My head fell back on a groan when raindrops pelted the outside glass of my window.Great, I was stuck. The Wi-Fi in my hotel room wouldn’t be enough to get any work done, and I didn’t know if I could show my face at The Beach Pub today. Driving in the rain to search for a place to work was the exact opposite of a relaxing getaway to forget my troubles.
I turned toward where Joe still slept in my motel bed, an unexpected smile creeping across my lips. His hair was ruffled into sandy brown tufts, and my fingers itched to brush it off his forehead. He looked young and a bit innocent, nothing like a man who did and said all those deliciously dirty things, last night.
Of course, I didn’t know his age or really anything about him. But I knew his lips, his tongue, how right before our kiss would ignite, he’d graze his teeth along my bottom lip. Joe had settled between my legs all night long as if we’d been doing this dance for years, not hours. He was a sweet man with amazing hands and a magical mouth. If only I didn’t live three hours away, but I did. There was no other option than to think of what happened last night as a one-time thing.
I hated the light of day already.
“You hate the rain that much?” A deep timbre behind me made me jump.
“When I’m supposed to be on a beach vacation? Yes. I hate itthatmuch.”
Joe sat up on the bed, resting his elbows on his thighs with a sleepy grin. I awaited some kind of a reaction I couldn’t pinpoint. I’d been surprised he’d wanted to stay last night, and I’d been too high on orgasms to consider why that may or may not have been a good idea.
After realizing how short my T-shirt was, I settled back into bed with the blanket up to my neck, as if we hadn’t been naked and tangled up in the scratchy hotel sheets for hours. I glanced at the glowing red numbers on the alarm clock resting on the nightstand.
“How could it be six o’clock?” We dozed off after having sex, and then I woke to something poking at my back. Joe muttered a sleepy apology and backed away until I rolled on top of him; the need for him still fresh and raw, and my fuzzy brain still not registering consequences. I’d passed out again shortly after round two, so maybe I’d gotten a full half hour or so of sleep.
Why was it so easy between us? He was able, I was willing, and, while the flashbacks of all we did caused my cheeks to burn, they were exhilarating. I was a lover of lists, of clear cause and effect, and everything in its place. No matter what I tried to do, I couldn’t figure out where to compartmentalize last night.
“Yeah, I’m an hour late.”
He rose from the bed, still gloriously naked, and scooped his pants and boxers off the floor. Whereas I devoured the sight of him last night, my eyes darted around the room as I tried in vain to tear my gaze away. His biceps flexed when he lifted his shirt over his head, and his abs clenched right before they were hidden by the cotton. The thought of tracing each ridge and muscle with my tongue as I’d done only hours ago, popped into my head.
“We don’t open until eleven, but I like to get there early to make sure it’s all set up the way I want it. I’m a little bit of a control freak.”
“Sorry,” I breathed when I found my voice again. “I didn’t mean to—”
“You didn’t force me to come in or to stay. My apartment is right above the restaurant. I’ll take a quick shower and change before I head in. Apologies are unnecessary.”
He motioned to where I cocooned myself in the blanket before he pulled up his jeans.
“Just like covering up.”
I returned his cheeky grin with a glare.
“Honestly, I don’t know what to say. What do we do here?”
“What do we do?” His brows pinched as he slipped his feet into his sneakers. “I know what wedidhere.” He cracked a sexy smile before settling into the small chair beside the bed. “But I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I just got out of a long relationship. I need recovery time, and although we…” I rubbed my eyelids, hoping that would somehow make my words coherent. “Like I said, I’ve never done this before, so I’m unsure of how you … part ways, I guess? What do you usually do?”
“What do Iusuallydo?” He stilled before resting his elbows on his knees. “This may shock you, but I don’t do this very often or at least not as often as you might think. Tourists can be a slippery slope, so I usually don’t get involved. I work seven days a week and as many nights, so this,” he motioned back and forth between us with his finger, “is not my norm. At least, it hasn’t been for a long time.”
“I’ma tourist. What made you get involved with me?” I blanched at insinuating we were involved past last night. For a woman my age, my experience in casual sex was less than nil, and I was making that all too clear. “I mean, not that you’re involved with me now.” I groaned, my face falling into my hands. “How about you just go to work, and we forget all about this? Thank you for everything.”
Thank you?Did I really just thank Joe for having sex with me? Like, “thanks for the latte” or “thanks for filling up my gas tank.”
The mattress dipped in front of me, but I wouldn’t uncover my eyes.
“BecauseCaterina.” He peeled my fingers away from my face and yanked me closer. My full name, a name I always hated, falling from his lips, made goose bumps prickle on my skin.
“Because I wanted to. In fact, I haven’t wanted to do anythingthatmuch in a very long time. Whatever came over us last night to get us…here, was fucking amazing.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, a smile pulling at my lips despite my rising panic. “Pretty fucking amazing.”
His hand cupped the nape of my neck, melting me into a puddle onto the mattress.
“Get some sleep, then come see me. I’ll make you breakfast.”
