Fancy Free

by Shelley Munro

  “I do like a well-built man,” she murmured. “It’s very sexy.”

  “You find me sexy?”

  “Oh yeah.” She kissed a trail of kisses from his chest, across his ribs to his groin. With her hand, she guided the swollen hardness of his arousal to her mouth. Her tongue darted out and she licked the underside of his penis.

  “Do that again,” he said. “Please.”

  She repeated the move and he shuddered. “This one tastes more minty,” she said, “but I have to agree on the feel of the latex. There are too many raised dots. It’s like kissing the bristles of a harsh brush.”

  James snorted. “Good simile.”

  “Do you want me on top again?”

  “Not this time. Hard and fast. Let’s put this baby through its paces.” He grabbed her and flipped her on her back before she could get a word out. Seconds later, he impaled her with one seamless thrust. Reaching between them, he pulled the vibration tab.

  The pulsation started immediately, strong and intense, kindling a fire inside. He kissed her, feasting on her mouth while maintaining an even pace with his strokes. The combined vibration and the friction of the raised dots dragged against sensitive skin. James continued to thrust and angled his strokes so the tiny knot on the condom struck her clitoris. Hot pleasure spilled through Alice and the vibration within her womb intensified it, making her cry out. James thrust hard, moving her up the bed. Then he stiffened and she felt the flex of his cock deep inside. He held her for an instant longer before he pulled away.

  James pulled out of her and disposed of the condom. He flopped back onto the mattress at her side, turning his head to glance at her. “What did you think of number two?”

  “Ah, the vibration felt more intense with this model. I didn’t like the dots. They felt weird.”

  “Yeah, I thought it had reduced sensation because of the thick latex. Mark that one down for redesign and improvement.”

  Alice reached for the clipboard. That made one maybe and one dud in need of improvement in order to make the cut. She’d seen the budgets yesterday and they hadn’t reassured her much. If they didn’t get the Good Vibration model out on the market soon, she wouldn’t have an inheritance. The thought brought horror. She remembered the dark years of her childhood when her father had declared bankruptcy, and she never, ever wanted to go through a situation like that again.

  Chapter Nine

  James drove to work with Alice, dropping her off at the bed and breakfast so she could change clothes before heading to work. Their small talk centered on the Good Vibration.

  Deep in thought, James wandered into his office. Loud chatter from the boardroom made him put off his mail and messages in favor of investigation.

  He halted in the doorway. The whole board was there, and it looked as though one of them had shouted morning tea.

  “I thought we weren’t meeting until later in the day.”

  “Ah, James.” Harriet looked over. “You’re here in time for the banana cake.”

  “I checked the security angle,” Richard said. “The references and backgrounds for all the recent employees have checked out. Maybe our problems are related to the cult.”

  “Oh, get to the good stuff,” Katarina muttered, cutting her hand through the air. “How did the tests go?”

  As one, they turned to peer at him, expectation and curiosity on their faces, the silence in the boardroom very telling. They expected to hear all the sordid details.

  Nonplused, he went for evasion. “I’m not the kiss and tell kind of guy. What’s up with the security?” No way would they get intimate details. It was personal, dammit.

  “Stuff and nonsense,” Katarina countered, a gleam in her pale blue eyes. “We have a right to know about the condom tests since we’re on the board. We own a slice of this company and we need full disclosure to make informed decisions.”

  Damn, why couldn’t she take up knitting or crochet to keep her busy like Harriet? Then maybe she wouldn’t pick on him quite as much. “Why don’t you knit a scarf for your granddaughter?”

  “Stop the prevarication,” Joseph said. “How did the tests go?”

  They’d tested some of the condoms, with number five the best model to date. They’d made love and the vibrations had lasted longer than they had. It had been bloody good. James shook himself from memories. They might work well together but their personal philosophies were miles apart. He wouldn’t lower himself and sacrifice his principles for a woman who chased the almighty dollar. This couldn’t be anymore than a fling. Aware the oldies wanted details, he spoke in technicalities. “The vibrating feature is different. I don’t know if you’d want to use it every time—”

  “Did Alice enjoy it? Will I like it?” Harriet asked.

  “That’s a good idea.” James hoped to disconcert them. “Why don’t some of you test them? I know you won’t be security risks.” Only yesterday, they’d quoted their age as a reason for him to test the Good Vibration with Alice. He’d see how they liked it when the tables were turned.

  Richard Morgan stretched. “That’s actually a good idea,” he said. “Should I get Rodney to come up with some more samples?”

  Everyone shifted their attention to Richard.

  Ben spoke for them all. “Just who do you intend to test the Good Vibration with? The rest of us are married but you’re a bachelor.”

  Richard spluttered while James grinned, glad he’d managed to deflect attention off himself.

  “I bet it’s the mystery woman,” Joseph said. “Ted Edwards reckoned you had a woman. Said he couldn’t get you to talk either.”

  “And here we thought you were a confirmed bachelor.” Ben’s left eye closed in a sly wink.

  “I’ll get Rodney to bring up some samples and questionnaires,” James said, deciding to rescue Richard from persecution. He strode from the boardroom, down the short, carpeted passage to his office. Rita sat at her desk, fine-tuning the budgets they’d prepared for the bank.

  He paused by her chair, noting the mess of computer printouts. “How’s it look?”

  “It looks pretty good to me, especially after Alice took a look at it. She’s a whiz with money. I think the bank manager will like what he sees. How’d the tests go?”

  There was no mistaking the undertone of humor. James ignored it just as he ignored the tidbit about Alice and money. He did not want to know.

  “Good. We were pleased with one of the models. The other wasn’t so impressive. Did you know that the oldies want to run tests?”

  Rita’s brows rose to a well-defined arch. “Keeps the security problem under wraps. I wish Alicia were here. We had a bet about how long it would take them to get curious. She wins.”

  “I wish they’d spoken up yesterday.” Then he wouldn’t be craving another go-round with Alice.

  “Problems?”

  “Alice and I don’t have much in common.” Hell, they stood at opposite ends of the spectrum.

  “You don’t need anything in common to have great sex,” Rita countered.

  She spoke the truth so he nodded. But if they hadn’t slept together, he wouldn’t know how generous she was in bed, how she loved new experiences. James suppressed a shiver. They had a few more variations to try yet.

  “You going to let the board members help test?”

  “What do you think? Can they do it?”

  “They have a hell of a lot more experience than you do, young man. And a vested interest.”

  James grinned, trying not to let his mind drift down that path. It was like imagining his parents and sex in the same sentence. That thought wiped the smirk right off his face. His mother… Ugh!

  “Do you want to check over the budgets one last time before I drop them off at the bank?”

  He darted a look through the door at the pile of mail on his desk. It balanced delicately, threatening to topple at the slightest touch. He needed to go through the urgent stuff then grab Alice and do more tests since they were on a time line. His lips twist
ed at the thought. No matter how pissed he felt about her attitude toward money, he still wanted her physically. There was a double standard there somewhere. “No, the sales forecast figures looked okay to me and you said Alice had checked it over. It was just the repairs and maintenance and a few of the other running costs that needed a tweak.”

  Rita frowned. The crease between her brows brought a worried expression to her face. “I hope the bank goes for this. We’re up to our overdraft limits already this month. The cost of latex has gone through the roof and we had that breakdown on the production line.”

  “Roger will approve it. He knows the company is solid. We’re just going through a slight downswing. We’ll turn it round.” James reached for the phone and contacted Rodney about more supplies to test.

  After a brief chat with their inventor, James walked back into the boardroom. “Rodney will be up soon. Who wants to test the Good Vibration?”

  Each of the board members raised their hands. A pregnant silence ruled as he scanned their individual faces one at the time. Looks of innocence shone from every single face. “You didn’t think to mention your willingness to test condoms yesterday?” His question hovered only a shade away from testy. He wasn’t sure whether he should yell and shout or subject them to icy silence. Bloody hell. It wasn’t as if he’d been keen to start with since he hadn’t wanted Alice to get the wrong idea about their relationship. It had to remain strictly business. The oldies acted worse than a pack of teenagers. If only Alicia were here to manage them. Lord, he missed that woman. She’d had a way of cutting through the crap.

  “Right,” he muttered, after glaring at them one by one. “Telling me that you wanted to help with the tests would have spoiled your fun. I’ll expect full test results by the end of the week from all of you. Remember you are to swear your partners to secrecy. If we have any leaks about the Good Vibration and the competition gets wind of our new product, we’re in trouble. We must get our product out on the market first. It’s imperative. If we don’t, we’ll lose everything. Do you understand?”

  “Of course we do,” Joseph snapped. “We’re old not stupid.”

  “That’s right,” Ben agreed, rubbing his hands together. “I’m looking forward to helping with the tests.”

  No. James scowled at his feet. They weren’t stupid. They were wily and cunning and yanked at his strings as if he were a damn puppet.

  The door flew open and Rita strode in to the boardroom with several copies of the local paper tucked under her arm. “Today’s paper has just arrived,” she said. “Some interesting reading. Take a look at the gossip column.” The significant look she directed at James sent swirls of alarm through his gut.

  Richard grabbed a paper from Rita, placed it on the table and skimmed the headlines. “Scurrilous muck,” he muttered. “They’re running a story about condoms—from the cult’s point of view.

  James winked at Rita. “Free publicity for our products.”

  “Huh!” Richard turned the page and James watched the color slide from his face, leaving him chalky white. “Who the bloody hell writes this garbage?” Richard spluttered after a moment’s silence.

  James peered over his shoulder, scanning the page the older man had read. “Fuck.”

  “Language, young man,” Harriet barked, rapping him over the knuckles with a knitting needle.

  “Sorry.” He rubbed the sting from the back of his hand.

  Ben, who had picked up another copy of the Sloan Gazette, read out loud. “A local businessman, who we’ll call Mr. X was seen entering the bed and breakfast with Miss A late at night. Witnesses state he didn’t leave until the next morning. Let’s hope Mr. X availed himself of Fancy Free products! Local policeman R was seen in the company of a mystery woman several times during the past week and they’re looking mighty cozy. Maybe another customer for Fancy Free? Watch this space for more news on the identity of the mystery woman.”

  “Ooh, care to give us the inside scoop?” Katarina asked, tongue in cheek. A wicked gleam lit her eyes.

  “Don’t look at me,” James said. “I don’t kiss and tell. I’ve told you that before.” His mother would have a cow when she saw the latest gossip column. It didn’t matter that they didn’t talk to each other these days. She would still find a way to make her views known. At least Ms. Knowall hadn’t picked on him exclusively. It seemed that Richard Morgan had a few secrets as well.

  “And I’m not a tattle either,” Richard snapped. “So don’t look at me.”

  “Morning everyone.” Alice breezed into the boardroom in a wave of delicate floral perfume.

  “Well,” Harriet said, pausing in her knitting. “Don’t you look nice today. That’s a beautiful glow in your cheeks. It’s very flattering.” Her sly gaze hit James as she commented and one eye closed in a saucy wink.

  “I have work to do.” A man could only take so much. James stomped back to his office, irritation dogging his heels. If the oldies had spoken up yesterday, they wouldn’t have spent the night together. And his gut wouldn’t churn like a bloody cement mixer. He came to a decision because he sensed the oldies would back track on their announcements to help test if he stopped doing the wild thing with Alice. They were in full matchmaker mode and he’d stepped right into their trap.

  “What’s wrong with James?” Alice stared after him, her heart engaging in a pitiful pitter-patter. Maybe they would know why he’d turned moody last night.

  “The local gossip columnist has written about him,” Joseph said. “It’s put him in a bad mood.”

  “Oh.” Something in their expressions told her there was more. “Is that the paper there?”

  “He’s under pressure because of the company too. Because we’re fairly new, our finances sometimes run a little tight. This business of having our new product stolen from under us has put even more strain on James.” Richard stood and paced the length of the boardroom, each step a betrayal of his agitation. “Dammit, is nothing sacred around here? If I discover the identity of that gossip columnist, I will kick their ass from here to jail and back.”

  “It’s just words.” Joseph clapped Richard across the back. “Remember, sticks and stones, man. Sticks and stones.”

  Richard snorted. “I don’t see your name in that column.”

  “I’m not going around town with a mystery woman,” Joseph fired back. He straightened abruptly, his gaze on the door. “Richard, do you know, if I weren’t married, I think I’d run away with your woman. She’s one hot potato.”

  “Keep your damned mitts off,” Richard snarled.

  “Language!” Harriet’s knitting needle whistled when it snapped through the air.

  Alice glanced at the paper. Her hands gripped the newspaper tightly. Just as well her employer and fellow employees weren’t here to read the gossip column. She could just imagine their slack-jawed reaction. No wonder James looked so grumpy when Ms. Knowall scrutinized his private life so closely.

  “What about young Alice? A bit of a dark horse.” Ben’s grin held cheeky slyness. “There was something between the two of you before the condom tests commenced. Did you know James has agreed to let us help with the tests as well? We’re starting today.”

  “That’s right,” Katarina said. “We’re all helping with the tests.”

  “Was there something going on with James before the tests?” Ben demanded, returning to his original subject.

  Alice blinked, felt color crawl into her cheeks. A pity they hadn’t mentioned their willingness yesterday. She looked left and right. No hope of rescue anywhere. She bound to her feet. “I…ah…have work to do.”

  “We’ll take that as a no comment,” Harriet said.

  The oldies all cackled as if Harriet had said something very witty and stared so hard Alice started to feel like a museum curiosity.

  “Yes, I really have work to do. Very busy.” Definitely time to escape! Still carrying the paper, she fled, feminine titters and masculine chuckles following her out the boardroom door. Alice was
n’t about to fence words with the oldies since she knew she’d lose. They had age and experience on their side.

  She scuttled into her office and closed the door before hurrying over to her desk and dropping into her chair. No sooner had her butt hit the seat than someone rapped on her door.

  “I’m not here,” Alice shouted. She was a good person. Her taxes were always paid on time, she was kind to children and the elderly, although the elderly might be heading for trouble if they didn’t stop giving her such a hard time. She didn’t deserve all this drama in her life.

  The door cracked open. “Alice, it’s me.” Rita’s head poked around the corner. “A delivery for you.”

  The door opened fully and Rita walked inside wearing a broad grin and a bouquet of balloons in her right hand. She handed them over. “Aren’t they lovely? Who do you think sent them? Here’s the card.” She thrust a small white envelope at Alice. “Go on. Open it. Did James send them? Or is there someone else?” Her light gray eyes twinkled with both humor and curiosity.

  Alice accepted the card and smiled until she studied the balloons more closely. They were covered with pictures of clowns and dogs. With a loud gasp, she let the balloons go. They rose into the air until they hit the ceiling.

  “Are you all right?” Rita asked. “Is something wrong?”

  Yes, someone kept sending her clown-and-dog-themed messages, and they were scaring her half to death. It was time to have a quiet chat with Richard. When she’d attempted to discuss the matter with James, he’d laughed and treated it as a bit of a joke. He’d obviously thought she had exaggerated the situation.

  “Someone keeps sending me…ah…presents,” she said to Rita, forcing a light laugh that came off as strained and a trifle scared. Alice glanced at the nearest balloon. Bright green, it sported the grinning face of a clown. It seemed to smirk at her in a snide manner. She shuddered and hurriedly looked away.