Friends With Extra Benefits (18 page)

Caroline sucked on his tongue just as he pressed
his hips down and slid inside. Wrapping her hands around his back,
she pulled him closer.

He stared into her eyes as he began pumping back
and forth, with her pulling him harder into her body with every
downward thrust. Soon they climaxed together for what seemed like
the first time. It was the perfect beginning to a special
night.

Twenty minutes later, Jim and Caroline relaxed
together in the large soaking tub. The toes of her left foot toyed
with one of his nipples as he worked his fingers into the heel of
her right foot. Caroline cocked her head back and closed her eyes.
"God, that feels amazing."

"You like that?"

"Uh-huh."

"I read there are all these pressure points in
the feet."

"Really?"

Moving his attention to her toes, he said,
"Like, if I touch a certain part, I can take away a headache, or
another part will stimulate your clitoris in some strange way."

"Do you know which spots do what?"

"Sorry, I didn't get to the end of the
article."

She chuckled. Jim moved his fingers to the ball
of her foot and worked it firmly.

Opening her mouth wide, she leaned her head back
against the tub. "Wow, I swear I just had a little orgasm... I
think you actually reached my G-spot."

Jim grinned. "I'll try to remember what I just
did there."

He moved forward to take her big toe into his
mouth. She lifted her head and giggled. "You know I don't like
that."

He pulled his lips from her toe and said, "I
love your feet."

"You're weird."

"Oh, you like it."

"Maybe a little." She grinned as he took another
toe between his lips. He massaged it harder as he ran his tongue
around her second toe.

"You can keep sucking them if you keep rubbing
them hard."

Grinning, Jim kept working them with his
hands.

Caroline slumped her head back and closed her
eyes, melting into complete relaxation.

Reaching over to a towel on the edge of the tub,
he slid his hand between the folds. Jim pulled out the diamond
engagement ring he'd been holding on to for months. He glanced back
to Caroline's face to be sure she was still mesmerized by his foot
massage and found she was. He grinned with her toe still held
captive between his lips.

He pulled his head back and then slipped the
ring onto her second toe. While staring up at her face, he began
planting gentle kisses on each of her exquisite toes. He rubbed her
foot with both hands as he waited for her to notice the pear-shaped
diamond ring.

"Don't stop," she said.

"That's what you said before."

Caroline glanced up at him with a smile. "I
know. We should definitely role play again."

He kept rubbing her foot with a silly look on
his face as she continued to be oblivious to the ring. "That was
fun."

"We should sleep naked tonight... want to?"

"Sure."

Finally glancing at her toe, she spotted the
ring. "What's that?"

"Caroline Ryan, will you marry me?"

She shook her head with a grin. "Are you
seriously asking me in the bathtub with the ring on my foot?"

He nodded. "Stupid, huh? I was going to ask you
at dinner, but I couldn't wait."

After shrugging her shoulders, she smiled
brightly with tears welling up on her face.

He pulled the ring from her toe, gently placed
her foot back into the water, and moved until he was kneeling next
to her. "Let me do this right." He stared into her eyes. "Caroline,
I love you. I know that things won't be easy with Victoria and the
baby coming and everything, but I'm committed to making this work.
I can't stand to be away from you. From the moment that I met you,
I've never been happier in my life."

She stared up at him with her lip quivering.

Jim asked, "Will you marry me?"

Caroline moved her hand to cover her mouth as
Jim stared unblinkingly at her with the concern starting to show on
his face. "Do I need to repeat the question?"

"No."

"No, I don’t need to repeat the question or no,
you don't want to—"

"Yes, I will marry you."

He smiled brightly. She held her left hand out
to him, and he slipped the ring on her finger. Looking down at the
sparkling diamond, she beamed. "It's beautiful."

"I picked it out myself."

Caroline looked up at his face. "I love
you."

"I love you."

She reached up, wrapped her hands around his
neck and pulled him to her for a kiss. Pulling her lips from his,
she said softly, "Why don't we stay in and order room service
instead of going out?"

He nodded with a sexy smile as he moved his lips
back to hers.

Back in Orlando, Carl sat in his lavish
penthouse apartment in front of his large PC screen. After
selecting a camera showing the pool area, he grinned when he
spotted Rob and Bridget as they stood in the pool next to each
other, enjoying a drink and talking.

He clicked the mouse to move the camera and
zoomed in on Bridget's cleavage. He sighed a long, creepy sigh.
Shaking his head while licking his lips, he reached down to pull at
his zipper. His cell phone rang.

"Fuck." He groaned and zipped back up.

Carl answered the call in a tired voice,
"Yeah."

A voice on the other end began, "Mr. Rodgers, I
have the information."

"Well, what is it?"

"Her last name isn't Foster, it's Marshall.
She's with the F.B.I."

"Shit... what else do you have?"

"We've got a guy inside. They've been building a
case against you. He says they're a few days from filing
charges."

Carl hung up the phone. Grabbing a vial of
cocaine off the desk, he opened it and took a quick hit.

Bridget climbed out of the pool with Rob's eyes
glued to her ass as he followed her to the pool deck. She wore a
tiny bikini, and Rob struggled to control his body's inadvertent
response to how amazing she looked in it. His case of blue balls
was getting worse by the second and climbing dangerously near the
highest threat level. No way could he ask her to join him in the
steam room with the current problem brewing in his trunks. He'd
surely be hard during the whole nude experience unless, of course,
he could relieve the pressure at least twice beforehand.

As he pondered how to slip away, she dried
herself with a towel. Holding his towel over his groin, Rob stood
there dripping wet. Bridget paused a moment and then asked, "How do
you like working at Wealth Stone?"

"The money's good. It's okay, I guess." Rob's
eyes brightened with a memory. "You made quite an impression on
Carl the night you stayed over."

"When?"

"Carl said he found you wandering around after
midnight and—"

Bridget eyes widened, and she stammered, "Um, I
couldn't sleep so I went down to the gym."

"I would have gone down with you."

"I didn't want to wake you up."

Rob paused, deciding if he should grill her on
the subject some more. He thought better of it and then shrugged it
off. "He wants us to have dinner with him one day next week."

"Okay. That sounds nice."

"We were going to try to do it tonight, but Carl
had to go to Atlanta today."

Bridget glanced at him, concerned. "He's in
Atlanta today?"

Rob gave her a look, so she tried to repair the
damage. "So, he went to Atlanta. I love Atlanta... When's he coming
back?"

"Tomorrow."

She exhaled as her mind raced.

Rob continued, "I meant to tell you my mother's
trial starts tomorrow, so I need to head back to Miami pretty early
in the morning. I'm not sure when I'll be called to testify; I'll
be there for a few days."

"When are you coming back?" Bridget asked.

"Maybe not until late next week."

She looked around nervously and mumbled under
her breath.

"Are you okay?" Rob asked.

"I, uh... I think I just got my, you know." Rob
stared at her, confused, until Bridget glanced down at her stomach
and then back to him.

"Oh."

"Can I get your keys? I need to..."

He handed over the keys.

"Be right back."

Rob watched as she grabbed her cell phone and
headed toward the building. He fell back into a lounge chair,
adjusted his swim trunks, and let out a big sigh as he thought,
Great, so she's got her period. We're definitely not going to do it
tonight, and I can't even stand up without getting wood.

Bridget dialed a number. "Shit... answer your
phone."

"This... Adams."

She heard the call breaking up.

"Vince, can you hear me?
Rodgers is in Atlanta
today
. We've got to move
now."

"Can't... West now."

"What? Hey, I can't hear you."

Bridget moved closer to the door in an attempt
to get better reception.

"Marshall I'm... boat and—"

She waited a moment and then said loudly, "Vince
we need to go in tonight. Wednesday is a no go."

"I..."

"What?"

"... Key West and—"

"You're in Key West?"

"Yes and—"

"Vince... Vince."

The line went dead. After hitting redial,
Bridget rubbed her head as she listened to the cellular network's
"cannot-reach-the-subscriber" message. She dialed once more, heard
the same message, and then stood in the hall, staring at the phone
as she pondered her options.

She whispered to herself, "I can do this. It's
got to be done today." She put on a confident grin as she headed up
to Rob's apartment.

Carl scrolled through security camera views
inside the building until he located Bridget walking down the hall
toward the party room. He watched as she stood in front of the door
wearing only that tiny bikini and holding some kind of small black
box. She punched in the code, glanced down either side of the
corridor and then quickly slipped inside.

Carl stood, grabbed the gun off the desk, and
slipped it into the waistband of his pants before pulling his shirt
over it.

Inside the party room, Bridget made her way to
the second locked door and pulled out the black box. After opening
the box, she pulled out an earphone and secured it to her ear.
Next, she pressed the box against the lock mechanism and began
punching codes.

Ninety seconds later, she smiled as the lock
clicked open. She pulled the earphone from her ear just as the gun
barrel pressed into her back.

"Miss Marshall," Carl said. Bridget held
perfectly still. He added, "Can I help you find something?"

When, after ten minutes, Bridget hadn't
returned, Rob walked into the building and went to his apartment.
He found the door locked, and after knocking a few times, headed
back down to the ground floor. After glancing out to the pool and
not finding her, he went to the parking lot and found her car was
still there. He headed back into the building.

Rob spotted Carl coming out of the party room.
Their eyes met for a moment, and Carl gave him an evil smile. "Are
you looking for someone?"

"You haven't seen Bridget have you?"

"She's right in here." Rob returned a tentative
smile as Carl held the door open while staring at him casually.

Rob paused a moment and then shook off his
concern as he began walking toward the room.

"She's waiting for you," Carl added.

"Aren't you supposed to be in Atlanta?"

"The trip was cancelled."

Reaching the door, Rob gave Carl a confused look
as he asked, "She's in here?"

Carl nodded, and Rob entered the room. Rob
glanced around the room but didn't see Bridget anywhere. As he
began to turn back, Carl slammed the butt of the gun hard against
the side of Rob's head. He slumped to the floor.

Rob and Bridget lay on the floor of the large
safe wearing only their bathing suits. Their hands were tied
tightly behind their backs, and their ankles were also bound. She
struggled with her ropes as Rob continued to lay unconscious. After
thirty seconds, she gave up her fight and sighed.

"Rob," she called out, but there was no
response.

Bridget wiggled her way over to him and pushed
her head against his shoulder. She called his name again, pushed
into him once more and called again, "Rob, wake up!"

He groaned as his eyes fought to open. He shook
his head slowly, opened his mouth, and looked at her, bewildered.
"What the hell happened?"

"Carl dragged you in here."

"My... my fucking head hurts." Struggling
against the ropes, he gave her a puzzled look. "Why?"

"Did he hit you with something?"

"I don't know... I." Rob turned his head and
grimaced in pain. "Shit... Why is this happening?"

"Rob, I—"

"Why the hell would he tie us up and—"

"Look, I'm actually... I'm with the F.B.I."

"What?"

"We've been building a case against Carl Rodgers
for the last ten months."

Rob narrowed his eyes. "What the hell are you
talking about?"

"He's running some kind of ponzi scheme, and we
been trying to gather enough evidence to arrest him."

"You're with the F.B.I. So, you've been fucking
lying to me this whole time?"

"I had to."

He sneered, and Bridget returned a sorrowful
look. "I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't blow my cover or risk
putting you in danger."

After staring at her a moment, he said slowly,
"You mean, like the kinda danger I'm in right at this moment?"

"I know. I'm sorry."

With her eyes wide open, she looked around the
room at the stacks of shiny bars. "There must be, like, two hundred
million dollars’ worth of gold in here."