Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(95)

“You like it hotter than I do, so why don’t you deal with the water,” Sean said as he ran his fingers over her br**sts. He bent and touched his lips to hers. His kiss was slow and sweet, completely the opposite of earlier.

“I’ll get us drinks,” he said after he broke contact.

Krista ran the water and climbed in as the tub was filling. There were jets, which meant relaxation was inevitable. She wouldn’t have thought that was possible this weekend, but she was willing to give it a try.

Sean came back. He had a scotch for himself and what looked like a Cosmo for her—he’d always been a better bartender. He put the drinks next to the tub and surveyed the scene.

“Krista, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”

She expected to see his manhood swell and his eyes get lusty, but instead he seemed calm, serene almost.

“Get in. You look cold.”

Sean smiled that secret smile of his that let her know the wheels were turning and he was already way ahead of her. He only smiled like that when it concerned her, though. She wondered what he was thinking.

“Lean forward, hog,” Sean said with a laugh in his voice.

She leaned forward for him to climb in behind her. “Call me beautiful one second, then a pig the next.”

Sean tucked his long legs around her and pulled her back against him.

“Just call it like I see it.” He sighed and slipped his arms around her waist in the hot water.

“Want to turn on the jets?” Krista asked.

“Sure, where is the switch?”

“No, I meant do you want jets? I can switch it on—the buttons are by our feet.”

“Sure.”

After Krista hit every wrong button, she finally got the jets up and running. She leaned back against Sean’s body. His arms immediately snaked around her, holding her tight.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“So how did the weekend go for you?” Krista asked.

“Great, actually. Except, now I am in the hole financially. I even have to pay out the admin people $500. Thanks for that.”

“It got us a ‘W’ didn’t it?”

“Hmmm.”

“Speaking of admin people, Marcus was saying that he thought you hired Janice because she was older and no one would think you were doing her. You know, before this weekend, that is.”

There was a deep rumble of laughter in Sean’s chest. “Did he?”

Krista waited for a real answer, and got none. She glanced behind her and saw that Sean’s head was leaning back against the tub with his eyes closed and a small smile on his lips.

Krista leaned back against his shoulder as she asked, “Did you?”

“Honesty?”

“Always.”

“Always, huh? Hmmm.”

That sounded ominous. She let it go.

“I did want to hire someone that would dispel any rumors. I knew everyone would wonder. Even if you didn’t, everyone else would be talking about it. You are only oblivious for so long. And I didn’t want to muddy the waters with you. That was before I realized getting you back would be a lot harder than I anticipated. How’s that for honesty?”

Krista kept quiet. Deep down, the waters were still muddy as far as she was concerned. It wasn’t him sleeping with others that bothered her the most. It was that he could let her go if it suited him, and keep her away for years to meet his ends. Hiring an assistant that was not young and hot was a far cry to mending the bridge over their problems.

Sean’s chest inflated, then deflated in a classic McAdams’s sigh. “But Janice is the best. I interviewed quite a few applicants of all creeds. Female, male, hot, ugly, tall, short, fat, anorexic, you name it. Had them all do tests and all that. Janice was a legend. She was also expensive.

“You’ll notice that all the other regions have two assistants. One is generally older, the other younger and good looking. Marcus was telling me that in the administrative competitions, the older ones were all competing against each other in skill, the younger in physical stuff and attention. Janice was the best, of course.”

“Of course,” Krista said with candor.

“But Marcus wasn’t the worst. I guess he was actually tied for second worst. That’s saying something when he hasn’t done anything administrative in his life. Anyway, I cut out one hire and spent half that money to get someone better. I still came out ahead and Janice isn’t overloaded. Not even close.”

“She’s not great with computers.”

“She’s not as good as you or me, no. But she is pretty good. Far from a hindrance.”

“So she’s paid the best in the regions. Am I paid the worst?”

Krista was springing it on him, it was true. She wasn’t giving him a chance to frame the answer to play nice.

“Of the managers, yes. But if it makes you feel better, you are the newest, and you started higher then Blake did.”

“That does make me feel better. I heard you scared Blake something awful.”

“Marcus has a big mouth. I didn’t really scare him. I kindly asked him to keep a more professional decorum where it concerned you. Tory put him on probation for sexual harassment…”

Krista’s eyes got wide. She had no idea. No one had told her Tory had her back. It was nice to hear.