by Jala Summers
***
Liana’s back was against Kyle’s chest as he spooned her, holding her in his arms. Liana’s up-do hadn’t stood a chance against their hot and steamy love sessions. But her disheveled, messy hair was the last thing on her mind as well as his.
Kyle could hold her in his arms all night, if she’d let him. “You are staying here tonight, right?”
“Yes,” she answered. She didn’t want to leave either. It was their last night together and she wanted to savor it.
“You know, I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to let a woman like you go?”
She felt as if her heart had stopped when she heard his confession. She didn’t say anything.
“I haven’t met anyone like you, ever, Liana, and I don’t want this to end.”
Liana sucked in a deep breath. She didn’t know what to say, and decided not to say anything.
Kyle noticed her silence on the subject. He changed gears and asked, “What are you plans when you go back home?”
She let out the breath she was holding, and was grateful that he’d steered the conversation in a different direction. “Just the usual. Going back to my workaholic life as a Realtor in Houston. What about you?”
“I guess the same, back to working crazy hours, back to that quiet, empty house in Atlanta.”
She wasn’t falling for the trap. What does he want me to say? That I’ll come to Atlanta to live with him in that ‘empty house’?
“Well,” she said, “At least we had a great time here. You can take these memories back with you, and so can I.”
Back to stubborn Liana again, he thought. “How about I take you back with me.”
Liana closed her eyes. She wanted to say yes. She wish that she could throw caution to the wind, ignore all of the drama of her past and wished that she’d finally found the one person she could trust. But she didn’t believe that, and she couldn’t do that. But she knew what could take his mind off of this crazy talk, at least for the rest of their night together.
Liana turned in the bed to face him and placed a hand on his face, as she stared into his eyes. “I want us to enjoy this--our last night together. Let’s not talk about stuff we both know can’t happen. Please, not right now.” She leaned in for a soft, sweet kiss. It was affectionate, and quickly became a sensual communion of their lips and tongues, as they became caught up in the heat of the kiss.
Liana pressed herself against him, her nipples rubbing against his smooth chest. She reached down between them. When she felt his erect hardness, she knew they were both ready for one final round of slow, lingering love-making on their last night together.
Chapter Eighteen
Kyle placed Liana’s suitcase in the trunk of her car, and Lloyd did the same with Alyssa’s luggage. They’d helped them both to their parked car in the terminal parking lot.
Kyle hadn’t wanted Liana to struggle with her broken suitcase as she had when he’d seen her board the ship the first day of the cruise, and had insisted on walking her to her car, despite her protests.
Alyssa’s back was against the passenger door, as she locked in an intimate embrace with Lloyd, his forehead touching hers as he spoke to her softly.
Liana looked over at them and back at Kyle, hoping he didn’t try to do the same. She didn’t want to make this any harder than it was and she’d tried to avoid a moment like this. “Let’s make this as painless as possible,” she said.
She leaned in, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and pulled back to look into his eyes, “Goodbye Kyle. I really enjoyed...everything. And I enjoyed being with you on this trip. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Lia.” He pulled her into him. He didn’t want to part with just a peck on the cheek, as if she was just an old friend. Though she felt like a friend, after the closeness they’d felt on the cruise, she was so much more than that to him. He wanted her as his lover, as a more significant part of his life.
But Liana had been adamant. They would not exchange information, numbers, anything. He’d reluctantly agreed because he hadn’t wanted to spoil their last moments together that morning as they prepared to leave the ship.
To hell with this friend bullshit, he said, and leaned down to taste her sweet lips one last time as he kissed her passionately. Liana was reeling and dazed when he finally released her. She fumbled in her purse for her car keys, and went to open the driver side door. When she started the car, Alyssa groaned as she peeled herself away from Lloyd, gave him two more, quick kisses, and climbed into the seat next to Liana.
Liana turned to look at Kyle one last time and waved. He lifted his hand to wave back and watched as she drove off, through the parking lot and out of his life, as suddenly as she had entered it.
***
Liana had arrived home from Galveston, nearly an hour later and though she was tired after so many late nights with Kyle, where she’d done anything and everything but sleep, she began unpacking her suitcase.
But the task was harder than she had anticipated it would be, as now every article of clothing she took out held a new memory of the time she’d spent with the beautiful man she’d come to know.
Her print bikini reminded her of the way he’d looked at her hungrily at the pool, the white pantsuit brought back flashbacks of their hot night in his cabin, and her blue formal dress was now tied to their lust-filled last night on the ship.
She sighed and unzipped the inner compartment that held her toiletries and underwear. She scooped up nearly all of the compartment’s contents and dropped them onto her bed. A slip of paper, peeking out from underneath her black lace underwear, caught her attention. She picked it up and noticed the neat handwriting and numbers printed on it.
It was a phone number and the message below the number read, I know we agreed, but I couldn’t resist letting you go without a hope of hearing from you again.
Please, get in touch. I’ll be waiting for your call. Kyle.
Liana slowly lowered herself to sit on the bed. It took everything in her not to reach over and snatch her phone from the nightstand and dial the number from the slip of paper.
But she couldn’t. What’s done was done, and in their past. It was fun, and it was beautiful. But it was a fantasy. And now, she was back to her reality, and they both needed to accept it. She placed the paper in her dresser drawer, hidden away, under her clothes. But even she wondered why she didn’t just toss it in the trash, if she was serious about keeping their cruise ship fling as just a fond memory from her past.
Chapter Nineteen
The two weeks that had passed since he’d returned home from the cruise felt more like two months. Time seemed to pass more slowly than it ever had before.
Before the cruise, and before meeting Liana, he hadn’t remembered it being so hard to concentrate at work. And he hadn’t remembered being bored at home, when he wasn’t at work, the way he was now.
Liana hadn’t called, and he wondered if the note he’d slipped into her bag had somehow fallen out.
No, he told himself, it was in a zippered compartment. She had to have seen it. And that realization made him feel worse. If she had seen it and just decided not to call, that was an even bigger blow to his ego and his heart.
Two long weeks of quiet had allowed him entirely too much time to think and contemplate. And he realized that his heart had become involved. It was the only explanation for why he had become so attached to Liana so quickly and checked his phone repeatedly throughout the day, looking for a missed call from an unfamiliar number with a Houston area code. But that call had never come.
Kyle sat behind the desk in his office, trying to force his mind back to the reports in front of him. But he was finding that harder to do with each passing day, as his thoughts of his nights with Liana grew stronger and more insistent, invading every part of his life.
He heard a light knock on his door and looked up to see Owen Nelson, the company president, and Kevin Davis, the company CEO, standing in the doorway. “Owen, Kevin, to what do I
owe the pleasure of this visit from the both of you? Come on in,” Kyle said, grateful to push the reports aside. It wasn’t as if he could get any work done anyway, so their arrival was a welcome distraction.
Kevin entered first, followed by Owen. Owen closed the door shut behind them. Kyle looked at them curiously, now wondering about the nature of their visit. They sat in the two chairs opposite Kyle, on the other side of his desk,
Kevin spoke first, “So, Kyle. We have a proposal for you, but it’s still not official yet, so we have to keep it under wraps for now.”
Kyle raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, his elbows resting on the desk. The suspense was killing him and he was anxious now to hear their proposal.
“You know already that we’ve been doing extremely well with our latest expansion to Seattle,” Owen told him.
Kyle nodded.
“Well, we’re considering another expansion, and our two potential locations are either Chicago or Houston.”
Kyle’s breath caught in his throat, and he choked. He reached for the glass of water on his desk.
Kevin continued, “Not only are we expanding again, but we were looking for a President of this new division, and naturally, you were the first person who came to mind.”
Kyle couldn’t believe his ears. Not only was he getting a significant promotion, but they planned to move the company to the one place he wanted to be more than anywhere else. In Houston, where Liana lived.
“Now, we want to know if you’d accept the offer, but of course we’ll give you time to think it over. Also, if you do accept, we would like to know if you’d prefer the expansion to Houston or Chicago.”
Kyle nodded. He’d take a day or two before responding to the offer, but he already knew his answer. He would gladly accept the promotion and there was no question about which location he preferred. Kyle smiled widely, as he shook his colleagues’ hands before they exited his office, and thanked his lucky stars for dropping an opportunity like this right in his lap.
Chapter Twenty
Alyssa sat at Liana’s barstool snacking on chips and salsa. She crunched loudly on a chip and asked Liana, “So, you coming bowling with us Saturday night or not?”
“With you and Lloyd? I’m not into third wheel dates. Besides this is your first time seeing him since you came back from the cruise. I really don’t want to get in on that action.”
Alyssa laughed. Liana knew her too well, and that she’d most likely be all over him to make up for the last three weeks of lost time.
“Yeah, but I’d like you to come along. You haven’t been out in a while. I know, ‘cause every time I call you’re either out showing a client a house or sitting at home in bed, watching television.”
“And that’s the way I like it. Some of us don’t need to go out running the streets every night, ‘Lyssa.”
“Yeah, but you’re coming with us anyway. I swear, if you didn’t have me as a friend, you’d never get out, girl.”
“I have a life. Or at least enough of a life,” she continued, becoming more defensive. “Well, it’s the life that I want.”
Alyssa eyed her suspiciously. “Somehow I don’t believe you at all.”
“Well, it’s true.”
Alyssa dipped another chip, and pulled out a huge helping of salsa. “So, have you broken down and called Kyle yet?”
“No. I said that I wouldn’t, and I haven’t.”
“Girl, what is wrong with you? I thought that surely by now you would have pulled that number out of your drawer and called him. What are you waiting on?”
“We both agreed that what happened on the Single, Grown Cruise ship would stay on the Single, Grown Cruise ship. And I meant it.”
Alyssa shook her head in pity. “You’re one stubborn woman, you know that, right?”
Liana smiled wickedly, “Of course I know, you tell me all the time.”
“Damn, what did you put on him to make him even want to deal with your difficult ass? I still don’t get why he left his number with you, in the first place,” Alyssa teased, and they both burst into hysterical laughter.
Alyssa recovered from their hysterics, and her face was serious as she pointed a chip at Liana. “Just make sure your difficult ass is at my place this Saturday at noon, understand? Clear your schedule, whatever you gotta do. Just be there.”
Liana smirked at Alyssa, “I’ll see.” But they both knew that Liana would be there.
Chapter Twenty-One
Liana stepped up to Alyssa’s front porch and rang the doorbell. She sighed. Alyssa was right, she didn’t get out enough. But bowling with her friend and her male friend wasn’t exactly her idea of a good time. Just try to stay positive, she told herself.
But it wasn’t just being a third wheel that she dreaded. It was seeing Lloyd for the first time since the cruise. She knew that seeing them together would conjure up old memories of her time with Kyle that she had tried to stuff down for her own protection. She couldn’t afford to dwell on the memories and hope to bring a fantasy back to her real life, as Alyssa was so quick to do with Lloyd.
Liana knew all too well that relationships usually didn’t have fairy tale endings in real life. But she’d let Alyssa have her fun with her fantasy with Lloyd and go along with them, just to get out and socialize.
The door flew open, and Alyssa beamed at Liana, looking like an overly-excited teenager. She grabbed Liana by the arm and pulled her quickly inside. She closed the door behind Liana, and Liana turned to see Lloyd in a chair in her living room. He rose and walked over to greet her. He gave her a friendly hug. “Hey you. Long time, no see.”
“It’s good to see you again, Lloyd. How have you been?”
“Good, real good.” He placed an arm around Alyssa’s waist and kissed her cheek, “Just missing your friend here, though.”
Liana gave a forced smile and asked, “You guys ready to go?”
Alyssa rushed to her bedroom and called out over her shoulder as she breezed past them, “Just give me a minute, I need to slip into some different clothes. I’ll be ready in a minute.”
Liana sat down on the sofa, and Lloyd returned to his spot in the chair. There was an awkward silence, as they both avoided the elephant in the room as long as they could. Then, Liana finally got up the nerve to address it first. “How’s Kyle doing?”
Lloyd looked relieved that she’d asked and his shoulders relaxed. He smiled, and answered, “He’s been well. Quite well, actually.”
Quite well, she thought, what does that mean? Then her heart sunk in her chest and she chastised herself for being so silly. She was the one who had decided not to call him, so she didn’t have the right to be upset that he’d gone home and moved on with his life--so much so that he was doing ‘quite well’. She forced another smile, hoping she could fake even herself out and be happy for him.
Liana heard a toilet flush and running water in Alyssa’s guest bathroom down the hall, from where they sat. She leaned back in her chair, and craned her neck to try to get a good glimpse of the bathroom. Who else was in Alyssa’s house?
Alyssa hadn’t mentioned anyone else would be coming with them. It had better not be another one of Alyssa’s surprise blind dates, because I will head right on out of here.
The door was closed and she noticed the light at the bottom of the door go out, and the door swing open. Her heart nearly flew out of her chest when she saw Kyle approach them--bedroom eyes and all.
Liana regained her breath, and stood there, awkward. But she didn’t know if she should go toward him, hug him, kiss him or what.
She figured that, if anything, he’d be pissed at how she hadn’t tried to contact him at all since she’d been back. She didn’t have to wait long to decide what to do because Kyle made it easy for her, as he pulled her into his arms and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, she was a nervous wreck, but tried to play it cool. He held her hand in his and had yet to let it go. “Kyle, it really is good to see you.”
He sm
iled at her, but cocked his head to the side, studying her, to assess her sincerity. Though he’d initially been hurt that she’d avoided calling him for the past few weeks, he later realized that it was likely for reasons other than her lack of interest in dealing with him.
He knew more about Liana than she realized, and he knew that for her, this was about self-preservation. She’d done it for years, and it had become her default method of interaction when it came to men. But he’d hoped that soon she’d stop resisting and just let go.
“And it’s great to see you too, Lia.” Liana’s heart fluttered when she heard him speak her nickname and heard the deep tone of his smooth voice again. She hadn’t realized, until now, just how much she’d missed that man.
