by Sonja Gunter
Did he want reality or possibility?
Reality won by a landslide tonight and he set the picture back down with some regret.
He couldn’t forget the feel of Rane’s lips opening up to his kiss. His body still craved hers. When she’d stared at him after the damn phone interruption, her eyes had been green and had stayed that way. Could green mean she was overcome with passion?
He smiled at his theory and wondered how green they could get. He wanted the chance to find out.
As he waited for Philip’s return, thoughts of Rane’s blue then green eye color, her smiling face, and her sweet-tasting lips gave him hope for the first time in a very long time.
Rane arrived home safely, unsure how, but she’d done it. She decided after she’d fed Thor that a hot steamy bubble bath would relax the pent-up sexual tension Mark had created.
With the steam rising from the tub, she sat on its edge waiting for it to fill. Images of their kiss pushed forward.
What if Val’s phone call hadn’t interrupted them? Would she be lying naked next to him right now? On the other hand, would they have had made scandalous love on top of his desk? On second thought, maybe on top of the pool table.
She smiled as an image of them on the green velvet top of the table in the middle of making love came to mind. When he’d touch her hair, it had sent electric jolts through each single strand. She stoked the strand of hair he’d held and an aroma of Drakkar was released. She moaned as it made her stomach turn upside down.
The rising water brought her back to the present. She slipped into the hot water, laid her head back, and let her eyes close.
The lit candles emitted aromas helping her relax. She lay perfectly still as the water gently lapped at her breasts. Soon she was imagining the water was Mark’s strong fingers caressing her breasts, rolling her hardened nipple between his fingers. She pushed her hips a little, as his other hand slid lower, all the while his tongue lapped at her breasts.
Startled, she sat up, splashing water everywhere. She opened her eyes to make sure she was alone. The images had been so intense they’d seemed real.
What was happening to her? Every inch of her body cried out for Mark’s touch. He’d asked her to stay. Maybe she should get in her car and drive back to the office.
No! That would give him the wrong impression. What would Val do? She’d have—
Wrong! She wasn’t Val. Because that was what Val was probably doing right now, enjoying a night of steamy sex with her new hotty. That was probably the reason Val had called, to tell her about the delightful, handsome, and magnificent male she was having dinner with tonight.
Slow and easy was her way. Always the safe way.
Wrong!
She ended her unsuccessful relaxing bath in haste and toweled herself dry.
Mark walking. Mark standing in front of her. Mark’s chest hairs.
He wouldn’t leave her alone. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. She slipped her nightshirt over her head. The silky fabric became Mark’s hands sliding down over her heated skin. She gasped as it slid past the hairs between her legs.
Annoyed she couldn’t keep him out of her thoughts, she grabbed a pint of mocha caramel ice cream from the freezer and headed to bed. With each spoonful she gave in and allowed herself to think of Mark.
It had been surprising how much she’d enjoyed talking to him. Sometimes it had seemed like he knew what she was thinking or going to say. It was uncanny. Their conversations hadn’t centered on him or what he wanted. He’d acted genuinely interested in what she had to say.
It had been more than David had done. His now thirty updates still waited for her reply. She shoved an extra-large spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
He could go to hell before she gave in to him. During the divorce, she’d thought a lot about what she’d ever seen in him. It was the same then as it was now. He’d said all the right things at all the right times. Now more than ever she realized David had used her as a thing that would be able to give him what he wanted.
In high school after every football game, they’d have sex in the backseat of his black Trans Am. She’d thought it had been what was expected of her. She never liked doing it in the car. It had been so cramped, awkward, and unsatisfying to her.
Then after they’d been married, living off campus, he’d stay out late saying he was studying. The grim fact, as she found out later, was he’d been out seeing other women.
Angry tears came to her eyes as she realized she’d given him everything. It made her sick and angry thinking about what she’d done for him. Instead of spending her money on clothes, vacations, or things for their little condominium, she’d saved the money. For what? So they’d be able to pay for his graduate school.
He hadn’t allowed her to spend any money for fun things but he had. He’d never worked a day of their marriage to help with the bills. In the summers, he’d spend her money at the bars and go out with his friends rather than find a summer job. He’d been allowed to spend money on whatever he wanted and grew accustomed to the lifestyle she’d provided for him. She’d never questioned him because she had trusted him. He’d promised her when he became a doctor they’d have everything.
She’d been devastated the day he stomped out. Even now, as she went over these things, she realized she had never loved David. She didn’t know what true love was and only dreamed about finding the right man.
If Mark were the man for her, she was going to give it all she could, and if he wasn’t, she’d learn by her mistake. Thor jumped onto the bed signaling it was time to turn out the lights. Rane gladly did so and let images of Mark invade her dreams.
Chapter 22
Rane was halfway into her morning drive to work when it dawned on her she hadn’t gotten around to telling Mark she couldn’t have lunch with him. It had been the main reason she’d gone to his office to see him.
Who was she trying to kid? She’d gone to see him because she’d wanted to, no needed to.
When she’d seen him, she’d forgotten everything. He was so breathtakingly handsome. Then there’d been the kiss and she’d seen stars. Lots of them.
She’d been in a coma most of the night because of that kiss. She couldn’t trust herself to be in his presence without wanting a second one. The only solution was to e-mail him.
Traffic wasn’t on her side. She hit red light after red light. When the green light flashed, it had her remembering her weird dream.
Last night, her knight had come to her rescue again. She wasn’t quite sure why she needed rescuing, but he’d been there to save her. This time there’d been some sort of dinosaur creature talking to her knight. The large, winged creature had cat-like eyes that had sparkled like emerald stones. She’d heard the knight talking but couldn’t find herself anywhere in the dream even though she heard herself answer him. She told the knight she would die without him as if he was the core of her existence.
Beeepppp, beeppp.
A car behind her honked and she saw the light was green. She didn’t have time to dwell on her dream, Mark, or the creature. She had her first presentation to concentrate on.
Inside the MAC building when she reached the sixth floor, instead of going to her office she went straight to the breakroom for her morning dose of hot chocolate. Before settling in her office, she glanced toward Mark’s office. She quickly sent a regret e-mail to him canceling their lunch. With only a few minutes left to get to the conference room, Rane snatched a couple of Hershey kisses, put them into her pocket, gathered the packets she’d bundled, one for each person, and picked up her cup of hot chocolate. She yanked open the door, backed out, and tried to close it with her foot.
“Let me help.”
“Mark, Mr. Christmenn, what are you doing-”
She stepped backward, her foot encountered some
thing. She jerked forward, bumped into Mark’s arm, and her files spilled all over the floor in front of her. It wasn’t until she viewed the mess that she felt the sting of hot chocolate on her hand and down the front of her blouse.
“Ohhhh no, crap,” Rane stated.
Rane turned her head and frowned at Mark. She tried to back up again but this time his hard, stone-like body stopped her. His hand was immediately on her elbow to prevent her from falling. Tempted to give him a piece of her mind, she observed other employees staring at them. Her body was on fire and it wasn’t because of the spilled hot chocolate.
“Are you all right, Ms. Schoen?” Mark asked.
“Yes, you can release my elbow. We’ve became the center of attention,” she said.
Instantly he did so and retreated a step. Rane stared at all the files scattered on the floor and wiped at the stain on her blouse. This was not something she could fix in a minute or two. Without saying another word, she bent down and picked up her papers.
“Let me help you.”
“You’ve made me late to my meeting. I can’t go looking like this.”
“Mrs. Weber!” Mark bellowed, then said in a quieter tone, “I’m sorry, Rane.”
She ignored him, continued to gather her mess, and saw his shiny shoes move away as other hands picked up the papers too.
“Thank you so much,” she said quietly to the employees who’d appeared to help her.
She glanced up and watched as the very formidable Mrs. Weber appeared.
“Mrs. Weber, call down to Macy’s and have someone deliver a white blouse, size six,” Mark demanded.
His eyes met hers. Rane nodded to acknowledge that the size was correct.
“Have them deliver it right away. Ms. Schoen is late for a meeting and we had a mishap a few minutes ago.”
“Yes, Mr. Christmenn,” Mrs. Weber replied and hastened away.
“Jessica, Roger, Kathy, please stay and help Ms. Schoen reorganize her reports,” Mark instructed.
“Yes, Mr. Christmenn,” they responded in unison.
A tiny smile tweaked at Rane’s lips. She felt as if she was in the military. All that was missing was “sir” instead of Mr. Christmenn.
“Ms. Schoen, please accept my apology. I’ll go ahead to your meeting and give them a pep talk to give you some time to get reorganized. I should be able to stall them for about forty-five minutes at the max. Will that be enough time?”
“Yes, Mr. Christmenn.”
Now she was saying it!
She closed her eyes for a moment before continuing. “No need for an apology. It was my fault. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be outside my office door. I didn’t look.”
“Which boardroom is your meeting in?”
“Boardroom C.”
“Forty-five minutes, Ms. Schoen. Mrs. Weber, if you need me I’ll be in Boardroom C,” Mark announced as he marched away.
“Hi, I’m Jessica,” a woman with shoulder-length brown hair said then pointed to the office next to the receptionist’s desk. “Let’s take these papers into the conference room right over there.”
Roger, the other employee, was one step ahead of them and had already taken everything into the vacant office. Rane took a quick glance over her shoulder and watched Mark turn the corner.
Mark proceeded to Boardroom C flexing his left hand because it felt like it was on fire. He took a deep breath. Then he caught the smell of her perfume. She wasn’t even in the same room and he could still smell it. He lifted his hand to his nose and sniffed. The scent was on his hand but it was too late. The damage had already been done. His body was betraying him.
Damn. Was he that hard up? How long had it been since he’d had sex? Maybe Philip had been right again. All he needed was a night of sex. Was that the reason he felt so attracted to Rane? Because he really only wanted to make love to her?
He was insane!
Here he was about to walk into a room of employees and all he could think of was making love to Rane.
Pull yourself together. This is not the time to think about having sex. Think.
That was his problem. He was thinking too much about other things. He needed to come up with something to talk about for an hour. He was the king of the spur-of-the-moment speeches.
Concentrate!
He took another deep breath, which happened to be the wrong thing to do at the moment. He got another whiff of Rane’s perfume. With as much self-control as a teenager, he opened the conference room door and entered.
“Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen,” Mark said as he addressed the stunned group of employees and closed the door.
Chapter 23
At the other end of the building, Rane franticly instructed Jessica and Roger to place all the papers on the table.
“Please separate all the like papers into piles. Once we have them sorted, we can collate them again, Rane said.
“No problem, Ms. Schoen. Are you sure you’re all right? Did you get burned?” Jessica asked.
“No, I’m not burned. My hand is okay, and it only splattered my blouse. I’m fine, just a little shaken. I didn’t even see Mr. Christmenn behind me. I don’t know how it happened.” Rane shook her head. “I was closing the door, and then he was there. I feel so stupid. Look at my blouse! Look at my papers.”
What she couldn’t say was “No, she wasn’t fine.” Her body was on fire. She wanted to have sex with the owner of the company. For God’s sake, how many times did she have to bump into him? Every time she did, she became more and more aware of his physique.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Schoen. We’ll get everything in order for you,” Roger said.
“Thank you. You’re all so very kind.”
“Excuse me, Ms. Schoen. The blouse has arrived. I have it here.”
Rane looked up and Mrs. Weber was at the door holding a package.
“Already? That was quick. Thank you so much. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. Excuse me.”
She took the package and headed toward the bathrooms.
“Ms. Schoen, Mr. Christmenn has a private restroom. I don’t think he’ll mind if you use it to change. As you enter his office, it’s to the left,” Mrs. Weber suggested.
Confused, Rane hesitated for a moment.
“Go on, you best hurry,” Mrs. Weber said, smiling.
“Thank you,” Rane replied.
She hurried down the hall to Mark’s office. She strode in and scenes from last night vividly replayed in her mind. Glancing around the room, she found the door to her left and opened it slowly.
His bathroom. Mark’s bathroom, the one they might’ve used last night if she had stayed. It was neat but only had a shower, a toilet, and a vanity.
Would they have come in here after making love to shower?
Off to the side was a separate area for changing plus a closet. The door was open and she couldn’t resist peeking but felt guilty as she did.
There was an array of dress shirts, suits, and a dark blue bathrobe hung on a hook. She reached in and smelled the robe. A manly, musky, and clean scent was her reward.
Would he have offered her his robe? Would she ever find out?
Rane moved away, tempted to investigate his clothes further, until she eyed the vanity, displaying an assortment of personal care items and a bottle of Drakkar cologne. She picked it up and slowly raised it to her nose. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. It didn’t take long for the smell to overtake her senses and images of Mark came to mind.
It brought her back to the first night she’d bumped into him in his office. Their bodies hitting each other, her breasts touching his chest, and his arms enfolding her. The memory of his muscles and the power that was behind his arms were very clear.
Mark had only given her fo
rty-five minutes. She checked her watch. Time to get ready. She had fifteen minutes. Her fingers swiftly unbuttoned her blouse and she noticed another door behind her. Turning, she opened it.
His bedroom.
A very clear image of a naked Mark materialized.
She needed to focus on her meeting. She had a job to do!
She shook her head and the daydream faded. She picked up her stained blouse, turned off the lights, left his bathroom, and all the ‘what if’s, behind.
Her rescue team, along with Mrs. Weber, were finished by the time she returned. All four of them turned at the same time.
“We have them all sorted, Ms. Schoen,” Jessica announced.
“Again, thanks. I’ll take them now. They look great,” Rane said.
With her reports in her arms, she headed out and down the hall. As she approached Boardroom C, she took a breath to clear her mind, placed her hand on the door handle, and pushed down confidently.
Mark met her gaze, nodded, and then faced the employees again. “I’d like to thank you all for this opportunity to speak to you this morning. It has given me a chance to share with you my outlook on the company for the upcoming year. As you can see, Ms. Schoen has arrived. She’ll be taking over the meeting. Let’s give her a warm welcome.”
Everyone clapped as Rane proceeded to the front of the room.
“Good morning, and thank you for the warm welcome. Thank you, Mr. Christmenn, for the introduction. I’m sorry I was unable to hear your speech. I have been told you could part certain waters with your inspirational talks,” Rane said.
The forced smile on his face was replaced with a smirk. She watched him move to an empty chair and sit down instead of leaving.
Great! It was one thing to have him present but to have the man you yearned to see naked watching your every move and hanging on your every word was another thing. Could he be mentally undressing her as she had him?