Contracted For Love: Famous Love Series (10 page)

Charlotte snuggled in as she slowly woke up. She was warm and comfortable, and the room was once again bright with sunlight. Jack must have opened the curtains when he’d gone to shower.

Wait—I got into bed last. I didn’t shut the curtains. Damn!

That meant it could be anywhere after 6am, as the light was different in Paris and she could never guess the time. About to reach for her iPhone to check the time, her fuzzy brain worked out the reason she was so warm. She froze.

Jack’s arm was around her shoulder, and she was pressed against him with her head on
his
shoulder. The hand that held her engagement ring rested lightly on his chest.

Oh shit.

She thought about the night before. She hadn’t had any alcohol with dinner, and they’d gone to bed early, since they were tired from walking all day.

Thank God! That means we didn’t have drunken sex that I don’t even remember!

She kept still, trying to decide how to handle this. Should she make an attempt to slide out from his arms without waking him, or should she just wake him up and make a joke about him taking this marriage thing so seriously? Something along the lines of, “Hey, first you propose like a real boyfriend, and then you want to snuggle,” would probably break the tension.

The only problem was that she didn’t want to move. She wanted to lie there as long as possible and pretend it was real—kid herself that his arm around her tightly meant more. She wanted to imagine for a few seconds that she could wake up like this every morning. She even wished he hadn’t worn a t-shirt to bed.

Woah, Charlotte. What. The. Actual. Fuck?

As she lay there, barely daring to breathe, she suddenly noticed Jack’s even breathing had changed. It seemed like he was holding his breath, just like she had a moment ago.

Probably lying awake, thinking, “Oh shit.”

Knowing one of them was going to have to break this up, she said quietly into his chest, “Are you awake, Jack?”

“Uh huh,” came the reply.

“Any idea when or how this happened?”

“Nope, but just let me enjoy it another few seconds before you freak out.” Her heart leaped into her throat at his words. Surely he was teasing her—or he was still tired and had actually meant that he didn’t want to wake up and not that he wanted to stay wrapped around her in a Parisian hotel room. She dared not think of the consequences, if he meant the second option. “What are we doing today, Mrs. Tour Guide?”

“I have booked us a couple’s massage downstairs at eleven, and the rest of the day is free for you to sit around and relax. After dark, we’re going out dancing.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” He still hadn’t moved, and she dared to trace her fingers across his shirt.

“Of course. I love dancing. You’ve got serious moves in the movies; It’s time to test them out on the dance floor. We’ll see if I have to send you to dancing lessons before the wedding.” She felt his chuckle, rather than heard it, as he surprised her and rolled onto his side without moving his arm. She ignored the thrill that shot through her as he glanced down at her cleavage before meeting her eyes again.

“How’d you get them to book the massage without my credit card?”

“I paid for it. How else?”

“You don’t need to do that. I promised you the vacation to Paris.”

“I know. That doesn’t mean you have to buy every bread roll and glass of water, though. I thought it would be a nice surprise.”

Jack tapped her nose with his finger. “It is a nice surprise. Thank you.” Then he rolled away and she lifted her head to let him go to the bathroom. “The best surprise is that we’re not spending the whole day pounding the pavement—my feet are killing me,” he said as he closed the door.

***

Charlotte checked her make-up one last time. She was excited to be going out for a night on the town, and she wanted to look perfect for Jack. Their days together had loosened him up and he was more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. He emerged from the bathroom, looking handsome and smelling divine, and she could have pinched herself that she was going to marry this gorgeous specimen of maleness.

If only it were real.

They caught a cab to the club she’d chosen, because she didn’t want to walk there in high heels, and Jack feigned surprise that she hadn’t made him catch the subway. They lined up like everyone else to enter and then headed to the bar for drinks.

The club was huge, with several dance floors, multiple levels of strobe lights, and various seating arrangements. They had a VIP section, and Jack shouted at Charlotte that they should head there. She shook her head, and pulled him to a couch along the back wall. They plonked down with their drinks and she snuggled close to him.

“When you’ve finished your drink, we’re dancing.”

“I’ll drink it slowly, then. We should have sat in VIP.”

“No. Besides, I’m drinking Coke. You hardly need VIP for you to have a beer and me to drink soft drink. Besides, we’re a regular couple this week, remember? Regular couples can’t afford VIP.”

“You’ll never be regular, Char,” he shouted into her ear as she grinned at him. When he finished the last of his drink, she got up and held out her hand. He took it and they headed into the throng of pounding beats and surging bodies. The bass pulsed through them as red, blue, and yellow lights swirled across the throbbing crowd.

She slipped them into a gap and put her hands around Jack’s neck. With so many people moving in time to the music that he had no choice but to pull her close, and with her heels on, she was the same height as him. They laughed and shouted their conversation at each other as the music blasted from the enormous speakers near the DJ.

They danced for more than an hour and then headed back to find a seat. Jack went to the bar and Charlotte headed for the ladies room. When she came out, a brawny man blocked her exit from the toilets. “Hey, lovely. Want to dance with me?”

“No, thanks. I’m here with someone.”

“Well, he’ll just have to get lost, won’t he? Come dance with me,” he grabbed her arm with more than a little force and she dragged it away from him.

“No, really. Please, let me past.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll kick you in the balls, asshole.” She pushed him backward with all her strength, and he was drunk enough that it made him lose his balance as she slipped away and disappeared into the crowd. In her hurry to get away, she’d gone in the opposite direction from where she’d left Jack, and she lost her bearings in the enormous club. The club had several bars and multiple dance floors, and they all looked exactly the same. She casually walked through the building, trying to work out where she’d left him.

Finally, she pulled out her mobile to send him a text. The signal, however, didn’t reach in here, and she shoved it into her bag with a growl of annoyance. Thirty minutes later, she was still searching. She was worried the woman who had been eyeing him on the dance floor earlier might have cornered him somewhere.

I’m going to hear about this for days.

Not knowing what else to do, Charlotte went down one level to see if he’d gone there to look for her. She was sure he wouldn’t have, but she didn’t know what else to do. Not finding him, she left the club to see if she could get a phone signal outside—she knew he’d eventually call her. Maybe she could go to a café nearby until she heard from him.

When she stepped into the cool air, she fired off a text to let him know where she was and walked up the street, looking for somewhere to sit down. She hoped he wouldn’t be too angry with her; they’d had a nice holiday up until now. Almost a block away, she looked around for a café and her stomach dropped at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Doesn’t seem like you’re with someone now, does it?” She turned to see her would-be suitor from outside the bathrooms. “You owe me a little sugar, Sugar.” He laughed at his own joke as he advanced toward her. Charlotte glanced over his shoulder to see where the club bouncers were, but they were busy dragging some poor sod out the door and throwing him into the street. Their attention would be drawn to him for a while—they’d be no help to her, now that she was so far away.

“There’s zero chance of that. Please go away,” she said pleasantly, hoping to reason with him as she stepped backward.

“Nuh uh. We have a little business to conclude, first.” He grabbed her arm and pushed her hand against his groin as she felt a flush cover her face. “Come on. You can touch it—it won’t bite.” He laughed again as she struggled to pull her hand away.

Anger sparked through her body and Charlotte had a sudden flashback to Richard James and the sleazy way he’d treated her in his office a few weeks ago. She was too far from the door of the club, and was still backing away, and she knew she’d have to save herself from this man, because no one was coming to help.

Not giving him a chance to get ready, she jumped forward to catch the man off guard and kneed him as hard as she could in the groin. Her aim was off and she only half-connected, making him bend over with a loud grunt, but not putting him totally out of action. Before she could run past him, he lunged for her and grabbed her wrist, wrenching painfully as she screamed her anger at him.

“Get the fuck away from her,” another familiar voice said, as Jack surged forward and dragged the man away. He rushed to Charlotte and ran his hands over her, satisfying himself that she was unhurt. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Who the fuck are you, man?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am. Get the hell away, or I’ll call the police.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so. How about you give me your wallet?”

Jack turned around and pushed Charlotte behind him as her attacker returned, joined by another man. They heard a flicking sound, and the second man held up a knife. “Your wallet,” he held out his hand, as though this was a normal transaction for him.

“Jack, you didn’t bring your wallet—you’ll have to give him mine. Give him something!” Charlotte whispered loudly enough for the men to hear her.

“We’ll take whichever one has the cash.” He continued to hold out his hand as she pulled her bag around to the front.

“Here, take it.” She held it out to the side as Jack urged her to hold onto it. “It’s only money, Jack. A thousand US dollars is everything we have, but we can get my mum to wire us some.” As the lies left her lips, she threw her handbag to the left as far as she could, and both men took off running to retrieve it.

She grabbed Jack’s hand, and ran in the other direction, pulling him along with her. He caught on quickly and was soon running as fast as he could, clutching tightly to her hand. They emerged into a street lined with cafés, where they finally felt safe enough to stop.

“Where the hell are your shoes?”

“I took them off while I was getting ready to throw my bag.”

“How did you know they’d go for your bag?”

“I made it sound like I had all the money, didn’t I? They were only after money.”

“They were after a lot more than that.” He pulled her close and enveloped her in a tight hug. “I thought he’d hurt you.” Jack whispered huskily into her ear. “I was freaking out when I couldn’t find you in the club.”

As they hugged in the street, another crowd formed around them, and soon Jack was being asked for autographs and photos again as cameras flashed behind them. Charlotte took charge before he could tell everyone to sod off. “Okay, line up everyone. We don’t have too long, tonight, but Jack would love to meet each of you.”

When they finally got home, Charlotte showered and changed into her pyjamas. Jack was already in bed, reading a book, when she finally turned off her lamp and slipped between the sheets. Without saying a word, she slid to his side of the bed. He glanced at her face and she saw his soften as he lifted his arm to wrap it around her shoulders. She relaxed into him, put her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes.

Before he’d turned off his light, she was fast asleep.

“I can’t believe you want to go out again.”

“Come on, Jack. Yesterday was a freak event. It wasn’t because you’re famous—no one was targeting you. It’s just something that occasionally happens when people are out and about. We could easily have been an old, married couple from Florida and the outcome would have been the same.” She smiled and tried to catch his eye as he paced back and forth in front of the window.

“Yeah, but the old, married couple wouldn’t have fronted up two hundred dollars and their cell phone, like you did.”

“True. I like to look at it this way, though: they probably needed it more than I did.”

Jack stopped and stared at her. With his hands on his hips, his back to the window, and the sunlight streaming in, he really did look like a rock god. “Are you serious? We get robbed at knifepoint in a dark alleyway, hand over hundreds of dollars, and you try to see their side?” She nodded slowly. “Were you raised by Mother Theresa?”

Charlotte laughed out loud and shook her head. “I wasn’t. You’ll meet my mum and you’ll understand that she’s a realist—that’s all. I guess I got that from her. Besides, how much money did I save by telling them you had no wallet? How much cash were you carrying?”

He bit his lip and looked, for a moment, like he might not tell her the truth. “If you consider not losing it a saving, then you did save us a lot. I had over fifteen hundred dollars.”

“Ha! See? So, we buy me a new phone and we’re still ahead.” Charlotte picked up the cheap handbag she’d bought in the shop across the road from the hotel. “Now, come on, it’s our last day. I have big plans for you to walk your butt off until lunchtime before we come back to pack.”

He grumbled as he walked to the door, “We need to come to Paris again. Now that you’ve seen all the sights, maybe you’ll let me sit by the pool, next time.”

“Come on, old man. Stop whining.” She pushed him through the open door and they set off for the elevators.

“I didn’t even get to buy you a new bikini.”

***

The flight home was uneventful, and they arrived in Vegas to find Mr. Phillips waiting for them at the airport. He drove them home with the divider firmly up in the limousine as Charlotte napped on Jack’s shoulder. When they pulled into the driveway, Jack woke her and pulled her into the house, as she protested that she could carry her own case.

Mrs. Jones opened the door for them and did her usual trick of avoiding eye contact, although Charlotte swore she looked like she might smile at any moment. “Hello, Mrs. Jones,” she said, making a point to look at her on the way past, and the housekeeper offered her an easy smile in return.

“Hello, Mrs. Jones,” Jack said, surprising them both. Charlotte swallowed a giggle as she watched the woman’s eyes bulge at his words. “How was your break?” Jack had given her the week off at Charlotte’s urging, since they were away.

She stammered as she struggled to find a reply for him. “Uh… um… it was very nice, thank you, sir. My husband and I had a mid-week vacation while my sister watched our children. Thank you again, sir. It was very generous of you.”

Charlotte smirked as she walked up the hall to their room.

I’ll make my mark on this household, yet.

She went straight to their bedroom without even bothering to get a late night snack from the fridge; they’d had a big afternoon and a night of travel, and she was exhausted. To her surprise, Jack entered the room right after her and kicked off his shoes. He’d slept on the plane and she thought he’d be awake for a while. “Are you going to bed?”

“I am, if you are.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say. “Okay, then.” She entered the robe and quickly changed into one of his shirts, which had become her habit, now. He was already in bed by the time she moved to her side and pulled the covers out of the way. The king-sized bed seemed huge, compared to the queen they’d shared all week. She slipped in and lay on her back, unsure of what he expected, now that they were home.

He cleared his throat with an obvious “ah-hem,” and she glanced at him to find that he had stretched out his arm in her direction. Jack was glancing from her, to his elbow, and back. She smiled at him as she got the message and scooted to his side of the bed. He wrapped his arm around her and put his head on her hair. Within minutes, they were both asleep.