“Oh my gosh,” I blurt out .
“Help yourself,” he chuckles. “I was never going to be able to eat all this myself, but you know how the Fairmont is. They always overdo everything ."
“Oh, of course,” I stammer, trying to act as though I know anything about the Fairmont at all. Keeping my head down, I stack my plate with bacon and sausage, two crepes with a large spoonful of strawberries and blueberries, and then whipped cream on top of that .
He is smiling at me, I know it. I try to keep my head down, but I feel it .
“You never were shy about eating, Ava,” he says softly .
I gasp, looking up at him in surprise. And now I kind of wish I hadn’t, because there are those sky-blue eyes again, piercing me like lasers. Looking right through to the center of me. I feel like he can read my mind, like he probably just replayed my naughty morning dream like a YouTube video .
“Of course I remember you,” he continues. “I could never forget such a beautiful face .”
“I didn’t think you recognized me,” I admit. I place my fork on the table and grab a coffee cup, hoping to sort of hide behind it. The coffee is rich and dark. I feel it flowing through the center of me, warming me immediately .
“You do look different,” he smiles. I watch the tip of his tongue wet the bottom of his upper lip as he leans back in his chair. His eyes trace my outlines, as concrete as if he were touching me .
“Different?” I repeat, setting the coffee cup back down and taking the champagne flute in my trembling fingers. It is sweet and tart, the perfect counterpoint to the coffee .
Slowly his lips close, and he bites gently on his lower lip. He takes a deep breath and lets it out through his nose before answering .
“You’re stunning now. You were just a girl then, but now you’re a breathtaking woman .”
I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to make a move. Is he really talking about me ?
“I’m sorry that I didn’t get to see every step in the transformation,” he continues. “But the Marines were very good to me. Transformative, you might say. And of course, our families …”
I nod, suddenly aware that this whole conversation could go right back down that path again, back to all that drama. The tension between him and my brother. The feud that was so tangible, it ended decades-long friendships, just like that .
“Well, I was just a kid then. I don’t think I even remember what the feud was about,” I lie .
He narrows his eyes, leaning forward and plucking a slice of nectarine from the bowl .
“I don’t remember either,” he also lies .
“Okay then,” I say, silently agreeing not to talk about it .
“So will you spend the day with me ?”
Immediately, I’m shaking my head. “Spend the day with you? Oh, no, I couldn’t! I still have a lot to do here… I have a lot going on… and, um, well you know my friend Bea is here too …”
His hand slides across the tablecloth, capturing my wrist between his fingers. He holds it lightly, as though he’s found a bird and simply wants to inspect it. I’m helpless .
“You should spend the day with me,” he says confidently, giving me the sort of smile he’s probably given a thousand other girls. “We’ll have a lovely time. If that goes well, we can have a lovely time tomorrow. Perhaps we can spend the summer together. Having… a lovely time .”
My heart is racing, my breath frozen in my chest. I don’t know what to say, at all, but my skin buzzes with electricity .
“There are still other speakers…” I mumble unconvincingly .
“They’re all terrible .”
“And I haven’t even given away any resumes yet .”
“Then you won’t be missing any interviews .”
“True,” I admit .
He leans forward, capturing my other wrist in his other hand, drawing me to face him completely. It’s gentle, but also inescapable. I couldn’t twist away if I wanted to .
“Say yes, Ava,” he says in a low, commanding voice. “I want to hear you say yes .”
I take a shuddering breath before speaking .
“Yes,” I whisper, somehow fearful, or perhaps just overwhelmed and panicked .
His smile is brilliant and sudden, cutting across his face like daylight coming through the clouds .
“That’s settled then,” he smirks, almost gloating. Sitting back in his chair, he draws out a cellphone and begins typing with his thumbs. I get back to eating, controlling myself from devouring every morsel .
We finish our breakfasts in silence. I sneak occasional glances at him through the fringe of my hair. He looks the same, but different. Thicker. More confident. Not just a cocky boy. A cocky man, now .
He accompanies me to my room so that I can change clothes. In the quiet hallway I swear my heartbeat is so loud it echoes off the walls .
My hand trembles on the doorknob for a few seconds while I try to decide what to say. Something flippant? Charming? I can’t think of a thing .
But before I know it, his hands are under my jaw, tipping my face toward his. His lips close over mine, turning me immediately to jelly. I kiss him back, stunned and shaking as my whole body pulses like in the dream, multiplied by a million .
Chapter 25
ETHAN
K issing her is like being caught out in a storm. An electrical storm, where all the hairs on my arms raise up, and I feel like something huge is about to happen. She melts into me, pliant and willing, her hands snaking through the back of my hair .
I force myself to set her back on the floor in front of her open door. She rocks back and forth slightly, her eyes slowly coming back into focus. Her lips are still open, gleaming with moisture .
“I’m glad you’re going to spend the day with me,” I tell her .
“No… I can’t,” she protests quietly, looking guilty. “I know I said I would but… There’s still two days left of the conference… I’m supposed to be — ”
“Finding a job?” I ask her irritably, annoyed by her change of heart. “And how is that going? Is it here? Do you think your future is downstairs ?”
“My future…” she pauses. “Well, but, it’s a process, Ethan,” she objects. I see her eyes narrow, feel that familiar resistance. I remember her as a sullen teenager, determined to get her way. For some reason, that image sort of thrills me .
“So you don’t have a job now, and I can almost guarantee you that any job you would find downstairs will be waiting for you tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. But I’m offering you something much better. Spend the day with me,” I ask her again .
She blinks fast, as though running through a series of mental calculations. She knows I’m right. It’s just a matter of time before she acquiesces .
“And Bea is—” she protests meekly .
I stroke her shoulder, running my thumb along the ridge of her collarbone. “I want to take you on my boat, Ava. I’ll give you seven minutes to change your clothes. Bring your bathing suit .”
Gently, I nudge her toward the door. She gives me a surprised, helpless glance before the door closes, separating us .
Leaning against the wall, slip my phone out of my pocket and thumb through my emails, checking for new issues, any roadblock to the afternoon I have planned. There’s nothing. Nothing I can’t handle anyway .
Some annoying little voice in the back of my mind wants to know what I’m doing, standing in a hallway, waiting for some girl. Nobody would believe this if I told them. I don’t generally loiter in hallways. I certainly don’t mark time while some chick does whatever she wants, taking as long as she wants .
This is not just some girl, right? Ava was number one on my to-do list at some point. Let’s call her… a loose end .
The door swings open again, and she stands there, smiling brightly with a canvas bag slung over one arm. Sunglasses push that tousle of caramel-colored hair back from her forehead. She’s wearing a red, flowered dress and str
appy sandals. The dress is a little bit see-through and I can make out the outlines of the darker colored bathing suit .
“Did I make it?” she breathes .
“You look… amazing,” I have to confess .
“Well, thank you… but did I make it?” she asks me again .
I shake my head, confused .
“You said seven minutes,” she reminds me. Her triumphant smirk is charming, enticing, and begging me to compete. But compete in what ?
“Eight and a half, sorry,” I lie, pretending to look at my Rolex .
“Lies.” She rolls her eyes. “I know for a fact it was less than seven. So, Ethan Mercer, impress me! What you want to do with me ?”
I bite the inside of my cheek, not quite certain that she is ready to hear the answer to that question just yet. I feel a strange resistance. Normally, I would tell a girl exactly what was on my mind. But somehow, I feel like I need to be cautious here. After all, Ava doesn’t see me the way other women do. She’s not going to believe the whole Rolling Stone mystique .
“Let’s just go,” I say, letting her notice my eyes sliding over her bare skin, her round thighs, her dimpled knees. The tiny gold ring around her second toe .
My cock throbs in my pants, aching intensely. As she looks up at me, I have the urge to push against her, to hold her against the door and fuck her right here in this quiet hallway. I want her juices drying on my cock before the end of the day. The sensation is so vivid, I almost feel like it’s happened already .
But I’ll have to wait, at least a little while. I guide her back to the elevator, listening to the sound of our footfalls in the hallway. After sending a quick text to Perry, I’ve got an escape route diagrammed in my mind. We’re going to need to make this quick .
“Put your sunglasses on,” I advise her, just before the elevator doors open again on the main ballroom lobby .
“What? Why?” she asks me, but she does it just as the crowd turns around. I take her hand, tugging her toward the left-most doorway. The crowd of conference participants all seem to turn around at once, noticing us, noticing her hand folded in mine. I hear their gasps. But I don’t want to focus on that. I need to focus on her. She’s weathering it well, keeping up with me, squeezing my fingers tight. She keeps her head down just enough, with fringes of her hair flowing around her cheekbones. I hear a couple of cameras go off, but I’m fairly certain they couldn’t have gotten a good shot of her .
Within moments, we’re on the sidewalk, diving into the back seat of my Rolls with Perry closing the door immediately behind us, his voice muffled as he tells the crowd to back off, back off, leave me alone .
The Rolls pulls away immediately, leaving us breathless in the roomy, plush interior .
Ava pushes her sunglasses back up. Her eyes are wide and startled, the tip of her nose candy pink .
“What was that ?”
I shrug. “That was us, trying to get through a public space .”
She nods, looking away thoughtfully. “Is it always like that? Is everybody just… Do they always get in your business like that ?”
“Basically, yes,” I admit. “You get used to it .”
“I don’t know if I could ever get used to that,” she sniffs .
She reaches for her bag and opens it with her long fingers which I notice are trembling only slightly. After she rummages around for twenty or thirty seconds, I realize she’s just doing that to cover her nervousness. I reach out and stroke her golden, baby-soft knee .
“Really, it’s nothing,” I reassure her. “No one is going to follow us or anything. You are going to enjoy this .”
“Gee, Ethan,” she teases me, her eyes twinkling, “I’m going to enjoy it? Have you ever said those words to me before? Just try it? You’ll like it ?”
I settle back against the seat, enjoying the way she thinks she sees me .
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Ava .”
“Fireball shots ring any bells? Maybe that bowl you convinced me to smoke ?”
“Oh, I forgot about that,” I smirk. “I hope you never get a taste for pot, Ava. You’re terrible at it .”
“I don’t think I ever coughed so much in my whole life !”
“Peer pressure kills, you know,” I smile, remembering .
It wasn’t even my pot. It was her brother’s, freshly packed in a bowl, ready to go. Marijuana has never been my drug either, but something about her wide, innocent eyes made me want to antagonize her. I wanted to see if she would do it. I wanted to see her wrap her lips around the pipe, furrowing her brow as she concentrated on inhaling. She got a lungful of smoke like a champ, but then coughed so dramatically I thought she was going to throw up. Her eyes bleary and tear-streaked, her hands shaking. Even then, she didn’t want to give up. She was mortified .
But somehow, totally sexy. I can’t explain it .
“So all I’m saying, Ethan,” she continues, “is if you plan on showing me something I’m going to enjoy, I better really enjoy it this time, okay ?”
“I’ll give you million dollars if you don’t .”
She rolls her eyes .
“Seriously,” I tell her, sliding toward her, my fingers finding her skin again. I love that touch. It sizzles. “If you do not completely enjoy your afternoon, I will give you one. Million. Dollars .”
She presses her lips together in dismay. They look like pink, thick, waxy flower petals. Blowjob lips, with a tiny little kitten tongue to match .
“You’re terrible,” she protests in her tiny voice .
“The worst,” I agree .
We drive through the city for a few more minutes, silent and thinking. What should I say to her? I want to bring out all the lines I would use on any woman, the carefully crafted bravado, the flirting that seems to work so well. Something about her makes me stop .
“So, how long has it been?” she finally asks .
“Years, I suppose,” I shrug. “Too long .”
“Too long,” she nods .
The driver brings the Rolls through the Marina, stopping in front of our slip. As the car door opens, the smell of salt and cries of seagulls fill the car. Ava puts her sunglasses back on, shading those beautiful blue eyes from me again. She steps out and I hear her gasp just a little .
“Is there a problem ?”
“Is that yours?” she asks, gesturing .
“Yeah… I thought we could go on my boat for a while. It’s a beautiful day. Hate to waste it .”
“Your boat?” she asks, incredulous. “That’s not a boat, Ethan. That’s a… a ship or something. That’s a frickin’ yacht ! ”
“I suppose you can call it that,” I laugh, pleased to see her shy, awestruck smile. That’s kind of nice. I don’t know if I’ve ever made her make that expression before .
We board, nodding to the captain and crew and following the curve of the portside toward the front, where deck chairs line the lacquered floorboards. The wind twists Ava’s pretty dress around her thighs, offering me tantalizing glimpses of her full, dimpled butt cheeks, straining against the fabric of her bikini .
“Ethan, this is crazy,” she murmurs, eagerly leaning against the rail as the boat begins to motor away from the dock .
“You can see why you didn’t want to miss it,” I explain. “When’s the last time you were on the water ?”
“Oh I don’t really… I mean, I went to the beach sometimes with my friends. With Bea. But I’ve never ever been, you know, on anything like this .”
“I suppose I just saved myself a million dollars then, huh ?”
She looks confused for a moment, then remembers the deal I made her about enjoying herself. She smiles shyly, showing me those deep, deep dimples .
“You’re different,” she muses, turning away from me again to look out at the San Francisco Bay as it comes into view. I hear the engines rev up as the captain increases our speed, pushing us deeper into the bay where the wind makes the water choppy, even on the nicest of days. Sa
n Francisco wasn’t blessed with the best weather. It’s not Sonoma or LA. It’s cold most of the time here. That’s why sunny days are the sort of thing you don’t pass up .
“I’m not different at all,” I answer, looking out at the hills, trying to see it the way she sees it .
She shrugs. “You’re nicer, I think. I liked your speech, by the way .”
“Nicer? I don’t think you realized how nice I always was. But I’m glad you liked my speech. Which part did you like ?”
She glances at me, inhaling sharply. “Well, I mean… the whole thing. The whole speech. It was really good .”
“You know the Marines taught me how to extract information from prisoners .”
“What?” she gasps .
“I mean that I know you’re lying. And I will use my training to extract the truth from you, Ava,” I growl, stepping closer to her and letting my breath trip over her skin. I see her goosebumps rise, and wonder if it’s the cold breeze or my playful threat that made her respond like that .
“You really are different,” she says again .
“Come with me,” I tell her. She nods silently. Taking her hand I guide her below deck to the stateroom. It’s lined in windows that show the full panorama of the bay, but without the wind or seagulls .
She takes her sunglasses off again, walking up to the windows. I walk up behind her, caging her in my arms. I feel her shudder against me, smell the wafts of her perfume. Something sweet, like vanilla .
There’s only a millimeter of fabric between us. She’s got me as hard as a rock, and I think she knows, brushing those sweet ass cheeks against my cock. The swing of the boat pushes our bodies together. I feel she wants me, hear the ragged sound of her breath .
“You know, I’ve always wanted to fuck you,” I whisper in her ear. “Even before it would’ve been right. I have been watching you for such a long time .”
She turns, twisting to face me, but I don’t back away. I lean over her, flattening her against the front wall. I feel her thighs open, and her knees automatically part but then close again, trapping my hand against her hot, swollen pussy .
Dirty Sweet Cowboy Page 16
