Page 13 of After Care

“What?”

“You had me down on my knees when I saw you again.” He misquoted the song, but his voice lowered, and I shivered under the deep tenor of his voice. The seductive song was certainly not me. I was no temptress like that. I continued to laugh, shaking my head.

“What do you think?” One eyebrow rose on his playful face.

“For myself?” I sat forward for a moment. “Maybe more ‘Landslide’.”

His face lowered. “How old are you?”

“Forty-three.”

He stared at me. “You’re not dead.”

“Not yet,” I chuckled without humor, and an awkwardness fell between us.

“I don’t mean that,” he corrected. “I mean, that song’s about change. What are you reflecting on?”

“Life,” I said, adamantly, letting my eyes drift to the bed.

“Darlin’,” he said, leaning on the table. Why did the way he say that endearment make my skin tingle? He had a touch of Southern drawl, but it was the way he purposely rolled the r that made my insides leap. “How many one-night stands you have in life?”

I sat up straighter at the question.

“Why?” His hand lowered, and I prepared for him to smack the table in frustration. “None,” I answered. He swept his hand outward toward the bed, and I lowered my eyes. “It’s morning,” I justified.

He laughed. A hearty, rock the table, belly full of laughter.

“Okay, so what about me?” he asked.

“'No More I Love Yous’.” The Annie Lennox song spilled out of my mouth. He sat straighter, his eyes not even blinking. I smiled to soften the odd choice of words. “I mean, who wouldn’t love a song that uses the word woebegone?”

“Is woebegone how you see me?” His voice sobered, and I didn’t want to ruin the playfulness of this game.

“No,” I tapped my chin, lying, because there was a sadness just under the surface of him, just under the tattoo over his heart, that I couldn’t read. “I think ‘I Put a Spell On You’ might be more fitting.”

“You think I put a spell on you, darlin’?” He questioned, his mouth curling at one corner.

“Definitely,” I said. “Most definitely,” I added, nodding. The flirtation smoldered between us. “Actually,” I paused. “I was going to name you a Bee Gees’ song, but you don’t strike me as a Bee Gees kind of guy.” I lowered my tone to match his, as he kept telling me I didn’t seem one way or another.

He laughed again, drumming his hands on the table and making his coffee mug rattle.

“That reminds me. You owe me a dance.”

4

Walk of Shame

Breakfast had been sweet, and parting did include sorrow, but as the flirting ran dry, it was either to bed again or exit. As I seemed to be in a pattern of flight, I opted to leave, but not before Tommy questioned me.

“Why’d you run last night, darlin’?” he asked. I didn’t have a good answer. Did I tell the truth that I panicked? Did I lie and say it was my normal response to awkward situations? I’d seen his face when we finished, and I couldn’t read him. I didn’t know him. I was caught between shame and thrill.

“I don’t know.” That was the best answer I could give him. We stood at his door after I thanked him once again for breakfast. Was I supposed to thank him for sex as well? I had no idea how to do this sort of thing. I’d been with David for twenty years. When we finished sex, we rolled over, each to our own corner of the bed. Sometimes, we didn’t even say goodnight.

Tommy stroked my cheek with the thick pad of his thumb. His eyes searched mine, and I realized there would be no words between us. He kissed me softly, tenderly, sweetly. It was a kiss of goodbye, and I wanted to cry as his mouth covered mine, pulling at my lip as if to say, take care, and I’ll think of you, and this was fun. The last one cheapened the experience just a little, and I lightly pressed on his chest to signal I couldn’t take any more.

I returned to my room, showered with quiet tears, and put on my bathing suit to brave the walk of shame in front of my children. Masie texted me to say she was already at the pool. Caleb hadn’t even gotten out of bed until I entered the small condo. He called out a sleepy hello, and I answered with, “I’m showering.” He left me a note, he was pool bound as well.

I quickly found Masie in the middle of the hubbub of rock stars. Surrounded by subtle bodyguards I hadn’t noticed the day before, Gage and crew had a small section of the pool deck quarantined. Ivy waved me over, alerting the pool security I was with them as I drew near. To my surprise, Tommy sat in a lounge chair, laidback and relaxed as if not a care in the world. As if he hadn’t rocked my world with mind blowing sex in a position I’d practically never experienced. I sighed, attempting to hold my head high as I passed the chairs filled with lazy rock stars to an empty one next to Ivy.