Taylor Made

by kj lewis

  “I don’t remember seeing that on the menu?” Sloan says.

  “It isn’t,” the waiter confirms. “Chef Michel has made it special to accompany the dinner he has chosen for Miss James.”

  “Really?” I ask surprised.

  “Really.” He seems to be enjoying this.

  I cut the scallop in half and take a bite. I close my eyes and savor it as it melts in my mouth. It is so good that it sends vibrations down to my sex. I’m having a food orgasm. Suddenly, my eyes pop open directly to his. My sex is vibrating! He doesn’t give anything away, but I notice his hand is in his pocket. I realize now that he must be manipulating the bullet by remote. Our eyes lock for a long moment. Andrea draws his attention back to her while I close my eyes for a minute, relishing in the vibration and the knowledge that no one knows but us.

  The conversation is flowing easily, and several people stop by to speak to either Graham or Jackson. The waiter brings a different wine for me to have with the starter. It has a long name that I can’t pronounce, but it’s delicious. He follows it with another decorative display of food, terrine made of cheese and vegetables followed by a wine with each course, the middle course, main course, pre-dessert, and dessert.

  I’m in the middle of my dessert when Graham’s sporadic concerto of vibrations finally brings me to a quiet climax that only he is aware of. I slightly arch my back, pushing down with my pelvis, applying the pressure I crave. I take a sip of water trying to calm my breathing. I hold back on the wine throughout the meal, trying to keep it to a half glass of each. I’m not use to this much alcohol, and as a rule I don’t usually drink when I’m out.

  “Slow down on the wine. You’re flushed,” Jackson leans in to tell me.

  I don’t correct him.

  “As always, Miss James, you have them eating out of your hand.”

  I know the voice before I look up.

  “Michaels,” Jackson says, standing and pulling me up with him as per usual.

  “Jackson. Emme,” he nods to us both. “It’s nice to see you,” he says to Jackson.

  Without realizing it, I take a step back and position myself behind Jackson. It’s a move so slight that most people wouldn’t notice, but without question Jackson does. His arm hooks around me, shielding me in a cocoon, his hand coming to rest on the back of my hip.

  “Emme, may I have a word with you?” Michaels says.

  When I don’t respond, Jackson takes command of the conversation. “Why don’t I catch up with you after dinner? I’d hate for Emme to keep our guests waiting.”

  “Of course,” Michaels says through tight lips. “Some other time.”

  I take my seat and don’t look up. I concentrate on taking another bite of my desert, when Jackson slides my chair slightly closer to him, putting his hand on my knee.

  “What the fuck is going on, Emme?” he asks sternly, but softly so as to not be overheard.

  When I don’t answer, he leans in disguising his whisper with a kiss to my temple. “I know this has to do with why you turned him over as a client.”

  Graham clears his throat to get my attention. Anger is radiating off him. I stand to excuse myself to the ladies’ room when a short, older gentleman wearing a chef’s jacket approaches me.

  “Miss James,” he says with a French accent.

  “Chef Michel?”

  “Miss James, I had to come tell you what a delight it was to prepare a meal for you. You had no prejudices towards food or expectations of what you wanted from me. You let me be an artist for your palate. I thank you. You have an obvious love of food.” He pats my hands while he talks.

  “Was it her ass or hips that gave it away?” I hear Sloan’s girl say behind the glass she has raised to her mouth. Andrea snickers. Chef Michel looks disapprovingly at her.

  “Careful,” Jackson reproaches them.

  “Don’t mind them. They’re what I call hanger girls,” I smile at Chef Michel. “Salads. No bread. No dessert. My dinner was amazing. A once in a lifetime experience. My sincere gratitude for the love and care you put into my meal. I’d like to introduce you to my date, Jackson Hollingsworth.”

  Jackson stands and shakes his hand.

  “They may be hanger girls as you call them, but you have command of this room. All eyes on you, no? The food. It works to your advantage.” He kisses my hand. “This not a one-time experience for you. You are welcome in my restaurant anytime. Whatever the city.” He leans in and kisses me on each check. “Your dinner, my treat.” And just like that he’s gone.

  I’ve had so much wine I’m about to pee in my pants. Plus, I want to take out this bullet. It has me too sensitized. Just as I enter the bathroom, a hard chest is at my back pushing me inside. He closes it and locks it. He notices the relief on my face immediately.

  “Who did you think it was?”

  “No one. You just startled me.” I take a deep breath trying to relax.

  “Bullshit, Emelia.”

  I hold up my hand. “You have to wait to argue with me. I’m about to pee all over myself.”

  I go into a stall and sit down. It’s a $300 a plate restaurant; the seats are probably cleaner than my apartment.

  “What’s going on with you and that Michaels guy?”

  “Are you going to stand in front of me while I pee?”

  “Emelia.”

  “Nothing. He was my client and I had Jackson drop him. It wasn’t his preference.” I pull out the bullet, wrap it in tissue and hand it to Graham, then finish in the bathroom. I move to the sink to wash my hands, watching him behind me in the mirror.

  “And Jackson?”

  “You know he’s engaged, right?” I ask him. “To Patrick.”

  He elicits the same amount of surprise that most people do when they find out Jackson is gay.

  “Why not tell me that to begin with?” He turns me towards him. “I think you like me jealous.”

  “I think you have lost your mind,” I chastise him.

  “Every man in this place wants to fuck you. Remind me to be mad at Jules.”

  His eyes rake me in before he rests his head into the curve of my neck, nibbling his way around.

  “They all want what’s mine.” He stops. “Why aren’t you wearing your necklace?”

  “Your mom gave me the earrings to wear tonight, and I didn’t want the necklace to compete with them. And I’m not sure I’m accepting it.”

  “You will.”

  “You can’t just tell me I will, Graham. That’s not how this works. If you had any brains about you, you would know this is not the time to force your hand. You will lose.”

  He moves me to a wall. His hands wrap around my upper arms as he bends to kiss my neck and every open area he can get to.

  “You are mine. Emelia. The sooner you realize and submit to me, the sooner your life gets easier.”

  “Let’s finish this conversation at home.” I return his kiss.

  “We could skip Casino Night and go now.”

  “What about Andrea? She’s special, that one.”

  “Dinner was the only thing I committed to. I’ve more than lost my patience with her. She can navigate Casino Night on her own.”

  “That’s not very gentlemanly of you.”

  “I want to fuck you ‘til my name is the only name you know. Is that gentleman enough for you, Emelia? When we get home, I’m going to make you strip for me. Then I’m going to fuck you from behind against the mirror in the closet.”

  He turns me, my front towards the wall.

  “Your hands above you.”

  He moves my hands to mimic his words.

  “My hands will find yours to hold on to.”

  He kisses my ear and moves to my neck.

  “Because you like it when I hold your hands, and I like how you squeeze mine when I’m buried deep inside you. I’ll let you turn your head so you can watch me move in and out of you in the mirror.”

  He pushes his erection against my ass.

  “I know it tu
rns you on to watch my dick sliding in and out of you. Wet with your juices. Claiming you. Making you mine. I’ll smack your ass when you get greedy and try to take back control. This will only make you want it more. You like having your ass popped as much as you like to watch. I won’t stop until you tighten around my cock. There’s nothing I love more than to watch your face while you come for me. Expect your lips around my cock as I fuck your mouth.”

  He moans as he pulls one of my hands from above me and motions it into my pants.

  “Touch yourself,” he commands.

  His words send me off into a spiraling climax the second my finger pushes against my clit. He pushes more of his weight against me, holding me as my fingers work to extend my orgasm and my breathing comes back down.

  Fuck! All he did was talk.

  He pulls my hand out of my pants and puts it to his mouth sucking on it.

  My hands move to his waist and I begin to undo his belt. I want to wrap my mouth around him.

  “No, baby. Not now,” he stops me. “If you take me in here, every man out there will know.”

  “No they won’t.” I know he can hear the disappointment in my voice.

  “Trust me, baby. They will. Your swollen lips, hoarse throat, and redness of your face will be like an announcement. And while I want each of them to know that you are mine, I don’t want them looking at you in that way. Tonight,” he promises in a gentle dismissal.

  “Good girl,” he praises when I follow his command.

  Jackson and I wait at the valet stand for our driver to pull around. I’m exhausted and we haven’t even made it to Casino Night. I lay my head on his shoulder and rest my eyes for a moment. Jackson folds me into his arms, letting my head rest against the nook of his neck.

  “We can skip Casino Night, if you want.”

  “I’m ok. I don’t know why I am so tired. I’ll get a second wind,” I say with a confidence I’m not feeling myself and nuzzle into his chest. I hear the click of a couple of cameras. Graham and Andrea come to a stop beside us.

  “Guess I would be considered my boss’ ‘it girl’ too, if I was fucking him,” Andrea says.

  I’m too over it to say anything. Jackson, on the other hand, is primed and ready.

  “I know you, your boss, and the group you affiliate with. Say another word and I’ll make it so difficult for you to work in the city you’ll have to transfer to LA. I’ve had enough of your rudeness and jealousy.” He moves me to his other side, positioning himself once again between me and what he assesses as a threat. “It’s beyond me why I have to be the one to say something. I’m beginning to re-think entrusting her to you.”

  It takes me a minute to realize he is directing his ire to Graham now.

  “Jackson,” I say in a tone that lets him know he should tread carefully.

  “Don’t protect him. He should be protecting you. And it should be his first priority.”

  I chance a glance at Graham and his jaw is set in a hard line. Our driver pulls up and Jackson quickly deposits me in the car. Closing his door a little harder than necessary, he says nothing as we ride several minutes.

  “Jackson…”

  “Don’t start with me, Emme, unless you are truly ready to have this conversation.”

  I take a minute to consider his words. I don’t really know if I am, but I know it’s going to hang over us all night if I don’t.

  “What conversation do you think we need to have?”

  “My expectation of how Graham should be treating you. And don’t act like I don’t have a say so. There have been plenty of times you have called me or Patrick on the carpet for our lack of care with each other.”

  “Exactly. We don’t all get it right all of the time. Graham is trying to make it through this night with someone that means nothing to him. He’s doing the best he can. Already he’s made progress. Just give him some time.”

  “He doesn’t have time where your protection is concerned. A man like Graham has more enemies than he does friends. Once they realize Superman now has a kryptonite, they will come at him. And you. If he can’t control a bitchy little girl, how is he going to protect you from everyone else? I won’t let you be put at risk.”

  “You do know I have the final decision,” I say a little miffed.

  It has dawned on me that Graham and Jackson are very similar.

  “I know he can control that girl. My concern is why he didn’t do so sooner. I don’t care if he did fuck you in the bathroom.”

  “Language. That didn’t happen. He’s very quick to protect me. I’m sure he knows I don’t need him to jump to my defense whenever the school-yard bully tries to upset me. I can handle myself.”

  “Did you with Michaels?”

  It’s a low blow, and he gets the reaction from me he is looking for.

  “Shit. I’m sorry sweetheart.” He pulls me into his side. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re my girl. I won’t hand you over to someone who doesn’t cherish you the way you should be.”

  I don’t respond. I know his heart is in the right place, but I don’t know that I have an answer for the cherish part. Does Graham cherish me? Am I expecting him to? What is it that I want from this relationship? Despite Jackson’s observation, Graham has a deep need to protect me. That I know for sure.

  “I don’t know if I’m expecting him to cherish me,” I admit out loud, surprising Jackson. “I might just want carefree and fun.”

  “If that’s true—and I don’t believe it is—you should be with Blaine. Graham is too intense for carefree and fun. You know how this works. If you don’t set the expectation of how you want to be treated, then how is he supposed to know?”

  His words echo ones I said to Lucy just the other day.

  We pull onto the estate grounds. They are magnificent. The estate is on the bay, not the ocean, but it’s no less amazing. It takes several minutes to make our way up the drive, with each car stopping to let people out. Jackson lifts my hand to his lips and kisses it.

  “I don’t want to ruin your night.” He gives me a once over while I apply more lipstick. “You look incredible.”

  We pull up to the door, and Jackson buttons his jacket as he exits the car, then opens the door for me. A red carpet adorns the fifteen to twenty steps up to the large doors of the mansion that is being used for the benefit. The organizers choose from mansions that are not being lived in and rent them out for the evening, empty them, change them into a high-end casino, and then put everything back once it’s over. A lot of work. They must raise a lot of money.

  We are directed to stop at the bottom of the steps for pictures. Jackson wraps his arm around me as we pose for the line of paparazzi. He is a seasoned veteran at walking the carpet. He moves us to the next landing where we pause for more photos, then again at the top landing, the last before we enter. A young blond girl addresses Jackson and asks him for a moment of his time.

  “Will you be okay?”

  “Sure. I’ll meet you inside.”

  He kisses me on the cheek as several flashes go off. I turn to enter when an arm snakes around me, surprising me. I laugh at myself for being so jumpy.

  “Are you going inside?” Blaine asks.

  “I am.”

  “You know my motto: ladies first.”

  He laughs when I roll my eyes. I’m blinded by the flashes going off around us. I literally need sunglasses on to be able to see who is around me and where I am walking. Blaine tightens his grip and pulls me into him.

  “Just hold on to me,” he says in my ear and moves us inside the mansion.

  “I don’t know how you do it all the time. I’m still seeing spots.”

  “I’d like to tell you that you get used to it, but you don’t. At least I don’t,” he adds. “I was hoping to see you tonight. I had no idea I would get to see this much of you. You look fantastic.”

  “My best friend designed it.”

  “Jules. I remember. Remind me to thank her when I see her. Are you
here with Jackson?”

  “I am. It’s a networking night. Graham is not far behind.”

  “Ah. The boyfriend.”

  I don’t respond to that because I am not really sure how to. Is Graham my boyfriend? Would he say he is? This evening is supposed to be fun and carefree and all I’m getting is pushback to define my relationship—scratch that, my affair with Graham. We come to another red carpet lined with cameras, microphones, and reporters. I look around for Jackson, but don’t see him anywhere.

  “Do you want to wait for Jackson?”

  “You go ahead. I’ll follow.”

  “Screw that. We’re friends and I’m not ashamed of it.”

  He grabs my hand and starts me down the aisle. I remove my hand from his. It doesn’t feel right to have him hold my hand. He puts his hand to the small of my back.

  “Are you here together?” the reporter from Entertainment Tonight asks Blaine.

  “No. We actually just saw each other outside and decided to walk in together.”

  We spend a few minutes talking about who we are wearing. I get some great plugs in for Jules. We move through several more reporters, all addressing the speculation surrounding our rumored affair. We, of course, confirm that we are only friends. Jason Kennedy from E! is the last reporter. Blaine spends more time with him than the others, talking about the same thing as everyone else, but Jason adds some questions in there about Blaine’s album. Sex with You is still at number one after nine weeks.

  “What direction do you see your next album going?” Jason asks him.

  Blaine looks at me. We are both thinking about our previous conversation about determining who he wants to be as an artist.

  “My next album will stay true to the music I write, but there will be unexpected moments you didn’t see as much in the first one.”

  “Those moments being?”

  “I can’t give it all away, Jason. You’ll have to wait.” He gives a dazzling smile for the camera.

  “Is it possible some of those unexpected moments are coming from your friendship with Miss James?”

  “Anything’s possible.”

  His answer draws my eyes to his, and he pulls me into his side. He’s looking at me with heat and passion so hot I blush. Shit. This is going to be a thing.