by Claire Adams
Kelly laughed. “Maybe just for the day we are,” she agreed. “All right. I'd love to. Anyway, I can only imagine what kind of pad the world's hottest young real estate bachelor lives in.”
I shook my head, still smiling. “I hardly think I count as the world's hottest young anything,” I told her. “Maybe the city's hottest young real estate bachelor.” I winked at her, and could practically see the way she melted.
Of course, she didn't see much of the penthouse apartment that I lived in. I cornered her as she was taking off her shoes, crowding her up against the door as much as I thought she'd let me. “You’re a very attractive woman; do you realize that?” I told her.
“Oh no,” Kelly said, laughing and shaking her head, but making no move to leave, even though she must know what was about to happen. “I'm not going to be just another of your flings, Christian Wall. You can forget all about that.”
I sighed. “That's a pity,” I told her. “I'm pretty sure you're the world's hottest young journalist. We would have made quite the pair.”
Kelly bit her lower lip. “Do you think so?” she asked breathily.
Playing on a woman's weakness to want affection was all too easy. And it was a pretty easy guess that anyone who had chosen the entertainment field definitely had an underlying need to be wanted, namely by the masses. For some reason, it seemed like the hotter a girl was, the more worried she was that she was a no one.
“Fuck yes,” I whispered seductively. “I’ve been hard since I got to the studio.” My eyes moved down her body. “I’ve imagined making love to you twenty times since the interview started.”
Suddenly, Kelly surged up and kissed me, as I might have predicted that she would.
I slowed the nervous motion of her lips, stroking a hand down her back to calm her down. Even though I wanted to make this quick and dirty, to make her scream my name. I could tell I would have to go a bit slowly with her. She clearly didn't have that many one-night stands, and she had to know that this was a one-night stand; she was in entertainment, and she had done her research before interviewing me.
I lengthened the kiss, allowing it to deepen into something slow and lewd, our tongues twining around one another's. I slid my hands up under her shirt, stroking them tantalizingly across her skin before lifting the garment up over her head, revealing that lacy black bra that she'd unknowingly been teasing me with. It was thin, flimsy, and I could see her nipples were already pert little nubs beneath the fabric. I bent down and raked my teeth over those two points of pleasure while my hands worked at her jeans.
Then, once I'd stripped her down to nothing more than lace, I led her into the bedroom. She looked gorgeous sprawled out across my sheets like that. I kept a burning gaze on her as I stripped off my clothes, and then I crawled across the bed toward her, nudging her knees apart so that I could crawl between them.
I licked and sucked my way up those luscious legs of hers and then pulled her panties down away from her pink pussy, bending in to kiss that as well. Even with something that simple, she was arching against the sheets, and I knew this was going to be over fast.
It was a pity. I always hoped to find a sexy girl with a bit more stamina. But then again, if her stamina was that good, it probably meant that she slept around a lot, and I wasn't exactly looking to sleep with a slut.
Sure enough, though, it wasn't long before Kelly was gasping out my name and coming, her pussy pressing hard around me and her hands clawing desperately at the sheets. I kept going, managing to bring her to come again and again.
“Stop,” Kelly whimpered, pushing back against my shoulders. “It's–It's too much, Christian.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled out, jacking myself hard for a few moments before coming across her tits. That was never my preferred way to finish, but that seemed to be the way it always happened with women at this point. They just couldn't handle me.
I slipped out of bed and began collecting her things for her, ignoring the disappointed look she gave me. What, had she thought I was going to let her stay over in my bed? The thought was almost laughable. I escorted her back downstairs and got her into a cab. That was the most I had to offer.
Chapter Two
Gretchen
I took a deep breath of the morning air and let it out slowly. It had rained a little the night before, and the beach looked practically pristine, with all evidence of people washed away. Granted, the beach tended to never look the same from day to day. And I should know. I'd had my shop here on this little stretch of beach for a few years now, and I was out here every morning, before my first client came, with a cup of coffee. I loved having that little routine to start off my day, to give me a moment to just breathe in the place and relax.
I could never imagine leaving Hawaii. This place had always been home. I smiled a little, thinking of how lucky I was to live in paradise, but I was startled out of my thoughts by someone calling my name.
I turned and saw Mina dropping off some trash out back from her pineapple shop next door, and I smiled even wider, hopping off the back porch of my own building and going over to meet her.
“Morning, Mina,” I greeted and offered her a warm smile.
“Good morning,” she said and smiled back. “How's it going today? Are you busy?”
I laughed a little. “You want to know how many pineapples you're going to sell today?” I teased.
Mina's eyes glinted with mirth. “We both know that you've been instrumental in drumming up business for me lately,” she said. Then, her eyes grew serious. “I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate that.”
“Well, honey, there's nothing like coming to paradise, getting a good massage, and then wandering over next door for a healthy pineapple shake!” I put my hands on my hips and rested in the warm feeling of living in paradise. It was a blessing too many took for granted and too few enjoyed.
“True,” Mina said.
“You could do with a massage soon yourself,” I said, critically noting her posture. I'd been a massage therapist for long enough that I could tell she was a bit slouched, her shoulders a bit out of alignment from where they should be. “You're doing too much heavy lifting. I bet.” I moved around behind her, and she laughingly turned away from my hands.
“Yeah, yeah,” Mina said. “I do need a massage soon. But I have to finish opening up shop before the morning rush comes through!”
I sighed and shook my head. “You need to-”
“Put myself ahead of my work,” Mina finished, cutting me off like she did often. “I know, you tell me that often enough. And I will, once I marry a millionaire and don't have to worry about the bills!”
I snorted and shook my head. “Where do you think you're going to meet a millionaire?”
“It'll be one of your customers coming over to get a pineapple shake after his massage, of course!” Mina said, winking at me. “Anyway, I'd better get back.”
“Yeah, me too,” I said, sighing. “We should go out for dinner sometime this week too, though. I feel like we haven't caught up in too long.”
“We see each other every day,” Mina pointed out.
“Yeah, but these ten minutes conversations aren't cutting it for me,” I told her. “I need a sit-down dinner where we can really dig into our lives together. It’s been too long.”
“Aw,” she said, pulling me into a hug. “Let's start with getting lunch today; what time are you going?”
I grimaced. “I'm booked solid until three, unfortunately.”
“Three, it is,” Mina said, nodding her head. “I'll get Sandy to cover for me.”
“Good,” I said, laughing a little. When Sandy had first started working for her, Mina hadn't trusted him to even work in the front of the shop while she was in the back doing inventory. It was good that she was relaxing a little.
We said our goodbyes and I headed back into my shop, whistling a little as I washed out my coffee mug. Every day was a new day in my field. I met new people, most of them needing rel
ief and finding it at the tip of my fingers. It was a great job and a good feeling every day. I helped people relax and find peace. It was something we were all searching for. Some of us just made serenity a priority better than others. Like me.
I reached the front counter right as my first client came in. She was a bit older, maybe in her 60s, and not one of my regulars. Probably on her vacation, but it was possible that she had a new retirement home down there in Oahu and would become one of my regulars.
“Good morning,” the woman said hesitantly, looking around.
“Good morning,” I told her warmly. “How are you?”
She laughed a little. “Seeing that I woke up in paradise, I suppose I'm doing pretty well, thanks. Are you Gretchen? We spoke on the phone.”
“I am,” I told her. “And you're Gloria Walters?”
“I am,” Gloria said. She gave a nervous chuckle. “I can't say that I've ever done one of these things before, believe it or not. My husband has been after pampering me for years now, but I've always told him I didn't need any more pampering.”
I couldn't help smiling at the way her love for her husband came through in her words. “That's not a problem at all.” I held out a robe for her. “If you just want to get changed over here in this room, and then lie down and get comfortable, I'll be in in a few minutes, and we can get started.”
“All right,” Gloria said, disappearing into the massage room.
It must have been nice to have a man pamper her. I was jealous, I still longed to have a relationship in my own life. It seemed like every bad decision I’d made in the past all pointed to men.
I put some lotion on my hands, flexing them and giving them a bit of a massage before I went in to work on her. Then, I entered the room, waiting a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. “How are you feeling?” I asked, kneeling on the massage mat near her feet.
“This is nice already,” Gloria said with a laugh. “That incense is lovely.”
“Mmm, yes,” I said, beginning to work. “A friend of mine makes that. She has so many amazing fragrances that I never even know where to start.”
“You'll have to point me toward her shop,” Gloria said. “I never really pick up souvenirs when I'm traveling, but useful things like incense, I never mind buying. Especially when they come from members of the local community.”
“I'll give you her business card when we're finished,” I promised and relaxed into working my magic. Gloria would feel a hundred times better by the time she left my table. “So, you're just here on vacation?”
“As a matter of fact, it's our 40th wedding anniversary,” Gloria told me proudly. She laughed a little. “I can hardly believe that we've made it this many years together; it feels like the blink of an eye. But I suppose that's what happens when you're madly in love with the man that you marry.”
“Wow, forty years!” I exclaimed. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you, sweetie,” Gloria said. “Don't get me wrong. It hasn't all be sunshine and roses. We've had our ups and downs, like any other couple. But if I had to go back and do it repeatedly, for the rest of eternity, there's not a single thing I would change about it.”
“That's so special,” I told her, shaking my head a little. “I feel like so many people have such a difficult time making their relationships last these days. What's the secret?”
Gloria laughed. “There's no secret to it, honey. It's hard work. You have to be willing to listen to the other person, and you have to be willing to compromise. It's all the things that you've ever heard about relationships.” She laughed a little. “I know that sounds cliché, but it's the truth. The main difference is, you have to be willing to work on the relationship and not think that someone else out there is going to be better for you. I never thought that for a moment once I met Bruce.”
“He must be amazing.” I tried to keep my voice even. It was easy to believe that there was someone out in the world for other people, for Gloria and Mina and the next lady that came in, but for me? I didn’t know. It felt like my Prince Charming got lost and forgot to ask for directions.
“He is,” Gloria said. “He's no Prince Charming, of course, and boy does he have his flaws! But we all do.” She shook her head. “It's all about the little things that he does for me, though. That we do for each other. You know, sometimes he goes out into the garden and plucks all the weeds, without my even asking him to. He didn't even want to have a garden the size that we do; I made him get that. For him to go out there and pluck every single one of those weeds, that's such a nice gesture. Or lately, he's started getting up early on Sundays and bringing me pancakes in bed. After forty years of doing most of the cooking in the house, especially breakfasts, you can't imagine how giddy that makes me feel.”
“That's so sweet,” I said. “Just from listening to you, I can tell how much you love him.”
“And that's how it should be,” Gloria said firmly as if she believed in love with all of her heart. Lofty thought for sure. “How about you, though? Do you have a sweetheart?”
I shook my head. “Not at the moment, no.” I laughed a little. “I'm lucky to have a great life in such a beautiful place, that I'm not sure I need a man!” That wasn't the truth, but Gloria didn't need to know that I was still getting over the mess of my relationship with my ex.
Gloria sighed happily. “And that's exactly the way that things should be,” she said. “So many young people these days rush into relationships that don't suit them. You just take your time, and the right guy will fall into your life almost without your even knowing it.”
Chapter Three
Christian
I would never understand why the other Sunshine Real Estate owners seemed to always schedule meetings on Friday afternoons. Granted, most of them had wives and suburban lifestyles, so it was possible that they just really didn't want to get home to that. It wasn't like we ever really got anything done on Friday afternoons anyway, though. Everyone was always too tired from the rest of the week, and anyway, it wasn't like there were that many people who came to the office to look for houses at the end of the week.
I drummed my fingers against the arm of my chair, making sure to hide the movement under the table so that the rest of them didn't see. I knew that George already disliked me and didn't think that I was fit to be a co-owner of the company. There wasn't much that they could do about it unless they wanted to dissolve the entire company and cease to call themselves Sunshine, which would be a pretty stupid move for them given all the work we'd put into building up that name. Thank God for the legal advice that we'd got when we had first created the company; the contract terms that we'd entered were saving my skin at this point.
They needed me as the face of the company, anyway. None of them were fit for that job.
“In other news,” George said, his voice monotonous and droning as ever, but he looked sharply up at me, and I figured I'd better pay attention to whatever this was. His eyes narrowed. “We haven't seen you on the news for a week, by my count. That must be some sort of a record.” The sneer in his voice was obvious, and I couldn't help clenching my fingers around the arms of my chair.
“What I do in my private life is, as always, none of your business,” I said, even though we'd had this argument a hundred times before. And where I was partially right, I could see their side of it too. I just hated to admit it, which I never would.
“Except for when it affects business,” Alex exploded. “Which-”
“Which, there's no evidence that it does,” I interrupted loudly. I shoved my chair back roughly. “Jesus, way to ruin a perfectly good Friday afternoon.”
“Come on, guys,” Paul said, ever the voice of reason. “Is there any other business news that you'd like to discuss?” No one said anything for a long moment. “All right, then let's adjourn, finish up whatever last-minute paperwork we have to get done, and go home for the weekend. I'll see you all on Monday morning. Remember that we have that magazine coming through the
office to take pictures, so try to clean up your desks as much as you can.”
He directed that last bit at Alex, who was notoriously messy, and although I was kind of grateful to hear him snip at someone else, it didn't change what George had said about me. How unprofessional did you have to be to bring something like that up in the middle of a company meeting? Even if it was only the four of us in there, and even though we'd all been working together for the past ten years now.
George caught my arm as we filed out of the conference room, and I fought the urge to deck the guy right then and there. “Maybe try to make it another week with good behavior, and we'll give you a gold star,” he said snidely.
“George,” Paul said reprovingly. He grabbed the back of my suit jacket, though, and I knew that was a warning not to engage.
George rolled his eyes and stalked off. “Come on,” Paul said, tugging me back into the conference room.
“Paul, I don't want to have some stupid conversation about my conduct,” I told him. The shit was getting old. I wasn’t going to keep my dick in my pants. There was no fucking way. “You have no right to judge me, no more than the rest of them do.”
Paul gave me a look. It was one I’d seen a million times before. “Christian, when have I ever judged your behavior?” he asked. “Take a deep breath and talk rationally to me.”
I frowned, but I did take that deep breath, trying to quit shaking with rage. “They're such-”
“I know,” Paul said, holding up a hand to stall me. He smiled a little and dropped into a seat, kicking out the one next to his and gesturing for me to sit as well. “It's been a while since we caught up. I know the Great Christian Wall has plenty of other things to do with his time, but I do think I merit a conversation occasionally.”
