Kaylee’s First Crush (3 page)

She didn’t move
until he shifted his arm away. He wasn’t trying to make her feel uncomfortable,
after all. He just couldn’t help it. She really looked chilly.
And vulnerable.
“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

She nodded
jerkily. “I just didn’t expect you to… you know.” She waved an arm toward him
with an intricate little flip of her hand that seemed to say
Holy crap you
touched me!
and
You were my English teacher!
all
at once.

He chuckled. “I
don’t bite.” He waited a bit,
then
added.
“Unless someone asks nicely.”
He waited for her reaction.
She didn’t disappoint him, flushing as his comment hit home.

Christ,
she’s lovely
, he caught himself thinking,
then
reigned in his libido impatiently. She had to be at
least ten years younger than him.
Probably more.
And way too sweet to torment like this.

“Um—” she began
to say, but then the car came to a stop.

“Let’s see if
we can get you a room,” he said, interrupting her. He opened the door and
stepped
out,
sighing when he saw it was still snowing
heavily. He exchanged disgusted looks with his driver,
then
leaned down to help Kaylee out of the car just in time to see her biting her
lip and eyeing the pavement warily.

“I won’t let
you fall,” he assured her.

Her eyes flew
up to his and she took a deep breath when she saw his extended hand. She nodded
and slipped her fingers into his.

Kaylee stared
at the opulence of the hotel lobby and felt her heart plummet to her toes.
There was no way she could afford a room in this place.

Maybe I can
just take a nap in the waiting area for the night
,
she mused, looking toward the comfy chairs arranged in front of a roaring fire
directly opposite the check-in desk. When Mr. Valtree—
No, he said to call
him Hugo
, she corrected herself mentally—turned around, she frowned. He
didn’t look happy.

“They’re full
up, unfortunately,” he said, a note of irritation in his voice.

“Oh,” she said,
not particularly surprised. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well,
I can’t really afford a room here anyway.”

Absently, he
ran a finger over his room key, scraping the plastic. “They said all the other
hotels are booked solid, too. I asked.”

She shrugged.
“I know. I called around earlier, from the airport, trying to get a room.”

Suddenly, he
straightened his shoulders. “You’ll stay with me tonight, then.”

What? Was he
crazy? She shook her head in denial and started walking toward the seating
area. She hitched her overnight bag strap higher on her shoulder, ignoring the
way it bit into her neck. She’d given his coat back to him already and all she
had on was her thin sweater. “Oh no, there’s no need for that. I can just rest
here for a little bit, then try again to find something in the morning.” She
waved toward the comfiest looking chair. Stay in a room with him? Was he
serious? She tried to picture it, and all her exhausted brain could come up
with was the sensation of falling flat on her face right in front of him. She
winced internally.

Hugo followed
her and grabbed her elbow before she could sit down. “Don’t be silly. It’s not
like I’m a stranger.”

She stared at
him. “You can’t be serious.”

He tugged on
her arm. “I’m completely serious.”

She resisted
his pull. “I can’t stay with you.” Her heart couldn’t take it, for starters.
The image of him taking off his shirt and sliding into bed had her almost
wheezing with panic. She’d never even managed to finish a whole date without
some disaster happening! She’d probably kill him in his sleep with her elbow or
something, completely by accident.

“Yes, you can.
I insist.” He pulled harder.

Kaylee let him
tow her toward the elevators. “I can sleep on the floor.”

He rolled his
eyes. “There’s a king sized bed in the room.
And a sofa.”

She swallowed.
“I can sleep on the sofa, then.” The elevator doors dinged open. She extracted
her arm from him and looked around. “Where’s your driver?”

He ushered her
into the elevator. “Dan has a sister who lives here in Chicago. He went to stay
with her.”

Kaylee watched
him insert his key card into a slot and punch the button for the top floor.
“You don’t have to do this.”

He smiled at
her. “I couldn’t live with myself if I let one of my former students sleep in
the lounge when I have more than enough space in my room to share.”

And just like
that, Kaylee remembered precisely who she was going to be sharing a room with.
Mr. Valtree.
The hottest teacher on two legs.
Billionaire bachelor.
She wondered if maybe she was really
asleep in the airport, dreaming this entire scenario up.

“Here we are,”
he said as the doors opened.

Kaylee
hesitated when he strode out. The elevator opened right into the top floor
suite. Her stomach felt like a collection of butterflies had somehow gotten
trapped inside and they weren’t happy about it. Hugo tossed his coat over the
back of the sofa and strode to the windows. A single low lamp lit the space,
highlighting the vast expanse of the bed. It held the most gigantic mattress
she’d ever seen.

“Are you coming
in?” he asked, humor lacing his voice. “I assure you I won’t be grading you on
the quality of your sleep.”

She chuckled,
amused despite herself. “I always got
As
, remember?”

He nodded as
she walked into the room and set her bag down by the bench at the foot of the
bed. “I remember. You were a wonderful student,” he said.

She fidgeted
with her purse strap. “You were a good teacher.”

He smiled. “You
made it easy.”

Kaylee didn’t
know what to say. Even though he’d come to her rescue and told her to call him
Hugo, she still felt like there was a huge chasm of experience between them.
“How old are you?” she blurted out, suddenly curious enough to overcome her
natural hesitation over asking such a personal question.

He raised his
eyebrows, but answered despite his obvious surprise.
“Thirty-five.
How old are you?
Twenty-two?
Twenty-three?”

She flushed.
What the hell was she doing, asking him that? “Yes.
Twenty-two.”
And never been loved
, a tiny voice
said in the back of her mind. She shushed it, looking him over. He’d shed his
jacket and tie and was even now undoing his shirt-sleeves. The clink of
expensive cuff links hitting a metal tray startled her out of her reverie, and
she jerked her eyes away from his hands.

“You should
change into something more comfortable. You look tired,” he said, unbuttoning
his shirt.

Was he going
to completely undress in front of her?
she
wondered frantically, looking everywhere but at him.
“I’ll just go—” She waved in the direction of the bathroom, unable to get a
complete sentence to come out of her mouth. She grabbed her overnight bag and
dragged it to the bathroom, only to stop, flabbergasted, right in the doorway.
She’d flicked the light
on,
totally not expecting what
was spread out in front of her.

“That’s a hell
of a bathroom,” Hugo murmured right behind her.

She jumped,
dropping her bag on her feet. “Uh—” she said, like a twit.

He laughed and
picked up her bag, swinging it into the bathroom and depositing it on the stool
that sat near an antique vanity. Everything was either covered in gold-leaf or
brass: the sink, the faucets, the fixtures in the giant bathtub.

“Take your
time,” he said, walking away.

Kaylee couldn’t
help it—she watched him go, admiring the way the muscles in his back moved.
He’s
still fond of really tight
t-shirts
, she thought,
inanely. He’d pulled it out of his pants and the lower hem of the shirt pooled
a little, right above his ridiculously perfect ass.

“Everything
okay?” he asked, looking at her over his shoulder.

She nodded and
shut the bathroom door, trying not to hyperventilate. Or swallow
her own
tongue.

****

Hugo smiled to
himself as he unzipped his pants, kicking them off.
She’s still very shy
, he observed, glancing at the closed bathroom
door. He shook his head and peeled off his underwear, quickly pulling on a pair
of soft sleep pants. Should he take off his shirt? He normally slept without
one, but he was afraid of sending Kaylee screaming back into the elevator.
Better
leave it on
.

He opened the
mini-bar and pulled out a bottle of water, cracking it open and drinking half
of it all at once. He hated airports. He hated the waiting and the people and
the bone-deep weariness that seemed to haunt him every time he had to travel
for business. Thankfully this time he’d only been gone for a few days, though
of course the weather prevented him from getting home as soon as he wanted. He
liked his Manhattan apartment. He liked the serenity of the wide-open view over
Central Park. He wanted to go home and crawl into bed and not come out for a
week.

The door to the
bathroom opened. Hugo spun
around,
surprised she’d
emerged so quickly. He thought she’d be in there for at least an hour, just
like every other woman he’d known.
Except
she’s obviously not like all the others
, he admonished himself. He grabbed
another bottle of water for Kaylee. “Thirsty?” he asked, holding it out to her.
She bit her lip and shuffled into the room. He held back a smile when he saw
what she was wearing: fuzzy pink flannel pajamas. The shapeless fabric did
nothing to hide her magnificent curves. Her hair tumbled down over her
shoulders and he saw that she’d taken out her contacts. An adorable pair of
gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose.

She’s even
more beautiful like this than she is in her business clothes
, he thought, fighting down his sudden erection.
If she sees me with
a hard-on in these pants, she’d probably faint.

To his dismay,
she folded her arms over her chest, hiding her magnificent breasts. “It’s just
water,” he offered again, hoping she would relax. Why was she so freaked out by
him? He didn’t understand it. He didn’t think he’d done anything to make her so
jumpy.

“Thanks,” she
said, finally taking it from him. She opened the bottle and took small sips.

He sat down on
the bed, happy to see her relaxing a little. “See? I told you it would be a
huge bed. They’re always enormous in the suites.”

She edged
closer and offered him a tentative smile. “It’s almost as big as Ohio.” She
glanced down at the mattress and frowned.
“Or maybe Texas.”

“How about Alaska?”

She rolled her
eyes at him then looked out the window pointedly. “Well, it
is
snowing like crazy.”

“True.” He
grinned. “Since the bed is as big as Alaska, we can probably share it without
even touching. Look at the sofa. It’s really too small for a person to stretch
out on.” He paused for a moment then teased, “I promise not to smother you in
your sleep.”

She huffed and
sat down gingerly, smoothing her hand over the duvet. “It looks comfy.”

Hugo wrenched
his eyes from the amazing, glorious breasts he’d finally glimpsed when she
moved her hands and forced himself to act casual. How the hell had she hidden
those under her sweater? He’d known she was curvy, but he hadn’t guessed that
she was
that
well endowed. Even her over-large pajama top couldn’t hide
her assets. His eyes wandered down to her hips.
Damn
. Her ass was just as spectacular as her top.
God help me
.
His dick throbbed and he shifted his weight, moving his leg higher to hide his
body’s interest.

“It
is
comfy.” He patted the pillow on his side of the bed and eased the covers down.
She hadn’t moved from her stiff position at the edge of the bed.

“This is weird
for you, isn’t it?” he asked, frustrated. The sooner she got under the covers,
the sooner she’d be all covered up.

“It’s not for
you?” she shot back.

He grimaced,
remembering the countless hard-ons he’d gotten back when he was teaching
English. Every time she walked into the classroom, his cock had sprung to
attention and he’d had to sit down at his desk so that he wouldn’t scandalize
the entire class. She was pretty. She was intelligent. And she was shy. It was
a deadly combination of exactly what he liked most in a woman. Five years ago
he’d ruthlessly suppressed his highly inappropriate attraction because she’d
been a girl. An extremely underage girl, for all that she’d had the body of a
woman, even then. Now that his libido knew she was an adult, it wasn’t so easy
to suppress his natural attraction to her, but in a way, he was less tense
about it. When he’d been teaching, wanting to have sex with her, one of his
students,
had been wrong. Terribly, horribly wrong.
But now?
Everything was different.
Right?