Holiday Spice & Everything Nice

by Conn, Claudy

  “Work? We work together.”

  “I know.” His head fell beside hers, but he tightened his arm and pulled her against him.

  “My car?”

  He looked up at her again, that grin of his arousing her further. “Maybe I should call you, Ms. Articulate this morning.”

  “Hit,” Rachael growled, and raised her fist beside her face, sporting what had to be a corny smile. Only a few words at a time were coming, and she didn’t know what was wrong with her. One kiss, one soul-searing touch of skin against skin that she felt all the way to her toes, and she was rendered an imbecile. And, tingling. Everywhere. She shook her head, took a big breath. With his scent flooding her senses, she tried for more. “Can you get me to my car today?”

  “I’m afraid you are stuck here. They have issued driving bans. Only emergency vehicles are allowed on the roads.” He rubbed his check against hers. “Should I be hurt that I kiss you and all you can think about is getting home? I assume you are worried about your car because your work for the project is in it.”

  “Just call me Ms. Panic, Ms. Freaking Out, Ms—“

  “I get it. Me too. You got one of those names of yours for me?”

  Rachael looked at him, and nothing she could actually put words to came to mind. As she shook her head, she thought: Mr. Can Kiss A Woman Senseless, Mr. I Can Make You As Horny As Hell, Mr. Rip My Clothes Off Please, Mr. Drop Dead Sexy Work Enemy Who Is Making Me Want Him More…

  “Too bad. What now?”

  Her stomach, praise the gods, growled. “Food?”

  “Sure. I can feed you. Let’s see how you feel once you stand up.”

  He pulled away from her, and her body screamed so loud that she swore he would hear it. She prayed he would obey its plea, come back to her, kiss her, touch her in all kinds of places, before she came to her senses.

  Once he stood in front of her, Aaron placed his arms under hers and pulled her to standing. Rachael was suddenly a little light-headed, and moved her head to press against his chest. Her hand seemed to move of it’s own accord, stroking his hard muscles, wanting to go lower.

  He placed his hand over hers quickly stifling that potentially lethal plan. “Let’s get you downstairs.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Always Helpful,” she grunted, sarcasm drenching the words.

  “Was that a dig?”

  “Nope. Sorry. It may have sounded that way, but it wasn’t mean… I meant it in a nice way. Why do I have to keep explaining... My voice isn’t catching on to what I want to say or how I want to say it. Would you buy the head injury plea again?”

  He laughed, shaking his head. Her head, on the other hand felt fine, other than tender, but she wasn’t letting on. Tucking her into his side, he walked her to his kitchen and helped her onto a chair at the breakfast bar. She watched him cook up eggs and bacon, memorized by the way his body moved to do so. Suddenly his hands were of very intense interest, the way they wrapped around the spatula, the muscles in his arms defined at so little effort, the fluffiness of the eggs he’d whipped. The man had skills. The thought stuck in her brain.

  “So, do you think we can do another project together, that is, without killing each other, since we are stuck here together this weekend? I would love to hear your ideas. Maybe we can incorporate them and come up with something great. Would blow the boss's’ mind!”

  “Yeah, it would. Okay, Mr. Crazy Creative, I’m game. Let’s give working together as a team another try.”

  “Really? Great!” Aaron sounded honestly excited at the prospect, surprising her, just as her easy answer had.

  They ate while essentially pitching their projects to each other. Afterward, he took her into his office where the ideas he’d told her about came to life. She’d been in this room before. The white walls housing metal and glass furniture lent itself well to the work. He had a display board of his Market Summary. So, she went to work reading it.

  “Obviously, our demographics agree, but I had a few other ideas when it comes to the market needs and trends,” she offered hesitantly.

  “Shoot. I would love to hear them.”

  Rachael studied his face for a minute, wanting to be sure he really was open and willing to listen. So far their praise of each other’s work seemed forced, like they were afraid to say otherwise. The trust wasn’t there yet.

  “I mean it, Rach or Rachael, sorry.”

  She’d barely heard him because he’d placed his hand over hers, pulling her entire focus to the skin on skin contact. The touching while working together thing was going to have to be made illegal.

  “Uhm, Rach is fine,” she said with a bashful smile, as flirtatious as she could manage. “That’s what my friends call me. I was just being a bitch before.”

  “Rach it is. I’d love to be your friend. Please don’t respond to that right now! Please, share your ideas with me. It is the only way we can effectively work together.”

  “Okay, then. I think we should up the customer service angle. I was working on an idea to really show off the effort they put into giving their customers attention at the restaurant, something to give them an edge over the other restaurants. Their customer service is a bit unique, so we want to play that up.”

  “I think that’s a great idea. Tell me what you’ve got so far and maybe I’ll have a suggestion to help your idea along.” His voice came out sounding tight and tense.

  She looked his way, stifling a giggle.

  “What?” He put his hands up emphasizing the question. “Stop smirking at me. I meant every word.”

  “Sure. You sound like you’re analyzing every word before you say it and then forcing them out, Mr. Robotic. There is no program for this. You need to be honest. We don’t have to agree on every little thing to work together. I think we missed that concept the first time around. Big time. Disagreeing does not have to equal a fight or a competition. This, working as a team now, is not going to be like our previous ‘I’ll one up you’ matches. What goofs we were. Do you remember…” Rachael laughed out loud. She couldn’t stop the giggling from bubbling up her throat long enough to even finish the thought. The laughter bothered her head a bit, but she couldn’t stop it. Instead, she luxuriated in the way it relaxed her shoulders.

  “Remember what?”

  “Nevermind,” she continued to chuckle.

  Aaron waited for her to regain some control. “Rach, I just want this to go well.”

  “Me too. I just don’t want you walking on eggshells, worried about everything you say and thinking we have to agree on everything. We don’t.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate that. I know I didn’t say it this since summer when we first started working together, for fear of getting slapped across the face, but you are beautiful when your eyes light up over an idea.”

  “Ah, Mr. Flattery, it won’t help your cause.”

  “I have no cause. At least, not the one you think. Anyway, move on. What about the SWOT Analysis? Any strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats you would add?”

  “Let me see,” Rachael forced herself to refocus on the words in front of her, time and time again, as her mind kept wandering back to the term, ‘beautiful’. He thought she was beautiful, and she wanted to jump for joy because she was jumping out of her skin trying to contain all she was feeling. “The ones I thought were most important were the retail space, the way it represents an atmosphere of a man cave, like yours, where—“

  “Like mine? Where do I have a man cave?”

  “Seriously? That room last night. The whole seduction scene you have going on there with dark colors, pillows on the floor, stocked bar, and a fireplace. How many women have you carried from your car to that room since the weather turned colder?”

  “I’m offended.”

  “How many?”

  “Rach!”

  “How many?”

  “You are like a dog with a bone.”

  “Not the first time you’ve called me that, Mr. Repeat.”

  “Yeah, and you’ve
called me much worse names.”

  “I suppose I have. What are you doing?” she asked as he crossed the room to where she sat.

  He got on his knees before her. Looking into her eyes he held her gaze, and his face showed pure honesty as he touched her cheek. “You are the first woman that I’ve carried there.”

  “So what am I supposed to do to thank you for the honor, Mr. Gallant?”

  “Don’t do that. Don’t push me away. Kiss me, again. I can’t stop thinking about touching you earlier.”

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean, why?’

  “Look, I like to play it straight. We both know that getting involved, especially a one-night stand, because we are trapped together on Saturday, is a bad idea when you work together on Monday. Trust me, Mr. Sexy Even In Sweats, I have urges too. But, we have to think down the road past today.”

  “Do we? You have urges?” Aaron ran his hands down over her arms, his gaze brushing over her chest. “You’re body was so incredible last night. I undressed and redressed you fast, did what I was supposed to, but I noticed. Damn, I noticed and took notes. The images are burned in my memory, of your breasts, your stomach, your legs and even in your underwear—”

  “Do not bring up those underwear!” Rachael moaned.

  He moved his hands toward her chest, but she grabbed his wrists, stopping them from touching her and finding out just how hard her nipples were under his sweatshirt.

  “Well, Mr. Touchy, we have a problem,” she warned, not wanting him to listen to her protests. A big problem, because I want paybacks. I want to strip you to nothing, until I can see that semi-erection you have going on there, standing out proudly, unrestrained.

  “One kiss. No hands. And then we go back to work,” he propositioned, but with more passion than she’d seen him offer in the boardroom, or maybe just a different sort of passion, one geared more toward the bedroom.

  “You got a time limit on this kiss, Mr. Daredevil?”

  “Daredevil?”

  “You know you are playing with fire here. I’m just curious as to whether you plan on jumping through the hoop, walking across hot coals, or grabbing the fire extinguisher.”

  “Cute.” He didn’t answer, just cupped her cheeks in his hands, foregoing the no touching option, and pulled her mouth to his, pressing his lips against hers at opposing angles. His tongue found its way inside her lips, fought with hers for position. By the time he pulled away, a very pleased look on his face, Rachael had to quickly excuse herself to go to the bathroom. She needed cold water for her face, and to wipe away the telltale wetness between her legs. She didn’t have underwear on, after all. She wouldn’t want to leave humiliating evidence of her desire in his sweats.

  “You okay in there?” Aaron’s voice filtered through the door a few minutes later.

  “Yep, great. My head barely hurts now,” she lied. Opening the door, Rachael challenged, “Let’s see what you’ve got up your sleeve in the Critical Issues department under Keys To Success to the restaurant biz for awhile, okay?”

  “As you wish. But, for the record, I’m disappointed.”

  “In all honestly, I am too, but we need to work, give our brains a chance to work out the best way to proceed with the other stuff later.”

  ***

  The rest of the day passed with them in and out of arguments, some more heated than others, along with numerous apologies. Their fights were about as intense as the looks they were giving each other, ones worthy of starting a fire in the room, as they went through the entire proposal. Things were becoming more strained every hour between the ignored physical attraction and their attempts to combine the ideas of two strong-willed individuals who were used to battling to the death to win. They were knee deep in Strategy Pyramids when her growling stomach interrupted them.

  “You hungry again?”

  “Yeah, order a pizza?”

  “Oh, sure. I think the freezer is delivering tonight. Everyone one else should be pretty much closed.”

  “Sounds great.” She smiled, stretching until she felt cool air brush across her stomach. She quickly grabbed at the bottom of the sweatshirt.

  “Let me go turn on the oven, then we can get back to how were are going to most effectively communicate—“

  The lights flickered briefly and then went out. Complete darkness surrounded them. Night had fallen, and apparently the entire block was affected judging from the depths of the blackness around them. The snow clouds blocked out any chance of light from the moon.

  They just sat there at first. She looked around, straining to see the slowly emerging faint shadows in the blackness, waiting for the lights to click back on.

  “I don’t think they are coming back on,” Rachael finally piped up. “Got anything not frozen?”

  “How long do you think they will be out?”

  “Oh, it is nothing for the electricity to be out for days in storms like this. Sometimes the outages are so widespread that the roads become passable before they can restore power to everyone.”

  “You have got to be kidding me!”

  “Missing the sand, Mr. Carolina?”

  Chapter Five

  Massive Power Outage Blackens Northeast Ohio

  “At least I have a gas fireplace,” he exclaimed, coming into the room she had called his man cave with his arms full of food. “I have lunchmeat, bread and chips. That should do for now. It will go bad in the refrigerator if the power doesn’t come back on soon anyway.”

  “My mom used to always put some of the food in the garage, after the power had been out for a while, to keep it cold longer.”

  “Good idea. I never thought of the garage as a second fridge, or even freezer. Sorry about the pizza I promised. I mean, you can still have it, but you might break your teeth trying to chew it.”

  “I’m good with a sandwich, thanks, Mr. Hostess With The Mostess.”

  “I do try.” Just when she thought he couldn’t get sexier, his timid and bashful smile grew incredibly hot in the light of the fire. Hot, fire, burning, all were right on the dot for appropriate words right now.

  “So, tell me about your childhood, Mr. Carolina. What were you like as a boy? School bully? Nerd?” High School hunk?

  “Not much to tell. Pretty typical. Went to school, played with the neighborhood kids till dark, skinned knees, the whole nine yards. Guess I could let you in on a little secret, though. I didn’t live close to the ocean, so don’t think I spent my summers lounging on the sand and working on my tan. The beach was a good drive for us, and hotels to stay there cost money we didn’t have.”

  “What did your parents do?”

  “Mom worked in the grade school cafeteria, and Dad worked for the city. We never had a lot of money, but they were there for me, my brother, and two sisters.”

  “Big family, then? I saw the pictures on your shelves. You close? Am I asking too many questions? I mean, what else can you do when the power is out except play twenty questions?” Shut Up! Sheesh! You are talking too much because you don’t want to think about what else you could do, fool! If he hadn’t been sitting right there, Rachael would have smacked herself in the head. He’d saved her again, because that would have hurt.

  “I’m game as long as I get to ask back.”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, yes, we are all close. I think I have more of a bond with my one sister, Tammy, but I talk to all of them frequently. Being here, I miss seeing my nieces and nephews. I have five now. I am the only one to not get married, so it becomes the issue they most like to talk about. Okay. Your turn. What about you? What was it like growing up in all this cold and snow?”

  “It was only snowy about four to five months out of the year, depending. We did live close to the lake, and I spent my summers working on my tan.”

  “Figures.”

  “So, what about high school for you? Were you Mr. Popularity?”

  “I don’t think so. I did play on the football team, and that got me some good f
riends and a few dates.”

  His butt in football pants, the mental image just about did her in. “Okay, Mr. Modest, let’s move onto college. Anything exciting there? Sure you’re not hiding something? We have no TV, so I’m trying to make my own reality show right here. You, Mr. Self-Proclaimed Typical and Boring, are not helping the cause.”

  “You are great, you know, when you aren’t fighting with me.”

  “Yeah, I’m really something.” She rolled her eyes. The dangerous direction they were taking, this fast track to being too nice, and giving in to their lusts, was quite alluring. Sort of a running your fingers over a candle flame just to see if you would get burnt.

  “You are. And…shit!”

  The fire had gone out, pilot light and all.

  “You can’t relight it without electricity,” Rachael stated dryly.

  “I know! Stupid thermocoupler. If I hadn’t been so busy with this latest account, I would’ve stopped and picked up a new one.”

  “Ah, my fault of course. No, no, I’m not taking the blame for your endless drive to win every account.”

  “I wasn’t blaming you. Now what? We freeze until the power comes back on?”

  “Pretty much. We had a real fireplace and a backup generator for these situations.”

  “Right. And, this Carolina boy doesn’t. Thought I would put that out there for you.”

  “I was trying to hold back, so thanks. Well, we can continue to play fifty questions until we freeze to death.”

  “Sounds fantastic.”

  They continued to answer each other questions for the next few hours, from her never being able to choose a favorite color, to his secret pastime of watching Happy Days reruns, all the little things about them were revealed. Unfortunately, the more things heated up between them, the increasingly colder it got in the room despite the blankets he brought out to cover them with.

  “You are shivering. It’s beyond ridiculously cold in here. We have to do something. Look up survival techniques on the computer.”

  “Very funny, Mr. Chuckles.”