Louise: A New Beginning (10 page)

“Then let it go, Louise. Let it all go, and be with me.” He moved closer and took my hands in his, saying, “I can’t imagine my life without you. Not after everything you and I shared.”

I don’t know what made me do what I did next, but there was so much pleading in Will’s eyes; my heart sank in my chest. I reached for his face and pulled him closer, until our lips met. I wasn’t going to make him suffer again, and I knew that one kiss was not even close to enough, but I wanted to comfort him, to comfort myself, to make him feel my love.

Slowly, my lips moved over his. It was so much different from the kiss he gave me before he left this morning. That kiss was full of anger, and passion, and longing that he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to ease. This time, Will didn’t rush things. He let me tell him whatever I wanted to tell him with that kiss; and I made sure my message was clear before I broke away.

I love you, just be patient with me, please.

So when I did break the kiss, he didn’t try to come back in for another or make any other moves I wasn’t ready for.

He smiled, again with that sad smile that I had already seen on his face way too many times for the last ten minutes. “What was that for?” He asked, brushing my chin with his fingertips.

“For being with me now.”

“If I get a kiss for every moment that I spend with you, I refuse to spend even a second without you.”

Instead of commenting, I leaned forward and placed another small kill on his lips.

“Tell me more about your dad. I know so little about your family.”

Will inhaled deeply and nodded. “Changing the subject. Okay.”

I laughed. “You got me there. But truly, it’s for the best.”

“Talking to you is still better than not seeing you at all. It’s been a hell of a couple of months, Louise. I don’t want things to keep going on this way forever. Do you hear me? I can’t keep going on like this, it is killing me.”

“I’ll see what I can do about that,” I said, still smiling.

“I mean it. Don’t you dare disappear from my life again. I will find you anyway, so don’t waste your time on running.”

“Do you have any pictures of your dad? I never saw him.”

“Okay, all right. Topic diverted for now, but this conversation isn’t over. We will continue when you are ready to talk about it. As for the pictures of my dad, yes, I do have some. Thousands of them actually. I love photography, remember?” He rose to his feet, walked over to one of the bookshelves, and took down a box with what I assumed to be his family’s pictures.

“Trust me, it’s hard to forget about your passion for photography.” I still had those pictures that Will and I took while we were in Paris. I loved looking through them, especially the ones he took on our first night together.

A small, sly smile touched his lips. No doubt, he was recalling that night too.

“We should go there again someday,” he said, sitting down next to me.

“You think so?”

“If my memory serves, you liked taking pictures of me almost as much as I loved taking pictures of you.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“Good to know there’s at least one thing that you don’t want to argue with me about.”

I punched his shoulder slightly. “Not one thing, actually. . . But we will talk about the rest later.”

“When?” He raised his eyebrows questioningly, watching me.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“You know what. When you look at me like that, it’s really hard to think straight.”

“It’s all your fault,” Will said, opening the box. “Looking at you is one of a very few options I have right now.”

“Stop complaining. At least now, that I live here, you have plenty of opportunities to see me.”

“If you think it should make me feel better, you are wrong.”

“Ugh, you are so hard to please, Mr. Blair! Let’s look at those pictures you have in the box.”

“Actually, it’s not so hard to please me, and you, of all people, should know that.” He sounded like a little boy, complaining about someone taking his favorite toy away from him. I smiled mentally to myself.

“Stop thinking about dragging me to your bedroom and tell me more about your family.”

“Easier said than done,” he muttered in response.

I reached for the box in his hands and took one of the pictures, taken in this very house.

“It was taken a few days before he died,” Will said. “I often look at this picture wondering if there was a way to avoid the tragedy. . .”

“You wouldn’t be able to prevent it anyway. You were not there when the accident happened.”

“No, I wasn’t. But every time I think about that day, I remember talking to my dad just a few hours before I lost him forever and it feels like I was right there when he died. Only I didn’t see how the whole thing happened.”

“Oh, Will. . .” I put my hand on his back and rubbed it lightly. “It wasn’t your fault. There are things that we can’t change. Believe me, I know exactly how it feels. I can’t change anything about my past, but I still have my future. And so do you.”

“I know, Louise. And that is exactly why I don’t want to waste it on stupid things. I want
you
to be my future.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I looked down at the picture I was still holding in my hands and said, “Do you know all these people standing around him?”

“Yes, they were the employees of the company. Some still work there. This man,” Will pointed at a tall  man with dark hair, in his late fifties, “used to be my father’s business partner. He started his own business a couple of years ago and left the company. And this,” Will pointed to a woman on his father’s left side, “is Debora Griffin. She used to be dad’s deputy.”

My heart froze in my chest. “Debora used to work with your dad?”

“Yes, why? Do you know her?”

“No. It’s just that. . .her name sounds familiar.” And so did her face. Only I couldn’t remember where I had seen her before.

“She was supposed to be on the boat the day the accident happened. My dad and Debora were going over some negotiations about opening another branch of the company on the west coast. But the deal was canceled as soon as the other side found out about the accident.”

“Seriously? They called off the deal?”

“Yes. Our stock prices plummeted and they thought it would be better to wait until things settled to make a new offer. Though it has never been made.”

Now that was interesting. So because of Will’s father’s death someone saved a huge ton of money. Could that be the reason for his death?

And, of course, the absence of Debora on the boat, looked more than just suspicious.

“Do you know why Debora didn’t go with your father that day?”

“She broke her leg a day before the trip, so she couldn’t go even if she wanted to.”

“Oh. . .” Maybe my suspicions were wrong after all. Nevertheless, I needed to find Debora Griffin. Rea couldn’t have just given me her name without a reason. She knew something about Mr. Blair’s death, and I needed to know what it was.

“Is there any chance I could get a good-night kiss from you?” Will asked, going upstairs with me. We spent a good part of the night talking, he told me about his past, I told him more about mine. Even though there wasn’t much to tell. He knew almost everything about me. Maybe even more than I did myself.

We stopped at the door to my bedroom and I turned around to look at him. “Maybe just a small one,” I said, not sure if I could tell him no, especially after the kiss I gave him, myself, earlier today.

“How about a little bigger than a small one?”

“Like medium-size?”

He laughed quietly, stepping closer. “Something of the sort.” Then he bent down and covered my mouth with his, softly, carefully, as if he were afraid I would push him away, or tell him to not kiss me, ever again.

But I wasn’t going to do any of that. Well, I might have, if I were not hopelessly in love with the man, holding me in his tight embrace at the moment. Instead, I reached out one hand and opened my bedroom door, pushing it inward.

“Is this an invitation?” Will asked, breaking the kiss.

“It is. . . But not the kind you’re thinking of.”

“Oh. . .” He frowned, looking at me. “Then what is it?”

“Will you stay with me?”

He thought for a moment. “Like for a sleepover?”

I nodded, both excited and afraid he would say no. We both knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t want to be alone tonight.

“I don’t think I have ever done anything like this before. . .” He said, watching me intently. “But we can give it a try.”

My heart sank in my chest. Of course, he had never spent the night in a woman’s bed simply because she wanted to have him around, and not for fooling around. God, I was being an idiot, I should have thought twice before asking him to stay with me.

“Maybe it is not such a brilliant idea after all. . .” I didn’t want to sound down or bitchy, but I guess I couldn’t master anything but a
‘venomy’
on-second-thought kind of comment.

Will laughed, took my hands in his, and pulled me into my room, shutting the door behind me.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, trying to figure out the thoughts running through his head.

“You.”

I raised my eyebrows in a silent question.

“You are so cute when you’re jealous,” he said, still smiling. “Even though you don’t have a single reason to be jealous. I told you, Louise, I have never loved anyone as much as I love you.” He traced a line down my cheek with his fingertip, then stopped at my lower lip and caressed it gently, saying, “I have never loved any other woman at all. Before you, I didn’t know what true love meant.”

“How much time was the longest you have ever been in a relationship?” Obviously, curiosity wouldn’t let me shut up at that point. Will was right, I was being jealous. Women rarely need a real reason to be jealous, in most cases, including mine, it goes with being born a woman.

Will sighed, sitting at the edge of my bed, with his hands still holding mine. “This is the first and the last time we are going to talk about my ex-girlfriends, okay?”

I nodded, waiting for his response to my question.

“The women I dated were. . .let’s just say, they were not exactly my type. I did enjoy their company, but not as much as I enjoy yours. They were beautiful, of course, but outer beauty was not the only thing I wanted from them, that would have been just a bonus if they had had the other qualities I was looking for. I always wanted more. Then when I found you, I managed to finally find what I’d been looking for – a boundless world within one beautiful body that I will never tire of admiring. As for the longest of my relationships – it lasted around eight months. Though I can hardly call it a relationship. We lived in different cities, and only spent time together on the weekends.”

“Why did you break up?”

“One day I realized that was not what I wanted for myself. And as I have already said, it wasn’t enough for me.”

I can’t say I was enjoying this conversation, obviously, but I wanted to be done with this topic, once and for all.

“Has she ever tried to get you back?” I asked my final question.

“No. Amy and I both knew our romance had no future. So when I said it was time to stop fooling around with each other, she agreed without hesitation.”

It was hardly believable. In my personal opinion, no sane woman would ever agree to leave a man like William. I didn’t count, I had a reason to stay away from him, or at least I thought so.

“No more questions?” Will smirked at my silence.

“No.”

“Good. Now how about we get to undressing?”

“To what?”

“Well, we are not going to sleep in our clothes, right? Or is that how you imagined we would go to bed for this
‘sleepover’
?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, of course, not.”

“Thank God,” he muttered. “At least I will get the chance to hold you in my arms for longer than two minutes. . .which, by the way, is the longest I have been able to hold you in the last couple of days.”

“Two minutes? How do you know that?”

“Will you believe me if I tell you that I have actually been counting the seconds?”

I laughed. “No.”

“Well, that’s too bad, because that is exactly what I have been doing every time I have been able to hold you recently. And, the longest you stayed in my arms was two minutes. . .one-hundred and twenty seconds total, that’s it. Then you pulled away.”

I leaned forward, planning to give Will a playful kiss on the lips, but the moment my mouth covered Will’s, he pulled me closer and kept pulling me, until we ended up lying on my bed, with me on top of him.

I looked down at him, both scared and excited about our bodies touching in so many places at once.

“I missed having you like this,” he said softly. His palms traveled up and down my back, and as if by accident, slipped under my shirt, right over the waistband of my jeans. The feeling of his skin touching mine, in such a teasing way was, I must say, intoxicating.

“Do you mind if I help you with your clothes?” Will asked, still watching me.

I could hardly speak. A nod was all I was capable of in response to his question. 

His palms slipped farther up my shirt, caressing my sides. I sat up, raising my hands to help him take the shirt over my head. There was nothing but a thin cream-colored, silk bra left to cover my breasts.

His eyes traveled down my neckline, then my chest, and then up to my face again, until they found mine.

“So beautiful,” he said quietly. I barely heard the words because he spoke them almost silently, and even if he hadn’t, my blood was pounding in my ears; I was so nervous and excited, all at once.

Wordlessly, I reached for the buttons on his shirt and undid them, one by one.

My heart was racing in my chest, my hands were shaking. What the hell were we doing? Will we even be able to stop once we get our clothes off? Will we be able to prevent ourselves from burning my sheets after my nakedness touches his?

“This is insane. . .” Will said, as if he were reading my mind.

“I know.” I swallowed, letting my palms rest on his chest. I wasn’t sure if I knew how to handle this situation, and I could tell he wasn’t either. It was getting out of control way too fast.

And, of course, I just had to make things worse than they already were. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to Will’s neck, then showered his chest with small kisses.

“Louise!” He growled, removing the hair from my face. He wrapped his fingers around the back of my neck and pulled my face to his, then sucked on my lower lip.

An unintentional moan escaped my throat.

“You, little Miss Tease, what would you say if I teased you back?”

“Don’t,” I mumbled, barely breathing.

“Too late.”

Damn, he was fast, really fast.

In the blink of an eye, I was on my back, Will hovering over me; the fire in his eyes was so wild, I knew he could finish me off in seconds.

He slid his palms down my arms and laced my fingers with his, raising my hands up until they were pinned to the sheet right above my head.

“You can stop me whenever you feel like doing so,” he said, lowering his head and giving me another tender kiss, with his tongue sliding against mine in a playful manner, both seducing me and asking for more. Then his mouth traveled down, over my chin, nibbling on my skin, ever so slightly, until his lips stopped at the spot right under my ear, and his tongue caressed my earlobe, then he sucked it in between his lips. His lower body pressed harder against mine.

Releasing my hands, Will’s palms slipped down my sides, with his mouth feathering my breast with small, hot kisses. He didn’t remove my bra, and I was thankful for that one small favor. It was good to know there was at least some fabric, regardless of how thin it was, preventing him from touching the skin of one of my most sensitive spots. . .it was a relief.

It was damn near impossible to be there with him and to not think about making love to him. To be skin to skin, and having our heartbeats loudly thudding against our chests. To allow him to go to the dangerous grounds would mean a surrender, and I was not ready to give up and lose this game of ours. I was kind of enjoying it; it was as if Will and I were back in the dance room nine again, forbidden to do anything other than kissing and touching, but dying to get so much more from the seduction.

His tongue stopped at my navel, rounding it in dancing circles. He looked up at me and smiled knowingly. There was no way to hide the desire I felt for him at the moment. And he knew me and my body too damn well to believe that what he was doing, wasn’t affecting me.

“Karma is a bitch, isn’t it?” He said, sitting up and reaching for the zipper on my jeans.

“You, of all people, know that, right?”

“All thanks to you, my sweet Louise. You left me, remember? For five freaking months. . . Do you think it was easy to not think about you all this time?” He pulled the zipper down, then looked at the piece of fabric underneath and smiled, saying, “Did you put these on just for me tonight?”

I forgot I was wearing panties that were of Will’s favorite color, dark-blue.

“No, Mr. Self-Assured Blair. I love this color too, you know?”

“Right. . .” He replied, then he roughly pulled my jeans down my legs, and threw them across the room to a chair in the corner.

“That was fast.” I smirked.

“I’m losing my patience more and more, with every damn second I spend next to you, Louise.”

“You mean over me?”

“Over you, next to you, under you. . .anywhere I can be with you and let the pulsing tension between us do its best.”

It was so easy to get lost in his eyes, in everything he was doing to me, in the way he said my name, and especially in all those tempting things his lips could do to my body. It would be so easy to just give in and let him do whatever he wanted. I knew it would be amazing and unforgettable. . .I also knew I would regret it the moment it was over.

“Are you done repaying me for leaving you five months ago?” I asked.

He smirked, his eyes flashed dangerously. “Not even close. But I’ll let you fantasize about the end of this game, since I promised to be a good boy tonight and to not cross the line.” He then rolled onto his back and laid down next to me, keeping a good distance between our bodies, to not let them even brush against each other.

“Good,” I said, both relieved and a little disappointed. I had to admit, I was hoping he would push the limits a little further than he had. But maybe it was for the best, I was too close to losing the game Will had been playing with me tonight. “I hope you don’t need help with undressing. . .”

“I would gladly let your naughty hands do their magic, but since you want it even more than I do, I’ll do it myself. Thanks for the offer though.”

You have some nerve, Mr. Sexy.

I was just about to wish him a good night, when my cellphone rang on my bedside table.

“What do you think Drew wants from you at this time of the night?” Will said, grabbing the phone.

Ugh, my dearest uncle couldn’t have possibly chosen a worse moment to call. I swallowed, nervously. “I don’t know.” Then I took the phone from Will and answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Doll. I have some great news for you. I got the address you needed.”

“Okay.”

Will was still watching me, so I tried to not sound too excited.

“I’ll send it to you.”

“Thanks. See you on Sunday.”

“See you!”

“What did he want?” Will asked in a dry voice. He didn’t trust Drew, and even though I told him many times the man would never do anything to hurt me, he still believed it was better to not become too close with my uncle.

What do I do now? I thought frantically to myself. I can’t tell Will the truth.

“I asked him to do me a favor,” I said, carefully choosing my every word. I knew my answer sucked and that Will wasn’t buying it.