My mouth opened from the surprise: while I knew that going on trips with him was part of the job, I hadn't expected to be going on any until I had spent at least a month working for him. Nevertheless, I was thrilled at the prospect of traveling with him, so I got up, grabbed a traveling bag, and began putting things in.
Chapter 4
MICHAEL.
Five minutes after I dropped the phone on my kitchen cabinet, I asked myself for the umpteenth time if calling Sarah had, in fact, been necessary. Throughout the previous day, I had thought about calling her several times and was shocked at how many different reasons my mind conjured up as excuses to pick up my phone and call. So, when a legitimate reason finally came up, I clutched at it with both hands and grabbed it. It had been very early on Sunday morning when I received a call from one of my business partners in LA about recent developments that I had to be briefed about. I had spent the better part of the day thinking whether or not to bring her along before finally giving in to my inner demons and composing an email to send to her. This trip was going to be really exciting with her coming along, and I eagerly looked forward to it.
Seven a.m. sharp the next morning, she was out of her house, traveling bag in hand walking towards my car. I flashed her a smile as she settled in, and we exchanged our good mornings. We were quiet for the rest of the drive to the airport. By 8:30, we were in the air, and by 11:30, LA time, we were lodged in our hotel rooms just opposite each other.
With a busy day filled with meetings ahead of me, we were out of the hotel barely an hour after we got in. I got Sarah set up in an office, and gave her a few documents to read through before disappearing to the first one out of three. It was past seven in the evening before we finally made our way out of the building to head back to the hotel.
As soon as our car took off, the soothing rumble of the motor lulled me to sleep. Her head coming to rest lightly on my shoulder startled me awake. I glanced down at her and realized that she was asleep, and her head must have slipped. Feeling like I had that day at the store, I adjusted my shoulder slightly to make her rest more comfortably. The light floral scent of her dark hair filled my nostrils, making me want to bury my face into her hair. Settling instead for touching, I reached out and rolled a strand of her soft and silky hair around my finger and let out a contented sigh.
Too soon, we reached the front of the hotel, and I wished I didn't have to wake her up.
"Hey Sarah, wake up. We're at the hotel," I whispered gently.
"What? We're there already?" She grumbled grumpily.
Laughing, I helped her out of the car, and up to our rooms. We said our goodnights, and I watched her get into her room and close the door behind her before walking into mine. It had been a long day and I was exhausted. After a quick shower, I threw myself on the bed and was soon asleep.
As early as 6:30 am the following day, I was out and on my way to visit some construction sites and establishments I had scattered around the state. As much as I wanted to take some time to relax, I reminded myself that this was a business trip after all. Business came first, with everything.
After my visits to the construction sites, I had a meeting with a few friends, who were also business associates that I hadn't seen in a long while. We decided to make plans for dinner, mainly to catch up more with one another. I decided to bring Sarah along, and sent her a text informing her to be ready for dinner by six. With one more round of meetings behind me, I headed back to the hotel to change from my business attire to a more casual one.
As I waited for her down in the lobby, a beautiful woman in a stunning red dress, with red lipstick to match, made her way toward me. It took a while for me to realize it was my Personal Assistant, Sarah. Oh boy, my inner demons whistled.
"You look gorgeous Sarah," I said, unable to hide my appreciation.
"Thank you Mr. Smith. You don't look too bad yourself." She replied with a wink and her red lips stretched out in a smile.
"Call me Michael, please. This isn't a formal outing." I insisted, and holding her hand in mine, led her out towards the waiting car.
The location for the dinner was the home of Santiago and his wife, Anna. Santiago and I had met years ago in a business conference , and though he was many years older, we had connected very easily and quickly. Throughout the years, he had become something like a mentor to me. He and Anna were my favourite couple in the world, and I totally loved them both.
We made our way into the house and exchanged pleasantries with the other guests. There was Alex, a friend since college, and he had a hot blonde with him who he introduced as his girlfriend. Of course, every single time I met Alex, which was at least eight times in a year, he had a different girl with him. I didn't bother to keep the girl’s name to heart, because odds were that I was never seeing her again. Then there was James, a business partner I was on friendly terms with, and his fiancee, Helen.
Dinner was served, and we all had a great time discussing politics and sports and everything in between. It was my first time seeing Sarah free and laughing, and I was so glad I had brought her along. She conversed smoothly with my partners, handled herself well, had top-notch table etiquette, and was well versed in a lot of things. I couldn't help but marvel at her grace and intelligence. Throughout the evening, there was an irresistible glow around her, and I found myself going back to the memory of my lips on hers, and wanting more. Dinner went really well, and a couple of hours later, we were on our way back to the hotel. We continued the conversation throughout the drive and as we stood just outside our rooms, about to say goodnight, I decided I wasn't quite ready to end the night.
"Do you mind coming in for a nightcap? We could talk and watch TV or something." I asked, hoping she'd say yes.
"Sure, why not? I'd love that," she replied so quickly, it felt as though she had been hoping I'd ask.
We sat on the couch, watched TV, drank a little, and talked about ourselves. I found myself surprisingly opening up to her as we discussed. At some point, I got drowned in the sight of her lips moving, so much that I didn't realize that she had asked me a question. She turned around to face me and saw me staring hungrily at her lips.
"What are you looking at Michael? I just asked you a question." She asked and raised her eyebrows, her eyes blinking brightly.
"You, Sarah. You are a very captivating woman." I answered truthfully, looking her straight in the eyes.
Then, without further hesitation, I caught her chin in my hands and slammed my lips onto hers. Slowly, my hands roamed her body, exploring hungrily. I cupped one of her breasts and fondled it and as she moaned, whatever chord that was holding me back snapped. Lust crazed, I found the zipper of her dress, pulled it down, and we let go of each other long enough to get the dress off her head, then she got to work on unbuttoning my shirt. Our lips found each other again as I lifted her and placed her astride me, then reached behind to unhook her bra from behind. She had small pale breasts with big pink nipples that hardened as the cool, air-conditioned air touched them. I grazed my fingers slowly against them and then brought my mouth down to her neck, trailing a path from her throat down to her breasts, before taking one nipple in my mouth, sucking hard and then biting down softly, causing her to gasp. My mouth worked one nipple while my hand worked the other, and in a short time, I had her moaning uncontrollably. “Yes, just how I like it,” I thought to myself.
Her hands made their way from behind my head to my trousers, and staring up at me, she tugged my button open and slowly drew my zipper down. I could feel the excitement building inside me at the thought of feeling her bare hands on me. When she pulled my pants open and reached into my briefs, a cry of pure surprise escaped both our lips. Then she took me in her hands and slowly squeezed, causing my eyes to roll into my head in pleasure. She began stroking me in swift up-down motions, and I groaned deeply. Unable to take it anymore, I stood to my feet, stepped out of my trousers and briefs, scooped her in my arms, and made my way to the bedroom.
I thre
w her onto the bed and then stood to gaze at her perfect body. She was so slender, had pale white soft skin, and curves that one could get lost in.
"Your body is perfect, Sarah." I muttered through my lips and then slowly lowered myself above her, hands running over her body. She reached for me but I dodged her; taking both of her hands, I pinned them above her head with one of mine, and ran the other one down her smooth belly toward the moist warmth between her legs.
With one finger, I rubbed her clit through her panties, going on and on in a circular motion, until I felt her body shudder beneath me. Then I hooked my index finger in the band of her panties and pulled them down until they reached her ankles. Spreading her legs apart, I ran my fingers from the top of her core, down her swollen clit, through her folds, and then back up again, then lowered my head and swiped my tongue against her clit.
SARAH.
Unable to move my hands, I arched my back up as his mouth descended to the mound between my lips and sucked hard, doing something with his tongue that felt like he was tying my clitoris in knots. My legs shook uncontrollably and I cried out in ecstasy. Slowly, he inserted two fingers deep into me, and my core trembled in pleasurable agony. Lifting himself up on his elbow, he looked into my eyes, and said in a deep husky voice.
"Sarah, if we go farther than this, I might not be able to stop."
"I don't want you to stop Mike. Take me." I breathed out, shaking with anticipation.
"I thought so too," He grinned devilishly, his green eyes blazing with passion, then freed my hand to reach over to get a condom from the bedside table and rolled it on. Very slowly, he eased himself into me, and filled me up completely, pausing for a while before he began a slow rhythm that picked up the pace, then went faster and faster until we both were riding the clouds towards the sun. Together, we erupted into a thousand tiny fragments of light.
He collapsed on my chest, and we remained like that for minutes, each of us reveling in the aftermath of such glory, too breathless to speak and too smacked to move.
Chapter 5
MICHAEL.
Her breathing evened out, and her body went still in my arms. I realized she had fallen asleep. Very carefully, to avoid waking her, I disentangled myself and almost crawled back into bed when she whimpered in her sleep and reached out for me. As I stood, I stared down at her sleeping form and felt an unfamiliar ache in my chest. She looked so peaceful and enticing that I couldn't tear my eyes away from her for a long time. Then, I pulled the covers up to her chin and walked into the bathroom, thinking of a word to describe the sex I had just had. Heavenly was the word that came to my head, and that was exactly what it had been.
Returning to the bedroom, I sank into the large mattress and carefully pulled her to me. Resting her head against my chest, she let out a purr of satisfaction that made the muscles in my stomach tighten again. With my arms around her, I closed my eyes to settle into sleep, and felt a peace so deep and so real, I wished it'd never end.
Very early the next morning, I woke up to her head and hands on my stomach, her legs tangled with mine, and my arm holding her waist. I smiled as I tried to untangle our bodies without waking her. Several times during the night, she had unconsciously purred and then snuggled in closer to me before going quiet again. As I looked at her snoring so peacefully, looking so small, and vulnerable, and beautiful, I felt a strong jab course through my chest. I realized at that moment that what I felt for this girl ran deeper than I had thought.
After having my bath and dressing up, Sarah still hadn’t woken up, and so I quickly scribbled a note and left it on the bedside table, telling her to be ready by noon for our trip back to New York. I had a few loose ends to tie up before leaving, and it was going to be months before I would get a chance to show up in Los Angeles again.
Both the drive to the airport and the flight back to New York were filled with a silence so thick, I could cut through it with a knife, literally. I tried to make small talk but was met with such coldness from her, that I dropped the effort and started wondering exactly what had gone wrong. When we finally arrived in New York, Sarah asked if I needed anything, and I replied in the negative and told her to take the day off, after which she got into a different taxi and left.
Thinking about it, I concluded that she was giving me the cold shoulder because she regretted what had happened last night at the hotel, and had decided to leave whatever happened in LA in LA.
Trying to feel indifferent, I decided to say nothing about whatever had happened or was happening. But the next day as I walked into the office and saw her sitting there looking so angelic, I couldn't hold myself back from talking to her about it.
"Sarah, what’s wrong?" I asked in my gentlest tone. She looked up, appearing very startled at my question, before falling silent for a while, probably debating what answer to give.
"What was up with the note you left me yesterday morning?" She finally spoke.
"What note?" I asked, confused.
"Out for a meeting. Will be back by noon. Be packed and ready." Sarah said, quoting the words I had written to her the morning of the day before.
"Oh. That is it?" I breathed a sigh of relief. "That was nothing Sarah. I really can't believe that is what all this is about," I let out a chuckle.
"Michael, it isn't funny. We had just had mind-blowing sex, and next thing, you were leaving me a note and sounding so cold. What was I supposed to think?"
"Nothing baby, you were not meant to think anything. Sarah, writing has always been quite difficult for me, and so I usually try to go straight to the point. I wasn't being cold Sarah, I was only being myself," I explained as I moved closer to her and wrapped my arms around her from behind.
"Now that I think about it, I see why you must have felt bad. But I assure you, what happened that night wasn't just sex. I like you, I don't know how, but I really do," I murmured into her ear, tenderly reassuring her.
She sighed. "I'm sorry that I overreacted. It's just, I don't know how to deal with rejection of any kind." Sarah revealed and then turned around to look into my face. "I like you a lot too Mike."
Cradling her face gently in my palm, I leaned down for a kiss and it was minutes before we were able to let go of ourselves. Seated in my office minutes later and playing the events of that morning in my head, I was genuinely amazed at myself. I never explained myself to anyone, but not only had I explained myself to Sarah, I had even apologized and cuddled her right there in my office. Not to mention I had declared my feelings for her out loud. My inner voice began to scream, "You are in love with her!" in my head, but I shut it out, although I knew that there was a lot of truth in what it said.
SARAH.
The rest of the week and the next passed on beautifully. Michael proved to be a very detailed and focused boss during work hours and a passionate and romantic lover after work. At the office, we stayed as far away as we could from each other to prevent all forms of distraction, but as soon as work was over, we would unleash all of the pent up emotions and make love till our bones ached. Although he never said anything to indicate, I started to have a feeling that we were in a relationship with each other, and I found myself falling for him before long.
Monday after our return from LA, I walked into his office around noon to remind him of a meeting he had, and one thing led to another. Before long, I was sitting on his lap, hands in his hair and lips on his when all of a sudden, a voice interrupted us.
"What is happening here, Michael?"
We both jumped at the voice, and I immediately stood to my feet, turning my attention to the lady who had just walked in. She was a dazzling beauty with red hair and shape that many men—and women—would kill for. I didn't recognize her as a worker here, but she stood with her hands on her waist like she owned the place, and wore a questioning look on her face.
"Hi Betsy, you're back! What a pleasant surprise," Michael said, smiling and then rose up, walked over to her and pecked her on both cheeks.
"Hey Mike, it's
great to see you too. Bob and I returned earlier than planned, and so I decided to come in to check on you." She said, smiling up into his face and then immediately added, "Who is she?" gesturing toward me.
"Forgive my manners. Betsy, this is Sarah, my new personal assistant. Sarah, this is Betsy, my friend, and former employee," Michael said in the way of an introduction.
I stood there, watching and absorbing all of the information. First, this lady had walked into Michael’s office without knocking and rudely interrupted us. Then Michael had greeted her fondly, and she had called him Mike, which meant they were on really close terms. Also, she had ignored me throughout the conversation and wore a look on her face that clearly stated that she didn't like my presence in that room. Standing there, I had no idea that things were about to get shitty.
"I see you got rid of Hilda. I was quite expecting that," She said to Michael as she sized me up from head to toe, then continued. "But what I wasn't quite expecting was you going ahead to get yourself a slut of a personal assistant with whom you're locking lips within less than a month. Come on Mike, you're better than that."
The words hit me right below the belt, and I immediately swung my head to look at Michael, who was smiling and looking at Betsy like she was making a toast. His reaction hurt and shocked me even more than the words. I had just been called a slut to his face, and all he did was smile. I had never been more embarrassed in my life, and too stunned to speak, I quietly walked out of his office, picked up my bag and left. And he didn’t even stop me.
Chapter 6
MICHAEL.
I had sincerely missed Betsy and was genuinely glad to see her after so long. Apart from being my assistant, she was a close friend and was one of the few people I trusted with a whole lot of things. Betsy was very protective of me, so much so that sometimes she overdid it, and today happened to be one of those times. When I heard her voice, I immediately knew that something big was about to happen because she rarely ever called me Michael.
An EGO To Match (Unlikely Matches Book 2) Page 3