Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(46)
“This is only a small part of the appeal of Charleston; I look forward to showing you the city before we leave. Perhaps tonight, if you feel up to it, we will take a stroll on the waterfront before we go to the hotel.”
“Oh yes, please, I would love that.” Claire asked Jason for suggestions on the menu and was relieved when he offered to order a local favorite for them.
When the waiter returned, Jason selected the she-crab soup for an appetizer and the Lobster Newburg with fresh vegetables and wild rice as the main course. It sounded mouthwatering, and Claire was embarrassed to hear her stomach growl in appreciation. Jason apparently heard it as well. He looked at the waiter and said, “Could you please bring a basket of bread with our soup? My lady is hungry.”
Claire playfully stuck her tongue out at him as the waiter left the table. “Don’t give me ideas Claire, I find I can think of many things I would like to do with that tongue of yours.” The desire in his gaze was unmistakable.
Claire leaned forward and bravely said, “I hope you will show me some of them later.”
“If you look at me like that much longer, I’ll show you right now on this table, and I don’t really fancy getting arrested tonight so we’d better behave ourselves for now.”
They chatted quietly about the upcoming merger and also about their plans for the week. When the main course arrived Claire was delighted to see the delicate puffed pastry filled with a cream sauce and slices of lobster. “This looks fabulous; I’ve never tried this before.”
“It’s one of my favorites, especially when it’s a specialty of the house as it is here,” said Jason.
After the main course, Claire finally pushed her plate back, surprised to find it was almost empty. The food, the wine and the company was a combination that was hard to resist. Claire felt Jason’s hand on her leg as he asked if she would like dessert and coffee. “No, I couldn’t possibly eat another bite. I would like to walk for a bit though, if it’s ok with you.” In minutes Jason had paid the check, and they were walking hand and hand on the waterfront.
“This is like one of those perfect moments in time that you read about," said Claire.
“Yes, indeed it is,” replied Jason as he stopped and pulled her into his embrace. His thumb stroked over the bottom of her lip and Claire reached her tongue out and teasingly touched it.
Jason's breath seemed to catch in his chest, and suddenly he was crushing her in his embrace. Gone was the gentleness of a few moments ago. Now it was if a fire raged inside of him that had gotten out of control. His lips took possession of hers, his tongue staking a claim to every recess of her mouth, touching, seeking, devouring. Jason jerked his head back taking several deep breaths as he pulled his hand through his hair.
“If we don’t stop now, I’m going to have you against that seawall in about thirty seconds. Let’s walk back and get the car, I think it’s past time to find our room.” Claire almost laughed as Jason rushed them both to the car at top speed.
~~~
The drive to the hotel was done in similar fashion. They were checked in quickly and were soon in the room. Jason had his arms around her, and they were pressed against the wall before the door clicked shut. “You don’t know how bad I’ve wanted to do this; I didn’t think dinner would ever end,” groaned Jason.
He picked her up and was walking towards the bed when a knock sounded at the door. He halted in his tracks, “Damn, this had better be good.” Reluctantly sitting her back on her feet, Jason took a moment to straighten his clothing and yanked the door open.
The valet took a quick look at Jason’s hard stare and quickly handed him a message. “I’m sorry sir; this should have been given to you when you checked in.” With a curt nod of thanks, Jason shut the door and opened the note.
Jason grabbed his cell phone, quickly checking something and looked at Claire. “I’m sorry, there’s a problem at a customer site with one of our components and they’re threatening to cancel their entire order.”
“Is it Lynwood?” asked Claire. Lynwood was a new customer who Danvers had recently acquired and their first purchase was in the millions of dollars.
“Yeah, that’s the one; I don’t know how this has been screwed up, but they’re livid. I need to see what the problem is and try to smooth it over.”
“What can I do to help?” asked Claire. Jason had already walked over to the desk in the room and was punching in numbers on his phone.
“Let me see what’s going on, and we will go from there.”
Chapter Nineteen
Claire walked over to a chair in the seating area. She was far enough away to give Jason some privacy but close enough to offer assistance if needed. After several phone calls, Jason seemed to reach the person in charge at Lynwood. He put his hand over the phone and asked, “Claire, could you possibly look in my briefcase over next to our luggage and see if you can locate the files on Lynwood?” Claire walked towards the bedroom and located Jason’s briefcase. Claire put it on the edge of the bed and pulled out a stack of folders looking for anything on Lynwood.
She pulled out two folders and continued to thumb through the remainder when a name caught her eye. Confused, Claire wondered why Jason would have a file on her in his briefcase. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Claire opened the folder and stared at the contents in shock, unable to grasp what she was seeing. She thumbed through copies of her loan application from Danvers as well as a copy of the check issued to her.