To Love and To Lust

Chapter 2

Amelia

"Dad, you have a meeting in five minutes in conference room one," I announce over the phone as soon as he picks up the receiver.

"Thanks, honey. Ms. Brown," he corrects himself and chuckles, clearly making fun of me.

"Whatever," I mumble low enough that he won't hear, then hang up the phone.

As soon as my father passes by my desk with a wink in my direction, I enter his office and start rummaging around for anything that will clue me in on what he is up to.

After not finding anything, I plop myself in his chair and blow out a dejected sigh. I'm sure he's up to something he doesn't want me to know, or he wouldn't have rejected my offer to pack for him. As a matter of fact, it's a routine, a ritual if you must.

I only realize that it's twelve-thirty in the afternoon after a brief glimpse at my watch, . My father will be famished when he gets out of his meeting and I am the one responsible for making sure he eats, or he won't eat at all. I might call myself a workaholic, but I'm nothing compared to him.

Walking to the front desk to see if Lily is available for a short lunch break, I stop right in my tracks as I see Martin entering the building.

Who is Martin?

He's a sexy hunk of a man, who is also my father's best friend that I've been lusting for since I was a teenager.

Every time I see Martin, I swear my panties dampen and my ovaries sing, and, the fortunate or unfortunate thing is, he doesn't have to say or do anything to get me turned on. As soon as my hormones sense that he is in close range, they go raging.

Martin, though, has no idea how I feel about him and I'd like to keep it that way. If I were to ever express my feelings to him, my father would exile me to the farthest part of the universe.

I can't have my father mad at me for having a crush on Martin because he would surely kill Martin too, even if I was the one that pursued him. I wouldn't knkow how to anyway, because I'm as inexperienced as they come.

Being a twenty-two-year-old virgin isn't ideal at times, especially because my best friend loves talking about s*x and half the time I'm clueless, but I just haven't found a man that I think is worthy enough to deflower me. Not that I've been searching.

When I was in college, I'd come close a few times, really close, but right at the last minute, I changed my mind. I'm happy they respected my decision and backed off. I would happily give myself to Martin though. I sigh.

Back to the present... I dodge Martin as quickly as I can and speed-walk toward the front desk. Lily's face is scrunched up as soon as she notices what I'm doing.

Lily's the only one who knows about my crush on Martin and she thinks it's ridiculous that I don't tell him how I feel. For some reason, she is more excited for me to talk to him than I am.

But how can I tell him? It would destroy my father and sever the friendship that they'd had since their college days. That is the last thing I want. My shoulders slump at the thought.

"Hey... You up for lunch?" I ask Lily as soon as I'm standing in front of her.

"Hiding again, I see," she teases, barely able to keep her laughter in. I roll my eyes in response.

"Go ahead. Laugh at my expense," I tell her.

"I'm up for lunch," she tries to be serious but fails and starts laughing again.

"Since I'm a joke to you, you'll be paying," I tell her, since it's my turn to pick up the tab, then walk away, resulting in her putting up the sign that says 'out for lunch' and running to catch up with me.

"Hey, wait," she calls but I just ignore her, trying not to laugh while I speed up. It's a good thing I can rock any inch of heels.

After doing it for a minute or so, I can't contain my laughter anymore, so I stop and turn around, almost doubling over seeing how out of breath she is.

"You should have seen your face," I say through laughter, barely able to get the words out.

"Now you're making fun of me? Maybe I should tell Martin that you're purposely hiding from him because the sight of him make your panties wet," she says resulting in the laughter dying down in less than a second.

"That's not funny," I tell her, eyes narrowed.

"It is," Lily says, chuckling, "You like Martin..."

"Shh!"I place a hand over her mouth as I shush her. My best friend, instead of shutting up, licks my hand.

"Eeew!"

"That's what you get for touching my mouth," Lily says.

"You're a nasty b*tch," I scrunch up my face.

"You love this nasty b*tch," she counters.

"Damn right, I do."

We hug each other sideways as we walk into the restaurant and order our lunches to go.

I order a tossed salad and a fruit punch juice for my father, while I order a pasta salad and an orange juice for myself. Lily, though, orders fried rice and sweet and sour chicken, and a bottle of water. I pay the cashier, then we walk back to Brown and Company.

While Lily goes to the lunch room where she always eats, I go to my father's office, where I know he'll be after the meeting and where he forces me to eat with him daily.

It's not 'force' per se, since I was the one who came up with the idea to see to it that he eats healthy, but he looks forward to it every day and I love spending time with my father.

Since Mom left without a trace, he has been there for me in every way and I love and adore him for it.

When I arrive at his door, I knock once, then enter.

"Dad, I hope you're famished for greens..." I start to say but pause because of the domineering man sitting in the chair in front of my father's desk..

"Amelia," he says, his deep baritone sounding like a melody I'd listen to all day everyday.

"Mr. Hill," I say, trying to compose myself before he notices my flushed cheeks.

"I've told you plenty of times, it's just Martin," he says.

"OK, just Martin," I joke to hide my nervousness, "I didn't know you'd be here, or I'd order more food."

Honestly, I thought he'd be gone by the time I was back.

"That's fine. I won't be here long anyway. I just have to speak to David about something,” he says.

“OK. I’ll just leave you to it then,” I say, ready to bolt out of the office before he catches onto the pheromones emanating from my pores.

“Actually, Amelia,” he calls my name in that same deep tone. The one that has me throbbing in my underwear,” I think he wants to see us both.”

“What? He didn’t mention anything to me,” I say going back toward Martin, my arms akimbo, “ I hope it’s nothing too serious to make me want to kill him.”

“I hope not,” Martin says in amusement..

I sit down and wait, fidgeting uncomfortably.

A short moment later my father walks through the door. I’m on my feet immediately because of I need to know why my dad would need to see us both I wonder what it could be.

“Martin,” he greets. “It’s good to see you, my friend.”

I take a seat again as they greet each other, giving manly hugs and all.

"You too, David," Martin replies.

"I wanted to ask you for a favor," Dad says, nervously looking at me.

"Anything, man," Martin says.

"I have to go on a business trip tonight. Can you keep an eye on Amelia while I'm gone?" Dad says, blind-siding me.

"Dad, you do understand that I'm a grown-a*s woman, right? I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself." I fold my arms to emphasize how upset I am.

"She's right, David. Amelia is a responsible young woman. She doesn't need me babysitting her," Martin says, looking at me briefly, then quickly averting his eyes when I catch him.

I didn't miss the way his eyes roamed over my bre*sts as he said the word 'woman'. But, I must be seeing things because he wouldn't be interested in me, right?

I've seen the women he's dated. They're all model-like.

I, on the other hand, have a curvier body than most, though that doesn't stop men from ogling me. Sometimes I feel good about myself and other times I feel self-conscious.

I often hear the phrase 'Your body is beautiful, but I can't help but think they're only saying it because they want to get into my panties.

"I don't want you to babysit her, but you can check in from time to time," Dad says, breaking my reverie, "That's all I'm asking."

"Dad, how long is this trip?" I ask curiously.

"A week," he replies, avoiding my eyes again.

"When you get back, we need to have ‘a talk’ because I think you're hiding something from me," I tell him, letting him know I'm on to him.

"Honey, when I get back, we'll have a lot to talk about," he muttered. I don't think I was supposed to hear that, but I did.

There's a lot I want to say, but since Martin is here, I'll hold my tongue for another time. I narrow my eyes as I hand him his lunch, take mine, and turn to leave.

"See you around, Amelia," Martin says, causing me to pause briefly before I go through the door.

"Yeah, Martin, see you around," I reply, then run like my shoes are on fire.

Damn him! Damn, that sexy man!

One thing is clear though, I need to stay the hell away from Martin or I'm going to get us into trouble. But if trouble means him inside my bed, then I welcome it!