Chapter Five
I can’t even hide the grin when the door clicks behind me.
Okay, this is going well.
I’ll admit, I thought I’d shot everything to hell when I pulled up to her house and her mom practically skipped outside, probably assuming I was someone else. Marissa knew I was coming and I was only a few minutes early, and I figured no one was home or she would have actually pushed for me to meet her around the corner. But even that went well.
I walk into my room and reach for my weekender that’s sitting in the foyer along with my laptop case. Unfortunately, I do have to do some work tomorrow, but I have the perfect thing for her to do during the day. I pull up my messages for the first time since I picked her up and see one from Beck.
Beck: Who are you going to New York with?
Me: None of your business
Beck: Interesting since you’re using the company box tomorrow and the suites we use. Sounds like it’s very much my business.
I mentally give him the finger before I press a button to call him. “Alright fucker, it’s someone I’m seeing.”
“Well, I knew you weren’t taking your mother. Who is it?”
“Just a woman. I’ve known her for a while.”
“Okay. Vague but okay. Frankly, I’m surprised. I figured you were still stuck on the woman from Owen’s wedding.”
I clear my throat. “Yeah…” I trail off and I hear a laugh on the other end.
“I knew you’d break down and call Owen. Okay, wow. So, you’re pulling out all the stops then. Let me guess, taking her shopping tomorrow?”
“No.” Yes.
“Dinner at The Landry?”
“No.” Also, yes.
“So, yes to both. Should I let our lawyer know you’ll be reaching out to draw up papers soon?”
“Jesus, Beck. It’s still early.”
“And if you broke down and figured out who she was because you finally realized obsessing over her for the rest of your life was not healthy, it means you are finally ready to start the process of divorcing Holly.” He sighs. “I think you should have gotten your ducks in a row first, but at least we are moving in the right direction. Where does Holly think you are?”
“New York.”
“With me?” he asks.
I grab the garment bag that’s already hanging in my closet and unzip it, pulling out the jacket and pants I’m planning to wear tonight. “I don’t know, maybe.”
“Do you even bother hiding it?”
“Why would I? She doesn’t care.”
“God, this girl has her work cut out for her. She’s probably already noticed you have money. Just make sure she’s not Holly 2.0, okay? Make sure she’s with you for you.”
“Yeah,” I say. I’ve been so enamored with her for months that I hadn’t thought about the fact that she’s just learning who I am in the past week. She may have been into me before but now she knows about all the things that come with being with me. “Fuck,” I mutter. “I shouldn’t have done all of this so soon.”
“No. Man, I didn’t say that. If she’s into you, I’m saying it doesn’t matter either way. And women do love to be spoiled, just keep your eyes open better this time, yeah? You know how to spot someone only interested in you for your money much better now.”
“Right.” I let out a breath as a call comes through and I groan.
What the fuck. I sometimes go days without talking to her and she’s calling thirty minutes after me checking into a hotel.
“I have a call. Let me call you back.”
“No need. Have fun. Call me if you need something.”
“Thanks, Beck.” I hang up and switch to the other line, already walking towards the bar knowing I’ll need a drink after this conversation.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“Where are you?” Her voice already grates on my nerves but it feels even more annoying than usual.
“I told you I was going to New York for the weekend. What do you need, Holly?”
“Oh right,” she answers flatly. “Well, the realtor for the house in Aspen called.”
Called her instead of me? I pull the phone away from my ear as I scroll through my call log to see if she’d tried to call me first. “Why didn’t she call me?”
“I don’t know. You’re busy?”
“Okay…well, what did she say?”
“That the house we originally wanted is for sale.”
Four years ago, when I was much more invested in our marriage and we were looking at houses to buy in Aspen, the one we both fell in love with wasn’t available. Nobody was living in it, but the owners weren’t interested in selling. The owner’s wife had just died and he was feeling a sentimental attachment to it. I guess now he’s moving on and wouldn’t mind being attached to the eighteen million dollars he wants for it.
“The house we have is fine.”
“But it’s not the house we wanted.”
“Holly, we haven’t been to Aspen in years.” At least not together.
“I go all the time.”
“And there’s nothing wrong with the house we have.” If I’m about to start the process of getting out of my marriage, I’m not about to start a completely different process of selling and buying a new house.
“I know. I’m saying we should get this one too.”
“What the hell do we need two houses in Aspen for?” She’s insane. “ I’m not paying two mortgages on two multi-million dollar houses in Aspen.” We also had a house in the Hamptons that I absolutely hate. It’s tacky and way too big. All I wanted was a small beach house and somehow ended up with a monstrosity that has appeared in House and Garden. Twice .
I rub my temples thinking about the headache of how we are going to go about splitting up those properties when the time comes.
“I really think we should.”
I drop two ice cubes into the glass and open the bottle of Scotch from the minibar. “No.”
She huffs. “Stop being a dick.”
“Because I don’t want to blow almost twenty million dollars on a house we don’t need? We have a house, Holly.” And I’m beginning to think she is the one who reached out to our realtor and not the other way around.
“Ugh!” She scoffs. “When will you be home?”
“Sunday.”
“Fine. Enjoy your whore.” She hangs up without another word. I down the drink in one swallow, hoping it can stop the anger from bubbling up inside me. My phone begins to vibrate and without looking I groan because what now?
When I look down and see Marissa’s name across the screen, I feel like the entire weight of the world has been lifted and I’m already smiling when I answer. “Miss me?”
“Oh shit,” she says. “I did not mean to call you.” I can’t tell if she’s messing with me or not so I go with it.
“Oh, no worries. I’ll let you go.”
“Wait!” she says with a huff. “You’re no fun. Do you think you can help me with something?”
“Name it.”
“Can you come to my room?”
I’m moving towards the door before the sentence is fully out of her mouth. I knock on her door and notice she’s ended our call before she opens the door. My heart immediately takes off as I take her in, my eyes dragging over her barely clothed body. “I’m just not sure what to wear.” She winces. I notice she’s already done her makeup and her hair looks curlier than it did earlier, dusting the tops of her shoulders every time she moves.
“Hopefully more than that,” I say as I follow her into the room. I do my best to adjust my dick when she turns around and I notice the string between her cheeks. She’s only wearing a bra that’s basically sheer and matching underwear that look like they’re being held together by strings. Now that we are in a better light, I can almost make out her bare slit behind the sheer fabric. “If you’re putting on a fashion show, mind if I make a drink?” I ask her as I make my way to the bar and pour a larger drink than I did earlier before sitting on the couch in front of the king-sized bed I wanted to be in with her. Now.
She pulls on a red dress first. Tight. Short. Highlighting her tits and her gorgeous legs. I wanted to rip it off of her with my teeth. I spin my index finger in a circle indicating I wanted her to turn around. She does and god, even her ass is perfect. I’d yet to meet a woman I couldn’t decide what part of her I loved best. Usually, it was obvious. Breasts, ass, legs, smile, eyes. With Marissa, I really can’t tell and they all seem to come second to her sense of humor.
“Are you staring at my ass?” she says, and when I look up her eyes are narrowed and laced with humor.
“It was staring at me first,” I say before I take another sip. “I like it, what else?” She picks another dress off the bed and holds it up. It’s a jade green, longer and backless. “Let’s see it then.” She pulls the red dress off, and when she bends over with her back to me, I let my head drop to the back of the couch because there’s a good chance, we are not making it to dinner if she keeps this up.
“Okay.” She moves her hips from side to side. “What about this one?”
It fits her like a glove and makes her look like some kind of mermaid goddess. “You’re gorgeous in everything.” I rub my mouth. “I think I like the red one better though.”
She smiles. “Okay, last one.” She pulls on a champagne-colored dress that has tiny straps and is a little looser than the red but just as short and has flecks of gold that highlight her warm brown skin.
“That one,” I tell her as I stand up, not wanting to wait another second to have my hands on her. I wrap my arms around her and let my hands slide down to cup her round ass. “You have fun tormenting me?”
“I just needed a third opinion.” She lets her fingers trail up my chest to wrap around my neck.
“I wasn’t the second?”
“No, I talked to my sister.”
“What did she say?”
“The gold.”
“She know you’re here with me?”
“Yes, news travels fast in the Collins family. My mom called her.” She pulls out of my grasp to reach for a pair of shoes. “She obviously didn’t tell my mom anything, but she suspected it was you and she called to confirm.” She pulls on her shoes and holds her arms out. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“I am not.” I chuckle, looking down at myself. “You want to come watch me change? I don’t have multiple outfits for you to choose from but I’ll still make it worth your while.”
She takes a drink from her champagne just as she drags her eyes all over me before sliding her hand into mine and letting me pull her towards my room.
We move through the suite and she follows me into the bedroom, immediately sitting down on my bed and I shake my head. “Absolutely not. Sit somewhere else.”
She frowns and looks around herself like she’s trying to appear confused. “Why?”
“You know why.” I hold my hand out for her to take. “Literally anywhere else. I’m still hard from your little fashion show and the visual of you on a bed is not helping.”
She looks up at me, shooing my hand away, and stares directly at my groin. “I want to see.”
I shake my head, taking a step back wondering how I’m supposed to survive the whole night if she’s already teasing me like this. I pull my Henley off over my head and watch as her pupils dilate. I’m glad I’ve worked out an extra time every day since she’s walked back into my life because it’s obvious, she likes what she sees.
“Did you just…flex?” She giggles and I guess I had absently. Heat crosses my face over getting caught trying to show off for her but when I look into her eyes, she’s still staring at my body with her lip trapped between her teeth.
“Stop biting your lip, Marissa,” I tell her. She immediately lets it go just as I slide my slacks down. I groan when I watch her tongue dart out to lick her bottom lip. “No licking them either,” I grunt and she puts a hand over her mouth, hiding her smile. I move towards her and stand in front of her leaning down to put one hand on the bed on each side of her. “I was very helpful in helping you choose and did my best not to react, you know. Despite the fact that all I could think about was moving those see-through panties to the side and running my tongue through your slit to see if you taste the same as I remember.” I notice her breathing has changed and her eyes are looking at my lips. “Do you want me to kiss you?”
“I don’t like being asked questions the other person already knows the answer to.”
“You have a smartass little mouth, Marissa Collins.”
“You like it.”
“I fucking love it.” I pull away from her and I can tell she’s about to protest. “We are running late and if I put my mouth on you in any way, we aren’t making it to dinner and you need to eat.”
“This fancy hotel doesn’t have room service?”
I laugh, my dick screaming at me to say fuck the reservations and go with her plan. “After all the trouble I went through to pick out a dress?” I ask her as I slide on the white shirt.
I don’t miss the groan that leaves her lips. “Christopher.”
“Oh, my government name?” I point at her. “Alright, well Ethan is my middle name, when you’re ready to break that out.”
“Cute.” She purses her lips. “Mine is Lee.”
“I know,” I tell her with a wink.
“How?”
“You do remember you work for me, right?” She glares at me and I laugh at her trying to appear affronted. “Damn near memorized your entire file. You really speak fluent French?”
“When called upon, yes.”
I side-eye her, wondering if that was just a bald-faced lie, and in reality, she doesn’t know more than bonjour and au revoir . “What does that mean?”
“It means, if you dropped me in Paris, I could eat and figure out how to get home and go shopping, but don’t ask me to conjugate shit.”
I let out a laugh as I pull my pants up. “You been?”
“To Paris? Yes, in high school. I studied there for a summer.”
“Have you been since?”
“Once. I studied abroad in Belgium in college and we went to Paris one of the weekends.”
My mind is already working in overdrive about how fast I can get us there. Aren’t I supposed to be making sure she likes me for me and not planning a trip to one of the world’s most romantic cities?
“Have you been?” she asks.
“Many times,” I tell her. “We are actually opening an office there.”
“Oh, maybe I should go work there.” She looks at her nails like it isn’t a big deal.
“Maybe not,” I reply flatly.
She looks away from her nails and I see the amusement in her eyes. “Why?”
“Because I’m not doing a long-distance relationship and Beck would lose his shit without me here. You ready?” I say, not giving her a chance to refute that she and I are in a relationship.
As much pull as I have, everyone who dines at The Landry does, so demanding a private room the day before we were set to arrive was next to impossible. We are still in a more secluded area but it’s not the private room I’d hoped for that would have made it acceptable for Marissa to sit in my lap.
“You’re staring,” she says just as she takes a sip of her champagne.
“You’re gorgeous,” I respond without missing a beat.
She doesn’t say anything but I watch the goosebumps pop up all over her skin and I love how much I affect her. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“How come you didn’t try to contact me after?” I’ll admit that’s not what I thought she was going to ask. “I mean even just to explain that you weren’t available.” She blinks at me. “You kind of made me feel like shit. Like I’d done something wrong or…wasn’t good.”
“Trust me, that wasn’t it,” I tell her immediately. “You were perfect. I’d never had a night like that.” I rub my mouth, dragging a finger over my bottom lip. “I jack off thinking about it daily.”
She gasps. “Daily?”
“Sometimes multiple times in one day.” I reach across the table and grab her hand. “I’m sorry, I did that.”
She nods but then raises her eyebrows as if to say, Well?
“You freaked me out a little. How you felt. How we felt. It was the first time it had ever been like that for me.”
“Me too.”
“I’d never slept with anyone that made me question what the fuck I was doing still married.” I pause, wanting to clarify. “Make no mistake, I question it daily, but no woman had ever made me think I was missing anything by not being single.” I sigh. “I didn’t know how to tell you that.”
“So, you just ghosted me?” I go to protest when she holds a hand out. “If you say ‘I left a note,’ I swear to god…”
“Well, I did,” I murmur. “And I saw the room service bill, so I know you saw it.”
“I should have ordered more.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, you should have.” She doesn’t say anything else so I continue. “It’s going to take some time,” I tell her. “To…get out. I’m just asking that you be patient and have some faith in me. I’m not going to fuck you over.”
“Isn’t that what all men tell their mistresses?”
I know the comment is meant to be a dig even if it’s the truth. “Alright, I let the first one slide. Don’t call yourself that. What happened to not liking that word?”
“I can not like it and still know that’s what I am.” Sadness mars her features and I hate that I’ve contributed to putting it there.
“You’re not.”
She cocks a head to the side and raises her eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Fine, if we are going by Webster’s dictionary definition fine. But I’d like to think of you as the woman I’m preparing to walk through hell for.”
She purses her lips. “Maybe I’m overstepping, but…is it really all about the money? I mean, I don’t have any experience with your level of wealth but even if I weren’t in the picture making you question all your life choices, would it really be worth it? Stay with her and be miserable in favor of a higher bank balance?” I hate how she makes it sound like it should be easy. That I shouldn’t want to live a life of misery in favor of more money. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I know you work really hard—”
“You’re right.” I can’t stop my heart from pounding at the thought that her views on money are unbelievably different than Holly’s. I give her a sad smile. “Damn, I wish I’d waited for you.”