Page 3 of The High Price Of Loneliness

Angelica found Edward charming and incredibly attractive, but it was getting late, so she said warmly, “I’m not hungry but thank you. Perhaps we could make plans for another night?” She smiled into his dreamy blue eyes.

“Absolutely!” he replied but with a thoughtful look on his face. “Just curious, why did you take so long to come back? I was waiting for you for hours.” He reached over and gently pulled her bar stool a bit closer to his.

Feeling the ease with which he moved her next to him, she complimented, “Oh, you are so strong.” Reaching over and touching his muscular biceps, she smiled admiringly into his eyes.

Gray wasn’t ready to change the subject. “Thank you kindly, but you didn’t answer my question.”

She continued to look at him as she licked her dark red lips, as they opened to answer his question. She thought to herself,Phew, he’s blazing hot!

Angelica felt an intense tingling sensation running across her body. She answered gently, “I felt very turned off by the way my date behaved, and there was no way I was going to have dinner with him. Then, afterward, I wasn’t sure if I felt comfortable coming back here to meet you alone.” Her voice was beginning to tremble as she gathered the strength to keep looking him in the eyes. She continued, “I called some friends, and everyone seems to know who you are. You’re quite famous here in Sarasota.”

She looked down. “Then, I Googled you, and all the news articles about you went on for pages,” she whispered in a low voice as he smiled slightly back at her. She watched as Edward responded to the accolades with humility and a total lack of hubris, very much unlike her ill-fated last date.

“Trust me, being famous has pros and cons,” he said thoughtfully.

She continued, “I don’t like walking into a place at night alone, so I gave it some thought before driving all the way back here.”

“The restaurant is closing soon anyway. The least I can do as a gentleman is walk you to your car,” Edward offered, nodding his head encouragingly.

Angelica liked the respectful way he spoke to her, the way he made her feel special. Now, as they left the restaurant together, she explained, while pointing towards the corner of the parking lot, “My car is over there.” Gray offered her his arm to hold on to as she walked across the dark asphalt in her heels. Another gold star, she thought. Perhaps there are still some real gentlemen left in the world.

She drove a passion-red convertible Nissan Z sports car, and as they slowly walked together, Edward nonchalantly asked, “Would you mind giving me a lift to my car? My friends all left to go elsewhere for dinner, and I planned to ride with them, but I wanted to wait, in case ...”

As Gray paused with a moment of silence, Angelica interjected, “In case I returned?” smiling as she blushed at once.

He smiled warmly and nodded as he confirmed her guess, “Of course.”

Angelica was happy to give him a lift. “Where is your car parked?”

She felt him hesitate ever so slightly before he replied, “My car…” Gray repeated the line and looked into her gaze, “is at home,” he said with a charming smile.

Angelica laughed with her playful eyes. “Oh, you are smooth!” Which, apparently, Gray took as his cue to walk around to the passenger door and get in beside her. He had a confident and easy way about him that made her feel comfortable. She had returned to meet him, and now they were together at last, at least for the ride to his home with Edward’s eyes admiring Angelica’s beautiful smile and captivatingly stunning figure all the while.

“I can give directions to my home. It’s right on the water on Longboat Key.”

She perked up with a coy look on her face. Little did he know, Angelica was way ahead of him. “Oh, I already know where you live, Mr. Gray. My friends told me all about you, so I looked you up and drove by your home before coming back to meet you,” she retorted with a smirk.

She saw him off balance, for the first and last time that evening as he replied, “I’m flattered, I think…” clearly surprised by her unexpected research. But sure enough, Angelica started up the horses under the hood of her red Nissan Z and made all the correct turns, unassisted by Gray, heading straight to his oceanfront estate.

They turned to head across the arched bridge connecting Sarasota to the barrier islands of Lido and Longboat Key. “So, what would you have done if you had returned to the restaurant, and I was no longer there? After all, it had been quite a while.”

Angelica glanced over to him and flashed a playful smile, then revealed yet another of her secrets. “Well, I thought about that before driving all the way back there. So, I called the restaurant and asked the hostess if a very distinguished and handsome fellow might still be sitting at the bar by himself. She said yes and told me she thought you had been there waiting for someone for quite some time. So, I felt that coming by for one drink was the least I could do. I didn’t want to leave you there pining away for me.” She looked at him playfully as she pulled right into his circular driveway.

Edward was smiling at her differently now with newfound respect that she was “not just a pretty face,” as he admitted, “OK, I’m impressed.”

“Would you care to come in for a few minutes?” he asked politely, knowing they had just met.

Angelica hesitated. “Edward, it’s getting late. I really should get going.”

Gray’s deep voice guided her ever-so-gently forward. “Just for a bit. I give you my word that I’m a perfect gentleman. One hundred percent guaranteed.”

Angelica hesitated and then nodded, “OK, but just for a bit.” They both got out of her flame-red convertible and walked across the drive as he retrieved his keys. Gray opened one of the two substantial, arched wooden doors set in the front glass wall of his home. The door opened inward, revealing a massive, vaulted ceiling living room. The centerpiece was the vast wall of glass across the back of the oceanfront estate. She smiled, seeing the Gulf of Mexico at night across the beautifully lit infinity pool.

“Come and sit with me,” Edward encouraged as he walked over to one of the two white leather couches in the great room. As they sat down, she felt his eyes gazing slowly from hers down to her exposed neck and across the upper curve of her breasts. She took a deep breath as his gaze plummeted down to her small waist and beautiful hips and finally down to her gorgeous legs before slowly returning back to gaze into her eyes once again. Her heart was racing with nervous energy as he finally spoke. “Pardon me, Angelica. It is just so rare to see so much beauty in one person,” he apologized after poring over every inch of her with his calm, powerful eyes.

“Thank you for the compliment, Edward,” she said shakily, biting her lip softly as she hoped her voice didn’t give away her real attraction to him. This was the one she had fantasized about since she was a little girl, and she didn’t want to mess this up.

Edward poured her a glass of beautiful wine and handed it to her. “Careful with this one—not to spill again.” He smiled into her eyes as she took the crystal glass. As they sat in the living room facing the gorgeous ocean view, his arm gracefully circled behind her, and his fingers softly began stroking her shoulder as they talked. Edward said openly and candidly, “I’m not going to sleep with you tonight. I don’t ‘dance’ on a first date or meeting—ever.”

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