The Job Offer

Ben sat at his balcony table eating a BLT and waited until he saw Anne leave for her fill-in job as tour guide before he went inside. As he ate, he recounted the day’s events and felt his temperature start to rise. They had eaten a nice breakfast and ride over to the island. Anne had not changed much. She still had that quirky sense of humor that he always liked. It might be tiring after a time if it was not for her intelligence and tendency to veer off on one of her scientific tangents that he always found fascinating. He had learned a lot from her when she would veer off when they were younger. It helped that she would mix something humorous in whatever she was talking about.

  She came outside wearing a pair of white Capri pants, a yellow button down short sleeve sheet, and her customary white canvas sneakers. She had her hair clipped behind her head to control the mass. If she didn’t, he could imagine the struggle it would be later to untangle all of that hair after a boat ride. She didn’t see him and walked around to the little driveway where a white Toyota sat in the shade. He watched her drive away while he continued to admire her from his vantage point by his balcony door. Thinking back over the morning again, he remembered how she looked in that red bikini. It was all he could do at the time not to kiss her then. She was all rounded curves, long limbs, and smooth muscle. The cold water helped him hide his arousal. The little kiss when they returned was just a way to see how she would respond. He had wanted to kiss her again, much more deeply. He was pleased by her sudden breathlessness and the desire he saw in her eyes.

  Now that he knew that she was ready for more, he arranged to have dinner alone at the inn. The rest of the family was going into Eastsound to the steakhouse, but he called off claiming that he needed to get some work done. He was counting on Anne eating at the inn again tonight with her parents, and he was sure that he could finagle an invitation to join them. With a smile on his face at his plan, he went to work on the new sales reports. Four hours later he took a break and sat out on his balcony again, drinking some complimentary water from the mini-fridge in his suite and looked out at the water.

  He really did like it here. For years he considered either buying or building a vacation home on the island, but he was always too busy to fit in more than a week or two every summer. Now that things were moving along well with the company, he reconsidered the idea. As he watched the water, he saw Anne’s rental car pull back into the driveway. She got out and walked around to the front door before she disappeared inside. Not in a hurry, he sat at the table drinking his water and waited for her to reappear again.

  She came out of the house several minutes later wearing a dark blue sundress that gathered under her breasts and had a fitted waist and flared skirt that ended a few inches above her knees. The dress showed off her figure to the hilt. She was also wearing the silver sandals that gave great definition to her legs. Even from this distance he could see that her toenails were still painted the metallic blue color from yesterday and that morning, and she still wore a thin silver toe ring. Her hair was loose around her bare shoulders in a sexy fall that left him itching to feel if it was as silky as it looked. She wasn’t carrying a purse, so she must be dining in just as he thought she might do again that night. He liked what he saw, and he quickly showered and changed for dinner into a white silk dress shirt and black trousers.

  When he entered the front lobby from the elevator, he noticed a little ruckus at the front desk. It sounded as if some guests had decided to come up a day early, and their room was not ready yet. Someone else was demanding a room even though the person did not have a reservation at all. Knowing Jim and Jane, something would be done to get a room for the reserved couple that showed up a day early, but he didn’t know what they would do with the other guest. Sure enough, he saw Jim leave the dining room and head to the counter to handle the check-in and Jane leave to head back to the employees-only area, probably to get help preparing a room. This left Anne sitting alone at their table by the picture window that faced the flowerbeds and a small bay.

  Immediately going into the dining room, he crossed over to the Petrovic's table and stood at her right shoulder. This caused her to give a little gasp in surprise as she looked up at him. "Good evening, Anne. How are you tonight?"

  "I-I'm fine, Ben. What are you doing here? That came out rude, didn't it? I mean, the rest of your party went into Eastsound, so I'm surprised to see you here." She looked at him with confusion written on her face. She had the slightest of tans coloring her clear skin. She wore some mascara tonight that made her blue eyes pop and a rosy lip color. Seeing her lips reminded him of his thoughts earlier in the day, and he smiled in anticipation.

  "I had some work to finish up. So I told them to go on without me, and I would eat in my suite. But I finished up sooner than I had planned and decided to come down to the dining room to see if a table was available," he told her innocently with a shoulder shrug then pulled the empty chair out so that she would not have to crane her neck to look up at him any longer. A waitress came over and quickly took his drink order.

  "All the tables have been reserved for the evening." She looked around the room and saw that every table was indeed full. The lounge was also full. Looking back at him, she smiled shyly. "We have an extra chair. Would you like to join us?"

  "Thank you, Anne. I would like that very much. Your parents won't mind?" He liked the look of uncertainty that entered her eyes when she asked him to dinner. Now that he was sitting close to her, he could smell the perfume she was wearing. She smelled like a combination of citrus, which he guessed was from her shampoo, and an undefined floral scent that he found very sexy. He looked down for a second at her full lips then back to her eyes that were so beautiful that he lost himself for a moment in their aquamarine color. Her eyes had always turned him on. Finally, she looked away from him toward the door to the lobby, and he could see a slight blush creep up on her chest and neck. Her breasts rose with her deep breath causing her nipples to tent the blue fabric of her bodice. She was definitely aware of him, he thought with satisfaction.

  "Here comes my mother, now." Ben looked over at Anne's mother who was crossing the room to their table. Seeing the disappointed look on her face, Ben guessed that the inn's early arrivals would take up more of hers and Jim’s time than originally thought, and he silently thanked the unexpected guests for creating an opportunity for him to have time alone with Anne.

  "Hi, sweetheart. Hello, Ben," she greeted them when she finally reached their table. "This is going to take longer than I thought. Would it be ok if we pushed dinner back an hour? Ben, since you're here, maybe you could keep company with Anne so that she doesn't have to sit alone at the table?"

  "It won’t be a problem with me as long as it is ok with Anne?" Ben could not believe his luck. He looked at Anne with raised eyebrows and a hopeful look on his face. When she gave her assent with a warm smile, he smiled back at her. Both of them missed the look her mother gave them at seeing their expressions.

  "Then again, Ben, maybe it would be best if the two of you just went ahead and ate without Jim and me. There’s no sense in waiting for us since this will take a while, and Anne must be hungry after her tour this afternoon. Jim and I will eat later."

  "Are you sure, Mom?" Anne looked back at her mother, her lips slightly pursed.

  "Sure, I'm sure. You two have a nice dinner tonight, and we will try again tomorrow evening." Then she patted her daughter's shoulder and walked away again leaving the two of them alone at the table. Ben could not have planned the intimate dinner alone with Anne better if he had tried. He looked over at Anne who was now reading the menu with great interest. A little smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. The waitress came back quickly with a tall glass of beer from the tap and set it on the table in front of him. Anne looked up when the waitress arrived and watched him as he took his first sip.

  "I don't know about you, Ben, but I am pretty hungry," Anne exclaimed as she leaned back in her chair.
Her aquamarine blue eyes twinkled, and she shook her head in humor. "That was some very clever maneuvering to get a dinner invitation, Mr. Carlson. Did you arrange the diversion, as well?"

  Surprised at being found out so soon, he started laughing, which set her softly laughing, too. The sound of her laughter and the look on her face reached into his gut and grabbed hold. "I wish I could say that I arranged that, but alas my pretty, my plan was only to get a dinner invitation." He twirled the end of an imaginary mustache, a move that started her laughing even louder. "Just how many of those have you had, already? I'm not that funny." He indicated the glass of Chardonnay in front of her.

  "This one is my first, and no, you are not that funny. But the situation is, and I could really use a good laugh after the tour. So, thank you, Ben, for coming to my rescue, such as it is."

  "You are welcome. A toast..." he raised his glass and waited for her to raise her glass, too, "to making the most of a beautiful evening with a beautiful woman. Later, I plan on taking her down to the water and having my evil way with her," he said in his most charming way.

  "You think so, do you?" Her grin was slightly shy. Her blush was back, and he found himself becoming enchanted with her once again.

  "A man can always hope." He touched his glass to hers and swallowed some beer, never looking away from her face the whole time. She shook her head again with a slight smile on her face and sipped her wine. Then the waitress came back again to take their order, and they concentrated on the menu selections.

  The next hour and a half passed as a fun, relaxing time, and Ben found himself enjoying her company immensely. He found out that she was single that morning, an important piece of information to his way of thinking, but learned that evening that she was once engaged. She didn’t elaborate about why she and her ex-fiancé broke up, and he didn’t ask. They also talked about the tour ride that afternoon, which, he found out, was not much fun because of a surly female passenger who complained throughout the tour about everything from the chairs to the water spray and wind that messed up her hair.

  They reminisced further about their times on the island and discovered that they liked to do many of the same things in addition to kayaking and biking. He didn’t tell her that he owned a company because he didn’t want the knowledge to influence her one way or another about a relationship with him. He skirted that topic of what he did when she asked by just saying that he was in the manufacturing business. He found out that Anne was on summer break from teaching and also worked as a business consultant.

  Ben also discovered that she enjoyed football, namely the Seattle Seahawks and the University of Washington Huskies, just as he did, and they got into a lengthy discussion about the Seahawks draft picks and the upcoming season. She must be a fan because she followed them closely via satellite television and never missed a game. He forgave her for not liking basketball and for her take or leave attitude for baseball, and she forgave him for not liking to read for pleasure.

  He especially found her charming when she described growing up on the island and at the inn even though he had heard her say it all before. She lit up from the inside when she described some of her adventures and the many guests they had over the years. Then he told her that he was thinking about either buying or building a vacation home on the island and asked her opinion about the best places to build. She considered what he liked to do and recommended finding a place close to Eastsound because of its central location on the island, although there really wasn’t a bad location. She also told him to talk to her parents because they would know where to look and who to talk to about buying.

  All evening long, he watched the play of emotions across her face and how she talked with her lovely hands. He remembered that she was always expressive. She could not talk without her hands moving. He was surprised that she never wore rings on her long fingers. She smiled frequently as she spoke, and he had a strong desire to taste her lips again. The little freckles he remembered on her nose were no longer there, covered now with powder, and her lightly tanned skin looked soft and warm to the touch. She never was able to develop a deep tan, being fairly light skinned, and always wore sunscreen to prevent burning.

  The skin of her chest was slightly lighter than her arms and shoulders, and he remembered how she looked in her bikini. He longed to run his fingers along her throat and down through the deep V of her dress. He could just see the beginning of the under curves of her breasts and her hard nipples again. The sight aroused him, and he moved in his chair to ease his discomfort. She did not seem to notice. Her hair curled around her face, over her shoulders, and down her back in soft waves. The dark brown color was streaked with red highlights caused by the lighting in the room. The more she talked, the more he found himself wanting their meal to continue so that he could look at her and hear more of what she had to say.

  The evening was going so well, in fact, that when the last of their food was cleared away and they were drinking coffee, he found that he didn’t want the evening to end with dinner. He could not remember ever being with a woman whom he was so at ease with and also found attractive. He thought by the looks she gave him that she felt the same way and would want to extend their evening together. Finally, he had to ask her. "It looks like a nice night, and it is much too early to call it a day. I was thinking about going down to the dock and watching the sunset. I know I promised to have my evil way with you if you went down to the water with me, but if I promise to be mostly good, would you come with me?"

  "Mostly good? Now I'm intrigued at how you define 'mostly good.'" She looked at him in that quiet way that took hold of his gut again, with a slight rise of the corners of her soft mouth and a smile around her eyes.

  "'Mostly good' means that you are safe from total ravishment, but you can plan on more than me just walking beside you without at least holding your hand. So, Anne...do you feel brave enough to be 'mostly good' with me and see where the evening leads us?"

  "I think so, Ben. A walk down to the dock sounds nice."

  "Good. Then follow me." He stood up and pulled her chair back from the table. Then he gave her a charming smile at her raised eyebrows and took her hand to lead her from the dining room. There were two doors that led into the dining room, one from the lobby and the other from the lounge that opened up directly to the back patio. He decided to go through the lounge.

  They had just entered the crowded room when he noticed someone he did not want to see sitting at the bar. Chelsea Riverton, an ex-girlfriend, sat at the long bar next to her parents and sipped her usual martini. He swore under his breath and stopped walking, forcing Anne to stop beside him. She looked at him confused by his sudden halt and scowl. "Listen, Anne. I need you to do something for me, will you?" He asked in a low serious tone.

  "What is it?" She asked imitating his tone.

  "Do you see that woman with the red hair in the white outfit sitting at the bar?" Anne looked over to the bar then back at him and gave a small nod. "She’s here for the wedding. My family and hers have known each other for years, and a few years ago we dated for a while. It didn't work out, and she made things difficult. Now every time I see her, she comes on to me as if we’re still a couple. She does it even if I'm with another woman. I think she thinks that one day I'll come to my senses and marry her. Would you run some interference for me?"

  "Say no more, Ben. I've got you covered." She looked over at him in a conspiring way.

  "You really do read a lot, don't you? Get ready. She spotted us and is coming over."

  "Ben, darling. Wasn't that dinner just wonderful? I love seafood." Anne said with a sigh and started acting for the benefit of the red headed woman who was now within hearing range. "I just love this place. We’ll have to come again. In fact, maybe we should have our wedding here, too. What do you think, Ben?"

  Whatever Chelsea was about to say turned into a garbled mess once she heard Anne talk about their wedding
. Ben decided to go with it.

  "I think I like that idea very much, sweetheart." He leaned in to kiss Anne then stopped when he saw Chelsea standing next to them. "Chelsea! What a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here for the wedding. It looks like your parents came early, too. We weren't expecting them until tomorrow or Thursday."

  Chelsea's cheeks were red, and her blue eyes were bright as she looked back and forth between Anne and him and at his arm that he held around Anne's waist. Anne put her left arm around his waist and her right hand on his chest when she turned into him to let a waitress loaded down with a tray of drinks pass behind her. Chelsea saw the move and gritted her teeth in a phony smile. Each time Chelsea looked at Anne, her face became redder until Ben thought that she would go for Anne's jugular.

  "Who is this, Ben?" She ground out between her clenched teeth and the false smile that she plastered on her face. Ben could see Chelsea's parents looking at them with concern from their bar stools.

  "This is my fiancée, Anne," Ben said innocently.

  "Hello, I'm Anne Conner..." Anne stuck her hand out for a handshake. "...And you are Chelsea. Ben has told me so much about you."

  "When did the two of you get engaged?" Chelsea ignored Anne and ground out the next question to him again.

  "Just this evening. Isn't it wonderful?" Anne went on happily as if Chelsea would be happy about the news and congratulate them. "Of course, we don't want to announce it just yet, do we Ben, honey, because we don't want to draw away from Lily's big day?" Ben had to admire Anne's pluck and quick thinking even if her talking about marriage to him did raise immediate alarm bells. He would play his part to get rid of Chelsea, though.

  "That's right, sweetheart. So Chelsea, I'm sure you understand why we want to keep quiet about this for the time being." He kept up with their story. "Thanks. Good to see you again, Chelsea." Then after taking Anne's hand again, he pulled her through the throng of people in the lounge to the patio door and left Chelsea to stand alone in the aisle.

  Once they were on the patio, Ben kept on walking until they had walked across the large patio filled with guests sitting at tables, around the heated pool where people still swam, and down the path that led down to the dock. He spotted a small set of steps at the edge of the dock by the water's edge then led Anne down the steps and along the shoreline until they were out of sight of the people who stood fishing on the dock and the few cottages that dotted the shore. When they were totally alone, he stopped walking, let go of Anne’s hand and stepped over to the small rocky shore, which left Anne standing alone on the grass. He needed to put some distance between them. The alarm that he felt when she told Chelsea that she was his fiancée began to turn to anger and panic now that they were away from the lounge. Finally, he put his hands on his hips, and turned around to face Anne.

  "Would you care to tell me what that was about? You were supposed to only act as my date for the evening." He was angry and becoming angrier. She went above and beyond what he expected. She was just supposed to run interference long enough to get Chelsea to leave him alone and for them to get out of the lounge. All he could think about now was that Anne was trying to maneuver herself into a real marriage, just as past girlfriends did, only this time using a whole new tactic.

  "You said you needed help to get the woman to leave you alone," Anne said reasonably. "As long as Chelsea thinks there is still a chance, she'll be all over you this week unless she thinks that you are off the market."

  "But marriage?" His anger deflated as soon as she began using reason. He overreacted. He knew that, and when he realized that she was right, he felt the tension leave his body and tried to shake off the lingering doubts. After his last girlfriend and some of the stunts a few of his other past girlfriends tried, he was naturally leery. Then there was Chelsea and all she pulled over the years.

  "For Heaven’s sake, Ben. There is no need to look like that. It’s only a make believe engagement. It will be over on Saturday night, Sunday morning at the latest. Relax. I don't have any marriage designs on you. I'll be leaving next week anyway, and I don't believe in long distance relationships."

  He took a deep breath, turned around again, and forced himself to relax. As he looked out at the water, he could see the outline of a fishing boat with its trolling lights on about midway through the channel headed southwest. "She will say something to my family."

  "Probably. She seems like the type." He turned to look back at Anne. She had taken her sandals off and was now sitting on an overturned tree trunk that made a perfect bench. He could not believe how relaxed she looked. He was finding it difficult to maintain his anger when he looked at her. It was really hard to stay angry with someone who was both logical and beautiful. As he looked at her calm demeanor and pretty smile, he considered the advantages of a fake engagement over the next few days. The setting sun sent fire through her curly hair, and the skin of her chest, her shoulders, and her arms looked downy soft. She looked sexy as hell, and he wanted her right now. Sighing, he walked over and sat down beside her.

  "Ok. What do we tell our families?"

  "We tell them the truth. We tell them that I'm only acting as your fiancée as a favor to you until the wedding is over."

  "It's going to be a job to pull this one off even with the help of our families. You don’t know Chelsea. What about where you sleep?" He looked over at her contemplative expression.

  "I can see where you are going with this." Her expression turned slightly nervous.

  "I didn't mean that I expected you to sleep with me. What kind of a jerk do you think I am, Anne? I only meant that, Chelsea will never believe that you don't sleep in the same room as me, and trust me, she will check."

  "She’ll check, huh?" Anne sat in silence looking out at the water. Ben wasn’t sure what she was thinking. "Which room is yours?"

  He told her his suite number, surprised by the question. What did she have planned now?

  "Perfect. Every night I'll go up to your room with you and sneak down the back balcony fire escape. Then, in the mornings, I'll sneak back in the same way, and we can go down to breakfast together. What do you think?" The plan did sound good.

  "We will have to spend our days together as well. That will spoil your vacation and your time with your parents."

  "I probably would not have been spending much time with them, anyway, with this being their busy season. Ok, here's the deal, Ben. How were you planning on spending your few days up here until Friday night's groom's dinner?"

  "I had planned on doing some more kayaking and doing some biking over the next few days in between getting some work done."

  "Perfect! So was I. We can go together on our outings. When we get back, I'll swim, read, or do something else while you’re busy with work or wedding preparations. Then when you leave on Sunday, we can part, and that will be that. We don’t see each other again, and you can tell Chelsea whatever you want. Job complete."

  "Ok, fine. That sounds pretty cut and dried when you lay it out like that, but what about when I kiss you? Or you kiss me?" He saw the look of alarm that crossed her face.

  "What?"

  "They are called 'shows of affection', my dear. We have to have them to make this all believable. We have to act like a newly engaged couple, and that means that I get to touch you openly, and I expect you to touch me as well. It also means that there will be times when I will kiss you, and you will kiss me. What's more, I am not talking about a little peck like from earlier today. I’m talking about a real kiss. In fact, we should practice now to make sure we have the right chemistry." She suddenly gave a soft chuckle and looked at him with humor in her eyes.

  "This is the being 'mostly good' part of the walk to the water, isn't it?" He flashed a charming smile at her reference to their earlier discussion. The answering smile on her face drew him in, and he felt the catch in his gut again.

  "I guess it is." The humor left hi
m only to be replaced by the desire to finally taste her mouth and touch her skin. The intensity of his desire surprised him. He had made his fortune by following his gut, and right now his gut was telling him to kiss her. Turning to face her, he put one arm around her back and the other up to her face then leaned in until his lips covered hers. He soon found himself lost in the sensation and the flavor of Anne.

  Chapter 7