Hey, beautiful, can I pick you up for lunch?

My heart skipped a beat as I read Seth’s message. I couldn’t believe so much time had passed since we first went out. The days had turned into weeks and the weeks a month. His message reminded me, though, that there was still the little matter of explaining how we met to him. Eventually I had to, despite Greg insisting that I couldn’t.

My fingers flew over the phone keys as I responded to him.

I’ll meet you at the restaurant. Where are we going to eat?

While I waited for him to respond, I chewed on my bottom lip in thought. My romance with Seth was blissful and would be perfect except for two things: Greg’s blackmail hanging over my head and what had happened the day Seth had returned to the hotel after his meeting and found me at the pool.

I laughed at the guy trying to impress me. I thought him harmless because he was younger than me. He was closer to Kelly’s age and worked at the pool as a lifeguard. He was a handsome young man, well-toned with ropey muscles, and I could see how his dark skin, especially when wet, was attractive to women. I didn’t doubt for a second that he had seduced many women who used the pool area when at the hotel.

“I’m sorry, but my boyfriend should be here any minute,” I lied, taking the liberty of referring to Seth as such. After making love, I could categorize us as being in a relationship. Far from it being about the sex, it was about me traveling all the way to the Bahamas to spend time with him, being his date for an important business party where his colleagues saw us together, and sleeping in his arms throughout the night.

“If I were your boyfriend, I wouldn’t leave you for a second,” the young man said in his deep Caribbean accent. He told me his name, but I didn’t remember it.

To avoid him, I decided to take a lap in the pool. The pool was nearly empty, and I rationalized that most people would have gone to the beach, which was close by. I unfolded my limbs from the lounge chair, feeling the lifeguard’s eyes on me. He made me feel naked in the two-piece bikini I was wearing.

I dove into the cool water, feeling better, and swam several laps around the pool, the lifeguard forgotten. I floated on my back, my thoughts full of Seth. Good God but he knew how to please a woman! My body still hummed from his invasion last night.

When I felt myself drifting to sleep under the heat of the sun, I swam to the side of the pool and hoisted myself out. Water dripped from my body, and the bikini was molded to my skin.

“Here you go.”

I was surprised when the forgotten lifeguard draped my towel over my shoulders. At the same time I turned to scold him for getting so close, I saw the figure walking towards us. I started to smile before it faded when I noticed he looked far from pleased seeing me. Or rather, seeing the lifeguard standing so close to me.

“Robyn,” he said my name curtly. “I thought I would find you here.”

I sauntered up to him and reached up to kiss the hard line of his lips. “I told you where I would be.”

“But not who you would be with.”

I stared at him in surprise. “That’s just the lifeguard.”

“Hmm, let’s go.”

I didn’t argue but followed him after retrieving the room key I had brought with me. We walked in silence inside the hotel, me conscious that he was upset but unable to put my finger on what exactly made him so. It didn’t help, either, that as we walked into the lobby to use the elevators, a few men whistled after me. I could feel the tenseness in his body.

“Couldn’t you have worn something less revealing?” he demanded as soon as we entered our suite.

“It’s a bikini,” I answered, frowning at him. “It’s not as though I am naked.”

“It doesn’t take much to imagine you so,” he argued, sulking. “I don’t care for the way those men were looking at you.”

“You’ll never be able to control men looking,” I pointed out and headed for the kitchen to get a bottle of water.

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?” he ground out.

“You’re supposed to trust me,” I answered. “It’s really that simple, Seth.”

He grasped me by the wrist and backed me up against the refrigerator. “Have you seen yourself lately, Robyn? Seeing that boy watching you as you got out of the pool was torture.”

I shuddered, remembering what had happened after. He’d taken me hard and fast against the refrigerator, my legs locked around his waist. And all the time he had mumbled into my neck that I was his.

I supposed his reaction stemmed from his insecurities with his scars, and I tried to be understanding of his possessive attitude. He hovered over me when we went out in public, always touching me in such a way that would let everyone in our vicinity know we were sleeping together. Though thrilling to know he wanted me so badly, it also made me a little uneasy. How would he react when he found out the truth? Was I making the wrong decision in waiting before I told him?

His message returned with the location we should meet for lunch, and I sent him a kiss emoji and that I would meet him there at one. He had made reservations at Toulouse Petit Kitchen and Lounge, a restaurant in downtown Seattle known for their Cajun and Creole cuisine.

Last week we had been out almost every night and had returned to his condo twice to have sex. If it could be believed, the sex just kept getting better. I was falling for him, and it terrified me that he might break off our relationship when he found out why I started talking to him. That little bit of information was what kept me from fully enjoying our relationship. I was amazed he didn’t notice my aloofness at times.

At fifteen minutes to one, I shut down my computer and grabbed my bag, getting to my feet to go.

“Hot date?” Greg asked, leaving his office at the same time. We walked side by side to the elevator.

“It’s just lunch,” I answered with a smile. I couldn’t be mad at him for putting me in this mess when I enjoyed being with Seth so much. Wanted to be with him forever.

“Hmm.”

I frowned at him when I caught him looking at me briefly in the way he used to before I started going out with his friend.

“How come you never gave me the opportunity you’re giving Seth?” he asked me. “I’m just curious.”

I shrugged. “You’re not be type.”

“What type would that be?” he asked, scowling.

“Everybody knows you’re a player,” I answered, staring straight ahead rather than at him. “And I wasn’t looking to be played.”

“I wouldn’t have played you.”

I glanced at him sharply, wondering why we were having this conversation. He wasn’t trying to flirt with me, was he? Not when I was seeing his friend.

“I meant back then,” he clarified with a smile. “Not now, of course, since you and Seth have become such a hot item.”

The elevator dinged and we stepped out, heading in different directions. He wished me good luck, and I politely told him thanks as I located my car in its usual parking spot. Since I started dating Seth, this was the first time Greg had tried to get personal, and I didn’t know what to make of it. It left me uneasy.

Seth was waiting for me in the parking spot at the restaurant when I drove up. My worry turned into a smile as it always did when I saw him. I parked, and as soon as I stepped out, he hauled me up against him to kiss me.

“You know I saw you last night, right?” I asked him, laughing. Each moment I spent with him made me ridiculously happy. Was it so wrong for me to want to cherish this so much that I keep my secret a little longer?

“Way too long to wait before seeing you again,” he acknowledged. “And none of your sass when you know you love the attention.”

“You think you know too much,” I responded and linked our hands as we headed for the entrance of the restaurant.

Our lunch was lovely, the food delicious and the atmosphere pleasant and soothing. The company was better than all of the above. Sometimes it seemed surreal that a man could have such a dramatic impact on my life. I listened to him as he spoke about this upcoming bid for a cable company that had gone bankrupt and heard the passion with which he spoke about his business. He was a passionate man, I thought with a smile, and I knew that better than anyone.

“What’s that little smirk for?” he asked over a dessert of butterscotch banana cream pie.

“Thoughts that cannot be shared in public,” I said in a low, sexy tone.

“Is that so?” He shifted closer to the table. I had no idea why until I felt his hand creeping up my skirt under the table. I knew he couldn’t get far, but his fingertips brushing the underside of my knees made me wish the restaurant was empty and he was eating his pie off certain erotic zones of my body.

“A pity we don’t have time,” I told him with a wink.

“You sure your boss wouldn’t be understanding?” he wanted to know, the eagerness evident in his voice. “It doesn’t have to necessarily be that long. You should know.”

I chuckled with him, remembering the time he had ended way sooner than we had both hoped. The embarrassing moment for him had turned into fun as I gave him time to recuperate before we started over. As though he had something to prove, he had pleased me for over an hour. I hadn’t known before that night that I had so many erotic zones.

“We can meet tonight, can’t we?” I suggested hopefully

“Hmm, and you’ll stay the night this time?” he asked. “I don’t like having to drop you off at home in the middle of the night. I’m pretty sure your sister already knows what’s happening during those crazy long hours you’re away from home.”

“I just don’t want to impose,” I said, a half-truth. The full truth was I didn’t want to stay over yet because I wasn’t being completely honest with him.

“How can you be imposing when I love you?”

My eyes flew to his face in shock. By his expression, the word had just slipped out and taken him as much by surprise as it had me. I didn’t know how to react. My tongue felt heavy, which prevented me from repeating the words. Words I wasn’t sure I wanted to say yet.

“It’s true,” he declared, reaching across the table for my hand, all trace of playfulness gone. “I know only a short period of time has passed since we started seeing each other. Today marks a month, did you know that?” he quipped before continuing. “You’ve completely changed my life, Robyn. You reminded me that love doesn’t, shouldn’t, hurt, and I love you.”

I still couldn’t respond and was sure my face had paled and my expression bug-eyed. I knew he had feelings for me but wouldn’t have guessed it ran this deep already. Or I had known but hoped we both had the common sense to ignore it until we were more certain of where our relationship was headed.

“We should get back to work,” Seth announced with forced cheer in his voice. He signaled to the waiter to bring our bill.

“Seth.” I murmured his name but didn’t know what to say. Seth, I was forced to get to know you by your friend? Seth, I love you too and I am afraid my untruth will be the end of us?

“It’s okay,” he stated, getting to his feet after paying the bill. “You don’t have to delve into your feelings just because I did. I’d rather you do so in your own time.”

His words were more of a comfort for himself rather than for me. And when he walked me to my car, he didn’t linger or kiss me as he usually did. He didn’t even wish me a good day or indicate if we were seeing each other later or not.

He simply walked away. But worse, I didn’t go after him. How could I when I felt like a heel? I’d made him fall in love with me under false pretenses.