Page 18 of The Perils of Paulie
After putting my things away in the closet and dresser, I had a quick shower, shaved, and went down to the ballroom for the welcome party.
A gaggle of women was at the doorway, and I made sure to let them go first. By the time I was checked in by an assistant at the door, I could see the party was already going. I wondered if Rupert had remembered about it and was going to look for him when I heard a woman say in what I believe is called a smoky voice, “There goes my shot at sexual gratification with a handsome foreigner.”
She saw me as soon as she spoke, and was visibly embarrassed. I did my best to put her at ease, even going so far as apologizing for making the matter worse by chatting with her, and fortunately her blush faded quickly.
Unlike some women, she blushed prettily. In fact, she was very pretty, with high Slavic cheekbones, a pointed little chin, and a smattering of freckles across the bridgeof her nose and upper cheeks. Her hair was shoulder length and straight, a glossy black that looked as if it felt like silk. But it was her eyes that gave me pause. They were brown, but a beautiful brown with all sorts of different colors mixed into it... reds, golds, even a little black flecked her irises. I quite enjoyed looking into her eyes, as ridiculous as that sounds.
“I’m Paulie,” she said, and we shook hands. She had a surprisingly strong grip for a woman, which was a nice change. Since there was no sign of Rupert, I spent a few minutes talking with Paulie. She told me about her plan to keep a journal on the race, an idea that appealed almost immediately to me.
Just as I was enjoying myself with her, we wandered over to the drinks table, and she suddenly leaned in to me, her straight black hair brushing against my cheek. It was as if she had been made of fire—a bolt of heat shot down my neck and settled in my belly. I took a step backward, startled by both the touch and my reaction to it.
I mumbled an apology, the hurt in her eyes making me feel like I was the biggest heel in the world.
That look haunted me, and I tried to explain that I was just startled and didn’t dislike her, as she seemed to think, but by that time Roger d’Espry had started talking and introducing the teams.
I was pleased to see, when it was time for my team to stand, that Rupert had made it to the party in time, although judging by the women at his table, he’d had no problem making new friends.
“Look, I want to explain about earlier,” I said to Paulie when it was all over, but she didn’t seem to hear me... or she chose not to. Either way, she hurried off with Tessa.
“Well? What do you think? Looks like it’s going to befun, eh?” Rupert stopped next to me as people received their costuming appointments.
“That has yet to be determined,” I answered, glancing at my watch. “I have to be fitted for my costume in twenty minutes.”
“Mine is in an hour. Good. Gives me time to work on my new friends.” He grinned and waved across the room, where a clutch of people stood around the doors chatting.
“Yes, I noticed you didn’t have any trouble finding a couple of women to coo over you,” I said dryly.
“Finding them? No, but I did have a bit of a fight to get them past the bloke at the door since they weren’t on the list. Looked like you aren’t doing too bad yourself. That bird you were with is a looker. Where’d you find her?”
“Paulie? She’s one of the racers.”
“Really,”Rupert drawled, looking thoughtful. “Maybe Alice is right.”
For some reason that I refused to examine any further, I wanted to punch him in the shoulder.Hard.
“She’s out of your league,” I told him instead, and quickly changed the subject. “What did you think of Roger d’Espry?”
Rupert shrugged. “Seemed just like Elliott and Gunner described him—scattered, but competent enough. You going to the bar after your fitting?”
“I hadn’t planned on it.”
“Your loss if you don’t. I’ll be there with the twins, and from the sounds of it, the Italians are planning on hosting a party there. You could do a lot worse than to show up and meet a few bits of delectable flesh.”
I gave him a look of jaded exasperation and started toward the door. “You may get by thinking of nothing but sex, but some of us have other things on our minds.”
“Like I said, your loss.” Rupert punched me on thearm, then went to the corner to collect his twins and join the group surrounding the Italian team. I wondered idly where the third member of our team was, then went out to find the conference rooms that were currently housing the wardrobe department.
I consulted my assignment sheet and opened the door listed. “I believe I’m supposed to be—”
The words died on my tongue. Standing in the center of the room, facing a tall mirror, and clad only in a pair of skimpy lace underwear and a corset, stood Paulie.
Note to self: Expunge the following paragraph so as to avoid lawsuits regarding inappropriate thoughts.
I’ve seen naked women in my time, but never have I seen a woman who looked like a Greek statue brought to life. No, not Greek—that was too antiseptic and cold. Paulie was anything but that—she was warm, with curves everywhere, rounded breasts rising high above the corset, beautiful arms that she used in an attempt to hide first her bits, then her breasts, then finally her ass. And what an ass it was—gloriously round and smooth and... I had the worst urge to take it into my hands and just squeeze. She whipped around, a blush sweeping upward from her chest. I realized I was staring at her breasts and dropped my gaze, but that just led me to admire the sweep of her hips (good birthing hips, my mother would call them) and then down to two delicious thighs, round and silky looking, and for a moment I had an insane vision of me kissing my way up those thighs.
The look of horror on her face stopped those thoughts dead.
“Sorry. I thought... I was supposed to get fitted... Sorry.” I ran out of the room before I could embarrass Paulie any further, and ran into Roger d’Espry a few doors down the hall. He was chatting with the couple who had been at my table, and turned to wave me over.
