A relationship.
I wanted a bona fide relationship with this enigmatic woman I barely knew.
Yeah, scary.
We sat quietly for about fifteen minutes. At least I thought it was fifteen minutes. I didn’t have my phone or a watch to check. Once I’d drained my seltzer, I rose. “I’m going to get another. You want one?”
She shook her head. “I’m still good. Thanks.”
I was good as well, but I also had to pee, so I didn’t have the option of staying. I walked back into the cabin and hit the can. While I was pissing, I zeroed in on a wallet sitting on top of the toilet tank. Hmm. Why was her wallet in the bathroom?
I had no idea. I finished my piss and washed my hands, ready to get back to the tub, when my gaze darted to the wallet again.
Don’t do it, Matt. None of your business.
I did it anyway. I picked up the wallet and opened it. A Pennsylvania driver’s license was tucked into the plastic-covered window.
Chloe L. Mansfield, with an address in Pittsburgh.
My eyebrows shot up.
Chloe L. Mansfield? She’d said her middle name was Riley.
I dug further. An American Express platinum card in the same name. And—
“What the fuck?”
Hundred-dollar bills. Fifteen of them, to be exact. Who the hell carried around fifteen hundred dollars in cash?
Not a schoolteacher.
I eased my rage. I already knew she wasn’t who she claimed to be. No reason to be angry, and I was snooping anyway. This was on me, not on her.
Well, on her too. She shouldn’t have lied to me, though I’d already figured it out. Knowing for sure that I was right, though… That was a bummer.
I sighed and placed the wallet back on the toilet tank. I’d continue as planned. I’d make love to her tonight, show her some beauty in whatever fucked-up world she came from, and then tomorrow…
Tomorrow I’d get her to tell me the truth.21RileyMatt returned with another seltzer for himself. I took the last drink of my bottle of water and set the empty bottle back in the drink holder while Matt got back in the tub.
Darkness had fallen, giving me the cloak I needed for my scars. Relief swept through me, though only a little. Still I was flooded with apprehension. With fear.
How long had we been sitting in here? He wasn’t rushing me, and I appreciated that. Truly.
But I was leaving tomorrow.
If I was going to do this—and I really wanted to do this, despite my apprehension—I had to get out of my own head and let myself go.
Sex could be a beautiful thing. Indeed, it was supposed to be a beautiful thing.
That I’d had a shitty introduction to the act was not going to color my enjoyment of this magnificent man.
I wouldn’t let it. I couldn’t let it.
I was leaving tomorrow, so tonight was my only chance.
He’d go slow. I knew it already. He’d stopped inside to give me the space I needed. I could have asked him to leave, and if I had, he would have. I knew that in my heart.
I had nothing to fear from Matteo Rossi.
Once he sat down in the water, I snuggled up to him, letting our bodies touch. He eased his arm around my shoulders, pulled me close, and kissed the side of my head.
Was he going to kiss me?
He didn’t make any move.
It was up to me. He was letting me go at my own pace.
The problem? I didn’t know what my own pace was. I’d never had sex when I wanted to have sex.
I was truly a virgin in some respects.
Every way except physically.
We’d kissed many times. Seen each other naked—well, almost, in my case. What next? What do I do?
“Matt?”
“Hmm?”
“I… I don’t know what to do.”
His eyes popped open. “What do you mean?”
“This. Sex.”
“You’re not a…virgin, are you?”
“No. I’m just not all that experienced, like I said.”
“Just do what you feel, baby. Do whatever makes you feel good.”
“I need you to… To kind of take the lead. Is that okay?”
He smiled. “I wanted to go slowly. For you.”
“I know that. You’re very sweet, but if you wait for me, I’m not sure anything will happen.”
Right on target there. I had no idea how to seduce a man. No clue.
“Okay, Riley. But you tell me if you want to stop, like you did inside.”
“I will. But I’m not going to want to stop.”
“You did before.”
“I know. Except that I didn’t. Not really. I’m just a little scared.”
“Why?”
Why? What a loaded question. I couldn’t even begin to tell him why. He’d go screaming for the woods, and I wouldn’t blame him.
“Just my inexperience. That’s all.”
“All right.” He cupped my cheek and turned me toward him. “Kiss me.”
I leaned into him and met his lips with my own. I parted, and he gently twirled his tongue around mine.