Chapter Seventeen
Claire picked up the items on Louise’s list and arrived in time for lunch. Louise had decided to make a late brunch and Claire tucked into a plate of eggs and bacon with gusto. Her mother was having a good day today, and the three of them remained at the table long after the meal was finished chatting and laughing. Louise asked several questions about her trip, and Claire hated not being completely truthful with her. Claire could tell by the sparkle in her eyes that she suspected there was more than Claire was telling, but she didn’t press her.
As she was leaving, Louise told her that her nephew would be by tomorrow to start the roof repairs. Claire left a check to pay him, in case he finished the work before she returned home. She gave her mother and Louise one last hug and promised to call and check on them while she was away.
~~~
Jason was in trouble. He felt it in his gut, and his gut was never wrong. The plan of getting Claire out of his system didn’t seem to be working. After a night of the best sex of his life, he still wasn’t remotely satisfied. In fact, he ached to be with her, inside her again. The scary part was it wasn’t just the sex he missed; he missed her. He had lain awake in bed this morning enjoying the feel of her curled into his side, her bandaged toe resting on top of his leg, her small hands lying so trustingly on his chest. His body was screaming at him to wake her, his mind was telling him to run like hell. He practically bolted out of the bed and into the bathroom.
While in the shower, he convinced himself that the tender feelings were just because he had known Claire for awhile. They’d worked closely for several years so it was only natural to feel more for her than just some one night stand. There was no reason this couldn’t work to his advantage. As his assistant she could travel with him while they were involved, and with the merger in progress no one would question the sudden need for that.
The novelty of crossing a line and sleeping with someone at the office had to be what made the sex so good, so forbidden. When the novelty wore off as it would, they’d move on. He felt better after working everything out in his mind and decided to give Claire a call to make sure everything was still a go for Charleston. He hoped he could continue to block the voice in his head urging him to run.
~~~
When Claire arrived home from her mother's, her cell phone rang.
“Hey beautiful, how is your day going?” asked Jason.
Pulse kicking into high gear at the sound of his voice, Claire tried to sound cool. “Hey, it’s going great, how about yours?”
“No problems, everything is on schedule.” Claire wondered if anything ever dared to go off schedule where Jason was concerned.
“Did you get someone lined up to cover the office while we’re away?” asked Claire.
“Yes, everything is taken care of. How is your mother doing today?”
“She’s good actually; I had lunch with her and Louise earlier, and she was her old self.”
“That’s great; I’m glad you had that time,” said Jason warmly. “I’m going to work from my home the rest of the afternoon. I’ve several conference calls lined up, and I need to pack as well. I should be free a bit earlier so how about I pick you up around six?” asked Jason.
“Ok, I’ll see you then,” said Claire.
“Oh and Claire, I’ve missed you today.” Not waiting for a reply, Jason clicked off after that comment.
Claire felt warmth flood through her. She had of course missed Jason terribly today but was shocked to hear him admit that he felt the same way. She couldn’t delude herself into thinking that this was anything more than sex to Jason. This wasn’t a fairytale, and he wouldn’t be taking her off to his castle. He was, however, taking her off to Charleston where she would have the rest of the week to pretend just for a little while that her prince charming had finally arrived.
She was surprised to hear her phone ringing again. She quickly answered it thinking that Jason had forgotten something. As soon as she said hello, she cringed as Suzy said, “Well, well, well, is someone finally getting laid?” Despite being horrified at the question, Claire couldn’t contain the laughter that burst out. No matter how crude or shocking Suzy could be at times, you still had to laugh at some of the things that came out of her mouth.
“What’re you talking about?” hedged Claire.
With a dramatic sigh, Suzy said, “Really, from all the choices out there, you’re choosing the dumb route? That’s just disappointing. Honey you know I’m wired into everything at Danvers right down to when everyone takes a leak every day. Do you really think I haven’t heard that Jason requested a fill in for the office because he needed his assistant to travel with him this week? Now I may have been able to buy into it if I hadn’t run into him in the elevator this morning. That man had the ‘oh so satisfied, I’ve been done left and right' look all over his face. Men can’t fake that shit, he was fresh out of the sack with someone. So… he was either fresh out of your sack, and you’re going with him this week for more nookie or he was fresh off someone else’s sheets and you’re actually going to work,” finished Suzy smugly.
“Oh Suz, you missed your calling somewhere in life. You should have been a detective or a comedian; I’m not sure which,” laughed Claire.
“Looks like you’re admitting to option one, am I right?” asked Suzy. "You know I’m going to need some details; I’ve been wondering what was under the hood of that baby for a while.” Claire had never been in the position to kiss and tell before, and it was a strange feeling. She knew she could trust anything she said to Suzy not to go further, but it was still hard to talk about something so private and special.
“Er… yes, there’s been some new developments there,” admitted Claire.
“New developments, like are we talking about the weather or some hot sweaty sex?”
Claire finally gave in with a sigh knowing she would never get off the phone otherwise, “Ok, we slept together and oh my God Suz, it was wonderful. He was just… wonderful.”
With a snort, Suzy said, “Yada, yada! Let’s get over the rated G version and answer such hard-hitting questions as, was it good? Was it big? Did he go for quality or quantity?”
As her face started to flame, Claire lay back against the couch cushions and answered, “It was great; it was big and quality all the way, both times.”
“Yessss," squealed Suzy, "I knew it! So you’re going with him this week for more, huh?”
“Yes, he asked me to go; he’s picking me up at six tonight,” said Claire.
“Well honey if anyone ever needed a good bang, it's you,” laughed Suzy.
“You're terrible Suz, really you are.”
“Claire,” began Suzy, a serious tone entering her voice. “I’m all for getting out there and test driving some new models. I can’t imagine a finer model than Jason, but be careful, ok?”
“What’re you saying Suz?”
“I’m just saying that people like Jason are different. I’m sure he has a lot of experience with women, but I don’t think he’s looking to settle down anytime soon,” added Suzy.
“I know Suz, but thank you for caring enough to point it out.”
“Sure thing, now get out there and have some fun for both of us.”
“I will. You know you could still come for the weekend and see Grayson if you change your mind,” added Claire.
“I’m not looking for a pretty-boy Claire. How do all these hunks like Jason and pretty boy have all that money at their age?” mused Suzy. "Oh well, guess it’s better to be a rich young stud than an old dude, right? Have fun and call me when you get home, I need more details, lots more of them.” With a laugh, Claire agreed and finally got off the phone without having to give out Jason’s underwear size. The clock showed three by then, plenty of time for a nap. Soon, she was dropping off to sleep dreaming of Jason’s hands sliding over her body and even in sleep her heart melted just a little more.
Chapter Eighteen
Jason knocked at the door just as Claire was bringing her garment bag and overnight case into the living room. She was wearing the yellow sundress that she’d purchased earlier. She thought it would be both comfortable and dressy enough to get by if they decided to stop off along the way. Due to her injured toe, she was also donning flip flops again. Luckily, it seemed to be much better, and it looked as if it would heal without losing the nail. Jason had also opted to travel in comfort and was sporting low riding, well-worn jeans and a white polo. Yummy.
He brushed a kiss against her lips as he came into her apartment, and it quickly turned into a full-fledged love affair of the mouth. When they pulled apart several minutes later, both were breathing hard and Jason whispered against her ear, “How was your day?”
Barely able to think rationally after the kiss, Claire replied, “Um… it was good. I had a nap and then was running late packing and couldn’t find my other shoe.”
Jason was smiling as her nervous rambling finally ended. As he reached over to pick her cases up, he opened the door and Claire locked up and followed him to his car.
Billy was walking to his car as Jason was storing her luggage. Claire was surprised to see him walk over to Jason and extend his hand. “Hey man, good to see you again. You guys going somewhere?”
“Yes, Claire is going to be away for a few days. I would really appreciate it if you’d keep an eye on her place,” said Jason.
“Oh sure man, Billy will make sure no one bothers anything, don’t worry.”
“Thanks,” replied Jason.
Billy turned and said a quick hello to her, and was on his way. Claire said, “That was weird. I’ve never known Billy to miss an opportunity to talk; he seemed almost normal.”
“Yes, well maybe he has finally figured out that people don’t like being accosted on their way in and out of their home,” replied Jason.
“Maybe,” replied Claire doubtfully.
Claire asked Jason where they’d be staying in Charleston. Jason then asked, “I thought you’d enjoy the historic district, have you been there?”
“No, I haven’t but I’ve always wanted to.”
“There’s a great hotel there that I’ve stayed in before, their service is excellent and the privacy is unsurpassed,” said Jason.
Claire had to wonder how many other women had benefited from the privacy offered at this hotel. As if sensing her thoughts, he added, “I’ve only stayed there when in town on business so it will be nice to enjoy it on a personal level as well.”
With a bright smile of relief, Claire said, “It sounds perfect; I can’t wait. Will you be working at Mericom each day?”
“I’ll go in for meetings but won’t spend a full day there. I would love for you to come along as well to give me your opinion of their operation,” added Jason.
“I’d like that,” said Claire shyly.
“Grayson will be spending quite a lot of time at Danvers as the merger nears and even afterwards. Charleston will remain his base at least for a while but he’ll have an expanded role within Danvers as well. I look forward to having a strong person to shoulder some of the day to day load that the merger will create.”
Claire was surprised that Jason would admit to needing assistance, much less be willing to relinquish some of his control at Danvers to Grayson. “Grayson also has a brother Nicholas that you will meet while we’re there. He primarily does the traveling for Mericom, so he isn’t in the office as much as Grayson. He’ll also assume a big role in daily operations when the merger is complete and travel considerably less.”
“I’d no idea Mericom was going to change Danvers this much. I guess I assumed it would be the other way around,” said Claire.
“It will be too big to manage without some changes. They’ll all be for the better though, we will hire more staff for our office, and some will also transfer between the two companies when the merger is complete. We will dine tomorrow night at Grayson’s home. I want you to be comfortable with him and, of course, Nicholas since you will communicate with them both a great deal in the future.” Claire would like to think Jason meant that as his companion she would see them more. Somehow, she knew he meant it strictly in the professional sense. Did you think he was going to ask you to go steady a day after sleeping with him, silly?
She was startled but pleased when she felt Jason lay his hand over her hand and link his fingers with hers. “I’m glad you came; I would have never been able to concentrate with you so far away,” admitted Jason. Claire had no words for the way his statement made her feel, so she squeezed his hand instead, letting him know that she felt the same way. He said, “I thought we could have a late dinner when we arrive. How does seafood sound to you?”