She was quiet as we walked, but every time I glanced down at her, she was looking up at me. Her eyes were glossy, which normally would have made me wonder if she’d had a little too much champagne, but her footsteps were steady along the sandy path. When we entered the room, I was immediately glad I had left the door to the deck open, because the warm breeze sweeping through made the sheer white curtains float, creating a first impression I couldn’t have pulled off any better if I’d planned it. A smile, a real, joyful one, spread across Tori’s face, and she immediately released my hand and headed outside, stopping at the deck to kick off her shoes before stepping onto the sand. I followed her lead, trailing behind her as she walked all the way out to the edge of the water, letting it lap over her toes for several long minutes before she spoke.
“I got divorced,” she said, keeping her eyes focused on some distant spot in the water. I remained quiet, but her words surprised me. Desiree hadn’t mentioned that the mysterious Tori was married. I knew women well enough to know my input wasn’t wanted or needed now, so I kept quiet, and waited for her to continue. “He was cheating on me, pretty much the entire time. I went to my lawyer’s office and signed the paperwork right before my flight. I only got on that plane for Des. My lawyer called me before the wedding…. I’m officially part of the divorce statistics now.”
When she turned around, there were the tears in her eyes, and I knew there was no way I was moving forward with a plan to seduce her. I was cool with talking a woman into an affair, but I wasn’t about to take advantage of anybody. I’d never done it before, and I wasn’t about to start.
“Come on,” I said, grabbing her hand to lead her back up to the deck. I gently pushed her onto the chaise, then sat down beside her, looping an arm around her waist. If I wasn’t going to sleep with her, I could at least do what Des had asked me to do, and look out for her. “Let’s talk about it.”
She raised an eyebrow at me and shook her head, sending her curls bouncing over her shoulders. “Absolutely not.”
“Nah, you brought it up, so you must want to talk about it.”
“I don’t,” she insisted.
“You do.”
“I really, really don’t.”
“Ok, so what do you want to talk about?”
“We can talk about how you brought me here thinking you were gonna get some,” she laughed, pushing her hair back from her face.
“So?” I smirked, bumping her shoulder with mine. “We’re both grown… and you’re newly single, so what’s the problem?”
Tori gave a slight nod. “I guess you’ve got a point there. So is this what you do? Is this your thing? Impress women with your fancy digs, then seduce them?”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
She smiled, tilting her head a little. “Is it not?”
I shifted, feeling slightly uncomfortable as she stared up at me, waiting for an answer. Why did I suddenly feel like such an asshole, even though I’d already decided not to try anything with her? And more importantly, why wasn’t I figuring out how to get her out of my villa, to make room for someone I could have a little adult fun with? When she leaned away from me, angling her body back toward the beach, I instantly missed the warmth of her body against mine, but appreciated the sight of the smooth bare skin of her back.
Leave her alone, man.
“You enjoying the islands?” I asked, changing the subject in attempt to quell the urge to push the thin straps of her dress away from her shoulders. It was obvious now she wasn’t wearing a bra, and I was beginning to suspect panties hadn’t found a place in tonight’s wardrobe either. But that wasn’t a place my mind needed to go. I needed to think about anything except for what she did or didn’t have on underneath her dress.
“I am.” She glanced over her shoulder at me before turning back to face the beach. “It’s really beautiful out here, and peaceful… it’s cleansing. It’s like the longer I stare out there at the water… I don’t know, I feel… free. And it feels good. Better than I’ve felt in a long time.”
I didn’t respond, but I knew exactly how she felt. I watched her, noticing how she kept on leaning towards the sand, as if it had some type of pull over her. “You want to go back out on the beach, don’t you?”
“I do,” she responded with a smile. “I would love to sit out there by the water, but I don’t want to get sand all over me. How did you know?”