“Yes.” I leaned back into my seat as I sent a quick reply telling Victor I’d be there. “I’ll get a ride home.”
Marcus looked at me for a beat. I didn’t acknowledge it, but I felt his stare on the side of my face before he sighed and started driving. I kept quiet the entire time. My hands on my lap shaking slightly. My nerves making it difficult to breathe calmly. I’d done this before. I’d done it often, but I couldn’t escape the fact that I’d never completely planned for it. The ride was long enough for me to have no choice but to think about the decision I’d made. I wondered if he’d purposely sent me there in a different car for that reason, to see if I chickened out and decided I couldn’t follow through with it. I took a breath and let it out slowly when the car slowed into a stop as we reached the quaint two-story beach house that I’d fallen in love with the day I came to visit.
“I’ll wait here,” Marcus said when he put the gear in park behind Victor’s Jaguar.
I swallowed. I could have him wait there. It would be the perfect scapegoat. But I didn’t want a scapegoat. I didn’t want a way to leave. If he wanted me to stay, I’d stay, and if he pissed me off, I’d Uber home. I took a deep breath.
“No. Just go home. I’ll call you when I need you to come pick me up.” I put my hand on the door handle and looked at him. I could tell he was still having a difficult time with the idea of just dropping me off. “I know I don’t have to say this because you signed non-disclosures, but—”
He put a hand up, and I stopped talking. He didn’t say anything, but his clear-blue eyes were sharp and serious, and I knew I was understood. I got out of the car, made my way up the gravel driveway and the few steps to the door. My hand went up in a fist to knock, but the door opened before I could. Victor didn’t peek out, he just opened it wide enough for me to step in and closed it right behind me. The house was dark, only the glow of the kitchen light seeping through.
“Hi,” I whispered, suddenly feeling shy as I tilted my face to his.
“Hi,” he whispered back, grasping my wrist with one hand and pulling me a little closer, until his minty breath was over my face, and bringing his other hand up to the side of my face in a slow caress.
“I don’t know if I already told you this, but I really love your house,” I said.
I could barely make out his smile, but I knew it was there. In this kind of lighting I could barely make out his face, but I knew his features so well it didn’t matter. If I went blind in that instance, I could perfectly describe him for a sketch.
“Wait until you see my bed,” he said, his voice still quiet as if he were afraid to burst the bubble we were in. I smiled.
“Were you followed?” he asked, bringing his lips down to my jaw. “I don’t want the media assuming things about you.” His mouth worked its way up to my ear and back down slowly. I sighed against him.
“You mean about us,” I said. He pulled back slightly, his hand still on the side of my face, the other making its way down to my ass.
“I wish I cared about that. I should, but I want this to happen too much to let that stop me,” he said squeezing my ass. “I don’t know if you were serious about finding another man to satisfy your needs, or just saying it to push me over the edge, but fuck that idea, Nicole. Fuck that idea. I need you. I want you, and I always get what I want.”
“So spoiled,” I whispered, leaning into him and tipping my face a little more until our lips brushed against each other’s.
“Hard working,” he replied as his hand slid to the back of my neck and his lips molded against mine.
They were soft and tentative, tasting, his teeth teasing as he tugged on my bottom lip, his hands making their way down my body and inching my dress up slowly. So slowly. I started undoing the buttons of his dress shirt quickly, and he chuckled against me, the sound vibrating through me and making me shiver.
“We’re not rushing this, Nicole,” he said, a whisper against my lips. I felt like I was on fire, burning for him, desperate for anything he’d give me, my breath fast and erratic.
“A quickie is fine by me,” I said when he successfully pulled the dress over my head. His gaze alone made me feel like I was off balance. The way he looked my body up and down, slowly, as if savoring me. He shook his head.