Baby Makes Three

“Yes,” I admitted reluctantly.

“This is for you,” he said, handing me an envelope. Then, in a loud whisper, he added, “It’s urgent.”

He waited around for another few seconds, probably to see whether I opened it, before he nodded politely and scurried back towards the hotel’s reception area. I debated whether I should just stuff the envelope in my pocket or tear it open there, and in the end, it was the concierge’s emphasis on the word ‘urgent’ that made me curious enough to pry open the envelope and see what’s inside.

I find a note, scrawled in red pen ink on hotel stationery:

‘Someone once said that there’s something sensual about hotels; the guests are like strangers exploring a foreign land, and should two of them meet and the mood strike, then pure bliss is just a room key away. Well, here’s to testing that theory. 615.’

I remembered that line, and I remembered who said it. I told Daisy that on our first date, right here at the Hotel NoMad. I glanced into the envelope and even though I already had a pretty good idea of what I’d find inside, I still felt a jolt of excitement when my eyes landed on the black rectangular room key.

Room 615.

It was her.

I slipped the note into my pocket and headed for the elevator. My pulse was like electricity, throbbing as it pulsed through my veins. I was hard as fucking steel by the time the elevator doors slid shut, and even though I had an entire script planned for tonight, the apology, the groveling, the explaining myself and revealing my feelings, I had a hunch that Daisy had other plans for the night.

But when the elevator dinged on floor 6 and the doors slid open, I hesitated. I told Daisy once before that things between us couldn’t be meaningless. And I meant it. If the past week has proven anything, it was that there was something real between us, something dangerous and fragile, but something real nonetheless.

And I was not fucking it up again.

I glided down the hall, my footsteps muted by the plush red carpet. I found room 615 and I slipped the key into the door, then I took a deep breath before I pushed it open.

Inside, the room was dark, dimly illuminated by the flicker of candles lining the narrow entryway. I found the room empty; the bed was made, the sheets undisturbed. My cock screamed through my pants and I wondered if I’ve missed her again.

Then I spotted the beam of light snaking out from under the bathroom door. I crossed the room, the weight of my steps creaking on the old hardwood floors, then I pressed the door open with my knuckles.

The bathroom lights were off, but the glow of candles was stronger in the small bathroom. The flickering flames reflected off the massive white cast iron tub, which was filled with a sea of bubbles and, more importantly, Daisy.

Her neck was resting on one end of the tub and her feet were propped on the other. Her arms were draped around the rim, and when her eyes flicked up to me she remained perfectly still. Her face was completely blank, but the look of want in her eyes, combined with the sight of her soaking in that tub full of bubbles, made my need for her burn even hotter through my veins.

“Interesting choice of locale for a conversation,” I said finally, breaking the tense silence.

“I didn’t invite you here for a conversation.”

“No? Why, then?”

“I thought you didn’t like stupid questions,” her pout twisted into a smile, and she sinks a bit lower into the bath of creamy white bubbles.

The animal inside of me wanted to dive through those bubbles and ravage her right there in the cast iron tub, but the gentleman in me remembered the thoughts I was thinking in the elevator.

“I already told you before,” I said, standing my ground. “I can’t have meaningless sex with you.”

“You’ve told me a lot of things, Caleb, and they haven’t all been true.”

I crossed the bathroom and sit on the rim of the clawfoot soaking tub, bending down so I can smell the rose-scented bubbles as they pop against her bare shoulders.

“You want the truth, Daisy?”

She didn’t respond, but she dipped her chin subtly; a nod.

“The truth is that I can’t just fuck you, because I fucking love you.”

She blinked behind the shield of bubbles, sinking lower into the tub but keeping her eyes locked on mine. She was silent and in those few seconds and I couldn’t figure out what she was thinking or what she was going to say.

“Tell me what you want, Daisy.”

Her eyes flicked up and her lips pursed together.