“Bear?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Yeah. His name is Bear Dalton.”
“Your Mom’s boss’s name is Bear? For fuck’s sake! Who names their kid Bear? Why didn’t you ever tell me this?”
“I don’t know. But he’s certainly not a kid,” I said, a slow smile spreading across my face. I could still feel him inside me, my skin was still burning from his touch, even days later. “And I guess he’s my boss now, too.”
“He gave you a job? Why didn’t you say so?”
“I’m telling you now!”
“Well, what is it? How much does it pay?”
“You sound like Matilda! I - I - don’t really know…” I murmured, my voice trailing off as I realized how ridiculous this all sounded now that I was putting it into words.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” she laughed.
“Alright, look. He fucked me.”
“What!” Her mouth practically fell on the floor.
“I mean, we had sex…” A blush crept up my face. Marie and I talked about sex all the time but for some reason I felt like this was different. Should I have been ashamed about what happened? Should I have kept it to myself? There’s no way in hell I could have kept this from Marie much longer.
“You had sex with your Mom’s boss? That’s kind of…hot,” she smiled.
“My boss, too, technically,” I shrugged.
“So let me get this straight,” she laughed. “You fucked your new boss but you don’t know how much he’s going to pay you or what the job is but you’ve agreed to move clear across the country to do this mystery job?”
“Basically, yes,” I said.
“Damn. That’s insane. He must have been one incredible lay,” she shook her head.
“There wasn’t any lying down involved, he bent me over the table in a private room at Departure,” I said.
Her laughter roared through my apartment.
“Sounds romantic,” she managed to spit out through her hysterical laughter.
I shook my head, second guessing my decision to confide in her.
“Look, it’s crazy, believe me I know that. He just…damn, he just had this pull. He’s so fucking handsome. And sophisticated. And rich. And sexy as hell…”
“Oh, my god! I have to see this guy,” she said, grabbing my computer and punching in Bear’s name on a google search page. Hundreds of pictures popped up, just as I knew they would, because I’d already spent hours and hours searching for info on Bear myself last night.
“Holy fuck,” Marie whispered. “He doesn’t even look real…”
“Yeah, none of this feels real either.”
“You already fucked him, Chloe? I just don’t understand,” she shook her head again, before looking back at me. “Does Matilda know?”
“No!” I yelled. “God, no!”
“Well, damn woman. Sounds like you’ve got an adventure ahead of you.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said.
“Big dick?”
“God, Marie! Is that all that matters to you?” I laughed.
“Most of the time, yes, yes it is,” she nodded. “So?”
“Yeah,” I replied, a slow, secret smile spreading across my face as Bear’s beautiful cock flashed in my head. “It’s huge.”
Her squeals rang in my ears and I reached for my wine glass, pouring it down my throat.
What the hell had I gotten myself into?
Chapter 5
“Mom, maybe you shouldn’t mix whiskey and xanax,” I warned.
“You know flying makes me anxious,” she dismissed me with a wave, her blonde hair shining under the overhead light of the front cabin of Bear’s airplane.
He’d sent a private jet for us.
Mom was just as shocked as I was when she saw it and I could have sworn I saw goosebumps pop up on her arms when the pilot welcomed us aboard. My stomach was doing flips as I walked up the stairs and I exhaled with relief when I saw that Bear wasn’t there.
The pilot welcomed us, told us to make ourselves at home and that Mr. Dalton would be waiting for us at JFK. I was grateful for the extra time before having to face him again. I’d been a nervous wreck since I’d left my house that morning.
Having an entire luxury jet at our disposal wasn’t half bad, though.
“This is amazing,” I said, letting Mom off the hook for mixing booze and drugs. It was her life to ruin and I had to assume she knew what she was doing.
Normally, I might have harped a little longer, but I was distracted by the sheer luxury of Bear’s plane. The buttery soft, heated leather seats seemed to wrap around my hips and I melted into their warmth. Everything was shiny, new and probably cost more money that I could even imagine.
“Can I get you anything else?” The male flight attendant, Brody, and the pilot, Dawson, were the only staff we’d seen so far and they’d both been perfectly hospitable. The fact that they were magazine gorgeous was an added bonus. Tall, dark and handsome, they were easily the prettiest things on the plane.
“No, thank you, Brody,” Mom said, flashing him a professional smile. She was impressed, I could tell, but she was doing her best to appear aloof and comfortable. If I had a nickel for every time she’d told me appearances were everything than I’d be rich myself.
Brody walked away with a curt nod and I couldn’t help but let my gaze fall to his tight black slacks. They fit him like a glove, his tight ass perky and taut. I bit my lip as I watched him disappear behind a curtain at the front of the plane and sighed.
A week had passed since I’d seen Bear—correction—fucked Bear, and I still couldn’t shake the feelings he’d stirred up in me. Tense and anxious, I’d been on edge the entire week. Despite the strong temptation to pick up the phone, I’d managed to make it through the week without calling him and asking him exactly what he expected of me. After talking to Marie about it, I was looking at things a little differently.
I was determined to use it as an opportunity.
An adventure, like she’d said.
Maybe I wouldn’t make any professional gains, but I was sure I’d be gaining something a little more valuable. Like life experience. Knowledge. Toe-curling sex.
I’d always felt like I’d missed out on so much. I mean, what did I have to lose, right? If New York sucked, if Bear turned out to be too much for me to handle—all I had to do was come back home to Portland.
An old friend of
mine told me that she spent a year saying ‘yes’ to everything. She’d done things she never would have normally done. One of her little ‘yes’ adventures took her to Italy, where she ended up meeting a charming guy that swept her off her feet. As soon as she started saying yes, her life blossomed.
That’s what I wanted.
I wanted to blossom.
I would do that. I would say yes to everything that crossed my path in New York and see where it took me.
The whir of the engine vibrated through my seat as the plane took off, my stomach flying up into my throat. I was a bundle of nerves, but it felt so fucking good. My chest was heavy and full with anticipation, leaving me breathless as I thought of all the things that might happen. The things I wanted to happen.
Sure, I’d hated New York when I visited. But maybe I just didn’t have the right experience. Maybe I didn’t say yes enough.
Loud banging noises sounded under our feet as the pilot pulled the landing gear up. I inhaled deeply, doing my best to relax my shoulders. I desperately needed to get a grip on myself. It was going to be a long few hours and Mom could usually see right through me. If she put her own anxiety aside for a few moments, she could easily figure out how tense I was.
“Bear assured me the corporate apartment would have everything we need,” she said, looking down at her perfectly manicured nails. I shuddered at the sound of his name. “Our things should be delivered in a few days.”
“I know, Mom,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You already told me that three times.”
“I like to be thorough, you know that,” she said.
“Yes, I do,” I sighed.
“I still don’t understand,” she murmured.
“Understand what?” I asked, stalling. I knew exactly what she was about to say.
“Why you changed your mind?”
“Mom,” I replied, rolling my eyes again. She hated it when I did that and I knew it, but usually it was enough to make her stop questioning me. “We talked about this. He offered me a job.”