Landslide (14 page)

I didn’t want to see any more. I didn’t want to be reminded of what they had that we never could.

“Hey,” he said, pulling me into a hug. “You know what you need?”

Yeah, I knew what I
needed
. I needed to be fifteen years older with a respectable career so that he and I would have a chance together. I needed him to throw me down and fuck me right there, to show me that he cared about me. I needed to at least know that it would be possible to feel like this with another man who was free to love me back. What I
needed
was hope.

“What you need is chocolate.”

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It was ridiculous, given the seriousness of the situation, but he was right; everything was better when you were eating chocolate.

Max bought ten times more than we could have eaten, insisting on getting one of everything. When I took a bite of what was apparently his favorite kind, he laughed and said, “Make that two of everything.”

By the time we’d left the confectionary, the sun had nearly set. It didn’t seem that late to me.

“The bad thing about Paris in December is that the days are short, but the good thing about it is that the nights are long.”

He was right again; the streets were all lit up, as were many of the buildings. “The city of lights,” I murmured in awe.

“Yes, now let’s go see it.”

Max led me down the block to a taxi stand. The wait wasn’t long, and before I knew it, we were in the back of a car.

“
S'il vous plaît, nous emmener à la tour Eiffel.”

I didn’t know what Max said exactly, but I did pick up on the word ‘Eiffel.’ It was probably one of the most romantic spots in the world, and we were going!

It was just as romantic as you hear. More so even. We stood at the top, looking down at the city. The lights were everywhere, making it all look magical.

I turned to look at him, but he wasn’t looking at the city at all; he was looking at me.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he said, pushing several loose strands of hair out of my face.

I wanted to make some smart ass remark about how he was the one who dressed me, or about how he looked super hot himself. And he did look hot—the black jacket I’d gotten him looked great over the hoodie. And the jeans…they hugged in all the right places, something I’d noticed all day. But right now, the way he was looking at me, I couldn’t even speak.

“I want to kiss you…ugh, fuck,” he groaned, looking away. “Kenzie. You know this is…well, you can say no, right?”

I couldn’t imagine ever saying no to him. I nodded and licked my lips. I wanted to yell at him to kiss me, but the words weren’t there.

He started to move toward me, so I closed my eyes and tilted my head up. We’d kissed before—well, Daddy had kissed his little girl, and we’d kissed in front of the tree in the shop—but this was different. This was just us.

His lips were soft, and he seemed to pull back almost as soon as he started. I’d learned that Daddy kissed me how he wanted, when he wanted, and for as long as he wanted, but this wasn’t Daddy.

I stood up just a bit on my tiptoes and kissed him back. He took that as his green light, because the way his mouth moved over mine was anything but tentative. His tongue found my own, and like we’d never met, we explored each other’s mouths.

Gasping for breath, I pulled away from him for a moment and nuzzled his neck. “You are so perfect,” he said, kissing the top of my head, then lifting my chin and attacking my mouth once again.

I knew there were people all around us; I heard the clicks of a dozen cameras taking pictures of the city, but in that moment, we were alone…just the two of us. We kissed until my lips hurt, but I never wanted to stop. I’d slid my hands under his coat to keep them warm, but it didn’t stop my body from shivering when the wind grew stronger.

“I’d love to stay here all night with you, but I know you’re freezing, and I’d bet that you are starving.”

I hadn’t thought about it, but when he mentioned it, my stomach started to rumble.

We got a cab and headed to the hotel. The ride back was different from the one we’d taken to get there. No longer nervous, Max kissed me the entire way. I moaned when his hand slid up under my T-shirt to the small of my back.

“Monsieur, avoir des relations sexuelles est extra.”

Max started to laugh. “What did he say?” I asked, pulling away.

“The driver said that having sex was extra.”

I sat up and slid to the other side of the seat. I knew my face was red.

“Kenzie, he was kidding.” Max slid over to me and pulled me on top of his lap. “And besides, I’d gladly pay extra to have sex with you in the back of a cab, but I think that you deserve a hell of a lot more than that, Honey.”

Despite the driver, I kissed him for the rest of the ride. When we were back at our hotel, I was almost disappointed until I realized that our room would have been ready hours ago.

“Ok, now it’s
your
decision, but I made reservations for us at the restaurant in the hotel. We’d have to change first, though.”

I looked down, laughing. “You mean, like…out of my Chucks?”

“But we don’t have to. We can just hit another little cafe.”

I shook my head. He’d made reservations, and I wanted to dress up again, anyway.

“Ok, then I have one request.” I looked at him quizzically. “When we get up to our suite, you go and get ready in your room. I know that if I touch you, or even see you getting ready, I won’t be able to control myself. We’d never make it to dinner. The things I’ve wanted to do to you all day… I know you are a lady, and I’m trying so damn hard to treat you like one, but you can only tempt me for so long.”

His words had my stomach in knots. I wanted to tell him to just take me to our room and fuck me all night long—screw the food—but the look in his eyes held conviction.

I just nodded dumbly.

Max went to the desk to get our keys and we headed up to the suite in silence. I grabbed my bags from where they’d been delivered to the room. I was excited to see that a dress I’d picked out today was there, along with the sexiest shoes I’d ever owned. They were three inch heels, but I’d tried them on in the store and I knew I could do it. I hadn’t let Max see the dress, though, and I couldn’t wait to surprise him.
 

It was a simple black
fabric, which fell straight from the form-fitted bodice that left no room for my breasts, instead, pushing them up and out of the dress. The strapless top was embellished with black, grey, and silver beads. The back was held together by a few thin strings of beads and was scooped so low it almost revealed the top of my ass.

I curled my hair and put on more makeup than I’d usually wear. After applying the black eyeliner, mascara, and
smoky charcoal grey eye shadow, the blue in my eyes popped. I’d never been one for red lipstick, but once I’d lined my lips and applied the lip gloss, they appeared dark red, contrasting spectacularly with my skin. Sliding on first the thigh high stockings and then my shoes, I stood in front of the mirror looking at myself. I’d never felt sexier. When I was ready, I walked into the sitting area to find it empty. He’d left a note on the table.

Kenzie,

I couldn’t take it anymore. Knowing you were naked on the other side of the door was killing me. It was either head down to the bar for a drink, or tear down the door and ravish you. As you can see, I’m at the bar. Please call me when you’re ready and I’ll be right up to escort you down.

Max

It was cute, and funny, and sweet all at the same time. I didn’t need to call him to come and get me, though. I walked from the room and headed to the bar.

A few people noticed me as I left the elevator and walked across the lobby, but it was nothing compared to what happened when I entered the bar. Everyone turned and stared. I would have thought that one of my breasts had popped from my top if I hadn’t been able to see a reflection of myself in a large piece of polished marble.

Max was sitting at the bar. Two women were sitting next to him, but his eyes were only on me. He stood up and quickly made his way to where I was standing.

“My God, Kenzie. You look…well…nice.”

I smiled, loving how flustered I’d gotten him.

“Let’s go eat,” he said, hurrying me from the bar area and into the adjoining restaurant. “Are you cold?” he asked as he started to remove his suit jacket.

“What? No.” I replied. I saw him shoot a dirty look at a man who was watching us. “Wait, do you want me to cover up?” I giggled as the hostess led us to our table, realizing his motive.

“No. Well, yeah. I mean…” he stammered. “It’s just they are all looking at you like they want to take you to bed.”

“They’re looking at me like
you
are.”

He grinned. “Yeah, but I
am
planning on taking you to bed.”

He seemed to relax some when we were seated. He described a few of the things on the menu to me, and after making my selection, he ordered for the both of us. Dinner was amazing, as was dessert. I had no idea what was in the chocolate creation, but it was absolutely sinful.

“I need to use the little girl’s room,” I said when Max had called for the check. I wanted to touch up my makeup before we went upstairs. If the way he’d been looking at me for the past hour were any indication, we’d barely make it into the room.

I was re-applying my
lip-gloss when two women walked through the door. I recognized them from the bar. One was a tall blonde in a red dress with a neckline that plunged to her waist. The other was a red head about the same height as me. She wore a sexy black dress that barely covered her ass. Both women were in five inch heels, making my sexy shoes look not quite as sexy.

“So, you are new, yes?” the blonde asked in a thick French accent.

“Who, me?” I asked in confusion.

“You are with the Senator? Who do you work for?” she continued.

I was shocked that they knew who Maxwell was.

“I um, yeah.”

“It’s just that the Senator usually spends his time with one of us,” the blonde continued.

“Or both,” the brunette laughed.

Realization hit me. They were prostitutes, and they thought I was, too. I felt sick.

“It is your lucky night. He’s a great tipper.”

I just stood there, trying to hold back the tears of embarrassment, disappointment, and I wasn’t sure what else but it felt like jealousy.

“Perhaps Gigi and I can help you tonight. Maybe he would like the three of us?” the blonde continued.

They wanted to have a threesome, no wait, foursome with Max? I felt like I was going to throw up, but my pride kept me from losing it with them in the room.

“I am not a prostitute, and I am not interested in having either or both of you join us.”

“We prefer escort, and if you want to give it away for free, suit yourself.”

The red head,
who was apparently Gigi, laughed. “When he tosses you aside, you’ll wish you’d taken the money, though I do say the Senator is a great fuck. I might just do it for free.”

“I’m sure he’ll fuck you next time he comes to town,” the blonde said, snapping her purse closed and walking from the room. Gigi followed her out the door. When I was sure I was alone, I sank down onto the couch in the corner of the bathroom and started to cry. What the hell had I been thinking? I’d gotten so carried away that I thought everything between us was real. I knew what I was to him—I was just a toy—yet I let myself believe it was something more.

I wished I could just be home, back in my dorm room in San Francisco. I couldn’t imagine going up to our suite with him now. I didn’t know what to do, so I just pulled my knees up to my chest and cried.

Chapter 15

Today had been the best of my life. I didn’t think anything could top holding Kenzie’s hand while walking down the street, until I kissed her at the top of the Eiffel Tower. There had been some rough parts to the day, too. Sitting with her and watching the couple leave the cathedral made me long for something that I couldn’t have. I was glad she had been facing away from me so she didn’t see the look of sadness on my face. I knew it was inevitable that she’d find a man her own age and marry
him; I just didn’t want to think about it. And I didn’t. Other than a brief moment when we saw a couple put a lock on the bridge, I forgot all about the reality of the situation and was just with her.

I’d nearly gone out of my mind when I thought of her getting ready, so I wrote her a note and headed to the bar. Paris was one of my favorite places to visit, and I’d been there on numerous occasions, both business and pleasure. I’d even stayed at the same hotel a few times, so I wasn’t all that surprised to see Gigi and Elise sitting at the bar.

I chose a seat on the other end, but they picked up their drinks and headed over to me.

“Well, hello there,” Elise said, leaning in to give me a generous view of her cleavage. “Wanna take that drink and head upstairs, Daddy?”