Chapter 11
(Tuesday, February 10th, 8am) (Annie’s hotel room)
Sunlight filtered into the room through the open balcony curtains. Annie opened her eyes, stretched her back and reached her arms overhead with a yawn. Something was not quite right, but she couldn’t put her finger on just what. Funny, but she didn’t remember opening the curtains. Or the patio door, for that matter.
Annie looked about the bed – she must have been tossing quite a bit last night – the sheets and covers were rumpled enough for two people to have slept in the bed. It figures, since she’d had some pretty steamy dreams last night. She could recall them with vivid and explicit detail.
Frowning, she shook the cobwebs from her head and she tried to think… was it all a dream? Or was there really someone here last night? It felt like a dream, but it felt so real. Annie sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Wincing with the pain of tight overworked muscles, she hobbled and shuffled her way to the bathroom. Nope, it must not have been a dream. Not if her tight leg muscles were any indication. She had done exactly what she’d thought had been all a dream – the hike, the vista, dinner with Stone… an intimate shower with Stone.
Annie rummaged around her bag for her toothbrush and squeezed some paste from the tube. She vaguely recalled going down to ask if Luke had checked in, and her fuzzy mind told her he had, but that she’d missed him last night. Then she’d come back to her room, only to find Stone beckoning to her, Come back to bed. And come she did.
She’d finished brushing her teeth and she looked at the happy glow about her face in the mirror. Ah – that’s why the balcony door was open. She’d vaguely remembered now – Stone had risen early, his body still not used to Hawaiian time (but then, neither was hers), and he opened the curtains and the door. If we missed sunset yesterday, at least we can watch the sunrise together, he’d said. She didn’t remember seeing the sun come up. She didn’t remember him leaving either.
But he was gone now, and even though she knew he was staying at the Sheraton, she still didn’t know what room he was is. Okay, she was pretty sure he was staying here – the look of sticker shock on his face last night when she’d told him she was getting her room for $100 a night – it was too real, as though he couldn’t believe just how much he was paying for his room.
Annie decided that she’d just go ask at the desk if any guest names Stone had checked in, and see if she could leave him a message. Pleased with her plans, she quickly showered, again, grinning ear to ear as she remembered yesterday’s shower with Stone.
She looked longingly at the two person tub on the other wall – maybe that would be fun too. The shower was barely big enough for two people to fit in, much less do what the two of them had done. No wonder they practically fell out of the shower while… she blushed. She hadn’t ever done that with another man before. And she couldn’t remember blushing so much over any one guy. She felt like an innocent school girl experiencing her first crush more than the mature, experienced woman in lust that she was. That’s all it was, right, lust? It had to be. Did people fall in love at first sight anymore? Annie sighed and finished her shower.
After she’d dressed, Annie made her way to the lobby. The perky girl from last night had apparently finished her shift, since an attractive blond guy was behind the desk. Annie guessed he spent his free time surfing. Way too young for me, thought Annie, but Yum! What a body! Give him a few years, and his body might look like Stone’s does… Annie shook her head. Wow… I better go work out some of this frustration today, because if I keep obsessing about Stone… Annie smiled in disbelief. Here she was, chastising herself for obsessing about Stone, while she was on her way to try to track him down. One day she knows the guy, just one day and already she’s addle-brained!
Well, I’ll just do what I came down to do, then I’ll call Zoey, and then I can go work out. Annie had seen the tennis courts in the brochure, and she knew that at the Sheraton you could rent rackets and balls. She couldn’t wait to get out on the court and work out some of the sexual tension and frustration that had built up since her arrival on Kauai.
Annie stepped up to the front desk and asked the surfer – his nametag read “Kyle” – if there were any guests registered under the name ‘Stone.’
“No, miss, I’m sorry,” replied Kyle.
“Oh,” said Annie, disappointed. “Did you try that for the last name?” she asked hopefully.
“I did, miss, I checked for guests with either first or last name ‘Stone’ and didn’t get any results. I’m sorry, miss.” Kyle shrugged his shoulders.
Now Annie was puzzled. So he’s not registered under his own name. Umm… maybe he’s here with someone? Annie pushed the thought out of her head. She turned back to Kyle, who was straightening the brochures on the counter. “That’s ok. I’ll check back for them later. Could you please ring me through to Luke London’s room then?”
“Sure, not a problem, miss. One moment.” Kyle looked up the room number for Luke London on the computer behind the counter and dialed the extension. After a few moments, he hung up the phone. “I’m sorry, again, miss. There’s no answer in that room. Would you care to leave a message?”
“No, thank you,” replied Annie.
“If you’d like to leave a voice mail, I can dial through again…” Kyle stopped mid-sentence as Annie shook her head. “Well, if you change your mind, just ring the front desk and ask to be put through to Mr. London’s room. Either you’ll get lucky and he’ll pick up, or you can leave a voice message for him. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more service today, miss.” Kyle smiled at Annie.
Annie smiled back, though she didn’t feel like smiling. “Thanks again for trying.” With a heavy sigh, she made her way to the outdoor café for breakfast. She must have just gotten lucky too often yesterday to have any luck left.
(10am) (Luke’s hotel room)
Upstairs in room 3401, Luke leaned back in his desk chair and stared blankly at his laptop. He’d just finished writing the story he was supposed to have spent a good part of yesterday on, or so he’d told his boss. Since he woke up this morning, all he could think about was AJ. He’d woken her to watch the sunrise, but when he saw she’d fallen back asleep, he’d quietly dressed and slipped out of the room. If he stayed there with AJ, he knew what he had in mind would keep the two of them in bed long past lunch. And with his deadline looming, staying in bed till noon – no matter how tempting – was not the best idea.
So instead, he’d come back to his room, ordered an omelet, coffee and fruit from room service, and showered quickly while he waited for the food to arrive. The shower brought back good memories of last night… perhaps he could get AJ to come up to his room for a shower. The shower in his room was twice the size as the one she had, and it had multi massaging jets on the wall. That could make for a very interesting shower. But then, that tub in her room could practically seat three people. Hmmm… which to choose, which to choose… Maybe eliminate the choice and try both?
Breakfast came, and Luke hungrily ate. Then he set to work on his story, and finished it in just two hours. Usually took him twice that long, but once he’d gotten on a roll, he just went with it. He typed up an email to his boss, requesting he email Luke back about any revisions. I can’t find my cell phone right now – it’s probably packed away in my bag, he typed, so just email me. I’ll check back this afternoon. Luke attached the story file and clicked ‘Send.’
Luke leaned back in his desk chair and wondered where his cell phone could be. Could he have dropped it on the trail? No, he remembered he had it in his pocket after dinner. Maybe he dropped it in the Brennecke’s parking lot while helping AJ put the Jeep top up?
Again, thoughts of AJ filled his head. He needed to get out and stretch his legs, maybe take his mind off that green eyed vixen for a while. He’d go swing by the restaurant and take a look in the lot. Or maybe someone had already found it and turned it in. He grabbed his gym bag, threw in a fresh t-shirt, socks and his running shoes. Maybe he’d go for a run on the hotel grounds after he stopped by Brennecke’s. No sense having to come back up to my room just to change my shoes later, thought Luke. Keys and wallet in hand, Luke set out to try to find his cell phone.
- - - - -
Annie had eaten her fill of fresh island fruit for breakfast, during which all she could think about was men. Well, two men, to be exact – Stone and Luke. She decided to put all thoughts of Stone on the back burner until she could figure out what to do about Luke. The front desk said he checked in yesterday, so he obviously made it, to the island and to the hotel. But where was he? Annie decided she’d finish her breakfast and then call Zoey to get Luke’s cell phone number.
Annie walked back up to her room, put her purse on the table and dialed Zoey’s number. Zoey picked up the phone on the 2nd ring, but before Annie could ask her anything, Zoey rushed on, in that way typical for her.
“Oh Annie, I’m so glad you called. I was gonna call you, but I didn’t know what time it was now in Hawaii. Mark and I are coming tomorrow, our flight will arrive just after 3pm. Everything is okay with us – we drove out to DeKalb and talked things through. It was a great idea of Mark’s to go back to the NIU campus, where we’d had our first date. So we went there for dinner then spent the night in a motel – we didn’t sleep, we talked all night. Mark said it’d be our decision when we start a family, not his mother’s. And it was so cute – he asked, do you think we could have like four or five kids running around some day? Can you see why I love this man!?”
Zoey finally broke to take a breath, and Annie took full advantage to interject. “Congratulations, Zoe. Glad you fixed your problem. Now I need to tell you about the one I’ve got down here. I can’t find Luke. I mean, the front desk said he checked in yesterday, but I can’t reach him in his room. I was wondering if maybe you could get his cell phone from Mark and then I could call him?”
Zoey gave a sigh of relief. “Nee, when you said ‘problem,’ I thought… But, yeah, I could get you his number, only you don’t have to track him down anymore.”
Zoey’s answer surprised Annie, “What do you mean, I don’t have to track him down anymore?”
“Oh, Annie – I keep forgetting who knows what, with all that’s been going on lately. Luke called Mark about four hours ago and Mark filled him on what’s been going on back home.”
“Really?!” said Annie increduously, as she looked at her watch. It was barely ten. “Four hours ago? Wow, I thought he’d be sleeping off jet lag or something.”
Zoey continued with her story. “No. I was getting out of the shower when Luke called. Mark said he had the strangest conversation he’d ever had with his brother, so I asked him to tell me about it.” Zoey took a deep breath, and Annie prepared herself for one of Zoey’s famous, non-stop, run-on-sentence, here’s-the-whole-deal-in-a-nutshell stories.
“Mark said Luke sounded kind of odd on the phone, asking about love. In particular, did Mark believe in love at first sight. Could it happen? Was it true? Luke asked Mark if he thought he was the kind of guy that could be in love with a woman he’d known just 12 hours. Mark said Luke told him that he met this woman within 2 hours of landing yesterday. He spent the whole day with her and this morning when he left her he decided that she was ‘the one’. It felt like he’d known her forever – everything was easy and comfortable between them. At this point, I asked Mark, ‘This morning? So Luke spent the night?’ And Mark said Luke said, ‘yup.’ Mark asked him, ‘You do it?’ And this is where it gets weird, Nee.” Zoey paused for some feedback, but Annie opted to skip the usual ‘Mmm-hmm.’
“So he came in on an earlier flight, met somebody, spent the day and night with her. And they did it. So what’s the big deal? Sex on vacation isn’t that uncommon, Zoe.” Annie blushed as she recalled just what kind of sex she’d had on her vacation.
“Well, that’s the thing. Luke admitted that he’d had sex, but he told Mark that it wasn’t the ‘usual’ one-night-stand kind of sex. So Mark asked him, ‘What kind was it?’ You want to know what Luke told him? Luke told him, ‘This was earth-moving, mind-shattering making-love sex. The kind it usually takes months of dating someone you’re compatible with, the kind that only happens after a dozen or two tries, where you get to know one another’s styles in bed.’ It was damn near the best sex he’d had in his life, that’s what he told Mark.”
Annie sighed dramatically. “So? He had great sex. I had great sex too last night.” But Zoey didn’t hear her.
“Listen, Nee – I heard Luke tell Mark it was everything sex had never been for him before. Mark asked him what the sex was like and Mark he told me later, as best as he could remember – Luke said it was hot, steamy, fast, sweaty, acrobatic, exhausting, slow, sensuous, explosive, and never-ending. Mark told Luke, ‘You’re exaggerating- it’s the writer in you.’ Luke said, ‘Fine don’t believe me. But see if I invite you to my wedding then.’ Whoo.” It got suddenly quiet on the line, as Zoey let out a breathy sigh. “Nee, Mark said he’s never heard Luke talk this way about a woman before.”
Annie couldn’t think of any other response, so she went with, “Wow.”
Zoey took a breath, and quietly asked, “Do you really think there are people out there who get together and have mind-blowing sex the first day they meet? Do you think they fall in love, get married and live happily ever after?”
Considering she’d had a very similar experience yesterday, Annie said, “Yeah, it’s entirely possible. The mind-blowing sex with a stranger the first day you meet. About him being your cosmic soulmate and love happily ever after, well – I’m not sure. But sex on the first date isn’t all that uncommon, so why should great sex be so unbelievable?” And it had been great sex. Twice, it had been really great sex. “You know, Z, they must put something in the airline food or water in Kauai. Seems like there are a lot of people having great sex just after they get to Kauai.”
“Hmmm. I guess I can’t wait to get down there, hee hee. Ok. See you tomorrow. See if you can’t still get a hold of Luke. Maybe if you can keep him busy talking about Mark and the wedding, you can head off his headfirst falling in love, and maybe he’ll still be a semi-normally functioning best man at the wedding on Saturday.”
Zoey rustled through papers on her desk. “Here – right this down.” Annie wrote down the number Zoey rattled off to her.
“Nee, thanks for everything.”
“Okay, Zoe, you and Mark have a good flight. Call my cell when you guys get your car tomorrow and we can meet for dinner, okay?”
“Yeah, ok. A to Z?”
Annie smiled and replied, “You and me.”
- - -
Annie walked down the hall to fill her bucket at the ice machine, frustrated that even after she got Luke’s cell phone number, she still can’t get a hold of him. She’d called down to the front desk and asked them to connect her to Luke’s room, but the phone just rang – no answer there. So she’d tried his cell phone, but the two calls she’d made from her room went straight to voice mail.
Annie figured she’d get some ice to fill her water bottle with while she debated calling Luke’s cell again. As she stood at the ice machine, she decided that maybe Luke wasn’t picking up his phone because she was dialing from a local number with a Kauaian area code. So maybe if she called him from her cell phone… Nope, still no answer. Third time is not a charm, she thought. Well, if he didn’t hear it ringing three times, then I’ll just call again and leave a voice message. Annie lifted her filled ice bucket from the machine and headed back to her room, dialing Luke’s cell phone number yet again as she walked down the hall.
Meanwhile, under the bed in room 2401, the buzzing of a cell phone as it vibrated instead of ringing sent the phone skittering out of sight, where it stopped, ending up a third of the way under the king-sized bed with the rumpled sheets.
Annie swiped her key card and stepped into her room to leave Luke a voice message, giving her number and asking him to call her back as soon as he gets the message.
Sunlight filtered into the room through the open balcony curtains. Annie opened her eyes, stretched her back and reached her arms overhead with a yawn. Something was not quite right, but she couldn’t put her finger on just what. Funny, but she didn’t remember opening the curtains. Or the patio door, for that matter.
Annie looked about the bed – she must have been tossing quite a bit last night – the sheets and covers were rumpled enough for two people to have slept in the bed. It figures, since she’d had some pretty steamy dreams last night. She could recall them with vivid and explicit detail.
Frowning, she shook the cobwebs from her head and she tried to think… was it all a dream? Or was there really someone here last night? It felt like a dream, but it felt so real. Annie sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Wincing with the pain of tight overworked muscles, she hobbled and shuffled her way to the bathroom. Nope, it must not have been a dream. Not if her tight leg muscles were any indication. She had done exactly what she’d thought had been all a dream – the hike, the vista, dinner with Stone… an intimate shower with Stone.
Annie rummaged around her bag for her toothbrush and squeezed some paste from the tube. She vaguely recalled going down to ask if Luke had checked in, and her fuzzy mind told her he had, but that she’d missed him last night. Then she’d come back to her room, only to find Stone beckoning to her, Come back to bed. And come she did.
She’d finished brushing her teeth and she looked at the happy glow about her face in the mirror. Ah – that’s why the balcony door was open. She’d vaguely remembered now – Stone had risen early, his body still not used to Hawaiian time (but then, neither was hers), and he opened the curtains and the door. If we missed sunset yesterday, at least we can watch the sunrise together, he’d said. She didn’t remember seeing the sun come up. She didn’t remember him leaving either.
But he was gone now, and even though she knew he was staying at the Sheraton, she still didn’t know what room he was is. Okay, she was pretty sure he was staying here – the look of sticker shock on his face last night when she’d told him she was getting her room for $100 a night – it was too real, as though he couldn’t believe just how much he was paying for his room.
Annie decided that she’d just go ask at the desk if any guest names Stone had checked in, and see if she could leave him a message. Pleased with her plans, she quickly showered, again, grinning ear to ear as she remembered yesterday’s shower with Stone.
She looked longingly at the two person tub on the other wall – maybe that would be fun too. The shower was barely big enough for two people to fit in, much less do what the two of them had done. No wonder they practically fell out of the shower while… she blushed. She hadn’t ever done that with another man before. And she couldn’t remember blushing so much over any one guy. She felt like an innocent school girl experiencing her first crush more than the mature, experienced woman in lust that she was. That’s all it was, right, lust? It had to be. Did people fall in love at first sight anymore? Annie sighed and finished her shower.
After she’d dressed, Annie made her way to the lobby. The perky girl from last night had apparently finished her shift, since an attractive blond guy was behind the desk. Annie guessed he spent his free time surfing. Way too young for me, thought Annie, but Yum! What a body! Give him a few years, and his body might look like Stone’s does… Annie shook her head. Wow… I better go work out some of this frustration today, because if I keep obsessing about Stone… Annie smiled in disbelief. Here she was, chastising herself for obsessing about Stone, while she was on her way to try to track him down. One day she knows the guy, just one day and already she’s addle-brained!
Well, I’ll just do what I came down to do, then I’ll call Zoey, and then I can go work out. Annie had seen the tennis courts in the brochure, and she knew that at the Sheraton you could rent rackets and balls. She couldn’t wait to get out on the court and work out some of the sexual tension and frustration that had built up since her arrival on Kauai.
Annie stepped up to the front desk and asked the surfer – his nametag read “Kyle” – if there were any guests registered under the name ‘Stone.’
“No, miss, I’m sorry,” replied Kyle.
“Oh,” said Annie, disappointed. “Did you try that for the last name?” she asked hopefully.
“I did, miss, I checked for guests with either first or last name ‘Stone’ and didn’t get any results. I’m sorry, miss.” Kyle shrugged his shoulders.
Now Annie was puzzled. So he’s not registered under his own name. Umm… maybe he’s here with someone? Annie pushed the thought out of her head. She turned back to Kyle, who was straightening the brochures on the counter. “That’s ok. I’ll check back for them later. Could you please ring me through to Luke London’s room then?”
“Sure, not a problem, miss. One moment.” Kyle looked up the room number for Luke London on the computer behind the counter and dialed the extension. After a few moments, he hung up the phone. “I’m sorry, again, miss. There’s no answer in that room. Would you care to leave a message?”
“No, thank you,” replied Annie.
“If you’d like to leave a voice mail, I can dial through again…” Kyle stopped mid-sentence as Annie shook her head. “Well, if you change your mind, just ring the front desk and ask to be put through to Mr. London’s room. Either you’ll get lucky and he’ll pick up, or you can leave a voice message for him. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more service today, miss.” Kyle smiled at Annie.
Annie smiled back, though she didn’t feel like smiling. “Thanks again for trying.” With a heavy sigh, she made her way to the outdoor café for breakfast. She must have just gotten lucky too often yesterday to have any luck left.
(10am) (Luke’s hotel room)
Upstairs in room 3401, Luke leaned back in his desk chair and stared blankly at his laptop. He’d just finished writing the story he was supposed to have spent a good part of yesterday on, or so he’d told his boss. Since he woke up this morning, all he could think about was AJ. He’d woken her to watch the sunrise, but when he saw she’d fallen back asleep, he’d quietly dressed and slipped out of the room. If he stayed there with AJ, he knew what he had in mind would keep the two of them in bed long past lunch. And with his deadline looming, staying in bed till noon – no matter how tempting – was not the best idea.
So instead, he’d come back to his room, ordered an omelet, coffee and fruit from room service, and showered quickly while he waited for the food to arrive. The shower brought back good memories of last night… perhaps he could get AJ to come up to his room for a shower. The shower in his room was twice the size as the one she had, and it had multi massaging jets on the wall. That could make for a very interesting shower. But then, that tub in her room could practically seat three people. Hmmm… which to choose, which to choose… Maybe eliminate the choice and try both?
Breakfast came, and Luke hungrily ate. Then he set to work on his story, and finished it in just two hours. Usually took him twice that long, but once he’d gotten on a roll, he just went with it. He typed up an email to his boss, requesting he email Luke back about any revisions. I can’t find my cell phone right now – it’s probably packed away in my bag, he typed, so just email me. I’ll check back this afternoon. Luke attached the story file and clicked ‘Send.’
Luke leaned back in his desk chair and wondered where his cell phone could be. Could he have dropped it on the trail? No, he remembered he had it in his pocket after dinner. Maybe he dropped it in the Brennecke’s parking lot while helping AJ put the Jeep top up?
Again, thoughts of AJ filled his head. He needed to get out and stretch his legs, maybe take his mind off that green eyed vixen for a while. He’d go swing by the restaurant and take a look in the lot. Or maybe someone had already found it and turned it in. He grabbed his gym bag, threw in a fresh t-shirt, socks and his running shoes. Maybe he’d go for a run on the hotel grounds after he stopped by Brennecke’s. No sense having to come back up to my room just to change my shoes later, thought Luke. Keys and wallet in hand, Luke set out to try to find his cell phone.
- - - - -
Annie had eaten her fill of fresh island fruit for breakfast, during which all she could think about was men. Well, two men, to be exact – Stone and Luke. She decided to put all thoughts of Stone on the back burner until she could figure out what to do about Luke. The front desk said he checked in yesterday, so he obviously made it, to the island and to the hotel. But where was he? Annie decided she’d finish her breakfast and then call Zoey to get Luke’s cell phone number.
Annie walked back up to her room, put her purse on the table and dialed Zoey’s number. Zoey picked up the phone on the 2nd ring, but before Annie could ask her anything, Zoey rushed on, in that way typical for her.
“Oh Annie, I’m so glad you called. I was gonna call you, but I didn’t know what time it was now in Hawaii. Mark and I are coming tomorrow, our flight will arrive just after 3pm. Everything is okay with us – we drove out to DeKalb and talked things through. It was a great idea of Mark’s to go back to the NIU campus, where we’d had our first date. So we went there for dinner then spent the night in a motel – we didn’t sleep, we talked all night. Mark said it’d be our decision when we start a family, not his mother’s. And it was so cute – he asked, do you think we could have like four or five kids running around some day? Can you see why I love this man!?”
Zoey finally broke to take a breath, and Annie took full advantage to interject. “Congratulations, Zoe. Glad you fixed your problem. Now I need to tell you about the one I’ve got down here. I can’t find Luke. I mean, the front desk said he checked in yesterday, but I can’t reach him in his room. I was wondering if maybe you could get his cell phone from Mark and then I could call him?”
Zoey gave a sigh of relief. “Nee, when you said ‘problem,’ I thought… But, yeah, I could get you his number, only you don’t have to track him down anymore.”
Zoey’s answer surprised Annie, “What do you mean, I don’t have to track him down anymore?”
“Oh, Annie – I keep forgetting who knows what, with all that’s been going on lately. Luke called Mark about four hours ago and Mark filled him on what’s been going on back home.”
“Really?!” said Annie increduously, as she looked at her watch. It was barely ten. “Four hours ago? Wow, I thought he’d be sleeping off jet lag or something.”
Zoey continued with her story. “No. I was getting out of the shower when Luke called. Mark said he had the strangest conversation he’d ever had with his brother, so I asked him to tell me about it.” Zoey took a deep breath, and Annie prepared herself for one of Zoey’s famous, non-stop, run-on-sentence, here’s-the-whole-deal-in-a-nutshell stories.
“Mark said Luke sounded kind of odd on the phone, asking about love. In particular, did Mark believe in love at first sight. Could it happen? Was it true? Luke asked Mark if he thought he was the kind of guy that could be in love with a woman he’d known just 12 hours. Mark said Luke told him that he met this woman within 2 hours of landing yesterday. He spent the whole day with her and this morning when he left her he decided that she was ‘the one’. It felt like he’d known her forever – everything was easy and comfortable between them. At this point, I asked Mark, ‘This morning? So Luke spent the night?’ And Mark said Luke said, ‘yup.’ Mark asked him, ‘You do it?’ And this is where it gets weird, Nee.” Zoey paused for some feedback, but Annie opted to skip the usual ‘Mmm-hmm.’
“So he came in on an earlier flight, met somebody, spent the day and night with her. And they did it. So what’s the big deal? Sex on vacation isn’t that uncommon, Zoe.” Annie blushed as she recalled just what kind of sex she’d had on her vacation.
“Well, that’s the thing. Luke admitted that he’d had sex, but he told Mark that it wasn’t the ‘usual’ one-night-stand kind of sex. So Mark asked him, ‘What kind was it?’ You want to know what Luke told him? Luke told him, ‘This was earth-moving, mind-shattering making-love sex. The kind it usually takes months of dating someone you’re compatible with, the kind that only happens after a dozen or two tries, where you get to know one another’s styles in bed.’ It was damn near the best sex he’d had in his life, that’s what he told Mark.”
Annie sighed dramatically. “So? He had great sex. I had great sex too last night.” But Zoey didn’t hear her.
“Listen, Nee – I heard Luke tell Mark it was everything sex had never been for him before. Mark asked him what the sex was like and Mark he told me later, as best as he could remember – Luke said it was hot, steamy, fast, sweaty, acrobatic, exhausting, slow, sensuous, explosive, and never-ending. Mark told Luke, ‘You’re exaggerating- it’s the writer in you.’ Luke said, ‘Fine don’t believe me. But see if I invite you to my wedding then.’ Whoo.” It got suddenly quiet on the line, as Zoey let out a breathy sigh. “Nee, Mark said he’s never heard Luke talk this way about a woman before.”
Annie couldn’t think of any other response, so she went with, “Wow.”
Zoey took a breath, and quietly asked, “Do you really think there are people out there who get together and have mind-blowing sex the first day they meet? Do you think they fall in love, get married and live happily ever after?”
Considering she’d had a very similar experience yesterday, Annie said, “Yeah, it’s entirely possible. The mind-blowing sex with a stranger the first day you meet. About him being your cosmic soulmate and love happily ever after, well – I’m not sure. But sex on the first date isn’t all that uncommon, so why should great sex be so unbelievable?” And it had been great sex. Twice, it had been really great sex. “You know, Z, they must put something in the airline food or water in Kauai. Seems like there are a lot of people having great sex just after they get to Kauai.”
“Hmmm. I guess I can’t wait to get down there, hee hee. Ok. See you tomorrow. See if you can’t still get a hold of Luke. Maybe if you can keep him busy talking about Mark and the wedding, you can head off his headfirst falling in love, and maybe he’ll still be a semi-normally functioning best man at the wedding on Saturday.”
Zoey rustled through papers on her desk. “Here – right this down.” Annie wrote down the number Zoey rattled off to her.
“Nee, thanks for everything.”
“Okay, Zoe, you and Mark have a good flight. Call my cell when you guys get your car tomorrow and we can meet for dinner, okay?”
“Yeah, ok. A to Z?”
Annie smiled and replied, “You and me.”
- - -
Annie walked down the hall to fill her bucket at the ice machine, frustrated that even after she got Luke’s cell phone number, she still can’t get a hold of him. She’d called down to the front desk and asked them to connect her to Luke’s room, but the phone just rang – no answer there. So she’d tried his cell phone, but the two calls she’d made from her room went straight to voice mail.
Annie figured she’d get some ice to fill her water bottle with while she debated calling Luke’s cell again. As she stood at the ice machine, she decided that maybe Luke wasn’t picking up his phone because she was dialing from a local number with a Kauaian area code. So maybe if she called him from her cell phone… Nope, still no answer. Third time is not a charm, she thought. Well, if he didn’t hear it ringing three times, then I’ll just call again and leave a voice message. Annie lifted her filled ice bucket from the machine and headed back to her room, dialing Luke’s cell phone number yet again as she walked down the hall.
Meanwhile, under the bed in room 2401, the buzzing of a cell phone as it vibrated instead of ringing sent the phone skittering out of sight, where it stopped, ending up a third of the way under the king-sized bed with the rumpled sheets.
Annie swiped her key card and stepped into her room to leave Luke a voice message, giving her number and asking him to call her back as soon as he gets the message.
posted by Suzie | 12:50 PM
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