Page 10

CHAPTER 10

CASSIE

I watch the door close behind him, a dull ache of sadness starting to form in my chest.

Why didn’t you give him your phone number, dummy? my brain asks.

Because he has the power to obliterate us , my heart responds.

I don’t consider myself to have an addictive personality, but he could’ve turned me into a sex addict with what I’ve experienced within the last twenty-four hours. I know for a fact it was because of him , not because I haven’t had sex in years. I’ve never had a night of passion like that before and I know without a doubt I would become emotionally attached to him. Besides our physical connection, he seems to be the perfect kind of guy for me—smart, career-driven, good-looking, and a gentleman with a wicked mouth. He checks all the boxes for my dream guy, but who knows if this would just be a friends with benefits type of relationship and I honestly don’t think my heart could handle that.

I stare at the door for a couple moments longer, almost willing him to come back. But he isn’t going to, and I just need to hold on to the memories that I now have. I sigh and turn around to pick my clothes up off the ground before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. I hate to wash off any remnants of him, but my body is sticky from the whip cream.

While in the shower, my mind wanders back to Lewis and replays our conversations together. He’s in no position for a relationship right now. How can he be with having just moved here and with a daughter to raise? I’m not even sure if he shares custody with his ex. So many questions left unanswered and at this point, it doesn’t even matter because the more I think about my life, the more I’m determined that not having any contact with him is for the best. I need to get my own life in order. I’m jobless and trying to build my art career, which is going to take time and a lot of effort on my part. I need to focus on painting more and finding a full-time job that pays more money than what I’m currently earning with selling print-on-demand.

But what if you do happen to see him again soon?

While I do believe in fate, karma, and manifestation, I also can’t think about the what ifs that may or may not happen.

I turn the water off, step out of the shower and put the hotel’s robe back on. I use the blow dryer to dry my hair and as soon as I shut it off, I hear my phone vibrating in the bedroom. I walk over to the nightstand and retrieve my phone. I have over twenty missed texts from Grace and a couple from my dad. Oh shit, I never told him I wasn’t coming home last night. While living at home rent free is a huge perk, having my father worry about my whereabouts when I’m not around is getting inconvenient. I know this conversation is not going to be fun, so I call him first to get it over with.

“Not like you to not come home and at least text me about it.” His voice is tense with anger when he picks up and I immediately feel guilty.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” I respond softly. “I know I should’ve texted you back, but I was distracted and… was having fun,” I stutter because I don’t want to lie to my dad, but he doesn’t need to know what I’ve been doing.

“You don’t owe me any explanations. You’re twenty-four years old and an adult. I sure don’t want to know what you were distracted by. As long as you’re safe and happy, that’s all I care about, but in the future, please text me back so I know you’re okay.”

“I promise this will never happen again,” I tell him.

“Okay, kiddo. I love you.”

“I love you too, Dad. I’ll see you soon.”

As soon as I hang up with him, I breathe a sigh of relief that the conversation is over. I lather my body with the lotion the hotel provides and put my clothes and shoes back on. I walk out to the kitchen and sit back down at the dining room table. I look at the table and feel my cheeks redden from the memory of what just occurred on it. I take a photo of the table as a keepsake memory and eat the untouched fruit.

My phone vibrates again, and I see it’s Grace leaving me another text message.

Grace: You better be sleeping off a night of drunken sex and not dead in a ditch somewhere. Wait, that’s actually not funny at all. Why have you been at the Omni Hotel for 12 hours?!? Damn you, Cassie, pick up your phone or I’m coming down there!!

I grin at her message and decide to put her out of her misery by calling her back.

“Are you okay?” The phone didn’t even ring and her voice is frantic with worry.

“I am fine, just tired and sore from too much sex.”

She screams out in frustration. “I hate you for keeping me in suspense! But seriously, I was actually getting super worried. You can’t do that to me ever again.”

“I’m really sorry, Grace. You’re right, I should’ve texted you again to let you know I was okay.”

“Yeah, you should’ve. Also, you made me lie to your dad and that isn’t cool.”

I scrunch up my nose in confusion. “First off, I never told you what to say to my dad and secondly, why were you even talking to him?”

“He called me this morning when he saw that you never came home and asked if you slept at my house. I couldn’t lie to him. He’s like a second dad to me so I told him no, but I reassured him that you were fine, even though I had no idea if you were or not.”

I sigh, feeling ashamed that I made the two people who love me the most in this world worry for my safety. “I’m sorry I put you in that position, Grace. Thank you for not lying to him. I called him this morning and talked with him.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him I was distracted and having fun. Considering he knew I was out on a blind date, he probably knows exactly what I was doing.” I groan and cover my face with my hand. It’s going to be pretty awkward seeing my dad when I get back home.

I’ve got to get out of his place.

Grace laughs. “Poor Papa Warner. Now he has visualizations of his daughter distracted by dick.” She cackles at her own joke, and I shake my head.

“That isn’t even funny, Grace.”

“Yes, yes, it is. Anyhoo, get your butt over here. I need the play-by-play details of what happened last night. I’ve already received a text from Aaron, telling me how rude and inconsiderate you were for ditching him for your ex-boyfriend. Carter almost had to do the Heimlich Maneuver on me because I started choking on my food.”

Oh crap, I didn’t even think about Aaron saying something to her about Lewis. “You didn’t tell him Lewis wasn’t my ex, did you?”

“No, I played along and pretended that was out of character for you.”

“Everything about last night was out of character for me,” I mutter, still in disbelief over everything that has happened. It feels like a dream—a hot, wet, naughty dream.

“Wait, is he still there with you right now?”

“No, he had to go to work.”

“What does he do for a living that he works on the weekends?” she asks, and I can hear the suspicion in her voice.

“He’s a personal trainer.”

“Oh,” she pauses. “I guess that makes sense. Get over here because I’ve got to hear this story face to face”

“Okay, I’ll see you in about thirty minutes.”

I hang up with Grace, grab my purse and take one final look around the suite.

“Thanks for the memories,” I say out loud, which is silly to say to a hotel room, but I think it’s safe to say I will never forget this place.

* * *

I stopped to get some more coffee and a scone for Grace before pulling into her apartment complex. I walk up the stairs to the second floor and knock on her door.

She opens it immediately and gives me a once over. “The walk of shame never looked more beautiful,” she snickers.

I laugh and follow her inside to her kitchen. I take a seat on one of her barstools and hand her the paper bag. “I brought you a scone and your favorite latte as an apology.”

“You owe me way more than this.” She sits next to me, takes a bite of her pastry and with her mouth full of food says, “Start talking.”

I tell her everything that transpired, starting with my date with Aaron and how I ended up in bed with Lewis. “Wowzers, I can’t believe you popped your one-night stand cherry.”

I tilt my head and give her a weird look. “Not sure if that’s really something to be proud about. I really wasn’t planning on having a one-night stand.”

“Most women don’t, unless you’re a groupie of some sort, but who cares about that?” She waves her hand around. “Give me some dirty details like how big was he?” She wiggles her eyebrows up and down and I blush at the memory of him.

“Let’s just say he is very, very talented and knows how to use his appendage very well.”

She gives me a what the fuck look and I giggle. “It’s not about the size, but the motion of the ocean.”

“So you’re saying he had a small penis?”

I snort and shake my head. “No, he definitely didn’t have a small penis. It was perfect. He was perfect. He was selfless in the bedroom and made everything about me.” I pause, because there are so many more wonderful things to say, yet I’m completely failing at describing how incredible last night was for her to even understand. “I can’t explain it, Grace, but every time he kissed me, I felt like I was about to combust, and the sex was just out of this world. I don’t think I’ll ever have sex like that again in my life.”

She props her head up with her hand, giving me puppy dog eyes, sighing. “Sounds like it was an incredible night. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“For what?” I ask in confusion.

“I basically manifested last night for you by giving you a pep talk on one-night stands and putting condoms in your purse.”

“Thank you, by the way, for those. We used all of them.” I feel my cheeks get hot after admitting that to her.

She has a smug look of satisfaction on her face. “Again, you’re welcome.” I laugh and roll my eyes at her. “So, when are we seeing Prince Charming again?”

I shrug. “No clue. Might be never.”

Her coffee cup makes it halfway to her mouth before she stops and gives me an incredulous look. “Please tell me you exchanged numbers.”

“Nope,” I tell her, popping my ‘p’. “He wanted to, but I told him it was best if we didn’t.”

She slams her coffee cup down and thank goodness there is a lid on it or else there would be coffee all over her countertop. “What in the hell is wrong with you?”

“He’s a single dad who just moved here for his career. I don’t even know what the hell is going on in my life. I just don’t feel it’s good timing.”

“You’re not marrying the guy, Cassie. It’s just dating or even less complicated and you can be friends with occasional benefits.”

I shake my head at her. “I’m not wired that way, Grace. From the way I feel just after one night of sex, I know I would want to spend twenty-four hours, seven days a week with him. He would have the power to make me fall in love with him quickly. I can’t risk my heart shattering all over again.”

Just then my phone vibrates and I look down to see her mom calling. I show her the screen and she nods, knowing I’m going to take the call.

“Hi, Mrs. Harper. I’m actually here with Grace at her place and you’re on speakerphone.”

“Hi, Mom,” Grace says with a cheerful voice filled with love. Sometimes I’m envious of the close relationship Grace has with her mom. It makes me wish my mom fought harder to stay sober for her family. That’s why I enjoy being a nanny—I get to be the present and stable motherly figure to these kids that I never got.

“Hi, girls!” Mrs. Harper greets. “Cassie, honey, good news. I have three interviews lined up for you next week.”

My eyes go wide with excitement. “Three? Wow, that’s amazing! Thank you so much.”

“I will email you the dates and times of each interview. Let me know if you have any schedule conflicts.”

“Pretty sure I don’t,” I respond with a laugh.

“Just double check and make sure. Once you confirm, I can let you know the locations of the interviews and a little bit of background information on each family.”

Due to her high-end clientele, we normally are not told their names or their professions until the day of the interviews. Sometimes we meet them at their homes, oftentimes in an office, or they come to the agency’s office.

“Sounds good, Mrs. Harper. I will look over my calendar as soon as I get home.”

We talk a little bit longer with her before agreeing on a lunch date for all three of us and then saying goodbye.

“See, good things are on the horizon for you!” Grace salutes me with her coffee cup and takes a sip.

Knowing I have three interviews next week fires me up. “This motivates me to get my shit together. I need to add a couple more photographs of some of my paintings to my website and I need to call the Germantown Art Crawl and purchase a booth.”

“That’s my girl!” Grace cheers. “You’ve got this! And listen, I understand why you didn’t want to exchange phone numbers with Lewis. I might not agree with it, but I get it.”

“Thanks, Grace.” I stand up out of my chair and give her a hug. “I better get going while I have the energy to complete my to-do list before my body remembers that I haven’t slept for more than five hours.”

I exit Grace’s apartment feeling a renewed sense of hope and confidence about my future. I can’t have any distractions in my life right now if I’m going to accomplish my dreams of one day making a living from selling my art and seeing it hung on walls around the world.