Determined: To Love: (Part 2 of the Determined Trilogy) (4 page)

“David would find a role for you in a heartbeat, you know that, right?”

I frowned. “Yeah, he mentioned that before. But I don’t want a job because of who I’m dating. I want to build my own career.”

Jenna’s lips twitched up at the edges. I could tell she was trying to keep down a smile. “That’s great, Sam. Really. It’s just…” She stopped mid-sentence.

I felt like there was something she wasn’t saying. “Jenna?” I shot her a firm look. “Are you not telling me something?”

She looked up at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact. I persisted.

“Jenna.”

She broke out into a huge grin. “I’m sorry! He asked me to! But I wouldn’t have agreed if I’d thought it was a bad idea.”

I sat back in my chair, trying to process what she was confessing to.

“So David put you up to this?”

“No, not exactly…” Boy, she was really making me drag it out of her.

“Well then what exactly? Tell me.”

“He had mentioned the idea of you working for him. But I figured maybe you’d prefer to work with me. So that part was my idea.”

I picked up my coffee and took a long, slow sip, biding my time as I determined my response. Was I surprised? Not really. David had joked about having me come work for him several times, and I turned him down each time. But I had thought it was all in good fun. Bringing his sister in to pitch the idea was a new tactic, and one that made me think he was more serious than I’d realized.

“Will you excuse me for a moment?” I got up out of my chair and walked over to the lobby.

“Sam, wait…” Jenna pleaded gently as I walked away.

I pulled out my phone and dialed David’s number. He answered on the first ring.

“Hey, baby, what a nice surprise. What’s up?”

I kept my voice low, not wanting to attract the attention of the throngs of people in the lobby. “Did you ask Jenna to coerce me into working for you?”

His answer was smooth and even. “Coerce is a strong word, Samantha.”

I could tell he was smiling over the line, which just riled me up.

“Why would you do that? Are you ashamed of what I do for a living? Just so you know, I am fully capable of getting a full time job on my own. I just happen to like working for Curtis.” I hissed.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down baby.” His voice was steady and measured. “To answer your question, no I am not ashamed of you. Quite the opposite. I think you’re smart and focused, and I really admire that about you. I am confident you’d have your choice of employers, if you were so inclined. Just think of the offer as my selfish attempt to keep you nearby.”

Okay, I have to admit, I melted just a little, but I didn’t let him know. I held firm on the phone.

“Are you sure? Why did you bring Jenna into it?”

“I didn’t. I mean, not on purpose. We chatted over the holiday about this. I didn’t know she’d bring it up today.”

Part of me wanted to call bullshit; he was much too savvy of a business man to not know exactly what he had been doing with Jenna. But he continued.

“But Samantha, really, it was all with good intentions. I don’t just respect what you do as a job, but I respect you as a person, as well. I’d never want you to do anything you aren’t one-hundred percent comfortable with. Even if that includes coming to work for me. Really.”

His words were working. I was starting to calm down.

“Promise?”

“Promise. You know you are the most important thing in the world to me, right?”

I paused. “Yeah.”

“So please, forget about this. Go enjoy your breakfast. I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Okay. I love you. And thanks for the mimosas”

“You are welcome. Love you, too.”

I pressed end on my phone and went back into the dining room.

“Sorry about that,” I said as I eased back down to the table.

“Is everything okay? I didn’t mean to upset you, Sam.”

“Everything is fine. Just a mis-understanding. It’s all resolved now.”

Jenna stared at me as the waiter came to refill our coffee. “Do you know how much he loves you?”

I looked up, startled. God, how much did these two share with each other?

I tried to keep my expression even. “What do you mean?”

“When we were up at Dad’s place for New Years. He and I were out getting firewood.”

I nodded, not wanting to interrupt.

“He said he was worried.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have to understand, I mean, you know he’s had a lot of tragedies in his life, right?” I nodded. “He said he was worried because with you,” she looked at me pointedly, “he felt like he was getting more than he deserved. He didn’t think it was possible to be this happy.”

I died a little inside. My David. My sweet David. No wonder he was so eager to protect me. He thought I was a fleeting moment. I resolved to do everything I could to prove him wrong.

“I’m going to be such an awesome sister-in-law,” Jenna said as she jammed a forkful of home fries in her mouth.

I just shook my head and smiled.

~

Later on at the gallery, I had the short shift, which was great because I needed to get ready for our weekend trip. David had insisted I didn’t need to pack anything, but I still wanted to run by my place to pick up a book I’d been meaning to read.

Elliot picked me up at the gallery and whisked me over to my studio, where I darted in quickly to grab my book. On my way back out to the street I started absent-mindedly reading the blurb on the back cover and almost knocked into someone on the path.

“Oh, hey, Greg. Sorry, I wasn’t looking at where I was going.” He was headed back toward the street from Clark and Leslie’s front porch. He must have been visiting with them.

“No problem, Sam. It’s actually nice to run in to you.” His warm southern accent was enchanting. He seemed unusually pleased that I had almost knocked him over. “I was beginning to think I’d imagined having such a pretty neighbor.”

I blushed and glanced around. Luckily Elliot was firmly ensconced in the front seat of the SUV. I knew he couldn’t hear us.

“What are you up to right now? Do you want to grab a coffee?”

I hesitated and glanced at my wrist, as if to check the time, even though I didn’t have a watch. Why was I nervous? I was allowed to get coffee with a neighbor. It just so happened that he was a very attractive neighbor. But so what? David had tons of attractive women working for him. Besides. It was just coffee. Elliot would be nearby. Nothing would happen.

“Um, sure. What time is it though? I can’t stay long, but I could do a quick cup of coffee.”

“Great, it’s four-thirty. Let’s go. My treat.”

We wandered down to the main street and ducked inside the first coffee shop we came to. I glanced around as Greg ordered for us, trying to find Elliot. He had followed us discreetly and was outside, sitting on a bench. I relaxed a little, knowing that he was scanning the area, instead of watching me.

Greg and I sat down on a sofa next to the main window.

“So, how was Miami?” he started, his attention trained fully on me.

I stopped. Miami? Why was he bringing up that up? What was supposed to have been the career building trip of a lifetime had resulted in me being attacked by a gallery owner in my hotel room. It was a trip I preferred to forget.

“Sam?” He must have read the look on my face. I looked back at him. “A few weeks ago, you said you were headed to Miami. Did you go?”

Right, he didn’t know. I didn’t feel like going into the details, so I used a sanitized version of the truth that had worked on my parents.

“It was good. Really productive. I met a lot of people. The art was amazing. We’re actually bringing one of the artists to the gallery later this month.”

Greg smiled. “That’s awesome! I still need to stop by the gallery sometime. You’ve made it sound so interesting.”

“Oh, well, I hope I haven’t talked it up too much. It’s a modest space. But we do have some great art. You should definitely come check it out,” I said the words, but honestly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to come by. Sure, he was cute. Too old for me, but cute. But why confuse myself when I had David? David was more than enough.

“Sure, sometime soon. I have to fly out to Arizona this weekend for work, but maybe once I’m back.”

“What’s in Arizona?”

“Just a bunch of hospitals and doctors’ offices.” I remembered, suddenly. Greg was in pharmaceutical sales. He had mentioned that during a dinner party at Clark and Leslie’s.

“Do you like it? Travelling, I mean? Flying around?” It sounded kind of glamourous.

“To be honest, it’s like any other job. At first it’s fun, but after a while, it becomes routine. You get really familiar with which airports have the best food courts.” He paused, “And I have my packing down to a science.”

Packing. Shoot.
His comment reminded me about my trip. The sooner I got back to the city, the closer I was to my trip with David. I wanted to get going. The rush hour traffic back to the city was always tough.

“Oh, crap. I just remembered I have to go. I’ve got something I have something to do over in the city. But you’ll have to teach me your tricks sometime,” I said, standing up.

“It’d be my pleasure, Sam,” he said, his eyes glimmering at my inadvertent double-entendre.

I blushed and said goodbye, leaving him to finish his coffee alone.

~

The ride back to the city took a while, as expected. It was only during these times that I missed the efficiency of public transportation. The rest of the time, I had no nostalgia for the sardine-like BART trains. Having a driver wasn’t my choice, but I had to admit it was nice most of the time.

Once I got back to David’s building, Elliot let me off at the curb and went around the building to park. I wasn’t sure if it was the late afternoon caffeine or maybe the harmless flirting, but I had a lot of excess energy as I rode up the elevator shaft, toward the penthouse.

As the doors parted, I could tell someone was home. I put my purse down on the table in the foyer and wandered through the apartment.

I finally found David in his office. He was sitting at his huge desk, deeply entranced by whatever it was on his screen. He had several file folders out on the desk next to him, and a serious look on his face. However engaging the material was, though, it only took him a split second to notice me.

“Baby,” he sat back in his chair and smiled as he closed the laptop, “come here.” He motioned to his lap.

I deliberately stayed in the doorway, teasing him.

“How was your day?” I asked, flirting at him with my eyes.

His eyes glimmered back with the stimulus. He knew what I was doing. “Good, baby. I didn’t have any meetings this afternoon, so I decided to work from home.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. You should have told me. I was off early today, too.” I ran my hand along the door frame.

“Oh really? And what have you been up to, may I ask?” David got up slowly, his gaze never leaving mine.

“Oh, I just ran by my place and had coffee with a neighbor.”

That got him. I knew it would. “And which neighbor is this? You better say Leslie,” he said, as he rounded the desk towards me. I loved it when I was able to tap into his jealous side. He became all possessive and super alpha male.

“Oh, no. Greg, the guy who moved in a few weeks ago across the street. I think I mentioned him before?”

“You did not, Ms. Sharp,” he said sternly as he positioned himself a few inches from me.

Ooh. We had skipped right from Baby to Ms. Sharp. The air crackled between us. My eyes dipped down and observed him. He was still dressed in a suit, his tie just barely loosened.

“Don’t worry. He’s harmless.”

A deep sound emanated from somewhere in his throat.
Was that a growl?
Whatever it was, it was incredibly erotic.

“Was Elliot with you?”

“Yes,” I breathed as he moved in even closer.

“I don’t like you cavorting around town with strange men, Samantha.” His voice started to reveal a Louisiana accent, and I knew he was worked up, even as he gently kissed my neck.

“He’s not strange. He’s my neighbor.” I tilted my neck to the side, opening myself to him. I could feel the place between my thighs moistening.

“How do you know?” he murmured “I haven’t run a background check on him. He could be a serial killer for all you know.” He paused and gently bit my earlobe. “Besides… you’re mine. He can’t have you.” His territorial comments really turned me on, but I needed him to calm down. It was still early, and I knew I needed to get a run in before it was too late, otherwise the late afternoon caffeine would keep me up all night.

“Relax. It was just coffee. Really. He’s harmless I promise.” I pushed back against David’s chest as he tried to grab me around my waist. “I was thinking about going for a run. Do you want to come with? You can keep an eye on me and make sure no one tries to take me to coffee.”

David smirked and mulled over the options in his head for a split second before he came to his decision. He didn’t say anything, and instead picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He took me to the bedroom, and I was surprised when he put me down on the bed and started to take out his running clothes.
Well, I guess we are going running,
I thought, slightly disappointed.

We were both pulling on our running shoes when David glanced over at me.

“You’re not going out like that, are you?”

“What?” I looked down. I was wearing a hot pink sports bra and black running tights. My hair was in a high ponytail. I thought I looked pretty sporty.

“You can’t be serious. Is that what you normally wear running?” David didn’t usually exercise with me. He tended to get up early to work out with a trainer.

“No, it depends on how I’m feeling. Why what’s wrong with it?” I said innocently, looking down at myself. I knew very well what he found wrong with the outfit from his tone of voice, but I wanted him to say it.

“There’s… there’s not enough fabric,” he said finally.

“What are you talking about? Tons of people go running in less than this.”

He grunted and furrowed his brow. I could tell he was uncomfortable.