7. Roxie
Ihad dreaded telling my sister that I was seeing Henry again today. Priscilla hadn’t even asked me what happened with him last night. She hadn’t waited up for me, which had surprised me. With how worried she’d declared she was about me going to the beach with a complete stranger, it would’ve made sense that she’d waited up for my return. But she hadn’t.
The caravan had been completely quiet when I’d returned after meeting Henry. I had crawled into bed and inhaled the sexy scent of Henry until I’d drifted off into blissful sleep.
But after a morning of playing on the beach and taking the kids for a bike ride up to the old lighthouse, all possible scents of Henry were long gone. But that was okay; I had every intention of getting more.
While I had spent all morning entertaining my niece and nephews, Priscilla had spent all morning getting herself ready for Todd. She was on her way to collect her husband from the airport now, and the two of them were due back any second.
I glanced at the clock. It was quarter past eleven. That left me just one hour and fifteen minutes to be ready and waiting for Henry at the café. My insides did a little happy dance. Last night had been one of the most incredible nights of my life. And it wasn’t just that incredible orgasm in the ocean.
It was Henry.
He was stunning, handsome, charming, confident, sexy as hell. Funny. The list went on and on, and I barely knew him. I couldn’t wait to get to know him better. My stomach did little nervous flips at the memories of him. I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I’d felt like this.
Even with my fiancé.
I’d met Nathan when I was twenty-two. He was fifteen years older, handsome, witty, and so mature compared to all the other men my age. Nathan was the manager of the coffee shop where I worked. So we didn’t need to go on dates to get to know each other. We already knew each other.
There were never any tingling moments of excitement over the first or second dates or curious thoughts over where we were going or what I’d wear. Or even if he’d turn up. Our relationship had been predictable.
We went from work colleagues to partners within three months. Six months later, I moved into his apartment. The closest thing we had to a hot date was when the latest sci-fi movie came out, and we headed to the pictures. Yet, I had loved Nathan. Really, truly loved him.
Right up to the minute he’d said, “I’m leaving you.”
My world had shattered into a million little pieces with those words. I’d thought he was joking. After all, we’d made love just three hours earlier. It was inconceivable that he could have sex with me, knowing that he intended to walk out the front door and never look back.
But he had. And he did.
If only I’d seen his suitcases already packed.
If only I’d seen the warning signs.
Not that any of that would’ve mattered. Nathan left, and he never looked back.
“Daddy!” Piper’s squeal lurched me from my tumbling thoughts, and I looked toward the car that pulled up alongside the caravan.
Todd opened the door, and Piper crawled in to give her father a huge hug. As he squeezed his little girl in a huge bear hug, Gunner and Chase crowded beside the car door, too.
“Look at you two. You’ve both grown heaps since I left.”
“Me too, Daddy! I’ve grown too!” Piper insisted.
“Yes, you have, sweetheart.” Todd tousled his daughter’s hair.
“Okay, you three, let your father out of the car.” Priscilla juggled her eight-inch heels on the grass as she tried to ease the children back. My sister looked more like she was dressed for the grand opening of a swanky restaurant rather than a trip from the airport to the caravan. I never understood why Priscilla felt compelled to wear as much makeup as she did. My sister had a natural beauty about her that required no enhancements.
And her clothing was also way over the top. The dress alone must have cost a small fortune. I went shopping with my sister once. Just once. That was enough. Priscilla had spent more money on a pair of shoes than I had spent on my entire shoe collection.
It wasn’t that I was frumpy. I just didn’t see the value in designer clothing. At the insistence of my sister, I bought a designer dress once for my engagement party. The dress fit me like a glove. So much so that not only could I barely breathe, but I’d spent the entire night standing because I literally couldn’t sit down.
The dress had looked good. Good. . . not fucking amazing, as Priscilla had proclaimed. Especially not for the obscene price I had paid for it.
I certainly hadn’t felt sexy in the designer dress, either. No, I felt much sexier in my value-for-money department-store clothing. Or my thrift shop clothing. I loved thrift shops. Priscilla was horrified that I bought anything from them. But I didn’t care. If it looked good and it fit, I bought it whether it was in season or not.
Except for my underwear, those were the only items of clothing I would splurge on. And on those odd occasions where a man had seen my underwear, I was glad I had.
Like last night. I hadn’t hesitated to remove my dress in front of Henry. If I’d had on Nanna knickers, it would’ve been a different story.
Todd and I kissed each other’s cheeks, and then he and the kids barreled into the caravan. While Priscilla tried to calm the kids down, Todd was equally active in gearing them up.
As the minutes ticked by, I searched for the perfect moment to tug my sister aside to tell her about Henry. But it wasn’t to be. In the end, I locked myself in my room, made a hasty decision on what I’d wear, and grabbed my toiletries bag.
I pulled my door open again and found the family of five in the annex. They were gathered around the television, and Todd and the boys were already playing a game on the PlayStation.
“I’m just going for a shower.” I adjusted the towel on my shoulder.
“Okay,” Priscilla said without even glancing my way.
I trotted to the amenities block. After a quick shower, I stepped out, dried off, and dressed in a shift dress that was several different shades of blue. It fell to halfway up my thigh and had an embroidered lace around the hem. It was cute, simple, and easy to remove. I giggled as I pictured Henry lifting the dress over my head to remove it.
I’d had sixteen dates in the last ten years, including that disastrous one with Robert. For some of those dates, I’d gone to a lot of trouble getting ready. I straightened my hair, applied a touch of makeup, and painted my nails. Even wearing high heels. But after a while, I wondered who I was trying to fool. The men? Myself? If they didn’t like me for who I was, then what was the point of going out with them at all?
Maybe that’s why only four of those men had gone on to have second dates, and just two had made it to a third. Luca was the only man who’d made it to five dates. However, having sex with him was the catalyst for him not making it to a sixth date. Luca was a hot-blooded Italian with killer eyes and a body sculpted in heaven.
In the bedroom, though, he was closer to hell. Luca’s top priority had been himself. And if I was rated second fiddle the first time we’d had sex, I didn’t even want to know what our future sexual encounters would hold.
No thank you.
On my way back to the caravan, I tried to formulate the right way to tell Priscilla what I was doing. I still hadn’t quite established a plan when I reached the annex.
“Where are you going?” Priscilla blurted the moment I stepped from the sun.
“Well, I have a date.”
Her jaw dropped. Her eyes bulged. “With who? Not that guy from the beach?”
I nodded. “Henry. Yes.”
“Now?”
“Ah huh. He’s taking me to lunch.”
Her already bulging eyes bulged further. “Now.”
“Yes. Lunch.”
Todd turned to look at me, and his expression was a mixture of curiosity and disbelief.
“We thought you’d look after the kids.” Priscilla flicked her hand toward Todd.
I blinked at her. “I have been looking after the kids. All morning.”
“Yes, but,” Priscilla lowered her voice. “Todd and I were hoping for some time together.”
I lowered my voice, too. “Oh, I thought you’d want to spend time as a family.”
Priscilla eased back. Her teeth were clamped, squaring out her jaw, and she gave me an evil glare. I had hit a nerve, and I knew it. Priscilla closed her eyes and did a little shudder thing with her head that I had seen a thousand times over. My sister was accustomed to getting her way. So, in times like this, when she didn’t, she took to sulking.
I was glad I was getting out of there.
I turned on my heel, climbed the steps, and went to my bedroom. After tossing my bits and pieces on the bed, I turned to the mirror. My hair was still wet, and I had no time to dry it. My hair was not only curly, but it was also thick, which meant it took a good forty minutes to dry naturally, and that was in summer.
Henry had given me zero indication of where we were going, which wasn’t surprising. When we’d left each other last night, it was just past midnight, and he probably had no idea at that time anyway.
I just hoped it wasn’t anywhere fancy. All he’d said was to pack my bathers and a hat.
I grabbed my big floppy white hat and tugged it on. Now, I wouldn’t have to worry about my hair. I grabbed my sunglasses, phone, and bag containing my bathers, towel, and sunscreen and headed downstairs. “Okay, I’m going now.”
“See ya.” Priscilla rolled her eyes and turned back to the television.
“Have a great time, Roxie.” Todd’s lovely comment was probably two-fold. One, because he would genuinely want me to have fun, and the other would’ve been to show Priscilla how mean she was being. Todd and Priscilla had been high-school sweethearts, so he knew how to ride out her mood swings.
“Thank you,” I said. “I don’t know what time I’ll be back.”
“It’s okay, take your time,” Todd said, and Priscilla shot him a glare. I took that as my cue to get going.
I just hoped my things wouldn’t be out on the footpath when I returned.