Gwenyth bit her lip and eyed Candy knowingly. For all her best friend’s talk, she was just as nervous around an interesting, good-looking man as Gwen was. Candy glared briefly at Gwenyth, no doubt wishing like hell she had a piece of bubble gum to chew on.
“Well then, shall we eat?”
Chapter 9
Harry’s campaign dinner was turning out to be a smashing success. With the election only two weeks away, Gwenyth could only hope that the momentum of the evening carried through to Super Tuesday. Sam sat next to Gwenyth throughout dinner, his manner toward her very proprietary. His arm had remained draped across the back of her chair the entire evening, straying occasionally only long enough to brush her cheek or rub the nape of her neck.
Granddad Willy had raised his eyebrow questioningly at one point, but after meeting Sam’s authoritative gaze, had acquiesced with dignity, inclining his head in approval of their courtship. A noble gesture on Granddad’s part. An extremely paternal gesture. A gesture that had Gwenyth worrying her lip half the evening. It seemed that everything was moving a bit fast.
Sam had lost his cool only once throughout the seven-course meal. Thankfully, that once had been obvious to no one but family. The incident had occurred after Trevor approached their table. The lawyer had kissed her cheek and gushed profusely over how gorgeous she looked. Trevor had ogled her chest embarrassingly. Gwenyth had immediately felt Sam tense in reaction, the muscles in his arm bunching up behind her neck. In retaliation, Sam had nuzzled Gwenyth’s ear with his teeth. Verlene had looked away, hiding a smile behind her raised glass of champagne.
Three hours later, Gwenyth shed her clothes and plopped into bed naked. She was too exhausted to worry about putting on a nightgown. Between having to stay on her best behavior for Harry’s benefit and the overwhelming feelings for Sam that seemed to grow more and more overwhelming with each passing minute, she was all wore out. Not to mention depressed.
Yes, damn it, she could admit it: the thought of leaving Sam tomorrow morning to get on a plane and go to LA was not as appealing as it should have been. She should have welcomed the respite, cherished the time away to collect her thoughts, but truth be told she was dreading it. Sam Tremont had managed to wiggle his way back into her every thought in the span of a few short days as if he’d never left them. Another depressing thought…
Gwenyth exhaled a deep breath and closed her eyes to go to sleep. She needed to get some rest. She could sort all of this madness out while she was in California. Tomorrow, after all, was another day.
* * * * *
Gwenyth awoke to the feel of Sam thrusting gently into her body. The muscles in his neck were corded, his biceps bulging, as he stroked in and out of her at a leisurely pace. When her eyelids fluttered open and she met his gaze, he crooked his face down to kiss her. “I missed you, Cupcake,” he whispered thickly. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the sensation of being inside of her tight pussy. “God baby, you feel so good.”
Gwenyth wrapped her thighs around Sam’s narrow waist, clinging to him as tightly as she could. When they were like this, making love, being a part of each other, she had no doubts as to how she felt about him.
She was in love with him.
Sam groaned softly then picked up the pace of his thrusts. His hands sought out her nipples as his hips rotated, grinding into her body until she climaxed. He continued to work at her nipples the way she liked best, grabbing them at the root and pulling gently but firmly to the crest, over and over. Never stopping. Never relenting.
Gwenyth orgasmed again.
Sam felt the second set of tremors course through her body, pulling him deeper inside of her, closer to her core. Knowing his own orgasm was coming on quickly, he kissed Gwenyth fully on the mouth, his tongue delving inside to meet with hers. She felt the vibrations of the low rumble in his throat as he thrust once more before spurting his cum deep inside of her.
They fell asleep together, clinging to one another, their bodies knowing the needs of their hearts far better than their minds did. Not that their minds weren’t learning. It was more a matter of accepting what their hearts already had.
* * * * *
Gwenyth smiled at the front desk clerk after the affable older woman handed her the card key to her hotel room. She nodded once in thanks then followed the bellhop to the set of polished silver elevators just off the main entrance to the lobby. Two minutes later, Gwenyth was shown into her suite and her suitcases were set next to the bed. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a ten to tip the bellhop with, but he held out a hand to forestall her. “The Vantrys have already seen to that.”
Indeed, Gwenyth mused, the Vantrys had seen to everything so far. They had treated her well during her last assignment, but this time around they were sparing no expense in seeing to her comforts. It was a nice feeling.
Not because Gwenyth’s hotel suite was large and elegant or even because of the first class treatment she’d received since stepping off the plane this afternoon. That had been nice—very nice. But Gwenyth was a simple person of simple tastes.
The real reason she was basking in the star treatment the Vantrys were bestowing upon her was because it was a symbol of the fact that she was truly making it in her own right. Her name wasn’t taking second stage to Verlene’s any longer, the way it had been when she’d first formed Jones & Jones with Grandmama. Respect for her own unique abilities, Gwenyth decided, felt extremely good.
Gwenyth smiled after the bellhop as she watched him take his leave. Once the door to the suite was firmly closed behind him, she did another quick check on her photography equipment to make certain that nothing had been damaged during the trip upstairs. Certain all was as it should be, she plopped down onto the bed and reached for the phone to call home and let Willy and Verlene know she’d made it to LA in one piece.
“Fine, sugar. Call me tomorrow to let me know how it went. I have a proposal I want to go over as well.” Verlene bit the tip of her pen as she stared at the sheet in front of her. “Looks like Martel was so pleased with your efforts in the ‘Kiss me’ line that he wants Jones & Jones to come back and catalog his ‘Touch Me’ line after the new year.”
Gwenyth squealed excitedly into the telephone connection, causing Verlene to chuckle. “Really? He said that?”
“Uh huh. And Martel’s newest collection is huge, sugar. We’ll have to work together on this one.”
Gwenyth smiled sentimentally. “That’s wonderful news, Grandmama. We haven’t gotten to work side-by-side in over two years.”
Verlene agreed. “I know it. I believe Granddad is going to join us this time around since the entire shoot will last two or more weeks from start to finish.”
Gwenyth clicked open a pen laying on the desk next to the bed and began to absently doodle on a notepad the hotel had left for her use. “Where is it located at this time?”
“Aix-en-Provence.”
