"He's a hunk of a billionaire man, that's for sure."
"That he is…"
I took out my cell and checked to see if he'd responded to my last text.
LUKE: I'm sorry you felt you needed to leave. If you saw me with Jenna, you should know I feel nothing for her anymore but contempt. I would have enjoyed spending the weekend with you, and now I feel bad that you didn't get any sun and surf in like I promised. But you're right. I have to start telling the truth to my meddling family. Thanks for everything you did to help me fake them out. I truly enjoyed being with you, and the sex was great. There – some honesty from me.
I read it over several times, feeling a bit sick to my stomach. I believed him that he enjoyed the sex. That much was clear. I believed him that he felt bad that I missed out on the sun and surf. I even believed that he
enjoyed being with me.
What I also believed was that there was no future for us, no matter how much we enjoyed each other's company.
From his message, I gathered he realized it as well.
It was best we break things off and make a clean start of it, no longer pretending to be together as a couple. I could feel myself being drawn into Luke's world. It would be so easy to just let things continue between us, with me acting as his pretend girlfriend and us having great sex whenever it was possible.
But I knew it would be me with a broken heart. It would be me waving goodbye to Luke as he sailed away on his catamaran to the South Pacific and then off to Mars or wherever it was he wanted to live.
So I had to protect myself.
Luke was gorgeous. Smart. Rich. Ambitious. A great lover.
He wasn't and would never be mine…
"He sent me a text, apologizing and claiming I misread things between him and his ex."
"I'm sure he hates her," Candace said. "Who wouldn't hate your fiancé for cheating on you a week before your wedding? I sure would."
"Me, too," I said and re-read his message. "I was looking forward to some sun and surf, but it would have become really uncomfortable with the ex there. Plus, we actually had sex and you know me. I'm not into meaningless sex, no matter how fun it might be."
She leaned forward, her eyes wide. "You did the deed? Oh, my God, tell me. Deets, please!" She reached out and touched my arm. “I mean, I’m really sorry things didn’t work out, but you have to be pleased to get some…”
I told her about my night with Luke and how good it had been.
"It just kind of happened naturally," I said, remembering how easy it had been to kiss him and to just have sex right then and there. How exciting it had been to do so in the great room despite the fact we might have been caught.
"Naughty girl," she said, her mouth wide. "I can't believe you did that! He's a bit kinky, huh?"
"Not really," I said. "At least, I didn't see anything other than he enjoyed talking dirty and risked getting caught.”
"Was he good at it?" she asked, moving her chair closer to mine, eager for more details. "Some guys are good at it, and others are bad and say the most ridiculous things."
"I don’t have much experience…" I said, remembering back to the few guys I'd slept with. None had been dirty talkers. Blaine was pretty quiet when we had sex. "It was a turn-on though."
"Oh, God, he's so good looking," Candace said. "I can imagine it must have been hot to have him talking dirty. What did he say? Give me some examples…"
"I couldn't," I said and shook my head. "You had to be there."
She laughed. "You are a party-pooper. Okay, keep your secrets. At least you got some, which is more than I can say for me, stuck here in a man-drought…"
"Man-drought," I said, laughing with her. "You are terrible."
She gave me a fake bow. "I'm here every Saturday."
* * *
The rest of the night, I tried to distract myself from thinking of what was happening back at the beach house in Westhampton. Did Jenna stay the night? Did she and Luke have a deep serious talk and make up? He'd said he felt nothing but contempt for her, but I had heard that the line between love and hate was pretty thin.