Sleeping with the Boss (Anderson Brothers, #1)(43)

Will settled next to her and the door closed, making it much darker inside. Before they were even out of the driveway, he pulled her into his lap and kissed her, running his hands all over her body and bringing back awesome memories from last night and this morning. “Sorry we had so little time before we left.” He slid his hand inside her thigh, rubbing just hard enough to make her squirm. “I’ll make it up to you.”

She pulled back, wanting some answers before he got her too turned on to think straight. “Where are we going?”

“To paradise.”

She rolled her eyes. “God, that was cheesy.”

He grinned. “I wasn’t speaking metaphorically. Where we are going really is paradise. You’ll like it.”

“It was still cheesy,” she said,

Before long, Claire found herself hand in hand with Will, traipsing across a parking lot to a plane waiting next to a big metal garage-like structure. She’d only flown on commercial airlines, so the prospect of a private jet was unnerving. “Are you going to fly this?”

He squeezed her hand. “No. We have a pilot.”

Well, thank goodness. She hoped her concern didn’t show.

He shot her a sly smile. “We can work on your fear like we did with the boat thing.”

They reached the steps to the plane and he gestured for her to lead. Once inside, she sat in a plush leather seat that looked like a living room recliner with a table in front of it. A seat across the table faced hers and that’s where Will plopped down.

A man in a navy suit boarded and shook Will’s hand. After he introduced him to Claire as Dan Schlosser, the family pilot, the man went to the front of the plane and closed the door dividing the pilot’s area from the passenger space.

She searched her seat for the other part of her seat belt and snapped it shut.

“Do you need some positive association right now, or will you make takeoff?”

“I’m good.” A little nervous and excited, but good. When they left the limo, he’d told her to call those who would worry and tell them she was with him and would be back on Sunday night, late. She’d left a message for Heather. As she thought on it now, it struck her as pathetic. There was only one person in her life who would worry or even notice she was gone.

Will gave her a reassuring smile across the table.

Well, now there were two people.

“The flight is around three hours,” Will said. “Just long enough for lunch and…”

“A board meeting?”

“If it fits the agenda.”

She couldn’t imagine any physical contact with Will Anderson not fitting her agenda.





Chapter Fourteen


They landed several hours later, after they’d shared a lunch of turkey sandwiches, swapped childhood stories of their worst teacher experiences, and had a Claire Project board meeting that would have her begging to fly again soon.

“Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Anderson,” the pilot said. “Welcome to the Bahamas.”

“Thanks, Dan. We’ll be out in a moment.”

The pilot disappeared out the small door into the brilliant light.

Claire sat bolt upright. She’d expected something down the Eastern Seaboard, not something tropical.

She met Will’s eyes and he gifted her a full-dimpled grin. “Surprise!”

She gasped and hopped out of her chair. She’d never been to a tropical beach. She made a failed attempt to finger-comb her hair and make herself presentable, but she was way beyond that.

He chuckled and rose to stand behind her. “But you don’t like surprises, right?” He pulled her back against him and slid his hands under the front of her shirt, making a yummy sound as he cupped her breasts. “Asking you to dinner that first day was the best decision ever.”

Taking Heather’s suggestion to work at Anderson Auctions was the best decision ever. He pushed tighter against her back and she squirmed. Thank you, Heather.

She’d anticipated going to a hotel when they got in the car, but instead, found herself at a harbor, then on a small motorboat alone with Will. They zipped through crystal-clear water, wind whipping through her hair and sea spray on her face, as he drove them who knew where. She felt no fear at all. Maybe it was because it was a small boat and didn’t have that ocean-liner disaster-movie feel, or maybe it was because of Will’s arm around her. And for the first time, Claire felt truly free. No one to take care of. No financial worries. No fears of the future. Hell, she didn’t even know where they were going. She was living right here, right now, and she loved it.

Will tied the boat off on a small pier jutting from the white sand into the water, then helped her out. She was pleased she made it without falling or something typically Claire. “Whoa, it’s beautiful!” she said as he joined her on the weathered wooden walkway over the water and across a perfectly white expanse of sand.

He winked. “Welcome to Anderson Island. Clothing optional.”

Her jaw must have dropped or her eyes bugged out of her head or something because he chuckled. “There is usually a caretaker, but I called her and gave her the weekend off to hang with her family. She went to the store and stocked up the essentials and left plenty of food. There’s a satellite phone I use to reach her here, at the house.”

Which explained why he had left their phones in the limo. “This is your island?”