Page 17 of All I Desire

Chapter Five

MATTHEW

The three-hour driveacross the state to Fort Lauderdale is too long and too boring, and gives me way too much time to think about what just happened.

About the woman I just kissed. Every time I turn my head an inch in either direction, I catch a faint whiff of her perfume. It’s a mixture of orange blossoms and the ocean.

Sweet and salty.

Just like Natalia.

What the hell’s up with Paradise Beach? It was like being in some tropical twilight zone, what went on back there. I’m still baffled as I mentally replay the past several hours. Let’s see. I sat on a towel half-clothed, had my photo taken about five hundred times, and made out with a gorgeous blonde.

But it was more than that.

I laughed more than I have in years. Connected with a woman like I haven’t in, hell, decades. Felt that maybe this move across the state with Chloe might not be such a shitty idea.

It’s close to midnight by the time I pull into the parking lot at Yvette’s condo. I let myself in with the key she gave me, hoping to grab a water and hit the sack.

But my ex-wife is on the sofa. The TV’s on, no sound, and she looks up from her phone.

“Hey,” she says softly.

“Hey,” I whisper, setting my duffel bag on the floor. The room I’ll be sleeping in is only a few paces away, so I might as well leave it there.

I head to the kitchen and open the fridge. There was a time when I’d have been nervous, or annoyed, or even angry to see Yvette. These last six months? Nothing. She’s like a pleasant stranger.

One with whom I share the most important thing in my life.

I grab a water and twist the cap, taking a long guzzle. Two years ago, I couldn’t have imagined doing this — staying in the guest room at Yvette’s so I could wake up and get Chloe off to school. Now that I no longer have a house on this coast? This arrangement seems reasonable to me. My family thinks it’s weird, but I don’t give a crap. Especially since it means that I’m able to wake up to the laughter of my little girl.

“How was the drive?” Yvette asks.

I wander into the living room and sit at the far end of the sofa. “Long. I’m beat.”

In reality, I’m not. My body’s still buzzing from what happened on the beach. Sitting in my ex’s living room as CNN plays and my daughter snoozes in the other room makes the events on Paradise Beach seem surreal and hazy. As if I’ve dreamt them.

Glancing over at Yvette, I study her face. Sometimes she still looks like the twenty-year-old I met at Embry Riddle, back when we were both aeronautics majors. Before we both became commercial air pilots, before we were married, before we had a daughter.

Before we fell out of love.

“How’s the kiddo?”

Yvette shifts and tucks her feet under her butt. “Good. We had pizza. She’s excited about tomorrow. Says you’re going to take her shopping. She knows how much you love stationary stores. Apparently, there’s a new one at the mall that has some Japanese characters.”

I chuckle. “The polar bear and dinosaur…” my voice trails off. My daughter has an obsession with a game called Sumikko Gurashi. The characters all look like smiling, pastel-colored blobs to me.

I screw the cap back on the soda and set it on the coffee table. I relax back into the sofa, allowing my eyes to shut. My mind drifts back to Natalia’s dazzling smile. I’m nodding off, thinking of the sunset light in her blonde hair.

“You’re normally so talkative after a long drive. What happened to you today?”

My lids peel open. “Huh? Oh. I had that crazy photo shoot on the beach today.”

“The one where you were paired with a stranger?”

“Yeah. That one.” A smile plays on my lips.

“And? Do you think it will help you sell helicopter tours? Did Chad actually have a good idea for once?”

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