After our bath, Reed and I returned to my aunt’s old bedroom. We climbed under the covers and fell asleep holding each other. While he snored softly I woke up and thought of ways to ask him to stick around. I rolled over and watched him lying there next to me. His facial hair was starting to grow and it made him look rough, but sexy. While staring at him, his eyes opened. He’d caught me being all creepy, but only smiled and pulled me into a long kiss. “Do you always watch your partners sleep?”
“No. Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About what?” He flipped me around and pulled my back up to his chest. “Are you ready for another round?”
“Do you ever get tired?” I was teasing, but damn did he have a sex drive. “Anyway, I wasn’t thinking about sex. What would you say to sticking around here and helping me get this place ready to sell? My life is in the city, whether I like it or not I’ve spent too many years vested to walk away from it. Since I won’t be able to afford the taxes and the upkeep, I’m going to need to get this property in better condition for when it goes on the market. I can’t pay you much upfront, but once it sells I will give you a cut for your time. While you’re working you can stay here and have the house to yourself.”
He sat up in bed and traced the skin on my arm after I turned to face him. “That sounds like a decent proposition to me, but it’s missing one thing.”
“What?” I couldn’t imagine what else he would want. I was giving him a whole house to live in.
“I’m not agreeing to anything unless I know there’s perks included.”
He had my attention. “Perks?”
“Perks like a very sexy female being in my bed every weekend.”
I ran my finger over his lips and smiled. “That can probably be arranged.”
He leaned forward to place tiny kisses over my lips. “Then I guess we have a deal.”
“Really? It’s that easy?” I was more than excited to hear that he’d be sticking around. “You know, earlier I thought you left without saying goodbye. I woke up and you weren’t here. I guess I thought you used me to get a piece and moved on to the next conquest.”
Reed started laughing really hard. When he wouldn’t stop I started to get offended, so I slapped him on the chest lightly. “Stop it. What’s so funny anyway?”
“I’m sorry, Erica, but the idea of traveling city to city to have conquests is hilarious.”
How was I to know what he did with his time? “Well, I just got the impression that {MISSING SYMBOL}”
He put his hand over my lips. “If I just wanted to fuck you I would have. There had been times in my life where a quick fuck was all I had time for. This isn’t one of those times.” He got this disappointed look on his face. “You really don’t know the difference do you?”
When he got up out of the bed I began to realize that I’d offended him. I hadn’t meant to, but somehow my not understanding how men thought had caused this conflict between us. One moment we were making love and the next he was literally walking away from me. I chased him down the stairs into the laundry room, where his clothes were in the dryer. He opened it and started pulling them out, putting his shorts on. “I’m sorry, Reed. Maybe I don’t know the difference. I haven’t had that many partners to compare it to.”
He left the fly of his shorts open and approached me. With both hands holding either side of my face he peered into my eyes. “Close your eyes, Erica.”
I did as he said, putting all of my trust into him.
“Think about last night, and even this morning. Think about our connection, and what it was like to be together. Was it the same as other experiences you’ve had?”
I shook my head. “No. Everything about you is different. That’s why I want you to stay. I just met you and it scares me how much I want more.”
“Is it because you like the idea of seeing me more, or the fact that I take your mind off of everything else you have going on?”
“I don’t know,” I answered abruptly without thinking.
He put his forehead on mine. “That’s why I should go. It’s obvious that I’ve clouded your judgment. Our time together is something that I will never forget. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever been with, but we’re just two people that happened upon each other in a desperate situation. We came together and shared something on the brink of destruction.” He pulled away and waited until I looked at him. “One day I hope that we’ll see each other again, Erica. When and if that happens I hope you’ll have found your true calling in life.” He leaned forward and kissed my trembling lips. In just moments he was saying goodbye as graceful as he could. Our time together was over and I was crumbling.
Reed left me in the laundry room as he gathered his things and left the house. I heard his bike start up and ride down the dirt lane. As devastated as I was, I managed to make it upstairs to the bedroom, where I cried for the rest of the day.
Chapter 5
I was confused about a lot of things, but knew for sure that I’d be selling the bed and breakfast as is. Aside from a lifetime of memories, I knew I could never walk inside of it again and not think of Reed, who was probably the only man on the planet that I wanted and knew I could never have. It wasn’t like we’d exchanged numbers, or addresses. I didn’t even think he had one.
I ended up taking off the next week to tend to matters with the insurance company. They had to replace the entire roof, as well as repairing all of the damage inside of the house, including new flooring in the attic and second level bedroom. A month later the house was put on the market. I worked with the realtor via emails and phone calls, determined to spend the least amount of time at the property. Since I was selling the house furnished, I’d only have to go back to pack up personal matters of my aunts.
Another month passed with no nibbles from any potential buyers. Each day got easier for me to deal with things that had transpired on the night I spent with Reed. There was only one problem that I was trying to deal with.
My job.