The Mistaken Escort's Pleasure: A Liaison Novel (6 page)

“Sleeping in.”
 
She laughed.

His fingers brushed over her sides and when she let out a squeal, he moved his hands to her back and caressed her until she relaxed against him.

“I would like to spend the day with you, so I was wondering if you had any plans?”

She pushed back just enough to gauge his reaction, and he brushed a kiss against her lips before he leaned back and waited for her answer.
 
He was a patient man, going after what he wanted when the time was right.
 
But he also realized that some decisions were out of his hands.

He found himself in an unknown area with Ellie.
 
They were attracted to one another, but he could feel her trepidation.
 
He would leave the decision in her hands, but he would try to convince her to give them a chance and stay close until she did.

“What did you want to do?” she asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

She pressed her lips to his, and when she ran her tongue along his bottom lip, he groaned and opened for her.

Their kiss grew out of control.

Several fevered minutes later, they pulled back and stared at each another, both of them panting as they worked to get their breathing back to normal.
 
He craved to lay her down on the couch and strip her, before he plunged inside of her, pleasuring both of them until they were sated.
 
Instead, he grabbed her hips and moved her to sit next to him, slinging his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

“How about we meet for breakfast at nine?”

He placed a quick kiss on her mouth and stood.
 
“The diner two blocks over?”

She nodded.
 
“Sounds good.
 
Are you leaving?”

He nodded and headed for the door.
 
“I have to get to the office, and if I stay, I know that kissing will lead to more.”

She jumped up and straightened her clothing before she darted around the couch and came to a stop in front of him near the front door.
 
For a second time that day, she rose on her tip-toes and kissed him on the cheek.

He held her gaze for several minutes; neither of them spoke.
 
He wasn’t in a hurry to leave, but he brushed a kiss against her mouth and pulled back before he reached for the door handle.

“Tomorrow,” he said.

She nodded and smiled at him.
 
He opened the door, and looked back once before he walked through it and closed it behind him.
 
He inhaled a deep breath before he headed toward the elevator, hitting the down button.

“Thanks for spending the day with me,” her voice called out from her doorway.

“It was my pleasure,” he said.

He stepped into the elevator, and when the doors started to close, her voice carried to him and heated his blood.

“Mine, too.”

Chapter Six

“You graduated high school at sixteen?” Lucian asked.

Ellie took a sip from her cup of coffee and nodded.
 
They walked around Central Park after meeting for a late breakfast, and for the first time in his life, he didn’t care what time it was or what work he had to complete; he dismissed everything else and relaxed as he walked next to her.

He thought back to their morning together, and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her close as they continued walking.
 
It was a crisp fall morning, which allowed him to have her close, just where he wanted her to be.

He’d woken up early with the intent of getting some work done, which was his plan the night before when he arrived home from Ellie’s.
 
But his mind kept going back to her, and the day they’d spent together.
 
He thought that his need for her would wane as soon as he spent time with her, but the more he learned about her, the more he wanted to know all of her secrets.
 

He’d arrived early at the restaurant and sat in an alcove at the back of the place in a booth with a scarred Formica tabletop and comfortable benches.
 
He had chosen that spot so they could have privacy.
 
He was on his third cup of coffee when he spotted her pulling open the glass and metal door, and couldn’t keep his eyes off her as she strolled into the diner, across the black-and-white checkerboard tile.
 
A knee-length black pea coat covered most of her.
 
Her eyes scanned the space before her gaze landed on him, and as she walked toward him with determination, she unbuttoned her coat, revealing a fitted pink button-down shirt and jeans that outlined her beautiful curves.

His heartbeat accelerated as he raised his eyes and spotted the smile that lit her face, and he reassured himself for the hundredth time since he’d met her that he’d made the right decision.

He watched her hips sway as she made her way over to him, and he was held spellbound by her smile and the light that sparkled in her eyes.
 
He had known that she was a sensuous woman, but he started to realize that she had no idea of her appeal.
 
He growled as he glanced around and found other men watching her.
 
But his eyes snapped back to her when she stood in front of him.

“Who are you glaring at?” she asked.

He opened his mouth to respond, but she took him by surprise when she hung her coat on the hook near the bench, and sat next to him and pushed her hip against his, an indication that he should slide over.
 
He enjoyed the contact and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to his side.

She smiled at him.

He wanted to lean in and kiss her, but she reached across the table, brushing her shoulder against his chest, and grabbed a menu.
 
She started humming to herself as she perused it.

“What’s good here?” she asked.

He shrugged; it was his first time here too.
 
She kept perusing the menu as the waitress walked over and poured her a cup of coffee, taking the time to refill his.

She looked up and glanced at the name tag on the apron for a split second before she smiled up at the waitress.
 
“Thank you, Molly.”

“You’re welcome, sugar.
 
Know what you want?”

She nodded as she slid the menu back in its place, and he held back a groan, although she had no clue her effect on him with her innocent touches.

“Full stack with a side of bacon and scrambled eggs, please.”

Molly wrote down her order and glanced over at him.
 

“Denver omelet, thanks,” he said.

As soon as Molly left the table, Ellie turned back to him, her eyebrow raised.

“Do you make all women breathless?” she asked.

A loud bark of laughter erupted from deep in his chest that surprised him, but he couldn’t help it.
 
He had a feeling that he could spend the rest of his life with Ellie, and she would keep surprising him.
 
No woman had ever affected him the way Ellie seemed to in the short time that he’d known her.
 
Over his thirty years, he’d been attracted to and dated women, but none of them had the instantaneous effect that she had.
 
Everything about Ellie was wholesome and pure, and being near her was a breath of fresh air.

“Do I make you breathless?” he asked.

She pushed her shoulder against his and smiled at him.
 
He didn’t care about her answer as long as she kept smiling at him.
 
As a blush stained her cheeks, he found his curiosity rise.
 
He sat back so he could see more of her face, and when she looked at him with desire in her eyes, he felt his breath rush out.

“You know you do.
 
I can’t seem to stay away from you, even though you attract women like flies.”

He shook his head.
 
“I don’t care about other women—I care about you.
 
I love it when you turn your pretty ice-blue eyes my way.
 
And trust me, love, men are aware of you.”

Her eyes widened at his blunt statement, and it took her several moments before she responded.
 
“That’s why you were glaring when I walked in.”

He noticed that her eyes never wandered from his, even with the knowledge that other men in the restaurant were interested in her.
 
Again, it shocked him that she was unaware of her appeal.

“Yes,” he said.

She became quiet after that as she thought about his admission, until her food arrived.
 
He liked that she had a healthy appetite and she wasn’t shy about her love of food.
 
He relaxed his body as she snuggled into his side as they ate, and soon they were talking about anything that came to mind.
 
As they left the diner an hour and a half later and walked toward Central Park, the topic changed from books and movies to their families.

“I’m the middle child, Bec is the youngest, and my older brother, Trent, is married with two kids.
 
He’s an entertainment lawyer in California,” he said.

“And your parents?”

“My dad, David, was in real estate and my mom, Carol, stayed at home with us.
 
Dad retired a couple years ago and they moved upstate.
 
We’re still close with them, but they keep busy and try not to pry into our lives.
 
Other than an occasional hint about grandchildren.”

Her smile was wistful as he described growing up with two siblings and the trouble they used to get into.
 
He had to admit that he was the instigator, trying to get attention when his parents doted on his brother and sister, but when they grew up, they were closer than most siblings were.

“What about you?” he asked.

She shook her head and looked down, as if the memories were painful for her.
 
He reached out and squeezed her hand, and waited until she was ready to tell him.

“My parents were in their mid-forties when they had me, and both of them were professors and loved their careers.
 
They were brilliant, but had no clue how to raise a baby.
 
So when I was old enough to take care of myself, they pretty much ignored me.
 
I found early on that I enjoyed art and drawing so I taught myself, until I was old enough to take classes.
 
I wanted to get out of their house as fast as I could, so I graduated early and left for college.
 
I graduated with my bachelors at twenty, and moved here soon after.”

He tensed when a sudden rage washed over his body at the thought of her parents not showing Ellie love and affection as she grew up.
 
He couldn’t blame her for being wary about people and their motives, but he made a silent promise not to ever hurt her.
 
He needed to tell her, and soon.

“You are very talented.
 
Bec put the drawing in a frame and it’s sitting on her desk now.”

She beamed as he complimented her on her talent.
 
He felt as though he’d been given a gift, but as they walked in silence, he couldn’t prevent asking more about her relationship with her parents.

“Do you miss them?”

She shook her head.
 
“You can’t miss two people who were never around.
 
I miss Colorado from time to time, but I like my life here in New York.”

“Do you ever talk to them?”

“I send them a note when I get around to it, updating them about changes in my life.
 
They write back when they have time.
 
I received a postcard last Christmas, and they mentioned that they might retire soon, but not much else.”

He couldn’t understand anyone who met Ellie not liking her.
 
She was brilliant and funny, and she had a sense about people and liked to see the good in them.
 
He understood how you could get wrapped up in your career, but neglecting your child and relegating them as the least important part of your life made no sense to him.
 
Holding in his anger, he changed the subject.

“What about your friends—how did you meet them?”

They were so wrapped up in each other that the elderly couple who were talking, heads pressed together and laughing just ahead of them, took them by surprise.
 
They watched as the older gentleman leaned down and whispered something to his wife that had them both laughing and clutching on to each another.
 
Ellie smiled at the couple as they walked around them, and Lucian tucked Ellie closer to his side.

“That couple was sweet,” she whispered when they were a few yards away.

He nodded and smiled down at her.
 
He knew of no other woman who would pay attention to an elderly couple who were in love, and enjoyed the fact that she was a romantic at heart.

They passed several joggers and bicyclists before Ellie answered the question.

“I met Nina and Ben when I started; we work at the same company.
 
Nina’s a corporate lawyer and Ben, he’s great with computers, and happens to be the entire IT department for the agency.
 
We get together every Friday and have dinner at my place because it’s central to where they both live.
 
Despite working in the same building, we don’t see each other during the week.”

“Are they dating?”

Her brows drew down for a moment before she shook her head.
 
She stopped, struck by an idea, and smiled at him when he turned to her.
 
“I don’t think so, but I think that they would make a great couple.
 
I think I’ll mention it to Nina when I see her.”

He chuckled.
 
“Trust me, I mentioned it for purely selfish reasons.”

“You think Ben is interested in me?”