Discovered (2 page)

“Excuse us a second?” Suzie said
sweetly to the Frenchman as she pulled me a few feet away. “Look, you haven’t dated anyone since Adam and I know that it was hard to get over him but really Em, look at that man…” she pointed in his direction and continued “men like that come around once in a lifetime. While Adam is plain old vanilla, that man right there is oh so yummy Crème Brûlée,” she said with a pleading look on her face.

An internal battle erupted inside of me
, leaving me confused. Here my friend stood making complete sense and yet despite her logic and the growing need at my core, my mind couldn’t allow me to forget the one thing that I knew for sure; he was in fact a
player
. That look in his eyes earlier had told me all I needed to know, but for some freaking reason the rest of my body seemed to yearn for him in a way that it had never yearned for another, Adam included.

“What about you guys, I can’t just leave you out here alone at one in the morning,”
I knew it was a stretch but I was desperate for a reason why I shouldn’t go with the Frenchman. The truth was, even if he wasn’t like Adam, I couldn’t comprehend the idea of being with another man. It was still too soon, wasn’t it?

“Look at him!” was all Suzie said
. I couldn’t deny that a big part of me wanted to go with him but a bigger part of me wanted to run away and hide. The only problem was, I wasn’t the “running away” type of girl. Every challenge I’ve ever faced, I’ve done so head on. I enjoyed the thrill of facing the impossible, to conquering and overcoming it
. Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to go home with the Frenchman? Maybe he means to just offer me a ride home? Yeah, right Emily, I snorted, rolling my eyes at my inner voice, of course that’s what he wants!

“Fine
, but if they find my body in some ally somewhere tomorrow morning, just know that my blood is on your hands,” I warned her even as my friend hugged me encouragingly.

“You’ll be fine, I know it!” Suzie
dragged me back to the man while smiling from ear to ear.

Suzie had always been the adventurous one of the group. She feared nothing and had the ability to seize each day
despite the many curve balls life often threw at her. After a bad marriage and a career change, she managed to somehow grab life by the balls and willed it to do her bidding. I envied her carefree confident spirit, especially when it came to men.  While I allowed my breakup with Adam to turn my life upside down, she would have long since moved on. And so, tonight I would channel her amazing spirit.

“Have fun
y’all,” she said as she walked over to a Diana, who had a look on her face that I couldn’t quite interpret. At first glance it looked like jealousy but I knew that that couldn’t be accurate. Still I made a mental note to ask her about it tomorrow.

“Shall we?” the Frenchman said as he stuck out his arm for
me. Hesitantly I took it.

I
looked up at him and narrowed my eyes, “First things first mister… I need a name. Just in case you decide you’re a rapist tonight, I need to know where to hunt you down.” Though he seemed to take what I said as a joke, I was far from joking; my face was as serious as possible.

“
Julien Belmont, It is a pleasure to meet you,” he said as he brought my hand to his incredibly soft lips, while still smiling. Almost instantly, I felt my defenses melting.
Dang!

“
Julien… of course… well I’m Emily Roberts,” I said while starring at his lips. It was at that moment I knew that I was in for trouble…

JULIEN

I really hadn’t expected to pick up a woman when I walked into the bar earlier tonight. I was supposed to meet my brother at the bar at eight but at the last minute he cancelled, claiming he had an emergency but I knew my brother all too well. His emergencies often included stewardess, models and even strippers on occasion.

Since I was there already I decided to stay and e
njoy a few drinks. I was on my second glass of scotch before I saw her, a beautiful woman with shining auburn hair, in a soft pink dress that was both alluring and sexy but understated at the same time, and did nothing to hide her luscious curves. Every enticing move and sway of her hips felt like it was just for me, my own private dance. I couldn’t contain my groan as I watched her move, trying and failing; to keep both of my heads in check. The one further south was growing increasingly impatient.

I
struggled with the decision to go up to her but I felt utterly incapable of holding myself at bay. Instead, I found myself watching her from behind as she simply swayed to the music, all I could think about was how much I wanted to slowly peel her out of that dress and make love to her body the way she seemed to make love to the music.

W
hen she turned to face me I found myself staring into her beautiful warm, brown eyes. I felt a deep, dormant desire pulling at me from within a place that I hadn’t known existed until that moment. When she turned down my dance offer, I was definitely surprised, but it made her more alluring to me. Even as she walked away, I knew I had to have that dance with her before the night ended.

I didn’t know how I was going to approach h
er again but when I saw that she and her friends were leaving, I knew that it had to be now. Thankfully her friend rushed to assist me in convincing her to allow me to take her home. Though I must admit, it was definitely amusing to me that her friend was needed to help me pursue her. Certainly a first for me! I had never been faced with rejection from a woman before, and while it should have bothered me, I found myself wanting her all the more, maybe even because of it.

We
walked side by side in silence. The light, warm breeze provided me with a deliciously enticing smell of her sweet, floral perfume, which did nothing to cool my ever growing lust for this woman. She smelt like a warm, summer’s day in a meadow.
Oh belle, what are you doing to me?

Just as
we reached my car, I felt her stiffen, “Is something the matter?” I asked as I opened the passenger door for her.

“This… this is your car?” she
said in a tone that was more of an accusation than a question.

“Yes
, is that a problem?” I didn’t mean to chuckle but she was so charming that I just couldn’t help myself.

“You drive a
Porsche?” she asked sounding less then pleased.

Leaning
against the car, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared down at her.

“Well?” she said,
impatiently, awaiting a response from me, only I wasn’t sure which answers she would find acceptable.
Why are you so difficult woman?

“Yes, I drive a
Porsche, yes, this is my car and yes, I would like to drive you home in it.”

“You’re
not an actor that much I know because I would have recognized you. Not a singer either, as your accent is too thick… Just who are you Mr. Julien Belmont and what
do
you do?” she asked, mimicking my stance by folding her arms across her chest and staring straight in to my eyes.

So sexy!

“Well, I’m not sure that it matters but I am a business man. I’m sure you’ve heard of Belmont International,” I responded, knowing just what would happen next.

She froze.

3, 2, 1… Bingo!

Her
mouth dropped open as her hands flew through the air, moving forward and backwards. “Holy crap! You’re
that
Julien Belmont… Vice President of the biggest chain of hotels in like…the world. Are you freaking serious?”

I
enjoyed watching her connect the dots, though it stung a little that she didn’t recognize me before. She was feisty but I enjoyed every bit of her spirited nature. She wasn’t one to be conquered easily, that much I could guess. No, she required much more handling and though I wasn’t one to chase after women, something about her told me she was special and worth the effort.

“Well is that a problem
Mon amour
?” I asked, closing the distance between us.

“Would you stop call
ing me that already? I’m not mon  whatever… I don’t even know you! Why are you even here? I mean, geez… you’re freaking Julien Belmont for goodness sakes! And me, I’m just a line cook! We’re really are worlds apart,” she said with a frown while pulling away from me.

“
Should it matter who we are or what we do?
Non
, all that matters is that I find myself inexplicably attracted to you, and you are attracted to me,
oui
?” I lift my hand to gently cradle the side of her beautiful face, loving her smooth, warm skin against my hand. I noticed her deflated look and without thinking, I leaned in and kissed her. At the touch of our lips, I felt lost in a feeling that was utterly foreign to me. I couldn’t even begin to describe it.

What is this hold you have on me
cheri?

Consumed by my lust for her, I gently ran my tongue across her full, bottom lip. She did not deny me.
With a breathless moan she opened her mouth, allowing my tongue to sweep in to her warm, sweet mouth. Her tongue tentatively met mine. Sliding my hands down her lower back, I moved to grip her hips and pushed my already straining erection against her, causing us both to moan. Slowly, I moved away from her mouth, kissing across her jaw before trailing my lips and tongue down her neck. Her intoxicating scent triggered a hunger deep inside of me, like no other woman had done before her.

“Come home with me
cheri
” I whispered in her ear, before nipping at her lobe then soothing the sting away with my tongue. Before she could give me a million reasons as to why we shouldn’t, I led her to the passenger side of my car and helped her in to the seat. Climbing in beside her, I quickly set off for my home, eager to have her beneath me.