Beauty & the Geek: Rocket to Love Read online

  Nadia cleared her throat sharply and ordered. “I’ll have the grilled salmon with a side of broccoli and baked potato.”

  “You just had to get that starch in, didn’t you?” Mikki said, with her smooth, plucked eyebrow arched.

  “And for you, miss,” the waiter said to Jewel.

  “I’d like, um, a glass of merlot, the house version is fine, and…” Jewel fumbled through the menu. She flipped through the many hard plastic pages. She wanted the hot Asian dude from the bar, and that was the only real hunger first and forefront in her mind. With a short sigh, she closed the menu. “…an Asian chicken salad please.”

  The waiter scribbled the order onto his pad, snatched up the menus, rather rudely, and left without another word.

  No sooner had he cleared their earshot did Nadia sip her wine and lean forward. “Now, tell us about the mysterious stranger.”

  “He’s a really cute man I met at the bar,” Jewel answered, shrugging like it didn’t matter.

  She wanted him, something about him intrigued her and stirred awake something deep inside her that had long since been in hibernation. To slip her legs around his tapered waist, feel the smoothness of his skin against hers, she suddenly had another hunger she wanted satisfied. His lips—more full and kissable than she’d ever seen on a man—begged to be tasted. Her fingers itched to glide along their seam and lick that line with abandon.

  “Did you get his cell number?” Mikki asked, adjusting her glossy black hair.

  “Or his room number?” Nadia asked, crossing her legs.

  “You two are assuming me of finding a boyfriend at a bar in a hotel?” Jewel asked. “Really?”

  Mikki shrugged. “My cousin, Charlotte, found a husband after a car accident.”

  Nadia nodded in agreement. “I met Zen at his sushi restaurant.”

  Jewel sighed, but a zest zipped across her skin at the thought of him. His knowledge of Star Wars™ notwithstanding, she found the nerdy man extremely attractive. Jewel was sure guys like him weren’t living in their mama’s basements.

  “So, spill the goods,” Mikki said.

  “A little taller than me, nice butt, fine body, cute face, and…” Jewel stopped. She couldn’t tell them he knew about Star Wars™. They wouldn’t understand how much that played into his attractiveness factor.

  “And what?” Mikki asked, gently swirling her glass of chardonnay. “Did he have a wedding band?”

  “Like that matters,” snorted Nadia. “Some guys still play like they’re single.”

  “It’s nothing,” Jewel said. “He asked me to coffee, but I decided not to stand you two up.”

  Mikki snickered. “More like you needed to keep an eye on those scarlet heels. You know Nadia’s been looking at them since you bought them.”

  “Girl, they’re not even in my size!” Nadia exclaimed. “I could pad them though.”

  Jewel laughed. She’d purchased a pair of four-inch, scarlet glossy stilettos. She planned to wear them with this sexy pantsuit, but Nadia had her eyes on them too. They had a brief tête-à-tête right in front of the register. It had been settled when the store clerk came back with the size 8 ½ and no size 7 ½ for Nadia. Seems the smaller size had all sold out.

  “Here you are, miss, your merlot,” the waiter announced. He placed the glass carefully on the table in front of Jewel.

  “I want to know about Mr. Cute Bar Guy,” Mikki said. “Any more of them?”

  “I don’t know, but this one, he, I don’t know.” Jewel couldn’t quite put her finger on how she felt about the handsome man. She liked what she saw of him, but something else stirred deeper inside of her.

  “Oh, my,” Nadia said to Mikki. “I think she was very interested in him.”

  “She does look a bit flushed,” Mikki said back.

  “Flushed? I’m dark cocoa, so I know you don’t see a flush.” Jewel hoisted her chin up before sipping her merlot.

  “Flushed is in the action,” Mikki said slyly. “The suppressed smile, the frequent glances to the entranceway hoping to get another eyeful, and your very coy behavior—yep, he’s got you hooked.”

  Nadia giggled in confirmation.

  Jewel ignored them. Sharing with her girls meant getting the ribbing from them too.

  “Does he stay here?” Mikki asked.

  “God, Mikki!” Jewel rolled her eyes. “You want to know all about him.”

  Mikki’s wide smile faltered. She swallowed and nodded slowly. “Just conversation, Jewel. Seems everyone’s finding their true love, lately. Nadia’s got Zen. My cousin Charlotte is getting married...”

  Nadia met Jewel’s gaze. Both she and Mikki had been single for a good long while. Mikki’s twice- married and twice-divorced rollercoaster love life set her on a negative bent when it came to relationships. Jewel knew firsthand how crazy it could be. With her ex-boyfriend dating her younger cousin, Jewel had started avoiding family functions. Hence the trip down to Atlanta to the purse and shoe expo.

  “Mikki, you’ll get yours,” Jewel said softly.

  “Just don’t look too hard for it,” Nadia chimed in. “I totally wasn’t expecting it and I’m sure Charlotte wasn’t either.”

  Jewel shrugged. She didn’t think love came unexpectedly, but it had for two people she knew. “It was just a chance encounter, Mikki. Dude is probably back at home playing his Xbox or something.”

  “Ladies, your entrees,” the waiter announced. He spooked her. “Who had the fried chicken salad?”

  Once all the meals had been served, Mikki said, “You never know, Jewel. You just never know.”

  Nadia shrugged and put a forkful of salmon into her mouth. She rolled her eyes in delight and sipped her wine.

  “I don’t even know if he is at the hotel anyway. Just leave it. How about that dress I saw at Belk—the lime one? I might have to go back and get it now that I’ve got those thigh-high boots...”

  Boots that she could easily see the handsome dude from the bar licking the shiny gloss and the eyelets until he reached that spot behind her knee that made her clit tighten.

  “Jewel!”

  “Yes!” she squeaked. Blinking rapidly, she looked around and found herself back at the table with Mikki and Nadia glaring at her. “What?”

  “You sighed like that salad had been the best piece of lettuce you’ve ever had,” Mikki said, her pointed gaze on her.

  Nadia chuckled. “It is an Asian chicken salad.”

  Jewel smiled. “Touché.”

  Chapter Three

  “Dr. Sun, thank you for coming to the panel,” said Dr. Granger. “Are there any other questions?”

  The audience shifted, and the one female scientist seated in the front row kept licking her lips seductively and watching Ben with lust beaming in her expression. Leaning forward, her blinding white lab coat opened wider, revealing her cleavage. Cleavage too perfect, round, and tanned to be natural. He wanted none of it. With a casual glance down at his watch, he spied the time as 9:40. He had twenty minutes to get to the woman in red. And just the hint of memory about her, blew all other desires out the door. Including the lab coat-clad scientist with the full rack of silicone breasts on display.

  “Thank you,” Ben said into his microphone and pushed back from the table. “Thank you, Dr. Granger.”

  Applause rose in the wake of that statement. Ben scanned the audience. No one from last night crawled out of bed early enough to make the panel. In fact, Race’s spot beside him sat glaringly empty. He suppressed his smile and held out his hand to shake with Dr. Granger.

  “Thanks again,” Ben said, grasping Dr. Granger’s dry, slim hand. It was like shaking a wet noodle, not so much slimy as loose. “I apologize for Dr. Wilson. I think he ate some bad calamari.”

  Dr. Granger’s dark brown eyes glimmered at that. Ben suspected that the doctor didn’t like Race. “If he ordered it from the hotel, then I can understand how he became ill.”

  Ben nodded. Dr. Granger ran a private practice that specialized in
privatizing spaceflight. They needed scientists and they paid for them. Ben pushed his chair up. Granger watched him intently. Ben had already rejected one of Granger’s invitations to work for his company. As a billionaire, Dr. Granger hadn’t been accustomed to rejection.

  So, it didn’t surprise Ben when Dr. Granger asked, “You want to go grab an early lunch?”

  “I’d love to, but I have a previous engagement,” Ben explained. “Perhaps, another time?”

  Dr. Granger’s face clouded over, but then relaxed into his usual smiling face. “Of course.”

  Ben couldn’t be worried about it now. He had a date to make. It occurred to him that the lovely stranger, who had some knowledge of Star Wars™ could forget about the rain check he’d given her. With a bolt of steel, he shoved it out of his mind. If she didn’t show, he’d have a quick lunch and find Race. With the image of the beautiful stranger in his mind, he left the conference room and headed down the hallway to the elevator. The illuminated down button glowed a bright crimson, like the stranger’s dress. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. He’d dreamed about her last night. Cocoa toned legs locked around his waist, his phallus deep inside her pussy, her nails buried into his back as her orgasm rocketed them both to ecstasy. When he woke up, his cock was steel hard and his ravenous hunger to have her in real life made it weep.

  I don’t even know her name. He sighed. Still, down inside him, a low-burning flame flickered. He needed to see her again. Just to be in her presence would light his core. He grinned and shook off his doubt. Last night he felt something like a lightning bolt through him when she smiled. He didn’t talk to her more than five minutes, but it felt like years. Everything slowed down and faded to silence. Only she mattered—like a sun, she drew the planets to her. He recalled how the men reacted to her at the restaurant when she walked in with her friends. The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival, and he entered.

  “What floor, Wookiee?” came the familiar sexy husk from yesterday.

  He looked up - and to his right. There. Beauty incarnate. “The lobby.”

  He wanted to groan at the mundane answer; he wasn’t some suave player. Lines and slick words were not in his being. He dealt in facts. The fact remained, the woman was stunning. Dressed in a deep cream, short-sleeved silk blouse, poured on jeans, and ivory strappy stilettos, she looked like she’d stepped off of some magazine cover. A string of double looped pearls hung low between her full breasts. She wore pearl drop earrings and a big wide smile. He knew he’d found his angel. Right here. Within arm’s reach and he wanted to sweep her into his embrace, kiss her, and tuck her into his heart.

  He frowned. What the hell was he thinking? Where did all that romantic, sappy crap come from? His logic scowled at the heart emotions and tucked them right back where they belonged.

  “You want my cup size?” she asked, a hint of amusement flirted in her tone.

  “Good morning,” he said, snapping his gaze up and directly into hers. She’d caught him staring at her chest. “Do you make it a practice to offer strange men your cup size?”

  “Are you strange?”

  “I’m definitely interested in your cup size,” he said, and then caught himself. “Tall. Grande.”

  She laughed. “Good recovery.”

  “My Ph.D. comes in handy every now and again.”

  The elevator’s ding came and the doors opened. He waited and the woman walked out.

  She stopped a few feet ahead, clearly waiting for him. So, she had intended to meet him at the café. Joy spread through his body, making him feel light. He walked out of the elevator, but he could’ve been walking on clouds, with wings on his back. Something completely impractical. he didn’t care.

  “My name is Ben,” he said walking toward the hotel’s exit. She walked beside him, clutching a purse that matched her sweater. “What’s your name?”

  “Jewel.”

  “What a beautiful name.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, with a side-glance at him. “I think you meant that.”

  “I did,” he said soberly, noting that he did indeed mean it. “I don’t say things I don’t mean.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “Well, we did just meet,” she said, and stopped short. The strong aroma of coffee and sweetness nabbed her attention. “This place smells fantastic.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.” She liked it. Yes! He liked how the gentle morning breeze scattered her silky strands of hair.

  She smiled, and it made his heart flip. Strong, even white teeth inside a full mouth. A deeply red lipstick made her lips look so scrumptious he wanted to lick them, nibble on them, and suck her bottom lip into his mouth—just to taste its lusciousness.

  They both became quiet as he led the way into the café. He’d been to Atlanta enough to know that this tiny hole-in-the-wall café beside the hotel sold really good coffee and fresh baked goods. Jewel. A gorgeous name and apt for the woman walking beside him.

  “So, Jewel, what brings you to Atlanta?” he asked.

  She crossed her arms and read the choices of coffee off the café’s selections chalkboard. With her head tossed back, her hair brushed the middle of her back. He wanted to wrap his fist in it and draw her to him. Would she make throaty moans, as he kissed her mouth and took possession of her lips? Would she glance over her shoulders as he made love to her from behind, his hands buried in her thick, chocolate hair?

  “What’s good here?” she asked suddenly, knocking him out of his daydream. “Which one do you get?”

  His stepped behind the display of coffee containers and travel mugs. His semi-erect cock pushed against his dress slacks’ too thin fabric. He cleared his throat and made himself look at the board. Think of something mundane and not the heart-shaped curve of her ass in those jeans. Clothing like that should be illegal.

  “I usually order a grande white mocha, soy, without whipped cream.”

  “Then make that two,” she said to the clerk.

  “Hey, I’ve got it!” He raced around the display. He took out his wallet and took out the money. “Would you like a piece of cake, too?”

  “Yes!”

  “Two red velvet cupcakes,” he said, and paused to see if Jewel objected. When she moved off to find a table, he said to the clerk. “That’s all.”

  The clerk took his money. He waved off the change. Scooping up the cupcakes, he headed to a tucked in corner booth. He slid into the opposite side from her. She placed her manicured nails on the table, folding her hands.

  She sighed, tucked rogue strands behind her ear, and said, “So, Ben, to answer your question, I’m here for a shopping vacation.”

  “Where are you from?” He paused. She wasn’t from Atlanta. He wasn’t either, but he liked her. He didn’t know what the distance would do.

  “I’m from North Carolina,” she answered. “You?”

  “I work for NASA, and so I’m in Houston.”

  “So, what brings a rocket scientist to Atlanta?”

  “Who said I was a rocket scientist?” He liked how she gave it back to him so quickly.

  “Two grande white chocolate mochas!” shouted the clerk.

  Ben slid out of the booth and claimed the coffee drinks. When he returned, he found her nibbling on a cupcake. The crumbs clung to her lips like they didn’t want to let go.

  “Here you go,” he said. With a soft smile, he placed it down in front of her. “Hope you like it.”

  She leaned forward and smelled the aroma emanating from the cup. A grin spread across her face, and she glanced up at him. “Smells delicious. White chocolate, mocha, and red velvet cake. You could send me into a sugar coma over here.”

  He laughed.

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  With her eyebrow raised, Jewel said, “I do.”

  “How long are you going to be here?” he asked.

  “Leaving Sunday,” she said. “The convention is over today, but there’s still a lot o
f shopping to be done.”

  “That’s three days from now.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m scheduled to fly out on Saturday,” Ben said. “I paid for an extra day. The conference is over tomorrow. Are there no shops back where you’re from in North Carolina?”

  “Yes, but this is more of a getaway,” she explained with a shrug. “The shopping is a bonus. What about you?”

  “I’m here for the aerodynamics conference.”

  From the expression on her face, he knew it sounded ridiculous. “A conference for geeks?”

  He sighed. “For scientists, yes.”

  She sipped her coffee. Over the white lid, she swallowed and said, “Handsome scientists.”

  Handsome.

  “Thank you,” he said, his cheeks hot. Must be the coffee. He sipped and then bit into his cupcake.

  She laughed. “You have icing on your nose.”

  He wiped it away with his napkin. With a smile, he said, “Thank you.”

  “Can you say anything else?” She teased.

  “I can,” he said, clearing his throat. “Most of it is complex math. You know, I’m a geek.”

  She nodded. “Touché.”

  “So, when did you start watching Star Wars?” he asked.

  “When I was a little girl. Watched it with my father and was instantly hooked. I wanted to be Princess Leia. Sought after by all the men.”

  “I think you’ve succeeded on that count,” Ben said before he could stop himself. He coughed and cleared his throat. Sipping his coffee, he tried to think of a way to not continue to sound like a stupid, horny teenager.

  She grinned, averting her eyes. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” Ben drank some more of his coffee, giving himself time to think over his words. Normally, he behaved much more logical. He thought before he answered questions or said things, especially to people he didn’t know. “I watched it with my friends and my dad too. Loved it.”

  She nodded. “It isn’t something I can tell my girls about, but I always wanted to go to one of those conventions. You know, where they dress up? Like sci-fi geeks?”

  “Just because I’m a rocket scientist, doesn’t mean I live in my parents’ basement and go to science fiction conventions.”