The Arrangement (17 page)

‘Hi.
I would like two more bottles of wine sent up to the room.’ She
winked at Lucas. ‘Thank you.’ She hung up the phone.

‘Do
you plan to get me drunk and take advantage of me?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’
She reached up and stroked her hand against the side of his face. He
found himself leaning against her touch. ‘Do you think that is
a good plan? You can use that as an excuse for making love to me.’

‘You
don’t need to get me drunk to make love to you.’ He
stroked his hand down her arm and onto her shoulder. For a brief
moment his fingertips played with the hair thin shoulder strap of her
night gown. He toyed with the idea of knocking it away and opening up
the front of her dress, but the angel upon his shoulder reminded him
of Scarlett.

She
was the woman he loved.

This
was all wrong and it had gone on for far too long.

He
had to maintain his self-control.

Lucas
let out a sad deep sigh and pulled his hand away.

‘Is
something wrong?’ she asked.

‘I
can’t do this. I’m sorry.’ He dropped his head
down.

Emma
placed her finger on his chin and lifted him to face her. ‘Don’t
be sorry.’ She smiled lovingly at him. ‘You love your
fiancée and she is a very lucky woman to have you.’ Emma
got up off his bed and headed over to hers. She dropped her head down
onto the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. ‘You still have
one question left.’

A
frown creased on his brow, as he searched the room for something to
say.

‘Do
you want to watch a movie?’

Emma
laughed. ‘Sure, why not.’

***

The
sound of the waves crashing against the sandy shore echoed off into
the night sky. It was a unique and relaxing sound. Scarlett always
used to imagine it was the sound of mother earth’s heartbeat.
With her high heel shoes in hand she walked barefoot across the
beach. The feel of the sand between her toes felt almost therapeutic
and sent light tingles along the soles of her feet. Above her a
billion stars twinkled against the deep place of space. Not a single
cloud defiled this heavenly view. They were so far out of the way
that the only lights from civilisation were from the port a little
over ten minutes further down the shore.

‘This
is my favourite spot in the whole wide world,’ said Brandon.

‘I
can see why.’ They walked side by side down the vacant beach.
‘How did you find this place?’

‘Well,
I grew up in a small town about fourteen miles along the shore in
that direction.’ He pointed in the opposite direction to the
lights of the city. ‘My friends and I spent most of our days
down at the beach or the cliff tops. We sometimes used to climb all
the way up to the top of the cliffs and dive into the ocean. I
wouldn’t be brave enough, or stupid enough, to do that today.’
He laughed. ‘We were lucky no one got seriously hurt, but I did
enjoy swimming. It used to help me stay relaxed and chilled out, but
it is a good work out and keeps me fit. I have tried other forms of
training, but I don’t really see this as training because it is
so much fun.’

They
exchanged smiled.

Scarlett
was listening intently to his story.

‘When
I got married we moved into the city and away from the beach. I
didn’t really think about it much at the time. It was one of
those out of sight out of mind situations because I was newly
married. I was excited about my new life, and I didn’t really
think much about my old life. It was when things started to go wrong
in our marriage that I started to get out the house more just to
avoid the arguments, or just to avoid those uncomfortable silences. I
stumbled upon this beach, and I started coming down here every now
and again, and I fell in love with the place.’ He gently held
her by the wrist and turned her slowly so that Scarlett’s back
was facing the ocean. At the edge of the sand was an incline covered
in a sort of tall lanky pine tree. The incline went up slowly, but
climbed fairly high and about two hundred meters from the shore was a
house standing on top of the hill. ‘When my wife and I
separated I brought that house.’

‘Wow.’
She couldn’t hide her surprise. ‘You live there?’

‘Yep,’
Brandon said with a smile. ‘It was a little expensive, but it
was either that, or a sports car that I would look a bit silly in.’

Scarlett
laughed.

‘I
am jealous,’ she said. ‘You have a beautiful house by the
beach. It must give you so much inspiration to write.’

‘It
does,’ he agreed. ‘I like to come down here and listen to
the sound of the waves when I am in the book planning stage. I like
to get myself out of the house and away from my computer.’

‘You
like to put yourself in a fresh environment,’ Scarlett
suggested.

‘That
is it exactly.’ They began to walk a little further down the
beach. ‘When I have finished the first draft of a book I come
down here and read through it. Just lay back enjoy the sun and review
my work. You should come down here and try it.’

‘I
think I might take you up on that offer.’

‘I
hope you do. It can get pretty lonely down here.’ He confessed.

Scarlett
glances out the corner of her eye and just caught the pained
expression upon his charming face. He had said that with a smile, but
she could see through the windows of his soul that he was lonely.

‘Can
I ask you a personal question?’ she asked.

‘You
can ask me anything.’

‘Okay.’
Scarlett took a deep breath and nodded her head. ‘Do you miss
your wife?’

Brandon
shrugged his muscular shoulders. ‘I do, sometimes.’

‘What
do you miss about her?’

‘I
think I miss having the company of someone I trust and adore, you
know? I think I miss having that intimacy with another human being.
The type of intimacy where you can look them straight in the eyes and
know exactly what they are thinking without anyone having to say
anything. I miss having someone to talk to and miss having someone to
experience the good times with and…’ he thought about it
for a second.

‘Yes?’
she prompted.

‘I
miss the sex.’ He smiled.

Scarlett
couldn’t halt her cheeks from glowing red.

‘Ha,
you do look cute when you blush.’

His
words only went to make her blush so much that she nearly glowed.
Scarlett turned her eyes to the sand below and tried to hide the
smile his compliment had given birth to.

‘It
is okay to blush, you know? You don’t have to be embarrassed.’

‘I
just feel a bit silly,’ she replied.

‘Why
do you feel silly?’

‘It
feels like it has been so long since anyone has said anything nice to
me.’

Brandon
came to an abrupt stop. ‘Now, I don’t believe that for
one second.’

Scarlett
stopped walking and turned to face him. ‘It is true. Things
with Lucas have been strange for a while now. It feels like it has
been a lifetime since he has said anything nice to me, or done
anything nice for me, and then here you are taking me out to an
amazing restaurant, showing me this beautiful beach, and being so
open and honest with me.’

‘That’s
what friends do.’

‘I
know it’s just.’ She flapped her arms in the air. ‘I
don’t know. You said about how you miss the intimacy of a
relationship, and how you miss sharing the company of someone you
care for so much, and the knowing what your lover is thinking without
anything being said. You said you also miss the sex.’

‘I
did.’

‘I
miss all these things, too, but the sad fact is I am in a
relationship.’ Scarlett let out a defeated sigh. ‘If I am
going to be honest with you this has been the best night I have had
in god knows how long. It is not because of the beach or the lovely
dinner, but because I feel you and I have a really good connection.
You are easy to talk too and funny, gifted and interesting. I cannot
remember the last time I had a decent conversation with Lucas.’

Brandon
smiled sweetly at her.

‘I
feel the same way. Tonight has felt like a breath of fresh air for
me. I don’t think I even used to talk this much even when I was
with my ex-wife.’ He took a step towards her. ‘I knew at
the book store that you were a beautiful and gifted woman, but I
never believed that by the end of tonight I would be feeling the way
I do.’

‘And
how do you feel?’ Scarlett spoke softly, as he moved into her
personal space. She had to tilt her head back to look up at him. Her
heart was beating faster and faster within her chest and her mouth
was feeling increasingly dry.

‘I
feel that I could look into your eyes and know exactly what you’re
thinking.’ She looked up into those deep brown eyes. His stare
was so intense and powerful that she truly believed that he could see
straight through her like some kind of mind reader.

‘And
what am I thinking?’

He
began to lean down towards her.

‘You
are thinking that you want to kiss me,’ he spoke at a whisper.

‘What
are you thinking?’ she whispered back.

‘That
I want to kiss you, too.’

Scarlett
could feel her heart melting within her chest at the feel of his lips
pressing firmly against her. For a long drawn out moment the kiss was
a sweet loving kiss that carried the full weight of his feelings and
emotions for her. It quickly turned into something else. She wasn’t
sure who had been the one to do it, or if it had almost been a joint
thing through telepathy, but their mouths opened and their tongues
slipped inside. It could no longer be classed as a kiss. They were
devouring each other with deep forceful lustful kisses. A thousand
butterflies fluttered within the depths of her stomach at the feel of
his hand stroking up the side of her body. The two of them tilted
their heads from side to side, switching the position of the kiss,
but never breaking their tongues from the private dance that went on
within their mouths.

Suddenly,
Scarlett pulled back.

‘I’m
sorry.’ She looked like she was about to cry. ‘I can’t
do this.’

Brandon
looked momentarily confused, but his face relaxed into that charming
smile. ‘It is okay. I am sorry. Do you want me to take you
home?’

‘Yes…
please.’ Scarlett looked everywhere possible, but directly at
him.

***

The
image of the handsome hero faded from the television screen and the
credits began to roll. Lucas had never been so relieved in all his
life to see the end credits of the movie. It wasn’t that the
movie was bad. He couldn’t really remember much about it. If
someone suddenly started asking random questions on this movie, he
wouldn’t have enough information to provide them with the
answers. He had been too distracted.

It
had all started when they had booked the movie. It seemed like a good
way of misdirecting the rather sexual conversation they had been
having. A couple of hours of silence watching a movie would do the
two of them good. The problem was that the television was on the
dressing table, which stood against the wall directly in line with
the foot of Lucas’s bed. It meant that Emma didn’t get a
very good view from her bed. She had taken the initiative to climb
into bed with Lucas and sit beside him. This had made Lucas feel
slightly uncomfortable, but Emma was on her best behaviour and the
two of them watched the movie. It was when the movie was about twenty
minutes in that things started to happen.

Emma
had become restless.

She
shuffled and moved about trying to get comfortable.

In
the end she decided on placing her head on Lucas’s chest and
cuddling into him. This had been the point that Lucas lost track of
the film. All he was aware of what this gorgeous woman in her very
revealing night gown cuddling into him. It took every ounce of
self-control he had not to do what the demon of lust, lurking in the
depths of his unconscious mind, wanted him to do.

Emma
let out a sad sigh.

‘What’s
wrong?’ asked Lucas.

‘I
was just thinking I wish life was like that.’

‘Like
what?’

She
turned her eyes up towards him. ‘It would be nice if life could
provide you with a happy ending, you know? It seems life is anything
but happy and straightforward. In these movies they meet the person
of their dreams and instantly hit it off and go on a whirlwind
adventure and fall madly in love. The real world isn’t like
that.’ She let out another sad sigh.

Lucas
wasn’t sure what to say.

‘I
just wish someone could love me.’ He could feel the loneliness
in her voice.

‘I…’
he began to speak, but quickly stopped himself.

A
cheeky smirk climbed up the side of her face. ‘I mean I have
found the man that I want to be with. If this was a movie then you
would announce how attracted you are to me and nothing would stop us
from ripping each other’s clothes off and making mad passionate
love.’

Lucas
swallowed down the lump in his throat.

‘Life
is complicated,’ he blurted out.

‘Life
is only as complicated as you make it,’ she corrected him.

‘I
think sometimes life is just complicated.’

‘Oh,
is that so?’ Emma raised her eyebrows. ‘You know I would
let you do anything you wanted to me and I know you want to do
naughty things with me. We are alone in a hotel room, where no one
knows us, and no one will ever know what goes on inside this room.
What is so complicated about this decision?’

Lucas
looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck.

‘Life
is only as complicated as you make it,’ Emma repeated.

She
sat up on the edge of the bed and reached for the bottle of wine on
the bedside table. Her hand swayed slightly, as she attempted to
re-fill their empty wine glasses. The slow rocking motion of her body
was a very clear sign that the alcohol was starting to get to her
head. She slammed the wine bottle down a little harder than she had
meant to and pouted.