Friends & Lovers Trilogy (35 page)

Rich turned his head and she opened her eyes
to look into his.

“
Hi,” he said with a smile,
reaching out to move a strand of her hair off of her
face.

“
Hey,” she
responded.

“
I’m not complaining or
anything, but what the hell was that?”

His question brought her fully out of the
haze and she sat up abruptly, moving off of him, gathering up her
clothes, and walking quickly into the small restroom.

Roni cleaned herself up, got dressed and
splashed some water on her face. When she felt composed, she walked
back out with a smile on her face.

Rich was still on the bed, only now he was
sitting with his back against the wall and a sheet thrown
haphazardly over the bottom half of his body. His chest and abs
were still visible. Taunting her with their magnificence. Now that
she’d tasted him, she was eager for seconds.

“
You want to talk about
what just happened?” Rich asked.

Roni looked at him and shook her head, “Not
really.”

Rich chuckled at that.

“
I’ve got to get going,”
Roni started as she started to inch towards the door.

Rich got up off of the bed, the sheet
sliding to the floor as he walked over to reach her.

Roni stood frozen in place at the site
before her.

Holy shit, she knew he’d looked good, but
seeing him in his full glory almost knocked her on her ass.

She cleared her throat and tried to look in
his eyes.

“
You’re leaving?” He asked
when he reached her. He put a hand behind her head and pulled her
in, kissing her thoroughly before letting her go.

“
Yeah,” Roni said. Her
voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve got some stuff to do at
home.”

Rich rubbed his thumb over
her lips, causing her to shiver, and said, “Okay. But we
will
talk about this,
Roni.”

She nodded at him, then turned and fled.

Chapter Eleven

Rich was excited.

Today was going to be his first official
meeting with his new employees. He felt like everything was finally
real. They were going to discuss schedules, supplies, marketing,
and the Grand Opening, plus anything else that came up.

He never thought he’d be so excited for a
meeting, but he really was. It was his meeting, in his warehouse,
with his employees. Talk about a dream come true.

He may have gone a little overboard, he
thought with a chuckle. He had pastries and coffee on the table,
with a tablet and pencil at each seat. He had an easel with a white
board and markers, ready to show them his ideas and annotate
theirs.

Rich looked at his watch, saw he still had
fifteen minutes until the meeting started, and headed towards the
back to find Jason.

“
Hey, man,” Rich said when
he saw him walking out of the fitness center. “You about
ready?”

“
Yeah,” Jason replied. “I
was just making sure everything looked good for the
tour.”

“
Great,” Rich said. “I
can’t thank you enough for all of your help.”

“
No Problem. I love it
here, Rich. I’m happy you took a chance on me.”

Rich slapped the other man on the back and
they started back towards the front just as the door open and the
other employees started to trickle in.

Rich went into his office to give himself a
moment to collect his thoughts. He took a few deep breaths and
looked at his notes to remind himself what he wanted to talk
about.

He walked back into the kitchen and saw that
most of the people were seated and had pastries in front of them.
No one was talking yet, but at least they were taking the food.

“
Go ahead and make
yourselves comfortable,” Rich said. “Get some coffee and pastries.
I’ll wait a few more minutes before I begin.”

He went to the head of the table and placed
his items in front of him as he sat. Jason sat down next to him and
grabbed a muffin from the tray. Rich watched as Jason looked over
at Alex, who was sitting across from him and in the middle of the
table. She looked very petite amongst the boxing trainers that
flanked her.

Alex looked up and smiled at Jason when she
caught his stare. Jason quickly looked away, causing Rich to
chuckle softly. Alex shrugged slightly, then went back to putting
creamer in her coffee.

Briana and Roni came into the room laughing.
Rich smiled and said, “Morning.” He indicated that they should take
their seats, his stomach dropping at the site of Roni.

Her hair was back in a ponytail and she
wasn’t wearing any makeup. She looked like she was on her way to
work out, in yoga pants and a form fitting dry-fit top. He couldn’t
stop the image of her above him, her face full of passion as she’d
found her release.

Shit, he thought, he needed to focus on the
meeting or he wouldn’t make it five more seconds without taking her
right on the table in front of everyone.

Rich counted to twenty in his head and
thought of the highlights he’d watched on ESPN this morning, to
clear the images from his mind.

“
Thank you all for coming,”
Rich began, “We’ll go ahead and get started. I want to begin by
going around the room. I’ll ask each of you to introduce yourself
and let everyone know what you will be teaching here.”

As his new employees introduced themselves,
he thought about what he wanted to talk about next. When Alex was
talking, he noticed Jason staring at her with his mouth slightly
open, so he kicked his friend under the table.

Jason jerked slightly, and closed his mouth,
turning to Rich with a question on his face. Rich gestured with his
hand, telling Jason to ease up on the staring. If his friend had
any sort of chance with the pretty Karate instructor, he needed to
keep the creepy factor down to a minimum.

When it was Briana’s turned, he smiled at
her enthusiasm as she told the group about the cooking classes she
wanted to offer.

He tried to holster his own creepy factor as
Roni spoke. He made sure he looked around the table, rather than
get caught up in her beauty. But, damn, she was beautiful.

When the introductions were complete, he
talked to them about the resale store. He passed out catalogs and
told them they had a sheet in front of them that listed websites
that they could utilize as well. He said he needed their initial
orders to him by the end of the week, so he could have the
merchandise on the shelves for the Grand Opening.

“
We’ll give them free
lessons all day during the opening, utilizing the merchandise that
you tell me to order for the store. That way, if there are any
specific items you need them to purchase in order to take your
class; we will have the items readily available. This will make it
easier for you and the client, and you will earn money off of the
profits.” Rich explained as they looked through the
catalogs.

“
Now, can you tell me what
classes you plan to offer during the Grand Opening?” Rich asked.
Once again having them go around the table.

When everyone had a chance to speak, Rich
asked if anyone had any questions for him, or each other, before
moving on to the tour. No one did, so he took them out and showed
them around the Center.

Once they had the complete tour, he released
them to go to their own respective work areas and said he would be
in his office if anyone needed anything before they left.

As she was about to walk away with Briana,
Rich called Roni over and asked if he could talk to her for a
minute.

“
Hey,” Rich said softly.
“How are you doing?”

“
Good,” Roni said simply,
not quite meeting his eyes.

“
Are you busy later?” He
asked.

“
I have to
work.”

“
When’s your next night
off?” Rich prompted.

“
Why?” Roni asked, looking
down at her feet.

“
Roni,” Rich said, putting
his finger under her chin and lifting her face so she was forced to
look at him. “What’s going on? We need to talk about last night.
I’d like to take you out to dinner… So we can talk.”

“
Dinner? You don’t have to
do that, Rich. Last night was no big deal.”

Rich looked at her with a frown.

“
I’m asking you to go out
to dinner with me, Roni. What do ya say?”

Roni looked up at him, not saying anything
at first, then replied, “I’m off tomorrow night, then I won’t be
off again until Christmas. We can have dinner tomorrow, if that’s
what you want.”

Rich smiled at her, “Perfect. I’ll pick you
up at six.”

Roni nodded before she turned and walked
back towards the kitchen.

Rich went into his office, unsure what his
next step with Roni should be. Obviously he’d dated before, but
with Roni everything felt different. It wasn’t just that he wanted
her; last night hadn’t changed that at all. If anything, he wanted
her more now than he had before. But he felt more than just lust.
There was something about Roni that made him want to take care of
her. To make her happy. He couldn’t dwell on it too much, or it
would probably freak him out.

A knock on the door had him looking up.
Briana was smiling at him from the doorway.

“
Can I come in, boss?” She
asked with a chuckle.

“
Sure.”

“
I just wanted to tell you
again how proud I am of you, Rich. This place is amazing, and I’m
so happy to get to be a part of it. The Grand Opening is going to
be amazing.”

“
Thanks, Bree,” Rich said,
coming around his desk to give her a hug. “That means a
lot.”

“
I also wanted to remind
you about Christmas,” Briana said.

“
I’ll be there,” he
replied.

“
Great, I’ll see you
then.”

He walked her out and said goodbye to her
and Roni as they exited the warehouse.

His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, telling
him he’d received a text.

Hey, Rich. Just wanted to let you know,
you’ve got Roni for the gift exchange. See ya then, Nic.

Of course he did.

Chapter Twelve

Why had she agreed to go on a date with him?
Roni wondered as she looked for earrings to match her top. She knew
that he was going to want answers for the way she’d behaved the
other day. She should be avoiding him, not going out with him.

He’d just looked so cute.

And when she’d looked into his eyes, she
would have agreed to anything he asked of her.

She was so confused.

Maybe once he found out about her and her
past, he’d lose interest and things could go back to the way there
were before she’d jumped him.

God, she still couldn’t
believe she’d done that. She’d never done anything so, well,
wild
, in her
life.

She covered her mouth to suppress a giggle
as she thought about it.

She’d never felt so free. Free to do what
she wanted without fear of rejection or reprisal. It had been
invigorating. And although she knew she was probably playing with
fire, she loved the fire that coursed through her at the thought of
that freedom.

Rich was a guy who liked to have fun. Maybe
he wouldn’t mind having some fun with her, totally free of strings
or attachments.

Roni looked at herself in the mirror as she
put in her earrings. Did she have it in her to have a casual
relationship? It was something she’d have to think about.

At six on the dot, Roni hear footsteps on
the stairs and took a deep breath. Her stomach jittering as she
waited for the knock on the door. Even though she was expecting it,
she jumped when Rich’s fist connected with the wood.

She smoothed her hair down before she opened
the door.

“
Hey,” Rich said with a
smile that lit up his face. His hazel eyes glittered as they looked
Roni over. “You look beautiful.”

“
Thanks,” Roni said,
returning his smile. She’d figured he’d be dressed casually, so
she’d worn a new pair of dark denim jeans with a peasant top and a
navy blue cardigan.

Rich nodded and asked, “Are you ready?”

Roni said she was and turned to lock the
door as they walked out. She followed him down the stairs to the
car.

She took a moment to appreciate the way he
filled out his jeans as they walked. When he turned to say
something as he opened the car door for her, she jerked her head up
to meet his eyes. Her face reddened at the cocky grin that took
over his face.

“
You checkin’ me out
sunshine?”

Roni rolled her eyes and said, “You wish.”
She tried to play it off as she slid into the seat.

“
So,” Roni began as Rich
started to drive. “What made you decide to open a Rec
Center?”

“
Colin and I were always
goofing off, trying to find a field to play ball in, or shooting
hoops at one of the neighbors’ houses. It seemed like the days we
couldn’t find a place to get rid of some of that energy, we would
end up doing something stupid and getting in trouble.” Rich
explained with a smile. “I thought if we’d had a place to go after
school, and on weekends, where we could take classes in things that
interested us, or play sports, we would have gotten into less
trouble. Then I came up with the idea of opening a place for kids
and adults in our community.”

“
It’s a wonderful idea,”
Roni said, playing with her hair absently. “I’m so excited to be a
part of it.”