She let the gravity of what he had just said sink in, now at a loss for words.
He tilted his head. “So . . . why don't I ask you a few questions?”
She hesitated, wary of what he might ask. But she had made him discuss his painful old wounds. It only seemed fair that she do the same. She swallowed. “Oh . . . OK. Go . . . go right ahead.”
“Have you ever been married?”
Stephanie licked her lips and shifted uncomfortably on top of him. She had expected this question to come eventuallyâjust not this soon. “Yes, I've been married.”
“When . . . and how long?”
“Well, I married my ex seven years ago. We were married for four of them.”
“Who wanted the divorce, him or you?”
“I did,” she answered honestly. “I knew the marriage only had a short shelf life anyway. Besides, I knew I wasn't in love with him . . . and he had already moved on to someone else.”
Keith squinted. “What do you mean he had moved on to someone else?”
“I mean he had a mistress, Keith . . . a couple of them actually. When I married him, I was still in my twenties. I figured my expiration date was drawing close once I turned thirty. He'd have to move on eventually.”
He traced his finger along her jawline again. “You think men see you like that . . . as something with an expiration date?”
Stephanie nodded. “Of course, they do! That's just a fact of life.”
She could tell from the look on his face that he was confused by her response.
“Look, Keith, I learned at an early age that beauty can get you lots of things. It can give you money. It can get you power. But your beauty won't last forever. You only have a short time frame to use your looks and your charm to your advantage. Mama always says that a man who's head over heels in love with you now, may not be when you're covered in wrinkles. He'll also be more than happy to forget about you if a better, younger model comes along.”
Keith's finger shifted from her cheeks to her lips. He traced their circumference with his fingertips. Her eyes drifted closed as she enjoyed the sensation of his touch. He leaned in for a kiss and she eagerly kissed him back. Gradually, he pulled his mouth away, but not before taking one last nibble at her lips. He gazed down at her.
“Do you think I'd fall out of love with you once you got wrinkles or if I found a better model?”
Her eyes fluttered open at his words. She had accepted her ex-husband leaving her to run to the waiting arms of another woman as par for the course, but she didn't know how she would react if Keith did the same. “Maybe you will.”
“You really think that?”
“I . . . I don't know, Keith. All I could do is to try to prepare myself for that day if you did,” she answered softly, feeling her heart break a little at the future prospect.
“You don't give men a lot of credit do you, Steph?” he whispered.
“I've been taught not to.”
“Well,” he said, staring into her eyes, “then you've been taught wrong. You don't have a shelf life with me. I'm not some millionaire who wants to buy you like he would a house or a car then trade you in for a new one. I don't want to add you to my collections.” He tilted his head. “Now I admit that I don't have a lot of money. I certainly can't buy you lots of thingsâat least not the things that you're accustomed to, but I could love you and respect you . . . and treasure you. I could offer you more than any of those millionaires could.”
Stephanie felt the tears flowing again, except this time they were happy tears. She reached for the hand that lingered near her cheek and held it. She kissed the inside of his palm tenderly then leaned over to kiss him. It didn't take long for the kiss to deepen. Stephanie closed her eyes and Keith eased her back onto the bed. He slowly climbed on top of her.
That night they made love several more times until the wee hours of the morning. They expressed with their bodies and with words what they felt in their hearts. When they finally drifted off to sleep, Stephanie was delirious with love and with happiness. She snuggled against Keith, feeling a greater sense of peace than she had felt in quite a long time.
Chapter 28
S
tephanie slowly opened her eyes to the sun-dappled hotel room. She stretched, turned, and looked at the pillow beside her. She saw that it was empty. She slowly pushed herself to her elbows and looked around the room. Keith was nowhere in sight.
For one fleeting moment, she feared that last night had been only a dream. None of it had really happened: their making love, their confessions, and falling asleep in each other's arms. But she turned when she heard the bathroom door open. Keith walked out of the door and into the hotel room with a towel wrapped around his waist. His muscular chest was bare and covered with droplets of water from the shower. He smiled and relief washed over her face.
“So you're finally up then?”
She returned his smile and yawned. “Yeah, did I sleep late?”
“I would say so. It's almost noon.”
“
Noon?
” She glanced at the alarm clock on the night table.
Keith was right. It was 11:53 a.m.
“Yep, and you were snoring too. You have a very cute snore.”
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, remembering roughly when they had finally fallen asleep, which was sometime around dawn. “I was just tired, I guess.”
“I figured.” He leaned against the doorframe. “My lovin' tends to have that effect on women.”
“Oh, please!” She rolled her eyes heavenward and laughed.
“I remember you shouting that a few times last night too.”
She made a face, grabbed one of the pillows on the bed, and playfully tossed it at him. It landed near his bare feet.
“Throwing stuff at me again, huh?” He reached down, grabbed the pillow, and walked toward the bed. “That's kind of a bad habit of yours.”
He tossed the pillow back beside her. He then flopped on the bed and stretched across her legs. She leaned forward and gave him a languid kiss. He absently rubbed her thighs.
“So now that you're awake,” he said, “I suggest we order breakfast. Then talk about what we should do next about Isaac.”
She nodded. “Big Red gave me an idea of where he might be. He thinks Miami.”
Keith stilled. “Why Miami?”
“Something about it being his old stomping ground. Big Red said he used to run a lot of cons down there. Rich lovers were ripe for the picking, and it's a big enough city for him to stay inconspicuous.”
“And also big enough that it may be hard for people like us to find him,” Keith said.
“But it's worth a try.”
He nodded. “You're right. We'll go anyway. Might as well.” His smile returned. “In the meantime, let's order breakfast.”
“Good, because I'm
starving!
” she exclaimed, holding her stomach. To illustrate that point, her stomach growled loudly.
She watched as Keith walked across the hotel room, opened the cardboard menu on the dresser, and dialed room service. He made the orders and returned to the bed.
“They said it's a twenty-five-minute wait.”
She nodded and pulled back the bedsheets and tossed her legs over the edge of the mattress. “Well, that's plenty of time for me to take a shower and do something with my hair.”
Her hair was still tussled and matted from the night before. She hadn't seen herself in the mirror yet, but she was sure she looked a fright.
Just as she was about to rise to her feet, Keith stopped her by firmly wrapping his arm around her waist, catching her by surprise. She yelped when he pulled her back to the bed. She fell back naked beside him.
“Hold on for a second there,” he whispered. “Twenty-five minutes may be plenty of time for a shower, but only just enough time for something else.”
His hand shifted from her waist to one of her breasts. He caressed it, tantalizingly running his hand over the nipple until it hardened. He circled his thumb around its peak then squeezed it gently. Her eyelashes fluttered closed. She bit down hard on her bottom lip.
His hand drifted from her breast to the soft skin of her stomach then glided lower. “Want to shout âoh, please' a couple more times, sweetheart?”
When his hand rested between her thighs, she spread her legs slightly, inviting his touch. “I take that as a âyes,' ” he whispered with a chuckle before lowering his mouth to hers.
Under his skillful hands, her legs went slack and he took advantage of the opportunity. While one hand toyed with her nipples, the other slowly massaged her clit, making her moist, making her moan. She threw back her head and she began to slowly rock her hips, meeting each of his languid strokes. When he slipped his fingers in her, Stephanie cried out. The rocking only increased. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the delicious thrill of sensations cresting over her body.
Minutes later, he pulled his hand away and she whimpered. She opened her glassy eyes and looked almost drunk.
“Why'd you stop?” she moaned.
He reached for one of the condom packets left on the hotel night table and lowered his mouth back to hers.
This time she kissed him with a hunger that was almost overwhelming. She began to explore his body with her hands, her mouth, and her tongue, making him shudder. They rolled around on her bed, seeking better access to one another, enjoying each sensation. Finally, Keith couldn't take it anymore. He put on the condom, eased her legs apart, and raised her hips. When he entered her, she whimpered his name against his ear and he groaned as the warm wetness enveloped him.
He slowly rocked and grinded on top of her with both hands cupped beneath her bottom. She wrapped her arms around him and brought her mouth back to his and their tongues danced, becoming almost entangled. Minutes later, he suddenly picked up the pace of their lovemaking.
That's when she felt it. Not just the tingles starting to surge over her body like mini-electric shocks, but she could feel her heart becoming lighter and lighter.
So this is what it is like to be in love,
she thought,
and to be loved in return
.
Stephanie cried out his name again. Her muscles tightened and so did his grip around her, to the point that she wasn't sure if he was going to hurt her. Keith clenched his teeth and let out a slow guttural groan. It sounded like sheer agony but she knew that it wasn't. It was the exact opposite.
The final spasm shook his entire body. Suddenly, he loosened his grip. His hands fell away. He slumped on top of her, like a heavyweight after a knockout punch. He took a long, deep, shuddering breath.
Stephanie was pretty sure the waiter from room service heard her cries of ecstasy when he finally arrived with their waffles and pancakes exactly twenty-five minutes later, but she was too happy to care. She bashfully sat in her robe on the edge of the bed with her hair still wild and matted and a silly grin on her face while Keith paid the bill.
“You enjoying breakfast?” he asked as they shared a plate of pancakes.
“Immensely!”
That's when they heard the pounding a few doors down.
“Open up, motherfucka!” someone yelled. “I know you're in there! Open the goddamn door!”
The voice sounded eerily familiar.
Stephanie stopped mid-bite.
Keith rose from the bed and cautiously walked across the hotel room. He gradually opened up the dusty blinds just a smidge. He did it just enough for him to see outside but not enough for someone else to see inside the room. He peered through the window at the parking lot.
“Shit,” he whispered.
Stephanie's heart began to thud faster in her chest. She slowly lowered her fork back to her plate. “
What?
What's wrong?”
“Looks like they found us,” Keith said.
Stephanie climbed off the bed and crossed the room to stand beside him. She looked through the parted blinds. What she saw made her bite down hard on her bottom lip.
Big Red was a few doors down in front of Keith's hotel room, with his two bodyguards in tow. The guy from the hotel front desk was also there, looking nervously around him.
Judging from the angry look on Big Red's and his bodyguards' faces, she guessed that the three men were there to do a lot more than talk. They must have either followed the Explorer last night or had somehow spotted Keith's car from the highway. Either way, it looked like she and Keith were trapped.
“Damn it,” she muttered. “What the hell do we do now?”
Keith let the blinds fall closed. “Don't know yet. I will say though that it's lucky for me that I slept here tonight. At least I'm not in that room right now.”
“But all your clothes are in there,” she said, looking worried.
“Honey, all I need are my car keys, my wallet, and my cell phone. Shit, I can buy new clothes!”
Stephanie walked back to the bed. She sat down and started to nervously wring her hands. “So what do we do? Make a run for it? Should I . . . Should I wear a disguise?”
He gazed at her and cocked an eyebrow. His mouth curved in amusement. “Again, this isn't the movies, baby. We're not making any ârun for it' without calling the cops first. That poor guy down there could get the shit beat out of him if we just walked out right now.”
Stephanie watched Keith pick up the hotel phone and begin to dial 9-1-1. She was a little crestfallen to hear that's how Keith planned to end this confrontation. After the excitement from yesterday, she had imagined their escape from Big Red and his goons would be a lot more dramatic. A big car chase . . . dodging in and out of traffic . . . firing guns out of windows . . .
On second thought,
she contemplated,
maybe that isn't the best idea.
Keith glanced at her. “You can take your shower and get dressed while we wait.”
The cops arrived about half an hour later.
Stephanie watched from the doorway as the police officer stood in front of Big Red and his bodyguards, looking bored.
“There goes the motherfucka right there!” Big Red shouted as she and Keith casually walked back to their SUV, acting as if they had nothing to do with the scene around them. Stephanie bit back a smile as Big Red pointed frantically. “He's over there! That's the same dude that pulled a gun on me!”
They both climbed inside the Explorer and shut the doors behind them. Keith then threw on his sunglasses.
“So I guess we're off to Miami then,” he said.
“Looks like it,” she replied.
“Try not to get me into any more trouble while we're down there, please?” He put his key into the ignition and turned on the engine.
“Well, try not to pull out a gun next time!”
He laughed. “All right, you got me there.”