Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“Merde!” cried Camille. She’d pricked herself for the third time while trying to pin the muslin to her dressmakers model. When Ryan didn’t so much as flinch at her cursing, she turned to him. “I never hit myself with the needles or pins. This is all your fault. You are too much of a distraction.”
He raised an eyebrow. “As I recall, Ms. Royal, you were the one who instigated the last two sessions of hot and heavy sex. So I don’t know how you can call me the source of your distraction.”
“Oh,” she huffed, knowing full well he was right.
They’d spent most of the morning laying the pieces of the new cocktail dress she’d designed on the model then making small adjustments when it didn’t hang exactly to her satisfaction.
But each time he’d suggested a coffee break, Camille had taken one look at that gorgeous ass of his and begged Ryan to bend her over the other end of the table and do wicked things to her. Being the ever efficient PA that he was, Ryan had complied with her request. He was fast gaining an understanding of what Camille liked, and was able to bring her to a knee trembling orgasm within minutes.
Outside of the bedroom, Camille could admit to loving a hard and fast encounter. It set her blood racing.
The third time Ryan had suggested a break, the selfish beast had gently batted her greedy hand away and actually gone and made them coffee.
That’s what’s causing me to stab myself with sewing pins. He doesn’t understand how much being around him scrambles my brain.
The sensitive flesh at the apex of her thighs was doing far too much of the thinking right now.
“Do we have an idea of the fabric for this new dress?” asked Ryan. The way he tapped his pen so thoughtfully on top of his notepad made Camille reluctantly grateful that at least one of them was thinking about the fashion show.
She took a step back from the model and studied her latest creation. “The best fabric supplier I know is in Paris, and they would have the perfect silk for this cocktail dress. I could just get on a plane and go get some. What do you think?”
Ryan cleared his throat. “I think you’re procrastinating Camille. No one needs to go all the way to France for silk. Though if you offered to put me in First Class, I’d go— actually no, I can’t. Not yet.”
He’d confessed about not having a passport. And she’d immediately insisted he go online and apply for one. With the wait time for a new passport currently sitting at over six weeks, Ryan wouldn’t be leaving the country anytime soon.
But when he gets his passport, I want to take him somewhere special for his first international trip.
“I could call Karl Thomas and see what silks he has on hand that might suit the Cinderella in the City theme,” suggested Ryan. He came to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Camille offered him her lips for a brief, tender kiss.
“As always, you are full of clever ideas. I might have a think about what I’m wanting, and then talk to Karl.”
And if that failed, she’d just have to play true to the one thing which people like Julia Spence were more than happy to judge her for being part of a family of billionaires. She’d take the Royal Resorts private jet, fly to Knoxville, Tennessee and sweet-talk Karl’s private fabric designer into making a new range just for her.
Ryan spent a few hours idly scrolling through the website for Karl’s Fabric Emporium. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, which meant having to occasionally stop and check the Post-It note he’d stuck to the kitchen counter top. On it he had penned a few random words.
Cinderella. Fairytales. NYC. Princess. Concrete jungle.
On the other side of his laptop lay a notepad and pen. Whenever he got bored looking through the fabric samples, Ryan would scrawl another doodle on the paper. Soon the page was covered in his drawings.
“Oh my god, that’s perfect!” squealed Camille.
Ryan was certain his heart had just stopped. And now it was threatening to jump out of his chest. “Where did you come from? You scared the life out of me.”
One minute Camille had been working near the window laying muslin pieces over the dressmakers model; the next she’d somehow snuck up on him and was now peering over his shoulder.
He turned to her. But instead of finding a contrite Camille ready to apologize for scaring him, she was dancing around the room, and whooping with joy.
When she finally stopped her happy dance, she returned to his side. Pointing at the doodles on Ryan’s notepad, Camille gushed. “That’s exactly what I need. The princess and the yellow cab.”
Huh?
Checking his drawings he quickly realized what was making Camille so excited. He’d drawn a rough outline of a woman wearing a fairytale gown, and sporting a crown. Next to her he’d sketched a New York City cab.
Camille clasped her hands together. “That’s it. Prince Charming is a cab driver. We can build a whole storyline around the theme of Cinderella having fled the ball, and the prince is searching the city for her.”
His thoughts fell in with hers. “You could have Cinderella catching a cab then leaving her glass slipper behind.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes!” said Camille racing over to grab her sketchbook from off the table. “We could have various models dressed in the collection pieces, but all wearing crowns or tiaras. There would be a dozen Cinderellas, lost all over the city.”
“What about the cocktail dress?” he asked.
“It could be taxi gold and we could play with the traditional black and gold checkerboard trim, and put it on hem. Or something. I’m not sure if I would put it into full retail production, but it would be a fun piece for the show to go with the Prince Charming in a cab theme.”
The smile on her face was nothing short of breathtaking. If Ryan hadn’t already fallen for this woman, he would have lost his heart to her as he watched Camille come alive with excitement.
“If I can come up with some concept pieces and email them to Karl, he might be able to get one of his print designers to make up a rushed order of a few bolts of the fabric, and have them sent to us. Oh Ryan, this is exactly what I needed. Thank you.”
He grinned as she pressed her body against him, his breath growing shallower as her smile turned from one of joy to lustful mischief. Ryan closed his eyes and gladly suffered her kisses.
Camille’s hands roamed over his chest, then lower. She toyed with the front of his shorts and softly purred. “And you thought you didn’t have a creative bone in your body. Now let’s see how creative you can be in bed.”
“What about the drawings for Karl?”
“He closes the emporium at noon every day, turns off his cell, and then takes a long walk in Central Park. We have plenty of time for other activities before he’s back in the store. Karl can wait.” She cupped his balls through his pants. “But I can’t.”
Ryan gave up his feeble protests. After scooping Camille into his arms, he carried her upstairs and into their bedroom. As soon as they were both naked, he showed her all the ways he could be creative.