by Leslie North
This. Him. Them. She wanted it all. All the time.
She cried out then, her orgasm ripping through her like a fire. She burned and pulsed and ached all at the same time. Daniel kept up his pace, pounding into her, the muscles of his shoulders rippling.
“I’m close, princess,” he warned.
“Give it to me,” she moaned, relishing the last lovely remnants of her orgasm as he pounded into her. “Please, Daniel.”
He grunted and then a long, gravelly moan ripped out of him. He stilled, burying his face in the hollow of her neck as he came inside her. His abs spasmed a few times, the heat of his release filling her. It was a sensation she’d never experienced before, but oh, oh how this changed things. This was an intimacy she hadn’t even been able to fathom. The most carnal part of him, swimming inside her.
Daniel melted down on top of her, showering her with kisses. Each time together had been better than the last. Which meant that they needed to stop now, or else Jackie might never be able to recuperate from knowing Daniel.
“Oh, my God,” he murmured. “That was so fucking good.”
“How is the second orgasm of the day better than the first?” she asked, laughing weakly.
“It’s you. You make me like this.” He took a soft bite at her shoulder.
They stayed like that, in their sticky, sweaty cocoon, until Daniel finally rolled off of her. His cock was limp and he collapsed onto the bed, sighing contentedly.
“We’ll sleep well tonight,” she murmured, cozying up to him again.
“I don’t want to sleep just yet,” he said, but he already sounded like he was on his way. “If anything, I’ll just rest before we start round three.”
She snickered, nuzzling against his chest. They lay there for a while, not speaking, just being together. The sound of his heartbeat was a huge comfort. It grounded her in the post-coital emotional swirl.
But after enough time had gone by, she realized Daniel’s breathing had become very regular. And then at long last—there it was.
He was snoring.
She sat up, looking him over.
Daniel had fallen asleep.
She laughed to herself, heading to the bathroom to clean herself up. When she was done, she turned off the lights and slipped into bed beside Daniel. She snuggled back up to him, intent on falling asleep as well.
But sleep didn’t come. Despite all the glasses of wine, the general exhaustion that she usually felt after big public events like the wedding, and the outrageous sexual satisfaction…she couldn’t fall asleep.
She tossed and turned for what felt like hours, her mind running rampant with thoughts and questions and worries.
It was reassuring to know that Daniel intended to see her when he came back from his business trip. He’d said he wanted her to be his girlfriend and that was part of what she’d wanted to hear…but she knew how to read between the lines.
It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him when he said he wanted to be with her—she surely did. She just knew that if it worked the first time, it wasn’t going to work a second or third.
Their long-distance relationship—if that’s what he even wanted to shoot for—would be better named the occasional fuck buddy. Once a month, they bone until they bruise their pelvises. And then what?
Sooner or later, it would eventually, inevitably end. Because Daniel wasn’t destined to be hers. If she could make it be so, she would. But Daniel was only on loan to her. She’d gotten him for a week, but she’d been one of the lucky ones to have had even that much time. From everything he’d said, she had no illusions that he’d find himself with another week to lavish on a lover any time soon.
And with how hot and real and churning these emotions were inside her…his few-days-per-month promise was almost worse than nothing.
Just enough to remind her that she’d never have Daniel. Not fully. Not when he was married to his job and all the stress that came with it.
He would leave. Not just because of his job, but because in Jackie’s wild and starry-eyed week at Daniel’s side, she’d forgotten one, unchanging truth: everyone left.
It was just a matter of time. So she needed to save herself. She needed to do what was best.
Jackie sat up as the clock read one a.m. She’d spent the last couple hours lost in the downward spiral of her mind, but now, in this moment, the decision seemed clear.
If he was going to leave her sooner or later, no matter what she did, then she needed to leave first.
Her heart thumped while she moved through the darkened suite. She didn’t want him to wake up and see her here. She didn’t want an argument, and she would just rather avoid the questions. It was easier all around to escape now, leave a note, and avoid further contact. She’d have a better chance at closing the fissure in her heart if it ended that way. A clean break. A swift ending.
She tried to pack her luggage as quietly as possible, almost forgetting to put regular clothes on before slipping out of the suite. With her hand on the door handle, she paused, looking back inside. She should leave something behind. A note. Some explanation, at least. She left her bag blocking the doorway, propping the door open enough to give her enough light to see what she was writing, and hurried to the notepad on a tall table nearby. She licked at dry lips, wondering what she could even say. Finally, she wrote:
“Let’s not fool ourselves, okay? Thanks for the great time.”
Once the door clicked shut behind her, she could hear her heartbeat inside her skull.
Are you making the right choice?
It was too late for that question now. She was locked out of the suite with all her earthly possessions in her grip. At this point, there would be no explaining away why she was in the hallway, everything packed. Sleepwalking? No chance. Not with that handwritten note.
She needed to keep moving. Stick to the plan.
Even if it suddenly seemed like the biggest mistake she could make.
Her footsteps scuffed through the tiled foyer as she headed for the front of the villa. Once outside, she finally pulled up the ride share app to ping a ride. The nearest one was five minutes away—perfect.
It didn’t matter if this ride share back to San Francisco would drain her bank account.
Protecting herself was worth it.
17
Daniel awoke the next morning to the sound of chirping birds. Every part of him felt deeply satisfied, like he’d achieved some sort of internal enlightenment and just had back-to-back three-hour massages.
A yawn rolled past his lips and he stretched. As his arms met empty space beside him, his eyes shot open.
Jackie wasn’t there.
He listened for a few moments, rationalizing that she was probably using the bathroom, or taking a shower. But the suite was oddly quiet. The only sound was the chirping birds from outside. He sat up, the sheets crumpling around his waist.
“Princess?”
No response. He drew his brows together. Maybe she’d gotten hungry and decided to get breakfast to bring back to the room. After all, they’d burned quite a lot of calories the previous night. He headed to the bathroom to wash his face and pee. And while he was mid-stream, his gaze drifting over the white marble countertop, something clicked into place.
Her toothbrush was missing.
In fact, everything that she’d brought and stored in the bathroom was missing.
He washed his hands, looking over everything again. His shampoo, conditioner, aftershave, toothpaste—all of it was there. He headed out into the bedroom, confusion drawing tight inside him. He checked the closet, and that’s where his stomach really cinched into a sick knot.
Her luggage was gone.
Her clothes were gone.
Everything was gone.
“Jackie?” He could hear the worry in his voice. But it still didn’t seem possible. There had to be some very obvious explanation that he was overlooking. “You in here?”
He walked into the lounge of the suite. Everythi
ng was exactly as it should be. He frowned, opening up the front door and looking both ways down the hallway. She wasn’t out there. Only when he shut the door—nearly slamming it—did a piece of paper flutter to the ground.
A note.
He snatched it up, his heart lodged in his throat as he read it. And read it again. And read it one more time.
Finally, he crumpled it up in his hand and scoffed, tossing it to the floor.
“Bullshit.” He stormed back into the bedroom, intent on finding his phone. He immediately called Jackie. It rang and rang—and finally clicked over to voicemail.
So he called her again.
He wasn’t surprised when she didn’t pick up that time either, which just made him angrier. He pulled up their message thread and fired off a quick text:
Really? Disappear in the night with a note by the door. Great approach.
He tossed his phone on the bed, pacing the length of the bed as his thoughts careened. Another text came to mind and he snatched up his phone, only to toss it back. No, he needed to cool down before he sent anything else.
This stunt was outrageous, and it felt like a slap in the face. After their week together, the fact that she could still pull something like this made him question everything he thought he knew about her character. He raked a hand through his hair, trying to calm the storm in his chest.
He’d thought they were heading toward something. Had she just been lying to him the entire time?
He paced the suite while he tried to figure out a game plan. But nothing seemed quite right. Whenever he thought he was ready to pull clothes on and go face his friends, another wave of pain crashed over him and he sank into the bed, reliving their conversations from last night.
Maybe she’d always intended to run from him. Maybe that had been her plan all along.
By the time Daniel finally pulled himself together enough to shower and throw on a pair of chinos and a polo shirt, he knew the goodbye breakfast was well underway. What an embarrassment—showing up alone, freshly dumped. He rubbed at his face as he headed to the restaurant.
It looked like some of the wedding guests had already left, as the group at the breakfast table was much smaller than yesterday’s wedding. But even still, he couldn’t fathom suffering through this breakfast without Jackie at his side, while all his questions and unsaid retorts cycled inside him like bile.
He hurried toward Grayson and Mila, deciding that he’d create an excuse and leave early. That way, he could use the drive back to solve the problem with Jackie.
“Hey guys.” He clapped Grayson on the shoulder, and then leaned down to kiss Mila’s cheek. “I just wanted to come say bye—”
“You’re leaving?” Blake interrupted.
He grimaced. “Jackie’s not feeling so hot, and there’s a few things I need to address ASAP with my dad. She doesn’t feel well enough to join, so I’m letting everyone know she had an amazing time, thanks for everything. Her words.”
Mila frowned. “Aw, well, I’ll miss saying goodbye to her. She’s just precious.”
“Hope she feels better, buddy. Get to it. Thanks for everything,” Grayson said, standing up to give his friend a proper hug.
Daniel bowed out, waving goodbye to everyone else—including Tania, who eyed him like she knew a secret—and hurried back to his room.
And even though a resounding determination to figure this out—to fix this—had accompanied him on his way to the restaurant, each step that took him back to the reality of his situation just ground in the truth more.
What could he actually do? What did he hope to accomplish?
If he was being smart—like he used to be, not like he was now, wrapped up in lovesick imaginings—then he’d see that Jackie had made her decision.
She’d left.
And he had to accept that.
Even still, part of him railed against the abrupt end. He didn’t want their story to just stop like this.
But even if he managed to convince her to give their relationship a real try, what did they really have to look forward to?
The only thing that ever happened in his life was work. That’s all that he had going on. That wouldn’t change just because Jackie came along.
So maybe she was right. Maybe she was the one with the upper hand of clarity here.
Daniel, don’t fool yourself.
Four weeks and three countries later, Daniel was returning to his penthouse for the first time since right after Grayson’s wedding. He’d skipped over his planned days home after Bangladesh, diving straight into the Sri Lanka project without a break, eager to delay his return home.
Coming back to his sanctuary had always been a relief, something he looked forward to.
But this time? He felt empty. Not to mention, more depressed than he could ever remember feeling.
In a way, he’d been able to beat back his emotions during the business trip. It was easy for him to get lost in work—it was practically his only defense mechanism. But thoughts of Jackie consistently lurked near the edges of his mind, even when he was pretty sure he was close to not caring.
Coming back home only proved to him he wasn’t over it, not even a little bit. He cared. Oh, he cared too much. The hurt still rippled through him. And finding his once-again empty penthouse—this time sans sexy house sitter naked in his bathtub—he wasn’t sure what to do now.
As he slowly walked through the foyer, depositing his keys and wallet by the front door, he saw a scrap of paper on the front table. His gut cinched. Not another note.
This time, from his new house sitter: “You should get one of those automatic fish feeder things! Fish really creep me out.”
He sighed, tossing it back where he’d found it. Memories of Jackie crept back into his mind. How did we both name one of my fish Henry? It almost made him laugh—almost. Really, he wanted to call her and beg that she come back. Just for a night. To see if they could hash something out and find a way forward together.
His phone vibrated—it was a call from Blake. He answered it, tucking the phone between his ear and shoulder. “What’s up?”
“Hey, you home yet?”
“Yeah, just walked in.”
“Awesome. I got Grayson on the line too. We want to plan a boys weekend.”
“Yeah, my last hurrah before the baby’s born,” Grayson added with a laugh.
Normally, he’d love the idea. But damn near everything had lost its luster since Jackie walked away from him. He sighed, sinking into his couch. “Yeah? When are you thinking?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You do not sound as thrilled as you should,” Blake said.
“I’m just tired,” he lied.
“Is this because of Jackie?” Grayson asked, his voice sounding different.
Daniel hadn’t told his friends about what happened that post-wedding morning. He was too embarrassed to admit it, and he’d avoided all talk of the bet ever since. He would never accept Grayson’s money anyway, he just needed to figure out how to gracefully resolve it. “Why do you ask?”
“Mila ran into her the other day,” Grayson said tentatively.
His stomach sank to his feet. “How is she?”
“Ohhh, no,” Blake said. “What did I miss?”
“I don’t know, maybe Daniel should fill us in,” Grayson said.
Daniel clenched his jaw. He’d hoped to come home and attempt relaxing, but now? His gut was in knots worse than ever. Like Jackie had left him yesterday.
“We broke up,” Daniel said, not sure what else to say. “After the wedding.”
His friends were quiet for a few moments. “Damn,” Blake said. “I really thought you two had something.”
“Yeah, me too,” Daniel said bitterly.
“Man, I’m sorry to hear that. Mila said she looked sad, if that’s any consolation.”
Daniel smirked, but it faded fast. It was a consolation, but not for long. “Well, if it’s any consolation to you guys, she wasn’t really my girlfriend at the beginni
ng. I just wanted to win your bet. She was my house sitter, and she agreed to play along. But we fell for each other—hard. And then she walked away.”
“Oooh, two bombs right there,” Blake said.
“I guess that answers my next question,” Grayson said, “which was why on earth you wouldn’t let me send your bet payout while you were gone.”
“He did win the bet,” Blake said.
“I don’t want your money. Start your baby’s trust fund with it instead of paying me.” He paused, more words trembling on his lips. “I just want Jackie.”
“Yeah, sounds like it. Daniel, you gotta go after her,” Blake said.
“Why don’t you track her down?” Grayson asked. “You still have her number—”
“She changed it while I was abroad. I would text on occasion, though she never responded. And then one day I got the ‘new phone—who is this’ text. Guys, she doesn’t want to talk to me. I can at least respect that.”
“I dunno. You were happier than I’ve ever seen you during the wedding week. Don’t you think you guys could make it work?”
Daniel was quiet for a moment, contemplating his friend’s words. He wanted to make it work—more than he could even express. But there was still one major roadblock in the way. “She didn’t seem to think so. And honestly, I get why she had her doubts. Personally, I don’t know how it could work. I work all the time. I’m never here. That last night—she didn’t say anything, but I saw the way she looked when I told her what my schedule was going to be for the next month. I think that was when she decided she couldn’t stay.”
“So be there,” Grayson urged. “Work less. Figure it out.”
“Quit your job,” Blake offered.
A bitter laugh ripped out of him—an echo to Jackie’s suggestion. “You really think that’s a valid option?”
“At this point, why not?” Grayson said. “You don’t need the money, and god knows you don’t need the grief. Your job makes you miserable, and it is never going to change. You know that. Are you really going to spend the next thirty years of your life unhappy and alone?”