Daddy In Charge_A Billionaire Romance

by Natasha Spencer

  It would probably be better for both of them if she made up some excuse to look at her watch, pretend to have somewhere else to be and rush out the door.

  But, when she opened her mouth to make some excuse, Kurt’s hand flew to the small of her back and gently guided her into the room. As soon as his hand fell to her waist, all her protests were silenced. She walked across the room with him as though she were in some kind of trance.

  This trance didn’t break until he removed his hand from her waist and opened the balcony doors. The cool breeze against Emily’s face brought her back to life, as did the sight of the large white telescope and open book next to it sitting on the edge of the balcony.

  “Star gazing,” she said. “Not a bad use of your time up here.”

  “That’s what I thought,” he said moving to the telescope. “I’ve always been kind of fascinated by stars. And this is one of the few places in the state where it’s dark enough to see them.”

  He fiddled with the telescope for a moment, bending over and putting one eye to it.

  “Ah, there it is,” he said after a few moments. He stood up again and beckoned Emily over to the telescope.

  Fears about what might happen alone in a house with Kurt fell away as she moved closer to him. When she saw his face, it was clear that he was just as geekily excited about showing her some star as he always was when he’d found a new little tidbit about a painting. This was, clearly, not romantic. Just another one of his academic endeavors.

  “Look, right there,” he said as she bent down and put her eye to the telescope.

  The sky above her suddenly appeared much closer and much more detailed than it had a moment before. A perfect example of this lay in a half orb like object that was now directly in front of her. She swore it hadn’t been there a moment ago.

  “Well?” he asked eagerly. “Do you see it?”

  “I think so,” Emily said, slightly unsure. “What is it?”

  “Venus,” he said.

  Emily took her eyes away from the scope and looked back at him, trying to detect some trace of a joke in his face. There was none there. Instead he chuckled in that superior way he sometimes did when he knew something she didn’t.

  “I know,” he said. “People are always kind of shocked by that.”

  Emily, still shocked, looked back up into the sky with her naked eye. There, the planet that looked like a particularly bright star shown. There wasn’t a hint of an orb shape in it.

  “This telescope must be really powerful,” she said, impressed as she put her eye back to it.

  “I wish you could stay long enough to see some of the constellations,” he said. “They look amazing up close.”

  Her first instinct was to say that, as a matter of fact, she would like to stay and see the constellations with him. In fact, she would like to stay for more than the constellations. But, in the end her nerve failed her.

  “Is there anything else we can see now?” she asked instead.

  “Now that you mention it…”

  Emily felt him move closer to her to adjust the telescope. His long, lean body pressed against her and, once more, she could smell that musky scent that exemplified him. A mix of sandal wood and old books. Steeling herself, she forced her mind back to the telescope in front of her.

  “There!” he said.

  When it came back into focus, she saw another orb. This one was much larger than the first. It was clear it was the moon but, it looked so much different here than it ever had to Emily’s naked eye.

  “That’s amazing,” she said, her voice breathless. “I can even see the craters! This telescope must be really powerful.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Cost a bit. But, I think it’s worth it.”

  She blinked the water out of her eyes as she continued to stare at the orb in front of her. Though, the longer she did, the harder it was to imagine that this was the same moon that poets and songwriters talked about.

  Up close, she could see all the little, rocky imperfections; everything that made their moon more ugly and grey than bright and mysterious.

  “It’s kind of weird when you think about it,” she said, thinking out loud.

  “What is?”

  “Well…I mean…would any of those painters we study have taken the time to paint the moon or the stars if they knew what they really looked like? If they’d had a telescope like this?”

  “Why wouldn’t they?”

  Emily shrugged before taking one last look at the amplified moon.

  “Most things aren’t quite as pretty up close,” she said.

  “I don’t think that’s true of everything.”

  Emily heaved a sigh, stood up and turned around. She was about to tell Kurt that it was true of a lot of things. But, when she turned around, the words died on her tongue.

  She and Kurt were mere inches apart and, once again, she could feel his breath on her face. That smell of sandalwood and old books, now mixed with a hint of white wine filled her.

  “For what it’s worth,” he said quietly. “I think you’re much prettier up close than you are far away.”

  The pink blush came back to his cheeks and she expected him to break away, move his eyes downward and apologize for being too forward. That was the kind of thing Kurt always did.

  But, this time, his grey eyes stayed locked onto hers, pulling her in like an invisible magnate. Emily told herself to move, to break away, to rush out of the house and never look back. She couldn’t. Couldn’t move a muscle.

  Whatever force was keeping Kurt in place seemed to be working its magic on Emily too.

  Her heart beat pounded in her ears as Kurt moved forward ever so slightly, glancing between her eyes and her lips. Finally, his eyes hardening with determination, he leaned forward and kissed her full on the mouth.

  As his soft lips parted over hers, she found that she still couldn’t move for several seconds. Her body, her lips, everything was frozen. It wasn’t until she felt his tongue gently press her lips open, his warm, soft hand move up to tangle in her hair, that she finally felt the dam inside of her break and she wrapped her arms around him.

  As soon as she did, she heard a growl release from the back of his throat as the soft hand stroking her hair became suddenly firm pushing her further into him. Emily gasped when, without breaking their kiss, his arms wrapped firmly around her ass, picking her up fully. She gasped again when she felt her back collide with the balcony door.

  Kurt’s tongue still moved forcefully inside her mouth, his warm lips, no longer soft were pressing, pushing, demanding everything she had inside of her. As if he was ordering her to give him exactly what he needed.

  One of her hands, of its own accord moved down his side and lightly grazed his bottom, pushing him into her. Emily could feel his member stirring beneath the slacks he wore and she let out another moan. This one of pleasure and anticipation instead of surprise.

  It was this moan that caused his movements to suddenly still. Slowly, Emily felt him pull away from her. Heart sinking in confusion and disappointment, she opened her eyes.

  When she looked at him, his face was still inches from her own. He still looked at her as though he could not quite believe she was real. His eyes were still filled with the passionate fire she had felt a moment ago, in his kiss. But, now, there was a hint of hesitation.

  “Emily,” he said breathing ragged as though he had just run a mile. “This is…this is not a good idea.”

  His warm body was still pressed against her and his arms remained just above her shoulders. He showed no sign of moving. He also showed no signs of allowing her to move.

  Even though they both knew how wrong this was, it was clear to Emily, that neither of them really intended to stop. She just had to work a little harder to make Kurt see that.

  “That would be a lot more convincing,” she said softly. “If you didn’t have me pinned against the bedroom door.”

  A playful smile began on her lips. When Kurt saw it, she was p
leased to see him respond with a grin of his own.

  “That is true,” he whispered.

  She rubbed her hand against his back before moving it slowly down his side. Finally, another deep moan came up from his throat when her hand pressed against his member, now straining against his pants.

  With another smile, she stood on her tip toes and moved her lips to his ear.

  “I’ve always been told,” she whispered. “It’s best to finish what you start.”

  That was all it took.

  With another deep growl, he grabbed hold of her again and pulled her into him, kissing her more fiercely than she had ever been kissed before.

  Wrapping her arms around his back, she gasped into his mouth again when she felt the door to the bedroom slam open. Before she knew it, Emily was being pushed into the room. Kurt’s mouth didn’t move from hers until her legs collided with the large white bed.

  His mouth moved from her lips to kiss and nip at her neck at the same time, his hand snaked up the t-shirt she wore and skipped across her skin.

  A moan, less fierce and more relieved come up from him when his hand landed on her full, bra covered breast. She felt the muscles in his back relax as his hand massaged her breasts under her shirt. His lips moved gently along her jaw until they finally landed near her ear.

  “God, Emily, do you have any idea what you do to me?” he whispered. A shiver ran down her spine that seemed to inspire a wanton energy she had never felt before.

  “Why don’t you show me?” she whispered in return.

  The desperate growl came back to his voice and soon, her shirt had been lifted fully and tossed to the floor. This was accompanied by her bra.

  As he took off his glasses, setting them on the bedside table, she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. Her progress was slightly impeded when his mouth dipped from her neck to her breasts.

  “Mmmm,” she murmured as his warm tongue sucked one erect nipple into his mouth. Forcing herself to focus on his shirt, even as he turned his attention to her other breast, she finally managed to open his shirt. She heaved a sigh when she felt the smooth, slender skin beneath.

  It wasn’t long before he’d shrugged out of his shirt. They also made quick work of their pants and underwear. Emily’s panties had barely hit the floor when Kurt, pushed her almost forcefully back onto the bed.

  She landed with a small gasp that turned into a joyful little giggle. He smiled as he moved to tower over top of her. The smile remained on his lips as he leaned down to kiss her lips once more. This kiss was soft and gentle as his hand gently caressed her leg, moving its way up.

  “Oh god!” she gasped when his fingers touched the very center of her desire. His fingers rubbed at a painstakingly slow pace over her center as his mouth nipped at her jaw.

  “Your wet,” he whispered. He sounded almost surprised. As though, despite what was happening between them, he was shocked to find evidence that she wanted him.

  “I…I guess that means…” she began, between breathlessly ecstatic pants. “you’re not the only one who’s been thinking about this…Oh!”

  Everything inside her clenched tight around his fingers colors seemed to flash before her as she cried out her release into his bedroom.

  With a grunt, his fingers were quickly replaced by his long, slender member. Grabbing hold of her hair once more, he pulled her lips up to his. The frantic thrust of his tongue in her mouth mimicked the movement of his body inside of hers.

  Her arms wrapped around him and she allowed herself not to think. Not to wonder what this was. Not to worry about what might happen tomorrow. She allowed her mind to become completely lost in the wonderful, miraculous sensation of his body moving against hers.

  With a final, surprisingly strong growl, a final, desperate tug of her hair, he spoke his release. She followed, her body once again writhing, lost against him.

  When he fell, panting and breathing heavily, she was afraid for a moment that he was going to collapse on top of her. At the last minute, he rolled over and gathered her in his arms.

  They stayed entwined like that for what may have been hours, minutes or seconds. Emily felt the slow, tranquil beat of his heart against her bare back and wished, beyond anything, that they could stay like this forever.

  She wished that the rest of the world could fade away and it could just be them. Emily and Kurt making love, looking at stars and writing about post-impressionist artists.

  Finally, she turned in his arms to face him.

  He was looking back at her. His wide grey eyes filled with an expression she did not recognize. This was a new sensation for them.

  In the two years since she’d been working with Kurt, she’d come to know most of his looks, his expressions, his habits. But, this wide eyed, flushed expression was new.

  If she had to name it, she might say that it sat somewhere between, fear, desire and adoration.

  “Hey,” she said to him. Trying to sound neither too embarrassed or too trite.

  “Hey,” he answered. He gave her a small smile but the expression in his eyes was still there. She suddenly had a desperate urge to know exactly what it was.

  “So,” she said uncertainly. “I…I guess we should talk about what just happened.”

  “We should,” he said lifting his hand and gently cupping her cheek. She couldn’t help but smile as she leaned into his touch. “But, I think it can wait until the morning. I don’t want to think about anything but you tonight.”

  Her heart soared and she smiled back at him.

  “See you in the morning then,” she said.

  “In the morning.”

  He pulled her closer to him and closed his eyes. She turned away from him in his arms and felt her heart soar when he nuzzled into her curly red hair.

  Later, as the wave of pleasure, the immense satisfaction of finally feeling this intelligent, handsome, perfect man inside of her, dissipated, Emily felt her heart begin to sink. Now that it was done, she realized that they had just crossed a line. A deep line in the sand that neither of them would be able to come back from.

  No matter what happened next, no matter what they talked about in the morning, one thing was clear: Nothing would ever be the same.

  Chapter Five

  “You did what?” Audrey asked incredulously and much too loudly for Emily’s liking.

  “Would you keep your voice down?” Emily asked looking around the coffee shop where she had asked her best friend to meet her that morning. Now, she realized that might have been a mistake. Audrey had a loud voice as it was. And, when she was upset or surprised, it expanded exponentially. Emily was not crazy about the whole town learning about her fling with a married professor.

  “Sorry,” Audrey said lowering her voice just slightly. “I just…Emily…how…how could you do something like that?”

  “Look, it’s not like I planned it or anything,” Emily admitted. “Neither of us did. It sort of just…happened.”

  Audrey let out an incredulous snort as she picked up her coffee cup.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I’m sure when he invited you up to his bedroom to look through his telescope, his intentions were completely pure.”

  “You don’t know Kurt,” Emily said with an eye roll. “He gets excited about stuff he’s interested in and he wants to share them. He usually doesn’t think about how the stuff he does looks to outsiders or even affects other people.”

  “Well, he certainly didn’t think about how this whole thing was going to affect you,” Audrey said. “Not to mention his wife.”

  At the mention of Kurt’s wife, Emily couldn’t help but let out an indignant snort of her own.

  “I don’t think his wives as invested in their relationship as you think she is,” Emily said. “She’s hardly ever at their house and when she is, Kurt says she usually sleeps in the guest bedroom.”

  “Of course, he’d say that,” Audrey said with an eye roll. “If he’s been trying to get you to sleep with him, he’d want to m
ake his wife sound like some heartless harpy. One of the oldest tricks in the book.”

  “He’s not like that!” Emily insisted. “He didn’t tell me that stuff about his wife to try and get me to sleep with him. It’s just stuff I’ve picked up while we worked together.”

  “So, he was subtle about it,” Audrey said with a shrug. “That doesn’t mean it wasn’t calculated.”

  “Again, if you knew Kurt you’d know he’s just…he’s not a calculating type of person. At least not that way.”

  Audrey lifted her hands in a gesture of surrender.

  “Ok,” she said. “We’ll agree to disagree. Point is, it happened. So, what happens now?”

  “I don’t know,” Emily said.

  “You didn’t talk at all afterwards?”

  “We were supposed to talk this morning,” She admitted. “But…something happened at the school and he got called away.”

  “What could happen at the school on a Saturday morning?” Audrey asked. There was a note of disbelief mixed with righteous anger on Emily’s behalf mixed into Audrey’s voice. Emily couldn’t blame her for that.

  Her lack of conversation with Kurt this morning, despite the promise he’d made last night, bothered her more than she was willing to admit.

  “That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” Emily said. “I had to ask someone’s advice and since Kurt’s not available…”

  “He should be,” Audrey said. “Just picking up and leaving after…you know…that’s a really jerky thing to do!”

  “Audrey! Can you just stop bad mouthing him for two seconds? I just need some objective advice!”

  Emily gave her friend an exasperated expression. Audrey rolled her eyes and once more, raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.

  “Ok, ok. But, I’m warning you, it’s hard to be objective when it’s your best friend.”

  “Well, then…pretend it isn’t me. Pretend I’m asking you about some friend of mine. What would you say to her?”

  Audrey looked at Emily thoughtfully before picking up her latte and taking a long sip.