by Love, Kimmy
“You mean to sleep with me again?” Sonia said.
“No, to go on a proper date, Sonia. I left here Sunday morning in a hurry. Mostly because I wanted to stay.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?”
“I mean, I never sleep with a girl with a long term plan in mind. But after our night …” he looked over at Bibi. “After that night, it wasn't just a physical thing that made me drawn to you. Although the physical was perfect, and I wouldn't change a thing on that score. But, there was more. I wondered if you felt it too. And then I panicked. I'm Damian Hedley. I never feel like this about a woman … and there I was, having thoughts like that -”
“For a hooker!”
“No, it wasn't because I thought you were a hooker. It was because it was you. Again, I apologize. We both know I was a fool. You have to trust me on this, Sonia. I am truly sorry.”
“Look, Damian. You're not a bad person. I don't hate you. I suspect I'll forgive you one of these days. But that day isn't today. I'm tired, I'm angry, I'm disappointed. I'm all the things you'd expect a girl to be after the last few days I've had. Can you understand? I can't come with you to that dinner.”
“Look, Sonia, forget what I said about wanting to get to know you.” Damian held the flowers down at his side. It didn't look as if Sonia would ever accept them. “You obviously don't see what happened the other night as something that could lead to anything more between us, because you can't get past what I did. I accept that.” He looked uncomfortable for a while, but continued on anyway, his cheeks slightly blushing. “What about a purely financial arrangement? If you're in between jobs, what I'm proposing, financially, might interest you?”
“Listen to what he has to say, Sonia,” Bibi chimed in.
“I'm listening,” Sonia said, turning from Bibi back to Damian.
“I will give you a quarter of a million dollars to come to dinner with me at the Merrimans this Friday night,” he announced.
Sonia swallowed hard. So did Bibi.
“And look,” he said. “You keep the money whether they sign the hotels over to me or not. What do you say?”
Sonia looked at Bibi, who had looked back at her, wide-eyed.
.
“I need time to think about it,” Sonia said and started to leave.
“Fine,” Damian said, holding out the flowers. “But please take these. A pathetic peace offering, I know, but I still want you to have them. I'm staying at the same hotel as last time so you can call me there when you reach your decision.”
“Don't hold your breath,” Sonia said, taking the flowers and walking to her door. Bibi put her arm around Sonia's shoulders and led her in, closing the door behind them, but not before giving Damian her most evil look.
Damian stood for a moment and watched the door close. He pulled his lips into a weak smile and took the stairs down to the street, walking a long time before finally hailing a taxi to his hotel.
Chapter Four
For the next couple of days Sonia stayed mainly in her room. The five hundred dollars that Damian had left her the Saturday before, was sitting in a prominent position on the table beside her bed. She hadn't spent a dime of it but knew that sooner or later, she'd have to use it. She was out of work and not bothering to look for a job. She was feeling completely deflated and couldn't believe the run of bad luck she was having.
When Bibi came home on Thursday evening she put her head around Sonia's bedroom door.
“Have you even left this room today?” Bibi asked her.
“Of course I have,” Sonia said, knowing all she did was walk across the hall to the bathroom and back again.
“Did you eat?” Bibi sat on the edge of the bed. Sonia was still in her pajamas, sitting up in bed with a magazine on her lap. She hadn't turned a page in twenty minutes. All she had been doing was daydreaming about the night she'd spent with Damian and wondering if she could possibly accept a quarter of a million dollars from him.
“I wasn't hungry,” she said.
“You can't sit here feeling sorry for yourself, Sonia. You have to pick yourself up and get on with your life. I know Damian breezing through has torn quite a hole in your life but you have to get over yourself.”
“I know that, Bee, but it's hard.”
“Listen, have you given any thought to his proposition?”
“I haven't stopped thinking about it since he left here,” Sonia sighed.
“Well, I think you should do it,” Bibi declared.
“I thought you'd say that. But I don't think I can face Damian again. The truth is, not only have I not been able to get the proposition out of my mind, I haven't stopped thinking about him. I guess I'm over the hurt he caused me but he seemed really sincere about wanting to get to know me, Bibi.”
“So why not do it? You get all that money – a quarter of a million dollars – and you get to see him again. You never know what could come of it.”
“Nothing will come of it,” Sonia sighed. “Men like Damian never change. Not really. I have to keep reminding myself of that. Maybe he felt something for me. But I'm thinking it might only have been for a split second, nothing more. Nothing that would lead to anything serious.”
“You sure you're not building up a defense mechanism so you don't get hurt by him again?” Bibi asked her.
“No, no I'm not. I just can't stop myself thinking all that talk about him actually liking me is pure bullshit. He wants to soften me up and make me do the job. He manipulates people so he can get what he wants. That's all he's about.”
“Well, if you're convinced of that, then you really don't have anything to lose. If you think that he's not really interested in you and that he's using you, then play him at his own game. Use him. Do the job, take the money and rebuild your life. He goes back to DC, you stay here and find yourself the job you actually want. You can do that acting course, if you want to. Because now you have the time and money to decide. You're in the perfect position to come out of this smelling of roses, Sonia. Don't you see that?”
Sonia got out of bed and finally opened the curtains in her room. It had been a sunny day and even though it was late afternoon, the brightness filtering through made her squint. She felt the warmth of the sun through the window and pondered over what Bibi had said. It made perfect sense.
Whether she got to find out if Damian was serious about her or not, the fact remained – she needed the money. She spun around.
“Okay, I'll do it,” she said. “But it'll be the one and only time. I won't fall for any of his tricks. I won't end up in bed with him and I won't let him break my heart.”
“Good for you, Sonia.” Bibi jumped up and hugged her. “And when you get your quarter of a mill, you can take me out to lunch,”
“Absolutely, and then some. I never dreamed I'd ever have that much money at one time,” Sonia said, shaking her head.
“Well, if you're doing it,” Bibi said. “I guess you should put the billionaire playboy out of his misery and let him know. The dinner's tomorrow night.”
“Right. I'm gonna get in the shower, get dressed and I'm going to see him face to face. I want to talk about how and when he'll pay me. I want it all in my account tomorrow morning or I don't show for the dinner. I want him to know I mean business and I need him to get me better prepared for meeting the couple tomorrow night. I was as nervous as hell last time. This time I'm going to show him how good a business woman I can be.”
She called to tell Damian she was on her way to discuss their business arrangement and arrived at his hotel a few hours later. She knocked on the door and was surprised to see how casually dressed he was and how the casual look really suited him. She had to catch her breath.
Damian had not been out of the shower very long because his dark hair was still wet and looked almost jet black, making his eyes seem more dramatically sexy.
He wore a tight t-shirt that showed off every last muscle on his broad chest and accentuated the broadness of his shoulders and upper arms.
He had on a pair of sweat pants and looked a younger and easier going version of himself. She'd only ever seen him in a suit before and even on the night they made love, it was dim in the room and she couldn't see much of his body, only felt it. She remembered the feeling of his body again and a slick of moisture in her panties surprised her. But no, she must be strong.
“Sonia,” he breathed. “It's so nice to see you.” He stood back for her to enter and she walked in slowly, standing only a few inches inside the door. He had a suite of rooms and she could see the enormous bed through a pair of double doors. “Have you eaten?” he said. “I could order room service, if you'd like.”
“I'm not hungry,” she said, turning and finding him right on her shoulder and bumping into his body. “I'm sorry.”
“That's okay, Sonia. Won't you take a seat?” he pointed at one of the luxury sofas. Sonia imagined herself sinking into one of those very easily.
“I can stand,” she said, clearing her throat. “I won't be here long. I've come to talk business.”
“Business, huh?” He was almost mocking.
“Yes,” she said, noticing that since their bodies collided, neither had backed away from the other. They were dangerously close. Close enough for her to feel his breath on her shoulder. That feeling of heat they'd shared last Saturday was back and Sonia had to do all she could to keep her sexual arousal at bay.
But, not only was she aroused by the waves of sex he was generating and the tangible heat between her legs, she was also giving way to the possibility of getting to know Damian on a level that was more than physical once again. Not for a second on her journey over here, did she expect to arrive in his hotel room and feel like this. During the shower she took she had been practically repeating a mantra that said, don't get involved, this is business. She must shake the thoughts of another sexual encounter from her mind.
“I wish you'd sit down, Sonia,” he said. “Can't I even offer you a drink?”
“No, Damian, all I need is to have you set up the payment into my bank account. Here,” she stuttered. “Here are my bank details.” She groped for a piece of paper from her purse and handed it to him. He held it but held her fingers too. “If this isn't in my account by the morning, then don't bother to pick me to visit the Merrimans.”
“Sure,” he nodded. “I'll sort it out tonight.” He was still holding touching her fingers but she pulled her hand away.
“I also need to know if there is anything I need to be aware of about the visit with the Merrimans,” she continued after gulping down a breath. “I wanted you to brief me.”
“Um, there's nothing special to say or do,” said Damian. “Just be the same charming person you were last time. You were a natural. The way you came up with that persona of being a teacher. That was sheer genius.”
They both smiled and stared into the other's eyes.
“Is that something you always wanted to do?” he asked, almost breaking the spell of sexual energy they had cast in the room, but not quite.
“Honestly?” she said. “I came to New York City to pursue modeling and thought that in time I could make it as an actress – on stage.”
“I could see that.” His voice was slow and sultry he was staring at her lips.
“If there's nothing else I need to know about tomorrow, I should go,” Sonia said, moving backwards to the door. Damian followed and jammed into Sonia as her back hit the door.
Without time for another word, their lips had sealed together, their tongues were creating enticing circles in their mouths and their breathing was heavy. It all happened in a flash. Damian raised the skirt Sonia was wearing and stripped her of her wet panties. She pulled down his sweat pants to just beneath his buttocks, enough for his erect penis to spring towards her.
Sonia grabbed his shaft in one hand pointing the tip to her wet pussy. With his hands on each of her thighs, he raised her off her feet, jamming her into the door as his hard cock penetrated deep inside her. She let out a feral moan and wrapped her legs around his waist.
The door made a banging sound with each thrust and Sonia clung to Damian's neck, her head back against the door. Under her breath she muttered the word, “yes,” and gyrated her hips as she felt her orgasm raging at her clit and embedded in the walls of her sodden pussy. He was coming, too, she could tell. Swept away by the hot spell of last weekend, Sonia and Damian were coming with all their might. The door banged excessively and their yells of pleasure would leave no one in the hall outside in any doubt that two people had just had a moment of deep satisfaction.
Sonia dropped her legs and felt the sliding feeling of Damian's cock leaving her. She could do this all over again, she knew she could, but she had to get out of there. Picking up her panties she rushed to his bathroom to find a tissue and hurried back to the door in a desperate need to leave. He grabbed for her wrist.
“After that, Sonia, how could you just walk out?” he whispered beside her ear.
“Isn't that exactly what you did to me?” She turned accusingly towards him. “And I'm sorry I don't have five hundred dollars to leave on your nightstand.”
“That was deep, Sonia. I never thought you were the type to -”
“Tomorrow is all business, Damian,” she said, cutting him off, but not able to meet his gaze. “I get what I want for a change.”
Outside Damian's hotel door, Sonia took a deep breath. What had she just done? She spoke to Damian as if she were a different person for a split second. That way of talking was not her at all. All she'd done was panic because she'd allowed herself to be weak again. But, what was it about this man? Whenever she'd been alone with him she couldn't resist him. She'd tried to make it seem as if she was in control of what happened but the truth was, there was an electricity between them. Him leaving New York after dinner at the Merrimans might just break her heart after all. But she was determined not to let it show. Friday evening was going to have to be the best acting role of her life.
Chapter Five
“What's gotten into you, Sonia? You're acting strange.” Bibi was cooking pasta on Friday evening and couldn't help noticing how jittery Sonia had been acting since coming back from Damian's hotel the night before.
“Nothing,” Sonia replied. “Apart from the fact that I have to meet up with the Merrimans and pretend to be Damian's wife.”
“You've done it before. What's up with doing it again this time?”
“I don't know. I guess I'm a bit nervous, that's all.”
“You look great, by the way. What time is he picking you up?”
“In ten minutes but I can't decide on my shoes.”
“Come on then,” Bibi said taking her hand and abandoning her supper. “Show me the choices.”
In Sonia's room, Bibi watched Sonia parade in at least three different pairs of shoes before deciding on a purple pair that were the same color as her dress. Her dress showed off her hour glass figure but was a lot more demure than the one she had on last time she met the old couple. Less cleavage and a slightly longer length. Not only was she trying to look like a wife but she didn't want Damian looking at her breasts and getting any ideas. No matter what happened, she would not be having sex with him again.
“There's the door, Sonia. He's here. Break a leg.”
“Thanks, Bibi. I'll see you later.”
“You make sure you come straight home and no going back to Damian's hotel.”
Sonia spun around, wide eyed, and looking decidedly guilty of something.
“Aha! I knew it,” Bibi exclaimed. “You slept with him again. Yesterday, when you went to see him. That's why you're acting strange. This has nothing to do with tonight. Tell me the truth. Are you nervous about seeing Damian?”
“Jesus, you can see right through me, can't you?”
“We've shared an apartment for two years, Sonia. I think I know you just a little.” Bibi folded her arms and followed Sonia to the door. “You just be careful. You said you didn't want a broken heart. Sleeping with him again isn
't going to help you at all. Not now, because it's blatantly obvious you have feelings for him.”
“I just mustn't let them show,” Sonia said, straightening her dress and checking inside her purse for the keys.
“I can't see why you're so against telling him you like him, to be honest. He says he likes you.”
“I know what he says but I can't trust him, Bee.”
“Maybe not now. But given time …”
“I have to keep this strictly business. It's the only way.”
Sonia went down to meet Damian. He stood by the open car door at the back of a chauffeur driven car, watching as she walked towards him.