he’d ever done.
How long had he told the Nortons? Two hours? It wasn’t going to be enough. It’d never be enough time, not when he was tucked into bed with Sofia, his body straining for hers. And the hell of it was, he might just keep right on straining. Just because they were half-naked and wrapped around each other didn’t mean that Sofia wanted anything else from him. She’d asked him to hold her and by God, that was what he was going to do.
Luckily, his watch was on the hand he could look at without disturbing her. Right before the bellhop had shown up with their luggage, he’d sent a quick message to the mayor’s executive assistant, stating the weather had delayed them and he would be in touch when they were able to make it. But he figured that meant he and Sofia only had an hour at most. Then they needed to get up and get changed and go back to being Mr. Jenner and Ms. Bingham, boss and office manager. And they had to stay that way until...
He mentally ran through the schedule. They had meetings with the mayor and the city planner this afternoon. This evening was a formal dinner with several members of the state government, including the lieutenant governor. Tomorrow was more meetings and site visits with negotiations. He needed Meryl to be his bulldog, Steve to convince everyone what they wanted was doable, and Sofia to be his eyes and ears. After all, this was a huge deal. St. Louis was ripe for the picking and if Eric played his cards right, he would be richer than his wildest dreams.
It was damned hard to care about that right now. He was already rich beyond his wildest dreams and following that carefully planned schedule meant he’d have to leave this room. He’d have to put distance between himself and Sofia and spend the afternoon and the next several days without holding her hand. Without touching her at all. He didn’t know how he was supposed to do that.
If Meryl and Steve weren’t here, Eric would claim the flu and cancel the whole weekend. But people depended on him. All of his employees, not to mention all of the locals he would hire for construction. He’d be sinking a lot of money into this project and it would do a lot of good. He couldn’t blow that off for something as selfish as a weekend in Sofia’s arms.
Besides, he was violating his own code of not getting involved with his employees. True, it was hard to remember that when he was with Sofia. But she did work for him. Technically, right now, they were on the clock. And mostly naked in bed together.
His last thought before he drifted off was that maybe he shouldn’t have hired her.
* * *
Eric floated in the space between awake and asleep. He couldn’t wait to get Eddy and Addy out on his boat. They might need to bring along a nanny to watch the kids. He wanted the kids to have fun, but he wanted Sofia to have a good time, too—and it might be hard to do that if she were constantly chasing after the twins. Because if the kids liked it and Sofia had a good time, then she’d come out boating with him again. And he wanted that.
How good would Sofia look on his boat, stretched out on a lounge chair, her body clad in a bikini, the sun kissing her skin like he wanted to? Instead of kissing her, he pulled her down into the cabin and stretched her out on the bed. She sighed as he put his hands on her body and the noise went straight through him. Her legs were long and shapely and he stroked his palm from her knees to her thigh and her hip and back down again. And again, and again. He couldn’t get enough of her. Maybe he never would.
As he massaged her skin, she turned into him, her body almost on top of him. Now he could reach her backside. She had a woman’s curves and all he could think was lush. Hopefully, when they woke up, he’d have a chance to do this in real life. He wanted his hands all over—not just stroking, but grabbing and feeling and knowing her, all of her.
His dream Sofia stretched against him and Eric half lifted, half rolled her onto his chest. Now he could grab her backside with both hands, filling his palms with her flesh. His fingertips grazed the lace edge of the barely there panties and he shifted her body so the hard length of his arousal was pressed against her very center.
His dream Sofia gasped, a noise that cut right through Eric’s daze. He blinked and then blinked again. The bedroom cabin of his ship resolved into a familiar hotel room—but Sofia was still on top of him.
Holy crap, this wasn’t a dream. Sofia was straddling him, staring down at him through heavy-lidded eyes. She pushed her hands through her hair and arched her back, driving her weight down onto his erection. Stunned, Eric was helpless to do anything but grind against her. She gasped again.
God, she felt so good, so damned right on top of him. He was afraid to say something, afraid to break the spell that would wake them both up from this dream. So he kept his mouth shut as he gripped her bottom in his hands and dragged her up along his erection again.
She moaned softly, so quietly he almost didn’t hear it. She kept that little noise of satisfaction deep in her throat and he wanted to let it out. He wanted to swallow it and take it inside of himself and let it rattle around until it drove him past all reason.
She shifted and he shifted with her, pressing against her center again and again. Her back arched, thrusting her breasts out. He grabbed the hem of her camisole and yanked it over her head.
And his head fell back against the pillows as he stared at her body. Lush was still the only word he could think of. Soft and curved and wearing a sheer lace bra. He could see the wide dark circles of her nipples.
There was too much and not enough and it completely short-circuited his brain. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t think. All he could do was stare at her. Worship her.
He worshipped just a moment too long. Sofia dropped her gaze as she put one arm across her breasts, the other across her rounded stomach. “I know, I know. Having the twins changed me and I’m not—”
Eric didn’t know what she was going to say, not exactly—but he knew he disagreed with it completely because she was perfect. He sat up and cut her off with a hard kiss. Sofia made a little squeaking noise, but then her arms came around his neck and she held on to him for balance as he slid his hands up and down her back. Then he began to work the catch of her bra, kissing her the entire time. She sank her fingers into his hair and refused to let go. He liked that she was a little aggressive and very sure of herself. The kiss in the car this morning had been a promise of things to come but this? This was a promise delivered.
The catch on her bra gave and he peeled the lace away. He didn’t want to break the kiss, but he couldn’t resist lowering his head to those beautiful breasts. They were full and heavy and he loved everything about them. Even the little white stretch marks along the sides—they were perfect because they were a part of Sofia. “Are these off-limits?” he asked as he kissed along the swells.
“No,” she said, throwing her head back and giving him better access. “I only nursed for a year.”
“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he murmured as he kissed the edge of her nipple and then swept his tongue over the tip. It went tight against his mouth and he couldn’t help the rumble of satisfaction that built low in his chest. He was already drunk on her. He had no intention of jumping on the wagon now.
“Oh my God, Eric,” she moaned, clutching his head to her breasts.
Her hips kept shifting back and forth, grinding down on his erection. With one hand steady on her backside, he slid his thumb down between her legs, over the silk of her panties until he found the center of her pleasure. She jolted as if he’d shocked her and he smiled against her skin before adding his teeth to her nipples.
“Oh, Eric,” she gasped,
