His Secretary: BBW Romance (Her Second Chance Book 2) Read online

  "Good, then you won't mind if I do this." He splashed her.

  She gasped, and then splashed him back, laughing as she did so. Soon they were laughing like a couple of kids. He found it refreshing that she didn't care that her hair was wet and her make soon smudged. Having fun was more important to her. If only she knew how sexy that made her to him.

  "Can we swim?" she asked. "I can’t remember the last time I swam in the sea. We usually paddle in the shallows."

  "Of course, we shouldn't go too far out. All though if I have to save you, I’m really good at mouth to mouth."

  "I think I might agree with you there. I feel you’ve resuscitated me already." She dived into the water, and reappeared, swimming strongly, parallel to the beach.

  He joined her. They swam side by side, and then flipped over to float on their backs, while the gentle waves swept them in towards the shore. The sun was bright, and it was so quiet. Only the sound of the odd sea bird breaking the pristine silence. It was heaven. Normally he would be spending the day working until late. Then back to where ever he was staying for a rushed dinner, unless he had eaten at his desk.

  Reaching out, his fingers touched hers, and she turned her head and smiled at him. Then she pulled his hand down hard beneath the water. Having over balanced him, he flailed around in the water in shock. She screamed when he grabbed her and he tipped her over too. Laughing, they let sea take them to the shore. There they collapsed in laughter. Sitting in the shallow water with the small waves lapping over them.

  He pulled her close, and kissed her. Her nipples, hard from the cool water, pressing against his chest. He wanted nothing more than to carry her to the picnic rug and make love to her. Yet he hadn't brought any contraception with him. Wanting to take all temptation away. This time was for them to enjoy themselves without sex being involved.

  "Shall we eat?" he asked, wanting to diffuse the sexual tension growing between them.

  "Yes, please. The sea air really does make you work up an appetite."

  He held her hand and they walked together up to the rug. But his appetite was for something other than food. She was an addiction. If only they could spend a week or two, just the two of them, getting to know each other. He wanted to satisfy his craving for her. Maybe that would be enough to flush her from his system, but he doubted it. As scary as it was to him, he had to admit that this was for real. He only hoped that she would be willing to give up her promised job at the bank for him.

  Otherwise, he might have to sacrifice his loyalty to his uncle. Perhaps let someone else take over the bank. He would give up his nomadic life and buy a house in London.

  His business might suffer for a while until he restructured it, but it would be worth it. Because he was coming around to the idea, that life without her wouldn't be much of a life at all. He couldn't go back to being a lonely soul. He needed love. Now he had experienced it for real, he craved it almost as much as he craved her body.

  Chapter Seven - Helen

  "Can I ask you where you see our relationship going?" Helen asked. They had been lying down relaxing. He had poured her a glass of wine, and she felt a little bit braver because of it.

  "A blunt question." He looked out to see for a moment before asking, "Do you think I'm just going to lead you on?"

  "No. Not at all. But we both know this relationship is never going to be normal."

  "I don’t know what normal is. So I have nothing to compare it with. You, on the other hand, have already done things the right way. Marriage and family. So you must be the expert."

  She laughed, taking another sip of her cool wine. "And look where that got me. Perhaps we stand more of a chance because it's going to be so hard."

  "I don't know if it's going to be hard. Just different. Usually a couple get together with dreams of children and a house. A mortgage, maybe a holiday once a year. But we aren't like that. You have the kids and the house. I have no mortgage and can vacation whenever I want."

  "Great." She laughed. "So I have all the normal stuff, and you have it easy."

  "Well, I could make it easy for you. Just ask and I'll pay off your mortgage and you could be a kept woman."

  She felt shocked. “A kept woman? You mean your mistress?"

  "Why not? That way you could be at my beck and call. When your children are at school, you could come to my office. I could lock the door, bend you over the desk and ..." His hand slid along her leg towards her thigh.

  "You are incorrigible." He knew exactly how to arouse her, his fingers igniting a fire in her body. Burning only for him and his touch.

  "I'm serious," he insisted.

  "You know, I think you are giving me a good education at reading people. Because when you talk like that I can tell you aren't being serious."

  "How?"

  "I'm not telling. Because you'll change and then I'll be lost."

  "I'm already lost, Helen."

  She leaned forward and stroked his cheek, and then kissed him tenderly on the lips. "That time you were serious."

  "Oh, you are getting good." He kissed her back. "I want you to be able to read me, Helen. I don't have anything to hide. Not from you. I would bare my soul to you if it would make you realise how much I want this. You've given me something to live for. A thing I'd never truly realised I was missing before I met you."

  She stroked his face, looking into his eyes, seeing the truth there. It made her heart lurch to know how much of a reaction she had ignited. Did he know that he had given her so much too?

  Until this week, she had seen no light in her future. Only years of slogging away at a dead end job, raising her girls in near poverty. The job no longer mattered. If she didn't work at the bank, she now had the confidence to go on and get a job elsewhere. Beyond the job, he had shown her she was capable of being loved. It had never dawned on her before, how much her confidence had walked out of the door with her husband.

  "It would be so much easier if we were two different people. I only hope our commitments don't drive a wedge between us."

  "Would you change your life, Helen? You love your children so much; you have sacrificed such a lot for them."

  "I suppose I wish I could split myself in two. Is it wrong to want to be happy?"

  "No, it's not wrong. But you are who you are, whole and complete. And that is who I love. Don't worry. We can make it."

  "I'm scared. That's all. Part of me wonders if it would be better to walk away from what we have. Instead of over complicating everything so much more. Get out now before either of us gets hurt. Or Jess and Laura get hurt. I don’t know if I'm strong enough to go through being let down again."

  "Hey, don’t think like that. Let's give it a chance. And if it's any consolation, I would not say that unless I thought we had a chance. I would be the first person to put a relationship last if I thought there was no hope of it working out. But I want to put us first. I realise you won't be able to do the same. I accept that. Make no mistake; I'm going into this with my eyes wide open. But my heart is open too. For the first time I feel I'm ready for this."

  She lay her head on his chest and listened to the constant beat of his heart. "I feel like such a coward to think about taking the easy way out."

  "Don't. And the offer still stands. Not because I want you at my beck and call. But if at any time you need my money, then it's yours. I wouldn't want anything in return, no pressure, no promises. You've already changed me Helen. If I can ease your stress in any way. I will. Even if that eventually means me walking away."

  "How is a woman supposed to turn that down?" she asked, snuggling closer to him.

  "There are many women who would throw it back in my face."

  "Really?"

  "Yes. Of course. It's hard to accept that a man like me doesn't have ulterior motives."

  "Don’t you?"

  "No."

  "None?"

  "No."

  "I think you do. Even if it's only because you think by helping me you can ease your guilt abo
ut your mom. Your life would have been so different if she'd accept help."

  "Easier, but different. I wouldn't be the man I am today. That means we wouldn't have met. So all the bad things that brought me to this point have been worth it. Every single one."

  "I can go with that. It makes it feel better."

  He looked at his watch and groaned. "Sorry."

  "It's time?"

  "Yes. I'll take you back to the hotel. You can shower and change. Be ready for three, and we'll go to the airport. Sorry it's such a rush."

  "It's me who needs to get back for bedtime." She sat up, a tear in her eye. "I've missed them so much. Do you have any idea how it feels to be torn in two?"

  "Yes. That's why I won't pressure you, Helen. You set the pace. They are your children, you'll know if they're coping or not. We have all the time in the world. Things won't always be like this, they'll grow up, and eventually get used to me."

  "What if we have a child?"

  "I haven't thought that far ahead." But he averted his eyes, and she knew he was lying.

  "I only hope none of this changes how I feel about them."

  "It won't. You love them, and you have their best interests at heart."

  "You see more good in me than I see in myself."

  "We are always more critical of ourselves, believe me. You have no idea how many times I look at myself and wonder how the hell I've done so well professionally."

  "Well that's burst my bubble. What you're saying is that you're just an ordinary guy?"

  "Yes."

  She dug him in the ribs. "I didn't know you were delusional. There is nothing ordinary about you. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?"

  "Superficial."

  "Superficial or not, that waitress this morning was practically drooling over you."

  "What can I say? It happens,” he said modestly, but his eyes twinkled with humour.

  "I bet it does,” she agreed, nodding.

  "You have no idea how many broken hearts there will be when word gets out on the social circuit that I'm spoken for."

  "Oh. They'll all look at me and wonder what I've done to catch you. I expect most people will think I'm already pregnant or something."

  "They'll see the way I look at you and know it's because I'm in love with you."

  She buried her face in her hands. "Perhaps being your secret mistress is a much better idea."

  "Not a chance. In fact, you had better get used to mixing with the rich and famous. And royalty. There are a few Arabian kings that owe me favours."

  "It gets worse.” She groaned. “I can't do that. What would I have to say to a king or queen?"

  "You still don't get it do you? We're all just people underneath. They have the same worries as you. Kids, money, houses. It might be on a different scale, but we all have the same insecurities."

  "I never thought a man like you would be insecure. To the outside world, you have everything. Money, good looks and a successful career. You don't depend on anyone for anything."

  "That's precisely what I'm lacking. If I don't have to depend on anyone, then I don't have anyone important in my life. No one that means so much to me I couldn't live without them. It's not always about depending on people for material things. I need to open up, to allow myself to depend on people. Well one person anyway, for love. That one person is you, Helen. I want to know I can depend on you, and for you to know that I am there for you whatever problems you may have."

  "I've learned to be independent. That's going to be hard for me to give up."

  "Me too, Helen."

  Chapter Eight - Oliver

  What was supposed to be a romantic interlude had turned into a deep conversation about their future. A future that was so uncertain and tentative in its conception. They should still be in the laughter and flowers part. However, they had skipped that to some extent.

  Their lives were complicated. Neither of them were naive enough to gloss over the obstacles that lay before them. If they could deal with them from the outset, they could form a deep understanding of each other. Then they could overcome all fears and obstacles.

  "I'll get this back onto the boat." He stood up and put everything back into the picnic basket while Helen dressed.

  "Oh, I think I'll need to put some more sunscreen on before we go back on the boat. I can already feel my skin prickling with the heat."

  "Here, allow me."

  "I don’t know. You're already running late. Do you trust yourself not to get side tracked?"

  "I have a will of iron." He took the sunscreen from her and squirted some onto the palm of his hand. Spreading it over her skin was more sensual than he had expected. Rubbing it on her back, he felt her spine, one vertebra at a time. She shuddered as his fingertips massaged the cream into her skin. He couldn't resist bending forward and kissing the nape of her neck.

  "How's your iron will doing now?" she asked.

  "Softening."

  She pressed her body back against his. "It's the only thing that's softening." She placed her hand over his cock. Although he had put his shorts back on, he was visibly hard.

  His lips traced the line of her shoulder. His fingers trailing sun screen in their wake. "You know there's a bed on the plane?"

  Her hand stopped moving against his hardness. "A bed. You don't expect to..."

  "Why not? I've always wondered what it would be like to make love in it."

  "You haven't already?"

  "Nope. It never came up before. Literally." He reached around her and his hand cupped her breast. Squeezing the soft flesh, he rubbed his fingers over her hard nipple.

  "I couldn't."

  "Oh, yes you could." He slid his hand lower, his fingers strumming her clit.

  She gasped and tried to pull away. "Someone might see."

  "There's no one here. Unfortunately, I don't have time to indulge myself in your body right now. But we have a two hour flight. Surely a little adult fun would help the time pass by?"

  "But your air stewardess."

  "Marion? She's not invited."

  "But she'll know?"

  "Only if I make you scream."

  "Oliver. She'll know what we're doing."

  "She'll think we want some privacy. Anyway, she's paid enough to be discreet. There are plenty of phone calls she's overheard that are juicier than me fucking a woman on my plane."

  He was incredibly hard now at the thought of fucking her. On his plane. She might not believe him but he had never done that before. He felt like a little kid about to try something new. It was a long time since he'd had that sensation.

  However, right now, he had to get them back on the boat, and then back to the hotel. He needed to see his uncle before they left. He needed to ask him a couple of things. One was whether he was completely sure he wanted Oliver to take over the helm of the bank. He had a feeling the old man was going to regret this decision.

  The last thing Oliver wanted to do was make long term plans only to have them taken from under him. This was the most in flux his life had been since he had taken his first steps into business. He had known what he would be doing in six months’ time, down to the very minute. Then he had dropped everything for his uncle. Now it felt as though his life was fluttering about in the wind.

  If his uncle decided to retire, Oliver would have to restructure his own business. A business he had built himself. In a short space of time, he was learning how to sacrifice his own ambitions for other people.

  She broke away from him, and his mind came back to the present. "I think we need to get back. You should have a cold shower."

  "Don't think you're getting away from me that easily."

  "I am not having sex on a plane. No matter how tempting the thought is."

  "Ahh. So you are tempted?"

  "There are a lot of things I'm tempted by. But that doesn't mean I'm going to do them." She stood up, and brushed the sand off her dress. Then she picked up the rug, and tucked it under her arm.

  "
The thing is you have a couple of hours to miss me. To think of all the things I could do to you on the plane." He leaned forward and whispered in her ear.

  She looked at him, and laughed, shocked at his words. "No. And there is nothing you can say to change my mind."

  "I won't have to say anything. That idea will sit in your head, and make you so turned on that you'll be the one dragging me to the bedroom."

  "You are delusional. Either that or you have had too much sun."

  He helped her onto the boat. "I know what I'm talking about. You won't be able to resist me."

  "Is that a challenge?" she asked as he started the engine.

  "No. It's a fact." He pushed the boat forward, and they made their way back to the hotel. He hoped it was a fact anyway. He didn't think anything else would be enough to relieve him of his erection. Other than being inside her. And he knew that the plane was the last time they would have proper privacy for some time.

  Chapter Nine - Helen

  She cursed him several times for putting those thoughts in her head. He had been right. They had swelled inside her brain all the time he was at the hospital visiting his uncle. Right now, they were standing in the airport about to board his jet. Those thoughts were itching to burst from her and become reality.

  Only one thing held her back. It was no longer the thought of his flight crew knowing what they were doing. It was his change in attitude. After his return from the hospital, he had become more withdrawn. Preoccupied with business rather than pleasure. She had the distinct impression that their little vacation was over. He had switched back to business mode. Her fears were that their relationship had all been a dream. Not a thing he was willing to make real in his world.

  "Thank you," she said as they climbed the steps into the plane.

  Marion smiled. "You're welcome."

  Oliver went ahead and seated himself, putting his briefcase down on the table in front of him. "A drink, please."

  "Certainly. You're usually sir?"

  "Yes please."

  "Miss?"

  "Oh, the same," Helen replied, feeling like a nuisance. She was back to realising she didn't fit in. Her eyes flitted to Oliver, who was staring out of the window. She crossed her legs nervously, and fiddled with her fingers. Noticing, she placed them together in her lap. Next time she looked up, he was smiling.