Chapter Eleven
The long-stemmed pink roses started arriving the next morning in an abundance that revealed Gio had no idea how small her apartment was. Once she’d packed them into her tiny kitchenette, the window sill, all of the floor space around her bed, and even put a few in the bathroom, she’d asked the delivery man to hand the rest of the vases out on the street below.
Yes, at night the neighborhood showed its underbelly, but during the day its sidewalks were filled with regular people who were thrilled by this unexpected gift: mothers walking their young children, couples who felt the flowers were a sign from fate, and some street vendors she’d never seen smile until the florist pointed up toward her open window and offered them a bouquet. After their initial suspicion passed, many of them had held up the flowers and waved to her in thanks.
The entire experience had put a lasting smile on Julia’s face. She hadn’t opened the envelope that had accompanied the flowers. She knew who they were from and she wanted to savor the moment. When the last bouquet was given away, she closed her window, waded through a forest of roses, and sat cross-legged in the middle of her bed.
She held the envelope to her chest but still didn’t open it. He’s doing what I asked him to, but what do I have in common with a man like Gio? It would never work out. He wants sex. Hot. Glorious. Repeated sex. And he’s willing to do anything to get me to agree.
That’s not love.
That’s late-night porn.
Something he’s already offered to pay me for. That’s what being his mistress would be. A socially acceptable payment for sex.
Even these flowers. One thousand long-stemmed fuck-me-please flowers.
I didn’t think he’d actually send them.
Or that I’d love the gesture as much as I do.
She picked one of the flowers out of a vase on the floor beside her bed and raised it to her nose, closing her eyes in pleasure as the scent filled her senses. The soft petals brushed against her bottom lip, reminding her how his mouth had fit so perfectly over hers. Her body didn’t care about the poor timing of this temptation; it flooded with heat at the memory of being pushed up against the side of a New York building with a passion that had robbed both of them of their inhibitions.
She opened her eyes and studied the envelope again.
Does it include an invitation to somewhere?
It doesn’t matter.
The flowers don’t actually change anything.
I’d be better off spending the day in the Diamond District trying to make a connection than being pulled, albeit willingly, into something I know is wrong for me.
Call him at work.
Thank him and politely refuse to take this further.
Don’t read the card.
Once you open that door, you won’t be able to close it.
You won’t be strong enough to say no.
She lay back on the bed and covered her eyes with the paper.
Her phone began to vibrate on the nightstand beside her bed. She rolled onto her stomach. Unknown number. She held her breath and answered it. “Hello?”
“Good morning, Julia,” Gio said, his voice warm and intimate.
She sat straight up in her bed and dropped the card. “Mr. Andrade.”
“We’re way beyond using last names and you know that.”
Protectively pulling down her nightgown to cover her knees, Julia said huskily, “About that. Thank you for the flowers, but—”
“Did I wake you?”
“No, the delivery did that,” she said, then felt bad that she sounded ungrateful. This wasn’t going as she’d planned.
“So, you’re not on your bed? I have an image in my head of you there, surrounded by those roses.”
The heat from a blush spread up Julia’s chest and warmed her cheeks. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself. She said, “I am on my bed.” Then she hastily added, “But only because it doubles as my couch.”
He groaned. “I refuse to sink low enough to ask you what you’re wearing, but if you want to describe it I won’t stop you.”
There was something irresistibly tempting about doing just that. Was it the knowledge that in that moment she had the same power over him that he had over her? The sense that he was fighting this as much as she was?
It proved too heady to resist. “I’m still in my nightgown.”
He let out a long breath. “If I were there it wouldn’t be on you for long. Take it off, Julia. For me.”
Her first response was to laugh and refuse, but his softly spoken order echoed through her and her body started humming with need for him. As she gave into it, it became impossible to deny him anything. She slid the nightgown over her head and lay back, fully naked on her bed. “It’s off,” she whispered.
The pained sound he made had her dripping wet and closing her eyes, imagining him there with her.
“Lick your thumb. Lick it, then circle one of your nipples. Imagine my tongue there. I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth off you. What would you want me to do to them?”
What would have felt ridiculous with anyone else was somehow right with Gio. She did as he asked, gasped as the cold air tightened and puckered her nipple with pleasure. She imagined that her hand was his mouth. Her fingers were his teeth. She pinched herself lightly and moaned. “I’d want you to use your teeth gently. Like you did in your office. Tugging. Teasing. Oh, God, this is crazy.”
“You’re killing me, but don’t stop, Julia. I’m here with you. Right here. What would you want me to do? What do you like?”
She ran her hand up her neck and pushed her hair aside. “I love the feel of your hot breath on my neck, the feel of your lips claiming where I’m vulnerable.”
“I’ll remember that. I’ll start there and kiss my way down, slowly. I’ll kiss the curve of your waist, the silk of your thighs. I’ll want to dive into you, but I’ll make you wait until you’re writhing and begging for me to taste you.”
That would not take long, Julia almost said aloud.
“Are you wet for me, Julia?”
“Yes,” she said, giving herself to him fully in the safety of the situation. Her hand sought her own juices and she began to rub herself. “Oh, God, I am so wet.”
“Do you have a vibrator?” he asked and her hand froze.
I can’t tell him.
She did have one, but it was her guilty secret. One that she hadn’t even shared with her ex-boyfriend, even after sleeping with him.
“You do, don’t you? Are you shy about it? Sex is a natural part of life, Julia. There is nothing shameful about knowing how to please yourself. In fact, I want you more now. I want to watch you make yourself come. I want to lie next to you, caressing you as you bring yourself to climax. But for now, let me hear it. Take yourself to where we both want to go.”
Frantically, Julia flung out a hand and opened the drawer on the nightstand beside her bed. Her hand closed on the six-inch toy she’d never admitted to owning. With a quick twist she turned it on and brought it to her eager clit.
“That’s it, Julia. Oh, God, you are so hot. Dip it inside of you. Deep inside. That will be me. Soon.”
She drove the toy deep inside her with one thrust and called out, “Gio.”
“Oh, yes. Say my name. I want to be on your lips. I want to be in your head. When you come, I want my name to be what you call out.”
With increasing speed, Julia plunged the vibrator inside of her and pulled it out, sliding it against her throbbing nub as she did. In and out. Faster and faster, until she dropped the phone next to her, grabbed the comforter next to her with one grasping hand, and cried out Gio’s name as she surrendered to her shuddering, glorious orgasm.
Neither of them spoke. As Julia came back down to earth, she grew self-conscious, as if he could see her. She pulled the comforter over her head quickly and stashed her vibrator back in the drawer.
She groaned. What am I doing?
“Julia.” He said her name like it was a command.
She’s not here.
She buried her face in a pillow for a moment. No wonder he thinks he can offer me money for sex. What is wrong with me?
“Pick up the phone or I’m coming over,” he said in a determined voice, and Julia knew he meant it.
With her face still buried in the pillow, she held her cell phone to her ear. “I am so embarrassed. I may never leave my apartment again.”
“You? I’m sitting at my desk with a hard-on the likes of which I haven’t seen since puberty. If I had known this was how I would start my day, I would have locked the door and joined you. I almost did, but lately someone would have walked in, and everyone is pretty sure I’ve lost my mind already. Because of you I’m going to be late for my meeting. I want to appear excited about the project, but not this excited.”
Julia chuckled reluctantly, but she wasn’t coming out of hiding yet. “I spent the morning rehearsing how to tell you that I’m not interested in whatever you wrote on the card.”
“You didn’t open it?”
“No, I was trying to remain strong.”
This time he chuckled, and she threw the pillow across the room as if he were there to get hit by it. “It’s not funny. I don’t do stuff like this. I’m really a pretty boring person once you get to know me. You need a woman who . . . someone who . . .”
“Stop talking, Julia, and open the card.”
She sat up and did as he asked. Well, asked was putting it nicely. He was back to using the authoritative tone that made her want to defiantly stick her tongue out at him.
But not more than she wanted to know what he’d written. She tore the envelope open.
“Pick any dress you want and wear it for me tonight. We have a reservation at Le Loire at eight.”
Without thinking, she said, “I’m working tonight.”
“I already covered your shift.”
“You did what? Without even asking me?”
“The outcome was never in question.”
“It most certainly was . . . I mean . . . is.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven thirty.”
“I haven’t said yes.”
“If you’re not dressed for dinner I’ll assume you want to spend the evening alone with me . . . in your bed.”
“What if I’m not here?” she asked, desperately trying to regain control of the situation.
“I’ll find you. You can’t run from this, Julia, any more than I can. Go to the address on the card and get yourself something nice. On me. Something you know I’ll enjoy taking off you as much as you’ll enjoy wearing.” He hung up.
Julia held up the business card of a small, elite boutique on the Upper East Side.
I would tell myself that I’m not going dress shopping today, but I am really bad at saying no to this man.
* * *
Two hours later, Julia was craning her neck to see how the back of the sleeveless floor-length black gown she was modeling shimmered in the changing-room mirror. She would have gone out into the main area, but she didn’t want to talk to the clerk. Talking about the dress meant she was actually doing this. She was letting a rich man buy her a dress, take her out, and then most likely take her home.
She wasn’t ready to defend that choice yet.
But she had to admit, the dress fit her perfectly.
If she was the kind of girl who did something this spontaneous, this was definitely how she’d dress to do it.
The light caught the gemstones in her gold necklace and brought its floral design to life. It wasn’t an overly expensive piece, but she’d used real metals to make it. She’d worn it to help her remember what was really important. Family. Duty. Finding a buyer and going home to save her father’s company.
She spun in front of the mirror.
This was nothing more than a distraction from that.
But what a wonderfully magical distraction it was.
She and her parents had always lived a modest life. Even when business had been good, her parents hadn’t been the type to care about material things. She’d grown up in a beach town, spending most of her free time in the summers on the beach in a bikini and shorts, or serving ice cream to tourists. During cooler weather, she’d holed up in her jewelry workshop, which her father had created for her at his furniture factory. It didn’t matter to him that it didn’t make sense to do it. He’d done it for her. Just like he’d added a jewelry section to his showroom floor. Not because it was good for business, but because he thought she was talented and her work deserved to be displayed.
Oh, Dad.
Is this how you felt when you met Mom? Or am I making the biggest mistake of my life?
I know I should walk away from this situation, but I can’t.
I want to see him again.
The clerk’s voice rose and broke into her thoughts. “Mrs. Rockport. I didn’t know you were coming in today. I’d close the boutique for you now, but I have a woman in the back trying on some dresses.”
An older woman’s voice answered curtly, “As long as she’s not some simpering, preening fool I’m sure I’ll be able to overlook her presence.”
“Yes, Mrs. Rockport. Yvonne isn’t here today. Are you looking for something off the rack?”
“If she were here I would already have a glass of champagne in my hand. Not that she carries the good stuff, but it’s the courtesy that matters.” After a brief pause, the older woman said, “What are you waiting for? Go get one.”
Crotchety old bitch.
Julia admonished herself for the thought. Money doesn’t make people happy. She’s probably miserable and lonely. Why else would she come to the shop alone when someone like her could have whatever she wanted delivered?
Turning her attention back to the mirror, Julia held her hair up and studied it from the side. No, I’ll feel like I’m going to prom. Simple is better. She sternly looked at herself in the mirror again. Not that I’m going. She let her hair drop, then brought her hands up to undo the zipper, but it was caught.
Oh, great.
She tried again without success.
Maybe I can get it over my head without unzipping it.
The material fit her too snuggly.
In resignation she opened the dressing-room door and stepped out. Giving in to an inner impish impulse, she walked over to the older woman, who had maintained her health into what looked like her late seventies. She stopped in front of her, turned, and spoke over her shoulder to her. “Do you mind unzipping me?”
The woman’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”
Kill them with kindness. That was her father’s motto—and honestly, sometimes it was fun to do. She pretended not to understand that the older woman found the request distasteful. “The zipper is stuck. Could you give it a little pull?”
“Do I look like I work here?” the woman asked in a tone a queen might use in the presence of one of her filthiest subjects.
Then a bit of her no-nonsense mother came out. Turning around to face the woman, Julia said bluntly, “No. I’ve found the people who work here to be quite pleasant.”
“Unbelievable. They will let anyone shop here now, won’t they? I’ve never, in all of my life, met anyone so without class.”
With a sweet smile, Julia said, “I have. I heard you talking to the clerk. You know what? I don’t care how much money you have, you shouldn’t treat people that way. She probably makes just over minimum wage plus commission, so she has to kiss your ass, but I don’t. You weren’t nice to her, but you should have been. I feel sorry for you if you can’t see that.”
A slow red spread up the woman’s face. She opened her mouth, then closed it with a snap.
The clerk returned and, with a shaking hand, handed a glass to the older woman, who accepted it and said, “Thank you.” A show of manners that seemed to surprise the clerk. Then she said, “You may want to help this young lady out of her dress. She’s trapped.”
The clerk said in a rush, “It’ll only take a moment.”
With an expression Julia couldn’t decipher, the older woman said, “Take your time.”
Julia returned to the dressing room, followed by the young clerk. Once inside, the woman made quick work of untangling the material that had wedged inside the zipper. Then she met Julia’s eyes in the mirror and said, “I heard what you said to her. You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to tell her off, but I need this job.”
“My father always says that people treat others the way they feel on the inside. She can’t be a happy woman.”
From across the floor, Mrs. Rockport said, “Until just now I had no idea that the dressing rooms were not soundproof.”
Julia and the clerk hunched over in a shared guilty laugh they fought to contain.
The clerk said, in a much softer tone than she’d used before, “She heard us. I am so fired.”
If there was one thing working in her father’s showroom had taught Julia, it was how to calm a disgruntled customer. “I’ll fix this,” she whispered.
Changing hastily back into her jeans and blouse, Julia squared her shoulders and went to face the woman, hoping to smooth some ruffled feathers. The clerk would likely spend the rest of the day hiding in the changing room if it didn’t work. She walked directly over to the woman and said, “Don’t be upset with the clerk. This was my fault. My mouth gets ahead of my brain sometimes. That was unforgivably rude of me. I apologize.”
Settling somewhat, Mrs. Rockport said, “Everyone has an off day. I, myself, woke up in a foul mood.”
Julia hid her grin but couldn’t hold her tongue. “It didn’t show at all.”
The woman narrowed her eyes, then let out a bark of a laugh. “You have spunk, don’t you? I was like you when I was younger. Outspoken long before it was fashionable to be so.”
Julia’s face split in a genuine smile. “I can see you as a firecracker.”
“Oh, I was. My father feared I’d never settle down.” She looked wistful as old memories brought a small smile to her face, but the moment was short-lived. “I did, of course. Everyone does.” She sat down as if suddenly tired, then said, “So, tell me about the man you’re buying that dress for.”
“I’m not buying it,” Julia said in a rush. “I could never afford something like that.”
The woman looked her over shrewdly. “So, he’s buying it for you?”
“Maybe,” Julia said and plopped down on the seat next to the woman who a moment ago had been an adversary. “I shouldn’t let him. Really, if I had any sense, I wouldn’t even see him again.” Without waiting for a response from the older woman, Julia said, “He’s rich and used to getting what he wants. I come from a working-class family. I don’t care which fork is the right one to use at dinner, and he was probably born knowing that sort of thing. All we really have in common is—” Julia stopped and blushed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m sharing this with you.”
Mrs. Rockport quietly studied her for a moment, then said, “I married my first husband against my father’s wishes. He didn’t come from money. In fact, when I met him he didn’t even have a job. But he had dreams and a smile that could make a foolish decision seem like the only one that made sense.”
Julia turned in her seat. “What happened?”
“We had one magical year, then the Korean War started and he signed up to go. His friends were going and, even though my father would have helped him dodge the draft, he wanted to serve his country.” Her face twisted a bit. “He never came home.”
Julia put her hand on the woman’s and wiped a tear away with her other. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”
Mrs. Rockport patted her hand and recomposed herself. “It was a long time ago. I married again. He was a good man who loved me very much. He died, too, a few years ago.” She took a deep breath. “You can make all the plans you want, but life has a way of turning out however the hell it wants to, no matter what you do. And in the end, all you have are memories.”
Uncharacteristically, Julia was speechless.
The older woman laced her fingers in thought. “Let your man buy you that dress. Give yourself something to smile about when you’re my age.”
Julia blushed and instinctively touched her necklace. Would everything work out the way it was supposed to, even if she let herself look away long enough to build those memories?
“That’s a beautiful piece you’re wearing,” Mrs. Rockport said.
Julia smiled. “I designed it. The gems aren’t real. When I have my own business one day it will have real stones, but for now that’s just a dream.”
“May I?”
Julia nodded and the woman touched it lightly.
“It looks like something my sister would have worn. She loved flowers and diamonds.”
Following an impulse, Julia took the necklace off and put it in the woman’s hand. “I’d like you to have it.”
Mrs. Rockport tried to hand it back. “I couldn’t possibly.”
Julia pressed it into her hand and said, “More than anything else, I am an artist. And for me there is no greater pleasure than knowing something I’ve created has touched someone’s heart. If it reminds you of your sister, you should have it. I can make another.”
Clearing her throat, the woman fingered the necklace gently, then nodded. “I would pay you, of course.”
Julia shook her head. “I wouldn’t take it.”
“You’re an awful businesswoman,” the woman chided gently.
“Maybe,” Julia said with a rueful smile.
They sat there quietly for a moment, then Mrs. Rockport asked, “So, are you getting the dress?”
Julia nodded shyly and blushed again.
“Claudia,” the older woman called out to the clerk. “I’m feeling spontaneous today. Please have one of each dress here wrapped and sent to a local charity. Tell Yvonne I want a list of where they went. But make sure you get credit for the sale. Put it on my account.”
After double-checking she’d heard right, the clerk rushed off to ring up the sale.
“What’s your name?” Mrs. Rockport asked.
“Julia. Julia Bennett.”
The woman stood and held out her hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Bennett. I hope our paths cross again.”
Julia couldn’t imagine how they would, but she shook the woman’s hand warmly and said she hoped the same.
Alone in the boutique again, she asked the clerk to box up the dress and held it tightly the entire taxi ride home.
Am I about to create memories I’ll treasure for a lifetime?
Or make a mistake that will haunt me?
And are women nearing eighty a reliable source for sexual advice?