No Peeking...

Dear Violet,

I’m having a hard time with this assignment, writing down my sexual fantasies. I’m still getting used to the idea of what’s even supposed to happen during sex. I’ve only done it a couple of times, and both times it was over before I even got my shirt off.

I have to say—if that’s all there is to sex, I’m not impressed. It all seems rather…boring. Doing it in a bed, for instance—it seems like an invitation to go to sleep! Which is exactly what both guys did, by the way. Can’t people have sex in other places besides the bedroom?

Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m not exciting enough to keep a man interested long enough to do it…well. I know that guys think I’m boring and uptight. I think so, too. Sometimes I feel like I’m trapped inside myself. I’m trying to get out, but I can’t. I want to change, I just don’t know how.

Dr. Alexander says she’ll send us these letters in ten years. If you’re reading this, Violet, I hope you’re not boring anymore. I hope you’ve found someone who knows how to make sex exciting. I hope you’ve found a way out of yourself.

A rap on the door made Violet jump. She shoved the letter under a folder on her desk just as Lillian poked her head inside.

“Violet—” The woman stopped. “Are you okay?”

Violet nodded, sitting up straighter and running her hand over her flushed neck. “Yes, I’m…fine. What’s up?”

Lillian grinned and held up a tin. “My weight if the sweets keep rolling in here. Want some fudge?”

“Not right now, thanks,” Violet said, remembering she hadn’t yet had lunch. “Who sent it?”

“Gail’s Gourmet Candy.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s good. I shop there for my clients. You can take it home if you like.”

“Thank you, I will.” Lillian started to leave.

“Lillian?”

“Yes?”

Violet swallowed, then lifted her chin. “Do you think I’m…boring?”

Lillian looked surprised and was quiet for a few seconds. “Violet, I think you’re one of the most talented people I’ve ever met. You can do almost anything.”

“But?”

Lillian moistened her lips. “But…you don’t seem to make room in your life for fun.”

Violet felt her defenses rise. “It’s hard to have fun while running a business.”

“I don’t know. Dominick Burns seems to be having a ball,” Lillian said with a little smile, then closed the door.

Violet chewed on her lip, considering the woman’s words. She did too have fun—all kinds of fun, all the time.

Like the time she…

And sometimes when she…

Violet frowned hard. Fun was overrated. Fun led to…abandon. And recklessness.

And a loss of control.

Dominick Burns’s handsome grin flashed into her head. What do you want for Christmas, Vee?

Now there was a man who’d probably had sex outside the bedroom.

Unbidden desire curled in her stomach and her breasts grew heavy. Dismayed at her reaction, Violet turned her mind to the task at hand—the research he’d asked her to do. Because for all his indiscriminate flirting, Dominick was more interested in her brain than her bod.

For the next couple of hours, she compiled everything she could get her hands on regarding Sunpiper Extreme Sports School—classes, instructors, press releases, videos, capital assets, endorsements, affiliations with sanctioned competitions, lawsuits past and present, as well as background on the two founders. At the school, one could enroll in classes to learn everything from rock climbing to dogsledding, either at the facility or at remote locations all over the world. The company had started small, but had grown steadily and seemed to be poised for either expansion or a new direction. She would keep digging, but on the surface Piedmont looked like a viable acquisition. In fact, Dominick wasn’t the only suitor in the game—less than a month earlier, a company named Cambrian had publicly expressed interest in acquiring the sports school.

She was excited and flattered that Dominick had asked for her help on such an important matter. For all his tomfoolery, the man obviously trusted her, and it felt good to be appreciated for something more than picking up after a spoiled dog.

Violet sorted through the scattered printouts on her desk, wrote a note to Dominick on her company letterhead, informing him that she was still pursuing other avenues of research, and stuffed it all into an envelope. When her mind started creeping back to the letter she’d written in college and to the way Dominick’s backside looked in those holey jeans, she gave herself a stern lecture.

The letter was nothing more than the naive ramblings of a sheltered coed in an all-girls school, whose teacher had made her feel daring for a short while. Sex had gotten better after college….

Some.

At least it wasn’t over as quickly. But the journey from point A to point O was still a little…ho-hum. Or, at least it had been, the last time she checked.

Violet frowned. She hadn’t had a serious date in months, she suddenly realized. She’d been so busy at work, and now with her parents back in town…

Not that she saw them that often, she thought with a pang.

They had an active social life, she reminded herself. Much more active than hers.

Unable to ignore her empty stomach any longer, Violet glanced at her watch and decided that if she left now, she could get ahead of rush-hour traffic, grab a bite at the food court in the Lenox Square mall and return Ms. Kingsbury’s packages. Plus she could get a head start on Dominick’s gift list. And the holiday atmosphere would help to put her in the spirit to celebrate Christmas with her parents.

She grabbed the stack of phone messages to return on the way. As she was leaving, she handed the bulging envelope to Lillian. “I’m taking off for the day. Could you please get this package ready for a courier, arrange for a pickup and have it delivered to Mr. Burns’s home address?”

“Absolutely. Is there anything else I can do?”

Violet hesitated, then spied her cluttered desk through the open door to her office. “You can toss all the papers on my desk that aren’t in a folder.”

“Okay, great,” Lillian said, brightening more than the situation warranted.

Violet set down her bag and fished out three of the phone messages. “And would you handle these clients, please? Call me if you have any questions.”

“I will,” Lillian promised, clearly pleased with the added responsibility.

Violet left, crossing her fingers that the woman didn’t do anything that might jeopardize everything Violet had worked so hard to build.

DOMINICK FROWNED when he realized that the ice in his vodka tonic had melted. “You’re slipping, old man,” he muttered to himself, then poured the drink down the bar sink.

He’d been restless for weeks and in truth, he couldn’t put his finger on the reason why, except for the fact that the holiday season always made him antsy. No longer having family left a gnawing feeling in his gut anytime of the year, but being alone at Christmas was the worst.

A knock sounded at the door. He looked up to see his longtime housekeeper, Sandy, standing there. “I’m heading home unless you need anything else.”

“No, I’m fine,” he said.