Chapt. 33

CLAIRE

A nap. God I needed a nap. It was eleven in the morning here in Paris, which made it five in the morning back home. My body was used to sleeping at this horrid hour. I let the door to my room close and I locked it behind me before I walked toward the bed. I let my luggage sit beside the desk in the corner and slipped my shoes off before I crawled up under the lush covers, closing my eyes.

Three hours later I woke up to my cell phone blaring. "Hello?" I answered, voice rough from the sleep.

"Well, look at you, you are alive!" Sadie was on the other end, sarcasm in full force. "I thought that you were going to call or something when you landed."

Shit. I had been supposed to call both her and Matt. Putting her on speaker, I checked my text messages. Sure enough I had four unread messages from Matt, two from Nic, and yet another two from Colby. I groaned. "I'm sorry Sadie. I barely slept on the flight over and I crashed hard and fast the instant that I hit the bed." As I spoke the words to her I typed them out to Matt before I opened up Nic's texts.

Hearing Sadie chuckle, I took her off of speaker phone and put the phone back to my ear. "Yes," she said, "I hear that you had some deep conversation on that flight. Hear it scored you a date to dinner too."

"So you have talked to Jon, who has obviously been talking to Colby. One, it isn't a date, at all. Two, yes, Colby and I talked on the plane and it is entirely possible that I let my past experiences with men cloud my brain and I may have judged him too quickly, too wrong, and completely unfairly."

"Okay, one, dinner in Paris is a date. I don't care who it's with. Two, yes, you did."

So Sadie had known the arrogant asshole wasn't really an arrogant asshole after all. "Won't even argue it, seeing as how I'm still snuggled deep in the most amazing covers and blankets ever created by man. Totally smuggling them home."

Sadie laughed and said, "That would be jail time doll face. For real though, go out and have fun. You are single and you don't need a plan for everything in life. Let go, loosen up, and grab on to the moment. Just go out, talk, laugh, and go with your feelings. If it feels right, do it, and make some damn good memories."

"Slow down woman," I laughed. There was truth in her words though. I did have a plan for life. I never did things that would be seen as spontaneous or fun. I guess that maybe I had been taught, through years with my ex-husband, that I had to behave a certain way that didn't allow for those things. Maybe this was the last tie that Logan held over me, the reason that I hadn't yet fully moved on in life. Maybe it was time to take out the scissors and cut that tie. "Okay, I'm going to shower. I'll be in touch."

Hanging up I reopened Nic's text and read it again. "I figure you passed out first thing. I'm glad that you came out with us on this trip. Get in touch." Then the second, "You awake yet?"

"I'm up now and I'm about to shower."

Then I opened up Colby's messages. "It was nice getting to know a little bit about you on the flight. I hope that you meant that about dinner, I'd like to talk to you some more, get to know more about you still." Then, "so if you were serious about dinner, how about just meet me at six thirty in the lobby of the hotel? Fingers crossed, Claire…"

I fought off a smile, but it won out. "I'll see you then."

Jumping up from the bed I headed into the bathroom and intended to shower quickly, but then my eyes saw the array of body washes, bubble baths, bath oils, and shampoos, matching lotions, and I decided that a bath would work just as well. I was surely like a child as I took the lids off of each scent and sniffed at them. They all smelled truly delicious. I picked up the honey and almond scented bottle of bubble bath and inhaled deeply before pouring a generous amount into the running water that was filling the old Victorian, claw foot tub. I climbed in as the bubbles rose and sank down into the warm froth of bubbles. By the time that I turned the water off I was submerged so that only my head was visible.

I lost all track of time as I let the heated water sooth and relax my muscles. I didn't get out of the bath until the water had cooled and when I did, I was wrinkled on my toes and fingers. Wrinkled as it was, my skin was smooth, soft, and smelled delightful. I toweled off and then rubbed my skin head to toe in the honey almond lotion. I was officially obsessed with the rich, sweet scent of it and the way it left my skin so velvety feeling. I wasn't one to splurge on things but I knew that I had to have this in my world on a regular basis.

I slipped into the plush white bathrobe that the hotel had hanging on the back of the bathroom door and walked out to the bed. I sat on the edge and picked up the phone to call the front desk for information on the wonderful products that the bathrooms were stocked with. In minutes I had the information that I needed to order the products whenever I pleased. Hanging up the phone, I logged into the hotel's Wi-Fi and went to the website, in awe at the even wider selection of scents there. I promptly ordered the entire line in the honey almond scent. Then, thinking of how much Sadie would love these products too, I went in and ordered her a full set in a light floral scent.

I stood, stretching, still wearing only the bathrobe. My eyes caught sight of the clock and I was surprised to see that I had walked into this room five hours ago. Where had the time gone I wondered. A nap, phone time, a long bath, then half an hour was spent online ordering extravagant skin care products. I had gotten no work done at all and knew that I needed to get something done in order to feel productive. I had two and half hours until I was to be downstairs, so I settled back into the bed, refusing to change out of the luxury of the bathrobe, and got down to business.

At five thirty, I powered down the laptop and stretched. Lord I was stiff. I stood and walked in a few tight circles to get the blood flowing again. I had decided to spend my work time in a skype conversation with Delaney, the girl who was sliding into my place. She had some beyond great ideas, and I liked her. I could see her becoming a friend. I had come to the conclusion that I was going to let her take the reins on this trip. I'd be her sounding board and a mentor but that would be it.

I tossed my suitcase onto the bed and began to rummage through it to find something for dinner. I had an hour to get ready and be in the lobby, so it was time to get serious about getting ready.

COLBY

It was six fifteen and I was already waiting in the lobby. What the hell, I thought. I mean how eager could one guy look? Or was it desperation? Either way I was it. Since when was I even into this petite little spitfire of a woman? Maybe it was since she'd smiled at me, really smiled, and all I could think of was how perfectly her lips, her mouth, would wrap around me. Yes, that was a part of it, but there was something about the way that she had looked up at him, asking him who he really was, like she cared. She was definitely a beautiful woman though, and to try to deny that would be quite simply, stupid.

Before I could take time alone to think on her beauty, her mouth, her eyes looking up at me full of innocence while I tangled my hands in her hair, I saw her. Her main of fiery red curls made her easy to spot. She was stepping off of the elevator, small framed, but somehow she was still beyond voluptuous in all of the right ways. I was pretty sure that she was innocently unaware of just how beautiful she was and of the attention that she got from men when she entered a room. Hell, I counted at least six men eyeing her as she made her way toward me. Who could blame them though?

My breath hissed out from clenched teeth, and my mind took in every last bit of her. She was wearing a thin, black pencil skirt with a royal blue colored sweater with a drooping collar. It hugged her every last curve, but yet left far more to the imagination. Then I saw those shoes. Fuck me shoes if I'd ever seen them. Platforms with a four-inch heel, leopard print, with a royal blue sole to match the sweater she wore. Her innocent and class was apparent, and yet she had a naughty edge to her. She reeked of naughty school teacher and at this moment I was hoping like hell for detention.

CLAIRE

Dinner was amazing. Colby was actually very interesting and quite funny. More than once I had cried from the laughter. I had learned more about who he was, and I felt more than a little bad for judging him so harshly before.

"Eh," he shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I admit that I didn't give off the best impression and it's even worse when I'm fresh from the ring. Most people assume that I'm an asshole. I actually prefer it that way."

"You do?"

"Sure, I mean, I don't know, it's like it helps to weed out the ones who actually want to know Colby from those who just want Seth in their lives."

Until those words left his mouth I had never given the idea that consideration. It made so much sense and really, I felt foolish for not thinking about that on my own. So many people saw these guys, all of them, as who they were when the cameras were rolling. That was who they thought they were on a constant basis. How wrong they were, and how wrong I was to have treated Colby like Seth.

"What are you thinking?"

I laughed into my drink and then set it down. "How incredibly foolish I was. I mean here I am, I get paid to create these in ring personas, and yet I was judging you based on just that. It took hearing it from you to make it clear. You guys have to really be two different people all of the time, and it is up to you and your judgment who sees which you."

He nodded. "There's a good bit of Colby in Seth, but there's a lot less of Seth in Colby."

He smiled at me and I think for the first time I really took him in. The small gap in his teeth that made one think of a young boy. The long, dark lashes that any female would be insanely jealous of, that covered those big brown eyes. He wasn't a bad looking man at all.

"So tell me, who is Claire? I know the job title, but who are you when you clock out and head home?"

I thought about his question a minute, realizing that it was something that I had never given thought to before. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. "Funny how we never really think about who we really are huh? If I'm honest, I think I'm still a little too much of who Logan made me. I'm too cautious for my own good, and I'm horribly reserved. And even though I'm a healing person in progress, I'm still damaged and scarred. I overthink every last little thing and sometimes I still find myself wondering what Logan would think of some of my decisions or what he would say about things. My friends, where I go, me working, what I wear. I ate that part of me. The part of me that still gives him control, allowing him to control my life." I was surprised that I had revealed all of that. Those were things that I hadn't told anyone else.

He was holding my hand across the table, his thumb was making soothing circles on my palm as he listened. "I'm sure in time that will all go away."

I nodded. "I have to make the conscious decision to shut his voice out of my head some days. Others, he isn't even a passing thought. It's just learning to re-write his words into my own. Like, if I were to say, kiss a man that I was having dinner with, Logan would undoubtedly berate me, telling me how whorish I was behaving. He would tell me that no woman would be so brazen with a man she barely knew and she should learn to control her impulses and desires."

He swallowed hard, his tongue moistened his lips and he gave me a look that said he knew that I was intentionally flirting with him. "And just how would you re-write those words of his, which are terribly wrong by the way?"

"I'd tell myself that a kiss didn't make anyone a whore, that it's okay and perfectly natural…" My voice was barely a whisper and I realized that I liked this me. The me who was unafraid of flirting with a man who I enjoyed time with I was finding. I never was the one to flirt though so there had to be some mistake, but no, this was me. I was choosing to let go of Logan's words and his hold on me. I was choosing to be me and realize that everything in life had to be so serious or planned.

COLBY

She had no way of knowing what she had done to me, the way she talked about kissing me. Anger flashed through me, at her ex-husband for making her feel that if I were to kiss her as I so badly wanted that she would somehow be a whore. And dear Jesus I wanted to kiss her right now more than I wanted anything else that one could offer to me. I needed to see just how her lips would feel pressed firmly to mine.

"Here's your check sir," the waitress said. Her voice broke into my thoughts, tearing me away from Claire. I reached into my wallet and tossed three one hundred dollar bills onto the table. Thanking the waitress for all of her attention and help, I turned my attention back to the red head across from me.

I took Claire's hand again, smiling at her. "Are you ready?" She nodded and stood. I thought that she would take her hand from mine, but she didn't. She laced her small fingers through mine and we headed out of the restaurant together.

We stepped out into a dark night, lit by streetlights and the glow coming from the Eiffel Tower. We walked along the cobblestoned paths, heading back toward the hotel. It had been her decision to walk the block and a half, even with her heels on. I was racking my brain for ways to extend the night.

"Claire, wait," I said as I stopped walking. Her hand never left mine and she jerked to a stop.

"Yes," she said, turning to look up at me with those eyes that seemed to look straight into my soul.

"There's something I've been wanting to do all night," I said, pulling her closer to me, never letting her hand go from mine.

She looked up through those lashes, her green eyes bright. "Is there?" She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, biting it.

Fuck, she had no idea how damn sexy that was. I dropped her hand and took her freckled face into my hands. I leaned down, pressing my lips to hers, hoping that I had read her signs right tonight. I felt her body soften against me, her hands went around my neck and she raised up on her tip toes, returning the kiss. There was a sigh on her lips and it was more than hot. I ran my tongue sim her lips and she met mine with her own. Her tongue, teasing mine, sent heat straight through me. I tangled my hands into her hair and I pulled her closer, tilting her head back so that I could deepen the kiss. Never letting her lips go, I pushed her back until her body met with the brick wall. I stood there, kissing her in the shadows on this Paris street. When our bodies bumped into the bricks, I felt her lips smile against mine, I heard the soft moan that escaped. Her hands ran up my neck, freeing my hair from the band holding it in place. Her fingers gripped handfuls of my hair and the heat settled right in the center of me. I growled into her kiss, pulling my lips back just enough to look into her eyes before crushing my lips to hers again.

My left hand stayed tangled in her wild curls, pulling and tugging until her head leaned back and her smooth neck was exposed. My right hand snaked around her waist, pulling her body closer to mine. I tore my lips from hers, letting them find that sweet spot just behind her ear. I nipped lightly at her skin with my teeth and the moan that came rolling from her lips seemed to go straight through me, right to my jeans. I nipped at her neck a bit harder and when she gasped, a sound that was insanely erotic, u soothed her skin with my tongue.

Her hands tugged at my hair, pulling my mouth back to hers. She had no idea how damn turned on I was. We were both breathing heavy, our bodies heated and tingling. The urge to run my hand over the skin exposed at her leg, up beneath her skirt, to feel the proof that she was as turned on as I, was so strong, growing stronger with each moan she let slip. I had to push away from her, break the contact or I'd have my fingers between her legs, deep in the wetness that I was sure was there.

"Jesus Christ Claire," I rasped. Her eyes were on fire and her face was flushed. It took a control that I didn't know that I possessed to not devour her lips again.

"Well, that was certainly… I mean… I don't remember ever being kissed that way before. Or maybe I just have never been kissed that way before." She smiled up at me, trying to catch her breath.

I smiled down at her, attempting to gather my thoughts and breaths as well. I felt some alpha male type pride hearing her say that she'd never been kissed that way. I reached out and brushed a stray curl from her face,

"I um, well, I guess we should get back to the hotel," she stuttered quietly.

I nodded, taking her hand in mine as we walked the block between where we stood and the hotel. She let me walk her to her room, and at her door he gave me that smile again. The one that brought on the dirty, filthy thoughts that I so wanted to explore.

"Thank you for dinner Colby. It was delicious. I really had a great time."

"Thank you for letting me take you out. Maybe tomorrow, after the show, we could grab another dinner? Ya know, last night in Paris and all."

Glancing down at her feet, she cut her eyes up to mine with a shy smile. "I'll let you know.

I nodded as she walked into her room. I caught a glimpse of her bed before the door closed. That was all I needed to imagine throwing her down in that bed, ripping her clothes off of her, and then ravaging her body.