by Helen Cooper
“Why are you whispering?” he said. “What is going on?”
“Nonno, I...” I said and my heart stopped as I felt something on my back. “Arrrgghhh. Arrggh!” I screamed and jumped off, dropping my phone on the ground as I started to run.
“Mila, stop.” TJ’s smooth voice sounded amused as he called out to me and I stopped running, my heart dropping with embarrassment as my face heated up.
“TJ?” I said and I turned around to look back at him. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“I didn’t mean to.” He still sounded amused, though I couldn’t make his face out clearly to see the expression in his eyes.
“Uh huh,” I said and looked on the ground for my phone. “Nonno,” I said as I grabbed the phone up, “are you still there?”
“Mila!” He sounded stern. “You scared me. What is going on? Should I come up and—”
“No, Nonno,” I said, feeling guilty. “It was TJ. He snuck up behind me.”
“Your TJ.” He sounded happy.
“Nonno, you know that isn’t true,” I said, making sure I didn’t say anything that would make TJ suspicious. “I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Yes,” he said softly. “See? You are not alone, Mila. Not now. Not ever. You’ll always have TJ.”
“I wish.” I sighed and hung up the phone and then jumped as I saw TJ in front of me. “How are you so stealthy?” I groaned. “I didn’t even see you walking towards me.”
“You were too busy on the phone,” he said, his eyes peering down at me. His skin seemed to radiate warmth in the moonlight and I longed to reach up, grab his hair and pull him down to kiss me.
“Yeah, I was.”
“Who were you talking to?” he asked, his tone slightly rough. “Troy?”
“No, I was talking to Nonno,” I said and tried not to roll my eyes as he brought up Troy. I wished I’d never mentioned him now. It seemed to me that he wasn’t going to let it go. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say about ‘the breakup’ that wouldn’t make me look like a loser or a liar.
“Good,” he said softly and then was quiet. We stood there standing next to each other and were quiet as we stared out at the lake. It was eerily quiet now and I tried to concentrate on the reflection of the moon in the water instead of the feel of TJ’s arm as it rubbed against me gently.
“What are you thinking?” he said softly after a few minutes and I looked over at him. His eyes were bright and curious, and I wondered what he was thinking as we stood there together.
“How strong you look,” I said stupidly as I stared at his muscles.
“Thanks for the compliment.” He grinned. “That’s a first.”
“And a last.” I laughed.
“Do you know why I’m strong, Mila?”
“No?” I shook my head, not sure where he was going.
“I’m strong so I can carry my lady from my car to the bed. I’m strong so that I can protect her when she’s scared, keep her warm when she’s cold, love her when she’s sad, and fuck her when she’s horny.” He grinned at my gasp and then flexed his bicep muscles at me. “These guns are about more than looks, Mila. These muscles are to keep my woman happy. These muscles are so I can hold her up when her legs are wrapped around me and her back’s against the wall. These muscles are to keep her up when I’m sliding into her with such force that she doesn’t think she can stay upright by herself anymore.”
“You’re gross,” I said, my face flushing at his words. All I could think about was what it would feel like to have him pushing me back against the wall and touching me, sliding into me. Ugh, I didn’t want to have these feelings.
“You don’t really think that,” he said with a self-assured grin.
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t,” he said and he lightly touched the side of my face. My skin tingled under his fingertips and all I could think was, “Oh shit, what does he know?”
“I do,” I squeaked out and he laughed, a long lazy laugh, his eyes boring into mine with amusement.
“You know how I know you don’t think that?” he asked softly and leaned forward, his lips close to mine as he continued gazing at me.
“How?” I said and I swallowed hard as I felt his breath against me. If I leaned forward, even an inch, we would be kissing. OMG, I could be kissing TJ Walker if I wanted to. My heart was about to jump out of my chest as my brain screamed at me.
“Mila?” I heard Sally’s voice calling out into the midnight air and I wanted to groan. Why did she have to choose now to come looking for me?
“I’m here,” I shouted back, though my mind was racing in confusion. Was TJ flirting with me? And if he was, why? What about Barbie? Why weren’t they back in his bedroom, fucking each other’s brains out? Not that I was complaining, of course. The last thing I wanted was for them to be all over each other.
“What are you doing?” She walked towards TJ and me, and I saw her eyes widen as she took us both in. “I was worried about you when I woke up and saw that your bed was empty.”
“I just came out to speak to Nonno on the phone and TJ happened upon me,” I explained before she jumped to conclusions and said something stupid like, “I’m glad your seduction plan worked already, Mila.”
“He happened upon you?” Sally asked, grinning as she yawned. “What’s that? Old English or something?”
“Sally, are you sleepwalking?” I asked her, starting to feel a panic in my bones. Oh, God, what was Sally going to let slip?
“No.” She moved closer to me. “I woke up and I noticed you weren’t there, so I came out to make sure you were okay and not moping.”
“I’m fine.” I gulped.
“Why would Mila be moping?” TJ decided to join the conversation.
“I’m not moping.” I glared at Sally, whose face was looking like she was now realizing what she’d said.
“I gather that,” TJ said. “But why would she think you were moping? Moping about what?”
“I think Sally is just sleep-deprived. We should go back to bed.”
“No, no.” Sally shook her head and faked a big yawn. “You stay here for a few minutes and enjoy the lake. I know you like to be here under the stars and moonlight.”
“Sally.” I growled at her and she laughed.
“Night guys,” she said and turned away. I could hear her singing “Moon River” as she walked away.
“Is everything okay, Mila?” TJ said after a few seconds.
“Yes, of course.”
“Are you upset that your Troy couldn’t make it up here after all?” he said softly. “I know how badly you wanted to drive in his Lamborghini.”
“I never said he had a Lamborghini.” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, his sports car, then.”
“I’m not sad that Troy couldn’t make it,” I said and felt proud of myself for not extending the Troy lie any further. “Why are you up so late and outside?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said with a wry grin.
“Even after Barbie wore you out?” I asked, my voice tight as I subtly tried to find out if they had had sex.
“Barbie wore me out with her mouth and that was it.” He looked at me and winked. “No need to worry.”
“I’m not worrying about anything,” I said, trying to figure out how to ask him exactly what he meant. Did he mean she wore him out by talking so much, or something else, like a blowjob? Ugh, I didn’t want to know, but I really wanted to know. I felt like I was going to throw up thinking about TJ and Barbie being physical.
“Okay, that’s good, then,” he said and motioned to the rocking swing a few yards away. “Shall we have a seat?”
“Sure.” I nodded and we walked over to the chair swing in silence.
“It’s a beautiful night,” he said as we sat down, and I looked over at his face. He was staring out at the lake and his face looked thoughtful. My eyes ran over his jaw, so strong and stubborn, and then to his lips and chin.
“Yes, it is,
” I answered as I looked away from him and back out at the lake. I could see the flickering lights of someone’s yacht in the distance and I sat back and looked up at the sky. The stars sparkled their radiance to us in the darkness of the night and I let out a small sigh.
“You sound like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.” I could tell from the sound of his voice that he was now looking at me.
“No,” I said, but didn’t look at him. “I was just thinking of Nonna and wondering if she was looking down at me from Heaven.”
“Of course she is,” he said as he moved closer to me. “Give me your hand,” he said as he grabbed my arm, and his fingers grabbed onto my hand and grabbed my fingers and pointed them up in the air. “Do you see those rings?”
“What rings?” I said, trying to concentrate on the sky and not his touch.
“Look here.” He moved even closer and I looked over to see his eyes gazing at me. “Follow the direction that I put your finger in,” he said and I concentrated on staring up in the exact spot he was pointing me towards. “Do you see that bright mass of light?”
“Uh huh.” I nodded.
“That’s Saturn,” he said. “And the rings around it are the rings of Saturn.”
“Oh,” I said and squinted. “I can’t really see any rings.”
“Yeah, me neither.” He laughed. “But if I had my telescope, we’d be able to see.”
“Wow, I never thought we’d be able to see the rings of Saturn from Earth,” I said, awestruck. “I wish you had your telescope now.”
“That’s a first.” He laughed. “You never hoped for that before.”
“Well, you never showed me the rings of Saturn before.” I laughed. “All you showed me before was the moon and told me I should go and live there.”
“That wasn’t me. That was Cody.” He laughed. “And I think I remember you telling him that he should go and join his friends on Mars. And told me to go there as well.”
“Yeah, well, I was young.” I laughed. “Now that we’re older, I wish I’d have a chance to look at Saturn and her rings. Or his rings.” I laughed.
“Maybe I’ll bring it next year.”
“Yeah, that would be cool.” I nodded.
“And even if we don’t get to view the stars here, we can view them somewhere else.”
“Huh?” I turned to look at him. “What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t we get to view the stars here?”
“Nothing,” he said gruffly and then jumped up. “Want to go for a swim?”
“I don’t have on my bathing suit, so no.” I shook my head.
“Be adventurous, Mila. Let’s skinny-dip.”
“Ah, yeah, no.” I shook my head again and laughed, though my heart was racing. Should I do it? Should I go skinny-dipping with him? Why would he even ask me to go skinny-dipping if he wasn’t interested in me? Was he just trying to shock me? There was no way he was being serious, was he?
“That’s what I thought.” He laughed as he stood there staring at me with a huge grin. “All talk and no actual game.”
“Um, I never talked about going skinny-dipping,” I said with a frown. “So that’s not exactly true.”
“Five years ago you said that you secretly wanted to go skinny-dipping, but you were scared that people would see you, so you’d only go late at night. However, the caveat was that there would have to be one person there with you, so that you wouldn’t feel alone and you’d have someone to cover you if someone else happened to come out while you were in the lake.”
“How do you remember that?” I asked, looking at him in surprise. “I barely remember saying that.”
“Ha.” He winked at me. “I never forget when a girl tells me she wants to go skinny-dipping.”
“You’re a pervert.”
“Not quite.” He stared at me for a few seconds and my heart stilled as his face turned serious. He opened his mouth and I waited to hear what he was going to say next. It looked like it was something important. “We should go to bed,” he said finally and reached out for my hands to pull me up.
“I’m not ready for bed.” I shook my head, disappointed. Unless you want me in your bed. Of course I didn’t say that out loud, even though I wanted to.
“Mila Kunis, it’s time for bed.” He grinned at me and I punched him in the arm.
“You’re a jerk,” I said as I jumped up and then yawned. I ignored the knowing look on his face as he stared at my mouth. “And that Barbie isn’t the brightest bulb in the shed, either.”
“Now now, Miley, no need to be rude.”
“You love it, don’t you?” I glared at him. “You won’t be loving it if she screams out ‘Brad Pitt’ or ‘Ashton Kutcher’ in bed.”
“Why would she scream out either of those names?” he said as we walked back towards the cabin.
“Well, she is apparently obsessed with Mila Kunis, so maybe she wishes you were Ashton Kutcher?”
“I think I’m a bit better than him, don’t you think?”
“What would I and my big hips know?” I said lightly and he burst out laughing. “It’s not funny, TJ.” I shook my head at him. “She’s horrible.”
“I will neither agree nor disagree with your statement,” he said softly and I wanted to punch him again. How could he not call her out for being the big bitch that she was? “However, I will say that a girl with a brain and some meat on her bones is worth ten girls with no brains.”
“Thanks,” I said and I gave him a quick hug as we walked into the cabin. “Night, TJ.”
“Night, Mila,” he said and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Sweet dreams.”
I walked towards my room with a smile on my face before I realized that TJ hadn’t exactly said what I thought he’d said. He said a girl with a brain and some meat on her bones was worth more than ten girls with no brains, but he hadn’t said ten skinny girls with no brains. Did that mean he preferred super-skinny girls with no brains to average girls with brains, or a few-extra-pounds girls with brains or, who am I kidding, more-than-a-few-extra-pounds girls with no brains? I paused at my door and turned around to go back to talk to him and find out. However, I stopped still as I saw that TJ was standing in the same place I’d left him, just staring at me with a weird expression on his face. He hadn’t moved since I’d walked away. He’d watched me walking to my room and he was still there.
I could feel my face blushing, and all thoughts of going up to him to ask him if he preferred skinny girls or not went out of my mind. I felt flustered just standing there looking back at him. I didn’t know what he was thinking, and part of me was scared to find out. I took a deep breath, trying to build up the courage to go over to him. I wanted to grab his shirt, push him against the wall and kiss him hard. I wanted to press myself into him and tell him that he wasn’t going to be sleeping with Barbie tonight, he was going to be sleeping with me.
I stared at his lips as he stood there and watched his chest rising and falling, and my whole body was on high alert with want and need. I wanted so badly to go over to him and take charge. But because I’m all talk and no action, I let my shyness overtake me. I lifted my hand and waved and said, “Night, TJ—sweet dreams of me.” I groaned under my breath as I realized what I’d said, and he laughed.
“All night long, Mila. All night long,” he said softly and gave me a small wave back. I turned around abruptly and hurried into my room, my skin tingling in happiness. I had no idea what had just happened, but I knew I was going to bed with a smile on my face.
Chapter Seven
TJ
Mila closed the door and I stood there feeling like an idiot. She’d looked at me with such a shocked expression on her face when I’d said I’d be dreaming of her all night long. She probably thought I was joking, just like she probably thought I’d been joking about the skinny-dipping, but I hadn’t been joking about either of the two. I knew I was playing with fire and getting myself into potential dangerous territory. I thought about everything I had to
do, and I sighed. It wasn’t going to be easy. And a part of me didn’t want to do any of it, but I knew this was the only way. However, that didn’t stop me from walking to Mila’s bedroom door. I stood outside the door debating whether I should knock or just go inside and pull her into my arms. That would be the easy way. I’d seen the way she’d been staring at me, with her lips parted and her face a rosy hue. Mila wanted me just as badly as I wanted her. I wanted to take her and make her mine. I couldn’t believe that she was letting Barbie get a rise out of her. Barbie, who couldn’t even compare in beauty or brains to Mila. Barbie, whom I would have slapped if I weren’t a gentleman. I wish that I hadn’t brought her, though I knew why she was here. Not that I liked it at all. But it wasn’t up to me. Not yet. I just had to bide my time and wait.
My fingers clutched onto the handle and it took everything in me to not open that door. I could almost picture her lying there in the bed, her long blond hair strewn all over the pillow as she hugged the sheets to her body. The bed would be warm and the sheets rumpled as she wiggled around to make herself comfortable. She wouldn’t sleep right away. She’d lie awake, listening to the sound of Sally breathing as she slept, and she’d stare out the window and hopefully she’d think of me. She’d wonder if I’d gone back to my room to fuck Barbie. She’d wonder what would have happened if she’d walked towards me just now when she’d turned around. How I’d willed her to come towards me. To give me a real sign that she wanted me. That’s all I needed. I needed it to come from her. I needed to know that when I took her and made her mine, it was because she wanted it too.
I knew she wanted me—it would have been difficult to have ignored all the signs—but I don’t think she knew what she was getting into with me. I wasn’t all sunrises and late nights at the lake staring at the stars. I was dark nights with the wolves howling into the wind. I was secrets in corners and dark alleys. I was whips and chains and plush red velvet. I was cuffs and ropes and unspeakable actions that would both turn her on and disgust her.
My hand dropped from the handle and I stepped back. Now was not the time to take her. Now was not the time to make her mine. Not now, not in this way. It would almost be too duplicitous. This was too romantic of a setting. I didn’t want to give her the wrong idea. Or the right idea. I stepped back from the door and walked to the bathroom. I needed a cold shower. I needed to focus on the task at hand. Mila could wait another night, even if I didn’t want her to. I’d go according to the plan. I’d have her soon. For four weeks. And then she’d see the real me. And I didn’t know if that would be the beginning, or the beginning of the end.
