No Vacancy

by Stephanie Rose

  “Oh, Kit-Cat,” Claire looped her arm around my shoulder. “Don’t give up so soon.”

  “I have never seen her this sick over a guy before.” Megan studied me with a pinched brow. “Have you, Claire?”

  “Nope. Not once. Even that dude you broke up with in college, after what was a long time, too, right?”

  “Six months isn’t a long time, Claire.” I drained my glass and pushed off the seat.

  “Oh, I remember him!” I spotted Megan nodding in my periphery. “The football player, right?”

  “Baseball,” I answered, not looking up as I piled the burgers onto a platter and set them down with the rest of the food on the glass patio table. “He was too busy for a girlfriend, and I was doing that double internship, anyway.” I shrugged before waving them over to sit.

  “See!” Claire yelled and stalked over to me before poking my shoulder with her finger. “You were always too busy to care when it came to men. Even…” She nodded to the street behind the yard.

  “You can say his name. Trent.” A laugh escaped me before I reached for the salad. “And I’m not sure that’s the right direction toward Brooklyn, I think it’s to the left.”

  “I mean that yes, you were pissed off at what he did, but breaking up was more aggravating than heartbreaking for you.” She held her hands up. “In my opinion, anyway.”

  “What she’s trying to say—I think—is that you really care about this guy. How long did it take us to convince you to take this week off? I think we worked on you for over a month. When Joe asked you to stay with him, how long did it take you to say yes?”

  “Not right away,” I whispered as I darted my eyes from hers.

  “By the next morning?”

  “Maybe. I don’t remember.” I wouldn’t look her in the eye as I stabbed my fork into an innocent piece of macaroni salad.

  My phone buzzed across the glass table next to my plate. I took a quick glance at the screen and couldn’t help the smile pulling at my lips.

  Joe: One more night, and you’re all mine.

  “I think I know who texted her,” Claire sang from across the table.

  “Look…” Megan dropped a hand to my forearm. “Maybe I’m a sap, but don’t dismiss what you guys have as a fling only because you think it happened too fast. Brooklyn isn’t that far from here.”

  “It’s far enough.” I sighed. “I want what we had this week. I want us to be together every day, not once in a while, if we’re lucky. I’m afraid part-time isn’t going to be enough for either of us.” I set down my fork and draped my hand over my eyes. “This is ridiculous; it’s been a week. I shouldn’t be planning for my future after a week.”

  “You didn’t plan a future with Trent after two years, or put this much thought into when you could see him again,” Claire noted as she poured us all more wine.

  “I put his name on the lease. That was planning.”

  “But why did you even do that?” Megan asked.

  Why had I done that? It felt like the natural next step, but maybe it had been sidestepping a real commitment. Yes, his name was on my lease, but we’d had no other real plans with each other for the future. It was convenient, like every other man I’d been with until it wasn’t.

  Joe and I were about to get very inconvenient, but, unlike all those who’d come before him, I knew I couldn’t drop it all and walk away unscathed. And that scared me most of all.

  28

  Caterina

  Since checkout time from the rental was noon, all three of us were up early, going through the entire house to make sure we didn’t leave any souvenirs for the cleaning crew. I gathered what was left of the food, which ended up being a lot since we weren’t home other than to sleep.

  “I hope leaving at this ungodly hour means no traffic,” Claire whined, and we loaded their suitcases into the back of Megan’s car. My suitcase was packed last night and in my trunk, before they’d even woken up. I was a mix of nerves and excitement, and I hoped Joe didn’t mind starting our weekend together this early.

  “Claire, please.” Megan stifled a yawn. “There’s always traffic on weekends in the summer. Suck it up, buttercup. And you,” Megan said as she grabbed my shoulders, “have fun, relax, and let things happen. Okay?”

  “Sure, that’s easy enough.” I coughed out a laugh and hugged them both goodbye.

  I leaned against my car, watching them drive off, still feeling a little guilty. I didn’t spend as much time with them this week as I’d intended, but they understood and were truly happy for me. When I’d come to Ocean Cove alone, not knowing what the hell I was doing here other than trying to get to some kind of bearing on my life, I’d never planned on Joe.

  But I would have fun, relax, and let things happen—three things everyone else found easy but went against everything I usually was. An unexpected laugh tumbled from my lips when I closed my car door and started the engine.

  At thirty-three, I felt young and alive for the first time in my life, and I didn’t want it to end.

  The restaurant was dark when I pulled up, but I spotted a light filtering through the front window of Joe’s apartment. Fishing my bag out of the trunk and rolling it to the side entrance, I took in my surroundings. The street was so quiet, it was almost creepy. It was only six-thirty on a Saturday morning, but, back home, there was always someone outside at any time of night. Without all the beach-goers and tourists bustling around, it was simply a small, sleepy town and almost intrusive to be out this early in the morning. When things were too quiet, I’d usually become agitated since I was so accustomed to noise all around me, but I enjoyed the peace, another thing that had eluded me until I’d come here.

  I reached into my purse to dig out my phone and text Joe when the creak of his door startled me.

  “Want to come inside before people think you’re casing the place?” Joe leaned against the doorjamb with his arms linked across his bare chest, in nothing but a pair of sweat-shorts. I’d seen him naked most of this week, but standing like that, lean muscle everywhere and a blinding smile stretching his lips, my pulse still surged, and my body still ached. I kept expecting us to burn out, but Joe did more to me with those crystal blue eyes than the other men I’d been with could do with their hands.

  Joe was beautiful and belonged to me—now. Everything else faded into the distance.

  “Do you always come to the door without a shirt?” My eyes traveled up and down his body.

  “When a pretty girl comes over, usually.” He grabbed me by the waist and kissed me. Close-mouthed but slow and full of intention. “And this pretty girl is going to stay.” His hand weaved into my hair before he kissed me again. He tasted like coffee and toothpaste, and when his tongue collided with mine, I was hungry for more. Joe pulled back on a throaty groan.

  “Let’s get upstairs before we put on a show. This street may look sleepy, but more people are around than you may think.” He took the suitcase and lifted my laptop bag from my shoulder. “Come on.” He beamed at me before grabbing my hand.

  I followed Joe up the stairs to his apartment. “This place is yours. Feel free to sleep or whatever you want to do while I’m working.”

  I nodded, scanning his living room as if I were seeing it for the first time. It was quaint and cozy. Joe didn’t have much in the way of pictures, but I spotted a few family photos under his huge mounted TV. I recognized his parents and figured the girl in the picture was probably his older sister. I guessed my focus was always on his bedroom, so I’d never taken in many details.

  “I could open with you. If that’s okay, I don’t want to bother you or anything, but—”

  He pressed a finger to my lips. “What did I say about not bothering me? I asked you to stay because I want you here, and, since I own the place, you can stay there all day if you’d like. I just didn’t want you to be bored.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  “I’m never bored with you.” I let my hands drift
down his torso, tracing the hard planes and ridges I’d memorized at this point. “Watching you in action is sexy.”

  “Is that so?” His finger wandered down my spine and left goose bumps in its path. “Come with me.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bathroom. “I tried to remember what shampoo you used.” He nodded toward the shower caddy in the corner. “When we were in the tub, I wasn’t paying all that much attention.” He flashed a devious grin over his shoulder. “And didn’t know which of you it was for, so hopefully I picked all right. You have towels behind the door, and I don’t know if you wanted to unpack anything, but I cleaned out a couple of drawers in my dresser. It’s only a few days, but…”

  Joe trailed off, his smile now shy as his eyes darted around the bathroom.

  “You did all that for me?” I wrapped my arms around his waist. For a man who described himself as aloof when it came to women, he sure knew how to pay attention. I liked to think that was because he only paid attention to me.

  “Of course, I did. I told you I want you here. I can make you breakfast, and you can sit at the bar with me this morning. How does that sound?”

  Joe was all man but had this adorable vulnerability. The sweet sincerity in his eyes was disarming and irresistible.

  “Being with you sounds amazing, and you make a fantastic breakfast.” I kissed his chin. “I’m ready when you are.”

  “I’ve been ready all morning, waiting for you, baby.” He ground his hips into mine with a devious grin. A tiny gasp escaped me at how ready he was.

  “What time do you have to open?” I whispered against his neck as I peppered kisses along his jaw, giving his Adam’s apple a lick when I saw it bob along his throat.

  “We open early today.” His voice was strained as I moved my lips down his chest and dropped to my knees.

  “Well, not like we have to worry about traffic to get there, right?” I gazed up at him with hooded eyes. “Only a quick walk downstairs.” I licked my lips and met his heated gaze. “I’ll wear my glasses next time.” I pulled down the waistband of his shorts, and Joe grunted a curse when I took him in my mouth the second he sprang free.

  Joe made me feel beautiful, sexy, and brazen in a way I never thought I could be. I was high off the groans erupting from his throat and the way he gripped the back of my head, twisting his fingers around a fistful of my hair and pulling hard when his length poked the back of my throat.

  There was no time to get creative on a time limit, but I sucked and licked and enjoyed every inch of him until he pulsed down my throat.

  Joe’s darkened gaze slid to mine as his chest heaved up and down. His hand cupped my chin, his features a mix of shock and elation, as if I’d just given him the greatest present of his life.

  He lifted me up from the floor, devouring my lips with a passion that made my head spin and my heart pound. I was breathless and dizzy when we broke apart.

  “I may trap you here.”

  I cupped his cheek and gave him a soft kiss.

  “And I wouldn’t fight you.”

  29

  Joe

  “Hey, Joe, who’s the new girl?” Mr. Milano, a long-time resident of Ocean Cove and regular since I’d opened The Beach Pub, nodded his head to where Caterina pounded on the keys of her laptop at a table next to the bar. For the past couple of mornings, she’d planted herself there while Dominic and I set up, and she hung around most of the day.

  “Her name is Caterina, and she’s staying with me.” I didn’t add ‘for a few days’ because I hated remembering it. When he’d asked me about her, I realized I had no idea what to call her. We weren’t friends. I guessed we were dating, but calling her my girlfriend didn’t seem right, even though the thought of her with someone else made me want to crush the glass I was drying into tiny shards. I watched her brow crinkle, her eyes fixed on the screen and nothing else. My girl in my place. Maybe girlfriend wasn’t completely inappropriate. Our time together since she’d come to stay with me was the happiest I’d ever been, if a bit bittersweet. I wanted her and wanted us enough to figure out some kind of plan for what would happen after she left. But no matter what happened when she went home, our bubble would be broken, and things wouldn’t be this easy again.

  “Hmm. I see.” I turned to Mr. Milano’s snicker.

  I set the glass back on the shelf behind the bar. “What do you see?”

  “You got it bad. Whatever you’re doing, your eyes follow her. Can’t say I blame you. I wasn’t always this old. The beauties don’t come for me like they used to.” He chomped on a piece of toast, his wistful gaze fixed on Caterina. “She’s a knockout. Good for you, kid.”

  “Thanks.” My gaze once again gravitated toward Caterina. She looked away from the screen for a moment and caught my gaze. A smile ghosted her lips before she turned back to the screen. “Yes, she is.”

  I motioned for one of the waitresses to come over and refill his coffee. Mr. Milano liked to sit by the bar and chat up Dominic and me whenever he came in. He’d regale us with his glory days and what the shore had been like back when he was our age. He was a lifelong bachelor but often had nieces and nephews visit him during the summers. Whenever my mother got on my case about being alone, my mind always wandered to him. If that was my path, I was all right with it. I never thought I was missing out on much—until a week and a half ago.

  “Excuse me,” I told him before I made my way over to Caterina’s booth and sat down next to her.

  “I thought you were only working on Sunday night, catching up on emails.” I stretched my arm along the back of the seat. “You’re on an extended vacation, remember?”

  “I’m not working for me, I’m working for you, right now.” She turned to me with a raised brow before going back to the screen.

  “Is this role play?”

  She dropped her fingers from the keys and swiveled her head toward me.

  “Role play? Seriously, Joe?”

  “Oh, come on. You said, ‘working for me’.’” I crept closer. “Are you trying to sell me something? I could be so into this.” I squeezed her thigh under the table. “Come into my office,” I whispered in her ear and nuzzled her cheek. “Peel your clothes off, and show me what you’ve got.”

  She jabbed my arm before squirming away. “I told you before, no going into your office when there are so many people here. We’re too loud.” She’d dropped her voice to a whisper at the end.

  I choked out a laugh before coming closer.

  “You mean, you’re too loud.” And she was. I’d made her come enough times to know she couldn’t help screaming, except that time on my porch when she bit her lip so hard she almost drew blood.

  “All right, just look at this.” She turned her laptop so I could see the screen. “You mentioned that you sponsor local events in the winter and fall, but this is a Halloween tour. Almost like part of a scavenger hunt. They do it across towns around the area. The Beach Pub could be a stop along the way.”

  I scanned the online sign up form. “Yes, but this is for pumpkin patches. I don’t have any plants—only sand in the back.”

  “Not all of them, and they’re not all real ones. Some establishments conjure them up. What if you buried a few in the sand? You could have the very first beach pumpkin patch. That could be cool. We could decorate the place a little, maybe have some photo ops and food specials. This tour seems to be gaining popularity, and you’d be Ocean Cove’s first vendor to sign up. Maybe boost other surrounding businesses, too, like Maria’s.”

  “I think the zeppoles and rainbow cookies I’ve bought since you’ve been here gave her a nice boost already.” I laughed when she elbowed my side. “Is it expensive to sign up?” I tried to keep this place alive in the off-season, but it was a challenge. I’d still have to worry about winter, but a flutter of activity in October would be a godsend.

  “Not really. They offer this cash prize at the end, and the participants have to visit each stop. It’s not big enough that they all would do it, but i
t’s good promotion to get your name out there, and I bet gets others to stop by, too. We just need to make the blurb for this place sound as awesome as it really is. I can take care of that if you’d like. What do you think?”

  “I think let’s do it. Wow, this is…” I was distracted by her beaming smile as she clicked to the next page. “Fantastic,” I continued. “I’ve been trying to do something to attract people but never knew where to look.”

  She wrapped her arms around my neck and planted a kiss on my lips. “I think this is going to be great. I’ve looked up this tour in a few places, and I think this could be exactly what you need in the fall. Stick with me.”

  “Always,” I whispered before I kissed her, close-mouthed but slow enough to draw a couple of glances in my periphery from staff passing by.

  I’d stick with her as long as I could.

  30

  Caterina

  “Why are you always so secretive?” I asked Joe, trying in vain to be indignant as I stood before him naked and dripping.

  “Because that’s how you plan a surprise. Why can’t you just go with it?” He turned to hand me a towel with a raised brow, his sandy brown hair now almost black from the water and stuck to his forehead.

  “Can’t you give me a little hint?” I peered at him with doe eyes and a tiny pout.

  “No, and stop being nosy.” Even without contacts or glasses, I spotted Joe’s snide grin.

  I lost any words for a snappy comeback as my eyes roamed over his body. I followed the towel as he rubbed it down his arms, then back and forth along his back and…lower. The muscles along his shoulders rippled as his body moved, sucking all the coherent thought right out of my head. I’d never win an argument with him if he distracted me like this.

  Since I’d arrived at his apartment on Saturday, we’d done everything together: eating, sleeping, showering. Not that I minded, by any means. In fact, we hadn’t spent more than a couple of hours apart at a time, and he hadn’t annoyed me once. I even missed him when he wasn’t around, which didn’t bode well for me when I pulled out of his driveway tomorrow morning. There was no denying we’d both let ourselves grow attached, which was wonderful, other than the fact we’d inevitably have to detach. And soon.