“Look at me,” he said.
I did what he said, and his eyes had the look of someone who’d just completed a major conquest.
He knew he had me. He knew I’d given in. It was the most turned-on I’d ever been and I hadn’t held back one bit. There was an intensity to making myself vulnerable to him that I hadn’t expected. It was easier than I’d thought it would have been, and the payoff was beyond my wildest expectation.
Max’s face was close to mine, so close that our foreheads were touching. He looked deep into my eyes as the fog of the orgasm lifted from me and I slowly faded back into reality.
Max was hooking my bra again, and pulling my shirt back down to cover me. He moved off the couch and knelt on the floor, lifted the ankle that still held onto my panties, and looped them over my other ankle. I moved my hips to accommodate him as he pulled them up my legs to my waist. After straightening my skirt, he sat beside me once again.
I was thinking how unique it was that he made sure I was dressed again, covered, and not having to feel uncomfortable after the moment for vulnerability had passed.
“Thank you,” I said.
He kissed my forehead, then my cheek, and then gave me a long, slow, sweet kiss on the lips.
I wanted to stay, but I needed to go. “I have to get back to work.”
“Right. Wouldn’t want Kevin to wonder what was going on.” He smiled. “I’ll get the contract.”
I went and stood by his office doors while he got the envelope. When he handed it to me, I started to take it, but he held on and tugged on it.
I looked up at him. He had a playful smile on his face.
“Thanks for coming to get this, Ms. Rowland.”
“It was nice to see you again, Mr. Dalton.”
He let go of the large envelope. I held it close to my chest. I was waiting for a goodbye, maybe a little peck of a kiss on the cheek. Instead, he leaned in, kissed my ear and said, “Next time we won’t be rushed, and I’m going to take my time fucking you.”
I swallowed hard. The bluntness in his tone was shocking, and almost surely would have made me laugh if it had come out of any other man’s mouth. But the truth is, I was aroused by it.
He reached for the door handle, but before he opened it I said, “When exactly is next time?”
Damnit. There was a note of desperation in my question that I hadn’t intended to be there.
He looked up as though he were trying to find the answer. “I think I’ll let it be a surprise.”
SIX
“That sure took a long time,” Kevin said as I walked into the office.
“Sorry.”
I tried not to make eye contact with him, even though I knew it would only make it seem even more like I was hiding something.
“Well?” he said. “What happened?”
“With what?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Why?”
He squinted a little and looked at me sideways. “You don’t look okay. You look…different. Is something wrong?”
I’d heard of “just-fucked hair” before but was there such a thing as “just-finger-fucked hair”? Was that what he was referring to? Or maybe I was just so nervous about being found out that it showed on my face. Either way, I didn’t want him to elaborate.
“Everything’s fine, Kevin. I got the contract.” I reached into my bag to get the envelope. “And then after I left, I needed to stop somewhere and take care of something.”
He looked like he didn’t believe me.
I lowered my voice and added, “Personal stuff.” I made a kind of embarrassed looking face for effect, and it appeared as though he bought the story.
“Ah, sorry,” he said.
I shook my head. “No worries.” I handed the envelope to Kevin.
He opened it, took out the contract and quickly scanned it. “Do you have any idea what these papers mean? This is huge for me.” He looked at it again with extreme pride on his face.
“I’m so happy for you.”
He looked up from the papers. “Happy for us. You’re part of the team here. I couldn’t have done this without your help.”
It saddened me to hear that. For one thing, it was a humble thing for him to say, and that wasn’t something you came across very often in Hollywood. And secondly, while I knew it was true that I’d done a lot to help him land the role for Jacqueline, I’d also done a lot to put Kevin’s business in jeopardy.
All it would take is one rumor about Kevin using young assistants to persuade studio execs in a less than ethical manner.
I couldn’t have been happier that it was Friday and I had two full days to be away from Kevin and the office.
All I could think about for the rest of the day was when I’d see Max again. He said he’d let it be a surprise, and when I was leaving his office I thought it sounded exciting. But by the end of the workday it was just nerve-wracking.
I had plans that night to go to a club with Krystal and two of her friends I’d recently met. Maybe that would serve as a good distraction from all things Max.
“This dress makes me look like a whore, doesn’t it?”
I was in my bathroom putting on makeup when Krystal walked in and asked the question. I remembered her asking me that when we were in Vegas. I looked at her in the mirror. She had on a tight, peach-colored strapless dress that went all the way down to her feet. It was gorgeous on her, but I wondered what would happen if she accidentally stepped on the hem. There was no way her boobs wouldn’t pop out if that happened.
“Why do you keep asking me if you look like a whore?”
She turned to the side and looked at her profile in the mirror. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to look like a cheap skank.”
“You look great. Just one thing, though…” I told her about the hem and she said she’d already thought of that, and if it happened, maybe it would be the highlight of the night.
“That would be an understatement,” I said.
I finished getting ready, all the while debating whether or not to tell her about what had happened in Max’s office earlier in the day. Frankly, I was amazed by my restraint.
Krystal gave directions as I drove us to her favorite club, a place called Drais located atop the W Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Having been to Las Vegas, I was somewhat ready for the action—the lights, music, well-dressed and good-looking people—but this was a step up. These were Hollywood’s hottest hanging out in a place that was a restaurant, pool, and nightclub. Inside, the music was loud, lighting showcased the red, black, purple, and green walls. Big comfortable chairs and couches were everywhere. People were dancing beneath oversized floor lamps, complete with shades. Even more people were out by the pool.