Broken Obsession - Part Two (10 page)

Jackie blushed, “Can you tell?”

Gordon gazed over at Amber again. “Oh yah—Amber is
dressed to kill,” he said, eating her with his eyes again. “So
where do you ladies want to eat? My treat,” he let go, holding out
his elbows for them to put their hands through; the semi-gentleman
he thought he was.

Amber thought about it for a moment. She wanted to
catch her husband in the act of something, but that something was
still just a presumption, and now, Gordon wanted to come along? Did
he already know something? But what did he know? Gordon better come
along, she would need his good looks and attraction in her corner
if...
Good Lord
, if her husband was truly cheating on
her!

“The Four Seasons,” Jackie quietly voiced.

“A hotel,” Amber questioned in disbelief.

Jackie lowered her eyes, “Yes.”

The fuckin’ Four Seasons?
Amber thought,
incredulous.

Gordon noted the impassioned look on Amber’s face.
This was turning out to be a helluva day!

As soon as they all sat down, Amber eyed all the
patrons and there was no sight of her husband and some blond. “Are
you sure they’re here?” A displeasing sinking feeling entered her
heart. Were they already upstairs in a room?

“There he is,” Jackie said hushing her voice down,
pointing in an easterly direction.

Amber turned her head around.
He sure
was…
Eduardo and some blond. Her flaxen hair pulled back into a
power pony-tail, ideal for the smart woman on the go. She was
pretty too, a lovely little thing and come to think of it, she was
kinda Playboy-hot with a sultry look—blond with a brain—his former
‘unique’ type.
Goddamn him!
But she still had to give her
husband the benefit of the doubt. What if they were just discussing
work? Going over case studies…their point of attack on a case they
were working on?

Gordon noted Amber’s curious expression. “Stacey
Somers, have you met her yet?”

“No,” she quickly relayed, turning her head back
around.

Gordon laughed under his breath. “She’s a bitch.”

Amber turned to look in to Gordon’s blue eyes,
“Really?”

“Oh—yah, she’s hell on wheels. I tried to hit on her
the first week she was here but she doused my fire real quick.
She’s unattainable.”

Unattainable
…Amber thought, rolling her eyes.
She knew that word all too well. Oh hell, Amber was really livid
now! Eduardo loved that challenge. His commanding prurient nature
was probably swelling him to mass proportions as they spoke. Amber
clinched her linen napkin and began to practically rip it
apart.

Gordon looked across at Eduardo with Stacey and then
quickly back at Amber and her visible lack of confidence. He
immediately came up with a plan and decided to come to her rescue
and spilled a glass of water onto Jackie’s lap causing an
overreacting woman to spring up from her seat and make a spectacle
of herself. It worked. Faces all around them began to look toward
the hubbub.

Amber remained calm and didn’t look his way
.
If Eduardo was going to look in the direction of the turmoil, then
Amber was definitely
not
going to make it appear that she
was spying on him…Even though she was.

When her heart began to pound out of control, Amber
knew that her husband had been approaching. She could always tell
when he was around or in close proximity.

“What’s going on?”

Amber casually gazed up at him. The blond was nowhere
in sight. How convenient. “Well hello there, aren’t you going to
say hello to your wife?”

Eduardo appeared confused. A deer caught in the
headlights; stiff and unresponsive. “I would when she tells me what
she’s doing here,” he voiced, giving a quick look over at Jackie.
Jackie gazed away and rolled her eyes then crossed her arms.

“I came by and met Jackie for lunch. Gordon’s just
trimming.”

Gordon laughed and then his amusement was diminished
by Eduardo’s cold hard stare.
Asshole
, serves him right for
spending so much time with that blanched siren.

“Can I speak with you alone?”

Gordon stood up and grabbed Jackie’s hand. “Com’on
sweetie, the lovebirds need a moment.”

Jackie walked away with him and her heart thumped
with glee.

“I was in the middle of lunch Eduardo...Oh; by the
way, what are
you
doing here? I didn’t know you practiced
eating alone,” Amber offered, looking around him and toward his
empty table and seat. “You should have called me; I could have met
you here as well.” Just then, Amber stood up and made sure her
husband got an eyeful of her glamorous attire.

He did all right. Eduardo brought his eyes down to
her shoes then suddenly elevated up to her hazel mockery. Eduardo
duly noted his wife dripped in jewels; his presents of romance on
her wrists, fingers, draped all around her neck and hanging down
from her ears. Every single Harry Winston bauble he ever bought
her. What the hell was the special occasion?

Before he even opened his mouth, Amber blurted,
“They’re for armor,” she jested, adjusting her five-carat diamond
solitaire on her wedding finger first then dangling her diamond
tennis bracelet around her wrist, “Nothing like coming to Beverly
Hills without showing off how big my husband’s dick is.”

Boy, she knew him too well. And then suddenly, his
heart dropped. Amber was dressed to impress
on purpose
. To
what design, and for what intent? What does she
think
she
knows and determined to find out? Good God, he’d better get his
libido under control!

Amber studied his facial expression for a moment. The
downward curvature of his lower lip gave him away. He was caught.
But in what, she didn’t quite know just yet. Was it the beginning
of a temptation? She could almost bet on it. “Don’t play me for a
fool husband, I know you like the back of my hand. Now, I’m going
to give you a kiss and send you back to work—and that’s
work
little boy. Keep your zipper up and everything will be just fine.
I’ll see you at home.”

Amber purposely flipped her hair away from her
bronzed shoulders and walked away and noted all the curious Beverly
Hills gossip mongrels and made sure every one of them caught an
eyeful of her glorious departure.

Eduardo’s emotions were turmoil. His wife left in a
skilled moment. Good God, Amber looked every bit of phenomenal.
What was the Goddamn fascination with Stacey anyhow? Was it because
he’s never bedded her before and he was still so curious on what
that felt like? But he knew what it felt like to bed women he’s
desired before, what was so Goddamn special about Stacey? All
sexual urges toward other women were supposed to cease and desist
once you were married to the woman of your dreams. Or was he simply
human after all? Amber was his
true love
, the woman he’s
always wanted and would practically die for—
did die for
,
rolled over, made a fool of himself over—why was he so Goddamn
interested in Stacey Somers anyhow?

Eduardo was sent out of town again; only this time
the big boss insisted on Stacey going along as well to help with
the contracts. On the case in Sacramento, they stayed at the
five-star luxury Hyatt Regency hotel directly across from the state
capitol, but their rooms were stationed down the hall from each
other; temptation, only fifteen feet away.

“How about a nightcap?”

“No, I’m going to go over some notes I made today
while in court.”

“Oh com’on, you can do those tomorrow, you look
tense, you look like you could use a drink.”

Stacey waited exactly thirty minutes before she
walked down the corridor thirty steps towards his room. She knew he
had been inside. She had left him only thirty minutes prior right
after being dropped off by their town car. Thirty minutes was
really all it was going to take to spin her plan into motion…thirty
minutes was all it was going to take to get Eduardo Sanchez into
bed. If he were interested, he would take the temptation. If he
were
still
interested…

All during the negotiations she had studied his eyes,
inspected his speech and scoped out his body movement for any tell
tale signs of being still engrossed. Had she been reading all his
interest wrong? Whenever he looked at her, his eyes would always
gaze down at her lips; did that mean he wanted to kiss her? She
would oftentimes catch him checking out her bottom while she walked
away; did that mean he was trying to imagine what it was like to be
in bed with her? Was she reading too much into it? Was his
curiosity just past tense or in the present?

Stacey’s blue eyes widened and pulled Eduardo’s
chain. He was captivated by her allure again and his salacious
nature peeked. “One drink wench,” he teased, taking off his coat
first as he walked across to her room.

Stacey walked over to the bar. Two wineglasses had
already been conveniently set out with a bottle of open wine and
Eduardo took note of them.

“Expecting company?” He asked, watching her pour
white zinfandel into a glass.

She grinned, “You, of course.”

“What makes you so sure of yourself?” He asked
huskily.

“Because the last few months have been torture for
both of us,” Stacey decidedly said.

“Maybe for you,” Eduardo spat out, grinning. Stacey
swallowed the fun and continued, “…And knowing you as well as I do,
you wouldn’t pass up this chance of being with me.”

“So certain, I see,” he said, lowering his eyes to
her bosom by mistake.

Stacey watched him intently as he did so, “Just
determining the facts sir and as I read them...you can’t wait to
kiss me.”

Eduardo gulped. It was true, he wanted to. But Good
God, he loved Amber so. He stood his ground a few steps away from
her however, fighting the urge to grab her into his arms and kiss
the hell out of her lips and continued to debate it. He’s had women
before throw themselves at him, remaining calm was easy for him. It
was like riding a bike and he rather enjoyed toying with her
affections. He rather liked having the tables being turned. “It can
wait,” he confessed, reaching over to the table and grabbing his
glass of zinfandel. The irony quenched his thirst like a jug of
Gatorade.

Stacey watched him keenly, and maybe just a little
bit discouraged as Eduardo sipped his wine. What else could she
try? She was already wearing next to nothing! Should she just jump
on him? Strip for him? Unzip his zipper and start to play with it?
Good heavens, she never did those things to her husband…why did she
feel so naughty when around Eduardo? She required him intoxicated,
maybe that would work. A little alcohol to mix up one’s judgment
was always a no brainer and used one too many times as a recognized
excuse for adultery and her own pretext for recent sexual
encounters. She had to keep him inside her room a little while
longer or at least long enough for a second glass of wine. “You
were brilliant, by the way.”

Eduardo turned to look at her first before walking
away to peek out of the window, “In what way?”

Stacy poured herself another glass of wine, “In the
way you handled the settlement negotiations,” she said, pausing to
take a sip; then to lower down her glass, “I would have never
thought to reduce my percentage rate to seize any deal. One’s
perception is to always offer higher to make one’s goal.” Stacey
stood her ground directly across from him; her feet spread apart in
a flirty sort of stance as she prepared herself for nearly anything
and started with feeding his ego. Stacey did think of his same
angle early on but opted to stay null to watch her colleague spin
his magic so that she could possibly secure a green light for her
true objective—which was to get him into bed.

Eduardo smiled to himself, that was his original plan
but then came up with another when the opposing attorney let it
slip that his client had been hurting for money. Offering a lower
amount had always been Plan B. “This negotiation could have been
handled via e-mail or over the phone if you ask me,” he suddenly
said, acting as if he were about to leave. But he then continued to
sip his wine and gazed out at the view of the lights surrounding
the capitol building through the hotel window.

“A face-to-face negotiation and coming to Sacramento
was a good idea Eduardo, there really is no need to second guess
our plan when it’s worked out so well.” Stacey noticed his glass
was nearly empty and walked over by his side to retrieve it.

Eduardo’s head whipped around within seeing her
arrival next to him and offered her his empty glass.

Stacey carefully poured him another drink then
seductively stepped away; could feel his eyes undress her from
behind…also in her plan. But then she became disappointed when she
realized he hadn’t been looking. She noticed his reflection in the
mirror as she passed it by that he had swiftly turned his head
away. Why was he so difficult to read! “What are you afraid of?”
She asked, trying another route.

Eduardo lowered his glass, “Afraid? Who’s
afraid?”