She grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair quickly. Her clothes would have to do. She heard a knock at the door.
“
Is that you?”
“
Yup.”
She pushed the end key and walked to the door. “You could have told me you were already here!” He was wearing jeans and a Dallas Cowboys t-shirt. Her jeans and sweater would be fine.
He shrugged. “They want to meet us in fifteen minutes. You ready?”
“
I guess so.” She’d eaten, but she could get an appetizer and a soft drink.
He looked around her apartment. “Did you have a good time with your family today?”
“
Yeah, I did. What did you do?”
He smiled. “I went to see my grandmother and let her beat me at cribbage.”
“
Cribbage?”
“
It’s a card game with this board you use to count points on. It’s kind of weird, but my grandmother taught me when I was little.”
“
Was her boyfriend there?”
He laughed. “She won’t tell me which one he is, but I think so. There were a couple of old men giving her the eye. It’s so cute.”
She locked her door and preceded him down the stairs. “Where are we going?”
“
Mexican. Are you hungry?”
“
Not terribly. I ate dinner with my parents at three. I’ll just get a dessert or an appetizer or something.”
He reached over and squeezed her hand. “Thanks for being willing to come with me. Cody seems really nervous about this woman. He hasn’t been nervous about a date since our sophomore year at UTA. He figured he could buy girls after that.”
“
Buy them?”
Justin shrugged. “We’ve all had our share of women wanting to date us just because of our money.”
She sighed softly. “That’s really sad.” She looked down at his hand which was still covering hers. “I’ve never met Cody, but I’ve seen him at the office once or twice. He seems to have a lot going for him.”
“
Don’t get any ideas. I’m not fighting him over another woman.”
What was that supposed to mean? “You’ve fought over a woman before?”
“
Our freshman year we had a crush on the same girl. Of course, she told us we were both a couple of geeks, and she had better things to do.”
“
That’s terrible!”
Justin laughed. “No, we
were
geeks. I was the stereotypical nerd in ugly glasses who couldn’t dress like a normal college kid to save my life. Cody walked around telling everyone about the stats of his favorite ball players whether they cared or not. We weren’t as nerdy as Steven, but we were pretty bad.”
She looked over at him watching his profile. “That’s hard to believe. I mean, you certainly don’t seem like a nerd now.”
“
We all figured out how to hide our inner nerds. I had Lasik and had someone teach me how to dress. I still hire someone to buy my clothes for me.” He grinned at her. “If left to my own devices I revert back to some pretty nerdy stuff. I never shop for myself anymore.”
They walked into the restaurant and were shown to a table. Cody was already sitting with a pretty blue-eyed brunette. She looked like she was around thirty, and had a nice tan.
Sarah slid into the booth first and Justin slid in next to her. The booth was small, and they were touching from shoulder to knee. She smiled at the woman across the table from her. “Hi, I’m Sarah.”
“
I’m Amber.”
“
It’s nice to meet you.”
“
You too.”
The men both had their faces buried in their menus. “So how long have you and Cody been seeing each other?”
“
We’re not really seeing each other. I’m giving him riding lessons.”
“
Oh, okay. Is that what you do for a living?”
Amber nodded. “I usually only teach children, but Cody insisted.”
Sarah sighed. “I think the two of them have been too rich for too long. I don’t know about Cody, but Justin thinks he has the right to tell everyone around him what they’re going to do and just watch them fall in line.”
“
Sounds like Cody!”
“
How did you two meet? Did he just call and ask for lessons one day?”
Amber blushed. “I rear ended him last weekend.”
Sarah choked back a laugh. “Really? So he hired you to teach him to ride a horse?”
“
Weird, huh?”
Cody put down his menu and took a sip of his iced tea. “You know, I’m sitting right here listening to you, right?” He nodded toward Sarah in greeting, but didn’t say anything to her directly.
Amber gave him a confused look. “Well, it is weird. How many people insist someone who rear ends them teaches them to ride a horse?”
“
I’m a billionaire. I’m supposed to be eccentric. Besides, it was time I bought a new pick-up. It’s not like I’m upset I got rear ended or anything.”
Amber looked at Sarah. “He wanted to buy me a new truck too. I told him my insurance would fix my old one. Weird. Just plain weird.” The baffled look on Amber’s face, reflected how Sarah had felt for the past week.
Justin grinned at Cody. “Seems like she’s figured you out in just a week.”
Cody folded his arms over his chest and glared at his friend. “Yeah? Well, how did you meet your date then?”
Sarah shook her head. “Oh we’re not dating! I’m his executive assistant.”
Cody looked at Justin. “What happened to the hyper-organized Candice?”
“
Maternity leave. She’s taking a year off after the baby’s born, so I needed someone.”
“
I thought she was waiting another month?”
Justin shrugged. “She said she wanted to take off early.”
The waitress came to the table then and they placed their orders. Sarah just got a bowl of enchilada soup, since she wasn’t very hungry.
While they waited for their meal, Justin pulled out some charts and started to talk to Cody in a low voice. Sarah shrugged at Amber. “So, tell me about your horses. I assume you have more than one?”
“
A whole stable full. We had more before my father died, but we’re building the ranch back up to where it used to be.” She paused. “We’re also doing some horse breeding and training. As well as the cattle ranching.”
“
Who’s we?”
“
Well, mainly me and our foreman. He’s been running the ranch since I was a little girl. My brother will finish college in May, and then he’ll be home to help out.”
Sarah nodded. “Where’s your ranch?”
“
Corral City.”
“
Never heard of it.”
“
It’s near Decatur?” Decatur wasn’t a large city, but most people in the area had at least heard of it.
Sarah nodded. “Okay, I kind of know where Decatur is. Northwest of Fort Worth, right?”
“
Yeah. You’ll have to come see the ranch sometime.”
“
I’d like that.” Sarah didn’t have a lot of female friends she saw often. Her high school and college friends had all moved on and were living their lives. She felt isolated a lot, because she didn’t have a car.
Justin shoved his papers into the briefcase he’d brought with him and settled back against the back of the booth. “Y’all done?” Amber asked.
Cody nodded, draping his arm around Amber’s shoulders. “Yeah. He likes me to look at his charts and see if I think they’re feasible before we knock Steven over the head with them.”
Amber made a face. “Is Steven the other guy who helped start your company?”
“
Steven’s the programmer,” Justin told her. “Without Steven, Cody would be an idea man with no one to make his ideas work, and I’d be just some guy looking for a good product to sell.”
“
Yup. We owe it all to Steven.”
Sarah was looking forward to seeing the dynamic between the three men at the business meeting. Would they be all business, or would they act like best buddies hanging out and having fun?
By the time they were done eating, Sarah realized she’d really enjoyed the evening. She would have thought she’d be intimidated by a meal with two billionaires, but she wasn’t at all. She thought she and Amber could be good friends if they were around each other more.
Cody turned to Amber after they’d finished eating. “You’re going on that business trip with me, right?”
Amber looked at him with a perplexed look on her face. “Why would I need to go on a business trip with you?”
“
What if I decide to ride a horse on the beach? I wouldn’t want to fall off.” He sighed heavily. “Then I’d get hurt and you’d spend the rest of your life feeling guilty that you didn’t come along, and it would be all your fault I was hurt.”
Amber sighed. “That’s a ridiculous reason, you know.”
He nodded. “I know.” He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “Will you go with me?”
She shook her head. “I really don’t think it’s a good idea. I’d have to cancel several students, and it wouldn’t be fair to them.”
“
When was the last time you took a vacation? A real vacation. Not one where you’re trying to buy more horses or doing anything but having fun.”
She shrugged. “I think it was before my father died.”
“
You’re going. If I have to kidnap you, you’re going. Cancel your students. You need a break.” His tone of voice brooked no argument.
Sarah watched the entire exchange with wide eyes. He was just as bossy as Justin in his own way. She looked at Justin to find he was watching her. She raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“
I’m so glad I can just order you to go on a business trip and I don’t have to kidnap you.”
She choked back a laugh. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
Justin pulled something out of his pocket, but she couldn’t tell what it was. Cody held his hand out, and Justin dropped a Life Saver onto it. He offered one to each of the women.
Sarah’s eyes widened. “Is that why you always taste like butterscotch?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she blushed.
Cody looked at Justin. “So, your assistant knows you always taste like butterscotch huh?”
Justin shook his head, and Cody took the hint for once, dropping the subject.
Cody paid for the meal and they all stood to leave. As they were walking out, Sarah whispered to Amber, “So, are you going?”
“
I guess so. I don’t know why, but I’m going.” She paused. “Honestly I think it’s going to be fun. I do need a break.”
Sarah hugged Amber. “I’m glad you’re going.”
Amber grinned. “Me too. It’ll be easier knowing I’ll at least know someone there.”
“
I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”
“
Guess so.”
She got into the car with Justin who drove in silence back to her apartment. “Thanks for dinner. I enjoyed it.” She opened the door to get out, and frowned when she saw Justin do the same. “You don’t have to walk me up.”
Justin shrugged. “Since this is the first time you’ve gone out with me voluntarily, I feel like I should treat it like a real date.”
She stopped and looked at him for a moment and nodded. She’d thought about telling him he was her boss, but then she remembered what her mother had said. She wanted a real chance with this man. It didn’t make sense to keep him at arm’s length just because he was her boss.
She led up the stairs and unlocked her door. “Would you like to come in?” She bit her lip while she waited for his answer.
A half grin lifted the corners of his mouth and he nodded. “I’d love to.”
Her apartment was tiny and the furnishings were all used from a Goodwill store, but she refused to be embarrassed. “Have a seat.”
He sat down on her couch and leaned back. She sat in the chair perpendicular to him, but he shook his head, catching her hand and pulling her onto the couch with him. “Have I told you how mesmerized I am by your eyes? They’re amazing.”
She’d always thought her eyes were odd, so she was surprised to hear that. She shook her head slowly. “No.”
“
I feel like I could drown in them.” His hand came up to cup her cheek, and she knew he was going to kiss her again. Her tongue came out to lick her lips.
His head lowered slowly toward hers giving her a chance to back away if she wanted to, but she lifted her lips toward his. She’d thought about their first kiss over and over in the days since they’d met. How could kissing him be so different than any other kiss she’d ever received? It wasn’t just the butterscotch, either.
His lips brushed against hers lightly. She reached up and wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
His hands went to the middle of her back, stroking it as he deepened the kiss, tilting his head to the side and running his tongue along the seam of her lips. When she opened her mouth for him immediately, his tongue moved in to tangle with hers.
She let out a low sound in her throat as she pressed closer to him. Her breasts were crushed against his hard chest and her hands tangled in his thick dark hair. He pulled her onto his lap, straddling him, his hands not moving from her back, where they roamed up and down pulling her to him.
She pulled back for a second looking into his deep brown eyes. “I feel so much when I’m with you.” Her voice was barely a whisper.