The One: The Complete One Series Collection (3 page)

CHAPTER THREE

I lay with my eyes closed for several minutes after I woke up. Only when I was certain that William wasn’t lying next to me did I finally open them. The awkward thing about one-night stands isn’t so much about the night. It’s about the morning after. It’s much harder to face your impulsive choices in the stark light of day.

The sheets next to me were rumpled but empty. I could hear William moving around in the other room, and his voice carried through the half-opened bedroom door. He was on the phone again, likely closing important deals. At some point I should’ve probably as
ked him exactly what he did for a living. I wrapped the sheet around my body and began searching for my clothes. I found them neatly folded on the dresser, with a note on top of them.

             
              “
Breakfast and coffee in the next room. Please join me.
”

It was such a typical William thing to do. Then again, I didn’t really know William so I wasn’t sure if it was typical or if William was just playing some idealized version of himself. I slipped on my underwear but thought better of putting on my wrinkled dress. William’s dress shirt hung on the back of the door, so I slipped it on and buttoned a couple of buttons. It was long enough that it came to mid-thigh on me. I
rolled up the sleeves and took a quick look in the mirror. What I saw was less than impressive.

I wiped away the raccoon eyes ca
used by sleeping in my wedding makeup and used my fingers to comb out my hair. The result was less than perfect, but it was good enough to get me through morning-after breakfast and coffee.

William was still on the phone, standing in front of the windows and wearing nothing but his boxer briefs. The sun was still rising and it cast a warm glow on his body that made him look even better than I remembered. It didn’t seem fair that he could look so amazing this morning while I looked like I had been hit by a truck. A very weird part of me wanted to sneak up behind William and wrap my arms around him. I was positive that if I actually did that, William would call security and have me taken away. I reached for the coffee instead.

I either hadn’t made enough noise to draw his attention, or William was pretending I wasn’t there. Either way, I enjoyed the freedom to watch him while I munched on a bagel. I could tell from the tense set of his shoulders that it was a serious conversation.

“That’s not going to work for me. What about the next week?” William started to pace and his profile revealed that his jaw was clenched. He had a very nice profile, I decided. I poured another cup of coffee. “This is ridiculous. Why would you think I would agree to that?”

William whirled on his heel and began pacing in the other direction. This time, his eyes found me and he stopped in mid-stride. “Hang on,” he said into the phone. He put the phone on mute and came over to me.

“I’m sorry about this. It will just be a few more minutes.”

“Don’t mind me,” I said with a gracious smile as I looked at the plentiful spread of food before us. “I’m good here.”

William smiled tightly and he dropped a kiss onto my forehead. “I’ll make it quick,” he promised. He headed to the bedroom and didn’t begin talking again until the door was shut.

After eating a couple of strawberries, I grew restless and decided to nose around the room a bit. William’s wallet lay on the coffee table and I couldn’t resist. I checked to make sure the bedroom door was still shut, and then I opened the wallet. His Illinois license confirmed that his name was William J. Connor. He was 6’2”, and 180lbs of pure muscle. His address was in the swanky part of Chicago, not surprisingly.

“Hm. An organ donor.” It figured. Everything else about him was so perfect, it made sense he would be equally perfect in death.

A couple of credit cards, a gym membership, and about five hundred dollars in cash completed everything William carried around with him on a daily basis. I was not exactly surprised by what I found, but I was glad I hadn’t found pictures of a wife and kids. I tossed the wallet down and resumed my snooping. I found a bag on the floor next to the couch and peeked inside.

“I leave you alone for five minutes,” William scolded me. I hadn’t heard him return, but I didn’t apologize.

“A stuffed alligator? Is there something you should tell me? Do you have a furry fetish?” I smiled sweetly at him and he returned my smile easily.

“After last night, I think you would know if I had a fetish.” William gestured to the bag while I blushed. “My niece has a thing for alligators.”

“Your niece?” I shook my head in disbelief. The man not only knew what his niece was into, but he also took the time to buy her a gift. “Figures.”

William was lost. “I’m sorry?”

“Never mind.” I waved away his confusion. “I just haven’t had enough coffee yet.”

“You drank half a pot in about fifteen minutes.” William titled his head at me. “Is there something
you
should tell
me
? Are you an addict?”

“I am, actually.” I frowned. “I tend to indulge in things that aren’t good for me.”

“Is that what happened last night?” William moved closer to me and I responded in kind.

I waited until we were only inches apart before answering. “That depends. Are you bad for me?” I placed a hand on his chest and felt his heart jump beneath my touch.

William took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I could never be bad for you,” he said, closing his eyes. “But I think you could be very bad for me.”

“Should I go then?” I asked, already knowing what his answer would be.

William kept his eyes closed and shook his head slowly. He was attempting to restrain himself, but I could tell he was about to fail. When he finally opened his eyes, the defeat was obvious. “Stay,” he whispered.

“I have some time before I have to catch my flight,” I said, letting my hand trail from William’s chest down his ripped abdominal muscles. “What did you have in mind for us?”

William had recomposed himself and the familiar teasing smile had returned. “I thought maybe I could show you the shower.”

“The s
hower? Sounds promising.”

His smile grew. “I think you’ll be quite impressed.”

Yet again, William was right. This wasn’t a normal shower.

“This isn’t a shower,” I said, after taking it in. “This is a sex room.”

“A what?” William laughed.

“This is a room designed for sex. And it just happens to have water.” I pointed to the crisp, glass
shower door that left nothing to the imagination, and the many different showerheads. It was big enough for at least six people to shower at the same time.

William laughed again and stepped behind me, sliding one arm around my waist, not so differently from what I had pictured doing to him earlier. His chin nestled into the crook of my neck as he said, “There’s only one way to find out if you’re right.”

I could feel his warm breath on my skin, and his hand had already slipped inside my- rather, his- shirt. He spun me around and pressed his lips to mine. “Get in. I’ll join you in a second.”

His hands slipped away and I wanted to pull him back to me. “Where are you going?”

“To gather essentials,” he said with a wink.

“Oh. Good call.” William didn’t leave anything to chance, which I appreciated. I
quickly removed my clothes. After stepping into the shower, it took several seconds to figure out how to turn on the water but when I did, it was glorious. Water poured from every conceivable corner of the shower. Some of it was gentle, while other areas of water pulsed with force. I moaned with pleasure. A girl could get used to a shower like this.

William was gone longer than I had expected, so I helped myself to some shampoo and began to lather my hair. I had an old Led Zeppelin song stuck in my head for some reason, and I began to sing it softly as I rinsed the shampoo from my hair.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for a Zeppelin girl,” William said.

My eyes had been closed to keep from getting shampoo in them but they flew open at the sound of his voice. He was s
tanding before me in the shower in all his naked glory, and I drank it in.

“I’m full of surprises,” I said. I turned my back to him to adjust the water temperature. It had gotten significantly hotter in the shower since William’s arrival. “You were gone a while. You didn’t run into any problems gathering essentials, did you?”

William pressed behind me again, and this time when his arm circled me, his hand moved lower. “No problems. I just had to take another quick call.”

“You’re very popular. People can’t get enough of you.” I clenched in surprise as William’s hand slid between my legs. I could feel him responding in return as he pushed against my back.

“I hope that’s the case,” he said with his lips pressed to my shoulder. His other hand found my left breast and he caressed it gently. I began to relax against him and that’s when he pushed his finger inside of me. I gasped with pleasure. He began to move it slowly, sliding it in and out. Soon he slipped another finger inside as well and picked up speed. I reached behind me and groped until I found his penis, already hard and ready.

As William continued to pulse in and out of me with his fingers, I matched his rhythm with my hands. It was a bit of a contortionist act on my part, but based on his
groans of pleasure, it was working. Just as I was about to reach climax, William’s hand dropped away.

It took me by surprise and I let go of him as well. For a second, I couldn’t feel him against me anymore and then he spun me around so that I was facing him. “I want to see you,” he said. In those brief seconds he had retrieved a condom and put it in place.

I nodded to let him know that I was ready, more than ready, and he lifted me off the ground, pinning me to the shower wall. The walls were made of granite, and were slippery when wet. But then again, so were we. It took a second for us to find our balance but once we did, William didn’t waste any time. I cried out as he entered me, relishing the feeling of him deep inside my body. Last night we had gone slow, taking time to enjoy the feeling of our bodies working together. This morning was different.

Not only were we facing
a precarious slippery situation that could ruin the moment at any second, we had also had a taste of what we were in for and now we wanted it again, as quickly as possible.

William struggled
to find his footing while holding me to the wall. I felt helpless until I realized there was a small ledge, about ten inches off the ground, running the length of the shower. It was likely there to keep the water from cascading onto the bathroom floor, but it served a dual purpose of being a perfect shower-sex perch. My feet found it and held firm, allowing William to concentrate on more important things than keeping me in place.

We dispensed with the foreplay and titillation and concentrated only on the grand finale. We were both more urgent this time, William in his powerful thrusting and me clutching him desperately close to my body. I came first this time, letting out a startled yell
of delight and William came just seconds later, moaning my name as he finished.

We stood rooted in place for a long time, panting and waiting for our hearts to stop racing. I let my hands graze the hair on the back of William’s neck and
I brushed it gently with the tips of my fingers. He sighed against my neck. “You were right, Livy,” he said after a few minutes had passed.

“
Hm? Right about what?” At that moment it was a miracle I even remembered my name, let alone what I might be right about.

“This was definitely designed for sex,” he said.

I laughed loudly and hugged him close. “There’s one thing you should know about me, William. I’m always right.”

“I have no doubt about that,” he said, right before his lips found mine.

The shower-sex took longer than I had expected. I was barely going to have enough time to grab my luggage from my room and make it to the airport in time for my flight. William tried more than once to convince me to stay longer.

“You can catch a different flight,” he said for the third time as I stooped to put on my heels. I was going to have to do the walk of shame in my bridesmaid’s ensemble but I didn’t care.

“I can’t. I have to be back in time for my friend’s birthday dinner tonight.” Thomas and I had been best friends since we were fourteen and he would never forgive me if I missed his thirtieth birthday dinner. “I really do have to go.”

William didn’t seem to hear me. He was busy nuzzling my neck and trying to unzip my dress. “What’s that?”

“William. I’m serious.” I pushed him away. It was hard to stick to my convictions with him looking at me so sweetly. “One-night stand, remember? This ends here.”

William winced. “It doesn’t have to. We both live in Chicago.”

“It does have to.” I couldn’t explain it to William, but I had made a deal with myself that I was starting fresh with my life when I got home. I had a new job starting tomorrow, and I was determined to leave my past behind me, where it belonged. Including William.