Prosecco & Paparazzi (The Passport Series Book 1) (22 page)

A few hours and several thousand calories later, I moaned, “I’m full to the gills.”

“Do oysters have gills?” Taylor asked with a straight face.

“I’m pretty sure they’re nothing
but
muscles and gills,” Marcus replied nonchalantly.

Interrupting what I was certain was going to be another round of juvenile humor, I declared, “I have something gigantic to announce.”

“If you bring that up, you can’t comment on my behavior anymore!” Marcus spoke quickly, getting a rib full of Taylor’s elbow.

When I interpreted his innuendo, I gave him my best “you’re an idiot” look.

“What? What?” Taylor asked, having moved to the edge of her chair, her eyes wide with excitement and a huge smile on her face. I realized at once that she was expecting the announcement of something much more life-altering than what I was about to share.

“Calm down! I just wanted to tell you that Liam knows all about Des Bannerman,” I said evenly. The look on Taylor’s face changed from super-excited to very pleased.

“Well, did you think she was a stalker?” Taylor asked seriously.

Looking at me with a blank face, Liam finished the last of his beer before answering. “I have to admit there were a few moments of doubt. I mean, there was the initial bit of stalking, and she did savagely attack him.” After a few more minutes of teasing, Liam finally concluded, “Nah! He’s a prat! I’m going with ego-maniacal. But of course I have to say that, or she won’t sleep with me tonight, and that would be dreadful, since I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Not waiting for a response from me, Taylor announced, “I completely forgot. I’m so sorry. Well, we’ll let you go so you can have some time to yourselves!” She jumped up from her chair and gave Liam a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for spending part of your last night out with us. We’ll miss you!”

Marcus whispered something into Liam’s ear that caused them both to burst out laughing.

“All right, all right, enough of that,” I said, pulling my man away. “I don’t even want to know what that was about.”

Taylor gave me a hug goodbye and said, “We’ll keep you busy for the next few days, don’t worry. I’ll see you at home.”

My eyes brimmed with tears, but I was determined not to cry before Liam had left. “Maybe we can watch
Far and Away
!” I knew Liam hated that movie.

“Not Tom Cruise and that dreadful Irish accent. If you watch that, I’ll never feed you oysters again,” Liam pronounced, pulling me from Taylor’s side.

“Seriously, take good care of Marcus. He’d be shite without you,” he said to Taylor, while quickly giving her another hug. “Look after her for me,” he whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.

“Will do,” she said, smiling into my watery eyes.

I whined a few minutes later as we ambled down the street, moaning about the amount of food I had consumed.

“I told you not to have the tart and the sorbet,” Liam replied, showing no pity.

“It isn’t just my stomach that hurts. Imagine how my poor feet feel, now that I’ve added ten pounds to the balls of my feet.” I was teetering on four-inch Bottega Veneta heels.

Looking down at my feet briefly, he quickly hailed a cab.

I sighed. “If you could solve all my problems that simply, I’d love you forever.” It was pure heaven to be off my feet.

“Why do you insist on wearing shoes like that?” he asked.

“Well, if you were barely five feet tall and wanted to look like a woman instead of a girl, what kind of shoes would you wear?”

“I’ve no idea! I’m just glad you’re a woman!”

***

The following morning, I woke up to a finger lazily drawing patterns on my back. “Yesterday was the second best day of my life,” I said.

“Would you like me to make today the best?” Liam suggested, scooting right up against me, his finger dancing along my stomach and thighs.

“Give it your best shot,” I said, rolling over to face him. “And take your time.”

***

A long while later, struggling against Liam, who was pressing me facedown into the mattress, I pushed hair out of my eyes and struggled for air. I managed to flop onto my back beside him. While I waited for my blood supply and nervous system to return to normal, I used the sheet to wipe the sweat from us both.

The sex had been fantastic. Liam had introduced me to some new experiences, leaving me to wonder if it was to burn the touch and taste of each other on our senses or if he was just more adventurous than I’d ever had the courage to be.

Liam looking at me self-satisfied and asked, “So is today the best day of your life?”

“No,” I replied without compassion for his ego. “Parts of me burn while others have put ‘Out of Order’ signs up.”

Laughing hard, he offered, “Let me kiss them better!”

Quickly stretching one arm across my breasts and cupping my crotch with my other hand, I giggled. “Oh no you don’t.”

Not giving up, he nuzzled at my neck, trailing fingers lightly down my side. “I know of a few other places I can explore that will make your toes curl from pleasure,” he said as he pulled me onto my side, hooking a leg over my knees.

Beating gently against his chest, I begged, “Stop! Please, stop. For the love of god. You’re insatiable today.”

“True, but a drought is about to come.” He pulled me closer, pinning my arm between us. His hand cupped my bum, massaging it, causing me to rock against him. A growl from somewhere deep in his chest quietly rolled out of him.

It was hard to resist him, but, drought or not, we’d been in bed for ten hours and had sex four times. I pled mercy. “I’ll call. We’ll have the most amazing phone sex ever.”

That caught his attention. “Will we, now? You have hidden talents.”

“No more hidden than any others. I’m a quick study, though. What I can’t learn from YouTube and the Internet, I’m sure you can teach me,” I said, my face pressed against his chest. I was too embarrassed to let him see me.

Sensing I was at the outer limits of my comfort zone, he took pity on me. “Tell me then,” Liam asked, settling back against the headboard, “what has been the best day of your life?”

Continuing my mean streak, I said, “I dunno, I’ll tell you when it happens.”

He looked disappointed. “I thought you were going to say, the day I met you. Something far more romantic than that.”

“Well, the day I met you was fabulous. The first night you stayed over was perfect, and every day since has been more incredible than I could have ever dreamt. And though my parts are sore, last night was incredible,” I summarized. “There are a few days that I could imagine to be a little more perfect, though,” I said honestly.

“Me, too,” Liam answered softly.

Liam pulled me in his arms and kissed me fiercely. “Charlotte, there will be many, many days as wonderful as these. There may even be a few tough ones, but trust me, we have many incredible days coming to us. I don’t think we should make any decisions today, only because there are so many changes happening in both our lives. When the dust has settled, we’ll talk about all the days that lie ahead of us.  I may be flying back to Ireland, but Charlotte, you must know that I’ll love you wherever I am.”

As a tear slid off my cheek, I managed a nod. “I know,” I said in a tremulous voice. “I know it’s all going to be fine. You’re right, there’s so much going on, and it would be best to get through the next few months first, before thinking about anything else. I’m just so sad. New York just won’t be as magical without you.”

He kissed my eyelids and murmured comforting words in my hair while I cried the rest of my tears. When I had cried the last, he put the corner of the sheet in my hand for me to dry my face on. “Feeling better?”

“Yes and no, but mostly yes. I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. It will all be as it should,” I said, wishing for a Kleenex.

“I’ll get you a tissue,” Liam offered, reading my mind.

He dashed to the bathroom and was back in a flash. Handing me the box and perching on the side of the bed, he said quietly, “I hate to do this, but I have to start packing. Would you like to have a bath while I get it done?”

“I’d love to.” He went to the bathroom and turned on the water for me. While he was gone, I called room service to order coffee and then dug out some clean clothes from the drawer.

While the tub was filling, I pulled all my clothes from closets and drawers and stuffed the lot into my bags. Liam announced the tub was full as he came out freshly shaved. I gave him a kiss on his smooth cheek and went in, telling him, “I ordered coffee.” As I dipped my toe in the tub, I realized that no corner of my life would be the same.

Why is that, when you want time to linger, it speeds up? In no time at all, we found ourselves standing in the lobby of the hotel, Liam signing the bill. Our bags stood side by side. To the entire world it seemed that we were traveling together. I drifted away, thinking of places Liam and I might go. The image popped into my head of us standing on the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, the most romantic place on Earth.

Tucking the image away for future thought, I came back to reality when he led me to a quiet corner in the lobby, the summer sun streaming through the window. “I know this sounds odd, but I’d really like you to go home. I feel sad at the thought of you leaving the airport on your own. Go home, and let Taylor distract you,” Liam said. The look on his face gave me no room to disagree.

“Okay,” I agreed. “The truth is, I feel sad thinking of leaving the airport by myself.”

There wasn’t really anything left to do but hail a cab and say goodbye. We lingered a few minutes in our quiet corner. Between kisses, goodbyes, and reminders of how it wouldn’t be long before we were back together, the parting grew emotional, and I found myself needing to breathe calmly. At last I pulled myself from him, pushed my shoulders back, looked him straight in the eye, and said calmly, “See ya’.”

“Bye. I’ll call you when I get home,” he said very matter-of-factly.

With that, the concierge whistled for a cab. My bags were loaded, and, with a quick kiss, I was gone.

AFTER HAVING COMPLETED
the mundane task of unloading my suitcases and sorting laundry, I hunkered down on the leather sofa in an old sundress with my hair knotted on top of my head. While perched in front of the TV, I sipped a glass of iced tea and flipped through the channels, finally finding a sappy movie of the kind that are inevitably aired on Sunday afternoons. I was crying at the death of the leading lady when Taylor walked in the door.

“You’re already here? When did you get home? What are you watching?” Taylor asked anxiously as she crossed the room. Glancing at the screen, she looked at me with disgust, grabbed the remote control, and turned off the television.

“What are you, a masochist? Who watches a movie designed to make them hysterical on the day their boyfriend leaves? Why not at least watch something romantic or funny?” She gave me a pathetic look.

After sizing me up, I was ordered into something presentable and told to get ready for an evening out. “Make sure you wash your face. You look like a raccoon.” She continued to order me about, even though I repeatedly moaned that I didn’t want to go out. “Too bad,” was her response.

An hour later, we arrived at one of the latest and greatest trendy bars in Manhattan. I was perched on a shiny chrome barstool at a glass-topped bar sipping on a brutally cold gin and tonic, trying to pretend I was happy, when Taylor smiled and waved to someone. The next minute, I was gasping at the faces of Marian, Kathleen, and Hillary.

“Oh my god! How perfect is this?” I gushed in amazement. It was hard to take in such an unexpected surprise.

“Well, we couldn’t leave the mopping up to just one poor woman,” Marian responded. She glanced around the room. “Where in the name of Jaysus is the waiter? We’ll be needing a few bottles to sort this one out,” she pronounced as she took in my pathetic state.

While I dreaded the state my head would be in in the morning, I was speechless with delight.

“Now, isn’t this better than an iced tea and some sad movie?” Taylor asked. The lot of them reproached me, wondering how I could be so cliché. Just about then, my phone rang.

“Just a minute,” I shouted over the friendly harassing.

“Hello?”

“Ciao, bella, how are you?” It was Tiziana! After a minute of chatting, she apologized for not being there and advised, “Don’t let Marian dance on any tables. You know her legs aren’t her best asset! Take care of yourself. Remember to drink lots of water.” We hung up with the promise to talk tomorrow.

Miraculously, a waiter arrived to tell us that a table had opened up and took our cocktail orders. Marian, in a low-cut, figure-hugging green dress, leaned into him while perched on her own chrome barstool, batting her big green eyes, and said, “Bring us two bottles of the best white wine you have, and don’t stop until you close!”

“Certainly,” he said, maintaining eye contact.

After he left, she said, “He had to be gay! There isn’t a straight man alive that can resist this dress.” Clearly Marian knew what her best assets were.

“Well, then, tell us all about him. Get it out of your system! Bring it on,” Kathleen demanded.

Since I’d barely spoken with her since the trip to France, she knew the least about Liam. I rambled on and on about how wonderful he was, how kind and handsome. After a few return trips from the waiter, I segued into how sexy he was, how perfect his bum fit into my hand, how gorgeous he was. At some point we sat hunched over my cell phone so the girls could see pictures of Liam.

After passing the phone between themselves, Marian lamented, “How the feck is it that she met him here, this fine Irish boy? God’s truth, there aren’t any like this left in Ireland. I’d know. I’ve been actively searching for years!” She returned the wine glass to her lips.

Hillary, having just drained her own glass, suggested, “Have her take you out. Clearly she knows where to look. Did you see those arms? That chest?” Hillary was referring to a picture I had taken of Liam while he was rowing us around the lake in Central Park. I felt quite smug.