by Lauren Wood
***
We did what we could to search for Carol and by Sunday we had a lead that was promising. My mind had shifted from the woman I was helping, to actually helping her. With my career on the line, I had to find Carol and get this all straightened out.
She was supposed to be working at a type of whore house outside of the city. I went without Meri, while she was sleeping to see if I could get eyes on Carol. It wasn’t that hard to recognize her and before I knew what was happening, I had her out of the dank house and back to the hotel with me. Carol was not okay. They had been giving her something and I found a doctor to see to her. I needed her at least with it enough to take to the police station for identity purposes.
It all was working out and that didn’t make sense to me. Nothing was ever this easy, but by the evening of Sunday, Carol and Meri were talking about everything and I had a good feeling that everything was going to end the way it was supposed to. We would be back in the States tomorrow and from there, I don’t know. I was still trying to decide what I was going to do about Meri. I had a feeling that she expected something to come of this trip. She was going to be expect me to be with her. The problem was, I was not with anyone.
The hotel was still booked, so the girls stayed in the bedroom and I was left alone with my thoughts out on the couch. I heard the door open and several times I thought it was Meri sneaking into bed with me, but she never came and I finally went to sleep.
When I was awaken later, it was Meri and she wasn’t wearing any clothes.
“Another bad dream?”
“No, it just occurred to me that we would most likely be leaving tomorrow.”
“Uh huh.”
“So I was thinking that maybe you would want to do something our last night here?”
There was no talk of what happened next, but there really didn’t need to be. I could see in her eyes that she wanted more, but at the moment I was unable to give her that. I couldn’t see past the naked woman standing in front of me. Her body was still pure perfection and instead of answering her, I lifted the sheet back and invited her in with me. I promised to keep her warm.
Meri moved against me like a moth to a flame and I could feel all of her wonderful curves up against me. Her nipples were already hard, pressing back against my hot skin. It wasn’t long before I was as naked as she was, pumping into the woman that I knew was all mine. When had I ever been able to say that before? Meri was all mine, every inch and as I laid down next to her and pulled her close, I realized that I didn’t want anyone else to ever have her. I didn’t want her, not in the way that she would want, but the idea of another man touching her put my stomach to tilt.
“What happens when we leave Sam?”
“What do you mean?” Were we already having this conversation?
“I mean, what happens with us when we get back to New York.”
It was the moment of truth and I should have been honest.
I wasn’t the type of guy that was okay being with only one woman. I was a man that still had some wild oats to sow and even though it had been magical here with Meri, I knew that reality had to sink in eventually. I would get back to New York and I was sure that I was going to fall back into my old self. There was too much temptation there to think that anything was going to be different.
“I don’t want to think about what happens after tonight Meri. I just want to enjoy this moment with you. You are going home and I know that it is going to be a lot for you right now. We will get together after the dust settles and see where we are.”
It wasn’t what she wanted to hear. That was more than obvious by the way she was looking at me. I wanted to smooth it over and I pulled her to me for a kiss. I knew that she wasn’t going to be able to resist me, no matter how badly she wanted to. She could be mad at me in the morning, but tonight I wanted that look of lust back in Meri’s eyes. She was vulnerable and I was going to have to be gentle letting her down. I would make it easy. I was her first after all.
Chapter 11
Meri
The night was a blur and Sam kept me up most of it. When I had asked him what came next, I could tell by the way he answered me that he hadn’t even thought about it. It hurt my feelings a little bit, but at the end of the day I knew that it was going to be that way. I shouldn’t expect more.
So I tried to pull myself together, like our awkward conversation about the future didn’t happen at all and I was thankful for that. It made it easier to look at Sam in the morning. He was handsome, so damn hot and even though he wanted to have a quickie, I was beyond sore and didn’t want to muck with my heart any more than it was already being done. I didn’t want to lose my heart to Sam. I had already given him my body and that was just going to have to be enough.
“Are you ready for today Meri?”
I was out of the shower and he was getting dressed. Carol was still sleeping and I was about to get her up. I stopped, looking at the man in front of me. I wanted to remember every single line on his body to remember it for later. He was just that hot and sexy. I would have never thought that a guy like him would have been interested in a girl like me. It made more sense here than in New York though.
“Yes I am. I know that Carol is ready to get home. I don’t know how to thank you Sam. You have done more than I could have ever imagined.”
“Don’t thank me just yet. You aren’t out of here yet, but besides, it was all because of Ashlyn.”
“Yeah, I am going to have to pay her back to. It was one thing for her to pay for me to go to college, but this is too much.”
“She paid for you to go to college?”
I shook my head and then tightened the towel around my body. He was given me far too much attention and it was making me nervous. I didn’t want to point it out, but I was going to have to because I couldn’t think otherwise.
“Yeah, she said it was payback because I helped her, but I think it was just because I reminded her of herself when she was younger. She doesn’t have much family, so she made her own. I have always thought of her as more than just a friend.”
“So what did you do to become family?”
I bit my lip and didn’t know how much I should say. Ashlyn was a very shy person about her past, well some of it and I didn’t think that she wanted me to tell Sam about it. So I just kind of glazed over it and hoped that it was enough.
“Let’s just say that she was going to go down a path that was dangerous and I was able to talk her out of it. It wasn’t more than that. I knew who she was around and I just kind of warned her, helped her get away from them. I didn’t want to see someone else go through the same thing. She was older than me, but when she first came to the city she was a little naïve.”
“And you aren’t?”
I giggled and moved towards the bedroom door, I had to get some distance between us.
“Not really. I may have been in some ways, but in others not so much. I have spent a lot of time in New York. I know all of the games.”
“Then why I am your first?”
I couldn’t believe he was asking me such a thing, but at the same time I could understand the wonder. He wasn’t the first person to look at me as if I were an alien. I didn’t think it was that hard to comprehend, but for many it was. If nothing else, I had at least learned that.
“I don’t know. Maybe because you saved me Sam. No one has ever done something so nice for me. I owed you one.”
“Ouch, that is not what I wanted to hear.”
“Well it is what it is. I don’t want to pretend it is something else. I will always be grateful to you Sam, but I doubt I will ever see you again. New York is a big city.”
“I know you are right, but I don’t like to think about it.”
I waved him off. I was sure that he was just being nice. “I am going to get Carol up and we will hopefully all be back in the States by tonight. You are a good man Sam and I am glad to have met you.”
I went to shake his hand and he pushed it aside, pulli
ng me in for a hug. He tried to kiss me, but I was already telling myself that I had to back off a little bit. I was in too deep and any kind of contact was just going to make losing him even worse. I didn’t want to think about it and I certainly didn’t want to think about what I was going to feel like when I was back home. I was just going to have to focus on getting a job and moving on. I had to put all of this behind me, including Sam.
***
We made our way to the courthouse and the judge couldn’t do anything else but let us go. He put a warrant out for Rico because of the testimony that Carol gave, but I didn’t want to wait around to see what happens. Carol didn’t either. She wasn’t going to come to New York with me. Carol was going to need some time to heal and was already looking into a rehab that would give her what she needed.
I tried to forget about Sam, I really did. In the day time it wasn’t so bad, but at night I was always visited with thoughts of him and what we had done together. It was a lot to take on and it was even harder to forget. He kissed me one last time as I was getting off the plane. It was sweet and spicy, but I knew that it would be the last time. I wish it wasn’t, I knew that I was in love with the man. I also knew that I couldn’t make him do or be what I wanted him to be, no matter how hard I tried. It just wasn’t meant to be.
That was one problem, but another was my lack of a job in New York. Ashlyn was going to meet me for lunch. She knew that I was looking and told me that she had a solution to my problem. I told her that she had done enough for me, but she insisted. I didn’t know what she had in mind, but Ashlyn was good at taking my mind off of problems and that was all I had going on right now. There was too many to count and I needed a short break from my life.
The restaurant I was meeting her in was as far from reality as I could get. It reminded me of the hotel I had stayed in Thailand with Sam and a wave of emotions came back to me when I walked into the opulent building.
I told the host that I was waiting for Ashlyn and it wasn’t but a few minutes before I was taken to a table in the back. Ashlyn was there with someone else. It was a man, his back to me and I hadn’t even gotten to the table and I already knew who it was. Why was Sam here? I felt like Ashlyn had betrayed me, even though she knew nothing about my woes.
“Meri, glad you could make it.”
Her voice caught me off guard because I was busy looking at Sam and trying to ignore the feelings that welled up in me. It was impossible to do so when our eyes met. It had been a couple of weeks since I had laid eyes on him. So much for us never meeting again. When I met his gaze, I knew that I would have been better off not coming at all. A surprise indeed! What was this all about?
“Hey Ashlyn. What is going on here?”
“I told you that I had a surprise for you Meri. I thought the two of you might want to catch up.”
I did want to catch up with him, but not in a way that was advisable in a room full of people. I wanted him as soon as I realized that it was Sam sitting there at the table. My body missed him greatly.
“Sit down Meri. I haven’t seen you in a while. This city really is too big sometimes.
Chapter 12
Sam
God she looked beautiful as she sat down. Her long hair was down and flowing around her shoulders. It reminded me of when I had first met her and her hair had been down, but in bedraggled strings. Now she was perfect and I could tell that I wasn’t going to have a hard time ignoring the throbbing that was radiating from in between my legs. Damn I missed her.
When Ashlyn called me up to see if I had any openings in my accounting department, I couldn’t think of a better way to get Meri back in my life. What I had thought would happen when I came back was right on the money, but my feelings and reaction to it all had changed drastically. I was no longer worried about other girls when I was still so focused on the one in front of me. No one else compared and I was sure of that because I had tried so many, so many times before. I knew that there was no one else like Meri. All of the temptation in the world had meant nothing to me, a strange revelation in itself.
“It is good to see you again Sam.”
I stood up and moved to give her a hug. There was a moment of panic in her eyes that I wasn’t exactly sure about, but I had to touch her and have her in my arms again. The hardest part was not kissing her when I pulled back. It wasn’t the time and Ashlyn was looking at me curiously when I finally sat down. I felt like my face was hot. I was just that happy to see her.
“I see you two got close while you were in Thailand.”
The question wasn’t really a question, but more of a statement and I didn’t like the way Ashlyn sounded about it. If I would have looked up and met her gaze, instead of looking at the menu like it was the last written word I was going to read, I knew that Ashlyn would have been giving me a dirty look. I don’t know why I felt so guilty about what I had done, but there was nothing that I could do about it now. Now all I could do was try to play it off.
“She was my favorite client. I don’t think I have too many that I represent that are actually innocent. I was glad to help.”
“Uh huh.”
Ashlyn looked at me like she didn’t believe a word coming out of my mouth and in her defense, she was completely right. I wasn’t telling the truth, not at all really. I had definitely gotten close to Meri while we were away and I would be lying as well if I didn’t admit to myself that I was dying to get Meri back where I needed her most.
“Well I don’t know how I feel about all of this now.”
“All of what Ash?”
“I know that you are looking for a job Meri, since the other one fell through and Sam was telling me that he had some openings. But if this is too weird for you Meri, I understand.”
“No, it’s not too weird. I really need a job. I haven’t been able to find anything since I got back because I don’t have any experience. I don’t know how they expect a person to get experience if no one will hire them first.”
She was getting worked up and I assured her that I had something for her. I would have done anything to get Meri back around me and this seemed like the perfect way. It was a win-win situation if I ever saw one.
Meri smiled at me and there was a moment that I wished that Ashlyn wasn’t there. She could already see that there was something between us, but that didn’t mean that I wanted her to know. I had fallen for Meri and I hadn’t even really admitted it to myself yet, let alone to anyone else. All I could think about was having Meri around me. I knew it wouldn’t be long until I had her in my bed again. We were destined to be together, I just knew it.
The rest of the meal was spent telling Ashlyn about Thailand and then we talked about stocks a little bit. Meri wasn’t as interested in the conversation and she went to the restroom. As soon as she was gone, Ashlyn’s whole demeanor changed and I could tell that the woman wanted answers.
“What happened between the two of you Sam?”
“What do you mean?” I was really trying to look like I was innocent, but I had a feeling that I was failing miserably with it. I wanted to be truthful and tell her that I don’t know what the hell happened. I shouldn’t feel what I felt for Meri, but I did. I still didn’t know what it meant for the future or if Meri felt the same, but I was grateful for the opportunity to find out. I would have tracked her down eventually, but this way I got to keep my pride a little longer.
“Don’t play coy with me Sam. I know exactly how you are. Meri is pretty and young.”
“Yeah.”
“And she isn’t used to our world and men like you.”
I knew where she was going with it, but I wasn’t going to make it any easier for her. While she figured out how to ask me such a thing delicately, I was already trying to formulate an answer in my head.
“Look Sam, I don’t want Meri getting hurt. I know how you are with women, but this one is different.”
She was different. I couldn’t agree with her more, but that didn’t mean that I wanted to have this con
versation either. I didn’t want to discuss what was still so unknown.
“Look, Meri is great and yes, she is very different, but that is a good thing.”
“Is it a mistake that I arranged this?”
“Not at all. You are helping me out. You know that I always need people for the accounting team and I am glad to give her the foot in the door that she needs. Meri has been through enough recently.”
“Well I can’t argue with you there. She is very important to me. Meri is a special person and I don’t want her to end up with a man like you that is going to destroy that part of her.”
She was getting a bit dramatic as far as I was concerned, but then again I had to wonder if she knew that Meri was a virgin. The two women seemed close enough that it was a possibility. But it was clear that she didn’t know if anything had happened or not, which was good. Ashlyn was a great person to be around, funny and entertaining, beautiful as all get out, but I didn’t want to be on her bad side. She knew a lot of very powerful people that owed her in some way or another. It was not an enemy that I wanted to gain.
I put my hands up like she had a gun. I really didn’t know what to say that was truthful. I was just going to have to avoid and deny it all. I knew that I was going to regret lying to Ashlyn, but giving up on whatever was going on with me and Meri was worth it. I think.
“I wouldn’t do anything to destroy anyone.”
“You know what I mean Sam. You are a likeable guy, maybe even lovable under the right circumstances. You are ridiculously charming and I think you know that. There was a time that me and you almost…”
“Yes I know. You were the one that stopped it.”
“Because even when I had just met you, I knew what kind of a man you were and I knew I had to protect my heart.”