“I did,” I chuckled, crossing my arms. “Room is already prepared and everything.”
“But that’s such an exclusivist hotel,” she thought aloud, turning back to face me. “How did you afford that?” Her gaze changed, and she stiffened up a little. “How much money do you have, Lex?
“Enough to cover my bases,” I answered conservatively, cocking my eyebrow. “Are you coming along, or are you going to just sit there and gawk at that card?”
“Give me half an hour,” she replied, dashing towards her bedroom.
I made myself comfortable as I heard her rummage through her room, slapping together a bag of the “essentials.” When she eventually came back out, dressed in a sleek dress with a small suitcase, I couldn’t help but stare openly at her.
“What’s the matter?” Riley asked.
“You… look absolutely beautiful.”
For the first time, I watched her blush. “Th-thank you,” she murmured, before composing herself and carrying the case straight past me. “You don’t look so bad yourself, handsome.”
I stood up from her couch, straightening my tailored suit and running my fingers through my thick hair. “Thanks, buttercup,” I grinned. “Shall we be off?”
I followed her downstairs and hailed a taxi. Twenty minutes later, we were strolling through the lobby of the lavish Frione hotel, taking in the sights of the beautiful smoked marble and Grecian columns.
One of the delights to this hotel was the glass elevator to the private upper suites. Running up the outside of the building, we were treated to a phenomenal view of Downtown New Orleans as the elevator ascended. Night had just fallen across the port city – the sea of lights and extravagance beneath us stretched in every direction. In the distance, we spotted the pair of parallel Crescent City Connection bridges that crossed the Mississippi River, stretching far and rising high into the sky from the twirling tangle of Interstate highways.
“It’s so beautiful up here,” Riley purred.
“Only with you here,” I whispered in her ear. I could practically sense the light hairs standing up on the back of her neck, and she turned to face me with vulnerable but hungry eyes.
We still had several floors to go, but the view wasn’t going anywhere. Our lips locked as I pulled her into my warm embrace, and Riley’s wrists dangled together around the back of my neck.
“Oh, Lex,” she murmured between kisses. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I told her.
It was true. My time with her was better than I could have possibly dreamed. When I’d come to America, I’d hoped for a few good lays, keeping my head down and trying some of the local New Orleans flavour…
But none of that mattered now.
Riley Ricketts fulfilled me. She drew my attention and swelled to occupy my every waking thought. The more time we spent together, the less willing I was to part… and I knew, painfully so, that we didn’t have more than a few weeks together.
I heard Jess’s thoughts in the back of my head.
Find a nice American girl.
Bring her back.
Show Brett Barker you can settle.
Sure, that had been part of the plan… but now my fixation on gaining the sponsorship through playing the part became more intimately involved with a different objective altogether.
I sensed something new and very much alive, curling up from the bottom of my heart like smoke in the dark.
Do I dare admit it to myself?
We parted lips, and I realized how primal our breathing had become. Our chests heaved together as we watched one another, gazing deep and passionately into each other’s eyes.
I only barely noticed that we’d arrived at our floor… and that an older, immaculately dressed couple was gazing impatiently at us, just on the other side of the elevator doorway.
“A thousand pardons,” I murmured to them, taking my woman by the arm and leading her between them.
Riley and I chuckled as we pulled ourselves down the hall and towards our room, paying the faintest attention to the suite numbers. As I tugged my card out and slid it into the doorknob reader, Riley’s lips were more or less glued to my neck…
Until we stepped into the room, that was.
“…Holy shit,” she blurted out.
The suite was a blend of contemporary sophistication and historical elegance, featuring dark wood tones with contrasting mocha and cream carpeting.
Along the wall above the magnificently deConnort king-sized bed, a backlit aquarium recessed into the wall, filled with beautiful tropical fish of extraordinary colours and breeds.
The thick, luscious drapes on the opposing wall were pulled aside and roped to the edges, revealing a large and jaw-dropping view of the very same nightlife we’d witnessed from the glass elevator.
Turning the corner, a luxury kitchen stood at attention, filled with various superfluous touches and leading down a couple of steps to a small spa area. Inside, I observed a steam room, a sauna, and a private Jacuzzi tub.
The bathroom was on the opposite side of the kitchen, up several steps and featuring an oversized glass shower room – with overhead recessed faucets to simulate perfect rainfall – and a lavish mirror above a marble sink countertop with Italian-style bowl sink.
“Good lord, Lex,” Riley murmured to herself, taking in the sights as she quietly explored the suite. “This is fucking incredible… and exactly what I needed after the day I’ve had…”
“It did sound like something was the matter earlier, over our texts,” I commented. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“I met Gloria Van Lark,” she answered calmly. “She appeared in town and was seen in a few museums that featured my art… I had a confusing conversation with her.”
“Oh? That’s fantastic!” I grinned, before realizing the implications. “Wait… it doesn’t sound like that went particularly well.”
“She turned me down,” Riley sadly told me. “I had my chance, and I blew it. She’s gone.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, pulling her into an embrace and stroking her hair. “I know how much it meant to you to earn her respect… I’m sure you’ll get another chance sometime. You’ve got a long career ahead of you, and you’ll be in one of those galleries before you know it.”
“It’s funny, one of the visitors said something kind of like that…”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Someone who overheard and took pity on me after she saw the kind of effect meeting Gloria had on me… but anyway, that was earlier, and this is now. And now is… wonderful,” she told me.
Riley glanced warmly up into my eyes and kissed me on the lips again. After a few seconds, she pulled out of my arms to admire the etched crown molding along the edges of the room.
“Did you seriously get this incredible suite for us tonight? It’s absolutely amazing in here…”
“I wanted you to have a taste of deConnorce,” I commented casually, stripping off my blazer and setting it on a hanger in the large walk-in closet. “Renting that small motel room down the other block is a modesty… this is something a little c
loser to my tastes.”
“You’re richer than I thought you were,” she realized aloud, turning to me.
“Richer is relative. But does this change anything for you? Maybe how you feel about me?”
“Not a goddamn bit,” she smiled, pulling me into a tight hug as she leaned up on her toes, planting her lips on mine…
Ten minutes later, the shower was running, her palms were against the glass wall, and mine were on her hips – as I bucked into them, again and again.
My lips found her throat and I groaned my satisfaction into the tender flesh, grazing my teeth along the edge.