“What the hell?” Eli shouts.
My brain is all foggy from the orgasm that’s still pulsing through me so it takes me a few seconds to realize the sprinklers have come on. They’re everywhere, shooting warm water into the air and drenching us in seconds.
Eli pulls out of me and I turn and sit on the wet grass to look at him in shock. His wet hair is plastered to his head and water is pouring down his jacked chest. He starts laughing.
It’s contagious and I start laughing too. Small at first, but it quickly devolves into a deep belly laugh as the sprinklers drench us.
“I told you I was good at water sports,” he says as he leans in and kisses me.
I don’t care about my hair, or my make-up, or my dress which is going to be unwearable… I’m just enjoying this moment that we’ll be laughing about for decades to come.
When we finally get up, Eli hands me my dress. It feels like it was dipped into the pond.
“Oh, no,” I say with a gulp as he puts on his wet shirt. I can see the coy fish through the thin material. “What are we going to do?”
“Get dressed,” he says as he slips on his suit. “We’ll sneak out to my car and figure something out.”
“Okay.” I struggle to pull up my wet dress that now weighs a ton. Eli helps me out and once it’s on, I look into his loving eyes as his arms wrap around me.
“Thank you,” I whisper as I let him hold me. “That was a nice first time. Better than I could have ever imagined.”
“I’m sorry the sprinklers ruined it.”
“No,” I say with a smile. “It was perfect.”
I stand on my toes and kiss his lips as the water falls all around us like we’re in some romantic movie that I’d watch over and over again with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes.
We finish the wine bottle on the way back. This time, I’m glued to his arm as we talk and laugh.
All of that comes to end when we arrive back at the clubhouse. There’s not a cloud in the sky, so if anyone sees us, they’ll immediately know that we’ve been up to no good.
“Let’s just walk fast,” he says as he holds my hand that’s wrapped around his arm. “We have to pass the reception hall to get to the parking lot, but hopefully everyone will still be inside.”
Nope.
As soon as we turn the corner, we see that everyone is on the balcony outside for the draw of the door prizes.
Someone points at us and then everyone is pointing. Eli quickly takes off his jacket and drapes it over my head, but I can still hear the giggling and laughing as we rush to the parking lot.
“And the winner of the new golf clubs,” the announcer says over the microphone, “is Carrie Rivers!”
“Of course,” I mutter as Eli takes me away.
“Do you want to go accept them?” he asks with a laugh.
“I never want to see a golf club again,” I say as we try to escape with the ounce of dignity that we have left.
The soft grass turns to gravel and I know we’re close.
“Over there,” Eli says as he pulls his jacket off.
“That’s your car?!” I ask with my eyes brimming wide. It’s a freaking Ferrari. Red. Gorgeous. That’s all I know about cars.
“Yeah, come on.”
Geez, I had no idea that Eli was rich. But then again it makes sense—once he gets the hearts out of his eyes, he’s a really clever guy.
Just as we arrive to safety, two annoyed voices ring out.
“Carrie!”
“Mr. Cline!”
We both gulp as we turn around and see the two people we don’t want to see.
My boss is glaring at me with a disapproving look on his face and Mr. Brown is seething as he stares at Eli in disbelief. His son Gabriel is standing behind him, trying not to laugh.
There are so many eyes on us. I’m soaked. I just lost my virginity to a man I barely know. My mind goes numb as my legs seem to weaken.
This is all so much. Overwhelm hits me like a punch in the gut as I stand there with my ears beginning to ring.
Get out of here.
Something in me snaps. Panic maybe, or my fight or flight instinct. But I just start running to my car.
Mr. Brown approaches Eli as Mr. Miller follows me.
“Are you kidding me, Carrie?” he says. “You’re fired!”
I turn and spit in his face. “Fuck you, you creep!”
He recoils and wipes the gob of spit off his cheek as I jump into my car and turn it on. I slam on the gas and he has to jump out of the way as I hightail it out of there.