I sat back with a sigh and concentrated on the motions of the car. Adam didn’t touch me. So much for the limo sex. I quietly hoped he had something even more exciting in mind. After getting my heart set on him and me together in the back of the car as it drove down the long stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, anything else was going to be a letdown.
A half hour later, the car was slowing, turning and parking. Adam’s hand closed around mine and tugged me toward the car door as I felt him rise and get out. Like a wobbly newborn giraffe, I did the same and he steadied me against him. I raised my hand almost automatically to the blindfold but he pulled it away, planting a kiss on my forehead. He wrapped a solid arm around my waist and pulled me along beside him. I tried to concentrate on any sounds that might escape the relentless beat of the Pet Shop Boys.
We walked on concrete and it was really windy. My skirt blew up before Adam folded his coat around my shoulders. After a few hundred yards of walking, we made it to a set of stairs. I tentatively lifted my foot to rest on the first step—textured metal to make it nonslip—but almost stumbled. Adam then lifted me and carried me up the rest of the way. I clamped my arms around his neck and we entered a building at the top of the stairs. When he put me back on my feet, I held a hand out to steady myself, landing on an upholstered wall.
Where the fuck were we, and why had it been necessary to blindfold me and muffle all the noise around me? Soon Adam was nudging me into a chair and settling beside me. It was wide and comfortable, like a couch, and the floor rumbled beneath us. My mind sifted through the possibilities.
Adam reached out for his music player, which hung around my neck, and turned down the volume.
“Do you know where you are?” he asked.
“Um. An airplane?”
He pulled off the earphones. “Good. Take off the blindfold.”
I did and looked around. This was not like any airplane I’d ever been on before. It was a private jet and it was about to take off—very soon, if the rumble under the floor meant anything. The area where we sat had couches and lounge chairs grouped so that they were facing each other. The seats were comfortable, leather, padded, but they still came with seat belts. Wherever we were going, we would be traveling in style.
“A private jet? I thought you didn’t use these on principle.”
He grinned. “This is an exception.”
I twisted my mouth. “So you weren’t lying when you said you’d be out of town on your birthday. You just didn’t inform me that I would be out of town, too. How typically you.” I stuck my tongue out. It only seemed to increase his pleasure. “Where are we going?”
“You think after all the trouble I went through to get you on this plane blindfolded that I’m going to tell you that easily?”
“How long will we be flying, then?” I said, glancing behind us. I could see a sitting room and a bedroom through the doorway. A dim light emanated from the bedroom, with a bed all made up and looking as luxurious as any fine hotel room.
“We’ll be flying through the night.”
Holy crap. Then we were going far. Either the East Coast or even farther, Europe. Or maybe we were going the other way and headed to Hawaii? Or maybe we were headed back to St. Lucia, I thought with a sudden thrill. Wonderful things had happened between us in St. Lucia. I couldn’t think of a better place for us to revitalize our relationship.
“I hope you packed my bathing suit and some suntan lotion.” I grinned.
His smile deepened. “You’re all packed up with everything you’ll need, thanks to Sonia. Hopefully you’ll like what she picked out for you.”
A flight attendant appeared, served us drinks and asked us to fasten our seatbelts, as we’d be taking off very soon. I sipped my mineral water and giggled, shooting a look at Adam. Maybe no limo sex, but what about mile-high sex? I could just as easily swap that onto my bucket list.
I decided to cheat and ask the flight attendant where we were headed. She smiled and glanced at Adam. “I was told that our destination is top secret. I can’t divulge.”
I sat back in a huff. “Okay, so how long are we flying for?”
“Eleven hours, forty-two minutes.”
Holy shit. I bounced up in the seat with a smile. “We’re going to St. Lucia, aren’t we?”
Adam shrugged and looked out the window.
“I’m excited to go back.”
He turned back to me. “Yeah? Things didn’t end well for us there.”
I took a breath, wondering why he focused on that negative ending rather than all the wonderful things that happened before that. “Things started for us very, very well there. Don’t you remember?”
He watched me, his mouth curving enigmatically. “I remember very, very well. Every moment of it.”
I smiled. “Time for us to go back and make some new memories, huh?” I leaned in and kissed him.
He returned the long, lingering kiss before pulling back, his eyes moving over my face. “You’re beautiful.”
“Hmmph. You’re a liar, but thank you.”
He put a hand to my chin and looked into my eyes without blinking or turning away. In that clipped, take-no-bullshit tone of voice of his, he said, “I’m
not
lying.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Adam
We slept in the bed together and I know she was expecting more. It was getting harder to resist her than ever before. For the first time in months, she looked healthy. She was still thin and pale but there was new life in her and before this, when I’d felt like I wanted something, and especially when she’d made advances, I’d told myself she was just starved for affection. I’d tried to supply that in other ways. And I wasn’t lying about being exhausted all the time. I was.
I made myself that way on purpose.
But tonight, well, it was different. It was like we were shedding our cares with each mile of distance we put between home and ourselves. Like our problems were location-dependent, when I knew damn well that that wasn’t the case.
I slept in my underwear and she was in a sexy black slip that she’d worn under her black dress. She had curled against me at once and tried to pull me into a kiss but I held firm—and was proud of myself. I didn’t succumb. She was vulnerable and I wasn’t going to take advantage. She just wasn’t ready, no matter what signals she was sending.
We
still weren’t ready.
Maybe soon, but not now.
We landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in the late afternoon, local time. She still had no idea that we’d landed in Europe. And I hoped to hold out on that secret until the moment we hit a view with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Or maybe when we arrived at our hotel.
The weather was cold and wet when we walked from the plane to the waiting car. She screwed her head around, trying to look everywhere. But I hid most of what she could see with the umbrella that I’d been handed before we’d deplaned. We made it to the car before she could see enough to give her any clue as to where she was. And from what I could see, we could be in any nondescript U.S. town for all she knew.
As it was, the jig was up the moment our driver made a phone call in French. The cold weather was the first clue that we weren’t in the Caribbean. But the French was the second clue. She turned to me with saucer-shaped eyes. “You didn’t.”
I raised my brow to ask the question without saying a word.
“You didn’t fly us to Paris…”
I didn’t answer. I really wanted to smile but I kept my face straight. She was in absolute shock. “There are other places in the world that speak French, you know.”
“I’ve seen the bucket list that I supposedly dictated to you. You flew us to fucking Paris! Holy shit.”
I finally cracked a smile. Her reaction was amusing. I loved doing stuff like this. Thanks to Jordan, I could.
We’d driven far enough into the city that the tower was now visible. So I indicated it behind her and she spun. “No fucking way. We are in Paris!”
“We just might be.”
She spun back to me. “How the hell did you do this? Does my doctor know I left the country? How the hell did we get through customs without my even knowing?”
I waggled my eyebrows. “I have ways. I am an international man of mystery.’
“You are the coolest geek on the planet.”
“Hmm. Flattery will get you everywhere.”
She smirked at me. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
“Are you tired? Or do you want to do some sightseeing after we check in?”
“Umm. I do believe I have a few bucket list items to check off. How long are we here for?”
“Wait and see.”
“Is this trip going to be all like this? With you just giving me no info?”
“Is it bothering you?”
She smiled. “No, it’s actually kind of fun. I just won’t bother to ask any questions, then.”
“Hmm. I should have thought of something like this long ago.”
“Don’t push your luck, bub. I wonder if bald women get a better rap in Paris? Maybe I could start a new fashion fad if I parade down the Champs-Élysées in front of the Chanel store.”
“I think the most alluring models might just shave their heads but—again—still won’t be as hot as you.”
Her eyes shone. “Well, aren’t you just full of flattery yourself? It goes without saying that it will get you everywhere. Hell, as long as it’s been, you needn’t apply much flattery at all these days.”
“Mmm. Then I’ll save it for when it’s needed.”
She curled up a fist and playfully punched me in the arm as the limo slowed in the Avenue George V and the driver opened the door. This was going to be one of the highlights of our trip.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mia
The hotel was breathtaking, and from the moment we entered, I couldn’t stop gaping at everything around me. Quiet piano music played in the lobby. There were black and white marble floors decorated with tall black stone vases all arranged artistically in the hotel foyer, full of hundreds of fresh white flowers of all varieties. We were escorted to our own private elevator, given a special key card for access and whisked us up to our room. The elevator opened right into our penthouse suite.
The place was amazing. It overlooked the city with wraparound balconies on either side of the building providing a 360-degree view of the city. On one side, the Eiffel Tower loomed over the Seine and on the other, the Arc de Triomphe stood immovable at the center of a sea of cars swarming around the Place Charles de Gaulle. I could hardly catch my breath as with each passing moment, I got a view of yet another famous monument I’d seen only in pictures. This was surreal.
“So about that comment about being out of town out for your birthday…”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t lying…”
I turned to him. “So what do I get the man who has everything?” I said, moving up beside him and slipping my arms around his taut waist.
He gave me another one of those exasperating forehead kisses. “You’ve already given me my present. You’re getting better and stronger every day. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
I was thinking more along the lines of my naked body wrapped in a big red bow. That would be a present I could get behind—if I found a way to cover up the top half, that was. Maybe Kat was right…maybe all it would take would be a flash of some boob…
Because damn, if I didn’t want to get under this man before, I sure as hell wanted it now.
“So do I get to know our plans for the night?”
“Hmm. First we get dressed for dinner. Then the car takes us to dinner. Then… we’ll see.”
“And where is dinner?”
He grinned again. “It might just be that we can eat dinner and hit one of your bucket list items all in one fell swoop.”
My eyes widened. “We’re eating dinner on the Eiffel Tower?”
“We’re eating at Le Jules Verne on the Eiffel Tower, at a west-facing window table so we can watch the sunset.”’
“Then I’d better get ready!”
My bag had been unpacked and my things tucked away by the majordomo while we’d wandered around the suite that was bigger than most small homes and hung out on the balcony terrace.
I had no idea what had even been packed for me by Sonia. Who knew what sort of eveningwear she’d slipped in there?
I whipped open the armoire that had been appointed to me and gasped. In it, along with other clothing, hung one sexy black dress, one red dress and one crème-colored gown. They were completely different than the ones he had given me in Amsterdam, but completely reminiscent of that first night we’d spent together.
I actually felt tears sting the backs of my eyes as I pulled them out and looked at them. Adam was in the shower and I took a moment to try each of them on. They were gorgeous and I had no way of knowing if Sonia had picked them out or if Adam had. But each of them were cut lower in front than I would have liked. They weren’t obscene but more like the necklines I used to wear. The red one was stunning, showing a lot of leg under a flared skirt and with a cutout in the back. When I heard the shower stop, I hurriedly tucked them back inside the closet, still unsure of what to do.
It was too much of a coincidence to ignore, and I decided, as I showered and did my make-up, that Adam had been behind the gowns, if nothing else. So I resolved to find the courage to wear one of them. If he wanted to see me wearing them, then I’d do it.
Maybe then he’d touch me.
God, I wanted him to touch me.
So during this preparation time, the seeds of Project Seduction were germinating. Because somehow, I knew if we could get over this hurdle—if he could stop seeing me as sick and fragile and helpless—that maybe we could be equals and we could both be present in this relationship again.
I spent extra time on my makeup because I had no hair to style. Though I was happy to notice that my eyebrows were starting to sprout, but I carefully penciled them in like the video tutorials had shown me to do them. I also glued on fake eyelashes. And my make-up efforts succeeded in mostly hiding the sickly look I’d been sporting.
I’d found some stunning scarves and wraps in amongst the accessories so I experimented, tying a lovely black lace scarf around my head with a big knot at the back. It trailed over my shoulder, like a long shock of hair.
With the stunning red dress I’d chosen to wear, it actually made me look exotic and a little glamorous. For jewelry, I wore some big earrings, a gold bracelet and my compass. I always wore the compass—always.