Will woke up the next morning slightly sore but satiated. Last night, in a matter of hours, he had fulfilled just about every fantasy with Keisha that had kept him awake at night for the past several months. Of course, it had taken some tutoring on his part. Her inexperience had caught him off guard, but she had been a willing student. Keisha had needed only little whispers of guidance and encouragement before she became confident enough to take the reins herself. And when she did, that night became everything he had hoped for and more.
So you finally got what you wanted, he thought, remembering the way her body had trembled under his. Now what?
That was the million-dollar question.
He had known going into this that a relationship with Keisha had no long-term potential during the election while he worked for Dupré and she worked for Parker. Trying to develop this into something more now would just be too complicated, and, quite frankly, the risks were too high. Last night had no permanent implications. It was just supposed to satisfy a need that had been plaguing the both of them for quite some time. It was just about sex…right?
He gazed at Keisha, who was still lost in a blissful sleep.
“Yeah, sure it was,” a voice inside his head mocked. If he remembered correctly, he had told her at least twice last night in the throes of passion that he loved her. So much for it being just about sex.
Will gritted his teeth and pulled back the covers, deciding that this battle between emotion and logic would have to be left for another day. He had too much to do today, even if it was a Saturday. One meeting was scheduled for this morning, two for this afternoon, and he probably had about fifty voicemails and a hundred emails waiting for him that had to be answered on his discarded BlackBerry.
Will slid off the bed, hoping that he didn’t wake Keisha as he did so. He walked in the dark—tired and naked—to the bathroom. He turned on the vanity’s fluorescent lights and squinted against the brightness. Pulling back the shower curtains, he stepped inside the stall and turned the stainless steel knob, feeling a hot blast of water. He washed with the hotel’s complimentary bar of soap, figuring that by the time he finished his shower, he would have his head on straight again. He then would get dressed, give her a kiss on the cheek, and leave. There was no need for discussion or a melodramatic goodbye. Keisha understood the circumstances. Hopefully, she would respect the way he handled their situation.
Will emerged from the bathroom almost fifteen minutes later with a bath towel wrapped around his waist. The hotel room was no longer completely dark. The sun had begun to rise and shafts of light were starting to peep between the curtains and dance on Keisha’s exposed shoulders. Despite all the noise Will had made, she still slept soundly, her chest rising and falling with each breath she took. This would be the perfect opportunity to make an exit. It could be another hour before she woke up and realized that he was gone.
Will reached down to remove his shirt from the hotel floor but paused when he saw her stir and let out a soft moan. She turned onto her stomach and kicked aside the white, cotton bed sheet, exposing a honey-brown calf and thigh in the process. Will gazed at her hungrily.
Put on your clothes, Will, he thought. But he couldn’t help himself. He inched toward the bed as she let out another soft moan. He wondered what she was dreaming about, but as he lowered himself to the bed and saw her pelvis shift and her thighs tense up, he had an idea. Will smiled impishly.
He pushed aside her hair and lowered his mouth to the back of her neck. He pulled the bed sheet downward, leaving light kisses along her shoulder blades and the small of her back. Keisha stirred, wiggling and whimpering each time that he kissed her, though she never fully roused. She certainly is a heavy sleeper, Will thought with amusement. When he dragged down the bed sheet further, revealing the tantalizing curve of her bare bottom, he lowered his head and nipped one cheek playfully.
“Oww,” she murmured. Keisha stretched, opened her eyes, and slowly raised herself to gaze bleary-eyed over her shoulder at Will, who was reaching for one of the few remaining condoms on the hotel night table. “What are you doing?” she asked before yawning loudly.
“Waking you up,” he muttered with a naughty grin. He removed the towel from around his waist.
“Huh?” she murmured sleepily. He nuzzled the back of her neck again and then raised her hips and crouched behind her. Will guided her hands to the headboard so that she could brace herself.
“Will, what are you doing?” she repeated, frowning with unease. He didn’t respond and just continued to nuzzle her neck.
Keisha let out a cry of surprise as he entered her. The knuckles of her hands whitened as she tightly gripped the wooden headboard while his hands cupped her breasts. She turned her head slightly and he met her mouth. They kissed eagerly. After hours of lovemaking, their bodies knew one another. In a matter of seconds they quickly fell into the same familiar rhythm, bucking rapidly until a time bomb exploded inside of them. Both Will and Keisha fell back to the mattress, completely spent.
After regaining her breath, Keisha rolled onto her back and slowly smiled. “Well,” she said as she stretched, now fully awake. “A good morning to you, too.”
“I’m sorry.” He chuckled. “I didn’t say good morning, did I?”
She slowly shook her head. “No, you didn’t. But you could make up for it by buying me breakfast.”
Will’s smile tightened. Breakfast? So much for a quick exit, he thought.
As if reading his mind, Keisha raised herself to her elbows. She looked at him and shrugged. “Or you can just have your way with me and leave me here,” she said. “It’s up to you.”
Her voice was shaking, but she smiled as if trying to sound lighter and saucier than she felt. He could tell he had hurt her feelings. Christ, the least you could do is buy her breakfast, Will, he thought.
“What would you like to eat, Keisha?” he asked quietly.
She gave a tentative though genuine smile. “Waffles with blueberries and a side of bacon would be fine. Maybe some orange juice.”
He nodded his head. She rose from the bed, attempting to take the sheets with her as she made her way across the room, but he tugged at them firmly, stopping her in her tracks.
“Excuse me!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “You mind letting go?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Why? You don’t need a sheet to take a shower.”
“No, but I’d prefer not to walk around the hotel room buck naked!”
“But why not?” he challenged. “I’ve seen you already. I know what you’ve got.”
Keisha contemplated his words for several seconds. “Fine,” she murmured and shrugged. She then dropped the sheets to her ankles. Will breathed deeply as he watched her cross the room, her hips swaying, her pert bottom shimmying with each step.
“The menu’s beside the television,” she said casually. She turned slightly, revealing one of the full breasts he had held earlier. She swept up her long hair from her neck and shoulders, raised her arms and began to twist the unruly tendrils into a bun atop her head. “You should look through it, too.”
Will sighed as she shut the bathroom door behind her. In another life, Keisha could have made lots of money off a body like that. If he didn’t watch himself, he could develop a real addiction to this woman.
Get a hold of yourself, Will, he suddenly thought. Order her breakfast and end it at that. You have a lot to do today, and screwing around in bed with Keisha ain’t one of them.
By the time she emerged from the bathroom, smiling ear to ear, Will was already dressed. He shrugged into his suit jacket as her gaze drifted to the breakfast tray perched on the edge of the bed. One lone plate and glass sat on it. Keisha’s smile instantly faded.
“You’re not going to eat anything?” she asked, frowning deeply, looking crestfallen.
Will adjusted his tie and cleared his throat. “Uh, no,” he said, forcing a smile. “I don’t usually eat breakfast anyway. I had some of your O.J., though. I hope…you…don’t mind.”
He watched as Keisha’s expression suddenly changed. She steeled her back and gave him a glacial stare as she slowly strolled over to the bed. She tightened her towel around her then sat with one leg dangling over the edge and the other tucked beneath her. “Considering what we’ve already shared, I don’t think drinking my orange juice is that big of a deal, Will,” she said before slicing into one of her Belgian waffles.
Will grimaced. “Sorry I have to rush off,” he mumbled, refusing to meet her gaze. “I just have a lot of…things on my plate today and—”
“Sure, I understand,” Keisha said quickly, shrugging her shoulders as she bit into a slice of bacon, “it’s election season. You don’t have to explain.” She reached over to grab the television remote and turned on the TV, filling the bedroom with the morning banter of the Today show.
“Maybe I’ll…give you a…call later,” he muttered.
“Yeah, okay,” she said with another shrug, keeping her eyes focused on the television.
Will gritted his teeth. It shouldn’t be this hard to walk away. Keisha looked dejected, but at least she was willing to give him an out. It was an election and he did have lots of work to do. She probably did, too. But the truth was Will didn’t give a damn about the work. He didn’t care about the messages that were in his email box or on his voicemail. He didn’t care about the meeting that would start in forty-five minutes that he was supposed to attend. He didn’t want to leave her—not yet.
“Can I have a slice of that bacon?” he asked, surprising himself.
Keisha lowered her fork and blinked in shock. “Bacon? I thought you didn’t—”
She stopped as he took a slice from her plate before ripping it in half and popping some of it into his mouth.
“Not bad,” Will murmured. “How are the waffles?” he asked, before sitting on the mattress beside her.
“Good…I guess,” Keisha said slowly. She gazed at him with open suspicion.
“Can I have some?” he asked, glancing at the fork that hovered near her mouth.
Keisha frowned. “I thought you didn’t have time for breakfast, Will.”
“I don’t,” he answered succinctly before taking the fork out of her hand and having a bite of her waffle.
“And I thought you said you had a ‘full plate’ this morning,” she interjected. “You know, ‘lots of stuff to do.’ ”
Will wiped at the dollop of syrup near the edge of her mouth and smiled. “I do.”
“Will, please,” she said sternly. She pushed his hand away and glared at him. “You said you had to go. Either you do or you don’t.” She paused. “Or were you just saying that because you want to get out of here?”
He frowned, now genuinely offended. “What do you mean? You think I’m lying?”
Her gaze faltered as she sighed. She didn’t answer his question. Instead she stared down at her lap. “Look, I’m a big girl, okay? This…this isn’t the first time this has happened. I can…handle it. If you have to go, then go. We both had a good time. It was nice while it la—”
Keisha stopped when he lowered his mouth to hers, tasting the sweet syrup on her full lips as he did. He gave her a long, sweltering kiss that made her yelp in surprise and then moan in delight as she pressed against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He had wanted to silence her, to take her breath away. But he hadn’t meant the kiss to steal his breath, too. When she finally broke their kiss minutes later, they were both panting heavily.
“Oh, man, that was good,” Keisha murmured as she loosened her arms from around his neck and raised her hand to her brow. She slowly shook her head, trying to pull herself out of her lust-induced haze. “Wait…W-what was I saying?”
“If you can’t remember it must not be important,” he muttered as he pulled her toward him, preparing to lower his mouth to hers again.
She frowned. “No, I was saying…something…important, very important.” She twisted her head away from him before he could kiss her again, making him sigh impatiently. “I was trying to make a point.”
“There’s a festival in Baltimore today,” he blurted out, hoping to distract her again.
Keisha blinked, now thoroughly confused. “What?”
“Do you like crabs as much as you like blueberry waffles?” he asked with a sly grin.
Her frown intensified. “Yeah, I guess I do, but—”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You guess you do? Either you’re a Maryland crab cake fan or you aren’t, Keisha,” he chided playfully. “There’s no guessing involved.”
Despite herself, she smiled. “Yes, I like crab cakes. I love crab cakes, but—”
“So why don’t we go to Baltimore today? I’ll head home, change out of this suit and tie, and come back to pick you up,” he said. “I promise you all the crab cakes you can eat and corn on the cob and coleslaw.”
Are you on drugs? What the hell are you doing, Will, a panicked voice said inside his head. Staying to eat breakfast with her was one thing but you’re taking her to Baltimore? Have you forgotten everything you have to do today?
But Will ignored that voice. Instead he gazed eagerly at Keisha, silently willing her to say yes. She was now giving him a bemused look. She shook her head.
“Will, you don’t have to ask me to go to Baltimore with you,” she said quietly.
“I know I don’t have to, but I want to. Will you go with me today?”
She rubbed her temples. “Will…”
“Will you go with me today?” he repeated.
She chuckled softly. “You’re not going to give up on this, are you?”
“Will you go with me today?” he asked insistently.
He held his breath until her cautious smile broke into a full grin.
“Okay. Okay, yes,” Keisha said. “Yes, I’ll go to Baltimore with you. Now go home and change.”
They both rose from the bed and he held her hand as she walked him across the room to her hotel door.
“I’ll be back in an hour in something a lot more casual, probably a T-shirt and shorts,” he said as he stepped into the hallway. The drone of the cleaning woman’s vacuum filled the corridor.
Keisha nodded. “Well, by then I should be wearing something a lot less casual.” She glanced down at herself, tilted her head, and gave a bashful smile. “More than a white bath towel, I hope.”
“Frankly, I’d prefer you in a lot less,” he said with a mischievous grin. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he lowered his mouth to hers to give her a memorable goodbye. She stood on the tips of her toes and tilted back her head as they teased one another’s lips and then let their kiss deepen. Will could feel the hunger building up inside him again. He wanted nothing more than to rip that towel off Keisha, dig his fingers into her hair and drag her back into the room to the hotel bed. But thankfully, Keisha ended their kiss before he was pushed any further.
“Go home, Will,” she whispered as she pulled away, licking her now-swollen lips. She placed her hands against his chest and gave him a light shove. “I’ll be ready to leave by the time you get back. I’ll meet you downstairs, by the concierge desk.”
He swallowed loudly and quickly nodded. “Concierge desk. I’ll be there. See you in an hour.”
Will watched as Keisha let out a low whistle and fanned herself before shutting the door. He smiled as he walked toward the elevators. He could totally sympathize with her. He was feeling rather overheated himself.
A door slammed, making Will turn his head. He looked down the corridor but saw no one there. “Humph,” he murmured, shrugging his shoulders and continuing toward the elevators.
So how are you going to explain this one, the pesky voice inside his head asked as he pressed the down button. You’re going to pull a no show for a whole day’s worth of appointments? You aren’t planning to call anyone back? What’s going to be the big excuse?
“I was sick, really sick,” Will said aloud and let out a hearty cough for good measure.
During election campaigns you travel a lot, eat at lots of places that don’t have the cleanest kitchens, and you shake lots of hands, he reasoned. There was no telling what virus he could have contracted, what contaminated food he could have consumed. He’d just tell George that he fell ill and couldn’t do anything about it. He was allowed one sick day, wasn’t he? He was only human, not a machine.
I was just sick, Will thought as the elevator doors opened and he stepped inside. With that decision now made he could now focus totally on spending another romantic day with Keisha, and he was eagerly looking forward to it.
Have you fallen for this girl, Will? the pesky voice asked.
He didn’t answer.