Northern Exposure

by Stephanie Williams

  “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “How so?”

  “Everyone knows me here.” With that, he got up, brushed the sand from his muscular body, and strolled back to the hotel.

  Brit watched him as he made his way back.

  Good Golly, Miss Molly!

  If there was ever the perfect male ass, it was his. And those powerful-looking thighs and strong back weren’t anything to sneeze at, either.

  Brit couldn’t help but smile to herself. She had checked out a naked, drop-dead gorgeous man without having to sleep with him! How cool was that?

  Speaking of sleeping with, she leaned back on her elbows and thought a moment. His body looked like it could do all kinds of tricks. From what she had seen of his…ahem…friend, it looked like it could work some magic, too.

  “Ooh, Brit, you need to stop. You came here to relax, not get caught up in some torrid affair with a stranger.”

  She threw herself back down on the blanket and reached for her magazine. Damn it!

  Merman had it.

  She flipped over on her stomach and rested her head on her crossed arms. She needed to pull herself together. Why was she letting this brief encounter with a regular guy on the beach get to her?

  Probably because there was nothing regular about him.

  Sebastian returned to his room and headed straight to the shower to wash off the sand.

  As he began lathering his skin, he thought about the ebony beauty who had lain on the sands of his favorite beach.

  Exquisite.

  He had been so excited when he’d seen her walking down from the hotel. He just couldn’t believe his eyes. This had to be her favorite hotel when she visited Finland. He had seen her before, many times, however, never on the beach.

  But then he might have just missed her. He was always busy, and he hadn’t had a chance to take a real vacation in the past two years.

  This year was different. He was on sort of a sabbatical. Trying to get his life in order. Trying to figure out if there was more to life than his job.

  He loved his profession, but he hadn’t been inspired in a long time. Until now.

  He stepped out of the shower, dried off and wrapped the towel round his waist. He went into the bedroom and picked up Brit’s magazine.

  Brittany. What a beautiful name.

  He began flipping through the pages. It looked like your garden-variety travel magazine, but as she’d said, it was geared toward African-American women. Interesting.

  He wondered what other places she had visited. He liked a well-traveled woman and it was unusual to see an American who was so well traveled. He wasn’t trying to make a blanket observation. But when ninety percent of foreigners carried a passport compared to only thirty percent of Americans, it was refreshing to see.

  And he had to admit it was nice to see such an open, carefree woman. A lot of tourists were skittish of clothing-optional beaches. Not her. She looked more comfortable than the natives. Until he approached her. He noticed immediately how self-conscious she became when he sat talking with her. Which meant one thing. She was attracted to him.

  Normally, people just acted as they would if they had on clothing while carrying on a conversation. But he noticed the way she had looked at him—or tried not to look at him. How cute.

  He hadn’t been immune either.

  Her body was perfection. Smooth, silky brown skin. He’d had to grab her magazine to focus on something else, otherwise, he would have had her right there on the beach.

  Finland was open, but not that open. Tonight, however, he would get closer to his goal. Dinner, dancing, and hopefully, back to his hotel room.

  Chapter Three

  “Hey Susan, how’s the office?”

  “Girl, if you don’t stop worrying. And do you know what time it is?”

  Brit looked over at the clock, then winced. She kept forgetting about the time difference. This magazine was her baby and she had left it in the hands of other people, so she called and checked in every once in a while.

  “About four o’clock in the morning. Sorry, my bad. I was just getting ready to go out to dinner.”

  “The chickens haven’t even put on their underwear yet and—going out to dinner!”

  Sigh. Brit kept forgetting how her personal life seemed to be everyone’s business at the office.

  “Yeah, well, let me let you go back to sleep. And tell Edward to do the copy for the Africans in Ancient Rome feature.”

  “Wait, wait, don’t hang up. Are you going out to dinner with someone or by yourself?”

  Brit took the receiver with both hands and began choking it. It was a habit she picked up from little sis, treating the phone like the actual person she wanted to harm. “Look, go back to sleep. I will talk to you later.”

  “Okay, just give me details when you call back.”

  Brit rolled her eyes and hung up. She looked at the clock and began getting herself together. She was running a bit late.

  She was a little nervous, yet she was beyond curious. She had never dated a Finn before. Heck, she had never dated a Scandinavian. She had always perceived them to be too…pale.

  In every Scandinavian and Nordic country she had been to, the natives looked like want ads for SPF 80.

  Sebastian didn’t. His body had a light dusting of a golden bronze tan. His blond hair was bleached blond on top but darker underneath. She had always liked that look.

  The image of him naked floated through her mind. It couldn’t be helped, considering that’s how he was when they met.

  Now they were going to dinner, imagining who knew what. How would she break the ice? What was there to talk about? The interesting birthmark on his balls?

  Brit threw herself backwards on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Why was she shocked? No matter what country she went to, something insane always happened. Just add this to the “The Crazy Adventures of Brittany.”

  Once she triple checked herself in the mirror, Brit was satisfied with her look. The temperature had dropped dramatically in a few hours, and it was forty degrees with a wind chill of twenty.

  She had on a tight-fitting sweater dress with a cowl neck, her furry Giuseppe Zanotti boots, and her hair in a loose French roll. Her makeup was impeccable. She wore her favorite red lipstick and her diva mink false eyelashes. She was good to go.

  She was about to do one last compulsive check in the mirror when she heard a knock on her door. “Yes?”

  “It’s Sebastian.”

  Brit’s stomach actually did a flip-flop.

  She opened the door.

  Sha-zam!

  Okay, she knew what he looked like naked, but clothed he was absolutely immoral looking. Snug jeans encasing muscular thighs and a tight ass. A bluish-green, light cable knit that begged you to rip it off. Yep. This is what God intended when he made man.

  “H-Hello,” she managed to squeak.

  “Hi, there. May I come in or are you coming out?” he asked, smiling.

  His smile was so spectacular. Brit thought she would faint right there. That sweater was driving her crazy. It was trying hard to contain every muscle on that chest.

  He was a tall man, at least six-four, but then Nordic men were among the tallest in Europe. She hadn’t noticed that before. Kinda hard to do when she had been concentrating on other…ahem…traits. “Please come in,” she finally said, stepping back.

  Sebastian walked past her and the smell of his cologne and maleness went straight to her brain, nearly frying it.

  This was going to be an interesting dinner.

  Sebastian tried to do everything to stop himself from grabbing her and kissing the hell out of her. Her lips were begging to be kissed, and kissed hard. He also had to stop himself from laughing. It seemed that Brit had made an extra effort to cover herself.

  Admittedly, it was a bit chilly outside, and maybe she wasn’t used to the sudden drop in temperature. And even though the sweater dress accented every luscious, decadent curve of
her body, the cowl neck was a bit too much.

  He knew what was under there. It wasn’t like he could forget her perfectly shaped breasts and long, luscious legs. “I’m really looking forward to tonight,” he finally said.

  “Oh? Oh yes, what restaurant are we going to?”

  “Piccolo Mondo. It’s Italian, I know. But I notice a lot of visitors don’t fancy the native fare. But that’s not what I was talking about. I meant after dinner.”

  Brit narrowed her eyes and raised her brow.

  Uh-oh, what did he say?

  “Excuse me?”

  “Well, I thought maybe we could go back to my place for a nightcap as you say and…”

  “And what?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  This was not going well.

  “Do you think just because you saw me naked, that I would sleep with you on our first outing together?” she asked, now tapping her foot.

  “N-No…well, yes. I mean no. No! What I meant was…”

  She stood there eyeing him with what looked like contempt.

  Should he leave and come back, or shoot himself? From the look on her face, she would probably prefer the latter.

  “Okay, let me start over. I just thought that since you were open and…”

  “Open?”

  “Yes. Open and carefree. I thought we could have a little fun.” A cheesy guilty smile spread across his face. “I’m open and carefree too,” he quickly added.

  She sighed, “Let’s go to dinner.”

  The ride to the restaurant was pretty quiet. That was good, because at the moment, he knew if he opened his mouth, he would put his foot in it again. Or from the looks of her she would do the honors, and put her foot in his mouth. He did a quick side check. Yeah, it looked like she wanted to kick his teeth in.

  He really didn’t mean for his explanation to come out the way it had.

  Sebastian was used to having women. All kinds of women. And he thought he knew them pretty well. Seeing Brit on the beach and the way they were talking, he just figured she was into having a good time. Most women he met were. After all, she agreed to go to dinner with him. Okay, maybe he was over generalizing from past experiences. She was obviously different from those others.

  They arrived at Piccolo Mondo, and he heard the music blaring from the bar across the street. But this was his favorite nightspot. The food was good and the wine was even better. Hopefully he could make up for the terrible faux pas earlier.

  “You’ll really like this place,” he said, opening the door of his Benz. He would have driven his convertible, but he could tell from Brit’s clothing choice that that was out of the question. He helped her out and gave her another approving look. He hoped he could fix things.

  “I love this place. I didn’t come here last time I was in Finland, but I’ve been here before. Great seafood.”

  “I have a special table just for us.” Sebastian took her arm and led the way. He pulled out her chair, grabbed his, and scooted next to her.

  The place was cozy. Where they were seated, they had their own private table next to a cobblestone fireplace. The table was not a standard restaurant table. It was more intimate, with throw pillows by the hearth for added romance.

  “Order anything your heart desires.”

  “Oh, I plan to,” Brit said, lifting the menu.

  Sebastian had to get this date back on track fast.

  Chapter Four

  Brit hid behind the menu. She didn’t want Sebastian to see her mouse-eating grin.

  She was going to give him a hard time, and he deserved it. She had known what he meant when he asked her back to his place.

  Sebastian was going to suffer a bit. Besides, how dare he put images in her mind of both of them naked and sweaty in his room? The minute he mentioned going back to his place, her mind began spinning. She saw him naked. She saw his—

  “What are you getting to drink?”

  “Huh?” Brit shook her head and focused on the sea-god before her. “What did you say?”

  “I was asking what will you have to drink? I can suggest something.”

  “Okay.”

  “You’re miles away. Still thinking about what I said earlier?”

  “Well…”

  “Look, I’m so sorry I even suggested something like that. I assumed that you being here and the way you’ve traveled, that you were more…open…free-spirited. I forget that Americans are a bit prudish when it comes to sex and—”

  “Prudish!”

  “Oh, man.” He sighed.

  “I’ll have you know that I’m not a bit prudish. In fact, I’m more open to things that will probably shock even you. I am also more acceptable to different…lifestyles.”

  “Okay, okay,” Sebastian said, throwing up his hands.

  “Humph, prudish. I could do it in the park if I wanted to, and feel nothing. I’ll show you prudish.” Brit leaned over and kissed Sebastian on the mouth. She let her lips linger there longer that she would have like. But hey, she had a point to make. Besides, his lips felt good. When Brit went back to read her menu, she could almost see the hole burning through it. She lowered the menu and noticed Sebastian ravenously looking at her.

  “I see. That was sweet,” he said quietly.

  Man. Did she just do that? “Um…what I mean is, if that is what I wanted to do. Which I don’t,” she added quickly.

  “You are a fascinating woman.”

  “How so?”

  “You are conservative one minute, hot and crazy the next.”

  “I see. Which one do you like best?”

  “The real Brittany. The one that’s not afraid to be herself and to hell with everyone else. Like that kiss.”

  Wow. She hadn’t seen that coming.

  All evening he had been putting his foot in his mouth and being a total boob. But now he was Mr. Sensitivity.

  “Who is the real Brittany?”

  Great, now he was Dr. Phil.

  Who was the real Brittany? Come to think of it, she had never asked herself that question. She always defined herself by her job, friends and family. Maybe that’s why she went crazy when she traveled overseas.

  Being the middle child wasn’t easy, and she was sure that’s one of the main reasons she engaged in most of her antics.

  Damn, she wished she could turn the subject back to sex.

  A waiter came to their table and Sebastian ordered appetizers, then poured her wine. “You don’t have to answer that tonight,” he said with a smirk, as if reading her thoughts. “I was just wondering. I read your magazine from front to back.”

  Great, a safe subject. “You did? What did you think?”

  “I love the concept. There are differences in the way women of color are treated overseas.”

  Brit put her arms on the table and leaned closer. She was in working mode again, but she couldn’t pass this up. Learning about how people of color are treated by other cultures always fascinated her. “Tell me more.”

  “I can only speak for the Scandinavian and Nordic countries, but we love colored women. We see them as exotic and wonderful. They are honest, they speak their minds, and they are more receptive to different things.”

  “Exotic, huh?”

  “Did I say something wrong again?” Sebastian asked, putting down his breadstick.

  “Well, usually we colored women,” Brit said, making finger quotes as she said colored, “equate the word exotic coming from another race as freaky or willing to do anything.”

  Sebastian’s face lit up, and he snapped his fingers. “Ah, now I understand! You think I see you as a stereotype.”

  By George, I think he’s got it. “My train of thought was heading that way, yes.”

  “No, no. Please understand. The offer I made to you was genuine. I mean, I am attracted to Brittany Reese, the editor of Colorful Travels, not because she’s black, but because she is just so beautiful, she seems unreal.”

  Well, damn!

  Brit ate and enjoyed her
conversation with Sebastian. Every now and then, she would catch him smiling and staring at her.

  After the third time, she asked, “What?” as she took another sip of wine.

  “You got a little food right there.” Sebastian leaned over and licked the corner of her mouth. “Just a little sauce,” he said as he licked his lips.

  Okay, he did not just do that! Nope, she was imagining it. He did not just lean over and swipe his tongue over her lips. Oh well, tit-for-tat, she guessed. She closed her thighs tighter and tried to regain her composure. Damn! He was too sexy for words. And why had she chosen spaghetti for dinner?

  “Um…so your uncle manages that hotel?”

  Sebastian’s smile grew wider. “Am I making you nervous?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Liar.” He took another bite of his dish, mussels over angel hair pasta and swallowed. “My uncle owns and manages several hotels in the area. Hostels, actually. This hotel is a recent purchase. Since he had worked there so long and he was doing such a great job, the former owner retired and sold it to him.

  “Why hotels?”

  “Better than reindeer,” he chuckled.

  “He owned reindeer at one time?”

  “Yep, near Inari.”

  Brit thought a moment. “Inari, Inari….”

  “It’s as close to the Arctic Circle as you can get,” Sebastian said, helping her out. “I’m surprised you never ventured up there, you being…adventurous and all.”

  “Well, any time I did a piece on Finland, it was usually in the winter. I don’t want to get any colder than I have to.”

  They both laughed.

  “How long is your stay here?” Sebastian asked, taking her hand before she could reach her wine glass.

  “A month.”

  “Excellent! I can show you some of the sights that you never put in your magazine. You know as well as I do that you never really see a country and its people until you go places normal tourists dare not.” He kissed the back of her hand.

  “Yes, well, I’m sure you’ll show me a good time.”

  “And then some.” He winked at her and continued eating.

  Brit was in trouble.