She told the florist that she would be there in an hour and hurried to get dressed.
The florist was across town and it seemed that every time she stepped out the front door lately she got lost. So she pulled her damp hair up into an old knitted hat, forgot about putting on make-up and was out the door in ten minutes. She was at the end of the block and about to cross the road to take the stairs down to the underground when a car pulled up next to her.
She was so preoccupied with trying to remember which underground line to take that she didn’t realize that the car was keeping pace with her.
When she stopped to wait for the cross light it pulled in front of her. Looking down at the cars dark tinted windows she saw herself frown at her reflection before the window rolled down, and the stranger was in front of her.
She stared at him for a few seconds, unable to grasp what was happening, and she heard people behind her yelling at him. His car was blocking the crosswalk and the light had changed.
“Get in,” he said and opened the door.
Seeing him again, hearing his voice, was so unexpected that she stood staring down at him with her mouth hanging open until he reached out, grabbed her arm, and pulled her towards him.
His other hand came up and pushed her head down so that it didn’t hit the door and pulled her in to the seat beside him. The door wasn’t even shut before the car began to pull away and she turned to look at him and asked the first thing that popped into her head, “How did you know where I live?”
But he didn’t answer her. Instead he asked a question of his own, “Where are you going?”
She shook her head and reached for the door handle but he grabbed her hand and twined his fingers with hers. “Please don’t go. I just want to talk to you. Tell me where you’re going and we’ll take you there.”
The feel of his hand on hers brought up memories that she had spent the morning trying to erase so she pulled away from him. “I asked you how you knew where I live.”
“I’ll tell you, but first will you please let me take you where you need to go?”
She shook her head again, went to reach for the door handle and he quickly said, “I followed you yesterday.”
“What?”
He nodded and reached down to loosen the navy tie that he was wearing as if it was choking him. “I just wanted to make sure you got home okay after…,”
He shrugged and grinned and it was the same crooked grin that she remembered from the day before as he said, “You were upset and I just wanted to make sure that you got home okay.”
She looked down, away from his eyes, but her eyes fell on his hands, the very hands that she had dreamed of all morning, and she had to take a deep breath. He reached out to touch her but she shrank back from him and he pulled his hand back.
“Please let me give you a ride.”
She nodded her head, she would agree to anything as long as he didn’t try to touch her again, and he smiled. “Where are we going?”
She gave him the address, and watched as he pressed a button on his door to tell the driver where they were going. As he was doing that she looked around and saw that dark glass separated them from the front of the car and the driver. She couldn’t see anything through it, and if she couldn’t see the driver did that mean that he couldn’t see them either? The thought and where it lead, made her uncomfortable and she turned to look at the stranger again.
He was wearing a navy suit with a faint pinstripe, a white dress shirt and navy tie, and his suit and the car both looked expensive. Why would he want to buy a strange woman a forty eight thousand-dollar ring? And what kind of money did you have to have in order to do so without hesitation? With looks like his he didn’t need to buy women so why would he bother?
“Are you done?”
His voice startled her and made her realize that she had been staring at his crotch. Looking up at him she saw that he had a knowing grin on his face as if he knew exactly what she had been thinking.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
His grin faded to be replaced by a look that she could only describe as charming as he put his hand out to her, “Lucas Antonelli.”
Without thinking she put her hand out and took his but when she tried to take her hand back he wouldn’t let her. His left eyebrow raised and he cocked his head to the side, “And yours is?”
She bit her bottom lip and watched as his eyes flicked down to her mouth. “Lucy Jacobs.”
His gaze moved up from her lips to her eyes and he said, “Nice to meet you Lucy Jacobs.”
His voice was suddenly hoarse, the way it had been the day before as he touched her and unable to help herself she squirmed in her seat. Her hand was still in his and she felt her palms go damp as he pressed it between his. She’d never been turned on by a handshake before.
Realizing that she was falling under his spell again she pulled away and moved back in the seat to face the front of the car. She heard him chuckle softly but she ignored it.
“May I ask why we’re going to Soho?”
She turned partially towards him but when she saw his thigh, encased in navy trouser, she turned back to face the front. She was in a pretty bad situation when even the site of his covered thigh made her damp.
“Flowers,” she answered him and felt him shift closer to her in the car.
“Flowers?”
She nodded, still staring straight ahead, and felt his arm brush up against hers. “What kind of flowers?”
She didn’t respond because his thigh was now touching hers and when he reached out and touched the hair at her temple she flinched. “What kind of flowers Lucy?”
She turned to look at him, to tell him that she was going to look at flowers for her wedding, but when she turned he was close, too close, and her eyes went to his mouth in the second before he moved in and kissed her.
It was good, so good.
She got lost in the movement of his tongue and the feel of his chest pressed up against her. When he pushed her back against the door she went without protest and she felt it as one of his hands went to her breasts. Her nipples were already hard and even through the material of her shirt the feel of his hand on them made her moan. She had dreamed about this, about him, all night long and it felt so good to be touched by him.
His hands moved down from her breasts and she felt them on her hips as he pulled her down to lay on the seat, and moved to his knees between her legs. She knew she should stop him, she tried to think about Sam, but she couldn’t concentrate enough to picture Sam’s face so when the stranger’s hands went to the buttons of her jeans she didn’t jerk away.
She watched his face as he unbuttoned them; he wasn’t looking at her, he too was intent on what he was doing. He didn’t pull her pants down at first, instead his hands went to her feet and pulled her boots off and then when he began to pull her jeans down she lifted her butt off the seat to help him. Her panties, plain cotton today, went with her pants and she gasped at the feel of the cold air on her most sensitive spot.
He looked up at her then and she met his gaze as she reached down to unbutton his pants. But before she could touch his waistband he bent his head and she felt his breath on her. It took only a second for his fingers to gently part her, and then his tongue was on her.
She screamed, beyond caring what the driver was able to hear. Nothing mattered but his tongue flicking over her and driving deep into her. She felt completely out of control, moaning and writhing on the seat with her fingers digging into his scalp and pulling at his soft, dark hair.
He moved his head and the new angle drove her further towards the chasm. Her hips were bucking against his face and her moans were growing louder when he pulled away. But before she could protest he was back and he pressed his face tighter into her, locked his lips around her sensitive bud, and sucked. It pushed her over the edge and she screamed and bucked so hard that she almost threw him off. Her head hit the door hard enough to slam her teeth together but she didn’t ca
re as wave after wave of orgasm rolled through her body.
When she came back down to Earth he was sitting between her legs watching her. The look on his face was one of hunger, pride and possessiveness and it made her shiver.
She glanced down and saw the length of him straining against the front of his pants, and she reached out to touch him but he stopped her hand, “Don’t you want…,” she asked but he shook his head no and reached out to pick up her pants.
He moved to help her into her panties but she took them from him and slipped them on. It was more of a struggle to get her jeans back on and she was flushed with embarrassment at what had just happened. She reached past him to get her boots, avoiding his gaze. It was then that she realized that the car had stopped and she looked out to see that they were in front of the flower shop.
She didn’t turn to look at him as she said, “Thank you for the ride,” and quickly gathered her purse and got out of the car.
She took two steps towards the shop before she felt his hand on her arm. He had gotten out with her. Their eyes met and he smiled as he led her towards the shop.
Chapter Nine
A bell rang out as the door opened and the woman behind the counter looked up and smiled at her, “Hi Lucy!”
The woman came around the counter towards them as she said, “I’m so sorry you had to come back. I tried and tried to find a different supplier for your flowers but no one had them.”
Lucy nodded, not really hearing what the woman was saying; she was too focused on the man beside her. The florist turned to him before Lucy could say anything. “Oh hi! You must be Sam I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Julie.”
Lucy looked at Julie in horror as her words penetrated. No. No. Wait! But the shop owner had already put out her hand and he shook it without correcting her.
“Congratulations on your upcoming wedding,” she said.
Lucy turned to look at him and he raised an eyebrow at Lucy before replying, “Thank you.”
“So…,” the florist turned and went back to the shop and helpless to do anything else Lucy followed her, but she knew that he was right behind her because she could feel him.
Trying to focus she looked up as Julie stopped and turned to look at her with a question on her face.
“Uhmmm…” She didn’t know what to say because she hadn’t heard the question but she didn’t want to admit it. Before she could try and think of something to say he answered for her, “No, sorry. I don’t like sunflowers. I was thinking something along the lines of gardenias or possibly lilies, something that stands for purity and promise.”
“Oh lilies would be perfect! I also have some ivy that I can add to the bouquet if you’d like?”
Lucy watched as he nodded. “Fidelity. Perfect.”
Lucy’s back arched in fury. Was that supposed to be a dig at her?
Not sensing the undercurrents passing between them the shop owner smiled at him and Lucy realized that she wasn’t the only one dazzled by his good looks as Julie said, “A man who knows the meanings behind flowers, that’s rare!”
He smiled back at her, “Just something that my grandmother taught me when I was a boy.”
The shop owner reached out and smacked the back of his hand in a flirtatious manner and Lucy felt her jaw tighten. “What a smart grandmother! I bet that helped you win Lucy.”
They were both looking at Lucy now and angry at his comments and having the decision taken out of her hands she smiled sweetly at him and saw his eyes narrow as she said, “No, my Sam didn’t have to give me anything to win me over.”
She wanted to show him that she could give as good as she got, and she had expected him to be angry, or at least stung by her words, so he surprised her when he winked at her before turning back to the shop owner and asking, “So everything will be ready for the big day?”
Julie nodded, “Oh yes. Three weeks from yesterday, I haven’t forgotten! I’m so sorry about the other flowers but this works out perfectly because this way you were able to come and help decide.”
He looked at Lucy and nodded. “Yes. Today has been perfect.”
They said their goodbyes and he pushed Lucy out of the shop ahead of him. On the street she stopped. He tried to steer her towards the car with a hand on the small of her back but she wouldn’t move. He moved around her and looked down at her, “Lucy…”
“What?” She was angry and frustrated and her voice betrayed it.
He shook his head. “Let me take you home.”
She snorted and shook her head. “No way in hell am I getting back in that car with you.”
He smiled down at her. “Because you don’t trust yourself?”
She laughed. “No. Because I don’t trust you.”
He nodded and bent his face towards her. With each word she felt his breath against her cheek as he said, “I never forced you to do anything, and everything I did you loved. Is that a lie?”
She looked around to make sure that no one walking by had heard him but his voice had been for her ears only. His eyes were a dark, stormy green as they looked at her and she realized that she was holding her breath. “I’m about to get married,” she whispered and he smiled and said, “I know. I heard.”
Shaking her head she told him, “I didn’t mean to let you do that yesterday. I don’t know what came over me. I’ve never done anything like that before.”
He lifted his hand and rubbed the backs of his fingers softly over her jaw. “I know, I could tell.”
She grabbed his hand to stop it, the touch of his hand against her skin made her feel things that she was trying to keep under control. “I don’t know why I let you do that today.”
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead and asked, “Did it feel good?’
Unable to lie she nodded and his lips moved to kiss her temple. “Then that’s all that matters. You’re a very passionate woman Lucy Jacobs and you just need to let it out.”
She pulled back from him and looked into his eyes. He seemed so sincere that she found herself frowning up at him. She felt out of control with him and she didn’t like it.
He pulled her hand, which was still holding his, up to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “Thank you for yesterday and today Lucy. Thank you for letting me share that with you.”
She felt hesitant and shy at that and he smiled and kissed her hand again before saying, “You’re face is so open. I feel like I can see everything that’s going on in your head.”
With that he pulled away and led her towards his car, and she went with him because she no longer felt that she had control of her limbs.
Part of her knew that she should walk away; that she should take the underground home, wait for Sam and beg his forgiveness. But another part of her wanted something completely different. That part wanted to be near him, to look in his green eyes, hear his voice, and have him smile at her again.
He pressed the button and gave his driver her address and she almost sighed with disappointment. She had half hoped that he would take up where he had left off but he didn’t.
They didn’t talk for a few minutes and finally she was the one who broke the silence. “I need to give you back your ring.”
He shook his head. “It’s not my ring. It’s yours. I gave it to you. If you don’t want it then give it away, or sell it, but I don’t want it back. I gave it to you.”
“I can’t keep your ring. It’s too much.”
He lifted her hand and touched her engagement ring, “It seems to me that you needed a real ring anyway.”
She flushed. It was a horrible thing for him to say.
She pulled her hand away and turned to stare out at the window only to turn back at his words, “So tell me about Sam, do you love him?”
She coughed to clear her throat. “Yes I love him.”
His eyes were narrow slits in his handsome face as he asked, “Was he your first lover?”
She didn’t want to admit it to him of all people but she found that her head wa
s nodding. He tilted his head and said, “Maybe you deserve these past few days. Maybe you need to have sex with me to see what other men are like before you settle.”
She laughed at that. One thing she was sure of was that other men weren’t like him at all.
It seemed like the ride home was done at warp speed. Before she knew it the car stopped and she was looking at her front door.
When she turned back to him he was holding out a white box. “What’s that?”
His eyes were searching as he said, “A present.”
“No,” she shook her head. “You know I can’t take anything else and I have to give the ring back.”
Impossible Things Page 5