Atonement (The Atonement Series) (20 page)

I couldn’t hide the enthusiasm which suddenly filled my bones and made my skin tingle all over. It sounded slightly dangerous not having an itinerary but at the same time, it was daring and we only lived once. When we got back to Seattle, grown up responsibilities were facing us.

I would start a position at uConnect as HR Manager and Colin would be swamped with starting his own business. It sounded like quite the plan to just blow everything to the side and have the trip of our lives. It never hurt that money would never be an issue and as Colin knew how to drive a manual vehicle and understood how to read a map regarding all the major routes throughout Western Europe, we should be all right.

I nodded before I stood on my tip toes to kiss his sensual lips again. “It sounds like a plan that I would definitely love to explore with you in particular. How did you get so irresistible anyway?”

Colin smiled as he backed us toward the bed. “I’ve always had a certain
je ne sais quoi
most women don’t discover until they fall into bed with me. Looks like I have you completely and irrevocably under my skin so I don’t plan to let go, not now and certainly no time in the near future.”

“Good,” I began softly, “because I have an idea this will be an exciting and breathless ride never-the-less.”

“You can say that again,” he murmured as we collapsed on the bed and Colin kissed me again making me feel like I truly was the only girl in the world at that moment.

Chapter Thirteen

I GLANCED OFF
the balcony of our swanky apartment we’d rented from Airbnb in Nice and smiled because it was an expression that came much too easily to me in the short time since Colin and I had consummated our relationship.

The following day after we’d made love for the first time, I went out with Clarissa who was even more fun than I had any idea. I bought several pairs of designer clothes before we had lunch together and she filled me in on what had happened at university between her and Colin.

Afterwards, I took public transportation back to Colin’s grandparents’ house. We all had dinner that evening and the following morning, Colin and I boarded a flight from Oslo to Nice.

We had been in the beautiful southern French city for a little over a day and I’d loved every second of it. If Oslo had been lovely then Nice was mind-blowing. There was so much to see and yet so little time to do it.

Colin grabbed me from behind and kissed my neck. “Good morning, sweetie. It looks like it is going to be another beautiful day.”

I leaned into him and inhaled his manly scent. He’d just recently taken a shower while I’d had one before him and was dressed in a scarlet, short-sleeved babydoll dress while underneath was a matching scarlet bikini. My hair was flat-ironed and styled in a high pony-tail because it was much warmer than the city we’d just visited and damp hair against my neck was not an ideal way to spend the day.

“Morning, honey. You better put some clothes on so we can head over to the Promenade des Anglais. If the weather gets any warmer, I’m wearing my bikini so we are free to hang out on the beach for a while,” I replied.

“That sounds lovely.” Colin paused. “By the way, Caitlyn is on the phone for you.”

I turned around and hit his bare chest playfully. “You are such a jerk. I don’t exactly relish sharing my love life with my younger sister.”

He kissed my lips quickly before he handed my Android phone to me. “Well, you just did.”

“Go back inside before I rip your towel away and reveal the family jewels to every passing French person and tourist walking by!” I admonished playfully.

Colin merely smiled as he lustfully looked at me, turned around and strode back inside our apartment.

I watched him walk away and could barely disguise the look of lust on my face before I heard Caitlyn clear her throat rather loudly through the phone. “Okay, what the hell is going on and why is Colin all the sudden calling you ‘sweetie’?”

“Oh, hello, Cait. How are you and what the hell are you doing calling us at eleven in the morning? It’s two in Seattle. Why are you still up? Don’t you have to work today or something?” I greeted in a rather snippy voice.

“I took today off so I can stay up as late as I want. Actually, I just spent the most amazing time with Liam at the Last Supper Club. He and the other two co-owners of uConnect are celebrating. There is a major tech corporation interested in buying their company. They would all continue to run it but it would be under the tech corporation’s umbrella. They’d rather sell outright than take the company public. They are determined not to be another Facebook and make a major mistake if you know what I mean.” Caitlyn explained.

My sister was a very good at hiding her drunkenness and although she was careful not to slur her words, I knew she was well past the legal limit. “Where are you now?”

“I’m at Liam’s. His condo is absolutely amazing! I am so jealous and I completely understand why you didn’t mind sharing Colin’s for that week Aubrey was staying at your townhouse. The view, the indoor patio…I’m in love!” she exclaimed with a great deal of enthusiasm.

“That’s great.”

I had to bite my tongue not to say anything else. I knew what the inside of Liam’s condo looked like because I’d been there. I’d slept in his bed and we’d had sex previous to me hooking up with his brother. I had so much to be ashamed about and my sister brought all this back to the forefront merely by mentioning what a great condo Liam possessed.

“So, you know I have to ask…have you slept with Colin? He sounded way too familiar when he picked up your phone. It’s extremely intimate when you think about it—I mean he had no idea it was me. I could have been another man for all he knew.”

I chuckled at that statement. “Um, honey, just because we are out of the country doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with my caller ID. Your ring tone and shiny happy face tipped him off it wasn’t my secret lover in the States named Bob.”

“I’m just saying…what’s going on between you two because if this is a strictly vacation-type deal then I would seriously reconsider it. I’m dating Liam and that means you are going to be seeing Colin quite often too. If nothing serious is going on then you shouldn’t make him believe something you have no intention of following through with—”

“It’s not just a holiday thing so you can save yourself a coronary,” I interrupted before I switched ears and walked further out onto the balcony. “We’ve really bonded and discovered we have more in common than we thought. I seriously like the guy and I am just in love with his body. And the sex…well, I don’t kiss and tell but I will give you a one word answer: amazing!”

“Whoa. Can I just say I am a bit jealous? It’s been forever for me and Liam wants to take it slow because he has a serious feeling I might be the one. Can you imagine? Not that I don’t find that cool and all but women need sex too and I think men sometimes forget that.” She paused before she inquired, “Did your affair start before you left Seattle?”

“No, it didn’t. Just because I was borrowing a bedroom in his condo doesn’t mean I was paying for it every night with pussy. He asked me to stay and I happily obliged but nothing was going on between us physically at the time.”

“Jeez, Deirdre, do you have to be so crass? You know how much I hate the ‘p’ word—it’s vulgar and unladylike,” Caitlyn responded in a haughty manner.

“Listen,
Mom
, sorry if I resent your attitude that what you and Liam have is so deep when he has the reputation of being a player to end all players yet what Colin and I have is just some sort of vacation fling that could possibly mean nothing. It’s outrageous, presumptuous and downright rude!” I explained in a no-nonsense voice while managing to keep my anger in check.

Caitlyn sighed out loud. “I really do think you are taking this way too seriously. I didn’t mean the statement the way it came out and no, I am not trying to act like our mother, or did you suddenly forget I’m younger than you?”

“Didn’t say you were but you have no right to question what kind of relationship I have with Colin either. It’s serious, we care about one another and this isn’t a vacation fling—you get me?”

“Course I get you. I just don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all. Not to mention you still have Drew, remember him? You’ve kept that guy hangin’ on a string for
years
, Deirdre. Why don’t you just be honest with him and tell him you have absolutely no desire to get back together with him. As far as he’s concerned, he still talks about you like he’s in love with you and that’s not right.”

“Believe me he knows because I told him before I left. Listen to me carefully because I am getting tired of repeating myself: my relationship with Drew is very fucking complicated. I’m not even going to bother getting into a discussion about it right now while I am on vacation with someone else. He hasn’t exactly kept it wrapped in cotton wool, you know. He gets around and he sleeps with whom ever he wants and not once have I complained because I know there is no him
and
me. Yes, we occasionally used to have our bootie calls but we’ve moved beyond it and I think it’s good someone like Aubrey is staying with him. It makes him realize there are plenty of other fish in the sea and I am far from the only woman out there,” I explained in a calm tone.

Caitlyn breathed into the phone. “Listen, I have to go but keep in touch and have fun, okay? Love you, sis.”

“Love you too, honey,” I responded before I ended the call.

I turned around to see a fully dressed Colin in a pair of cargo shorts and a vintage Deftones tee shirt. “You ready to go see the sights?”

“Yep.” I walked inside, grabbed my Louis Vuitton slouchy bag which not only had my wallet and passport but also my iPod and Kindle Fire. I knew we could rent or buy beach towels and sunblock if we decided to lay out on the beach.

Shortly afterwards, we left the small studio apartment we were renting holding hands.

A FEW HOURS
on the Promenade des Anglais was a revelation indeed. The place was packed with both locals and tourists. We walked along the busy sidewalks and passed famous landmark hotels, cafés and the beach. The weather was nice enough that both Colin and I decided to rent a spot under the huge blue and white umbrellas where we could lay out and generally have a lazy day.

After we stopped into Monoprix and loaded up on wine, plastic cups, lager, pre-made sandwiches, water, chips and cookies for dessert, we paid for a spot and settled underneath an open umbrella with two sun loungers underneath it.