Stinger (A Sign of Love Novel)

"Aren't you supposed to be laying around not scratching yourself?"

"Ugh. I need a distraction. Scratching myself is better than sex right now. If I don't do something, I'm going to start master-scratching. Scratchy-bating? What's the proper term for self-pleasuring through vigorous, non-recommended scratch-athons?"

I was laughing out loud now. "You have the green light on the 'Green Apple.' Please go distract yourself. Paint my room while you're at it."

"Okay. I just might. How's the ultra-stimulating law conference?"

I paused. "Um, ultra-stimulating just about says it, Abs. You have no idea." I let out a nervous laugh.

Abby was quiet for a beat. "Spill, Grace. What in the world is going on?"

I bit my lip. "You might be worried about me Abby. I'm kinda worried about myself."

"Well now I am worried. What, Grace?"

I speed talked. "Remember how you told me to take the hot porn star I mentioned up to my room and let him teach me a few tricks? Well, I did. Only we went to his room. And he did. Teach me some stuff. Some really great, amazing, stuff I nev–"

"WHAT?" Abby screamed so loudly that I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"Who are you and what have you done with Grace?"

"Abby! I know, I know, okay, quiet. Listen, it's kind of a long story. After I talked to you, we got trapped in an elevator and he… well, he grew on me, I guess? It's hard to explain. He has this really soft side, and yes, I know what he does. But God, he's really sexy, like in a way that I had no idea even existed. And I just thought, what does a weekend hurt, you know?"

"Uh… um, huh. I'm just stunned, honey. My little Type A Gracie Hamilton, the girl with a plan? Are you sure this is a good decision? I mean, are you using condoms? Geez, I can't believe we're even having this conversation."

I sighed. "I'm having fun, Abby. And I haven't had fun, really, well, ever. Don't judge me."

"Oh honey, I'm not judging you. Listen, I trust you, okay? And if this guy got you to bend your own rules and put that excitement in your voice, then there must be something special about him. Just… please remember what he does and keep reminding yourself that it's just a weekend, okay? And then when you get back, you're spreading the porn star, sex trick wealth."

I laughed. "Deal. I love you, Abby."

"I love you, Gracie. Oh! What's his name, in case you go missing."

"Abby! I'm not going to go missing! His name is Carson Stinger. He's from L.A."

"Okay, stay safe. Call me tomorrow morning. Seriously."

"Okay, I will. Bye, Abs."

"Bye, Pod Person."

I hung up the phone smiling and headed down to the lobby.

When I stepped off the elevator, Carson was standing with one narrow hip propped against the wall at the corner of the bank of elevators, doing something on his phone again. He pressed a button and stuck it in his pocket, and then looked up and saw me coming toward him. The smile he shot me made my heart pick up a beat. God, that little dimple below his mouth practically put me over the edge each time he smiled. I was a slave to that tiny dimple. I smiled back, shaking my head slightly. "What?" he asked as I met him and we started walking toward the pool.

"Nothing, I was just thinking that right where you were standing, that's where we ran into each other. Who would have ever guessed after that encounter, that less than six hours later, I'd be moving in to your hotel room?" I grinned up at him.

"Not surprised, babe. I predicted that one. Just took you a little while to catch up." He put his arm around me.

I elbowed him in the side. "You probably did, you egomaniac."

He laughed, but then his face went serious as he steered me out another exit from the one we were headed toward. "Sorry, I just saw some people who might recognize me and I didn't want to deal with them."

I frowned. People from his business, here for the expo, I was assuming. My chest felt tight and I pushed the feeling away–nothing good could come from thinking too much about his "co-workers." Did he see a woman he had made a film with? I couldn't bring myself to ask.

Carson looked down at me with regret on his face. "Sorry, Grace, do you mind if we go to one of the pools further away from the entrance?"

I shook my head. "That's probably a better idea for me too," I said quietly.

We walked through the pool area to a less-crowded section closer to the back and put our towels and my bag down on two loungers with a little bit of shade.

"Need me to put some sunblock on for you?" he asked.

I nodded. "If you could get my back…" I said, taking off my cover-up.

He took the bottle I handed him and started lathering up my back. Then he kissed the side of my neck and handed the sunblock back to me. "Thanks." I smiled, applying sunblock to the rest of my body.