Office Play: Freaky Geek Series (12 page)

Adam breathed a mental sigh of relief. He did good.

“Okay, let me get ready. There are too many distractions.” Jeanette headed back to the bathroom.

“We’re cool as far as time. I’ll busy myself.” He laughed. “I’ll unpack and look at the hotel brochure and see what other goodies this place has to offer,” he yelled. “Oh and internet is free!”

He heard her laugh in the room. He liked that.

“You realize this is was too much luxury. You know very well the company wouldn’t have foot the bill for this.” She hollered back. He then heard the shower running.

“True.” He began unpacking, then his cell went off. “Sheesh, I just got here,” he said, as he answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Bonjour!” It was Jonas, one of the IT guys from the Paris office.

“Bonjour, yourself. We just arrived and I’m taking Jeanette out to dinner.”

“Ah, taking advantage of the romance of the city. Good job. Strike when you’re hot.”

“Are you Parisians always thinking romance?”

“No, we love food too. See you tomorrow bright and early.”

“Good bye.” He disconnected.

It looked like everyone was rooting for him, even if they didn’t know his true intentions.

He just hoped he could get Jeanette on his team.

Chapter Thirteen

When they arrived at the restaurant, they were immediately seated. The waiter brought bread and water. He gave them their menu, and excused himself. Jeanette was ready to dig in to some good French eatin’.

The restaurant was new, but it was just as elaborate as all the other five star establishments in the city. There were six arched windows with hunter green velvet window treatments. Antique gold tassels and tie-backs pulled the curtains back, revealing golden sheers. The tile work was rustic, but elegant. Brown and green specks sprinkled each tile to complement the drapes.

The tables were round with gold silk cloth that swept the floors. Each centerpiece was decorated with a different floral setting. Theirs were orchids.

“Look at the goodies,” Jeanette said, scanning the menu. “Too many choices.”

“Would you like me to order for us?” Adam asked.

“Who’s the connoisseur in this duo?”

“Like I told you, I know little about French food.”

Jeanette watched him wave over the headwaiter.

“Monsieur.”

“What would you suggest, we’re having trouble deciding.”

“Ah, may I suggest the Apricot Chambord Brie for the appetizer, then the Soufflé au Fromage for the entrée, and for the main course, Terrine de Saumon aux Epinards. It’s light, and not too heavy for evening.”

“Would you happen to have Belgium chocolate mousse?”

“Oui.”

“Merci.”

The waiter took the menus and bowed.

“I’ve could have done that,” Jeanette mused.

He laughed. “Okay you’ve got me. I haven’t been up on my French gastronomy in a while.”

The headwaiter returned with a bottle of wine. “May I suggest…”

Jeanette took the bottle from his hand. It was a good dry white wine. “Perfect.”

“American?”

“Yes,” Adam said.

“Lovers?” The man smiled.

The French must have been with Noah during the building of the ark, because they loved pairing up.

“We’re—”

“We’re enjoying this beautiful city,” Adam said, taking Jeanette’s hand in his. He kissed her knuckles.

All she could do was look at their fingers intertwined and enjoy the softness of his lips. She had to admit, it was a beautiful sight and a wonderful feeling.

Adam’s hands were strong, huge, and soft but still manly. His manicure was impeccable, which was something she loved to see on a man.

“You will leave here lovers. Trust me.” He left for the kitchen.

Jeanette was getting too comfortable. She tried to remove her hand, but Adam had a good grip on it. After several tries she gave up and decided to enjoy the safeness.

“Why did you lead him to believe we were lovers?”

“I did no such thing. He said we would
leave
here as lovers.”

“Same thing.”

“Hardly. When we go back to our suite, we have separate beds. That right there tells me where this evening is headed.”

She never thought about that. She’s been so caught up in the moment; she forgot they did have to go back to their suite and they were sharing one room. At least they did have separate beds. But did that really matter?

It would serve him right to sleep on the balcony for doing what he did in the first place. Then again, it was the most beautiful suite in the world and it would be a shame that he didn’t enjoy the full experience. This didn’t include enjoying her however. They were adults. If she told him to behave, she sure he would. Besides, she didn’t think he would want to fuck up again.

She noticed him staring at her. Those greenish gray eyes almost putting her in a trance.

Maybe she should be the one sleeping on the balcony.

***

Adam was wearing her down. He could see it in her eyes. But he needed to be careful, take it one day, one hour, one minute at a time. They had a whole week here, maybe more depending on their findings. That was more than enough.

He warmed her up on the plane, she just about patted him on the back for getting that hotel and room and she was relaxed at the restaurant. So those obstacles were taken care of.

The next obstacle. Were they going to sleep in the same bed? Yeah, this one was going to be a bit thorny.

He wasn’t going to mention it now, not while they were cordial to each other. Maybe she wasn’t thinking about it at the moment, and he didn’t want her to think about it until they arrived back at the suite. She was focused on food and he wanted to keep it that way—for now.

The headwaiter returned with their appetizer.

“Looks good,” Adam said, reaching for his fork.

“I’ll say.”

They both dug in.

“This is food heaven,” Jeanette said, closing her eyes in what looked like total bliss.

“I think we better walk to the office tomorrow,” Adam mused.

“How far is it?”

“Mmm, about ten miles from the hotel.”

“See you there, I’m taking the car.”

They laughed as they finished off the appetizer and waited for the rest of their meal.

They talked while eating, pointing to the various art that hung on the wall, and doing the usual people watching.

It was late after they finished. They walked on the boulevard and enjoyed all that was Paris.

“I think I could live here. How about you?” Jeanette asked, when they arrived at one of the many fountains that lined a park nearby.

“I don’t know. I never thought about living overseas.”

“I haven’t really either, but it seems every time I come here, it gets me thinking.”

“I can understand why. I mean look at it. It’s Paris!”

She laughed. “Yeah, the city of lights.”

They sat on a nearby benched and did more people watching. It was cold out, but they both had on their coats. Then Adam noticed something. Jeanette had her hand in his.

It was so natural that he didn’t even notice. He wasn’t going to say a word. He wasn’t even going to look at her. He would enjoy it for what it was. She probably wanted to get her hand warm. That was fine, he’d take what he could get.

He turned to something that caught the corner of his eye. On the side of the fountain two sets of couples where kissing. He mentally sighed to himself. He thought the handholding was sufficient, now it wasn’t enough.

“Adam?”

“Huh?”

“I was asking you, what time to do we have to be at the office.”

“Eight.”

“What got your attention?” She tried looking around him. He causally tried to move to block her view.

“Nothing, I’m just sitting here enjoying the sights.”

She leaned across him and spotted the couples. “Oh.”

“Yeah, well this is Paris. What do expect?”

“Sound kinda bitter.”

“You’re kidding right?”

“I mean we need to focus on the real task at hand. This was nice, but tomorrow we hit the grindstone. We’re going to be up to our eyeballs in purchase orders, plus all the investigating we have to do.” Jeanette looked back at the couples. “Besides, after this is over we can talk about us.”

“You’re right. Shame on me.”

“Adam, I realize you did all of this because you wanted to be near me and change my mind about us. But maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe we were meant to be good friends.”

“May I be honest with you?”

“Go on.”

“I have friends. I would like a girlfriend and possibly….I promise I won’t push the issue while were here. We let the chips fall where they may as they say.” He looked back at the couples too. He wanted to yell at them to get a room. Yeah, he was bitter. “Come on, let’s go, it’s getting late. I think we stayed up enough to ward off any jetlag.”

They got up and walked back to the hotel. Once in the suite, they got ready for bed.

When they both had on their pajamas they looked at the beds then at each other.

“Why did you wear that?” Adam asked, as he watched her turn down the blankets and sheets.

“This is my gown,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.

“You don’t have flannel?”

She had a red sheer gown that dragged the floor. It was a three-piece. The long part was like a jacket, even though it was sheer. It was so sheer that he saw the actual gown. It only came down to her belly button. Thankfully it came with panties.

“If you’re trying to discourage me from trying anything, you have a funny way of doing it.”

“I had already packed this, when I was first told about the trip. I…I forgot to change it out.” She tried to wrap herself in it, but it was useless. He could still see everything and unless she was going to wear that long covering, he was going to see even more.

“I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

“You got nerve. Just stay in your bed; it’s not too difficult. And look who’s calling the kettle black!”

“What?”

“ Look at you Tarzan! Doesn’t a top come with those see-through pants?”

“Consider yourself lucky, if that’s what you want to call it. I mostly sleep in the nude.”

Chapter Fourteen

Jeanette didn’t need that visual. She was still reeling from the fact that her nightgown was back in her bag. She told Adam that it was packed before his stunt with travel, which was true. But Tuesday night, she could have sworn she put in her jogging suit like pajamas.

When she opened her bag, and saw not only the nightgown she thought she unpacked, but also several other sheer gowns, she scratched her head just staring at the contents. Was she going nuts? Having a senior moment?

She didn’t want to put on the red gown, but it was the only one out of the seven that was less revealing, if that were possible. She could go to the local boutique and pick up some more sleepwear, but somehow she doubted Paris would have
Hello Kitty
pajamas.

When she walked into the room, she was hoping she could hop into the bed before Adam saw her. No such luck. He greeted her in black silk pajama bottoms and no top.

Her mouth went cotton dry. He looked even sexier with bottoms on than completely nude, if that were possible. For the few seconds that they stood there looking at each other and the bed, she had images of them making love in the bed, on the floor, on the dresser and in the shower.

And this was before he confessed to sleeping in the buff.

She had to ignore all of that. He wasn’t going to get to her. No matter how hot he looked, she would not give in. She was going to bed and she was going to sleep.

“Thank you for being courteous enough for not sleeping naked.” She put on her Big Girl Pants. They could be adults about this. Just because a man and woman are sleeping in the same room, doesn’t mean they automatically have sex.

“Let’s get some sleep. I don’t want any jetlag creeping in while I’m in the office tomorrow.

“Alrighty. Goodnight.”

Jeanette stood there for a few moments. This was ridiculous. They had separate beds. It wasn’t like he was going to leap from his to hers in the middle of the night. Besides, you can have sex anywhere. Instantly the vision of her office desk back in the states came to mind. Yep you can have sex anywhere.

She crawled into bed and got under the covers. “This has to be the most comfortable bed I’ve ever been in.”

Adam crawled into his. “You’re right. It’s firm, just how I like it.”

“Ever wonder how they keep mattresses firm with all the people that come and go?”

Adam sat up a bit, before turning off the lights. “You know. I never thought about that. I only concerned myself with clean sheets and not bringing home bedbugs.”

“Ewww. Now I’ll have the willies all night,” Jeanette groused.

“I have a confession to make,” Adam said.

Jeanette turned over to face him. “What?”

“I was hoping Travel booked The Ritz and got us the Coco Chanel suite.”

Jeanette sat up this time. “Really. I didn’t know you were into…I don’t know, stuff like that.” This man was full of little surprises, and not all of them bad. “You know Coco Chanel was an enigma. She came from nothing and she will always be the queen of the fashion industry,” Jeanette said. She grabbed a brochure that she got about their hotel and suite.

“Really? She worked her way up so to speak.” Adam said, as he got comfortable. He was lying on his side facing her direction.

The man was just gorgeous, even in the dark. He only had the sheets and blankets cover him from the waist down. The rest of his body was exposed and it was striking.

“Um…she.” Jeanette was trying to get her brain working again. Adam was lying there looking at her innocently, but she knew there was nothing innocent about his gaze. He knew what he was doing and damn it, he was succeeding.

“She actually slept her way to the top.”

“She was progressive for her time.”

“That’s one way of looking at it. Did you know she paid her brothers to disappear, so no one would know about her background?” Jeanette asked, still casually looking at the various brochures.

“Now that I didn’t know. I just knew her as a fashion icon. Goes to show you, people will do anything to keep up appearances.”

“She was a control freak. Get this. The day she died, she came downstairs at The Ritz and told the concierge that in three minutes she was going to die. She went back to her suite and five minutes later, she was dead.”

“That’s a control freak to the tenth power. And kinda freaky. Maybe it’s a good thing we’re not staying there”

Jeanette had to laugh. “I’m sure they fumigated since then, that was in 1971.”

“Is the room haunted?”

“They never mention about her ghost roaming around.” Jeanette let out a yawn. “Ooh, sorry.”

“I’m beat too. Let’s get some sleep. I have a wake up call for six.”

“Six!”

“I know how long you women take.”

“Whatever,” Jeanette huffed. She turned off the lights and snuggled down in the comfy bedding.

She was grateful that their conversation didn’t stray. There was a chance they could get through the night with no innuendos, no touching and no sex.

In other words, one boring night.

Jeanette heard the phone ring, but she didn’t move. She was dead tired. It rang five times and stopped. She turned over and saw Adam stretching and answered the phone. She was glad it was on the other side of the bed.

“Hello. Thanks.”

Jeanette lay there very still, afraid to move, afraid to let Adam know that she enjoyed the scene from her end. It was just his back. His strong, olive colored muscular back.

“Jeanette.” Adam groaned out. “Jeanette, wake up. Rise and shine.”

Jeanette slowly stretched, as if waking up for the first time. “Good morning. Oh dear, I hope I didn’t snore.”

“Nah, you were as quiet as a mouse. This was the best sleep I’ve had in years.” He patted the mattress. “Must be the beds. Didn’t realize what I was missing back home. Make a note to myself to get a firmer one.”

***

Adam wanted to curse the concierge. But they had to get up and go into the office. He got from beneath the coziness of his sheets and stretched. He looked over at Jeanette and she was doing the same.

Her gown was tangled around her body, which looked totally sinful. It was hiked up in all the right places.

Her bare thighs were expose and she was showing some skin in the waist area. The robe that went over her skimpy gown was twisted around her shoulder. Her hair was messed up but it still looked lovely.

She looked liked she had a night of rough sex.

Was he feeling discomfort? Oh hell yeah!

“Adam?”

“Huh?”

“I said, we really need to hurry. Didn’t you say it was a walk?”

“Oh, so you decided to walk.”

“Never pass up walking pass the Eiffel Tower,’ she giggled.

They got ready and left the hotel. They arrived at the Paris office in thirty minutes. Too soon, Adam thought. He was still in that room looking at the beauty tangled in red see-through lace. The timing was so off.

They stood in front of the doors of the place, and waited for a crowd of people going in and out. It was just as he remembered. A cold modern structure with glass all around. It stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the old Baroque and Rococo buildings.

They checked in with the guard and got on the elevator. “You’ll like the people here, there’re a few Americans too, just in case you get home sick.”

“Have any of the Paris people come to the states?”

“Many times, unfortunately we don’t have anything remotely French to remind them of home.”

They both laughed. They got off the elevators and walked straight into the offices.

“Bonjour!” he yelled out to everyone.

“Bonjour, Adam!” Came a chorus of French accents.

“I would like you to meet our newest addition. This is Jeanette Foster. She literally started less than three weeks ago.”

“Bonjour,” Jeanette said.

She was greeted with “Oh-La-La’s” catcalls, and gawking male French eyes.

Adam was fuming. He stood beside her and took her hand and held it tight. He’d be darn if one of these French poodles made a play for his property.

Adam had to mentally slap himself. He was being very possessive and nasty. He needed to calm down. Jeanette was right; they were here to work—at least while at the office.

“Come now, people. She’s a professional.”

“She may be a professional, but she is still a woman, no?” Maurice said, taking her other hand and kissing it.

Adam rolled his eyes. How cliché. “Could you show us to our offices, S'il vous plait?”

“But of course, follow me. I hope you enjoy Paris, Mademoiselle Foster.”

“I’ve been to your lovely city many times. And please call me Jeanette, I’m not married.”

Adam was getting mad all over again. This was going to be a long week.