Page 16 of Tryst
“Then people would wonder why all of a sudden I've started calling you old Captain Hook.” She giggles.
“I definitely don't want to hear your story now,” I grumble.
“It's soothing. Be quiet, keep your eyes closed, and listen.”
I give it a try, and in no time I fall asleep in her arms. She stays with me the entire day. Offers to spend the night, but I can't let her do that knowing I was going to break it off with her today before I became sick. Sure, I could have managed on my own. But she made it so much better.
Halfway through the night, I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking that I should have accepted her offer to stay. I make up my mind. I'm going to have one more weekend with her. Just us. No one else. I send her a text telling her about my plans, No work. No sneaking around family and friends or noisy co-workers. She doesn't reply so I figure she‘s sleeping and hasn't seen the text yet.
The time together will be something of a goodbye for us; I hope she'll understand why I need to do this sooner than later.
The next morning she comesinto work with a cup of ginger tea instead of my usual coffee, locks the door, and launches herself into my arms kissing me excitedly.
She was more than happy that I wanted to spend time with her alone somewhere we wouldn't be hiding. It was going to be great she said, but I felt like such an ass for what I was about to do. Put an end to us.
I packed my bags and brought them with me to work in the trunk of my car. I told Jade to do the same. We were leaving straight from work to a summer rental by the beach in the Hamptons. I thought it was fitting. We began there, so we should end there, bittersweet as it is.
We get on the Long Island Expressway going east, and I crank up the AC to push out the stifling heat. I look over at Jade in her work attire but modified with her shirt open and a black camisole top underneath. Very sexy. I notice she's not smiling and she hasn't said much.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, why?”
“You've been sort of quiet since we hit the highway. What happened to all the excited energy of yesterday?”
“Still excited to spend time with you,” she says, and I reach over to hold her hand, keeping an eye on the road. Then she adds, “I'm just enjoying the ride and thinking.”
“About?”
“How much I'm going to miss seeing you every day.” She runs her hand through her hair but doesn't turn her head to me.
“That's what this weekend is about. Us spending as much time together as we can.”
“Yeah.”
“So let’s not think about this. Let’s enjoy our time together uninterrupted and free.”
“Okay.” She shrugs, and I press the back of her hand to my lips.
Fuck. This is going to be hard. This fling was simple when we first started, but I knew somewhere along the way, her feelings might grow. I thought I could control her feelings toward me, because I knew exactly what I wanted. I wasn't going to get caught up in feeling more than lust and having a good time. I wasn't going to blur the lines.
I didn't know shit. The lines blur and merge in and out of sync every day with her.
When we arrive she sprints out of the car toward the beach house.
“How the hell did you manage to find a Victorian beach house?” She runs up the steps and goes through the door.
I love her enthusiasm. The outside is Victorian, but inside is modern with stripped hard wood floors, updated appliances, a touch of Victorian with the bedrooms and living room furniture, and a large claw foot tub. I bring our bags inside, close the door, and walk up the stairs where she went. I put my hands in my pockets and watch her on the back balcony overlooking the beach. “I have my ways of finding things.”
“I love all your ways,” she shouts from the balcony down to the beach.
Seeing her like this makes me happy.
She comes in, puts her arms around my waist, and kisses my cheek.
I raise a brow. “We come all the way out here to be free, and that's all I get?”
“You're going to get way more than that. Do you know how good you look today?” She scans down my body cataloging everything from my dress slacks, sleeves rolled above the elbows, to my watch gleaming in the light. “Did I mention how I love to see a man in a watch? Oh, and your hair windblown and fabulous.”
