Chapter Six - Tequila

'You should've seen the look on the DA's face. It was priceless', Claire was bragging about her major win today as she was munching on some grapes.

My head was somewhere else. I was thinking about this mysterious Miss Fernandez. It occurred to me that I had no idea what her marital status was. I knew she wasn't married; hence Madison always refers to her as "Miss". But that didn't omit the fact that she might be engaged or seeing someone. It had also occurred to me that I didn't know her name. She seemed like she had one of those modern, but rarely used names like Shiloh or Vivien.

I wonder if she would be nice to me when we meet. She seemed to be like a nice person. Well, her body seemed nice in the pictures. Real nice

'Earth to Killian', Claire cut through my thoughts.

'That's really great, honey', I said automatically.

It was my go to response whenever I wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. It could pass as a compliment, praise and as words of encouragement.

'Where were you just now?', she asked, curious.

I couldn't lie to Claire. She always knew when I lied because my ears turn red and beads of sweat start forming around my forehead. Besides, nothing good ever really comes from that. I had no reason to lie, anyway. All I was doing was thinking the woman that I'll be working for.

No big deal.

'Madison got me a new gig at Femme. They want me to do a photo-shoot for them', I tried to downplay the situation a bit as I munched on a couple of grapes myself.

'Honey, that's great!'

'I'm going to meet her boss tomorrow', I added.

Her jaw dropped.

'You're going to meet Madison's boss?'

'Yeah, is that a problem?', I asked, a little frightened.

For a moment there, I thought that all my fears would come true. Madison must've mentioned something to Claire about Miss Fernandez, and it seemed like it was coming to bite me in the ass.

'You're going to be in the same room as Genevieve Fernandez?', she seemed like she was about to pass out.

Genevieve Fernandez. Her name had an exotic, mysterious ring to it. I liked it.

'Yes, I'm going to be in the same room with Genevieve Fernandez', I said more to myself than to her.

It did sound surreal. I had a hard time believing it myself. I was going to be in the same room with the woman who sent my gears to motion and was the inspiration behind my latest adventure.

'You lucky son of a bitch', she exclaimed.

Her words took me by surprise. I expected her to attack me or chastise me or give me hell about it. But she was handling it way better than I had anticipated. I had no idea she even knew of Genevieve at all.

'You know her?', I asked to confirm my suspicions.

'I know of her. She is one of the most successful self-made women of the century. Every woman either wants to dress like her or walk like her or talk like her', she said in a dreamy voice.

'Really? I didn't know you were a fan?', I said.

But honestly, her words didn't shock me one bit. I took one glimpse at her and my knees went weak. It would be no surprise that women idolize her. I bet women would even change their sexual preferences for her; that exotic, self-made, sexy enchantress.

'I read her magazine religiously. She knows exactly what women want and she hands it out to them in a glossy cover. Oh, I'm so jealous you get to meet her!'

'I'll let her know my fiancée drools all over her magazine', I said mockingly.

'Oh, shut up', she said as she threw a pillow at me.

I tackled her down into the couch for that and gave her a hickey just under her ear. She moaned with pleasure. She liked it when I left my mark on her. I made my way up to her lips on the intention of bruising it too, but she resisted.

'Let's go out tonight', she said between kisses.

'Why?', I asked then bit her cheek.

'To celebrate. I'm really in the mood for some tequila shots', she said in her sexy voice.

'You know I can't say no when you're being this sexy', I said as I left a trail of kisses from her neck to her collar all the way to her breasts.

'I'm always sexy', she said then pushed me off.

'No sex before the wedding, remember?', she added as she went into the bedroom to change.

I had to groan with frustration.

Her "no sex before the wedding rule" was frustrating. According to her, missing each other sexually before the wedding will make our wedding night a whole lot special. I found it to be completely untrue. Wedding nights are always special; it's a given.

Women and their weird, unreasonable, girly decisions!

We got dressed, went to the nearest club we could find and it was one round of tequila after another. Claire was busting some serious moves tonight. She was getting down and dirty to the sick beats the resident DJ was playing. It's like she enjoyed torturing me; knowing that I'll be wanting her in an intense physical way was foreplay to her. I only gladly gave it to her, hoping that all this wait would finally pay off in the most extraordinary way ever.

The music, the alcohol, the lights, the rush, it was just what I needed to calm my nerves before meeting the mysterious Genevieve Fernandez. Just the thought of seeing her face to face gave me butterflies. No amount of alcohol could ever numb that feeling. As I looked at Claire, I could imagine Genevieve grinding against my body the way Claire was. Her blonde hair would tease my face while she pressed her sexy body hard against mine, making me feel hotter than I already do.

She wrapped her arms around my neck as I caressed her waist all the way to her thighs before I spanked her and pull her closer to my crotch. I was more than ready to take her then and there, in the middle of the club, and I didn't care if the whole world was watching. I grabbed her face and kissed the mother off her lips. My tongue traced every corner of her mouth; every forbidden territory that was too sweet for me to taste.

She pulled her face away and looked at me with utter admiration. That's when I realized, I just kissed Claire not Genevieve.

I haven't even met her yet, and she was already causing me trouble.

All of a sudden, the intensity of the situation I was in came crashing down on me like a wrecking ball. I excused myself from Claire, telling her that I had to step out the club for some fresh air. I started panicking and sweating for no apparent reason.

I couldn't meet her.

I couldn't.

I shouldn't.

I wanted to.

But I can't.

I knew this would only lead me down a very dark path that I could never come back from. My thoughts about a complete stranger led me astray; I should be ashamed of myself.

I called Madison to tell her to cancel the whole thing. With every ring my heart made a sickening somersault and my stomach tied up in knots too tight for me to untangle. How did I let myself get here?

The ringing stopped.

'Hey, Killian. What's up?'

'Hi, Madison', I said and paused.

'Is everything alright?', she asked.

I should be telling her to cancel the whole thing. For some reason, my mouth couldn't verbalize the words.

'You're nervous about meeting her, aren't you?'

'Oh, you have no idea', I said as I scratched my head.

'Don't worry. You'll do great. I know it', she reassured me.

I wish I felt as strongly as she did.

'What time should I be there again?', I found myself asking her.

'Nine.'

'Great! See you then', I said then hung up.

I stared at my phone in disbelief. I couldn't bring myself to end this meeting. I was doomed.

So I went back to Claire and we had another round of tequila as another attempt to calm my nerves. I would look at Claire over and over again and wonder why I would do anything to screw this up.

Genevieve Fernandez was why.