14

FRIDAY ARRIVED QUICKLY, and during their morning meeting, Dawson told Alexa to finish work at lunchtime so that she would have time to go home and get ready for their trip. “I’ll pick you up at six, but the journey’s going to take a while, so it will probably be a good idea to make sure you eat before then. I’d usually stop off for a meal on the way, but I want to make sure we make good time so that we’re not too tired to enjoy the event tomorrow.”

Even though she was pretty much already packed for the weekend, Alexa was grateful for the extra time off work that gave her the opportunity to go and get her hair trimmed and relax for an hour or so before Dawson was to pick her up. She had a nice, long bath and washed her hair, blow drying it and leaving it down to hang in long, soft waves down her back. She always wore it up at work, so it made a nice change to leave it down for once.

She’d thought long and hard about what to wear for the trip, and even though her initial choice had been jeans and a soft cashmere sweater, she changed her mind, opting for a short-sleeved, white, button-down blouse, a black and gray plaid skirt, and a pair of knee-high boots instead. She applied just a smattering of makeup and a spray of perfume before carrying her small suitcase downstairs to wait for Dawson to arrive. She was checking her purse to make sure that she had her cell phone and charger when there was a knock at the door.

Quickly gathering everything up, she opened the door and gave a gasp of surprise when she saw a uniformed chauffeur standing in front of her.

“I’ll take your case, ma’am. Mr. James is waiting for you in the car.” He took the suitcase from her hand and walked down the pathway with Alexa staring after him in disbelief.

A limousine? He’s picking me up in a freaking limousine? She couldn’t quite believe that there was a stretch limo parked outside her house, and she wished that Laura had been home to see it.

She quickly pulled herself together and followed after the driver, snatching her hand back when she went to open the door and his got there first. “Allow me, please, ma’am.” Alexa stood back and let him hold the door open for her before she ducked her head and stepped inside the dimly-lit interior of the luxurious vehicle.

She’d never been in a limousine before, and she wasn’t quite sure what she’d been expecting. But whatever she’d expected, it certainly wasn’t what she stepped into. Her feet sank into a carpet that was thicker than any in her house, and the smell of the leather upholstery was only rivaled by the shine of the windowed partition and the glass cocktail cabinet that had been installed along one side. The limo was obviously not one that was used for the typical parties that she’d seen around the city, because there were only two seats in it – one along the longer side of the car opposite the cocktail cabinet, and the other at the back, facing forward. Admittedly, they were long seats, but she still couldn’t imagine a crowd of people having a raucous, drunken party in the back of the pristine vehicle.

“Are you going to sit down, or are you going to stand up for the whole way?” Dawson’s voice made her jump, but the humor in it eased her nerves as he brought her back to the here and now.

She gave a small laugh of her own that was filled with self-consciousness. “I’m sorry, Mr. James. I’ve just never been in one of these things before and I don’t know what I’d been expecting us to travel in, but, well, it wasn’t this.” She sat down on the back seat, looking across at her boss who was seated opposite of her. “This thing is huge!”

She couldn’t quite keep the excitement at bay, and Dawson outwardly laughed, while inwardly he was thinking about how refreshing she was.

She has absolutely no idea just how lovely she is, he thought to himself. “Are you really going to call me Mr. James this whole weekend?” He still had the same playfulness in his voice, and Alexa grinned at him without answering. “Okay, how about this? I absolutely forbid you to call me it. I insist that you call me Dawson, at least until we get back to work on Tuesday, and even then, I’d prefer you to call me that. But if you’re still not comfortable with it, then I’ll stop trying to badger you and you can go back to calling me Mr. James.” He gave a mocking shudder that made Alexa laugh.

“Don’t hold your breath on that, but I suppose I can do as you want for the few days we’re away.” She could hear Laura’s voice in her head telling her that she could do whatever he wanted at any time if she’d just stop being such a prude. Thank God it’s relatively dark in here, she thought. At least he won’t be able to see me blushing.

It was just as well that she couldn’t hear what was running through Dawson’s mind, or she probably would have jumped out of the moving car. He was also thinking about her doing what he wanted for the weekend, but it had nothing at all to do with her calling him Dawson, and everything to do with how many positions he’d love to get her in while he made love to her. Just the thought of it had his cock thickening, and he pushed the thoughts away reluctantly.

“Do you mind if I ask why we’re not flying? I half expected you to have a private jet on standby, or something.” She was only half joking.

“I’m absolutely terrified of flying, but if you tell anyone, then I’ll deny I ever admitted it.” He grinned at her. “Can I get you something to drink? A glass of champagne, perhaps?”

Alexa wasn’t completely sure that drinking alcohol with him in such close confines was a good idea, but she needed something to help her calm her nerves and her wayward thoughts. “Is there any orange juice? If there is, I wouldn’t mind a glass of champagne and orange juice, please.”

Dawson stood up and moved to the cocktail cabinet, opening a door that housed a small refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of champagne and a carton of orange juice. “It looks like you’re in luck.” He made her drink and then poured himself a glass of whiskey, completely missing the appreciative gleam in her eye as she finally realized that he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

She couldn’t take her eyes off the way the denim hugged his backside or how the T-shirt showed off just how muscular he really was. As he turned toward her to hand her the drink, she threw up another prayer of thanks for how dark the inside of the car was.

“Thank you.” She took the drink from him and took a generous gulp, thankful to have something to do to take her mind off of him.

“I forgot to tell you to bring a book or something to do during the drive. I’m afraid that I have quite a bit of paperwork to catch up on that I want to get out of the way, but I don’t want you to be bored while I do it.” For the first time, she noticed his briefcase, and it was a good reminder that their trip away was purely business.

She was quick to reassure him. “I actually have a book with me that I can read while you’re busy. I can’t get to sleep at night unless I read at least a couple of pages.”

You’d sleep like a baby without having to read if you were in my bed. Dawson’s cock gave another twitch as the thought popped into his head, and he quickly reached for his briefcase and extracted some papers and a pen.

The next couple of hours were spent in relative silence as Dawson concentrated on his work and Alexa alternated between watching the scenery pass by and reading her book. Occasionally, he would get up to make them both another drink and they would make small talk for a few minutes before returning to what they were both doing. Alexa found herself growing sleepier with each passing mile.

“Hey, sleeping beauty. It’s time to wake up and stretch our legs for a few minutes.”

As her eyes opened and she became aware of her surroundings, Alexa was mortified to realize that she’d fallen asleep. She wasn’t sure when or how, but she was now lying down on the seat with a small pillow beneath her head and a lightweight cover over her. As she realized that Dawson must have tended to her without her even knowing it, she didn’t think that she had ever been more embarrassed.

She swung her legs around and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and stifling a yawn. “Oh, my goodness. I am so sorry, Mr. James.”

Dawson laughed at her softly. “There’s nothing to be sorry about, Alexa. It’s past midnight as it is, so it’s not surprising that you were tired.” The door was opened by the chauffeur and Dawson stepped out of the car, holding his hand out and taking hold of hers to help her exit also. “And I thought we’d agreed that you were to call me Dawson.”

“I’m still half asleep. Leave me alone, Dawson.” She was only half joking because she was never completely ‘with it’ when she first woke up. But he chuckled as she said his name for the first time.

“See? Now that wasn’t too hard, was it?” Not as hard as my cock is at hearing my name on your lips, he thought as he adjusted himself discreetly.

They stretched their legs for a few minutes and both went off to use the restroom facilities at the rest stop before getting back in the car and resuming their journey. Dawson had finally finished the work that he’d had to do, which meant that he could also relax now. “So tell me something about yourself, Alexa. I don’t mean the usual boring work stuff, but something a little more personal. Tell me about your life so far.” He turned to face her as he spoke, marveling once more at how lovely she looked.

“There’s not really that much to tell, to be honest.” She wasn’t really sure where to begin, so she decided to start at the very beginning. “My whole life has been spent living on my parents’ farm in a small town with a population that could probably fit in the back of this limo.” Dawson laughed at that. “There was one school in the place that catered to every child, from kindergarten all the way up to high school, so each and every kid grew up knowing each other. We all used to complain, but it really was a great community to grow up in.”

She didn’t miss the look that crossed Dawson’s face, although she couldn’t quite tell what it was, other than it being a private thought and possibly something that he didn’t want to share.

“In fact, my best friend, Laura, is actually the one that persuaded me to move from there to here. I loved helping my parents out on the farm, but with regards to actually building a career for myself, well, let’s just say that there would have been no chance if I’d stayed there.” A tender smile crossed her face that made Dawson wish that he’d known her as she was growing up. “I’m really glad that I came here though, because now I can send some decent money home to my folks to help them out. It also means that they don’t have to work quite so hard, which makes me happy.”

“It sounds like you had a wonderful childhood, and helping your parents out now is a wonderful thing to do.” His voice could only be described as wistful, and Alexa couldn’t help but wonder why.

She nodded her head in agreement. “I really did. I was lucky.” She looked at him curiously. “So what about you, Dawson? I know you’re a billionaire now, but what gave you the drive to ‘make it,’ or were you just born into money?” She couldn’t believe that she’d actually asked him such a personal question, and as soon as the words were out of her mouth she wished that she could take them back. “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”

“I asked you first, so it’s only fair that you get to ask the same question of me.” He paused as he tried to find the words to describe his upbringing. “No, my family wasn’t rich. In fact, I don’t even know who my family is. All I know is that my mother was a heroin addict and I was taken away from her and placed in the foster system as soon as I was born. Well, as soon as I was well enough and big enough to leave the hospital.” He gave a wry laugh that was totally devoid of humor and Alexa could have cried for the mental picture he’d just drawn.

“I’m so sorry, Dawson. I shouldn’t have asked.” It was obviously painful for him to talk about, and she hated to know that she’d been the one to make him remember.

He shook his head and gave her a smile. “It’s okay, Alexa, honestly. It’s been so long since someone has genuinely cared enough to ask that it actually feels good to talk about it. Kind of cathartic in a way.” He gave a gruff cough before continuing. “Anyway, as soon as I was old enough I was fostered out to a couple, but within a few months they found out that they were expecting a child of their own, so back to the children’s home I went. And it was like that on and off for the next ten years or so. I’d go to a foster family, but they always found a reason to send me back again, until I started to realize that they weren’t the problem. I was.”

“Don’t say that! How can a young child possibly be to blame because the adults in his life failed him? That’s just bullshit!” It wasn’t very often that Alexa felt outraged, but right now she would have loved to go and find some of the so-called ‘parents’ who had fostered Dawson and punch them in the nose.

Dawson shook his head again. “Well, I don’t know whether it was the foster parents, myself, or the whole foster system in general that failed, but it got to the point where I just didn’t care anymore and I totally rebelled against anyone or anything in authority.” He gave another mirthless laugh. “I was expelled from so many schools for fighting and vandalism that if it hadn’t been for Ralph, the guy who ran the local boxing gym, I would have probably ended up in prison. In fact, most of the adults I came into contact with swore that that’s where I was going to end up. But Ralph taught me discipline in the right way, as well as self-control. He also let me know that it was okay to dream big and aim for the stars, because I was capable of doing anything I set my mind to.”

“How did you meet Ralph?” Alexa was genuinely curious.

“It’s a long story, and I won’t bore you with all of the details right now. But Ralph was an older gentleman who’d lived in our rough part of town for as long as any of us kids could remember. He had a knack for finding out which kids needed help or support, and he opened the gym so that they’d have a place to go that was safe and which kept them off the streets.” Dawson smiled as the memories of his old friend flooded back. “He never turned anyone away, and he was always ready to listen or part with a few words of wisdom – whether we wanted to hear them or not. His gym was my safe haven, and it was where I used to unload most of my anger and frustration.”

Alexa was totally unaware of the tears that rolled unchecked down her face, and Dawson was so engrossed in telling her the unedited version of his life so far that he didn’t notice either.

“So, I worked hard and got myself a job at Ralph’s place. After a few months, one of the regulars I had come to know had offered me an even better job working as a janitor at his corporation. When I saw how the other half lived, I was more determined than ever to do something better with my life, so I enrolled in an online college course for business management, and went from strength to strength. It took me over ten years and a lot of hard work, but I built my own company, and now I actually employ some of the very same people who’d told me that I would amount to nothing.”

He finally looked across at Alexa, dreading seeing the look of pity or revulsion that he was sure would be on her face. But, when he saw the way she was crying, his heart almost stopped beating. “Alexa? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” He quickly moved across to her seat and placed a hand on her shoulder, and her floodgates opened up even more as she broke down and openly sobbed.

“I’m crying because no child should ever have to go through what you went through. I just don’t understand how people can be so cruel.” She was hiccupping with the force of her sobs, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. “Don’t people realize that a child is a precious thing and that they should all be nurtured, loved, and encouraged to do whatever makes them happy?” She looked up at Dawson with a fierce look in her blood-shot eyes. “I hope that you make their lives hell!”

Dawson let out a chuckle at how adorable she looked with her snotty, red nose, blotchy face, and watery eyes. “Whose lives should I make hell?”

“The ones that work for you that were supposed to look after you when you were a little boy!” Her waterworks had started anew as she thought about how small and defenseless he must have been and how much suffering he must have gone through. “It’s not fair, Dawson!”

Wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his chest, he smoothed back her long hair as he tried to calm her down.

“Shhh. It’s okay. I had the last laugh, didn’t I? Look where I am right this minute. I’m being chauffeured around in a limo on my way to a charity gala with a beautiful woman. Life doesn’t get much better than this.”

He was shocked to realize that he was actually speaking the truth. Life didn’t get much better than this, and for the first time in his life, he had a woman to thank for that fact.