by Claire Adams
"I got this." Casey moved around the car with Paul in tow.
"Naw, I got it. It's all good." I smiled at her, liking the girl more and more each time we hung out. She and Viv were almost polar opposites, but I could see why they made such good friends. They complimented each other well.
"Let's go. I'm excited." Viv pulled at my arm as I finished paying the cab driver.
I laughed and turned, taking her hand and half jogging with her to the gate. I handed everyone their ticket and got in line behind my girl. The breeze picked up and the smell of her perfume washed over me, causing my stomach to tighten as I reached for her.
She pressed back against me, turning her head a little to give me a great view of her profile. "What's up?"
"You’re up." I brushed my erection by her rear. "And you're causing me to get up. I swear you're the hottest woman I've ever seen in my short life."
She smiled, reached back and stroked me over my jeans, squeezing my balls softly before tugging on them a little. "You're just horny."
"Yeah. For you." I ran my hands down the top of her outer thigh and nudged her forward. "Stop playing with me, or I'll find an empty stall and see if you're wearing panties under that dress."
She handed her ticket to the attendant and turned, a smile lifting her beautiful face. "You'd like to know..."
"Fucking right I would." I handed my ticket to the guy and moved toward her as she turned and jogged toward a series of stairs.
"Come on. Casey and Paul can catch up later. I want to see everything." Her hair billowed behind her as she took the stairs, and I couldn't force myself to move another inch. I wanted to watch her, though there was almost too much irony in letting her rush from me.
"You waiting on an invitation?" Casey popped my butt as she jogged by me. "You're cordially invited to come the fuck on."
I laughed and took the stairs two at a time, buzzing past Casey and catching up to Viv in time to wrap my arms around her and spin her once at the top of the staircase. She yelped and the sound delighted me, warming my entire body from the center out. We could have what my parents had. I could feel it.
"Let's go." She moved from me and reached back, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward our seats.
I didn't care at all about the music or the experience; I just wanted to be around her while she enjoyed herself. As the band started to play, we all took to our feet and I shuffled in behind her, sliding my hands over her hips and breathing her in deeply. Tonight was it, but it didn't seem like an ending for some reason.
Maybe there was hope.
Maybe I could force it.
*****
"That was kick ass awesome!" She bounced on the balls of her feet as we stopped in the cab-line at the amphitheater. Casey had taken an earlier ride home after getting sick on something she ate, but she wouldn't let anyone go with her but her new guy. Paul said he would take care of her, and once Viv agreed to it, I did as well.
"I know, right? I loved every minute of it." I opened the door for her as she got into the cab and scooted over for me.
"What now? Want to try for ice cream again or are you tired?" She moved toward me the minute I shut my door, her actions lighting my heart on fire.
"I just want to be with you. I'd rather the night not end." I wrapped my arm around her and turned, pulling her into a long kiss.
She worked my tongue with her long draws on it, leaving my mind doused in depravity and my body aching for the rest of the night to be played out in the nude. I kissed her once more and pulled back as warmth raced up my chest and coated my neck and cheeks.
"Wow." I sighed softly and kissed her again, not wanting to break contact with her. "Come to my room with me. Spend the night with me."
"Let's go to the hot tub at the penthouse. Is there one in there?" She reached up and brushed her fingers by my lips.
"Yeah. That sounds divine. No swimsuits, right?" I wagged my eyebrows.
"Yes, swimsuits. I'm leaving tomorrow just before lunch. If stay up all night, I'll be a holy hell wreck again, which isn't good for anyone in my path." Her smile was radiant, and I had to force myself to sit back and not reach for her again.
"Alright. Swimsuits, but we're playing twenty questions. I want to know everything about you before you leave me here to fend off these crazy people by myself for the next few days." I licked at my lips, wanting to taste her again.
"How long are you here?" She snuggled in beside me and let her fingers dance along my thigh.
"I leave out on Sunday. I'm supposed to have some time with my parents before I head out for my next trip, but I'm not so sure it's going to happen." I sat up, pulling from her as the cab stopped in front of La Mage. "You wanna grab your suit from your room and meet me in the penthouse?"
"Sounds like a plan." She took my hand as she got out of the cab, her free hand slipping over my cock and squeezing as she rose to her toes and kissed me lightly. "See you in a minute."
I growled as she released me and turned to watch her go. She would have to be the one to put her foot down on our new relationship. I couldn't end anything with her. I was teetering on pushing it toward exclusivity. Maybe once we were back in New York she would be receptive to such a conversation.
I was without option. Her hold on me was far tighter than any woman before her had held.
The question was whether she knew it or not.
Chapter 21
Vivian
I didn't think to knock before I walked into our room, but I should have. Paul had Casey against the wall, fucking her hard as I stopped at the door.
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry." I turned my back to them. "I need my swimsuit. Or never mind. I can just not go swimming."
"Wait. It's fine." Casey called after me, but I didn't dare turn around. I'd seen my best friend in various compromising positions, but it didn't mean I wanted to see it again. "I'll get it."
I moved my hand behind my back and pressed my free hand to my face as I held the door open with my body. She dropped it into my hand and popped my rear.
"Have fun tonight. The room should be free again in an hour or so."
Nodding, I moved out in to the hall and tried to release the extreme embarrassment that rolled through me. Casey was obviously feeling better.
I knocked at the penthouse door after riding the elevator up with a large crowd of rowdy partygoers. They each took a turn inviting me to join the fun, but I simply denied them politely until I was the only one left on the elevator.
Easton opened the door after my first knock and smiled at me. "Casey okay?"
"Yeah, you could say that." I ducked under his arm and moved into the room. "I walked in on her and Paul having sex. Lovely sight for a porno maybe, but not something I enjoyed."
He chuckled as I shuddered. "Well, let the image go. No need to have you all hot and bothered when we're just going to relax in the hot tub."
I gave him a cheeky grin and rolled my eyes. "You're just baiting me, but I'm not falling for it. One night was too much to forget with you. Two would kill me."
"Why do you have to forget anything?" He moved toward me and reached out, brushing his fingers down my arm as his eyes moved across my face.
"Hot tub. Twenty questions, and my room is free in an hour. Nothing more. Promise me." I pressed my hand to his chest. He was pushing forward with his desire to make more out of us than we could be. I wanted to join in, but I wasn't playing the fool again – not ever.
"Alright. What the lady wants.”
"That's not entirely true." I shrugged, removed my hand from his thick chest and turned to walk toward the bathroom. "Let me change real quick."
"I'd rather you left the bathing suit on the bathroom floor, but if you want to wear it..." He let out a long, playful sigh that caused me to chuckle.
"And here I thought you were a good man. Corruption has taken a hold of you." I stopped by the bathroom door and glanced back to catch him watching me with hunger in his gaze.
"I was that man un
til a goddess made love to me last night. Now, I can't seem to pull myself out of the muck." He put his hands on his hips and shrugged. "I blame you entirely."
I snorted. "Of course you do. Typical male ego."
Disappearing into the bathroom, I closed the door behind me and changed into my black bikini. After checking my appearance three times in the mirror, I finally resigned myself to going back out to finish our evening together. There was nothing I wanted more than to make love to him all night, but it was foolish to think that I could walk away unscathed from our short love affair. I had no hope in a future together, and that he did hurt me even more.
Was I giving up the chance to try again?
He said himself that he couldn't keep a relationship alive to save his life due to his incessant travel. And what if he met someone on one of his trips? What if I wasn't enough?
"You haven't been up to this point. Why would this be any different?" I leaned toward the mirror, only to jump and yelp as his voice came through the door.
"Are you talking to yourself in there? Get out here. The water's perfect."
I smiled and pulled a towel from the rack behind me, grabbing him one too and walking out to enjoy the view. His black swim trunks only seemed to accentuate just how big of a package he was sporting. The memory of seeing him naked and bare before me the night before caused a shiver to run through me.
"Cold?" He asked with a cocky grin on his face.
"Nope. Just thinking about how good you look naked. I'm lamenting a little over the fact that you didn't let me taste you." I shrugged and walked past him, trying hard to keep my tone very matter-of-fact.
"Tease." He slid his fingers over my lower back as he passed me. "That bathing suit makes you look good enough to eat, by the way."
"Thanks. I love this one." I followed him down the hall and out onto a small, private balcony where the hot tub bubbled. Steam rose up from the turbulent water, and the smell of salt wrapped around me. "This is going to be great."
"It's really relaxing. The resort is honestly one of the best in the country. I search each visit for something to offer as an improvement to them, and honestly it gets harder and harder to find when I come here." He got into the water and offered me his hand. "Have you enjoyed your room and the food?"
"Absolutely. The food is exquisite. I'm going to write up a few pieces when I get home on it. Do you think I should submit them to the paper in Miami as well as New York? I just realized that I might have an easier time getting featured here where the restaurants are." I walked into the hot water and sunk down next to him, letting out a groan as my muscles responded to the strong jets spraying against them.
"Both. Always put your eggs in a handful of baskets until you find your sweet spot." He settled across the hot tub from me. "Kevin is our lead food critic, but the guy honestly doesn't have his thumb on the pulse of what people like or want. He's a total dick."
"Get me his job." I smiled and lifted my arms, running my fingers through the bubbles.
"Would you be interested if I could?" He lifted his eyebrow, the playfulness gone for the moment.
"I think so, yes. But I was just teasing. I can find a job on my own. I have Casey working with me when we get back to figure out the best place for me to start." I shrugged, not too terribly concerned about it.
"Are you going to stay in New York or are you open to going other places?" His foot brushed by mine, and at first I figured it an accident, until he did it again, a soft petting sort of touch.
"I love New York, so I'll probably stay there, but I'd love to travel like you do. I'm close to my family, but not so close that seeing them on occasion wouldn't be okay." I leaned back and closed my eyes. "Are you going to have to travel like you are now for the entirety of your career?"
"Yeah, most likely." The water moved and I opened my eyes to see him shifting toward me. He settled in beside me and pressed his shoulder to mine.
"Do you want to get married?" He glanced over at me.
"To you?" I sat up, a little shocked by the question.
The beautiful smile that slid across his face caused my tummy to tighten in anticipation of hope sprouting inside of me again.
"No, silly girl. Though I could see that happening, but I'm a dreamer of sorts." He slid his hand over mine below the surface of the water and played with my fingers. "In general. Do you want to get married to someone? Is it something you think about?"
"Yes. I want to share life with someone. Almost desperately at times." I licked at my lips and shifted my gaze to his mouth. "Do you?"
"All the time. My mother won't give me a moment’s rest on it."
I laughed as I came back to my senses. "And kids?"
"She's nuts about wanting kids. I think I mentioned that." He chuckled. "I want kids. I just don't think my job would allow for all of that just yet."
"Maybe not now, but in the future if you find someone that wanted to travel with you, you could just take the baby with you, right?" I shifted closer to him, pulling his arm around my back as I pressed a kiss to the side of his neck.
"I think with the right woman, anything would be possible." He turned and brushed his lips by mine. "Are you more interested in your career or a relationship with the right guy?"
"My career." I answered a bit too fast. "I mean, I'd love to be in a solid relationship, but I'm graduating in two months and need to shift my focus onto my future. I give all of myself over in a relationship. I probably need to learn boundaries, but it's just the way I've always been."
His brow furrowed as he tensed. "I hate the fact that Jackson is all you know. Ten years is a really long time, and no breaks in between?"
"Not for me, no." I moved back a little and stood up as my body started to overheat. "It's hot as hell in here."
"It's lust. We can pretend like we're not both thinking about how good it would be to give ourselves over to each other for the night, but we are." He stood up and moved toward me. "I want you to stay with me. Don't go because of some sense of protection that you think you have to have around me. We don't have to move fast, Viv, but don't move away. I want to try this thing out between us. I've had more fun in the last four days than I have in the last two years."
His words shot an arrow of fear into the center of my chest. I couldn't agree more with his confession, but it wasn't that simple. He would keep on with his life, and I would keep up, or he would grow weary of me. He wasn't risking much at all, but asking me to risk everything.
"I want to, Easton, but I can't. Not right now. Maybe when things are settled in the future." I reached for him, pulling him into a long hug and kissing his shoulder before pulling back. "I should go. Call me sometime when you're in New York and we'll hang out. Promise?"
His smile faded as he nodded. "Yeah. Of course."
I turned and got out of the hot tub as tears burned my gaze. I needed to go then or I wasn't going to go. It wasn't nearly as simple as he wanted to make it out to be. At least I couldn't figure out a scenario where I won for the long term.
After gathering my stuff, I checked the living room for him but didn't see him. I walked towards the balcony and found him bent over, looking out across the city as rivets of water dripped down his back and legs. I turned and walked out of the penthouse, not caring how intensely everything inside of me screamed that I was making a huge mistake.
My heart had to come first. For the first time ever.
I didn't sleep at all that night, and looked like hell the next morning, no doubt. Casey was sure to remind me ten times that I should at least call him and say goodbye as we packed up.
"I don't want to say goodbye. Lay the fuck off of me." I turned and gave her an aggressive stare.
She lifted her hands. "Okay. Shit. Sorry. I just know you, and you're going to regret this. It's like letting fucking Jackson win."
"He's winning nothing, Case. I'm asking you nicely to let it go. I'm hurting. Don't throw salt in my wounds. Okay?" I turned back to my suitcase and swallowed th
e ache that continued to rise up my chest and find residence in my throat. I was making a mistake, but I didn't care. Hurting today to heal tomorrow sounded far more mature than instant gratification today and being destroyed again in the near future.
"I'm sorry. I love you. You know that." She stopped beside me and tugged at my arm until I turned and let her pull me into a hug.
"I don't want to do all of this again. I just want peace for a little while. I want to heal." I pressed my cheek to her shoulder. "And I don't want to cry anymore."
"Agreed. I'll go check us out and we'll get the fuck out of here. That sound good?" She pulled back, but kept a tight grasp on my shoulders.
"I'll check us out. The room is in my name. Finish checking to make sure we didn't leave anything." I moved to the door and grabbed my purse before walking out. I didn't want Casey spending any of her dwindling funds on anything related to the vacation, but she wouldn't have any of it if they charged us for something.
I made it down to the lobby and turned as the one person I didn't want to see walked toward me. Jackson.
"Hey. I was hoping I would see you again here." He reached for me, but I backed up.
"How did you know I was staying here?" I lifted my eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. I ignored the familiarity that sat between us, the offer of him hugging me ushered in the remembrance of a comfort I didn't think I could live without.
"I talked to your dad last night for a long time. I'm sorry about your folks." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Vivian, I'm sorry, baby. Please give me a chance to make everything up to you. Please."
"Fuck off." I turned on my heel and walked toward the long line at the checkout counter.
"Viv. Just tell me what I need to do to start working toward us getting back together. I know you miss me. I feel like I can't breathe without you." He brushed his hand along my upper back, and I stiffened.
"You don't know anything. Get your hands off of me. Seriously." I moved up in line and tried to ignore the burn of tears that welled up in my eyes again.
