Sweet Promise (The Grahams Book 1)

by Jennifer Woodhull

  We danced for a while longer until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I grabbed him by the hand, tiptoed up to his ear, and said, “Let’s take this dance party back to the hotel.” He smiled and nodded. He led me off the dance floor and found Ian, yelling into his ear that we were leaving, and headed outside to find a taxi.

  He gave the taxi the name of the hotel, and we got in the back. I wasted no time, climbing on top of his lap to straddle him and kissing him deeply. As I ground against him, through my dress and his slacks I could feel that he was rock hard. I had enjoyed sex with my previous boyfriends, but I had never felt a need like the one Lucas conjured in me. I wanted him so bad that he could have fucked me right in that taxi and I wouldn’t have cared who saw.

  Our lips mingled, our bodies intertwined as the car wound its way through the streets of Paris. Lucas ran his hands up my bare back, exposed by the halter-cut dress. It felt as though every nerve in my body was on fire, his broad palms leaving a trail of electricity everywhere he touched me. Our mouths were open, our tongues gliding against one another as I rocked my body against his.

  Feeling emboldened by his desire, I moved my right hand from his shoulder and slid it down his chest, then moved my body far enough away from his to slide my hand along the shape of his erection through his slacks. I realized just how big he was once my hand was exploring what my body craved. I wasn’t even sure how our bodies would fit together, but I knew we’d have a helluva lot of fun figuring it out.

  Suddenly, Lucas pulled back from our kiss and grabbed the wrist of the hand that was on his cock. “Belle…” he started to speak, but I had moved my kisses to his neck and was starting to kiss the open spot at the top of his shirt. “Georgia, stop!” He said, more firmly. His stern tone was jarring, and I stopped everything and sat back from him.

  “What – what’s wrong?” I asked, my heart still racing, my chest still heaving with desire.

  “We…I can’t. Not…we can’t. Not here.” His brow was furrowed, his eyes cast to the side. He looked serious, and more than a little sad.

  “Oh-kay…,” I said slowly, moving from his lap back to my seat. “The hotel’s not much further.” I took his hand in mine. “It’s okay – we can wait.”

  He turned to me, as he adjusted in his seat, the look on his face shifting to one of frustration, mixed with something else – maybe a little anger, though I could tell it wasn’t directed at me. “No, darling, that’s not what I mean.” He kissed the hand that he held tightly in his. “I can’t…with you…not here.” He breathed a heavy sigh. “Can we get a nightcap in the bar?” The car was pulling up to the hotel, and a valet opened my door, while another got his.

  “Yeah, sure,” I replied, wondering what I could have done wrong to change his mood so quickly.

  Lucas took my hand and led me into the hotel bar. He leaned over the bar and whispered something I couldn’t hear to the bartender. He summoned a server who showed us to a booth in a back section of the restaurant which was closed during the late evening when only the bar was open.

  He ordered a beer, and a rose cocktail for me. Sitting across from me he put his elbows on the table between us and took his face to his hands, rubbing it before running them through his hair. I must’ve looked as confused as I was. He looked at me, shook his head and sighed before he began to speak.

  “You have turned me into a real mess, you know.” He said looking at me with an expression that was part exasperation, part amusement.

  “What in the world does that mean?” I asked, crossing my arms.

  “I…I don’t date women, Georgia. Not in a long time. I fuck women. Lots of them, if I’m honest. The more, the better, in fact. At least, that’s what I was doing, ever since…well, you know. Ever since things went badly with Simone.”

  “I see,” I replied, sitting up straighter in the booth as the high of emotion from earlier started to dissipate and give way to concern, and a little anger. “So, is this some conversation where you tell me you want to fuck me, but you’re still going to fuck other women too? Because honestly, that’s just not gonna work for me, Lucas. I’m not some piece of ass, ya know.” As desperately as I wanted him, and as much as I was really starting to care for him, I wouldn’t be some random hookup for him to toss aside. I had more self-respect than that.

  “What?! No, no! Georgia, you’ve got it all wrong.” He reached across the table and took both my hands in his. “Christ! I’m so bad at this that I’m saying all the wrong things.” He shook his head and started again. “What I’m saying is that I haven’t dated anyone in a long time. I’ve been on dates, I’ve hooked up with women, but I haven’t wanted to pursue anything more, so I haven’t even bothered to try." He ran his hands through his hair.

  "I…you…fuck! Georgia, I don’t even know what I’m doing with you. You make me absolutely crazy. I can’t seem to have a thought that you don’t creep into. As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, the first thing that flashes in my mind is your face. I can’t wait to get to see you every day. I see something on television, or read something online and think, ‘Oh, I’ve got to tell Georgia about that.’ You make me laugh, you’re kinder to me than anyone has been in a long time – far kinder than the likes of me deserves, that’s for bloody sure.”

  “You’re really confusing me right now, Lucas. Everything you’re sayin’ is good, and yet, you just tossed me off of you in the cab like you weren’t interested.” I replied.

  “Just...,” he shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “Just please, let me get through this.” He looked at me, his eyes pleading, and I nodded my agreement. “It is good, I think. And on top of all of that, you’re the sexiest woman I have ever known. I mean, I’ve gone out with Page 3 girls, lingerie models…woman whose job it is to be sexy, and you can roll in wearing a t-shirt and jeans and put them all to shame. You’re fucking unbelievable, you know.”

  I felt the blush rise to my cheeks as I took a sip of my drink. “Okay, but…,” he cut me off, holding up one finger as a reminder I was supposed to be letting him finish his thoughts. I tried, unsuccessfully to hold in a grin. Lucas Nash was sitting in front of me, telling me he thought about me as much as I thought about him. He thought I was sexy. Me! Little Georgia Graham from Rutherford County, Tennessee had the full attention of one of the sexiest men alive. I let him continue.

  “You were right, though, Georgia. The other night, when you said we should take it easy until we get out of Paris. It is more complicated here than I thought. When we were in the car earlier…well, there are still some ghosts here for me.” He said.

  “I see,” I replied, my mood falling a little. I wasn’t sure what I had done, but something had reminded him of her, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

  “Look, no, no – darling, don’t…please don’t look sad like that. The other night, when we were together by the river that was a new memory – a fucking fantastic one – with you. When we were at the club, and you were dancing with me, it was incredible. Every man in the place was looking at you, but your eyes were on me. I can’t tell you what that felt like. It’s just…I…fuck!” He slammed both fists down on the table top, startling me. “I’m fucking shite at all of this. This wasn’t supposed to happen this way at all.”

  “Look at me,” I said, but he continued to stare up at the ceiling. “Lucas!” I snapped my fingers and got his attention. “You don’t get to choose, ya know.”

  “What’s that mean?” He asked.

  “You don’t get to choose how you feel, or who you feel it about. I may not be a woman of the world, but this,” I wagged my finger back and forth between the two of us, “this is something. I don’t know what, and I don’t know what will happen. God knows everybody under the Sun has warned me not to get involved with you, and I promised myself I wouldn’t, but I’ll be damned if you didn’t get under my skin. You’re not who people think you are. I can see that, even if you don’t want me to. If you want to see what this really is – if you wanna try, then let
’s try. We’ll cool things off until we’re on neutral ground. Where would that be for you?”

  I was in logical mode – my default when things got tough. What’s the problem? What’s the optimal solution? How do we get from here to there? Those were the kinds of questions that got me through the tough times with my Mama, and they had served me well every time I had a tough challenge to face. It was no surprise that it was my go-to when things got tough with Lucas too.

  Lucas laughed. “You really are full of surprises, you know. Munich is our next stop. I never took…anyone…there. My only memories in Munich are of getting hammered at Oktoberfest and eating too much sausage.” His mood was lifting, and his whole body was becoming relaxed.

  “Alright then. That’s just a few days away. So, I let you say your piece, now I think you should answer my question.” I said, sitting back and crossing my arms.

  “What question’s that?” He asked.

  “You said this was different, and I think so too. I won’t be some tabloid footnote for you, though. I won’t let my career go down the drain because I was a notch on Lucas Nash’s bedpost. I don’t care how hot you are, you aren’t worth throwin’ everything away for. So, what do you want, Lucas?”

  “I want you, Georgia.” I rolled my eyes. I knew he wanted to have sex with me – that was crystal clear. “No,” he said, “you don’t understand. I want you. I want you in my bed, obviously, but that’s not what I mean. I want to know everything about you. I want to hear about your life in Tennessee, and listen to your laugh, and fall asleep with you in my arms. I...I can’t make you any promises. I might be total shit at it and might not be in any shape to ever be with anyone again – I don’t know. But if it means I have a chance of being with you…I will try with everything I’ve got. I want you, Georgia.” His eyes were soft, and there was a genuineness in them, and I knew he was telling the truth.

  “I want you too, Lucas,” I said softly.

  We went upstairs, and he held me for a moment outside the door of my room. His kiss goodnight was sweet, and tender, unlike the passionate exchange we had shared in the taxi. “Goodnight, Belle,” he said, pressing his cheek to the top of my head before he released our embrace and opened the door to my room, and let me walk inside alone. His mood was lighter.

  “Goodnight, Luc. I’ll be lookin' forward to Munich,” I winked.

  CHAPTER 12

  Lucas

  It took all of my resolve to stop Georgia in the back of the car on the way to the hotel. Her body was warm and soft in my arms, and when she was grinding her sex against me, I ached for her to the point of pain. As the car turned a corner towards our hotel, I heard a police siren, and the sound, combined with the sensation of a woman in my arms, brought back a memory that I didn’t want to associate with her.

  Simone had waited for me in my limo after an awards ceremony in Paris the night we met, and we had dry-humped all the way back to her flat. She had been fingering herself as we kissed, and when we heard a police siren passing suddenly by the car, we stopped for a moment, and she pushed her wet fingers into my mouth. Back at Simone’s, we didn’t make love, we fucked. Hard. It was always like that with her. The wall behind her headboard was mirrored, and when she was on top, I often caught her looking at herself in the mirror as we fucked. She was all about her image, and never loved me – she just loved what I did for her from a publicity standpoint. John saw it all along, but I was too blinded by lust to care until it was too late.

  Georgia was nothing like her. She was a real person – genuine and kind. She cared about people. Not just me, but everyone. She had taken on this job to help save her family’s property – that much I knew. I also got the impression that, although she was the youngest, she had taken care of the whole family since her mother had died. The night I took her up in the Eye in London, I just needed her to be with me. I needed someone to help me put Simone in the past. It was selfish, I knew.

  When Georgia had tried to kiss me that night, I pushed her away, just as I pushed her away in the taxi. If she thought I was a total ass and never wanted to see me again, no one could blame her. When that flash of Simone came back to me, though, it was more than just her memory. My mind was so muddled up – a mix of emotions and fears. It was as if I suddenly knew I had to do things differently with Georgia if there was any chance of it working out. I had to show her I wasn’t the self-absorbed man-whore the media portrayed me to be. I had to get this right because God help me, I was falling for her.

  Over the two days that followed, we snuck away in between takes to steal an embrace here and a kiss there. On nights when shooting wrapped early, the entire crew went to dinner together. They all knew we were flirting pretty heavily, but I didn’t think any of them suspected there was more, except for John. I knew John had a massive crush on Georgia. Sorry, mate, I thought, I can’t give this one up. After dinner with the crew, both Georgia and I would go to our respective rooms. A little while later, I would sneak back to her room, and we’d go out, wandering the streets of Paris for hours, talking and laughing. We hardly slept, but I didn’t care. I felt more awake - more alive than I had in months or maybe even years.

  One night, we were having wine in a quiet little bistro in the eleventh arrondissement, tucked away at a back table away from the street. Georgia told me about her mother’s illness. I could see the pain in her eyes as she talked about the period when she seemed to be doing so much better, only to take a turn for much worse shortly before she died. They called it the rally - the cruel irony of terminal illness that the sick have a boon of apparent recovery before the end.

  She spoke of how strained her relationship with her sister had been after Celia decided not to return home after graduation, opting to start her life in Chicago instead. Her family was everything to her. The idea crossed my mind that, should things progress between us, she would have a hard time being away from them. It was one of the many things that I knew we would have to work through to be together.

  “So, you and John have known each other since you were in school, you said. It seems like things are a little strained between you two lately. I hope that’s not on my account,” she said, changing the subject.

  “Oh, don’t mind him. He gets in moods from time to time.” I replied nonchalantly.

  “Luc, come on. I know somethin’s up, and I get the feeling he sorta liked me when we first met. I don’t want to cause a problem between you and your friend.” She replied. She was one of the most observant people I knew. She could spot some subtle thing someone said or did and learn so much about them from it.

  “I hope you’re not telling me you like that sad sod,” I joked. “If you’re saying you’d rather be with him, I’ll go chuck myself right in the Seine.”

  “You’re ridiculous!” She laughed. “Seriously, though, what’s the story with you two? If we’re goin’ to…I don’t know, do whatever this is, you have to open up to me and be honest, remember?”

  “You know how it is…I’ve known him for nearly my whole life. We’ve been through a lot together, but he’s always been there for me. He’s tough on me when he thinks I’m making a mistake. I think he was hoping we wouldn’t get together, but it’s you he was protecting this time, not me.” I gauged her face to see if she was satisfied with the explanation.

  “Oh, I see.” She twisted her glass on the table as she looked up at me.

  “There was a time…things were bad between John and me. There was a girl that we grew up with…the three of us were best friends. I loved her like a sister. John - John was in love with her,” I drank down the last swig in my glass and called the waiter over for another.

  “She didn’t feel the same?” Georgia asked.

  “He never found out. He was going to tell her how he felt…we were all out one night, and I was coming back from the toilet, and she caught me in the hallway. She…she kissed me. I don’t know what came over her - it was so out of character. I truly think she was just drunk. Unfortunately, just as she did i
t, John walked up. He was absolutely gutted. I tried to tell him it was a mistake - told Helen she needed to talk to him.”

  “That’s awful! Poor John!” Georgia said.

  “I wish that were the worst of it,” I said, “but it’s much, much worse.”

  Georgia stopped fidgeting with her glass and just stared at me, waiting for what came next.

  “We were at a pub in the country near Oxford. We’d gone up for the weekend to visit some friends. We were driving back to our hotel…I don’t remember getting in the car or even driving at all. The next thing I remember is being on the grass, and hearing John, screaming. It was the most pained, blood-curdling sound I’ve ever heard.” I took a swig of the fresh drink the waiter had brought.

  “Oh, no, Luc! An accident?” Georgia asked, her eyes filling with water.