A Gentleman's Affair (10 page)

“Come outside with me…I need to talk to
you.” She agrees and I lead her out the back door of the club.

“Donovan, I just want to say…” I stop her
mid-sentence.

“No, let me talk first. First of all, you
know me, so you know that I will treat your sister with respect.
Second, we are adults and don’t need your approval. We are just
getting to know each other, so please calm down about this.”

“I know. It’s just that I have always had a
crush on you,” she blurts out with slurred speech. “And as much as
I love Christopher, I just want to kiss you.” And before I know it,
she is draped all over me, her lips crashing into mine. Oh shit. I
pull away quickly before someone comes out to witness this moment,
brought to you by Absinthe.

“Lily, stop. You’re just drunk.” I hold her
at arms length. Rebekah comes out to find me, thankfully missing
the drunken kiss but unsure of what she is seeing all the same.

“Is everything okay out
here? Lily, are we cool?” she asks, her eyes searching
ours for some sort of answer.

“Yes, big sister. I just love you guys so
much.” She hugs her sister and stumbles back inside.

“Is she alright, Donovan? I should go check
on her.” She turns toward the door, taking hold of the handle.

“No, she will be fine. She’s just drunk.
Let’s go for that walk.” I take her hand in mine and lead her
around the side of the hotel in the direction of the beach.

The night sky is clear and the weather is
perfectly cool for this time of year. Say what you will about
Southern California, but you just can’t beat the weather here. I
couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the entire world.

As we reach the end of the pathway where it
meets the sand, Rebekah gushes as she stops us for a moment to
admire the scenery. “You know, this is my first time ever seeing
the ocean. And you get to wake up to this everyday?” She closes her
eyes as she takes in a deep breath of crisp ocean air, staring off
into the horizon. “I’m so jealous.”

“It is pretty incredible, isn’t it?” I
reply with a grin as we begin to walk again down to the shoreline,
thankful that the tide is low tonight. “How is it that you’ve never
made it to the ocean? Not even Florida or Mexico for spring
break?”

“Nope. I wasn’t the party girl in school. I
was more of the geeky book-worm.” She looks down at the ground,
laughing. I like that she knows how to laugh at herself. That is an
extremely sexy quality for a woman to have, as far as I’m
concerned.

“No, that isn’t you, Rebekah. I have never
in my life seen a geek that looked like you.” And with a slight tug
of her hand, I pull her in front of me, our eyes now on each
other’s. “You are very beautiful. Do you know that?” I move a
strand of hair away from her face as I lean in for a kiss. My hands
slide down her sides and wrap tight around her waist, pulling her
close as the kiss deepens. But unfortunately the alcohol catches up
with me and my head begins to spin. Now Absinthe has also become a
cock-blocker.

I pull away, looking into her eyes
apologetically. “I am a little drunk,” I say, trying to laugh it
off. “Why don’t we go change into our swimsuits and go for a
dip?”

“Who needs swimsuits, Donovan?” She flashes
me a sly smile as she begins to undress. Who am I to complain? My
clothes hit the sand in a matter of seconds.

“Well, alright,” I chuckle. But my laughter
only lasts a second. There is no laughing when you have a beautiful
naked girl standing in front of you. But I am a gentleman, so I do
my best not to stare. Good luck with that, Donovan. “Shall we?” I
let her run just a few steps ahead, and I don’t think that I need
to explain why.

We crash through a small wave before
swimming out a ways. The look on her face is priceless as she
splashes and plays in the water, enjoying all that the ocean has to
offer.

“Oh my god, I love this!” She laughs as she
playfully splashes me. I barely even know this girl, but I get the
feeling that she doesn’t let loose like this often.

“It’s on now, Rebekah.”
Laughing, I wipe the water from my eyes with my fingers then swim
over to her, playfully dunking her head under the calm cool water
before swimming back to shore.

She pops up to the surface, wipes her eyes
and laughs as she shouts, “Sure, run away chicken.” She disappears
under the water and follows me to shore.

Both of us now lying in the sand near the
shoreline, laughing and trying to catch our breath. I roll over
onto my side and stroke her cheek with my thumb. “I am not running
away…that I can promise you.”

We stare into one another’s eyes for a
moment, neither of us laughing anymore. I lean in, pressing my lips
gently to hers, my head finally free of any dizzy feeling that I
had before. My lips are ready to continue the kiss that was
interrupted earlier.

She shifts her naked body toward mine and is
now pressed hard against me. The kiss takes a passionate turn, and
we are now kissing like hungry teenagers experiencing their first
make-out session. I am suddenly extremely aware of my erection that
has now decided to join the party. Are we about to have sex? I
really don’t see her as being an easy sort of girl. Seeing that I
myself am no longer the hit-it-and-quit-it man that I was before, I
have a decision to make here.

I have definitely had enough one-night
stands to last a lifetime. So do I take this further or stop it
right here and now? Clearly mini-me has no objections, but the
“new” me needs to be clear about what is about to happen. Fuck, I
am not about to propose marriage here. It’s sex. Donovan, shut the
fuck up and kiss the girl.

I gently roll her back into the sand, my
knee pushing her legs apart as I hungrily position myself on top of
her. Just as I begin to trail soft kisses down her neck, we hear a
voice from the distance. Startled, we break from our kiss and look
in the direction of the intruding voice.

“Alright you two, get your clothes back on
and call it a night.” Suddenly we are greeted by a flashlight
attached to the arm of a local cop. And not one from the
bachelorette party. “Mr. Hart. Uh…sorry, but you need to take it
inside,” he says apologetically, turning away as we scramble for
our clothes. 

“No problem, Jerry. We just got a little
carried away.” I smirk as I pull my pants up, glancing over at
Rebekah. “It won’t happen again, I assure you.” All parties
involved embarrassed and now silent. Cock-blocker. Cop-blocker?
Either way it seems that I will never get laid again for as long as
I live. Fuck.

Off we go, running back into the hotel,
laughing all the way.

I escort Rebekah up to her fifth-floor
suite. No doubt Lily will be wondering where she is soon enough
anyway. As she digs her keycard from her purse, thanking me for the
event-filled evening, I cup her chin giving her an uneventful good
night kiss. No way am I about to wake the dragon again. I am
keeping this kiss PG.

“Until tomorrow, sweet Rebekah.” And down
the corridor I go to the private elevator that will take me to my
empty penthouse. 

For yet another cold shower.

Chapter Nine

~The Wedding, part three~

Today is the big day…and I have a hangover.
I am more than positive that I am not the only one who is suffering
this morning. I glance over at the alarm clock that sits on my
bedside table. Noon. Perfect. I am extremely thankful right now
that this is a late afternoon wedding.

I had a crazy dream that Rebekah and I were
caught not having sex on the beach last night by Jerry, a local cop
and a long time member of The Underground, which is why he was so
quick to let us go. Apparently sex in public is against the law in
case you haven’t heard. Now that is one ridiculous law if you ask
me. 

I pull the comforter back to get out of bed
only to find sand all over the sheets, which is a pretty clear
indication that my dream was in fact, a reality. Fuck. I do
remember bits and pieces. Absinthe. Rebekah. Skinny dipping and…oh
shit.

I swing my legs out from under the covers
and my feet land on the floor with a thud, feeling as if they weigh
a million pounds. I attempt to stand up, perhaps a little too
quickly because the room begins to spin…head rush. I take a deep
breath then head for the bathroom, straight to the medicine cabinet
for anything that will take this headache away. I slip off my
briefs and take a long hot shower. As I wash the sand away…from
areas where sand should never be, by the way, visions from last
night play like a movie reel in my foggy head. That was quite a
night and Rebekah is quite a girl. I can’t wait to get downstairs
to see her again.

Now showered, clean-shaven and dressed in my
finest black Armani tuxedo, I choose the deep purple silk
tie that Lily gave me as a finishing touch. Slipping on my Amedeo
Testoni shoes, I take a final look in the mirror before leaving my
penthouse. Hangover aside, I think that I cleaned up quite nicely
if I do say so myself.

Finally having a moment to check my cell
phone as I take the elevator down to the lobby, I find quite a few
text messages from Lily asking where we are, or were, rather. They
are all from last night and most of them don’t make a bit of sense.
Absinthe strikes again. She probably won’t even remember sending
them, so I just delete them all. The elevator doors open, and I
make my way out back to the courtyard, hoping to find that
everything is set up and ready to go with about two hours until
“go” time.

The courtyard is almost ready…just a few
final touches to be done. Wide purple ribbon is being attached to
the outer rows of the white chairs on either side of the aisle. I
remind the staff to thoroughly wipe all of them down to remove the
morning dew that has settled on them, before making my way back
inside.

Checking on things in the kitchen, making
sure that the hors d’oeuvres are prepared for wine hour that comes
between the ceremony and reception. Everyone is scrambling around
the kitchen, and I have been assured that everything is on
track.

I decide that I had better get some food in
my stomach before going downstairs to The Underground to see how
things are coming along there for the reception. I leave the
kitchen and make my way to the restaurant where a light brunch has
been set out for all of the family and guests.

Finding only a few people left in here, I
walk over to the buffet table and begin to pile a small feast of
quiche, croissant, potatoes and sausage onto my plate. After
pouring myself a cup of coffee, I take a seat at one of the tables
and start to dig in, when I hear a familiar voice.

“May I join you, Donovan?” I look up to see
Rebekah standing there with a big smile on her face. She is already
dressed for the wedding in a long dark purple halter gown. Skin
tight, I might add. Her hair is curled and one side is pulled back
with a crystal clip. As beautiful as she looks all done-up, I can’t
help but picture her naked lying on the beach next to me.

“Yes, of course.” I stand to pull out a
chair for her. “Have you eaten yet?” Way to go Donovan, very
smooth.

“I came down with the girls earlier.” Her
eyes now focused on the table, she picks up a napkin and begins to
tear it into tiny pieces…clearly she is nervous.

“You look absolutely stunning, Rebekah.”
Taking a sip of coffee, I am unable to take my eyes off of her as
she begins to blush the perfect shade of pink. “How is Lily holding
up this morning?”

“Aww, thank you Donovan. She’s doing pretty
good, I guess. Mauricio is doing her hair right now.” She scans the
room quickly then looks back at me, her voice more serious now.
“Should we talk about last night?”

“Alright. What would you
like to talk about?”
I finish my food and
push the plate off to the side of the table, listening
intently.

“Well, I guess I just wanted you to know
that I don’t normally do things like that. Especially with a guy I
just met.” And there she goes, blushing again. Could she be any
more adorable? I am liking this girl more and more every
minute. 

“Rebekah, I know more about you than you
think,” I reply with a chuckle. Reaching across the table, I take
her hand in mine. “Listen. We were both pretty drunk last night,
and from what Lily has told me about you…well, let’s just say I
understand that you’re not usually like that.”

“I guess that makes me feel a little
better.” She begins to laugh as she continues, “But let’s keep what
happened on the beach between us though, okay? You know, the whole
cop thing? I don’t really want my sister to know.”

“Of course, whatever you want, Rebekah.”
Alright, now to ask a question of my own. “May I ask you a question
now?” 

“Uh, sure.” A look of confusion now on her
face, her smile fades to a frown.

“It’s nothing bad, Rebekah,” laughing,
trying to lighten the mood. “Will you be my date for the
wedding?” 

Her eyes instantly light up, and that
beautiful smile has returned. “Oh my god, of course I will.”

“Good,” I say, pulling my cuff back to check
my watch for the time. “I need to run downstairs and see how
everything is coming along in the club before the ceremony begins,
and I bet that you have things to get back to.”

“Yeah, I better get back to the suite to see
if Lily needs me.” She stands with me, and we leave the restaurant
walking in the direction of the elevator.

“So, I’ll see you there in about thirty
minutes?” I press the up call button for her elevator.

“Definitely.” She steps into the elevator,
our eyes fixed on each other’s until the doors close.

I walk over to the next elevator, pressing
the button to go down. On the ride down, all that I can think about
is her. She is intelligent, kind, beautiful and extremely sexy.
Everything that a man could ever want in a woman. The distance may
pose an issue, but I’m not going to worry about all of that
now.