by Alexia Adams
“What would those be?” Her own voice was low and breathy, like she’d just climbed six flights of stairs.
“I want to put one hand on your ass and pull you up and against me so you can feel how much you excite me. With the other hand, I want to cup your breast, run my thumb over the silky fabric of your blouse until your nipple goes hard and strains against your bra, begging me to remove the barriers between us.”
His eyes dropped to her chest and her body reacted as he’d described. The back of her thighs tingled and she shifted in her chair. Rather than panic, an infusion of warmth, of passion, filled her.
Before she could move, there was a knock at the door.
He slipped off his jacket and held it in front of him before calling out, “Enter.”
His efficient and not un-beautiful personal assistant, Sylvia, stuck her head around the door. “Simon, your three o’clock meeting just canceled.”
There was still lingering passion in his gaze when he turned to Helen. “You ready to get out of here?”
Was this it? He was going to take her back to the hotel and make good on the promise in his eyes? She swallowed.
“I’m good,” was all she could manage before her throat seized.
“Reschedule the rest of today’s meetings, Sylvia. Ms. Winston and I are going to bunk off.”
Sylvia’s jaw dropped open but all she said was, “Okay. What about your breakfast meeting tomorrow?”
“Better cancel that as well. I’m not sure what time I’ll be in.”
This time Helen’s jaw dropped open. She wanted to conquer her fears, but she wasn’t sure she was up to a marathon sex session.
Sylvia nodded and retreated. The door closed softly behind her. Simon could probably hear Helen’s heart pounding from where he stood across the room.
“It’s a nice day, not too hot. I thought you might like to see some of New York while you’re here.”
Aside from the ceiling in your bedroom?
“I’ve been to New York before when I was at MIT. I’ve done all the touristy things.”
“You haven’t seen them with me.”
“True. But I think we should do something neither of us has done before.”
Simon seemed both intrigued and cautious. He was a man used to being in control. “What do you have in mind?”
“Something tells me you’ve never been to Coney Island.”
“Of course not. It’s for families and children.”
“Coney Island is for everyone. I’ve always wanted to go. And you have to win a giant stuffed animal for me.”
“Aren’t you a little old for stuffed toys? Besides, I can take you to FAO Schwarz and buy you any one that catches your fancy.”
“The actual toy is not the objective. It’s the memory I want. And buying one doesn’t count. You have to win it for me.” Helen had never had a boyfriend win a prize and present it to her. It was a rite of passage she’d missed. And although Simon wasn’t her boyfriend, he’d more than do.
“Then I guess we’re off to Coney Island to win you a giant stuffie.”
Helen hid a smile of triumph. Hopefully it wouldn’t be the only thing on her romance to-do list to be eliminated today.
Chapter Eight
Helen circled the ice cream cone with her tongue so it didn’t drip on her clothes. The cold, sweet treat melted in her mouth before sliding down her throat. The sun was low on the horizon and the millions of multicolored lights were starting to illuminate the sky. It was still warm, but most of the heat seemed to be emanating from Simon next to her. Or maybe it was some sort of biochemical reaction she hadn’t heard of. Take one superhot man and put him next to a frigid virgin… No wonder she felt like bubbles were coming from her pores. She was melting like dry ice.
“Do you have to eat that so seductively?” Simon said into her ear. His arm was around her shoulders as they strolled the boardwalk.
“How else am I supposed to eat ice cream? Besides, you said the same thing when I ate my hot dogs, and I practically inhaled them.”
“I enjoyed your enthusiasm.” His eyes danced with laughter. It was the most relaxed she’d seen him and he was twice as gorgeous. In addition to his looks, he was kind, funny, and generous. Where was the catch?
“How come you don’t have a girlfriend or wife already?”
“Haven’t needed one yet.” Some of the laughter drained from his eyes.
“I’d have thought love would have found you.”
“Love is inconvenient and distracts one’s attention away from what’s important.” He was back to having the pole shoved up his ass, but she wasn’t going to let him retreat that easily. She’d told him about her past. How could she go further than a few kisses with him if he didn’t at least let her in a little?
“That sounds like the bitterness of a bad breakup speaking.”
Simon released a huge sigh. “Yes, I guess it is. I was engaged once. When I was at university.”
“What happened?”
“My last year at Oxford I teamed up with another student. He was brilliant, like you, and had come up with an amazing invention. But he didn’t have the business skills to take it to market. We were trying to keep it all hush-hush until we graduated, then we were going to take the world by storm and be billionaires by the time we were twenty-five. I told Lisa, my fiancée, about the project one night. Three weeks later I walked in on her in bed with fellow student Edward Halliday. She’d told him about the deal. Edward already had money and connections, so my business partner and Lisa decided he was the better gamble. They both left me.”
“You don’t seem to have done too bad on your own.”
“No. But I’m not there yet.”
“And when will you know you’re there? How much is enough?”
“I guess when a woman becomes more important than a deal. Speaking of deals, I seem to recall I promised to win you a stuffie.” Simon directed her toward a row of carnival games. The attendants called out the ease of winning, each trying to outpromise the others.
She stopped walking. “I want to ride the Cyclone first,” she said.
Simon gazed up at the giant roller coaster. “Are you sure?”
“You chicken?”
“No. Just thought if you wanted a thrill ride we could go back to my flat.”
“The night is still young,” she replied.
He laughed again, a sexy rumble that started in his chest and ended on his gorgeous lips. Maybe she should skip the amusement park and go straight for the real adventure. Except her muscles all tensed and the butterflies in her stomach started to swarm and migrate into her throat.
Simon must have sensed her discomfort and ran his hand down her arm before taking her hand and walking toward the rides. “All right, but if you throw up those three hot dogs you ate don’t blame me.”
“Okay, but if you scream like a little girl then I get to gloat.”
“I don’t scream. At least not on roller coasters.” He waggled his eyebrows and she burst out laughing. “But remind me if it comes to negotiating a contract with you, how much of a hard-ass you are.”
“Yeah, right. I’m not giving you any advantages. Enough talk. My stomach versus your lungs. Which will prevail?”
As they stood in line for the roller coaster, Simon put his arms around her from the back, holding her lightly against him. With just a forward motion she could break free. Like that was going to happen. Her stomach was all jittery but it had nothing to do with the thought of the impending ride. She had enough faith in physics and mechanical engineering to trust they wouldn’t be catapulted into the parking lot. The unquantifiable entity was Simon and his effect on her body. The answers weren’t going to lie in physics for that one. It was all biology. Not one of her better sciences.
After the ride they were both breathless from laughing. “That wasn’t a scream,” Simon said. “That was a manly yell of triumph. You weren’t to know, but I single-handedly kept that car on the track and stopped it
shooting into space.”
“You do remember I’m an engineer, don’t you? Or did all the wind whistling through your open mouth while you screamed scatter your brain cells?”
“It’s not the wind that makes me forget.” He leaned down and captured her lips with his before she could reply. This kiss was full of passion and a promise of thrills not associated with mechanical apparatus. A shudder swept through her. There was a definite danger that this experiment was going to blow up in her face and take her heart with it.
When Simon finally released her lips, he had a smug grin on his face and a wicked gleam in his eyes. “That’s the kind of reward I expect for saving your life,” he said.
“Ha. Let’s see some real skill, not imaginary prowess.”
“Right here with all these people watching?”
She punched him lightly on the arm. “Not that. You promised to win me a giant teddy bear.”
“And what do I get when I do that?”
“You get to take me home.” He could read into that what he wanted.
“You’re about to win the biggest bear you’ve ever seen. You’ll need a lorry to carry it.”
Next time, I’ll up the ante and make the prize you on an airplane back to San Francisco.
“Show me what you got, hot stuff.”
“Here? With all these people watching?”
She punched him again and he laughed. With his arm around her shoulders, he steered them toward the carnival games. He was there to win her a toy, but from the determination on his face, it seemed much more important than that.
What would he look like when a woman became more important than the deal? And what were the chances that she could be that woman?
…
Simon stood beside a nervous Helen in the lift up to her hotel room. His first instinct had been to take her to his flat. But as she’d fidgeted more and more during the cab ride back to the hotel, he’d booted that idea. At some point in the day, three of the buttons on her top had come undone. When she shifted her handbag on her shoulder, it pulled her blouse a little farther apart, giving him a glimpse of white lace. He clenched his teeth.
She’d been on and off relaxed throughout the day, even flirted with him at times. But now she clutched the stupid giant teddy bear he’d won for her as though it were a lifeline. He was beginning to doubt whether they’d make any progress at all in the physical side of their relationship this week.
Relationship. He had his father to thank for that. While in the car on his way to his first meeting that morning his father had phoned. At first Simon hadn’t wanted to speak with the man, but then figured it was better to get it over and done with, in private.
“Son, I want to explain,” Philip Lamont had begun.
“There’s no need. You owe me nothing,” Simon had replied.
“Nonetheless, I would appreciate two minutes of your time.”
“Two minutes, I’m on my way to a meeting.”
The coldness in his voice hadn’t seemed to startle his father. “I married your mother because, well, because I thought she’d be a good asset for my career. It was cold and heartless but then in a way, so is she. She told me on our first anniversary, one of the few times I was trying to be romantic and make up for the fact that I was working fourteen-hour days trying to get ahead, that all she expected of me was to provide for her financially. In exchange, she would keep my home, make sure I had a nice dinner, and entertain my colleagues when required. She neither wanted nor needed romance. It was a complete waste of time and money in her opinion.”
Simon hadn’t contradicted; it sounded like his mother. But neither had he let his father off the hook, offered him any reassurance that he understood.
So Philip had continued, “Then I met Tina. I didn’t mean to fall in love with her; we both tried to fight it. But Simon, when love finds you it doesn’t let go. It only gets stronger. My biggest regret in life is that I didn’t leave your mother all those years ago and take custody of you. I wish you, I, and Tina could have been a family. Instead, I was a coward and I compartmentalized my life—your mother, and by extension you, and my work became the duty side of life. I am so sorry I wasn’t there for you emotionally.” At that point, his father’s voice had broken.
“It doesn’t matter,” Simon had said.
“It does. I know there’s nothing I can do to make up for the lost years, Simon. But I have to hope that maybe you can learn from my mistakes. Give love a chance. It’s the scariest but greatest thing you can let into your life.”
“I’m at my meeting now. I have to go.”
But despite his terse words with his father, his and Helen’s conversation at Coney Island kept playing over and over in his brain. He realized now it was his pride more than his heart that had been dented by Lisa’s betrayal. She’d always had her eye on the money. Sure, Edward had become successful with her at his side, but whenever they met at functions, Simon hadn’t detected the warmth in their relationship that he’d noticed between Liam and Lorelei. The Halliday marriage reminded him more of his parents’ relationship. The type of relationship, up until last week, he eventually saw for himself. Now he’d rather go bankrupt than chain himself to a woman who “would be good for his career.”
And the reason was Helen. His connection with her had gone beyond business, beyond an academic exercise to rid her of her fear of intimacy. He wanted to spend every moment possible with her, wanted to get to know every quirk in her personality, to explore every inch of her luscious body. For God’s sake, he’d even blown off a half day of work to be with her. Maybe it was love, maybe it wasn’t, but he couldn’t let go until he found out for sure.
However, it was distracting. And there was more at stake than the term he’d failed at university because he’d been absorbed with Lisa. His obsession with Helen had the potential to ruin him. Was she becoming more important than the deal? No, Helen was the deal. If she didn’t convince his board to incorporate Bertram, then he’d need her to appease the other employees and make the transition as easy as possible. With her help, the Bertram employees would accept their severance packages and move on without delay. They’d part friends.
Bile rose in his throat and he swallowed it down. But the bitter taste remained.
The lift doors slid open as they reached her floor. It was only gentlemanly to see her to her door. She handed him her key card, unable to insert it into the door while still clutching the stuffie.
“What are you going to do with that bear?”
She bumped past him into the room before putting the stuffie on the bed, where he should be. Damn, now I’m jealous of the bloody bear.
“Probably give it to one of the cleaners. Her granddaughter had surgery earlier in the week.”
“You know the housekeeping staff?”
“I talked to one of the women in the hallway this morning.” Helen shrugged.
He’d lived in the building for three years and had no idea who cleaned his flat. He leaned against the wall. Helen was wringing her hands again. She’d have to come to him. “I’m glad to hear it will be going to a good home. I worked hard for that bear, especially as you wouldn’t let me play any of the shooting games. The ones I’m good at.”
“I don’t like guns. But you did fine with the darts. I suspect you spent quite a few evenings in your local pub back home.”
“Guilty as charged. Still, I think some compensation is in order. I almost broke into a sweat.”
“‘Almost’ being the operative word.” She took two steps closer and kissed him on the cheek.
Simon suppressed a groan. This was getting them nowhere. Besides, the idea of delisting a virgin while a giant bear sat in the room seemed wrong. He was used to experienced women who usually seduced him. It was a whole different cricket match with Helen.
“Want to go dancing tomorrow night?”
“Dancing?” She looked as though he’d suggested a skinny dip in the Hudson.
“Yes, dancing. I can hold you
without it being a sexual advance. You can get used to our bodies touching and we can spend a pleasant evening together.” This could be the breakthrough they needed. An evening with Helen in his arms, even with clothes on, was something to look forward to.
“Are we talking nightclub or ballroom?” She still looked skeptical.
“Ballroom. Nightclubs are okay but they’re too loud and crowded to talk. I know a nice place where the food is excellent and they have a live band every night.”
“I’m still trying to digest the fact that you do ballroom dancing.”
“Well, I’m not about to compete in it. It was a required class at my school. I can also recite poetry in Latin, if that’s of any interest to you.”
Helen laughed and another huge chunk of Simon’s defenses crumbled. She relaxed and her smile became more genuine.
“Not really into Latin poetry. What other hidden talents do you have?”
“Never show your entire hand at the start of the game.”
“Is that what this is? A game?”
“No. It’s more than that.”
Her eyes searched his and the moment became too intense. He needed to retreat now, before he said or did something stupid.
“So, I’ll see you at the office tomorrow. Good night, Helen.”
Just before the door closed behind him, he was pretty sure he heard a very rude word let fly, and it wasn’t from the bear.
Chapter Nine
Helen paced in her temporary office, ignoring the pinch of new three-inch heels. She’d been through her presentation a thousand times and knew it word for word. It wasn’t the first time she’d presented to a board of directors; she was actually quite a good public speaker. And if anyone challenged her on any engineering principles she could talk them under the table, or make them fall asleep, depending on the listener.
It all rested on this. Despite keeping her eyes and ears open, she hadn’t been able to discover any connections between Lamont Holdings and the military. She didn’t know whether to be disappointed that it meant no plan B backup or happy to know that Simon steered clear of weapons technology. Being a pacifist was the one principle of her parents that she shared.