What A Girl Wants (17 page)

The problem with this being a serious fuck was that it drove home the concept that this entire scenario could be different. This could have potential. There might actually be a real adult relationship somewhere in the midst of all this, if she didn't blow it.

“You still with me?” Grant asked.

She moved her gaze down from the ceiling and looked in his eyes. He hovered above her with a quirky smile and his hair all over the place. She didn't want this to be just a one-night stand. Not that she didn't want to have sex with him . . . She absolutely did. But at the end of it, she wanted there to be the possibility of something more.

It was one thing to have a goal. And have that goal be to get a guy. And to analyze the getting of that guy with your friends in a sort of academic, joking way. But there came a point where you realize it wasn't just “get a guy.” It was “get a particular guy,” because there was something you really liked about him.

And the “get” concept seemed much sillier and more insignificant than the reality of the wanting felt. And she wanted Grant. But putting out every time she saw him probably wasn't going a long way toward showing him she was about more than just sex. And he, being a guy and all, couldn't be expected to necessarily interpret anything else.

“So, uh, tell me what it's like being a police officer,” Hayley asked.

He pulled back slightly, one eyebrow cocked. “Right now?”

“Maybe we should get to know each other a little better before we do this.”

“Do you want to stop?” He rested his hand on her thigh.

She swallowed and opened her mouth to say something. Nothing came out but a shaky breath of air and an uncontrollable grin.

He slowly skimmed his fingers up her thigh and then . . . hello! “I don't think you necessarily want to find out about a typical workday at the San Francisco Police Department right now.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “But let me know if I'm reading this wrong.” Then he chuckled.

Hayley laughed nervously in response, but was promptly cut off by a wave of pleasure that blindsided her nervous system and made her literally arch off the mattress. What on earth was he doing down there? And could she take it home with her?

And for once in her life, instead of analyzing everything, Hayley just stopped thinking and let it happen.

Which was really the best thing she could have done.

“How you doing?” he asked sometime afterward, when Hayley lay sprawled across the bed, numb or paralyzed or something similar that was causing her to go into a trancelike state.

She looked over and then did a double take. He was ready to go again. “Oh, my God,” she said before she could stop herself. Then she just laughed. Turned out, every last bit of creativity
hadn't
been completely sapped out of her.

When all was said and done, he was as trancelike as she had been. It was all he could do to roll over and wrap himself around her.

She was thinking up something incredibly witty to say when his breathing suddenly became suspiciously even. She glanced over her shoulder and found Grant already asleep.

Men. So predictable. But she had to give him bonus points for falling asleep in the spoon position. It wasn't like he'd rolled over and fallen asleep as far away as possible.

In fact, if one were to analyze it just a bit further, one could say that not only was he spooning, but he was in “boyfriend” position, with his face in her hair and one arm flung over her waist. That was definitely a good sign. . . . Wait a minute. Hayley's eyes flew open. A good sign unless it was reverse psychology.

An hour and a half later, after the entire evening was mentally calibrated, analyzed, compartmentalized, and fully assessed, Hayley finally fell asleep.

T
he minute Grant closed the bathroom door and turned the shower on, Hayley reached over the side of the bed and grabbed her purse.

She pulled out her cell phone, stared at it, then stuck it back in her bag. Then she pulled it out again . . . stared . . . stuck it back in her bag.

Last night was incredible. Grant was incredible. Maybe she should trust her instincts with whatever was going to come next. Maybe she didn't need advice.

Hayley pulled the phone out of the bag and stared at it some more. Who was she kidding? She couldn't take the chance of doing something stupid. It was her first night with the One, and she didn't want it to end up having been a one-night stand. Suz had so much more experience with this stuff.

Hayley leaned back against the headboard with the phone in her lap. She could hear Grant singing something in the shower; he had a pretty good voice, actually. And from her vantage point in the bedroom, he didn't appear to have any hobbies or habits Hayley objected to.

The walls displayed some police academy and baseball memorabilia, and from what she remembered of the other rooms, the rest of the apartment was pretty classic.

The bottom line was that he seemed like a keeper, and Hayley didn't want to take any chances. This was too important to go solo on. She quickly dialed Suz's cell number and put the phone to her ear.

“What's up?”

“Hi, Suz, it's me.”

“Hey, hey! How was your date last night?”

“It hasn't actually ended yet, if you get what I'm saying,” Hayley whispered.

“What? Oh! Excellent! Mine either.”

“Figured. That's why I called your cell. I'll make this quick. Here's the thing. I'm not exactly sure about the proper protocol here. You know, with the morning after and all. I don't want to mess this up.”

“Protocol?” Suz chuckled. “Okay, first things first. Whose place are you at?”

“His. Pretty nice apartment. He must have rent control.”

“That's nice, but we need to focus. Can I assume he's out of range?”

Hayley glanced at the bathroom door. “Yeah, he's in the shower. He offered to let me use it first, but I wanted to call you right away.”

“You have some options. Your decision should be partially based on how good he was in bed, whether or not you want to see him again, and whether or not you are
likely
to see him again.”

“I'm with you. Keep going.”

“Well, you can bolt. It's traditionally a male technique, but I've used it quite successfully, many times. But if you choose this one,
you'd better hurry, because it's best done in the middle of the night, while they're in the shower, or while they're cooking breakfast, depending on where the kitchen is located.”

At this point, Hayley started to question the wisdom of involving Suz, but what was done, was done.

“I suggest using the bolt if, a) you really don't want to see him again, or, b) you want to see him again but you want to play hard to get, which is risky, because now that you've slept with him, if he thinks you weren't up to snuff, it's pretty much all over. But in that case, now that I think about it, that's an argument for bolting right there.”

Grant started to hum the
M*A*S*H
theme song and Hayley smiled into the phone. “I want to see him again. Definitely. And I don't want to play hard to get. That sounds way too complicated for me. The advanced class. The big thing is that I don't want to seem like a lot of trouble. You know what I mean?”

“Mmm. Did he ask you to leave or offer you a ride home last night?” Suz asked.

“No . . . well . . . last night he offered to drive me home in the
morning
, but he wasn't suggesting that he drive me home right after the deed.”

“Good, good. Was there snuggling of any kind after the deed was done? And if so, how would you describe the nature of the snuggling?”

“There was snuggling.” Hayley smiled at the memory. “It was highly satisfactory, although I don't have much to compare it to. I'd describe it as more than token snuggling but not excessive. Not the kind of overblown snuggling that would make you feel stupid the morning after. He, uh, he actually kissed my forehead before falling asleep. Heh.”

“Impressive.”

“Oh! The water just stopped.” Hayley looked toward the bathroom in panic. “He's done showering. I gotta go, I gotta go.”

“Okay, pay attention. If he really doesn't look like a bad mistake right now, and there's a low embarrassment quotient, let him drive you home. But consider that you're going to be together in the car for fifteen to twenty minutes of morning-after weirdness. Are you with me?”

Morning-after weirdness? That did not sound appealing. Grant started whistling in the bathroom, and Hayley quickly said, “I don't know about that, Suz. What else you got?”

“Okay, if you want some middle ground, call a cab but wait for him to get out of the bathroom first so you can tell him you just didn't want him to go to the trouble of driving you home.”

“Jesus, this is a little complicated.”

“Just use the Rule of Three. It's very simple. Do this. He's going to ask you if you want a ride home. Protest. Twice. ‘No, no, I couldn't let you go out of your way like that. . . it's too far. . . yadda yadda.' Protest twice, and if he asks a third time, you're gold. It means he really wants to. And take the ride so
he
knows you really want to. Rule of Three, got it?”

“Suz, I gotta go.”

“No prob. But now you owe me details.”

“Sure, sure. I'll tell you everything on Sunday.” Hayley hung up just as Grant emerged from the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist.

Oh, wow. I think I'm in love. Ha-ha. Not really, but I could see it happening.

He looked curiously at her cell phone and then back at her. “Your turn.”

“Great.”
Uh-oh
. She hadn't quite done the logistics right. Now she'd have to get out of bed naked in front of him, unless he went into the kitchen. “You know, I think my, um, my, um, my keys are in the kitchen. Would you mind . . .”

“No problem.” He went into the closet and pulled on some sweats, then left the room. As soon as he was out the door, Hayley scrambled out of bed, pushed her clothes into a giant pile on the floor, picked up the pile, and ran into the bathroom.

She locked the door behind her and took a deep breath, then got into the shower. When she was finished, she dressed herself in last night's clothes and went into the kitchen.

Grant was sitting at the table with the newspaper and a box of Raisin Bran. “Can I offer you some breakfast before I drive you home?”

Protest once: “Oh! I don't want you to have to drive across the city just to get me home.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Okay. But it's really no trouble. I'm more than happy to do it.”

Protest twice: “No, seriously. It's too far. Have a nice breakfast and I'll take a cab. No big deal. I've got the number for a cab right here.”

He was silent, looking at her curiously for a moment. Then he just smiled and shrugged. “Sure, whatever you prefer.” He took the cab card from her hand and picked up the phone.

• • •

At Girlie Brunch, Diane shrugged, impressed. “Wow. That was quite a date. It started off miserably, took a turn for the better
after you got whopped by the ball, escalated into something pretty incredible, and then kind of ended with a whimper.”

“It did not end with a whimper,” Hayley insisted. “I admit I could have implemented the Rule of Three with a little more finesse, but for a first try, I think it went down okay. It was
not
a whimper.”

She was only insisting so much because she really
was
worried that it had ended with a whimper. But Grant had to know better than that. After all, they'd lived through that ridiculous dinner.

Audra bit her lower lip and rested her chin in her hand. “You're making me want to go out on a date.”

“So how long until he calls me, you think?” Hayley asked.

Suz shrugged. “My guess would be Tuesday. He probably wants more of what you gave him, yet he'll give you a couple of days to keep up appearances.”

“What do
you
guys think?”

“I think Suz is right,” Audra said. “Tuesday makes sense. It's early enough in the week to make a second Friday or Saturday date without suggesting that either party had nothing better to do. But it's not so early he looks desperate or disrespectful that he's calling you soon because he wants more sex.”

“I'm a little concerned about this Rule of Three, I have to be honest,” Diane said, frowning.

“I've used the Rule of Three a million times and I don't ever recall wishing the outcome had been different,” Suz said.

“But the thing is, you're so different from Hayley. If the outcome wasn't quite what you wanted, I don't think you'd really care. But Hayley would care. I think you approach the Rule of Three differently, and I also think you've had more experience using it.”

Hayley's stomach sank a little. She'd been pushing that last little exchange with Grant out of her mind, but it kept popping back up and bugging her. When she thought about it in hindsight, it felt like a bad memory. Like the one blot on an otherwise perfect date. Much better to think about the good parts. “It was the best sex of my life. In a way it's kind of horrifying, because it points out what I've been suspecting all along.”

“Which is?” Suz asked.

“That my sex life up until now has consisted almost entirely of bad sex. Bad college sex. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy messing around or getting riled up. But when it comes down to the serious action, we're talking about a career filled with unexceptional and sometimes totally unsuccessful sex with guys I don't think I was really all that thrilled to be having sex with. Yuck. It all seems so depressing . . . and sordid.”

Diane nodded. “Now you see where I'm coming from. I swear to God, I have enough credits to apply for a minor in bad college sex.”

Hayley giggled. “I hope he calls me soon. In any case, it's taking my mind off the job.”

“Are you all set for your first big week?” Audra asked.

“I almost don't even care,” Hayley said. “How bad could the job be, if things are going this well with Grant?”

Audra leveled her with a steely gaze. “You are glad you took the job, aren't you?”

Hayley snickered. “I'm not one hundred percent sure, actually. Some of it's a bit of a blur given that for at least part of the interview I was completely out of my head. What? It's true. I can't be held entirely responsible. They drugged me. At some point, I think I started to drool. By the time my new boss put the forms in front
of me, I'd ingested something like ten thousand times the recommended daily allowance of caffeine. Not to mention all the sugar, plus a vicious dog incident that I'm hoping was a drug-induced hallucination.”

“I don't think there
is
a recommendation for ingesting caffeine,” Diane said.

“My point exactly.
Not
recommended. The whole thing was, like, outside the realm of my control. I practically stumbled out of the building. I was
hyperventilating
.” Hayley started laughing at the memory.

The three other girls looked at each other in confusion. It made Hayley want to laugh even more.

Diane lifted an eyebrow and waited for Hayley's giggles to die down. “Are you suggesting that accepting the job was an accident? That you did so under the influence or under duress? That you won't take responsibility for your actions? And that you find this disaster humorous somehow?” She ticked the questions off her fingers and shook her head in disbelief.

“Of course not! I'm beyond all that.” Hayley was pretty sure, anyway. “I just think it's a funny story, and I'm saying that several factors combined, and I ended up getting rushed into making a choice that I might not have made under different circumstances. Sure, it was like this really terrible moment when it happened. But once I was away from the office, and my head—and my system—started to clear, it just seemed . . . hilarious.”

“Hilarious?” Audra asked, tightly.

“Correct me if I'm wrong.” Diane looked first at Audra and Suz, then turned to Hayley. “But I think I speak for all of us when I say that normally you'd be much more upset about this. What transpired—and with all due respect to Audra and her assistance
setting up the interview—I'd have to say that what transpired is a kind of a setback for you. You do see that?”

Audra huffed. “
I
wouldn't call it a setback.” She paused and looked down at the table. “Well, not exactly.”

“No, no,” Hayley protested. “Let me finish. Because then I got on the bus, and I thought to myself, “you know, it really is okay, because not everything has to happen at once.” And then after my date with Grant it became even more obvious. Because even if I hadn't made particularly impressive strides via proactive decision making in the job department, there was still him to be optimistic about.”