Chapter Nineteen
The next day is a haze of bedsheets and caresses, of laughter and moans and everything in between. The morning slips through our fingers without notice; noon drifts by without a care in the world. Except for brief bathroom breaks and Hale slipping away to the kitchen to make coffee for the two of us – because I’m a lot of things, but even I know I’m no replacement for a good cup of joe – we waste the day in each other’s arms.
It’s almost four o’clock before Hale announces that enough is enough: that I have exhausted him, that he needs food and a shower and a respite from my eager body. I can’t say I blame him. My whole body aches, both for him and because of him.
It’s not enough to stop me slipping into the shower behind him, pressing up against him while he runs his soapy hands across my breasts, gripping my ass with his slippery fingers, kissing me under the stilted droplets of my showerhead and then…
Well, it’s a good job we were already in the shower, put it that way.
‘I was thinking,’ he says as I hand him a towel. He makes no effort to dry himself, or to cover himself up; somehow, I manage to be fine with that. ‘You feel like going out again tonight?’
‘Sure. Anywhere in mind?’
‘Got an idea or two.’
‘Sure you wouldn’t rather just stay in bed?’
He grins, and pulls me close enough that I can feel him hard again through my towel. ‘Don’t tempt me,’ he says. ‘If the diner ever starts delivering, we might never leave that bed again.’
‘Who’s tempting?’ I reach down and take him in my hand, teasing him with just enough of a quick stroke to make his resolve quiver. I can almost see it in his eyes, how much he wants to take me back across the room and undo all the good work we just made with regards to getting clean.
‘Tease,’ he groans as I let my hand slip away.
‘Oh, you love it.’
‘Sure do. Never said otherwise.’
‘Damn straight.’
If someone had told me a couple of weeks ago that this would be how I was spending my day off, towelling off after a marathon sex session with a celebrity, I would have thought they were nuts. If someone had told me just how comfortable the whole thing would feel… well, I would have straight-up laughed in their face. But that’s just Hale, through and through. Everything about him makes me feel at ease in his company.
It’s when he’s gone that the doubts set in.
‘Hey, Carrie?’
‘Yeah?’
A frown crosses his face; it’s the look of a man about to deliver bad news, and in that instant I’d give anything just to be able to kiss the words right out of his mouth. ‘I’m going to have to go back eventually,’ he says. ‘You know that, right?’
‘Yeah, I know. I’m just trying not to think about it.’
‘The whole thing with Merry is going to need sorting out. Then there’s prep for the tour, final rehearsals…’
‘I know, Hale. Believe me.’
‘Sorry. I just don’t want you to think that it’s because of anything you did, or because I’m not enjoying this. I’m loving every second. It just… it can’t last. Not like this.’
The little voice inside my head breathes out an insidious I told you so, but it’s nothing I haven’t heard a thousand times before. There it is, laid out bare as broken glass.
It can’t last.
We can’t last.
Not like this.
Not in this state of bliss.
Why now, though? Of all times, why did he have to pick this moment, when I was riding so high and everything seemed to be going so well? Why couldn’t he have just given me a few more seconds, a few more minutes, a few more hours or days of revelling in his company? Why did he have to bring up the awful, bitter reality of the situation?
Because that’s what he did last time, I think. Because last time he went away, he left me hanging, and it damn near ruined me. I should be grateful, really. At least he cares enough not to make the same mistake twice.
He pauses. ‘You could always come with me, you know. Back to New York.’
I’m shaking my head before he even finishes. ‘I can’t. There’s Mom, and the diner, and…’
‘Not forever. Just for a little while. A week or so. When was the last time you took a vacation, Carrie?’
‘It’s been a while.’
‘Ever?’
‘Not really, no.’ Not since Dad got sick, and money got tight. After that, there was no time to think about a vacation, and even if there had been… well, what were we supposed to do, just shutter up the diner for a week while me and Mom crammed into some crappy motel? Disneyworld was never going to be an option, and as for travelling outside of the country… well, I might as well have set my sights on Mars.
‘Come on,’ he says. ‘What’s a week? I’m sure the world won’t fall apart if you take a little time to yourself. You’ve earned it.’ He slips his hand round my waist, and pulls me close. ‘Besides, I’m not ready to let you go just yet.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Mm-hmm.’
He has a point, of course. There’s no reason not to take a vacation, not really. It wouldn’t be too hard to imagine driving back north with Hale, my arms wrapped around him on his bike as he makes his way along the highway, stopping at motels en route – and I’m sure that I’ll be able to find a bus ticket or something down from New York when the time comes for me to leave. And Pete and Mom can surely mind the diner by themselves. Dana might even be glad to pick up a few extra shifts.
It makes sense. I could do it.
And God, wouldn’t it be fun to do this for another week? Another month? Forever?
Easy, I tell myself. Don’t get ahead of yourself.
‘Let me think about it,’ I say. ‘Best I can do for now. Is that OK?’
He smiles. ‘Sure,’ he replies. ‘Consider it an open invitation. Mi casa es tu casa, how about that?’
‘I think I can live with that.’
Boy, do I ever.
~~~
‘So what’s your big plan for tonight?’
Hale sighs. ‘You’re not going to give it up, are you?’
‘Not even a little bit.’
We’re walking the streets together, holding hands like a couple of teenagers. After we showered, Hale got an idea into his head that it might be nice for us to go out for the evening. ‘Out in public?’ I asked. ‘What will Polly Walker and the rest of the gossip set say?’
Hale snorted. ‘Like you give a damn what Polly Walker thinks about anything. It didn’t bother you when were sixteen; I can’t see that it’d cause you any sleepless nights now. Besides, I’ve got a plan.’
‘A plan?’
‘Mm-hmm.’
‘What sort of a plan?’
‘It’s a surprise.’
I honestly thought he’d break, but two hours later he still hadn’t cracked. I was starting to get the impression he just liked watching me dance like a puppet on his strings, knowing full well I was never able to resist a surprise. We’d spent a little time walking through the park, hand in hand (and, whenever we had a quiet moment, usually lips on lips too), and grabbed an ice cream at the little stand in town – but he had kept irritatingly silent on the topic, perfectly satisfied to let me stew.
‘Come on, Hale.’ I say eventually.
‘Come on what?’
‘You know what. Tell me.’
Silence.
‘Tell me.’
Nothing. A steel trap.
‘Tellmetellmetellmetellmetellmetell –’
‘OK,’ he says, cutting me off. ‘We’re here.’
To say it’s not what I had in mind would be an understatement. In the time since he’d promised me we were heading out for the night, I had managed to build up a thousand different romantic scenarios, none of which shared our current setting. In fact, I struggled to think of anywhere less romantic. ‘Where?’ I ask.
‘Right here.’
O’Hara’s Bar and Grill is not one of Eden’s classier drinking establishments – and that’s saying something. It’s the kind of place you go when you want to forget something. I’m not saying I haven’t even found myself in there, but… well, not when I’ve been in a great state of mind.
‘Are you sure?’ I ask.
‘Look again,’ he says, and then I see it, right there on the chalkboard. Just what Hale had in mind for the night’s entertainment.
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