First Date (The Hollywood Dating Agency Book 1) Page 4

Everything was perfect, from the coldness of the water and the damp sand between her toes to the feel of his hand in hers. And yet, sadness was hiding on the periphery of her mind. This night was to be their only one, because despite everything he had said so far, there was no way that a healthy, good looking, successful man like Rick would stay with a woman that couldn’t provide the one thing he needed. Just like her ex-boyfriend, the second a hot young Hollywood babe offered to open her legs for him, he’d be off like a shot and she’d not even blame him.

  She could already feel the tears welling up at the thought of it. An empty tomorrow after a perfect today. She turned her head to the sea to hide it but he noticed right away. It was as if he knew what was going on in her head.

  “Juliette,” he called her name but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She knew that as soon as she looked into those eyes of his, she’d lose it completely, and yet he was persistent. She could feel, rather than see him moving around her and she could hear the splash splash as he stepped through the water.

  “What’s the matter?” He pulled a thumb up to her face and wiped the tear that was threatening to fall down her face.

  “Have you ever had that feeling when everything is a bit too perfect, a bit too wonderful? I just don’t want this to end that’s all.”

  She thought he was going to say something but instead he kissed her lightly on the lips. Her whole body shuddered with anticipation as she felt heat pool between her thighs. She could barely stand it as the kiss became more desperate and their tongues touched, sending shockwaves to the very core of her body. She felt her pulse quickening as he threw his arms around her and pulled closer until their bodies crushed together. She heard the splash as she dropped her best pair of sandals into the ocean and she didn’t even care that she’d have nothing to put on her feet to go home in. she ran her fingers through his hair as he grabbed her ass and parted her legs with his knee so she was grinding away against his thigh. The kiss become all consuming and desperate and ended when they both fell back onto the damp sand with her body pinned below his and the waves wetting her legs up to her thighs.

  She bent her knees to pull her legs out of the water which only meant that he was positioned between her thighs. She felt his bulge right next to her pussy, but for the first time she was too far gone to be nervous. He kissed down her collar bone and he groaned as she arched her back, pushing herself into his body, moving her own along with him. She clasped his head in her hands and brought him back in to the most delicious kiss she had ever known. He kissed back without restraint and it was a long time before they came up for air. She’d have stayed like that all night if a particularly large wave hadn’t come right over them, drenching them both down to the skin. He knelt up and pulled her up with him.

  “We should get home. Both of us are soaked,” he rasped although he made no motion to leave.

  “My shoes,” she said “I dropped them in the water.”

  They both look down into the inky ocean but both their shoes were long gone.

  Richard

  Fuck! Juliette didn’t know how beautiful she was. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she drove him home, both of them in their bare feet. The smile that lit up her face remained there the whole journey home and her stunning chestnut hair flew out behind her in the wind of the convertible like some kind of goddess. If she hadn’t told him what she had, he’d have made her pull over and fucked her in the open top car, not caring who came along. But she did tell him. No sex! She’d made it very clear. That was until the beach. He’d felt her body respond to his in ways that completely threw the no sex rule out of the window. His cock was still hard from the beach or was it just hard again from looking at how perfect she was when she smiled? Either way, one thing was for certain. Juliette was going to be the death of him. It took every ounce of restraint he had not to touch the still damp skin on her thigh just below where her damp skirt had plastered itself to her. He didn’t know what he was doing and it was apparent neither did she. They were both playing a game that no one could win. They were gambling months of misery on what? A few days at most of blissful pleasure which he knew would soon turn into torture? And yet, like an addict, the thought of saying goodbye to her crushed his soul and he wasn’t sure he was strong enough to do it. She had already told him that she was vulnerable because of some asshole prick college student that broke her heart.

  His mind was in knots almost as much as his stomach as she pulled up outside his apartment building and he still didn’t know what the fuck to do. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to invite her up and make love to her all night but that wasn’t one of the options at his disposal. He either had to tell her it was over to save her from pain in the future or invite her up for coffee, literally coffee. He knew the first option is the one he should take for both their sakes but he heard himself inviting her up. Yep, he took the dangerous option.

  “I’ve no clothes up there and I’m still wet”

  She was talking about her dress still being damp from the ocean but her choice of words was enough have him picturing her naked and horny as hell.

  “I’ll lend you something of mine.” He still had a closet full of Alice’s clothes but he wasn’t sure how she would take to wearing another woman’s dress, even one who had been dead for two years. She parked up and they walked to his building. It was only when they got into the bright light of the foyer that he realised her dress was almost completely see through with the wet. He saw her nipples, erect from the cold beneath the top of the dress and some pure white panties below. He pulled his jacket and covered her with it. She would probably think he was being gentlemanly but the truth was, he knew there were security cameras here and he didn’t want anyone else seeing her body.

  He could tell she was nervous as they entered the apartment so he pointed her in the direction of his room which had an en suite shower room attached.

  “You use the shower and I’ll leave some clothes out here for you on the bed. I’ll make us both a coffee.”

  She smiled and disappeared into the shower room. He heard the gush of water as she turned the shower on. Picking out a pair of his smallest pants and a t-shirt that he hadn’t worn in years, he threw them on the bed and retrieved himself some clothes for him to wear. Back in the kitchen he turned on the coffee machine and then used the main bathroom to get dressed. She was still in the bedroom as he poured two cups of coffee.

  He tried to quieten his mind as he took a sip of the bitter liquid but all he could think of was her naked, just feet away from him in the next room and it was driving him delirious.

  He ended up drinking both cups to save hers from going cold and then making two more. The caffeine buzz was only putting him more on edge so when she opened the door to the bedroom wearing nothing but a towel, He could hardly speak.

  “I don’t want to be like this,” she said. “I like you. I really like you.”

  She dropped her towel standing in front of him completely naked. He almost dropped the coffee he was holding, and had to place it on the counter before it ended up all over his feet.

  She was simply beautiful, perfect skin on an untouched body. Rick had almost forgotten what breasts looked like when they weren’t full of silicone and hers most definitely weren’t. They were just the right shape and size. Not overly large and phony. She looked like some kind of Grecian goddess standing there with her long wavy hair down around her shoulders, long enough to almost touch her pale pink nipples. He took the vision in, drinking down every inch of her from bottom to top but when he got to her face, he could see the look of fear in her expression. She wasn’t just nervous, she was downright scared.

  Sure, he could have taken advantage of her. It took every ounce of resolve not to, but he would have hated himself in the morning, and so would she. He didn’t want to jump into something that they would both regret. He walked towards her slowly. He could see her trembling although she was trying to hide it. He picked up the towel and draped
it around her shoulders, covering her as much as he could. He finished off by kissing her nose.

  It was the most self restraint he’d ever had to come up with.

  “Don’t you want me?” The fear in her face had been replaced by sadness, rejection.

  “More than you could know but not like this. I want you to be comfortable and I want you to enjoy it and most of all I want you to be entirely sure that you want it too.”

  “I do. I do want it.”

  He smiled. He’d had so many women come on to him in his time, none had been so adorable and sexy at the same time. It was an intoxicating combination.

  “How about you get dressed and we’ll watch some TV. Sex can wait. I can wait for you.”

  He felt her visibly relax in his arms. She had been so wound up with the thought of it that her whole body had stiffened up. At least she did want to explore the option and that was good enough for him.

  She kissed his cheek and went back into the bedroom to get dressed, coming out in his old t-shirt and pants, both of which were way too big for her.

  “Coffee?” He handed her a cup and guided her to the sofa. Turning the TV on, they found that they shared a love of old movies. Richard found Casablanca playing on one of the channels and let it run.

  It was not what he imagined they’d be doing on a second date, but as she snuggled into him and put her feet up on his couch, he realised he liked it.

  After the coffee they went back onto beers. Casablanca turned into Breakfast at Tiffany’s and when Juliette told him how much she loved Audrey Hepburn, they followed it with Roman Holiday. By the time Richard was thinking of putting Sabrina Fair on, he looked down and saw that she was sleeping peacefully.

  She felt so warm, snuggled into the crook of his arm, he didn’t have the heart to wake her, nor did he want to. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

  Juliette

  An alarm woke her from her slumber. Her head pounded from drinking one too many beers and she had a crick in her neck from the awkward position she had slept in. And yet she could smell coffee and bacon.

  “Morning!” Richard passed her a cup of steaming coffee which she gratefully accepted.

  “You should have woken me,” she admonished playfully.

  “And missed out on sleeping with you? I don’t think so.”

  She thought back to the night before, how she had taken all her clothes off and practically lunged at him, and how he had behaved like a perfect gentleman. She felt her cheeks colour at his choice of words, but he literally meant sleeping together. She vaguely remembered waking up in the middle of the night and finding herself draped across him on the sofa, his chest rising and falling with each breath he took.

  “What time is it? I have to get to work.”

  He glanced down at his watch. “Seven thirty.”

  She didn’t have to be there until nine. Even with the dreadful traffic, she could make it in an hour, giving her enough time for breakfast and to change back into her own clothes. She’d have to forgo the shower this morning.

  He’d actually made an omelette for her with bacon mixed in along with tomatoes and peppers. It was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted.

  When it came time to leave, he took the elevator down to the car park with her.

  She’d never felt so awkward giving someone a kiss goodbye. A peck on the cheek was not enough and yet anything more seemed wrong after the events of last night.

  He helped her decide by kissing her on the lips, a kiss that lingered and yet was not filled with the intensity of the kisses they had already shared. When she drove away, she knew she wanted more.

  She dug out her phone and called the one person, she knew would understand.

  “Hi Juliette,”

  Laura sounded busy. A child was crying in the background. Probably one of her adorable nieces or nephews that she looked after from time to time.

  “Do you want me to call you back at a better time?”

  “Don’t you dare. I’m married. I need to get my kicks vicariously through you. How did it go? Did you find out why he doesn’t want sex? Is it because of a weird reason?”

  “I took off all my clothes and threw myself at him.”

  She heard the sound of the phone being dropped onto a hard surface at the other end, followed by cries of ‘shit!’

  Laura finally managed to pick up the phone again. “You did what? Are you serious?”

  Juliette sighed. Maybe telling her best friend wasn’t such a good idea after all. It was too late now though.

  “He wrapped a towel round me and told me to get dressed.”

  “Urgh. That’s awful. I’m sorry. Mind you what did you expect? You knew he didn’t want sex. I thought you didn’t either.”

  “I didn’t...”

  “but now you do?” added Laura, finishing her sentence for her.

  “It’s not what you think.” Juliette told her about the mix up with the dating agency and how Richard’s friend had matched them up as some kind of joke.”

  “Are you telling me that he wants to sleep with you and you want to sleep with him?” asked Laura, correctly summing it up.

  “I guess so.” It sounded so simple when it was put like that. If only it was that simple.

  “Well hallelujah! Go get him. Have fun, bump uglies!”

  “You know I can’t do that.”

  “I’m going to tell you something now which is going to help you out. Jake was an asshole. I’ve never slept with the dude, but I slept with plenty like him in my days in college. I’m willing to bet, he just jumped right in there, not caring whether you were ready. Men like him only care about their own satisfaction. They don’t have a clue how to please woman. Am I right?”

  Juliette thought back to all the messy attempts she’d had to have sex in college. Jake basically took all his clothes off and tried ramming his cock into her without so much as a please or thank you. “I guess so.”

  “Well no wonder you couldn’t do it. You clammed up. It happens. If what you’ve told me about Richard is true, I’m willing to bet things will be a whole lot different.”

  “You think?” a thrill of hope ran though her. Maybe she wasn’t to blame after all for all the failed attempts at sex, no matter what Jake had said. she’d not realised it until now, but a lot of her insecurities in life had stemmed from that man.

  “Sure. Even if you can’t, what do you have to lose by trying?”

  “But he covered me up with a towel last night. I took off all my clothes. I don’t know what to do to make him want me again.”

  “Were you standing there all sexy or were you quaking in your boots?”

  “I was pretty nervous.”

  “Do me a favour. Go and watch Grease! Look, I gotta go, but call me back after your next date. I wanna find out about all the juicy details.”

  Juliette hung up the phone, deep in thought. It was then that she realised that they hadn’t made arrangements for the next date.

  Half an hour later, she pulled into the small library parking lot. Running her hands through her hair in lieu of a comb, she climbed the steps and unlocked the door. It was a tiny library with only her and an assistant Jean who would be in, in the afternoon. She shelved the few books that were still waiting to be organised and logged into her computer. She loved it here. It was her favourite place, surrounded by books. She loved the smell of them, the feel of them and the texture of the paper as she carefully flicked through. As the library was so small, she often had time to pick up a book and read it, and this is what she did now, picking up a half read book from the day before and opening it to where she had left off.

  The morning passed slowly with only a handful of people coming to do research or take out books for some light reading. Juliette loved the place, but she knew if more people didn’t venture through the doors, eventually they’d have to close for good. The thought of it made her feel gloomy, so she sat for an hour pondering some events and activities to dri
ve traffic to the library. She was just designing some posters for a childrens’ event she had come up with when Jean walked through the door.

  “Afternoon Jean.”

  “What’s going on with you? You look rosy cheeked. Got yourself a young man?”

  Jean might be pushing eighty, but she knew everything. There was no point denying it. If Juliette tried, Jean would only purse her lips and give her the look the Juliette thought of as the death stare where she was sure she could read her mind.

  “Might do!” Juliette grinned. Ok, it was the truth without giving too much away.

  “I’ll put the kettle on. It’s a good job I brought the cupcakes for us to gossip over. I almost didn’t bother.”

  Juliette laughed. Jean loved her gossip and as there was precious little with either of their real lives, she’d tell Juliette about all the young stars in Hollywood and who was doing what with whom. She had also had more cosmetic surgery than most of them and now her face was so tight, you could bounce coins off it.

  Jean had just brought the cupcakes out when the little bell above the door rang again. Juliette looked up, expecting to see a student or a busy mom with kids and so was surprised to see a huge bunch of flowers walking her way.

  “It looks like the gossip just walked in!” grinned Jean, dropping the cupcakes abruptly on the counter and spilling the coffee.

  She ran to the man with the flowers and took the bunch from his hands. A surprised looking Richard appeared from behind the bunch.

  “Thank you young man. I know last night was a dream, but it’s best not to bring flowers in here in case someone gossips.”

  He began to colour at the cheeks before Juliette said “She means last night with her,” and laughed.

  “Ohh so you did get up to some hanky panky then?”

  Juliette had never seen Jean grin so hard. If she smiled any wider she was in danger of her jaw dropping off.

  “Jean, this is Richard, Richard this is Jean.” She took the flowers from Jean and found vase to put them in, in the back room. She filled it with water and when she came back, she found Jean wide eyed as Richard was telling her a made up story about a marathon bondage session they’d enjoyed the previous night.