First Class to New York (7 page)

“Interesting choice Matt.” Beth turned back to her date and
walked away.

“Bitch!” Matt muttered under his breath.

“I see Beth is in good form this evening?” Peter smirked.
“Never knew what you saw in that one Matthew.”

The music turned softer; Snow Patrol. Janie loved this band.

Matt turned and offered his hand. “I love this song. Come
dance with me.”

Janie smiled and graciously accepted his offer. He led her
to the dance floor and pulled her close to him, his right arm snaked around her
back and his left hand held her right hand to his chest. He took a deep breath
and began to move slowly with the music. Janie could feel his breath escape at
the top of her ear and it sent tingles all the way down her spine. Her nose was
level with the collar of his crisp white shirt and she was intoxicated as she
breathed in his unique smell. She closed her eyes and leaned her head gently to
his cheek. Their bodies moved together in perfect sync and Janie wished that
time would just come to a complete stop. This was one of those moments that she
hoped to remember for the rest of her life. She felt a little like Cinderella
at the ball with this mysterious, but beautiful prince and if it was a dream
she didn’t want to wake!

Matt murmured the words of the song into her hair, “
You give the strength to me, a strength I never
had, I was a mess you see…”

The song came to an end
and they stopped moving but Matt didn’t move, just continued to hold her
tightly against him. Bodies were moving about them, but he was oblivious to it.
Then Ryan appeared and tapped him on the shoulder and the spell was broken.
Janie looked up and he released his hold.

“Sorry to interrupt but
Ben’s on the phone and there seems to be a hang-up with the Chicago purchase.
Could you talk to him?” Ryan’s expression was grim and Matt let out a long
breath and turned to Janie.

“I’ll just be a bit. Will
you be okay?”

“Of course,” Janie smiled
a little too brightly. “Go!” and she shooed him off with her hand. Matt frowned
and turned with Ryan and headed off the dance floor.

Janie pushed her way
through the group dancing to Lady Gaga and walked back to their table. She sat
down and met Maureen’s eyes.

“Where did my boy go?”

“Something about a Chicago
purchase and a man named Ben.” Janie frowned.

“Hmph! It’s always work
with that boy!” Maureen matched Janie’s frown. “Oh Janie? Your purse was making
noises while you were dancing.”

Janie reached for her
clutch and pulled out her phone. “Just a text message.” Janie opened up the
message and her face turned into a smile.

“Good news?” Maureen
queried.

“My son!” gleamed Janie.
“He’s hoping I am having a good time in New York.”

“You don’t live here?”

“Oh no! I live in Portland,
Oregon. I am here on vacation,” Janie explained.

“How do you know my son
then?”

“We met on the plane.”
Janie blushed at the memory; his hand on her wet t-shirt.

“Oh. So you have a son
back in Oregon?”

“I have two sons – twin
boys. They are just about to turn 21.” Janie beamed, her pride obvious.

“My goodness! You can’t be
old enough to have children that old! I don’t believe it!” Maureen scoffed.

Janie opened up the
picture viewer on her phone and started flicking back through showing Maureen
photos of her boys.

“Handsome boys they are
too,” smiled Maureen. “And this? Who’s this?” Maureen was looking at the last
family photo they had taken before Robert got sick.

“That’s Robert, their
dad.” Janie didn’t know what else to add.

Maureen looked from the
picture up to Janie, her brows raised, the question hanging in the air.

Janie looked back at the
photo and began. “Robert died over a year ago.”

“Oh, dear, I am so sorry,”
Maureen took Janie’s hand in hers. “That must have been devastating.”

“Yes.” Janie could offer
not much more than a whisper.

“Well, you must be very
proud of those boys,” said Maureen, patting Janie’s hand and changing the
subject.

“Maureen, the Oswalds are
over there and want to say hi.” Peter reached for Maureen’s hand and helped her
to stand. As she moved away, Maureen looked up to see Matt not 6 feet behind
Janie, mouth open wide.

*****

Matt finished his call quickly with Ben, the Chicago
purchase still on track. He wanted to get back to Janie, get her back on the
dance floor and back in his arms, her hair tickling his cheek and her breasts
pressed hard against his chest. He made his way back around the dance floor and
headed for their table. Stopping a few feet away, he saw his mom in deep
conversation with Janie.
This can’t be good
, Matt chuckled. They were
looking at her phone and he stepped closer. Pictures?

“Handsome boys they are
too,” his mom said. “And this? Who’s this?”

“That’s Robert, their
dad,” Janie replied.

His mom looked up at Janie
and Matt wondered what they were talking about.

“Robert died over a year
ago.” Matt could now see the picture. It was Janie, a man, and two teenage
boys, he guessed around 18.

“Oh, dear, I am so sorry.”
His mom took Janie’s hand in hers. “That must have been devastating.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

His dad took his mom and
was leading her away to another table, but she caught his eye and her face said
it all. Janie just sat there looking at the picture. Matt’s brain pieced
together the conversation he had just heard, and his mother’s pained
expression.
What? She’s got kids? A husband? He died? FUCK!!

Matt pulled at his shirt
sleeves and straightened his cuff links, and then turned and headed for the
bar.

*****

Ryan had come back to the
table and had taken his wife to the dance floor. Several songs had played and
there was still no sign of Matt. Peter and Maureen had said their goodbyes and
Janie sat at the table alone. She was starting to feel…off…like there was
something wrong. She couldn’t put a finger on it.

The serving staff came by
and cleared the last of the dessert plates and Janie fiddled with the fabric of
her dress. The color red caught the corner of her eye and Beth slid into the
seat Maureen had occupied.

“So Janie, this seems like
an opportune time to get to know one another.”

Janie looked at Beth’s
face. There didn’t seem to be any malice in her expression, just curiosity.

“In case you didn’t make
the connection earlier, I’m ex-wife number two. Ex-wife number one moved to
Boston when she married husband number 3.” Beth was very matter-of-fact. “So
how long have you been seeing Matt?”

“Um, well, we aren’t
seeing
each other,” stuttered Janie.

“Huh!” spurted Beth. “Matty
does NOT do fundraisers, so something’s going on here.”

Janie didn’t have any
response to that so she just looked down at her hands.

“Can I give you some
advice if you want to keep him?” Beth said.

Janie was horrified, her
head whipped up and she began to speak but Beth just kept talking. “He hates
kids. Don’t know why, so I hope you don’t want any. Kids are a deal breaker! No
exceptions!”

Janie’s mouth was open,
willing herself to speak, to stop Beth from saying anything else, but the words
wouldn’t come
. He hates kids? That can’t be true.
Janie couldn’t picture
the Matt she knew hating anything!

“Well, it’s just advice
honey. Take it or leave it.”

“I don’t know what advice
you’re giving, but neither of us are interested.” Matt’s deep voice interrupted
Janie’s confusion.

“Considering I wasn’t
talking to you, it doesn’t concern you.” Beth stood up and ran her finger
across Matt’s chin and turned and swaggered away.

“Is everything okay? Ryan
didn’t know where you had gone?” Janie was trying to erase Beth’s words from
her mind, looking at Matt.

“Fine. I just had a couple
of things to wrap up.” Matt was visibly tense, his eyes hard and his mouth
straight.

“We could dance again?”
Janie blinked up at Matt.

“We could,” Matt
responded, not looking at her.

Janie was baffled at his
change of mood.
Maybe
the ex? Maybe it was the phone call? Had she done something to piss him off?
She had tried so hard to not embarrass him and thought she was doing okay.

After a long pause, Matt
reached for her hand and pulled her in front of him. She searched his eyes for
clues and his expression relaxed just a bit and he turned and led her to the
dance floor.

It was less crowded now, as people had started to leave, the
evening slowly coming to a close. Matt turned her to him and once again wrapped
his right arm around her and took her right hand in his. He didn’t pull it to
his chest and he didn’t pull her quite as tight and Janie felt gravely
disappointed. They moved slowly as the song played. The smooth sound of Duran
Duran wafted through the ballroom and Janie closed her eyes, willing Matt to
pull her close, so she could feel his legs against hers, her hand on his solid
chest, her cheek on his neck.

As the words were sung, she could feel him physically relax.
‘
Who do you need, who do you love
When you come undone?’ Matt drew in a breath and then exhaled slowly, pulling
her into his body, his cheek nestling in her hair and her hand pressed firmly
against him.

“You are intoxicating,” he
whispered, and Janie smiled, thankful that the tense mood had lifted. They
moved to the song and Matt’s fingers massaged her back, kneading, feeling,
caressing. And then the song ended and Matt stepped back and took her hand and
held it to her lips as he gently kissed her.

“I think our evening is
coming to a close. It’s getting late and I should get you back.” Matt let Janie
retrieve her clutch from the table and they headed out to the car waiting for
them at the curb.

*****

They rode back to the Ritz in silence. Matt seemed
distracted, Janie lost in her own thoughts. It had been a wonderful evening,
another ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ moment. She didn’t want the evening to end and the
thought of what would happen back in her room had teased her mind.
Would he
want to stay? Does he expect to stay?
Janie had tried to play out in her
mind how she would react if he tried to sleep with her. Her body desperately wanted
him to make love to her, but was the rest of her willing? Ready? Janie chewed
on the inside of her cheek as she came to a bold decision.

If he makes a move, I’m going to let him stay. Yes! I am
going to let him stay!
Janie inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, feeling
firm in her resolve.

The car came to a stop in front of her hotel and Ray jumped
out and raced around to get her door. She stepped out of the car and Matt met
her with his outstretched hand. They walked in silence, hand in hand to the
elevators and remained in silence as they rode upwards to her floor. As they
reached her room, Janie turned and smiled at Matt. She pulled out the room key
from her clutch and handed it to him. He cautiously took it from her and pushed
it into the door lock and the green button lit up. He opened the door and Janie
walked in and clicked on the lamp. The door clicked shut and she turned to see
Matt standing looking at her, an expression on his face she couldn’t read.

“It was been a truly wonderful evening, like a fairy tale.
Thank you Matt.” Janie smiled and placed her clutch on the desk.

Matt took a couple of steps toward her and then abruptly
stopped. His eyes bored into her and she felt completely caught in his gaze. 
She took a step toward him, not breaking eye contact, and she caught a slight
wrinkle of his brow. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms. She
willingly accepted his embrace, feeling the warmth of his body against hers. He
tilted her chin up towards him and took her lips in his, gently pressing them
together. His lips parted and the kiss deepened. She tilted her head back
further, giving him total access to her mouth. She felt his tongue on the
inside of her bottom lip and she was instantly aroused, feeling it in her
breasts, her stomach and in between her legs.

Her tongue responded to his and they were locked in a
passionate, heated kiss that seemed to build an aching in her that she not
experienced before. Her head was light and her knees weak and anticipation
flooded her mind.

Matt withdrew his tongue and kissed her gently once more
before pulling away, his eyes half closed, the desire obvious. “You were the
belle of the ball,” he whispered.

Janie smiled. “Thank you for taking me, my prince.”

Matt chuckled. “You’re welcome. Good night Janie. Sleep
well.”

WHAT??? WHAT????

Matt had already opened the door.

DON’T LEAVE? WHERE ARE YOU GOING???

*****

 “Home Sir?” Ray asked as Matt climbed into the backseat of
the car.

“The office, please. And then you can head home. I’ll walk
when I get done.”

 Matt rubbed his forehead and leaned his head back on the
headrest and closed his eyes. What a fucked up night it had turned out to be.