Chapter 13
I ended the call, then did a little happy dance around the suite. I wanted to celebrate. Maybe I
should have room service deliver lunch to my suite. Deciding I would do that, I called and
ordered lunch for two to be delivered at ten after twelve. Then I texted Bradley, letting him know the change of plans, and gave him my suite number. His ‘thumbs up‘ with a smiley face emoji response sent a wave of gladness to my heart.
I couldn’t wait to tell Bradley my good news. Having a buyer already for the house, one who
wanted a fast closing date, was definitely a gift from heaven. One I wasn’t going to turn my
nose up at, that’s for sure. That lead to an errant thought running through my head.”Why then am I turning my nose up at the gift of Bradley? Even if it’s only for four months, I’m still
turning my nose up. Which kind of didn’t make sense. I had made the decision to trust him, so
shouldn’t I just let our relationship develop naturally, without the restrictions I had placed upon
it?
Dear heavens. Were all relationships this fraught with doubt? I looked at the time and saw I
still had at least an hour before Bradley got here. I needed to talk to Jenna again.
She picked up on the first ring this time. “What’s up? Did you think of something else?”
“Not about the house. I need to talk to you, woman to woman. And please don’t judge me,
okay?‘ I rushed out, almost stumbling over my words.
“Ooohhh, this sounds like boy trouble. But not Adam boy trouble. Shoot. I’m all ears.” I could
picture her settling into her favorite chair with a cup of coffee.
“Well, it’s like this.” I spent the next forty–five minutes detailing everything, from meeting
Bradley when I was a child, to meeting him again at the first of this week, to everything that
happened, including the parts that involved kissing, and wanting to taste and experience every
single inch of him. And from what I felt and saw on the flight this morning, there were a lot of
inches to experience. I was getting hot and bothered just thinking about him.
“Anna?” Jenna’s voice questioned quietly. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Even
though I’m pretty sure I know the answer, but are you still a virgin?”
I almost choked on my spit. Leave it to Jenna to get to ask the uncomfortable questions.
“Yes.” My brutally honest answer wasn’t as hard to get out as I thought it would be.
“Have you ever been tempted to have s*x with anyone, at any time?” Again with the probing
question.
I
“No, not until I met Bradley. Now I just look at him and I want to jump his bones. Like, my good
Chapter 13
god, the man just exudes s*x appeal. It’s all I can do to keep my hands and my lips off of him. Jenna, you know me. I have never been like this with anyone in the past. I didn’t even let Adam get beyond kissing me. And even then, I didn’t enjoy it. Mind you that could have more to do with my instincts kicking in to protect me. But even so, not a tingle.”
“Has Bradley said anythng to you? Like he wants to do you, he wants to date you?” Jenna should have been a lawyer. She knows how to focus on what truly matters.
“He said he won’t do anything until I end things formally with Adam. Then said he wants to
pursue me as soon as that’s done. Said he is having a very difficult time keeping his hands,
and lips off of me.” I giggled as I told her this last part.
“So it sounds to me like you two have a real connection on every level. What’s holding your back? You said he asked you to trust him, that you may see things that make you question his
motive, but that it’s for your protection. So the question is, do you trust him? Do you trust
yourself?” Her analysis of the situation was spot on..
I
Do I trust myself to make the right choice? I had decided earlier to trust Bradley. Now I had to
make the decision to trust myself, and my ability to make smart choices.
A knock on the suite door interrupted my thoughts. “Thanks for talking Jenna, I have to go.
Someone is at the door. See you
Saturday.”
I ended the call and set my phone on the coffee table. At the door I looked through the peep hole to see Bradley standing there. I swiftly opened the door to him. His face lit up with a smile so wide I thought his face would crack. I pulled him into the suite, closed the door, threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him with a hunger I found hard to contain.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in close to his body. deepening the kiss, with a hunger as deep as my own. It was only when another knock sounded on the suite door that we pulled away from each other.
“Room Service” came the voice just after a second knock alerted us to their presence. I opened the door and ushered the attendant in. He swiftly placed the meal on the dining table,
ve the man and pushed the empty cart to the door, ready to exit the room. Bradley gave generous tip, and closed the door behind him.
Without stopping to think or question anything, he once again pulled me into his arms for another heated kiss before gently putting me at arms length so he could look at me. “Red, I’m confused. Happy, but confused. What’s going on?”
“Let’s sit and eat lunch, and we can talk, okay?” Taking his hand in mine, I led him to the table where we sat facing each other. “Eat,” I said, pointing to the meal placed before us. The food was amazing, and it wasn’t long before we polished off our lunch.
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Chapter 13
“Red, are you ready to tell me what’s going on? This morning, you said business only, and I very reluctantly agreed to that as I don’t want to push you. But your greeting at the door just now. Well, if that’s an example of business only, I gotta say, I can’t wait for the friendship and dating parts to begin.” He smirked as he said this.
I lightly swatted his arm. “Smart ass. I know what I said this morning, and you are definitely right about me being scared. Not scared of you. But scared to trust my judgement. Until Adam, I had never had, or wanted a boyfriend. And looking back, I didn’t really want Adam as a boyfriend. But he was persistant at a time when I was grief–stricken and hurting because of my grandparents death. I was physically exhausted from the constant travel between Halifax and Toronto. Exhausted emotionally from watching them struggle with, then succumb to their illness. Exhausted with keeping the life of Anna Graystone separate from Anna Fredericks.”
“I allowed myself to be taken in by Adam. I didn’t want to fall into the same trap with you.” I watched Bradley thinking about what I was saying. “But I realize that Adam and you are two very different people. He is scum, while you are sunlight. He wanted what he wanted, and treated me like crap when he didn’t get his way. You, on the other hand, put my feelings and emotions above your wants. In the four days we have spent in each others company, you have revealed yourself on a level that Adam doesn’t even know exists.”
“I know this sounds crazy, and it does, believe me, I know it does. But I really, really, like you. I do want to see where this takes us. I know I need to end things with Adam. And I don’t know if I now want to wait for two months to do that. And I know I don’t want to wait until New Years
to explore a romantic relationship with you, if that’s the kind of relationship you want.”
“Oh, Red. It is definitely the kind of relationship I want. And thank god you don’t want ot wait until the New Year. I don’t know if I could restrain my emotions that long.” He leaned forward
and gave me a very hard passionate kiss before sitting back with a smile covering his face.
“How soon can you end things with Adam? The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned.”
To add credence to his words, he pulled me to him yet again, kissing my lips, along my jaw line, down my neck to the tender spot that ignites a fire in my core, then back up to nibble on
my ear lobe. “How soon can you end it with him, Red. I don’t know how long I can restrain
myself.”
I was gasping in want. I found it hard to articulate. “I don’t want to alert Alan, Fiona or Lydia,
and I don’t want to expose them yet. I could break off the engagement, using the security
video from the office as proof of his cheating.”
“I’ll save the big guns for after their cruise.”
