Chapter 19 #2
“Tomorrow I have dinner with clients at a nice restaurant that you might enjoy, but you should note that Giselle is going to be there, too, for business purposes.”
“I’ll come,” I agreed readily.
There was a slight pause as he processed that, but his response was polite. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”
I gave him my sweetest smile. “Good night, Axel.”
“Good night, doll.”
I pushed the mango chutney toward Selena. “It didn’t work. I basically didn’t have pants on.”
“Wait, tell us exactly what happened.”
“I reached up, did the drop and bend, and he just stared. He didn’t move.”
“What kind of stare?”
I thought about how he watched me, not hiding his desire, but not acting on it. Him wanting me wasn’t the problem. This situation needed something more.
“Kind of like he’s watching a show, but not participating.”
“Oh, that sounds like it’s working.”
Tanya giggled. “You’re going to have to go to stage two.”
“Which is?”
“Touching him.”
“He invited me to one of his business dinners. Maybe I could try there?”
Selena bit into her samosa. “That’s a great environment, but once you get him there, you have to touch him.”
“What do you mean? Give me instructions.”
“Maybe rub his leg a bit and then give his parts,” she winked at me, “a little accidental brush with your hand.”
“Accidental brush?” I snickered while my face flamed hot. “How do you touch a man like that accidentally?”
Tanya spoke without hesitation. “If you start low and keep inching higher, you’re giving him lots of warning and time to stop you. By the time you get to the top, he’s usually not protesting too much. He likes it.”
“And then what?”
“And then you tease it a bit. Rub it with your hand through his pants.”
“And when he explains something,” Selena added, “hang off his every word.”
They both laughed.
“Like, even if he’s ordering his meal from the waiter, just lean in and smile like he’s giving his Nobel Peace Prize speech.”
“Yeah, men dig that shit. Makes them feel important.”
“What if he doesn’t want my hand on his leg?”
Tanya leaned in, her expression serious. “Then we’ve got bigger issues on our hands.”
When I came downstairs at 7:55 p.m., I could hear Axel talking business on the phone.
I was wearing a little black shift dress and a six-string choker of pearls around my neck. My makeup was dramatic, and my hair was swept into an elegant but soft updo. I paired that with ankle boots and dark tights. I was going for a young, modern Audrey Hepburn.
When he saw me, he ended his call with one word and stood with his hands in his pockets while I walked toward him.
“You look expensive.”
“I am expensive,” I said, turning my back to him so he could help me put on my coat. He didn’t touch me in his efforts, but his closeness made my body long for something more.
I wondered if I would actually have the guts to take it to stage two.
At the restaurant, the hostess led us to our table. When I saw the group sitting there, I hung back and let Axel approach first.
I was behind him, but I could hear Giselle exclaim, “And here is Axel now.” When she saw me, she looked surprised, but she smoothly added, “And his lovely wife, Mila.”
Axel stepped aside and, with his hand on my arm, steered me front and center.
I smiled to the table of clients, mentally thanking the stars that it wasn’t the same group that had witnessed my wine throw.
Everyone welcomed me warmly as our coats were taken and we were seated side by side. I focused on anything but Giselle across from me.
I sat quietly, ordered a drink and listened while the group made small talk.
Axel played right into my plan when he grabbed my hand under the table and squeezed it reassuringly.
When he lifted his hand to drink, I kept my hand resting on his leg. His thigh was hard and muscular beneath the fabric of his pants. I slowly inched my hand up his leg, wondering if he’d stop me.
The conversation flowed around me, while my entire focus was on my touch. Did he even notice that my hand was halfway up his thigh? It was moving, or massaging. It was just resting there.
I was acutely aware of his body. The strength of his leg, the vibration when he laughed at something, the way the rest of him seemed so natural and normal.
Tanya and Selena hadn’t told me what I was supposed to do once I got this far.
I felt his big, warm hand cover mine, and then press on it until it was flat against his leg.
I swallowed, pretending to listen to the conversation, but my focus was entirely on his hand covering mine. I kept waiting for him to push my touch away.
He leaned back in his chair and his hand pulled mine up his thigh until it was basically at his crotch.
I looked at the faces around the table, but no one was paying me any attention. He lifted his hand away, leaving my hand where he’d dragged it.
Nervous and thrilled, I inched my hand over until I could feel the hard length of his cock straining toward my touch. I softly stroked against his throbbing erection.
My heart was pounding so hard and I dared not glance up at him.
My hand stilled when the waiter came up behind Axel to pour more water into his glass. Axel’s gaze was focused on a singular point on the table. His breathing looked casual, but it was almost too perfectly controlled.
When the waiter moved around behind him to come stand between us, I reluctantly removed my touch.
Our eyes met, and the heat coming from his gaze was part warning and part promise.
A thrill shot through me.
He had moved my hand up.
After dinner, I excused myself to the bathroom to freshen up my makeup. I didn’t know what tonight meant, but at least he hadn’t pushed my hand away.
He had kept my touch going. That had to count for something, right?
I was feeling pretty confident about things until I approached our table. Giselle and Axel had moved to sit next to each other, and they had their heads close together as they quietly discussed something in private. I slowed down my walk, so I could observe them.
It looked like she was explaining something on her phone to him.
Axel was listening closely to Giselle, giving the occasional nod and only once interjecting with a question. It was clear he valued her opinion.
Seeing them together, focused entirely what they discussed, I felt instantly deflated by it all.
They looked like equals, like two people who naturally belonged together. Their connection looked effortless in a way Axel and I had never been. Giselle was the kind of woman he’d choose to marry if I hadn’t interfered with his life and his career.
I was grateful that the night was coming to an end, because I could barely hide the crushing disappointment I felt in my chest.
I had genuinely thought I was making progress by touching his leg, but then I saw his level of focus when he was talking to Giselle and I realized that nothing had changed.
When we got home, I let Bandit outside in the yard and waited for him. Axel stood in the kitchen, leaning against the cupboard and nursing a scotch. He didn’t speak, but he never took his eyes off me.
I gave him a questioning glance, but I was done probing this relationship for answers.
He thought before he spoke. “You got really quiet at the end.”
He noticed. I deliberately dropped out of view to pour food into Bandit’s bowl, mostly to give myself a moment.
I stood back up. “I did.”
He waited for me to keep on talking but I didn’t. We had a small standoff, where we looked at each other and neither of us spoke, but I needed him to speak first. I was done putting myself on the line so much.
“Want to tell me what’s going on?”
“About what?”
I could see him assessing me. “Should I be concerned?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Bandit finished eating and was looking at me expectedly.
“Good night, Axel.”
“Good night, doll.” I walked out of the kitchen and when I looked over my shoulder, I could see him standing there, unabashedly observing my retreat.
Spa day had finally come, and Selena, Tanya and I were living it up like expensive housewives. I sipped my glass of champagne while the warm bubbles of the hot mineral pool moved around me. “I feel like I’m in a big witch’s cauldron.”
Selena giggled. “We’re being cooked after getting the best massages of our lives.”
Tanya offered me a strawberry. “How’s it going with stage two?”
“We went for dinner, and I did exactly as you suggested. I even did the whole hand massage up his thigh until I made contact.”
“Contact?” Selena gasped dramatically.
“I was stroking it through his pants. He didn’t push my hand away.”
Selena laughed. “We didn’t think he would.”
Tanya spoke. “How’d he react?”
“His clients were sitting across the table from us, and he looked kind of like he was in a trance.”
Selena raised her glass to clink with mine. “Girl, you’re so close to cracking this code.”
“I don’t know,” I said, still feeling dejected after watching him interact with Giselle.
“Hey,” Selena put down her flute and floated over to me. “What’s up?”
I explained the night, including afterwards at home. “I don’t think he’s into me like I want him to be.”
Tanya shook her head. “He asked how you were doing twice at the end of the night when you went quiet. That’s not a guy who’s not into you.”
“And he moved your hand up,” Selena added. “That’s a man who’s into you.”
“You think?” My voice sounded doubtful, but my chest surged with hope.
“I think he’s giving some strong signals. Don’t even worry about his stupid coworker. He pulled your hand up higher, not hers.”
“Exactly,” Tanya added. “I think you just need to go for stage three. That will resolve a lot of your doubt.”
“Is there a stage three?” I asked.
“Combo moves,” they both said at once.
“What is that?”
Tanya explained. “You dress sexy, and do something sexy, but you do it like you don’t know you’re doing it.”
Selena nodded. “Drives men crazy.”
“It’ll make him lose his mind.”
“Like what?”
“Think short skirt,” Selena said, “and then totally ignore him and eat something sexy, like eat something juicy or sticky so there’s a lot of licking, like a juicy peach that runs down your arm, or an ice cream cone.”
Tanya added, “I’m a big fan of opening my legs in a short skirt, but I do it like I don’t realize I’m giving anyone a show. For example, you’re watching a show with your legs on the couch and your skirt is riding high, but you’re so into your show you don’t even notice.”
“So pose like I’m not posing.” I could feel my excitement come back. Maybe my friends were right. Maybe I had misread the situation.
“Exactly.”
“If that doesn’t make him snap, I don’t know what will.” Selena poured me some more champagne. “By the way, no one brings lunch to school on Monday. My sister is making tacos for us.”
“Your sister makes the best tacos I’ve ever had.”
“It’s the cilantro.”
I grinned at my two friends, stupidly happy at how much I felt like I belonged. “How do I know when I’ve cracked the code?”
Selena laughed. “That’s when he takes over.”
I was in my room watching a show when I heard him come home. It wasn’t that late, just past nine. I heard the TV in the living room turn on with the familiar sounds of a televised hockey game.
This was the moment I had been planning since my spa day.
I checked my mirror one last time. I was wearing a short pink plaid skirt and white wool socks that came over my knees.
I wore a cropped white angora sweater without a bra.
The sweater had cap sleeves and hugged the curve of my breasts before ending just below my ribs.
It was a daring outfit, but I was determined to give stage three my best shot.
I walked into the kitchen. Axel was in the living room, on the couch, with his laptop open. He had a glass of alcohol and a sandwich on a plate next to him.
I took a fudge bar out of the freezer and unwrapped it before sitting down on the smaller ottoman.
I straddled it, facing the TV, pretending not to notice that my bare legs were spread wide and my short skirt was barely covering the basics. “What are you watching?”
“The Vancouver Wolves are playing Montreal.”
I had practiced the straddle on that ottoman in this outfit, and I had practiced eating a frozen treat. Eating with sexual energy was harder than it looked. I had to study a few suggestive videos online before I finally figured it out.
His phone rang, and I started to eat.
First I started on the tip with tiny licks and nibbles. When my fudge bar began to melt with a vengeance, I started to use my tongue.
I could feel his eyes on me. I pulled the top half into my mouth. I couldn’t help the luscious sucking noise as I tried to bring it back out.
He was on the phone, but his eyes were glued to me. “Yeah, I’m still here. Sorry, I just got distracted.”
I stood up and smiled at him.
He was staring at me like he didn’t recognize me. I gave him a distracted wave and then moved to walk back upstairs. That had gone a lot better than I had hoped. The first few times I had practiced, I had gotten chocolate everywhere. Tonight I hadn’t spilled a single drop on my sweater.
I was almost at the top of the stairs when his voice sounded from below me. “Mila.”
I turned and saw him standing at the bottom of the steps, staring at me with an intensity I couldn’t understand. “You think you can tease me over and over again and walk away untouched?”
“Am I not allowed to eat in front of you now?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll make you pay for your little acts.”
My stomach did a slow flip, like I was riding a rollercoaster. I loved it when he talked like this. I worked hard to match his energy. “Does that come with spankings?”
He remained completely still, but his eyes narrowed slightly, and it was like he was trying to contain the heat coming out of his gaze. “I’d be happy to bend you over and flip up that skirt, but you’d get more than a spanking.”
Something dark and delicious quivered inside of me. “What would I get?”
He looked like he was debating coming after me. “You’d get thoroughly fucked.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Axel.” I flounced upstairs, feeling electric, wondering how close I’d come to breaking the code.
I willed him to follow me, but he never did.
He just stood there, silent and motionless, as he watched me walk away from him.