“Bryan.” Ronan frowned, eyes going pointedly to his sister like he didn’t want Bryan defiling her innocent ears. I resisted the urge to snicker. She’d already been thoroughly defiled, and would continue to be if I had my way.
I took another bite of my steak, chewed, swallowed, and wracked my brain for a serviceable compliment so I could cross it off my list and end this farce of a dinner. Perhaps something like: Your enunciation is exceptional for a primate.
Kudos to you for not flinging your excrement at the dinner table.
You smell not terrible.
Instead, I glanced at Lucy and said, “You have an excellent memory, Ronan.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he challenged, eyes narrowing further.
“Just that.” I shrugged. “Your recollection of our flight seating mishap is impeccable.”
“Well, it was just a week ago,” came his flat reply. “I might be older than you by two months, but I’m not long in the tooth just yet.”
“A week ago?” Lucy held my gaze for two beats, a whisper of a smile curving her sweet lips. I lifted my eyebrows subtly, hoping she’d interpret the meaning of the small gesture.
She squinted at me, admirably suppressing her grin, then turned her attention to Annie. “Why were you in Spain?”
I released a silent, relieved exhale, and did not follow the ensuing conversation.
The compliment had been paid. Now it was her turn.
***
I left first, begging off after the main course. Neither Tom nor Ronan protested my departure, but Annie and Lucy encouraged me to stay, likely because I was playing so nicely.
Playing nice only required that I say nothing, but was essential if I didn’t want to give Lucy any excuse to miss our rendezvous. I’d also been playing nice because, much to my delighted surprise, it aggravated Ronan to no end.
The hotel wasn’t too far from the restaurant. I walked, checking my phone at every corner for a message from Lucy. It didn’t buzz with a text until I’d walked into the hotel lobby.
Lucy: A great memory? Really?
Sean: Yes. Really. His memory is faultless. Pristine. Immaculate.
Lucy: That’s a shitty compliment. That’s like telling a person they don’t smell.
Is it odd that this made me laugh? I took gleeful satisfaction in the book-report nature of my compliment.
Ronan is a man. He has very brown hair, and very brown eyes, and a very good memory.
Sean: No specification was made as to the quality of the compliment, only that one was required.
Lucy: You’re a filthy cheat. Dinner is over. I’ll be there in an hour.
Sean: Why an hour? Come over now.
Lucy: I need to pick up a change of clothes if I’ll be out all night.
I frowned at my screen, then at the surrounding opulence of the lobby. I hadn’t been at liberty to touch her as I’d wanted in over two days. I had plans that couldn’t wait an hour. They involved her bending over the lounge chair in my suite and me grabbing handfuls of her arse as I slid into her hot, wet pussy.
She would cry out in ecstasy, of course. And come several times. And beg for the repeated pleasure. And spend the night. And we would talk. And I would hold her while we slept. And she’d stay for breakfast.
A shop front in the lobby caught my eye, just closing for the evening. Rather, a nightgown in the window caught my eye. I crossed to the shop as I tapped out my next message.
Sean: I have a change of clothes for you. Don’t go home first.
Lucy: Please do not tell me you bought me clothes.
Sean: I didn’t buy you clothes.
Technically, this was true. I hadn’t yet purchased her clothes.
Issuing instructions to the first salesperson I encountered, I picked out three sets of lingerie, a ridiculous nightgown—more a suggestion of a nightgown than anything else as it was see-through and silk—and I allowed the clerk to select proper clothes. I had no interest in those. While she did so, I eyed the jewelry case.
And here’s where I ran into a predicament. I saw a necklace and it reminded me of Lucy. A yin and yang pendant on a long platinum chain, set with black diamonds for the yin and white diamonds for the yang. I walked away from it, perplexed by the impulse to buy it for her.
The clothes made sense. She obviously needed clothes, so I could remove them from her body.
The stunning necklace did not make sense. Frivolous, an item for her with no benefit whatsoever for me.
And yet . . .
I imagined her opening it. I imagined how pleased she’d be, how she’d want to wear it straight away, how it might remind her of me in the future.
“Sir? Will there be anything else?”
The clerk’s soft voice came from just behind me. Meanwhile, my phone continued to vibrate in my hand. Scanning the screen, I read Lucy’s most recent messages.
Lucy: If you didn’t buy me clothes then how do you have a change of clothes for me?
Lucy: What are you doing?
Lucy: EARTH TO SEAN!
Lucy: You’re buying the clothes right now, aren’t you?
Lucy: If you buy me clothes to wear tomorrow then you have to let me buy you clothes, and I’ll bring over an orange Speedo and Birkenstocks.
My sudden burst of laughter surprised me. I loved her humor.