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* * * *
Joe lay in bed, staring at his phone, waiting for it to ring. He longed to hear Elizabeth’s voice, and to know she arrived at her hotel okay. He tried desperately to fall asleep, but his racing mind would not call for it. Thoughts of her soft, sweet lips invaded his brain. He would have kissed her all night if she hadn’t had to leave.
Who was he kidding? If she’d have stayed, he would have done more than just kiss her. His body ached in a way it hadn’t for quite some time.
He sat up, fluffed his pillow, and lay back down again. Sleep still didn’t come. Now, thoughts of her moving back to New York plagued him. He wanted her to stay in Chicago, wanted to be able to see her every day, touch her, smell her, taste her. She probably had no idea how bad he wanted to have her.
He thought about the last words she’d spoken to him. “I’ll miss you guys, too. All of you.” Her words ran through his mind over and over again, and they tugged at his heart. He had fallen for this woman, and he knew she fell for him too, but he needed to make sure the kids were included one hundred percent. More importantly, he needed to keep a close watch on their little hearts, as well as his own.
* * * *
Elizabeth tapped Joe’s name on the screen of her cell phone.
“Good morning.”
It was nice to hear his voice, and his eager, upbeat tone drew a smile out of her.
“Hi, I’m just calling to let you know I’m here at the New York office and everything is fine.”
“Great, so your flight was good?”
“Yes. Is everything okay by you?”
“Yep, the kids just got on the school bus, so now I’m going to get some work done.”
Elizabeth heard someone say her name. She glanced down the hall to find Mr. James’ assistant waving her over. Darn it. The employees were already heading into the conference room for the first training session of the day. Disappointment sifted through her, she had hoped to talk with Joe a bit longer.
“I’m sorry, Joe, we’re about to get started so I need to go. Have a good day.”
“You too, and why don’t you give me a call later tonight when you’re done with class?” Silence filled the air. “Are you still there?”
“Yes. You want me to call you again?”
“Yeah, I want to know how your day went.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll call later then. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Elizabeth stared down at her cell and smiled. Joe’s thoughtfulness puzzled her. His tone seemed sincere. Nobody’s ever really cared about how my day went before.
After the training sessions finished for the day, Elizabeth went out to dinner with a couple of the senior management staff, Mr. James, the owner of the company, and his nephew Patrick, who she absolutely despised. He was a smug, twenty-something spoiled brat, who threw his weight around like he already owned the place. She thought the world of Mr. James, who happened to be a long-time business acquaintance of her dad, but she wondered how she would fare working for Patrick in the future, and she would surely be working for him someday as he was the only heir to the company.
It came as no surprise when Patrick arranged to be seated next to her. She nearly rolled her eyes at his blatant maneuver, but caught herself. His reputation of using women and then treating them like crap preceded him. She’d heard stories about how women threw themselves at him, and when he was done with them, he would drop them like yesterday’s newspaper. She never could understand what women saw in him. To her, he appeared unattractive and needy. Though his medium height and build seemed appealing enough, the dark circles surrounding his deep-set hazel eyes were a major turnoff; making him look perpetually tired. His dingy, blond hair was always out of sorts, and though his freckles added color to his pasty skin, they were strangely clustered about his face. And to make matters worse, he had this quirky head twitch that materialized when he became nervous or agitated.
The entire time they ate dinner, he slowly scooted closer to her until she was trapped tightly between him and Mr. James. The proximity between them appeared to only bother her.
Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, Patrick whispered into her ear. “How about you and I get out of here, go clubbing, and have a couple of drinks?” His thin lips lingered longer than necessary at the side of her face.
She shot him a sideways glance. He couldn’t possibly be serious. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
He flashed his unattractive eyes at her. “Awe, come on, baby. You know you want to. You know you want me.”
She almost choked on her steak. She couldn’t believe how much he thought of himself, but he was Mr. James’ nephew, so she had to choose her response wisely. “Your offer is tempting, but as I have said to you in the past, I’m really focused on my career right now, so all other aspects of life are simply placed on the back burner.”
“Elizabeth, baby, it’s not like I’m asking for your hand in marriage, I’m just asking for one night, tonight.” His voice oozed with sleaze.
She nearly gagged at the thought of one night with him. Her proximity to him now already had her on the verge of needing a shower. “Patrick, my plan tonight is to finish dinner and then return to my hotel room, alone, where I will proceed to get some rest so I am fresh and ready for our training tomorrow. Period.”
