Authors: Vi Keeland
My breath turning
to pants at his words, I licked my lips and watched his gaze settle in on my
mouth. My body was betraying my mind. He groaned lifting his gaze back to my
eyes, reached over the small table and put his hand firmly behind my neck,
pulling me closer to him over the table. Before my brain could catch up with
my body, his lips covered mine. Hard confident pressure with just enough
aggressive force to demand my lips open when his tongue licked my lips. He
growled, tilting his head to deepen the kiss, his tongue dipped inside my
mouth, tasting me in long sensual strokes. I felt my clit swell and my heart
pound against my chest. His release softened and he ended the kiss with a nip
to my bottom lip that was stronger than a friendly bite but not quite painful.
Our faces still close, nose against nose, ragged breathing, “I want no lies,
Hope, ever.”
That is the one
thing that he wants? Certainly not what I expected. I was vaguely aware of
the waitress standing with her jaw again hanging open as she cleared her throat
to bring us back to reality. Embarrassed by the intrusion into our private
moment, I pulled back and attempted to settle myself back into my seat. He
ordered something that earned him a big smile from the large breasted waitress,
but my brain was not capable of stringing the words he spoke together. I
needed to clear my head and move the focus back to the typical “getting to know
you” date type conversation before I did something stupid.
“So, Mr. Jenner,
what brings you to New York?” The now familiar flush quickly creeping up over
my face. What is it about this man that makes me turn red every time I am near
him?
“Business. And
although I like the thought of you calling me Mr. Jenner when you are
underneath me in the bedroom, I think Kennedy is more appropriate at the
moment, don’t you?”
Surely he didn’t
just say that, did he? “Excuse me?” Eyebrows furrowing in confusion at his
question.
He leaned in
closer and slowly, with slight hint of amusement “You heard me correctly Hope,
Kennedy now, Mr. Jenner in the future.”
“Umm…, do you
come to the City often?”
A slow confident
smile spread across his face and my breath caught at the vision of the
beautiful full smile, dimples so deep I had to remember to breathe. “I do now,
Hope.” Again interrupted by the full breasted waitress, this time it was a
relief. The smile so soon after our kiss and my traitorous body’s reaction to
him left me in a state that was difficult to keep up with our conversation.
The waitress turned
and handed me a large chocolate ice cream cone covered in red sprinkles, then
she was gone. “Where is your dessert?” His eyebrows arched and slight smile
turned carnal “My dessert is watching you eat that.”
At first, I had a
horrible vision in my head of how stupid I must look slowly licking the ice
cream cone. But his unwavering gaze and beautiful pale eyes turned almost navy
with desire gave me the confidence I needed to push back the old Hope and
become the new woman I so desperately needed to be. I closed my eyes and took
a few long slow strokes with the flat of my tongue bringing the ice cream into
my mouth and suckling it before a deep swallow.
“Jesus Christ.”
His eyes bore into me, both hands fisting through his hair harshly. “I want to
fuck you so bad it hurts.” I was aroused at the thought of having such
control over such an incredibly beautiful man.
When I finished
the dessert, he abruptly stood, throwing some cash on the table. The reality
of my teasing behavior flooded back to me and I was thoroughly embarrassed.
Never in my life did I act that way before, especially in such a public place.
Kennedy grabbed my hand and walked with long strides toward the door. I was
barely able to keep up. Outside, his longing gaze was replaced with a stone,
unreadable face. “I’d like to make sure you get home safely, if that’s okay.”
It was still early and a few minutes earlier I thought the last thing he wanted
to do was end the evening, but something had changed.
Embarrassed, but
forcing myself to hold my head high. “I can walk from here. Thank you for
dessert Kennedy.”
“You will not
walk alone.” His tone clearly leaving no room for disagreement, I pointed north
and explained that I was five blocks up and two streets over. He took a deep
breath and gently took my hand and began walking. He was so close to me, yet
the distance that came between us made it feel like we were miles apart. We
arrived at my building, a four story brownstone, and made our way up the ten
stairs to the doorway. I explained that my studio was on the ground floor and
he made no attempt to join me inside.
“Is that your
bedroom window right there? You have no security on it.”
I didn’t want to
admit that I was uncomfortable with the lack of security and had planned on
adding an alarm, but couldn’t since I had spent all of my savings on my new
wardrobe. “The window has a lock on it.”
He stared down at
me with a look I couldn’t quite identify. Was it concern or anger?
I reached for the door knob and began to say thank you once again. Stepping in
front of me to block my entrance, he put both hands on my shoulders and pulled
me close. His mouth covering mine, his lips and kiss were gentle this time. A
soft caress that sparked tenderness, different from the passionate, wanting
kiss from earlier. He released my lips and put his forehead to mine, touching
his finger to my mouth. “Good night Hope”.
I gave a slight
smile and waited until he backed off slightly. Turning to walk into the building,
I looked back over my shoulder and had no idea where the word came from.
“Yes.”
Walking down the
steps, he halted and turned to look back at me, eyebrows furrowed in
confusion. “Yes?”
“Yes, to your one
request.”
He smiled, the
full blown make your knees weak smile with dimples the size of the Grand Canyon.
I smiled back and turned into my building without looking back, knowing his
eyes were on my ass, until I was out of his view.
“Okay, spill it girly.” Although we didn’t
speak or make plans for breakfast on Friday morning, I knew Shauna would be at
our café after my unexpected departure from Icon last night. After all these
years, we were like an old married couple who knew what the other was thinking
before she said it.
“I have no idea what happened, one minute we
were caught in intense sexual tension, the next he was walking me home and I
was taking a cold shower.”
“Forget the shower part; I want to hear
about the sexual tension part.” Shauna was a professional basketball team
cheerleader, but she should have been a detective. She had a way of getting
all the information out of you while making you feel somehow guilty if you keep
anything back.
“There really isn’t much to tell. We went
for ice cream and he kissed me until I wasn’t sure of my own name for few
minutes. Then he walked me home without saying a word and gave me a gentle
kiss without even asking to come in.”
“Are you going to see him again?”
“I don’t think so, he lives in Chicago and
he is checking out today. It’s probably a good thing nothing happened last
night.”
Shauna was silent, nodded and looked at her
watch, signaling she needed to leave. “Tonight, 6pm. Forget Icon, let’s try
out that new club Salt that opened on 57
th
. I’ll meet you in the
lobby of the hotel.”
I really didn’t want to go. My head was
cluttered and I had the desire to put on sweatpants and settle in with a bucket
of Ben and Jerry’s and a sappy movie. But no, that’s old Hope. “Okay, I’m
game.” I gave her my best fake smile and took off to the hotel.
***
Today would be my last day of training at
the reception desk. The morning was busy with guest check outs, but I looked
up every time I hear the elevator ding and was disappointed each time. Dylan
must have realized what I was doing. “If you’re looking for that gorgeous man
that got your attention on Monday, he checked out before you arrived. He
mentioned something about an early morning flight. I know you saw him first,
but I wouldn’t mind helping him fluff his pillows in his suite…that man is
beyond sexy.”
I tried to hide my disappointment. “Oh, I
wasn’t looking for a guest, I wanted to speak to George about where I would be
training next week and thought he might come by.”
Completely deflated with no contact before
he left, I still couldn’t help but think about him all day. By late afternoon,
I was glad that Shauna had insisted we got out tonight. A few drinks and some
dancing is probably what I needed to get Kennedy Jenner out of my mind.
Almost at the end of my day, an older man in
a suit approached the counter holding an envelope. “I’m looking for Ms.
York”.
I accepted the envelope and he waited. Was
he waiting for a tip? Reaching for my pocketbook, I fished out a few dollars
and extended my hand in his direction. The older gentleman smiled and shook
his head. “No, Ms. York, I believe you should read the card.”
Inside, on thick cream stationary with gold
leaf lettering I saw the initials KJ. My spine straightened and heartbeat quickened
at just knowing he wrote the note.
Dear Hope, Charles is my driver when I
am in New York. Please allow him to drive you home this evening. He has a
gift in his car that needs to be delivered to your apartment with you.
Kennedy.
A business card was also included in the envelope, where he had
handwritten in his cell phone number.
Shauna arrived and made her way to the
reception desk a few steps away from Charles. “There has been a small change
in plans Shauna. This is Charles.” I motioned toward the smiling older
gentlemen dressed in a chauffer’s suit and cap. “Kennedy has sent him to
drive me to my apartment along with a gift that he has in the car for me. “
“Oh, I’m so excited! I knew that man couldn’t
just walk away from you!“ Shauna turned her charm to Charles. “Charles, would
you mind terribly bringing Hope to meet me after she delivers the gift to her
apartment?”
Charles may have been older but Shauna’s
charm was not lost on the man. “No problem ma’am.”
“Hope, I would go with you, especially
because I am dying to find out what the gift is, but I told a few of the girls
from the squad that we would meet them at Salt in fifteen minutes and, since I
know the bouncer, I promised I’d get us all in for free.” After a quick air kiss
she walked toward the lobby exit with every man’s eyes following the sway of
her hips, including old Charles.
As I climbed into the back of the stretch
limousine and provided Charles with my address, I saw a large package wrapped
in brown paper with another handwritten card attached. Perhaps I could find
out more about Kennedy from Charles if he has been his driver for years?
“Charles, how long have you known Mr. Jenner?”
“Probably about five years in total, he uses
my services exclusively when he is in New York.” Charles sounded proud in his
statement.
“How often does he come to New York?”
“Usually once a month, sometimes for a day
trip, other times he spends a few days.”
Feeling my heartbeat speed up at the
possibility of seeing Kennedy again, I felt like I was back in high school. I
sagged back into my seat and curiously considered what was under the brown
paper. It was shaped like a picture of some sort, although it was pretty large
for a picture. As we pulled up to my brownstone, I realized it would be
difficult for me to maneuver the large package into the house by myself. Charles
opened the door and put his hand out to help me out of the car.
“Mr. Jenner gave me specific instructions
that I am to carry the gift into your apartment for you.”
Walking up the stairs to my brownstone, I
noticed something was different, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. As I
got closer to the front door, I realized that my window was now partially covered
in beautiful antique decorative wrought iron. The design was elegant and
graceful almost concealing the true purpose of its placement as a decorative
work of art. Security. It would be impossible for anyone to fit through my
window with the iron bars carefully placed to limit accessibility. I had seen
window coverings like these when I was researching security, but antique pieces
like that were thousands of dollars and a luxury I could never afford. My
first thought was that the landlord had added the security, but then I
remembered Kennedy’s statement about my lack of security the night before.
I opened the door to my apartment and
Charles carefully placed the package on the table and returned to his car
telling me to take as much time as I needed. Two seconds after I closed the
door behind him, I tore through the brown paper like a child on Christmas
morning, curiosity finally getting the better of my composure. Underneath, the
most striking work of art I have ever seen took my breath away. Not quite
abstract, but bright colors and dimension shaded a simple picture of woman’s
tongue eating an ice cream cone. There was no face attached to the tongue and
it was almost difficult to make out the tongue licking the cone behind the bold
splashes of color and strokes of dimensions. Sexual. Sensual. Raw. The
feelings that looking at the work of art evoked were powerful. Tears stung my
eyes and I forced my lids to shut to keep them at bay.