a look at the cart of food. “What did you get?”
“All kinds of things. I didn’t know what you’d like for breakfast or even if you eat breakfast.”
“I do eat breakfast.” I swing my legs over the side of the bed, glancing down at myself in surprise when I remember that I’m wearing nothing but one of Richard’s T-shirts (it’s a very nice black one—thick and soft and expensive) and my panties since I had no desire to go around naked or try to put back on my skirt and top last night. “I like almost all breakfast foods, unless it involves salsa. I don’t do salsa first thing in the morning.”
He laughs softly as he starts taking the covers off plates. “No salsa. But I’ve got eggs and bacon and sausage and a yogurt parfait and some pastries and fruit and—”
I make a little squeak of pleasure when he takes off the last cover. “A waffle!”
“Yes. A waffle.” His eyes move from the food to my face. “So I did okay?”
“You did great. I better run to the bathroom first though.”
While I’m in there, I splash water on my face and finger-comb my hair. It’s definitely still me—regular, vanilla me—looking back from the mirror, but I don’t look too bad, considering. One cheek is a little pinker than the other from the way I was sleeping.
We fill our plates and take them with our coffee back to the bed by mutual agreement. It’s cool in the room, and I’m just wearing a T-shirt. I’m definitely getting back under the covers.
We eat for a few minutes in silence as we both check our phones. I’ve got a few work messages and a text from Ashley, wanting to know if anything happened last night.
I tap out a quick reply. Yes. Mission accomplished. All good!
She replies almost immediately. Yay! Wow! Tell me all about it when you get home!
I will.
I set my phone down and glance over to see that Richard is tapping something on his phone too. I’m tempted to ask what it is, but if I do, he might ask me about my messages, and trying to skirt around Ashley’s question might be a bit awkward.
So I mind my own business and enjoy bacon and half a waffle. It’s already ten thirty in the morning. I never sleep this late. We stayed up late last night, however, talking and laughing and drinking champagne. I was afraid he’d want to have sex again and I’d have to explain I wasn’t up for it, but he didn’t suggest anything. Maybe he was letting me take the lead. Or maybe the sex we’d had last night was enough for him too and he had no plans to go all night.
I don’t know exactly how old Richard is, but he’s no spring chicken (as my mother used to say). He’s obviously very good at sex, but he probably doesn’t have the going power of a twenty-year-old.
“So when do you need to get going today?” he asks while I’m distracted by these thoughts and my food.
I look over, momentarily blanking on what he’s asking.
“You said you were here for work? Do you have any appointments today or...” He trails off with raised eyebrows.
“Oh.” I feel my cheeks warming. It’s ridiculous, but I can’t stop them from doing it.
The corners of his mouth turn up. “This was a work trip, wasn’t it? Isn’t that what you told me?”
“It is what I told you.”
He reaches over and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Gillian. Did you plan this whole trip just to have a one-night stand?”
I snicker. Nod a couple of times. It’s impossible to be embarrassed by the admission when he’s looking at me that way.
“So it was some kind of sex-cation?”
His dry tone makes me giggle. “Exactly. A sex-cation. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing in the world is wrong with that.” He sets his mostly empty plate on the nightstand and rolls over to face me. “So you don’t have any plans for the day?”
“Nope. What about you? You were here for work for real, weren’t you?”
“Yeah. But it fell through yesterday.”
“It fell through?”
“It happens occasionally. I think I have a job, but it doesn’t work out. So I don’t have any plans for today either.”
“Oh.” I slant him a quick glance, wondering if he’s suggesting what I think (hope) he’s suggesting. “That’s good.”
He pauses, as if he’s waiting to see if I’ll say anything else. When I don’t, he asks lightly, “So