Bonding Camp (3 page)

Or, as much as they want to share.”

She swallowed. What exactly was he saying?

* * * *

How could he explain this without sounding strange? Justice wanted Lauren to accept the job offer, to allow them to get close to her. He wanted for her to
be
one of them. The trick was how to do it without scaring her off.

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“Don’t look so scared,” he said. “We won’t poke into your life unless you want us to.” He could tell by her eyes she was spooked, yet intrigued. He needed to keep her leaning toward “intrigued.” He reached for her hand. “Come, let’s walk some more. I can see we need to do a lot of talking.”

She took his hand. It was a natural gesture. There was no hesitation on her part. Leaves crunched beneath their feet. There had been no hesitation when he had kissed her either. Was she more open than she first seemed?

“Aren’t I supposed to have a ‘one-on-one’ meeting with the other partners today? At least, that’s what was in the agenda,” Lauren said, looking off into the trees.

“Yes. That will be this evening. You’ll meet with me at four, Morgan at five, and then we’ll all meet for dinner at six. After dinner, you’ll meet with Crystal. Then it’s everyone to themselves.” He hoped he wouldn’t end up by himself tonight. He hoped she would spend some more time with him so he could really get to know her. If they weren’t close enough by then…well, he’d think of something to bring them closer.

“Doesn’t this, what we’re doing now, constitute our one-on-one meeting?” She looked up into his eyes. Sunlight shifted down through the trees and glinted on the highlights in her hair.

“Not really. I just want you to feel comfortable here. That’s basically what this is about. This walk, this letting you get to know the compound. If you accept our job offer, you will be able to spend any amount of time here that you like.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

She smiled, her eyes opening wide. “It’ll be like I have a vacation home.”

“Exactly.” He squeezed her hand. She squeezed back. “Do you like it here?” he asked, almost holding his breath until she answered.

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“So far, yes, I do.” She stepped closer to him as they walked, her arm brushing against his. “I like the people here, too.”

“Do you like us enough to share some of your life with us? To bond with us?” There was the million-dollar question.

Lauren bit her bottom lip, her eyes on the path ahead. “I guess you’ll have to explain to me what you mean by ‘bond’ with you.” She looked up at him. “I’m usually a very private person. Though I will admit, being here seems to relax me. Even though I’ve only been here for a few hours.”

Justice took a deep breath then slowly let it out. How much should he say at this point? She seemed so closed off when they had met, but was now opening up to him. He didn’t want to go too fast. “Let’s just play it by ear on the bonding. How’s that sound?”

She nodded. Suddenly she stopped.

“Something wrong?” Justice asked, stopping beside her.

Her brows drew together in a frown. “I have to ask something…just how bonded are you and Miss White? Are you two…”

He smiled and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Crystal and I are very close. We share many things. Many personal things. But if you’re asking what I think you’re asking—no, we’re not together. Not an item. Not in a relationship.”

She smiled a trembling smile. “I’m sorry. Maybe I was too forward. I didn’t mean to pry.”

He stroked her hair.
So silky…
“You’re not prying. Like I said, we like our associates to be close. Which means we do share details about our relationships. Would that be a problem for you?”

“I’m not in a relationship at the moment.”

Justice noticed her gaze had become cloudy, closed off again.

“You had a bad relationship.”

She blinked. “How did you know?”

“It shows in your eyes. You can talk about it, if you want. With me. Or with Crystal if you feel a woman would be more
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understanding.” He took her hand and urged her to walk again. “You see, we’re sounding boards for each other. Whatever is going on in our life, we discuss it with the others. It makes us behave like family, instead of some backstabbing corporate operators. Do you know what I mean?”

They walked along the path, turning to the left and back toward the main house.

“I hate the backstabbing part of the corporate world,” she said.

“Everyone trying to outdo everyone else, making themselves look good at the expense of others.”

They arrived at the main house, stopping on the front porch. He grasped her other hand and turned her toward him. “That’s not how we conduct business. At our firm, we’re family.”

Lauren looked up and smiled widely. “I really do think I’m going to like it here.”

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Chapter Four

Lauren was nervous. She didn’t know why. She had already met and talked at length with Justice Cane. So why was this one-on-one meeting with him making her tremble?

Maybe because you’re so attracted to him you can’t see straight?

She blew out a breath and checked her makeup in the mirror for the third time. She had fifteen minutes before she was supposed to meet Justice at the building they used for meetings and seminars, and she needed to get rid of this nervousness.

It was a short walk through the woods along a path, just to the right of the building they called Solitude. Lauren wondered just what Solitude had inside. She knew from the booklet that there was a massage room, a sauna, and the like. That’s probably what was in that building. Hopefully she’d find out this evening. She hoped to have a massage and maybe spend some time in the whirlpool.

“Okay, you’ve checked the mirror enough. Get on with it,” she told her reflection.

She quickly exited her room and made her way through the main house toward the front door. Crystal was lounging on the couch in the living room. “Good afternoon, Miss White,” Lauren said as she moved through the room.

Crystal looked up from her magazine. “Lauren, do call me Crystal, would you, please? We really don’t stand on formality here.”

Lauren smiled. “Sorry. Crystal it is.” She continued toward the door. “I have a meeting with Justice in a few minutes, so I must rush off.”

Crystal nodded. “No problem. I’ll be seeing you soon enough.”

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Lauren waved and continued on out the door and headed in the direction of the meeting building.

* * * *

Justice stood in front of the portrait of the company staff that was centered on the wall behind his desk. You couldn’t really call it a

“portrait” since it was actually a group photo taken last summer, when all the office staff, along with the partners, had spent a week here at the retreat. They all had a wonderful time, the staff becoming even closer than they already were. They were a family at Cane, Moss, and White, and from the smiles on the faces and the arms around each other in the photo, their close relationship to each other showed. It made for a great working environment, one they prided themselves on.

He hoped Lauren would join them, be a member of the family.

A tentative knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts.

“Come in,” he said, turning toward the door.

Lauren entered, looking lovely in a butter-yellow summer dress.

Justice instantly felt a twitch in his loins, wondering what it would be like to slide the thin shoulder straps of her dress down and expose what was underneath.

“I hope I’m not late,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her.

“Come,” he said, gesturing for her to come closer. “Sit.” He indicated a spot on the couch in front of his desk.

She smiled and walked around the end of the couch and folded her trim body into a seat on the end. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in an office where there was a couch in front of someone’s desk instead of a chair or two. What made you choose a couch?” She crossed one slender leg over the other.

Justice moved in front of the desk and leaned against it. “Comfort and familiarity. That’s what makes this company run. So, a couch instead of chairs. That way I can sit beside you.” He moved to the
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couch and sat, placing one arm along the back of it. Hesitantly, he touched her shoulder with a finger, noting the smoothness of her skin.

“Lovely dress,” he said when she didn’t move away from his touch.

“Thank you.” She turned slightly toward him in her seat.

A good sign. She’s interested.
“Tell me, Lauren, would you find it awkward to confide in your colleagues?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Confide? About what?”

He used his finger to make a trail up her shoulder to the curve where it met her neck. She gave a little shiver. “Oh, let’s say family issues or relationship issues. Do you see yourself being comfortable enough to do that? Just basically talk to us as if we’re friends instead of colleagues?”

“I, um, don’t seem to have a problem talking to you,” she said.

She took a fold of the skirt of her dress in her fingers and toyed with it.

“Okay, that’s good. So, you’re not in a relationship at the moment, am I right?” The first question. He wondered how many she would answer as he delved deeper.

Lauren pressed her lips together for a moment before she answered. “I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment, no.”

“But you did.”

She nodded. “Yes. But it’s over.”

Justice slid his palm down her arm to her hand, which rested in her lap. “Was it a bad breakup?”

“In a sense,” she said. She seemed a bit hesitant but still willing to continue.

“Can I ask what happened?” He watched her face, trying to catch whether or not this was bothering her. It seemed to be. He needed her to relax. He used his thumb to stroke her fingers, slowly and rhythmically.

Lauren sighed. “He wasn’t trustworthy is how I would put it. He couldn’t keep my secrets.”

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“Hmm,” Justice said. “That would be an issue, wouldn’t it?

Keeping secrets is one of the foundation rules for any relationship.

Whether it be personal or professional. Don’t you think?”

Her eyes sparkled, just the tiniest bit. “Yes. I do. Keeping secrets is like keeping someone’s confessions in confidence. It means a lot to me.”

He raised her hand to his lips, barely touching it to his mouth for a light kiss. “I would keep your secrets. So will the rest of the firm.

We’re very big on that sort of thing.” He felt a sizzle when her lips parted slightly.

“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Lauren…”

“Yes?”

“If you join us, will you tell us your secrets?” God, he wanted to kiss her.

She cleared her throat, hesitating.

Justice lowered her hand, this time into his lap. “I’ll tell you one of my secrets if you tell me one of yours.”

“What sort of secret?” she asked.

She was blushing, just a hint of rosiness to her cheeks.
What is she
thinking?
he wondered. “Any sort of secret.”

She lowered her chin coyly. “You go first.”

“Okay, one of my secrets.” He drew her hand further into his lap.

She didn’t pull away. “I like to be in control during sex. Now, your turn.”

* * * *

Lauren felt heat rush up from her center to her face. She fought not to pull her hand from his just to fan herself. He liked to be in control during sex. Whew! That was very personal and to the point.

But oddly, it didn’t bother her in the least. As a matter of fact, it intrigued her.

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“I’m not sure how to respond to that,” she said, figuring she should not reveal too much since this was supposed to be a job interview, so to speak. “That’s very personal, and I’m glad you feel you can trust me with something that is so personal but—”

“You don’t feel you can trust me, is that it?” he asked, interrupting.

“No, it’s not…Okay, here’s something personal about me. I
don’t
like to be in control during sex. I like to
be
controlled.” Butterflies were beating their wings wildly against the walls of her stomach. She had never admitted that to anyone except a few people, and one of them had betrayed her with that information. But Justice felt like a person she actually could trust. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt some sort of deep connection to him.

“There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked, a smile lighting his face. He leaned forward, his eyes traveling over her face, his gaze hesitating on her lips before moving back to look her in the eye. “So I like to be in control, and you like to be controlled. Sounds like we’re very compatible.”

Kiss me. Take me. Here. Now.
Her thoughts burned sizzling sparks through her body. “Yes, it does.” Her throat was so tight with need she could hardly speak. “But, what does this conversation have to do with me being an associate at Cane, Moss, and White?”

“It has everything to do with it. If you can trust me, and the others, of course, then we can trust you. We can confide in you, and you will respect our confidences. As we will respect yours.” His voice was low and soothing. “And…we can share things with you, things we share with no one else. Things that bond us together.”

He was close now, had moved closer with every word he spoke.

Lauren could feel his breath against her lips, warm and moist. Warm.

Moist. Exactly like she felt inside. She searched his eyes. There was heat in his gaze.

“This is what bonding camp is about?” she asked, her voice a whisper.

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“This and more.” He dipped his head and brushed his lips across hers.

She closed her eyes and swayed toward him.

“Are you willing to bond with us, Lauren? Are you willing to let us get to know you? Completely?” he asked.