30 Days

by Christine d'Abo

  “Did you hear me, Alyssa?” Unlike the fantasy pirate–Harrison, there was no teasing in reality-Harrison’s voice. His words came out in short, clipped bites that underlined his seriousness.

  “Yes.” I swallowed down my desire as my lips trembled and my cheeks ached. “I heard.”

  “You and me. Thirty days of sex. We’ll make each other feel good. Get what we need from this. Then we go our separate ways back to our normal lives. Agreed?”

  Oh my God. He’d watched me while I’d masturbated and it turned him on so much he jerked off. This was dirty and awesome and completely unexpected in my life. Not only did Harrison not think I was a complete weirdo for wanting to do these cards, he was excited by the prospect. He was safe. There was no pressure for more than what was on the table.

  I could have it all.

  I swallowed hard and gave myself a breath before I turned and looked directly into the camera.

  “Agreed.” And then I slammed the laptop shut.

  Part 2

  Sex, Lies, and Revelations

  9

  I’d come to the realization that I required a sanity check in regard to Harrison and the whole sex thing. Unlike other people who would need to get a doctor’s referral to see a psychologist, I had the blessing of being able to go talk to my sister.

  Most people who met Nikki without knowing her profession would never guess that she was a psychologist. She was a bit crazy and couldn’t hold down a relationship longer than a year. Not the typical person you’d want to give you relationship advice. But Nikki had a way of being able to see the heart of a problem and the uncanny ability to point a person in the direction they needed to go. She was my big sister and I loved her to pieces. If anyone could tell me what I needed to know, it would be her.

  Over the years, I’d gotten used to drifting into her office toward the end of the day. I’d just come back from my STD test, which was all sorts of awkward, and found myself standing in Nikki’s waiting room. I still found it difficult to reconcile the business attire–wearing woman I’d see step out of her office with a client and the girl who once dyed her hair green in high school just to piss off our mom. While she still would add the occasional streak of red in her light brown hair, for the most part she’d moved past her rebellious phase.

  I caught her eye and offered a small wave before making my way toward the back of her waiting room. An old edition of The New Yorker magazine caught my eye and I immediately flipped to the book review section to see if there were any recommendations that I’d missed. Oh, that one sounded good.

  “Alyssa?” Nikki stood with her hands clasped behind her back. Her previous client was still present, making an appointment with her receptionist, Linda, which meant she’d stay in professional mode until he was gone. “Want to join me in my office?”

  “Sure. Thanks.” I held the magazine in my fist and gave Linda a small smile as I passed by. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “Not at all. I just have some paperwork to finish up.” Nikki closed the door and then caught me in a giant hug. “Hey, sweetie. What’s up?”

  “Oh you know, nothing. Do I need an excuse to come see you?”

  “Normally, no. But you only come see me at the office when you want me to be serious and give you proper advice rather than encourage you to have sex with a cucumber.” She beckoned for me to take a seat. “The doctor is in and all that stuff. Spill it.”

  I really did love my sister. Falling into the overly comfortable seat, I slipped my shoes off and tucked my feet under my ass. “It’s about the cards.”

  Based on the amused expression on her face, I knew there was no need to clarify which cards. “I take it you’ve decided to do something about them.”

  We had the sort of relationship that allowed me to say just about anything to her. But sex, well, that had never been an easy topic for me. Rather than look her in the eye, I flipped open the magazine to a random page. “Umm, maybe.”

  “You’re clearly looking for some advice on the topic. Otherwise you’d simply give me a call.”

  I had to fight the urge to squirm. “Did I mention that there’s a new guy who moved into the condo down the hall from me?”

  “No, you didn’t.” She sat on the edge of her desk, her hands braced on either side of her. “I take it Mr. New Guy is hot?”

  “Do you remember the nightclub? The guy I was talking to just before you and I went out to start dancing?”

  “Yeah. I mean I didn’t really see that much of him and oh shit.” Nikki licked her lips. “He’s your neighbor? You’ve been holding out on me.”

  “Not your type.” He was so her type. “Besides, I saw him first.”

  She rolled her eyes. “So, hot guy in your place. What’s the problem? Has he not noticed you? I mean a few wardrobe malfunctions can take care of that in a hurry.”

  My face heated as she started to giggle. “Nikki, stop.”

  “No way.” She leaned closer. “So he did notice you. Did he make a move? What did you do? I don’t need specifics, but measurements wouldn’t go amiss.”

  I might be close to her, but there was no way in frigging hell I was about to give her the details on our little video chat. “We had supper. He’s here on a three-month contract and offered to help me out with my little sex problem.”

  When Nikki didn’t immediately offer a smart-assed comeback, I looked up and was surprised to see her thoughtful expression. “What exactly did he offer to do?”

  “Basically three months in which to have thirty days of sex. We do the cards in order after we’ve had STD tests and all that. I have full veto power. He leaves when we’re done. He’s not into relationships. Not anymore. Whatever that means.”

  “So no strings attached. Interesting.”

  I didn’t like interesting. I wanted predictable, something safe. This was so far outside my comfort zone I might as well have put on a space suit. “I knew I was making a mistake.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You said interesting. Past experience has told me that means bad idea.”

  Nikki leaned forward, her hands still gripping the edge of her desk. “In this case it really does mean interesting. What did you say this guy did?”

  “I didn’t. And sales. He’s here on a contract to fix an issue with a client. Then they send him somewhere else. To be honest I’m not even sure where he’s from originally. But yeah, he’s some sort of client guru.”

  “Ah. That makes sense.”

  “What does?”

  “He’s a fixer. He’s used to being presented a problem and working through it. You and your sex cards are a problem and he’s taking it on himself to help. He gets something out of it and has been clear about the no-relationship thing. I say go for it.”

  I blinked, needing a moment to let her words sink in. “You mean I’m not crazy for wanting to try something like this? He could be a stalker, or a crazy man or something.”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  After all of the effort he’d taken to make sure that I was safe, that I’d been the one with the power with our one encounter, I knew there was no way Harrison would ever hurt me. “No.”

  “You need to trust your instincts with this. You’re attracted to him. He’s told you exactly what to expect from him. You can discover some interesting aspects to your sexuality without committing your heart. It’s a win-win situation.”

  “Friends with benefits?”

  “If it helps you to look at it that way, then sure. You need to get yourself out there. If this guy is the one to help you do that then I’ll love him forever.” Nikki wiped a tear that had somehow slipped from my eye. “Don’t cry, sweetie.”

  “I’m not.” I stood and madly wiped the remaining tears away. “Thanks. I just needed to make sure I was doing the right thing. Those stupid cards of Rob’s have made me sex crazy or something. I can’t get them out of my mind.”

  Before I could get away, Nikki caught me in another hug.
“You’re not crazy. You’ll always love Rob. You don’t have to be alone. If you need permission to do this, then I’m more than happy to give it to you. Go live your life. Go have crazy-ass monkey sex with spatulas or whatever Rob wrote down on those things.”

  I had to swallow twice before I could get out a strangled, “Thanks.”

  Nikki pulled back, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and opened the door. “I’m always here for you. Look, why don’t you come over to my place on Friday night and we can have pizza and beer and chat. You can tell me how things are going with your guy.”

  “Harrison. His name is Harrison.”

  She smiled. “Good name.”

  “He’s a good guy.”

  “Then go have some fun. And keep me posted.”

  For the first time since closing the laptop on Harrison, a sense of relief washed over me. If Nikki was right and he was simply seeing me as a problem to fix, then I could safely follow Rob’s cards and not have to worry about my heart getting involved. If Harrison was seeing me as simply another project, then I could do that as well.

  I could do what Rob wanted of me and not feel as though I were cheating. Yeah, this might work out after all. The next order of business was pulling out the second card and doing what it instructed.

  Harrison better be ready.

  10

  I don’t know what I was expecting after finally coming to terms with the cards and Harrison’s participation, but him leaving to go on a business trip two days later hadn’t entered into my mental equation. Call me naïve, but I’d foolishly assumed that being in the same city was required to have sex.

  When I got back from Nikki’s and found the note under my front door from him telling me about an unexpected week-long business trip to Montreal, I pouted for a full five minutes before going in search of a tub of ice cream. Half a pint of rocky road later, I pulled myself together, got cleaned up, and went about my life. We had three months after all, and he’d made no promises on his time beyond that. The boy was in town to do a job and I had to buy more ice cream.

  Plus, as much as I might want to ignore everything else and do nothing but stay home and think about sex, life did continue on. Tomorrow was Monday and I didn’t fancy getting myself fired.

  The office was busy when I’d gotten in the next morning. It was the odd week in summer when most people seemed to be in between vacation days. The resulting mad rush of meeting invitations filling my in-box left me with a sense of dread. Rarely was I actually needed to be present for update meetings. Things were bound to change with the product before it reached the documentation stage. Still, it was hard to say no when there was the promise of iced coffee and doughnuts merely for showing up.

  It was a bribe I was fine with.

  Gary Snelling stood in front of the room, a slide projected behind him that looked like a demented eye-test chart. The font decreased in size the lower it got, making it nearly impossible to read. I’d mentioned this to him in the past, though he clearly didn’t get the whole we-can’t-read-the-words part.

  Gary was the project lead for Orion, our latest software update release. While he wasn’t the most enthusiastic of speakers, he was excellent at documenting project changes. I normally only had to take his notes and repurpose them for my needs. Which meant that I didn’t have to pay as close attention as I should when it came to these things. That gave my mind the opportunity to wander.

  As we entered hour two of the update meeting, my phone vibrated where it rested on my thigh. I could have wept from joy for the distraction. Without being too obvious, I flipped the phone over so I could see my screen.

  Hi.

  The number wasn’t familiar so I didn’t respond. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder who it was.

  Hi?

  The vibrations felt nice. A small means to shake away some of the boredom of the morning.

  Alyssa? I hope I have the right number.

  It took me a minute to realize that it was Harrison’s number. I’d only seen it once, when he’d scribbled it down on some paper for me. The prospect of chatting with him improved my mood significantly. Making sure no one was paying any attention to me, I typed as stealthily as I could.

  Harrison?

  Yeah, it’s me. I just checked into my hotel room. I wanted to touch base with you. Did you get my note?

  I did.

  Sorry about that. Part of the job. I would have texted sooner, but my phone was dead. What are you doing?

  Okay, normal enough conversation. It was strange having the whole sex thing hanging over our heads. I immediately wanted to start texting him dirty stuff rather than shoot the shit. But beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  My fingers hovered over the keys while I tried to come up with something to say that wouldn’t make me sound like a dork. I’m trying not to fall asleep at a project meeting.

  That sounds fun. What do you do again?

  Technical writer for a software company.

  Right. I remember. Like it?

  I snorted, which momentarily drew Gary’s gaze. “You’re right, Alyssa. Only three days for testing the GUI isn’t enough. Thanks for that.”

  “You’re welcome.” Someone would either thank or kill me after this meeting for that.

  Once Gary continued on, I was able to return my attention back to Harrison. The company is great. This meeting, not so much. Boooooring!!!

  LOL Is this a critical meeting? Should I let you go?

  God no. I normally don’t attend, but they had coffee and muffins.

  That’s how they get you. My work does the same.

  I smiled and flipped my phone face down. Gary had moved on to the budget review and was calling on each of the department heads present to give an update. This was normally where I’d zone out and find my way to the coffeepot for a refill. Strangely, my body was humming with electricity and my skin was supersensitive, sending a shiver through me when my fingers accidentally brushed the inside of my forearm. This couldn’t be because of Harrison—could it?

  My phone buzzed again, but I had to wait to read it. The Educational Outreach manager who sat on my side of the table was giving her report, which meant most eyes were in our direction. After a few minutes the conversation shifted again, and I was free to flip the phone over and peek.

  What are you wearing?

  I stared at the words for far longer than necessary to form a response. Was this a friendly “Hey, I’m still trying to get to know you so tell me about yourself,” or more along the lines of “Lie to me and tell me it’s black lace.”

  No. He couldn’t be asking that.

  Could he?

  I typed out the expected Black skirt and sleeveless top response, but didn’t hit send. As much as the idea of sending sexy texts was exciting, I didn’t know if this had anything to do with our arrangement. I deleted my answer and hoped no one chose that moment to look at me or else my blush would give away what I was up to. It’s Monday and this meeting has sucked my brain out of my ears, so I’m going to be blunt. Are we sexting?

  There was a pause. I could picture Harrison lying on his bed in the hotel laughing his head off. Of course we’re not sexting! I’d just told him that I was in a meeting and I knew he’d just checked in to his hotel. It was a crazy idea. Clearly I needed to go to counseling or something because clearly I’m insane.

  Have you not read your cards?

  What a stupid question. Of course I’d read my cards! I’d spent hours poring over them, reviewing each suggestion that was written on them—

  Oh.

  Oh, Day Two was sexting.

  Of course it was.

  I immediately wanted to crawl under the conference table to die. My neighbor-cum-lover was trying to engage me in a sexual encounter via my cellular device while I was sitting in a meeting and I was too stupid to notice.

  Another buzz. We can do this later.

  No!!!! I took a breath and pushed back from the table. “I’m so sorry, I need to step out for a moment.”
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  Gary frowned. “Does anyone have any questions for Alyssa before she leaves?”

  I smiled at the multitude of shaking heads. “Thank you. I’ll catch up with the meeting minutes. Please feel free to e-mail me if anything comes up in the interim.” And with that I bolted for the bathroom.

  Nikki used to say that I was the worst liar in the world. It wasn’t that I blushed or stammered. Apparently it was my eyes that gave it away. I kept my gaze averted and did my best to ignore the buzzing phone in my hand until I found my way to the ladies’ room in the back of the building.

  The stalls were all empty and I slipped into the farthest one from the door before I chanced another look at what Harrison was saying.

  Alyssa? Are you there? Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

  My fingers shook as I responded. I had to correct three typos before I managed to send my response. Okay. I’m in the bathroom now.

  I’m going to stop.

  Don’t you dare! I left a meeting so we could do this. Now, what did you want to know?

  There was a pause and I was scared I’d screwed things up before we’d even started. Harrison didn’t strike me as an over-thinker. If anything, Nikki had hit it right on the head that he was a fixer of things. I had no doubt he was working out a plan on how to make this right.

  I didn’t need right. I needed to get through Day Two, and the only way that was going to happen was to engage in a little digital flirting. I sat down on the stall, pressed my elbows to my knees and leaned as I typed. I’m wearing a black skirt and a sleeveless white shirt.

  There. A start at least.

  Now to see where things were going to lead us.

  Harrison’s response came after a moment. I giggled without thinking.

  How short is the skirt?

  Short.

  How short? Above your knees? Higher?

  Right, like I’d ever wear anything like that to the office. This had nothing to do with reality and Harrison wouldn’t care if I lied.

  It stops three inches above my knees. You can see a generous amount of my thighs.