He felt her head move up and down in an affirmative answer. “Good. Now, hurry up with your war paint. I’m hungry.”
After brushing a kiss on the top of her head, he released her and retreated. It may have been too soon to exert that type of dominance on her, but she still seemed to have doubts that when he said something, he meant it. He only hoped that little spanking wouldn’t undo all the forward progression he felt they had been making toward being a long-term couple.
Chapter Seven
Being in the same room with Geo during the next two days’ meetings but not being able to hold his hand or cuddle with him was hard. Thankfully, the women who wanted to talk with her, meet her, and hug her kept her attention diverted just enough that she did not attack anyone who was flirting with her man. At the meals, there always seemed to be an empty seat beside her that Geo managed to claim, even for a few minutes before he had to return to his duties as host.
Those moments were the most trying of all, at least for Sunny. She was appalled at herself when her body fought to move closer to Geo. She wanted to move into his lap and cuddle with the man. Her pussy grew damp and ready at the scent of his cologne. She felt the hard, protective casing around her heart melt a little more each time his gaze met hers and he gave her a smile and a wink. Not the fake smile he used with most of the women. This one was real. And just for her.
At least she hoped it was. But with so many people around them both, it was difficult to tell.
Then there were the times when they left the ballroom at the same time. She was not sure if it was Geo following her or not, but every time she stepped out of the bathroom, there he was, as if waiting for her. He would then take her hand and pull her into the men’s room. Then, pushing the door closed, he would crowd her against it and give her a much-needed kiss and cuddle.
It always seemed too short when he pulled back with a sigh. “Thanks, I needed that.” Then he would open the door, check to make sure no one was in sight, and then lead her back to the ballroom where they parted. She would always return and see him come in a different door a few minutes later.
Saturday afternoon, after the last formal meeting, she took her time heading to the elevator to allow everyone else to use it before she got there. She was tired from smiling and talking and being polite. She needed some alone time to try to get herself back under control, but did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings to get it.
Stepping into the empty elevator, she sighed and felt her shoulders unknot just a bit. Geo stepped in just as the doors were closing. He smiled as he moved to stand beside her. Once the doors slid closed and the car began to move, he turned and backed her into the corner.
“I’ve been wantching you all day.”
“Wantching? I don’t know what that is.”
He leaned closer, his voice dropping an octave and setting her pussy to weeping with need. “Would you prefer I said watchning?”
Sunny’s need to be alone vanished in a puff of smoke as her hands moved to the waistband of his jeans. She smiled and licked her lips before responding, “I don’t know what that means, either.”
He shifted them so her back was to the wall instead of the corner. Then he moved in closer. His voice dropped even further as he leaned in until his lips were an inch from hers. “They mean the same thing. I’ve been watching and wanting you all day.”
Brushing his lips back and forth over hers, he took the hand not holding her briefcase, and pulled it to the front of his jeans. Then he pressed her palm over his hard-as-granite erection. “See?”
Her heart picked up speed as her eyes went wide. “Oh, my,” she managed to breathe as her entire face grew warm. “I like it. I’ve been wantching you all day, too.”
Before he could respond further, the elevator stopped its upward motion. He stepped back just as the doors slid open. With a smirk, Geo half bowed with a flourish of one hand. “After you.”
Seeing someone outside waiting to use the elevator, Sunny dropped her head and hurried out of the car. She did not make it far. Someone grabbed her arm, and jerked her to a stop. Looking up, she found herself face-to-face with Gigi, the one person she had worked to avoid.
Gigi studied her for a moment before looking over her shoulder at Geo. “What the hell? Are you okay, Sunny?”
“I’m fine. Nothing happened,” Sunny assured her, giving her a smile of nervous bravado.
Gigi looked at her with narrowed eyes for a few more seconds before releasing her arm. “Bullshit.”
Sunny watched helplessly as Gigi turned to her brother. “What did I tell you?”
Geo crossed his arms and grinned down at her. “Smile, be nice to the ladies, and don’t be naked with any of them.”
“Sunny, could you please leave us. I have a few choice words to share with my brother, and I don’t want to embarrass you.”
Sunny looked from the obviously angry woman to Geo, who met her gaze with a sexy grin and a wink. “It’s okay, baby girl. I’ll be right along.”
Nerves jangling, she turned and headed to her room. She could feel Geo watching her retreat. Not sure why she did it, she added a little extra twitch to her hips as she walked away. She did not stop until she reached her room.
* * * *
Geo could not help but grin as his beautiful Sunflower walked away with her head up and shoulders back. She looked like a different woman than the one he had met at the airport. Amazing what a couple of days could do. Finally, he turned his attention to his sister. “You wanted to say something to me?”
“Leave her the fuck alone.” Gigi practically growled the words, and he could see something serious had upset his sister.
But this was his woman they were talking about, and the last thing he planned on doing was leaving her alone At least not until they had been married for twenty or thirty years. Then maybe he would be able to let her out of his sight for more than a few hours.
“Isn’t that for her to decide?” Geo fought to hold on to his patience. He needed to walk away as the temptation to slap his sister grew hard and fast. Turning his thoughts to more pleasant things, he wondered if he could talk Sunny into another go-round of rodeo rider before dinner.
Gigi took a deep breath and stared off into space for long, long seconds. Finally, she released the breath on a sigh. “Sunny has had a series of bad relationships. The last thing she needs is a three-day affair with a man who will probably forget her name before she gets on the airplane home. Leave her alone. If you really can’t go three nights without a woman, choose one of the sweet young things who know how the game is played. Sunny doesn’t understand the game and can’t handle the consequences. Especially right now.”
While Geo applauded Gigi’s gumption, her suggestion that he only wanted Sunny for a night or two offended him. “And what makes you think I’ll let her go after the conference is over?”
Gigi looked too serious. “Sunny has serious things to deal with at home. Besides, you’re my brother. And while I love you, I know you’re a rogue. You’ve never dated one woman for more than a couple of months at a time. Sunny needs a man who will give her more than a couple of nights of hot sex. She’s a dented toy, and you playing with her, then tossing her aside could shatter what’s left of her heart. Please, do me and her a favor. Just leave her the hell alone.”
Taking a breath, Geo looked at his sister, his expression deadly serious. “Sunny is different than any other woman I have ever met. She’s special. I knew it when I read her books, and that feeling has grown stronger since the moment I met her at the airport. Please do me a favor and back the fuck off.”
Having said his piece, Geo turned and walked away, not stopping until he reached his door. Once there he took several breaths to calm down before he slid his key into the lock. He needed to calm down. He could not have his disagreement with Gigi affecting his growing relationship with sweet, sweet Sunflower.
Closing and locking the door behind him, he headed straight for the connecting door. “Sunflower?”
She stepped out of the bathroom. “Did you get in trouble?”
He smiled as he crossed to her and pulled her close for a hug. “All is well, baby girl. Gigi was just being her usual pain in my ass.”
* * * *
Sunny was not sure what to think when Geo did not strip them both naked and ease the erection that was pushing hard at the zipper of his jeans. The men in her past would have done that without a second thought. Instead, Geo released her long enough to pull off his boots. Then he took her hand and led her across the room to the bed she had pulled together earlier.
“Lose whatever isn’t comfortable,” he said as he pulled the covers back.
Since she was already barefoot, Sunny thought a moment before shucking off her slacks before crawling into bed. She turned just in time to see Geo drop his jeans, leaving him in a pair of rainbow-striped briefs and his convention T-shirt.
“Cute shorts,” she said with a smirk.
“Thanks,” he said, turning a circle to show her all sides before joining her and pulling the covers up over them both.
He settled on his back, then positioned her beside him with her head on his chest.
“So, what are we doing?” she asked after nearly a minute when she could not take the silence any longer.
“We’re being quiet and relaxing, maybe even taking a nap,” he said, his voice deep and rumbling through his chest. “Now, close your eyes and rest.”
Sunny took a deep breath and held it for a count of five before slowly blowing it out again. She tried to relax, tried to rest, tried to be still as Geo was. The only problem was her brain refused to stop racing, and her body wanted sex, not sleep. Focusing on breathing slow and deep, she forced herself to lie still so Geo could enjoy this downtime even if all she was doing was growing more tense and frustrated.
“Tell me a story,” Geo murmured as the hand connected to his arm wrapped around her shoulders and began to slowly slide up and down.
He sounded half-asleep, or maybe that was just because he was fully relaxed, while her body pulsed with the crazy amounts of energy she had picked up over the last two days. This was one of the reasons she spent so much time alone. No matter how hard she tried to shield against other people’s energy, she could not protect herself. It didn’t matter whether they radiated joy and excitement, or fear, anger and hatred, she absorbed it all.
Sunny swallowed hard before asking, “What kind of story?” She figured he would want to hear about what she was currently working on.
He surprised her when he said, “Tell me the story of Sunflower, and what she wants the rest of her life to be like.”
Sunny stared across his chest as she thought about his request. What did she want the rest of her life to be like? She had come so far from the little girl whose father had told her she could not be a writer when she grew up, and that she needed practical skills to survive in the world.
When she did not immediately speak, he said, “Once upon a time there was a beautiful woman named Sunflower…” to get her started.
Sunny could not help but smile. He sounded like a child asking for a made-up story all for his very own. “Once upon a time there was a woman named Sunflower who was so shy she sometimes had a hard time leaving her house to go to the grocery store,” she began, changing the words to better fit the truth she knew about herself.
She felt Geo relax as she made up a future life full of all the things she had wished to be since being a young child. A life full of outrageous fun, daring adventures, and contentment with one man who loved her and only her. A life where her wide-open, unshielded, empathic nature did not make her a hermit for fear of having meltdowns in public, or embarrassing other people. A life where there was a man beside her, loving her, caring for her, letting her care for him.
As she continued talking, she revealed the deepest, most sacred secrets of her heart, her voice dropping to a whisper. Tears filled her eyes and slowly overflowed, burning their way across her cheek to be absorbed by Geo’s shirt as she described a future so much better than what she had lived to this point.
She knew the dreams she was speaking, about touring the world and writing a book in each state and the half dozen countries she wanted to visit, would never come true. She had a better chance of becoming a New York Times best-selling author with her next ten books than to actually make good on any of the things she had just shared.
She ended her story with the biggest, most heartfelt and secret wish of all. “And on Monday when she got home after falling in love with the wrong man, Sunflower learned that the tumor was benign, and she would not have to have a hysterectomy and someday she would have children. The end.”
As she finished, she did not notice Geo’s eyes were open, and he was staring at the ceiling with a slight frown creasing his brow.
Feeling drained after sharing all her secrets and dreams, Sunny closed her eyes, and drifted into the special place halfway between awake and asleep. That magical place where all her best story ideas were born.
Chapter Eight
Saturday evening, at the farewell dinner, Geo had a hard time keeping away from Sunny. All he wanted to do was sweep her up and carry her away, from his sister who watched them both like a hawk, from the conference, from the hotel. He wanted to take her to his ranch, to keep her safe from the world, and her own body. He knew she did not realize he had heard every word she had spoken. If she did, she would be mortified at sharing such a weakness.
Just after dinner was served, he cornered Gigi. “I quit. And won’t be around tomorrow for the farewell breakfast. And neither will Sunny.”
Gigi stared at him for a long moment. “What’s going on?”
“She needs some downtime without a crowd around before she goes home.”
Gigi half turned and stared across the empty ballroom with a dozen tables covered with beer bottles and wine glasses. “Be gentle with her. And she cannot miss her plane home tomorrow afternoon.”
Geo huffed a laugh. “I’ll treat her like she’s spun glass, sister,” he responded before turning on one heel. Looking around the room, he found his sweet Sunflower sitting alone at a table at the back of the room, looking tired and stressed. She still wore the denim skirt, boots, and a deep red front-button sweater she had worn all day.
Making a quick trip up to their rooms where he grabbed jackets for them both, his car keys, and the rest of the condoms, he then stopped at the valet stand before returning to the ballroom. She had not moved, so he circled around the edge of the room and laid a hand on her shoulder.
When she looked up at him, she smiled. “Hello there.”
“Ready to blow this pop stand?” he asked in his worst gangster accent as he pulled her out of her chair.
She laughed and looked around to see if anyone would notice his bold actions. “Doesn’t Gigi still hold your leash for the evening?”
“Nope, I snapped the leash,” he said, keeping their hands linked as he pulled her along behind her toward one of the exits. He was pleased she followed without question or complaint until they reached the valet stand.
“And where are you taking me?”
“Someplace quiet and private where we can be alone,” he answered as the valet pulled his truck to a stop in front of them. “Trust me?”
His heart clenched as she looked back the way they had come, then slowly turned and looked up at him. “Always,” she said with a smile. “But since I missed your show the other night, do you think I can get a private performance? And I can’t be gone all night. I need to pack and get to the airport for my flight home.”
He smiled as he reached for the passenger door. “Don’t worry, you’ll be back in plenty of time to pack and check out and get to the airport.”
After helping her into the truck, he climbed into the driver’s seat, and they were off. “Lie down and try to get some rest, baby girl. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
He smiled with satisfaction when she smiled, then settled down across th
e bench seat, resting her head on his thigh. Driving with one hand, he moved the other to her shoulder and gently massaged muscles that were tight as drumheads.
“Sleep, Sunflower. I’ll keep you safe,” he murmured softly.
* * * *
An hour later, Geo turned off the main road onto a dirt road. He drove another mile until he was sure they were alone before turning the truck around and parking, so they were just off the track and headed back to the main road. “Wake up, baby girl. We’re here.”
* * * *
It took a moment before Sunny realized she had indeed fallen asleep, though with Geo’s thigh as a pillow, she had been surprisingly comfortable. He helped her up, and she looked around, not sure if she should be relieved or worried that they were, indeed, quite alone.
“Where are we?” she asked, looking around. There was nothing to see except rolling hills covered in grass, what looked like a small pond off in the distance, and an endless sky full of stars. The full moon hung over, illuminating everything, except there was not that much to see.
“We’re away from the craziness of the city, in a place where you are safe and alone and can hopefully relax and unwind before you have to deal with going home tomorrow,” he said.
Before she could ask anything further, he had reached into the back of the cab and pulled out a large canvas bag. Then he opened his door and climbed out. She followed, more intrigued by his plans for their evening than frightened that she did not know where she was or how to get home again.
The Shy Girl and the Stripper (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 6