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Coming face to face with him, however, was another thing entirely. That smug look on his face, when he threw the door open, annoyed me instantly. Martie warned me that he was a bit of a ladies’ man and tonotsleep with him, under any circumstances.
That wouldn’t be too hard when every word that rolled off his lips, in addition to his thoughts, ideas, and attitude, were already annoying me beyond belief. In the first five minutes, I felt I would rather run from the suite of rooms screaming and walk all the way to Connecticut barefoot than deal with him.
Unfortunately, when we went head-to-head over our differing ethical beliefs, I thought I would club him with my hand-me-down, thrift store purse. Thankfully, he’d excused himself in time to grab a drink and the feeling passed.
Now that we had moved past that, and I’d made him feel comfortable, I could do the job despite my beliefs. I needed to get some sleep. I edged closer to stand up, hoping our rooms would be quite far apart so he wouldn’t be banging on mine at 3 a.m. when he couldn’t find his remote. “So, do you have another room secured on this floor?”
He flashed me a sexy smile as if I was joking. “No. This is the room you and I will be sharing.”
Surprised, it took me a full minute to catch up with what he was saying.
“Wait! What are you saying?” My heart was beating triple-time in my chest, as if I’d run a marathon and forgotten to breathe.
“This is our room. I only booked one room, and if my memory serves me right when I was checking in, the front desk informed a happy couple who thought they could secure a room in person, at the last minute, that they were all booked up.”
My purse hit the floor with a thud. I reached for it, my fingers shaking, and set it back in front of me as a shield of protection.
“We're sharing a room. But there is only—” I coughed to clear the nauseous bile from my throat. “There is only one bed.”
He laughed, and his eyes wandered to the bed — a king-sized bed that looked like it was made for a happy married couple on their honeymoon. “Yes, just one bed, but that couch folds out over there.”
I turned quickly to see a tiny couch, that was more like a love seat.
Well, at least he can sleep on that. Although his attitude about traveling with employees was highly unethical, who was I to say?
Looking back at him with the sweetest smile I could muster up, I was caught off guard by the desire in his eyes.
“I, uh…” I got up and put my distance between us as I headed for the bed. “I guess you can take the couch, then. I’m sorry if it's too small for you, being such a large man and all.”
Just shy of the bed I stopped, turned, laid my purse down, and smiled. “I have to say, this is rather odd, not to mention unethical, for employees to travel with you this way. Not that it’s any of my business. But still, it is rather odd. Does Martie always travel with you this way?”
The mere mention of my cousin caused a chain reaction of things to happen right before my eyes. His eyes softened a little, a faint smile touched his lips, and he had that far-off look in his eyes for two seconds. “Yes, sometimes, and I’m not always a gentleman. Although, so far, she’s kept me in line.”
I didn't know what to say. She had a boyfriend, and while I didn’t know her relationship with him well, I didn't think Martie would behave in such a way. She was strong, committed, and loved her boyfriend completely. The idea that her boss could woo her into bed so easily didn't sit well with me.
His admission of being less than a gentleman caused a bunch of warning bells to go off in my head.
“Well, there won’t be any of that with me. I have a job to do, which you’ve hired me for, and that is all I am here for.”
I threw in a smile for added effect and hoped he wouldn’t be too cranky about it. As a free agent, I could make the choice to participate or not. I needed this work, there was no two ways about it, but I wasn’t going to let any man run me over with their power or masculine energy.
James looked like the part of your typical business owner, but he annoyed me beyond belief. His careless treatment of animals, even if he didn't personally harm any, was enough to turn me off. The bad-boy-who-thinks-he-can-have-everything attitude ruined it for me. Any attraction I had for him was buried deep under that pile of rubbish.
“So, I’m assuming we're going to get started tomorrow morning. It’s late, and I’d like to get some sleep. I’m not going to lie, I’m not entirely comfortable sleeping like this with a strange man in the same room, but I am only trusting you because Martie works for you.”
I closed the bathroom door behind me and got in the shower. The hot water, soothing steam, and peachy scent soap I found refreshed me so much I didn't want to get out.
I reached for the towel blindly, soap still in my eyes, and stepped from the shower, my towel hanging down the front of my body as I wiped my eyes.
“Damn, I thought you had a really hot body, but seeing it naked is proof you're a goddess.” James' voice came from across the room.
I blinked my eyes open, embarrassed, and irritated. “You're not supposed—”
There he stood, his back to me, no shirt on, peeing at the toilet. Mortified, I covered my body with the towel and turned away. “You could have waited until I was finished, you know.”
“What, and miss the show? I like a good peep show every now and then. Besides, you're gorgeous.”
Like the winds of a storm, he’d gone from rich, bad-boy business owner to a naughty teenager looking to get laid in the bathroom. He was smiling at me in the mirror. My hand was still firmly wrapped around the edge of the towel, holding it together so he couldn't see anything while I tried to brush my teeth.
