Total Control (13 page)

The elevator stopped and we followed Sean to our room. He opened the door and when I walked in
, I gasped. It was a huge, beautiful suite. I went to the window and took in the view, it was breathtaking. Dana gave Sean a tip and thanked him before he left.

“Let’
s freshen up and go have an expensive dinner!” she said with a huge smile.

We all grabbed our l
uggage and took it to our rooms. They insisted I take the master room with the king-size bed and let them share the other room with two queen beds. I took my toiletries into my huge bathroom and wished I had time to lie in the Jacuzzi tub and drink a glass of champagne. I’d always wanted to do that like they did in the movies, but I’d never had the opportunity. I promised myself I’d do it sometime before we checked out on Monday.

When we met back in the living area, we were fired up and ready to start our California adventure.
We thought about opening the champagne, but decided to have a quick shot instead.

“To another unforgettable weekend together!” Jo said. We all smiled and shot.

“Watch out, California, here we come,” I said and we headed to the elevator.

When the elevator opened, Sean g
reeted us. “Ladies…going down?”

We all looked at him and tried to hold it in, but I couldn’t resist. “
Maybe later, Sean, we’re headed to dinner right now.” His face turned beet red. We all stepped in, laughing, and I stood right beside him again. “Sorry, you left it wide open.”

He nodded and smiled. “So I did,” he said.

When we stepped into the lobby, we decided to take a couple of pictures. I sent the one Jo took of Dana and me to Ethan and Trey. Our phones rang almost immediately. I gave Jo an apologetic look.

“No problem,” she said, “I’ll ask about restaurants.”

“Hey!” I answered. I was excited to hear his voice.

“Thanks for the picture,” he said. “Now I want one with just you in it.” I suddenly realized I didn’t have a picture of him and I panicked. He promised to send me one.

I asked him how it was going at The Lock and he told me he’d fired Vince and then Vince knocked him out!
What?

“Oh my God! Are you okay?” I felt horrible. It was partially my fault. Ethan told me what happened and I felt guilty about flirting with Sean while Ethan was back at The Lock being my hero. I’d have to
show him my appreciation later. I told him I’d call him after dinner and reminded him to send me a picture.

After we hung up, he sent me one. The left side of his face was red and puffy and his eye was swollen and red.
My heart sank. He still looked absolutely gorgeous, so I sent him a text telling him so. I stared at his picture until Jo and Dana were ready. Jo told us what she’d found out and we decided on a place just down the street.

We had a great dinner accompanied by a few glasses of champagne, so we weren’t feeling any pain when we decided to walk back to the hotel so we could stop at a couple
of stores we’d seen on the limo ride there. The first stop was at a shoe store, a very expensive shoe store, where Dana bought a sexy pair of strappy sandals. I loved them and knew she’d let me borrow them anytime, so I was pleased with her purchase. Next stop was at a huge Victoria’s Secret and as I looked around, I started thinking about Ethan. I wondered how he felt about lingerie, what he liked, what was sexy to him. I decided to put on something I thought was sexy and take a picture of myself for him.

When I got in the dressing room and put it on, I set my camera timer and took a picture
. Then, as I started to undress, I took another. I e-mailed them to Ethan and then called him. I teased him into asking me what I was wearing, and when he did, I told him to check his e-mail. I had butterflies as I waited for a reaction.

“Jesus, Gia,” he said. My butterflies went crazy. He said he wished he were there to buy it for me.

“I wish you were here to take it off of me.” He said he could be here in a few hours. I was getting turned on at the thought of him touching me. “What would you do to me then?”

“Tell me to come and you’ll find out.” His voice was serious and sexy. I wanted so badly to tell him to come. I thought of the Jacuzzi tub in my room and how he’d look under me with suds all over his naked body.
  He’d ease into me and guide me, slowly, but I’d want him faster, harder, and water would slosh out of the tub as I had my way. I took a deep breath, swallowed, and knew I had to put an end to that conversation before the girls came looking for me. I told him I’d call him later.

“Oh, and Ethan
…” I said that I would’ve asked him to come, but the girls had planned the weekend for just us. I hated for him to think that I didn’t want him there, because I’d love to be on a fun weekend getaway with him.

He said he understood and that he wanted me to have fun. He was so great to me.
I changed back into my clothes and practically skipped out and charged my new, sexy outfit. I’d never had a garter belt and I couldn’t wait to wrap my legs around Ethan while wearing it.

“What should we do now, ladies?” Dana asked when we’d stepped back out onto the street. “There’s a pretty hot club in the hotel.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said and looked at Jo.

“I’m in!”
she said excitedly.

We got back to the hotel and waited
for the elevator to take us up to our room so we could put our shopping goodies away. I wondered if I should call Ethan then and tell him good night or wait until after. I decided to wait. The door opened and Sean lit up when he saw us.

“Ladies,” h
e said.

“Yay! You’re still on duty,” I told him as I stepped in right beside him. “And you still smell fantastic.”

He smiled as he kept his eyes forward.

“How’s the club on the top floor?” Dana asked him.

“Very popular,” he said. “Is that where you’re headed?”

“
After a quick stop at our room,” she told him.

“Very good,” he said as he pushed the button. We started climbing and I smiled at his reflection in the elevator door. He gave me a shy smile back, but kept his eyes on mine until the door opened.

“See you soon,” I told him.

“Yes, Gia, see you soon. Ladies.” He nodded at Jo and Dana.

We giggled as we made our way to our room. “Gia, you are such a flirt!” Jo said. “I love seeing you like this, you’re very entertaining.”

“Yes, Gia, you’re such fun when you’re being you!” Dana added and gave me a hug.

“I feel sexy and confident all of a sudden. It’s fun to be silly and free and not have to worry about it getting back to Lex or feeling guilty about it.”

“Good girl,” Jo said. “
You’re on your way. When you get home, you’re going to be a whole new Gia.” She gave me a hug also.

We put our stuff away, freshened up a little, and had another shot. I set my camera timer, and after several attempts, got a great picture of the three of us on our beautiful couch. We all had huge smiles on our faces from laughing at our failed attempts. We headed to the club.

When the door opened, I was disappointed to see a face other than Sean’s. We stepped in and Dana told him we were going up to the club.

I gasped when we walked in and saw the place. It was elegantly hip, beautifully blue and silver,
everything was circular themed. Lighted orbs hung above every round table, the couches were half-circles, the chairs were round, even the rugs they sat upon were round with different sized circles on them. I loved it.

The place was full
, so when Dana spotted three stools up at the bar, we grabbed them. It was a huge round bar, silver with sky blue circles which appeared to be 3-D. Dana ordered some drinks from our hot waiter, Antonio, who was tall, dark, and way too sexy to be called handsome. We watched the people on the dance floor; they made me feel old and out of place. I wished I was in my element, shaking my shit at The Lock while Aerosmith or Skid Row rocked the stage. But I was okay with it. So what if we were three of the oldest women in the place? We knew how to have a good time, and I was sure we would.

I
scanned the rest of the room. It was mostly all young, rich kids with expensive clothes and shoes, drinking and having a good time. I noticed an older group of guys, probably in their later thirties, at a nearby couch laughing and toasting to something. One of them caught me looking and raised his glass to me. I smiled, raised mine, and took a drink.

“Let’s dance!” Dana said as a Black Eyed Peas song we all knew started. Jo and I followed her and we tried to fit in as best as we could with the dance moves we had. It was fun, the kids around us danced with us and it was like one big party. Another song started and we kept dancing, trying to emulate what we were seeing around us. We laughed as we watched each other attempting to be what we weren’t.

“Mind if we join in?” I turned and saw the guy who raised his glass to me and a few of his buddies.

“
As long as you’re all very non-judgmental and don’t embarrass easily,” I told him.

He laughed
. “I think we’ll fit right in.”

We danced as a group and with the people around us to the rest of that
song and then one more. We thanked the guys and headed back to the bar.

“Come join us at our table,
” one of them said, so we grabbed our stuff and followed them over. We sat on the couches and chairs they had previously gathered in their little area. We all introduced ourselves and made small talk about where we were from and what we did for a living. When they asked why we were in California, Dana told them we’d just come for a girls’ weekend and to take in a concert tomorrow night.

“I hope it’s the Hairball show
,” one of them said. My heart skipped a beat and I swung my head around to face Dana. I’d wanted to catch one of their shows for a while.

She smiled at me
. “Yes, it is.”

I hugged her so tight
. “Thank you!”

“
It was a surprise…what show we were going to see,” she told them as they looked at my reaction curiously.

“Awesome,”
one of the guys said. “A couple of us are in that show.”

“Holy shit!” I said. “I’ve
wanted to see it so badly, I’ve heard it’s quite a show.”

“You won’t be disappointed
,” Zane, the guy who raised his glass to me earlier, said. “They’re a blast.”

The waitress came and Zane ordered us all
some drinks. “Put it on my bill,” he told her.

When she brought them, we all t
hanked Zane and he made a toast to us, thanking us for joining them. He was quite charming and very good-looking. He had a sophistication about him that was sort of intimidating, but sexy at the same time. I had the feeling he had money, but not because he flaunted it, just because of the way he carried himself.

We were having a lot of f
un with that group of guys. I could tell they were all good friends and the stories they had about experiences on the road were very entertaining. I was feeling the alcohol by then and was craving a Marlboro.

“Is there somewhere to smoke up here?” I asked them.

“Thank god someone else smokes!” Zane took my hand, “C’mon.”

He took me out onto a huge balcony with an amazing view. There were a bunch of people mingling and smoking out there and I was glad I’d asked. I took a cigarette out of my pack and Zane quickly lit it for me.

“Thank you,” I said as I exhaled.

“You’re welcome,” he said and
lit his. “Thank you for your company. I’m usually outside smoking alone. We’re a minority, you know.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I know. I usually only smoke when I drink
, so I’m always too buzzed to care.”

He laughed. “Gia is a beautiful name. Were you named after someone?”

“Nope, my parents heard it once and both loved it, so, here I am.”

“
You’re beautiful as well, Gia. Are you married, engaged, single?”

“I’m divorced,
” I told him. “How about you?”

“I’m newly divorced.
Tonight is the first night I’ve actually
gone out
since. My divorce was final four months ago, but I was having a tough time with it, so I laid low for a while. It’s tough, isn’t it?” He sounded wounded and I felt for him.

“Yes, Zane, it is. It gets easier though, hang in there.” I gave him a smile. “Mine was a couple of years ago. It took me a while to adjust, too.”

“Are you dating?” he asked. By the look on my face, he must’ve felt he’d crossed the line. “I’m sorry, Gia, that’s not my business.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just…I’ve very recently met someone. Yes, we’re dating. We’ve only known each other for a week, so it’s hard to define.” I knew I’d referred to Ethan as my boyfriend, but when I tried to explain it to a stranger, it sounded odd.

“Well, a week isn’t very long, but it’s a start. Sometimes when you meet someone, you know right away, that’s how it was when I met my wife. Well, my ex-wife.” He looked sad again. Poor guy, he’d gotten his heart broken.