Bookish (9 page)

“I met him like two days ago,” I said, “I hardly think that’s enough time for any changes to have taken effect.”

“I don’t know,” she replied, “you look like you had a good, hard fuck.”

“I told you, we never spent the night together.”

“You don’t need to have a sleep over to get a nice hard pounding you know.”

She rolled her eyes like I was a sexual imbecile. I suppose I wasn’t as sophisticated as she was, I mean in real world terms, but obviously I’ve read a lot.

“I know,” I said, “but we didn’t have time for anything. I told you about the water leak.”

“TMZ certainly thinks you’re boning him.”

“Boning? What are you, a twelve year old boy?” I asked, keeping cool, but inside my stomach flip-flopped. I hadn’t realized our date had garnered such wide attention. The only place I’d seen that awful photo had been on a couple more local news sites this morning.

Chloe ignored my barb, “What if you end up on Tosh.O? He is
brutal
! I would
die
, but it would be hilarious!”

Ah, good old Chloe always had my back.  “That would be awful, but I doubt it would make that much of a ripple. I’m just a small fish in this big, big ocean.”

“But still, you really should take better care of yourself if you’re going to be on camera.”

“I don’t think I’ll be followed or anything. The only time people will pay any attention is when I’m with him. I don’t know, should I start wearing a bag on my head or something?” I replied. She did have me there; I wasn’t pleased with that awful photograph either.

Chloe arched her eyebrows, looked me up and down and said, “It might be a start.”

“Ha ha,” I replied and busied myself on another shelf, organizing the titles. I could never quite tell if Chloe was really making fun of me, or just trying to make a joke. It never used to bother me, but since meeting Isaac I was feeling especially tender. I knew the world would be judging me, and I didn’t need my supposed best friend to join in.

My phone buzzed on the counter and Chloe dove for it before I had a chance. I rushed to her side and said, “Give it,” as I held out my hand.

“No way,” she replied and turned around, “Oh my god, it’s Isaac. He just sent a pic. Holy fuck, he’s hot.”

“Let me see!”

“No, I’m going to reply first,” she snickered and started tapping away.

I reached around her and grabbed for the phone, but she wiggled away from me and kept typing. Out of desperation I kicked her hard in the back of her leg, on her calf.

“Fuck,” she said, “fine, here’s your phone, you psycho.”

She reached down and rubbed her calf, then handed me the phone. I opened the text, and yes, he was fucking hot. In the pic he was on a beach somewhere, sand clung to his body as though not wanting to let go of him. The sun kissed his face and brightened the tips of his hair so it appeared almost as a crown on his head. His smiled was wide and bright, his eyes were beautiful and brilliantly shining and he was just overall scrumptious and perfect.

“Thinking of you made me smile,” he had written.

“Thinking of you made me wet,” Chloe had replied.

I blushed from the tips of my toes to my scalp. I felt red-hot heat all over my body, and I thought I might faint. I grabbed the edge of the counter to steady myself and said, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking you’re such a prude, you need a little help. I mean seriously Aubrey, if you have had two nights with Isaac James and haven’t even fucked the guy, you are obviously doing something wrong.”

There was something else though, something I picked up as she spoke. She was jealous. Not just irritated that Isaac had chosen me, but she was dangerously consumed with envy. I realized I would need to watch myself around her, be careful what I told her and make sure Isaac and I were on steady ground before hanging out with her.

“We’re taking it slow,” I said, “and Isaac is totally on board with that.”

My phone buzzed and Chloe practically leapt out of the chair to grab at it. I pulled back and read it.

“Thinking of you made me hard,” he had written. I’m not gonna lie, I felt my heart pitter patter at the thought of the ridge I’d felt in his pants. “Can’t wait to see you again, love. Next time let me cook for you?”

“I’d love that,” I wrote back.

We carried on for a few moments; just idle chitchat about what we were up to. He was apparently back in his hotel room for the night and sitting around thinking about me.

Isaac James, thinking about me by himself in his hotel room in California.

I couldn’t believe it; honestly, it was all still so much like a dream.

Chloe insisted on knowing the extent of our chat, so I told her.

“There is no way he’s alone right now,” she said, “he’s probably got some hot swimsuit model in there with him sucking his dick while he sends you messages.”

“You’ve got a very shitty view of the world,” I said, “I mean, honestly, even if he was there with a model, we just met. It’s not like we’re exclusive or anything.”

“Then he is definitely spending the night with somebody much hotter,” Chloe crowed triumphantly, “and younger. Get used to it with a guy like him.”

“I’ve got a lot of work to do,” I said and grabbed my order sheets, “I think you should probably leave.”

“You know I’m right,” she said and giggled, “toodles. I’ll call you later.”

“If I don’t pick up, I’m on Skype with Isaac,” I said and let her leave. I wanted to run after her and shake her, make her believe that he was being honest, that he was a genuinely nice guy. Prove to her that he wasn’t lying to me, that there wasn’t some gorgeous young thing at the end of his dick right now.

Truth was, she got to me. Chloe knew me well enough to poke holes in whatever manufactured fantasy I had of Isaac and I. I resented her for it, but appreciated her keeping me on my toes. I couldn’t let my guard all the way down, not just yet, I really didn’t know him.

And from everything I’d read, he’d never been the most committed of boyfriends or somebody to rely on for the long term.

I marked down book orders on my clipboard for the rest of my shift. As I was closing up, sat in the darkened store, right in front of a display of the newest, hottest book plastered with Isaac’s abs.

In the book, the heroine had fallen for the improbably gorgeous hero. In the book she had been frumpy, a virgin and beautiful under her plain Jane clothing and depressing outlook on life. The millionaire CEO with the magic abs had fallen for her anyways, despite a few bumps in their road, they’d ended up together. All in all, it has been a nice story.

I pushed my glasses up my nose and sighed.

I knew real life wasn’t that nice. I knew girls like me didn’t get guys like him in the real world, not in any meaningful way anyhow. I knew it wasn’t going to end well, and he would break my heart after he got what he wanted.

I knew this.

And yet that little part of me couldn’t stop hoping and dreaming that happy ever afters did happen in real life.

And happy ever afters did happen to girls like me.

Chapter Thirteen

We did Skype that night. And the night after. And the night after. He texted me constantly throughout each and every day. I was like his own private Instagram; he sent me pics of his food, his make up artist, the suits he was wearing, and the view from his hotel room. He was sharing as much of his world with me as possible, and I hated to admit it, but I was letting my guard down again.

Not hanging out with Chloe could do that to a girl, allow me to have confidence and hope for a fabulous future with Isaac.

She was pouting though, I could tell. She hadn’t expected her little text to Isaac to open up our communication like that. Now that I think about it, I’m sure she had expected Isaac to be too shocked to reply, or to get instantly dirty and want to use me for a little fun.

Oddly enough though, it has excited him and opened him up to me.

We did dirty talk. Well, dirty Skype, I can’t tell a lie, but it was sweet and hot, no exactly cheap.

He was coming home today, flying in and heading right to my place. I was almost vibrating on the kitchen chair, trying to appear casual as I sipped my morning tea and nibbled my morning toast.

The kitchen had survived the watery disaster, thanks in part to Isaac.

“Your boyfriend coming back soon?” Auntie Abby asked and peered at me across the table. One of her cats jumped up and started to attack her toast; she swiped it off without even batting an eye. I looked down at my own toast, surveying quickly for cat bite marks or stray hairs.

Surprisingly there were none, the cats tended to stay away from me. I liked them well enough, but my aunt was definitely the center of their universe.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said defensively. Probably spurred on by the fanciful part of me that wished he was.

“Okay, your male friend. Is he coming back today?”

“Yes, he is,” I said and my breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t wait to see him.

“Thank goodness, you’ve been almost walking into walls around here, you’ve been so distracted.”

“I know,” I admitted, “I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”

“Not at all,” she said with a twinkle in her eye, “I think it’s cute. Your mother was much the same way when she met your father.”

“Oh I don’t think it’s that serious,” I replied, maybe a little too fast.

“It might not be serious now,” she said, “but it’s got the making of a serious thing. I can see it in your eyes, and I saw it in his.”

“We’ll see,” I said, “even if I were to admit that I like him, I don’t want to jinx it.”

“Makes sense. I get that,” she said and made some kind of loose sign in front of my face with her fingers. “Abracadabra,” she smiled and went back to her tea and toast.

I nibbled and perused the gossip blogs on my phone. It seemed the one time photograph of Isaac and I coming from the restaurant had faded into the background. Luckily there was enough going on in the world of celebrity stupidity to bump our night off the front pages.

I sighed and looked up at Auntie Abby. She was watching me with a crooked smile on her face. I screwed up my nose and stuck out my tongue at her. She laughed and picked up an out-dated magazine.

I loved these little moments, where I was secure and content in my little bubble.

But as much as I loved being safe and comfortable, Isaac was a big enough attraction that I dared myself to try it out…see what it felt like to date somebody like him.

I just had to kill the few hours until his return so I could figure out where the heck everything was headed.

***

The few hours felt like days. I paced and cleaned, showered, tried on twenty outfits, then did my make up over and over again. My face was almost ruddy by the time I heard a car pull up out front.

He literally had taken a taxi from the airport. I peeked out the window and watched him take our steps two at a time before he rang the doorbell. He seemed as excited as I was; this helped give me a little injection of confidence.

“Hey,” I said as I opened the door.

“Hey you,” he replied and swept me into his arms for a kiss. I folded against him and inhaled his scent, he smelled like the ocean, like warm sunlight and sandy beaches.

He tousled my hair with his hand as he reclaimed my mouth with his as his territory, as if I could have forgotten. I moaned against him and he responded with a small growl. He bit my lower lip as he pulled away.

He stared into my eyes; I hadn’t worn my glasses just for this moment. He ran his hand through my hair and breathed out, “Aubrey, I missed you, love.”

“I missed you too,” I replied, even though we’d been in almost constant communication. There was something different though, being next to him in person.

“Do you want to come to my place?” he asked, even though we’d already agreed on it, “I really want you to come to my place. I want to cook for you, to have you in my space.”

“Of course,” I replied, “I should grab my bag.”

He popped in with me and asked Auntie Abby, “No more water problems?”

“None at all,” she replied. “What time are you going to have her back?”

“I believe that’s up to her,” Isaac said and smiled.

Auntie Abby had to smile back, she really did seem to have taken a shine to him.

I caught her checking out his ass when he bent to pick up my backpack though, and shot her a little glare.

She shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

“You take good care of her,” she told Isaac as we left.

“Always will,” he said and we were gone.

***

Isaac’s apartment was a little nicer than my place.

Scratch that, it was a whole heck of a lot nicer. It was another world. The kind of penthouse I read about in those books I loved.

“What do you think?” Isaac asked, depositing my grubby backpack on top of his Vuitton luggage in the entrance of his place.

“Give me a moment to take it in,” I replied. I kicked off my shoes and strolled around his space. It looked like the showroom of a high-end furniture boutique, and here I was hanging out like I belonged.

He was watching me, waiting for my opinion. Overall the place was gorgeous but it felt a little sterile. He needed a few more personal touches for it to really feel like a home.

“I think you need some photographs,” I said, “you know, friends and family and such. It doesn’t have much character.”

“I agree,” he replied and I relaxed. I was nervous giving him my opinion; afraid I’d offend him with the truth. I was slowly realizing Isaac really valued my view, I wasn’t just supposed to smile and keep my mouth shut when I was around him. “I just took the flat about a month ago. Why don’t we go shopping this weekend? Find some items? Do you know any antique malls?”

“I know a couple places,” I said and allowed myself the small thrill of knowing I would help furnish his apartment.

The view was incredible; he was on the top floor overlooking the water. I could see the city all the way across to Bainbridge island. It was magical. I felt like kind of a dork for thinking it was magical, but it really was.