Page 96 of Until He Confesses

“What I want is to attend fashion week. Do you think I can ask the lady with the little dog over there if I can babysit her dog?”

I was taken aback and equally amused at her words.

“What, is her dog attending?”

“He is,” she said. “I'm sure he is. He's the perfect accessory to all her outfits. This is not the first time I've flown with her somewhere."

"Wow, you reek of jealousy," I laughed, and she shot back playfully.

"I am jealous. Trust me, flying around like this is cute when you're younger, but after thirty-five, you truly start to question your life choices. I'm just really exhausted all the time.”

I nodded in contemplation at her words, and to say that the same thoughts hadn't crossed my mind would be a lie. However, it wasn't what I wanted to think about just yet. I was enjoying my life and my youth, and I wanted to do that until I had to be more serious.

"How about your billionaire boyfriend?" she suddenly asked me, and my head shot up in surprise.

"Oh," her eyes widened. "Your skin is flushed. Have you two reconnected?"

"Julianne," I complained, and she laughed.

"I'm serious."

I ignored her question, but just the mention of him had unsettled me so much that I no longer wanted to work on my itinerary. If anything, I needed space to go check on this flushed face that she was referring to, so I got up and headed to the bathroom.

I found that she had exaggerated, but I couldn't deny that my heart was beating faster than it should have been.

It had only been two days since I’d seen him, but I couldn't get him out of my mind. There was just something about the way we had been in his office that had stayed with me in my heart. More than anything, it was causing me to zone out, which was extremely unsafe for my well-being.

Anna had, of course, noticed and needlessly teased me about it, but I wasn't even offended because she was right. I wanted to see him, and for once, I became concerned that he was the only one who could initiate our meetups.

Being on this flight to France now made me wish that I could be on a flight with him once again. I'd never really considered having sex in the sky, but with him, I wanted to get fucked everywhere.

And he had the resources to facilitate it. It almost made me want to text him to ask when he would be in the air next.

This idea had percolated in my brain for days every time I'd gotten a flashback of us together. The pangs had been endless and usually came so suddenly and sharply that I lost my breath.

Anna had turned to look at me when my mom was in the kitchen, with her eyes widened.

"Really?" she'd asked, and I burst into laughter.

My mom looked lost and then looked worried all at once.

And then she'd smiled weirdly, and all the complex emotions had just left me feeling quite emotionally unstable but very, very, very sexually satisfied.

All of these fantasies had to be put on hold for the time being so that I could plan the limited time I had left. I did my research and got recommendations from Julianne. By the time we landed, my entire three-day itinerary had been created and written down. I stored the plan in my phone, cross-checked the proximity to the accommodation I had reserved in the Marais neighborhood, and geared myself up for a great time.

Julianne had friends she wanted to catch up with, so she went off on her own while I headed over to the cozy studio. I instantly took a nap in preparation for my scheduled trip later on to the local bistro, L’Ami Jean, in the 6th district. There were also instructions for a wine bar, Le Baron Rouge, where I was guaranteed to run into some locals to mingle with, so I was looking forward to that.

When I woke up, however, it was already past seven, and my body was overheated. I was filled with anger, to say the least. Irritated and incredibly turned on, I picked up the phone and tried to motivate myself to do anything. Anna immediately picked up.

“It's a slow day here,” she complained, “so I was practically hoping for the call. Is it too late for me to change careers and get on planes with you?”

“Maybe,” I smiled, already feeling better.

“What's up?” she asked, and I sighed.

“He's haunting my dreams now,” I said.

“Him or the sex?” she asked.