Warm Welcome

On Thursday, I went straight from work to the airport.  My flight left at 6, and it was a 4 hour flight.  Since Miami was two hours ahead, I got there a little after midnight, local time.  Brody had some work stuff to do Friday morning, but as of lunch time on Friday, he'd be all mine.

Down in the baggage claim area, I spotted him before he saw me.  I took a moment to enjoy the fluttering in my stomach that still happened every time I saw him, before walking quickly over and throwing my arms around him.

"Hey!" he said happily, hugging me back tightly.  "I'm so glad you're here."  He pulled back and kissed me.  The kiss was soft at first, but quickly progressed to a smoldering PDA that was completely out of character for him.  When we broke apart, I was breathless.

"I guess you are," I said, when I had caught my breath.  "I'm glad I'm here too."  He grabbed my bag and slid his other arm around my shoulders, and we walked out of the airport.

When we stopped at a sleek silver Range Rover, I raised my eyebrows.  "The board spared no expenses," Brody said.  "Wait til you see the hotel room they put me up in."  He navigated the big vehicle confidently out of the parking lot and into traffic. 

"Have you ever been here?"  he asked, stepping quickly on the brake when someone pulled in front of him.

"Once for a couple days when I was in middle school, but I don't really remember anything," I replied.

"I can see how Miami wouldn't make much of an impression on a 12 year old," he said with a smirk.   So far, all I saw were lights and cars.  "Did you get your appointment rescheduled?"  I was supposed to have my second therapy appointment tomorrow but had rescheduled it and gone yesterday.

I rolled my eyes.  "Yes, dad, I went yesterday.  It was good."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.  "I just want you to take care of yourself, and you're not always so good at doing it on your own."  He had a point, but he was the same way.  He drove through the busy downtown streets and pulled up in front of a large hotel.  The valet opened my door as Brody grabbed my bag from the backseat.  I was always a little overwhelmed by valets and doormen, and in my tired state after a full day of work and traveling, it was all I could to smile politely and murmur thanks.

Brody took my hand and we walked in.  We stepped out of the elevator at the top floor of the hotel, and Brody opened the door to a huge suite.  "Wow," I said, looking around.  Brody nodded, setting my bag on the couch that was perfectly positioned facing the large windows that overlooked downtown Miami.  He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me.

"Does this fancy suite have a shower?" I asked, leaning my head back against his shoulder.

"As a matter of fact, it does have a shower.  I'm pretty sure 6 people will fit in it, too."

"Oh good, we'll have to try that tomorrow," I joked. 

He laughed, kissing me on the cheek.  "Go shower.  Then, I believe I have some promises to keep."  That perked me up quickly, despite the late hour, and I headed for the giant bathroom.

After my shower, Brody proceeded to do everything he had promised in our phone conversation earlier in the week.  I got impatient halfway through and tried to rush things, but he wasn't having it.  Almost two hours later we collapsed next to each other on the bed, exhausted and satisfied.

"If that's how you greet me after 8 days apart, you should go on longer trips more often," I said, when my brain cleared.   He just laughed and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to him.  We fell asleep like that.

I woke up early the next morning when Brody's alarm went off.  "Good morning, beautiful," he murmured against my ear, drawing a finger down my arm.

"Morning," I replied, pushing my hips back against his.  His hand moved up to my breast, cupping it and rolling my nipple between his fingers.  I moaned and pushed my hips back harder against him.  He pushed into me from behind, holding me tightly against him as he thrust slowly, grinding his hips against mine at the deepest point of each thrust.  I gasped as his lips found the back of my neck.

"Mmmm, I am so glad you came down," he breathed, before picking up the pace.

He stayed curled around me for a few minutes after.  Then he sighed and sat up, stretching.  He pulled the blanket back up over me.   "What time is it?" I asked.

He checked his watch.  "Almost 6:30 now.  Go back to sleep.  I'll be back in time for lunch, and we'll have the rest of the afternoon together."  He leaned down and kissed me gently before heading into the bathroom.  I fell asleep before he finished showering, and didn't wake up when he left.

I was up, showered, and ready to go by the time Brody came back at 12:30.  I had a restaurant for lunch picked out, a tapas place within walking distance of our hotel.  It was sunny and close to 70 degrees, and it felt amazing as we walked.

After we had ordered several plates and drinks, Brody said, "Robert, the chairman of the board, invited us out to dinner tonight.  It's totally up to you if you want to go."

"Sure, why not," I replied. 

Brody called Robert to let him know we were up for dinner, then put his phone away.  He grinned at me across the table.  "Do you have anything to wear to an obnoxiously overpriced restaurant?" he asked.

I thought for a minute, then shook my head.  "I don't think so, sorry."

"Don't be, you didn't know you'd need it.  I guess we'd better do some shopping today then," he replied.

I raised an eyebrow.  "You?  Shopping?  This ought to be interesting."

He grimaced.  "Anything for you," he said, winking.

After lunch, we wandered through downtown for awhile. Brody stopped outside a pricy-looking women's clothing boutique.  "Well?" he said, motioning towards it.

I shook my head.  "I can't afford anything in there."

"Good thing you're not paying then, huh?" he replied.  I glared at him.  "Seriously, Liv.  I won't even tell you the insane amount of money they're paying me for this consulting work, but if I'm going to drag you to this dinner, let me spend a very small portion of it on your clothing for it."  Without giving me a chance to argue, he tugged me firmly towards the door.  How very Pretty Woman.

We walked out nearly an hour later with a gorgeous deep emerald dress and a pair of ridiculous expensive, but amazingly comfortable, bronze pointed-toe pumps.   "Now what?" Brody asked, when we got back to the hotel.

I frowned and inspected my nails.  "I'm seriously considering going down to the spa and getting a manicure because my nails are awful, and I feel like I can't wear that dress with my nails looking like a hot mess."  I paused, then grinned at Brody.  "You should come too.  You can get a pedicure."

It took a little convincing, but 20 minutes later we were both getting pedicures.  Even though he agreed that the pedicure was awesome and his feet looked and felt great, he drew the line at a manicure and refused to join me for that.  Instead, he sat and talked to me while I got a gel manicure with a bronze polish that would match the shoes we got nearly perfectly. 

By the time we were done, it was time to get ready for dinner.  Brody let me shower first, and I dried my hair while he showered.  When I was done with my hair and makeup, I carefully slipped my new dress and shoes on.  "Well?" I asked, turning in a slow circle.  "What do you think?"

"I think it's too damn bad we need to leave for dinner in 5 minutes, because you look amazing," he said, sliding his arms around my waist and kissing me softly.

"Well, that works," I responded, pushing my fingers into his hair and massaging his scalp.

"No, don't do that, or we'll end up late," he groaned.  I laughed.

Dinner, for being "obnoxiously overpriced" was really quite good.  Robert was an older gentleman, probably in his early 60s, and he was very polite and soft-spoken.  I wondered how he had stood a chance against Brian Adler.  We lingered at the restaurant for awhile after our meal, finishing a bottle of wine.  Eventually, we parted ways.

As Brody and I were walking out, hand in hand, a rich, throaty female voice said, "Well, if it isn't the infamous Brody Adler, back in his old stomping grounds."

We both turned.  The voice belonged to a stunningly gorgeous woman with thick, jet black hair and icy blue eyes.  "Alexa," Brody said in surprise.  I had no idea who she was, but immediately pegged her as ex.  She turned her piercing gaze on me, looked me up and down, and must have determined me not worth her time because she quickly turned her eyes back to Brody.

"Just visiting?" she asked, stepping closer to him.

"Here on business," he replied curtly.  He turned to me.  "Liv, this is a friend from school, Alexa.  Alexa, this is my girlfriend, Olivia."

"Girlfriend?" she scoffed, looking back at me briefly.  "Huh.  Cute."  The way she said it was not complimentary.  Brody bristled, but I squeezed his hand.  He remained tense but kept his mouth shut.

"Well, Alexa, it was nice to see you, but we need to get going," Brody said, after a long pause.  She gave him a half-hearted hug and me a disgusted glance, then turned on her very high, very expensive looking heel and left.

"She seems lovely," I said with a smirk when we got in the car.  "I thought you said you didn't have any exes."

Brody laughed.  "She's not really an ex.  We hooked up for awhile in college.  A long while, I guess.  I developed feelings for her, she didn't reciprocate, I cut things off.  She's..."

"A huge bitch," I supplied helpfully.

"Yes.  A huge bitch," he agreed.  He glanced over at me and I smiled.  "Are you upset?" he asked.  "I guess I should have told you about her, she's the closest thing to an ex I have."

"Not at all," I assured him.  Jealousy has never been my thing.  I don't put up with jealous significant others, and I don't get jealous either (unless the mistress is work...).  The only thing that bugged me about Alexa was her nasty attitude. 

Traffic downtown was heavy and it took a ridiculously long time to get to our hotel, which was barely a mile away.  By the time we got back to the hotel room, I was completely ready to lay in bed, and Brody looked positively exhausted.  He couldn't have gotten more than 3 hours of sleep the night before, so I was surprised when he slid his arms around me from behind and kissed the back of my neck as I took off my shoes and my necklace.

"You must have really missed me," I teased, as he pushed the strap of my dress down with one finger, his lips trailing after.

"I really missed you," he confirmed, before moving his finger and mouth to my other shoulder.  Soon he had my dress off, though I did stop him so I could hang it up instead of leaving it on the floor.  He took the opportunity to get rid of his clothes.

Since we were both a little worn out from last night and this morning, we didn't actually have sex, but we spent over an hour laying together, letting our hands and mouths wander.  It was incredibly intimate and when we finally dragged our lips apart to sleep, I felt more content and connected with him than I ever had.