Landslide (11 page)

“Oh, I love it!” I exclaimed, spraying some on my wrist. “I wear this every day!”

“I know. Every time I smell another woman wearing it, it reminds me of you, though none smell quite the same.”

My heart beat wildly in my chest. Was he telling me he thought of me often? I was glad I’d decided to bring down the watch.

“I uh…got you this yesterday. It was just…well…” I’d never really seen him at a loss for words except for this morning, and I loved that side of him; it was endearing.

I took the box from him and pulled on the blue bow. Removing the silver wrapping paper, I
 opened the box carefully. Inside was the most beautiful snow globe I’d ever seen—a couple kissing in front of a Christmas tree. I knew exactly why he’d bought it.

“It’s perfect,” I whispered breathlessly. Leaning over the snow globe, I kissed him.

“There’s one more,” he said sheepishly. “It’s um…well, I just wanted you to have something to remember this special time.”

“I did, too,” I murmured, handing him the box containing the watch. His eyebrows arched.

“Ladies first.”

Opening the box, I gasped at the beauty of the silver bracelet and delicate snowflake charm. I couldn’t help the tear that ran down my cheek; no man had ever bought me jewelry before. I wore very little of it, actually. Unlike the Daddy’s Little Girl necklace, I knew this was just for me, only to ever be worn by me.

“Do you like it?” he asked nervously.

“Oh, yes! I love it!”
 

“May I put it on you?” I held out my wrist. “I was hoping that you could wear it sometimes and think of me.” I nodded, trying not to cry. How did I tell him that I had no intention of ever taking it off?

He looked down at the box I’d given him. “Open it,” I said, sniffing away the remains of any tears, nervous once again.

“Oh, Babygirl,” he said, opening the box and removing the watch, “it’s beautiful.” He flipped it over and the expression on his face went blank. I had no idea how to read his reaction. “Do you?”

I nodded as the heat flooded my cheeks.

He stared at me for the longest time, and just like the small piece of glass that showed me the inner workings of the pocket watch, his eyes showed me into his soul. There was something there I couldn’t place. It was happiness, but there was
sadness, too. He looked from my eyes, to my lips and then down to my breasts. By the time his gaze returned to my face, whatever it was had vanished and was replaced with desire.

There was a growl rumbling in his chest as his lips crashed onto mine. It wasn’t soft and sweet; it was raw and powerful. Holding me tightly to him, he pressed me back onto the carpet. His lips were still on mine but his hands were everywhere. One slid up my top and pulled a breast from my bra. The other was sliding up my leg. When it hit the top of my thigh high, he cursed.

“Damn it, Baby! Are you trying to kill me? So fucking sexy.”

Continuing up my leg, he reached my panties and pulled on them. I raised my hips to allow him to remove them from my body. He took his hand from my shirt and fumbled with his pants. In a matter of seconds, they were pushed down around his thighs and he was on top of me again. Just as I felt the tip start to press into me, I heard the sound of a car in the driveway.

“Jesus fuck!” he yelled, jumping to his feet frantically while pulling up, then zipping his pants.

I was scrambling, too, quickly putting my breast back in my bra and fixing my sweater before adjusting my skirt and sitting innocently on the floor.

Maxwell looked at me and smiled before his eyes got wide and the color drained from his face. “Oh, God,” he said, moving to me in a rush. He reached behind my neck and unclasped the silver chain. “Thank you for giving yourself to me,” he whispered in my ear.

He stood just as the door opened. “Merry Christmas!” my dad called, and with that, our magical moment was over.

Chapter 13

It was the third time she’d crossed and uncrossed her legs in five minutes. I knew what was under that skirt…or what
wasn’t
under it. Twice she’d given me a peek of the creamy skin just above the thigh highs. To top it off, I knew she wasn’t wearing any panties. Of this fact I was certain, because I had said panties in my pocket.

I couldn’t believe how far gone I’d been. Not only had I been about to fuck Mackenzie on the floor in the middle of the day when her father was due to show up at any moment, but I was about to do it without a condom.
 And even that wasn’t what had me thinking about the events from a bit ago. It was the fact that I
knew
I hadn’t put on a condom and I didn’t care. I was going to take her that way. As much as I’d like to have pretended that I would have at least pulled out and came on her flat stomach, I knew that was a lie. If I’d been with her, skin on skin, I’d have buried myself deep inside her and come there, consequences be damned.

And the ironic thing? I wasn’t sure I’d even
care
about the consequences. For the first time in my life, the thought of my child growing inside a woman made me happy. As a politician, I’d always thought of wives as political partners—splitting up to cover more ground on a campaign—but with Mackenzie, I’d want to be with her always. And a child…in politics they were great for photo opportunities, but a huge liability if they did anything embarrassing. Today, though, I had
wanted
to create a life together.

It was ridiculous, I know. I mean…first, it would be the end of my career.
Having a child out of wedlock was bad, but having a child out of wedlock with your campaign advisor’s barely-legal daughter—political suicide. And second, I doubted that at nineteen Mackenzie wanted to get married and have kids, and even if she did, it sure as hell wouldn’t be to a thirty-five year old man.

There was something there, though. I mean, she said she thought of me all the time, which was a good sign, but I couldn’t let myself entertain those kinds of fantasies. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the thoughts from my mind and focused on enjoying the holiday.

We had a wonderful Christmas, the three of us together. Carter even seemed willing to try the e-reader that Mackenzie had given him. He’d gotten her a leather attaché case, which he said she could use when she followed in his footsteps. After opening presents, the three of us sat around, talking and laughing. We watched A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation, too. I loved listening to Mackenzie laugh throughout the day.

We only had a quick moment alone later in the kitchen when Carter had gone to freshen up before dinner. I slipped in and snuck up behind her. I wanted to shock her with my words and test out a thought I’d been having all afternoon.

“Mmmmm, Baby. You look so hot. I wanna just flip up that skirt and fuck that bare pussy right now.”

She groaned and wiggled her ass, pressing it against the bulge in my pants.

“Damn, Babygirl, we need to get you on the pill so I can feel that pussy on my cock.”

I had no idea what her reaction to my words would be. Would she even consider going on the pill? And if she did, would she want to have sex with me without a condom.

I don’t know what I thought she’d say. Maybe something like she’d think about it, or that she’d check into it when we got back to the States. Never in a million years did I expect her to turn around and whisper into my ear, “I’m already on birth control.”

She giggled and carried the dish she’d just been preparing over to the table, leaving me standing there with my jaw hanging open.

After dinner, Carter said he wanted to discuss the meeting he’d attended yesterday. He suggested that we go on a walk so he could burn off some of what he ate. As we grabbed our coats, he commented on my scarf, first asking if it was new, and then saying it smelled like Mackenzie. I laughed it off, informing him that it smelled like her because it was a gift
from
her, but I could tell she’d put some of her perfume on it. I loved that she wanted me to think of her.

Walking through the neighborhood, we went over our schedule for the next week. We had a meeting tomorrow afternoon back in London,
and then back-to-back meetings the entire next day. After that, I had nothing until the New Year’s Eve party.

“You know, you look great today,” he said as we walked back toward the house. “I think the time off did a world of good for you.”

We walked in silence for awhile; the only sound was the melting snow dripping from the trees overhead.

“You know, I think you’re right.”

“Of course I am,” he laughed. “About what, though?”

I smiled. “About the time off being good for me. London is great, but I was thinking of getting away for a bit…maybe going to Paris.”

“I have a few meetings with people to organize things campaign-wise, but you don’t need to be there. I think that would be a great idea. With the schedule you have coming up, it might be your last chance for a while.”

I’d been thinking the same thing. I didn’t want to waste this opportunity with Mackenzie. “Good. I’ll just go for two nights.”

“Sounds great.”

We walked in silence a bit longer. My heart was pounding as I waited to mention the next part of my plan. I hated lying to him, but it wasn’t my place to tell—it was Mackenzie’s secret as much as my own. Besides, I didn’t want him to beat the piss out of me. There was no choice
but to continue the lie. I took a breath, knowing it was now or never. “Hey, I was thinking. With you in all of those meetings, Mackenzie will probably be bored out of her mind. Do you think she’d want to come?”

He stopped and looked at me. “Are you serious?” I had no idea what he meant by his statement, so I just waited for him to continue, terrified he could hear the pounding of my heart. “She’s a girl…and it’s Paris. I’m sure she would love it.”

When we got back to the house, we were assaulted by the smell of cookies. “Great, all that exercise down the drain,” Carter laughed as we hung up our coats.

After the cookies, we played cards. Damn if Mackenzie wasn’t good at that, too. We laughed and played until two in the morning, just enjoying ourselves. Part of me would have preferred fucking her until two a.m., but the larger part enjoyed just talking to her and listening to her banter with Carter.
 

Later, after we’d called it a night and I was lying in bed, I considered sneaking into her room. After almost getting caught earlier, however, I decided to play it safe. That didn’t stop the raging erection, though, and just like nearly every night since my birthday, I stroked my cock while thinking of Mackenzie until I found my release, then fell into a dreamless sleep.

We left to head back to London just after breakfast. Carter had called the owner of the house to thank him for his hospitality. He informed Carter that they would be vacationing at the home until New Year’s and would love the tree.

Reaching up, I grabbed the angel holding the star. I had every intention of putting it on my tree next year.

I had thought that Carter and Mackenzie would ride in the car he’d rented and I would end up driving back alone. I sure as hell wasn’t going to have Mackenzie drive herself, and I didn’t see how I could tell Carter that I wanted to ride back with his daughter. I felt lucky enough that I would get two nights with her in Paris.

When we got outside, I noticed that my car was the only one there. “Where is your car?”

“I caught a ride from one of the members of Parliament who was headed this way. I knew I’d be able to get a ride back with you.”

The short trip back
was great. Not only had we stopped off at a nice pub outside the city and shared an amazing lunch together, but the entire ride, Mackenzie was giving me a show. I was driving and Carter was sitting shotgun with Mackenzie in the back seat. She’d caught my eye in the rearview mirror and then proceeded to lick her lips seductively. I adjusted the mirror so that I could see her better, and she spent the rest of the ride teasing me by sliding her hands into her blouse or sucking on her finger. I was glad my coat was covering my pants, because I was sporting one hell of an erection by the time we’d pulled up to our hotel back in London.

“We have an hour before the meeting,” Carter reminded me. “Make sure to let the hotel know about your travel plans.”

He and Mackenzie headed up to the room while I stopped by the front desk.

By the time I’d finished up it was time for the meeting, and I still hadn’t talked to Mackenzie about Paris. I didn’t want her to feel obligated to go and be alone with me, because I knew how much she hated what I’d done over the Thanksgiving weekend.

When the meeting ended, I walked with Carter back to the suite he shared with Mackenzie. She was there, sitting on the terrace alone.

“I’m going to go talk to Mackenzie about Paris,” I said to Carter, hoping he would let me go alone.
 

“Fine. I’m going to change out of this suit and see if I can catch some of the game.”

I walked out onto the patio. Mackenzie didn’t turn when I closed the door behind me, and it was clear by her posture that something was wrong. It broke my heart to see her so different than she had been in the car just hours ago.

“Hey,” I said, sitting down on a chair next to her.

“Hey,” she replied in a gloomy voice.

“I wanted to talk to you about going away.”

“Yeah, my dad told me.”

I was a bit disappointed. It seemed pretty obvious that she thought I’d planned out a trip with the intent of deceiving her again. It had just happened so suddenly, I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her first. I needed to explain.

“I only decided to go this morning,” I started.

“Was it me? Something I did?” I looked at her in confusion. “Never mind,” she said, getting up from the chair. “Have fun on your trip.”

I couldn’t let her walk away angry. It was alright if she didn’t want to go, but I at least wanted to explain. “I’m sorry, I just thought you would like it. It wasn’t like Thanksgiving. I just…I thought it would be nice to get away with you…”

“With me?” She turned, tears in her eyes.

“Yes, of course it would be with you. Well, I wanted to talk to you about it first, but I guess your dad beat me to it.”

“He said you were going out of town.”

“And that I wanted to take you,” I added.

She bit her lower lip. “He didn’t say that part. I just thought you were going to get away.”

Okay, I have to admit a bit of me was dancing a jig. She was teary-eyed because she thought I was going away? That had to mean that she liked having me around.

“Let me just start over, alright?”

She nodded and we both sat back down. “So today I realized that I had a few free days, and I thought that it might be nice to get away. I mentioned it to your dad and then suggested that you come with me so you weren’t bored. I didn’t want to just tell you that you had to go because I wanted you to decide. I’d love for you to accompany me. You as in
you
…Mackenzie, not little girl.”

Her eyes darkened. I hoped she wasn’t thinking that I planned for this to be a platonic trip. I most certainly did not. I couldn’t wait to be with her physically.

“That isn’t to say,” I continued, “that I don’t hope to spend some quality time with my little girl, but it’s more than that. I guess…I’m um…I guess I’m asking you out on a date.”

“A date to spend the night with you out of town?” Her eyes were wide as saucers.

“Two nights.”

She was quiet for a moment. “What do you mean
a date
?”

“Well, I know that we can’t really date, but I just wanted it to be your decision, and I wanted us to go as ourselves.”

Again she was silent, then a smile spread across her face. “So are we going back to the cottage?”

“Uh, no…as long as it’s alright with you, we’re going to Paris.”

“Paris? Really!” she squealed. “Oh wow! Yes! Yes, I want to go. Um, when do we leave?”

Her eyes sparkled and I loved that she was so happy.

“Not until the day after tomorrow. I still need to book flights, try to get us hotel rooms, make reservations.”

“Ok, so can I help?” The excitement in her voice made my heart race.

“Sure. Well, you can book the flight and the rooms.” I took out my wallet and handed her my platinum card.

“I can’t let you pay,” she said, looking at it.

“It’s a date, remember?”

She smiled and nodded finally as she took the card.

I walked back into the suite nearly shaking like a leaf. I wasn’t so naive as to believe that this was going anywhere—the obstacles were too high—but I wasn’t going to let any of that spoil the way I felt.  I was going on a fucking date and I couldn’t remember being so excited or nervous in my life.

Chapter 14

Paris! I was going to Paris! And with Maxwell.

Christmas had been wonderful, but Paris was going to be different. It was two nights! And unlike Christmas, which had been a gift in itself, Paris was planned. The way he’d asked me was different, too. Not only had he used the word date, he’d said he wanted to go with
me
, and not just
little girl
.