She sipped on some lemon water and sat uncomfortably while the photographer finished setting up her camera. The private rooms were more spacious than she expected. They almost had the feel of a residential dining room with a large table centered under a chandelier. Leather chairs sat in the corners for guests to relax more comfortably as they socialized in between courses. A faux fireplace completed the ambiance. A closable serving window separated this room from the kitchen, but it blended in well with the other decor.
Laurent had surprised her again with his insistence on keeping with the original prize of a private dining room. She supposed, in his mind, this upgrade from their deal compensated her for the sex, but then she remembered how he reacted in the kitchen. In high school she had seen only a few fistfights between boys over a girl, and the look on Laurent’s face when Jullian hit on her, had floored her. If they were all still in school, she had no doubt it would have come to blows between the two friends.
Her mouth ticked up. She’d never been fought over. Her past with boys, and now men, didn’t have anyone who wanted to fight for her. More often than she cared to admit, she’d been used then cast aside.
Laurent had proudly walked with her in town, and then shut down his number two when he tried cozying up to her. As much as he had acted differently than any other man in her past, Sara knew it wouldn’t last. Great, amazing, wonderful men, that also sizzled in bed, just didn’t go for a woman like her. The time when she would get hurt by him got closer every moment they spent together, but she couldn’t bring herself to break free and leave. He’d gotten inside her faster than any man, and now she wanted him around. For as long as he’d have her.
She checked her phone again. “Maybe I should leave another message,” she said, and started dialing.
The door opened and Laurent walked in. “Still no luck reaching them?” he asked.
She hung up when the voicemail answered and shook her head.
“So are we taking any pictures or not?” asked the photographer.
Sara hated being in the spotlight and she rubbed her hands together. “Well I guess I could just order for myself…” she said, looking from the photographer to Laurent.
Laurent turned to the photographer. “Can you take your photos on the move?” he asked.
“Of course, but we’re in a small room. The tripod works better,” she said.
“I’m not talking about in here,” said Laurent. “I have a better idea.” Then he turned to Sara. “You up to getting your hands a little dirty?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Then let’s turn this dinner prize into another cooking lesson. We’ll make something together and the bureau can photograph that instead of you eating alone,” he said. He took one of her hands. Warmth flowed into her body and pushed out all the doubts she had been having.
“It sounds great,” she said, a big smile breaking across her face. She wanted to kiss him more now than she did at his home.
Click. A flash of light and the moment ended. Sara looked up at the ceiling.
“That was an amazing reaction shot of her to your cooking offer. I’ll pack up what I don’t need while you two get started,” said the photographer.
“We’ll see you in the kitchen,” said Laurent before leading Sara from the room.
Her skin tingled at his touch and she walked with him through the restaurant to the back. She imagined every patron watching the two of them as they passed by the tables full of diners. People already waited in line at the door to get in, and here she was walking with the man, whose food they all wanted to eat, and he planned on spending the next hour or two exclusively focused on her. Far from a simple food prize, Laurent had made her feel special, and she savored every moment of it.
“So what will we be making this time?” she asked as he pushed the door open to the kitchen.
Laurent rubbed his chin and took two aprons, handing one to her. “Well I had planned on making gumbo for your sister’s night out, so why don’t we have you learning that, and a nice Cajun, spiced seafood dish.”
She imagined him standing next to her, directing her every moment with a knife or spoon, and still wanting her like he did at his old kitchen. Now a photographer would be in the room, with the potential to record any small, intimate moment they might offer to each other. The possibility of getting caught exchanging glances heated her up. Even the staff in the kitchen would be watching, and wondering, exactly what might be going on between the two of them. The rush overwhelmed her, and she gained some appreciation for Alicia’s desire to be the source of man’s attention.
But as uninhibited as their sex in his old kitchen had been, she didn’t want anyone around to actually see them together. That line she’d never cross, so she needed to keep her hands to herself, all the while wanting them to roam all over his body. “Tell me where to start,” she said, slipping the apron on and tying it behind her.
A smile permanently etched in her face over the next hour. As the photographer continued to shoot, Laurent stood close by the entire time. His presence heated her up more than she expected as she chopped, stirred, and otherwise assisted in preparing the meal. Laurent’s ongoing thoughtfulness continued to impress her. He stayed close, but never so close that they crossed a line for the camera. When he reached around her to guide her hands, his voice remained level, with undertones of desire, but he held his feelings inside. Having known him for such a short time, it surprised her that she could pick up on subtle mannerisms he had, but she dismissed it as her imagination. She knew that knowing a person so quickly was impossible.
Even as his professionalism shone through to everyone, she imagined how the pictures of them together would look. A charming, highly photogenic, celebrity chef and the average, plus-sized consultant. She didn’t need to see any of the pictures to know that the camera would love him, and her ego didn’t need the bruises it would get from seeing herself in the shots. As long as whatever newsletter the pictures were used in never made it to her part of the country, she could live with never being seen in print.
“I think that’s about it,” Laurent said, taking the fish from the grill and placing them on their respective plates. “Ready to eat?” he asked.
Chapter 18
“These pictures will be amazing,” said the photographer, packing up the last of her things.
Laurent shook her hand and held the door open for her. “I certainly hope so. For a meal that good the pictures should be great,” he said, and then turned his head to Sara. “Of course, I had a great assistant.”
She flushed, waved goodbye, but didn’t say anything in response.
Laurent smiled at Sara after the photographer left. Being near her during the class, with an audience, had been a test in his control. Each brush of his arm along her body, every time his hand moved over hers to guide her work, drove his desire higher. Sara waxed between tension at the attention she received to completely relaxed. At times, when she’d let him help her, they moved in a unison he’d never experienced with any student before. Even Jullian, whom he’d worked with for years, didn’t have the same level of sync in cooking with him that Sara had displayed without any effort.
The camera unnerved her at first, but she braved through it, and he had no doubt that she would look like the angel he knew she was. Hopefully she believed it too. Her knack for cooking spoke volumes about her. Despite her protests of dieting when he first met her, she loved food, and shaping it into tasty dishes was second nature to her. She hadn’t devoted the time to develop her gifts, but they were there, hidden underneath her doubts.
He could never let her go. She may decide to say goodbye and hurt him, but before she did, he intended to make sure she knew that she was a special woman. One that he realized, that he couldn’t live without.
“Walk with me,” he said, and she came alongside him, taking his hand. They walked past his employees, and he nodded his goodbyes before grabbing her purse on the counter, and exiting out the back.
“Are we heading back to you place?” she asked, biting her lower lip. He leaned over and kissed her, the flavors of the food heavy on her lips, and his tongue swept out into her mouth.
“The city is amazing to see at night. I thought we could take a walk,” he said, and she brightened up. “Then we can head back to my place.”
Her fingers locked with his and they walked down the street. The restaurants and bars were alive with activity. The heat from the afternoon had cooled down and the moon shone brightly in the clear sky. Jazz bands played in bars. They weaved through the throngs of people coming and going, listening to the music.
“Is it always like this?” she asked. “All the people and music?”
“On the weekends,” he said. “But during Mardi Gras it’s non-stop, even during the week. New Orleans is an amazing place to live.”
They kept walking, stopping outside any bars with a live band to listen to the music for a song or two, and then moving on to the next.
“I’ve never been to Mardi Gras,” said Sara. “I’ve always wanted to go. Or maybe even head to Rio someday for Carnival, but I haven’t.”
“If it’s your dream, then you need to follow it,” he said.
She pulled at her dress and he frowned. “What is it?” he asked.
“I could never go to someplace like Rio during Carnival,” she said. “I’d end up standing there while everyone was having fun in their costumes. It’s like those photos we took tonight. Celebrity Chef Laurent with that plus-sized girl from out of town. No one wants to see me, least of all in a skimpy outfit.”
Laurent spun around to face her. “It’s not true. You were beautiful. An angel. I told you before,” he said. His face filled with anger at the doubts inside her. “You’re the most gorgeous, amazing person I’ve ever met, and I love you. And I’m going to keep saying it until you believe it yourself.”
He gasped for breath, and looked into her eyes. Panic crossed Sara’s face, and he wondered if he had said too much. She wanted to run. He wasn’t sure where, but he saw the doubt clear on her face, so he took her other hand into his. For a moment she almost pulled away, but she slipped her fingers into his, and waited.
He took a deep breath and pulled her hands to his face for a kiss. “Let me show you how beautiful you are to me,” he said. “Spend the day with me tomorrow… And tonight.”
She closed her eyes. A tremble moved through her body, down her arms, and into him. He held his breath, waiting for her to answer, move, or give him a sign of what she would decide. He prayed that he hadn’t pushed her too far.
Conversations with past boyfriends cycled through her thoughts. Never once had any of them said such wonderful things to her. She knew that Laurent had a special gift, but she refused to believe that he actually loved her. Love at first sight happened in fairy tales, not in real life. She believed in true love, but that was something people discovered after knowing, and dating, each other for some time.
Laurent had charisma. His status as a celebrity proved it. He wanted her in his bed tonight, and she wanted to be there. But it was lust, not love, which drove him.
A part of her wanted to believe in the fairy tale. That somehow he could see in her a true treasure, his true love, from the first moment they met. But she knew better. Whenever someone said they loved her, they really meant that they loved the sex. She had even had one brutally honest boyfriend discard any pretense of love and simply claim that he lusted after her. A couple weeks later he dumped her for a thinner model, which is exactly what Laurent would do. But he’d do it tomorrow night when she left New Orleans.
What he intended to do tomorrow didn’t matter. She wanted him. Something about him twisted and heated her insides unlike any other man. If experiencing pleasure under his firm hands came with heartache, then she still had to do it.
She looped her arm around his. “Let’s go home,” she said, and started walking.
Chapter 19
Sara’s eyes opened slowly as Laurent cracked a blind and light came into the bedroom. She felt more rested and refreshed than she had in months. Laurent had taken her home, and instead of the wild, frantic sex that she expected, he had been gentle. The tenderness he showed was so unlike her other lovers, that she felt the tension leave her body; she had fallen into a deep sleep when they’d finished.
Waking up in his bed, she didn’t want to escape like she had yesterday. She belonged here. At least today. She watched Laurent as he opened, just slightly, the other blinds in the room. He walked around naked and she realized this was the first time that she had really seen his body in full profile. She consciously forced herself to not drool. His chiseled frame was everything she expected, and he hung semi-erect, his cock waiting for her touch to invigorate again.
She tried to hide her disappointment when he started putting some clothes on, and she wondered if this was the kickoff to the inevitable goodbye. “Are you going somewhere?” she asked.
He smiled back at her. “We are,” he said. “You promised the day with me and it’s already past ten.”
Her head turned to the clock. He was right. She had gotten a good sleep if she had slept this late. Usually her internal alarm got her up by six even without a clock. She pushed herself up in the bed and pulled the covers over her breasts.
Laurent grinned. “They’re lovely and I’ve seen them,” he said.
She ignored the phantom sensation of him sucking on her breasts. “I’m not going anywhere without better clothes,” she said. “I’m not wearing my work outfit again today.”
Laurent slid onto the bed next to her and ran his fingers through her hair. “We can stop by the hotel and you can get changed,” he said, leaning in for a kiss. She purred under his touch, and then tugged at his shirt.
“Why exactly did you get dressed so quickly this morning?” she asked, lifting his shirt up over his head.
“I must have lost my mind,” said Laurent, falling next to her in a kiss.
Laurent pulled into the hotel valet. “We won’t be long,” he said, taking the claim ticket from the attendant. He fell alongside Sara as she headed into the lobby. She put her phone back in her purse and frowned.
“No messages?” he asked.
“I don’t understand,” she said, and then headed straight for the reception desk.
“Are there any messages for a Sara Canning?” she asked the clerk, who had awarded Sara her prize yesterday.
The clerk looked up to her, and then her eyes went wide when she spotted Laurent, who moved away to wait by the elevator.
“Did you enjoy your dinner?” asked the clerk, smiling.
“Messages,” said Sara. She wasn’t in the mood to banter with anyone, except family, about Laurent.
The clerk got up to look over at her mailboxes. “No I’m sorry,” she said. “There’s nothing here, but I did see both your sisters this morning.”
“You did? When?”
“The woman you checked in with yesterday just left a few minutes ago. And your other sister came up to the desk looking for messages too, but that was about an hour ago.”
Sara bit her lips. Nothing had happened to them, which relieved her. But she still didn’t know why no one answered or replied to her messages. “Are you sure no one left any messages?” she asked.
The clerk nodded. “Nothing here,” she said, so Sara thanked her and turned away.
She walked over to Laurent and the elevators. He hit the up button when she approached.
He sounded upbeat. “Any news?” he asked.
“We just missed them,” she said. “I still don’t understand why I’m not getting any messages.” It frustrated her, but at least she didn’t have to worry. She took a step closer to Laurent while they waited for the next elevator. Now she could focus exclusively on whatever plans he had for her. The elevator dinged open and they rode up to her floor. She had to look to remember which way to head down the corridor.
“You want me to wait outside?” Laurent asked when
they reached her door.
“Keeping an eye out for undesirables trying to sneak up on me all alone?” she asked, reaching over to tickle him under his arms.
He broke into a big grin and pulled her into his chest. “Of course,” he said, and he dipped his head down to kiss her neck.
She pushed him away. Sex was fun, and pulling him into her room for another round would be so easy. But she wanted to experience the day he planned too. “You promised me a romantic tour of the city. And I’m sure New Orleans extends beyond our mutual bedrooms,” she said.
He let her go and smiled. “Go get changed,” he said. “Then we’ll start that touring.”
She turned her back to him and keyed her door open. He didn’t reach out to grab her again, or push his way into the room, which she wouldn’t have objected, if he’d tried. She walked in, left the door slightly ajar, and started walking toward her suitcase when she saw the paper on the ground.
It sat on the floor next to the door with her name on it. She picked it up and opened it.
Sorry about missing dinner. Met a great guy and have been helping him with a photo shoot. Tell you about it tonight. Alicia.
Sara blinked. A great guy? Alicia never talked about men that way. Men were discussed in terms of measurements, never in terms of being great. She looked at the note again to check the handwriting, then shook her head at how unexpected this entire trip had become. A quick check around the door didn’t turn up any other notes from Erica, so she forgot about it and went about getting into some new clothes.
She picked a shoulder strap white sun dress with lots of green leafs and colorful carnations. Light enough for being outside for hours and sufficiently sexy to keep Laurent’s eye planted firmly on her, where she wanted it. She gave her hair a quick brush before putting on some light makeup, then headed back into the hallway to Laurent.
Cajun Vacation Page 11