Bailey turned around to Tammy. “Water would be fine, thank you.”
Kate gestured over at the white leather loveseat. “Miss Walters, please make yourself comfortable. We hope you like the selection we’ve chosen for you.”
Bailey took a seat on the couch. “They’re all very nice. It will be difficult for me to choose.” Tammy came over carrying a bottle of VOSS and a water glass. “That’s where we come in.” She half filled the glass and handed it over.
“Thank you.” Bailey took a sip of water and smiled. “Okay, I guess we should get this party started.”
Over the next hour and a half, she was indeed pampered by Tammy and Kate. They were very good at helping her pick out a variety of styles, and in the end, they each held a shopping bag of her shoes.
She felt guilty that she’d spent so much money. There wasn’t a pair in the entire store that cost less than five hundred dollars.
Tammy and Kate were tickled by her lack of self-control. They worked on commission with a 25 percent gratuity. As a waitress, Bailey understood what it was like. That fact took away some of the sting of spending Lucas’s money.
On her way downstairs, she spotted Lucas sitting on one of the white leather couches, talking on his cell phone. A Middle Eastern–looking man dressed in a fine suit was doing the same directly across from him. The man nodded to an attractive Middle Eastern woman that waved a pair of red stilettos in front of his face.
Bailey took note of a blonde woman casually sauntering back and forth in front of Lucas, slowing just long enough to catch his eye. While continuing his phone conversation, she observed his quick look up at Blondie as she made another sweep past him. His eyes then shifted from Blondie to her across the room. A smile formed upon his mouth as he stood up saying, “I’ll call you back.” She keenly observed how Blondie then turned somewhat abruptly and faced him, looking rather confident that she’d finally hooked her fish. Lucas walked forward straight in line with Blondie, who was prepped and ready to reel him in. Throwing her golden locks over her shoulders, the woman smiled bright and straightened her spine to draw attention to her noticeably fake breasts as he drew closer. “Excuse me,” he said and sidestepped Blondie with his concentration still fixed across the room.
My man, Bailey cheered.
She was a bit shocked when Lucas came up to her, hooked his arm around her waist, his hand at her nape, and kissed her affectionately on the mouth ... with tongue right there in the middle of the boutique, not caring that they had an audience, Blondie included. Long seconds later, he drew back, tenderly stroked her cheek with his thumb, and uttered lovingly, “I’ve missed you,” then gave her another good long kiss before letting go. He then looked past her to Tammy and Kate. Each held a shopping bag of her shoes.
As Bailey slowly recovered from his passionate lip-lock, she peered briefly over at Blondie and met her fixed stare. That’s right, all of this is mine. Her arm was snaked around Lucas’s waist, staking claim to make her point. Dismissing the woman, she lifted a foot to show off her five-inch wedged, lemon-yellow Louboutin sandals. “You like?” she asked him.
“They’re lovely. They go well with your dress.”
“That was the intention.” She grinned.
Paul Cosworth walked up. “Miss Walters, is there anything else we can do for you?”
Lucas then asked Bailey, “Were you pleased with the choices here?”
She could see Mr. Cosworth, Tammy, and Kate holding their breath for her answer. “Yes, and they were all very helpful.” She addressed the ladies, “Thank you. I would still be up there trying to decide what to get if it weren’t for your assistance in helping me choose.”
“How many did you select?” Lucas eyed the bags in their hands.
Bailey bit her bottom lip. “Uh, seven. I know it’s—”
“Only seven?” He cut a hard look between Mr. Cosworth and the ladies.
And here she thought she’d grossly overspent. “Tammy and Kate were wonderful. I got exactly what I needed.” He nodded, and Mr. Cosworth along with the ladies visibly relaxed.
They all walked to the door. Lucas took the shopping bags from Tammy and Kate. Mr. Cosworth handed over his card to Bailey. “Please call if you are ever in need of additional items. We can even come to you.”
“We will keep that in mind,” Lucas replied.
“Thank you again,” Bailey said. Lucas held the door open for her, and she walked out to the limo parked directly in front. The driver stood with the trunk open. He stepped forward, prepared to assist them with their bags, and Lucas was about to hand them off when Bailey stopped him.
“I want to show you what I bought.” She climbed in, and Lucas followed. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not at all. Show me your shoes, princess.”
He sat back as she began pulling shoes from boxes. A pair of leather Burberry sneakers and Kate Spade loafers were presented and quickly tossed aside. She eagerly opened several more boxes, and he picked up a shoe—Jimmy Choo, eggplant purple, double ankle strap, six-inch spiked heel with about a one-inch platform.
“Oooh, I think those are my favorite.” She took the shoe from his hand. “Or maybe these.” A silver pair of Manolo Blahniks were held up before him.
“I believe all are your favorite.” He chuckled, and she snorted a laugh in agreement. Taking note of the pointy toe, red pumps at his feet, he pointed at the pair. “I want you to come to bed tonight wearing those and the red lace panties you purchased.” His request made her eyes flutter, and a slow smile curved his mouth, unveiling a hearty dose of mischief.
As his hand slipped beneath her dress and stroked her inner thigh, she looked down at the Giuseppe Zanotti stilettos and back at him with a smirk asking, “So, I get to wear panties again?”
“For the ten minutes that you’ll be in them, yes.” His cool blue-grays swept over her, as if recalling their earlier naughty escapade.
During their visit at the lingerie boutique, she’d attempted to put on a pair that she’d purchased, but he’d stopped her. As her punishment, he fingered her right there in the private dressing room up against the mirror, pumping his fingers swiftly in and out of her pussy, his thumb working her clitoris with excruciating skill, and captured her moans in his mouth as wave after wave crashed over her body in exquisite bliss. A shuddering breath had left him at the look in her eyes as he brought her to climax.
Just then, the ring of his cell phone in his inside coat pocket brought her out of her thoughts. “What about the matching bra?” Bailey asked as he retrieved it and checked the display.
“Only the shoes and panties, princess.” He winked, and she gave him a smile in eager anticipation of whatever he had in mind as he answered his phone, “Hello, Mother.”
“I thought you’d be here by now. You’re still coming, aren’t you?”
Lucas held the phone away from his ear perhaps to not break an eardrum; the woman practically yelled into the phone. “Mother, you can speak at a normal pitch. The sound of the ocean waves doesn’t encumber your voice on this end. I can hear you just fine. Why do you insist on calling me when you walk along the beach anyway?”
Watching Bailey, he grinned at seeing her try on two different shoes and then extend her legs out with a dancer’s point to admire them on her feet. Pulling the phone away from his ear, he whispered to her, “I see you truly love shoes.”
“I do.”
“I’ll remember that if we should ever argue,” he whispered back with an amused look.
“Lucas, are you listening? The family has arrived, except you. What’s going on with you? Sandy’s here. She said you’re seeing a black waitress you met at some sort of night lounge. Sandy said—”
The phone shot back to his ear. “Mother!” he roared, and Bailey’s spine stiffened. Her head swung over with her eyes gaping wide at him. Her nostrils flared in anger at the thought that Sandra would speak so ill of her to his mother, but the feeling quickly turned to hurt and disappointment over his
mother’s apparent objectionable tone regarding her race. And it’s a café, not some skeevy back-alley dive. That swung the pendulum of her emotions back to anger.
Staring back at her, Lucas said to his mother, “I suggest we end this conversation before I say something you will surely find offensive.” He took hold of Bailey’s hand and gave it a light, reassuring squeeze as he supplemented, “I wouldn’t disappoint Chelsea. My lady and I will be there tomorrow. If she’s shown even the slightest disrespect—”
“Lucas, why would you—”
“Good-bye, Mother.” He ended the call. Immediately his phone started ringing again. He turned it off. “Sorry about that.”
“You should’ve let her finish what she was about to say.” Bailey tapped her chin with her index finger. “Let’s see, she might have said why would you stoop low with a black waitress when you could have Sandy? Or, why would you even consider bringing a black woman to our home. Or maybe—”
“It doesn’t matter what she was about to say. I love you. I wouldn’t bother showing up at all if it weren’t for my sister. I’m surprised by my mother. I don’t expect you to believe it, but she’s usually very freethinking.”
Pulling her hand free from his, Bailey shrugged. “Whatever.” She slid away from him, and his brows furrowed. “I think you should drop me off in D.C. on your way to California.”
“Like hell I will! You’re coming with me. You’ll have to meet my family someday. It may as well be now.”
“I’m not going anywhere where I’m not welcome, Lucas. I need to go home anyway. I still have my job at Nuagé, but I need to start looking for a day job. I have bills to pay. Go to your sister’s wedding dinner party.”
“Bailey, don’t do this. I want you with me.”
There was a hint of alarm in his eyes at the sight of her obstinately shaking her head as he watched her irritably shove her shoes back in their respective boxes.
“If you don’t go, then neither will I.”
Her head jerked to him. “What? Yes, you most certainly will go! You’ll not give your family another reason to hate me.”
“Then don’t fight me on this. Come with me.” He reached for her hand, but she tucked it close to her side and inched away.
“It’s your sister’s dinner party meant for family. I’m just the woman you’re currently seeing.”
His breath hitched; a look of anguish flashed across his features. “That’s what you think this is?” He peered over at her. “Or is it that for you, this is temporary?”
It wasn’t how Bailey felt at all, but she was too upset to deal with his feelings after learning that her baby would likely be spurned by his or her grandmother. “I can’t go. I’ve been away from my evening job far too long already. It’s all I have right now. I have to get back to the real world.” Dismayed, she crossed her arms at her chest and brought her focus out her window. It’s going to be a real treat when your mother finds out that you knocked up the black waitress.
“Real world, huh,” he muttered. “I guess your real world doesn’t include me.” His head turned to his window.
Bailey didn’t rebut it, and no more words were spoken between them.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
They reached the penthouse with neither saying a word during the entire ride. Bailey set the bags down by the door and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over Central Park.
She’d hoped Lucas’s mother wouldn’t have a problem with her race. Freethinker, hah, yeah right. A lot of people consider themselves freethinkers, open-minded progressives until an issue lands on their doorstep.
Though her dad took issue with her being pregnant and unmarried, there was no doubt both her parents would accept Lucas and love her baby wholly.
She’d have to somehow accept the horrible possibility that she and her child may not be welcomed by Lucas’s mother and likely others in his family. It was very disconcerting.
Lucas set the shopping bags on the floor and draped the garment bags over the back of the sofa, then came up behind her and gingerly ran his hands up and down her bare arms. She tried to move away. “Don’t, love.” His voice was barely above a whisper as he encircled his arms around her middle and held her close in apparent need of the contact.
He kissed his way from her right temple to her neck, along her shoulder blade, and back up. A light grip of her chin angled her head back to capture her mouth as her name breached his lips on a low, throaty whisper. She reached back, snaked her fingers in the soft waves of his hair, turned, and brought her arms around his neck. Her lips parted, allowing his tongue to mate with hers. It was a small sign of her love for him to latch hold to, aligning her askew emotional grid.
He brought the zipper down at the back of her dress, and then a hand glided up her inner thigh, cupping her sex. The heel of his hand massaged her clit before he eased a finger inside her.
“Bailey, I need you,” he murmured against her mouth.
She understood that he wasn’t referring to just sex. She needed him just as much and spread her legs to give him better access to her sheath’s opening.
Staring into his beautiful eyes, she palmed his face and uttered softly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. I need you, too, Lucas. I love you.” He responded with a greedy kiss, and a second finger was added to the one readying her body to receive him.
Hooking her right leg at his hip, riding his fingers, she tugged at his suit coat and tie, desperate to feel warm skin. Her need near urgent, she yanked at his belt, pulled his shirt free of his slacks, and went to work unzipping his pants.
“Dios mio!”
Bailey’s hand froze midzip from the stark shriek that resonated around her. Dear lord not again! The sound of a woman’s accented voice stopped her cold, and Lucas swiftly withdrew his fingers from her body, hastily straightened his clothes, and then turned around.
As he spoke to the stunned-faced woman—his housekeeper apparently; she wore a pale blue maid’s uniform—Bailey tried to keep her dress from falling off.
The woman held a taut grip on the strap of her black handbag with her censorious gape meeting Bailey briefly and then shifting down to the floor.
“Rosa, I didn’t know you were here.” Lucas buttoned his suit coat and linked his hands in front of him to minimize the telltale bulge of his erection.
“Ex ... excuse me, Mr. Marx. It was my day to work. I finished and was about to leave. I’m sorry, sir.” With the sudden rush of color flooding the woman’s face at having caught them on the verge of intimacy, still avoiding eye contact, she directed her focus on the shopping bags. “Packages arrived today for the Miss. I put them in your closet. Should I put these away as well?”
“I’ll take care of it. How is Julieta?” Lucas asked her.
Rosa’s eyes brightened, and she smiled wide. “She is still bouncing off the walls with excitement over her acceptance to Harvard.”
“So she chose Harvard over Stanford, I see.”
Rosa nodded. “Thank you again for writing the recommendations. Oh, and Julieta and I were told at our interview that you and Mr. Wilkes had an enjoyable luncheon.” Her gaze softened; a wealth of appreciation glowed in her brown eyes. “Her merit scholarship will run the entire four years. Thank you, Mr. Marx, for helping my baby.”
Lucas glanced over, and Bailey smiled lovingly at him as she observed his flushed cheeks brought on by what they had been doing a few minutes ago, but more likely from embarrassment over the reverence Rosa was showering upon him. Such a loving, caring man he was.
“I won’t keep you. Have a good afternoon,” he said.
“Yes, sir.” Rosa sprinted out the door.
He turned back to Bailey with a chuckle. “Another minute and she would have found us naked.”
“So you worked some of your magic and helped her daughter get into Harvard? That was really sweet of you.” She noticed his cheeks colored more. He wasn’t one that basked in praise.
“Julieta is
very bright. She earned it. Now where were we? Oh right, Rosa cut short my finger play.” He laughed as his hand moved up her inner thigh again.
“It’s not funny.” Shaking her head, she pressed her head back against the window. “Your entire staff will think I’m a trollop. I hope they don’t report to your mother.”
“My mother has no involvement in my affairs, and as I explained before, you don’t have to be concerned about those who work for me.” Seeing her ready to argue, he lifted her up and carried her through the labyrinthine halls of his home to the bedroom. They quickly undressed and got in bed.
He brought his mouth down to her stomach and kissed along her hip on down her legs as he stretched out with his head at her feet. Soft kisses soothed her arches, on up her calves. Then he shifted onto his back and brought her over him to straddle his shoulders.
Bailey looked back and saw him smile and lick his lips as he stared at her spread sex like it was the most decadent treat he’d ever gotten the pleasure to indulge. Without warning, he gripped her hips and pulled her to his mouth, burying his face between her thighs.
“Oh ... Lucas,” she moaned. Both arms circled her hips to hold her steady as he once again ate away at her sex. The reverse angle of his mouth on her was unbelievably incredible. “Lucas,” she panted, breathless. “What ... what you do to me.” The pleasure was so overwhelming—her vision blurred briefly with her becoming lightheaded—that she fell forward upon his stomach.
Gazing at his wondrous cock that just about stretched to his navel bobbing near her face, she encircled the rosy crown between her lips, rolled her tongue around the head, and licked down the base. His body shuddered against hers when she took him deep into the back of her throat. As she suckled, precome trickled onto her tongue—salty sweet.
She drew in one testicle between her lips, and he growled a breathy hiss and sucked her clit harder. She then took his shaft back between her lips while continuing to massage his balls. His cock throbbed in her mouth as more fluid dripped onto her tongue. He would come in her mouth. Anticipating it, craving it, she worked her mouth and tongue upon him faster, deeper. His reaction was a deep guttural growl that reverberated against her sex, causing her womb to tighten from the onset of her orgasm quickly climbing. “Yes, right there, Lucas,” she breathed out and rocked against his mouth.
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