She smiled, shifting against him. “Like this?” she asked, then tilted her head towards the kitchen. “Or like that?”
He laughed, then groaned as she wiggled against him. “I think we should eat dinner quickly so I can make love to you again. This time, more properly.”
She stood up, grabbing one of the pillows from the sofa to cover her nakedness from him. “I think you did pretty well that last time,” she teased, then hurried into the kitchen to grab her clothes while he cleaned up in the bathroom.
When he stepped out again, the small kitchen table was set with candles and a few flowers that she’d obviously purchased from the grocery store. The smell of something delicious filled the air and he looked at the plates, inhaling the savory scents with delight. He was touched by the romantic details, which told him she wanted this night to be special.
“You haven’t opened your present,” he told her, then located the small paper box on the countertop. “Here,” he said, then sat down at the table, spooning out a large portion of the cheesy pasta dish, then a healthy helping of the perfectly grilled chicken and some fresh green beans. “This looks good.”
She opened the paper and peered inside, laughing at the diamond earrings inside. He’d packaged them to look like inexpensive cubic zirconia studs, but they were actually perfectly cut diamonds. He knew that if he’d given them to her in the velvet box they’d come in, she would have rejected them. So he’d disguised them. He didn’t care if she thought they were cheap CZ earrings. He wanted her to have diamonds, and if it took tricking her into taking them, so be it.
“These are beautiful!” she gasped. Turning them sideways, she peered at them. “They look so real! I don’t know how they make CZs look like this, but I love them,” she told him as she slipped her silver earrings off, replacing them with the diamond studs. He watched, eating the delicious meal and beaming at his triumph. Eventually, she’d accept the diamond necklace that he kept in his penthouse suite. She’d have a bracelet to match and, he glanced down at her hand, cringing at the awful grocery store ring, he’d replace that thing with a real one.
Patience, he told himself as he admired her. Patience and tenacity. She’d told him that was what she’d need and, now that he’d been with her intimately, he was even more sure that Danielle was the woman he wanted in his life forever. This wasn’t a casual affair. Not for him and, he suspected, not for her either. She wasn’t the kind of woman who would give herself to just any man so completely. She was shy and careful, cautious and, he suspected, inhibited. The way she gave herself to him and the surprise in her eyes every time she climaxed in his arms told him that she wasn’t used to that kind of release with a man.
He wondered if she was used to doing that on her own. Damn, he hoped so! He’d love to watch her give herself an orgasm. Just the thought of her touching herself made his body react. Damn, would he ever get enough of her? Every time he thought of her, he became aroused. He didn’t even need to think of her sexually for his body to react. He just had to think about her eyes or the way she touched him.
It was crazy, but he was enjoying it.
Not to mention, he thought she would be a wonderful mother. Yes, Danielle was the woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
After dinner, he helped her load the dishwasher, a first for him, and then he led her up the stairs. For the rest of the night, he made love to her and then held her in his arms, enjoying her soft sighs of pleasure, and her gentle breath as she fell asleep in his arms.
Chapter 16
“I found a new place for lunch,” Carly announced the next day when she and Danielle met Deni on the sidewalk at their usual meeting place.
Deni grinned at Danielle. “Nice earrings,” she teased.
“This way,” Carly ordered. She was the leader of their threesome, always directing people and telling them what to do, which was good because Danielle and Deni would chit chat away until the three of them were forced to grab a slice of pizza at the local place around the corner from their office, or a hot dog from a food vendor. “And do tell where you got the diamonds!” she demanded, pointing across the street to a door that looked like serial killers might be hiding behind.
“Oh, these aren’t diamonds any more than this is,” Danielle replied, lifting her hand with the tacky ring. “They’re just cubic zirconia.”
“Let’s take that table in the corner,” Carly pointed to the only available table, which was in the back corner. For a dive, the place was packed! They wove their way through the other diners, slipping their coats off and dumping them on the fourth chair while they sat down in the other three. When they were settled again, Carly peered at Danielle’s new earrings. “You know, they do look pretty real.”
Danielle waved her words aside as she picked up the menu. “What do you recommend?” she asked, changing the subject.
They discussed the various lunch options, while Carly bemoaned her lack of dates. She complained that there aren’t any good men who are strong enough and interesting enough to bother with. Danielle thought back to that day in the office last week. “Speaking of good looking men,” she commented, turning to look over at Carly, “Why not Ryker?”
Carly found a piece of lint on her skirt and plucked at it. “No. There’s definitely nothing going on between me and Ryker. He’s one of the partners and my boss. That’s it.”
Danielle shared a glance with Deni. Both ladies thought that Carly’s answer was suspect. But before either of them could take up that issue, Carly focused on the menu. “Okay, so the last time I was here, I ordered the…” and she listed several items and gave descriptions. The waiter arrived and took their order, both Deni and Danielle agreeing with Carly’s suggestions.
The meal was just as delicious as Carly promised and they laughed and talked throughout the meal.
“Oh my gosh!” Deni gasped, looking at the time. “I have to hurry back! I have a meeting with a client in a few minutes.”
“Go!” Carly waved. “I’ll get the check.”
Deni grabbed her coat and stood up. “You’re awesome!” she said and hugged each of them before rushing out the door.
Carly and Danielle watched her leave. “I don’t like the guy she’s dating,” Danielle commented.
Carly nodded. “I agree. I’m not a fan either. He stood her up last week. Did you know that?”
“Yeah. But…”
Carly nodded. “I know. She’s just friends with my brothers, so they wouldn’t be a good match. And Ryker…!”
Danielle glanced at Carly, noticing the haunted look in her friend’s eye and realized what Carly needed to hear. “No. Ryker would never be a good match for Deni.”
Carly relaxed slightly, trying to hide her relief by picking up her coat. “I think you’re right. So we’ll be on the lookout for a guy to replace the jerk she’s currently dating, okay?”
“Deal,” Danielle agreed. “And that won’t be long because Deni isn’t one to put up with idiocy.” They paid the check and walked back to the office, both of them more relaxed now that they’d connected with Deni.
As soon as they stepped through the doors, Mike waved them down. “What’s up?” Carly asked, leaning against the counter as she read through the messages he’d handed to her.
“Another delivery,” he said. Carly turned to Danielle. “Are you ever going to tell me where all of these deliveries are coming from?” she demanded.
“Carly!” Oz called out. Carly turned and rolled her eyes when she saw the woman standing next to her oldest brother. The older woman was a very irritating client. “This isn’t going to be pretty,” she mumbled, but pasted a smile on her beautiful features and moved off to help her brother.
Danielle turned back to Mike, trying to smother her giggles. Carly really was better with the clients than any of the three partners. She had a charm about her that helped the clients relax. She worked with them to finalize contracts, helped them understand more fully what they needed the company to do fo
r them, and then worked with one of the guys to provide it. She was the liaison between the men with the expertise, and the real world clients who didn’t fully understand what expertise they needed.
“What’s up?” Danielle asked Mike.
He handed her the box with a smile. “You’re quite popular lately,” he teased.
Danielle rolled her eyes. “Eh, it’s nothing really,” she told him, lying through her teeth. No one could ever know that she was madly in love with Mika. That would hurt Mika’s friendship with Oz, Jayce, and Ryker unnecessarily. This was just an affair. A hot, torrid affair that she’d keep as a secret for the rest of her life.
“Thanks Mike,” she called, lugging the relatively big box to her office. Curiously, she stared at the box as she hung her coat up on the hook behind her door, wondering what it was. The box was big, but lighter than one would expect.
When she sliced through the packing tape, she grinned as she pulled out a teddy bear. He was hugging a note to his chest and she pulled it out.
“I have to leave for a few days, but I’ll be back. Dinner when I return? P.S. the ‘necklace’ is for you.”
She smiled through the sharp stab of disappointment. No Mika for…how long? He didn’t say and “a few days” could mean a lot of things. Even so, the thought of not seeing Mika for even three days made her heart ache. Sadness descended, but she pasted a bright smile onto her face, trying to appear calm.
The bear was adorable and she propped it up on her desk, right beside her computer monitor so she could see it as she worked. Something hit the light and she looked more carefully. Sure enough, there was a sparkly necklace around the neck of the bear. “Oh, how pretty!” she gasped.
“What’s that?” Carly asked, stepping into Danielle’s office and dropping some contracts on her desk.
She set the bear back down, thinking to take it home tonight and put it on her bed. She liked the idea of sleeping with the bear, even if it wasn’t Mika and wouldn’t keep her nearly as warm.
“It’s just a stuffed animal that Mika sent to me.”
Carly eyed Danielle speculatively. “You guys are serious then?”
Danielle’s head swung around. “No. Not at all!”
“Why did he send you a diamond bracelet then?”
Danielle looked at the bear’s necklace, then back at Carly. “It’s…” she stared at the bear again. “It’s not…it isn’t a diamond bracelet. It’s just part of the bear’s accessories.” But even as she looked at the ‘necklace’, Mika’s words from the note came back to her. The ‘necklace’ was for her? Could it be…real?
“No!” she repeated firmly.
Carly laughed. “Danielle, that is a real diamond bracelet that bear is wearing. So are the diamonds in your ears.”
Danielle muttered a word that she’d heard Oz, Ryker, and Jayce use on occasion, glaring at the bear.
“Huh! I didn’t think you knew that word,” Carly laughed. Danielle blinked as Carly reached over to grab the receiver of her office phone, then dialed a number.
She put their friend on speaker phone. “Hey, Deni? Yeah, you won’t believe what Danielle’s guy just sent her.”
“Another delivery? How exciting! I wish I had a guy sending me chocolate every other day.”
“Yeah, you and me both,” Carly replied. “But you know those earrings she kept trying to tell us aren’t real?”
“You mean the huge diamond earrings she wore the other day?”
“Exactly!” Carly laughed. “She’s rolling her eyes by the way. And touching the earrings. I think she’s finally starting to believe us about the rocks being real diamonds.”
“It’s about time,” Deni grumbled.
“Well, the guy just sent her a diamond bracelet too. And guess what she said?” Carly laughed and repeated the word Danielle had just muttered.
“I didn’t think that Danielle knew that word,” Deni replied, her musical laughter coming through the phone line. “I gotta go. Talk to you guys later. I want details on this man who keeps sending Danielle outrageous presents though.”
“I’ll fill you in on what I know next time I see you.” And she hung up. “So, are you going to try it on?”
“No. And it’s not real,” Danielle asserted firmly.
With a smirk, Carly walked out of Danielle’s office.
Danielle frowned at the bear and, in the end, unsnapped the bracelet from around the bear’s neck. She thought about putting it on her wrist, but the bracelet was too expensive, so she slipped it into her wallet for safe keeping.
“Mika is definitely going to get an earful when I see him next,” she muttered to the bear and turned back to her computer.
For the next several days, she worked hard, trying to focus on work and not on how much she missed Mika. Even worse, Danielle was so used to sleeping in Mika’s arms now, it was hard to go back to sleeping alone. She missed hearing him breathing at night and the warmth of his body when she snuggled closer to him. She missed using his arm or shoulder for a pillow. Her own pillow was too soft now.
“I hate him,” she muttered one night as she stared up at the dark ceiling. Glancing at the clock beside her bed showed her it was two fourteen in the morning. Rolling over, she pulled her pillow close, trying to get comfortable, but…nothing worked. She needed Mika.
“I really hate him!” she said out loud and punched her pillow. Out of frustration, she grabbed her phone and, completely forgetting her intention to maintain a casual attitude about her relationship with Mika, typed, You’re a huge jerk! You got me used to sleeping with you and now I can’t sleep alone. I have important issues that I need to finish tomorrow and I can’t sleep. This is all your fault! With that done, she pulled her pillow close again, trying to get comfortable.
Unfortunately, she tossed and turned for another hour before she finally was able to fall into a fitful doze.
Mika snapped at his guards, who were slowing down, acting overly cautious when all he wanted was to get to Danielle. The message she’d sent in the middle of the night echoed through his mind. He worried about her, anxious that she wasn’t sleeping well. Even as exhaustion hit him, he just wanted to get to her and hold her.
“Let’s move!” he snapped at his guards, who hurried to the waiting vehicles. He wanted to get to her office by the time her workday was over, but it was looking as if they weren’t going to make it. Even as they drove out of the airport an hour after he’d hoped due to a storm that had forced his pilot to fly around it, his frustrations increased. Then the traffic on the highways slowed to the point that the road was more of a parking lot. Too many people urgently trying to reach their destinations when all he wanted to do was get to Danielle.
So, instead of going to her office, he directed his driver to head to her house, thinking to catch her before she went to sleep that night.
His limousine pulled up to the curb at the same moment that she’d just stepped out of her vehicle. Mika could see her exhaustion, noted the dark circles under her eyes.
Stepping out of the limousine, he caught the hopeful look in her beautiful eyes moments before she dropped her bags and ran across the small yard to throw herself into his arms.
“You’re back!” she gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck.
He caught her easily and pulled her close, burying his face in her hair. “I’m here, love.”
“I missed you,” she cried. “I know that I wasn’t supposed to, but I did, and I hate you for that!”
He laughed softly, delighted with her words. “I’m sorry that you weren’t able to sleep without me.”
Her arms tightened and he heard a sniff. “I hate you, Mika,” she whispered.
“I know, love.” With that, he lifted her into his arms. He saw his guards pick up her bags, bringing them in right behind him. “Why don’t you change and I’ll take you out for dinner?” he asked when the guard closed the door after leaving her purse and work bag on the chair by the fireplace.
Danielle pulled ou
t of his arms and looked up at him. Mika’s stomach tightened at the sight of her watery eyes. “Why don’t you take off your clothes and head right upstairs?” she offered, already reaching behind her to unzip her dress.
His body roared in response. “You’re tired,” he argued, even though his body didn’t care. He wanted this just as much.
“Yeah,” she agreed, as she worked her dress down over her hips, letting it pool around her feet. “I’m tired. But you’re going to make me feel better, aren’t you?”
In full agreement, he stepped back. “Yes. Take it all off, Danielle,” he ordered, reaching for the knot of his tie.
Her lips curled up slightly, and her eyes never left his. She reached behind her back and released the catch on her bra, letting the straps drop before she tossed it away.
“Better?” she asked.
“Better,” he agreed, tossing his tie over a chair. At least, he thought it was the chair. He might have missed the piece of furniture because he couldn’t pull his eyes away. “But not perfect. Take off the panties.”
The lust in her eyes was almost his undoing. With adept fingers, she slipped them down her legs and, without looking away, slipped her panties off, kicking them away from her. She still had on her black heels and she looked…amazing!
“Now that’s the best way to greet me,” he growled. A moment later, he lifted her up into his arms and Danielle automatically wrapped her legs around his waist. “I think you should greet me like this every day.”
Danielle laughed even as she moved her head to kiss his neck, nibble on his ear, and finally, kiss his lips as he carried her to her bedroom. He lowered her to the bed and she sighed as he started stripping off his clothes. Mika didn’t dally. When he was as naked as she was, he grabbed both of her ankles and pulled her legs apart, draping her legs over his shoulders.
She gasped as his finger slid into her heat. Mika moaned as he realized how wet and ready for him she already was. With one hand he tweaked her nipple while he lowered his head, teasing that nub that he loved so much. She arched into his mouth and he took the invitation seriously, moving his tongue back and forth over that nub, the way he’d learned pleasured her the most. In no time at all, he felt her body tighten and then…her hands grabbed his head, holding his mouth in place and he sucked that nub into his mouth, wanting to prolong her climax.
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