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I also know that fixing it is hard work, and it’s the kind of work you can’t keep doing forever. Everybody needs a break sometimes, even if your father’s life was objectively harder.
“Would you ever consider going on a vacation? A real one, I mean.”
I keep my voice casual and take a sip of wine, watching Graham’s face like this is just a getting-to-know-you conversation.
He watches me back, his eyes hot.
“Up until a few weeks ago, I probably wouldn’t have. I don’t see the point of being out of the office when I’m just going to take my work to another location.”
The pause between us suddenly feels charged and even hotter than it did before. I can feel the flush coming to my face. Hopefully, Graham doesn’t notice how often I blush around him. It’s not because we’re falling in love or anything, it’s just because he’s incredibly attractive and everything that comes out of his mouth turns me on.
Which might mean we’re falling in love.
Or at least I’m falling in…somethingwith him. Want, maybe. I’m falling into a much deeper want than the beginning, when all I could think about was not getting kicked out of my apartment.
“What about now?”
“Now…” He wets his bottom lip with the tip of his tongue. “Now, I might consider it, if the right offer came along.”
“The right offer?” I question as my brows knit. My pulse feels like it’s going too fast to actually pump blood, and I’m getting lightheaded. If I wanted to know for sure how Graham felt about me, I’d say…if I asked?
But I’m not sure I’m ready to know.
“If the right man asked me if I wanted to go somewhere with him, I’d think about going on a vacation…somewhere,” I offer instead.
Something flickers across his face. “What kinds of places do you like to vacation to? Would you rather ski or lie on the beach?”
I answer with a smile and with the tips of my fingers slipping around the stem of the glass. “Anywhere I can wear a bikini.”
“I like the sound of that. You can’t wear one when you’re skiing, though, so I guess Vail is out.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. They have alotof hot tubs there. I could spend practically the whole time in a bikini or at the spa while you…play in the snow?” I guess and he laughs, a deep husky laugh that soothes whatever part of me was concerned.
“I enjoy skiing and I do believe there is a spa I could leave you while I ‘play in the snow.’”
The night carried on easily and when it was time to take me home, he did so like a gentleman, leaving me with a kiss and something else that made me feel like we took a small step forward in a direction I didn’t know we would go.
The next week, Graham texts me when I’m in for the evening and I can’t help but to smile.
Graham: Looking at some vacation spots. Can I get your opinion?
Maddie: Of course.
Graham: Come upstairs
Diligently, I take the elevator upstairs to the penthouse. Graham gave me a keycard that lets me onto the top floor, and when I get there, he’s on his comfortable couch where he’s already fucked me half a dozen times, his computer on the coffee table, and he’s looking up places to vacation.
I cuddle in next to him, as I’m getting far too comfortable doing, and he angles his laptop toward me.
“The Virgin Islands,” he says, and scrolls past gorgeous photos of cabanas next to a sparkling blue ocean. “Or there are some places closer that could be fun, and we could spend a week or two enjoying each other.”
My heart does a little twist in my chest, that insecurity very much riding through me again. “A weekend getaway is probably all I could manage right now with my job.”
He glances at me, reading my expression and then nods as if it’s an easy answer.
“A weekend it is then.” Graham scrolls through a few more resort listings. “In this hypothetical vacation, I think we should lie in the sun and enjoy drinks and the sound of the ocean.”
Weechoes in my head and makes me hot all over.