I hugged him as tight as I could. This man had put me well and truly under his spell and I couldn’t wait to get back to his place so he could show me another heaven we both loved.
Chapter Twenty
Our next adventure was much more up my street. Joe never failed to surprise me with his thoughtfulness and generosity. He’d had green roses delivered to our office with a note that read;
Bambi,
It’s time to treat you to a little bit of heaven. Pack an overnight case, enough for a couple of nights and be prepared to say goodbye to the outside world for the weekend.
Your Joe x
P.s The green stands for new life and energy. You make me feel alive, I’m like a new man when I’m with you my angel, my beautiful girl. X
I couldn’t be more smitten. No one had ever treated me so well, it felt surreal. I was in heaven already I didn’t need all this extravagance.
I told Joe that exact thing when he picked me up later that evening.
“You do know I’m in heaven already champ, you don’t have to spend all this money on me. I just love being with you.”
He beamed a gorgeous smile across the car to me, “That’s what I love about you Ella, you never want anything from me, just my time but I like spoiling you.”
My heart skipped a beat, had I heard right? He loved me? Well he loved my simple tastes but he’d still used the L word. I felt weak but he didn’t seem to notice what he’d said. He just reached over and squeezed my knee before grabbing my hand and pulling it into his lap to hold. Man I was screwed.
An hour later we pulled into a long drive that led to an old mansion house, it looked like a stately home, a proper old English stately home much like the one Joe was trying to replicate, but this was the real deal.
“Wow, this is awesome.”
“It’s a grade 2 listed building so they can’t do all the things here that I can do at my club, but this right here is England’s premier health spa, well for now anyway. I’m hoping to change that soon.”
“I love it already.”
I was going to enjoy this weekend. I reached across the car and flung my arms around his neck, “Thank you for bringing me here this is the best ever.”
“Good, I like making you happy.” He rubbed his nose against mine and gave me a gentle peck on the lips, but I pulled him to me for a proper kiss. He’d earnt it.
“If this is the reaction I get, I’m making sure we use my club every opportunity we get when it’s all up and running.”
A doorman came to us to collect our bags, and Joe led me inside to what could only be described as a dream of cream and marble everywhere. A few people were lazily strolling around dressed in white robes and slippers.
“I’m sorry they wouldn’t let me hire the whole building out.” He said with a dead serious expression on his face.
“Joe you need to start living like the rest of us, being with other people isn’t always a bad thing you know.”
I would have to hold his hand and ease him into the real world I decided. His obsession with privacy wasn’t always healthy and I liked being with others, meeting new people. If this was going to work long term we would both need to compromise.
He signed us in and took our room card, leading me away from the newly built cream marble dream and into a world of old wood panelled walls and swirling carpets. Old painted portraits hung on each side of the corridor lit by picture lamps and a real suit of armour stood to attention in the corner. We stopped in front of a room called the Queen Elizabeth Royal Suite. Royal was right, the room or suite rather, was the definition of luxury. Cream and gold chandeliers sparkled in each room, the furniture all cream and gold too, made from decadent luxurious fabrics. I wondered into the bedroom and sat on the springy bed, it looked like we would be sleeping on a cloud of fluffiness, with all the white and cream softness spread upon it.
“Do you like it?” He asked apprehensively.
“I love, love, love it!” I said jumping up to hug him again.
“Come and see the rest of it, then we’ll head downstairs and get you relaxed and ready for a weekend of nothing.”
“Nothing but you.” I teased.
This really was the ultimate in extreme luxury. There was a lounge and separate dining area and then two bedrooms each with an en-suite bathroom that included a sunken whirlpool bath and huge walk in shower with 360 water jets. Another door led to a private sauna, but the best part of all was the balcony. Make that balconies as we had three, all overlooking the lush gardens and tree tops for added privacy and a hot tub to finish it all off.
“We won’t need to leave the room!” I gasped.