We have to figure this out

 *****

 8 

 Ok now we have to figure this out 

Z walked into the office to start her day and everyone in the room was watching her. They had been talking but suddenly stopped as she walked in. She has brought her cart before so what was the big deal? It is lightweight and folds up small and she can take into the little room. Walking out of the file room they all still watched her. "What did I do now," she asked.

"We heard you had dinner with Mr. Palmer?" Wendy asked her. 

She rolled her head and said, "Yes I did. He saw me in the hall and asked me to accompany him for a meal. He said he didn't want to eat alone. He is nice he did flirt a little. I think it had something to do with my tight jeans," she said looking back at her ass and smiling. The phones started ringing as Peggy turned the answering machine off for the day she was saved from the inquest. 

Going back into the file room she quickly text him.

People know we had dinner together.

Good next they will see me hugging and kissing you. I decided last night to embrace my love for you. What is the worst that will happen? They will be jealous of us. Have lunch with me. Are you in jeans?

Yes, but you will have to call here to ask. Yes, the same ones as yesterday. You don't leave me alone long enough to do anything like wash my clothes. 

Expect my call,

"Hello, Peggy, this is Preston Palmer is Zarita around I would like to speak to her," he said very businesslike, but he was enjoying this way too much.

"Oh yes, let me go get her Sir," Peggy said pressing hold she was a little flustered Mister Palmer twice in a week is out of the ordinary, "Zarita, Mr. Palmer is on the phone," Peggy said meeting her at the door to the file room.

"For me?" Z asked sounding dumb and shocked, which she was, that was fast. Again, the women watched her as the phones rang around the room. Well not actually ring they had a soft beep and the line lights up. They would all be in a rubber room if you had to listen to that many phones ringing all day. They also wore headphones to make life easier. 

"Yes, he asked for you," Peggy said acting excited he called.

Z picked up the phone and Peggy pressed the button she didn't know how to work the phones. No one has taught her anything beyond filing. 

"Yes, hello how can I help you?" Zarita asked as Preston started his picking.

"You want to eat here, or do you want to go off somewhere so I can eat something else for lunch."

"Oh, Sir that is very kind. Yes, sir, I enjoyed dinner last night," she said to the ladies of the room. "No, here is fine it is hard to be served and eat in an hour," she told him trying to block his smart-alecky teasing

"Everyone is watching you right" Preston asked getting a kick out of making her squirm.

"Yes Sir," she said as red as a beet which is difficult to do for a woman with olive skin.

"Ok I'll meet you at the restaurant a little after noon," she told him not letting him continue to tease her.

"So, we are staying here no afternoon delight," he teased. He could be up for that in a second.

"No here will be fine, same place,"

"You're no fun." He joked. She knew exactly what he was doing he was trying to make her blush and he had succeeded.

"Nope I'm not, I'll see you at noon," she said and hung up on his smart mouth. 

"Z you going to lunch with him," Wendy called out.

"He asked, he is quite the flirt. So yeah, he is buying me lunch," Z said and shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal.

"Woo you're a lucky girl he is so fine," Margery called out from the other side of the room. 

"Ok ladies back to work," Peggy chastised them all and sent Z a get-to-work look and watched her go back into her hole in the wall.

Preston was at the doorway to the restaurant waiting. He smiled and gave a half wave as she joined him. He told her how pretty she looked and how he loved those jeans. He was having a hard time keeping his hands off her ass. 

"You look handsome yourself. How has your day been," she asked him looking so fine in his business suit. He wore a black pinstriped today with a red tie. Very flashy.

"I have gotten nothing done just thinking about you," he told her in her ear as they waited in line for a table. Z knew she would have to order something easy to be back to work in an hour. Someone usually drives them to local fast food. Even then she is barely back in time as they gulped it down on the trip back. 

Preston snaked an arm around her shoulder and pressed her to his side. She looked up and smiled, "this is too much PDA people are watching," she whispered as he leaned down to hear her. "You're making this difficult for me at my job." She again smiled attentively but backed away. She could see everyone was questioning why he was with her. She didn't like the feeling and if this was going to be her life, he could keep it. 

She picked something quick and easy, and he chose some elaborate thing. Of course, her meal didn't come until he did. "You know I have one hour right? Why are you playing these games," she demanded looking pleased to be with him, but he knew she was pissed. 

"I own the place I will keep you as long as I want,"

"No, you will not," she snapped the pleasantry's gone. "I have a job to do, and people depend on me to be there. I can't start breaking the rules because you asked me to lunch. If you want to do this again, I suggest you order beforehand your fancy meal mister owner," she said with a smile, but he knew she was not pleased and ate a few more bites of her not elaborate meal. 

"Ok, what will you want tomorrow for lunch?" He asked trying to placate her. "I'll order and have a table for us waiting. I'm happy to hear you're so dedicated to your job," Preston said and went on eating his meal. 

Z looked down at her simple sandwich and fumed. "Was this a test to see if I would take advantage of the situation?" 

"No, I'm just picking on you, you rattle so easily." He could tell she was pissed now even her fake smile was gone.

"I'm going to rattle you so watch out." She checked her watch, stood, and tossed her napkin not too gently on the table. "Thanks for the lunch Sir," she said and walked off. 

He hoped she meant Friday night he could use a rattle or two. She is easy to piss off Preston thought and finished his meal. Something new he knows about her.

Taking his phone out he wrote.

You didn't tell me what you want for lunch tomorrow.

Z wrote back, Bite Me!!!!

Ok, I am coming.

Smart ass you better not. You wait until Friday your ass is mine.

Yeah, so yours will be mine and I can give as good as I get. OOOOOXXXXXJ My new order should be in. 

Z rolled her eyes put her phone in her back pocket and kept walking.

Ten to five he called again Peggy she raised the phone as Z walked by with her hands full of papers. "Mister Palmer, again," Peggy said, not too happy, she has rules, and personal phone calls are a NO, NO for work. 

"Yes, how can I help you?" Z asked ready for the crap to start. He thinks he is so charming.

"What are you doing tonight?" Preston asked in a low sexy voice.

"Not you," turning her back, she said in a harsh whisper. "I'm shopping for food if you must know," she told him not caring who heard. She had been fuming all afternoon about his cavalier attitude. She will show him who's the owner. 

"Could I take you it would be fun," he asked sounding like a giddy schoolboy. 

She thought about it for a second. He could take her to a cheaper store than her local Badaga. "Sure, it would be helpful," she told him calming down real quick. Shopping at a cheaper place sounds interesting to her and enduring Preston's smart mouth is entertaining. He just keeps digging himself deeper.

"Perfect meet me out front a little after five and I'll take you wherever you want to go."

"Sounds good thanks." She hung up and kept walking. "I'll tell him to stop calling he doesn't understand this is my job he is messing with," she told Peggy as she went back to her hole in the wall. 

Twelve minutes later she was getting into a Bentley as he held the door for her. He put her cart in the trunk as the doorman stood by dumbfounded looking at his boss doing all the work.

"So, where do you want to go? I have seen grocery stores all over the place. This will be exciting to see what all you can buy," he said happy to see her and she wasn't glaring at him. Hopefully, she is over her mad.

"Your crazy grocery shopping is tedious. Trying to get the best deals with little money," she said and sat back to enjoy the ride in his very nice car.

"Sounds like a quest it will be fun. Have any coupons," he asked as he drove out the covered entry. That comment got him a glare.

"Maureen my secretary told me that around here Wal-Mart is the best place for good prices. She told me how to find it," he told her and made a right pulling out in traffic since Z didn't give a preference. 

"Are you over being mad at me," Preston asked in his low sexy tone he knew always got to her.

"I have never been to a Wal-Mart grocery store so maybe it will be fun. I'm still a little pissed and Peggy doesn't allow personal calls so stop."

"You're the one who told me to call you," he protested just to keep her talking. He loved how easy she was to piss off and how quickly she got over it was also great.

"You're right and I won't do it again. I told you to call for lunch not for everything." 

"OK so now I'll just text?" He questioned and saw her jaw clench.

"Yes, ask for permission for more. I can't lose my job mister smarty," she snapped back at him. 

"Right Peggy will fire you because the owner calls you. I think not," Preston said in a sarcastic tone. 

"Maybe not but it is not fair to the others if I can do something they can't. So, text me. Which I may add is against the rules too."

"And so is looking at hook-up sites so I'm not going to feel bad about taking a few minutes of your time," he smarted back. 

"Ok but I only did mine during my lunch hour," she explained harshly.

"It is nice to know you're not a rule breaker." He turned into the parking lot, and he parked under a surveillance camera far out in the parking lot hoping his car won't be accosted.

He walked up to a boy wearing an orange vest collecting carts and spoke to him pointing out his car. Z thinks he handed him money. Patting the boy's arm, he jogged to catch up with her. 

"Do you have a list?" he asked looking excited about shopping.

"A list? What do you know about grocery lists," Z asked

"I saw it on Fox Business; it is to keep you from overspending. They said they have things all around the store to entice you to overspend." Preston said with such authority she had to laugh then grabbed a cart. She thought he was ridiculous until they stepped into the store, and she saw the problem. Temptation was everywhere. This place was so different from her local bodega. Doing a lot of picking on one another while they roamed the store for an hour before she started grocery shopping. They picked out Levies' low-cut jeans after he commented how low the price was acting shocked at the price. He had always wanted a pair of jeans as a kid, but no way would his parents allow that. Z picked the kind she liked, and he could pay along with some tee shirts and flip-flops to make him look human. He was walking around the place in a crisp black business suit and tie-up shoes. Everyone they walked by gave him a strange look of what is he doing here.

Here she was in jeans and him in a high-priced business suit walking right beside her with his hands all over her. She had to slap his hand several times he was picking up crazy stuff. Who eats canned snails and salmon at twelve dollars a pound who did he think she shopping for? He picked out whipped cream, honey, and chocolate syrup thinking he was sneaking them in her cart. Those she let him keep, then he disappeared and came back as she perused the produce aisle. He found her special condoms and the flavored ones too. He especially likes the flavored ones. He was smiling when he dropped them in the cart. He was having fun but then he always had fun with Sonya, he meant Zarita was around.

Z separated the stuff in the cart as they checked out, but he paid for everything when the total came up. She passed him a hundred bucks as he pushed the cart to the car, and he waved at the cart boy to thank him for watching his car. He didn't argue with Z giving him back some money, but she had her priorities. She was right most of what they bought was what he picked out he should pay. He should pay for everything just because she was standing next to him. He was a happy man as long as she was close by. Pissed or not he loved this woman. 

Now his concern was whether she would let him take her home as he loaded his trunk. 

"Where to?" Preston asked with her groceries neatly stored in his trunk. 

"Go back to Cramer and go south," Z told him and settled in for the drive. "I like your car it is nice and big," she said stroking the leather seat.

He laughed that was an understatement. "My father bought it right before he died. He had always wanted one and I guess he felt he had earned it. I enjoy driving it but would not have bought one for myself. Case and point I had to pay some kid to watch it, so no one messed with it. It was a classic old Bentley the kind everyone knows and wants a piece of. I have to have a security camera focused on it at the hotel all the time.

I didn't start driving until about five years ago. We had a driver all my life. After my father died, I found out how much he was paying for a full-time driver and got my license. I decided when the man retired to start driving myself. My mother still has a driver, but she doesn't go out that often, so he is very part-time," he told her it was just nervous chatter. He was not sure if she would let him take her all the way home. If she did, how is he going to feel if she lives in a crappie apartment building? If it is like the ones, he drove by last week he was going to freak. He forgot to ask Jack where she lived. He had been more interested in her not being a blackmailer or a con artist than where she lived.

"So, she just calls him when she needs to go somewhere. Otherwise, I think he drives as an Uber driver all day. She seems happy with him that is all that matters," he continued with his nervous chatter.

"You're good to her I can tell. She is lucky," Z said comment and to listen to his story.

"I try. She drives me crazy trying to set me up with snooty women but that is all she knows." 

"That is all she knows is snooty women or how to set you up with them?" Z asked he could tell she was trying hard to keep from laughing. He seems so angry with his mother's meddling to find him a wife.

"Good question. I think her friends are snooty and their daughters are also. Those are the people she is around. She is actually a nice woman. Why my father was so angry with her all those years ago I'm not sure."

"Have you asked her?"

"No, I heard enough crying when it happened and wouldn't want to bring that backup. They seemed so happy together before. Sure, he worked long hours, but he was building a company. I decided when I was ten, I wouldn't live my life at a job."

"That's good to hear," she said as they were getting close to her apartment. She had to quickly decide what to do. Does she let him come up and help with the groceries or have him drop her at the corner? That would be stupid she decided he was going to see her place sooner or later if she decided to hang on to him. He would want to help her move she was sure of that. He seems set that she is moving somewhere. 

"I'm right up here good luck finding a parking spot," she said as someone pulled out of a spot close to her place. 

"You must live a charmed life," she teased. 

He quickly turned on his blinker and parallel parked breathing a sigh of relief she didn't live any further down this road. He got out and popped his trunk Z was already getting out, so he paid attention to the bags in the trunk tossing his two to the side. This was a first, talk about rotten. He has never worried about where his food came from, he just sat down and was served his meals. Sure, he paid for that ability but that was the easy part.

"Well let's fill the cart and you can help me with it up the stairs," Z said quickly popping the cart open. 

"Stairs," Preston said looking up at the building. It was old and crumbling, the steps were chipped and rounded looked like an accident waiting to happen. 

"Yep, three flights. It won't kill you; it keeps you young. It keeps your legs strong," she said exaggerating the movement of her legs doing a couple of squats.

"I like your strong legs," he whispered and kissed her brow. "Let's get this over," he said as he put the last bag in the cart. It held surprisingly a lot of stuff Preston thought when she pulled the cart towards the door. They pulled it up the stairs thump, thump, and thump. Z held the main door as he pulled it in. The manager's door popped open as they walked by. 

"Z, I was worried. You were so late coming home again." An old woman complained as Z approached her for a hug. 

Preston looked at her and then around the entry it was as old and crumbling inside as it was outside the building. He had to get her out of there. His garage was in better shape than this place.

"Oh, I'm sorry I should have called Nana, let me introduce you to a friend of mine. He took me grocery shopping. Now he is stuck dragging this thing up the stairs." 

"Hi, it is nice to meet you I'm Preston," he said extending his hand they shook as Z stepped into their apartment and called out loudly, "Hey Gramps look out for that fancy white car and call the police if someone messes with it."

"Is it your friend's?" an old man's voice asked her.

"Yes, Gramps."

"I'll shoot them then," he said sounding tough. Preston stepped forward to see who was talking. 

"No, you may hit the car so maybe just threaten them first. You know the cops told you no more shooting out your windows. He won't be here long." She stepped back out hugged the woman and told her, "I'll come down when he leaves to visit but we need to keep going."

"Come on let's get this to my place before someone does strip your car," Z said and pulled the cart towards the stairs. Preston helped and up the stairs, they went thump, thump, thump up. 

As they made it to her door Preston was huffing and puffing and she laughed as she unlocked her door. "I see why you last so long you exercise all day every day," he whispered waiting at her door.

"Nah it is because I want you," she said and opened her door. She knew the place was clean it has been clean since Trudy moved out. It was not impressive, but she knew he didn't expect much. He knew she was a broke girl.

"Z you Ok," boomed down the hall.

Preston turned to find the source of the strong male voice questioning her welfare. 

"I'm fine silly. Terence this is my friend Preston," she said turning red at his reaction he quickly came down the hall towards them his flaming gay leading the way. She is amazed at how he can turn his flame on and off so quickly.

"Ewe, I wanted to meet you. Z says so many nice things about you. Girl your right he does have a nice ass." This tall very gay black man said to Preston looking him up and down as if he appreciated what he saw. 

"Thanks?" Preston said looking back at his ass and only saw his suit jacket tail. He looked at him as if saying you can't tell. Terence laughed at his reaction. "So, your this adventuresome man Z met," he asked as if he would like to get a hold of him and show him what ass play was all about.

"He is and leave him alone I already told you," Z teased and pulled Preston's hand dragging him into her apartment. "Bye Terence I'll talk to you later," she said and closed her door. 

"Ignore him I told him not to tease you if you two ever met. Anyways this is my place, and you should go before someone gets shot," she told him fussing with her milk and eggs and any other cold items, so she could go back downstairs and visit Nana and Gramps. 

"Ok, I'll go. I enjoyed shopping with you. I'll see you tomorrow at lunch just ask the hostess for me. I'll have a table and will order you something tasty for lunch. No more rushing through your meal. I'm sorry I pissed you off earlier. I have never worried about hurrying through a meal," he told her sounding quite contrite for his bad behavior.

"Yeah, being a poor hourly worker sucks," Z told him and led him to the door. Engulfing her in a hug he quickly kissed her. "Tomorrow sweetie." He said and turned to leave.

"Hey, I will walk you down. I don't want you to get mugged on your way down. They won't bother you if they see me. They know I'll kick some ass." 

"Tough girl."

"You know it. Come on you're taking chances now," she told him she knew the longer it sat the more nerve they got to molest his car or him. The hubcaps alone could bring them a fortune just from dumbasses wanting to hang them on their walls.

"Ok let's go," Preston told her he had no idea what he could get into around here. What a crazy way to live. He hugged her quickly at the front door and drove off vowing to get her out of there this weekend. He had one more full day to find a place for her to move to. He took the first corner expecting to make the block and head back towards home. 

The next street was one way and the next was a feeder to a highway going the wrong direction. Needless to say, Preston was lost for a while in the worst part of town. It gave him time to panic but also think. Those people love Zarita, is she going to be willing to leave them behind for the sake of a move? She did say she had thought about moving but money was her problem. 

Her apartment was clean the furniture was old very old. She hadn't attempted to show him around but then again, she knew he had to go to save his car. Men were standing around looking ready to pounce. He figures if he had been a much smaller man they would have. He did have a black belt in Tiquando, but it had been a while since he had practiced. Just climbing the stairs told him what bad shape he was in. He guessed vigorous bed movements aren't the same as a workout. Not a lot of fighting moves included pelvic thrusts which he has gotten very good at. He is amazed his back isn't giving him more problems. 

Preston spent the morning talking to an apartment locator about apartments on the bus line. He checked the employee files first to see how much Z made. He set the price realistically, so she didn't freak over the price. He would pay the deposit if she would let him. He could have them tell her the price includes utilities and have them sent to him. 

"Oh, she is a pain in the butt," he grumbled. If she would just let him fix her up, he would be so happy. Maybe he would even stay with her over the weekend if the place was bigger than a hotel room. He gets claustrophobic and that first hotel room would have done him in if he hadn't had her to keep him entertained. 

He had done it to himself playing with a cousin when he was a young boy. They were playing hide and seek he climbed in a chest and then closed the lid not realizing it would lock. The cousin gave up looking for him and it was not until the nanny became concerned did they found him passed out from lack of oxygen and being hysterical for what felt like years locked in that trunk. When his father learned of the situation, he was livid. This only added to his despair when he fired the nanny he liked. The next one was a strict disciplinarian and expected perfection always. She made his childhood hell with his parents always gone she was in charge. He spent hours with his nose in a corner. That didn't help with his feeling trapped phobia and the nanny didn't seem to understand his fear forcing his time to start over each time he moved. A ten-minute time-out could last for hours.

'I have one hard-fought-for child and he will be cared for better than this,' is what he bellowed at the servants as he checked on Preston. It took him years to step into his closet after that scare. Dorm rooms for college had been another issue and his father paid extra for a larger room for his boy. One reason he liked the Bentley was he was up high, and it had lots of windows and the inside was large. He tried to buy a sports car, but he couldn't shut the door once he sat inside. 

He had quite a few other things steaming from childhood trauma that plagued him. Trust was possibly one of the reasons for his not being married or having many women in his life. Z had already pegged him with trust issues, and he had many. Z was different from all other women he had met. He trusted her from the moment they met. He had to have all the liberties he allowed her. Being tied was the biggest, but he knew she would release him if he asked no problem. Plus, he loved what she did to him while he was tied up. The struggle was part of the fun. He loved that she knew him so well and he trusted her so much. She was only seeking pleasure for him and her. Even claims of punishment were accepted as a joke. He knew she was not out to hurt him just make him squirm.

Preston sat not too patiently at their table he wanted to see her smile. He spent his morning on the internet and the phone talking to different apartment managers. The locator told him where to go but he needed information about the complex beyond how they looked. He had to make sure she would be safe. His concerns were the ones she could afford were not very secure or in the best neighborhoods. 

He wished she would just marry him this weekend and let him take her home with him. He asked her to marry him once and she called him crazy. Maybe he is. He didn't know her beyond the amazing sex they had, but he would love her forever he felt it in his heart and soul. 

He knew that in his heart she was his one and only. He also knew he needed to slow down, but what upset him most was that she may be better off staying where she is living for now if she won't let him help. At least there are people there who know her and love her, and some fear her. She knows the dangerous people in the area and the ones to look out for in the building. 

She is so frustrating he thought and looked up to see her walking towards him. Preston stood cupped her arm and kissed her cheek as she stood waiting for him to help with her chair. At least she has learned that about him.

"Hi, sweetie how has your day been?" he asked and stepped back from her chair.

"Same as usual the bills keep coming in and I keep filing them. You do realize how expensive these hotels are?" Z asked with a smile. Now that she knows he is the owner she has been looking at the invoices and was shocked at the totals.

"Yes, I do, but do you realize how much people pay to stay in my hotels? They must be well cared for."

"I can only guess. So how has your day been," Z asked placing her napkin in her lap.

"I have been apartment shopping for you. I'm not very happy with what I have found."

"Now you see why I haven't moved yet. Well above and beyond the cost. It is expensive to live in this town, and I don't want to move too far from my job."

"I know you may be better off staying where you are or you could move in with me," he said a little tongue in cheek but wished she would,

"You're silly. So, what am I having for lunch?" She asked leaving his question in the dirt.

"I guess that means no?" Preston asked sounding dejected.

"Preston, we have known each other for a little under a month. Your mother would have a fit if you brought me home. OH, HI Mom this is Z she is going to live here," Z mocked. 

"Ok, I got you. Are we going out tomorrow night?"

"Sure, do you plan on ending up at our hotel?"

"That would be nice," he said and smiled. "How about you leave work tomorrow and just go to the hotel and get ready? I will come by about an hour later and take you to dinner or whatever you want me to do and then go back to the room and enjoy ourselves. I think that sounds like a perfect evening," Preston told her leaning over the table, so he could whisper to her his idea. 

It did sound good she would enjoy bathing in that nice big tub. "Sure around 6:30 would be good."

"I'll be there so do you want to go apartment looking or not?" Preston asked. 

The waitress brought them their food and as Z sat looking over what he ordered it looked good, she asked. "What did you find?" 

"High rents. If you let me help, we could have a very nice place just east of here. They have a nice big two-bedroom with a nice big patio on the ninth floor. They claim it has a beautiful view of the skyline."

"I'm sure it has and then you decide I'm a pain in the butt and I'm stuck somewhere I can't afford to live. No thanks. I have been in that apartment for sixteen years. I'm fine where I am. You could always have your driver drop you off," she suggested but he knew he could never spend time at her place. It was too small for him to feel comfortable with her body as a draw or not he couldn't do it.

"No, I think not you probably have a double bed. I would end up on the floor with how dangerous you are. Don't dress up I think I'll wear casual clothes and you can take me to some place you like."

"Sounds like fun. Then I'm not meeting you for lunch tomorrow if I'm eating dinner. You're going to make me as big as a house with all this eating." Z told him to eat this really good meal he ordered her. Leaning against the table he whispered, "Does that mean your ass will get bigger."

"Ewe you're a jerk. It is my ass, not yours and I don't want a huge one, so no lunch," she whispered back fighting to keep from slapping him with his smart-ass grin. She took after her father's side of the family with their rich Romanian blood and a big ass comes along with that line her mother warned as she grew older. 

Preston laughed, "Ok I got you, and so what shall we do Saturday." He asked as she ate her lunch. He ordered her salmon vegetables and wild rice and she seemed to be enjoying it. He wondered what they would be eating tomorrow night. That sandwich was good, but he liked the pizza better. 

"It should be a nice day we could walk along the lake or window shop. Just enjoy the day. You know we only get a few days a year where being outside is nice around here. That is why you have an indoor pool here," she offered. 

He started thinking about her in a bathing suit and almost came across the table for her mouth. That would be a sight to see that fine ass in a bathing suit.

"True let's see how we feel in the morning. I should be up for anything as long as you don't injure me too much."

"My plans don't include injuries."

"Great, I can stop worrying."

"You're so full of it you love my pain."

"That is true you are a pain, and I love you," Preston teased and watched her flush red. 

"Why do you say that? You don't even know me to say you love me. Is it easy to say it in your world?" she asked and pushed her plate to the middle of the table she was pissed again.

"No, it is not easy to say. I have never said those words to another woman. I say it because I feel it in my heart. I think about you every second of every day and when I'm with you all I want to do is touch you hold you kiss you and make you feel good. In my head that is love." He reached across and cupped her chin. "I'll see you tomorrow around 6:30 and we will go out to eat and enjoy our time together." Sliding a credit card to her he said, "You get the room I have it reserved under your name, and I'll be there soon," he said and stood leaving her this time he had a meeting he needed to be on time for.

Jack finally came up with a workable solution for him. He brought him a credit card for his sex games, so Preston could leave him out of them. She is a cute sexy thing not what he expected for Preston. What is Mister uptight, principled, all-businessman doing with that sexy girl? 

He is a man that may be the answer, sex sells. Jack thought standing outside the restaurant watching them. He had been shocked to see Preston in the cheaper restaurant. He liked hob-knobbing with the big wigs, shooting the breeze, and sipping scotch as his old man did. He wondered where this was going to take him. Normally he is a much more conscientious man. This was a first for him with women. He has been out with a few maybe even slept with a couple of the motivated ones hoping to catch him with their bodies, but week after week seeing the same one is new. Maybe the boy has grown up. Or she is mighty damn good in bed and is holding all his attention. 

He met a fifteen-year-old Preston scared to death checking every corner for bad guys. He had been kidnapped as he walked through the campus of the prep schoolyard coming back from soccer practice with a few of his teammates. His teammates saw it happening as they were brandishing a gun at them; they all stayed back and called the police as quickly as they could. 

They held him for three days terrifying him the whole time. They had cuffed him to a chair in a cold drafty warehouse and threatened his life often with guns and knives he was told. He looked like he had taken a few hits during his captivity. Besides the tear stained face and mussed hair, he had wet himself during the three-day event. He knew he was only alive because his father demanded to speak to him each time, they called him. Once the last call was made, he knew he was dead. He heard them talking and knew their plan after they got the money. 

It was a huge scandal his father tried to keep it quiet. The kidnappers warned of no police involvement, but they were caught by a nosey security guard.

Preston had given up hope and was just waiting for the shot in the head. He envisioned himself dead and that feeling of hopelessness took a long time to get over. It may have just happened when Sonya approached him with her request. Maybe that is why he is so attached to her. She brought him out of his all-encompassing depression and his pretending to be alive. He went about his day doing what was needed. He knew she woke him up with her body and lust for life.

Jack noticed men coming and going from a warehouse that was supposed to be empty and it made him curious. He was a nosey security guard with dreams of being a detective. Gaining access to the building, he saw a kid cuffed in a chair and called the actual police. He was smart enough to not try to rescue him by himself. The men were heavily armed and looked like they meant business.

His dad was to deliver ten million to them and they were making the call to set a place and time when the police rescued Preston. He was carted off to the hospital quietly. The police were waiting for them when they returned to finish him off. They never got their money and Mr. Palmer hired Jack on the spot and he has worked for the hotel for seventeen years now. At the time Mr. Palmer had been livid and paranoid about where his son was at all times. Four years later Preston started college and seemed to have gotten over the trauma. He was not so sure his father ever let his guard down until the day he died. 

When his dad did die Preston took a little tailspin. Then again Jack did too. He loved his job and his life. He was making more money than he ever thought he would, and he enjoyed the work. He was a nosey person at heart and this job was perfect for him. Thankfully, nothing changed except the man he answers to. Preston being left to run this company that was overwhelming for a young man. He hoped for a few more years before this fell in his lap. Everyone helped and made sure the hotels ran perfectly so he could grieve. 

Preston stood from his lunch leaving his beauty to finish hers. Jack smiled as he went back to his office he was expected at the same meeting.