Road to Casablanca (21 page)

She thought about Erick as she went into her room and showered for the evening, considering what it must be like to be in charge of so much money and to have all the responsibility that went with it. It might not be all it was cracked up to be.
  

Queen for a day
, she told herself, thinking a day, or a week tops, was just about all she could ever handle of this lifestyle.
  

Chapter Twenty

As promised, at 7:00 p.m. sharp, Erick knocked on Cindy’s door.
 
As he looked up at the beauty in the black silk gown before him, he nearly lost his breath.

“Wow!
 
You look incredible!”

“Thank you.”

“No, I mean it; you are absolutely beautiful.
 
Not that you weren’t already, but whatever they did for you in that spa today…well, let’s just say it worked!”

“It’s amazing what a little mud can do for a girl!
 
Who knew?”

“Yeah, well…I guess we’ll be getting you more of that then!”

The sight of her shot a feeling from his groin to the top of his head, energizing him and causing his arms to automatically reach out to her to touch what he was seeing.

“Hey! You can look, but don’t touch.”

Cindy swatted him playfully but Erick could tell by the spark in her eye that what she meant to say was don’t touch –
yet
.
 
He felt certain that after playing it aloof last night, tonight would be the night she would tumble into his arms and he could finally taste and feel the sweet sensation he’d been seeing and smelling all week.
 

“Okay, if you want to play hard to get, go ahead.
 
Just know it goes both ways!”

“Hey Mister! You were the one who left last night without even a single grope, so don’t go telling me about playing hard to get!”

She fell laughing into his arms and the sweet smell of that perfume, or whatever it was she was wearing, made it impossible for him to stop himself from kissing and nibbling her neck.

“What is that smell you have on tonight?”

“Lotus oil from
Egypt
.
 
Or at least that’s what they tell me in the spa.”

“Well, whatever it is, I want more!”

Erick nibbled her to a ticklish frenzy and they twirled around and fell laughing on the bed.

“Stop! Stop! I’m ticklish!”

“Are you?
 
Then I want even more!”

Erick continued for a minute, then pinned her on her back and looked into her eyes.
 
He wanted her now, but a glance at the clock said they needed to get going if they were to arrive on time for the opening ceremonies.
 
This was the biggest and best part of the whole festival, and regardless of how much Erick wanted Cindy right now, he suspended his needs long enough to want her to have fun even more.

His actions must have puzzled her because she got a strange look on her face.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes; more than okay.
 
I want to rip this little thing off you right now, but I also know we’re about to be late so maybe I can have a rain check for later, if that’s okay?”

Cindy looked even more stunned at first but she quickly recovered, smiling and rolling onto her side.

“I’ll think about it. How’s that?”

“I guess it will have to do.”

Erick reached his hand out for hers and as she turned to walk away he caught a full look at her sleek, sexy back and the tiny chain holding the dress together.
 
He reached out to her and ran a strong hand down the center of her back and whistled as he gently tugged the chain..

“Hey! Finally a good look at the whole package!”

“You like?”

“Yeah!
 
I was wondering if anyone has some wire cutters around here?
 
I’m tempted to cut that chain off myself and if there aren’t any tools around, I’ll just use my teeth!”

 
“How about I put you in chains later?”

“Hey!
 
Now you’re talkin’! That will be well worth the wait!”

“You’d better believe it!”

“That is if I don’t just bite that dress off you right this minute.”

“Are you sure your teeth are strong enough for that?”

“Come here and we will find out, missy.”

Erick gently bit her neck and grabbed her thin waist and squeezed her butt.
 
This time, she didn’t resist and he kissed her deeply and lovingly until the heat inside him was beginning to rise to a boiling point.

He wanted to throw her back down on the bed, but unfortunately there were people waiting for them downstairs, so it would have to wait.
 

“Mmm. You taste good, too, Erick.”

“Thanks.”

He reached his hands around her neck and noticed she was wearing the same jewelry she had on the night before.

“Sorry I didn’t get you any new jewelry for tonight, but there will be more coming up, I promise.”

Cindy stopped kissing his neck and looked him square in the eye.

“Are you kidding?
 
Haven’t you done enough already?
 
I think this looks perfectly fine with what I have on tonight, don’t you?”

Erick did a once-over from head to toe. “Uh yeah, I’d say it does. You want to know what would look even better with that jewelry?”

“What?”

“Your naked body.”

Erick reached out and kissed her deeply again, feeling her body melt like butter into his hands and her breath slow and.

“Mmm….” Cindy murmured.

“
Mmm
is right!” Erick forced himself to back up again and wiped his mouth off with his hand, still feeling the hot wet kiss she gave him only seconds before.

“Okay, my lovely wife.
 
Are you finally ready to go?”

“Uh, hello!
 
Who has been distracting whom around here?
 
We could have left ten minutes ago!”

“You have been purposely distracting me.
 
I know it.
 
You put on those sexy clothes, those tempting smells covering your skin.
 
How is a man to resist?”

“Too cute.
 
Let’s go.”

“Shall we go, my wife?”

“Yes husband, we shall.”

Erick smiled as Cindy slid her arm around his bicep.
 
She felt good there, fit well on him.

“I wanted to let you know about what’s going on tonight.
 
We’ll be having a formal dinner in the Grand Ballroom with all the investors and their spouses.”

“Okay, just tell me what I need to do.”

“Just be your charming self and everything will be fine.
 
Besides, tonight is when a lot of the big stars come out.
 
Tonight more than any other time all the bigwigs will be out, so I think it should be quite an exciting and star-studded evening for you.”

“I can’t wait!”

Downstairs, the ballroom flickered with the faint golden glow of candlelight and the glitter of sequins and fine jewelry.
 
Erick quickly assessed the situation and finally located the table.

“There they are, over there.”

“Wow, this is really something.
 
I’ve never been to anything like it before.”

“You look beautiful and you will be wonderful!”

Erick squeezed her hand as a finely dressed man approached.

“Good evening Sir, Madame.
 
May I escort you to your table?”

“Yes, we are with Mr. and Mrs. Jibade.”

“Of course, sir, this way.”

The man seemed to perk up at hearing the name and quickly seated them at an elegant round table at the center section of the front-row upper balcony, where they had a perfectly unobstructed view of the goings on all around them.

“This is incredible, Erick!”

“Told you it would be.”

“Yes you did, and you weren’t lying!”

They were the first to arrive to the table and Erick now wished he’d taken time to be with Cindy in the room.
 
Later he would make sure to finish what they’d started, but for now, they were both far too busy looking around the room at all the elegantly dressed people, trying to see if any celebrities were in their midst.

“Look, there’s Samuel L. Jackson over there with Martin Scorsese!”

“Wow! You were right, there are celebrities here!”

The Jibades approached with two other couples and Erick and Cindy rose to greet them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Redmund; how lovely to see you this evening.”

“Mr. Jibade, Mrs. Jibade, it looks like its going to be quite an event tonight.”

“Indeed it will be…”

Erick introduced his wife to all at the table and they enjoyed a drink together before dinner was served.
 

Jibade made sure to sit next to Erick so they could talk business over the meal.
 

Cindy continued to stare over the balcony, smiling at the woman next to her, the wife of an investor who spoke no English at all.
 

Erick spoke with Jibade in a hushed whisper.
 
When they were finished, Erick reached over and put a tender arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear, still smelling the sweet scent of lotus.

“You still enjoying it?”

“Of course I am, silly. What’s not to enjoy?”

“See any more celebrities?”

“I thought I saw Steven Spielberg, but when I got a closer look, I think it was just a local man.”

“Oh well, you can’t have it all, I guess…”

“Who says?”

Erick laughed and squeezed her thigh.
 
She was a funny woman and a beautiful one as well.

“Jibade said we need to meet with some of the men tonight after dinner, of all things, to go over some of the items we talked about this afternoon – to clarify things for them I guess.
 
They don’t speak English and there are lots of cultural differences in how we define different terms and concepts, and I need to be there to explain some things in my proposal.”

Erick searched her eyes, expecting to find disappointment or chastising there, but he didn’t.
 

“It’s okay, Erick; I understand.”

Pleased she was being such a good sport, Erick had to admit he didn’t feel as accepting of it as she did.
 
He wasn’t mad at all about tonight’s meeting and he of all people understood the delicacy of international relations and how communication varied with culture. It was just that tonight, of all nights, he wanted to spend it with the deliciously dressed Cindy. He wanted to taste her, have her for his after-dinner drink and peel that satiny gown off her body.
 
Now all that would have to wait, and he was sick about it.
 
The fact she seemed okay with it made him want her even more.