Fire In His Eyes (Secrets & Seduction #1)(14)
“I will make it easier on you.” He was all seriousness now. “I won’t do romance. No gifts, no flowers, no fancy restaurants, okay. The minute you want out, let me know.” His eyes still searching mine looked for doubt.
“Okay,” I said and straightened my shoulders a little to show him I could handle it, and directly met his penetrating scrutiny. God, I was so disappointed. A thousand possibilities died in that moment, but maybe his feelings for me could grow.
“So, are we still on for tonight?” he questioned and laughed softly eyebrows waggling mischievously.
“Yeah, I’m game. Why not?” I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly trying to appear indifferent.
“It’ll be fun while it lasts, baby.” His eyes searched mine and I feared he may have seen my doubts, but then he shrugged too. “Bring a bathing suit, we can swim on Sunday.”
“Okay, sounds like fun,” I said. He straightened up and grabbed my shoulders and gave me a firm kiss on the lips. I was still in a daze over his revelations that it took me a moment to respond and open for him as he plunged his tongue into my mouth. The kiss lasted pretty long and was pretty intense, but somehow this time it didn’t make my toes curl.
He pulled back and looked at me questioningly, “You okay?” His ice blue eyes pierced my brown ones.
“Yes, I am fine,” I responded hastily. “I am looking forward to tonight.” I smiled clutching the towel to me with one hand in the front, and used my other hand to tuck a long wet curl behind my ear.
“Beautiful and vulnerable. What a sexy combination?” His eyes, so intense stared into mine. He shook his head to break the magnetism between us. “Okay, I really have to go,” he said glancing at my bedside clock which read nine o’clock. He gave me another quick kiss, grabbed his duffle bag off the floor and slung it over his shoulder. He lifted one of his hands and tenderly stroked my cheek with it, turned and left. I stood there until I heard the sound of the front door closing softly with a click. I was very confused, and sad.
I spent that Saturday morning cleaning my house, and puttering as I was too distracted to grade papers. I went to Target, bought a new bikini bathing suit, and tried not to think of the things Victor had said. All day, I lied to myself saying this was another Dan. Victor was another teacher, someone who could show me the ropes. It would be fun while it lasted. Deep down I knew I was in big, big trouble.
Victor texted me his address around five o’clock with a see you later. I had been putting it off all day, but knew I had to call my sister. She would want the details. I would give her just enough to satisfy her, but keep some things to myself. I called her at about seven when I worked up the nerve and felt calm enough to deliver the abridged version of the evening’s and morning’s events. Ana, was happy for me, maybe he’s the one she said breathily, and I laughed because it was expected of me to do so. I told her my plans and gave her Victor’s address as well. Of course, she wanted an even more detailed run down of the events of the past two days, but instead of the blow-by-blow, I gave her just the briefest of rundowns of the previous evening and morning. How many times, and in what rooms. Her reply was something of the sort, “You finally came up for air?” and, “Atta girl!”
When I got off the phone, I still had a lot of time to kill, so I tried to grade some papers and went for an extra five mile run. At nine, I packed a bag with the new swim suit I had purchased earlier in the day, a couple of pairs of shorts and a couple of tank tops for the next day. I gathered the necessities for my make-up bag and some other essentials. At nine-thirty I realized I hadn’t eaten, and I made a small Caesar salad for myself minus the croutons I loved, I had to watch those carbs you know, and lastly washed the dishes by hand.
At ten, precisely, I shut off the television, picked up my overnight bag, and went out into the garage. I opened the back of my white Ford Escape SUV and put the bag inside, and then got into my car while hitting the button for the garage to open. I was on my way. I had butterflies in my stomach, and uncertainties. It seemed like it had been days since I had seen Victor, but in reality it had only been thirteen hours. A very confusing thirteen hours.
I must have driven more quickly than I thought because it was a quarter to eleven, and I was minutes away from Victor’s place. I didn’t want to get there too early, or appear overly eager. I had to stop for gas anyway because I was on driving on fumes, a bad habit of mine since I hated pumping gas and didn’t like the smell of the fumes. I was pumping the gas when I heard the tell-tale ding from my cell phone that indicated that I had a message. I finished pumping, and as I had prepaid using my ATM card, got into my car, and checked my message. It was from Victor.
Victor: You must be close. I just got in myself. Too tired. I had a long day. See you soon.
Hmm, that sounded cryptic. I texted him back.
Monica: Yes, I will be there shortly, I’m just a few miles away. I had to stop for gas. We can just watch television or something.
Victor: Ok sounds good. See you in a bit.
I was there in five minutes. I parked in the visitor parking section near building two in Victor’s apartment complex, and made my way over to the lobby. I searched for and found his apartment number and heard the tell-tale buzz. The soft click of the lock releasing moments later proved I was expected. I looked up the flight of stairs and he was there standing at the top, looking gorgeous and yes, very tired. Kind of sad, too, actually. He started to make his way down stairs meeting me halfway. He took my bag from me, and held one of my hands with his as he guided me upstairs. His apartment was just to the right of the stairs in an open breezeway, and the door was open slightly. He let go of my hand, and muttered, “Fuck, the Cat!” as he lunged two steps quickly to the door and peered in.