“Any advice for Erik and me?” Sarah asks, and it startles me to realize I hadn’t responded to her prior question. Well, it wasn’t exactly a question but more like a hanging statement that required a response. I had not given her one but instead started daydreaming about Bishop again.
Smiling brightly at Sarah, I tell her, “I don’t know that my advice would be all that great. We’ve only been seeing each other a few months.”
“Well, he’s clearly smitten with you,” Sarah says.
“What do you mean?” I ask her with a slight tilt to my head.
Sarah just nods toward Bishop before telling me, “He’s constantly watching you when you two aren’t together. Can’t you feel the weight of it?”
I can’t. And that’s probably because I actually feel wired like live electricity is humming low within me just by being around the man. I’m sure that completely masks the weight of his stare.
“I wish something like that could develop between Erik and me,” Sarah says wistfully as her gaze takes in Erik from across the room with overt hunger.
Not a sexual hunger. And not a predatory hunger for the things he can give her. I think Sarah is just looking for love, and she’s doing it in an epically big way.
I hate to tell her, but she’s not gonna find it with a one-night stand.
Correct that…I mean a two-night stand, since she technically had sex with Erik in the bar last night and I’m quite sure she’ll have it again with him after they leave here.
Sadly, I have a pretty good gut instinct that Erik is not going to be calling her after tonight. He’s barely said a handful of words to her that I’ve observed, which makes him a bit of a douche to be honest.
I feel incredibly sad for Sarah because I can relate. While I had no intention of pining after Bishop after our one-night stand, I couldn’t help but think about him constantly after he left and into the next morning.
And then…suddenly he was there in my doorway and I felt myself come alive.
If Sarah even feels a fraction of that excitement for Erik that I felt for Bishop when I saw him again, then her heart is going to get broken.
Mine won’t, however, because we have a solid game plan. I know there’s an expiration date to this, so I don’t have any expectations, and without expectations, I can’t get let down.
A hand at my lower back pulls me out of my internal musings and I turn, then look up, to see Bishop standing there. The way he’s smiling at me—like he’s happy to see me and can’t wait to get me home—I have to remind myself that it’s all an act.
“You ready to get out of here?” he asks, his voice low and seductive. Sarah gives a yearning sigh from behind me.
“Yeah…sure,” I say, not quite liking the way I come off sounding all breathless and needy. “Let’s go say goodbye to my dad, okay?”
Before we walk away from Sarah, I introduce her to Bishop. He’ll never see her again, but it’s the nice thing to do. We say goodbye to her and I watch her walk toward Erik for a moment, wringing her hands with nervousness yet still managing to put a seductive sway to her hips that has his eyes lighting up with appreciation as he watches her.
Bishop and I locate my father and give our farewells. This includes a hug from me where he embraces me just a little too hard, but that’s how it’s always been. He gives a quietly solemn handshake to Bishop, but there’s a wealth of information on his face. With his eyes and a hard set to his jawline, he tells Bishop without uttering a word, Don’t you dare hurt my little girl.
Of course, I know that’s an impossibility given the whole temporary nature of our relationship and that we both have big plans to move on without looking behind.
The theory is sound.
My gut still rolls slightly when I think about the potential damage this could do to all involved.
After the valet brings the car, I’m settled into the front seat, and Bishop starts to drive away from the restaurant, he asks, “I think we managed to pull that off, don’t you?”
“Mmmm,” I agree with just a hum in my throat. “No one seemed the wiser.”
He doesn’t reply, but puts his attention to the traffic coming from his left before he can merge into traffic. There’s extended silence once he manages to make his turn and I settle farther back into the seat.
“Can I stay the night with you?” he asks me, and the very minute level of nervousness in his voice makes me turn to look at him. I don’t see anything but confidence in his profile as he watches the road, the glow from the dashboard illuminating his handsome face.