Saturday night. The date that wasn't a date at the opera. Or was it a date? Jay wasn't sure. What he was sure of was that once and for all he was done letting Erin dictate their encounters. The little games she played with him had to stop. She needed to learn that he was the one in charge.
Checking his appearance in the mirror in his hotel room, he decided that he was as happy with it as he was going to get. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with a white shirt and a black bowtie. He felt like a prick wearing that, but research had led him to discover that it was the appropriate way to dress for attending a high class opera performance such as tonight's.
"Who even goes to a damn opera for entertainment?" he grumbled to himself on the way put out of his room. Erin was the only thing he was looking forward to about the night. Any minute now, he would be meeting her in the lobby for their short car journey to the venue. Erin had made all of the arrangements, which in itself was out of the ordinary for Jay. He had choice but to go with it.
When he got down to the lobby, there was no sign of her. No surprise, he figured. He knew by now that she liked to make an entrance, and she was good at it. Feeling out of place, he stood around waiting, keeping an eye on the elevators. Nearly five minutes went by, then suddenly, there she was.
Jay felt his heart literally skip a beat when he set eyes on her. To his surprise, she looked like something from the 1920s, dressed in a vintage red dress and matching shoes, with her hair in soft curls. The look was completed with bright red lipstick and long black leather gloves that finished above her elbows. He had never seen a sight so beautiful in his life.
"Good evening, Mr Halstead," Erin said with a smile on her face as she approached him, talking in a theatrically posh manner that fitted her appearance.
Regaining his composure, Jay allowed himself to slip into a 1920s acting role for a moment also. He delicately took her right hand and lightly kissed the back of it. "Good evening, Ms Voight. You look beautiful."
Erin giggled, now back to her usual self. "Very good, Jay. I must say, you're capable of better manners than I imagined. And you scrub up very well. Shall we? Our car is waiting outside." She offered her arm to link with his.
"Let's go," Jay said, linking arms. "I like your look a lot. Not what I expected at all, but you've really pulled it off."
"I like dressing like this sometimes. It makes me feel sexy."
"As it should. It suits you," Jay said, looking at her for a moment. Their eyes met, and the tension was there already, at boiling point. It wasn't as simple as a desire to fuck her at this point. Something deep inside him ached to do it. And he could tell that she desired him too, possibly as badly.
"Figured I'd add some leather, since you seem to like it," she said coyly.
"So you're dressing to impress me," Jay remarked, knowing that he had her that time. Sure enough, she immediately started blushing.
"That's not what I meant."
"Maybe not, but it's true. Anyway, seems to me you like the leather a lot more than I do. Not that I'm saying I don't like it."
To change the subject, Erin opened the little clutch she was carrying as they walked out of the hotel. She handed him a ticket to the opera. "Here, that's yours. And there's our car over there."
Jay decided to let her off the hook for now. "Thank you," he said, taking the ticket.
It was only a few minutes later when they were dropped off at the venue. There were a couple of photographers hanging around, wanting pictures of anyone rich and famous who showed up for the night's event. Jay made sure to link arms with Erin again so that they looked like a happy couple in any pictures that might end up online.
"Well, that's tonight's mission accomplished," Erin said once they were in the building. "Pictures of Mr and Mrs Halstead obtained."
"That's the only mission?" he eyes, giving her a sideways look that offered innuendo.
There was no blushing this time. She played it cool. "No, there's another one: Have a glass of the finest champagne. You can go buy me one."
With a bit of time to kill before the opera, they were entering a busy bar just inside the building. There were hordes of men in tuxedos and women in expensive dresses, but Jay saw no one who looked as good as him and Erin.
"Alright then, I'll get us both one," he said. "Be right back."
'Right' back proved to be optimistic. The bar staff were quite busy, and it took a few minutes to get served. After he finally got his order in, Jay was spoken to by an older gentleman standing next to him, who was looking at Erin, waiting nearby. He sounded like he was a fair few drinks into his night already.
"Your wife?"
"Yes," Jay lie after a moment, liking the boost it gave to his ego. "Stunning isn't she?"
"She sure is. Make the most of it. They get old fast, and you have to trade them in."
A lot of people would have found that distasteful, but Jay found it amusing. He smiled and raised one of the newly-delivered champagne glasses to the man in a mock toast. "I hear you."
Shortly, he returned to Erin and handed her one of the glasses.
"Thank you," she said with a smile. "What were you saying to that man? Saw you both looking at me."
"I told him you're my wife," Jay said matter of fact.
"Wishful thinking, huh?" she said, eyes twinkling at his over her glass as she sipped from it.
"No," he grinned, hiding how off balance her reply made him feel.
"You're such a charmer, Jay Halstead."
Jay felt like she had him tied up in a knot again. She seemed to do it so effortlessly, it really was frustrating. But in its own way, that frustration was a hell of a turn on.
"Well, I... Uhh... That's not exactly..."
Erin touched a finger to his lips. "Ssshh. You're floundering. It's embarrassing."
She proceeded to show mercy on him, moving away from their barely disguised flirting to telling him about the opera they were going to see. Jay feigned interest, but in truth he wasn't there for the opera. He was there for Erin, and what might happen between them after the performance. He wasn't sure he could wait any longer to make a proper move on her, which he felt sure would lead to sex. He couldn't imagine her being able to turn him down at this point. It was obvious that she was feeling the same tension he felt every time they were around each other.
They managed to get through two glasses of champagne each before they had to go through to the auditorium. As hard as it was, Jay had managed to stop his dick thinking for him for a while, and he had enjoyed a conversation that hadn't been about flirting and playing games. He was sure things would return to what seemed to be normal after the show, however.
A few minutes into the performance, Jay was already of the opinion that opera wasn't for him. He had expected that going in. But, somewhat to his own surprise, he resolved himself to put a brave face on it and to be positive when asked for his thoughts afterwards. After all, Erin must have paid a lot of money for this night out, and she had chosen to invite him. He didn't believe for a minute that it had anything to do with selling their on-screen marriage to WWE's audience.
During the performance, the audience sat in near darkness. But Jay could see well enough to make out the dazzling smile Erin gave him when they happened to look at each at the same moment. She was really enjoying herself. He knew that his biggest character flaw was finding it almost impossible to relate to other people, but in that moment he felt warm inside because Erin's happiness made him happy in return. It was a genuinely nice feeling. He wanted to feel like that more often.
Then Erin moved her right hand and put it in his lap, obviously wanting him to hold it. When he did so, it felt like a rather striking moment of tenderness between them.
Jay sat there thinking more about Erin than the opera as the performance went on. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny, and even rich. Or at least, would be rich in the future. She made him feel things that no woman ever had before. Maybe, just maybe, there could be more to it than sex with her? For now though, sex was the primary objective for sure.
He had to admit she sure did know what she was doing with the way she dressed. She always showed off her incredible looks so well, and there was no doubt about it that she always looked hot in leather. The long gloves she had on now were damn sexy, and the one in his hand felt nice – soft and smooth. They were top quality leather. Yes, she knew what she was doing alright.
He almost turned to her and said something about admitting that the gloves were sexy. But no. He held back at the last moment. It wasn't the time. Letting her enjoy the show was the way to go.
Hours later, arriving back at the hotel, Jay liked the relaxed warmth there had been between them in the back of the car. Erin had enthused about the opera, and Jay had convincingly lied about enjoying it himself.
Stepping out of the elevator on her floor, Jay was properly revved up inside. If all went well, he was about to get into her room with her, and they would at long last get it on. Boy, would they get it on.
"Well, thank you for a very enjoyable night," Erin said happily.
"Thank me? No, thank you. This was all you. The next time will be mine to arrange."
"I'll hold you to that," she vowed. "This is my room."
"I've enjoyed it a lot," Jay said.
She was standing close to him, which he couldn't not notice. In a half second that seemed to last a lot longer, he began moving in for a kiss but suddenly Erin had both of her gloved hands on his cheeks, and she kissed him long and full. It was one of those rare kisses that made him tingle, and his dick started getting hard immediately.
When Erin broke off the kiss, Jay tried to go in for a second helping, but to his frustration Erin pulled away.
"Goodnight, Jay."
"Not goodnight. Not yet," he said, making another attempt to go in for a kiss. She denied him though.
"Yes, goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well."
With that, she unlocked the door to her room and went in, leaving him standing there like a puppy who had seen a bowl of treats taken away from him.
More frustrated than he could remember feeling in his life, Jay trudged off towards the elevators. He could still taste Erin on his lips, and feel her hands on his cheeks. He ached to fuck her so badly that it physically hurt, yet he was going back to his room alone, knowing that he was going to relive that kiss over and over.
One thing was clear to him, much as he wanted to resist it and tell himself that it wasn't the case: Erin was the one who was deciding what happened between them, and when it happened. He would only get sex with her when she was done toying with him. All he could do was be her little puppet on a string. Most remarkably, there was a part of him that had started enjoying the power she had over him.
A/N: Erin kissed Jay for the first time when they were not doing it for TV, but she still made him leave with blue balls. The question is how long will she make him wait before they have sex?