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“Not really. It was too noisy,” Jim said, “But I did sleep for about four hours when I finally got to the hotel.”
“So jealous,” Elle said with another yawn. “I worked all day.”
Sighing, Jim said, “I wish I could have skipped Kansas City and we could have just stayed in bed all day.” Pausing, he admitted, “I miss you already.”
Elle was quiet for a minute and then she softly said, “Yeah, I miss you too. It’s kind of silly, since I just saw you this morning, but still…”
At the knock on the door, Jim said, “My room service just got here, and you sound like you’re ready to pass out. Get some rest, baby. Call me tomorrow?”
Yawning again, Elle said, “You win. I’m going to bed. Call you tomorrow. Night.”
“Sweet dreams.”
* * * *
By the time that Jim made it home on Friday, it was 11:30 p.m. He was exhausted but in high spirits. Both of his meetings had gone really well, he was going home to sleep in his own bed, and he’d be able to see Elle tomorrow.
Chapter Eleven
When Elle opened the door, she saw Jim standing there with a bouquet of hot pink lilies in his hand. He grinned when he saw her, and she felt herself grinning stupidly in return. It had only been a few days, but she’d really missed him.
“You look amazing, Elle,” he said. She watched as his eyes roamed over her. As if he realized he was staring, he held the flowers out to her and added, “These are for you.”
Taking the flowers from him, she stepped back and opened the door further, then said, “Thank you. That was incredibly sweet of you. Come in while I put these in water.”
She made her way to the kitchen as he stepped into her living room. Grabbing a vase from under the sink, she filled it with water. She threw away the cellophane wrapper on the flowers, and trimmed the ends. Arranging them, she set them on the counter.
When she turned to leave her kitchen, she saw he was leaned against the counter next to her.
“You look pretty fantastic yourself,” she said as she stepped toward him. He’d dressed in a black suit and charcoal gray shirt with a black tie. Running her hands over his lapels and up his shoulders, she pulled him into a kiss.
He wrapped his arms around her as his tongue swept into her mouth. She moaned as she felt his hands slide down her back to the curves of her ass. When he straightened and pulled her flush against his body, she could feel his growing erection press into her belly.
Breaking his mouth away from hers, she felt his mouth move across her jaw to press feather-light kisses against her neck. Then, regret evident on his face, he pulled back from her and said, “As much as I’d like to continue this, we’re going to be late.”
Elle gazed at him and suggested, “Then let’s be late.”
Jim sighed and said, “Incredibly tempting, but I’m one of the honorees for the party so that would be a little rude.”
Her eyes wide, Elle asked, “Why didn’t you say anything? What are you being honored for?”
“I donated some money to cancer research. It’s not that big of a deal,” Jim said.
Noticing that he was uncomfortable talking about it, Elle placed her hand on chest and said, “To be continued. We don’t want to be late.”
Jim pulled her back up against him and said, “I’d like to skip the whole thing and make love to you until we both pass out.”
Elle felt her heart flutter slightly at his choice of words, but her voice was steady when she said, “But it would be unforgivably rude to skip your own party. The sooner we’re there, the sooner we can leave.”
Pulling back out of his embrace, Elle said, “Let me go get my bag and coat.”
Jim touched her cheek as she moved to turn away from him and said, “You really do look beautiful tonight.”
Elle, flushing, placed her hand on the hand that rested on her cheek and said, “Thank you, but stop stalling. We should go now.”
Jim gave her a sheepish grin, because she’d completely busted him.
As they moved toward the door, Jim said, “I just hate these things. I give because it’s important, and because I’m able to. I don’t need a party. They always expect me to say a little something. I hate public speaking.”
