Cockpit

by Joanna Blake

  "This isn't an ordinary job. I need to know you are up to the task."

  I leaned back. I wanted to know what the hell she had in mind. But I also wanted to know more about the girl in the photos. The beautiful girl with the long list of accomplishments and complete lack of sexual experience. According to the files, she was a virgin. She'd never even had a boyfriend. Some of that could be explained by attending an all-girls school, but it still seemed out of the ordinary.

  The lovely Lady Rosalie.

  "You'll need to be an actor. An activist. A rebel who takes her out of her comfort zone. But one with manners who can move seamlessly from one world to another."

  I nodded.

  "Of course. I can do that."

  She smiled coldly.

  "Good. You were highly recommended. I was told you had brains."

  I didn't say anything. I just waited. I was finding this meeting excruciatingly uncomfortable for some reason. To put it plainly, the woman gave me the creeps.

  She leaned forward, a conniving look on her face.

  "You want to know why, don't you?"

  I nodded. Yes, I fucking wanted to know why. A four to six week assignment. One woman. A beautiful, wealthy, brilliant young woman. It was unusual to say the least.

  Rebecca smiled again. I was reminded of a reptile somehow. I was suddenly glad she hadn't shook my hand.

  "She's a dear friend. I want her to be happy."

  I narrowed my eyes at her. I was feeling more than skeptical. Not that I didn't want the assignment. It would be pleasant and profitable. And I wanted to fuck the girl if I was honest with myself. I had since I opened her file.

  "She's that hard up?"

  "She's completely untouched."

  "Yeah, right."

  "Oh, I assure you it's true. Never even been kissed properly. Trust me, she would have told me. She... doesn't have a lot of friends."

  I frowned.

  "Why? Is she socially awkward?"

  She laughed.

  "Well if being dull as dishwater is awkward, then yes. She's just a very obedient girl. I trust you can use that to your advantage."

  I nodded. I liked the sound of that. I liked to be in control. My hands were already itching to get at her.

  "Here's the kicker- I think it would really add to the experience if you left her with a little gift."

  "What?"

  She smiled, leaning back in her seat.

  "A baby."

  My face must have betrayed my shock.

  "Come now, you can't object to skipping a condom. She's a virgin. It's not like she's going to give you anything."

  I exhaled sharply.

  "This is why you asked for my medical records."

  She nodded.

  "Don't worry. This will be a breeze. Boring perhaps, but you will be well compensated. Especially if you... seal the deal."

  "And what about the baby thing? Is that really necessary? I'm not sure I really like the idea of leaving a kid without a dad."

  She shrugged gracefully.

  "The nobility overlook little things like children born out of wedlock all the time. She's so lonely. It will be good for her. Trust me, she'll take good care of it."

  I knew it was wrong. But the thought of impregnating the girl had an undeniable appeal. I nodded curtly.

  "Alright."

  "Excellent. I know I can trust you to be discrete. And to disappear when the job is complete."

  "I will."

  The doorbell rang.

  She smiled at me brightly.

  "She's here."

  Rosalie

  I was giggling as I followed Rebecca into her library. I hadn't seen my cousin since last Christmas. She was always traveling here and there. And she didn't really come out to the country much.

  She wasn't a big fan of nature.

  That's why I'd been so confused when she asked to be involved in my latest charity idea. She knew how passionate I was about the environment, but that was definitely not her thing. I thought it was sweet that she wanted to spend time with me.

  She'd barely paid me any attention until the last few years. We'd been forced together time and time again as children. I'd always looked up to her, even though she was only a year above me at school. She was always so sophisticated and seemed to know everything.

  So yes, I'd been confused. But flattered. And thrilled to have an excuse to come into town without my parents hovering over my shoulder.

  I walked into the library and froze.

  A boy was standing by the fireplace.

  No, not a boy. He was a man.

  Tall and broad. His elegant clothes were cut to perfection, clearly showing his exceptional physique. Simple but expensive. He looked like an athlete. Or a movie star. Or a movie star playing an athlete.

  Who was I kidding?

  He looked like a Greek God.

  That was before he turned and looked at me. He had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. And when he smiled, a jolt went through me.

  A very, very big jolt.

  Rebecca put her hand on my back and propelled me forward until I was standing in front of him.

  He reached out his hand and enfolded my much smaller, possibly clammy hand. Another jolt. Followed by tingles.

  Lots and lots of tingles.

  "Rosie this is Nicholas. Nicholas, Rosalie."

  She dropped herself into one of the seats, her long legs draping elegantly. But I was staring at Nicholas. He was still holding my hand I realized. I couldn't seem to pull away so I forced myself to speak.

  "It's nice to meet you, Nicholas."

  His smile widened.

  "You as well."

  Rebecca piped up.

  "She's 'Lady Rosalie' technically. But you can call her Rosie. Right?"

  I smiled and nodded. I hated the formality of my title. It kept people at a distance.

  "Yes, of course."

  He let go of my hand and I practically swayed towards him. I could feel the heat coming off his body in waves. It was overwhelming.

  "Sit down you two. I'm getting a neck ache."

  I sat down across from her. I noticed that Nicholas sat beside her. But not close. It was almost as if he was doing it so he could look at me.

  "So. Bees. What are we doing? Please tell me there is a party involved."

  She rolled her eyes at Nicholas. He seemed to be ignoring her. I felt warm, like his eyes were creating heat as he looked at me.

  But that was crazy. Why would he look at me with Rebecca next to him? She was gorgeous. And I was... not.

  Basically, I was a cup of milk and Rebecca was a flute of champagne.

  Very expensive champagne.

  "I do so love parties. Rosie is always trying to get out of attending them."

  I pulled out my laptop and looked up. My heart seemed to leap in my chest. I'd been right.

  He was looking at me.

  "Rosie, Nicholas has done some advertising stuff back in the states. He used to row with Blake. Some sort of training camp, right?"

  He nodded, his eyes still focused on me. She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, squeezing it. He didn't react at all. I almost felt sorry for him. He was clearly more than his muscles.

  Though he did have very nice muscles.

  And so many of them.

  "You still row, don't you? Not like my good for nothing brother."

  Nicholas ignored her completely. I had never seen a man ignore Rebecca. I'd never seen anyone ignore Rebecca.

  "What's the goal here? Raising awareness? Or actually changing something?"

  I smiled at him. He got it. He was literally the first person I'd spoken to about this who seemed to get it.

  "We want to put pressure on the chemical companies to stop producing damaging fungicides and weed killers. But we also want to reach people on the grass roots level."

  "Right, so Aunt Betty knows to use something less toxic on her prized roses."

  I laughed.

  "Exact
ly."

  Rebecca rolled her eyes.

  "Aunt Betty. How American."

  She stretched, arching her back seductively. I couldn't help but watch Nick's reaction. Once again, he didn't even glance at her. Rebecca didn't seem to care though.

  "I'm bored, let's get out of here."

  "But we've barely started."

  "We can talk just as easily over a pint."

  "Sounds good."

  She winked at me. Nicholas seemed eager so I just shrugged.

  "Whatever you want."

  For some reason that seemed to put a gleam in his eye.

  Chapter Four

  Nicholas

  What the hell had I gotten myself into?

  I was sitting in a dingy old pub across from two very wealthy, very different young English beauties. Or beauty, anyway. I preferred the natural look to the overly polished, hard edge look that Rebecca embodied. Even if I hadn't been there on a job, I wouldn't have been able to take my eyes off of Rosalie.

  The girl was... she was so sweet it was hard to believe she was real. But she was real. Not phony like her rich bitch friend or most of the women I knew in LA. If not for the accent, I would have thought she was just a simple country girl.

  In a way, that's what she was.

  A stunningly beautiful country girl who just happened to have what looked like spectacular tits. I'm talking off the charts, mouth wateringly juicy handfuls. It was hard to tell under her jacket, but I was a good judge when it came to tits. I was definitely a breast man. And I wanted to get my hands on hers.

  Right fucking now.

  That was a problem. My attraction to her was strong, and surprising. I didn't usually even think about whether I wanted a client. I just did my job. That's what made this dangerous.

  I never mixed business with pleasure. In fact, I'd never really even had a girlfriend. Not since high school. I had a few long-term clients. But that was it. I felt a general attraction and affection for all women.

  But nothing like this.

  Not even close.

  An attraction like this was an animal thing. I couldn't control it. That meant I couldn't control myself, or the situation. If I was supposed to bring her ultimate pleasure, I had to hold myself back. Be detached.

  The way I was feeling, there was no way in hell that was happening. Not if I got my hands on her without cooling down significantly first. I had to find a way to not want her so badly. But it was hard to imagine that was going to happen. The combination of prim, proper and sweet combined with that slamming body. It was...

  Bad. Very, very bad.

  Her huge eyes were almost the size of the pint she was staring at. Rebecca was giving her a hard time, trying to get her to drink. Apparently, Rosie had never been in a pub before.

  She looked startled. And adorably out of her element.

  I wasn't sure if I wanted to hug her or fuck her first.

  Hold that.

  I wanted to fuck her first.

  Definitely fuck.

  But I realized that I wanted to hug her afterwards. She'd like that. I could spot a cuddler in an instant. She would need sweet talk and hand holding through the before, during and after.

  The crazy thing was, I wouldn't mind. In fact, I think I wanted it too. Almost as much as I wanted to flip her onto the table and plow my cock into her.

  Jesus Nick, get a grip.

  Thankfully, Rosalie was blissfully unaware of the filthy thoughts running through my brain. Actually, she seemed more impressed that I knew a little something about the bee situation. Any moron with an internet connection knew that the bees were dying worldwide due to overzealous chemical companies and their pesticides. But I had dug a bit deeper last night in the hotel.

  I wanted to be prepared. I wanted to impress her.

  And not just because I was getting paid to.

  I sipped my pint and watched her. I could not figure out a way to get her alone so I could paw at her. And it was too soon. Even if she drank twelve of those pints, I think she would run if she knew what I was thinking about.

  It involved her long legs and that ponytail. I would kiss her first. But then I'd get down to business.

  For once I wasn't thinking about pleasuring a woman. I was thinking about my cock. My pleasure.

  I just wanted to bury myself in her and never come out again.

  Yeah, I was pretty much screwed.

  "In terms of advertising, what is the most economical and effective platform?"

  I smiled at her.

  "I'll do some research but I'd say we start with what you mentioned- grassroots efforts. Twitter, bloggers. Young mothers are cutting edge about health issues."

  I knew this because I had a few single mom clients. They were all organic this and organic that. It made sense actually. But it was hard to keep track of everything that they said was bad for you.

  Rosalie nodded, tapping away at her laptop.

  "Yes, I think that's a great place to start."

  Rebecca leaned over and slammed the laptop shut, barely missing Rosalie's fingers.

  "Come on Rosie, you've worked enough. Let's go dancing!"

  Rosalie shook her head vehemently.

  "I have to be getting back."

  "You've barely tasted your drink!"

  "You have to leave already?"

  I had to let her know I was interested. Now. I leaned forward, my eyes on her face. She smiled at me apologetically.

  "Another time."

  "Ugh. She has to run home to her dogs and her stories. This girl would rather hang out with dusty old books than a real human being."

  Rosalie was turning pink as I watched in fascination.

  "That's not true. I like people. I just like reading too."

  I wanted to hear more. I wanted to learn everything about this girl. She was turning out to be so much more than met the eye.

  Rebecca sniffed her.

  "You smell like dog, did you know that?"

  Now Rosalie looked genuinely mortified. If Rebecca was trying to embarrass her cousin, it had worked. I caught Rosalie stealing a glance at me. She cared what I thought.

  That was a good sign. It meant she was feeling the same attraction I felt. Well, I doubted it was as rabidly sexual, but it was a start. I got up and helped her to her feet.

  "I'll walk you to the train station."

  She turned even pinker. Adorable. The girl was too much. I followed her outside.

  "Actually, I have a ride waiting for me near Hyde Park."

  I cringed, realizing she meant a boyfriend. Of course. This was a non-starter. Apparently, her cousin's information was out of date.

  "Do you want to call him? Your boyfriend?"

  The pink was back in her cheeks as we stood on the sidewalk. Rebecca was not so subtly staring at us through the window. She waved at me coyly.

  I liked her less and less by the minute.

  "Robert? He's about seventy years old."

  I frowned, totally confused.

  "So I guess you like older men?"

  She laughed.

  "No, it's embarrassing."

  "What is it?"

  "He's a chauffeur!"

  I cocked my head, peering down at her.

  "How is that embarrassing?"

  "It just is. I think I'm going to walk. I hate to make him drive all the way across town. Plus-"

  She stopped herself.

  "Plus what?"

  "I don't exactly want him to know I was in a pub."

  I took that in. She was a legal adult. Was she really so sheltered that she would get in trouble for going to a pub?

  "I'll join you."

  We talked casually as we walked. She was easy to talk to. For the tenth time in the past few hours, I forgot I was working. I almost sounded too eager as I tried to figure out ways to get her alone.

  "Next time I can come to you. Without Rebecca."

  She chewed that juicy bottom lip of hers. I wanted to bite it. It was broad daylight and I was ha
ving filthy fantasies about what we could do in an alleyway. Or a park bench.

  Or the enormous limo we were walking towards.

  "She's not really the charity type."

  "I noticed."

  "She just wants to have fun. I wish I was more like her."

  I stopped her, brushing her hair out of her face.

  "I'm glad you're not."

  Her lips parted slightly. I'd clearly expressed interest now. Just enough to get her thinking of me as more than a friend. I backed off as if nothing had happened.

  "Let's do some research and regroup in a few days. Maybe Thursday?"

  She nodded. I pulled out my phone and asked her for her number. She gave it to me shyly and said goodbye. Then I watched her climb into her limo and drive away.

  I stood there for the longest time, feeling more alive than I'd felt in years.

  I couldn't lose sight of the prize.

  I had a virgin to seduce. This was about a very big paycheck. There was no reason to feel this bewildering combination of guilt and lust.

  If I wanted her, so much the better.

  After all, there was no shame in enjoying your work.

  Rosalie

  I leaned forward over Arabesque and dug my heels in. The wind was cold but I embraced it, sucking the air in through my teeth. It was gray and cloudy out but I was smiling from ear to ear.

  I was having a very good day.

  A very good week in fact.

  My mother had relented and allowed me to order some ready to wear clothes without supervision. I was going shopping next week with Rebecca. Nothing too fancy either. High street. And my favorite author had released a new book.

  Yes, it was a very good week.

  But mostly because of him.

  Nicholas.

  We'd been in constant contact since the meeting. Texts, emails, and more texts. He'd sent me reams of research and ideas, but more than that, he sent cleverly worded banter.

  He was flirting with me.

  That was surprising in itself. But even more surprising was that I was flirting back. And for some reason I didn't feel absolutely hopeless at it.

  In fact, he made me feel like I was good at it. A natural even. It didn't feel like work. It felt... fun.

  And now he was on his way here. Today. To see me.

  I could not stop the butterflies flying around madly in my stomach. I could not fight the urge to stare into my mirror hopelessly, wishing I had blond hair or a sexier face. I could not stop pacing in and out of my closet feeling ridiculous, thinking something effortlessly cool would magically appear. That's not the way life worked. I was stuck with what I had. There was no use whining about it.