Bodhi grinned. “Full disclosure. I like making food for people, I enjoy the company. How about if I ask instead of assuming? Sailor, would you like to have lunch with me?”
And Sailor knew without a doubt that she most definitely would.
Sailor groaned and put her hand on her belly. Bodhi Creed knew how to cook. “I think you may have killed me.” She grinned at him. “That was incredible, thank you. I won’t need to eat for a few…weeks, I think.”
Bodhi laughed, spearing the last piece of his steak into his mouth. A blue cheese and steak salad was his specialty. Throw in freshly baked bread, that he admitted he’d got from the store, fresh, plump peaches and a light Pinot Grigio. Sailor was in heaven. “Sure I can’t tempt you with some gelato or anything?”
“God,” Sailor said, “I love gelato, but even my pudding stomach is full.”
“Your pudding stomach?” Bodhi laughed loudly, and Sailor grinned at him.
“Yeah, you know, when you’re so full of savory stuff, but then someone offers you sugar and all bets are off?”
“Except today. Pudding stomach is out of action?”
“Yes, sir.”
Bodhi chuckled. “If my mom was here, you’d been talked into it. She’s been making gelato since I was a kid, before that even. Family recipe.”
“Your mom’s Italian?”
“She is. An artist. She lives in Florence, and I don’t get to see her as often as I would like. She would like you, Sailor. She hates women who pick at their food. So, do I. One of life’s great pleasures, food.”
“Especially if it’s made by a rockstar,” Sailor grinned and, laughing, he toasted her with his glass.
They were sitting out on his patio, looking over the hills at Los Angeles in the distance. His huge infinity pool shone bright blue and a small breeze took some of the afternoon heat off. Sailor studied her host. “Do you live here alone?”
Bodhi shook his head. “No, my son is here with me at the moment. He’s ten, well, only just. His name is Tim.”
He reached into his pocket for his wallet, then pulled out a photograph to show Sailor. She studied it. “Adorable. He is your twin,” she said, nodding.
“In looks only, I’m afraid,” Bodhi smiled a little sadly. “While his old Pa is an exhibitionist and a show-off, Tim is definitely erring on the side of science. Not that it’s a bad thing. He could run rings around me, and frequently does.” Bodhi gazed out at the view for a long moment. “I didn’t know him, or even that he existed until six months ago. His mother, Gemma, was my girlfriend a decade ago, but we hadn’t seen or spoken for that long. She came to me, she needed some alone time and that it was my turn to raise my son.” He looked at Sailor and gave a hopeless shrug. “I have no idea what I’m doing, Sailor. None. And Tim…Tim resents me.”
Sailor was startled at his frankness, but touched that he opened up to her. Two hours ago, they were strangers. “I think you’re probably doing better than you think, Bodhi. It has to be hard; there’s no owner’s manual when it comes to kids.”
With a pang, she thought back to how she was raised, there, in the cult, there was definitely an owner’s manual, and it was one of subjugation, terror, and manipulation.
“Sailor? You okay?”
Sailor realized she was frowning and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. Stuck in a memory.”
“Bad childhood?”
“Something like that.” But she didn’t want to ruin the mood by telling him anything, besides, she’d promised herself she would never tell anyone. If word got back to Bart where she was…
“I meant what I said about hiring you, Sailor. I do need a personal assistant, desperately actually. It would involve some childcare, if that doesn’t freak you out, but you’d be mostly working from here with me or traveling with me.”
Sailor suddenly felt shy. Being that close to this man all the time sounded like heaven. “I would work my ass off for you, Bodhi, I admit, but I wouldn’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of your kindness. You’ve already done more for me in the few hours I’ve known you than anyone else in my lifetime.”
Bodhi’s eyes were troubled. “That’s just plain wrong. Sailor, I’m just glad I was there, you don’t owe me anything. But, seriously, please, give me a shot. I’ll pay double, hell, triple what Winston was paying you. I know you ran interference with Winston and I when I was on sabbatical.”
She started to protest, and he grinned. “Don’t give me that, I know it was you. The kind emails about me taking as long as I needed, that was all you.”
Sailor was bright-red now. “I know what it’s like to have personal stuff going on. Sometimes, you just need to get away.”
Bodhi picked up the bottle of wine and dumped the rest in her glass. “Amen to that, sister. So…yes?” He raised his glass and Sailor picked hers up.
“Yes,” she said simply and tapped her glass against his.
He drove her home before he went to pick up Tim from school. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow just after nine a.m.,” he said, “and we’ll lease you a car as soon as we can. How does that sound?”
She smiled at him. “Sounds great, thank you, Bodhi. And thank you for lunch, for the job…for saving me this morning. I hope I can repay your kindness.”
Bodhi touched his finger to her cheek. “You just stay safe, little one. Maurice doesn’t know where you live, does he?”
She shook her head. “No, thank god. I’ll be fine. See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Sailor.”
He watched her walk up the stairs to her apartment and wave at him as she opened the door. He smiled and waved back before pulling the car back into traffic. Sailor King. When he’d opened the door to Maurice’s office that morning and saw her being attacked, his anger had known no bounds. She was so tiny, so fragile, of course, his instincts had kicked in. In a way, he was relieved to be free of Maurice Winston. He’d never liked the man, but he was the best agent in Hollywood. Screw it. Why did he even need an agent? He was a musician, for crissakes. He had a contact in San Francisco, Emily Moore, who had given him her card at a concert the year before and told him to call if he needed representation. Emily was gorgeous too, but completely in love with her boyfriend, Dash Hamilton, one of the partners in the Quartet record company. Quartet had been pursuing him too, knowing his contract with Sony was almost up.
Maybe it’s time for a complete change, he thought. Maybe things should slow down. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough money, just three months ago, Forbes had placed his net worth just shy of a billion dollars.
But some things were worth more than wealth, hell, a lot of things, Bodhi told himself. His son, first and foremost. He had to try and find a way to get through to Tim. Whether Tim realized it or not, Bodhi had grown to love him, it was just, at this moment, he didn’t know whether he liked him.
A new life. A new assistant. A new friend. Sailor. Bodhi laughed and shook his head. How quickly life changes. Of course, he was a man, and her fragile beauty hadn’t passed him by. The long waves of her dark brown hair that almost reached her waist, those big dark eyes, the pink flush of her cheeks, and her smile was breathtaking. Finally, after the trauma of her near-rape, he’d made her laugh at lunch, and her smile had made his day. It lit up her face. She was young, too young for that sort of crap to happen to her.
And she’s probably too young for you, buddy, so keep your thoughts pure. With a sigh, Bodhi knew the truth of that. If he wanted to keep Sailor in his life, he would have to be professional, keep his more erotic thoughts to himself. She deserved that much from him.
At dinner, he told Tim about his new assistant, but Tim just shrugged and said “Okay.” Bodhi wondered if the kid cared less about who was in his life.
“Hey, how about we go to the beach this weekend? Have you ever been to Venice Beach?”
“Evan used to take me all the time.”
Of course, Bodhi was really starting to dislike this ‘Evan.’ “Okay then, how about to the
Caribbean? I have a friend with a place on an island down there.”
Tim’s eyes opened wide, and Bodhi felt a rush of joy. Finally, Tim was impressed. “For reals?”
“For reals. We can go on Friday after school, come back Sunday. What do you say?”
Tim studied his father and Bodhi, for the millionth time, wondered what was going on in his head. “Okay.”
Bodhi smiled. He wanted to say more, suggest other things they could do, but he didn’t want to push his luck. This was enough…for now.
“The Caribbean?” Sailor gaped at him as Bodhi laughed at her expression, the next morning.
“That’s right. Want to come? All expenses paid, of course.”
Sailor sat back in the passenger seat, shaking her head in disbelief. “Twenty-four hours ago, we didn’t even know each other, and you saved me from being raped, or murdered, hired me at a wildly generous salary, and offered me a dream vacation to a tropical island? This isn’t real.”
Bodhi grinned. “Listen, if it freaks you out, just think of it as a working trip. I need to figure out what to do going forward and I need you to help me.”
“On a tropical island.” She repeated, then laughed. “Well…I’d love to, but I don’t have a passport.”
Bodhi’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t?”
“Uh-ah.” Sailor shook her head, her smile fading. Bodhi studied her for a long moment then turned back to the road.
“Okay…well, we could get that arranged by Friday, no problem. You have a birth certificate, right?”
Sailor nodded. She’d stolen it from Bart’s cabinet the day he’d left her alone in his office, along with anything she could find with her name on. When she’d arrived in L.A., she’d gone to City Hall to legally change her name from the near unique-sounding Sailor King to the more generic Sarah Halls. At least then, she could use that name legally, but finding it hard to call herself ‘Sarah,' she told people her nickname was Sailor, figuring it was safe enough to do so.
“Have you never traveled, Sailor?”
She blinked back in the present and shook her head. “No, never. Never been on a plane, never gone anywhere.”
Bodhi looked amazed but then smiled. “Then it’s decided. It’s outrageous you’ve never traveled. Particularly with a name like Sailor. We’ll get your passport arranged and you can come with us. Okay?”
Sailor hesitated then nodded. “Okay…thank you, Bodhi.” She gave a short laugh. “I am dreaming, I’m sure.”
Later that day, after they’d spent all day talking about what Bodhi would be looking for in an assistant, and Sailor getting very excited for the challenge, she rode in the car with him as Bodhi picked Tim up from school and introduced him to Sailor. Sailor grinned at the young boy.
“Hey, it’s good to meet you.” She indicated a patch on his jacket of a rooster spewing fire. “Hey, you like Rhett and Link?”
Tim looked amazed that a grown-up would know who Rhett and Link were and nodded, half smiling at her. “Today we’re going to eat hair gel flavored ice cream.”
Sailor grinned, knowing he wanted her to give the catchphrase of the two Internet comedians. “Let’s talk about that,” she quipped back, and Tim laughed delightedly.
Bodhi looked between them. “I have no idea what either of you is talking about.”
Sailor rolled her eyes and winked at Tim. “Granddad,” she said in a stage whisper, making Tim giggle. Bodhi grinned at the sound, and then looked gratefully at Sailor.
“Sailor’s just agreed to come to the island with us on Friday, that okay with you, buddy?”
Tim actually smiled at his father, a rare occurrence, and nodded eagerly. Bodhi held his hands up to Sailor. “See? Now you have to come.”
When Tim had finally been persuaded to go to bed, Bodhi poured Sailor and himself some wine. “Girl, how the hell did you do that? He’s talked more this evening than in the last six months.”
He sat down, shaking his head in amazement and a little sadness and Sailor’s heart went out to him. All day, she had been finding out that this megastar, this world-famous billionaire, was nothing more than a simple man at heart. His glorious face, his hard body, his rough velvet voice had made his fortune, but she could see that he craved a simpler life, one out of the spotlight. He’d shown her around his home, and she’d noticed the rooms he got most excited about were the ones where he created things, his recording studio, his workshop where he made beautiful hand-turned furniture ‘to relax.' He told her about the olive groves in Tuscany where he loved to spend summers, away from public view, with his friends, his best friend Claudio, and Bodhi’s artist mom. She looked through some pencil sketches, and her heart hurt when she saw the preliminary drawings he’d made of his son.
“These are gorgeous, Bodhi.”
He looked pleased, giving her a shy grin. “You draw?”
She nodded. “Some. Not as good as this, and I haven’t done anything for a while. Out of practice.”
“You are more than welcome to come in here, use anything you want, anytime.” Bodhi leaned back against the wall, studying her. “Sailor, I’ve been talking about myself all day, all ego. What about you, what’s your story?”
Sailor felt panicky, and she looked away from his gaze. “Not much to tell. Left a bad situation at home, come to Hollywood six months ago. Don’t even know why I chose to settle here…it just seemed…far enough away.”
Bodhi nodded. “Family stuff? Or boyfriend?”
Sailor chewed her lip. “Just…stuff.” God, she should have figured out a story by now. It was just, in this town, people rarely cared about who you were or had been. They just needed to know if you could be useful to them. She decided to go with a potted version of the truth. “I was raised in a commune of sorts…I never knew who my father was. I was with my mom as a newborn, but she died soon after. I was alone. So, when I got older and decided the commune’s rules and regulations were no longer for me, I left and came here.”
Bodhi seemed satisfied with that answer. “Shame you never knew your parents. No wonder you can relate to Tim.”
Sailor smiled gently. “Tim knows both his parents, they’re just apart. Can I ask? Why did things with Gemma never work out?”
Bodhi sat down next to her. “Sailor, I was in my late twenties, and my career was maybe at its peak. Temptation was everywhere. I cheated, is the truth of it. A lot. Gemma deserved better. That’s why I can’t be mad that she never told me about Tim. I just can’t be mad.”
“But you are?”
Bodhi nodded slowly. “A little. Mostly at myself for being a loser.”
Sailor was silent for a moment, studying him. He looked tired, his beautiful eyes had dark circles underneath, his whole body slumped. Sailor resisted the temptation to hug him or to smooth his dark curls away from his face. He was her boss after all, no matter how friendly and inclusive he was.
“What do you want, Bodhi? Out of life, I mean. You have every material thing a person could need; you have your son back in your life. What else is there?”
Bodhi met her gaze and smiled sadly. “I don’t know, Sailor, is the honest truth. There’s something missing, and I don’t know what it is. I know I’m glad I found a new friend if that means anything.”
Sailor grinned, flushing slightly. “Right back at you, boss.”
“Gah, don’t call me that. We’re…collaborators in life.”
Sailor laughed. “I like that.” She glanced at her watch. “God, it’s late. I’d better go.”
Bodhi got up, and she followed him into the kitchen. He opened a small cabinet and took out a set of keys. “Here you go. You know how to drive right?”
Sailor nodded, taking the keys. Bodhi’s fingers brushed hers, and a small thrill went through her. “Will you be okay driving home?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
He walked her out to the car, and she couldn’t help but gasp. It was a mint green Thunderbird, in spotless condition. Sailor shook her head. “I can’t,
Bodhi, this is too much.”
“Sailor, this car was made for you. It’s classy, classic and beautiful. Just like you.”
There were tears in Sailor’s eyes now, and she turned away from him. “Bodhi…you just met me, and already you’ve given me so much. I can’t take it, I’m sorry.”
“Then think of it as a loaner until you find one you like.” He dumped the keys in her hand and steered her towards the car. His hands on her bare shoulders were soft, caressing and Sailor shivered. Nope, do not get a crush.
Bodhi would take no further argument. He kissed her cheek and waved as she started down the long driveway to the road out.
As she drove home, Sailor’s thoughts were in turmoil. Bodhi was kind, generous, funny and smart, but there was certainly a little control freak in him. Did she really want that in her life again? As she opened the door to her tiny apartment, she sighed. She didn’t really have a choice, did she?
And besides, she was excited about the job, as well as spending time with Bodhi and Tim. She’d seen the pain in the little boy’s eyes, reflected in his fathers who was unable to reach him. If she could help bring them together…
What? What’s in it for you? She closed her eyes. I just want to feel useful. That I’ve made a difference, however small. Her mind flitted back to when Bodhi’s hands were on her bare shoulders. The feelings that had flooded through her were unexpected and scary. Desire. Sailor tried to push the thoughts away as she stripped down and stepped into her shower, but she couldn’t help but fantasize that Bodhi was in the shower with her, stroking her clit, kissing her mouth, his big arms around her, holding, protecting, loving. Her own hand snaked down and began to caress herself, masturbation had been a sin back in the commune, especially for the ‘chosen bride’, who was meant to save herself for Bartholomew. Which was why, at twenty-four, Sailor was still a virgin. A goddamned virgin, she thought angrily.
Sailor gritted her teeth for a second then returned to her fantasy. She would stroke Bodhi’s cock until it was rigid and proud against his belly and then he would take her, impaling her on his cock, and fucking her hard until she was screaming his name.
No Promises: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 48