Tempting the New Boss(22)
“I feel bad about who I had sex with!”
“Well, I could marry you, if you want.”
“This just keeps getting better.”
“I don’t think I’d ever find your, or really any lawyer’s, services indispensable because, frankly, lawyers end up complicating every transaction needlessly. But if the other side has one, the rule is you have to too so they can complicate it in a way that’s good for you to counter-act the complication the other side’s lawyer is busy doing in a way that’s good for them.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means I can’t fix that part of how it’s supposed to go. Your legal mind being indispensible and all. But I am free to marry, and now that I think about it, it might be a good idea.”
“I don’t even want to ask why.”
“It would provide for a steady source of sex with someone I’m attracted to.”
“You don’t know too many married people, do you? But sure, no problem. I’ll marry you. As long as I get to draft the pre-nup.”
“Okay.”
“That was a joke. Get it? I’d draft a pre-nup that said I got half of everything if we divorce at any time. Like a week after the wedding.”
“I sense you’re not taking my proposal seriously.”
“I sense you’re not even joking about it, which is why I would never even consider it.”
He should be offended by her comment, but he was more busy wondering why he was still interested in talking to Camilla, even after they’d had sex. Why he felt sort of sorry for her that she seemed to feel so bad about the situation.
And why he could remember her name. Every time. Almost from the very beginning.
“Besides,” she said with a little smile. “I’m sure Marcia would never agree to you marrying me. What’s with you two anyway? She isn’t secretly your mother, is she?”
“No. But she was a friend of hers. Her only friend probably.”
“Is she still alive?”
“Marcia? As far as I know.”
Camilla swiped him lightly on the arm. “Don’t be a smart ass.”
And he realized with a shock that he had been. A smart ass. He had been joking. He smiled, startled at the observation.
“Answer the question. Is your mother still alive?”
“Yes.”
“Do you see her much?”
“No. Not much.” Or at all really. After he got her out of his company, his mother’s bafflement at how Mason had turned out led to a permanent estrangement, except for the monthly checks Marcia sent on his behalf. He almost felt closer to his sperm donor, whoever the hell he had been.
“What about your parents?” he asked, because he wanted to know. Like joking, it wasn’t something he normally did. When was the last time he had wanted to know something about someone that wasn’t business related? He wasn’t sure.
“My parents? Oh, they’re alive. In Detroit. Still bragging to anyone who’ll listen that their baby girl went to Harvard. Still hoping I’ll get rich off it someday. Still destined to be perennially disappointed.”
Those blue eyes looked a little watery, alarming him, and she quickly brought the heel of her hands up to them and pressed hard. “Do you have any aspirin?”
“I don’t. I try to limit pain killers as much as possible to keep my brain clear.”
“You’re a real straight arrow, aren’t you, Mason? Other than that hitting on the new girl thing.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. And for the first time he was. Her distress at letting their play progress into full-blown, incredibly hot, not-to-be-forgotten sex made him regret how shamelessly he had wanted it. How willing he was to let the scotch or the natural chemistry they shared, biology, whatever, overcome what she clearly thought was a line that shouldn’t be crossed. “Listen, Camilla—”
The plane took a huge jolt from side to side, and he caught her automatically in his arms as she lurched forward. Bringing them both back to sit on his side of the plane, they looked to the cockpit door, which was still closed. Another lurch of the plane, though, and they both automatically turned to the window to see what was going on outside. They had flown above the storm when they first took off, but it seemed as if it had caught up to them. It was dark, with no longer even a hint of sun, and the rain pelted against the wing of the plane in long, hard slashes. A flash or two of lightning followed by thunder made them jump.
“Was it doing this when we were having sex?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I wasn’t noticing anything but being inside you.”