The way Michael stared at her made her sense he'd like to rip her robe off her and take her again. Her inner core was warm just imagining the scenario, right here on the kitchen table. It was better if they did something besides make out. She swallowed and asked in a rushed tone. "Want to go to the beach? Did room service pack you a bathing suit as well?"
He winked at her and her skin felt energized. Right now she needed to breathe. She tightened her robe and wished she had gotten dressed. How she acted near Michael was completely out of character for her. Until yesterday, she’d always done what was expected of her. It was ingrained in her bones to simply agree, but she’d become a different person overnight. It could be the aftereffects of her botched wedding or it was Michael. She couldn’t think on it too long right now. "We can stay here and just use our pool. Then we can swim naked."
Her face felt flushed. The last thing she needed was to think about last night. She sat straight to create some distance. "So all you bought were those pajamas?"
"No. A few other pieces and more condoms."
Wow. Right now she had no idea. Michael Marshall confused her. She had lied to herself, as usual, but also to him on what he wanted, which is that they were friends with benefits, but in her mind's eye, when she didn’t blink it away she imagined a road trip in a convertible with the top down as Michael drove them near the ocean on some crazy adventure. She spent years dreaming about how they might live happy-ever-after, but that was impossible. She stood and glanced at him. "I need a few hours to relax and close my eyes. Last night, you were…demanding."
He stayed in his seat but winked at her. "I bought shorts that can be used to go into the ocean. Rest is fine for this morning and makes this afternoon much more appetizing."
Confusion rang as she took one more gaze at his strong shoulders and then walked to her room. The few minutes alone chilled her and she cleaned up fast and went to her bag to get her clothes. In her suitcase, she shuffled through her new clothes she’d bought for her honeymoon and stopped to ponder the yellow bikini or her usual black one-piece swimsuit. The bikini was to show Chris that she was willing to try new things. With Michael, she'd wear it just to see the gleam of approval in his eyes. She dropped her old one-piece and told herself honestly this was still a new beginning, but with Michael.
No. The thought made her stop, but then she heard Michael close a door in the kitchen area. She finished dressing as she told herself her new beginning was for her to be alone.
She found her cover-up and flip-flops. Once she was done she popped her head into the living area and saw Michael in cotton shorts and a white tee shirt, sitting as he stared at a laptop. "What are you doing? Where did you get the MacBook?"
"It's a good hotel and they had one available."
"So you trust the hotel with your financial information, but you don't risk your heart ever."
"It's not a risk when I can sign out."
She came closer and saw how he stared at her curves. "So you don't care about hackers. Got it."
"No, I just wanted to check some emails and check in on a few investments. Are you ready?"
The entire past year might have been so much fun if she’d told Chris to go and hadn’t walked away from Michael. She touched his arm and he stood to go. She glanced around the white room with small portraits of local life. This wasn't just a small room with a bed. If she’d spent this year with Michael and they were a real couple, she’d have lived in places like this. She massaged her neck. "This is much nicer than the hotel room I was supposed to be in for the week. If I had stayed on our 'date' last year, would it have ended up in a place like this?"
"Or in waiting for you, it made me realize I needed to pull out all the stops."
Her body lurched like she wanted to kiss him, but she held still. He knew exactly what to say, but then that was always his reputation. It was better not to put stock in her feelings now, so she walked briskly to the door. She went to the door and they ended up outside on the sunny day. It was better to ensure they were on the same page. "What stops? We're just friends, with benefits these days, like you and Eva Bishop were until recently."
"You are nothing like Eva."
"How so?"
They walked toward the beach and took advantage of their private access as no one else was on the white sands or near the blue umbrella with white beach chairs that she aimed for. “I don’t want to discuss.”
“We’re both your long-time friends.”
He peeled off his white tee shirt and threw it on the chair next to where she placed her bag. "Eva and I were both looking to forget our lives, and we're both adults about exploring what we wanted from each other."
No, no, no. Her body ached for Michael and so did her heart. The lifetime of denial seemed stupid. She lowered her gaze to not look at his chiseled abdomen that reminded her of how hot last night was. "I know not to get attached to you, Michael. You don't believe in getting tied down."
"Who told you that?"
Now she looked at him and took off her cover-up. It was time to go into the ocean. "You did."
"When was that?" He followed her toward the ocean's edge.
She dipped a toe in the water and felt it was warm. In Miami the ocean was lukewarm, but here, the ocean was like warm soup. She never even looked over her shoulder. "In college, one day when we had lunch in the university center."
"You were always the exception to the rule."
"Doubtful." She walked deep enough and took a dive into the water. As she surfaced, she said, "You sounded sincere."
"I was talking about other women. Of course I was sincere." He dove.
She watched the water for his return. Then she circled. It was longer than she expected. Where was he? She was about to call his name, but she felt a hand on her leg. He surfaced as their bodies briefly touched and she peeked into his blue eyes. "Is this how you get women to fall in love with you? ’Cause I have to say I'm flattered."
He leaned closer and put his mouth next to her ear. Her pulse quickened as he said, "I don't ever say this to other women."
She splashed him, mostly to make space between them. Then she swam but he followed. The ocean water must be affecting her brain cells. She stopped swimming and turned toward him. Part of her hoped he'd want to spend every second of his life with her. "Okay, I'll play. What makes me an exception?"
"Calliope, besides the fact I have known you all your life and remember you in pigtails as you dodged water from the sprinkler on my front yard, you always spoke to me like you listened. Most people never bother to see past the obvious."
The last part made no sense. "What obvious?"
"That I'm rich and good-looking."
She splashed him. "That's absolutely vain."
He splashed her in return but then winked. "You get to say that because you have a trust fund."
Money in the bank wasn't a family and life insurance with trust funds for her and her brother had never made her feel better when the moon was in the sky and she was alone. "I'd rather have my parents."
"That's where we differ. My parents were always searching for the bottom line and Sandra and I never mattered as much."
Her parents had been in love. His father would have gone to jail if not for his own suicide. She stepped closer to him and he stopped splashing. Even as children, she remembered vague moments like his father yelling at Michael on the front lawn when he wanted to play. The memory faded. "Your father was horrible to you, but your mom was nice."
"I stopped remembering her."
Cancer had taken his mother when he was ten. Her own mother had hugged her tight when she asked about death that night. No one must have hugged Michael. She placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned close. "You shouldn't. She loved you."
"I don't want to talk about my mother. Now that you're free, what was it about Chris that held you to him all this time? You were faithful when no one else would be."
Hard questions. She let him go. She wasn't ready to answer questions about herself. She turned toward the ocean and stared into the blue that went on forever. "He was sweet when we were younger."
"He acted like he was the one with the trust fund."
No. Chris had loved her at some point in their life, he must have. She wasn't stupid, though Michael chipped at the same point that Brandon had been telling for the past year. She turned to face Michael again. "No. He was always telling me to be conservative and not spend."
"The Chris you knew and the Chris I saw were two different people. Don't let anyone else ever control your money, Calliope."
All of this was too much. She wanted to not think about anything anymore, especially her bad choices. "Fair enough. Now will you kiss me, Michael?"
He followed her command. His hand traced her body, and she felt her nipples pucker as his body came closer to her. As his lips descended, he said, "Calliope, it's time for you to admit you want a you and me."
Then he kissed her and she would agree to anything as long as this moment continued, forever.