As Sydney leads us to yet another group of strangers for another round of small talk, I look around for Amelia or Thomas, the only familiar faces who know him. I spot Amelia inside, by the grand piano. The party seems to congregate outside, with barely anyone inside the main living area. I pull away from Sydney and follow a waiter through the sliding glass doors.
“Hey!” I yell to her from across the room. I’m so eager to speak to her that I barely notice the cathedral ceilings, the minimalist furniture, and the expansive view of the water.
Amelia meets up with me by the stone fireplace.
“Are you having a good time?” she asks. “Oh, you don’t have a drink!”
“No, I’m good,” I say, realizing that I left mine on one of the tables outside.
Despite my protestations, she flags down one of the waiters and I take a glass of white wine off his serving tray. I’m not much of a drinker, but not having a glass in your hand at a cocktail party, even if it’s just water, seems off-putting.
“I just wanted to ask you about Mr. Crawford,” I say, with hesitation in my voice. “I don’t know if I was supposed to meet him out there or …not.”
“No, he actually just got delayed with a business meeting so he is running quite a bit late,” Amelia says. “He told me to tell you that he hopes that you are enjoying the party and your stay here and he will see you later.”
I nod, as if I understand a word of what she is saying. Then I decide to just come out with it.
“Okay,” I say slowly, carefully picking my words. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” She shrugs her shoulders in a casual nonchalant manner as if she has not a care in the world.
“Who is he?” I blurt out.
“Who is Mr. Crawford?” she asks, surprised.
12
When I wait…
“Yes, who is he? What does he look like? Do I know him from somewhere?” I ask Amelia. The words burst out of my mouth, all at once.
Suddenly, Amelia’s demeanor changes completely. The smile on her face vanishes and she shakes her head.
“Do you know why I’m here? I mean, do you know what he did for me?”
“I know that he sent you a gift and he was thankful that you accepted it,” she says coolly. “Actually, I was the one who took care of the arrangements.”
“Yes, I figured that much,” I say. I wait for her to continue but she doesn’t. Instead, she just stares at me like a deer in headlights.
“So…can you tell me anything about him?” I nudge her again.
“No, I’m sorry. I really can’t.” She shakes her head. “He gave me strict instructions to not reveal anything to you about who he is.”
“Do you know why he sent me the gift?”
“That I actually do not know.”
At a loss as to what to do next, I look back at the party on the deck.
“Does anyone there know who he is?” I ask.
She hesitates. Her eyes drift down to the floor and then cautiously back to me.
“Please tell me,” I plead.
“They are just his friends and business associates, but he likes to keep his private life private.”
My eyes light up.
“Olive, please.” Amelia touches my hand. The expression on her face is intense and serious. “Please don’t ask them. Mr. Crawford doesn’t want the surprise spoiled and none of them know what he did for you. It is his wish to keep that a secret.”
Her eyes meet mine and she doesn’t let me go even when I take a step away from her.
“Please, promise me that you’ll wait,” she says.
I don’t know what the right thing to do is so I nod and give her my word. If that’s what he wants, then that’s the least I can do in return for him giving me such an extraordinary gift.
I spend the rest of the evening avoiding all the people that I have met earlier. I figured that I have done enough socializing for one party and now that the illusive Mr. Crawford isn’t making an appearance, I’d rather just enjoy this view in peace.
When the night comes to a close and the sky becomes spotted with millions of stars, Sydney runs up to me in a huff. She’s so excited that it takes her a moment to catch her breath.
“I have a date!” she finally manages to say.
“Really? With who?” I ask.
“This guy I met at the party. He is tall and has this amazing luscious dark hair and a beautiful tan.”
“Everyone around here has a beautiful tan,” I point out.
“Whatever.” She waves her hand. “He’s also a doctor!”
“Oh, a doctor! Your parents will be so proud,” I joke.
“No, they won’t,” she says proudly. “He’s a pediatrician at this clinic for the poor. If he has money it doesn’t come from his job.”
“Oh, I see, he’s a medical rebel!” I say, smiling. “So…where is he taking you?”
“To dinner and a drive,” she says. “Don’t wait up.”
I feel the expression on my face fall. “You’re leaving now?”
“Yeah, why do you care?”
I shrug.
I shouldn’t.
I should be happy for her, but I’m concerned nevertheless.
“But you just met him, what if he’s some…creep or something?”
“He’s not! Besides, how is this any different from me meeting some doctor at a party in Boston?”
I shake my head. “Well, neither of us have ever been here before, for one. What if you get in trouble? You don’t know the area at all.”
“I’ll have my phone with me.”
“There’s no reception here on that main road, remember?” My thoughts return to our two hour drive.
During daylight, it was magnificent but the fact that I couldn’t get a signal at all was a little bit annoying. Now, that’s it nighttime, the road seems treacherous and dangerous.
“I’ll be fine,” Sydney says and I let it go. I don’t want to ruin her night by acting like her mother, or worse, but I still have my concerns.
“Look, it’s going to be fine. Amelia knows him. It’s not like he’s a total stranger. Besides, you’re the one you should be worried about.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Mr. Crawford? Wasn’t he supposed to be at the party? And he’s a no-show?” She laughs, tossing her hair off her shoulders.
“Maybe he was traveling here on that crazy road, fell off a cliff, and doesn’t have reception to call for help,” I joke, and then immediately regret it.
That seems like something that probably happens a lot around here and I feel bad for even kidding about it.
“So, what is going on with the illusive Mr. Crawford?” she asks as I follow her back to her cottage.
“I don’t know. Amelia said that he got held up with something but who knows if that’s true. She was being very cryptic about everything and asked me not to ask the guests about his whereabouts.”
“How odd,” Sydney agrees.
She walks into the bathroom and applies a fresh coat of deodorant to her underarms. Then she props up her leg on the sink to check if she needs to shave them again. The knees and the area around the ankle of her left leg don’t pass inspection so she gets out her razor and shaves those hairs off.
The doorbell rings. Sydney’s eyes light up in excitement. She practically runs over, but then takes a moment to gather her thoughts prior to opening the door.
The man on the other side is indeed tall, dark, and very handsome. He gives her a brief peck on the cheek and then introduces himself to me as James Dupree.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but can I have the name of the restaurant where you are going and your phone number and address? Just in case,” I say.
I’m rarely this forward but I know that I will regret not having this information were she to spend the night with him.
He smiles and asks for my number so that he can text me all the info.
“I’m sorry but we
’re just not from around here and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to Sydney,” I say as he types his message.
“No offense taken, you’re being a good friend,” he says. “Just sent it.”
I follow them out of her cottage and head toward my own.
“Wait, James!” I yell into the dark. I follow the path toward the two figures somewhere in the distance. “Can I ask you something?”
They’re holding hands and Sydney has an annoyed expression on her face.
“I just wanted to ask you about the guy who owns that house. I don’t know if Sydney told you anything about why we’re here…” My words trail off.
“No, not really,” James says.
I hear Amelia’s request in my mind and hesitate to tell him anything else.
“So, do you know the owner?” I reiterate the question.
“Nicholas Crawford?” James nods. “Yes, of course. He’s a good friend of mine. We go surfing a lot.”
“So, he wasn’t at the party this evening?” I ask.
“Nope.” James shakes his head. “I heard that he got stuck on the other side of the island and couldn’t make it. It probably has something to do with that resort.”
“What resort?” Sydney asks.
“He’s one of the investors in a large resort over there and they’ve had a lot issues getting permits and stuff like that. It has been kind of a headache.”
I nod, taking it all in. From what James says he seems like a normal guy.
Maybe I don’t have anything to worry about after all.
So, why does my heart still keep skipping beats?
13
When she interrupts me…
After Sydney leaves, I take off my clothes, wash my face, brush my hair, and climb into bed. The long flight and the two hour drive along with the excitement and built-up anticipation of the party have all taken a toll on me. I’m not sure what time it is in Boston right now or how little I slept in the last twenty-four hours and I’m too tired to figure it all out. I turn off the lights and close my eyes.
That’s when the thoughts start running through my mind. I run over every person I have known in my life, trying to remember if there’s anyone by the name of Nicholas Crawford.
Nick? Do I even know any Nicks?
No, I can’t say that I do. I mean, there were probably Nicks who I went to high school with, it is somewhat of a common name, but I wasn’t friends with any of them.
Realizing that the fatigue of the day has somehow made my mind wired, I reach for my iPad and open a reading app. I love the feeling of a real book in my hands, but I hate having the light on and physically holding the book and turning the pages, especially when I am tired.
EBooks make everything so much easier. I can store thousands of them in my device’s library and read whichever one I’m in the mood for that night.
Of course, like many women, I can’t really resist the ones that are a little bit explicit. Most movies and TV shows fade to black as soon as the characters start to kiss, but in books, their stories continue. In bed… that’s the best part of it, isn’t it?
After all of the drama that they endure, after all of the ups and downs of life, when they finally get together…that’s bliss!
I bookmark my favorite parts of my favorite novels and re-read them again. Sometimes, I like a short and dirty scene, but other times I like it when the details go on for pages and pages. And it’s not all sex, it’s more than that. There’s the pillow talk, their laughter, their arguments. A lot of things can happen in between the sheets.
I turn to my favorite scene in a novel set in the West. They have loved each other since they were children and they sleep together for the first time in a field right next to the rushing Colorado River. The details are so exquisite that I can’t help but close my eyes and smell the dry swaying grass and feel the spray of the cool water on their bodies.
My fingers slowly make their way down my own body, as I feel the contours of my thighs.
The skin is soft and inviting and I run my fingers down to my belly button. It moves up and down with each breath, quickening in tempo as my breathing speeds up.
Whatever bad thoughts I typically have about my body all seem to disappear, or fade into the distance.
Now, I relish in it. A familiar tingling sensation starts to build up within me, starting at the tip of my toes. I flex my feet and the sensation runs up my thighs.
I’m dressed in a blush pink, soft pajama set that I bought for the trip.
Both the t-shirt and the shorts are incredibly soft and the t-shirt has delicate ruffled sleeves.
I pull the bottoms off, along with my underwear, and toss them onto the bed next to me. I prop up the iPad so that I can keep reading the words on the screen while having the use of both of my hands.
My fingers run up my shirt and touch the outline of my breasts.
I feel my nipples get hard and I arch my back from pleasure. Keeping one hand there, my other travels back down my body and my legs open wide.
They tease me by first running up the inside of my thighs, before touching the warm, wet center of my body.
I tilt my head back as my fingers start to move in familiar circles and plunge deep inside. When I get closer and closer, my fingers speed up and my hips start to move up and down.
A knock on the door startles me. It breaks through my concentration, immediately taking me out of the moment.
For a moment, I keep my fingers where they are and just listen. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s just a critter walking outside. But they knock again. This time it’s louder.
“Olive?” Amelia asks. “Olive! I’m sorry to bother you but I have to speak with you.”
“Just a second!” I yell, hoping that she won’t just let herself in. “I was sleeping.”
My jaw clenches with irritation as I search around in the dark for my shorts and underwear.
I search the floor next to the bed before realizing that I had buried them under the sheets next to me.
“Yes?” I say in a very dismissive manner, opening the door.
I should be nice, but she shouldn’t be bothering me at this hour.
“I’m really sorry for coming here now, but Mr. Crawford would like to see you,” she says, shuffling her feet and looking down at the floor. I stare at her in disbelief. Did she really just say this to me?
“He just got back and he requested to see you,” she repeats herself.
“Now? Are you serious?” I ask.
I look her up and down. She’s dressed in the same thing she was wearing at the party, but she looks different. Her hair is a bit of a mess and she’s no longer wearing makeup. She was clearly roused out of bed as well.
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” she says.
I consider doing it for a moment, but then I get a hold of my better senses.
Yes, he did give me a big gift.
But I traveled all of the way here to meet with him and he stood me up at the party. And now, he wants to meet me at this hour?
“No, absolutely not,” I say definitively without leaving any room for negotiation.
“Please, you can’t say no to him.”
“Why not?”
“Very few people do,” she says.
“Well, I don’t work for him. He invited me here and I showed up. I was at the party, he didn’t come. I will see him tomorrow but for now I need to get some sleep.”
I close the door as her mouth drops open and wonder if I have made a terrible mistake.
14
When I meet him…
My words come out strong and powerful and self-assured but inside I feel like I’m dying. The look of concern on Amelia’s face scares me.
Did I make a mistake?
Was coming here some sort of mistake in general?
Even so, there is no way that I’m going to meet him in this state.
I’m not ready.
Earlier this evening, I looked pretty and presentable.
&
nbsp; But now?
Naked face, bed hair, no planned outfit. My mom always taught me that first impressions are everything, and even though she has probably been wrong about everything else she ever told me, I’m certain that she was right about this.
I pick up my iPad and try to focus my mind on something else. But the book that hit the spot so perfectly only a few moments ago fails to grab my attention.
I look through my library trying to find something else to read. Eventually, I turn to another one of my favorites.
It’s by Charlotte Byrd, one of my favorite writers, and it’s a lot darker in tone. Ellie goes to an exclusive yacht party and decides to participate in an auction where she has to spend the night with one of the eligible bachelors.
The men are young, rich, and incredibly good looking and the money is astronomical.
Why not, right? You only live once. I turn to my favorite part where she is lying on the bed with a blindfold over her eyes waiting for the man who bought her to come in.
My mind starts to clear and my breaths start to quicken. My fingers quickly make their way down my body and underneath my shorts. I don’t bother taking them off this time. This isn’t going to take long. My legs open up and my butt starts to move and up and down. My anticipation builds as my fingers move in neat concentric circles around my core before making their way inside. I point my toes as a warm soothing sensation amplifies and spreads throughout my body, slowly at first and then all at once.
My breath gets caught in my throat and my heart skips a few beats before pounding so loudly that I can’t hear another thing. When the moment passes, I flex my feet over and over again to get the last bit of pleasure out of my body.
It takes a few minutes for my breathing to get back to normal. I summon the little strength that I have to get up and use the bathroom before falling back into the bed.
There’s another knock on the door.
What now?
I’m not going to talk to him now, no matter what she says.
Doesn’t she get that?
“Amelia, I already told you, I’m not going,” I say, opening the door, and the motion sensor on the porch comes on.
Tell Me to Stop Page 5
