Paradise Lust
Page 17
“The Hilton,” he said. “Pretty fancy. Room service and everything. If you play your cards right, I might let you come back and see it.”
“Mmhmm,” she nodded. “So what’s the new job?”
“Well, I might have made it sound too grandiose earlier. It’s not like I’m saving the world or anything, but it is kinda cool,” he said, becoming animated. It was adorable; her stomach clenched. “So basically I’ll be using the skills I was using before—trend prediction, market analysis, all that jazz—but for a travel startup. They want to be on the leading edge of every new travel innovation, and I’ll basically be their forecaster to help make that happen.”
“That’s great,” she said. It actually did sound great. As if somebody had designed a position specifically for him. She wanted to ask him more, but needed to ask the question that was poisoning this perfect moment with doubt. She took a deep breath and asked, “Where’s it based?”
“Oh that’s what’s so cool about it,” he said. “Because it’s just these couple dudes right now working out of their apartment, there’s no office. Plus it’s all about travel, right? So they’re very into having their employees—aka me and one other person—‘in the field’ as they say. Meaning I can work from anywhere with an internet connection.”
Her heart fluttered. The clouds in her head began to clear. But she still didn’t feel on fully solid ground. She needed to just make sure, really, one hundred percent sure, before she let herself go to the feeling. She squinted, inhaled once more, and asked it, the question she’d been circling around: “So how long will you be in Seattle?”
Danny paused. He pulled his head back a bit, scrutinized her profile for a moment. She stared straight ahead, the building her beacon of sanity.
“Is that why you just got weird?” he asked. She could hear the smile in his voice.
Her face snapped toward him. “I didn’t get weird!”
He laughed. “No?”
In spite of her nerves, a smile forced its way onto her lips. “Maybe a little. But come on, have pity on a girl! Just answer the question!”
He gripped both her shoulders, turned her to face him, looked into her eyes. “Indefinitely,” he said.
The clouds cleared, the doubt was banished, and she fell forward to kiss him with everything she had. He was real, he was here, and he was staying. This wouldn’t be taken away from her.
After some time, they pulled away from each other. She felt a reluctance doing so, but then remembered that he wasn’t going anywhere; she didn’t need to drink him in all at once. She could savor him slowly, take her time.
The sun had finally finished its descent, the clouds from earlier in the day had cleared, and the sky blazed with the afterglow of a perfect West Coast sunset. Sure, there weren’t white sand beaches and swaying palm trees, but nobody could deny the beauty of the scene. The entire city stretched out below them, suddenly new and thrilling.
“So what should we do now, m’lady?” Danny asked.
“I’d like to go to the Marina, maybe,” she said after a moment’s pause. “Just look at the ocean.”
“Great thing to do,” he said, taking her hand. “Great place to do it.”
She looked at him and smiled. A great adventure was about to unfold.
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