Chapter Twenty-Four
Twenty-Four
“What do you mean there are no more rooms available?” I screeched at Denise, the daytime receptionist. I had skipped out of the conference to check the status of room availability. I had stayed for Mr. Stevenson’s opening remarks. He was a terrible speaker. It was beyond boring, but I paid my dues before I slipped out of the conference right as Mr. Adams started speaking on the quarterly numbers, under the guise of “checking on things.” Now, I sat in the lobby running different scenarios in my head.
There was no way I could share a room with Danuwoa again, especially not after that kiss. And I especially couldn’t now that Kyle had seen the kiss. I’d never been kissed like that before in all my life. That was the kind of kiss that people fantasize about, and it never should have happened.
Would Kyle tell Mr. Stevenson?
I wandered the grounds for fresh air, trying to get my thoughts under control. It was foggy and cold this morning, and I could barely see the ocean from the path. I roamed for what felt like hours. My sole saving grace was that I was only needed behind the scenes, really. Mr. Stevenson was busy being fangirled over by everyone from all the offices and listening to the speakers. Natalie planned everything down to the minute, and since the cocktail fiasco, everything else had been running like a well-oiled machine. The team-building activity didn’t start until after lunch.
What if Danuwoa kissed me again? What if we shared the room? What if we kept things casual? What if Kyle gossiped to the whole company? Or worse, what if he told his uncle and got me fired? I was going back and forth; would it be so bad if people found out? We were adults. It was a silly rule anyway. But I remembered Walela, and Danuwoa needed to take care of her, just like I needed my job. The last thing either of us needed was to be job-hunting. That sounded like a horrible start to a relationship—if that was even what he wanted. If it was just sex, that was almost worse. Danuwoa was special, and my romantic heart wanted to be special to him.
This all started because I just wanted to be an accountant, damn it. How did my life get so complicated?
I obsessed over these thoughts repeatedly as I walked back to the conference. Back in the ballroom, the buffet lunch was ready to be served. I crumpled my blazer into my backpack and quickly scanned the room to see where Danuwoa was, to avoid him. He wasn’t here. Slightly relieved, I got in line for food. I reached for a corn muffin at the same time as the man in front of me. It was Gary.
“Sorry about that,” I said.
He just stared at me with annoyance. He took the muffin and continued piling his plate. I lost my appetite following Gary through the line. I went outside to eat my food, where I found Danuwoa in deep conversation with Sasha Storm Cloud.
She was stunningly beautiful. Her brown hair was giving way to gray, and she wore regalia, a purple jingle dress usually reserved for powwows. It was like Danuwoa could feel my eyes on him, because he looked up at me. His eyes screamed, Help me!
I took my plate over to them.
“ Aho , daughter.” She inclined her head to me.
“Uh, hi.”
“I’m Sasha Storm Cloud. This fine warrior was telling me he is Cherokee. I too am Cherokee, from a line of strong Cherokee princesses.”
So I was right. I wished Joanna were here.
“Oh wow, really? What clan?” I asked.
“My poor family was displaced with the Great Removal. We lost our records. I was fortunate enough to be adopted by the Sioux when I was a wandering little girl.”
“Cherokee to Sioux, wow.”
Danuwoa snickered behind his hand. I wasn’t Lakota, but it was known that Sioux was a derogatory name, and generally those from that tribal nation did not refer to themselves as just Sioux . It wasn’t a law, and every person from every tribal community was different. But the red flags were popping up nonetheless.
“I am also Navajo from my father’s side,” Sasha added. It was people like her who made us look bad. Could she be a descendant? Sure. But the story was weird. It was not my job to interrogate her and ask for proof.
“How nice,” was all I could say. I wanted the interaction over with.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have to set up for our activity. It was nice meeting you.” She put her fingers to her forehead and brought them out toward us in a salute that looked vaguely familiar.
As soon as Sasha Storm Cloud was out of earshot, Danuwoa folded over laughing. I was glad she was gone, and she was rather silly, but the laughing seemed excessive.
“She did the Avatar ‘I see you’ thing,” he said between laughs.
“Shut up, I thought I’d seen that before.” I couldn’t help but start laughing too.
“Did you know about her?” he asked me as he straightened, his chest still spasming with laughter.
“I saw that Natalie booked a spiritual leader.” I chuckled.
“I’m not staying for this. Let’s ditch.”
“We can’t ditch. We’ll be missed.”
“Nah, they don’t need any computers for whatever shit Sasha Storm Cloud has planned.”
“I’ll bet she has some peace pipe thing planned,” I said with a laugh.
“I’ll take that bet—what are the stakes?” He leaned toward me.
“Uh…twenty bucks?” I took a step back.
“Ember…” his voice warned. His eyes pierced me, and I was starting to feel like goo inside.
“What would you want?” My voice had a mind of its own; it dropped an octave to a husky whisper.
“You in those strappy shoes from earlier.”
Oh my.
I let out a breath. I could do that. “No peace pipe and I wear the shoes.”
“Only the shoes.” His voice was deep, and the rumbling did wicked things to my stomach.
“What do I get if I win?” I gulped. I couldn’t answer that right away. It was scandalous. Danuwoa was inches away from me. We were outside the conference room by the bushes, and it was just us, the only two people in the world in our own little sexually charged bubble.
“Would an earth-shattering orgasm do?” He whispered so low I could feel it in my core.
I throbbed. I knew I should still be mad at him for kissing me and compromising our jobs, but it was impossible to stay mad at Danuwoa. He was kind and happy with the most infectious smile that felt so safe. But boy was he frustrating with his forbidden sexual pursuit.
“Shut up.” I shoved my plate of food into his chest. It was as if I dumped a bucket of ice on myself. What were we doing? We were at work surrounded by colleagues. Monica from HR was inside chatting with Jacqueline from legal.
He laughed and grabbed my hand. “Come on.”
I glanced around to make sure no one was looking at us, and we took off sprinting down the path.
I was in California for the first time, in a five-star resort, and had a free evening to explore with a man who had just promised me an earth-shattering orgasm. I needed a dip in the ocean to cool off.
“To the beach!” I announced to get the heck out of there. What he said was daring and left me off-kilter, and I had to do something to get us back on an even playing field.
“Let’s go,” he said, leading me.
With everyone in the workshop with Sasha, there wasn’t a single Technix employee in sight. The walking path around the hotel grounds turned into a sandy path that led to the beach. It was afternoon, and the only people we encountered were couples on romantic walks.
Danuwoa had discarded my plate of food in a nearby trash can. I let my eyes wander from his profile, down his neck, to his arms. He had rolled the sleeves of his button-down a quarter of the way up, exposing his tanned, toned arms. That should be a sin. In dress codes, where it states women must wear skirts at or below their knees, there should be a clause in the policy stating men are not allowed to roll their sleeves up like that. I lazily looked back to his face and caught him admiring me. I knew it in just the same way I could tell what he thought when he looked at me. He had the most expressive face.
I looked away, smoothing out the white skirt of my dress. I could not have Danuwoa giving me puppy eyes. No, worse—he was giving me the cute Puss in Boots eyes, and I was fumbling Shrek taking up too much space, saying the wrong things, and walking around a five-star resort in orthopedic flats.
Once we got down the hill, Danuwoa grabbed my hand again, and I let him. Fingers laced, we kept walking in silence. The waves crashing against the shore and the wind whipping about our hair were our only companions as we walked south.
The beach was empty, our own private world. I liked Danuwoa. More than a coworker and more than a friend. I couldn’t lie to myself about it anymore. Not out in nature, with the ocean bearing witness to our joined hands. The fight-or-flight response I was having after our kiss in the elevator evaporated, and I was left feeling content and hopeful.
It was romantic and casual all at once. There was a small dune, and Danuwoa let go of my hand and plopped down, patting the golden sand next to him. I smoothed my dress down to cover my bottom as best I could and attempted to sit as elegantly and sexily as possible. I arranged my dress around my knees, but Danuwoa wasn’t watching. He was unlacing his shoes and rolling up the bottoms of his pants. When he finished, he pointed to my feet, and I slid off my flats. I buried my feet in the warm sand and wiggled my toes as I watched the grains of sand slide off my feet.
I’d grown up barefoot in the red earth of Sulphur and Ada and the silt from the rivers and creeks, but I’d never felt ocean beach sand before.
“It’s hot,” I said, smiling.
“Wanna stick your toes in the Pacific?” He was already getting up and brushing the sand off his pants.
“Yes.” Before I could try to maneuver my way up, he reached out a hand and pulled me up with more force than was truly necessary. He pulled me close to his chest as I swung up. Then he promptly pushed me away to get a running start toward the water.
I chased him. We ran into the waves, and I screamed. It was shocking how cold the water was. I expected it to be warm based on movies, but it was freezing. I had to jump up and down to alleviate the pain in my feet as my body got used to the water. Danuwoa kept running and then circled back to me. He kicked up his leg and showered me in the seawater.
Not to be outdone, I kicked my feet, and I never knew I could have such perfect aim. My splash nailed him square in the face.
He took his hand and wiped the salty water away. He narrowed his eyes, black with determination. “Big mistake.” He charged after me, and I was too slow to react. He grabbed me in a bear hug and twirled me around the water. My feet sprayed us both with all the splashing and waves. I was screaming and laughing with Danuwoa and then, suddenly, we both stopped. He held me up by the waist, and I looked down at his face, never seeing something so gorgeous. His high cheekbones and proud nose were framed by thick black eyebrows and full lips.
I lowered my face, and I kissed him, his lips wet and salty from the ocean. I drank it all in, digging my hands into his hair. He responded by tightening his grip around my waist and plunging his tongue into my mouth. I welcomed the invasion and greeted his tongue with my own. We stood there in the ocean as we kissed each other like we were the last gulp of air we would ever breathe.
I moaned, and in response, he groaned and deepened the kiss.
My eyes were closed as I explored what it was to be consumed by Danuwoa. My hands roamed as he lowered me down, dragging my body against his chest. As I stood pressed against him, I felt his attraction to me through my dress.
He began leading us back up to the dune where we left our shoes, peppering my lips with more kisses like if we stopped, we would never begin again. I knew I didn’t have the power to resist kissing Danuwoa anymore and I was a fool to fight it. This was what I had been missing, what our chemistry had been building up to.
I tripped over my own shoe and tried to slip it on my foot while still clutching Danuwoa, but it was hopeless. I peeled myself away from him and sat down on the ground, not caring that my dress was drenched and I would be coated in sand. Danuwoa plopped down next to me and smiled that perfect white smile.
I abandoned my shoes and launched myself at him. He landed on his back, accepting my kiss and weight. Never had I felt such desire and power. I climbed over him, straddling his legs as I kissed him more, grinding against the promise in his pants. He groaned as his hands explored me before they wrapped around my arms, pushing me away.
“I love where you’re headed, but we have to stop,” he panted.
My chest heaved as I looked at his kiss-swollen lips. I shivered as the cool wind blew across my wet skin and clothes. It broke the spell. We were on a public beach. Anyone could happen upon us. Mr. Stevenson could happen upon us.
“Oh my god,” I whispered, embarrassed. I slid off him in a sandy, wet heap. “What have I done?”
“Something I hope we continue once we get back to our room.” He sat up and kissed the spot on my neck below my ear. It sent a bolt down straight to my core. I curled my dirty toes in the sand. “What if tonight we just had fun? No thinking of what-ifs or the future?”
It should have unnerved me how well he knew my mind. I never told him about the constant what-if scenarios I overplayed in my head, and I was panicking about our make-out session out in the open on a work trip. I really wanted us to keep our jobs. Maybe just one what-if scenario: What if we just had fun? No one could see what we did in the room behind closed doors, and Danuwoa was professional. Besides, Kyle seeing us kiss wasn’t that big a deal. Kyle had been flirting with Jacqueline all through dinner last night. He probably didn’t care. Probably no one at Technix actually cared. I was just following the rule because I was new to working in the corporate world. Danuwoa and I were adults. We could be mature, and bone as mature people did.
“We can get to know each other,” he said and kissed my neck, drifting lower as he continued, “watch a movie. Order room service.” He ended his persuasion with a kiss on my shoulder.
“A movie sounds nice,” I whispered, allowing myself to smile, to bask in his attention. I could forget about all the tomorrows and just be with Danuwoa tonight. There need be no pressure to it, and if we timed our elevator ride right, we could get by unseen by anyone we may know.
“Great!” He slammed his feet into his shoes while I did the same. We dusted ourselves off and ran along the beach, back to the trail that led to our hotel and our room.