by Odell, Roxie
“No,” he scolded.
“Hmm. Well, in that case.” She grabbed the money and folded it in her hand. “And don’t worry. I’ll never email or text you during a meeting again.”
Derrick gave her buttocks another playful spank, and that gave him pause. “Hmm,” he noted. “We must do more of that, but I’ve really gotta go now.” He put his hands on her face, holding her still so he could kiss her. “I imagine we’ll be done by six, unless…” He trailed off as if he was afraid to finish the sentence.
“Unless?” Corrine coaxed, nothing at all like his ex-wife, who would have already bitten his head off and demanded more cash on top of it.
“Well, sometimes, Gil wants to take everyone out someplace. I can’t exactly refuse if he asks, so I might not see you till after.” He watched as his meaning registered in her eyes.
“So, we may not be having dinner together?” she asked, not exactly sounding disappointed.
“Maybe not. I mean, I’ll try, but…”
“No worries,” she said nonchalantly, but her voice became quite seductive as she finished. “As long as we’ll be sleeping in the same bed.”
“That we will,” he murmured. Even though it would not be all that fun for her to wait around for him, she was a good sport, and that familiar heat warmed his belly as he thought about it.
“You’d better go, right?” she asked, motioning to the clock on the bedside table.
“Shit, yeah,” he said, realizing he was in peril of being late for the meeting.
“Okay,” she said devilishly. “And just to be clear. There will be no pictures coming to you of me in the very hot bathing suit I brought.”
Derrick blinked, suffering over her answer. “Uh, yeah, no,” he stuttered.
“Okay,” she said as she worked to strip. “Just wanna be clear.”
“Damn. If you keep that up, I’m gonna throw this meeting under the bus.” He half-meant it as he watched her divine form unclothe before him.
“Maybe I’ll just have you come meet me. We could have late dessert or something sweet, then take a beach stroll after your business-only dinner.”
“Okay,” he answered with a very dry throat. He loved the idea of her suggestion, something that sounded like a normal date, something far outside the surreal environment of Vegas. Even though the car was waiting for him and he had to go, he approached her in her semi-naked state, wove his arms around her petite waist, and drew her to him. “I’d like that very much,” he said. “It’d be absolutely wonderful. I’ll have my assistant make reservations on the water.”
“Your assistant, from way back in Vegas?” asked Corrine, arching an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” he replied.
“That won’t be necessary, sugar man,” she replied. “I don’t think we need reservations for dessert. Plus, I’ll be there already. I’ll take care of everything.”
He had a tough time walking away from her, even though the deal would offer him an enormous signing bonus. There was a lot of money to be had and that was welcome news after the hit he took with his divorce. The income he made on this deal could be a nest egg he and Corrine could share.
“I’ll try to make it for dinner,” he whispered. “Let’s cross our fingers.”
“Whatever,” she said with a casual shrug. “We’ll make the most of it either way. This trip should be about fun, not stress.”
Whether she knew it or not, she had once again reminded them that they technically had no commitment to one another, that their relationship was still nothing but an affair.
“I hear ya,” he said, rolling his eyes and giving it right back to her. “I’ll be in touch.”
He felt incredibly lonely as he left her to sit through what would probably be the longest meeting of his life. He had warned Corrine not to message him, but he would have killed for one. As it was, all he could do was rely on the images that were firmly planted in his mind. He fantasized about her picture-perfect body in the skimpiest of swimwear, gleaming on the sand under that hot sun. That made it difficult to negotiate terms and conditions and contractors, but he still managed to do his job.
During the meeting, he reminded the team that the Tresor was still a new operation that required his presence, since he usually stayed onsite till all the kinks were firmly ironed out. The thought of traveling back and forth made him anxious, just as anxious as Corrine seemed, so he did his best to convince the new clients that he may have to prioritize differently. He quickly worked out in his head that he could spend half the time he ordinarily would in Los Angeles, with a permanent subordinate in L.A. to oversee. He would fly back and forth regularly but not as often.
Everyone around the table looked at him as if the gods were speaking through him, as if the idea was somehow divinely inspired. It was a bold suggestion, but his boss, Gil Frosh, fully supported it. Derrick formulated the full details of the plan as he spoke, but he was so eloquent that he had them nodding, believing he’d spent days working it all out, even though he was doing so on the fly. Not only that, but his articulate, calm presentation had the investors believing they were getting a more economical deal, whether they really were or not.
He was addicted to Corrine, something he had to admit as soon as he realized that he could be forced to move to L.A. full time. He couldn’t stand being away from her, but he could only manipulate the meeting so much. As was the case with most successful meetings, once the business deal was signed, Gil took everyone out to dinner, and there was an unspoken rule that no spouses or significant others were invited.
Now, it was Derrick’s turn to experience what it was like to receive no responses to his texts. At first, he wondered if she was playing a game with him. This could be a little tit for tat, he thought, assuming she was still miffed about his insistence that she leave him alone during his meetings. She was irked about the rule in the first place, though she understood. This is probably payback.
By nine o’clock, Derrick still had not heard from her, and it was no longer funny to him, if it ever was at all. It was a reality check, and he now knew how nasty it was of him to ignore her the day she’d sent the pictures. Crazy, obsessive, catastrophic thoughts ran through his brain. What if the limo driver kidnapped her? What if they had an accident?
By the time they were ready to order after-dinner drinks, he was very uncomfortable, so he made his excuses and left.
He and Corrine had never discussed it, but he wondered if she had worried about him the way he was now worrying about her. If that was the case, he needed to apologize to her profusely. As soon as he was able, Derrick used his Uber app to call a car, since he didn’t have time to wait for the limo service to come fetch him. He stopped calling Corrine, but he didn’t really know where to look for her so he went back to the hotel first.
He sprinted from the elevator to his room. Fortunately, his strategy to start there paid off. From the doorway of their suite, he saw her long legs stretched out on a lounge chair on the terrace, shaded by the room above them. As he approached, he saw that she’d gotten a lot of sun, perhaps a little too much, since there wasn’t a stitch of clothing on her delicious body. He was turned on but also confused. If she’s been here all this time, why didn’t she answer her phone?
“Hello?” he called tensely.
She lifted her head but didn’t look at him. “In here,” she said, and her low, weak voice set off alarms in him.
Derrick’s insides quaked with panic as he cautiously walked to the terrace. She was so beautiful, a sight to behold, like artwork on display. She looked like a Viking princess just back from a hunt. The only thing missing from the picture was an animal skin to showcase her magnificent body. With her long, sun-kissed hair, she looked like an L.A. native. Californians came in all shapes, sizes, and colors, but she was the quintessential surfer blonde.
She sensed him near, and again, she turned her head groggily. She didn’t greet him with her usual smile, nor did she offer him another word.
“Corrine,
honey,” he began tentatively. “What’s going on?”
She laughed half-heartedly. “You don’t see?” she asked, somewhat timidly. “You’ve got eyes, right?”
He had no idea what she was talking about, and her sarcasm made him anxious. “See what, babe?” he replied.
“I’m burnt to a crisp,” she answered.
He regarded her again and noticed a lot more color than usual, but it didn’t appear to be a bad case of sun poisoning or anything painful. “Uh…”
“How did it happen?” she asked, trying to guess his question.
“No. I was just gonna say you look all right to me, perfectly tanned. I see a little copper but not sunburn.”
“Well, make no mistake about it, I’m fried,” she said, turning her head toward him with an upset look on her face, so intense that she looked as if she might burst into tears.
Derrick was beside himself, and he had no idea what had set her off. He certainly didn’t mean to sound disinterested or, worse, like he was accusing her of being melodramatic or exaggerating, but clearly, he’d said something wrong. “What is it?” he asked in his most soothing tone.
“I’ve ruined our Los Angeles adventure,” she said. “I wanted this to be so much fun, and then I went and did something stupid. I feel like an overdone French fry!”
He chuckled softly. “It’s just a sunburn, angel. That happens in SoCal. Besides, I like gobbling fries all up.”
“See?” she asked, not even laughing at his flirtatious joke. “That’s what I mean. You would have known better. I didn’t realize I was out too long, and now this! I shouldn’t have come.”
“Corrine, it’s okay. You haven’t ruined anything.” He stood over her and looked down on her wondrous, perfect body, nicely colored as it was, except for the paler areas that had been protected by the small slivers of fabric that comprised her sinful bikini. “Would a massage be in order?” He loved the idea of pampering her.
She nodded against her pillow.
“Does it hurt that bad?” he whispered
She nodded again.
Inspired, he put his mouth near her ear, knowing that delicately disturbing her hair would send shivers through her. “So after the masseuse comes and goes,” he said, “we can play with lotion. Ever done that before?”
“No,” she said, reaching for him. “But I think I know all the rules already.”
“Well,” he said seductively. “You can be the lotion-ee first, and I’ll be the lotion-er.”
“Okay,” she replied.
“Are you hungry at all?” he asked.
“Not really,” she said. “I’m too upset to eat, and I don’t even understand why.”
“Leave it to me,” he said.
“I’m actually a little cold,” she confessed with a shiver, rising from the lounge chair and gently sliding her arms into a robe. “I think I’d like to go inside.”
“All right, I’ll just go make the arrangements,” he said.
“Sounds good to me,” she said, assuming he would call for a masseur and perhaps a bite to eat. She appreciated that he always went to great lengths to surprise her, and she tried to do the same for him. At the Tresor, he had the whole staff at his beck and call, but here in Los Angeles, he was not the man in charge, so it seemed even more special that he would go out of his way.
Within twenty minutes, the masseur was knocking on their door, followed by room service with a huge dish of chocolate ice cream.
As Corrine lay on the massage table, with the permission of the masseur, Derrick shared the ice cream with her. He put a couple pillows on the floor and sat on them cross-legged, so he was low enough to spoon feed her through the little face opening in the table. He tried to avoid letting the whole thing get too erotic, but the way her beautiful mouth received the spoonfuls, he could not help being turned on. Everything about her was absolute perfection.
“This is the most decadent experience of my life,” she murmured.
Of course, that seemed to be true about everything they experienced together. After months and months of those intense, rich moments, Derrick wondered if she had reached something of a limit, if that was why she overreacted about the so-called sunburn. Maybe she just needs a little R&R, he thought, knowing that he could stand a little of that, too.
When they finished the ice cream, he set the bowl aside, sat back, and pretended to be a fly on the wall. He did his best to sort out his feelings, all while he watched another man slather his girl with oil and rub his hands all over her hot body. Masseurs never seemed to be unattractive, and this one was no exception, but Derrick tried to go along with it. He couldn’t help wondering, though, what the man was thinking as he pressed into Corrine’s supple flesh, and he was surprised to find that he wasn’t all that jealous.
He contemplated what her former relationship was like. What kind of guy was the man who last had his hands on her? They never spoke much about their exes, except to share that they were glad to be rid of him. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand why any man who was with her would fail to worship and cherish her.
On a superficial level, Corrine was stunning, a statuesque blonde with a classical shape and a body she took amazing care of. She was bright and intelligent, and it appeared that she was making a comfortable living toiling away at her own business. She even had her own place in Paradise, just outside Vegas, and that was not a neighborhood to sneeze at. She was more than exciting in bed, as well as super-intuitive. She was very clear about her needs and wants, and somehow, she made those into his greatest desires. Bearing all that in mind, he couldn’t help but wonder, What more could a guy want?
He sat quietly, still watching the massage and realizing just how lucky he was to have a woman like that in his life in any capacity. He was grateful all over again that a chance encounter in the faulty Tresor elevator had literally thrown her into his arms, changing his life for the better.
He rose from the chair, hoping that would entice the masseur to hurry up. When the man with the bulging muscles finally finished, Derrick tipped him handsomely and was glad to be rid of him. He was more than eager to be alone with Corrine, but he could also see that she needed sleep.
“Feel better?” Derrick asked as he walked back from the door after showing the muscle man out.
“Yeah, I do,” she said groggily. “Thanks.”
“It’s late,” he said, loosening his tie. He had come straight from dinner after an all-day meeting and an early flight, and he was wiped out. He was incredibly thankful he even had the energy to witness her massage, but he would have to wait till morning to hear the story of how the woman from one of the sunniest spots in the country managed to get a sunburn.
He helped her off the table gently, knowing she was suffering from exhaustion as well as burning skin, and they showered together. He gently pressed oils into her skin and washed her hair, till she was practically falling asleep under the water.
She climbed out of the tub and left him to wash off quickly. She curled up on the master bed and was asleep in almost an instant.
As much as he wanted to spoon next to her, and despite his promise that they would share a bed that night, Derrick knew they both needed intense, sound sleep. He smiled at his sleeping beauty once more, then left her to sleep in the second bed in the suite, all alone but with plenty of sweet dreams dancing in his head.
Chapter 18
Despite his very long day before and the long day ahead, Derrick awoke feeling energized. His only complaint was that he was starving, and his stomach was a bit sour from going to bed after devouring too much ice cream.
He got out of bed and threw on his robe, prepared to just go down and grab something. It took a moment for him to realize he was no longer in Vegas and that the restaurants and eateries might still be closed. With that in mind, he opted to make some coffee in the pot the room provided.
Corrine stirred, but she didn’t wake up.
He quickly cracked open a bottle of water from the
mini-fridge and set it on the nightstand next to her. When he instinctively felt her forehead, she blinked. “Hi,” he whispered. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“No, it’s okay,” she said. “I didn’t really sleep much.”
“I’ve got a few more meetings today,” he said, “but I think we’ll tie things up with a big red bow by this afternoon. Would you like to just go home instead of playing tourist tomorrow?”
“I’ll rest today and see how I feel,” she said in an almost depressed tone.
Derrick hated to see her unhappy, so he went into instant fix-it mode, a trick he’d honed during his tumultuous marriage. “What can I do for you?” he asked.
“Nothing.” she said, touching his wrist as he stroked her. “It’s okay.”
“You wanna tell me your story now?” he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed with his coffee.
“What story?” she asked.
“How you got your sunburn,” he said. “What did you do yesterday?”
A strange tension filled the room. It was so intense that he could feel it in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t understand what it was about until she responded.
“It’s a sunburn, Derrick. Obviously, I was out in the sun.”
He shook his head, at a loss. “Okay,” he said. “Look, it’s obvious that you don’t feel well. This isn’t a good time to talk about it.”
“How can you just dismiss me like that?” she squawked. “I’m not a child, damn it!”
“Corrine, it’s just… Well, we just didn’t have a chance to really talk last night. I just wanted to know about your day yesterday, the story behind the sunburn. I’m not trying to challenge you, and I’m sorry if it feels that way.” He truly hadn’t meant to seem insensitive.
She was not the Corrine he knew. Nothing about her up to that point had ever indicated that she had such a touchy side to her, and he’d thought he knew her pretty well. He bit back his quick response and chalked it up to the fact that she was not well, she hadn’t slept well, and her sunburn was making her irritable. He knew it wasn’t just a matter of her not being a morning person because they’d started many a day off together, and she usually was a better wake-up for him than all the caffeine in the world.