Wyatt looked up as a short curvy woman entered his office in a rush, he noted the slight flush on her soft brown skin, along with a look of panic in her dark chocolate eyes.
"Hi, Wyatt, is it? I'm Adelyn Bryant, and, well, I've kinda done something and blamed it on you." She said in a rush.
"What? Adelyn Bryant? Aren't you the new lingerie designer that's just come over from Australia?"
"Yeah!" she answered, "I've been sending my designs over since Sally Spectra left, but I've only now just shifted here for a few months, and, well, you may wish that I hadn't." she said sheepishly.
Wyatt stared at her in confusion, "so, what did you do then? And more importantly, why did you blame me?"
After getting his word that he wouldn't repeat what she was about to tell him she then launched into her story of what really happened with her, Steffy and Marius, along with her rather panicked made up on the spot explanation to the press.
Wyatt, who had initially stood after she had entered his office, now sat down with a loud exhalation. After thinking for a moment, he took out his phone and started to browse some forums, already some small snippets of Steffy were starting to appear.
"Hmmm," he muttered as he watched what was getting broadcast, and some of the initial comments.
"Well, so far so good. On the bright side, Steffy is the flavour of the month with the general public after what happened at the last launch, and with the right coverage we could actually build on it."
He looked up at Adelyn, "that was some pretty smart thinking, telling the paparazzi that neither Steffy, nor the buyers of Forresters Lingerie would ever let themselves or their sexuality be controlled by hypocrites or the morality police – given what's happening around the country lately – this could play right into our hands, if we give it the right slant. Something like Forresters, standing alongside the fierce woman of the world, those that won't be held down or back by anyone."
He nodded and picked up his phone, immediately telling his secretary to order an emergency meeting with his team for right now.
"Thanks Adelyn, you've saved us a great deal of trouble, instead of being on the backfoot with this you've given us something we can work with, before things get really crazy."
Adelyn smiled in appreciation, "thanks Wyatt, personally I thought I might have come a gutser, glad to know I have totally stuffed it up for ya!" she said, her Australian accent becoming thicker as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"And please, it's Dee to my friends, and as you haven't started yelling at me, or calling me names as yet, then guess what, ya just made my friends list."
Wyatt couldn't help himself, he grinned at her. "Glad to hear it Dee, now is there anything else I need to know?" he said as his team members started to arrive in his office.
"Nope, I'll leave you to it then, and if you need me, I'll be down in the troll caverns."
At Wyatts surprised open mouthed, "the what?" Dee grinned even wider, her accent becoming even thicker as she laughingly replied.
"The Caverns are what I call our workrooms, and us workin class slobs are just the poor trolls that inhabit it; happy to say the new nickname seems to be catchin on with everyone. Now. I better go and leave you guys and gals to it, as for me, it's pizza time, I'm starvin."
With that she swept out of the room just as quickly as she had entered it, leaving Wyatt staring after her, feeling slightly awestruck, a bit overwhelmed, and a little like he'd been caught in a whirlwind of rapid fire talking and infectious smiles. He turned back to his team shaking his head in bewilderment.
"Time to earn our pay people, we've just been given an unexpected opportunity, we now have to figure out how to run with it!"
Then he began talking.
Meanwhile over at Steffi's limo . . .
The limousine ride back to Marius's was quiet, every time Steffy tried to speak, Marius gently but firmly put a finger over her lips. He was able to do this quite effectively because he still hadn't let her go. He'd simply swept her up into his arms at the airport, then carried her out to the Limo which was still sitting in a no parking zone, the driver - Adam – refusing to budge until someone reappeared or a parking officer approached.
Marius had just opened the back door and plonked them both in, not letting her go for a second, and then he'd given instructions to head straight to his apartment.
Steffy was fine with this, being in his arms and sitting in his lap was where she'd intended to be anyway, but this no talking business was setting her teeth on edge, what was he thinking?
Marius's mind was working a mile a minute, he couldn't figure out what had happened to change Steffi's mind. From seeing her in her ex-husbands embrace, to her baring herself in her lingerie to him – and anyone else who was watching – at the airport . . . what was going on? What had happened? Had she told her ex to take a hike? Had she realised she wanted him more than Liam Spencer? Had he unknowingly won the beautiful woman in his arms?
He didn't want to talk in the Limo, because talking could/would lead to kissing, and he thought if he kissed her, he might start to do other things, he was barely holding on by a thread as it was.
Having her in his lap, her body pressed against his, and knowing full well what she was wearing underneath that trench coat had him in a lather of need. All he could do was concentrate on his breathing, using some old techniques taught to him by his martial arts instructor from when he was a kid, and just hope he could stop his hands from going walkabout on their own, like they wanted to.
By the time they reached Marius's apartment both Steffy and Marius were on edge, both for different, yet similar reasons.
As soon as they walked in and the door closed behind them Marius turned and crowded Steffy up against the door.
He stared into her eyes as he ran the back of his hand down her face in a gently caress.
"Liam?" he asked, his eyes staring questioningly into hers.
Steffy sighed as her own hands moved to his chest and slowly inched there way upwards to entwine around his neck.
"He's gone, what you thought you saw wasn't reality, it was Liam making a pass at what he thought he might be able to tempt back. I wasn't interested, and told him so. And I would have come to you a lot sooner, but I was trying to get ready, I wanted to make sure you knew what you might be passing up, and I wanted to make sure I was ready in case you decided not to – pass me up that is."
"So, what do you see happening between us?" asked Marius, "apart from the obvious." He grinned.
"Are you asking if I expect a full on relationship? Then the answer is no, I can't go there again, not now, not yet." She said truthfully.
Marius frowned, "and what if I wanted more from you? Steffy, no matter how much I want you, and trust me when I say, I've never wanted anything in my life as much as I want you right now, but I've also come to realize I want more from you than just sex, because, although I know it's going to be great, I also think we can be more."
Steffy took a deep breath and gazed into his dark eyes, he was being open and honest with her, something any woman worth her salt would pray for in a man, yet how to answer? She decided on truth, he was being honest with her, so she'd return the courtesy and let the chips fall where they may.
"Honestly? Right at this moment all I can promise is that I'll remain open to the chance of something more. I won't expect it, and I definitely won't be seeking it out, but, if something more does develop between us, well, I'll give it a chance, but that's the best I can offer. No promises Marius, not to you, or from you, for now, all I want to do is explore every inch of you I can lay my hands on. Is that enough for you?"
Marius thought for a moment before nodding.
"Good enough, a start is a start, now let's see where this road we're on takes us," he said before bending down to kiss her, as his hands deftly undid the tie to her coat and eased it from her shoulders.
And just as he'd predicted, that first kiss spiralled out of control, until finally, on a shuddering breath, he swung her into his arms and carried her upstairs to his bedroom.