by Summers, MJ
Luc smiled. “Thank you. It’s nice to be with someone who knows what it’s like. It’s not a sign of disinterest in you, only necessity.”
“I can’t see that bothering me, but. . . .” Her voice trailed off as Megan reconsidered what she was about to say.
“But? If there’s something I’m doing that bothers you, I want to know now, so I can make adjustments,” Luc said with a serious expression.
“It’s Simone, actually. After what happened in Paris, I’m a little concerned she might try to interfere again. And I’m wondering why someone with such a mean streak still works for you. Surely she must cause problems with the staff at times.”
Luc gave a little nod. “Yes, I’m sure it would be hard to understand. Simone has been with me for a long time. She is very loyal and does an excellent job, always putting out fires for me—a lot of them I will never even have to know about. She doesn’t have a family—at least, not a very nice one. She is an only child, like me, except instead of a philanderer for a father, hers was abusive. Her mother managed to get away from him only to marry another abuser. Simone has nothing to do with either of them. She and I are both without true families so, in some ways, we have become that for each other. That’s why she is so protective of me. Does that make sense?”
Megan’s voice was hesitant. “It does . . . but it doesn’t really help alleviate my concerns about her possible impact on our relationship.”
Luc reached his hand across the table to hold hers. “I know she was awful to you and I am so sorry for that. I will be very vigilant to make sure she doesn’t interfere. And if you somehow end up having a conversation with her again that you are troubled by, I need to know right away so I can deal with her accordingly. She will grow used to the fact that we are together and, in time, I hope you two will even become friends. Once she sees what I see in you, I know she’ll want to be your friend. How could she not? You are an amazing person. When that happens, you’ll see that there is no one as fiercely protective as Simone.”
“At this moment, I honestly can’t imagine a scenario in which she and I are good friends,” Megan replied with a skeptical look.
“I know. It would be unreasonable for me to expect that of you, but I hope you can see why I can’t just toss her aside.”
Megan picked up her fork and knife again. “I think I get it, but I’m going to hold you to what you said about making sure she doesn’t try anything again.”
“As you should,” Luc answered, giving her hand a little squeeze. “I would never want anyone to hurt you, Megan, not Simone or anyone else. I consider it my job to prevent that from happening.”
“Well, I can see how successful you are at work, so that should help me to relax a little about it all.”
“Good. And I’m glad you told me rather than worrying about it in silence. Honesty is really the only way to make relationships work.”
“Agreed.”
On the way back to the hotel, they ducked into a drugstore to buy a package of condoms. Luc also grabbed a small box of chocolates for Megan. They hurried down the street to the hotel, the cold wind rushing them along.
The afternoon was spent in bed. Luc took his time with Megan, exploring every inch of her body with his hands and his mouth. Megan lost count of how many orgasms she had that day; she felt raw in a completely satisfied way. They lay together, bodies glistening with sweat as the sun started to lower in the sky. Megan’s head was resting on Luc’s chest, her leg slung over his midsection lazily. She looked over at the clock. It read 5 p.m. They would have to leave soon and she was nowhere near ready for him to go.
She lifted her head and selected a chocolate from the almost empty box on the bed beside her. Looking at the legend, she read aloud, “Caramel filled.”
“That one is for me, then. Those are my favourites,” Luc replied.
Megan held it over his waiting lips and then popped it into her own mouth instead. “Mine too,” was her muffled answer as she selected another one. “Here, you can have the orange-centre one.”
“Oh, I get the one no one likes? How kind of you, especially since I have spent the afternoon tirelessly giving you orgasm after orgasm.”
Megan laughed, dropping the chocolate back into its spot and selecting another. “Here, ganache, but only because you must have a sore jaw by now.”
“It will hurt for days but it was totally worth it. It should be fine by Thursday, if you still want to meet.”
“Sure, I’m not quite sick of you yet,” she teased. “Getting there, but not yet.”
Luc laughed and slapped her on the ass lightly. “So, you’ve stopped enjoying multiple orgasms, then? That seems odd. I thought most women loved them.”
Megan laughed, lifting her head to look at him, resting her chin on his chest. “Oh, that part I like. But well-endowed, incredibly handsome sex gods get a bit dull after a while. I can’t guarantee how long I’ll want to keep fucking you.”
Luc gave her a questioning look. “Are you drunk right now? Because you told me you’re a huge liar when you’re drunk.”
Megan laughed out loud, surprised he remembered what she had said in Paris about that. “I am sober, actually, so you’ll know it’s the truth when I tell you that I haven’t had this much fun with a man in years.”
“I know. That is a crime.”
Megan smiled gratefully at him, resting her chin on his chest. “Thank you, Luc. This has been wonderful.”
“It certainly has. There is no part of me that has any interest in going anywhere. There is nothing there that I want as much as you.” As the words came out of Luc’s mouth, the truth of them struck him with force.
Megan reluctantly got up, sauntering naked across the room to find her clothes. Luc gazed at her lean body as she moved. His cock hardened at the sight, causing him to groan. “Especially when you do that. How is it possible that I am hard again just watching you move?”
Megan turned to him and smiled while she plucked her bra off the lampshade it had spent the last several hours slung over. She gazed at his hard body, not entirely sure how she had ended up spending the day in bed with this incredible man. Only weeks before she had been certain she would never do this again, and now here she was in a hotel room, having just had the best sex of her life. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”
“That’s funny, I was about to take a shower as well. Maybe we’ll have to share.”
Half an hour later, Megan stood at the door, pulling on her coat. Luc came to her, hanging her scarf over her shoulders and using it to pull her in for a lingering kiss.
“I have to go and so do you,” she said, pulling away from him.
Luc tied the sash on his robe with a heavy sigh. “Thursday seems like an eternity from now, to me.”
“I thought you loved anticipation?”
Luc grinned. “I usually do, but when it comes to you, mon ange, it feels more like torture.”
Megan finished dressing and turned to him. “So, skiing on Thursday or another day in bed?”
“Can we go skiing for a few hours and then come back here? Would you have time for that?”
“I should. I’ll see if my mom can pick up Elliott from school and feed him supper.”
“Sounds perfect.” Luc wrapped his arms around Megan and gave her a lingering kiss, one that was meant to hold them over for the next few days but only served to deepen their need for each other. Megan held her eyes shut for a long moment when the kiss was over, trying to prevent the day from ending.
SIXTEEN
“Harper, it’s me.” Megan drove toward home, using the hands-free to talk to her friend.
“Meg! Oh my God! I’ve been trying to reach you. You are never going to believe this! Luc went to Boulder. He came looking for you.”
“He found me. Turns out he checked into the hotel the wedding was at. I just spent the day in bed with him. Oh, and some of last night too.”
“WHAT?” Harper’s voice exploded into the phone. “I can’t bel
ieve it! How was it? Where is this all going?”
“It was unbelievably incredible and it’s going into unchartered territory for me. We’ve agreed to meet when he’s in the US and leave it at that.”
“Seriously? That doesn’t sound very romantic.” Harper’s voice fell a little.
“I know it doesn’t but I don’t have time for romance. It’s really kind of perfect for me. He wants us to be exclusive, which is fine with me, since it’s not like I’d be out looking for other men anyway. I can have a little romance and about a thousand times more sex than I was having, without worrying about it interfering with my real life. Elliott doesn’t ever have to know, so I won’t have to worry about introducing him to a man who might not stick around.”
“Hmm . . . I guess . . . But is that really what you want, Meg?”
“It’s what I want for right now, Harper. I know it sounds weird, but in my position, that’s really all I can allow myself.” Megan’s voice was confident.
“But what will happen when it’s over? You can’t keep things in limbo like that forever.”
Megan sighed, not wanting to think about the end. “Listen, Harper, try to be excited for me, okay? Last night and today I had the best sex of my friggin’ life and I want to enjoy the afterglow here. I am finally having some fun and I don’t want to overthink it. You, of all people, should be excited about it—you’ve been pushing me to get laid for years now. Luc’s so amazing and I think he’s exactly what I need.”
“Are you referring to his huge dick right now? Because I don’t think you should let your vag make your decisions for you.”
Megan giggled at her friend’s dirty reference. “Okay, I’m not going to lie to you. The cock definitely tips things in his favour. But if he weren’t so attentive and thoughtful, I promise it wouldn’t make any difference.”
“I fucking well hope not. If you end up getting hurt, I’m going to feel very responsible for introducing the two of you.”
“I’ll be fine, Harper. I’m not a naive young girl. I’m a strong, independent woman and I know what I want. And what I want is in his pants.” Megan laughed wickedly at her own joke, trying to divert the conversation.
Harper found herself giggling along. “Alright, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Trust me, I won’t. I know what I’m doing. Now, how are you?”
* * *
That night after Megan tucked Elliott into bed, he called her back into the room. “Hey, Mom?”
“Yes?”
“You’re really happy tonight. It’s nice.”
“I am happy. I have the best son on the planet. Now get to sleep.”
Megan jogged down the steps on her way to the kitchen to prepare Elliott’s lunch for the next day. She put her phone in the docking station and selected Katy Perry’s latest album. Singing along to “Unconditionally,” her whole body felt like it was smiling as she worked. This was the first evening in years she didn’t have that empty feeling. All thoughts of her normal state of loneliness were so far from her mind she didn’t even notice the empty feeling was gone.
SEVENTEEN
The next two days absolutely dragged for Luc. He kept himself busy with meetings at the club as well as touring a few commercial properties in Aspen he was considering for a new upscale pub he wanted to open. In the evenings, he and Megan talked on the phone late into the night after she got Elliott to sleep. That was by far the best part of his day. He found himself falling asleep quickly, which was a welcome change for him. He told her things he had never shared with anyone before and was surprised how good it felt to have this type of intimacy with a woman.
On Wednesday, he flew to Boulder in the early evening and checked back into the same hotel. After getting settled in, Luc sent a text to Megan to let her know he had arrived. He felt a mixture of excitement and frustration, being so close to her but not being able to see her or touch her until the next day. It suddenly seemed odd to him to feel so close to someone, even though they had spent only a matter of hours together and he had never even seen her house.
Around 9 p.m., Megan called him on Skype so they could see each other. She looked a bit sleepy and her hair was wet from the shower.
“So, this is me with no makeup.” She gave him an unsure look. “I hope you aren’t scared off.”
Luc smiled back affectionately. “You look lovelier than ever. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
“Me too. I should be at the hotel around 9:30, so we can go straight to the ski hill. My mom is going to pick Elliott up from school and bring him home. I want to be home in time to put him to bed, so I should be home by 7:30.”
“Megan, I want to say thank you,” Luc said.
“For what?”
“Thank you for giving me another chance and for making all these arrangements so we can see each other. I know you have very little time in your life, and it means a lot to me that you would give me some of it.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. Thank you for coming all this way twice in one week just to see me. It’s really . . . I don’t know how to describe it. It’s wonderful.”
“Yes, I’m a pretty remarkable man, really.”
Megan laughed. “That you are. See you tomorrow, Monsieur Wonderful.”
“See you then, gorgeous.”
* * *
“Hey! You’re a really great skier for a French guy!” Megan called to Luc as they neared the bottom of their first run together. He was ahead of her as they carved their way down the hill at top speed.
Luc pivoted and came to a sideways stop, spraying snow behind him. He gave her a hurt look. “Why would you have such low expectations?”
Megan stopped beside him with mischievous look. “I thought you Frenchmen just liked drinking wine and flirting with women. I never would have taken you for the sporty type.”
“Oh, that sounds like . . . what did you call it? A back-ended compliment?”
“Backhanded, a backhanded compliment. You catch on fast.” She laughed.
Luc gazed at Megan for a moment. She looked beautiful to him, with her rosy cheeks framed by a light pink wool hat and her blond hair flipped out from under it. She had bought the hat and the black fitted ski jacket to go over her grey ski pants earlier in the week, deciding that a little splurge was in order. He leaned on his poles and planted a kiss on her mouth.
“And here I thought you were so kind.” He grinned.
“If I were too nice, it would get boring.”
“No one could ever accuse you of being boring. Shall we make our way back up the mountain?”
“Yes!”
They sat close together on the chairlift. Luc held his poles in one hand and wrapped his other arm around her shoulder. The sun was shining brightly, warming them as they ascended the mountain. The air was cold but felt refreshing after the exertion of making their way down the hill earlier.
“This feels positively decadent. Skiing on a weekday! I should be at home doing laundry and paying bills.” Megan smiled.
“No, you should be here being spoiled. You deserve a day off.”
“I do, don’t I?”
Luc laughed and gave her a peck on the cheek. “If anyone does, it’s you. I’m only glad you’re letting yourself do this with me.”
“Me too.”
“What did your mother think of you coming here with me today?”
Megan looked down at her mitts, feeling embarrassed. “I told her I was going with a few other moms. I know it’s completely immature to be sneaking around like this, but she wouldn’t approve. She wants me to find a man to settle down with.”
“If you were my daughter, I wouldn’t approve of me either. I would want you to find a good man who wanted to get married.”
“Hmm, I have a feeling you are a good man, and I don’t want to get married. I did it once and it was a complete disappointment. This will work because neither of us is making promises we can’t keep.”
“I hope so, Megan, but I want you to tell me if
your expectations change. I need to know if this stops working for you. I can’t stand the thought of you feeling lonely or sad when I leave. I would never want you to be left unhappy.”
Megan bumped him with her shoulder a little. “Listen, I’m a big girl and I can handle this. I think I can go a long time with a fantasy life on the side.”
“I hope you can because I don’t know when I’ll be able to get you out of my system,” Luc replied as the chair started to lower.
* * *
A couple of hours later, Megan found herself lounging in a cozy armchair next to a roaring fire in the lodge. She watched Luc as he crossed the room, carrying a tray of food and drinks. Their eyes met as he moved toward her, smiling warmly. Setting the tray down on the table, he passed her a beer and the burger and fries she had ordered.
He chose the chair opposite her and picked up a fry. “I have worked up quite an appetite.”
“Me too. There’s nothing like fresh air and exercise to make you hungry.” Megan slapped the bottom of the glass ketchup bottle, causing a large blob to land on her plate.
Luc took a sip of his beer. “I agree. I haven’t skied in years. Thank you for suggesting this. I forgot how much I love it.”
“It is wonderful, isn’t it?”
“When I was a young man, skiing was the first thing I wanted to do when I could finally afford it. It was more out of a sense of righteous indignation than anything else. I wanted to show my father that I was as good as his other children. It was only after I started to learn how to ski that I realized how enjoyable it was.”
Megan tilted her head as she listened to him. In their brief time together, this was the most information he had volunteered about his father. “It sounds like you had a rough childhood where he’s concerned.”
Luc shrugged. “Well, yes, I suppose. He had another family. My mother was his mistress. We got scraps when it came to his time and affection. But, you know, it’s ancient history now.”
“Is it?” Megan asked quietly. “I worry a lot about Elliott growing up without his dad. I worry that it will leave a wound too big to heal.”
