Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

Georgia was usually very thankful for every piece of designer clothing she was allowed to keep after premiers and other special occasions. But tonight she hated it. She looked desperately at the pile of dresses beside her on her bed. All together they were worth more than the cheque that would be presented to Jon that night and still she felt that not a single one was good enough for her to wear. And there was no-one she could call for advice, because admitting that she wanted to look her best for Jon was not an option. She even had a hard time accepting it herself.

Then she remembered a Naeem Khan dress she fell in love with at a fitting a few months ago. She tried it on and everybody loved it so much on her that the designer refused to take it back.  Until then she had never found the perfect occasion to wear the shimmering silver dress but tonight just might be that one moment. She rose from the bed to unzipped the garment back and revealed the dress. It was just a gorgeous as she remembered. A floor sweeping gown covered with glittering silver beading. It had  short sleeves and an open back. When she put it on and looked at herself in the mirror she knew this was the one. She styled her hair in a side-swept wavy hairstyle and only applied some eyeliner and mascara on her eyes and a soft matte red colour on her lips. After all, while it took her hours to make decisions she was now ready within twenty minutes.

She shared a cab with Lodinski and Martha Bachman. And the more Lodinski praised her for her looks the more annoyed Bachman seemed to become. Georgia didn’t believe Bachman really liked her anyway. Maybe she was jealous because she never managed to turn in to the successful dancer she wanted to become while Georgia did. But Georgia didn’t care. She knew she was looking good that night, and she had to.

When they arrived at the Plaza hotel they were led to a private room where Jon and his people were waiting. She shook hands with the man and the woman he brought, but didn’t even hear their names. The woman was his press lady, she remembered that. Then she watched him shake hands with Lodinski and he bend over to Martha to plant a kiss on each cheek. Georgia could swear she saw her blush when Jon stepped aside. Her way. He wasn't dressed up at all and was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans and a simple black button-down shirt with rolled up sleeves, just like the first time she saw him. And she loved him for it. He grabbed both her hands with his and pulled her closer towards him to plant a soft kiss on her cheek. Too close to her mouth not to mean anything. It brought her back to that night immediately and when he leaned in to whisper in her ear she trembled. For a moment they were alone in the room.

“Damn Georgia,…” his fingers traced a path across her bare back. “There’s only so much I can handle…”

Then he pulled back and smiled at their company. He had no other choice because this was only supposed to be a formal greeting between two people that hardly knew each other, in the eyes of their company.

The press lady folded her hands and suggested that they should all get together to present the cheque and get the photo opportunity over with. It wasn’t until then that Georgia realised that a few photographers were waiting patiently in another corner of the room.

Lodinski magically got a big cheque out from somewhere and Georgia could tell Jon was genuinely pleased when the huge amount of money was revealed to them. They got together for a photo and all that time Jon’s hand remained low on her back, spreading warmth across her body. Georgia smiled a seductive smile at the camera but all she was thinking about was that hand. And the fact that a picture of them together was about to go all around the country.

The photo opportunity only took five minutes. Then the photographers had to leave and it was down to just the six of them at the table plus some host who pulled chairs back and poured them glasses of champagne.

In the past few days when she thought about this night, and she thought about it a lot, she always pictured him sitting opposite her at the table. She imagined how he would flash her a meaningful look or two that would make her feel uncomfortable. And that he, worst case scenario, would touch her foot with his but the more she thought about it the more she started to believe that she would be able to handle that. Not one single time had she pictured him right where he was sitting now. Beside her, with his knee warm against hers. And she could feel that he was looking at her a lot. More than he should, definitely more than she could handle.

She tried to ignore the overwhelming tension she felt between them by listening to the conversations her people and his people were having, but she never really found a chance to participate. She couldn’t focus. All she felt was his knee against hers and then, when he was sure nobody was looking at them, the palm of his hand hot on her upper leg. It burned right through the fabric of her dress and she swallowed hard. He squeezed, she gasped, their company looked, Jon pulled away.

Georgia desperately longed for the moment where someone would bring them their menu so she could hide behind it, focus on something… but then six waiters came in to present them their starters. No menu, but a special dinner prepared just for them by one of the best chefs in New York, Lodinski proudly explained.

Jon smiled kindly but when he was sure everybody was too busy accepting food and thanking waiters he leaned in to Georgia. “I hate when people decide things for me. What if I get one thing while I want something else… really bad.”

Georgia choked on her champagne which only drew everyone’s attention towards her. She could hear Jon chuckle when he patted her on her back and she hated herself. Why was it so hard to keep control around that man?

She knew the answer to that question though. The main reason was that she couldn’t keep control because he needed to have it. Beside that he was really good at it and to make it worse he was so beautiful, and that voice, it was the reason that no matter what he said, it sounded sexy and sexual. The thing was though, that basically everything  he said to her so far was meant to sound that way. Seconds later Jon was still gently rubbing her back and she turned her head at him.

“I’m fine now, thanks,” she said to make him stop. “And I think you need that hand to eat your food before it gets cold,” she added.

“I don’t think anything in this room is getting cold tonight,” he said and looked directly at her. That confirmed for her that he felt it too. The tension. So strong that she wondered if everybody else could feel it as well. And they were getting a questionable look or two at that point.

And he must have seen it because that was when he stopped doing it. He focussed on his meal, talked to Martha and Lodinski while Georgia was forced to speak to his press lady and the man he brought. They asked her about the benefit and what they did to raise so much money and Georgia could hardly remember a thing. All that came back to her when she thought about that particular night was how they discussed the option of having sex for the first time. But she managed to come up with something to keep them entertained. By the time the main course was served everybody was talking to everybody and it was the perfect opportunity for Georgia to keep her mouth shut. She wasn’t good at small talk with people she barely knew but she was very good at pretending to be interested in what other people told her. And people usually bought it, but she had a feeling Jon could see right through her.

At one point he leaned in to confirm that feeling: “You look bored as hell, for someone that is supposed to be the spokesperson of the New York City Ballet you suck at keeping an act up. That pretty smile of yours might be enough to please them but you ain’t fooling me.”

She put her napkin on her plate and straightened her back. “Are you saying you could teach me how to become a better liar?”

He chuckled… “Hell… there are so many things I could teach you if you let me...”

Once again she had a feeling he was talking about something completely different and she looked aside, right into those bright blue eyes. And she saw it again. Exactly what she had seen when she let him undress her. And to make it worse he added: “I missed you Georgia.”

All she could do was flash him a tortured look and she pushed her chair back.

“If you will excuse me for a second, I’ll be right back,” she said and escaped to the toilets.

She missed him too, more than he would ever know but she did not think for a single moment that he would tell her the same thing. That wasn’t part of the plan. This story was not supposed to continue. 

When she walked away everybody at the table was looking at her, which gave him the perfect opportunity to do the same.

Kayleigh, his press woman, was the first to mention it. “She is absolutely stunning in that dress,” she said and sighed. She’s even better without it. The words were on Jon’s lips, he wanted to say them but he swallowed them right on time. But Kayleigh was right. She had been gorgeous in his memory but when she showed up tonight looking like she did, he had been impressed all over again. And every single time he looked at her that night it was as if he saw her for the first time,  looking more beautiful every damn time.

Over the last month she had been on his mind a lot, but he decided that he probably turned her in some kind of myth she would never be able to live up to in real life. As if he turned her in to this perfect creature she couldn’t possibly be. But now he got to spent the evening with her again he saw that she indeed wasn’t like he remembered her. She was even better. And he had missed how they bounced off each other and that he knew exactly what to say to make her feel uncomfortable but that she would still always have the perfect answer ready anyway. When she crossed the room after she returned he made a decision. He had to see her alone that night before she would be gone again.

The opportunity came quickly, when everybody was getting ready to leave, Lodinski asked her if she planned on taking a cab home. She said yes and he knew that was his moment to step in. “I have a spare seat in the backseat of my car, I’ll ask my driver to drive this beautiful lady home.” It was an announcement and he did not wait for her reaction. Although he was certain that she wouldn’t have turned it down.

They just had to figure out what they got themselves into in Chicago. And if it would still be there if it would be down to just the two of them again.