Desires (16 page)

“That’s pretty awesome.” Stacie shook her head in
admiration. “The maddest thing I ever did in university was get absolutely rat-arsed
one night, roll up to lectures the next day still drunk and fall asleep on the
desk.”

“This one time…” Dan glanced at her, then stopped.

“What?”

He pulled a face. “You might not approve.”

“Try me.”

“Okay, well this one time, someone put a challenge on
the website, if I managed to break into a certain place at a certain time, this
girl would suck my cock.”

“And did you?”

“Hell, yes.”

“And did she?”

“Oh yeah!”

“And she never knew who you were?”

“Nope. I was fully masked the entire time.” He sighed.
“Good times.”

Stacie’s childhood had been mixed. Her mother had left
her father, which had naturally caused upheaval within the family. Stacie
missed her father tremendously and would have preferred to live with him, but
it would have broken her mother’s heart. She did get to see him at weekends, but
her mother made it difficult. Then her mother found a new partner, Ray. He was okay
but Stacie never allowed Ray to replace her father, which made things awkward
with her mum, who wanted them all to play happy families together.

She never really got on with her sister, Samantha. They
seemed to be always fighting, causing bad atmospheres in the home. Samantha fawned
over their mother, and could never do anything wrong in her eyes. But it was
all show and Mum fell for it. Samantha was mercenary, constantly after her
mother’s money. Stacie distanced herself from the two of them. Better to let
them sort it out between them. Once she met Graham, her relationship with her
mum improved and she helped Stacie to organise the wedding and decorate the
house. But then, once Stacie left Graham, it all changed for the worse again. She
was lucky if she heard from her mum once a month. And even then, it was usually
only if something was wrong.

Her father remarried and had another child. Stacie was
devastated. How could he replace her so easily? Bitterly disappointed by both
her parents, Stacie resolved to get on with her life and do what made her
happy. She learned how to fake it, to make nice and smile for family occasions,
but for the most part, she would rather have nothing to do with any of them.

Dan made her feel real again. With him, Stacie could be
herself, her real self, not the fake Stacie that laughed at other people’s
jokes but didn’t really care.

She’d always had difficulty making new friends. Taking
that first step was nerve-wracking, then she struggled to trust enough to allow
them get close enough to be a true friend. Most of the time, it simply wasn’t
worth the hassle, especially with Graham demanding to know why she needed
friends anyway. But with Dan, it was easy. She didn’t have to try. It
just…happened. And he made her feel safe.

“Do you fancy getting some food? I’m starving,” he said.

“More food? But we’ve only just had dinner.”

“Dinner was three hours ago.”

Stacie looked at the clock, startled. Had they really
been talking for that long?

“Just have a snack. Let me show you downstairs.”

“Downstairs?” Stacie began to panic. What might she see
downstairs? Would there be other people? The thought of leaving their haven was
disconcerting.

“It’s okay.” Dan had accurately read her expression. “If
you see anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, we’ll come back up again.
Promise.”

Dan opened his wardrobe and pulled out a tuxedo. When
she’d packed to come here, Stacie had thought they might go out to eat, so
she’d put in a nice dress. When they’d ordered room service, she hadn’t
bothered to get changed, but she was glad she’d packed it now. She hadn’t
realised it would be quite so formal. She watched him get dressed, eating him
up with her eyes. She’d rather have him than more food, but she was curious to
see downstairs. She could have him later.

“How do I look?” he asked, posing in his tux.

“Awful. I think you should just take it all off.”

She giggled and he grinned. “Maybe later.” He gave her a
wink and her stomach lurched. God, she could just jump on him.
Later,
she reminded herself sternly. She
pulled her dress out of the wardrobe where’d she’d hung it and went into the
bathroom. She quickly freshened her makeup and pulled the dress on, running a
brush through her hair and twisting it up in a fountain before coming back out.

“You look nice,” he said as she twirled for him.

“Thank you.”

“Shall we?” He held out his arm and she took it.

They walked down the corridor toward the staircase. She
could almost pretend they were a proper couple, in a nice hotel somewhere,
walking down to the restaurant.

Until, that is, they passed a couple walking up the
stairs in PVC fetishwear.
You wouldn’t
see that in a posh hotel
. Stacie tried not to stare. They smiled at her
pleasantly as they passed, and she managed a smile back. Stacie turned her head
to watch them as they walked down the corridor.

“You’re staring,” Dan murmured to her.

“Sorry.” Stacie’s head spun back to face front and they
headed down the stairs.

She was surprised to see a gang of people all dressed in
cowboy and cowgirl outfits in the reception area. She’d never seen this place
so busy. Dan guided her round the edge of the crowd, but Stacie resisted.

“Can you just wait for me here,” she said, turning to
him. “I just need to speak to reception about something.”

His eyebrows rose in query, but all he said was, “Sure.”
He sat down on one of the leather sofas and waited. Stacie took a deep breath
to calm her nerves before proceeding through the crowd, trying to get to reception.
Someone grabbed her bottom and she whirled around to see who it was, but there
were so many men around her it could have been any one of them. Certainly no
one was owning up. Huffing, she turned back and continued fighting her way
through, trying to be polite. By dint of much excusing herself, and finally
just shoving, she finally made it to the desk.

There were a number of people waiting to speak to the
swamped receptionists. Stacie attempted to wait patiently, tapping her feet and
silently urging them to hurry up so she could get back to Dan. She glanced
around the area, for the first time noticing how revealing the outfits were. One
girl had more material in her hat than in her outfit.

She felt a hand on her bottom and a voice in her right
ear. “That’s a very sexy dress you’re wearing.” The hand gave her rear end a
slap and she bristled. “Which party are you from?” the voice asked.

Stacie turned her head to her right, seeing a leering young
man dressed as a cowboy. “I’m not with a party.” She reached behind herself and
removed his hand from her backside.

“That’s a serious shame. I could imagine you and me
having so much fun,” he said to her cleavage.

“Well, you just keep imagining, as it won’t be happening.
Excuse me!
” she called to the
receptionist, wanting to get away from these people, before any more of them
got any ideas. She moved around the desk, doing everything to get the
receptionists’ attention, barging her way to the other side.

“Sorry, can I help?” asked the receptionist, arching her
brows at Stacie.

“Yes, I hope so. Can you tell me if Dan is available
tomorrow afternoon and evening?”

“Let me have a look,” she replied. Stacie watched her
pressing a few buttons on the keyboard. “Can I have your code, please?” she
asked. Stacie gave it to her. “You are with him now?”

“Yes.”

“I will have to contact him,” she said, looking up at
Stacie.

“What, right now?” she asked.

“Yes, just to make sure he has no plans.”

“Oh.” Stacie wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t want Dan to
know she was considering booking him again. Not yet anyway. “It doesn’t
matter,” Stacie said and turned to fight her way back through the crowd.

She arrived back to where Dan was waiting.

“All done?” he asked, standing up as she approached.

“Yes.”

“What did you want to speak to them about?”

“Nothing exciting,” she replied. “Shall we go?”

Dan led her round the crowd and down a corridor she
hadn’t been down yet. A discreet plaque on the double doors at the end
proclaimed it to be the restaurant. Stacie peered curiously round the door as
Dan swung it open for her, but saw nothing but smartly dressed diners dotted
around the room. Dan smiled at the look on her face.

“Disappointed?”

“Not at all.”
Liar,
Stacie told herself.
Come on, you wanted
to see something a little spicy.

“This restaurant is mainstream. There are others where
you might see something a little more…interesting. But I thought you’d prefer
it here. I ordered while you were in the bathroom. I didn’t know what you
wanted so I just ordered a selection of starters for us to share.”

A girl wearing a tiny waitress’s uniform came forward to
greet them. As she turned to lead them to their table, Stacie could see her frilly
white panties peeking out from underneath her barely-there skirt. Suspenders held
up fishnet stockings, and she wore impossibly high heels on her feet. She and
Dan exchanged pleasantries and her rippling laugh grated on Stacie’s nerves.
They’d only been seated a couple of minutes before she was back with a trolley
laden with plates and another bottle of wine.

The waitress leaned over the table as she set out the
plates. She had very large breasts that were almost falling out of the low-cut
top she wore. Stacie could have sworn she could see the edge of the girl’s
nipple. Dan was smiling at her and his eyes definitely flashed to her boobs.
Stacie could hardly tear her own eyes off them, but for very different reasons.

She poured them both a glass of wine then sashayed
across the room. Stacie watched her go.

“The food looks good,” Dan commented.

“Yes, it does,” she said absently, not looking at it.

“You okay?”

“Yes fine,” she said. Had Dan been intimate with that
girl? They seemed very chummy. She caught herself. They were probably just
colleagues. And that’s just the uniform she has to wear—it’s not her fault. And
anyway, what did it matter if he had? She had no claim over him.

“How are you feeling?” she heard him ask.

“Fine.” She brought her attention back to Dan and the
table. The food did look very nice. Maybe she could manage a little bit of
something. Those stuffed mushrooms looked delicious.

“Good. So, what did you talk to reception about?” he
asked her.

“Nothing.”

“It must have been something.”

“Why does it matter?”

“It doesn’t, not at all. I was just curious.” His phone
rang. “I’m sorry, I have to answer this,” he said leaving the table to stand by
the window as he took the call. “Hello,” he said. Stacie shamelessly
eavesdropped on his conversation and admired him in his suit. “Oh right,” she
heard him reply. “Yes…no problem…okay…no that’s fine…speak to you soon, bye.”
She started to add a selection of the starters to her plate as he came back to
sit down.

“You’ve only booked me till lunchtime tomorrow, haven’t
you?” he asked, sitting down and covering his lap with his napkin.

“Yes, but I was hoping to extend it till dinner,” she
said, forgetting her reasons for not telling him in her sudden panic.

“Ah, I see.”

“Why, would that be a problem?”

“That was reception on the phone.”

“With a booking? For tomorrow?”

“You could say that,” he said.

Stacie sat back in disappointment, staring at the dark
window. She had just missed out on having him all day tomorrow. Why hadn’t she allowed
the receptionist to get in touch with him? Stacie wondered if she should book
him for the following weekend, before anyone else had the opportunity.

Stacie managed to make small talk throughout the meal, such
as it was. She picked at the dishes and drank too much wine, angry at herself for
not having the courage to book him for the whole day tomorrow. She couldn’t
help but think about the woman who would be with him. She hoped it would be
somebody disgusting, so he would wish it was her instead. But then, why would she
assume he liked her? Yes, he had opened up and told her a few personal details
but, wasn’t that part of her therapy? It didn’t mean he liked her.

“Dessert?”

Stacie looked up, surprised. She’d been so lost in
thought she hadn’t noticed that Dan had finished. “Sorry?”

“Would you like dessert?”

Only you.
“Not for me, thanks. I’m stuffed.”

“Do you want a drink? Or we can go to one of the party
rooms.”

Earlier she’d been curious, but now she just wanted Dan.
Knowing he’d be with someone else tomorrow made her want to not waste a second
of the time they had.