Chapter Twenty-Four
The decision to bring Jack to her apartment had turned out to be a fantastic idea for Caroline. The whole drive over in an unmarked black car guarded by beefy men, she felt she projected more power than when she was skimped to the Ritz in a yellow cab. Here she was the princess taking her charming prince to her quarters for a nightcap.
The overriding motivation for her boldness had been the fear that she might lose him. That he might get up in the morning and disappear into a different world where adoring fans are clamoring for his autographs as he tours around the world. His image is inescapable everywhere as the second coming of Tiger Woods.
Every aspect of what she had known about him was informed by this ubiquitous presence. She imagined she wasn’t the only girl out there salivating over him. Her desperation reached a level of acuity on his promise of many first kisses. Endless first kisses, a romantic notion that melted her heart and panties. So much so that she was willing to give herself to him only to be told to wait. The problem is she couldn’t wait. It was now or never.
“Are you kidnapping me?” He chided her gently.
“I can’t say I haven’t thought about it,” Caroline said as the car was speeding to a destination of her choice. She felt in control and loved keeping him on the edge.
“You know if you cross state lines in the process, it can turn into a federal crime…”
“Is that supposed to dissuade me from trying?”
“By the look of the company you keep, it seems you aren’t the least bit concerned about the world,” he said pointing to the front of the car where intimidating ex-military men kept to themselves focused on their task.
Jack wondered about their service experience. He hasn’t needed elaborate security arrangement until now. If his popularity continued to rise, he was going to hire not the run of the mill military personnel, but highly trained, elite, and lethal Special Forces guys.
“My father worries too much about me,” Caroline said. As she saw it, getting a bit of respite from the constant surveillance had given her a sense of normalcy she had craved. This day, she was pleased to have the company of protective men that could take her to a destination safely.
“Do you like it?”
“I don’t hate it. I mean there are pluses and minuses to it. It can feel suffocating at times to be under close surveillance.”
“It is better than the alternative, I suppose. I heard about the girl that died this weekend. One of the faculty members was saying how terrible a loss it was. Especially because it was a result of an intrusive attack. I suspect if she had security present to protect her, she might not have been in danger.”
The weekend of Caroline’s graduation celebration had been checkered with the terrible news of the loss of a friend. As much as she tried to forget about it, she couldn’t escape the reminders. She was surprised the news would reach Jack in such a short amount of time.
Gossip travels all around the world before the truth makes it half way there. It is a saying her father used to tell her when she was young, impressing upon her the need to tell the truth. It didn’t mean she had to say it at all times. It was her prerogative to decide whether to share the whole truth or not. The key was not to lie. These past few days have tried her resolve. She didn’t want to think about Alyson now. Alyson was the past. And her future required ensuring she made Jack her own.
The calculus has been to entice him with something he couldn’t resist. She had tried it one way at the Ritz, and it was time to try a different approach. She asked herself the question of what other women might do for him or to him. It was a simple proposition. The answer was, of course, they would throw themselves at him. They would likely give their body for him to play with as he pleased. They might even give him a blowjob, without ever needing to take off his clothes or find a discrete enough place to do it.
Heck, if it was any other girl, he might already be on round two by the time they made it to her apartment. In early days of her college years, she had used this same approach to get the best of men on campus. Her fuck-list is littered with guys enticed with one sexual favor or another. So, it was going to have to be something creative and different.
“You are right,” she said to him simply before changing the topic. “Almost there.”
“Where is there?”
“My residence,” she said searching for his fingers and holding them in hers.
“Alright then,” he said. “Thank you for the invitation, by the way.”
“You are most welcome.”
When they arrived at her building, she advised the security men they didn’t need to exit the car and went to her door pulling Jack behind her.
“I can’t imagine you are bringing me here for a nice conversation,” Jack said.
“Depends on what you are in the mood for.”
“What choices might there be?”
“Endless possibilities,” Caroline said stepping into the elevator.
“Here is another first kiss to mark the occasion.”
Their lips touched, the sensation feeling new and electric all over again. The first kiss lingered until the elevator came to a slow stop and opened the doors.
