by M. S. Parker
The moment we walked into the lobby of our apartment building, however, I was proven wrong. The doorman pointed at a package he’d set off to the side where it wouldn’t be disturbed. I didn’t even need to open it to know that Krissy was right. My palms were sweating as I carried the package up to the apartment. Krissy wanted to open it right away, but I told her I had to go to the bathroom first. In actuality, I needed a moment to gather myself.
What had I gotten myself into?
I splashed some cold water on my face and then went back to the living room, where an impatient Krissy was practically dancing next to the table. My fingers were shaking as I opened the box and lifted out the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen. No, that wasn’t right. This wasn’t just a dress. It was a gown. A Prada gown.
“Fuck me,” Krissy breathed. “It’s gorgeous.”
I couldn’t speak. All I could do was gape. It was long, with a slit up the side that stopped at what I could see would be mid-thigh. Just high enough to be sexy while not so high that it was slutty. The same could be said for the neckline. The straps were thin, holding up either side of the plunging neckline. This was the kind of dress that a woman didn’t wear a bra with because it would be impossible to keep it from showing. Then there was the color. My coloring tended towards the fair; I was the kind of blond who burned rather than tanned in the sun. Unlike most of my friends, however, I didn’t use fake tan products. I wasn’t sickly white or even that milky shade of pale. No, my skin was more the translucent kind of fair, the kind that looked good in warm colors. And the dress was definitely a warm color: a rich, deep crimson.
“Try it on.” Krissy urged.
I shook my head, finding my voice at last. “I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”
“Are you kidding me?” Krissy was incredulous. “Let the man buy you a dress to wear to a party he wants to take you to. You deserve this, Carrie. Enjoy yourself for once.”
A part of me still said it was too much, said that if I accepted it after having slept with him, it made me no better than a prostitute. I told that part to shut up and went into my bedroom to try on my dress.
When I emerged just a few minutes later, I didn’t need to look in the mirror to know I looked good. Krissy was speechless. I’d never known her to be at a loss for words, and her not being able to speak was the highest compliment I’d ever received.
“Wow,” she finally said. “You’re like fucking Cinderella.”
I looked down at myself. The dress hugged my curves in all the right ways, and my skin gleamed against the color. I was impressed at how he knew my size.
“Gavin’s not going to know what hit him.” Krissy circled me. “I don’t think he could’ve had any clue how amazing you would look, and even if he had, you’re still going to blow his mind.” A mischievous smile curved her lips. “Among other things.”
Heat crept up my cheeks, but before Krissy could continue to embarrass me, the lobby buzzed, announcing we had a delivery. I went over to look at myself in the mirror while Krissy told the doorman to send the delivery guy up. I tried to picture how I’d look in heels, with my hair twisted up in one of those elaborate updos that Krissy always told me I needed to wear, and my make-up done to perfection. I went back into the living room when I heard the knock, curious about what was being delivered. Could it be more flowers from Gavin?
“Sign here, please.” The delivery guy sounded bored as he handed Krissy the electronic pen. As she scribbled her signature, he looked up, his eyes widening when he saw me.
“Package?” Krissy prompted when the young man didn’t make a move to hand over the small box in his hand.
“Right. Sorry,” he mumbled, his face flooding with color.
Krissy waited until she shut the door before she started laughing.
“That’s not funny.” I tried to be stern, but it was difficult with Krissy holding her stomach as she walked over to our couch.
“Are you kidding?” she gasped. “Did you see the look on his face? I was surprised he wasn’t drooling.”
“Stop.” I shook my head. “He just probably wasn’t expecting to see someone in a fancy dress and bare feet.”
“Really?” She grinned at me as she caught her breath. “Bare feet? You think that’s what got him all hot and bothered?”
“Hot and bothered? Seriously, Krissy?” I carefully perched on the arm of the couch. The dress wasn’t too tight, but I felt as if I needed to be extra careful with it. I knew how much something like this cost.
Krissy didn’t bother to respond. Instead, she looked down at the package and I followed her gaze. A card sat on top of the brown wrapping. My name was written across the creamy stationary in a masculine but elegant script. Without a word, Krissy handed the box and card over.
I knew who it was from, of course, but had no idea what it could be. I opened the card. The message was simple and without a signature. “I forgot this.” My curiosity piqued, I set the card aside and unwrapped the package. The box was plain, a simple shiny white, secured by a single red ribbon. My heart pounded in anticipation as I untied the ribbon, dropped it on the card, and opened the box.
Inside, nestled against rich black velvet, was the most beautiful necklace I’d ever seen. I almost couldn’t bring myself to pick it up, terrified that some mistake had been made and that a single touch would bring people swooping down into the apartment to ask me how I dared to have such a lovely piece of jewelry.
Krissy whistled, the sound soft enough to tell me that she was almost as stunned as I was.
I lifted the necklace and held it up. The fading sunlight glinted off the diamonds, throwing rainbows across my skin. The settings appeared to be white gold or platinum. I’d have to take it to someone to be sure, but I knew there was no way this many diamonds would be set in anything else. I found most expensive diamond necklaces ostentatious and many downright ugly. Not this one.
Two thin ropes of rubies that matched my dress perfectly met on either side of three flawless diamonds, two the size of the tips of my index fingers, the middle one half again as large. The design and quality of the stones made the necklace more expensive than some flashier pieces with larger, but lesser quality, gems.
It was beautiful, just like the dress, and it made my insides squirm pleasantly at the thought of someone being willing to spend that much money on me. That was the problem, though. These gifts. The nightclub. Gavin had money, just how much, I didn’t know. The other thing I didn’t know that concerned me far more than how much, was where. Where was he getting this money from? Was he heir to some fortune, or was it all self-made? And if it was self-made, just what kind of business was he in that he could afford lavish presents and a big investment in a club like Privé?
Chapter 5
By the time Saturday night rolled around, my entire body was humming in anticipation. I still wanted to know what Gavin did for a living and I still wasn’t sure where our relationship was headed, but all of that had been overshadowed by excitement. I wanted to see him. Wanted him to see me in the dress and necklace he’d bought for me. Wanted to touch him, even if just innocently. It had taken all of my self-control over the last couple days not to call him. Now that I had a date, Krissy had advised me to play it cool.
I was pretty sure I was driving her nuts. I’d never been one to get all giddy over a guy, especially not a guy I barely knew, but then again, I’d also never slept with a guy I’d barely known, so I was in all new territory here. For the first time in our friendship, I was the one going on about my plans while Krissy sat on the couch and listened. It wasn’t until I was bouncing from the couch to the chair to the kitchen, waiting for five o’clock to come so I could start getting ready, that I realized Krissy hadn’t been listening this whole time. Something was wrong.
That tempered my enthusiasm, and I sat down on the couch next to her. She looked over at me, forcing a smile as she waited for the inevitable excitement to spill out.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
<
br /> The smile faltered, then disappeared. She sighed. “I’m sorry, Carrie. I don’t mean to get all gloomy before your big date.”
“Krissy, what’s going on?” I put my hand on her shoulder. “You’re my best friend. You’re more important than any guy.”
“Even one as hot and rich as Gavin?” she teased, though her heart didn’t seem in it.
“Even him,” I said. “Talk to me.”
She pulled her legs up onto the couch and hugged her knees. “It’s just – I can’t help thinking, when I see how much Gavin wants you, the lengths he’s willing to go to for you, that I’m never going to have something like that. I don’t attract guys like Gavin. I attract losers.” She rested her chin on top of her knees. “I keep finding one wrong guy after another.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. In a way, she was right. The guys she dated were usually jerks. Not abusive or anything like that, just self-centered pretty boys who cared more about money and cars and sex than they did about anything with substance. The problem was, those were the kinds of guys she went after. It wasn’t that she didn’t have standards, but that she had the wrong ones. I just didn’t know how to tell her that.
“Spill it, Carrie,” she said. “I know you’re thinking something, so just say it.”
“All right,” I said. “Maybe the problem isn’t that you keep finding the wrong guys, but that you’re looking for the wrong guys.”
She gave me a puzzled look, but there wasn’t any anger in it, so I kept going.
“You look for the good-looking ones, the ones who have the flashy things and money to spend. Instead of scratching the surface, maybe you need to start looking deeper.”
She was silent for a moment and I waited to see if she was going to make me regret being honest. Finally, she shook her head. “Gavin’s good-looking and a good guy, so I don’t see what my type has to do with anything.”
Her tone made it clear that the discussion was done. The alarm on my phone beeped, reminding me that it was time to start getting ready.
“Go on,” Krissy said, giving me a half-smile. “After you get out of the shower, I’ll do your hair for you.”
I nodded. One of the benefits of being so close: I knew that Krissy really did want me to go. With each other, we didn’t do the whole “say one thing but mean another” thing. If she’d wanted me to stay and talk, she would’ve said it. I got up and headed for the bathroom to start getting ready.
At six-twenty, I was ready. Well, dressed and coifed ready. I wasn’t sure I was emotionally ready. I stole another glance at myself in the mirror before walking out into the living room. Krissy followed, her mood much brighter than it had been earlier. I had a feeling she took some sort of perverse pleasure in doing this kind of makeover. She’d wanted to do one for years, claiming that I didn’t use my natural assets nearly as much as I should. I had to admit that she’d been right about one thing. I was a lot prettier than I’d ever believed.
In addition to the dress and the necklace, I was wearing a pair of silver four-inch heels that Krissy had pulled from her overflowing closet. They’d matched much better than the black ones I owned, and fit perfectly. Krissy and I might not have been built the same, but we did wear the same shoe size. I was just thankful they were a lower heel than most of hers. I wasn’t sure I was coordinated enough to manage some of the six- and seven-inch ones she owned.
My hair was twisted up behind my head in an elegant style that had taken Krissy nearly forty-five minutes to get how she wanted it. A dozen or so pins held my curls up so that they were mostly contained. A few curls had been pulled out to frame my face and brush over my shoulders and back. Then there was the make-up. Krissy hadn’t done much on foundation or even blush. I was fortunate enough to have good skin, so I didn’t need any of that. Instead, she’d focused on my eyes and mouth. She’d done a smoky thing that made my eyes look huge and even darker than normal. They were like two pools of liquid chocolate. I didn’t know where she’d found the lipstick, but the color matched the dress perfectly. I had no idea my mouth could look that full and wet and not feel like I had crap caked on my lips. She’d assured me that the lipstick was smudge-proof, the twinkle in her eyes saying that she wasn’t thinking about leaving lip marks on wine glasses.
At six-thirty exactly, the doorman buzzed to tell me I had a guest. My mouth went dry and my heart began to pound as Krissy told the doorman to let Gavin up. I pressed my hands together as I stood in the middle of the room. It wasn’t until he knocked on the door that I remembered I hadn’t cleaned the apartment. I moved closer to the door. I wasn’t ashamed of where I lived. Krissy and I worked hard and we rented a nice place, especially for two paralegals. I just didn’t think there was any need for Gavin to see how messy the place was.
The moment Krissy opened the door, I forgot about the apartment, about why I’d been mad at Gavin, even my name. All I could think about was how amazing he looked. The tux he wore was obviously not a rental. It had been tailored specifically to him – to his narrow hips, broad shoulders, muscular arms and legs. The material clung to his body in all the right places, enough to draw attention but not so much that it was obscene. In contrast to the black of the tux and his hair, his eyes nearly glowed, darkening to that night-sky blue as his gaze ran over me.
“Wow,” he breathed the word to break the silence. “You look – I don’t think there’s a word for how stunning you are right now.”
Krissy put her hand on my back and gave me a little push forward. “You two have fun.” She grinned at me. “And please do everything I would do.”
She closed the door behind me before I could reply, and then it was just Gavin and me in the hallway.
“You look great too,” I said. My compliment sounded lame, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say. What was I supposed to tell him? That seeing him in that tuxedo made me want to tear it off and remind myself of what was underneath it?
We went down to the lobby in silence, both of us stealing sideways looks at each other, the tension between us heating up. Gavin had a town car waiting. The driver opened the back door for us and Gavin got in first. I followed, sliding across the leather seat so that the driver could close the door behind me.
The first thing I noticed was that there was a window separating the back seat from the front. Gavin and I were essentially alone. My stomach twisted. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
As the car began to move, Gavin leaned closer to me. He reached out and wrapped one of my stray curls around his finger. “I’ve missed you. I know that sounds silly since we haven’t known each other that long, but it’s the truth, and I promised no more lies.” The back of his fingers brushed across my cheek. “And you truly look breathtaking.”
I took a shaky breath, my skin burning where he’d touched it. “Then in the interest of honesty, I have to say that I’ve been thinking about you too.”
“Really?” He looked pleased.
I nodded. I would’ve preferred a drink before I got this honest, but the timing was right, so I was just going to go with it. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.” I flushed. “That night we had together was amazing.”
He cupped the side of my face, turning me so that we were just inches apart. “It was, and I hope you’re going to let me show you many other, even more amazing, nights and days.”
My breath caught in my throat as his head bent towards me. This was a bad idea. I knew I should stop him. We were still on tentative ground.
But I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted those lips against mine, his tongue slipping inside. I wanted his hands on me, touching, caressing. My entire body craved his touch.
I let him kiss me. At first, his mouth was soft, hesitant, as if he wasn’t sure I was going to allow it. Heat flowed through me from where our lips met and I couldn’t stop myself from responding. I opened my mouth, catching his bottom lip between my teeth. He made a sound in the back of his throat and wrapped his arms around me, c
rushing me against him. As his tongue traced my lips, I slid my hands underneath his jacket, feeling his muscles beneath the soft fabric of his shirt.
He kept one arm around me while his other hand dropped to explore my body. It ran the length of my side, over my ribcage and down to my hip, then back up again to brush against the side of my breast. I moaned into his mouth and felt him smile. His hand moved lower, finding the slit in my dress. His fingers skimmed against my bare skin – hose didn’t work in a dress like this – and I flexed my fingers against his abs. When his hand started to move under the dress, I froze.
I pulled my mouth away from his, panting as I gave him a gentle push back. He gave me a questioning look as he caught his breath. I noticed with an almost distant amusement that Krissy had been right. My lipstick hadn’t transferred to Gavin at all.
“I don’t want to mess up the dress,” I said. All right, that was only half-true, but I couldn’t tell him that I’d really stopped because I didn’t trust myself with him. That was the real problem, I realized. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him. It was that I didn’t have any self-control when it came to him, and that frightened me more than anything.
Chapter 6
To my surprise, the rest of the ride to the event wasn’t awkward. Gavin had simply threaded his fingers between mine and rested our clasped hands on the narrow strip of seat between us. No pressure, no unspoken expectations. He was a true gentleman.
I remembered the way he’d taken me on the table in that upstairs room at the club. Maybe gentleman wasn’t exactly the right word.
“We’re here,” he broke the silence as the car pulled up to the curb.
I peered through the tinted windows at a building any good New Yorker could recognize. The Waldorf Astoria Hotel. I’d seen the exterior before, of course. Krissy and I had walked all of the best places in Manhattan when we’d first moved into our apartment, but I’d never been inside.