Contract for Love, page 26
Self-confident. I have to appear self-confident. “Sounds good to me.”
With a thoughtful expression on her face, Grandmother Eileen nodded and downed her scotch. “I’ve decided that you can start working for the firm.”
Madison’s jaw dropped.
“You have one week to get a handle of things. You’ll start Monday next week, as one of four vice presidents working in Operations. Your supervisor will be John Billings. I’ve arranged that he’ll send you a folder with all the necessary information you’ll need regarding your position.” Her grandmother held the glass to her mouth before compressing her lips when she seemed to realize it was empty already. With a thud, the glass landed on the desk. “I’ll give you one month to prove yourself. Until then, I expect you to be familiar with all procedures and to have some positive results to present.”
“Yes, Grandmother.” The folded hands in her lap trembled. No way in hell was she qualified for this job. But even though she knew nothing about her future position, she had no doubt that it came with a lot of overtime. Her shoulders dropped. I want the damn inheritance, so I have to work for it. But the saying was obviously true: you should be careful what you wished for.
Groaning, Sherry rubbed her tense neck while entering the bedroom.
Madison was reading one of many pages stapled together. A stack of even more paperwork about three inches high lay on Madison’s nightstand.
Sherry closed the door and went to the bed. Slipping under the sheets, she asked, “Are these the information the courier brought earlier? Rita Mae mentioned there had been someone at the door.”
Madison looked up. “Yeah.” She rubbed across her face with one hand before putting down her paperwork on the nightstand. “If I have to read just one more paragraph about allocation of tasks within my department, I will—”
“Isn’t that exactly what you wanted?”
“I want the damn inheritance, not a job in management.”
“But if you inherit the company, it will be up to you to lead it, won’t it?”
“Nah. That’s what you pay people for.”
“Your grandmother leads the company so—”
Madison, who had been sitting up against the headboard, slid down and turned toward Sherry. “A driver collects her every morning to take her to her fancy corner office so that she can drink her scotch there instead of her empty mansion, but that’s it. Officially, she’s the chairwoman of Fielding Inc., but… Oh, I don’t know. She was directing today’s meeting but didn’t contribute anything that was even slightly constructive. I’m not sure she even understood everything they were saying. After all, she hasn’t studied business or anything else. And she’s never been anything but the boss, so…”
“And what about you?”
“Huh? I’ve at least got a BA in business studies.”
“I know, but did you understand everything that was said?”
Madison scratched her neck. “Probably more than she did.”
Facing Madison, Sherry propped her chin on her hand. “Do you want to know what I think?”
A grin spread across Madison’s face. “I’ve got a feeling I should say no.”
Sherry grinned back. “You’re really something.”
“Am I?”
The way Madison asked caused heat to spread across Sherry’s body. Is she flirting? She should ignore it and focus on their conversation. “I have the feeling nobody can do right with you. You want your grandmother to believe that you can take responsibility. It’s working. And now you’re only one step away from reaching your goal. And what do you do? You complain about all the work this is causing.”
“Mm-hmm.” She expected Madison to snap at her or turn away, ending their conversation, but instead she asked, “How was your day?”
Wow! After criticizing Madison like that, she hadn’t expected such a considerate question. “Emily, the new hire, couldn’t step in for you because she’s got a bad cold. So Danielle, Jack, and I had to manage without a fourth person.”
Madison lowered her gaze as if feeling guilty.
Sherry touched her arm. “It’s okay. You had more important things to do. Danielle said so too. It’s just…”
“It’s just what?”
She hadn’t wanted to bring it up, but it seemed to be the right thing to do. “Danielle was pretty crestfallen when you called to say that you wouldn’t be coming back.”
“I’d prefer to work at the Archer any day, believe me.”
Sherry was about to ask why she then didn’t do exactly that, but it would’ve been a dumb question. If Madison wanted to get her inheritance, she would have to play by her grandmother’s rules.
When her neck cramped for the maybe the hundredth time that day, Sherry lay back and rubbed the painful spot.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just a little tense. Maybe a pinched nerve. That’s all. Let’s sleep.”
Madison reached out for the light switch but paused. “Do, um, do you want me to give you a massage?”
Sherry’s head jerked toward Madison. The sudden movement caused a searing pain in her neck, and she had to close her eyes to focus on relaxing her aching muscles.
“Do you want to do it sitting or lying down?”
“W-what?”
“I used to be very good with massages. At least the women I gave them to said so.” When Sherry didn’t move, she said, “Roll over. I’ll start at your lower back and work my way up.” She grinned mischievously. “Most people work their way down, but I prefer to massage my way u—”
“They weren’t just any women. You slept with them, didn’t you?” Was this an attempt to seduce her? Sherry’s breath caught when she realized that she wasn’t so sure she would have minded being seduced by her.
Madison shrugged. “So what? I’m offering you a massage, nothing else.” Hurt flashed across her face. “Or do you think I’m trying to take advantage of you?”
“Of course not.” Okay, maybe that wasn’t entirely true. But if she declined Madison’s offer, it wouldn’t matter what she said: the message would be clear.
Sherry turned onto her stomach. “You should push the covers to the side.”
“Sure,” Madison said. “And, uh, you should take off your shirt, so that I…” she cleared her throat, “can reach your back better.” Madison stood. “I’ll get the massage oil from the bathroom.”
Sherry stared after her. Was Madison serious? She wanted her to lie there half-naked? Her heart was beating so fast, as if it was going to burst out of her chest at any moment.
Get rid of your shirt and fast or she’ll see much more than your back. She shed her shirt as quickly as possible and laid back down just as Madison entered the bedroom again.
She held a little bottle with yellow oil in it. “You like the smell of vanilla, don’t you?”
Sherry wanted to nod, but then a piercing pain raced through her neck.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Madison was staring at the sheet instead of her naked back.
After pushing off the sheet, Madison put the bottle of oil on Sherry’s nightstand and started rubbing her own hands.
“What are you doing?”
Madison still wasn’t looking at her. “Cold hands.”
It was touching how much Madison was trying to respect her privacy. Sherry would have liked to give her a hug for that. Better not now. A giggle erupted in Sherry’s throat at the thought.
Madison halted her hand-rubbing. “What’s so funny?”
“Um, you’re really nice.”
Was Madison blushing? “Nah. You would do the same for me if my neck was tense.” Madison took a deep breath as if she needed to prepare herself mentally for the task and then sat down on the edge of the bed. Slowly, she took the bottle of oil from the nightstand and let some oil drip on Sherry’s back.
She sucked in a breath.
“Sorry,” Madison mumbled, placing the bottle back on the nightstand. Gently, she started rubbing the oil onto her back.
Sherry didn’t dare to breathe for fear she would moan. God, that feels heavenly. Madison’s hands slid skillfully over the sensitive skin of her lower back before applying pressure to the knotted places. “Wow, you’re tense all over your back.” With her thumbs, she slid up the outer edges of her spine until she circled the area between her shoulder blades.
Sherry couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Ah! Yeah, right there!” Her eyes snapped open. When had they fallen shut?
Madison paused before getting on with it a few seconds later.
Sherry’s pulse was racing and not just because Madison was working on her body with her very talented hands, touching places that Sherry hadn’t even known existed. A totally inappropriate pulsing had begun between her legs and was increasing by the minute, but damn, this was pleasant. Her body reacted in a way she hadn’t experienced in a long time, if ever. It was a secret pleasure she would never admit to anybody.
Her eyes fell shut again when Madison’s hands reached the place where her shoulders met her neck.
“Jesus, no wonder you’re in so much pain. It feels as if you’ve been working in a quarry.”
A smile stole onto Sherry’s lips. “Almost. It was your coffee bar, boss.”
Madison’s massage stopped. She bent down, and Sherry could feel her hot breath on her neck when she said, “I guess if you work so hard for me, you deserve to get a raise.”
Even though Madison sat back up immediately, the pulsing between Sherry’s legs got more insistent and goose bumps spread all over her body.
“Are you cold?”
Relief flooded her. She thinks it’s from the temperature in the room. Surprising given how hot the bedroom was right now and that Madison, who was so experienced with women, hadn’t thought of the most obvious cause for Sherry’s physical reaction. But who was she to tell her otherwise? “Just a little bit. Go ahead.” Forever, if I have any say in this.
Madison continued with her skilled hands, and with each passing moment, her touches seemed to become softer.
Sherry clenched her teeth when her nipples hardened. God!
God! Why had she come up with the totally stupid idea of offering Sherry a massage?
Because I wanted to touch her and do something nice for her. And it shouldn’t have been a big deal, but her body wasn’t getting the message. Nearly all the blood seemed to have gone to her lower body regions; she could barely form a clear thought. It didn’t help that Sherry had gained a few pounds within the last weeks, making her look healthier and even more attractive.
With both hands, she moved along Sherry’s back. Her skin felt like silk. When she caught herself caressing more than massaging, she pressed down firmly and concentrated on the countless tense spots.
“Ah, yeah, just like that.”
Madison swallowed, but it didn’t help against her dry mouth. Does she have to make such noises and say those words? She should wrap up this massage quickly and wish Sherry a good night. If she’d been alone, she would have taken matters into her own hands, touching herself, but with Sherry at her side, this wasn’t an option. She sighed.
“It’s exhausting you, isn’t it?” Sherry asked, her voice sounding strangely hoarse.
You’ve got no idea. “It’s fine. Could you straighten your neck by leaning with your head into your pillow for a second?”
Trusting Madison’s instruction, Sherry did as she was told.
Carefully, Madison pushed Sherry’s soft hair to the side and rubbed with her thumb and forefinger beside Sherry’s spine and neck. Everything was going smoothly until she became aware of her upper body touching Sherry’s naked back. Better not think about it. She wouldn’t hurt Sherry’s trust by placing a kiss there, as tempting as it was.
Sherry raised her head to breathe, and Madison’s lips almost touched her skin accidentally. Before Madison could lose the battle with herself, Sherry luckily lowered her head again.
In that moment, Madison would have done literally anything for Sherry to turn around and—
“Madison?”
“Yeah?” Was this her voice?
“Are you done?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Madison pressed down on some knotted places and moved her fingers up and down before croaking out, “Done.”
After a while, Sherry said quietly, “Thank you,” but she didn’t move.
Oh, she’s waiting for me to leave. Of course she couldn’t sit up without exposing her breasts to Madison. Heat surged through her body at the thought of Sherry’s probably soft breasts.
“Um, I’ll go wash my hands.” She jumped up and stumbled to the bathroom.
As soon as Madison had closed the door behind her, Sherry sat up and slipped on her top. It was outright ridiculous how much Madison’s massage had aroused her. How was it possible that the most erotic touches of her life had come from someone paying her to play her girlfriend? And a woman at that. But it had been just a physical reaction, right?
No noise came from the bathroom. Why was Madison taking so long to come back?
As if reading Sherry’s last thought, Madison opened the door and walked around the bed to her side while avoiding Sherry’s gaze.
Was she blushing? And was there water dripping from her chin?
Madison slipped under the sheets and leaned toward the light switch. “Good night.”
“Good night, Madison and thanks.”
“No problem.” Madison switched off the light and lay down.
There seemed to be a sudden distance between them, and it didn’t feel good at all. “Madison?”
“Mm-hmm?”
“Why…? I mean I’m really thankful for it, but…”
Madison rolled around to face her, but her face was hidden in the darkness.
Sherry didn’t know where to start?
“What do you want to know?” Surprisingly, Madison didn’t sound annoyed but…worried?
“Ah, nothing.”
“Did I make you uncomfortable?”
“What? No.” Quite the opposite! “No. I trust you. You wouldn’t do anything on purpose to make me uncomfortable.” Not anymore, her mind supplied. She trusted Madison.
“What is it, then?”
Sherry gathered all her courage and asked, “Why did you give me the massage?”
Madison took a while to say, “I thought you could use one. That’s all. And I told you already that I’m sure you’d do the same for me.” She sighed, frustration in her voice. “I made you uncomfortable, didn’t I?”
“No, I was just wondering.” Under the sheets, she took Madison’s hand. “Thank you, really. I guess I’ll have to get used to it.”
Madison’s warm hand held hers gently. “Get used to what?”
“That with us. Not that we’re… What I mean is—”
“I know what you mean. We’re getting along much better now.”
“Yeah, much better.” Sherry was aware that neither of them let go of the other one’s hand. It feels so damn good to hold her hand. She moved a little bit closer, so that her hand could rest in Madison’s more comfortably. It relaxed her. Smiling, she closed her eyes. “Good night, Madison.”
Madison didn’t move an inch. “Good night.”
In less than a minute, she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 29
Sherry had never understood the expression that someone furrowed their brow. Until now.
Madison was sitting on the other end of the couch Indian-style studying the paperwork from Fielding Inc. From time to time she wrote something down in her notebook, then underlined another thing while grumbling unintelligibly.
Sherry gave up her attempt to read her book and switched on the TV to pass the time. Pass the time. To have free time was still a new experience for her. When she’d been in high school, she had dreamed of going to college and spending all her time learning. But even though she had been a good student, this had always been nothing but a dream, drowned out by endless work and barely getting by. Now there was nothing to hold her back anymore, and she was considering taking some classes at the nearby community college.
The thought brought a smile to her face, but it dimmed when Madison moaned. “Sorry.” Sherry took the remote control. “I should have asked you. I’ll turn it off again.”
“Huh? Oh, no, no.” Madison put her paperwork and her notebook onto the coffee table. “God, it’s impossible to learn all of this in such a short time.”
“But didn’t you study this?”
“It feels like that was a hundred years ago. And no, I can barely use anything I learned in my business studies.” She gestured toward the stack of paperwork on the coffee table. “This is something entirely different. It’s about company policies, department procedures, and—”
“We’re back!” Rita Mae called from the hall a second before Jake came running into the room at a breakneck speed and then jumped between Sherry and Madison on the couch.
Worried, Sherry peeked at Madison. She was under a lot of stress. Hopefully, she wouldn’t snap at Jake for disturbing her.
“There was a dog sitter at the park. He gets money for playing with dogs. When I’m grown-up, I want to be a dog sitter, too.”
“Baby, Madison is working and—”
But Madison caressed his hair in a tender gesture, and he leaned in to her. “It’s okay.” Madison opened her arms, and Jake snuggled into her. “Maybe being a dog sitter isn’t as exciting as you might think.”
“Why not?”
“Well, imagine you have to pick up the dog’s poop all day.”
“Ugh.”
“Now, I might know something you’d rather like to do.” She leaned forward to whisper something in his ear.
