Later, when they had said goodbye to Jack, Cosima started to clear the dishes, shoving the copious leftovers into their refrigerator. She studiously ignored Harpa who was standing, leaning against the doorjamb with her arms cross and watching her.
After a few moments, Harpa could bear it no longer.
‘So,’ she began, pulling out a chair and sitting down, ‘I figured out that the only time you were between jobs was a couple of months ago…and most of that time, you were in the Maldives.’
Cosima shrugged but said nothing, rinsing out a washcloth in the sink. Harpa studied her sister. ‘You fucked Arlo Forrester?’
Cosima sighed, giving up. ‘Yes.’
Harpa gaped. ‘No, really?’
Cosima threw her hands up. ‘Harpa – what do you want me to say? I had a holiday fling with the man. It was wonderful. I came home. The end.’
‘Except he’s looking for you,’ Harpa was grinning, ‘Dude…Arlo Forrester is hot.’
Cosima nodded. ‘And here. He found me, Harp. And I’m working for him now, so our relationship is just professional from now on. Why are you looking at me like that?’
Harpa was smiling. ‘Because it’s so unlike you. You don’t do casual hookups, you never have. And you’ve been unreasonably cheerful since you got back like you…’
‘Like you what?’
Harpa burst out laughing. ‘Like you got laid properly for the first time in your life.’
Cosima snorted with laughter. ‘Well, that’s not far off the mark. But, hey, look, it’s over now so let’s just drop it.’
‘Except it’s not. He’s here, and you’re going to be working with him, mmm, getting close, working late…’ Harpa got up and put her arms around her sister. ‘New Orleans is hot even in the Fall, and you’ll get all sweaty and say ‘Gosh, Mr. Forrester, I do believe I’m feeling faint, I might just have to open my blouse.'’
Cosima was giggling now as Harpa continued her skit. ‘And then he says ‘Say, Missy, let me just help you out with that…’ Her voice had dropped significantly, and she strode around the kitchen like a Neanderthal. Cosima wiped her eyes.
‘Yes, because that’s the way it works.’
Harpa, exhausting herself, finally dropped into a chair. ‘Seriously, though, Cos…do you like this guy?’
Cosima nodded. ‘I do. But, at the moment, my career comes first. When we’ve completed this project, who knows? We’ll probably be sick of the sight of one another.’
Harpa grinned then yawned widely, setting off Cosima. ‘Yup. Bedtime.’
Cosima was just getting into bed when Harpa stuck her head around the door. She smiled at her sister.
‘Cos, I just wanted to say…I’m really happy that you had that, the fling or whatever it was. For months I was worried – check that, years – that you were missing out. On life. On love. You were always so serious, Cos, and since you came back from the Indian Ocean, there’s been something new in your eyes.’
Cosima was touched. ‘What’s that?’
Harpa smiled softly. ‘Joy. Night, Cos.’
‘Night, Boo.’
Cosima switched her lamp off and lay back in bed. She thought about what Harpa had said, thought about that kiss this afternoon some more. You’re right, Harpa, I did feel joy. I feel joy whenever he is near me. Cosima smiled to herself. She was looking forward to working on the LaBelle Project – and part of her was looking forward to it finishing. She hoped Arlo Forrester meant what he said.
She hoped he would wait for her.
‘You’re wrong.’
‘I am not wrong; you're just a jackass.’
‘That’s Mr. Jackass, sweetcheeks.’
Cosima couldn’t stop laughing. It had been a month, and the hotel was in a state of complete disarray. Contractors knocking walls down, electricians and joiners working everywhere. Arlo had been impressed with how quickly Cosima had organized everything. ‘You sure you don’t want to appoint a project manager?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m a control freak, and since you didn’t need me to, you know, build a hotel, then I’m good.’
‘Well, I’m impressed but not surprised.’
She grinned. ‘Wait until you have a dumb idea and I have to talk you out of it.’
Which was what was happening now. Cosima wiped her eyes and put her hand on his. ‘Arlo…you cannot put a fireman’s pole on the penthouse.’
He was smiling that wicked smile of his. ‘Why not? Who’s to say what I can or can’t do in my home?’
That stopped her. ‘What?’ Her eyes were wide with surprise.
‘I fully intend to make the penthouse my permanent home here in New Orleans.’
Cosima was stunned. ‘You’re staying here?’
Arlo picked up his glass of scotch and sipped it before answering. ‘I told you I would wait…’
They were in the bar of the Le Richelieu. It was late evening; both of them had worked since very early that morning and now Cosima, light-headed from not eating lunch, put down her cocktail.
‘Arlo…’
‘Cosima, let’s just stop. Stop pretending to be just friends. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad we are because I could never contemplate spending my life with someone who wasn’t my best friend. But this is driving me crazy.’
He got up and moved his chair next to hers, cupping her face in his palm. ‘I want you, Cosima; I want you in my bed, in my life. You’re already in my heart. I won’t let it affect your career; I swear to God, I won’t.’
He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. ‘I will wait, I promise if that’s what you want. Just say the word and I’ll stop.’ His eyes dropped to her mouth, then her throat then up again, holding her gaze as he kissed her again, not caring if the rest of the bar’s patrons saw them. Cosima kissed him back, the longing inside her overwhelming her. She adored this man, his kiss, his face, his hands, his humor…everything. And she didn’t want to wait any longer. Arlo broke away and looked at her.
‘Well?’
She gazed back, the fire inside her obvious. ‘Don’t…stop.’
In the elevator to his room, Arlo had her against the wall, kissing her fiercely, his hands on her body. Cosima, breathless, dug her fingernails into the huge muscles of his back. ‘Tell me what you’re going to do to me,’ she gasped as his hand slipped under her dress and between her legs. She pressed her sex onto his fingers, and he growled.
‘I’m going to fuck you all night long, Cosima Bedi; I’m going to nail you to the fucking bed, my cock filling you until you scream. I’m going to taste every part of you, your breast, your belly, your delicious cunt….’
As the elevator reached his floor, they ran, laughing, hand-in-hand to his door. ‘God, Cosima, just wait until I get you inside…’
She grinned as he fumbled with the key card then as he opened the door; he bowed extravagantly and waved her in. He followed her in and almost collided with her as she stopped dead. Frowning he stepped around her…and saw what she was staring at.
Sabine. Naked. On his bed. She smiled lasciviously.
‘Hello darling,’ she purred and very slowly, very deliberately, spread her long, long legs as wide as she could.
***
Harpa was talking to Deacon when she heard the apartment door close. She glanced over at the clock. Eleven p.m. ‘Deac, I gotta go, I need to tell Cos what we’ve discussed.’
She tugged on her robe and went to find her sister. Confused, she searched Cosima’s room, the living room, the kitchen. Finally, she heard the shower running and peeked around the bathroom door. Cosima was sitting – fully dressed – in the bathtub, the shower running above her soaking her.
‘What on earth are you doing?’ Harpa frowned. Cosima wouldn’t look at her, and as she approached, she saw her sister was crying.
‘Cos, what’s the matter?’ She cranked the shower off and grabbed a towel, throwing it across Cosima’s shoulders.
‘Nothing, it’s nothing,’ but Cosima sobbed harder. Harpa let her cry herself out
. When she shuddered to a stop, Harpa helped her out of the tub.
‘Why were you in the shower?’
Cosima, still gulping, shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I’ve just seen people do it in the movies.’
Harpa couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her. ‘Doofus. Come on; let’s get you out of those clothes.’
She helped Cosima into dry clothes, toweling her sister’s hair dry. When Cosima was tucked into bed, Harpa sat on the edge. ‘Come on, spill it.’
Cosima groaned. ‘It doesn’t even matter.’
Harpa fixed her with a stare and Cosima shrugged. ‘I went back to his room,’ she blushed furiously, ‘and there was this gorgeous – and I mean, drop dead gorgeous, woman there. Blonde, leggy, naked. On his bed. And she was good enough to show him – and me – what he was missing.’
Harpa made a disgusted noise. ‘And what did Arlo do?’
Cosima sighed. ‘He yelled. A lot. I could hear him still yelling when I ran.’
‘You ran?’
‘I did.’
Harpa chewed her lip for a moment. ‘In the circumstances, I think I would have done the same thing. Is she still there?’
‘How do I know?’
‘He didn’t follow you?’
Cosima shook her head and her eyes filled with tears. Harpa hugged her. ‘I bet he tried to call you, did he call?’
Cosima flopped back on the pillows. ‘I don’t know; I can’t find my phone.’
Harpa got up and went searching for Cosima’s purse. She came back waving her phone. ‘It’s dead. Grab your charger.’
She plugged it into the outlet and flicked it on. She smiled triumphantly. ‘Fifteen missed calls and your voicemail is full.’
Cosima took the phone but hesitated. ‘What if it’s not worth getting involved, Harp?’
Harpa rolled her eyes and grabbed the phone, dialing the voicemail. ‘Joy,’ was all she said and handed the phone back to Cosima.
Cosima stared at her sister for a long moment then nodded. ‘Joy,’ she said softly. Harpa got up and left her alone. Padding silently back to her own room, she found herself wishing and hoping that Arlo Forrester wouldn’t break her sister’s heart.
Arlo dropped his head into his hands. He’d been trying to call Cosima for the last hour, ever since he’d finally gotten Sabine out of his hotel room. The shock he’d felt at seeing her there, blatantly, revoltingly sexual in her temerity. He caught a glimpse of Cosima’s pale, horrified face before she had darted past him and one thought hit him: I’ve lost her.
Torn between going after Cosima and getting rid of Sabine, he’d chosen the later.
‘What the fuck are you doing?’ He’d yelled, his temper a volcanic thing, anger making him not care what anyone else thought. ‘Get the fuck out of my room, Sabine.’
She’d smiled, cat-like, and closed her legs. ‘So that’s the new girl, is it? Very different to me, isn’t she? Flighty.’
Arlo saw Sabin’s clothes on a chair, picked them up and threw them at her. ‘Get dressed, get out. Now.’
She smirked but pulled on her dress, not bothering with her underwear. ‘I don’t know why you’re getting so upset; isn’t ex-sex still a thing?’ She came up to him and curled her body around his, looking up at him from beneath long blonde lashes. ‘Would she do to you what I always did? Make you crazy? Make you moan?’
Arlo looked down at her, his eyes cold. ‘Cosima is everything to me. She does what you never could; she makes me feel loved, feel more than just a bottomless wallet. She makes me feel like a man. Is that what you want to hear, Sabine?’
Sabine winced a little but turned away so he couldn’t see her face. ‘Cosima. Stupid name. What is she, Mexican?’
‘Indian and it’s a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Now, for the last time, get out of my room, and my life. It’s over, Sabine, done, finished.’
She stared at him then, and he could see the hurt, the spite in her eyes. ‘Did you ever love me?’
His mouth set in a straight line. ‘I didn’t know what love was until I met Cosima. So, I guess that means no.’
Sabine turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door, and Arlo locked it behind her. God damn it. He grabbed his phone and called Cosima. Voicemail.
‘Cosima, I can’t begin to apologize. Please know I had no idea Sabine would be here, and I’m disgusted with her. I’ve thrown her out – look, please, Cos, call me and let’s talk. I don’t even know where you live so I can’t follow you and beg for your forgiveness. Tonight was supposed to be magical. I’m crazy about you, Cos, please, call me.’
Over the next hour, he called again and again to radio silence from Cosima. Eventually, he gave up and sat on the bed, wondering what the hell to do next.
Which is when his phone rang.
Arlo walked to the LaBelle the next morning, wanting to get some air, to clear his head before he saw Cosima. They had talked long into the night, and he was sure he had managed to convince her that Sabine had been an unwelcome guest, but still, he wanted to take her in his arms and make sure she knew that she was the only woman for him.
His heart faltered when he saw her. A pale blue summer dress on that heavenly body, her hair scooped up into a messy bun, she was studying some paperwork at the reception when he arrived. The hotel was a mess but there she was, like a beautiful oasis of calm in the center of it.
‘Cosima,’ he said, and she looked up and smiled. Cursing silently as he saw the dark circles under her lovely eyes, he strode to her and took her in his arms.
‘It’s so good to see you,’ he said, tilting his chin up with his finger. He kissed her thoroughly, ignoring the amused glances of the workmen around them. Cosima sighed, as they eventually broke apart.
‘That’s a nice way to be greeted,’ she said softly and smiled. He stroked her face with his thumbs.
‘Tonight,’ he said, ‘there will be no interruptions.’
Cosima nodded. ‘Harpa is staying over at her boyfriend’s apartment tonight, so…’
Arlo smiled. ‘I get to see the Bedi bed?’
She laughed. ‘More than see it, Mr. Forrester…’
He made a low growling sound in his throat which made her smile. ‘I can’t wait.’
Cosima checked her watch. ‘Well, if we get done by lunchtime…’ She smiled up at him, and he grinned.
‘Then let’s get to work.’
As it turned out, they were kept busy all day and by the time they finally left for her apartment, it was after eight and dusk had fallen. Arlo followed Cosima’s car back to her street and met her at the steps to her apartment. She took his hand and led him up, and as she unlocked it, his excitement grew to almost fever pitch. Inside, he took her in his arms and kissed her with such passion that soon they were stripping each other’s clothes off and tumbling to the floor.
‘Don’t wait,’ she begged him and he slipped his hand between her sex to find her already wet for him. She grinned up at him. ‘I’ve been thinking about this all day.’
He laughed and buried his face in her neck. ‘Me too, beautiful.’
She freed his cock from his pants and wrapped her legs around him. ‘Please, Arlo, I need you inside me.’
His cock was diamond-hard and ready, and as he entered her, they both sighed with the release of the months-long wait. He sank into her, hitching her legs higher so he could plunge deep into her. His hands were on her face, his eyes locked on hers as they moved together.
‘Cosima Bedi,’ he was breathless, all his blood on fire from the feel of her, ‘I am so in love with you…’
Cosima’s eyes filled with tears and as she gasped and moved beneath him, her hands clawing at his back, she moaned, ‘I love you, Arlo…’
Arlo began to thrust hard, Cosima urging him on until her back arched, her head dropped back, and she cried out as she came, her hands on his chest. Arlo felt his cock respond, and he groaned as his hot semen pumped deep inside her. They collapsed together on the floor, dragging lun
gfuls of oxygen in. Arlo grinned down at her.
‘Thank God for that,’ and she laughed.
‘I know…god, why did I want to wait again?’
Arlo pressed his lips to hers, savoring the taste of her. ‘No, I get why…and we have to make sure that this, us, doesn’t interfere with your career. But I won’t be able to stop this now, you understand? I need you, I love you. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life more than we are meant to be together.’
She nodded, a single tear dropping down her face. ‘I love you so much. When I left you in the Maldives, I thought my heart wouldn’t take it, and yet we had agreed, and I knew the rules. But I never stopped thinking about you, not once.’
Arlo smiled and trailed the back of his fingers down her cheek. ‘I’ll never get over the way you approached me. So confident, so sure. God, what a turn on.’
She giggled shyly. ‘If you only knew how unlike me that was but I saw you and something in me shifted. Just from that one look we shared. I knew.’
They kissed again then Arlo scrambled to his feet and lifted her up. ‘Show me to your chamber, your highness.’
She grinned and took his hand, leading him into her bedroom. Arlo looked around. It was a riot of colors, Indian fabrics at the window, on the dresser and the nightstand. Her scent, jasmine and spice, permeated the room, sending his senses reeling with pleasure. He ran his hands down her body, cupping her breasts and splaying his fingers over her belly; Cosima shivered with pleasure as he stroked her. She led him to her bed and lay down, opening her arms to him.
‘Come here, Arlo, love me…’
And they began again where they had left off.
Sabine Karlsson sat outside Cosima’s apartment, in the car she’d rented, in which she’d followed Arlo from his hotel that morning. She looked up at the warmly lit window, thinking she could see their shadows. The thought of Arlo fucking that little whore…Sabine gritted her teeth. She would find out who she was and destroy her – how dare she think she could take what belonged to Sabine? She was Sabine Karlsson, for fuck’s sake, supermodel. She scribbled down the address and started the car.
Billionaire’s Quarry: A Billionaire, Bad Boy, Romance (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Boxed Set) Page 167
