “And that is that.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I feel better already.”

  “Bella, I agree changes sometimes have to be made. I made a big one myself. But are you going to be okay?”

  Her grin brightened her face, all the way to her sea-green eyes. “Sure! When he fired me, he opened my golden umbrella. My contract provided for a very generous severance pay. And because all I’ve done is work, I never had time to spend money. I’ll be fine.”

  “If you are used to working so many hours, though, what will you do now? Going from the rat race to no race is not so good, either.”

  “I’m going to update the business plan I made in grad school and implement it. I thought I’d feel guilty about tricking Harley into firing me, but I don’t. Do you know what he said when he sent me here? Of course you don’t. How could you? He said, ‘You’ll be able to work twice as hard when you come back.’ There aren’t enough hours left in the day for that to happen. They got great value out of me, far above what they will give me as I set out on my own. I won’t have to answer to stockholders, and I can work when and where I please, as an online firm. Try for sane hours and rebuild a life.”

  He lifted his mug. “A toast to…what will your company be called, anyway?”

  “Never Settle.”

  “I like it.” He took a big drink and set the coffee down. “You can’t cook, can you?”

  “No, but I’m thinking of learning.”

  He pushed his plate aside and stood. “Let’s take a shower and go get breakfast in the dining hall.”

  “Okay. But if we get in the shower together, I cannot guarantee we’ll get out before they stop serving breakfast.”

  “Then we’ll have lunch. Let me make a suggestion, if I may?” Will stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower then faced her.

  “Sure.”

  “Enjoy the rest of your vacation. Before you throw yourself into the new project and whatever you need to do to settle your life back home, let’s enjoy the resort together. We can snorkel or scuba, take the Jet Skis out, whatever you like. We can run.” He eased the robe from her shoulders and dropped a kiss on her ear. “I’d like to get to know you better.”

  Arabella shivered. “I’d love to spend some time with you, but don’t you have to work?”

  “I have time off coming.”

  She lit up. “I hear it’s important to use your vacation.”

  He nodded. “Life affirming.”

  Stepping into the shower, Arabella paused. “You said you made changes. What did you do to improve your life?”

  “I bought an island.”

  Epilogue

  The sun beamed on the sands of her very own beach. Theirs. Hers and Will’s. Arabella eyed the white foam rolling up and retreating with longing. Her company was doing very well, but even working her own hours and from home, she still had to work or nothing would get done. Sitting on the covered patio with the scented breeze whispering around her should have been enough of a vacation in itself, but she’d become spoiled. No more twenty-hour days. Although her income had already increased, even after investing in her startup six months before, she managed to take care of business in six or seven hours a day and leave plenty of time for fun.

  With the sun halfway down the sky, she hoped Will would be back soon. He was still off-island picking up everything they couldn’t buy on-island, which was everything. She’d doubted him, when he said he bought an island.

  But now that she knew him better, she understood he’d never joke about something so serious. As the sun slid lower, she scanned the horizon, hoping to see the boat coming, but aside from some smallish sailboats in the distance, she saw only water and sky.

  Arabella flipped the lid of the laptop closed and stood, stretching her back and blowing out a long breath. Enough work. She left the porch
and started toward the water, digging her bare toes into the warm sand. Their island was one of the smaller ones, but large enough for the home he’d built them and the small, exclusive resort currently in the planning stages. Partnering with a few very powerful men, he’d raised the funding in record time and by next year they’d have the resort of his dreams.

  She stood at the water’s edge, watching wavelets roll over her feet and retreat only to come back again. She’d give a lot to be able to dive in and swim way out, just float on her back in the turquoise beauty, but Will would have her head. First, he’d made her promise not to go out over her head or in rough water when he was not in the vicinity. And second—

  The rumble of a motor broke the stillness, and she lifted her hand in a wave. He hadn’t even been gone overnight, but she’d missed him anyway. Arabella headed down the beach to the dock, waddling a little in the wet sand, but still arriving in time to grab the rope and help him tie off. He scrambled up the ladder and took her in his arms, throwing her off balance when he bent her back to kiss her.

  “I’m so glad to be home.” He kissed her again, leaving her breathless. “The arrangements are all made. We head over to the mainland next week and we’ll be back after the doctor clears you.”

  Arabella stomped her foot. “You’re being overprotective. I’m perfectly fine.”

  Will reached down and grabbed a knapsack. “I’ll come down for the rest in the morning. Right now I just want to go up to the house, have dinner, and go to bed.”

  She winced. “I forgot to cook anything. I was working and…”

  He shifted the bag over his shoulder and wrapped his other arm around her. “I brought some takeout from that little shack you like. There wasn’t anything much to cook with anyway until I brought supplies.”

  “What a guy!” She sniffed the air. “I think I smell conch fritters?”

  He chuckled. “With all the great food in these islands you like that old-style tourist snack.”

  “But you got it, right?”

  He held the door open while she walked inside. “Of course.”