my arms.
“That was for me,” I whisper in her ear.
Pulling her face from my shoulder, she’s searching mine, but I’m not quite sure for what. She looks sad. Her eyes look dispirited and my chest hurts at the thought that it’s probably me that has made her feel that way. What we’ve got is convoluted and inconsistent. That’s not the way to start a relationship.
Finally she speaks, “But was it for me?” She pauses and the pain is palpable. I don’t understand what she’s asking. “Or was it for Maggie?” And then it is clear. Crystal clear.
Caught off guard, my mind stumbles and reels. My first inclination is to hold her tighter, for fear of loss. I can’t let her get away. Shaking my head, I stare steadfastly into her eyes. “For you, Sierra. That was for you.”
I can tell she wants to believe me. What the hell did Noel say to her?
Leaning down, with one hand now on her cheek, I kiss her very softly on the lips, the polar opposite of the kiss we just shared. “I know we can’t be anything until after TFV1. I understand that and I respect it and I will respect you.” With my fingers gently trailing down her neck to the collarbone, I move to one finger as I trail down to her cleavage. “But until then, I want you wearing my chain, mermaid.”
And with a pressing of my lips to her forehead, I am off, down the driveway and revving the engine of the Lotus as I head down the street.
My legs are shaking as I watch the tail lights of his car recede down my street. What the hell just happened? I think I just got ‘taken’.
Closing the door, I walk back to my bedroom and pick up the necklace off my dresser. After fastening it around my neck, I sit down in the middle of my bed and grab my cell phone where I attempt to compose the perfect selfie of just cleavage, hair and the necklace. I want to show enough, but not too much. Sorry nipples, you don’t get featured in this shoot.
The shot is perfect. Just enough to kill him. Not enough to end up on the internet.
I send the text without any message. Just the picture.
Don’t take it off.
You’re very demanding of me for someone who has a girlfriend. Are you this way with her, too?
I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.
Oh really?
Really.
Your girlfriend in New York. How would she feel about our kiss tonight?
That wasn’t just a kiss, Sierra. We inked a deal. And I don’t have a girlfriend in New York.
That’s not what I’ve been hearing.
Well, you’re hearing wrong.
Oh really?
Really.
There is silence for a while because I don’t respond. Sitting in the middle of my bed, just staring at the phone, rereading his texts. Who is lying to me? Someone is lying to me.
Sierra
Yes
I don’t have a girlfriend. I haven’t had anyone in my life for a year and a half.
What happened to her?
She wanted to get married.
Is that a bad thing in his estimation? I wonder. Women who want to get married should be avoided at all costs?
You’re not the marrying kind.
She had bad taste in furniture ;). And I don’t know that I’m not the marrying kind, I just didn’t want to be married to her. Ah, Miss New Hope. The Sticks hater.
Was that Maggie?
No.
That wasn’t Maggie? It was another one? How many are there?
So, Maggie is another one?
No. It’s not like that.
Then what IS it like, Hale?
Sierra, it’s not a text conversation.
Oh God, that sounds serious.
A face-to-face?
Yes.
I have a feeling this is going to upset me.
It might. But not for the reasons you are thinking.
You really have me off balance, Hale.
That’s why I had to push you against a doorframe.
He’s funny.
Mmmmm
:-) That was hot.
It was.
Sierra, I don’t want you to worry about anything. I’m not going to mess with you. Not personally or professionally. We never got to talk about Universal and the Polo Club. That first night was a huge eye-opener for me and I feel like shit for having put you through the things I’ve put you through. But I’m not like Bob.
I have so much to lose, Hale.
Your dignity is not something I’m looking to compromise. Tonight was the real thing, Sierra. Please believe that.
I want to.
I was out on Nantucket this weekend. Which I will tell you about when we’re together. I was heading back to New York, I have meetings there this week,