I still have no idea what we’re doing here except sleeping and making our way through all the local restaurants, eating whatever you think I need to try next. So this doesn’t seem like a business situation so therefore, I’m getting a hotel room.”
She thought he would come back with something else, but he was silent. She glared up at him, trying to anticipate his next move. But he just smiled enigmatically.
“Say something,” she growled, irritated beyond words now.
“We’ll see,” was all he said.
With that, he turned around and headed to the crew members who had all shifted to the back of the boat. Within moments, everyone was once again moving about the decks efficiently. The sails were hoisted, the anchor lifted and the boat was cutting through the water, back towards the shoreline.
Rachel grumbled as she sat there, trying to keep her eyes off of Emerson, but she had to remind herself several times not to watch him. In the end, she gave up trying and leaned back onto one of the cushions and allowed her eyes to drink in all of him while she mentally developed a way to slip out of his house tonight.
Back in the harbor, the crew speedily worked to get the boat packed and the sails stored, locking up the gear while Emerson took Rachel’s hand and led her back to the Jeep. “What would you like for dinner?” he asked.
She stood beside the Jeep, biting her lower lip. “I’m going to catch a cab and find a hotel. I’ll grab something for dinner on my own and I’ll meet you in the morning to work.” She even started to turn away, got several feet towards the exit before she felt his arm wrap around her. He lifted her into his arms and carried her right back to the Jeep. Pressing her back against the Jeep, he shifted so their bodies were plastered together.
Rachel gasped, her hips instantly remembering what it was like to be in this position, wanting more. “Let me go,” she whispered, trying to sound firm but knew that it was more of a whimper.
“I can’t,” he came right back and covered her mouth with his. He was relentless, possessing her mouth, demanding a response. And she was too weak to deny him. She couldn’t stop the throbbing that instantly started up in her body, low in her stomach. Nor could she stop her legs from wrapping around his waist, pressing her softness more firmly against him and moaning with the impact.
When she couldn’t resist him, when he felt her body soften against his, he lifted his head and looked down at her. “You’re mine,” he told her angrily.
She inhaled, trying to get oxygen to her starving lungs, but she didn’t have a response. So when he opened the Jeep’s door with his hand and plunked her down into the passenger seat, she couldn’t move for a long moment, still too stunned by how much she wanted him to continue.
By the time she’d gotten her mind into even partial working order, he was already driving down the street, crossing over the curving bridge from Portland to Cape Elizabeth. Again, the commuter traffic was so different from what she was used to, it took her several minutes to realize that the people in the vehicles surrounding them were people rushing home to their families from work.
He pulled the Jeep into a strange driveway, one she’d never seen before and as the gravel road twisted and turned, they suddenly came upon the beautiful house she’d visited the first day. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at the lovely house, irritated by how easy it was to access the house. “You couldn’t have told me about this driveway the last time?” she demanded, glaring at him in the dim light of the setting sun.
He chuckled and jumped out of the Jeep. “If I had, I never would have seen you in those red shoes,” he came right back.
Rachel knew he had a point, but those shoes had been trashed when she’d gotten back to Washington after that weekend. Walking two miles in three inch heels was not good for either the feet or shoes. “You’re just digging yourself in deeper,” she grumbled.
She got out of the car, but didn’t go inside. He laughed softly at her stubbornness. “Rachel, I know you want to see the inside of this house,” he called out to her as she marched down the other side of the