Bidding on Her Boss(26)

Minutes later, she was still in his arms, trying to catch her breath.  After her experience of being with this man twice now, she'd come to the  realization that making love with him was nothing short of explosive.

"We did it again," she said, opening one eye to look at him.

He reached for her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers. "Perhaps  it was unreasonable to stay in the same hotel and expect to keep our  hands to ourselves."

She thought back over the evening, at her attempts to resist. "We almost made it."

He laughed. "We nowhere near made it. But at least you're relaxed now."

"You're right," she said and stretched. "And if I tense up in the studio, my happy place is happier than ever."

"Tense up? Then you're not relaxed enough. How about I do something about that..."

He reached for her again and, smiling, she went to him.





      Eleven

Dylan had fallen asleep, sprawled across both the bed and her, but  Faith was wide awake. She wouldn't let herself fall asleep with him.  She'd glimpsed heaven with him tonight, and it had made her face  something.

He wasn't just her happy place. He was more than that.

She was in love with him.

Sleeping in his arms was her idea of paradise, which was why it would  be emotionally reckless. How could she stay ahead of the eight ball and  protect her heart if she indulged herself in sleeping beside Dylan's  warm body? She couldn't let her guard down and lose her independence in  whatever it was they had between them.

From the experience of her childhood, she knew she had a tendency to  become attached more often and more deeply than other people did, and  she'd done it again by falling in love with Dylan. He would be moving on  at some point-people always did-and in the meantime the idea of coming  to rely on him for anything, including letting herself fall into a  routine of sleeping beside him, frightened her witless. Anytime in her  past that she'd started to feel that she belonged somewhere, it had all  been ripped out from under her. The path toward letting herself relax  and get sucked into the belief that this could be permanent held only  heartache.                       
       
           



       

She slipped out from under his arm-pausing when his breathing changed  and he rolled over-and picked up her clothes. After she was dressed, she  grabbed her purse and, with one last look at his sleeping form half  draped by the covers, quietly slipped out of the hotel room.

She checked her watch. Ten past two a.m. The flower market would be  open. She headed down to the lobby and caught a cab. Checking out the  San Diego flower market had been on her list of things to do while she  was here-perhaps not this early in the morning, but she was grateful for  this way of keeping her mind off the man sleeping in her hotel room.  The man she loved.

An hour later, she had a call on her cell from Dylan.

"Where are you?" he asked, his voice raspy from sleep but with an edge of concern.

She covered her other ear with a hand to hear better. "Down at the flower market."

"On your own?" Suddenly he sounded fully awake. "Jesus."

"I wanted to check them out."

There was scuffling on the line as if he was dragging on clothes. "Why didn't you wake me? I would have come with you."

Because that would have defeated the purpose of finding some breathing space. "I'm fine, and you needed the sleep."

"I'll come down there." From his tone, he was already set on his course of action.

"No need," she said quickly. "I was just about to leave." It was true  anyway-she was about done, and she wanted some time back at the hotel  before having to head to the studio.

"Hang tight. I'll send a car for you."

"I can catch a cab."

"The car will be there in a few minutes. I'll call you back as soon as  I've ordered it, and we'll stay on the line till you're back here."

"You know," she said wryly, "this isn't my first visit to a predawn flower market."

"Indulge me."

She sighed. He wasn't going to give up, and in all honesty, it was nice that he was trying to ensure her safety. "Okay."

By the time she made it back to the hotel, Dylan was waiting in the  lobby. He hauled her into his arms and held her until she could barely  breathe.

"Hey," she said. "I need a little air."

He loosened his grip and led her to the bank of elevators. "Sorry. When  I woke and couldn't find you...and then found you were out in the city  in the middle of the night..." He punched the Up button and the doors  swooshed open. Once they were inside and he'd hit the button for her  floor, he gathered her against him again. "I can't remember the last  time I was that scared."

She'd had no idea that he'd be so worried. That he cared that much. She  rested her head against his shoulder and let him hold her. "I'm sorry. I  didn't mean to worry you."

"Tell me honestly." He tilted her chin up so she met his gaze. "Why did you go down to the markets?"

It was as if she could see the universe in the depths of his green  eyes, and in that moment she couldn't lie, not even to protect herself.  "I needed a little space."

A bell dinged and the doors opened. Neither of them said a word until  they were in her room again. Dylan headed straight for the minibar and  grabbed two orange juices. He handed her one, then took a long drink  from the other bottle before asking, "Space from me?"

"From us," she said, choosing her words with care. "Sometimes when I'm with you, it's intense."

He thought about that, putting his juice down and taking hers as well.  Then he found her hands and interlaced their fingers. "What if we  decided to give this thing between us a go? What would you think about  that?"

Her pulse jumped. He cared enough to try? Although it was impossible,  it meant so much that he wanted to. "We can't." She lifted one shoulder  and let it drop. "The fraternization policy."

"Screw the policy," he said without hesitation.

She coughed out a laugh. "It's your company. You can't be that cavalier."

"What's the point of being one of the owners if I can't?"

"You want to change a policy that's doing some good in creating a safe  workplace and protecting staff from unwanted advances, just because you  want to get involved with an employee?"

"Okay, it doesn't sound good when you put it like that. But I want to  spend more time with you. I want us to be together." His eyes were  solemn as he cupped the side of her face with his palm. "Is that what  you want?"                       
       
           



       

Was it what she thought was in her best interests? No. What she thought  would last? No. But he'd asked what she wanted. And she wanted nothing  more than to be with the man she loved, so before she could stop it, a  whispered "yes" slipped from between her lips.

He stepped closer and kissed her forehead tenderly. "Then we'll find a way."

Her heart squeezed tight. He sounded so determined that she didn't have  the heart to say it didn't matter. She'd be moving on. Or he would be.  One of them would leave; it was the way these things worked.

But maybe she could enjoy the time they had together? Just because she  couldn't have forever didn't mean she couldn't have for now.

So she decided to ignore the consequences, and instead nodded and smiled and said, "I'd like that."

* * *

Five weeks later, and Faith's life was going well. Almost too well.  When things fell into place this easily, it often preceded a fall, so  part of her was on guard. The San Diego job was amazing-she'd become  relaxed in front of the camera, and had been getting great viewer  feedback on her segments. And spending more time with Dylan was her very  favorite part of each day.

She was just shoving a vegetable lasagna in the oven when her cell  rang. Dylan was due in about half an hour for dinner, so it was probably  him letting her know he was leaving the office. Since the first trip to  San Diego, they'd fallen into a pattern of spending more time together,  usually at his place. They'd order takeout, maybe watch a movie, then  make love, and she'd slip out and head home afterward, determined to  keep her vow of not getting used to sleeping next to his warm body.

Tonight was the first time she'd agreed to have him visit her  apartment. Things had been going so well, she'd let her guard slip and  agreed when he'd suggested it. Her stomach was a tight ball of nerves as  she wondered how she'd cope when she couldn't leave during the night.  Which, of course, was probably why Dylan had suggested it...

She pulled the oven mitts off and grabbed her cell, but it was an unknown number on the screen.