Fool for Love

by Mel Curtis

  “I’m not threatened. I’m onto you and your seductive ways.” Maddy fidgeted. “Look, I like you, but I want this chance with Ivan so bad and I have a history of choosing men who…get me off track.”

  “So you have been thinking about us.” Tension that had been banded around his chest – tension he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying – loosened. A smile began a slow creep across his face.

  Her hip popped out. She propped a fist on it. “I can’t be with a man I don’t trust. You went behind my back with Dave – ”

  “And got egg on my face. That won’t happen again.”

  She stared at him so long he almost admitted her pitch meeting had been a set-up. Almost.

  She tossed her hands. “Frankly, you don’t know what you want out of life or a relationship. I don’t want to be your temporary good time.”

  The mistakes of Blue’s past filled his ears with a buzzing noise that drowned out the bar’s music, the voices, everything but Maddy. No woman had ever turned him down before. His sexual history and notoriety were always a plus in Hollywood. “I know what I want. Honest. It’s you.”

  Her cheeks flared again. “Exactly what I wanted to hear. So predictable.” She spun away.

  He scrambled, like he’d never had to scramble before. “Maddy, wait.”

  She looked over her shoulder.

  “As to what I want…I’m going to figure out how to be a good life coach. I may not the best at it now and I may not be one forever, but…well…for now, it challenges me.” How odd to feel the statement ring true, despite the compromises he’d have to make.

  She hesitated.

  “And...” He swallowed, hesitating over words he’d never said to a woman. “I’ll wait for you…to trust me.” Heaven willing, he wouldn’t have to wait long.

  She huffed, but didn’t turn her back on him.

  “But while I wait, can you bring me a Corona? It’s my beer of choice.”

  “So cliché.” She rolled her eyes and headed toward the bar. He enjoyed watching her move, her short hair and curvy hips swayed in an invitation she had yet to acknowledge. She wouldn’t make him wait long.

  Things were looking up. He’d picked up the Aston Martin this morning and it didn’t smell like lake water or goose shit. His billings were on the rise. And, despite the fact that a few months of role playing for Senge would’ve satisfied the conditions of his father’s will, Blue was proud he’d refused. He might end up as a life coach, but he wouldn’t prostitute himself.

  The crowd in the bar was bent with age and garnished with silver hair.

  “Is there a retirement home nearby?” Blue asked when Maddy returned with his bottle of Corona and a lime resting on the rim of a frosty mug.

  She shook her head. “The crowd changes based on what’s happening at the hotel. Big movie premier down the street and we get some of the cast and their assistants. They drink a lot. They’re loud, but they’re usually happy. Conventions on this side of town and we get the salesmen, sometimes sleezy, sometimes happy to have anyone to talk to.” She shrugged. “It just all depends.”

  “And the crowd this evening?”

  “Classic film festival.” She leaned over, her white button down gaping open enough to catch his eye. “See that couple over there? They’ve been in the casts of some fantastic movies. They told me about cafeteria lunches with Michael Douglas, cocktails with Elvis Presley, cigarette breaks with Steve McQueen.” She sighed.

  “You were born to be a filmmaker.” Maddy collected stories even when she didn’t have a camera. He couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t stay away from your other tables on my account. I don’t want you to get into trouble.” At least, not at work.

  She left him, frowning. He watched her make her rounds. Unlike other Hollywood dreamers working service jobs until their big break, she worked hard and was nice to everyone.

  “What time do you get done?” Blue asked when she stopped to drop off a small bowl of pistachios.

  “Why?”

  “I thought you wanted to help me choose some bachelors.”

  She tapped her watch. “It’s after five.”

  “What? You need a chaperone to work with me?”

  “After five? After last night? Yes.”

  He leaned toward her and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Right now I want to drag you into the elevator, press the stop button, and find out how quickly we can prove Senge wrong.”

  Her breath caught. And then she patted his shoulder in that platonic way of hers that she used when he breached her other defenses. “Wow. It’s like you’re a little kid with new powers and you don’t know how to use them yet. What happened to waiting until I trust you?”

  It was his turn to shrug. “I’m impatient. I want to pour champagne over your body and lick it out of your crevices.”

  Maddy glanced around to make sure no one heard him. “Are you insane?”

  Blue took a sip of his beer as he regarded Maddy. “You make me think about the choices I’ve made and the choices that are ahead of me, Maddy. And that makes me insane. I may not be able to do love or long-term. But I care about you and I’d be honored to be your friend and bed-buddy until you get tired of me.” That was the most commitment he’d given a woman. Ever.

  Her eyes had darkened. Her cheeks tinged pink.

  “Say something.” He was having trouble keeping his cool. He wanted her so bad, he ached with the need to hold her. “This is the first time I’ve been upfront with a woman. Tell me you don’t think we could prove Senge wrong. It doesn’t have to be tonight.” God, let it be tonight. “Just tell me you feel something, too.”

  “I’m this close to achieving the dream I’ve had since I was seven.” It wasn’t a refusal. Her gaze was distant, as if she was looking at him, but calculating the risks of letting go. “Poppa Bert used to say you have to want your dream more than anything to make it come true.”

  He captured Maddy’s wrist, encircled it within his hand. Her skin was warm and soft. “I don’t care what rules you make or what Senge says. The point is, we like each other. We can build trust from there.” He stroked her forearm.

  She stood, frozen.

  Someone behind the bar called her name.

  “Yeah,” she said weakly.

  “You okay?” The bartender glared at Blue.

  “Yeah.” Maddy didn’t break Blue’s stare. “Shit. I think I just came in my panties.”

  “I can make it so much better with your panties off.” Blue stroked her forearm once more. “If you’ll trust me.”

  Maddy stepped slowly away, drawing his hand across her skin again. “I get off at midnight.”

  If Blue had his way, she’d be getting off every hour after that. “I’ll be outside with the engine running.”

  This is crazy.

  Blue Rule wanted to make love to her? Blue Rule?

  He was out of her league. He messed with her mind just by breathing. Was she really going to sleep with him?

  Maddy texted Vera that she wouldn’t be home that night. Hopefully Vera wouldn’t get the text until the morning, when Maddy was going to allow her plenty of opportunity for I told you so’s.

  This is crazy.

  So she was going to have sex with one of the sexiest men in southern California. No big deal. Lots of people nowadays had friends with benefits.

  But what happens when you have to work together?

  Maddy wanted to shut her filter off. “Paul, give me a shot of tequila.”

  Paul frowned. “You’re not the tequila type, Maddy.”

  “I am tonight.” She meant to take full advantage of Blue giving her exactly what she wanted. She didn’t trust him not to throw a wrench in her reality show plans. She didn’t trust him when it came to committing to a relationship. But what did it matter if she came into this with her eyes wide open? One night. That’s all it was.

  Maddy grabbed a shot glass and flipped it onto the bar. “Hit me.”

  “Girl, I hope he’s worth it.” />
  Me, too.

  The tequila burned all the way down. “You could have at least poured me some top shelf tequila.”

  “Decisions like you’re making aren’t made on top shelf tequila.”

  Two more shots and the tequila flames spread through her limbs like wildfire, until she practically ached to be touched when she left the bar. True to his word, Blue was waiting outside the lobby in his classic James Bond car with the motor running. She slid into the passenger seat.

  “I’m not like the other women you’ve dated.”

  “No, you’re not.” He shifted the car through its gears so quickly her body pressed back against the seat.

  She pretended it was his body pressing her back. “I’m going to be demanding. I like certain things and I won’t do others.” Best to get that out of the way now. She was something of a prude. The missionary position was reliable. If she was going to spend the next few weeks working with Blue, she didn’t want to look at him and relive kinky sex that she wouldn’t have done without tequila. “And I’ll need more tequila.”

  “We’ll see.”

  In no time they were rocketing onto the 405, heading north.

  “Where are we going?”

  “My place. I have a bottle of champagne chilling.” He gave her a sideways glance and an evil smile that brought to mind his intent – he was going to lick champagne out of her crevices.

  “That sounds messy.” And hot. Oh, so hot. But not business-like. “We probably shouldn’t pop that cork.”

  He laughed a bit maniacally. He was weaving in and out of traffic as if he was 007 and they were on their way to save the world, the engine revving with unspent power. “Close your eyes, Maddy.”

  “I don’t want to close my eyes.”

  “Close your eyes.”

  They’d reached the top of the hill, coming down into the valley by the exit to Mulholland Drive.

  “Why?” Her eyes were languid, drifting closed anyway just because she was tired and she was on the downhill side of tequila shots.

  Blue sighed. “Because I don’t want you to know where I live.”

  Her eyes shot open. “You don’t trust me?”

  “I don’t trust anybody.”

  That hurt more than she thought it would. “Well, that’s comforting considering I’m about to trust you with my body.”

  “There will be no avenging done at my new address. Close your eyes, Maddy.”

  “I suppose if I don’t know where you live I can’t submit to a future urge to show up at your door wearing only a thong and a sundress.”

  “I suppose not.” He sounded strangled.

  “All right.” Maddy closed her eyes and put her hands over them for good measure. “I hope the sheets on your bed are clean.”

  Silence. A turn signal. The powerful car’s acceleration cocooning her in the seat again.

  “And no dishes in the sink. I have a thing about dishes in the sink. Makes me want to clean them.”

  Another turn signal. A bend. A sloping curve. A bump.

  And then the sound of a garage door opening.

  “I feel as if I’ve entered the bat cave. Can I open my eyes now, Bruce?”

  “Yes, but stay in the car while I put Mr. J away.”

  His garage was empty except for the Cayenne. White walls. No tools. Why didn’t that surprise her? He wasn’t the type to putter around the house. Any puttering he did would be at the country club. Or in bed.

  Blue returned. Towering above the car, he stared down at her through the windshield, looking like a poster for her fantasies. Then he opened her door, lifted her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

  Me Tarzan. You Jane.

  “Hey, wait.” Maddy’s nose banged against his back, as her Tarzan fetish met up with reality. “Isn’t this supposed to be about me and what I want?”

  “No.” He shouldered open the door and carried her into the living room – comfortable looking beige couches, a beige Lazy boy, beige carpet and a big yellow blanket on the floor.

  “What? Your bed wasn’t made?”

  Blue laid her on the blanket.

  “No fire? No candles?”

  “Too cliché.” He unbuttoned his shirt as he left the room. “Don’t move.”

  “Where’s my tequila? At least give a girl some liquid courage.”

  The picture over the fireplace was a wave crashing into a rocky shore. Now that was cliché.

  Something popped. Glasses clinked.

  If there wasn’t tequila, champagne would have to do. Maddy raised up on her elbows and craned her neck to see into the kitchen.

  Blue appeared in the doorway holding a bottle of Dom Perignon and two champagne flutes. His shirt was gone, revealing some very chiseled muscle, including the top of an intriguing V, the bottom of which was covered by his waistband. “You moved.”

  “So?”

  “It’s not allowed. My rules.”

  “Blue’s Rules.” She snorted, vestiges of tequila still in her system. “Blue’s Rules of Attraction.”

  “So now we need a punishment.” Blue knelt at her side, depositing the champagne and glasses on a nearby coffee table. He poured golden liquid into a glass and offered it to her.

  It was dry and cold, not near as inhibition erasing as tequila.

  Blue sat at Maddy’s feet, slipped off one of her flats and started giving her a foot rub.

  Heaven.

  She gulped her champagne and lay back down.

  After a few glorious minutes, Blue gave the other foot the same treatment. But the entire time, he was stroking her with his eyes.

  Her body felt liquid. “I like the way you punish.”

  “That wasn’t the punishment. This is. Hold still.” He began to unbutton her white blouse. He peeled it carefully aside, revealing her plain white bra.

  Why was it that Maddy never had on the right bra when sex was at hand?

  And then Blue took a flute of champagne and poured it slowly over each of her white cotton covered breasts.

  The liquid seeped through the material and onto her skin. Cold. Sticky. He placed his lips over her breast, gently suckling champagne through the thin layers of fabric, pulling her nipple into his mouth, warming her up. And all the while, he held her gaze with his own. Daring her not to hide from the passion that was building between them.

  “Oh, my.” It was good to have a task master. She reached for Blue’s waistband, but he brushed her hand away.

  His mouth left her while he busied himself with undoing the side zipper of her black skirt, dragging the material over her hips and down her thighs. Every touch making her want him, all of him, however he wanted to give himself to her.

  Blue removed her panties next.

  “Now let’s find some of those crevices.” He poured champagne over her belly button.

  Champagne dripped around her waist. He licked her clean. Her skin tingled with the need to be touched. She arched her back, begging for what she knew was coming next.

  But instead of pouring champagne over the triangular thatch of hair between her legs, he took a sip, studying her body before lowering his mouth to one wet bra cup and squirting the still cold champagne out of his mouth through the fabric and onto her nipple.

  Maddy gasped.

  Another sip. Lips placed on her other breast. Another cold burst of liquid heaven. Her back was sticky with bubbly. Air came in ragged gasps. She arched again. A plea for release.

  His hand on her pelvic bone guided her back to the blanket.

  “This is punishment,” she murmured.

  Blue smiled wickedly, idly stroking her thigh as he took another sip of champagne. And then he parted her legs, kneeled between them, leaned down, and spread her apart with his fingers. His lips so warm. The sticky liquid so cold. A stream, stroking, soaking, putting pressure on a spot that sent her climaxing, had her grabbing his shoulders, dragging him to her for a kiss where she warmed his tongue with her own.

  She rolled him on his back, str
addling him. “You. Are. Overdressed.” She gave him the same slow treatment he’d given her. A leisurely pulled zipper. The slow glide of trousers over bare skin. Boxers removed with roving hands. Until he lay beneath her in all his chiseled glory.

  “Condom,” he said weakly, gesturing to his pants.

  “In a minute,” she said tartly, reaching for the champagne.

  There was always a moment after incredible sex with an intriguing woman where Blue felt that restlessness, that niggle of thought urging him to get up, pull his pants on and leave.

  But Maddy had been lying in his arms on the living room floor with her hand stroking his chest for twenty minutes. The niggle hadn’t come.

  Before he could ponder why, she spoke. “I thought when women were with the infamous Blue Rule they got to choose how and when. There’ll be no more domination on your part.”

  Blue nipped her gently on the shoulder. “You probably came here with some plan about having quick missionary sex, and getting me out of your system.”

  Her eyes widened. “The savant speaks.”

  “I have plans for you, Maddy.” Blue stood, scooped her up, and carried her to the heated lap pool that lined his back patio, depositing her in the far end. The summer night was clear and warm. The moon overhead not covered by incoming fog. He turned on the filter. The current began to flow slowly. He rolled a condom into place. And then he lowered himself into the water and drew Maddy into his arms. She smelled of champagne, flowery shampoo and sex. Forced by the current, his body pressed against hers as he slid inside her and against the wall. “I have a few things I want to try before we check off your missionary fantasy.”

  Maddy make enticing sounds as he started to slide and glide. “There is nothing wrong with soft sheets and horizontal sex.”

  “I’m not giving you what you want.” He spun her around until his back was against the hard tile, her body pressing against him from the strength of the lap pool current. She took advantage of the water’s flow, folding her legs on either side of his hips, flattening her soft breasts against him.

  Maddy’s breasts. Maddy’s hips. Him inside of Maddy. Both of them moving with the greediness of need.