Jocelyn looked at the picture, studying it as if she were trying to age the photograph. “Yeah, only he looks older now, bigger, less hair, more evil.” She shivered.
“Stay here.”
“Dad?”
“Stay here,” he said more forcefully. “Trent, I have to go, this is important.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“Trent—”
“I’m coming with you. You could put Jocelyn in the back of the jeep and I’ll watch over her while you get Bambi. You and I both know you’re going to need to get her home.”
Sterling wasn’t keen on the idea, but he had to admit Trent was right. And if he were going to leave his daughter in anybody’s care while he got Bambi then Trent was definitely a top pick.
Now he stood here beside her, wondering why she hadn’t come to him. Didn’t she know he could protect her? She had to know that. What did she think he did for a living—fly fish?
“She told you.” She stared out at the ocean. He wasn’t happy with her avoidance so he stepped in front of her.
“You should have told me. You came back to that office and yet you didn’t even bother to come in to tell me. You walked back here by yourself. What were you thinking?” Was he angry? Yes. That was a definitive yes.
“It was…the guy…I knew who he was.”
“He’s the guy who raped you.”
Her eyes shot to his. “How did you…?”
“I find out things I need to know, Bambi. You wouldn’t talk to me so I got the information I needed on my own. I didn’t have any recent photographs of him, but I did find one he took about a year after the attack. He was on a fishing trip with his brother, Jake.” He watched the visible shudder rack her body. “You know him?”
She nodded. “He threatened me…back then. He cornered me in the police station and told me what he would do to me if I went through with charges against his brother. Since the cops weren’t real helpful then I went with plan B and tried to get the guy kicked out of school. That worked. And for a long time I hadn’t seen nor heard of those two again. But then today, in the market…what is he doing here?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Now you answer my question; why didn’t you tell me?”
She shrugged. “You know this is my problem and you have a lot going on right now. I thought I could handle it. And I figured he didn’t follow me and he can’t find me here. It’s not like I’m registered at a resort or anything. I figured I would be fine.”
That wasn’t good enough for him. There was no way she should have taken this on her own shoulders and not asked for his help. “Bambi,” he nearly growled. He was livid. Maybe he wasn’t so angry with her, but he was angry. He was angry with what happened to her, with the situation today. So the man had approached her. So he had said some crude things to her. So he was in Tahiti, that wasn’t her fault. The fact that she didn’t run to him for help was her fault. Yeah, okay, maybe he was more hurt than angry. He thought they were friends and friends helped friends. Friends asked friends for help when they needed it. But then he thought about it, she never asked for help. He was always the one asking her to pick up Jocelyn, attend an event with him, sit in on a meeting that she really didn’t need to be at. He was the one always asking and she was the one always giving.
When her tiny hand took hold of his and held on tightly he could sense the fear within her. He could sense her pain. And it softened him. He pulled his hand away from hers and quickly wrapped one arm around her and pulled her into his arms. She came willingly, wrapping her arms around him and holding on tightly.
“You’re safe, and I’m going to make sure you stay that way.”
“He doesn’t know where I’m staying and I’m sure he won’t be bothering me again it just…unnerved me. I can’t even concentrate today. I kept messing everything up. I didn’t get the food.” She started to pull away but he wouldn’t let her. He held on to her more tightly.
“Food we already have and if you need to get special ingredients then I’ll take you shopping in the morning. We can have something else for dinner tonight. Everything else, just know that I’m here for you and I will keep you safe. If he turns up again I’ll handle it.” He rubbed his hand up and down her spine. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she nodded as much as she could with her head against his chest. “Thank you for being here for me.”
“I’ll always be here for you.” And he meant that with everything within him. He would always be there for her. She wasn’t alone and he was going to make sure every day that she knew that.
He had a growing problem. Despite the seriousness of the situation holding her soft body against his and having her arms wrapped around him made him want to get that deep pink polka dot sports bra off her, pull down the form fitting white yoga pants and explore what lay hidden beneath her clothes. He couldn’t do that right now, for so many reasons, but mostly because Jocelyn and Trent were still in Trent’s Hummer. He had insisted on driving and Sterling had given up the protest. All he wanted to do was get to Bambi; he didn’t care which vehicle they used to do it.
He loosened his grip on her. “We have an audience,” he nodded to the side. Bambi turned her head to look and he saw the recognition in her eyes when she saw the vehicle parked on the beach. He also realized she was so distracted she hadn’t even noticed it. “Let’s go. You can relax while I cook dinner.”
“I was going to cook for you all.”
“Not tonight. Tonight you just need to relax and clear your mind. Sharp objects and fire should stay out of your reach while you’re this distracted.”
She nodded. “Shouldn’t you be in a meeting right now?”
“Emerson is finishing it off for me.”
“Oh, Sterling,” she sighed and shook her head. “You don’t have to babysit me. I can go back to the house and you can go back to work.”
“You’re not a baby.” He looked at her and tried to keep the exasperated tone out of his voice. “I don’t babysit. You’re my friend, my colleague, somebody I admire and respect and as I told you, I will always be here for you. Now, we’re all going back to that house and spending a little R&R time in Tahiti. Maybe I’ll take tomorrow off too.” He saw the look of protest on her face and he knew she was about to open her mouth to voice it. “You know I have been working since I got here. Between spending some time with Jocelyn in the evenings I haven’t seen much of anything. How about you show me what’s so special about Tahiti?”
She chuckled. “I have to work tomorrow. You told the crew to come back tomorrow.”
He shrugged. “I’ll call Jonathan when I get back to the house and tell him to delay a day. I think we both could use a break. We’re in paradise and all we seem to be doing is working.”
She laughed and he figured that was because she knew him and she knew working the schedule he was working didn’t bother him. He thrived on work. He was good at what he did and he had no trouble pulling seven sixteen hour days during the week.
By the time they made it back to the house he saw Galinda standing there with her niece Chloe. “I made a call,” Trent said as Jocelyn and Bambi got out the car. “Judging from the way you were with her I figured you might want some alone time with the woman.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Trent chuckled. “Sure you do. Galinda is going to stay the night on detail and Chloe is going to get a chance to hang out with Jocelyn for a while. She could use some time with people her age you know.”
He knew that. While she was off having fun she had always been flanked by adults. Trent was right; he could use some alone time with Bambi, even if only a couple hours before he went to start dinner. He knew she still needed somebody and he wanted to be that somebody who comforted her, held her when she needed to be held, and listened to her when she needed to talk.
“They are like best friends already,” Galinda laughed as she pointed to the two girls. “Apparently they have �
��important” things in common.”
“I am hair and makeup and she’s nails and hair,” Jocelyn laughed. Galinda held up her hands and wiggled her jewel encrusted French tips.
“I see,” Sterling’s lips quirked upward. “So you girls are going to have a party tonight huh?”
“Ooh that will be fun. We can do each other’s hair.” Chloe beamed and Jocelyn giggled.
“I’ll have Emerson follow me back with your jeep.” Trent Chimed in.
“Or he can just ride in with me in the morning.” Galinda shrugged.
“Actually I’m going to take tomorrow off and Bambi is going to show me around this place—take in the sites with my two girls,” he winked at Bambi. He hoped to God she picked up on his words because he was losing the ability to keep things business only and he needed to know she would be okay with moving things forward.
“Oh, well I have Chloe for the next couple days so we’ll come with you. She and Jocelyn can have some fun together. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they stay out of trouble while your attention is on other things,” she grinned. She hadn’t asked if she was invited she just invited herself. That was the kind of woman Galinda was. She was sweet and brash he would say because she had no trouble dictating her schedule and everybody else’s when it came to security. She was also quick, either that or Trent had added more than just the basic facts of the situation when he called Galinda. Judging from the bags he saw beside her car and the look on Trent’s face Sterling was sure Trent had filled in more details than the necessary facts. Maybe he didn’t care if everybody knew. When Bambi and he got married they would all know anyway. And that’s exactly where he was seeing things going—straight to wedded bliss. And this time it would be bliss for him because she was the right woman for him. He had no doubts this time. This would not be a mistake, but letting her go because he was too afraid to make a move would be.
Chapter Four
Sterling had run a bath for her. The claw foot tub seemed out of place with the overall modern design of the bathroom, but somehow it just fit perfectly. With the peach stone floors, the glass enclosed shower on the other side of the bathroom, and the black claw foot bathtub somebody had set up the perfect serenity escape. The overhead skylight meant she could look up at the sky and see some of the tree coverage overhead, or at night she could see some of the stars in the clear spots.
She was sitting there contemplative at this moment. Looking upward was not on her mind. Dealing with her emotions was. It wasn’t just encountering Peter for the first time since the night of the attack. She had had words with his brother, but other than picking Peter out of a lineup she hadn’t had to talk to the man, look at him, see him in any capacity so today was a kick in the stomach shock. No, what had her mind in a fog right now was her feelings for Sterling. When he held her in his arms she could no longer deny what she felt was love. She had been in love with him for a long time now, but she denied it. She told herself it was just respect, admiration, friendship and that the feelings beyond that was just lust because she hadn’t dated in forever and he was a good man. But that wasn’t it at all. Men had asked her out. She could have dated when she was ready to date, but she hadn’t done that. She hadn’t said yes to them because they weren’t him. All the denial in the world was not going to change that fact. She wanted Sterling in a way she might not ever be able to have him given the nature of their relationship.
When she heard the door shut and lock her eyes lifted from the bath sponge in her hand to the door as she saw Sterling striding toward her. His dress shirt tails were still tucked in and he still looked like a man doing business. The bubbles covered her body enough not to be showing anything yet she still felt unnerved, immodest and in need of covering.
“Is something wrong?” She looked at him.
“Yeah, this,” he said with a deep rumbling voice as he dropped to one knee. He removed his cuff links, rolled up his sleeves and took the sponge from her hand.
“Sterling?”
He didn’t respond. He just poured a dollop of body wash cream on the sponge, lathered it and started to rub it over her neck and shoulders. Her body instinctively sat forward trying to help him, but he just gave her a crooked grin before placing his other hand on her shoulder and guiding her back to rest against the back of the tub. Then he took one arm at a time and draped it on the lip of the tub. “Relax,” he said.
Right, relax when a man she was in love with was washing her naked body—how was she supposed to do that? Not only was she nervous but every nerve in her body was tingling with desire. The look in his eyes was unreadable. Maybe this was just him being friendly. No, that wasn’t it. After a certain age friends didn’t help friends bathe unless they were too sick to do it themselves—or they were more than just friends.
She was wondering which of those was the case here. Did he think she was too emotionally stressed to do this herself, or did he feel something more for her than friendship—something deeper? She didn’t have to wonder for long when he slid the sponge down her body, his hand disappearing beneath the sudsy water and then she felt him touching her, but this time it wasn’t the sponge, it was his hands.
Her left thigh fell to left as his fingers came between her legs. His rolled up sleeve was embraced by water but it didn’t stop him. He pushed lower as he deepened his exploration. Her head fell back. “Oh,” she moaned as his fingers toyed with her.
She felt his other hand taking the clip out of her hair, sending her hair cascading downward. She heard the clanking of the decorative clip hitting the floor and then she felt that hand come to her breast as he pushed one finger inside her.
She clutched the sides of the tub. Her eyes were shut so tight she was starting to see stars. She already felt the sensations building within her like a volcano ready to erupt.
She arched, sending her head back even more and her hair falling lower. He pressed another finger into her while pressing his thumb over her sensitive dial and she went off like a lit firecracker. Thank goodness they were in the guest house because anywhere else and everybody would have known what was happening in this bathroom.
When her breathing settled and her eyes opened she saw the look of dark sensuous satisfaction on Sterling’s face. He pulled his fingers from within her, got to his feet and started to, with controlled movements, remove his shirt. He tossed it on the floor before doing the same with his pants and underwear. Before she could even process the beauty of the naked man in front of her he was in the tub on the other end, wrapping his hands around her arm and pulling her up into his embrace. On her knees with her legs straddled his hips there is where he started his exploration. His tongue mating with hers, his hand stroking her wet skin, and then he entered her smoothly with control as if taking great care not to hurt her, but to make her first time of consent pleasurable for her. Here is where he took her. Here is where she gave him the only thing he hadn’t already possessed—her body. God knows he long ago had her heart. And the way her waking thoughts seemed to be consumed with the man she would say he had her mind too. Now he had the rest of her. Now he had it all.
Sterling stroked wet tendrils of hair out of Bambi’s face. She had fallen asleep in that tub with him still inside her and her naked body pressed firmly against his. With her head resting on his chest he watched her. This was his heaven. She was his goddess and he finally had confirmation that she wanted him the same as he had wanted her. While she was drifting off to sleep she had released a pleasured sigh and mumbled the words, “I love you, Sterling.” His heart had picked up the beat to a triple staccato movement as he sat there floored. He loved her too, but before he could tell her that he realized she had fallen asleep. He would say it to her, but he would say it while she could hear him, while she was awake enough to know just what those words meant to him.
He let her sleep a bit longer. He didn’t want to wake her, but the water was getting cold and they still needed to eat dinner. “Time to get up, beautiful.”
“But I’m
comfortable here,” she mumbled.
“The water’s getting cold and we have to eat. I think the ladies will miss us if we don’t turn up for dinner.”
“True,” she said as she carefully disentangled her body from his. “Um,” her lips twisted as she gnawed on her bottom lip. “This was…?”
“Us finally getting it right,” he said as he looked in her eyes. “Because I love you too. I’ve loved you for a long time and now that you have uttered those words to me, now that we’ve done what we’ve done, I feel safe telling you those words.”
She smiled at him sheepishly before giggling. “I thought I was dreaming that part.”
“Nope. You really said it.”
“Good. I really meant it.”
Trouble in Paradise Page 5