Campaign for Love (26 page)

 

 

She had just hung up her coat when she heard Sharon at her desk.

 

 

"Hi, Sharon!" she called out. "How are you?"

 

 

Sharon was delighted to see her, and was full of questions which
Suzy
promised to answer at lunch the next day.

 

 

"It all went well, but I've goofed off long enough," she said. "I
want
to get back to work before Mr. Pierce gets here."

 

 

"What time did you get back?" asked Sharon.

 

 

"The plane landed at one and I got home around two-thirty. I could
sleep for a week."

 

 

"You picked up a great color. Did you get in much time at the
beach?"

 

 

"Practically all of it was at the beach, with almost nothing on, as
you'll see in the commercials if they get past the censors."

 

 

"Glad it went so well, and I'm sure it was hard work despite the
gorgeous location."

 

 

"Thanks for always being so supportive and not catty. How about you,
how's Jerry?"

 

 

"Great." The redhead grinned from ear to ear.

 

 

"Terrific news. But listen, I've really got to go now. I have heaps
on
the desk waiting for me. See you at lunch tomorrow."

 

 

She had just reached her desk when she heard Quentin arrive. Hearing
his deep voice stirred memories that made her blush and burn.

 

 

He exchanged pleasantries with Sharon, then said, "Give me a chance
to
get my coat off and my notes out, then come in with your pad. I have
some letters to get out."

 

 

"Five minutes OK, Mr. Pierce?"

 

 

"That will be fine, Sharon."

 

 

He continued on to his desk, saying, "Good morning, Suzanna," along
the
way.

 

 

She answered with a casual, "Good morning," and kept on working,
though
she could feel a blush scorching her cheeks at the recollection of
all
they had shared last night.

 

 

For the next hour, Suzanna could hear him dictating and giving
instructions to Sharon. It nearly drove her mad to be so close, yet
so
far.

 

 

It was difficult to concentrate when the rise and fall of his voice
did
strange and wonderful things to her. In her mind, she could hear
again
the words of love and passion he had poured into her ear as he had
made
love to her with every part of his body. She felt again his touches
as
he explored the new-found wonders of hers.

 

 

Suzanna's reverie was interrupted by Sharon's goodnight, and then
the
working day was over. Now she waited for him to come to her. She
knew
he would, if his aching and yearning was equal to hers.

 

 

Within seconds after Sharon had left, he was standing in her
doorway.

 

 

"This was the longest afternoon I've ever spent," he confessed with
a
ragged sigh. "Knowing you were in the next room only a few steps
away
was frustrating. Pictures of you kept popping into my mind."

 

 

He had come around her desk, and she was by now on her feet to meet
him. They stepped into one another's arms with a sigh of
contentment.
It was like coming home.

 

 

This time there was no holding back. They kissed one another
passionately, but before the arousal could go too far, Quentin
stepped
away and said, "Let's go home. I want you, but I don't want it to be
here."

 

 

"Why not?" she said boldly. "It would be fun anywhere."

 

 

"Because of some cheap, sordid affairs carried on here by my last
assistant," he admitted tightly. "She hooked up with practically
every
guy who walked into the office. Sometimes they'd arrive before I
left.
She was the company's dirty joke. Behind her back they called her
the
porcupine."

 

 

She frowned. "I always thought a porcupine would be someone
unapproachable."

 

 

"In this case, quite the opposite."

 

 

He gave a succinct explanation, and she blushed. "That's awful, but
accurate from what Sharon told me."

 

 

"I wasn't sure that you knew about her."

 

 

"I wasn't sure you knew it all either."

 

 

He gave a wry smile. "Oh, I knew about her all right, but I didn't
think it was any of my business as long as she let me alone. That
is,
until the V.I.P, who hired her started to gripe to me about all the
overtime I made her put in.

 

 

"I told him that not only hadn't she worked overtime for me, but I
always stopped on the dot of five. That's how I got rid of her. It
was
laughable to call her my assistant. The whole time she was here she
contributed nothing. Do you understand now why I'd feel reluctant to
make love to you on that couch?"

 

 

She nodded. "I do. Let's go right to your apartment. My bag is in
the
closet. I think I saw some frozen dinners in your fridge this
morning.
We'll fix dinner and then watch some T.V. or something."

 

 

He winked at her. "If I have a choice, I'll take the 'or
something'."

 

 

"I was hoping you would. Let's take a cab. We'll get there faster."

 

 

"That's my modest little shrinking violet."

 

 

She giggled. "I have a lot of catching up to do."

 

 

"If we catch up any more, I'll be old before my time."

 

 

She gave him a dazzling smile. "I've heard that sex is good for you
and
helps keep you fit and healthy."

 

 

He winked at her broadly. "Then we ought to be two of the healthiest
people in the whole USA. Olympians, in fact."

 

 

"Well, if you'd rather not...."

 

 

"Bite your tongue! Let's get that taxi, quick."

 

 

As it happened, they did watch TV for a while because the Imperial
Foods commercials were running. They saw some of Suzy's Quik-Bix
recipes and one of the Spudz.

 

 

The campaign was in its third week, and already, the results were
impressive. In fact, according to what Quentin had read that day
once
they had got back to the office, rolls of Quik-Bix and packages of
Spudz were moving so fast that the stores couldn't keep up.

 

 

Suzanna stayed at Quentin's apartment for the rest of the week. They
watched for their spots on TV, and never tired of seeing their ideas
come to life.

 

 

Quentin gave Suzanna full credit for their successes. They watched
together as unknown hands created the simple recipes, and got hungry
just looking at the finished result, just like thousands of other
consumers all over the country.

 

 

Sometimes they'd even make up a batch of the Quik-Bix doughnuts and
devour them with a fresh pot of coffee. Afterwards, they would lick
the
sugar from one another's fingers, sensually running their tongues
down
to the base between each one. The licking would get slower and more
arousing, and long after the last trace of sugar had disappeared,
they
found a deep sweetness in the feel of tender flesh.

 

 

Quentin would circle the palms of her hands with the hardened tip of
his tongue until Suzanna felt it in every sensitive part of her. She
could even feel Quentin's muscles contract as she did the same thing
to
his palms.

 

 

In his case, the results were more obvious. They burned with desire
for
each other, and never seemed to be able to quench the fire.

 

 

After a rousing sensing in the kitchen devouring one another, he
would
pick her up and carry her to his bedroom, where they would undress
one
another completely at last. Once more, they would kiss hungrily,
open
mouth to open mouth.

 

 

Then his tongue would begin its magical tour of her body, starting
with
her eyes. She had both hands on him as he started his path down her
eager body. She released him and held his head, stroking his hair,
helping to guide it to where she wanted it to be.

 

 

She writhed in anticipation once more as he approached the tender
flesh
of her inner thighs. He teased her as he licked tiny circles all
over
her sensitive parts. Then she would raise her knees high and opened
herself to him like a flower to the warmth of the sun.

 

 

When he had made her completely ready, they would join as one, and
reach the pinnacle, where they hung for a dizzying second before
sinking into blissful release.

 

 

They clung together moistly as they pressed their lips in a kiss of
avowal and commitment. What they felt was not mere physical
satisfaction, she was sure. It was a complete involvement of body,
mind
and spirit, born of love.

 

 

"This," sighed Suzanna, "is what making love is all about. This
isn't
like I've seen it in the movies and on television, is it, darling?"

 

 

He kissed her belly tenderly before replying, then moved up to her
level in the bed from where he had collapsed some time before. "No,
my
lovely, it certainly isn't. This is real, it's private, and it's
personal. In a movie, it's just two strangers getting paid to put on
a
performance. Watching it may excite one physically, but it can't
touch
the deeper emotions."

 

 

"That's true. But I think that if anyone were to watch us, their
emotions would be stirred. I love you so much, my dearest, I don't
know
how I existed all these years without you."

 

 

"Nor I without you. You were right, you know. There's a vast
difference
between having sex and making love. I can truly say now that I never
made love until you taught me how."

 

 

She laughed. "That's silly. I've learned everything I know from
you."

 

 

"Not true, my darling. I showed you the mechanics. The rest, you
knew
instinctively before I did. Thank you."

 

 

They smiled sleepily at one another, curled up together and were
soon
asleep.

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

 

 

Suzanna and Quentin had been back from the Bahamas for a little over
a
week when they saw the first of the Femme Fatale commercials on the
air.

 

 

They had been watching an old flick on TV when they were electrified
to
see Sensible Suzanna, hair up, little make-up, and tailored travel
suit
stepping off the plane.

 

 

Quentin could be seen following her. A voice-over commercial was
explaining that this efficient personal assistant was vacationing in
the Bahamas.

 

 

The scene dissolved to the white sandy beach where a transformed
Suzanna in the white net string bikini was bending over a tide-pool.
Then she turned toward the camera as if toward a lover, holding the
tiny star-fish trophy.

 

 

From there, they back-tracked, while the voice over explained every
step in her transformation as Bruce's deft hands applied the make-up
and brushed her hair.

 

 

Even Suzanna was surprised to see how photogenic she was. On
Quentin's
large- screen projection set, she was larger than life. The
voice-over
explained that the makeup was waterproof, perspiration proof and
hypo-allergenic.

 

 

"That's fantastic. Nobody's paying any attention to the hype.
They're
too busy watching the camera make love to you. That Max is great.
He's
caught every gorgeous feature, skin, coloring, eyes."

 

 

He drew in his breath and let out a long low, whistle. "If that
doesn't
sell Femme Fatale makeup, nothing will. It makes me want to go out
and
knock on doors to see if people are watching. Then, I'd like to tell
them that's my girl. I have exclusive privileges. Somehow, seeing
you
on a screen is different. I want to pick you up off the screen and
devour you."

 

 

She smiled shyly and returned the compliment. "Did you see yourself
getting off the plane? You look like a male-model yourself. I can't
wait to see the one where you're holding me and we're supposed to be
dancing."

 

 

"Just wait 'til the folks at Elder and Rubin see that. I'll be the
envy
of every man in the company," he said with a grin.

 

 

She looked at him from under hooded lashes. "Especially if they were
to
find out just how well you know me."

 

 

"That will never happen. I won't have them thinking you're another
Sondra."

 

 

She was pleased with the response in one way, but worried in
another.
Was he ashamed of what they shared?

 

 

The following day, Suzanna got her first reaction to the ads from
Sharon.

 

 

As she walked into the office, Sharon jumped up from her desk, ran
over
and hugged her.

 

 

"I can't believe I ever had the gall to try to tell you how to make
yourself more attractive. You are absolutely the most..... You have
a
body that would stop traffic. I think I know now what you meant when
you said it would be less distracting to keep your hair up and wear
loose clothes."

 

 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the whole story, but I wanted to make
good
here without anyone thinking I was getting by on my looks."

 

 

"Well, I think you've proved your point. Why not be yourself now?"
she
suggested, staring at her as though she had never seen her before.

 

 

Suzanna shrugged one shoulder. "I still haven't changed my mind
about
not wanting to get involved with any of the men here, especially
after
what you told me about most of them having bedded or should I say
'studio couched' Sondra."