“As perfect as ever. You might never get me out.”
“You say that every time.”
“It’s a genuine risk…”
Luisa turned off the water and reached for one of Julian’s very thick and very nice towels from the heated rack. She wrapped it around herself and stepped out to see Julian still looking at her, phone still at his ear, an expression on his face that she recognised.
“…yes, I’m still here,” he said into the phone, his eyes not leaving her. “Actually, something just came up. Can I call you back inthirty minutes? Great.” He ended the call and put the phone down. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Luisa replied, suddenly acutely aware that she was wearing only a towel and not a very long one at that.
This was the complicated thing about her and Julian. They weren’t a couple, that was very clear and well understood. They each had their own lives and their own expectations. It was an arrangement that benefited them both. But there was also genuine affection and genuine attraction. The liked each other a lot, and they had fun together, and sometimes, when the timing was right for them both, they fell into bed together in a way that felt completely natural.
Like now, apparently.
“You know,” Julian said, pushing off the vanity and walking towards her. “I’ve got half an hour before I need to call him back.”
“I know. I heard you tell him.” Luisa was smiling. “That’s not very long.”
“Efficiency is a virtue.” He stopped in front of her, close enough that she could smell him… as ever he smelled expensive. His fingertips traced their way along the edge of the towel wrapped around her chest. “What do you think? Are you feeling virtuous?”
Luisa thought for a moment… because she could absolutely say no and Julian wouldn’t push. She wanted to say yes, because uncomplicated physical intimacy was exactly what she could do with right now. For a moment she thought about Amy, butthey’d been very clear with each other that whatever they were was open… it had to be when Amy had a boyfriend she lived with and, apparently, another woman she was seeing too. This was allowed. This was fine.
“Half an hour?” she asked.
“Give or take.”
“We should probably make it count then.”
Julian grinned and kissed her, and Luisa let the towel drop to the floor.
***
They really did make it count.
Afterwards they lay tangled together and Luisa found herself thinking of Amy again, which was ridiculous… she’d just had sex with someone else and now, a little guiltily, her mind was straight back to Amy.
“That’s very loud thinking,” Julian teased, his voice coming to her as much through the vibration of his chest against her cheek as anything else.
“Sorry.” She realised she’d sighed which he must have noticed.
“Don’t be. Just curious what’s going on in that head of yours.” His hand stroked her hair. “You’ve seemed a bit distracted when we’ve seen each other the last few weeks.”
Luisa smiled to herself… there were times where she wondered if her and Julian were in some kind of relationship, because they both knew each other so naturally and intuitively by now that they could spot when something was off with the other. But then, because they weren’t in a relationship, they could be honest with each other about what was going on in their lives, completely honest without fear of consequences.
“I met someone.”
“Ah.” He didn’t sound surprised or hurt, just curious. “Someone serious?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
“When is meeting someone ever not?” His hand kept on stroking her damp hair, the pace unchanged. “Does this someone know about me?”
“She knows about…” Luisa turned her head to look at Julian. “I told her I’ve got a not-boyfriend.”
He found that funny. “Not-boyfriend? I like that one.”
She grinned. “It captures you and me pretty well.”
