Beyond Bliss (13 page)

It had never been like that. 

Even though she could count the number of times they’d had sex on one hand, he was by far the best lover she’d had. Still, their hurried, frenzied joining from earlier was on a completely different level than anything she’d experienced before. 

After the incredibly intense joint climax, they'd stared at each other until it was impossible to ignore the insistent pounding on the flimsy door that separated the bathroom from the rest of the cabin. His eyes burned into her, even as he intimately helped her clean up and straighten her clothing. When they’d left the lavatory, he wound his fingers through her more delicate ones before leading her back to their seats. Most of the other passengers were still sleeping, but the flight attendant had given them both a disgruntled glare.

She’d had to swallow the insane urge to giggle uncontrollably when Lucas met the older woman’s gaze with a challenging stare of his own. 

For the remainder of the flight, her hand had remained comfortably entangled with his. She tried to pull away once they sat down, but he just grunted and tightened his clasp. After that, she gave up without much of a fight. 

Fear of flying notwithstanding, it just felt good to be near him.

It felt
right.

It felt so right that she was convinced it had to be wrong.

They were mostly silent during the short trip from Honolulu International Airport to the hotel, but they exchanged simple touches and heated glances that spoke volumes. 

She was a little surprised when he let her go to her room on her own. She’d been half expecting him to insist that they stay in the same suite, especially after his possessive behavior. Before she turned to follow the bellhop, his arm shot out and he grabbed her. His index finger slipped under her chin to tip her face up. She held her breath, waiting for his next move, but he just stared into her soul, his eyes full of dark promise. His thumb pressed against the center of her lip and then let her go abruptly, before turning back to the reception desk.

Dazed, she stared at his back for a few moments.

A throat cleared behind her, jolting her out of her stupor. She blinked a few times and shook her head quickly before she trailed after the bellhop.

When she entered her hotel room, she was stunned. It wasn’t a room so much as it was a palatial suite. Already spacious, the all white décor made it seem even vaster. A plush, king-sized bed sat in the middle of the room, flanked by two white nightstands, both of which had large glass vases filled to the brim with white calla lilies. Floor to ceiling windows overlooking white sand and sparkling blue water took up an entire side of the room. A simple, off-white table sat in the middle of the room atop a soft, shag area rug. A white wicker basket had been placed on top. Upon further inspection, the basket contained a bottle of champagne, chocolate covered macadamia nuts, and packages of dried tropical fruit.

“Is everything to your liking, Miss Harlow?”

She turned to look at the bellhop. “It’s breathtaking.”

She pulled her wallet out and slipped a bill into his hands. “Thank you, Miss Harlow.”

He smiled kindly at her before discreetly exiting the room.

Finally alone, she sat at the edge of the bed and unzipped her boots. 

It had been a long, confusing, and eventful day, and she’d been so wired from before, she’d been unable to rest or relax. Fatigue finally seeped through her, and she shed the rest of her clothing, intending to slip into the soft bed and nap for a few hours. 

Tyrone had synced her itinerary for the week with her smartphone. After she set her alarm, she quickly scanned through her schedule for the upcoming week. The following day was a Monday, and her calendar was booked with meetings. She rolled her eyes when she noted her bossy assistant had even scheduled time for various spa treatments, shopping trips, and a few planned excursions. She giggled when she saw one of the shopping trips had been labeled 
Procure Silk Sarongs for Tyrone.

She set her alarm, and prepared to doze off. After the long flight, ordering room service and watching a movie in bed seemed like the perfect night.

The second her eyes shut, the phone buzzed against the nightstand. Years of habit had her arm shooting out to grab it. Eyes still closed, she pressed the button to answer the call and brought the phone up to her ear.

“’Lo?” she whispered sleepily.

“Yo bee-otch! I can’t believe you haven’t called me yet!” Liz griped.

She sighed heavily. “Sorry. I’m in bed. Exhausted.”

“How was the flight? You make it through okay? Did you try the Benadryl?” 

“Didn’t work,” Sophie mumbled.

“Water under the bridge,” Liz declared breezily. “So how was the flight? Did you make it through? Are you in bed with the hot billionaire?”

“Not a billionaire,” she yawned. 

“Okay, well multi-millionaire. Whatever, Soph. To-may-to, to-mah-to, who gives a fuck? Once you have more than six zeroes before the decimal in the bank, it’s all the same. Anyway, did you see him on the flight? Did he stop being an asshole long enough for you guys to join the mile high club?” she asked wickedly.

The silence on Sophie’s end of the line was a nanosecond too long for Liz’s liking. Just as she opened her mouth to respond, the other woman pounced.

“What did you do, you dirty girl?” Despite Liz’s raunchy demeanor, her voice was clearly scandalized. After the interlude that resulted in her climaxing on Lucas’s desk, Liz had been on a slow and steady campaign for his downfall. Part of her plot included gifting Lucas with a permanent case of blue balls.

She groaned and peeled her eyes open. “Who said I did anything?” she asked irritably. 

“Nah-uh, missy. I know you too well for that answer a question with another question bullshit to work on me. Besides, I taught you that. And no distractions from the original line of questioning. Deets. Spill. ASAP,” she ordered.

Her lungs felt heavy as she dragged in air. “We might have done it in the bathroom.”

“What?”

At the sharp squeal, Sophie winced and moved her phone several inches away from her ear.

“How do you go from wanting to gut the man like a fish to banging his brains out thousands of miles up in the sky? Wait—don’t answer that. I remember what he looks like.”

And suddenly, it all came flowing out. She shared every single detail, any reservations thrown completely to the wind. When she finished, she was met with uncharacteristic silence. 

“Well? What do you think?” she asked hesitantly. Her cheeks still felt heated. She’d felt the color spread into her face, but even so, talking about it made her feel better.

She wasn’t any less confused, but at least she felt better.

“I think,” Liz began slowly, “that we need to re-group and re-strategize.” 

She contemplated her friend’s words for a moment before she spoke. “That’s the thing, Lizzie, I’m not sure I want to strategize anymore.” 

A high-pitched wail sounded from the speaker on her phone. “No, no more cookies! Your father will kill me. Sorry,” she apologized. “Mark went to shoot hoops with his brother today which means I’m on rug-rat duty, and my children have been pumped full of sugar from shameless bribes to get them to behave. Wait, hold on a sec.”

Sophie giggled as she listened in as two-year old Liam bartered with his mother. The transmission of the audio changed before Liz announced, “You’re on speaker! Say hi to your god-son!”

“Hi Liam,” Sophie cooed automatically. “Are you being a good boy for your mommy?” 

Liam chortled with glee in the background and babbled something unintelligible in response. “Fine, one more cookie,” Liz huffed. “This child is a monster.”

“I wonder where he gets it from.”

“I heard that! Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming. You don’t want to strategize anymore? How come? What happened to making the pervert’s life miserable for bullying his way into your life?”

It was a good question, and one she’d spent a great deal of time mulling over, especially since the plane ride. Whatever his motivations had been in the beginning, she couldn’t deny that the fiercely chemical pull went both ways. Yes, he’d used his influence and power to arrange things so that they were just so. It still didn’t sit well with her, but it was impossible to forget how tender and compassionate he’d been with her once he’d figured out she was terrified of flying.

Or the way he’d touched and taken her until she couldn’t remember her own name.

“Hello?” Liz asked impatiently. “McFly?”

“I was just thinking.”

“Well, think out loud, doll-face. There’s a reason it’s called a
dia
logue.”

“Smartass,” she replied fondly. “Look—I don’t know anymore. He was a little extreme in orchestrating this whole thing, but there’s more to him.”

“Did you measure it this time?”

“Liz!” she admonished. “Listening is
not
waiting to speak—or waiting to deliver a witty one-liner.”

“What?” Liz asked defensively. “I wasn’t trying to be witty. You’re my best friend, and you’ve finally decided to clear the cobwebs. I have a vested interest in this whole thing. And don’t forget, if it wasn’t for me, this wouldn’t be happening.”

She snorted. “Oh, now you choose to take responsibility?”

Liz ignored her. “Well, what are you thinking now? I’ll shut up and pay attention,” she promised.

“I think he’s a good man. He takes care of his employees, and he cares about them. And the way he was with me on the flight … he stayed close the entire time and even got me to forget I was on a plane ride for a while. And no,” she rushed out, “it wasn’t just during the sex.”

And that was something she hadn’t even gotten from her former fiancé. Zach hadn’t had patience for her irrational fear, and he’d often used the opportunity to make fun of her. Come to think of it, he hadn’t had patience for much.

“I just … I don’t know,” she said helplessly.

“You just want to see what happens, huh?”

“I guess. I mean, earlier, it was so intense. It’s hard for me to believe that he could walk away from that and be unaffected. Maybe it was just another easy lay to him.” Even though she’d spent the last few months mentally coaching herself against feeling anything towards him, a little piece of her heart cracked at the thought. She drew in a shuddering breath. “Liz, do you think that’s what will happen?”

“You know what, hon? He’s a man, and there is a reason that they’re known as the unfair sex. But you know what else? For a man who just wants a quick ‘wham bam,’ he’s gone through an awful lot of trouble to just get some.
And
, he’s already sampled the goods, and he came back for more so….” She trailed off, letting the pregnant silence speak for her until a sharp cry pierced through the quiet.

“Gotta go?” Sophie asked softly.

“Shit, yes. That’s my cue. Hannah is always cranky when she wakes up from her naps. My parting words of wisdom: let my children serve as industrial strength birth control and make sure the sex god wraps it up while he screws you in paradise. ”

“You’re insane.”

She could almost hear her friend smirk through the line as she added, “And if by any chance, you guys screw up, pun intended, I fully expect your offspring to be named after me. I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl. Ciao bella!”

More than a little unsettled, Sophie stared at her phone as the annoying dial tone sounded through the tiny speaker. A healthy dose of Liz was like several cups of espresso.

There was no way she was going to be able to nap after this.

*****

A soft bell was ringing somewhere. Groggily, she peeled open heavy eyes before she realized that the sound was coming from within her room. Seconds later, a light knock rapped against the door.

She yawned tiredly and threw off the lightweight duvet before grabbing her robe to see who was at the door.

Half hoping, half dreading that it was Lucas, she was surprised when the bellhop from before stood in front of her, holding a large, flat white gift box.

“For you, Miss Harlow.” He held the box out at her.

Confused, she shook her head. “I didn’t order anything.”

“It is a gift, for you. The gentleman, Mr. Sinclair, asked that it be brought up to your room.” Bright white teeth shone against his wrinkled, swarthy skin, and he nodded at the box, gesturing for her to take it.

Hesitantly, she reached out and took the box. “Thank you,” she murmured absentmindedly, still staring down at it.

She moved the vase of flowers aside and set the box on top of the center table. Breath suspended in her chest, she carefully lifted the top. Her name was written in bold, slanted scrawl on an ivory notecard set atop folded tissue paper. She’d seen his handwriting enough times to know he’d written it on his own. Warmth fluttered in her belly as she flipped the card over.

Sophie-

You would do my ego wonders if you agreed to have dinner with me tonight. And I know what you’re going to say, but no, it is not big enough already.

I have a reservation under my name for us at 9, downstairs at the La Mer.