Wet (27 page)

She nods excitedly. “That’s so hot. He still has her shoe, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. But this prince dude is taking no prisoners. So when the Prince gets to the Viking’s McMansion in Woodland Hills, he goes all Mortal Combat on the fucker and beats him with his vacuum cleaner then douses him with 409 and Windex.”

“Oh, the prince is so badass,” she says with a satisfied smile. “So he saves his girl.”

“Hell yes! He breaks her out of the dungeon and gives her a hot kiss so she wakes up from the poison energy drink, and then he carries her out in his arms to her freedom.”

She sighs. “Did he make her try on the gym shoe first to make sure it was her?”

I tip my head and give her a wary look. “Do you really think he’s going to take time to do that when he can’t wait to fuck her?”

“Oh yeah, and now we’re getting to the good part.”

“So back at his palace . . .” I begin, my mind gearing up for the sex scene.

“Which is a split level mid-century, maybe Neutra?”

“Or Lautner,” I say, appreciating that Elle knows her modern architects.

“I love their houses with walls of glass,” she says.

“Is the prince with glass walls an exhibitionist?”

She cups her chin in her hand. “Hmmm, I don’t know if exhibitionism is sexy or not.”

“Prince Paul is super sexy, so let’s say he has glass walls but the house is surrounded by a dense enchanted garden with birds of paradise, orchids, mango trees, and weeping violets so no one can see in.”

“Oh yes,” she moans.

She seems so delighted with the story and it makes me wonder how she’d like the sex to go now that they’re in their mid-century perfection. “So what do you think would be hot to happen next?”

“Well, she was Zumba dancing and then kidnapped, so she must be all sweaty. I think the situation calls for a shower in his historically accurate master bath.”

Showering together is sexy, and I’m charmed by her practicality and nod to good design. “Okay, so he sweeps her through his front door and carries her to his bathroom.”

“While whispering in her ear that he’s going to take care of her.”

I blink several times at her suggestion. It’s interesting that my self-reliant career woman’s fantasy has a man taking control and taking care of his woman. How decidedly un-modern of her.

Elle is looking exhausted but waves her hand at me impatiently. “Keep going!”

“He sets her down and begins removing her clothes, kissing her bare skin as each piece of clothing is pulled off.”

Elle’s fighting back a yawn but she still squirms. “Mmm. Yes . . . I can feel it.”

“His kisses trail along her neck, down between her breasts, and across the top of her belly as he drops to his knees.”

“Hot damn, the prince is on his knees! Is this where he peels off her bottoms?”

I clear my throat since my voice is getting rough. “Yes, it is. And when he’s done and she’s completely bare, she’s even more beautiful than he imagined.”

Elle’s hands grip the edge of her blanket.

“He drags his fingertips over her hips. His hands cup her ass as he imagines what it would be like to taste her.”

Elle runs her hands up along her neck. “Yes, tasting . . . lots of tasting! I want that,” she whispers.

I immediately get distracted imagining tasting Elle.
Hot damn.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Elle says, her eyes grow wide with a suspicious look. “Are you sure you aren’t secretly a romance writer? This is starting to sound like one of my books.”

I arch my brow at her. “Did you forget that I’ve read a couple of your books? Believe me, I wouldn’t have come up with this stuff on my own. I’m just tailoring it to our story and with no freaking words like
moist folds
.”

“Oh my God, Paul! You’re so awesome. Well, whatever inspired this . . . don’t stop now. This story is h-o-t, hot!”

“Okay, let’s see where was I before I was rudely interrupted?”

“You had her naked and all worked up. Is he naked, too?”

I pretend smack her thigh. “Be patient!”

I focus again, picturing the couple in front of the shower. It’s not a coincidence that the naked girl looks exactly like Elle. I clear my throat to continue.

“He leads her to the shower and he’s burning up with want for her.”

“She wants him, too!” Elle cries out.

I nod, trying not to laugh at her outbursts. “He turns on the shower and leads her under the spray of the water, before stepping back to take off his clothes.”

“Oh yeah . . .” Elle purrs.

“Her gaze follows his hands as he pushes off his pants.”

Elle fist-pumps the air. “The anaconda is finally free and it’s huge!”

My head drops to hide my amusement. I haven’t seen her enjoy anything this much in weeks. I better read some more of that crazy shit since I sense this isn’t the last sexy bedtime story I’ll be telling Elle.

“She stands waiting for him as the water cascades over her lush breasts.”

“Lush?” she asks with a snicker.

I frown. “You don’t like lush? So what kind of breasts are we talking about: plush, perky, pillowy?”

“Ewww! What do pillowy boobs look like?” she squeals.

I fold my arms over my chest and roll my eyes.

“Okay . . . let’s stick with lush. Go on, go on!” she says as she cups her breasts with her hands and squeezes.

I let out a huff. “He pulls her forcefully into his arms, desperate to have his lips pressed against hers.”

“Oh my God! Can you imagine the epic kiss? The tongue action!”

“Well, yeah. I’m about to tell you about the tangling of tongues.”

“I can already feel it . . . from my head to the tips of my toes, and most distinctly between my legs.”

“Well why don’t you tell me about the epic kiss,” I tease.

“I’m not a writer like you evidently are, but if I were her I can imagine what it would be like to be held in your strong arms while the water poured over us. And your kiss would be a claim, marking me as yours. Your kiss would be a proclamation that I was not just your present, but your past, and future too.”

My eyebrows shoot into my hairline. “Wow, poetic, Elle. You’ve sure read a lot of that stuff. Hell, we could write it together.”

She grins. “See! You’ve inspired me.”

“So keep going.”

As she gets a faraway look I can suddenly see how exhausted she is. Reaching out, she grabs my hand and squeezes it before letting out a long sigh.

“You look really tired. Maybe this is too much?”

“Actually, you’re right. I think this is all I can handle tonight. Besides I want to go to sleep with the image of that epic kiss.”

“Are you sure? I was getting ready to really amp it up.”

“I know, and this isn’t the end of our story. We’ll continue it next time when I’m fully awake and ready for all of your sexiness.”

“I know. The sexiness can be overwhelming.” I wink at her.

Her expression suddenly gets serious.

“What’s going on inside that pretty head of yours?”

“Thank you for tonight.”

I shrug. “It was no big deal. Besides, I’ve had fun.”

“But you’re always doing stuff for me, and what do you get out of it? You’re the least selfish person I know.”

“You’re making me sound like a saint. Believe me, I’m not. I just like hanging out with you. We have fun.”

“We do,” she agrees but still seems unconvinced.

“So enough about how amazing I am. I’m going to head out before you light a candle for me or something.”

She studies me for several long seconds and then finally nods.

“Okay, but mark my word, Paul. Someday I’m going to do something extraordinary for you. I have no idea what it is yet, but it’s going to be grand.”

“Is that so? Why?”

“Because you deserve all the good things. You’re the best man I’ve ever known.”

“I think you’re overstating things but thank you anyway. You’re pretty easy to be good to.”

Her eyes go soft and glaze over.

I stand up because I don’t want her to cry. I can tell her hormones are on high alert and she needs her sleep. “So you ready to crash?”

She nestles down lower under the covers, yawns, and nods.

I lean over and kiss her on the forehead. “Sleep, princess. I’ll check in with you tomorrow from Orange County.”

She winks. “Goodnight, Prince Paul.”

The entire friggin’ drive to Orange County I’m wondering what to do about Elle. She’s on my mind all the time now and I sure as hell don’t treat her like ‘just a friend.’ She has to wonder what I’m up to, and why I can’t seem to leave her alone. But more than anything I wonder if I should tell her that I’m crazy about her. Well, not just crazy for her, I’m crazy in love with her.

Then I know that sharing my feelings could just freak her out considering all she’s facing with the baby and the Viking harassing her. She needs my support and friendship right now more than anything. Plus she’s said several times that she has no intention of falling in love with anyone, so am I ready for a one-way conversation on that topic? If I freak her out with my declaration she may just push me away. I can’t risk that. In my book an unfulfilled heart is better than a broken one.

By the time I get to the Newport Beach library I’m relieved to have something else to focus on. There’s a series of meetings planned for the day because thanks to bureaucracy, anything that involves the city planning is a hundred times more complicated than independent projects.

I check in with Elle after lunch, right before the meeting with the board, and her spirits are good.

“See, aren’t you glad you stayed home and rested?” I say.

“Actually I had to go to the convention center to deal with some outstanding issues but I’m about to head home, I swear.”

Oh, this woman.

I’m careful not to chastise her. “Well, if you’re working at least you sound happy about it.”

“I’m happy because I just met someone who could change my life.”

My inner freak-out makes my whole body seize up. She met someone? At the fucking convention center? I clench my fist and focus on trying to keep my voice regulated. “Yeah, who was that?”

“Her name is Donna and she runs one of the top nanny agencies in L.A.”

I let out my breath in a wave of relief.

“Nanny agency? That’s an auspicious meeting.”

“I’ll say. We started chatting at the snack stand, and you aren’t going to believe it, Paul, but she had a similar story to mine. She had her kid out of wedlock and was at a loss how to manage everything. She ended up leaving her corporate job to start the agency so she would have more flexibility with her child.”

“All this was revealed at a snack stand?” I ask, not hiding the marvel in my voice.

“We’re women, Paul, that’s what we do.”

“Well, that’s awesome.”

“So she has a soft spot for women like me. We really hit it off and she said she will send me her best people when I’m ready to hire someone.”

“Wow, that’s terrific.”

“How’s your day going?” she asks.

“It’s about what I expected. Everyone is trying to water down the design by committee. What is it about palm trees? Everyone wants palm trees. Can we get past the cliché and move on?”

“You don’t like palm trees?” she asks.

“It’s not that, they’re fine. It’s just that there are other trees that deserve a chance in Southern California, don’t you think?”

“If you say so. You’re my landscape designer guy.”

“Ha! You didn’t call me your sprinkler man. I’ve gotten a promotion in your mind.”

“Don’t fool yourself. You were already at the top of the heap.”

Chapter Fifteen

THE HIGH DIVE

I’
m in my car just a few blocks from finally getting on the freeway to head home when my phone vibrates. It’s Elle. I pull over to dig my headset out of the glove compartment and by the time it’s on, her call’s gone to voicemail. I’m about to call her back when my phone rings again. It’s not Elle’s style to call repeatedly, something must be wrong.

“Elle?” I ask.

There’s a muffled sound and then what sounds like a sob.

“Elle? What happened?”

I barely recognize her voice it’s so weak. “I got served papers.”

I’m tempted to pull over again as I tightly grip the steering well. “Served by who?”

“They’re from Stephan’s lawyer.”

“When did this happen? You were on top of the world just a few hours ago.”

“I know,” she wails. “The guy rang the bell just minutes after I got home. He must have been outside waiting for me. What do I do Paul?”

I’m trying to merge on the freeway and I’m going too fast. I have an overwhelming urge to get to her, but with the rush hour traffic this could take a couple of hours. I keep glancing at my car’s clock. “What did the paperwork say?”

I hear the rustle of papers and sniffles. “It’s a summons and a complaint.”

“Lowlife fucker,” I growl.

She starts crying again and I feel like the raw flesh of my heart is being torn apart. “What Elle?”

“He’s demanding a paternity test. I just looked it up and the kind he’s demanding is very invasive, and there’s a chance of miscarriage from the procedure.”

“Well, fuck that. I won’t allow it!”