Chapter 19
I glanced at the clock for the hundredth time and huffed. It was only just past five o’clock in the morning. Every minute of last night’s shift had dragged by and only served to give me more time to think about this morning’s second meeting with the executive board.
Ever since they’d called me last week, I’d had knots in my stomach as I contemplated if I was about to lose my job.
If it did happen, I was undecided if that was good or bad. On one hand, I felt like it was time for me to move on and look for a job with more normal hours. But on the other hand, I liked working here.
In addition to this was my challenge. I was weeks off completing my sexual journey, and I had every intention of succeeding, but the idea of doing it anywhere else was impossible to comprehend.
I went to the staffroom and turned on the kettle. As I waited for the water to boil, I nibbled on a protein bar and tried to weigh up the pros and cons of not working here.
“Is anybody home?” The deep voice coming from reception shattered my brooding, and I strolled toward it, wiping my mouth for crumbs.
“Corben!” My morning just got a thousand times better as I ran my eyes over my gorgeous hunk. His muscular arms were in full view, showing off the spectacular tattoos adorning his golden flesh.
“Memphis Jane, how you doing?”
“I’m okay.”
“Oh, wow. You don’t sound okay.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, no, not really, but I’ll be fine.”
“What’s happening?”
I waved my hand. “It’s a long story.”
“Right. Well, how about we go for a run and talk about it?”
The idea of getting a little sweaty with Mr. Universe was tantalizing but not possible. “I wish I could, but I’ve got a meeting this morning.”
“What time?”
“Oh, ummm, ten-thirty.”
“Excellent. That gives us time for a run and a fuck.”
“Corben!” My jaw dropped as I scanned the lobby, even though I knew it was empty.
“What? Nobody heard.”
It was true, but still . . . “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. Don’t you want to run with me?” He folded his arms across the counter, and his stunning rose tattoo bulged on his equally impressive bicep.
“Yes, but?—”
“It’s the sex then.”
“What? No, it’s—” I shook my head.
“Well, that settles it.” He slapped his palm on the counter. “I’ll meet you out the front at seven.”
He turned, and I ogled his incredible bottom, retreating from me as he jogged across the lobby and vanished through the sliding glass doors. Giggling, I returned to the staffroom and poured boiling water onto my green tea bag. Corben sure was a bossy boots, but I couldn’t imagine him being any other way.
The more I contemplated the idea of going for a run and having steamy sex before my meeting, the more I realized it was perfect. Not only would it take my mind off the executive board, but also, if I did lose my job, then it promised to end with a bang.
A hot and steamy bang.
I laughed as I crossed the lobby with my tea, and the sound echoed about the marble expanse like a lovely melody. The sun had bounced up from the ocean about half an hour ago, and its golden rays were already loaded with a dose of heat. Not even a whisper of breeze rustled the Pandanus palms, and the rainbow lorikeets, who normally welcomed in the day with hyperactivity and raucous screeching, were absent today.
I sipped my tea and breathed in the fresh ocean air. As the minutes ticked by and I inhaled my marvelous vista, I realized that what I’d truly miss the most if I lost my job was my apartment. I loved living here. Well not necessarily here, but by the ocean.
I finished my tea and strolled back inside. My final hour whizzed by as four couples with early checkouts occupied my time. The end of my shift arrived without any sign of Needledick, and as the minutes ticked by, I wondered if he was meeting the executive team this morning, too. If he was worried about losing his job, he sure had a funny way of showing it.
It was ten minutes to seven when he finally lobbed through the doors. The dark shadow across his lower face confirmed he hadn’t shaved. His hair was scrambled in all directions, and the crinkles in his shirt made it look as if he’d slept in it. But it was the nasty scowl on his face that showed he didn’t want to be here. If anything, it should’ve been me scowling at him.
“You do know you start at six-thirty, right?” I gave him my best sneer.
“Shut up, bitch.”
I gasped. Holy hell. I hadn’t expected that.
Stunned beyond responding, I grabbed my bag from under the counter and strode to the elevator. His eyes were poisonous darts in my back, and I clenched my jaw, determined not to turn his way again.
The second the elevator arrived, I jumped in, jabbed the button a million times, and once the doors closed, I stared at my wide eyes as it rode up to my floor.
My life had been pretty cruisy in the confrontation stakes, but in the last month I’d experienced it three times, first with Chelsea-Lea, then Alexander, and now my boss.
Was this my doing? Was I changing?
The answer to those questions was a resounding yes. Previously, people had walked all over me. They’d told me what to do, and I’d done it.
Not anymore, though.
Except Corben—he could tell me to strip off and bend over the kitchen counter, and I’d do that. I smiled, liked what I saw in the mirror, and smiled again.
If this was going to be my last day at the Hot Horizon Hotel, then I might as well make it a good one.
I raced to my apartment, undressed and redressed in my new lime green jogging gear and runners, slapped on some sunscreen, grabbed my hat, sunglasses and room keycard, and raced back out of the room.
This time, when the doors opened to the lobby, I hoped Needledick wasn’t busy—I was ready to give him a piece of my mind. But it wasn’t to be. Not only did he have customers, but they were having a heated discussion. It was impossible to know what was wrong, but whatever it was, the man thumping his fist on the counter and raising his voice was not happy.
I couldn’t help but laugh, and when Needledick glanced my way, I raised my middle finger in his direction.
I’d never done that before, but damn, it felt good.
I bounded out the door. Corben was impossible to miss as he stood like a muscle mountain silhouetted against the sun. Carrying on my cheeky streak, I slapped his butt. “Come on.”
Giggling, I launched down the stairs and sprinted across the grass and onto the sand as if there was a devil behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, and it wasn’t the devil—it was my muscular hunk and his fabulous grin that showed he was up for the challenge.
I squealed as I ran harder. My feet dug into the soft sand and my calf muscles burned. I was laughing so hard my coordination was all over the place.
His feet thumped in the sand behind me, and my heart exploded with the anticipation of him grabbing me. I darted to the left, then right, desperate to get away, yet at the same time begging for him to wrap his arms around me.
After two close escapes where his grunts matched my giggles, his hands trapped my waist, and he wrapped his arms around me like a giant bear. “Gotcha.”
“Yes, you do.” I could barely talk. “What’re you going to do with me now?”
He laughed a deep, hearty laugh. “Well, aren’t you the cheeky one this morning?”
“Yep.”
He unwrapped his arms, and as we caught our breath, we fell into stride together and continued to walk away from the hotel.
Everything about this moment was perfect—the sun on my face, the rolling waves crashing into the shore at my feet, and the sexy man at my side.
Life truly didn’t get much better than this.
A soccer ball tumbled down the sand toward us with a young boy chasing it. Corben picked up the ball and when the boy arrived, he tussled the child’s hair and handed the ball to him. “There you go, kid.”
The boy looked up at Corben with his mouth wide open. I imagined the poor kid thinking he’d just met Dwayne Johnson. Corben could easily pass for The Rock, with his dark sunglasses, buzz haircut and bulging muscles.
The boy wrapped his arms around the ball. “Thanks.” He ran back up the beach toward another couple of kids.
I smiled at Corben.
“What?”
“You like children, huh?”
“No.”
“No?” I pushed a wayward hair off my lip. “You looked pretty comfortable with him.”
“That was five seconds with a complete stranger. I have no intention of having my own.”
My jaw dropped, and I blinked at him, wondering if I’d heard right.
He cocked his head. “What?”
“You don’t want children?”
“No. Never have. That would mean settling down.”
I didn’t know what to say.
I’d never met anyone who didn’t want kids or to settle down.
He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him. “What’s the matter, Memphis Jane? Have I shocked you?”
I wrapped my arm around his waist and enjoyed his muscles moving beneath my hand as we continued walking arm in arm. “As a matter of fact, yes. You never know what the future holds.” But no matter what, I wanted children one day.
He shrugged. “Maybe, but I know it doesn’t hold children. That family-life stuff just isn’t for me.”
I stopped, and when we broke apart, he turned to look down at me. The sun glistened off his sunglasses, and I wished I could see his eyes. My heart hammered in my chest at what I was about to say. “In that case . . . I don’t think we should see each other anymore. I really want?—”
“Okay then.” He shrugged as if what I’d said was an everyday occurrence.
I gasped. “Okay then? You’re not upset?”
He shook his head. “Oh, Memphis Jane . . . it was never like that.”
“What was it like then? Just sex?” It flashed through my mind that I was being hypocritical, but I couldn’t help it. I hoped to settle down one day, and I needed the man I fell in love with to want children with me.
“Sex, yes, but also fun. We had fun, didn’t we?”
“Well, yes, but . . .”
“But what? Come on—you don’t want a guy like me. I’m a drifter, I like to party, I’ve got no assets to speak of, and well, quite frankly, I like women.”
His honesty was as shocking as it was refreshing.
I could have wasted months with Corben before I’d worked this out. Thoughts ran through my mind at frightening speed, and I had no idea what to say.
“Don’t be sad. We had a great time. In fact, we should still have sex now. One last time, for good measure.”
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. Besides, I can’t have your last memory of me being the last time we had sex.” He screwed up his nose.
I frowned. “Why? What was wrong with last time?”
“Well . . .” He shifted his feet in the sand. “You were all floppy, like a jellyfish.”
I burst out laughing. “What? I was not.”
“You were! All arms and legs, dribbling and stuff, and then you passed out.”
Giggling, I slapped his arm. “Shut up. I didn’t dribble.”
“Did too. We should have one final fuck to remember each other by.”
I gasped. “You’re crazy.”
“Is that a yes?”
Hell yes. Sounds like a perfect plan.
But I didn’t want to be too keen. I sighed as if uninterested. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” A cheeky grin lit up his face, and I knew what was coming. I yelped and dodged his attempt to grab me. Once again, we ran up the beach, me giggling and squealing like a teenager as I ran as fast as I could with the sexy hunk of a man right on my tail.
Gasping for breath, I made the terrible mistake of stepping onto the soft sand and just about tumbled. Corben threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and I smacked his sexy ass and squealed as he carried me up the beach.
The adrenaline rush quickly petered out, and I struggled to catch my breath. I did enjoy the spectacle that was Mr. Universe’s stunning derriere, though, as he trudged across the soft sand.
By the time he put me down on the grass, I was able to breathe again. He was puffing, though, and I liked that I’d given him a workout.
“So whadya reckon? One last fuck for good time’s sake?” He stood with his hands on his hips, and I couldn’t be certain, but this could be the pose that put him into the Mr. Universe finals.
Hot damn, he’s sexy.
I looked to the sky, pretending to assess his question, and after a sufficient pause, I looked into his mirrored glasses. “Okay then.”
He nodded as if he’d expected that answer. It was frightening how well he read me. “Off you go then. Don’t want that asshole seeing us together.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re right about that.”
“I’m in room eleven. See you in twenty minutes.”
I turned and jumped out of the way of Corben trying to pinch my bottom. Giggling, I crossed the grass and the footpath and climbed the steps to the hotel. The glass doors slid open, and it took a little while for my eyes to adjust after the sunshine outside. I avoided looking toward reception as I crossed the marble tiles. The lobby was absent of any customers, and a knot twisted in my stomach as I expected Needledick to yell at me at any second.
But he was nowhere to be seen.
This was the second time I’d experienced this. Frowning, I shoved the idea of satisfying my curiosity about where he could be out of my mind and strode to the elevator.
The elevator doors dinged open, and I stepped in and admired the healthy glow to my cheeks. Exercise and sunshine did that.
As did Corben.
And the idea of sex. Wild, crazy sex.
I pictured our playfulness on the beach.
His stunning physique was permanently etched into my brain, and it will stay there forever.