30 Nights

by Christine d'Abo

  When his smirk bloomed into a full-on smile, my heart did that weird flippy-turn thing again.

  “Come as you are. They provide everything we need. The appointment is approximately two hours long.”

  Two hours mostly naked with Eric at a spa.

  How awful my life had become.

  I sighed. “Well, I guess that will be fine.”

  “I’m pleased to hear it.”

  “Glenna!” I turned to see Jasmine standing in the doorway of our office. She looked less than pleased.

  “I better go.” I took a step away, but it was far more difficult that I’d imagined. “Thank you for this.”

  “I should be the one thanking you. You’ve brought fun back into my life.”

  “Glenna! Professor Mickelson is on the phone for you.”

  “Shit. I have to—”

  “Go.”

  I ran to get the phone, powered by the knowledge that somehow our strange little relationship was becoming something more than I ever could have imagined.

  14

  I really did love my job. I made a point of keeping up-to-date on all sorts of information, research tools, new theories in the field, the whole thing. Sometimes I’d get into these amazing conversations with my coworkers, other professors, and research students. We’d have in-depth debates about the significance of social media’s impact on the communication styles of my generation. How it influenced children, supported social revolutions. It was awesome.

  And then there was talking to my boss.

  My head still pounded and my fingers were sore from the hour-long phone call I’d had with him. I’d never be so foolish to call it a conversation, because that would imply that I’d actually done some of the talking. I took notes, extensive notes of all the things he wanted me to do before he got back to school next week.

  “I’ll only be there one day before I leave for the conference. I won’t have the luxury of time to fill in any holes, so make sure you complete the portfolio.”

  “It’s mostly done—”

  “Now, I want you to do me a favor and set up these meetings for me as well.”

  I wasn’t his secretary. The department had a whole office staff that would do this sort of thing if the professor was somehow unable to do so. Not that they loved looking after Professor Mickelson any more than I did. If anything, it was easier for me to do this and they appreciated not having to waste their time doing something he could set up from his laptop. Still, a part of me always cringed when I had to do these things.

  When I finally hung up the phone, my ear had gone numb from having been pressed to the receiver for so long. “I really need to get a headset.”

  “He’s an asshole.” Jasmine had given up trying to get her own work done fifteen minutes ago and had turned her attention to staring at me and making faces. “Why the hell can’t he book his own appointments?”

  “Something about not having access to Wi-Fi where he is.”

  “Bullshit. He’s in England, not Mars. I’m confident they have Wi-Fi.”

  “It’s my job—”

  “No, it’s really not. You need to put your foot down one of these days.”

  “I know.”

  Jasmine leaned forward, elbows on knees, and cupped her chin in her hand. “Maybe Eric can help you sort things out.”

  Aw, fuck. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Don’t go all innocent on me. I saw you standing at his office looking all dopey at him. What’s going on between you two?”

  “Nothing.” This wasn’t going to be easy, but I had a promise to keep. As much as I’d step in front of a bus for Jasmine, I knew there was no way she’d be able to keep this to herself. If anything, she’d tell Nell and that would then be the start of the rumor mill.

  “You couldn’t lie to save your life.”

  “I know I can’t. But really, there is nothing going on between Professor Morris and me.” That was totally splitting hairs. There was nothing going on between Professor Morris and me. Eric was a completely different matter. “He’d asked me to return a book to the library for him, but he handed me one from his personal collection by mistake. I was just returning it.”

  Jasmine rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re holding out on me.”

  “If I had something that I could share with you, I would.” If I gave her even a crumb, she’d want all the gory details. There was something about sharing what we’d done with Jasmine that felt wrong. He was trying to make up for something, and I didn’t want to throw a bump in the progress. “Honestly, it was a book. You can even ask at the library.”

  She gave me a good hard look before shaking her head. “Fine. I’ll let this go for now. But I swear if I find out something awesome happened and you didn’t tell me, I’ll cry. Actual tears. With sobs and stuff.”

  “So dramatic.” I really did love her.

  It also meant that we’d have to be extra careful not to give off any signs that we were getting together in the evenings, if Eric wanted to keep this on the down-low. If Jasmine smelled blood in the water we wouldn’t be able to take two steps without her coming after us. Even though she was nosy, I knew she didn’t mean any harm. She’d been playing the part of my big sister since about five minutes after we met in college, and it had become second nature to her.

  I had to admit, it was kind of awesome having this secret life going on and not even my best friend knew about it. Great Glenna wanted me to do something adventurous, something outside of my comfort zone, something that would make me feel alive. This was by far the most exciting thing I’d ever done.

  I couldn’t wait for the weekend.

  I didn’t see much of Eric over the remainder of the week. With the semester in full swing, he spent most of his time switching between teaching, marking, and meeting with his students. There were always a few students who stood out, even if I wasn’t involved with them directly. You’d see them spending time with the professors and grad students, discussing topics and books.

  I used to be like that. Excited to finally be in an environment where I didn’t feel like a weirdo. It was cool to be smart, to want to reach beyond what was expected of you, to grab an idea that wasn’t mandated by the curriculum and see where you could take it. High school had been hard and I’d spent as much time concealing my love of learning from my friends as I had studying. The freedom that came with taking those first few steps into a secondary education was thrilling.

  I missed that feeling. The thrill. I loved my job and what it allowed me to do, but sometimes after having to deal with an overly demanding Professor Mickelson, I got a bit tired. And more than a little frustrated.

  There were worse problems to have in life. At least, that’s what I told myself.

  I buried myself in documents, charts, and presentation folders, spending extra time to make sure that Professor Mickelson had everything he needed for the conference. Somehow my work hours extended past normal, to the point where I was saying hello to the cleaning staff most nights. When a shadow spilled across my desk, I didn’t look up and instead reached for my recycling bin.

  “Do you need me to dump that for you?”

  I jumped and let out a yelp at the sound of Eric’s voice. “Shit, you scared me. What are you doing here?”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “It’s four o’clock.”

  “Is it? I swear I just ate lunch half an hour ago.” He didn’t say anything else, which was a bit odd. Then it dawned on me. “Oh my God, it’s Friday!”

  “I can take a rain check if you need to finish this.”

  “It’s fine. I still have most of next week to finish up before Professor Mickelson is back.”

  Eric frowned. “What does Phil have you doing?”

  “Just some prep work for a conference he’s presenting at. Let me get my things.”

  My normally clean and orderly filing system devolved into me shoving file folders into my desk drawer and hoping I’d be able to figure things out on
Monday. I raced around the office, shutting off the printer, making sure the plants were watered and grabbing the recycling bins to put out in the hallway. I must have looked as frazzled as I felt, because Eric was trying to hold back a grin as he watched.

  “What?” I tucked my hair behind my ear.

  “You’re cute when you’re panicked.”

  “I am?” Don’t blush. Don’t blush. “Thanks. Okay, I’m all set.”

  We got out into the hallway and I locked the office before I stopped dead in my tracks. “Shit.”

  “Problem?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t have a car.”

  “I’m aware. And you know I’m happy to drive.”

  “But that means leaving together. You wanted to keep this a secret and me climbing into your car at school isn’t very discreet.” I would have happily taken a bus, if it was that important to him to keep his distance. Though I didn’t know what bus route I’d need to take or where exactly this place was . . .

  And I didn’t want to go without him. I didn’t want whatever this was between us to be nothing more than a dirty little secret. We didn’t need to announce it to the world, but I was discovering that I didn’t want to hide in the shadows either.

  Eric must have had his own thought train. One minute he was nodding to himself and the next he reached for my coat. “It’s gotten warm out. Let me carry this for you to the car.”

  And my heart melted to goo.

  I wasn’t sure what we would have said if anyone had stopped to talk to us on our way to the car. By the look of how empty the lot was, most people had headed out already. There were some students getting into a car a distance away, but they were too far for me to recognize any of them. Still, I didn’t want to tempt fate any more than we already had. I got into the car as soon as Eric opened the door for me.

  Haven was located in the entertainment district of the city. Not a location that I would have assumed would work for a spa like that, but who was I to argue their business decisions. There was a smallish parking lot behind the building, which was a treat unto itself. Eric pulled in and I got out as soon as the car stopped.

  “I take it you’re excited about this?” At some point, he’d lost his little half smiles and was full-on grinning.

  It was a much better look on him.

  “Dude, I’ve been hunched over a desk for the past four days compiling stats and organizing case studies that he might only reference in passing, but if they’re not there I’ll have my ass handed to me. Not to mention that I’m a girl and we’re at a spa. Of course I’m excited.”

  “Well then, I better not keep you waiting.” He held out his arm and I happily accepted it.

  The warehouse was completely misleading as to what was hidden on the inside. The yellowing stone and black bars covering the tinted windows made me think that we were headed inside to some sort of kinky dungeon. As we crossed the threshold, the inside revealed not red paint and leather-clad attendants, but tall, lush tropical trees and an indoor waterfall that was easily twenty feet high.

  The floor was made from polished wood, cork if my guess was right, and it shone in the dim lights from above. A soundtrack of tropical sounds filled the air. The front desk was long and took up most of the foyer. There were two women standing behind it, tall and slim, looking as though they’d just stepped out from between the glossy pages of a fashion magazine.

  “Good afternoon.” The woman who spoke looked to be ageless, her skin flawless and her hair coiffed into a perfect roll. “Welcome to Haven. I’m Kayla. How may I help you?”

  “Eric Morris and Glenna O’Donald. We had an appointment for five thirty.”

  The woman’s nails clicked as she brought up something on her computer. The second woman looked between Eric and me, smiling sweetly when she caught my gaze. I held a bit tighter onto Eric’s arm, suddenly terrified that someone would deem me unworthy and steal him away.

  “Wonderful, Mr. Morris. We have everything set up for you and Ms. O’Donald. If you would follow me and Ms. O’Donald follows Tori, we’ll get you ready for your treatment.”

  Before we parted ways, Eric bent down and placed a kiss to my temple. “See you soon.”

  Tori whisked me away to a ladies-only section of the spa. I was presented with a locker and a bathrobe that was fluffy enough to swallow me whole. “I’ll draw a bath for you and add some of our oils. You have twenty minutes to soak and get ready for your massage.”

  I was going to love Eric forever and ever. “Sounds awesome.”

  “I take it this is a bit of a surprise for you?” There was something about Tori’s personality that put me immediately at ease. Maybe it was the easy way that she smiled, or she was simply really good at her job. Either way, I’d already begun to feel the tension in my body ebbing away.

  “I knew he was bringing me here, but I didn’t know exactly what he had planned.” Well, except for the shower sex part. I still couldn’t figure out how that was going to happen, especially if we were separated. Only time would tell.

  Tori showed me where everything was and left so I could get changed. It was weird getting completely naked in a place that I didn’t know, getting ready for something that I didn’t have all the details of. But the bathrobe was warm and I stuffed my feet into the bamboo flip-flops and headed through the door that Tori had indicated.

  The room held a floral scent tinged with the barest whiff of coconut. Unlike in the main room, there was no water feature. Instead a large fireplace was embedded in the wall, giving off both a comforting light and subtle heat. The tub was already filled with water and floating on the surface was a myriad of rose petals.

  “Wow.” I barely got the word out past the sudden tightness of my throat. It was strange to be overwhelmed by something as simple as a bath, yet I was. This was something that I would never have done for myself, even if someone had prompted me to. That Eric had wanted to treat me to this warmed my heart.

  Tori knocked softly before coming in through the main door to the room. “I wanted to let you know that when you hear the chimes, the next part of your treatment will be ready. You can dry off, put your robe back on, and step into this room. I hope you enjoy your soak.”

  The second she was gone I took the robe off and slipped into the tub.

  This thing was huge. Being shorter than a lot of women, there was no way my legs came close to reaching the end of the tub. Thankfully, they had a neck cradle that kept my body in place. It took a minute of adjusting myself into the right position before I was able to close my eyes and let myself float in the blissfully warm water.

  I didn’t exactly fall asleep, but I lost track of time. Before I knew it, the chimes pulled me from my near slumber. I never want to leave. With effort, I pulled myself from my watery cocoon, dried off, and climbed back into my robe.

  The next room was different from the previous one. The fireplace was gone and replaced with another water feature. This one was half the height of the one in the lobby, but took up a generous portion of the sidewall. In the middle of the room were two massage tables. The heads of them were close enough to be able to have a conversation with the other person.

  Which could only mean—

  Eric came through the door on the opposite side of the room, dressed in a robe of his own. He held up his hand and gave me a little wave that was beyond cute. “Hey.”

  Not hello, or Glenna like he’d normally address me in his almost formal manner. This was a dopey, more relaxed Eric. It was an Eric I could picture waking up with Sunday morning after having been up late the night before reading—or whatever he normally did on Saturday nights when he wasn’t inflicting remote vibrators on his dates at horror movies.

  “You had the gigantic tub too?” I knew he did, because his hair was damp. I wanted to push my fingers into the strands and rearrange them. I took a step closer. “Did they put petals in yours, too?”

  He took a step as well. “They did. Did they use the tropical oils in yours?” />
  “With the hint of coconut? Oh my God, yes. I want to buy a bucket of that and use it every day now.”

  We’d closed the distance between us and stood in the middle between the beds. I looked them over and touched the soft cotton sheets. “A massage?”

  “I thought we could both use one. The freshmen this week were challenging.”

  “They were. And loud.”

  The smile we shared was comfortable. It was weird seeing him in this light, as a man and not simply as the professor whom I’d lusted after. I looked away, knowing my blush would still be visible, even in the dim light.

  “Glenna?” He reached up and cupped my cheek. “Are you okay?”

  I stepped back on impulse when I heard the door open. Tori stood there with two women whom I hadn’t seen before. “This is Rachel and Marianne. They will be looking after you for the next hour. If you need anything at all, please ask.”

  So this was weird.

  I pulled my bathrobe a bit tighter around me. “I’ve never done a couple’s massage before.”

  “I promise it’s easy.” Rachel wasn’t much taller than me, but I could see the muscles on her forearms from where I stood. Holy crap, she might break me. “We’ll step out of the room for a moment to let you get on the table. Normally, I massage the male, but I’m happy to switch if there’s a preference.”

  Eric looked at me and shrugged. “Whatever works for Glenna.”

  “I’m sure that’s fine.” What the hell was I going to say? It’s not like we’d done this before. “So we just get under the blanket?”

  “That’s it. We take it from there.”

  The ladies left and it was once again me standing there staring at Eric. “Umm, do you have a preference for the table?”

  He smiled. “How badly are you freaking out right now?”

  Dear God, please kill me. “Oh, only a bit. It’s just a massage, right? Not that I’ve actually had one before.”

  He froze. “You’ve never had a massage? Ever?”

  “Nope. I never really thought about it.”