“What’s on your mind, Tess?” he asked curiously.
“I was just thinking how ironic this trip is. I expected this to be the worst thing I’d ever endure in my life, but it’s turned into something completely different.”
“It’s turned out to be something entirely different for me, too.”
She paused for a moment. “I want to tell you something, Tom.”
His face mimicked a deer-in-the-headlights, scared to death of the words about to come out of her mouth.
Tess rolled her eyes and laughed at him. “I just want you to know…I didn’t stay with you because of who you are, not because you’re Tom Clemmins. I would’ve stayed even if no one knew your name and you weren’t famous. I didn’t want you-”
“Tess, I already know. You don’t need to tell me. I’m sure you’ve probably never taken advantage of anyone in your whole life and you don’t have a mean spirited bone in your body. Unless you think someone’s taken your tour.” They laughed together.
Tayai dropped off a wonderful dinner. Tom kicked back, chilling in the chaise. Curious to know the whereabouts of their next destination, Tess tried to bribe the location out of him. “So, will it be hot were we’re going?” she asked in her best sexy voice.
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“What time zone will we be in?” She ran her tongue down his neck, tasting the salt on his skin.
“Different than here.”
She took off the only clothing she had on, her bikini bottoms, and dangled them from her finger. “Will I need different clothes?”
“That’s not going to work, Tess, but you can keep trying if you’d like.” He stretched and yawned, pretending to ignore her.
She turned her back to him, sticking her ass out, bending over to pick up a speck of sand. “What country is it in?”
“I’m sorry, what did you say? I didn’t hear you.” He cocked his head to the side, definitely looking and grinning now.
“Come on, can’t you give me one little hint?”
“Okay, I will give you one clue, but only one. You can do this all night, but that’s all you’re going to get out of me.”
She pranced over to sit on his lap. “The clue please.”
“You’re meeting a good friend of mine and his wife, who I’m sure you will love. We’ll be staying with them for a day or two before we go somewhere else.”
“Who am I meeting?” she stammered.
“You might recognize them.”
Tess almost wished she hadn’t asked. “We’re going to stay with them?”
Tom chuckled at her sudden apprehension, “Look, if I visit these particular friends and don’t stay with them, it would hurt their feelings so-”
“Do they know I’m coming with you?”
“I’ve said too much already, no more questions. I can tell you’re already nervous, don’t be. They’re going to love you. Don’t make me regret my one clue.”
“But-”
“You’re supposed to be trusting me, remember?”
“I do trust you,” she smiled thoughtfully.
“I believe there’s a bribe that still needs to be settled,” he said suggestively.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
The sun rising over Mount Otemanu shined in her eyes. Tess was on edge, wondering where he was taking her, who was she meeting and would they like her?
Breakfast was delivered and they were both starving. “All this time I’ve been going to the gym when all I really need to keep me in shape is you,” Tess said.
Tom nodded in agreement.
“Tess, you were right the other morning when you asked if I had something on my mind. I understand how difficult it was for you to open up and tell me that this has been your best vacation here. This is hard for me to admit too-” He held her hand and stroked small circles over her palm with his thumb. “My trip here with you has been much more than I ever expected. I’ve been many places around the world and I’ve dated beautiful women, but you, are my best time. You’re different, in a wonderful way. I don’t want you to think this trip is normal for me. It’s not.”
“Thank you.” She went to him and sat in his lap, kissing him slowly for a long time. Her heart started beating frantically again and she rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. You are driving me so crazy, it’s almost ridiculous.”
“I’m not complaining.” Tom chuckled.
“I’ve always been pretty…” She trailed off, searching for the right word.
He finished her sentence for her. “Sensual.”
Tess blushed. “Yeah, but not like this. I can’t keep my hands or lips or even my thoughts to myself. I keep thinking, we couldn’t be better than we were last night, it couldn’t possibly be better than yesterday, it couldn’t be better than five hours ago. We went to sleep six hours ago and I just want to climb back in bed again.”
“We don’t have very long. Our boat will be here in two hours.”
“I’ll be ready by then.” She tackled him on the bed, taking full advantage of him until it was time to leave.
Mr. Rene arrived right on time, serenading them the entire way to the airport. Tess didn’t know the story the song told, but it sounded beautiful. Tom put his arm around her and she leaned back next to him.
“I hate leaving here, but I’m excited to see where you’re taking me.”
The wind whipped her hair around, so he tucked it behind her ear. “I don’t want to leave either, but you’re going to love my surprise.”
Mr. Rene pulled up at the dock. He patted their backs offering each of them a warm embrace. “You two come back to see me soon. Don’t stay gone so long, Mrs. Blue Eyes. I’m happy for you and Mr. Tom. You make a nice couple. See, I knew everything would work out for the two of you. I could tell from the first day on the shark tour. I even told my Mrs. how happy you look together.”
Tom chuckled, clearing his throat. Heat rushed to Tess’ cheeks. She considered stepping on Mr. Rene’s toe to make him be quiet.
They started down the dock toward the airport. She glanced at Tom and shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry, he means well. I’ve known him over twenty years. I can’t help but love him, but I thought I might have to kick him in the shin to make him quit talking.” She chuckled awkwardly.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Upon reaching the airplane, she gawked at him and then toward the plane. “Is this what we’re taking? Is this yours?” She’d never flown first class, let alone a private jet. “Show off! You’re unbelievable.”
A smile flickered in his eyes. “No, it’s not mine, but I use it to travel occasionally.”
The plush plane came complete with a bar, private bedroom and full bathroom.
“Hey, before I forget, would you mind giving me Tracy’s cell phone number? I promised to text her the address of where we’re staying. I don’t want her to worry, and I don’t want her mad at me either.”
“I’m shocked you didn’t already pay somebody at the front desk for it or search through my purse to find her number.” She teased.
He appeared dumbfounded. “I thought those two things were cardinal sins, getting into a woman’s purse and checking her phone numbers.”
“Are you serious?” She could tell by the puzzled look on his face that he was. “Tom if I trust you enough to give you my body for the last two weeks, don’t you think I should trust you with my cell phone? I don’t have anything to hide from you. I’m not into secrets.”
“Oh.” He cocked his head to the side and added, “You’re not upset with me for keeping our trip a secret, are you?”
“No, that’s a surprise. That’s entirely different. I simply don’t like hiding things. First off, I’m no good at lying. You can totally see it all over my face. I don’t play games Tom. I’d rather say it like it is. You know what I mean?”
His brows creased.
She explained. “So when you ask me if I trust you, I mean it when I say yes. I wouldn’t have stay
ed with you, not the way we’ve been together, if I didn’t trust you.”
Tess gave him Tracy’s cell number, and then opened her purse, asking if he wanted to take a peak. He pretended to begrudgingly stick his finger in her purse.
“It’s going to be a very, very, very, long trip. I need to get some sleep, Tess. You’re wearing me out,” he yawned.
“Why, Tom Clemmins, are you complaining?”
“Never,” he chuckled, heading toward the bedroom. “By the way, everyone on the plane knows not to tell you where we’re going, so don’t try to coerce it out of the flight attendant. No bribing the pilot either, you’d probably give him a heart attack if you used the same voice on him you used on me yesterday.”
Tess teased using the same sultry voice. “Did you really expect to get some sleep on this plane?”
“Yes, actually, at least for a few hours.” He pulled her down onto the bed, cuddling up to her.
“I’m only teasing. I’m tired, too.”
Hours later Tess opened her eyes in the pitch-dark room, forgetting where she was for a moment. Her things waited in the bathroom. How does he do this?
Tom lay stretched out on the couch, watching a movie. “Hey, sleepy head.”
“How long was I out?”
He glanced at his watch. “Ten hours.”
“Man, I was tired. I need some coffee, I still feel wiped out.”
“We have a few more hours if you’d like to shower.”
Tess finished showering when a thought occurred to her.
“Hey, Tom, can you come here for a minute?” Lying naked on the bed, she reached for his hand. “I’m sure you’ve done this before, but I haven’t. I can’t imagine we would be any better in the sky than on a deserted island, but I’m willing to try.”
“You’re unbelievable, Tess.”
“I’m glad you think so,” she said between kisses.
After she joined the mile high club, they lay on the bed. She didn’t want to think about how many times he laid there before with other women. She had no right to feel jealous, but didn’t like the idea of him in bed with someone else.
“What are you thinking about?” He slid his finger down the tip of her nose.
“N..Nothing.”
“What’s up? You looked serious for a minute.”
“I’m curious which you preferred, the sky or the deserted island with me?” she questioned coyly.
“This was wonderful, but nothing compares to the motu Tess. Nothing.”
Tom hopped in the shower. His dark tan body glistened in the sudsy water. He caught her watching him. “Do you want to join me?”
“No, I’m enjoying the show.”
He flexed his muscles, washing himself slowly. “Is that good for you?”
She laughed aloud. “Little slower please.”
Tom dressed in jeans and dark blue-collared shirt over a T-shirt. Tess put on a blue dress, redid her makeup and blow-dried her hair straight.
“I love that dress. You had it on the first time I saw you. I’ve never seen you with your hair straight either, I like it.”
“Do I look all right?” she asked, wringing her clammy hands. “I want to look nice to meet your friends.”
“You look beautiful. I can tell you’re getting anxious. I promise, they’re nice people. Believe me, my friends are going to love you. Do you want a glass of wine? It might help you relax,” he urged, holding up a bottle of wine.
“Sure, maybe just one.” She sighed heavily. It felt as if she were going home to meet his parents.
“We need to go over a few things.”
The eight little words spilled effortlessly from his mouth, however they sounded like words of warning to Tess, especially with the wine in his hands.
“Oh, great.” She motioned for him to fill up her wine glass. “Okay, go ahead, what is it?”
“I just want you to be prepared. This will be a very different experience than Bora Bora. This was the first trip in a long time where people didn’t recognize me, which is another reason why I love it there. When we’re out, people will recognize me here. It won’t be anything like the States, but it will happen. I don’t usually stop for pictures or talk to people too much because it gets chaotic, so we need to keep moving.”
Tess chewed on her cheek, taking a big breath of air.
“Are you all right?”
“Umm, yeah, just don’t leave me, okay?”
“I won’t, I promise. It’ll seem weird at first, but it’ll happen the entire trip, so try not to let it bother you. We’ll lay low most of the time, but I want to take you a few places while we’re here. So basically, keep your head down and keep walking. Got it?”
“Got it,” she confirmed, pacing in circles. Tess never yearned to be in the spotlight and quickly realized stepping off the plane might feel like standing in the center of the Big Top next to the Ring Master.
Tom held her close, nibbling her neck. “Tess.”
“Can you do that for the next hour? It really relaxes me.”
“We’ll be landing in Italy soon.”
Her eyes lit up. “I’ve never been to Italy before.”
“I know,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“What do you mean, you know?”
He reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. “Tracy,” he said in a pleased tone. “She’s warming up to me. Sort of. Okay, well maybe just a little. But JC was friendly.”
“When did you-?”
“When you were sleeping. Oh, and I’m supposed to tell you something from JC, ‘Good job, Mom, no wheelchair. Be safe.’ Plus, they talked to John and he said the same thing. I’m not sure what the wheelchair comment was about, but she seemed happy with your catch. That’s what she referred to me as.” Tom laughed and cast out a pretend fishing line, reeling Tess in like a marlin and smooching her lips.
A car waited for them at the small airport when they landed. It wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d anticipated. People definitely pointed, but Tom didn’t take notice. He seemed comfortable and confident. She admired that about him.
Tom had been driving for an hour. Quaint vineyards and olive groves dotted the landscape in front of them. The longer he drove the prettier and more captivating the scenery became. Green rolling hills spotted with villas covered the countryside. Tess always dreamed of traveling to Europe, but after going to Bora Bora, she could never bring herself to go anywhere else. However, at that moment, she wished she’d made herself visit sooner.
“It’s so charming here. The old buildings have so much character. Tracy would love it.”
“She did sound a bit envious.” He smirked with eyes full of mischief. Tom pulled over to the side of the road in the middle of the countryside.
“What are we doing?”
He jumped out of the car and opened her door. “I’m keeping a promise. Stand right over here.” He pulled out his cell phone, taking a picture of Tess with the breathtaking Tuscan scenery behind her. Then he stood beside her, held the phone out, and took a picture of them together. “The first one is for Tracy, and this one’s for JC. I think she’ll like it, don’t you?”
“Oh yeah, she’ll love it. You do realize those pictures will be all over her Facebook in twenty minutes? There’s no way of keeping that a secret.”
Tom tapped his finger on her nose. “You’re not a secret, Tess. You don’t like secrets, remember? Besides, I think you’re giving her way too much credit, I’ll give her four minutes to have it on Facebook.”
“How much longer?” She asked, climbing back into the car.
“Five minutes. Tess, relax please, for me.”
“I’m trying.” She sighed.
He held her face tenderly and pressed his lips to hers, teasing her with his tongue. “Are you ready to go now?”
“Umm hmm.”
Ten minutes later, Tom stopped at a set of tall, ornate, black wrought iron gates, entering a code to pass through. Towering cypress trees lined the long meandering
driveway, leading to a gorgeous villa.
“Wow, is this their house?”
“It is. You look amazing.”
“Thanks.” She waved her hands in the air to dry the moisture caused by nerves. “This place is more like an old castle.” Fuchsia bougainvillea climbed the stone walls, highlighting the shutters made from aged timber.
“Actually, I think it might’ve been a castle. They just finished restoring the whole place.”“This is incredible.”
As they approached the front door, he clutched her hands in his and pressed them to his lips. “Please don’t be nervous. These are my best friends. They’re my family. You just need to be yourself. Okay?”
She nodded. “I’m always myself, hence the nervous wreck,” she smirked with a slight eye roll.
“You weren’t nervous when you met me,” he offered as a comforting gesture.
“I was mad at you.”
“Did you want me to piss you off real quick.”
This provoked a smile from Tess and she squeezed his fingers. Tom rang the doorbell. She sighed anxiously once again. He bent down to nuzzle her neck when the massive wood door flew open.
“Tommy! It’s about time.” The handsome man shook Tom’s hand, grasping him firmly by the shoulder.
“Tommy!” Squeals of delight came from the gorgeous blond as she reached up to kiss Tom on both cheeks.
Tess couldn’t believe it. They were Hollywood’s IT couple Benny and Lisa Levi. He could’ve warned me.
“Hey, Benny. Lisa.”
“Shit, Tommy, you look like you got stuck in a tanning bed,” Lisa smirked flippantly, giving him the once over.
“Good to see you too. I want you to meet my girlfriend, Tess Mathews.” Tom beamed, cinching Tess by the waist.
The expression on both of their faces mirrored the look on Tess’ face. Shock! Benny and Lisa recovered from the word “girlfriend” faster than Tess did. She stared at Tom with her mouth gaping open.
Tess reached her hand out, but was quickly pulled in for a big squeeze by Benny and kissed by Lisa on both cheeks. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” Tess squeaked, attempting to stay focused, however the word “girlfriend” still rang like a fire alarm in her ears. She didn’t miss the unmistakable exchange of pure shock between Benny and Lisa either.
No More Wasted Time Page 8