Oh, it was too soon; she was busy basking in the afterglow of mind-blowing, orgasmic sex to think about being shown the door. As long as there was a storm outside, she was safe. Like it or not, Stephen was stuck with her for as long as the weather continued to rage. If this is what they could do to pass the time waiting out the storm, Holly thought that she could live a hundred lifetimes with the wind and rain!
Finally, Stephen answered her, kissing her forehead lightly. “I don’t think amazing even begins to cover it.” Holly felt relief at his words and only hoped that her sigh didn’t give her away. “How about instant oatmeal for breakfast?” he joked.
She chuckled and settled in comfortably beside him. Stephen hugged her close and within minutes, they both fell asleep for peace had finally come.
Chapter Six
The rest of the night was a haze of passion. Holly lost count of how many times they had awakened and reached for one another. Some time around dawn, they had finally reached an agreement that sleep was necessary. There was something to be said for sleeping in the biggest bed she had ever seen and in the arms of the man who had turned her simple life upside down.
There was no place else she would rather be.
Stephen would have liked to say that it was awkward having someone in his bed, but it wasn’t. He never brought his former lovers to his home, to his bed, because he never wanted them to get the wrong idea and expect more from him than he had been willing to give, especially after seeing the size of his home. But yet again, Holly had proved to be the exception to the rule. Here was just another example of her fitting in to his life when he least expected it. He wanted to argue it out in his head because he had majorly complicated everything. He should have never touched her; if he had controlled himself, he’d still have his assistant and his business would go on unaffected. That wasn’t the case now. But then again, was now really the time to be thinking about business when he had a sexy, naked woman sleeping beside him?
Definitely not.
A glance at the bedside clock told Stephen that it was a little after nine o’clock. He should still be asleep as Holly was; hell, they should sleep all day after the night they had shared but old habits die hard and he found himself wide awake.
Looking at the woman beside him, Stephen knew he should let her sleep. Yet there was desire raging through him again with the need to wake her and experience her again. Forcing himself from the bed, he walked quietly over to his closet and found a pair of jeans to throw on before leaving the room. He stood for a long while in the doorway just looking at Holly sleeping in his bed and finding it oddly soothing just knowing that she was there.
Descending the stairs, he headed for the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee and to check on the status of the weather. It wasn’t long before it was obvious that not much had changed outside, well, at least nothing except the fact that he had two trees down in the far corner of the yard and that there were several others that would most likely soon follow suit. Stephen made a mental note to find the number of his landscaper and alert him to the damage.
The wind continued to whip and a sudden chill came over him. It was almost as if it were destiny that this weekend played out the way that it did and yet it still left him with no real answers. Yes, Holly was here and yes, what had happened last night had been amazing but what did it all mean for the future? He hated himself for even putting Ballinger’s in to the equation. What kind of bastard did that make him for selfishly thinking about his business before considering Holly and her feelings?
What would Holly be feeling this morning? He knew that she had been just as eager and giving as he had all through the night, but in the light of day, how was she going to view things? God he was dreading the conversation that they were going to have to have. Over the course of the weekend they had been forced to have more personal discussions than they had had over the last three years that they had worked together and it was beginning to grate on him.
There had never been a woman in his life that he took interest in enough to have deep discussions with about feelings or the future and suddenly here was this woman, this amazing woman, who was suddenly making him have to have these talks. Hell, he was no good at this; how was he supposed to tell Holly what he was thinking about without sounding like a world-class ass? ‘Last night was amazing and I’d really like for us to do it again but…could you please stay on working for me? We’ll just keep the sex part a secret.’ Sure, that would go over real well! Dammit, why did he have to let his control slip? Why did it all have to work out this way, this weekend? It was if the universe was plotting against him.
Destiny or plotting? He snorted. Take your pick. All Stephen knew was that he wanted his cake and to eat it too. Hmm…the thought of cake found his stomach rumbling and he walked over to the refrigerator to contemplate breakfast. A slow smile crept across his face at the thought of bringing Holly breakfast in bed. She would certainly be surprised and thankful. His smile grew. And if she were thankful, she’d want to thank him – preferably in the same manner as they had been together all night long and then they could put off any discussions of what it all meant and work and everything else for a while longer.
Geez, he really was a bastard. Now he was trying to use food and sex to distract her. When had he become this kind of man? He was beginning to feel like Derek. Now there was a man who was a complete bastard where women were concerned and Stephen had always sworn that he would never be that guy. And now here he was and feeling awful about it. Derek often talked of his conquests and how he manipulated women in to giving him what he wanted through sex and then when he was done, he could walk away without blinking an eye. Stephen knew it would be hard if and when Holly walked away, but not hard enough that he was thinking of doing anything permanent about it, was he?
Was Holly looking for anything permanent? She knew him better than anybody and with that she also knew that he never took any relationship seriously. Would she think that she was the exception to the rule? Did she want to be the exception to the rule? For all he knew, she could be dreaming of the long-term after last night and thinking that this meant that they were in love and would get married, then what would he do? Holly never talked about wanting to get married but then again, they’d never had any conversations about her personal life until yesterday. Damn. What if she was thinking marriage? Could he go that far to keep her from leaving his life all together?
It certainly wouldn’t be a hardship to be married to Holly. Hell, they were together all of the time already. Fourteen hour days at the office topped off by nights of incredible love making like they’d had last night sounding pretty tempting. It was almost too tempting to not think about.
Derek would mock him seriously and Will would question his sanity. Married? No one would ever truly believe that confirmed bachelor Stephen Ballinger was even considering the idea of marriage. Was it too cold blooded of him to think of using it as an excuse to keep Holly at his side? Was it better to let her go after this one, fantasy-worthy weekend? None of this brought him any closer to knowing what to do. Shaking his head with resignation, Stephen went about gathering food out of the refrigerator and making that breakfast for Holly. He wouldn’t think about her gratitude or how she would express it; he would do the decent thing and merely focus on feeding the woman who was a guest in his home.
Deciding upon French toast for today, he took out the bread, eggs and milk and after another glance around decided on some bacon, as well. He was busily cracking eggs and pouring milk when Holly found him in the kitchen.
She had woken up not long after Stephen had left the room and that big bed had felt even bigger when she was alone in it. To say that she was relieved to have some time alone would be an understatement. Never, in her wildest dreams, could she have imagined such a night! The passion that had exploded between them had been amazing. It was hard to comprehend how it had just happened, how they had kept their obvious attraction for one another so well guarded that it never had the ch
ance to be explored until now.
But the sky had been dark then and it was so obviously day time now. True, there was still a storm outside, and if she were honest, she’d admit that there was still a storm raging inside of her. One night with Stephen Ballinger was not enough. She was prepared for the reality that this weekend would probably be all that they had. Stephen was not in to relationships and whether she stayed on working for him or not, that wasn’t going to change.
A frown came across her face as the thought of work crossed her mind. No, the decision had been made; there was no way that she could go on working with him and pretending that this weekend never happened. Of course, there was the possibility of continuing the physical part of their relationship – something that she had never considered before – but now, after experiencing a night of passion like they had, she’d almost be willing to do it.
Of course, she could be getting ahead of herself here. There was a very real possibility that Stephen was regretting their night and looking for a way to get Holly out of there as soon as possible. The man really did only care about business and what happened, what began here in this very kitchen could very well have merely been something to pass the time. He was probably used to having women come and go – just a body to satisfy a need. If that were the case, Holly would be okay with it; at least to his face. She’d wait to cry and scream and wail until she got back home and to her own life. Heck, she’ll have a lot of time for that now that she was essentially unemployed.
She almost groaned out loud in frustration but decided that she had to face whatever was to come. Clearing her throat, she breezed in to the kitchen. “I’m going to have to think about building an ark if I’m ever going to get home,” she said cheerily, walking directly to the coffee maker and pouring them both their mugs. She looked over her shoulder at a shirtless Stephen and smiled. “Got any spare wood around?”
Stephen stopped dipping the thick slabs of bread in the egg mixture and placed his hands on the butcher block counter and laughed. “I’ve got a couple of trees down. Maybe you can use them.”
Holly walked across the kitchen and handed him his coffee. “I guess a raft might work…plus, I wouldn’t have to worry about finding stray animals to take with me.” With twinkling eyes, she met his and froze. That was all it took; she read the passion in his eyes as clearly as he had read it in hers. But unlike the night before, they were both a bit on the cautious side and decided to fight the temptation and try to maintain some sense of normalcy.
Clearing his throat and resuming the task of preparing the French toast, Stephen said, “Did you sleep okay?” It seemed like such a stupid question. He knew exactly how she’d slept – entangled limbs, sweet sighs, and hot kisses – all right next to him. But, trying to feel her out, he wanted to try and keep things simple.
“Fine,” she replied. “And you?”
“Just fine. I, uh…I hope I didn’t wake you when I got up. I tried to be quiet.”
Smiling, she said, “You were fine. I’m not used to sleeping late – especially two mornings in a row.” She looked around at what he was doing. “Can I help you with anything?”
Within minutes they were preparing breakfast together, chatting about the weather and what they had worked on with the Gideon project the night before. Stephen kept waiting for the awkward part, but it never came. He waited for the feeling of being suffocated to take over him, but it didn’t. Looking at Holly, he was almost willing her to make some unreasonable demand of marriage, but that never came either!
Sitting there listening to Holly chatter on about a camping trip that she had gone on as a teenager where it had rained like this, and how she’d had to canoe out of the park should have held his interest. Smiling and nodding when he thought appropriate, Stephen couldn’t help but be annoyed. He wasn’t sure, however, who he was more annoyed with, her or himself. They were two, mature adults, weren’t they? The very essence of their relationship had changed last night and neither one of them seemed to want to even discuss it!
With each bite of French toast his annoyance grew. Honestly, Holly should be the one to be making a fuss this morning about the whole thing. After all, Stephen had, for all intents and purposes, fired her so that he could sleep with her! Shouldn’t that be bothering her? You’d think that she’d be all freaked out and in ‘let’s discuss this’ mode. But was she? No! It seemed that she was just as content with sitting there sharing camp-fire stories as anything else! He’d dealt with hysterical women before; the kinds that weep and sob and want to either know where the relationship was going or why it was ending. Why wasn’t she demanding? Although, shouldn’t he be relieved that Holly wasn’t doing any of that? Wouldn’t it be better if there wasn’t any drama?
Dammit, he should be but he wasn’t. Did she think that he wasn’t good enough to have a relationship with? Placing his napkin down on the table after wiping his mouth, Stephen decided that he’d had enough idle chit-chat.
“…If it were up to me, I’d be happy to never see it rain again,” Holly was saying brightly. She finished the last of her coffee and noticed the seriously intent way that Stephen was watching her. “Is something wrong?”
“Wrong? What could possibly be wrong?” he asked defensively, standing to start clearing the dishes in what eerily resembled the day before. “I mean, we’re sitting here having a perfectly normal breakfast together, sharing childhood stories, blah, blah, blah…” He turned his back on her to place his dishes in the dishwasher and then began clearing the food away that he had left out on the counter.
“Breakfast was wonderful and I guess I’m just not understanding what the problem is here.” Thoroughly confused, Holly began clearing her own dishes and when she was standing beside him, Stephen took her by the shoulders and forced her to face him. It hit him that she was wearing his robe and in his quick movement, the front pulled open, revealing that she was naked underneath by the expanse of cleavage that was showing. His throat went dry.
“The problem is that I’m wondering what in the hell I’m supposed to do!” He practically shoved her away and raked a hand through his hair. “We just spent the night together for the first time and yet we just sat here like it was an everyday occurrence over breakfast!”
Well, she had wanted to know where she stood, it looked as if she was about to find out. “You know, it’s not as if we were strangers, Stephen. We’ve had breakfast together almost every day for three years. Granted, we weren’t half naked while we were doing it but this is hardly a new thing!” She gave a mirthless laugh before continuing, “You know, I should have figured you’d react this way.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I knew you would resent having me here. I’m sure that normally the women that you sleep with are up and gone before you have to even make breakfast. Well I’m sorry; if the weather would just clear up, I’d be gone!” She turned to storm out of the room but he grabbed her by the upper arm and spun her back around.
“You think you know it all, don’t you? Well, you don’t. For starters, no woman has ever spent the night in this house. You’re the first. Secondly, I don’t mind that you’re here; I asked you to stay and I’m fine with you staying until the storm passes. Hell, I don’t even mind making breakfast for you. What I do mind is sitting here making mindless conversation when all I can think about is making love with you again!” Not waiting for a response, he pulled her to him again and kissed her, long and hard and thoroughly so she had no doubt in her mind that he wanted her.
There was no hesitation this time. Holly clung to him, running her hands up and down his back, keeping him close. Impatiently, Stephen reached between them and untied the robe that was wrapped around her. Pushing it off of her shoulders, he pulled back to look at her. She was staggeringly beautiful.
There was no time to wait, no time to walk up the stairs, it had to be now. He lifted her and placed her on the granite counter top behind her; careful to keep the robe under her to protect her fro
m the coolness of it. She gasped at the sudden move but quickly recovered and pulled his mouth back to hers while he pushed away his jeans. In seconds he was there, inside of her. It was heady to know that he could bring out this passion in her; his normally cool and composed assistant was no where to be seen.
He kissed her mouth, her neck, her breasts; each eliciting different sounds and cries of pleasure from her. She was a feast that he could not get enough of and if the way she was clawing at his back was any indication, Holly felt the same way. It was all consuming, blinding and frantic and soon Stephen felt her tightening around him, her tell-tale quickening of breath that made him feel more masculine that anything else in the world. He held back long enough to watch her come hard before allowing himself to do the same.
Breathing ragged, Holly draped over Stephen, her head on his shoulder, like a rag doll. “If we had breakfast together like this every day we’d never get any work done,” she mused. Stephen chuckled lightly and agreed. He helped her down from the counter top and righted the robe that was hanging off of her.
“You okay?” he asked. Holly merely hummed a reply and went to lean against him again, her arms wrapping around his middle. He liked it. That one simple move made him feel ten feet tall. He was treading into dangerous territory here. With every little movement, every word, every gesture, Holly was beginning to take hold of a part of his life that was off limits to everyone. He had to take some action to stop it from happening if for no other reason than to wait until he knew for sure what she was thinking.
In the Eye of the Storm Page 7