Sapphire (Steele Investigations) (19 page)

When he finishes his presentation he looks at us
expectantly.  “I love it.  I appreciate the fact that you’ve made the shelving
nice and wide to accommodate the shoes, and I also love the addition of the
glass feature display shelving which sits on angle there,” I say pointing to a
section of the plans, “I love the size of the changes rooms, they look
luxurious and I hope people will want to try on our clothes in them…actually
I’m sure they’ll want to try on our clothes in them, if only to experience a
roomy change room” I laugh. 

“I agree.  You’ve done a great job Graham.  Thank you.  How
long do you think it will take your team to complete the work,” Kami asks.

“Well, that’s actually why I requested a meet with you both
today.  I was hoping you both would be happy with the plans and I’d have the go
ahead to start this week.  If that’s the case, we should be finished by the
twenty fourth of this month.”
Wow. Holy shit!

“Really?” Kami asks, I can hear the hope in her voice so I
turn to look at her, giving her a huge as smile.  I turn my attention back to
Graham when he replies, “Yes, really.  I’ll have the team start first thing in
the morning.  That is if we get the go-ahead from you both”

“Absolutely. Get started.  We’re very excited, Graham.”  I
tell him. 

“Rae, we better tell Milan to get his butt movin’ if we’re
going to have a store in two weeks.  Eeeekk,” she makes an excited noise at the
end and I can’t help but laugh a little.  I’m glad she’s so excited. So am I
and if I wasn’t trying my hardest to appear slightly professional in front of
Graham then I would be doing a happy dance on the desk right about now! 
Instead, I decide to wrap things up with Graham, giving him the go ahead to get
started first thing tomorrow, and then make calls to Milan and the Logo and
Marketing company to get the ball rolling on their side.

“Graham, thank you so for your hard work with the plans, we
can’t wait to see the finished results.  You most definitely have permission to
begin straight away.  As for us, we have some phone calls to make, so if you’ll
excuse us..” 

“Of course, Lorraine.  Go ahead and get that ball rolling. 
I’m sure you both have a lot of work to do.  If we have any problems we’ll
contact either one of you, and if you have any concerns or questions please
don’t hesitate to contact me.  You still have my card?”

“Yes,” we both reply

“Looking forward to working with you both,” he smiles as
shakes our hands once again and walks to open the door for us.

We bounce out onto the sidewalk and hug each other, jumping
up and down, chanting ‘omigod omigod’ over and over.  Finally we pull back,
still smiling ear to ear and I say, “Can you believe it Kami.  Holy shit.  Two
weeks.
Two Weeks!!”

She screams a reply I can’t understand and then pulls me in
for a quick hug again, before releasing me and whipping out her mobile phone
for her pocket.  “You call Milan, I call Smart’s,” she orders.

I grab my cell phone from my clutch and dial Milan.

“Milan Interiors,” Milan answers the phone after the third
ring, sounding as professional as always.

“Hi Milan, It’s Lorraine Scott calling.”

“Rae, girl, how you doin’?  I was hoping to hear from you
soon.  Girl, I have got some fab-uh-lous ideas for your store.  It’s going to
look
freaking
ahhh-mahh-zing” 

His way with words makes my smile even bigger.

“Awesome, I’m glad you have some ideas because Kami and I
just got out of a meeting with Graham, our builder and he told us his team will
be finished by the twenty fourth of this month.”

I hear him gasp and then he screeches in my ear so loudly I
have to pull the phone back.  When I hear him talking, I put the phone back to
my ear and listen.  “That’s fantabulous, Girl.  Can you and Kami meet with me,
say, tomorrow lunch and we’ll go over my ideas. 
Two weeks!
Girl, my
sexy tush is going to be working hard for you.”

“Sure, we can meet tomorrow,” I say while giving Kami a look
to check, she nods, so I continue “How does one sound at The Club?”

“Sounds great Girl, see you then, later”

“Later,” I say as I end the call.

“Tammy and Lynette want to meet with us tomorrow morning at
ten to go over the final details with them.  They said they’ve pretty much got
everything sorted from our last meeting, it’s basically just to re-check
everything add anything or make changes before they send the design to the
printers and start the marketing.”

“Okay, ten at Smarts,” I say out loud as I’m typing the
details into my phone diary/organizer.  “And one for lunch with Milan at The
Club,” I say, again as I’m entering the information into my phone.

“Got it,” Kami tells me as she does the same in her phone.

“I can’t believe this is happening so fast, Kam.  It’s
unbelievable.  I can’t wait.”

“Are you busy now? Do you want to grab a bite and go over
the details for the Grand Opening?”

“Sure,” I reply.  I check my phone to see if Elliott has
tried to contact me.  Nothing.  I squash down the feeling of dread that starts
to swell in my stomach and tell myself everything will be fine, he’s just
working.  Having a chat with a criminal who is sleeping with his ex-girlfriend
and who’s criminal activities resulted in his current girlfriend being
kidnapped and bashed by two psycho’s is not going to send him to prison.  I’m
sure he will be calm and rational and when he’s done, he’ll come home to me. 
No blood will be shed and Elliott will be back to just being
My Elliott. 
The
Elliott who does not have ‘chats’ with my
ex-step-father-who-was-an-asshole-to-me and who does not do ‘surveillance’ on
said asshole.  He will just be my badass, hot as heck, boyfriend who I love and
who loves me. 
Yeah right!

Kami and I walk down the block to Starbucks and pick a table
near the window after ordering our coffee and muffins (blueberry for me,
zucchini and cheese for Kami – this was odd. She always had chocolate chocolate
chip.  I cocked my eyebrows in question but she just shook her head so I let it
go. 
I wonder what’s up with that.)
  We spend the next hour and a half
going over the guest list and planning of the Grand Opening.  Kami has spoken
with Will’s sister Eliana, who works for a local paper, and she said Eliana
offered to write a piece for the Newspaper.  I think it’s great marketing ploy
and tell her so.

“Do you expect anything less?” she scoffs.

“You’re as cocky as your brother,” I tell her as my nose
wrinkles.  She laughs and continues running through the guest list.

“Okay, with everyone on the list, it looks like it will be
about fifty people, give or take.”

“Right.  Well I guess we should ring around and find a
catering company to serve canapés and champagne.”

“Yep, good idea.  Can you do that while I take this call?”
she asks as she lifts her ringing phone from the table.

I Google catering companies and find three in our area.  The
first two I try are booked solid for the date we’ve chosen, which is four weeks
away.  We thought it would be sensible to have a two week window in case any
problems arise.

I cross my fingers and toes as I dial the third company.

“Finesse Catering, this is Isobel,” A cheery voice answers.

“Hi, my name is Lorraine Scott and I’d like a party for
around fifty guests catered for on the eighth of next month.  Are you
available?”

I can hear her flipping through pages as she speaks, “Sure,
just let me check for you…the eighth, yes we’re available. That’s a Friday
night, what sort of food were you wanting?”

I explain we’d like canapés and champagne served and that
it’s a grand opening for a new store in town.  It turns out she is the manager
of Finesse Catering and she assured me she would see to the details herself.  I
confirmed Kami or myself would contact her in a couple of weeks to finalize the
details and I gave her my credit card details to pay the deposit.

I end the call and feel a weight lifted from my shoulders. 
I’m so relieved that things are falling into place.  I glance over to Kami and
notice she’s also off the phone.

“We have a catering company – Finesse Catering – deposit is
paid and they’re good to go for the eighth.”

“Yay.” She says as she lets a deep breath go in a
whoosh.

“Are you okay, Kam?”

“Yeah, I’m just tired.  Long day today, and I didn’t get
much sleep last night,” she winks, leaving me with no doubt about what kept her
up all night.

“Hmm so things are going well with Will?”

“Yes, he’s fantastic Rae-Rae.  He’s so sweet and soooo sexy.
God that man is gorgeous.  I swear I could orgasm from looking at him.”

A bark of laughter escapes and I slap my hand over my mouth
in an attempt to quiet the noise.

“So what does sexy Will do?” I ask through my laughter.

“He works with injured athletes.  Helping them rehabilitate
and teaching them how to safely exercise with their injury so that they can
hopefully get back to the sport they were playing.” She tells me proudly.

“Wow. That’s a fantastic career.  I actually thought he was
an athlete.  He’s certainly built like one”

“He used to be.  He was hurt quiet badly and it  put an end
to his dreams of an athletic career, but he still wanted to be in that
environment so he decided to study sports medicine.”

“So how old is he?”

“Twenty six,”
Oh, he’s the same age as Elliott.

“I’m so happy for you Kam.  You look so happy, it warms my
heart.” I tell her sincerely.

“Oh Rae-Rae, what you see when you’re looking at me – that’s
exactly what I see when I look at you.  You radiate happiness.  Am I to assume
that things are going well with my big brother?”

Wow.  I radiate happiness?  I feel like me heart is
simultaneously melting and bursting at the seams with love, happiness and
contentment.

“Things are going great.  He told me he loves me,” I whisper
the last part, for some reason I feel that if I say it out loud, I might jinx
it.

“Oh my God,” Kami breathes mouth gapping open in shock.  
“That’s fantastic.  Did you tell him you love him back?” she cries.

“Yes,” I say, somewhat sheepishly.   She laughs and tells me
that her and Will said the ‘L’ word to each other last night.

“Wow, Kam.  Congrats.  I like him.  I think he’s good for
you.  Anyone who makes you this happy, has my seal of approval.”

“I’m so glad Rae-Rae.  Your opinion means the world to me.” 
I reach across the table and squeeze her hand.

I wonder whether I should fill her in on what’s happening
with William Spencer, but I decide against it, until I speak with Elliott. 
Kami has never said much about what Elliott and Travis do at work, and I’m
assuming this is because she doesn’t know much, and I can only assume this is
for her safety more than anything else.  Based on that I opt not to say
anything Steele Investigations related until I clear it with Elliott.

My phone beeps, alerting me a text message.  My heart thuds,
hoping it’s Elliott and not the Police, or the Hospital calling to tell me he’s
either A. at the Police station being charged for assault or worse, murder, or
B. he’s at the hospital, injured in anyway.

**Baby Girl, how’s the plans for the store coming along?
Got a Grand Opening date for me yet? Miss u. Give Kam a kiss for me. H x**

I breathe a sigh of relief when I read Harley’s text.  I
quickly type out a reply

**8
^th
next month. So excited. So much to tell.
Will ring you when I have a spare 5 mins to chat. Love you. Miss you xx :) R**

I look over at Kami as she stifle’s a yawn.  “C’mon, let’s
get you home so you can rest.  I’m sure you’ve got a lot of activities that
will keep you up all night again tonight,” I tease as we walk out the door.

******

Kami heads back to Will’s when we leave Starbucks so I
arrive home and pour myself a glass of white wine.  I flop down on the sofa and
take a sip when I hear the lock turn and the front door opens.  I freeze wondering
if someone is breaking in, then I see Elliott come through the door.  Relief
floods me and I race over to him, my eyes scanning the visible parts of his
body.  Then I whip his shirt off, briefly noting he has changed since he left
this afternoon, then I tug down his jeans.  When he is standing before me with
his jeans around his ankles and shirtless, I run my hands over his taut,
muscled stomach, up over his arms and then down his back as I circle him,
checking for any injuries.

“What are you doing?” he asks, his voice full of humor

“Not what you think..at least not yet,” I reply, smiling.

Once I am satisfied that he’s not hurt I drop to my knees in
front of him and pull his already hard length from his boxer brief and then I
wrap my mouth around his cock, taking him deep in my mouth until he hits the
back of my throat and my gag reflex protests.  He groans deep in his throat and
the sound ignites me.  I moan around his shaft as I continue to suck him deep,
swirling my tongue around the head and massaging his balls with one hand.  He
threads his fingers through my hair and guides me on and off his cock.  I can
hear his breathing getting labored as I continue to devour his manhood and I
know he is close.  I grab the shaft and pump it in my fist while I work the top
with my mouth; occasionally skimming my teeth over the head which causes him
gasp and thrust his hips forward.

“Oh, Rainy…gonna come…babe..” he stutters as he tries to
pull away.  I quickly release his balls and grab his ass cheek to hold him place
as I work my mouth and hand faster and harder on his cock.  If I was going to
do this, I was going all out and doing it properly.

“AAARRRGGGHHH
Rainy
!” he shouts as hot cum spurts
deep into my throat.  I lap it all up, making sure to swallow every drop,
before I gently lick his length clean, savoring his salty essence.