Inside me, sheer ecstasy is building to a crescendo that I won’t be able to hold back much longer. I’m losing myself to the moment. The movement. The sensation of my cock sliding in and out of Hailey. To the sexy moans she makes as she too rides higher towards a heaven of perfection. Where all of our differences, all of the worries—simply everything—fades away.
When I cum, I lose control of my actions. I press inside of her with a shuddering motion, pausing at the deepest point. Hailey quivers, her thighs shaking as her eyes roll back in her head. I collapse on top of her heaving chest, her breasts sweaty and warm. Her breath rolls over my ear, ticklish and frantic in its speed.
We don't say anything. A simple peck on the lips is all she gives me as she hops up and tiptoes into the bathroom minutes later. I keep watching the light under the door, but the sound of the running water as she gets ready for bed, the dopamine coursing through my exhausted body, and the comfort that I feel after such a perfect session of lovemaking leaves me unable to fight the sandman pulling my eyelids down.
I hate to be the caricature of a man who falls asleep right after sex, but I’m pretty sure that Hailey will understand. It's a strange thing, I think as I sink deeper into the blackness of sleep. In the time that I’ve known Hailey, the Earth has only spun on its axis a single time. The horizon of a new day is still just out of reach. And what it will bring with it is completely unknown.
I’ve still got the same problems I had when I woke this morning in the only hotel Branchville has to offer. Only they feel lighter now. Further away. Whereas I should be worrying over the presentation I have to make when I return to the city, I just can’t bring myself to stay awake long enough to send even an email to my assistant.
Chapter 11
Hailey
It’s been two days of sunshine and shopping. Sand and sleeping in. Late nights of further exploring each other bodies. But during all this time, we still haven’t broken through the skin deep. I still know nothing of his life outside his trip to my quaint town. If I were forced to choose the menu at the next restaurant, I couldn’t be sure that he would enjoy (or perhaps even be allergic) to the dishes I chose.
Robert is still very much a mystery. What I little do know is this:
His abs and curvy shoulders and strong forearms are evidence enough that he’s on a first-name basis with a personal trainer somewhere. That he sweats and plans his meals and pushes himself daily to better himself. Then there’s the fact that he’s rich. If flying first class didn’t tip me off, the way that he never looks at prices or hesitates to buy something is clear enough.
So he’s rich and hot. Which begs the question: why am I here?
I’m not self absorbed enough to even imagine that this is because I’m such a prize. On the contrary, I know exactly who I am. I’ve known since I was an elementary school student, and my social studies teacher—a witch named Miss Rodcherry—laughed in my face when I said that I was going to live in a big building in a big city one day. Fifteen years later, I still remember exactly what she told me:
“Hailey, you're a nobody from nowhere who will live and die without anyone noticing.”
But Robert notices me. And no matter how much I don’t get it—or even think that I deserve it—he’s more than I ever could have hoped for.
Still. He can’t solve all my problems.
While we were sitting at a real luau, the performers on stage dancing in their leaf skirts and one of the guys spinning fire batons, I’m deep inside my own mind, wondering if my job at the bank will still be there when I get back. I managed to get in touch with the manager and explained my situation, but the way he accepted my absence so readily, not even questioning me when I said that I wasn’t sure when I’d return, left me feeling less reassured than it should have. I’m still second-guessing myself even as I experience a once-in-a-lifetime dinner.
There’s something else my manager said when we spoke. A cryptic comment about Shane.
“I’d say nothing’s changed since you’ve been away, but we’ve got a new police chief, so that’s got to count for something. That’s what you get for philandering with the mayor’s wife though.” Before I can ask what he means, my manager says that he has to run and that he’ll see me when I come back. “If you come back.”
This is the thought that brings me back out of my reverie and face-to-face with my date. For the first time, he seems preoccupied. There’s something pulling him down. And after the first time I ask him what’s on his mind goes completely unacknowledged, I reach across the table, wrap gentle fingers around his wrist, and watch as his eyes find mine.
“Sorry,” he says. “What were you saying?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he says and immediately takes a bite of poke. He’s chewing on the raw fish with fervor, and I can tell he’s on the verge of changing the topic. But I think it’s time that we talk about our lives away from this perfect moment. Even if it means breaking the surface of the serene water.
“There’s something I’ve been wondering for a while.”
“What’s that?”
“Why were you in Branchville in the first place?” I catch myself biting my lips and stop myself. I hate this reaction of mine. I feel like it makes me seem immature or unsure of myself, but Robert grins at me. Still, I’m trying to be serious, so I continue with my interrogation. “There was literally no reason for you to be there.”
“You don’t think it’s just that I heard about this cute teller at a local bank and had to check her out for myself?” He’s flashing that smile that made me think he was wild and unpredictable the first time we met. Only three days ago when I thought he was a bank robber. Only now I see it as this gesture that always precedes a mischievous action.
Sure enough, he reaches across the table and walks his index finger and middle finger up the back of my forearm like a pair of legs. I grab his hand and bring his palm to my lips.
“As much as I would love for that to be true, I know there’s some other reason. And as lovely as you’ve been—please don’t think I’m nagging or anything like that—but I catch you sometimes staring out at nothing or tapping out a message on your phone when you think I’m still in the bathroom. So why don’t you tell me what’s going on. You never know. I might just be able to help. Especially if it’s related to my hometown.”
Robert’s expression changes. It’s somehow more serious and yet unsure.
“The reason I came to your town is an industry secret.”