Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
MADISON
You know that feeling when you know you’re about to do something stupid and no matter how hard you try and stop yourself, you just can’t seem to?
I could make a list all of the reasons, perhaps starting with lying to my bodyguard about where I’m going, trusting a complete stranger with my safety.
Risking being seen out in public with what is most definitely a public relations toy boy nightmare waiting to happen…
. Getting to spend the entire weekend with him.
Andrew.
The man I shouldn’t even be thinking about, let alone touching. It’s just one weekend, don’t overthink this.
A text bounces in.
I’m downstairs
“He’s here,” I announce, as if saying it out loud will make it seem less terrifying.
I zip my suitcase as nausea rises and then rush to the bathroom and brush my teeth and fix my hair.
Panic is alive and running through my bloodstream, rumbling and rolling over me viscerally.
A not-so-silent warning for me not to go.
I should cancel and move on, forget I ever met him.
Andrew.
I stare at my reflection and a weird cosmic feeling comes over me, of serendipitous encounters and a special time that’s meant to be treasured.
Nothing is forever, nothing is guaranteed, and if I’ve learnt anything through my years of therapy, it’s that I need to learn to live in the moment.
Something I’ve always strived for but never been able to do.
I drop my shoulders and take a long steadying breath in.
“This is the moment I choose to be mine,” I say out loud as if to let the universe know my intentions.
“I’ll worry about Monday on Monday.” I reapply my lipstick.
“And this is all fine.” I fake a smile at the lying bitch staring back at me. “So. Fucking. Fine.”
I turn my location settings off on my phone, grab my suitcase and make my way downstairs, the doormen coming running. “Let me take that, Miss Rothchild.”
“Thank you.” I glance around, I don’t want to anyone to see me but making a fuss about them taking my bags will only draw attention.
They take my bag and we walk out to see a large black Ford truck.
Dear god.
That’s his car?
What the hell am I doing?
Andrew smiles and gets out and I act unruffled. “In the back please,” I ask the doormen without making eye contact, I don’t even want to know what they’re thinking right now.
“Hi.” Andrew smiles, all dreamy like, he approaches me as if he’s going to lean in for a kiss and I widen my eyes with a subtle shake of my head, don’t you dare.
A frown flashes across his face before he detours to open my door for me. “Here you go, Miss Rothchild,” he says, deadpan. “Is there anything I can get you, madam?”
I give him the side eye, don’t mess with me, fucker. I will end you.
I get into the car and he slams the door behind me.
My heart beats in my ears as I wait for them to close the back of the truck and I see Andrew give them a tip. “Thank you.” He smiles, they say something to him and he laughs out loud and they laugh too.
I grip my purse on my lap as I wait, why is he being so friendly? I glance over my shoulder through the back window at them talking, does he know them or something?
Hurry. Up.
I grip my purse tighter and eventually he climbs into the truck beside me and I widen my eyes in question.
He starts the engine. “What?” he asks.
“I don’t like to wait,” I snap.
He frowns. “When were you waiting?”
“Just now while you were talking about god knows what with them.”
“It’s called small talk and it’s good manners to be pleasant,” he replies as he pulls out onto the street. “What’s wrong with you today?” he says casually.
“You tried to kiss me in public, that’s what’s wrong with me,” I snap.
“Oh no,” he teases. “However will you survive the embarrassment of someone wanting to be affectionate to you, Miss Rothchild?” He picks up my hand and kisses my fingertips. “You shouldn’t be so fucking kissable and I wouldn’t want to.”
He gives me a breathtaking smile and I feel myself defrost a little.
“For the record though, I will be kissing you in public all weekend,” he states.
I glance over at him.
“And fucking you….” He scrunches up his nose and tilts his head as if making an internal decision. “I guess I can keep that one for private though.”
“Where are we going?” I grip my purse tighter.
He snatches it off me and throws it onto the floor.
My mouth falls open in surprise. “You did not just do that?”
“Do what?”
“Put my Birkin on the floor.”
“Your what kin?”
“My Birkin.” I widen my eyes. “My purse, it’s a brand.”
“Oh.” He rolls his eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about but purses go on the floor of my truck.”
“Why is that?”
He slides his hand up my thigh. “So I can touch the goods while I drive.” He grabs my sex and I swat him away.
“Concentrate on the road.”
He passes me his phone. “Put some music on. My code is 1211.”
I blink in surprise. “You’re giving me the code to your phone?”
“Yeah.” His eyes flick over to me. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Because no man ever has before.
“You’re a very strange man, Andrew.”
“In a good or bad way?”
“I don’t know yet.” I swipe his phone on and flick through it. “What do you want to listen to?”
“The sound of you sucking my dick while I drive would be great.”
I smirk over at him.
He raises an eyebrow.
“Stop.” I smile as I go back to Spotify. “Let’s see.” I swipe through his playlists and begin to read them out. “Taylor Swift ‘Greatest Hits.’ Taylor Swift ‘Life of a Showgirl.’ Taylor Swift.” I glance over at him in question.
“I hang out with two little girls all day long; what do you think I listen to?”
“Fair point.”
“I do know all the words if you want me to put on a Taylor Swift concert for you later.”
I smirk. “Something to look forward to.”
I hit a ‘Chill Sessions’ and put his phone down, the music begins to softly play through the speakers and he picks up my hand and kisses my fingertips again. “I’ve been looking forward to getting you alone all week.”
My nerves finally begin to dissipate. “Sorry for being frosty…I just….” I shrug, unsure what to say next.
I make a mental note of the words that just left my mouth…. Apologizing is not my style.
Weird.
“It’s okay.” He puts my hand onto his thick quad muscle and lays his over the top of it. “I can handle your frosty exterior as long your center is warm.”
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“The Hudson Valley.”
“The Hudson Valley?” I frown.
“Yeah.” He smiles as he looks over at me. “You ever been?”
I shake my head. “No.” I twist my lips. “Have you?”
“No.”
“You have a job there?” I frown.
“A client I used to look after is having trouble with their back and asked me to come and look at it for them.”
My eyes flick over to him. “A female client?”
“No,” he replies. “Would it bother you if it was?”
“Nope.” I stare out the window and I know I shouldn’t ask but the question is burning a hole in my tongue. “How many of your clients have you slept with?”
“Just one.” He squeezes my thigh. “My Mrs. Frosty.”
“That’s Miss Frosty to you, thank you.” I think for a second, no I have to say it. “So you’ve never….”
“No.” He screws up his face. “Eww, I’m not some pervert. I don’t even think of clients in that way. I’m a physiotherapist, I’m a medical professional. Yes, you met me through massage but I’m not a masseur by trade.”
I nod and stay silent as I think his answer over.
“I’m not some giant fuck boy, you know?” He glances between me and the road. “If that’s how you have me pegged. I’m not out on the prowl for sex every chance I get.”
My eyebrows flick up.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I just….” I shrug. “I mean….”
“What?”
“You fuck like a fuck boy.”
“Why…. Because I’m a good fuck?” He gives me the look and it nearly melts my clothes clean off my body.
“Maybe.”
“Well for your information I’m probably not such a great fuck…but something about you and your body makes me feral.”
Good answer.
We drive in silence for a while. “So tell me about you?” he eventually asks.
“What about me?”
“We seem to always talk about me, you know all my things but I seem to know nothing about you.”
“There’s not much to tell.” I shrug.
“You work a lot,” he replies.
“Yes.”
“And that makes you happy?” He glances over at me.
“Very much so.”
“You’re obviously very good at what you do.”
“I think I just work very hard at it.”
“You should be so proud of yourself.” He squeezes my thigh again. “You’ve achieved so much.” He smiles wistfully. “Not many people in the world can say that they’ve realized their dreams.”
I nod.
His words bring an unexpected wave of emotion and I get a lump in my throat.
Kindness isn’t something I experience a lot in my life. Although I know that has a lot more to do with me than it does anything else.
“Tell me about where we’re staying.” I change the subject.
“Well…honestly. It could go either way.” He smiles playfully as he glances between me and the road. “Heaven or hell.”
“What does that even mean?”
“I mean it looked good on the booking site but….” He shrugs. “But it could also be a complete fucking dive.”
I laugh. “A fucking dive?”
“For real.” He nods. “The best we can hope for is that there are no bedbugs.”
“Oh my god.” I put my hands over my eyes. “Don’t even.”
“I’m serious.”
Two hours later we pull into the quaint little town, the stores are painted all different colors. “It’s so pretty.” I smile as I look around.
“We have to pick up the keys, let’s grab some groceries before we head to the cabin.”
“Bedbug Cabin?” I ask.
“Fuckfest Cabin,” he corrects me as he parks the truck.
I giggle and we climb out of the black truck. “This is a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be.”
“Yeah, it’s a good truck.” He takes my hand in his as he walks in front and I drop it.
He takes my hand in his again.
“Don’t,” I whisper as I discreetly drop it.
He takes it again. “Hold my hand, woman.”
“I’m not a holding-hands kind of girl.” I drop it again.