Carpe Diem - Jesse 3 (6 page)

She looked me up and down with a cold stare. “You came to the right place. Everybody is here, tonight. The best agents, designers, models. You should be very successful here. But I’m sure you already knew that.”

Alicia was rather unusual and her remark struck me as slightly offensive; hugging me like we were friends, then giving me the evil eye. Is that how she always acted in front of her boss?

Gio took me by my upper arm, pulling me into the thick of the crowd. “Let’s mingle.” It seemed like he wanted to put a wide berth between himself and his assistant. What kind of business relationship did they have anyway?

As we pushed further into the guests of the event, we passed a waiter carrying a large platter of various finger foods. I hardly had time for the tray to pass under my nose when Gio picked off a couple different pieces and passed one my way.

“Try this,” he said and handed me a hors d'oeuvres.

“This is amazing. What is it?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea.” He laughed lightly. “But what can I say, I’m Italian, I love food.” Gio turned around to get us a drink but he didn’t have to look far. Another sharply dressed waiter was right behind him, wielding a tray of tall, fluted champagne glasses, each filled with the sparkling elixir of the gods. With a thank you nod to the waiter he handed me a glass and said, “Salute. To all the beautiful women in Italy tonight—present company included—may all your dreams come true.”

I touched the rim of my glass to his and took a sip, hoping the dim lights of the party would cover my blushing cheeks. This guy could charm the pants off of anybody. I bit my lip and scanned the room, looking at all the stylishly dressed people. Suddenly I felt self-conscious. What was I doing here? I should be back at the hotel, having dinner with Jesse. The air in the room began to feel sticky. I felt hemmed in by all these people milling around me. This scene wasn’t for me. I didn’t belong here. I wanted to bolt for the door and suck in large gulps of air as I went. But I didn’t. I turned my attention back to Gio, who was talking again and forced a pleasant smile on my face.

My momentary panic attack subsided and, when my senses focused again, Gio was saying, “So tell me about that boyfriend of yours. You say he’s a motocross rider?”

I nearly choked on the champagne I had just taken into my mouth and I coughed as I replied, “Yeah, he’s riding for Yamaha. The whole team is here for a month to train for the upcoming season.”

“How long have you two been together?”

“Not very long.”
Bad answer. Why’d I say that?
“Well, I mean, actually we met early summer.”

Gio smiled. “That’s pretty amazing that you came all this way to support him, considering you have only known him for like... five months or so.”

“It’s good for both of us. A good opportunity for me to make some connections in the fashion business. Also, it's nice to be able to see Jesse in between his training. It would have been tough, not seeing him for a whole month.”

“Ah, I see. Amore is in the air. So, he is training every day?”

“Pretty much.” I gave a sheepish smile and twirled the stem of my glass between my fingers.

“Well, I don’t want you to be bored, sitting around doing nothing. If you like, I can show you around Milan, introduce you to everybody in this town that you should know. It could be a great boost for your career.”

“You would do that for me? Thanks, Gio, your offer is fantastic but I can’t let you spend so much time on my behalf. Don't you have gigs? I mean, I don't want to be a nuisance to you.”

A smooth, dreamy smile crossed Gio’s face. His eyelids lowered, leaving him with sexy bedroom eyes. He leaned in and said, “A beautiful woman like you would never be a nuisance, cara mia.” He leaned back, as if he had inhaled me and taken some little part of me with him as he stepped back. “You can hang out with me when I go on photo shoots. You could help me out, kind of be my assistant for the month. You would be able to talk to the designers and agents while I work. It would be a great way for you to get to meet many people in the profession.”

“But what about Alicia? I thought she was your assistant?”

Gio looked over at Alicia and threw back the last of his champagne. She and one of the gorgeous male models were twisted into a hot kiss. He had his hand on her thigh, half way up her short skirt. I turned back to Gio, to see his reaction. I thought for a moment that he might disapprove, seeing Alicia all over that guy. I detected a hint of something earlier, that their relationship was more than business, but wasn’t sure what I had noticed. I swiveled my head and met his gaze, head on. He pierced me with those dark beautiful eyes and said, “Don’t worry about Alicia. She does other stuff for me. So, what do you say? Are you in?”

“I don’t know what to say. That would be wonderful but...” What about Jesse? What would I tell him? And why was I even worried about it? This was business. Right?

“Don’t say yes or no, just yet. Come to my studio tomorrow afternoon, you can check things out and see what you are getting into before you decide on an answer.” Gio flipped a business card out of his suit jacket pocket. He held it between his fingers. He was waiting for me to take it, staring into my eyes with an alluring smile on his face. I still didn’t know how to take his actions. Was he flirting with me or did he treat all women this way? As I reached for it, he lowered his hand just enough so that he touched mine. Is this the old phone number slip or what? A wave of excitement flushed through my body.
Shit
. I can’t do this.

Jesse

W
hen the alarm clock sounded at six in the morning I was already awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering if there was anything I should be concerned about. The fact that Niki spent her first evening in Italy without me began to fester in my mind. Sure, I’d had a long day of training and was exhausted, but she didn’t wake me when she got home like I had asked. I wanted to talk to her, hold her and kiss her. No matter how tired I was, I would have made time for her. I would have found the time, even if just for a few minutes, to feel her soft skin against mine, caress her hair and pull her close to me in bed. A sharp pain of self-pity stabbed my ego and caused my self-confidence to falter.

There was Niki, fast asleep next to me. I didn’t want the alarm to disturb her, so I clicked it off before it could play its chime. Or maybe I didn’t want to face her and hear about how she had a freaking grand time with old Mr. Photographer Dude. A fashion photographer. Lame. I looked at her again.

Damn, she didn’t even wake me up.

A pang of disappointment stung my heart as I began to try and rationalize. Maybe she wanted me to get a good night’s sleep, she’s always thinking of me like that. That’s probably all it was; she knew I’d be completely dead after a long day and was probably worried that we would stay up for hours, talking like we always do, and then I’d be tired at the track. And in reality, we probably would have stayed up talking but it wouldn’t be the first time I’d toughed it out on a few hours’ sleep. I’d done it before and I would do it for Niki in a heartbeat.

I slipped out from under the covers, intent on heading to the bathroom to shower. I stood next to the bed for a moment, gazing down at her beauty. Her naked body was partially covered with the white bed sheet, draped over her torso in an artistic fashion, leaving one of her full, creamy breasts exposed. Her long dark hair was splayed out on the pillow, fanning out in delicate curls from her head. She was still wearing her make up from the night before. That’s odd. Usually she took it off before bed. I looked around the room and saw her clothes lay over a chair, her purse on the desk and her shoes kicked to the side of the chair that held her clothes. Nothing seemed out of order. She must have been really tired.

I looked at her sleeping. She was my angel. I still couldn’t believe she wanted to be with a troublemaker like me. I was just a big fuck up and to think she came thousands of miles to be with me. I loved this girl. Look at me, standing here, naked beside the bed, blubbering like a big pussy.

I watched her softly breathing, her long dark lashes pressed to her cheeks and I was filled with an urge to slide my hands up over the rise of her hip and crawl into the bed with her. Blood rushed to my loins and my cock started to stir. For a brief moment, I fantasized pressing up against her backside and taking her from behind as she lay there on her side. It would be so sweet to just slide my cock into her wetness...oh baby, that would be so fine. Then the blast of a car horn from the street below killed the rise of my stiffie.

Argh
!
Damn Italian traffic.

I contemplated being late, but the training camp was calling my name and I knew I had better get a move on. After yesterday’s trouble between me and Ice, the last thing I could do was be late. It would take at least an hour and a half if I didn’t get going
right now
.

I marched off to the shower, holding my balls in one hand, frustrated in more ways than one. Maybe it was the hot steam of the water, or maybe it was the smell of the soap; whatever it was, by the time I toweled off I had found my confidence again. All my thoughts about why Niki didn’t wake me to tell me about her night were washed away. Niki belonged to me. No way would she be going on anything but a business outing, two nights into the trip. It was just business.

Niki

F
or the second day in a row I woke up to an empty bed. My fantastic Italian trip to Milan wasn’t turning out the way I had envisioned. A frown creased my brow as I rolled over and patted the empty indentation in the sheets beside me.
Aw shit.
I didn’t like this one bit. I came to be with Jesse and here I was, alone. Sometimes life throws a wrench into the works and my wrench came in the form of a handsome Italian photographer; someone in my field of work, someone quite the opposite in personality than Jesse.

Gio was refined, artistic and smooth. Jesse was raw, impulsive and exciting. I shouldn’t even be playing this game in my mind, this “weighing out the differences” routine. Did I fall and hit my head last night? I threw my arms up over my head and let out a burst of air, as I lay there thinking about my life. What the hell was I going to do? How could I tell Jesse that Gio offered me a job? Jesse trusted me. He was under the impression that I would only be spending one evening with Gio. Now how could I tell him I would be with Gio long hours? Every single day?

A crisp knock on the door rang out. I sat straight up in the bed holding the sheet over my bare breasts and called out, “Just a minute.”

I jumped out of bed and wrapped the bed sheet around me and went to answer the door.

A muffled male voice called out from the other side, “Room service.”

Standing behind the door, clenching the sheet, I opened it just enough for the room service attendant to push his cart through. He smiled nervously, keeping his eyes averted, only glancing up when needed. He left a tray with a covered plate and coffee service for one and said as he left, “Your boyfriend ordered you breakfast.”

After he left the room I came out from behind the door to collect my surprise. As I lifted the silver lid I smiled with delight. Aw, what a sweetheart. My favorite. Bacon and eggs. There, lying on top of the bacon, was a small note.

It said,
“Glad you got home safe last night. Hope you had a good time. Love you, Jesse.”

My heart sank. A little love note, he left me a little love note. I should be elated. So why did I feel like a heel? I hadn’t betrayed him. He was my one and only, no one else. I came here because I love him. I did it for us, for our relationship, because I couldn’t live without him. Yes, the career connections were a nice fringe benefit, but let’s face it, my career was really in L.A., not Italy. This whole Gio situation had been blown out of proportion. I couldn’t take his job offer, it would be relationship suicide. I had to turn it down. I couldn’t do this to Jesse.

Being with Gio all day, fighting off his flirtatious advances would be too much of a temptation. Yes, it was a big opportunity and I wanted to learn as much as possible about the fashion industry, but I would have my whole life ahead of me for that. But Jesse... he was a once in a lifetime. If I lost him over some stupid mistake with Gio, I didn’t know if there would be any going back; for Jesse, that is. He wasn’t that kind of guy. There were too many other women out there throwing themselves at him. I had seen them. I would pretend not to notice, but women flirted with him constantly. If I screwed this up, he could snatch one up in a flash. If I were to lose Jesse now, it would be the end of everything between us. The assistant job with Gio was no “do or die” situation anyway, and I didn’t want it to be a relationship breaker, either.

My fork sat on the empty breakfast plate. Chewing on bacon over a cup of coffee was just what I had needed, time to sit and think this thing through. I was confident now that I had my priorities straight. It was time to get dressed and go out on the streets for a little exploring in the city; I wanted to check out the area of Milan that surrounded my hotel. But, before I could do anything, I had to make a phone call and cancel my afternoon meeting with Gio. He expected me to meet him at his studio just after lunch and we were supposed to get started immediately. Instead I was going to explain to him that I couldn’t accept his generous offer.

Niki

T
aking a deep breath, I punched in Gio’s number on my phone. As I waited for it to ring, as I nervously bit my lip.

“Gio, it’s Niki. Hey.”

“Bella, how are you? What brings you to call me?”

“Um, well, here’s the thing. You know, you’ve been very generous... I only met you yesterday and you immediately took me under your wing and invited me to the fashion event last night and I really appreciate it, believe me, Gio, it was fantastic...”

“But... I sense some uncertainty in your voice.”

I looked around the room and my eyes fell on Jesse’s note, lying beside the dirty breakfast dishes. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to take a rain check on your offer to let me assist you.”