She hurried toward the bathroom and closed the door, making it obvious she wanted to be alone.
I grunted, shook my head, and stood. I walked over to my room, so I could take my own shower. She was right. We did smell like sex.
Shaking my head, I stepped into the shower.
The questions swirled in my mind. Did I not cuddle her enough? Did I say the wrong thing?
I refused to believe Emily regretted what we’d done, but the evidence was pointing the other way. I just couldn’t understand her possible reasons.
As the first streams of water hit me, I whispered, “What’s going on in your mind, Emily?”
* * *
Emily barely talked for the next half-hour. I stared at her as I worked on my miso soup. She kept her eyes focused on her own bowl, only occasionally glancing up at me or her teacup.
She didn’t order any alcohol, and I made a point of not doing the same. I wasn’t worried about my judgment, just her perception.
Maybe Emily still somehow thought alcohol forced us together, and I wanted her to accept and remember that we’d both been stone sober when we’d slept together.
“So, you said you were almost done with your deal,” Emily said after a spoonful of soup.
I smiled, grateful that she was talking again. “Yes, but not sure. These things can always change at the last moment.”
“So, you’re not sure if you can go around on Thursday and Friday with me?”
“Not sure yet. I can send the driver around with you if you want. He speaks English. Not exactly a professional interpreter for business deals, but I’m sure he can help you out enough at a store.”
Emily looked at me for a sec
ond before dropping her gaze again. “That should work. Juniper and Mama would kill me if I came all this way and didn’t take some pictures and buy some souvenirs.” She shrugged a single shoulder. “I also wanted to see some temples and museums. Though I guess I’ll have to pick maybe one thing and then go shopping.”
I chuckled, hoping to lighten the mood. “Yeah. Tokyo isn’t a city you can rush through. We’ll have to come back soon, so you can experience more of it. I’ve still not even seen most of the tourist traps.”
Emily wrapped a strand of her brown hair around one of her fingers. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She still wasn’t looking directly at me.
No. I wasn’t going to do this again. I wasn’t going to run away from this beautiful woman. Especially after the steamy sex we’d just shared.
“What’s wrong?” I said.
Emily’s head shot up. Her eyes widened. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“You’re sinking into yourself.” I shook my head. “I don’t get it. We shared something great. Something we both wanted. You weren’t drunk. I wasn’t drunk. It was the middle of the day.”
She sighed.
“I don’t know if talking about whatever is bothering you will help, but I guarantee not talking at all isn’t going to help.”
Emily groaned and rubbed her temples. “I’m just not… You have to understand.”
I leaned back in my chair. “Explain it to me so I can understand.”
“I liked what we did, liked it a lot.” Her cheeks reddened. “Don’t want to talk it up too much because I don’t want to let it go to your head. But it was good, and it felt great.” She averted her eyes.
I would be lying if I said I didn’t love hearing that. There’s no man out there who doesn’t want to hear how great he is in bed. But that still didn’t answer my question.
“What’s the problem then?”