The Lessons (12 page)

My phone buzzing interrupted him. I couldn’t help but glance at it. It was Paulina texting me, probably something about our date. If Paulina was a moth, office gossip was her flame. She just couldn’t resist.

“Sorry, that’s Paulina. Probably asking me about how our date is going.” I smiled weakly.

Brad chuckled. “And how do you think it’s going?” he asked, sucking down the last of his Frappe. Dang, that guy demolished that drink. I never would have thought I’d be turned on watching a guy drink a Strawberry Frappe, but there you go…

“I think… it’s going
well
, don’t you?”

“Yes, I’d agree. Perhaps I’d even say it’s going
very well
.”

The phone buzzed again. Paulina. I put it in my purse.

“Sorry.”

Brad grinned. “It’s okay. Just do me a favor though.”

“What’s that?”

“Watch that girl, would you? There’s something— I don’t know, just a little off about her.”

I shook my head. “What are you talking about? She’s harmless.”

He sat back and stared down the street. “You know she applied for your job.”

I cocked my head at him. No, I did not know that, but I tried to play it off. “Oh, really? Well, Cathy said there were a lot of applicants…”

Brad nodded. “Never mind, I shouldn’t have said anything. So what are you up to after this?”

“Are you guys done with those?” a busboy interrupted. We looked down at the empty cups in front of us.

“Saved by the bell,” Brad whispered, and then he turned to the busboy. “Go ahead.”

The busboy made quick work of clearing the table.

“I think they’re closing soon.” I said as soon as he’d left. “We should probably head out.”

Brad nodded and we both stood up. He slipped his arm around me like it was the easiest thing in the world and we wandered a few yards down the sidewalk in silence.

“Natalie,” he started. My heart was pounding.

I looked up at him and he pulled my chin up, surveying my lips with his eyes. I liked how I felt in his arms. I liked it a lot. So why did Ryan Andrews disapproving face suddenly appear in my mind. What the hell?
Get out
, I silently scolded him,
I’m on a fucking date.

“Natalie?”

Oh, shit, I hadn’t been listening to what he was saying. “Sorry?”

He looked down at me. “You’re not going to come home with me tonight, are you?”

I paused, considering how to deliver my response. Something deep inside me was awake and screaming YES and something equally loud was screaming NO. Besides I couldn’t. Not yet. Nope, I wasn’t allowed to, and I couldn’t, just in case he thought I’d…you know.

I swallowed. “No Brad. I’m not.” He didn’t need to know why. Heck, he probably thought I was just playing hard to get. Hopefully he was okay with that game.

“You know Natalie, I don’t bite.” He looked at me, his eyes hooded. “At least not on first dates.”

The prospect of Brad biting me made all my breath leave me in a rush.

“You’re going to make me work at it, aren’t you?”

I nodded.

“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” he asked, his eyes dark with desire.

“I’m old fashioned like that.”

“Good old fashioned seduction?”

“Yep.”

“Very well, Ms. Reese. You’re on.” He paused. “But first you need to tell me when I can see you again.”

“Tomorrow, at the office.” I smirked.

He shook his head at me. “Not like that. Saturday. Are you free Saturday night?”

Of course I was free on Saturday. I was free every-fucking-day. “Saturdays’ good.” I breathed.

He moved his hand along my face, and gently brushed my lips with the pad of his thumb before leaning in and planting a chaste kiss. “Very good. Saturday it is. Get home safe, Ms. Reese. I’ll see you at work.”

Natalie

It was Thursday, and for once, I knew unequivocally that Today Was The Day.

For sure.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Today was the day I was finally going to kick virginity to the curb. Cancel my membership in the V-Club. Tear up my V-Card. Get my deflowering on.

Hallelujah.

This shouldn’t have been so hard. It
should
have been when I was an undergrad in college. Or it should have been the first time I met the surrogate. Hell, it should have been the second and third time I met with the surrogate. But no, fate and a poorly maintained elevator had to intervene. Today however, I was prepared. No twist of fate was going to get between Ryan Andrews cock and my vagina.

Ha.

See what I did there?

But seriously, today I was determined. I woke up early, before the dawn, and before my alarm went off. I rolled around for a little while, trying to fall back asleep, but it was no use. Was I excited or was I nervous? And really, what was the line between the two?

I finally threw off the covers and decided to go for a run. I hate running. I hate all forms of physical exercise actually, save for walking. Yes, walking was fine provided there was a goal in mind. Like a cup of coffee. Or a doughnut. Okay, preferably a doughnut.

So you can see how strange I was feeling.

I dug my sports bra out from the very bottom of my dresser drawer, and cobbled together a semblance of a running outfit from my yoga (read: lounge) pants and a free t-shirt I had gotten as part of the Heaven Sent “Welcome to Work” package.

Out on the street, I threw my earbuds in and pressed play on my iPod, and started running just as dawn was starting to break.

Once outside, I could sort of see why people went running. It was peaceful so early in the morning— foggy and cool, and the streets were relatively empty, save for some early morning commuters and garbage men. I didn’t run far, I didn’t have the lung capacity for that. In fact, I only managed about ten minutes before grinding to a stop near the yacht harbor.

Fuck running. This was stupid.

As I bent over, trying to catch my breath, I spotted a coffee shop on the other side of the avenue. I made a quick detour and scored a celebratory blueberry muffin and a small latte to keep me company on the walk back to my apartment.

Back at home, I took my time showering and getting ready. I was careful to groom every inch of my body for what was arguably its biggest day since birth. I’d laundered my newest pair of underwear since last time I’d seen Ryan, figuring there was no reason not to use it again. After all, last time it hadn’t gotten any airtime, so to speak.

But despite my best efforts at time wasting, I was done and dressed by about nine, which left me with four hours to fill. I flirted with the idea of calling Josh, but decided against it. It was the middle of the morning back East, and he was probably in a meeting. It was probably just as well. I mean, really— what would I say?

“Oh, hey Josh.”

“Hey LeeLee, what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing, just gonna lose my virginity to a paid sex-man today, thanks for not helping me out with that one eight years ago, by the way.”

Yeah. Probably better not to call.

Perhaps I did have some unresolved issues.

I pulled out one of my favorite mystery novels and tried to get lost in the pages. When that didn’t work, I settled on pulling out my laptop and catching up on the latest season of The Walking Dead. Anything to stop thinking about what was coming up later.

Ryan

I turned the vase and then stepped back, admiring my handy work. The back room was looking much better now. I’d swung by one of those home décor shops on my way to the office and purchased a few things. Nothing major, just a few items to make the backroom seem homier, more comfortable. A cushioned bench seat, which I put at the foot of the bed, and a few items for the nightstands— a couple of candles, a vase, and a life-sized cast iron turtle. Why the store carried a cast iron turtle, I had no idea, but it was cool and I bought it. I wondered if she’d notice.

Oh, fuck me.

Decorating? I was in deep.

I tried to distract myself until the appointment time by catching up on some schoolwork as graduation was fast approaching.

I couldn’t believe I was less than a month away from being done with school forever. It’d been a long journey. After my parents died, I’d found out that my dad had racked up a huge sum of debt. My sister and I were left with nothing, save for the house and a small life insurance trust fund, which was quickly used to pay some medical bills. If I hadn’t come into this surrogacy job, well, my sister and I’d be destitute.

Even more reason to stay focused and not let myself get distracted by Natalie, right?

Not. That. Simple.

Yep, so far, the self-control thing wasn’t working so well. Lord knows I’d almost crossed the line in the elevator a few days ago, but Dr. Lerner hadn’t said anything, so I was sure Natalie hadn’t reported me.

Thank God.

I somehow managed to get lost in my thesis, and before I knew it, it was one o’clock. I walked over to the window and glanced between the blinds, angling myself so I could see down the street. No Natalie. I started pacing around my small office, stopping to check and then re-check my outfit. It was stupid. I’d worn basically the same thing every time I’d seen her, my office uniform of dark jeans and a button down. As I paced, I wondered again what kind of guy she even went for. Jock? Bad boy? Nerd? I found myself hoping that I was her type, that maybe she liked me.

I mean, she
had
to like me; hello…
the elevator
for Christ’s sake. If the engineer hadn’t managed to open those doors, I was sure we would have finished our ‘lesson’ right there.

Fuck, who was I kidding? That wasn’t a lesson. That was me, being a selfish dick. I was a little ashamed that I’d been so flagrant in my disregard for her situation, but the truth was, I felt a connection to her. That’s all that there was to it; I wanted her for myself. And speaking of keeping her to myself, where the hell was she? She was usually right on time. I immediately started to imagine the worst and picked up my phone to call her.

Mid-dial, the doorbell rang. I glanced at the time as I went to the door—1:15.

“You’re late.” I huffed, probably a little too gruffly. She made a face and offered a quick apology. Crap, I was so wound up — I needed to check myself, stat.
Jesus, Andrews, get a hold of yourself.
She isn’t going to drop her panties if you keep acting like a troll.

I tried to right the ship. “You’re not subconsciously trying to avoid me, I mean
this
, are you?” Shit, shit, shit.
Words, why must you fail me?

“Aren’t you supposed to leave the Freudian psychobabble to Dr. Lerner?” she quipped as she smirked at me.

“Hey, I’m less than a month away from my degree, which I believe makes me fully qualified to offer Freudian psychobabble,” I teased back, trying to lighten the mood. Instead, there was an awkward silence. I threw my hands together and nodded to the back room. “Ready to get to work?”

She nodded and I let her lead the way, not really out of chivalry, but because I wanted to check out her ass. She was wearing a tiny pair of blue shorts, and really, not checking her out would have been a disservice. The shorts were divine, the way they wrapped around her hips and showed off her shapely legs. I liked her legs a lot. They weren’t super skinny like some girls. They had a bit of meat to them, which made them extra soft when I—

“Nice turtle,” she said, nodding toward my new friend.

“Thanks. I just got him. I was thinking we should name him.”

Crap, I said we.

I cleared my throat. “What do you think of Stan?”

“How do you know it’s a guy?” she asked, picking it up and turning it over. Lord have mercy, was she looking for a penis?

“Hmm. Good question. I suppose it could be a girl.”

“Maybe you should pick a gender-neutral name.”

“Like Frances?”

“Or Jamie.”

I paused, rubbing my brow, trying to think of a gender-neutral name that started with a T.

She gasped. “What about Taylor? Taylor the Turtle.”

I smiled, she was so excited. “I like it.”

She placed the turtle back on the tabletop. “It’s nice to meet you, Taylor.”

“Careful, I don’t want it getting too attached.”

“What do you mean?”

I walked over to the other side of the room to hide the expression on my face, but this was it. The moment of truth. How she reacted to this statement would tell me a lot. “Well, it’s just you know, after today, well, we might not have a need to see each other again.” I picked up my water bottle and took a long sip.

“Because we are going to achieve penetration?”

You know those scenes in movies where someone chokes on their drink? Well, that happened. Jesus, that girl and her mouth. If it wasn’t a curse word, it was her bluntness.

“Uh, exactly,” I said, turning around, searching her face for emotion— anything that would give me a tell-tale sign of her feelings about ending our work together. But there was nothing. That is until:

“So, intercourse, and then we’re done?”

“Well, that’s generally how it—“

“Just wham, bam, thank you ma’am?” Her hands were on her hips now and the energy between us was shifting. Boy, she was a fiery little thing today. She hadn’t even blushed once yet. I wasn’t sure where this confidence was coming from, but I liked it.

Natalie

I wondered if he could tell I was nervous. Because inside I was shaking, out of my mind with nerves. I had turned around to walk back home, not just once, but twice. Then he had the nerve to scold me for being late—ha! Lucky for me though, sometimes this phenomenon happens when I get crazy-nervous: I get sassy. It’s happened ever since I was little, probably some sort of vestigial coping mechanism that I learned when I was a kid. When I’d get really scared, I’d start to get feisty, pretending that I was more confident than I actually was. A kind of fake-it-till-you-make-it on steroids.

“Can we get started?” I said, pulling my blouse over my head. Getting naked, I’d grown to realize, was the easy part.

Ryan cocked his head and looked at me from across the bed, and I struggled to assess his reaction in the dim lighting. Was he trying not to look at me?

“Of course. Why don’t you get in bed? I’ll be right back.”

He went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
Weird
, I thought as I peeled off my shorts and panties. I slid into the bed, the cool cotton sheets feeling good against my overheated skin.

I lay there for a few minutes.
What the hell is he doing in there?
I wondered, and I was almost going to get up and knock when the door opened.

Ryan stood in the doorway, the light of the bathroom illuminating a soft glow all around him. He was dressed in nothing but black boxer briefs, which hung just under his hips and tugged deliciously against the rippling muscles of his thighs. My breath hitched as my body rallied; he was quite a sight to behold— all golden, tattooed, and flawless. How was it possible for someone to actually look better naked than in clothes?

He walked over to the other side of the bed in silence and climbed in. The mattress sagged a bit under his weight and I automatically turned to face him.

“Hey,” he said looking up at me in the dim light.

“Hey,” I replied, breathlessly. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. The moment was finally here. I glanced down at my chest, checking to see if you could actually see my heart pounding.

“One more thing, Natalie. I want you to focus on the whole sexual act today, okay? Don’t focus on only getting to orgasm. What we’re doing here is a marathon, not a sprint, okay?”

I nodded, not entirely convinced.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said parting my legs.

He smiled. “Whoa, not so fast, Flash. Foreplay first, remember? We have to warm you up.”

Warm me up? Was he serious? Did he not know—fine. I gritted my teeth. Whatever—

“Whatever you say, doc,” I said, and he took his hand, running it along my hip, over my ass.

“Not a doctor yet. Although… fun fact, did you know that the tissue that makes up the clitoris, actually continues back into your body and wraps around the vaginal walls?”

I stared at him. “Did you just seriously say
fun fact
and
clitoris
in the same sentence?”

“What? Too sexy?”

I laughed. “Yeah, Doc. Too sexy.”

“Stop calling me Doc.”

“Eh, I rather like it, Doc.”

He ran his hand up over my hips and onto the small of my waist. “Natalie Reese, are you stalling me?” He murmured.