Etoile (The Mannequin Series) (10 page)

“I love New York. There's no other place like it. Everyday that I was away in Philly, I missed home so much,” he told her as he led them to a bench.

Elodie nodded in agreement. “Everyone thinks that Paris is the most beautiful city, but they are wrong. It is definitely New York.”

“Definitely,” James said quietly as he watched Elodie stare at the fountains.

She turned and caught his gaze, her face burning scarlet as a result. He chuckled good-naturedly as he took out the box of macarons. “Ladies first.”

Shit. She'd already eaten so many calories and carbohydrates today. Her agent was going to be pissed.

As she was debating whether or not to take one, she suddenly felt one in her mouth. “Salted caramel,” James said with a grin. “My favorite.”

Oh, to hell with it. What harm could one macaron do when she'd already eaten a week's worth of calories?

Biting into the chewy shell and creamy filling, Elodie felt the rich flavors explode in her mouth. Of course she couldn't stop now. They proceeded to taste the rest of the box together, discussing the flavor profiles as if they were discussing Tolstoy. Her agent was going to kill her.

“We better slow down on the sugar,” James said with a laugh as he put the box away. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear as he turned to look at her. She could see the reflection of the lights from the fountain in his large brown eyes and felt her heart flutter as he slowly leaned in.

This was not the same demure kiss as the previous night. His mouth tasted of sugar and tea, mixed in with his own hot breath. The pressure from his warm tongue pushing against hers was almost too much for Elodie to handle. Her face burned as he held the side of it in one strong hand as his other ran up the length of her thigh. His firm touch left a prickling trail in its wake, and she wanted nothing more in that moment than the weight of his body on top of hers.

But before they could get too hot and heavy in public, he pulled away and helped her up from the bench. “Got a little carried away there,” he breathed out with a little laugh. "Should we get out of here?"

Really? It was just getting good. She gave him a defeated nod as he hailed a cab. They clambered into the backseat and, much to Elodie's delight, James asked the driver to take them to Broadway and Chambers street. James had mentioned that he lived in Tribeca. Were they headed to his house?

The cab ride was excruciating. James continued to rub Elodie's legs lightly, as if he were teasing her, while talking about the different museums that he was going to take her to. Meanwhile, all that Elodie could think about was how much she wanted to just pounce on him in the backseat of the cab.

"So we can hit up the Cooper-Hewitt, the Guggenheim, the Whitney and the Frick. We can have lunch afterwards and cut across to the Museum of Natural History. Have you ever been to the boathouse?"

Elodie snapped out of her trance and shook her head.

James gave her knee a little squeeze. "What have you been doing in New York! I know that it might seem cheesy, but we should definitely have lunch there if you've never been. Every New Yorker has to go at least once. We can play tourists for the day."

She beamed at him. "Whatever would I do without you?"

"I just want you to fall in love with it here and never want to leave," he said to her with a warm smile.

Their romantic moment was interrupted by the cabbie barking out, "Twenty-two fifty, and don't forget that I got you here quickly!"

James gave a good-natured laugh and thanked the driver while swiping his credit card. After they stepped out onto the curb, James put his hand on Elodie's back and guided her down the block. Whole Foods? Why were they going into the market?

"And now, the last stop on this leg of your 'Welcome to New York' tour," he announced as he picked up a basket. "You said that you missed three things—London, Paris and home-cooked meals. So I'm going to make you the best dinner you've ever had."

T
hirteen

How could a man be so perfect?

Navigating the giant market together, the two had perused the aisles like an old married couple, picking out the ingredients for their extravagant meal. They walked the two blocks to his apartment, Elodie carrying the wine while James juggled two heavy bags full of outrageously expensive groceries.

"Here we are," he said as he unlocked the front door and let her walk ahead of him. His place was modern and airy, yet simple and modest.

Elodie could just picture herself spending many of her future days there, lounging on the sofa with him in matching pyjamas. He would read the newspaper with bedridden hair as she made espressos and pulled freshly baked croissants out of the oven. They would become friends with other fashionable couples and invite Daniel and Tatiana over for dinner parties. Now, all she had to do was learn how to cook and bake croissants...

With a jolt, she broke out of her daydream as James brushed past her and set the bags down on the table he had in the kitchen. Regardless of the fact that he couldn't read her mind, her face still flushed scarlet. She really needed to see a doctor about that.

"Have some wine and relax. I'll get started on the steaks. By the way, try not to be too impressed with the final product. Now, I'm not one to pat myself on the back, but you haven't had steak until you've had mine," he joked while flashing her his perfect smile.

He poured a glass for each of them and scooted her over to the couch. When she tried to get back up, he protested like a little boy wanting to keep his surprise a secret. "No, no, no. You sit down and enjoy your drink. I'll turn on the TV for you. If you get back up, I'm going to have to make you wait in the hallway."

Delicious aromas wafted from the kitchen as she sipped her glass of Pinot Noir while watching the Mad Men that James had turned on for her. Don Draper had nothing on the man slaving away in the kitchen, she happily thought to herself as she finished her wine.

Before long, a playful voice called out from the kitchen. "Honey, dinner's ready!"

Elodie jumped to her feet in excitement and headed to his dining room table. A small gasp escaped her lips as she saw how much effort James had put into the meal. Not only had he prepared two beautiful steaks, he had also whipped up roasted potatoes, baked cauliflower and a kale and pomegranate salad.

“Not too shabby, huh?” James beamed at her.

“It all looks wonderful,” she replied with glittering eyes as he pulled out a chair for her.

“As do you,” he said as he kissed the top of her head. “Bon Appétit!”

She laughed at his adorable attempt at French and clinked her wine glass against his raised one. Each morsel of steak was cooked perfectly, and all of the side dishes were made to perfection. Elodie closed her eyes as she savored each bite, especially since she wouldn't be eating for the rest of the week as punishment for her recent acts of gluttony.

“Not bad, right?” James asked with an eager expression.

“Everything tastes unbelievable,” she told him. “How are you so good at everything?”

James laughed as he spooned more potatoes onto Elodie's plate. “I'm hardly good at anything, but thank you for continuously boosting my ego. But I'm glad that you like it.”

“My agent is going to hate you, you know. I think I have eaten more in one day with you than I do in one week,” she admitted with a giggle.

He scrunched his nose at her. “That's no good. You're going to have to hang out with me more often so that I can keep you fed.”

Elodie couldn't remember a time when she had felt giddier than at that moment. They chatted about their favorites foods, restaurants and bars as they finished their meal.

“I can't believe you haven't tried the burger there,” James said with a shake of his head, referring to one of his favorite places to eat in the West Village. “We have to go sometime.”

“My agent is really going to murder you,” she said with a huge smile, giggling at the thought of her overly dramatic booker, Adam, finding out about her recent gourmet escapades.

“You can't just live off of steak and sushi,” he told her with a teasing smile. “There's so much great food that you haven't tried yet. I'm just going to have to make a list of places to take you and make sure that each and every one gets checked off.”

I hope that list has hundreds of places, Elodie thought as she nodded enthusiastically.

Once she couldn't possibly fit another bite into her stomach, she set her utensils down and let out a happy sigh. “I think my stomach may pop,” she said with a laugh.

He gave her an incredulous look. “That's only because you're so tiny. I'm actually surprised at how much you can eat! But I hope that you have room for dessert.”

James led her to the sofa with a bottle of champagne in his right hand and a bowl of gorgeous strawberries in the other. “Just to finish off the night on a light note,” he said with a mischievous smile as he went back to the kitchen to retrieve two champagne flutes.

Elodie watched the bubbles rise as James poured them each a glass and settled onto the couch next to her. She suddenly felt very warm and self-conscious as he pulled her close and handed her a flute. To ease her nerves, she quickly downed her glass and let the bubbles break up the cloud of busy thoughts in her head.

Why was she so nervous? She could normally play the role of little minx with ease. Sitting next to James, however, she was a jittery mess. What was it about him? Why couldn't she just act normal?

Giving James an awkward smile, she grabbed a strawberry and bit into it while avoiding his eyes. Due to the fact that he was not blind, he noticed her flightiness and gave her an amused look. “Why are you acting like a jumpy squirrel all of a sudden? I don't bite, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” she tried to say nonchalantly as she polished off the second glass that had poured for her. As the alcohol hit her bloodstream, she felt herself loosen up. Time to turn on the charm, Marais, she thought to herself. You have him right where you want him.

With Veuve Clicquot-assisted confidence, she turned to look at James with flirtatious eyes. You've got this, she told her brain. Just do what you do best, Marais.

He grinned as he set down his glass and moved his body towards her. Pushing a wayward lock of hair behind her ear, James looked into her eyes for what seemed like hours. Each time his eyes shook as they searched her own, she felt her stomach flip while the deafening silence rang in her ears.

Unable to hold back, she moved her face upwards until her lips felt the warmth of his on them. He lunged forward in response, gently pushing her back against the cushions as his body leaned over hers in desire.

He smelled of his Burberry Touch cologne, mixed in with the metallic smell of blood from the steak, and tasted of wine and dry champagne. His tongue explored her mouth ever so gently, and she yearned for him to be rough with her. Each time his moist tongue pressed delicately against her own, it felt as though he was teasing her with his touch.

She wanted to cry out in frustration and have him ravage her mouth and body in a fit of passion. But he handled her as if she were made of glass, lightly caressing the bare skin of her waist under her shirt with one hand as he cradled her face in the other.

Elodie let out a sensual moan as she pushed her body against his, which spurred him to be more aggressive with his tongue. She continued to make small noises of pleasure as she pushed him back until she was lying on his chest, only exciting him further. Running her hands across his hard stomach, she moaned against his mouth as she pushed her perky breasts into his chest. To further express her desire for rough play, Elodie grabbed his hand and bluntly placed it on her ass, to which he grinned in approval.

Kissing him so deeply and lying so close to him felt perfectly right, as if they were two puzzle pieces that had finally found the way back to each other. Even though he was right there, pressed up against her, Elodie wanted James to be closer, if that was even possible. She wanted to be a part of him, and he of her. As James kissed her neck, she felt her entire body pounding in desire.

“I want you so badly,” she whimpered in his ear.

When he groaned in agreement, she pushed her lower body against his and redirected his hand that was positioned on her butt, bringing it to her sensitive breast. Like an obedient slave, he grabbed at it hard, massaging it with strong hands as their kisses grew even more passionate and wanting. Elodie sighed in joy at the overwhelming feeling of being handled so gruffly, just the way she liked it.

James let out a guttural moan as she ran her hand along the muscles of his bicep while nibbling at his lower lip. She slowly moved her other hand towards the bulge in his pants as she continued to rub her body against his. When she finally cupped her palm atop where his dick was stiffening, James abruptly stopped everything that he was doing.

“Oh. Um, maybe it's time to call it a night. It's actually getting pretty late and we both have to get up early tomorrow anyway... I'll walk you home,” he said with a sheepish smile.

What had just happened?

“Is something wrong?” she asked slowly, trying her best not to sound ashamed and disappointed.

“No, it's not you. It's just... I know that nothing good comes out of moving too fast. I'm not going to make you do anything when we're just getting to know each other. I really like you. Which is why I think that we should take it slowly.” He gave her a bright smile in an attempt to save the awkward situation.

“Oh. Okay,” she managed to say while attempting to quell the demons in her head. Why had she done that? Did she have no self control or decency? Great, now he probably thought of her as some sort of hussy who goes at it on the second date. But, wait. Didn't everyone?

Noticing her crestfallen expression, James quickly held her hand as he lightly grabbed her chin with his other and turned her face towards his.

“Hey. We have plenty of time,” he murmured, planting a soft kiss on her lips. “Now let's get you home.”