Chapter Sixteen
Gretchen
Mina was waiting outside the massage parlor when I showed up on Wednesday morning. I snorted and accepted the coffee that she handed me. “I want to know all the details,” she told me, breezing into the shop behind me once I'd unlocked the front door. “You have, what, an hour until your first appointment? I want to know all the details.”
I laughed a little, even though inside, I was wondering if maybe I shouldn't regret having told her about the follow-up date. I'd needed her opinion when it came to outfits, though; sometimes, it felt as though she knew my wardrobe better than I did. She knew which outfits would make me look sexy.
“Come on, don't be coy,” she told me, shaking her head. “You had a good time?”
“I had a good time,” I allowed. “I actually should take you to that restaurant sometime; I think you'd like it. It's down on the beach, and it's just barbecue. Like, you order whatever it is that you order, and they bring all your ingredients over to your table and cook them for you, kind of like Korean barbecue. But with, like, pineapple and stuff, so-”
“Okay, no offense,” Mina interrupted, holding up both hands to forestall my babbling. “But I don't care about the food.”
I laughed at how direct she was, but that was one of the things that I loved about her. “Yeah, okay,” I said. “But it is a great place. And then we went from there back to my place and...” I trailed off, cheeks flaming.
“Holy shit,” Mina said, her eyes widening. “You actually fucked him, didn't you?”
I blushed brighter. “I hate that word,” I complained. “Fucking just sounds so-”
“Okay, okay,” Mina said, shaking her head, a grin on her face. “You made love to him, didn't you?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, picking at the hem of my sleeve.
Mina whistled lowly. “You fucked—sorry, sorry—made love to Christian Wall.”
“Yeah,” I said, shrugging a little as though it was no big deal.
Mina frowned, peering at me. “You don't sound too happy about that,” she pointed out.
I swallowed hard and turned away from her, feeling traitorous tears pricking at my eyes. “It's not like that's ever going to happen again.”
“Aw, honey,” Mina said, sweeping me into her arms. “I've heard some stories about him,” she said. “Did he kick you out of bed afterward?”
“I kicked him out,” I told her, not sure why I was so tearful about the whole thing.
“You did what?” Mina asked incredulously.
I couldn't help laughing at her expression, a little watery sound. “Yeah,” I said, shaking my head. “We slept together, and-”
“Was it that bad?” Mina asked, sounding scandalized.
“No, it was good,” I told her. “It was really good,” I said, coughing lightly.
“So, he's good in bed?” Mina asked, a wicked gleam to her eye.
“I haven't slept with that many people,” I reminded her. I swallowed hard.
Mina laughed. “You don't have to sleep with that many people to realize that someone is a good lay,” she said. She cocked her head to the side. “You enjoyed it.”
“I enjoyed it,” I admitted. “But then I started thinking, afterward. I know he's going to leave. There's not even a question of that. He's going to go back to New York, and he's going to-”
Mina groaned. “Gretchen. I thought we talked about that,” she said.
“I know, I know,” I said. “I'm getting ahead of myself. And I shouldn't be, but you know me, Mina. I’m just not the type of girl to sleep with someone once and then never sleep with them again. And I like him. He's arrogant and a little obnoxious, but I really like him, for all of that. We click.”
Mina shook her head as well. “I feel like I should be happy that you've finally gotten over Lino, but you don’t seem happy. More confused.” She pulled me into her arms. “So, you kicked him out of your bed?” she asked after a moment.
I laughed and nodded. “Yeah,” I said, grimacing a little. “I have never been that rude to anyone before. And there was something about the situation. Anyway, I just needed him to get out of there.”
“Aw, man,” Mina said. “I wanted things to be different for you.” She laughed a little. “Not least of which because if you married a billionaire, can you only imagine what would happen to our shops?”
“Speaking of our shops,” I said, frowning. That's right. It was time to get down to business.
“What have you done?” Mina asked, looking cautious but also interested.
“I haven't done anything yet,” I told her. “But I woke up this morning to a message from one of the hotel concierges. One of the women from Trinity Resort. Apparently, they've got a couple there who wants to get a massage done together, this afternoon, and she was wondering if that was something that we could do here.”
“Did you call her back yet and remind her that, oh yeah, you're only one person?” Mina asked. “I mean if they don't mind waiting.”
“I was thinking,” I said slowly.
“Uh oh,” Mina said, but she still looked interesting.
“I know the pineapple business is going well,” I said. “But they were looking to get the massage done this afternoon, and I know that you've got help coming in. I thought that maybe you could join me over here.”
Mina stared at me for a beat and then burst out laughing. “I don't know the first thing about massage,” she said.
I laughed as well. “Sure, you do,” I said. “Maybe you think that you don't, and maybe you aren't classically trained or anything like that. But you've massaged me, remember? And you've done wonders for my shoulders. Besides, a lot of massage is just about mimicking. You just need to glance over every once in a while, and see what I'm doing and copy that. Couples massages are so easy.”
Mina bit her lower lip. “I don't want to screw things up for your business,” she said.
“And I know you don't need any extra money or anything, with the pineapple shop taking off,” I said, trying to make my voice sound soothing. “But seriously, it would be that easy. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think that you could do it.”
Mina frowned and then moved around behind me, her hands coming up to my shoulders and resting there for a moment before she started to knead at the tissue there. I couldn't help groaning. “Just like that,” I said, letting my head loll forward. “Oh fuck. You're going to be a better masseuse than I am.”
Mina laughed and then withdrew her hands. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“So sure,” I said confidently. I didn't wait for further confirmation from her before I called the hotel back, letting them know that we could accommodate the Jensons that afternoon. I kept my eyes trained on Mina's the whole time, and even though she had a slightly bemused smile on her face, she didn't protest. Good.
“What do we do now?” Mina whispered at me as the Jensons changed into their massage outfits.
I couldn't help laughing a little. “Relax,” I advised. “We'll give them a couple of minutes, and then we'll go in there and get the massage started. Start at their feet; they're tourists, so their feet are probably really tired. And then just work up their legs, through their back, and through their shoulders. You've got this.”
“I can't believe I let you talk me into this,” she said, shaking her head.
“You're going to be great,” I said confidently. “I'm going to let you have Mrs. Jenson; just don't be too firm with her, all right? But as long as you can get her to relax a little, she'll probably be easy.”
Mina sighed a little but followed me into the massage room and got to work.
“So, the two of you are just here on vacation?” I said, smiling at Mina's startled look. What, did she think all my massages were conducted in strict silence? I couldn't even imagine how awkward that would be.
Mrs. Jenson giggled a little. “Actually, it's our honeymoon,” she said.
“Oh, wow,” I said, surprised.
“We were married to other people first, if you can believe that,” Richard Jenson told me, laughing as well. He reached over and tangled his fingers into his wife's fingers. “We were both married, and we each had four kids. But then we found one another.” He whistled an appreciative note. “Don't get me wrong, my first wife, Helen, is an incredible woman. But I've never felt anything like what I feel for Trish.”
Trish giggled a little. “Same for me,” she admitted. She glanced back at me. “You must know that feeling, though. When it feels like everything in the universe has somehow aligned to bring you to the right place and the right people.”
I shook my head, as much as I might wish it was otherwise. I looked over at Mina, who was expertly working her way up Trish's legs, soothing the no-doubt sore muscles there. Tourists always pushed themselves too hard; they didn't seem to understand that Hawaii was a place to come to relax.
“Maybe I've got a certain friend who's like that for me,” I said, and Mina flashed me a smile.
“It must be so great, to work together with your best friend,” Trish sighed.
I grinned, winking over at Mina. We didn't exactly work together, but they didn't need to know that. “It is great.” I agreed.
“I'm sure you'll each find husbands at some point, too,” Richard said.
Mina snorted, and I gave her a warning look. I knew her views on love and marriage, but she didn't need to be spoiling this couple's honeymoon with her cynicism. Fortunately, though, she just said, “At the rate, we're going, I think we're both more likely to end up living together in some elderly care home, with too many cats and too many stories!”
“Sometimes, that's the best way to do it,” Trish said.
The conversation moved over to their plans for the rest of their trip, but I couldn't quit thinking about what Mina had said. I knew deep down that I shouldn't have kicked Christian out of bed the night before. He had made no signs that he was going to leave, and the foundation of any relationship was trust. If I could trust him to know what he wanted, it would be different.
But I had told him it was best that we never see one another again, and he hadn't even argued with that. I had blown it this time.
I suppressed a sigh and tried to focus on the conversation, but there in the back of my mind, I was starting to feel guilty.