Etoile (The Mannequin Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

mouth.
     
    He gently craned his neck and began moving his lips towards hers at an excruciatingly teasing pace. She closed her eyes as her heart thudded loudly in anticipation.
     
    "There you are! You kids didn't leave yet?" Ed, the owner of the agency, had sauntered over and was boisterously interrupting their special moment. He had brought along three other older gentlemen, all of whom were oblivious to what had just happened. Tyler and Elodie both shot up and straightened their expensive outfits with their sweaty palms.
     
    Ed emitted a cloud of whiskey fumes as he grabbed Tyler's cheeks. "Look at this boy! Isn't he pretty? This is the one I told you about!" Ed continued to babble nonsense as he shook Tyler's pinched face at the stuffy old men in suits. They nodded appreciatively as Ed showed off his shiny new toy.
     
    Sigrid, Ed's supermodel girlfriend who was fifteen years younger and two inches taller than him, soon came over to retrieve him. ”Babe," she drawled out without even wincing. "Baptiste wants to say goodbye. Leave these two alone, yea?" She shot Elodie a knowing smile. Ed gave a cocky laugh and crudely placed his hand on her ass, while Sigrid continued to smile prettily like an ornament. After slapping Tyler on the back roughly, he and his entourage made their way back to the other side of the room.
     
    Elodie looked at Tyler, whose cheeks were still flushed from the rowdy ambush. "Fuck, what a dick. Do you think I'm pretty?" he asked her with an embarrassed smile as he rubbed the back of his neck. She laughed at his oozing charm as he slowly slipped her hand into his.
     
    "Come on, let's get out of here."
     
    They made their rounds and said goodbye to a bunch of people who could care less, and he led her out of the gallery and into the elevator. Once inside, he cornered her and tilted her chin up.
     
    "The night is young. Whatever could we do?" he asked with an innocent expression.

 
     
    T hree
     
     
    The company-expensed towncar ride back to Tyler's place was the ultimate test of Elodie's patience. Unbeknownst to their pleasant cab driver, the two could hardly contain themselves.  Tyler softly grazed Elodie's bare legs with the back of his hand while sneaking her small smiles. She was about ready to explode when the driver cheerily announced that they had arrived after what seemed like hours. Unfortunately, that place was his tiny and cramped model apartment.
     
    Tyler held her hand firmly in his own as the doorman let them into the building. After leading her into the elevator, he abruptly spun her into his arms. "Where were we?" he whispered in a voice so quiet that she would not have been able hear it had she not been pressed up against his chest. He slipped his suit jacket off of her petite shoulders and ran the palms of his hands up and down her bare arms. She looked up at him with longing eyes, which he met with a teasing smile.
     
    The elevator beeped and he chuckled lightly as he grabbed her hand again to lead her out into the bright hallway. "This is it," he announced as they stopped in front of his door. But he didn't open it. Instead, he positioned Elodie between his tall body and the wall, looking at the young French beauty with quivering eyes. Her breathing become quick and shallow as he placed his hands gently on her bum and cautiously lowered his face to meet her own. His warm breath approached her lips and the two finally shared their first kiss, his lips barely brushing her own.
     
    A chill ran down Elodie's body as her eyes fluttered upwards to meet Tyler's own, which looked eerily translucent in the light of the hallway. The conflicting feelings of relief and anticipation flooded her as the butterflies in her stomach flitted tumultuously. He looked at her with a soft expression before taking his lips to hers again, but much more aggressively this time.
     
    The longing and urgency were tangible in the air surrounding them. Pushing his lower body unyieldingly against hers,