Champagne Romance (Romance Novel) by Suellen Smith Page B

Swan
noticed him, she began a shaky careful decent down the ladder. He
took two giant steps to hold it steady and to get a scent of her
perfume that had been driving him crazy for days. He could only
imagine her dabbing it behind her ears, over her breasts, and
between her thighs. As he was about to flash his dimpled grin, Bear
chose that unfortunate moment to stick his head in the partially
opened office door.
    “ Hey, Ace---Well, look here. You two
finally found each other.”
    The two people glanced across the room at
Bear before swiveling back to each other. Eyes locked. Swan’s face
had turned a pasty white. No denial from Mr. Slater was
forthcoming. Suddenly, the “splat” of a hand across Slater’s cheek
resonated against all four walls before it floated out the open
door on the balcony breeze. He knew he deserved the slap or there
would have been no way in hell that she would have gotten away with
that whack!
    “ You bastard!”
    “ Un oh,” Bear muttered as he removed
himself from the pandemonium that he had innocently created and
quietly slipped unnoticed out the door, which he had
come.
    The drama unfolding in the small office space
was rapidly growing out of control. Slater never liked out of
control situations. He yanked Swan against his chest, which he had
been itching to do ever since she had walked into the Newport
restaurant. Now, he was delighted to have a good excuse to do so.
With arms and legs kicking and scratching, Slater quickly pinned
Swan on the floor of the office Persian rug, threw one leg over
hers, and held her two arms above her head. When the fury of a
scorned woman seemed to have subsided and only the heavy breathing
of spent anger could be heard, Slater raised his head. Two tears
were trickling down from the corner of each of Swan’s spiky
eyelashes.
    “ Oh, hell!” In one fluid scoop, he
picked Swan up and sat her on his lap on the office couch. She was
limp like a rag doll. He liked the other Swan better. He understood
anger, even hatred, but this quiet, not talking, not reacting
woman, was beyond his comprehension. Never one to lose a battle, he
began talking to her in soothing tones and rubbing her arms up and
down. “It’s all right, Babe,” he cooed.
    Something must have clicked as suddenly Swan
leaped off Slater’s lap in a flash and sprung for the door. He
reacted just as quickly and slammed his body against the heavy
frame, locking the door as he did so.
    Swan started backing up and pointing a finger
at him, “You stay away from me!”
    Slater had lost all reasoning by that time
and his brain was no longer on top of his head. Her cute little
butt wiggling on his lap had reminded him of how much he wanted her
again and he was not about to let this opportunity slip through his
fingers.
    As Swan continued to retreat, Slater began
stocking her with giant steps. When Swan’s buttock hit the wall
behind her, she began scooting sideways toward the balcony. There
was no way that Slater was going to let her get anywhere near the
four story open space in her frame of mind. He heaved his body
against her delicate frame with just enough pressure to detain her.
As he asserted himself closer, she began to realize what a sexual
state he was in and she would have none of him. She shoved and
pushed, but it was like a gnat trying to move a boulder. She
finally slumped against his shoulder in exhaustion. He gathered her
in his arms once more and lay down with her on the large couch. He
began to nuzzle her neck until he felt a slight response.
    This time Swan stiff-armed his shoulder to
create a space, pinned him with her flashing aqua blue eyes, and
asked the unanswered question that stood between them,
    “ Why?”
    Slater weighed his answer as he sensed that
the words he used might be the most important words of his life if
he wanted any kind of relationship with this woman. He decided to
shoot straight and give her an honest answer; “I was angry and hurt
when you walked out of my