FOREVER MINE(4)
A smile touched his lips from corner to corner. “I appreciate that.” He leaned back in his chair. “So, did you decide on a day for the party?”
She glared at him a little tiffed. The least he could have done was ask how she was doing. She could kick herself for even caring. The reason they were meeting today was strictly business…sort of. As long as she thought it was for business then she couldn’t think about how it would feel to wrap her tongue around his again.
“How does February fourteenth sound as a day for the party?” she asked.
He stood to pull out his BlackBerry and then shook his head. “Not good. That’s Brandy and Grey’s wedding anniversary, and I recall Grey saying he planned on taking Brandy away for the weekend. If we have it that night then they won’t be able to attend.”
Sonya nodded. Brandy Masters was a close friend of Carla’s and she knew Carla would want to have her there. “Okay, what about the following weekend? Do you think that will work?”
He checked his BlackBerry again and then glanced back at her as he sat down. “Yes, I think that will work.”
“Good. I’ll check with Amber to make sure she and Cord don’t have anything planned for that weekend as well.” Amber was another one of Carla’s close friends. Brandy, Carla and Amber met when the three joined a professional group of businesswomen called Savvy Sistahs Who Mean Business.
Sonya thought she had come a long way upon hearing the two women’s name. There had been a time, back in the day, when Carla was just forming friendships with Brandy and Amber that Sonya had gotten jealous of their friendship. Now she considered Brandy and Amber her friends as well.
“What about the guest list?” she asked. “How many people we invite will determine where we would want to have the party. I can talk to Brandy to see if the ballroom of the St. Laurent is available for that night.”
Brandy and her husband Grey owned a five star hotel on Sand Lake Road, right off the interstate. A year ago they had left the running of it to the hotel manager and had moved to Atlanta to open a Bed and Breakfast. When that proved successful they had opened several other Bed and Breakfast inns in other major cities and had built three additional hotels in Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles. Now the couple was back and had made Orlando their permanent home.
“Good point,” Mike said, thinking. “What do you think? I suggest it just be a cozy affair and invite only their closest friends.”
“I agree. In that case the St. Laurent would be too large. We could have it at my place…or even yours. It’s bigger than mine.”
He lifted a brow. “How do you know that? You’ve never been to my place.”
She shrugged. “When you moved in last year, Carla mentioned what a nice and spacious condo you had purchased.”
“Oh.”
She had hated admitting she and Carla discussed him at times. “But you don’t need to feel obligated to have it at your place,” she decided to add.
“It’s no problem, but I suggest you come by and check it out to make sure the set up will work for whatever you have in mind.”
“That sounds like a good idea. When can I drop by?”
“Anytime. I’ll be home later this afternoon if that will work.”
“It will.”
“Good.”
“Now what about lunch? I’m starving.”
“Sorry,” she said getting to her feet. “But I can’t stay. My lunch hour is almost up.”
He glanced up at her. “That’s why you should come to work for me. I’m very flexible with my employees’ time.”
He had offered her a job at his company before, when he’d first opened his East Coast office. There was no way she could work for him. They would take the concept of sexual harassment to a whole other level. “Thanks but no thanks. I’ll see you later. And I promise to call before I come over today.”
“You don’t have to.”
“But I will.”
“Suit yourself.”
She started to say something snappy and then thought better when she glanced over at the table of women-the ones that had been mooning over Mike earlier-and saw looks of envy in their eyes. She could be a real nice person and stop at the table on her way out, tell them he was free, he wasn’t hers, and they could have him. But another part of her just couldn’t be that nice.
* * *
Mike watched Sonya leave the restaurant and continued watching her as she crossed the parking lot to her car. The woman had a walk that did something to his libido with every step she took.
“Would you like a menu, sir?”
He glanced up at the waiter. It was on the tip of his tongue to say what he really wanted was Sonya Morrison, in his bed, naked, on her back while he dragged his mouth over every inch of her body, before finally getting to the part he craved the most, her most feminine part.
“Sir?”
He was jolted back to reality. “Yes, thanks. I would like a menu.”
Three
Sonya had no idea why she’d felt compelled to go home after work, take a shower and change clothes before going to Mike’s place. What she should have done, she thought, as she walked up to his front door, was to do what she’d originally planned and stop by on her way home from work. But no, for some reason she wanted to look and feel fresh.
She glanced down at herself. She might feel fresh but she looked like a hoochie. A sophisticated hoochie at that. When was the last time she wore a mini skirt with killer heels? And her blouse–praise God–was so short that a section of her belly was showing, openly displaying her navel ring. At least her stomach was flat and firm and wasn’t hanging out.
Just what was she trying to prove? That if you had it you should flaunt it? Well, with the length of her skirt, if she had to bend over Mike was liable to see it all. At least the little she had under it. She had even pulled out her skimpiest pair of panties. And all for what?
To get a rise out of Mike, what else?
Besides, she liked seeing his vivid blue eyes turn a deep, sharp navy because of her. And for some reason she wanted to see how tight his control was. That was one thing she’d never had the courage to test. But tonight, she would.
She pressed his doorbell and seconds later his voice came through the intercom system by the door. “Who is it?”
She lifted a brow. To her way of thinking, he sounded rather breathless. She shrugged, thinking it was her imagination. “It’s Sonya.”
“Punch in 50799 and come on in. I’m in the exercise room. First door down the hall on your right.”
She punched in the numbers on his keypad and turned the handle and the door opened. She walked into what had to be the biggest foyer she’d ever seen. Her parents’ had owned an extravagant home but this one pretty much took the icing off the cake and it was only a condo.
Sonya made it to the living room, glanced around, and decided she didn’t need to take a tour of Mike’s home to know it would be the perfect place to host the party. The layout was wonderful. The living room was massive and the location of the kitchen would be great for the caterers. Where she stood she could see enough of his kitchen, especially the sparkling stainless steel appliances, to know it would work out just fine.
“Sonya? You’re inside?”
“Yes,” she called back to Mike and began walking down a hall. She turned and walked into the room. Her stomach immediately knotted and breathing suddenly took an effort; a big effort.
He was lying on his back on a weight bench, wearing nothing more than what was equivalent to a pair of boxers and lifting barbells that seemed too heavy for even King Kong to lift. But he was doing so…easily and each time he did, the muscles in his thighs seem to tighten, become more prevalent. She wondered what area on his body he was trying to firm up since he seemed taut all over. One particular body part came to mind and she wished her thoughts hadn’t gone there.
And to top it off, he was sweating. Profusely. She was tempted to replace the towel he had slung over one piece of equipment and just lap the wetness from his body. She frowned. When had she ever thought of doing such a thing to a man? She must really be in a bad way. Fourteen months without sex was finally taking its toll, making her loony.
“I’ll be with you in a minute,” he said in that same breathless voice she’d heard over the intercom earlier. I just need to do a few more.”
“Take your time,” she found her voice to say. But she didn’t add. I’ll just stand here and watch while my panties get soaked and my nipples swell to the size of miniature melons. She would love the feel of him drawing one of them into his mouth.
Deciding standing there watching him was too much torture, she finally glanced around and saw what a nice exercise room he had and all the equipment it contained. Why bother with a membership at the gym when you had a place like this?
“So, did you take a look around yet?”
She glanced back over at him and blinked when she saw he was standing up. Hell, nothing was worse than a sexy Mike Kelly lying flat on his back then a sexy Mike Kelly standing up. The man was built. All muscles and no fat. This was the closest she’d ever come to seeing him naked and she was getting an eye full. Those shorts he had on didn’t hide much.