Читать книгу Private Lessons - Donna Hill, Donna Hill - Страница 10

Naomi felt like a small earthquake was going off inside of her by the time they reached the front door to her room. What happens next? Should she ask him in? Would that be too aggressive? A little late to be thinking of being aggressive. Her mind ran in circles.

“So…” he said on a long breath. He stood in front of her with her back to the door. “See you in the morning?”

“Sure. Yes.”

“How about breakfast down on the beach?”

She smiled. “Sounds great.”

“And what if I knock on your door at say, seven?”

“I’ll be ready.”

He stepped an inch closer. “And what if I knocked on your door…before then?”

Oh God, what was he saying? “Umm…”

He lifted her chin and smiled. “Don’t worry. I won’t put you on the spot. But I do want to make it clear that if I had my way, I’d be on the other side of your door making love to you.”

Her insides jumped up the Richter scale. She couldn’t breathe. She tried to speak, but no words came out. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. “See you in the morning.”

“O-kay.”

He turned and walked down the hall to the elevator.

Naomi’s knees wobbled so badly she could barely stand up. It took her several tries before she could get her key card to slide through the slot and open the door.

Once on the other side of safety, she all but collapsed onto the first available club chair. Her pulse raced, her chest was damp and her clit was throbbing like a tiny heartbeat.

“Oh, lawd. What have I gotten myself into?” She took several deep breaths, then checked her watch. It was nearly two a.m. Alexis might still be up. She dug in her purse for her cell phone and tapped in Alexis’s number.

She listened to the phone ring on the other end until Alexis’s voice mail came on. Naomi babbled out a message and disconnected the phone. She pushed up from the chair, went to the bathroom and began getting undressed.

The evening with Brice played over and over in her mind while she stood under the pulse of the shower, as she ran the soapy loofah over her body. The water washed away the suds but not the heat that sat in her center and spread down the inside of her thighs. She relived his smile, his laughter, his scent, the feel of his hands around her waist, his lips on hers. She closed her eyes and allowed the sensations to take over and flow through her veins.

She imagined that the pulsing water was Brice’s fingertips playing a concerto along the surface of her skin. Her eyelids fluttered. A soft moan slipped through her lips.

In the distance she heard knocking. She blinked, turned off the water and listened. There it was again. Her heart thumped. Brice? Did he really come back? She grabbed the thick robe from the hook on the door slipped it on and tugged the belt. She darted for the door then stopped a split second before pulling it open. She took a calming breath. “Yes?”

“Room service, ma’am,” came the clearly Bahamian accent.

Whatever wild imaginings she may have had about Brice being on the other side of her door sputtered away like a pin-pricked balloon. She opened the door. Her eyes widened.

“Where would you like these, ma’am?”

The young man carried in a vase filled with blooming, brilliant tropical flowers.

“Uh, you can put them on the table by the balcony.”

She stood at the open doorway thrilled down to her toes, and she couldn’t wait for the young man to leave so that she could squeal in delight.

Moments later he was walking toward the door. He bobbed his head and waited. Naomi’s brow arched in question. “Oh.” Realization struck. She hurried across the room and dug through her wallet for a tip. He left with a big, bright smile. Probably gave him too much, she thought as she shut the door and darted to the other side of the room.

She gently parted the aromatic folds of the leaves and found a card pinned to a slender green stem.

“Just in case I messed up in any way tonight, accept this as my apology. If not then just enjoy them! See you at seven.”

Naomi drew the embossed card to her chest and smiled. Then leaning forward, she inhaled the heady scent of the arrangement.

She could easily see herself with someone like Brice. If she had to write up a list of what she wanted in a man, everything about Brice would be on it. But none of that mattered. Their time together was limited and she had lied. Not to mention that they lived thousands of miles apart.

She took off her robe, tossed it on the side chair and slid naked under the cool white sheets. She turned on her side and gazed out upon the dark horizon that stretched into forever, and decided that it was too late to turn back now. She was determined to make their time together as bright and memorable as possible. It had been a while since she’d allowed herself to succumb to the charms of a man, let a man fill all those empty spaces inside of her. She hugged herself beneath the covers. What she was planning to do was deliciously dangerous.

It went against every iota of her being, and that’s what made it so tempting. For the next two weeks Dr. Naomi Clarke was going to be tucked away between the pages of a book. And Naomi Clarke, woman on vacation, was going to take her place.

Naomi read the words on the card until she committed them to memory. With reluctance she turned off the bedside lamp and wished away the hours.

Brice arrived at the hotel’s beachfront restaurant by 6:30 a.m. to make sure that the breakfast order that he’d placed before he went to sleep the prior evening was prepared and their table secure.

When he’d been on the phone with the hotel, ordering the flowers and arranging for breakfast, in the back of his mind he kept asking himself what are you doing? Better yet, why? He barely knew this woman, and yet he did. All the wooing and wining and dining wasn’t his usual M.O., especially with someone he’d probably never see again. Although the Internet, Skype and cell phones kept the world well connected, he wasn’t one for long-distance relationships. Maybe that was it, he concluded, while he was being shown to his table. The fact that it was temporary released him, and apparently Naomi, from any inhibitions.

But deep inside he knew that was only part of it. It was Naomi. Plain and simple. He couldn’t explain it, but she’d totally thrown him off balance. Never before had he allowed himself to be seduced by no more than a beautiful smile. He’d seen plenty. Great body…but he’d had his share. It was something intangible. That spark that Carl always talked about feeling when he met his wife, Theresa. Wife! He chuckled to himself. He was definitely trotting down the wrong path.

He drew in long breath of salt-drenched air, leaned back in his seat and gazed out into the horizon. The rising sun splashed orange and gold across the crystal blue waters. He would make the most of every minute that remained.

“Good morning.”

Her voice, low and rippling like the morning tide, raised the fine hairs on his arms. Get it together, brother, he cautioned himself before he dared to look at her fully. He raised his eyes and, like a dream come true, she stood in front of him. The honey color of her sundress matched the smooth tones of her skin, almost giving the illusion that she was naked. But of course that was simply his heated imagination.

He stood, and her smile competed with the sun. Without thought, he leaned toward her and kissed her softly on the lips. The sensation of her moist mouth and soft lips, combined with the slightest whiff of her scent, was like a jolt of java. It shot to his head and spread through his veins. He eased back until her image came into focus. ”‘Morning.”

Naomi’s stomach was in the middle of a backflip. “Hi,” she said on a breath that floated to him like a caress. “You weren’t waiting long, were you?”

“No, not at all.” He came closer and pulled out her chair. The weight of her breast grazed his arm as she sat down.

Naomi’s breath rushed out in a soft gasp of pleasure at the contact. Her nipples hardened with anticipation.

“Sleep well?” he asked, settling down in his seat.

“Yes, I did. Once I got the thermostat adjusted, I slept straight through.” She wouldn’t tell him that her dreams were filled with him—dreams so potent that when she awoke she fully expected him to be right there next to her in the queen-size bed. She ran her tongue across her lips. “What about you?”

Brice watched her lips move, but even for a winning lottery ticket he couldn’t tell anyone what she’d just said.

“Are you okay?”

He reached for his glass of water. “Yeah.” He chuckled lightly. “Sorry, I was…thinking about what we could do today.”

“Oh.” She smiled brightly, then reached across the table and touched his hand. “Thank you for the beautiful flowers. They are absolutely gorgeous.”

His eyes crinkled in the corners. “So, did you accept them for pure enjoyment, or restitution?”

She looked directly into his eyes. “Enjoyment.”

“That’s what I was hoping you would say.”

She propped her chin on her palm. “Why did you think you may owe me an apology?”

His eyes moved slowly over her face. “For maybe coming on a little too strong.”

“Do you honestly think that you did?” she gently probed.

“I’m going to be real honest with you. When I’m with you, for whatever reason, my good sense seems to escape me.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh and slowly shook his head. “And that’s all the confession I intend to make,” he added, shifting the serious tone to a lighter one.

Naomi lowered her gaze, unable to withstand the intensity of his eyes. She fumbled with her fork, just as the waitress approached their table with two bowls of fresh fruit, much to her relief.

“Coffee or tea?” the waitress asked.

“Tea,” they said in unison, then looked at each other and laughed.

“Coming right up.”

“If nothing else, we have tea in common,” Naomi said.

“Do you really think that’s all we have in common?” he asked, his words taking on a probing, teasing tone.

“Time will tell.”

He lifted his glass and tipped it partially in her direction. “Touché’

“You were saying that you’d been thinking of what we could do today.”

“I thought you might like to go into town and look around at some of the shops. We could have lunch there, and then I thought we could take the tour up into the mountains and see some of the mansions. The nightlife is pretty great, parties all over. I mean…I may be jumping ahead of myself. I’m sure you came here with some plans of your own, so—”

“No.” She held up her hand. “Sounds wonderful. I really didn’t have a clue about what to do with myself for a whole two weeks. I looked at a few of the brochures, but…” She shrugged her right shoulder.

“I totally understand. So we’ll squeeze in everything that we can.”

And then it would be over, she thought. But she wouldn’t worry about that now. She’d have plenty of time for that.

The waitress returned with their tea and brought a platter of codfish cakes and callaloo. The spicy aroma was mouthwatering, and before they realized it, they’d tossed aside all propriety and dug in.

“Oh, my goodness,” Naomi muttered, finishing off her third fish cake. “These are incredible.”

“Hmm,” Brice murmured with his mouth full. “It’s my favorite.”

“Now it’s mine, too.”

The restaurant began to slowly fill up with hotel guests, just as Brice and Naomi finished up their meal.

“I’m going to go to my room and get a few things,” Naomi said. “What time did you want to leave?”

“I have some calls to make.” He checked his watch. “How about we meet in the lobby about ten?”

“See you then.” She started to move away.

Brice caught her wrist. She stopped and turned, her eyes widened in question.

He kissed her. “See you soon.”

Her heart tumbled around in her chest. “Can’t wait.”

He let her go and she walked off, keenly aware of his eyes on her until she turned the corner toward her the side of the elevator banks. It was only then that she dared to breathe. She pressed the button and tugged on her lip with her teeth, removing the last of her lip gloss.

A trill of excitement, like a high note on a sax, rippled through her as the elevator ascended. She got off on her floor and walked down the corridor to her room.

She slid the key card through the slot and pushed the door open, just as her cell phone buzzed in her purse. While stepping inside, she pulled out her phone and saw that the call was from Alexis. She pressed Talk.

“Hey, Lexi.”

“Hi, I got your message. You called pretty late. Is everything all right? You were rambling.”

“I know, I know.” She walked fully into the room and kicked off her sandals, then plopped down on the club chair. She put her feet up on the matching ottoman. “Where do I begin? I guess I should tell you that I took your advice.”

“What! Now that’s what I’m talking about. And it worked, didn’t it?”

Naomi blew out a breath that preceded her smile. “Better than I could have imagined.”

“Let me hear it, and don’t leave anything out.”

Naomi brought Alexis up to date, including her afternoon and evening plans with Brice.

“Whoa. I don’t know what to say, Naomi. Other than you are a damned good student. I knew all those smarts you had would come in handy outside of a classroom.”

They laughed.

“But I do hate lying. He seems like the kind of man I would want to be with. But now…”

“Listen, this is all about now. Not tomorrow or the day after. Enjoy yourself. Get loose. Get some old-fashioned loving with a fine, intelligent man. Then you pack your bags at the end of next week and come back to the real world.”

Naomi sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I may as well enjoy it while I can.”

“And girl, I know I don’t have to tell you to use your own protection. I mean of course, if it gets that far.”

Naomi flushed. She could barely imagine what it might be like to make love with Brice Lawrence. Her heart started racing just thinking about it. “I will, but I doubt it will go that far.”

“Why? You said he told you that if he had his way he would be curling your toes. Well, not in those exact words, but you know what I mean. Sounds like he’s hot for you.” She paused. “Look, men do it all the time. Remember Stella in Terry McMillan’s How Stella Got Her Groove Back?

“No.”

Alexis shook her head. “Anyway, you need to get your groove back. I mean, come on Nay, there hasn’t been anyone of note in your life since Trevor, and that was almost two years ago. If you don’t use it, it might just dry up.”

“Oh, stop,” she chided, mildly embarrassed. She hadn’t thought about Trevor in a long time, and that took some doing. They’d been seeing each other for nearly a year. She’d thought that he was the one. He was a professor at Morehouse, intelligent, fun, sexy—but a liar. He’d lied to her for the entire time they were together. All along he’d been seeing someone else, and she didn’t find out until she got a call from his fiancée! That nearly broke her. She’d never been so hurt and humiliated in her life.