His Reluctant Lover (12 page)

Georgette laughed as she hugged Dylan’s arm, feeling the cool air wisp in through her hair.  “Thank you for this afternoon,” she sighed, leaning her head against his broad shoulder.  He’d flown them up to Scotland in his private jet and taken a cab through the Old City.  They were staying in a friend’s apartment instead of a hotel this time and she really enjoyed the change.  It felt even more liberating, not being in a hotel space.  This apartment was huge and open, lending to grand entertaining.  But with just the two of them here, it felt…perfect. 

He’d quickly taken her up the street, just a short walk to Edinburgh Castle which sat on the top of a hill overlooking the city.  She’d brought her sketch pad and her imagination had fired at all of the medieval ideas racing through her head and onto her sketch pad.

“Did you get any good ideas from Edinburgh Castle?” he asked as they walked down the cobbled street leading back to their hotel.  The buildings in the old section of the city were fascinating!  So different from the other places they’d visited.  The streets were steep and curved but the buildings were flat and moved right along with the shape of the street.  The avenue leading up to Edinburgh Castle was almost like an alleyway because of the way the buildings lined the streets.  And because of that, the sounds echoed off of the stone and concrete, making all of the buskers, or street musicians, and conversations, seagulls, pigeons and any other creature, sound even louder because the sound bounced against everything until it dissipated above. 

“Lots of good ideas.  The dungeons were fascinating.”

He laughed.  “So you like being tied up?”

“Absolutely not!” she retorted, punching his arm lightly as punishment for him having suggested that. 

“You probably just haven’t tried it yet,” he leered right back at her.  “I’ll add that to the agenda.”

Georgette’s mouth dropped open for a long moment, but then the idea sunk in.  She wasn’t exactly sure what he meant, but everything he’d taught her about sex and making love so far had been amazing.  So she didn’t argue with him on that front.  “I love being here,”

“You mean with me?” he asked.

She looked up at him, seeing the serious expression.  She swallowed and thought about coming up with a flip answer, but in the end, she just nodded her head. 

Dylan squeezed her slightly, telling her that he felt the same way. 

“It’s just so nice to walk the streets and not see anyone I know.”

A dark eyebrow went up with her comment.  “I thought you liked living in New Orleans.”

She sighed and tried to figure out how to explain it.  “I love New Orleans.  It’s a beautiful city but no one knows us here.”  She looked up at him.  “Remember that afternoon you kissed me in the park in front of my boutique?”

“Yes,” he said with a leer. 

She chuckled, but then shook her head. “When I got back to my office, I had three phone calls, all from people wanting to know what was going on, if I was seeing you, if we were serious, if I’d broken up with Charles…” she stopped, her grip on his arm loosening. 

“What’s wrong?”

She stared up at him, feeling awful all of a sudden.  “I haven’t broken up with Charles!”  Her hands slipped to her hair.  “I’ve been sleeping with you for the past week and I haven’t broken up with my boyfriend!  What kind of person am I?”

He pulled her back against his side.  “You can do that when you get back to New Orleans,” he told her, kissing the top of her head. 

“I suppose.”  She shook her head and released that issue.  “You’re right.  He doesn’t know about us here and I can’t imagine our activities getting back to him.  Besides, he was in Tokyo when I left so he probably doesn’t know about the kiss either.”  She groaned.  “Unless someone told him about it.  Which they probably did.  There are no secrets in that town!”

Dylan laughed.  “Everyone sees everything.”

“Exactly!”  She took a deep breath, enjoying the weak sunshine trying to burn its way through the fog.  “No one sees or cares about me here.  We’re completely anonymous.”

“Well, anonymous, anyway.  There are spies here on the street,” he teased.

She looked up at him, not sure what he meant.  “Why do you say that?”

He pointed to a white building with black trim.  “See the building over there?  The one with the curved, black roof with the antennae on top?”

“Yes.  What about it?” She blinked into the weak sunshine, loving his vast knowledge of these cities. 

He smiled down into her pretty eyes.  “There’s a mirror on top.  It spies on the people in the street.  It is called ‘camera obscura’ and it captures an image of people here on the street and projects it onto a screen in that domed room.”

She looked up at the building but couldn’t see the mirror.  “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.  Want to see?” 

She considered her options.  Was he only teasing her?  For such a big, serious looking man, he really loved to tease.  He’d told her stories about growing up the oldest of five kids and all the torture he’d put his siblings through but no matter how many stories he shared, she still had a hard time reconciling the mean, determined, uber wealthy businessman with the kind, teasing, playful lover she woke up with each morning. 

Glancing at the building again, she thought about what he was telling her.  Was he on the level?  She wasn’t sure.  “Prove it.  I don’t think I believe you.”

He took her hand and led her into the building.  After buying tickets, they were given a time to be on the 6
th
floor. Until then, they went through all the various exhibits, laughing at the amazing optical tricks.  He cornered her in the mirror maze and kissed her until she was senseless, then grabbed her hand and made her dizzy, kissing her in the tunnel that turned, causing even normal people walking through to lose their balance even though they were on a steel bridge that was flat.  Because of the swirling colors, the mind thought the floor was spinning as well. 

She loved all the tricks, wishing she had her camera.  Dylan showed her how things worked, explaining the tricks and mind games and Georgette just loved being with him.  She thought about jotting down ideas in her sketch pad but she’d left it at the hotel, wanting to just be with Dylan this afternoon. 

On the top floor, they were shown the ‘camera obscura’.  It was just an almost flat, white reflecting board that projected the image of the street down below.  The tour guide showed how to turn the mirror outside of the building so they could have a three hundred and sixty degree view of the street.  “Now, about an hour ago, we caught a couple kissing on the street,” she explained in her very cheerful voice.  “Let’s see if we can find anyone else interesting.”

The room was almost completely dark but she felt Dylan’s arms squeeze her gently with that announcement.  She laughed, enjoying the fact that previous groups of “spies” might have caught them through this interesting contraption, but the two of them were still relatively anonymous.  It was so refreshing and extremely liberating! 

“I don’t think we’re going to find our kissing couple again.  But I can assure you, it looked very romantic!”  The rest of the crowd laughed but she and Dylan just shared a silent moment. 

They left the room, both of them holding hands and laughing at how they’d been caught.  But she didn’t care.  It was wonderful to be so open and affectionate with this tough-looking man and not worry about the future or the past, or what anyone else might ask about their relationship.  There were no expectations, no worries about anything other than what they might have for dinner or shifting around each other’s work issues. 

They left Scotland the following morning and Dylan followed her to Dublin.  She didn’t have to visit the churches there, she told him.  She’d gotten more than enough ideas already.  But he insisted on coming with her because he didn’t want to cut her time short.  She’d scheduled two days in Dublin so they were going to Dublin.  It was only a short flight, a little less than an hour, but it was done in comfort since Dylan convinced her to ride in his private jet once again.  She loved the sinful luxury of the leather seats and the delicious food.  And it was much easier getting through security since the captain worked for Dylan.  They simply stepped out of the car, greeted the captain and off the plane went!  No security, no long lines and the captain took off when Dylan said he was ready. 

By the afternoon, she was sitting in Christ Church, her sketch pad laying on her lap and that same stupid grin on her face.  She wasn’t able to concentrate on anything other than the memories of the previous night with Dylan.  He was so much fun to be with, so extraordinarily creative sexually.  Nothing crazy, but he certainly made every night in his arms an adventure. 

She sighed and leaned her head back, not sure what she might draw here.  She wanted to just sit here and absorb the ambiance.  Christ Church was slightly different from the rest of the churches she’d ventured into lately.  The others were so serious, so determined to lay their extraordinary histories out for all to see.  That was also true of Christ Church, but they had a funny twist to their history.  All the chairs in the sanctuary had a dancing fox cut into the backs.  She wasn’t sure why, so she asked one of the docents.  Apparently, the fox symbols are because, in the past, the friars who ran the abbey, became quite foxy in how they coached the various patrons to donate money.  Georgette listened to the various stories and laughed, delighted with the funny past. 

It took only a few stories and Georgette knew what she wanted to design.  Sitting back down in one of the wooden chairs, she sketched a skirt made with faux fox tails that were discreetly incorporated into the skirt.  She tilted her head slightly, trying to figure out how to get the fox theme into the bodice as well.  She loved the skirt so much but she was still stumped on the bodice. 

After two hours of adjusting the sketch, redoing it and starting over, she finally gave up.  There was no way she could push this.  It was such a different design but she’d have to come back to it.  She needed some other inspiration to work it into the total design.  She was looking up, smiling at the various stone faces at the ends of each arch when one of the faces caught her eye.  She stood up, trying to get a closer look.  Was that…surely not.  Maybe it was just a fox. 

Georgette squinted and even lifted her camera, trying to get a better image.  Sure enough, it was a monkey face.  In stone?  She had no idea what was going on. 

She looked around, trying to ask someone about the face but the docents were all busy with other tour groups. 

In other churches, she’d been told that the faces at the ends of the archways represented friars or important people in the life of the church.  So why was a monkey face there on one of the arches? 

With a sigh, she walked out, her mind picturing that monkey face and trying to guess as to why it would be there.  But then it struck her how she could finish the bodice.  Hurrying along, she raced back to the hotel which was only a few blocks from the church, so she could draw up her idea, see if it would work. 

Storming into the hotel suite, another penthouse with striking views of the city, she dumped her leather bag and grabbed her sketch book, eager to get her idea down on paper.  She saw Dylan on the phone and waved to him but kept her focus on her idea.  She heard the soft mummer of his voice and knew he was talking about numbers again, figures so large and complex she couldn’t fathom what he might be discussing, but she was intent on this design. 

When she was finished, she laid the page down on the table and stood up, looking at her idea from a distance.  She liked it!  It was different and crazy, a little bit irreverent but still incorporated all of the lovely parts of a wedding dress that made a woman feel special.  She’d kept the traditional aspects but added details that made the whole image more than a little sassy. 

“It’s gorgeous,” Dylan said from behind her, slipping his arms around her waist as he looked down at it.  “Where did you get the idea to have fox tails hidden in the skirt?” he asked.  “It looks fun.”

She was so excited that he understood exactly what she’d been trying to draw.  Turning around, she kissed his jaw, the only part of him she could reach.  “I was at Christ Church today and there’s an interesting history there.  But I really loved the tails of the foxes that seemed to be the theme of the church.”

He nodded his head, smiling down at her. 

“So you’re finished for the day?” he asked.

She laughed, knowing exactly where his mind was going.  “I suppose I could be finished.”  She slipped out of his arms and lifted her sketch book off of the sofa.  “But then again…” she started to say, only to squeal when he picked her up from behind and tossed her over his shoulder.  Laughing, she held onto his back.  “Okay!  I’m finished,” she laughed. 

He only carried her into the bedroom and flopped her into the middle of the enormous, soft mattress, coming down on top of her and pinning her there when she tried to get away.  “Think you’re stronger than me?” he asked, grabbing her wrists, holding them above her head while he used his teeth to move her shirt out of the way. 

“No!” she laughed, her stomach starting to hurt because he was making her laugh so hard.  “I promise, that thought never occurred to me.”  She wiggled, trying to escape his teasing touch.  But that only made the tickling worse and she was gasping for breath within minutes.  “Please!  Mercy!” she begged.