Gabrielle stepped off the evening flight from Montreal and strode into the waiting room of LaGuardia Airport, aiming for the cab stand to catch a ride into midtown. Then, a hand touched her arm.
"Excuse me, but I have a question, Miss...?"
"Lacorde," she answered. This man stopping her could only be authority, the asshole TSA or some cops.
"Miss Lacorde, I have a simple question. Just take a moment. Would you come with me and take off your clothes? It will be worth twenty dollars for your time."
She stepped back, astounded. "What do you think I am? A whore?" She stood tall and willowy at five-foot nine, with a waterfall of sleek black hair flowing over her shoulders. She braced her shoulders under the trim blue suit and shifted the carry-on bag. Thrusting out her breasts had intimidated many men.
This man was short enough that she stared horizontally into his dark eyes. He had a full head of black hair with little sweeps of gray, but was stocky, like a beer keg. Maybe thirty thirty-five years old. Big ears and a long nose.
Merde
! What the fuck was this guy thinking, hitting on her.
He smiled, not in the least disturbed. "What if I gave you," and he pulled out a roll of bills, "two thousand dollars? Would that change you mind?"
Gabrielle's mouth dropped open. Two thousand for taking off her clothes, something she did every night before she went to bed? "Two thousand." She wanted to confirm the agreement. To make sure she had heard right.
"I am on my way to see my fiancΓ©," she said. "In Manhattan. He is expecting me."
"I understand." The man shrugged his shoulders in a gesture she recognized. "It will not take long, if you will follow me."
Gabrielle hesitated. Her dinner with Andre wasn't until eight o'clock. She would see him at the hotel. He would want to fuck her before she even had a drink. Andre was a prick, but a very rich prick. FiancΓ©, ha!
"Follow you to where?"
"A room. I have a key. I am an artist. I make pictures that sell for thousands of dollars. The airport has given me a commission."
"Pile on
le bois sec
," she said in Franglais. "Let's move."
He took her arm β the lower part, indicating he didn't possess her as a lover might, but as a possession. His grip was strong and she smelled something β a man scent that intrigued her, this barely acceptable man who seemed so in charge of everything.
"I remind you I have an appointment. And you said two thousand."
He only smiled and unlocked one of the anonymous doors that filled every airport, guiding her forward. Inside was an office without desks, just two chairs. "I think you can put your clothes on that chair, but the carpet seems very clean."
"Two thousand?" she asked.
"Of course. If you will let me, I'll take your jacket," and before she could object, he had slipped the silk jacket off her shoulders. "And the skirt."
This didn't faze her. She was used to Andre ripping her clothes off, screwing her in less than three minutes and then getting up to go to the
salle de bain
.
"Gabby, you have lovely breasts. They are like...."
"My name is Gabrielle.