“My favorite? That’s hard.” He paused. “But my top three would have to be Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, For Whom The Bell Tolls by Hemingway, and Paradise Lost by Milton.”
“Nice choices.”
“What about you?”
“Well, I have to admit, I have a bit of an eclectic taste.” I laughed. “I love A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, I preferred The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, and of course my absolute all time favorite is Little Women by Alcott.”
“Classics.” He grinned.
“Yeah, but I also love books like Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire and as you know, I’ve read Fifty Shades, and I enjoyed it.”
“Well that’s because you were training to be a dom.” He laughed. “Or should I say a sub.”
“I think you should say nothing.” I laughed.
“I’m afraid I don’t have any secret pleasure or pain rooms.”
“Wait, how did you know about the red room of pain?” I asked suspiciously. “Did you read it as well?”
“Hell no.” He laughed and shook his head. “Well, not really. I saw part of the movie script.”
“Oh.” I coughed. “Sure, that was it.”
“Are you calling me a liar?” He growled and walked towards me.
“No.”
“Yes, you are.” He grabbed me and tickled me under my arms until I was squealing and almost falling to the ground. “Come here you.” Zane pulled me towards him and put his arms around me. He leaned down and kissed my forehead, and then my nose and my lips. I melted against him and we stumbled back onto his bed as we kissed. We fell onto the bed and Zane pulled away from me slightly. “Are you ready to go to bed?” He studied my face and I knew he was asking me a completely different question.
“You haven’t shown me my room as yet.” I looked away from him quickly, unsure of how to answer his unspoken question.
“Come on then.” He jumped off of the bed quickly and I followed him quietly. I had forgotten how easy he was to move on from everything. I was annoyed at him and myself for not pushing the issue. “I figured you could have the room next door.” He spoke in a perfunctory voice, all teasing gone from his tone.
“It looks very nice. Thank you.” I looked inside the room and was once again overwhelmed by just how much the room fit my taste. The walls were a light yellow and the carpet was plush beneath my feet. I was happy to see that the bedspread was a luxurious looking cream color and the pillowcases were peach. There was a bay window in this room as well, and there was a vanity table and stool on the other side of the room. This design had definitely been planned with a female in mind. I wanted to ask him why this room was so feminine; what had been his plan when he had created this room?
“I’ll go downstairs and get your bags, and you can get ready for bed,” he said, quite coldly.
“Oh ok, thanks.” I sat on the bed as he walked out of the room and sighed. “Are we going to be working tomorrow?” I asked him when he returned with my suitcase.
“No.” He shook his head. “I thought that I would show you around Los Angeles this week and that we could talk about the project. We will start officially working next Monday.”
“Okay, that sounds good.” I smiled, trying to break down his wall.
“I thought we could have a party in the next two weeks? Just a small one with some of my friends. That way I can introduce you to some people.”
“That would be great.” Will Noah be there? I wanted to ask him, but resisted.
“I think I’m going to go shower. Feel free to help yourself to anything you want in the kitchen. You have a private bathroom through that door.”
“Are you going to bed?” I bit my lip, not wanting the day to be done already.
“No, I was thinking of watching a movie after my shower.” He frowned. “And after I make a few calls.”
“Can I watch the movie with you?” I asked hesitantly.
“Sure.” He paused. “If you don’t mind watching it in my room.”
“That’s no problem.” I smiled up at him happily.
“Okay. Good.” He smiled back at me and rubbed his forehead. “I’m glad you’re here, Lucky.”
“Thanks. I’m glad as well.” I watched him walk out the door and lay back on the bed as he closed the door. I closed my eyes and took a big deep breath. The room smelled of tangerines and honey. I took another deep breath and stretched on the bed. I opened my eyes and looked around at the room again. It was beautiful and I was happy to be here. I jumped up and opened my suitcase, trying to decide what to change into after the shower. I wanted to make sure I looked cute and sexy, but not wanton. I didn’t want him to know that I was going out of my way to look attractive to him. I was disappointed that he hadn’t tried harder to keep me in his room. I wanted him to seduce me. I wanted him to want me so badly that he couldn’t keep his hands off of me. Sometimes I felt as if that was how he felt, but other times, I felt as if he couldn’t be bothered at all. I decided to wear a pair of gym shorts and a tank top—relaxing, casual, and slightly sexy, if Leeza was to be believed. I was just about to go into the bathroom when my phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Hey Lucky, it’s Braydon. I just wanted to make sure you made it to the best coast alright?”
“Haha, I did make it to the west coast just fine, thanks.”
“I’m glad that Zane wasn’t a completely ass to you then.”
“Oh. No, he was fine.” I paused. “Sorry about last night.”
“What’s to be sorry about? You had a few drinks. You were fine. Zane, on the other hand, was a psycho stalker.”
“He was just worried about me.”
“Why? He barely knows you,” Braydon scoffed.
“Well, he knew my car broke down and I guess—”
“Your car broke down?”
“Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you? I thought I told you on our date?”
“I think you said something about your car. But you’re only now telling me he just happened to be there when your car broke down.”
“Well, it was after the party and I guess he left around the same time,” I said defensively.
“Lucky, I want you to be careful.” Braydon’s voice was low. “I know you don’t really know me. But please be careful with Zane. He’s not right in the head and I think he has something against me.”