Chapter 7
For the next few weeks, Collin began to act very strange. It wasn’t that he was less affectionate; on the contrary, he was very affectionate, and Laurel even dared hope, loving as well.
She couldn’t quite put her finger on why he was acting so weird. He began to ask her a lot of questions about her personal life like the name of her mother, what happened to her father, and other very personal things that very few people knew about her.
Whenever she’d talk about her old life, he’d get this quiet and pensive look on his face, and he’d just look at her very intently as if his life depended on what she was saying. She kept asking him about it, but he’d just give her a coy smile and shrug.
She hoped that whatever it was, it was good because she was finally starting to feel safe and secure for the first time in a long time. The house up on the hill was finally starting to feel like home, their home.
She didn’t dare ask Collin what would happen after her three months were up, but she hoped he’d ask her to stay. It was highly uncommon, but it wasn’t unheard of. It was two weeks away, but she didn’t want to bring it up just yet.
If now was all they had together, then she intended on enjoying every single minute even if the inevitable question of what were they going to do loomed over the horizon. She began to discover the true depths of her feelings for Collin as the still hours of the morning ushered in a new day, and she found herself lying on her side next to him, staring at his sleeping form.
He looked so peaceful when he slept.
She liked watching him and tracing his features, so softly so as not to wake him. Sometimes, she’d catch him staring at her the same way she imagined she stared at him, but neither of them dared breathe a word of what they felt. The night he eavesdropped on her conversation was the closest they’d ever come to a confession regarding how they truly felt.
Other than that, they circled around the topic, just narrowly avoiding it whenever it came up.
Laurel knew the reason why she avoided saying it. She couldn’t bear the thought of uttering it, and having him regard her with pity because of her true profession. After all, neither of them could forget the circumstances that bought them here.
He never treated her differently because of what she did, but she wondered if that would change if he began to think of it as her overstaying her welcome, or if he began to think of her as unwanted.
Laurel shuddered at the thought as she paced in the library, unable to sit still and read like she usually did. She had just finished her usual conversation with Faith, and Faith’s advice kept echoing in her brain. Faith kept encouraging her to tell him how she felt. Faith was convinced that he felt the same when Laurel told her about all that had transpired.
A soft smile played on her lips as she recalled how the other day he had surprised her with a bouquet of flowers for no particular reason. He also got her this beautiful silver necklace with a flower on it.
It wasn’t the flowers and the gift that had touched her. Although they were lovely, it was the thought that warmed her heart. The thought that he was thinking of her, and wanted to do something for her.
Laurel went to her room to change into her swimsuit, thinking that maybe a little exercise would tire her out enough that her brain would switch off. She slipped into her monokini, tied her hair up in a ponytail, and padded down to the pool.
She felt the sun beat on her back, and took a deep breath allowing the fresh air, and the sounds of the birds chirping to clear her head and fill her soul with a sense of peace and wonder.
She padded to the edge of the pool, and dove in. The water was cold at first, and she let out a slight shudder as it washed over her body, causing little goosebumps to rise across her flesh. Once she resurfaced, she brushed her hair out of her face and opened up her arms and swung around. She let her body float on the water as she lay on her back letting the sounds of the water soothe her.
She floated there for a while, not really keeping track of the time as she let the whole world fade into background noise around her.
“That’s something I could get used to seeing.”
She toppled forward as she opened her eyes and stared around. Her face lit up into a grin as she took in the sight of Collin standing there in a well pressed suit, his briefcase in hand, his hair a disheveled mess, and a small smile playing on his lips.
“You could see it better up close,” she teased as she swam towards him, her head bobbing atop the water, and her eyes never once breaking eye contact.
Collin dropped his suitcase and sat down on the edge of the chaise lounge. Laurel frowned as she pulled herself out of the water. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing, love. Just a long day at the office.”
Laurel walked towards him and carefully wrapped herself around him to give a warm hug. “I’m sorry I’m getting you wet.”
Collin smiled at her as he brushed her hair out of her eyes. “There’s other parts I love to see wet, but I have to say this look suits you.”
Laurel blushed as she had an idea. He watched her in confusion as she climbed on top of the chaise lounge, and opened her legs, so one was laying on either side of him. She sat down, pressed herself to his back, and began to massage his shoulders and back.
“As long as you don’t mind getting a little wet, let me see if I can help you with some of that tension.”
He made a noise of concurrence in the back of his throat as he leaned into her touch. She began to knead his shoulders with her fingers, and then she began to press her elbows into his back, working on all of his sensitive spots.
She leaned over and pulled his shirt out of his pants as she loosened his tie. She tossed his tie to the side and unbuttoned the first few buttons as she splayed her arms across his chest. She began to play with his chest hair as he made humming noises, his arms reaching behind to touch her.
Once she was sure she had kneaded every inch of available space until he felt pliable beneath her hands, she began to nibble on his earlobe. “Care to join me for a swim?”
“In my suit?”
“Well, you could go change, but I’m going to go ahead and dive in until you get back.”
She kissed him on the cheek, stood up and began to swing her hips suggestively as she headed to the edge of the pool. She bent over and dove in, giving him a smirk as her head resurfaced.
“Aren’t you going to go put on your swimming trunks?”
Collin gave her a look. “I’m thinking.”
Laurel titled her head to the side. “About what?”
Collin stood up abruptly as he began to kick of his shoes, and he yanked off his socks. “Screw it, it’ll take too bloody long.”
Before she could ask him what he meant, Collin had jumped into the water with his clothes and was heading towards her with a determined look in his eye.
Laurel began to laugh as she splashed him with water. Collin first froze, but then a playful smile graced his lips. “Oh, is that how it’s going to be? Alright, West. Bring it on!”
“It’s on, Randal.” They engaged in an all water fight until the both of them had tears of laughter streaming down their face, and their limbs began to grow tired.
They gave one another sappy smiles as Collin swam towards her and took her in his arms.
Laurel shook her head. “I can’t believe you jumped in with your suit on.”
“I couldn’t wait to have you in my arms,” he said simply as he kissed the crown of her head.
“I’m glad you did,” she said softly, as her arms came up around him, and she held him tight.
Collin leaned back and studied her. “Laurel, I want to tell you why I’ve been distant.”
Icy fear began to formulate in her stomach. “Okay.”
“Well, remember how I’ve been asking a lot of questions about your past, your family and such? There’s a reason for that.”
Laurel nodded for him to continue.
“The reason is that I wanted to know more about you. I think it’s no secret how much I’ve grown to care for you, Laurel. More than either of us expected to, or at least more than I expected.”
“I feel the same,” she said quietly.
“I know, but I still wanted to take care of a few things.”
“What do you mean?”
Collin looked into her eyes. “I went and found your mother, Laurel. I know that there’s a lot of pain there because of what she did to you, but you told me about what she was like when she was younger, so I hired a PI, and we found her one of the best rehab facilities. She’s there right now.”
“Oh,” Laurel was speechless, tears welling up in her eyes.
“I paid off your debts, and I remember you saying how much you’d love to go back and get a college degree, so I enrolled you in a photography course. You can add on any courses if you want after that.”
“I don’t know what to say, Collin. It’s too much.”
Collin gave her a tender smile. “It isn’t. You deserve the world, Laurel. I want to take care of you, if you’ll let me. If you don’t want to stay, however, I’ve deposited enough money to get you through college separate from the money you have already received from La Boheme.”
Collin leaned his forehead against hers. “I don’t want to make you stay if you don’t want to, Laurel, but it would make me the happiest man alive if you would.”
“You’re crazy, you know that?” Laurel leaned back and kissed his cheek gently. “I wanted to stay ever since you started making fun of the way I eat, and I saw the way your eyes lit up when you talked about Russian literature which is still depressing as hell by the way.”
Collin leaned down and pressed his lips to hers for a sweet kiss. Soon, they both began to grow impatient, and Laurel hastily undid the buttons on his shirt and pushed it away letting it float. She ran her hands all over his chest and back, causing goosebumps to spread out across his flesh.
She struggled to undo the belt on his pants, and he helped her until they were off, and they were also pushed aside. She could feel him pressed against her, and she impatiently began to tug on his boxers, eager to have him inside of her right that second.
With expert hands, Collin undid the strap that held the monokini together, and Laurel was soon pressing herself against him as he kicked off his boxers. He pushed her backwards, so she was pressed against the edge of the pool, and his eyes sought out hers as he thrust into her.
He moved slowly as their hands intertwined, and he brought them up to his lips and pressed a sweet kiss there. Laurel leaned in and pressed a kiss to his neck as she began to gyrate against him.
They made love slowly and softly until nothing else existed, but the two of them.
THE END