Would Boutros resent it if I slept with one of his homeland friends? As much as I pretended not to care, I did.
I opened my eyes when I sensed, beneath my eyelids, someone standing near. I expected to see Boutros. He’d be coming out to urge me to get back inside and be more social.
But it wasn’t Boutros.
No, it was a face I hadn’t expected, and certainly hadn’t dared hope I would see again.
I smiled. “Walt.” I drew out his name, savoring it.
He sat down next to me. “I was hoping I’d find you here.” He scooted closer so that our shoulders touched.
“This is a wonderful surprise,” I confessed with genuine emotion. Most of my encounters with men to date had been of the “once-only” variety, and it was beginning to get on my nerves. What was wrong with me, anyway? I was cute, reasonably smart, and relatively low-maintenance. And now, here was a man I’d fantasized about seeing again but, as with most fantasies, hadn’t really dared hope it would come true.
My thoughts of a dalliance with Teddy suddenly went up like a wisp of smoke on the night air. “I wasn’t sure you were headed this way.”
Walt stretched his long legs out before him and leaned back with a contented sigh. He wore a pair of old jeans, ripped at the knee, and a faded gray T-shirt with an image of Salvador Dali on the front. He’d pulled his long chestnut hair back into a ponytail. “I wasn’t sure I was either. That’s the beauty of this trip—to just go off wherever, with no agenda.” He glanced over at me and smiled. “I love to travel.”
“Oh, I do too. I just wish I could afford to do more of it.” I thought of my cubicle back in Chicago, where the work would be piling up. I’d pay dearly in time for this trip abroad when I got back. And I didn’t even want to think about how I’d pay once the credit card statements rolled in. Boutros kept reminding me that, as much as I thought it so, a pound was really not equal to a dollar.
“You can. You just have to want it. And then you make it happen. It might not always be luxury accommodations. You need to be ready to fly out at a moment’s notice when there’s a great last-minute deal. Have a bag packed and ready to go. Or, like me, you can hit up travel magazines for assignments if you have a way with words. That’s how I pay for a lot of my trips—some magazine sends me out to do a piece. The pay for the work itself is often shit, but the trip is all-expenses paid.”
“I never considered doing that. I do have a bit of a flair for writing, if I do say so myself.” I thought of the unfinished horror novel on my hard drive at home and the several porno stories I’d had published in magazines likeStallionandDrummer.
“They’re always looking for good writers. It helps if you can take halfway decent pictures too.”
He looked over at me and held me in his gaze. “What are we talking about?”
“Travel. I envy you.”
“Don’t envy me. Or maybe do. I have nothing, really. Most of my stuff can be packed into a single suitcase. I live in a rented room in Boston. But having next to nothing can be very freeing. Most folks, in their quest for materials things like houses and cars, don’t get that. And they then become slaves to the very things they seek.”
I nodded and realized there was more to Walt than a pretty face and a big dick. He had substance and was a thoughtful man, maybe a little unusual. He’d mentioned baggage, of the literal variety, but I suspected he didn’t carry much of any kind. I found myself liking him more and more. I wanted to know him better.
“So, is that what brought you here? An assignment?”
He shook his head. “No. This one’s all on me. Just for fun. I was enjoying all the scenery, the history. I’ve already been to Wales, and I hope to get up to Scotland before I have to go back in a couple weeks. As you know, I’m renting a junker car, but it runs, and as long as I can remember to stay on the left side of the road, I should be okay.” He grinned.
I wasn’t sure what to say. I’d never been so carefree, not like Walt. I didn’t know if I could travel the way he did, which seemed to be letting the wind blow him in whatever direction it was going.
“This trip’s been great, but I have to confess—it’s been a little lonely.”
“Yes?” I found that hard to believe. A guy who looked like Walt and had his ease and self-assurance would seem, at least to me, to have no problem finding lots of companionship.
“Yeah.” He pushed my hair back off my forehead. “That’s why I was so happy when I met you. There’s something about you that’s different from most of the guys I meet. Believe it or not, I see you as a bit of an old soul. I think there are more layers to you than even you’re aware of.” He laughed, seeming a little sheepish. “I’m having a bit of trouble getting you out of my head.”
Heat surged throughout my whole body. Then my suspicion/low self-esteem kicked in. I turned to give him a wry smile. “Ah, I bet you say that to all the boys.”
“Donot! Even though I was easy on our first date, if you can even call it a date, I’m not always quick to jump into bed with just anyone. Sure, I get my chances, but I need to feel something more than just animal magnetism—although, honey, I felt plenty of that with you. But there needs to be some of that magic, you know? Something that’s hard to put your finger on, but you know it when you feel it. When you look into a person’s eyes….”
A lot of glib responses came to mind, but for once I didn’t allow myself to utter any of them—I didn’t want to. I was touched, genuinely touched, and suppressed the tear or two wanting to well up in my eyes. “I do know what you mean.” I suddenly wanted to be with no one else. And, believe me, that went against all imaginings and intentions I’d had before I boarded the plane at O’Hare International. Back in Chicago, my hope was to sample as many “bangers” as possible once I was across the pond.
I was surprising myself. Or maybe not. Maybe what I’d been longing for was sitting right next to me, on a bench in Bath, Somerset, England. And maybe it was no accident that the first man I’d met and really liked on this trip turned out to also be an American. Boston sure wasn’t all that close to Chicago, but at least it was on the same continent.
I couldn’t help it. I needed to know, so I blurted out, “Did you follow me here?”
He chuckled. “Well, since I was driving and you came via train, no, not literally. But I did come to Bath hoping to run into you again.”
I didn’t want to let on how happy this made me. I was beaming inside but gave Walt only the glimmer of a smile. “I was hoping to run into you again too.”
