“When did your father die?”
I was wrong. He’s a talker. I stare awkwardly up at this stranger, not sure I want to confide in him. But I need to confide in someone, so why not him? He’s already told me that he doesn’t want me to get attached, so he’s not looking for anything beyond whatever happens this morning.
“He died four days ago.” I don’t look at him. I just shovel more food into my mouth.
“That’s what I thought,” he says, his voice sounds sad, withdrawn. “Were you close?”
“Yes, he was the only person in my family who even remotely understood me.”
“I’m sorry,” he says after a long pause.
I give him a weak smile as I glance up from my food. He seems genuine. I nod, but words like that never make me feel any better, no matter how genuine they are.
A few seconds pass as we both make huge dents in our breakfast plates. Neither of us speaks. I barely even breathe.
“I’ve never lost anyone like that. I can’t imagine the pain you are going through…”
“It’s not something I ever thought I would go through. And I’m not sure how I’m going to get through it right now. The pain is unbearable. I just know that I have to find a way…for him.”
He nods and waits for me to say more, but I don’t.
“His death is what you’re running from,” he says.
I stare off into the distance. Is that what I’m running from? His death? I think for a moment. No, it’s not his death I’m running from. It’s my future.
“No,” I say firmly. “I’m running from family obligations that have been sped up now that he’s gone.”
His mouth turns upward into a slight smile. I have no idea why my statement would make a man who hardly ever smiles, smile.
“Now, that’s something I can understand.”
I run my hands through my hair, trying to read into that sentence’s meaning. What family obligations could a man almost in his thirties have? He can’t still be following his parents’ orders, like I am. That could only mean one thing…
“Oh my God! You’re married, aren’t you? You probably have four or five kids at home that you’re responsible for.” I push away from the table and begin searching the hotel room for my purse, but I don’t see it. Shit, I silently curse. I’ll just have to leave and get a new ID and credit cards later. I don’t care about the cash I will lose. It’s not worth staying around to find out that I was the other woman—even if it was only for one night.
“Whoa…slow down there, princess.” He grabs my arm so that I can’t move. “I’m not married,” he says slowly, like if he talks slower, it will somehow make his words more believable. “And I sure as hell don’t have four or five kids.”
He cocks his head to the side, like he thinks I’m crazy. Maybe I am. I swallow hard, watching his desire grow in his eyes as he looks at me.
“You’re not married?” I ask hesitantly.
“No,” he says, smirking at me.
“You don’t have kids?”
“No.”
I stare at his lips until they move so close to mine that I can barely breathe. His hands move up to tuck my blonde hair behind my ear. I shiver at his touch. He doesn’t kiss me though. He just hovers, obviously wanting more but denying himself what he wants for some reason.
I don’t know what comes over me. I don’t know if it’s the fact that this man has already kissed me, and I already miss his lips. I don’t know if it’s the fact that his desire for me is so obvious that I can basically feel his heart beating fast beneath his chest because of me. I don’t know if it’s because today is the last day I get to choose who I can and can’t kiss.
Whatever the reason, I kiss him. I grab the side of his neck as I do, so he can’t pull away. My kiss is defiant and carnal. It’s wet and deep and everything a kiss should be—except this time, when I kiss him, he barely kisses me back. Maybe I’m doing it wrong? But I know I’m not. I can feel his erection growing as it presses into my stomach. So, I don’t stop.
It only takes a few seconds more until he is kissing me back with just as much hunger as he was before. I smile against his lips as he does. Maybe we will be having sex after all.
Our kisses quicken as we both become more and more desperate for more, for promises that have been left unfulfilled since last night. We stumble backward until my body is trapped between him and a wall behind me. It feels nice to be possessed in such a way. When he lifts my body, I wrap my legs around his waist and moan because it’s exactly what I wanted him to do.
I don’t stop kissing him as we he carries me back to the bedroom. I don’t stop until he roughly throws me onto the bed.