Page 38 of All the Gossip from Paris (Royal Fashion #2)
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The Grand Ballroom
Two weeks later
“Now we will have guests seated either side of the runway.” Sophie stopped and checked her iPad. “At the moment we have two hundred and seventy five confirmed seated guests. Including the two that Patrice added this morning.”
While he’d taken a step back from the runway show, Patrice was still heavily involved in the overall organization of the event. As chief client liaison it was his role to identify potential clients, and then gift them one of the highly coveted seats at the event.
The runway show would also be live streamed as part of Haute Couture Week. Due to the limited number of seats the general public were not able to get tickets.
The runway show itself would take place at the Petit Palais in central Paris, but rehearsals were being held in the grand ballroom at the chateau. The mannequins had been moved to one side and chairs now lined the length of the room.
Sophie dropped onto the nearest chair, and let out a tired sigh. No matter how many of these shows she’d helped to create, she always underestimated how exhausting it was to bring the entire collection together. And with Francois being absent she was having to pick up a lot of his work.
“Does Patrice know the maximum number of guests he can invite?” asked Liam.
“Yes, no more than three hundred seated. The Petit Palais is an amazing exhibition space. All that stunning pink marble and soaring arches. But it’s really limited in how many people it can hold.
Invitations to sit and watch the show are highly prized.
” She set the iPad on her lap. “Which is exactly why Papa books the Petit Palais whenever he can. The fewer guests. The more exclusive the show.”
“Economics 101. Create demand by keeping supply limited,” said Liam.
She grinned at him. “That’s the whole business model of the couture world. Design things which are fantastically detailed, then have skilled artisans create them using exquisite materials. It means that only a tiny fraction of the world’s population can ever afford to buy them.”
They’d been at this for endless hours, carefully moving mannequins back and forth as they worked to decide how the runway show should look. Camille and Ryan, who had returned from Switzerland earlier in the week, had helped during the day, but had finally cried off just before midnight.
It was nearing three in the morning, and Sophie had officially passed the too tired to sleep stage. If she went to bed now, she wouldn’t get much rest.
She’d put on some music a little while ago to try and relax. The sweeping strains of Bitter Sweet Symphony by the Verve was playing through the ballroom’s Bluetooth speakers.
“What do you think about moving the white blouse up the order and putting it behind the blazer?” she asked.
Liam cleared his throat. “Don’t judge me. But which blouse and which blazer are we talking about? There are four shirts which I would call white. And I can see three jackets from here. I think we might have already moved all of them a few times.”
Sophie nodded. Liam was right. She had moved that particular blouse more than once. It just didn’t seem to fit anywhere at the moment.
He was getting the hang of the fashion collection, but she couldn’t expect miracles.
The garments were her responsibility. Liam was making sure the images he produced for the lookbook reflected her father’s designs.
His photos would serve to showcase the incredible details in each one of the items of clothing.
Laying back against the chair, she closed her eyes, and tuned into the music. With every runway show there came a time where all the clothes seemed to blend into one another.
I think I might have just reached that point.
“Let’s call it a night, Liam. Anything I do now I’ll probably change back sometime tomorrow.”
Liam shifted in his chair. The next thing Sophie knew, a warm, soft kiss had settled on her forehead.
Opening her eyes, Sophie took in the smiling face of the man she was certain she was head over heels in love with, and grinned back at him.
I love him, but he’s leaving.
The last thing she’d ever do would be to stand in his way. To make demands that were not hers to claim. Liam was focused on his career. Being with someone like her might never become part of his life’s plans.
“You are beat. But you’re also over tired,” he said.
“You know me all too well Mister Collins.”
“Yeah.”
The warm gruffness of his voice went straight to her sex.
Liam took a step back and held out his hand. “Come on. I think I know just how to get you nice and ready for sleep.”
I like the sound of that.
* * *
His idea of helping her relax wasn’t the first one which had come to Sophie’s mind, but she wasn’t complaining.
Liam led Sophie up to her bedroom and gently sat her on the bed.
Placing his laptop between them, he opened the lid and pressed play.
It took a moment for her to realize what he was doing.
“We are going to watch a movie?”
“Yep. Nothing better to get your brain to slow down than to sit and just watch.”
The opening strains of ‘She’ by Charles Aznavour filled the room. Sophie burst out laughing. “Notting Hill. Really? You do know that this song is my mother’s phone ringtone, don’t you?”
“That is a weird and rather disconcerting thought. Here I was thinking a 90’s movie would be the perfect thing for getting you all nicely relaxed before I made a move. But then you went and tossed your mom into the mix. Now I’m not sure what to do,” replied Liam.
Sophie reached for the computer, and lowered the lid. “How about you make the move now, then we can watch Notting Hill. I promise I’ll make you forget about everyone else but me.”
Liam climbed off the bed and scooped up the laptop. When he returned, he prowled across the mattress and bent to place a kiss on her lips. She met his languid kiss with eager hunger.
I need this, need him.
“Let’s play a game,” she purred.
“What sort of game?”
She had the perfect one in mind. “For every piece of clothing one of us takes off, the other has to give them a kiss.”
The grin on his face was purely feral. “Oh, I like the sound of that.”
He stripped off his sweater, and tossed it over his shoulder. “Now kiss me.”
Their mouths met in a long tender embrace. Some guys just had an innate ability to be able to kiss a woman properly. To make her toes curl. Liam had that skill. When he finally released her from the kiss, Sophie let out a mewl of disappointment.
“Don’t give me that sass, you bad girl. Now take your shirt off,” growled Liam. “Just remember you still owe me a session of hot sweaty sex in the ballroom. I intend to collect on that debt.”
Sophie’s mind was immediately filled with all the wicked things she would love Liam to do to her.
They continued removing their clothes and indulging in hungry kisses.
When they were both finally naked, Sophie took a moment to study the gorgeous artwork which covered much of Liam’s torso.
Tracing her finger over the intricate lines of a pink lotus flower, she asked. “Where did you get this one?”
“Hanoi, Vietnam, early last year. It’s the first inkwork I decided to get colored. The lotus is meant to symbolize new beginnings.”
She bent and placed a kiss on the flower. “I think this might be my favorite.”
He shifted, turning to her. “Have you ever considered getting inked?”
“Not really.” The answer was a simple one, but the reasons behind it were less so. She wasn’t going to mention her ex or his aversion to tattoos. Or her father. Francois had absolutely lost it when he’d spotted a PSG football club tattoo on his son Stefan’s back.
Liam cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her sweetly. How so very typical of this man—he’d sensed she wasn’t comfortable discussing the subject and immediately let it drop.
“Lay back for me Sophie, and spread your legs. I’ve been wanting to taste you all damn day.”
She did as told, softly sighing as he buried his tongue deep into her heat. When he licked her from the base of her sex all the way to her clit, Sophie saw stars. Her fingers grasped the sheets. “Liam,” she cried.
He didn’t spare her, working her hard and fast to the edge.
She was a molten mess by the time he finally pulled back.
He deftly slipped a condom onto his cock, and rising over her slid all the way home.
The first rub of his piercing had her sucking in air.
The fight to stop from coming was real. She wanted as much of this glorious fucking as she could get before, she lost her mind and crashed into her climax.
As the bed began to rock from his masterful thrusts, Sophie wrapped her legs around Liam’s hips and urged him on. “Yes. Oh yes. Never stop fucking me.”
He shifted his angle and the pleasure it gave her was blindingly intense.
“Forget about sleep, Sophie. I want every person who sees you in the morning to catch the ‘I’ve been thoroughly fucked’ grin which I’m going to put on your face.”
His dirty talk did her in. Sophie screamed as her world fractured into a mind-blowing orgasm.
She clung on for dear life as Liam rode her roughly through the storm, snarling and roaring her name when he finally joined her on the other side.
Beneath his sweat-slicked body she lay happy and replete. Content in the knowledge that no other man would ever do to her what Liam did. Only he could make her feel this way.