"I left her. I hadn't slept with Gem in months." He looks me square in the eyes. "We didn’t sleep together in the Caribbean. I can't remember the last time I touched her. We were in a relationship without an anchor."
"Why did you go on that trip with her?"
"One of her swimsuit sponsors offered her a companion ticket and I bummed along because she had no one else to go with. I hadn't used my vacation days for this year and I was just about to lose them. We were friendly, not friends, but friendly enough that I tagged along."
"Do you strip like that in front of all your friends?"
"It was too hot out that day. I'm from the northeast, Lark. I can't handle that heat so I stripped. She did the same. She'd seen me naked enough times that I didn't think twice about it. If you hadn't noticed, I wasn’t hard in those pictures. Her body did nothing for me at that point."
I didn't expect to have this conversation with him tonight, but then again, I didn't expect us to end up in my bed either. I sound like I think we are in a relationship when all we did was fuck.
"I'm usually not this curious after I've slept with a man." I attempt a laugh. "I must sound insane to you. I was just wondering about Gem."
"You shared your body with me tonight." He kisses the top of my hand. "You have the right to ask me anything."
"Thank you."
"I'm going to sprint." He takes another step out the door, his eyes raking over the white robe I'm wearing. "I can see your nipples through that, Lark. Lock the door when I leave. I don't trust any of your neighbors to stay away from you."
I laugh as I watch him jog down the corridor before he pushes open the door that leads to the stairs.
Chapter 15
Lark
"All you wanted for Christmas was a bang from your boss and boy, did he deliver."
I snap my head up to look at Isla standing in front of me. "I thought you were putting Ella to bed. Where is Gabriel? I don't want him to hear you talking about my sex life."
"With any luck, he's getting the swing ready for his Christmas gift later."
I cover my face with my hands. "You and Gabriel do not do all those kinky things you say you do."
"After you leave tonight, my husband is going to strap me to the sex swing that he had installed in the extra bedroom, and he's going to fuck me good and hard until I beg him to stop."
Since I can't tell if she's serious or not, I change the subject. "Thank you for the cake and the gift, Isla. I love the scarf."
She eyes the plaid scarf she gave me earlier. "It's beautiful. I saw it in October and I thought it would look perfect on you. I picked it up then and wrapped it."
"You wrapped it in birthday gift wrap," I note. "You didn't use Christmas wrapping paper."
"It's a birthday gift, Lark." She smooths her hand over the back of my hair. "We exchange birthday gifts."
I like the subtle distinction. As much as I've complained about being born on Christmas Day, I've always felt joy in it as well. I may not have the distinction of having a day all to myself, but I've never celebrated a birthday without my family surrounding me. That happened earlier when I spent the afternoon and early evening with my folks and my brothers.
"Did Ryker call you today?" She leans forward and presses her finger on my phone's home button.
I glance down at where it's resting on the dining room table. "No, and he didn't text me either."
She points at the digital clock." There are less than two hours left until your birthday is officially over."
I know. I've been watching the clock carefully since I left my parents' condo to come to Isla and Gabriel's apartment for cake and ice cream. I expected to hear from Ryker on my birthday, mainly because he said I would.
This morning, during a brief text message exchange, before she opened gifts with her family, I'd filled Isla in on almost everything that happened between Ryker and me the night of the party at Matiz.
"I drilled him with questions about his ex before he left my place the other night," I admit with a sigh. "That might have been enough to scare him off."
"Maybe." She sits down in the chair next to me. "If it was, he's not the guy for you."