Haze - By Andrea Wolfe Page 0,11

I didn't have anything to say to that.

After a short walk, we reached Jack's suite. He unlocked and opened the door and led me inside. The lights were out and the room happened to be very dark at that point. Light filled the room as he flipped the switch, the sheer beauty of the suite overwhelming. We were in a living room area that had a huge dining table.

"Do you host a lot of dinners here?" I asked jokingly.

"No, not really." He looked a little perplexed by my question.

"Why don't you get a smaller suite then?" After noticing that there was a whole other, equivalent side to the room around the corner, my mind was blown even further.

"They gave me a deal. Helps with business, I guess. They list me as a customer in some of the promotional materials."

"Oh, so you're a sellout then?" I gave him a sardonic grin.

"Whatever you want to call it is just fine. But hey, I'm happy with what I do, one way or another." He fiddled with the thermostat slightly and then led me toward the corner of the room. I was suddenly worried that I had offended him or something and not entirely sure why I should care so much.

"So what did you want to show me?" I tried to sound as excited as possible to drown out the fact that my previous question may have been misinterpreted. He immediately perked up.

"Are you ready?" He stood at the window, his hand on the lever to open the curtains.

"Okay." I stood there with my hands at my sides, just waiting for whatever. It didn't look as if he were going to drop his pants—well, unless rich folks had levers that would do it for them. I wasn't sure.

Jack pulled the curtains open, revealing an incredible view of the New York cityscape. "Come closer," he said.

I stepped near the window and caught my breath. "This is incredible, Jack."

"I'm still impressed even though I'm here a lot. Home away from home, I guess." He pointed toward the closest, biggest thing in view. "That's St. Patrick's Cathedral."

The architecture was so classic and unique, so Gothic. It looked kind of like the centerpiece in a horror movie or something in a Stephen King novel. "That doesn't give you nightmares, does it?"

He let out a small chuckle. "No. I live here with it. We've got to get along, you know."

It honestly looked like a painting, the giant, sprawling buildings dotted with random little splotches of light. This was a view I was not used to, one that would have been difficult for me to obtain with my limited finances. It blew my mind that this lifestyle could exist, that all of this beauty was within reach only when huge sums of money were involved. Honestly, it was both disheartening and exhilarating.

"Effie?" Jack's eyes met mine with utter intensity.

"Huh?" I ended my gawking over the incredible view and turned to face him. Seeing it had softened me up, that was for sure.

"You're absolutely beautiful." He kept his eyes trained on me, studying my face as if he were hypnotized.

My brain was overloaded with thought and emotion. Sensory overload. In a way, it felt as if I had walked right into a trap. So many things were questionable about being here with Jack, but all sense had just fled from my brain, running away and hiding somewhere else. My body wanted something else entirely—and it was in this gorgeous room, right next to me.

"Jack, I—" My heart had skipped so many beats that I didn't know what was going on anymore and feared that I might have died. I watched him approach me in slow motion, as if I were just a witness, not a participant. And then he pressed me against the wall, meeting my lips with a scorching kiss. Waves of pleasure rippled through me, instantly causing goose bumps on my skin. His tongue explored every interior surface of my mouth while his hands caressed my neck and gently traversed through the strands of my hair.

My back to the wall, I felt his hardness pressing against my thigh, his uncontrolled lust fully represented by that single part of his body. Oh God, he wanted me—and I wanted him.

Who was this guy? Who was I? The questions flickered and then went out like a dying light bulb. Who cared? I kissed him back as powerfully as he had kissed me, my decision to proceed so clear now. Oh yes, I