Red, White and Sensual (5 page)

“Your parents must have been proud of you? For not giving them grey hair at least.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, they were.”

“Do you have any siblings?”

“A brother, he gave them grey hair.”

I giggle. “Ying and yang huh?”

He nods, and I watch as that jaw moves. Watching him chew…is erotic. I look down at my food and try to cover my blush.

“What are your plans for the weekend?” He asks.

I shrug. “Probably just
rest, hanging out with my friends, studying…you know?”

He nods.
“Sounds…fun.”

I laugh. “It is. What about you?”

He rolls his eyes and sighs. “Work, as always.”

I gape. “You work all weekend?”

He nods. “Most.”

“Do you take any time off?”

He nods again. “Sure, if I want it, I take it.”

“It must get draining?”

He shrugs. “I need to keep busy, call me crazy.”

I grin and shake my head. “I don’t think that’s crazy.”

“So,” he murmurs, leaning back and meeting my gaze. “Any big dates for the weekend? Surely you have a man lining up to take you out.”

I frown. “No, no man lining up.”

“Do you swing for the other team?”

I splutter on the mouthful of water I have just taken. “No!” I cry.

He laughs and the sound is beautiful, husky and heart stopping. “Ok, so why no dating?”

“I just haven’t found anyone worth dating.”

He smiles and his eyes twinkle. “Well, hopefully that changes for you soon.”

“Yeah,” I say, feeling my cheeks heat.
“Hopefully.”

Marcus and I continue talking until ten pm, I don’t even realize the time until he gets a phone call. The conversation between us flowed so well, I didn’t even realize the time had passed. When he stands, I quickly stand with him. He offers me a ride home and I gladly accept. We go through the security measures to get out and we slide into a small, black BMW. Seeing Marcus drive is in
teresting, he usually gets taken everywhere by a driver, in a limo or fancy car.

We continue chatting as we drive. I’ve ever spoken to someone so casually before, especially someone I’ve only known a week. When we arrive at Campus, Marcus stares up at the large building and smiles as though he’s reliving a fond memory. I turn and stare at the massive Campus
too, I think I will miss this when school finally ends. It certainly is a different life and also an experience I think every person needs in their lives. I turn back to Marcus with a happy smile on my face.

“Thank you, I had fun.”

He smiles and meets my gaze. “I did too, and it’s been a while. I’ll see you Monday, I hope you have a great weekend.”

I grip the door handle, and flash him one last smile.
“You too.”

“Sierra,” he says just as I’m about to open the door.

I turn back and stare over at him. He leans over and I feel my heart thump as he grazes his lips across my cheek. “Sweet dreams,” he murmurs and then sits back.

I give him one more glance and try to ignore the heated expression on his face. I get out of the car and wish him one last goodnight before rushing into the campus. Well geez, that got the
temperature rising just a touch.

CHAPTER
4

The weekend flies by so fast
, I’m back at work before I know it. I spent most of it studying and hanging out with Quinn and Raine. I didn’t tell them much about Marcus, just answered their questions about work. When I arrive back at the White House on Monday morning, I go right to my room, after my security check, and dress for work. I don’t feel so nervous this morning, and my walk to Marcus’ office is much calmer. I smile at the guards when I step into his office and they surprise me by returning that smile.

Marcus is at his desk, tapping away at his computer. He looks up when I get in and smiles over at me. “Hello
, Miss Walters, how was your weekend?”

“It was good, yours?”

He shrugs. “No different to any other day, in fact, I would say today has been the best so far.”

“Oh
and why is that?” I say, curious.

“Because y
ou’re here.”

My cheeks flush and a nervous giggle erupts from my mouth
, which I quickly squelch. Did I just giggle like that? Jesus. What is wrong with me? What is wrong with
him
?

“You find that amusing?” he grins, tilting his head to the side.

“No, I just…I didn’t think I was that good to have around.”

“You are to me,” he says, meeting my eyes and causing shivers to break out over my skin.

“Well, um, that’s good to know. I’ll get started now.”

He gives me another heart breaking grin as I rush into my office and gently close the door. Jesus, this is not how I thought my time here would go. If I didn’t know better, I would say Marcus Harrison is flirting with me and worse, I think I like it.

~*~*~*~

Marcus is busy most of the morning, but he comes back
midafternoon in a bad mood. When I peer out the office door and see him pacing the room, I carefully walk out.

“Are you ok?”

“No,” he grumbles.

“What’s wrong, can I help?”

“My fiancé pulled out of a business dinner tonight, I have to go and I can’t go alone...it just looks bad.”

“D
o you want me to call Rose and see if she can find someone else?”

His eyes swing to me and brighten. “You’ll come with me.”

I gape. “Me? Oh no, that’s not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“I…well…”

“Have you
got a dress?”

“Yes, but….”

“Good, you will attend the dinner with me. No arguments.”

I was just opening my mouth but at his words I close it. “Yes sir, of course.”

He shoots me a look and I turn away, focusing my attention on my fingernails.

“Be ready at six. You c
an go now and organize yourself, I know I haven’t given you much time.”

“What’s the meeting for?” I ask.

“Just usual business, six o’clock, don’t be late.”

“Yes
, boss,” I mutter as he storms out.

Magic.
Cranky boss, awkward business dinner. Nothing wrong with that!

~*~*~*~*

Luckily for me he gave me time to get ready because it took me a good three hours to find a dress, do my hair and make-up and talk myself up for the part. I know I am just there to look pretty, but it’s nerve-racking all the same. When Marcus collects me at six, I can’t help but take in his perfect black suit and the way it hugs his body. His dark hair is still damp from his recent shower and it’s perfectly messy, giving him that rugged but oddly professional look.

“You look utterly gorgeous,” he murmurs, taking my arm.

I flush the entire way to the car waiting outside. I feel heat radiating through me as the tender touch of his hand on my arm cascades through my body. When we get in the limousine to head out, I feel nerves begin to flurry around in my belly, I hope I don’t say or do anything stupid. Marcus is on the phone the entire way to the restaurant. When we arrive, the door is opened for me and I step out into the warm night. Marcus follows a moment later and takes my arm. People on the sidewalk click pictures and call out to him, it’s like they just appear out of nowhere. It’s kind of creepy really. Do they just sit all day waiting for a famous person to walk past?

Marcus
simply smiles, answers basic questions and then proceeds to walk into the restaurant. We go through the beautifully decorated space, and to a private area out back. When we step through the wooden doors, three men are at a table decorated with a gorgeous red table cover and the finest china. A crystal setting surrounded by candles is perfectly set out in the middle of the table. All three men stand when Marcus enters and when they turn, I skid to an abrupt halt. Marcus stares down at me, no doubt about to hiss at me for stopping so suddenly.

My skin pickles and I can’t seem to make my legs move. My world begins to spin as I lay eyes on the man w
ho ruined me. Benjamin Ford stands just five feet away from me and by his expression, he’s as shocked to see me as I am him. Soon enough though, his lips curl and his eyes narrow. I feel sick, I’m going to throw up all over Marcus’ shoes. I want to move when Marcus begins speaking to one of the men, but I can’t hear anything he’s saying, eventually he stops and turns to me.

“Miss Walters, are you ok?”

I can’t breathe, I can’t. All I can see are those eyes on me, those grey eyes I once loved. Ben hasn’t changed an ounce, his hair is still that thick blonde, his skin still that beautiful olive. To look at, he’s an extremely attractive man. Behind the scenes, he’s a monster.

“I’m sorry
, sir,” I whisper. “I need to leave.”

Marcus is staring at Ben now and his eyes flicker back to me.

“If you’ll excuse me gentlemen, I won’t be a minute,” Marcus says.

I stare at Ben once more and h
e smiles at me, which only makes me want to throw up even more. Marcus leads me to a private back room and closes the door.

“What is going on?”
he asks, turning to me.

“Please,” I say carefully. “I just want to go.”

“Miss Walters, you
will
tell me what that was about.”

His eyes are stern and it frightens me, which is my undoing. With a shake of my head, I turn and hurry out of the room, muttering an apology. If he fires me over this, so be it, I can’t stay here and I can’t talk to him right now. He calls my
name but I don’t stop. I rush out past the other men and out the front door. Ben is behind me by the time I get to the limousine.

“Sierra, it’s really you.”

I spin around. “Leave me alone!” I cry.

“I haven’t seen you for a year, but oh, I’ve missed you.”

He steps forward and I back up until my body is pressed against the car. I shake my head, desperate to just escape him.

“Why are you here with Marcus? Sierra, about…
”

“G
o away, Ben,” I whisper hoarsely, not wanting to hear it.

“
Mr. Ford, is there a problem?”

It’s Marcus, thank god. Ben turn
s and stares at him and then forces a smile onto his face.

“No, I was just seeing if she was ok.
”

Marcus eyes h
im suspiciously. “Well, I’ll take it from here, meet me inside and we’ll continue with the meeting.”

“O
f course.”

Ben
gives me one more stare, before he turns and walks inside. I feel my knees becoming weak. Marcus walks over and grips my arms, moving me to the side so he can open the door. When it’s open he gently pushes me in and instructs the driver to take me back, and then he meets my gaze and says, “This isn’t finished, keep your door unlocked, I’ll be in your room in a few hours.” Before slamming the door.

I cry the entire way home, feeling a wound in my heart re-opening once more.

CHAPTER 5

I don’t bother changing when I get back to my
room, instead I sit by the window seat and stare out. Seeing Ben again rattled me and I can’t seem to calm my emotions. I don’t even know where to start. I hear my door open a few hours later but I don’t turn. I already know who it’ll be and I really never wanted him to know this about me. I’m here for work, nothing more.

“What happened back there, Miss Walters?”

“My name is Sierra, make up your mind on what you want to call me.” I whisper, brokenly.

Marcus shuts the door and walks in further, finally I turn. His brown gaze searches my face for long moments before he says, “Stand up.”

I do as he asks, not wanting to disobey someone so powerful. I’m his employee, I said I’d do as he asked. I walk over and stop in front of him, he leans down closer and asks again. “What was that about?”

“It’s really nothing to do with you, and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way.”

“You ran out on a meeting, in front of some very important people, it has everything to do with me.”

I cringe and look up at him. “I know Ben.”

“He’s your ex-lover, isn’t he?”

I nod, looking down.

“Miss Walters, while I appreciate that love and relationships hurt, if you behave like that again in my presence, I’ll have no choice but to fire you. If you couldn’t deal with the situation, you could have spoken to me instead of making a scene. I know that it hurt to see someone you once loved but…”

“I didn’t love him!” I spit.

Marcus jerks and glares down at me. “Excuse me?”

God dammit.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said….”