by Hope Stone
“Yes of course. Apologies.” The woman stood up and walked away.
I turned to him, surprised. Underneath the table he grabbed my hand and squeezed it to comfort me. Was that the fake boyfriend doing that? Or was that his true self?
The next day I helped Monica with her installation and I was worried that somehow she would see the photos of Christopher and me on page 6. But she never read the newspaper, nor did I, or anyone I knew. It still made for an uneasy day.
The night after the charity event, Christopher Scott acted as if nothing had happened at the charity event. He was all business. I didn’t know when I was supposed to turn on the girlfriend, or keep it off.
Sunday came and I arrived at the art show. I was nervous and Monica noticed.
“Congratulations, I am so proud of you Monica.” I said giving her a hug. But after I pulled away I looked around the room, scanning for Christopher.
“Thank you, I am proud of me too. Can you believe this? An entire gallery to myself! I never thought I would see the day, my work up like this,” she said.
“I did,” I told her. “You have worked really, really hard. You deserve it. You are a very unique artist, look at this! No one in New York has ever seen anything like this.” I wandered around, looking at her gigantic pieces on the walls.
“Thank you, I don't even care if anything sells while I have this exhibit. I'm just glad that I got to show my work.”
“I am sure that you will do fine,” I assured her. Then I scanned the room again, nervously moving.
“What's going on with you, Lydia? You're fidgeting,” Monica said.
“I'm just trying to see what kind of people come to your shows is all. Maybe there's someone from a blog,” I said lying.
I did not like lying to Monica, but I also didn't want to tell her that Christopher Scott the billionaire was coming to her show, because I honestly did not know if he would actually show up.
“Oh, that is very true. Let me know if you run into one. I have to go and make the rounds,” she said.
I walked around looking at the art. I really was impressed by her work, and before I knew it I was lost in the analyzation and experience of it.
“Do you like this one? You have been staring at it for a long time,” I heard a deep voice say behind me.
I got chills on my neck. I knew instantly that it was my boss. I turned to face him. Damn he looked good. He wasn't in his usual suit. Instead he wore a very nice blue sweater that fit him snugly and brought out his blue eyes. His dark gray trousers were fitted, and even though he was dressed somewhat casually, the ensemble included a three thousand dollar platinum watch on his wrist.
“Mr. Scott… I mean Christopher. How nice of you to come. Yes, this piece is exquisite.”
“Yes, exquisite,” he said but he wasn’t looking at the piece. He was looking at me.
“Um, can I get you something to drink? Wine, champagne?”
“No. I can’t stay long. Which other piece do you like, Lydia?”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Well, this one over here,” I said, stepping across the room. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked. My entire backside was burning.
“This one is beautiful,” he said.
“Yes, I think so.”
I watched as he stared at it a while, then back at the other painting. He said nothing and my pulse was racing. I looked around the room and saw that everyone was staring at us, especially the women. Monica saw me and her eyes were wide as she looked at Christopher. He definitely was the most attractive and elegant looking man in the room full of hipsters and artists.
“Excuse me,” he said. Then he walked away. I was so confused. I looked to Monica, who shrugged her shoulders at me.
A moment later he reappeared at my side with another woman. “This is my girlfriend Lydia. She will handle the details. Lydia, this is the gallery manager. If you can have them delivered to my home when they are ready. I have to go to London for the week,” he said to me.
“Yes, sure…” I said.
“I will prepare the paperwork.” The manager gave us both a nod and walked away.
“London?” I asked.
“Yes. I leave tonight. My jet is waiting. I will email you the details from the plane, but I promised I would come, so here I am. You’re doing good work.”
“Thank you.”
“I will see you next weekend and don’t forget dinner with my parents on Sunday. It is extremely important.”
“Yes. Of course.” He turned and walked out.
Chapter 5: Lydia
When Saturday arrived, the artwork delivery went smoothly. I had them placed underneath the space that I thought would showcase the art very well in his million dollar penthouse with a view of the park. I took the time to unwrap the paper from Monica's art pieces.
“Is that mine?” a deep and familiar voice said.
I turned to see Christopher standing in his doorway, luggage in his hand. I stood up quickly.
“Sir… I mean, Christopher. I apologize,” I stammered. "I was not expecting you until tomorrow morning. I was just handling the delivery of this artwork. I will be out of your way in a few minutes.” I said as I shifted nervously where I stood. I had not been planning on him showing up at his penthouse.
“You are fine, Lydia. No need to rush. You are right I was coming tomorrow morning, but I took the private jet back earlier,” he said, shutting the door behind him and walking inside.
“I understand.”
“I'm glad you are here. I've been meaning to talk to you about tomorrow and my parents,” he said, setting down his bag then walking to the bar. He popped open a bottle of red and poured two glasses.
I grew very nervous watching this. Was he about to fire me? Maybe that was why he had made such a nice gesture and bought the painting from my friend.
“Okay.”
“Sit down.” He handed me a glass of wine. I sat down on the leather sofa and he sat next to me.
“We really need to convince my parents. I realized that you and I have not kissed. If we have our first kiss in front of them it will be obvious that we are not a couple.”
“A kiss?” I felt the blood immediately rush to my face in anticipation. I was excited but I didn’t want to seem too eager.
“Yeah. It’s just a kiss.”
“All right.” I took a deep breath. I drank some of the wine and set it on the coffee table.
But before I could think any further about it, he leaned in and kissed me. His lips pressed against mine with a lot of pressure. Instinctively I opened my mouth, allowing his tongue to explore mine. I was lost in the moment. My body responded to him and I could feel the wetness gathering between my thighs. I wanted him badly. I knew it was wrong but I could not stop myself, not at this point. My desire for him had built up and now it was exploding.
He kissed me harder, and his strong hands moved down the sides of my body, his thumbs caressing the sides of my breasts down to my waist and over my hips. He pulled me against him.
In that moment I felt his body against mine, his chest hard and strong. My breasts pressed against it and my nipples grew hard instantly. This man was not my boss; he was the billionaire Christopher Scott, the most gorgeous man I had ever met.
I pulled away from him, but not completely. I looked into his blue eyes, and there was a sense of thick tension between us.
“Fuck I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant to happen. I got carried away,” he pulled away trying to hide the tent he pitched in his pants.
“So did I,” trying to hide the fact that I loved every second of it
“You did?”
“How could I not?” I whispered.
He kissed me again. “Damn it Lydia, you don't know how much I've wanted to touch you,” he said between breathy kisses.
I was shocked to hear it. I didn't think that he thought of me in such a way, I didn't think I was his type. I assumed that he only desired stick figure w
omen, not women with thick curves like me. He only paid attention to me as a fake girlfriend, not real romance.
I couldn't talk. My breathing was so hard as he kissed me and I felt lost in a foggy field of lust. He pushed me backwards onto the couch, and I let him. His mouth moved down my neck, and my body rose up to him immediately. His hand moved into the neckline of my dress and pushed into my bra, around my breast and cupped my nipple. He pushed the material aside and exposed my nipple to the air, and then to his mouth. He sucked on it lightly, teasing and tugging.
“Oh, yes. Yes,” I whispered. It felt so good.
Then he continued moving down, kissing on top of my dress down my waist until his head was between my thighs. I had worn thigh-high stockings that day, and he moaned when they became exposed to him. He kissed the skin between the top of the stocking and my panties. His tongue traced across it, until he arrived on top of my panties right on my crotch.
“Oh God. Oh, that feels so good,” I moaned as he pressed his mouth against the silk material of my panties.
Then he pushed my panties to the side and pressed his tongue against my slit.
“Oh. Fuck” Oh,” I moaned and wiggled underneath him.
“You are so hot, Lydia,”
I was lost. I was in the thick of the throes of passion. I didn't know the difference between right and wrong in this moment, I only knew pure ecstasy. His tongue moved up and down, along my slit. Until he stopped on my rosebud, placing pressure there off and on, moving side to side. I looked down my body at him, and seeing his gorgeous handsome face servicing me took me over the edge. This billionaire was pleasing me and he was the most attractive man I had ever known.
“Oh God. I'm going to come. I'm going to come.” I moaned as I lost all control and my body wiggled violently underneath him. A flood of ecstasy released from me, and Christopher licked me up and down, drinking me.
A moment passed, and I regained my senses. My body was still tingling all over, but suddenly it hit me. This man had just offered me a promotion, I was supposed to be a fake girlfriend… and now I was having oral sex with him? This was wrong, really wrong.
“I'm sorry. I have to go,” I said, jumping up to my feet. I fixed my dress and started to quickly walk toward the door.
“Why? What happened? Did I hurt you?”
“No it is not that. This is just… it's wrong. I'm sorry.” I opened the door and ran down the hall, I didn't breathe until I was in the elevator. What had I done? I had just ruined my career.
Chapter 6: Christopher
Fuck. What had I done? I knew better than to engage in any kind of sex act with Lydia. It would complicate the agreement, but damn, I couldn’t help myself. She was so hot and my body took control in that moment. My desire was too strong because it had built up over time, and now I didn’t know if this was going to work at all. I could kiss that trust fund release goodbye and I would lose the market action I had planned for it.
I got dressed, ready to go have dinner with my parents with a lie on my tongue. I was going to tell them that my girlfriend and I broke up. My phone went off.
I’m ready, the text from Lydia said. I was shocked. She was still going to go through with it. Damn. This woman was more like me than I thought, a shark ready to do anything to get the job she wanted and deserved.
Twenty minutes later we sat in the back of my town car. I definitely was not going to bring up what happened. “My father’s name is Richard and my mother’s name is Diane and…” I began.
She interrupted me. “I know. I’ve done my homework.”
I was impressed. “Good. Keep the small talk short. They just want to meet you is all. We can say that we have an early morning and need to leave after an hour.”
“Understood.” She turned to look out the window.
She was properly dressed. A white headband over her curled hair. A cardigan over a white button-up, a long pencil skirt and kitten heels. She looked like a wasp and my mother would appreciate that.
A few minutes later we all sat around the table with my parents.
“Lydia, I cannot tell you how happy we are to finally meet you,” my mother said as she drank her third glass of wine. “You know we didn’t even know your name. Christopher here would just tell us that he was seeing someone and it was serious.”
“That’s because I like to keep my private life private, Mother, as you know.” I scowled as I ran my hand over my face.
“Yes, but that was until we saw you both on page 6. We’ve never seen a photo of him with a girlfriend before,” my father said.
“Well, I am also very private like Christopher,” Lydia said with a pleasant smile on her face. “I think that is why we got along so well right from the moment we met. I just knew he was the one. I thought love at first sight was fake, but I am in finance and we like to overanalyze everything.” Damn. She was good.
“We will have dessert now,” my mother said to the maid, who nodded and left the room.
But when she returned she did not return with dessert, she returned with a blue box.
“Son. I am so proud of you for finally taking marriage seriously,” my father smiled proudly as he patted my shoulder. “I think you and Lydia make a fine couple. We know that you must be serious because you never bring girlfriends to dinner.”
I was confused. “Where is this going?” I asked.
“I have something for you,” my mother said. She opened the box. “This was my mother’s ring, handed down to her from her mother. It’s been in the family for generations, a Tiffany art deco ring. I want you and Lydia to have it. It would mean the world to them to know that our only son is carrying on the lineage and this is a sign of it.”
I heard Lydia gasp next to me.
Damn it. “Mother that is not necessary. We are not thinking of engagement just yet and…”
“But we can see the love between you two. It’s so obvious, the passion,” my mother said. “Take it for when you are ready.”
“And once you do we will release the trust, after the engagement,” my father said.
“Engagement? But you said that was not necessary, as long as I got serious about a relationship with a partner I wanted to have a future with.” I threw my napkin on the table in frustration.
“But what’s the point in holding off? You are going to want to have kids soon and since both you and Lydia are workaholics it’s better to do it now when you’re younger and…” my mother naggingly persisted.
“I can’t do this,” Lydia blurted out. I looked to her. Her eyes were watered over. She stood up. “I’m sorry. I can’t go through with this.” Then she ran out of the dining room.
My parents turned to me, stunned. Shit.
Chapter 7: Lydia
When I arrived to work on Monday, I was a bundle of nerves. I simply could not pull one over on Christopher’s poor mother. She expected me to wear a ring that meant so much to her family. I just couldn’t.
There was an email from Christopher waiting for me. I won't be in today. Take messages, don't forward calls to me. It was cold and straight to the point, as he always was. I was relieved.
I worked so hard that the day got away from me. When I looked at the clock, it was 6:30 in the evening. I usually left at 5. I turned off my computer and started to wrap up.
“Why are you still here?”
I turned to see Christopher standing there. Damn he looked good. He always looked good. A flash of him between my thighs came over me. I had to shake the thought away.
“The time got away from me. I was going over these quarterly reports, and found some discrepancies from the bank. I believe that they owe us some money.”
“Is that so? Well, bring in the books,” he said, walking straight into his office and turning on the light.
“Yes sir... I mean, Christopher.”
I took a deep breath and grabbed the quarterly reports and brought them into his office. I closed the door behind me, though there wasn't anyone left in the office anyw
ay. It was a habit.
“Let's see what you’ve got,” he said coming around to the front side of his desk. I set the reports down and opened them. I was nervous, not because I thought my work could be wrong, but because he was standing so close to me. I could feel his arm rubbing against mine and my body responded to him instantly. My panties were getting wetter by second. Damn it.
“I was analyzing this track here,” I began, “and it doesn't match up with last quarter's. I believe the numbers have been changed, whether by mistake or on purpose.”
“That's quite a discrepancy, about a hundred grand.” He whistled.
“Yes, I know.”
He grew quiet and began to flip through the books even more. Then he closed them with a loud bang. “Good work, as usual.”
“Thank you.”
He turned to me, looking directly at me with those blue eyes. “Look, I can't avoid this conversation any longer. I apologize for what I did. I didn't mean to offend you, I just haven't been able to get you out of my mind, Lydia. Ever since I saw you that windy day holding your dress and running across the courtyard in front of the Tremont building. You flashed thigh-high stockings and I thought I was going to lose my shit.”
“You saw me that day, before you came in to Robert's office?”
“Yes, and you have haunted my mind ever since then. What happened at my apartment—I regret it because you are my employee and it was wrong of me. But if I were to go back and do it all over again I would probably do the same thing. I have no control around you.”
“Neither do I,” I said in a weak whisper. I could barely get the words out I was so turned on. I had no idea he felt this way about me when I felt the same about him.
“Good, because I want you and I shall have you.” He pulled me to him, kissing me just as hard as he had that day in his penthouse.
This time I threw my arms around his neck, pushing my fingers into his dark brown hair. I opened my mouth, letting his tongue play with mine. He put his large hands around my bottom and massaged it, getting a moan out of me. But he didn't stop there. He pushed me against his body and lifted me up onto his desk. I was so wet, so hot.
