By that afternoon, it was hard to believe that there was ever a time when we weren’t kissing each other. It was just as hard to believe that we had both been so cold and uptight, two plane rides and a world away only a few days earlier. We ate toast with marmalade and lots of butter and we ate many, many fresh fruits dipped in melted chocolate. She went with me for my morning run on the beach, and managed to keep up with me for approximately sixty seconds before cursing and announcing that she’d wait for me to return. We enjoyed the Chandra’s infinity pool and the outdoor Jacuzzi tub.
I asked her about her childhood and she spoke more about how her father had left when she was fourteen, which was when her mother started working at two jobs, and Avery had begun saving money from babysitting and tutoring, so she’d never have to struggle like her mother did. “I don’t want to give the wrong idea about my Mom though,” she said, as I stroked her hair. “She was a wonderful person. She always managed to make both me and my sister feel like the most important person in the world. I don’t think I’ve ever made anyone feel that way. Except bosses and clients, I guess.”
“You’ve made me feel pretty good lately,” I assured her.
She kissed me on the mouth. Her chestnut brown eyes were watery, although her voice remained steady. “I hope so. I want to.” She looked off into the distance as she continued telling me that her mother died suddenly of a ruptured brain aneurysm when she was in her final year at Wharton. Avery wasn’t there with her. Her mother had developed high blood pressure from stress. Avery received some money from the life insurance, used it to pay off her student loans. She grieved deeply, for one solid month, which was all the time she could schedule for grieving, and then threw herself back into her studies and work.
I took her hand and kissed it. I wanted her to feel safe with me. I also wanted to help her to enjoy life more. I would have been happy to stay at that villa all day with her, but I had gotten up in the middle of the night to plan and arrange a special outing for the afternoon.
I surprised Avery with a flight to the nearby island of Eleuthera in a private seaplane. I figured I only had another twenty-four hours to make a good impression, so I may as well pull out all the stops. We went to a secluded, ethereal pink sand beach. It was so beautiful and amazing it was surreal, sort of like being in the Bahamas and having sex with Avery. We strolled and sat and lay out on the beach. We splashed around in the impossibly crystal clear turquoise ocean. We dried off and lay out on the beach some more, eyes closed, only our fingers touching. I was infinitely content.
Every now and then, she would suddenly shake her head and cover her face and say, “What are we doing?” and I’d say, “We’re living in the moment,” or “We’re making the most of our time together here,” and then she’d nod her head and say “yes,” and go back to kissing me.
“I’m very glad to know you,” she said in a very convincing Victorian English accent.
“And I am very glad to know you. I’m quite fond of you, you know?”
“I too am quite fond of you, sir.”
We lay quietly for a moment, and then I started singing the One Direction song Kiss You. At first I was singing under my breath as I lay on my back, then I sat up and sang louder, and soon I was up and performing for her—I even hit the high notes. There weren’t many other people around, but I didn’t care anyway. I stood up and serenaded her, boy band dance moves and all. She thought I was insane at first, then laughed and laughed, then looked like she was going to cry, and then she grabbed me and kissed me. Served her right for telling me I wasn’t One Direction.
Avery
It took almost all of my will power to keep from crying. No guy had ever gone out of his way to do something like that for me before. I loved it. I was some alien version of myself, the one from Planet Sexy Good Times. I couldn’t speak, but with my remaining energy, I grabbed him and kissed him, then I touched his cheek with my hand and rested my forehead on his chest. He put his arms around me and we lay there on a turquoise towel on the pink sand, holding each other, for I don’t even know how long. If I were a stranger walking by, I’d have thought we were so cheesy—I would have vomited inside my mouth. But I was not a stranger walking by. I was there in Luke’s arms, and it felt so good that I was terrified of what it would feel like when it was over.
He kept staring at me, smiling, shyly, pensive.
“What?”
He blushed and looked down, laughing quietly and shaking his head. “It’s silly really.”
“Tell me.”
He considered for a moment and then said, “I was just remembering that when I was a young lad my favorite book was The Magician’s Nephew. You know, by C.S. Lewis? The Narnia Chronicles.”
“The origin story for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, yes, I’m not a complete American idiot, I loved that series.” I didn’t mention that I remembered thinking that the boy in it, Digory, was quite the little snotty English turd.
“Oh good,” he said, getting more open and excited and nerdy. “Well you know how the boy and girl—Digory and Polly—were transported from his uncle’s room to the Wood Between the Worlds and then they’d take each other’s hands and jump into these pools of water and have adventures together in different worlds?” He reached out for my hand.
I smiled, because I knew what he was thinking before he even said it.
“I remember wishing that I could have a girlfriend like Polly, whom I could have adventures with, and I was just thinking that our whole internet connection prior to the Bahamas was like The Wood Between the Worlds, and now you and I are —”
“Jumping into pools of water and having adventures together in different worlds.” I finished his sentence and then put my mouth on his mouth because he was being so adorable I just couldn’t not kiss him.
He didn’t even pull away his lips to say “Although hopefully I’m not quite as big a twat as Digory.”
“Enh,” I shrugged. The fact that you are a nerd makes you even more attractive to me dammit.
“I mean, regardless of how one might interpret the Narnia books as an adult, if we simply focus on the story—”
“Stop talking, Oxford.”
“You got it. Although I went to Cambridge, actually.”
He grinned and put his hands on my shoulders, pressing me down and lowering himself onto me as he kissed me deeply and I slowly sank deeper into the warm sand, wrapping my legs around his, as comfortable as if I belonged there and he belonged this close to me, pressing into me, touching and kissing every inch of me like the waves kissing the shore, as the sun began to set, and we could easily have been the only two people in the world.
Chapter 15
Avery
England had conquered me. My skin had never been so thoroughly caressed; my body had never felt so loved. I was proud of myself for living in the moment all day that day, and enjoying every sun-kissed second of it, but then it was night time and we were back at Chandra Villa and I had to think about returning home in the morning, and all of the emails and calls I’d have to make, and I knew the anxiety would return soon and I would screw it all up, one way or another. It was just a matter of when.
When we got back from Eleuthera, full from our sushi dinner, I showered alone in my suite, and packed things up. Then I went over to Luke’s suite to spend the night with him, as we’d discussed. He was in the shower when I got there, and although I had just had one myself, I started undressing so I could join him.
I noticed that his two cell phones were lying on the bed. He must have just gone into the shower, because one of his phones was still unlocked and his message app was open. I could see that there were new messages from someone named Chiara. Who the fuck is Chiara?! I did a really good job of not touching the phone for about three seconds, but I realized if I waited too long that the phone would probably lock up, so I touched the screen. I could see the beginnings of texts from “Chiara,” from “Bonita,” from “Helene.” They all started with some variatio
n of HOW DARE YOU. Who were these women and why were they so mad at him? He was the greatest guy on earth. How could he make a woman angry?
I didn’t dare click on any of the messages, but just seeing all of those exotic women’s names made me uncomfortable. I heard Luke singing a reprise of the One Direction song in the shower, and slowly backed away from the phone.
Luke
Avery arrived at my suite after I had dried myself from the shower, which was a little disappointing, as I’d hoped she’d join me. She was not talkative. We both did a little work on our laptops, side-by-side in bed. It was nice, but I could tell she was getting anxious about what was going to happen tomorrow, when we’d leave here.
“I was thinking,” I mentioned casually, “about taking some meetings in New York. Since I’m so close now—to New York I mean—and it would be a much easier flight back to London from there.”
She turned to face me. “Really? You mean like now-now?”
“Yeah, I mean like tomorrow-now.”
“You have people to meet with in New York? Besides me?”
“Darling, there is a long list of New Yorkers who are dying to meet with me.”
“I’m not surprised, don’t get me wrong.”
“So…If you aren’t too busy, perhaps we could see each other when I’m there.”
She smiled. “Well I’ll check my schedule, but I think I can rearrange some things and squeeze you in.”
“I’d enjoy that very much.”
“I would as well.”
“And you know, if you don’t already have plans with Mr. Potter…” She picked up a pillow and swatted me with it. “I thought perhaps you and I could spend Tuesday together.”
“Tuesday, huh?” She opened up her calendar and saw that Tuesday would be Valentines Day. She covered her mouth and looked up at me. “You mean Valentine’s Day?”
“If you’re free.”
She climbed on top of me and kissed me. “You can stay at my apartment.”
“You’re sure?”
“I am quite certain. Don’t you dare stay anywhere else.”
“I shan’t.”
We kissed some more, but before we got too hot and heavy, I pulled away and had to say to her: “There’s something I feel I should tell you.” She looked very nervous all of a sudden, as if she were afraid I was about to tell her that I loved her or that I was married, and I honestly didn’t know which declaration would frighten her more. “It’s not that big of a deal, but since you came clean about your plug-in boyfriend, I figure I should tell you that the night you sleepwalked here…”
“Oh God. What? Did I sing?”
“No. But we did a little more than spoon.”
She pulled away from me. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I went to sleep on the sofa, and then I woke up and you were on top of me, like you are now, and you kissed me.”
“I kissed you?”
“And I know it’s dangerous to wake up a sleepwalker, so I let you.”
“You let me kiss you?”
“I kissed you back.”
“Is that all we did?”
“That’s all I did. But you…you touched me. You know. My manhood. Over my clothes. Briefly. And then you fell unconscious. It all happened very quickly. It seemed at the time that it would be best if I didn’t tell you, since, I thought you were in a relationship.”
“I see. Okay. I guess. I mean I don’t know what the proper etiquette would be in that situation.”
“You see what I mean.”
“I see what you mean.”
“Are you angry?”
“I don’t think so. I mean. I’m the one who behaved inappropriately, right?”
“I was hoping you’d see it that way.” I laughed. She sort of laughed. “Well now, all of our cards are on the table. Right?”
She didn’t answer right away. “Yeah. Of course.” She kissed me. She had to kiss me again and again, several times, before she was focused on kissing me, but the rest of the night was sublime.
Chapter 16
Avery
As surreal as it was, being with Luke in the Bahamas after a year of interacting with him through a monitor or phone, being with Luke in Manhattan was even more so. To be clear—it was really fucking awesome to have walked onto a plane at JFK, being all cold and pale and anxious, and then stepping off a plane at the same terminal with a tan and my favorite handsome Englishman on my arm, the skin on my chin rubbed raw from kissing him so much, a smile on my face that surely screamed to anyone who paid attention: I’VE BEEN HAVING TONS OF VACATION SEX WITH THIS MAN AND NOW WE’RE GOING TO DO IT IN MY APARTMENT!!!
We shared a cab to midtown and he got dropped off first for his meeting with one of his clients. He wasn’t kidding about that list of New Yorkers who wanted to meet with him. I trusted that I was the only one he was meeting with in bed.
I took his suitcase, as well as my own, up with me to my office. It was after lunch, it had just started to snow, and I had no meetings set for the day, but of course I assumed I’d be expected at work. I hadn’t explicitly told Natalie that I’d be in the office as soon as I returned from the airport, but her jaw dropped when she saw me approaching. I realized, finally, that it was the extra suitcase that surprised her. “Oh my God you’re here! Hi!” She jumped up and followed me into my office, shutting the door behind us. “You look amazing—like a whole new woman! Tell me everything! Is he coming to the office? Can I meet him? Is he wonderful? Are you in love? This is so exciting!”
I hadn’t told her that Luke was in New York.
Natalie responded to my confused face with: “Oh, I’ve been in touch with William. Luke’s assistant. He mentioned that Luke had him schedule some meetings here, so…I assumed. You don’t have to tell me anything, it’s fine. Unless you want to. Do you want to? I’m dying to hear about if you do!”
I had decided that I wouldn’t tell anyone at work, including Natalie. It was so adorable that she was so excited, but I couldn’t. “Bucket’s wedding was so wonderful,” I said.
“Oh right! Bucket’s wedding! What an amazing surprise! So you were both there? You and Luke?”
“And a few other people. And the villa was incredible. Like, beyond amazing.”
“Uh huh? So you had a good time?”
“I did. I had a good time.” I tried really hard not to smile. And then I smiled and my face basically exploded and Natalie started clapping and jumping up and down. “Natalie you can’t tell anyone anything! I haven’t told you anything!”
“I know I know you haven’t and I won’t and I’m super psyched for you even though there’s totally nothing to tell!”
“Okay okay okay. It’s not that big of a deal.” I blushed and covered my face.
She squealed. “It’s so not a big deal! Is he staying with you? Obviously he is, because he didn’t ask William to book him a hotel.”
“Well you two have certainly shared a lot of information.”
Now it was Natalie’s turn to try to keep a straight face. “Oh, we just work really well together, you know, I’m very interested in transatlantic business deals, so I’ve been…picking his brain.” She smacked her lips together. “Anyway—I rescheduled all your meetings for today and Howard told me to send you home if you actually showed up, so…”
“Uh, do I still have a job or what?”
“Of course—he’s just really into that whole R&R thing, and he was worried that you never would…R or R.”
“Right. Well, I did both, but I have to get back to work again eventually.”
“Yes. Oh my God Luke’s going to be here tomorrow—do you have Valentine’s Day plans?!”
“Shhh! No. I mean, no plans. I don’t think. He’s here for meetings and I’m working. It’s business as usual, except Luke’s doing some business here in New York.” Saying his name out loud made my face erupt in smiles again.
Natalie squeezed my arm. “Word. Although if you do want to make special romantic Valentin
e’s Day plans with someone special, for business reasons, it’s probably almost too late to book a table anywhere decent.”
I normally went home right after work and went to sleep at eight o’clock on Valentine’s Day. “I mean. I wouldn’t want to be rude. He’d probably enjoy dinner out on…a Tuesday.”
I shooed her out of my office and called one of my clients. Rebecca was the executive chef at one of the hottest restaurants in town and she’d always told me she’d get me a special table if I ever wanted a romantic dinner reservation. Turns out she meant any night besides Valentines Day. I honestly never understood why people made such a big deal out of V-Day—it was the most obnoxious holiday of the year—but I suddenly wanted to show Luke how much it meant to me that he was here with me. Rebecca offered to cook us dinner herself and have it delivered to my apartment. She’d be cooking it at four o’clock, so it wouldn’t be super fresh, but it would have to do. I sure as hell wasn’t going to cook for Luke for the first time ever on Valentine’s Day and I wasn’t going to bring home a roast chicken from Whole Foods or order pizza.
I went home, did a quick clean up of my apartment, and texted my sister to tell her that Luke would be staying with me for a couple of nights. The last text I’d sent her was the day before, of Luke and me on the pink sand beach. I wrote: And yes that is pink sand, not worn-out clitoris dust from Magic Wand over-use. Xo
She had responded with about a thousand exclamation points, and tried FaceTiming me five times, but I had been too busy to get back to her. Now, apparently, she was too busy to get back to me, which was fine.
When Luke got to my place, he was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open. He had a bad case of jet lag and No-Sleep-From-Shagging-Avery-Non-Stop-itis. It had finally caught up with him. I ordered a pizza and he lay down on my sofa, his legs in my lap.
“I like your flat,” he said.
The Flirtation Page 12
