Page 42 of Life

“Fuck! I’ll get to her phone before she does. No, I don’t want her to see another fucking text. Yeah!”

A shirt is catapulted out of the closet and lands on the bed. “Order her a new phone. Yes, charge it to my account. Look, Scooter, I know this is going to shock the shit out of you, but this woman? She’s it.”

Eli opens a drawer. “It means she’s important to me. What are we, in high school?” He scowls into the phone and stops, standing ramrod still, and grips his hair. “I’m sorry. I know you got out of high school a year ago. No, that wasn’t directed at you. Fuck!” he roars, and drops his pajama pants.

I’m greeted with the finest, most toned ass on the west coast.¡Por Dios que es magnífica!Eli stands completely nude facing the window. His golden body is that of a Viking or a mythical god back in the time of Odin and the Valkyries. It’s something to behold. Until he turns around. His cock hangs down in front of him, long and thick, even at rest.

I gasp and realize my error when Eli’s head launches up and his gaze meets mine. Instead of hiding himself like I would imagine, he stands up straighter, puts one hand on his hip, and lets me look my fill. The man is unashamed and comfortable in his own body in a way that makes him a hundred times sexier, which is already impossible to do. He’s the epitome of greatness.

He holds the phone against his breastbone and grins before speaking softly. “You done ogling me, Spicy? Can I get dressed now?”

“I, uh…I wasn’t, um…”

“Sure you weren’t. Next time, it’s me sitting on that bed and you standing here letting me look my fill. Got it?”

I cringe and glare.

“Yeah, nah, it’s fine. Get me everything you have on Antonio’s financials. I want his debit card transactions, credit cards, details on his place of business. Is it on the up-and-up financially, or are there some shady things happening? Two someones gave our boy a get-out-of-jail-free card with an alibi, or someone else he hired did the job. I want to know whatever you can find.”

Again, he hangs up abruptly on whomever he’s talking to and slips on his jeans, sans underwear. Damn, that’s sexy as hell.

I swallow and watch him get dressed. I’m unable to look away. Like a sunset over the ocean, some things are too pretty to miss.

“Do you always bark orders and then hang up on people?”

He pulls on a dark chocolate-colored Henley. “If I’m paying them to work for me, time is money. No need to mince words, remember?”

I glare back, cock a hip, and place my hands on both. “You could be nicer. These people are choosing to work for you.”

Eli doesn’t respond for a few long seconds. His eyes are moving all over my body. I glance down and realize not only am I not wearing pants, I’m in the pair of deep purple satin panties that only have a string of elastic holding them up on both hips and a lavender threadbare tank top. My exorbitant bust is bursting against the fabric, my nipples erect, hot points of need after having watched the godlike man get dressed in front of me.

“Mierda.” I puff out my lips and cover my tits with my arm.

“Oh, don’t cover up those beauties on my account. I’m all about your tits, babe. They’re fucking huge. As a matter of fact, I’m getting hard looking at you. You better go before I do something about it,” he warns.

Not wanting to risk another snafu like yesterday, I dodge toward the door.

“Christ. Your goddamned ass is lush, too. Fucking hell!” he grunts. “You’re killin’ me, woman!” he yells as I lock myself away in the spare room and find something clean to wear. Jeans, a tank, and a cardigan from the laundry basket I grabbed will have to do.

As I I’m getting dressed, I hear a knock at the door. “Bring something warm and comfortable. Also, pack an overnight bag for two nights. I’m taking you away from here. You need some time to decompress. We both do.”

All I hear are his footsteps, loud and clear, heading down the wooden stairs.

He’s taking me away for a couple days. I don’t know whether to thank my lucky stars I’m leaving the city, or start praying that I’ll survive hurricane Eli and his unstoppable sexual advances.

After last night, when he held me and took care of me, and then this morning, seeing him naked and confident in all his masculine glory, the real question I should be asking myself is…do I want to avoid his advances?

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and pack a bag, making sure I have my sexiest underwear and my razor. Not that I’m going to use them. Because I won’t be having any sex. Probably. Most definitely not.

Chapter Eleven

The open road is remarkably, blessedly quiet. Eli drives steadily down the highway, our destination unknown. At least to me. And frankly, he could take me to Timbuktu and I wouldn’t care. Getting away is paramount. Anywhere would be better than the city.

Outside the car window, the California hills roll by. The landscape is dusty, brown, and dry. We didn’t have much of a winter and have had below average rainfall, even for us. Still, I enjoy the varying colors and contrast from the horizon line. With the city in the rearview mirror, I can finally breathe a little easier.

“You doin’ all right?” Eli breaks the stillness.

“Yeah. Glad to be getting away. The farther we get away from Antonio the better.” I sigh and lean my head back on the headrest.

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