My cheeks were still warm from embarrassment, but she clearly was not offended, so I tried to put the shame behind me.“I’m with you on that, although I do admit to having a child, a daughter who is now in her midtwenties, and the person everyone at Buckling Swashes fears, including Corbin and me.”
“Ah?”Emily asked, looking a bit confused.
“Sorry, I’m joking about my daughter, Tara.She works with the game engineers, and keeps everyone on their toes because she loves the company so much.”
“Gotcha,” Emily said.“I’m serious about the offer to say you’re part of the wedding group, in case you thought I’m either trying to butter you up for a job or deranged.Or both.”
“I appreciate that,” I said after a moment of warring with my inner self.I really wanted to have a romantic getaway with Corbin, and I was under no illusions that Emily would be the least bit interested in what a couple of middle-aged people were doing, although I was cognizant she might be doing it with an ulterior motive in mind.
I didn’t really think that was the situation, however.She seemed too genuine.
In the end, I decided to go with my gut instinct.“And I think I will take you up on it, if you are absolutely certain it wouldn’t be an imposition.”
“Not in the least,” she answered, and gave me the exact dates the hotel would be limited to her party.
“We might get done in Paris early, so we wouldn’t need to intrude, but assuming that things take longer than I expect, I will go ahead and book the room during your event.You will, naturally, allow us to give you a wedding gift.”
“Oh, hell, no!”she exclaimed, then covered her mouth to stifle the resulting laughter that followed the several heads swiveling to look at us.She gave an apologetic moue to everyone in the room, then told me, “I appreciate the thought, but we’re doing charity donations only for the wedding.If you really feel obligated to me, feel free to make a donation to whatever animal charity you like.”
“You really do prefer animals to people,” I said, referring to the statement she’d made earlier.
“Fang is a vet, and yes, we both love the beasties.Hopefully, I’ll see you again!”she said as we walked to the elevator.“It was a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise, and yes, hopefully we’ll see you around the hotel.”
The rest of the day dragged without Corbin, who had been whisked away by a supersecret group of programmers whom he’d known since his college days, but at last we met after dinner, and I told him all about Emily.
“It’s a shame she can’t do the commute, but Ben would have my balls if I sent one of the units out of the country,” Corbin said when I finished.“He says no amount of NDAs would cover the risk we’d take until the system is further along.”
“Tell your lawyer your balls are mine,” I said, eyeing the room service menu.Although I’d had dinner with some of Corbin’s software buddies, he had been tied up with yet another potential foreign investor, and since he was infinitely more charming than me, I was happy to take a nap and a long soak in the tub before he finally rolled into the room.“Metaphorically speaking, of course.”
“Of course,” he replied.He pursed his lips as he watched me.
“You want something, too?I didn’t get much dinner because your buddies insisted on going to sushi, and you know how raw fish squicks me out.I’m thinking a nice, unhealthily rich and completely not-on-my-diet steak pie.”
“I’ve told you that there is not one single thing about you that I don’t equally love and lust after,” he said, clearly throwing grammar to the wind.
“And I’ve told you that sort of attitude would win you any woman in the world, but since I am not letting you go for anything, you may eat the mushy peas that comes with the steak pie.”
We had recently discovered that for some inexplicable reason, Corbin had a passion for British mushy peas.His eyes lit.“Will you let me eat them off of you?”
I lowered the menu again to assess the statement.“Possibly.I’d have to see what they felt like on my skin, first.You wouldn’t rather lick chocolate off me?”
He nodded toward the bed.“Do you really want to leave chocolate-colored smears on the bedding?”
“Oh, hell no.I would die of embarrassment if the hotel staff thought we were scatological sorts of people.But, that said, I don’t want green mushy pea stains on the sheets, either.”
Corbin heaved a big sigh, and peeled off his shirt in preparation to taking a fast shower.“All right, but don’t tell me later that I didn’t fulfill your every sexual fantasy just because you were afraid of a little mushy pea stain.No, I don’t want steak ...but I would take a burger.A big one.Dinner seems like it was days ago.”
“You are an odd man, but luckily, I like odd,” I called after him, placed our room service order, then sat back on the bed, and looked again at the confirmation message from the hotel.I really wanted Corbin to meet Emily, and although she would no doubt be very busy with her wedding and family, perhaps I could arrange for a brief meeting, one where he would see the same potential that I saw in her.
I wasn’t sure if there was a way we could manage having her employed without being asked to visit the office monthly, but I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that it would be a good thing to try to work out.
I smiled as I looked again at the hotel’s website pictures.Regardless of the situation with Emily’s employment, I very much looked forward to getting Corbin away from all the industry people.
We were going to honeymoon like it was 2005.
