Mr.arrogant(10)

He nodded. "We are both going." He told her as he looked away from her.  The idea of going out of town with her had led to more than a few  fantasies about what could happen between them if given the right  circumstance and chance, but he knew they were nothing more than  fantasies, and he kept them hidden deep within himself.

"I'd like you to book the trip for us. Everything you need to know is in  that file. We're meeting Anthony Bryan and I'd like to meet him at the  hotel if we can arrange it. Please see what the space availability is  there; we need something private and professional." He told her  thoughtfully, considering what might be the best possible scenario for  their business.

She agreed, and wrote down what he wanted as she made a few extra notes.  "I'll let you know when it's booked for us." She looked back up at him.  She had come to like the look of him; he felt like he was hers without  any of the weird commitments and dramatic nonsense. Just …  friends …   somehow, and she liked it. Part of it had to do with the slight distance  that he kept from her, giving her some personal space and some respect,  and some of it had to do with a feeling of trust that had begun to  develop between them.

Naomi booked their rooms: two separate rooms on the same floor in the  same hotel. She felt a little strange about going out of town with him,  but she knew that it would be a good trip and that if the business  worked out for them, it would do a lot to help the company and his  relationship with his father.

Jonathon knew the subtle changes in their relationship were a step in a  positive direction, though he wasn't sure what direction it really was.

She booked it right away, and then she was left to wonder what to pack  and how it would be. She was left to prepare them for their meeting with  Mr. Bryan, and she was left with time to think about what it would be  like to travel anywhere with Jonathon Cross.

In the first two weeks after she started working for him, there were  small office rumors that centered on what the relationship was between  the two of them, but as each day passed, everyone around them saw that  it was entirely professional and completely platonic, and no one would  ever have supposed otherwise.         

     



 

That was a great comfort to her, though the more time she spent working  with him, the more things between them felt like they were blurred. The  definitive lines between work and friendship, between closeness, trust,  and business, and something undefined, something deep and strong that  was like a current moving so far in the depths of them that it was  almost undetectable.

She didn't spend much time thinking about what any of it was, or what it  might have meant, but she did know that things were changing between  them slowly, quietly, and in good ways.

The trip began simply. He sent a car to pick her up at her apartment and  he met her at the airport. They were seated beside each other in first  class, and they were amiable as the plane took off. It felt less  constricting being around each other out of the office. It felt like the  rules had changed as they climbed higher in the sky and somehow many of  the unspoken boundaries and behaviors between them began to relax a  bit. It felt more personal to them both, and less like business; less  like four walls and a rule book.

They checked into their hotel and he called her to make sure that she  had everything in her room that she might have needed. She told him she  did and when she hung up the phone, she smiled at his thoughtfulness,  and at his protectiveness of her.

The two of them met for dinner and when she walked into the restaurant  in the hotel where he had reserved a table, he was left speechless by  the dark red stretched satin dress she wore. It was conservative, but  the material held her so closely that her form was completely evident.  She wore her hair down, and the long wavy curls reached down her back  almost to the lower curve of it. Jonathon watched her almost in a  trance, trying not to look, trying not to stare. She came to him at the  table where they were meeting Anthony Bryan and Anthony's assistant  Shane Redding.

They sat down to dinner, the four of them, and all throughout the meal,  Naomi had the distinct impression that no matter who was talking, no  matter who was looking, no matter what was going on, Jonathon was  listening to everything she said, even if he was turned away from her,  and he was looking at her out of the corner of his eye every chance he  got, when he thought she wouldn't notice it.

It felt to her like no matter where she went during the course of the  evening, he was always keenly aware of where she was and he was  monitoring her to make certain that she was okay. It felt comforting to  her, and she nestled into the feeling, loving it all around her like a  cocoon.

When they ordered wine, he remembered her favorite kind, and when they  had dessert, he suggested the chocolate cake and she grinned at him and  leaned over to him, close to his ear.

She whispered, "I love chocolate cake, it's my favorite."

He smiled at her and nodded slightly. "I know, that's why I suggested it."

Naomi looked at him in surprise. "How did you know that?" she asked incredulously.

He shrugged. "I pay attention."

She felt her insides go warm all over, and a smile spread across her  face. She felt like she mattered to him, and that was one of the best  feelings she had ever known.

Dinner with Anthony and Shane had been a prequel to the meeting. The day  following their dinner out, Naomi and Jonathon met Anthony and Shane  for their business agenda. Jonathon was interested in buying Anthony's  business, but Anthony wasn't completely sold on the idea of letting go  of a business he had worked so hard to build. Though Anthony could see  the benefit, he was sentimental and leery of change.

When the meeting was over, it remained unresolved, and Anthony said that  he needed more time to think about it all. Jonathon waited to hear from  Naomi about possible dinner plans, and when he didn't hear from her at  all, he went to her room and was just about to knock on the door when  she opened it and walked right into him. He caught her in his arms and  looked down at her, staring into her sky blue eyes, feeling the familiar  pulling in his chest.

She caught her breath and for a moment forgot how to breathe. As his  hands loosened around her back and shoulders, he let her go and she took  a step backward from him. Her scent was lambent on the air around him,  and he breathed it in and didn't want to exhale.         

     



 

Jonathon looked down at her and saw that she was in a vanilla colored  sweater dress; a thin fine material that did little to hide the body  beneath the sheath. He could not help himself from dropping his gaze  down the length of her and raising his eyes slowly back up, but as he  caught sight of her breasts again, he saw that her nipples were hardened  and pressing firmly against the soft fabric that covered them.

He swallowed with difficulty and raised his eyes to meet hers, feeling a  heated stirring deep in him. She looked as if she wasn't breathing very  well either, and she looked as if she was hardly aware of anything  around them for a moment; her lips parted slightly, her eyes locked on  his. When she drew in a sharp breath, her breasts pressed even further  against her dress, and Jonathon had to look away from her for a moment,  for the desire that was trying to overtake him was becoming difficult to  manage.

"What are you doing here?" she finally breathed as she found her voice and stared into his eyes.

He looked around himself, noticing the doorframe before he looked back  into her eyes. "Well, I was thinking that we could have dinner together  if you would like to."

She bit her lip and he had to look away again, wishing that it were him who was biting her lip.

"Well, I can't really. I'm going out to dinner with Shane," she said quietly.

Jonathon stared at her in surprise. "You're …  you're going out to dinner with Shane?"

She nodded subtly. "I am." She could not place or explain the sudden ache in her heart.

He felt like all of the breath in him had been punched out of his  middle. "Oh …  is it …  like a date?" he asked, hoping with everything in  him that it was a fluke.

She nodded. "I guess it is." She could see the pain that flickered in his green eyes and she felt horrible about it.

He tried to draw a breath into his chest, but it was difficult. It felt  as if an anvil was crushing him. He nodded and gave her a half-smile,  and then took a few steps back. "Oh …  I didn't realize that you two …   were … " he paused and shook his head. "I'll just let you get going then,"  he said quietly. She nodded and grabbed the keys, heading out of her  room.

"I'll see you in the morning." He looked at her with a pained smile.  They were leaving to end their trip the next morning, and he had assumed  that she would, of course, be having dinner with him. It had not  occurred to him that she might not want to have dinner with him, or that  she might have other plans.