The Unexpected Series (Unexpected #1-3) (5 page)

This kiss is unlike last nights. It is slow and sensual, making me rethink my exit. Both of his hands now hold my head firmly, thumbs on my cheeks, pulling me deeper into him. His tongue breaks the barrier of my lips. The sweet taste of sugar invades my mouth making me hungry for more, but he unexpectedly stops. Deep green irises greet mine when my eyelids flutter open.

“Your ex is stupid, you know? You’re so beautiful and sexy. Give me your number.” His authoritative tone almost has me giving in. I didn’t plan on a one night stand, but it happened and it needs to be left at just one night.

“No.” I slowly unwind my traitorous arms from around his neck and pull his hands away from my face bending down to retrieve the shoes I didn’t realize I dropped.

“Well, let me give you my number. That way if you change your mind, you can call me.” Walking over to the table he retrieves a pen but I’m already opening the door.

“No. I’m sorry. I needed last night, and it was amazing, but I just got out of a relationship. I don’t think starting up something new is a good idea right now.”

I push the door open more and see his unsure eyes watch me go. He is so hot. As my feet lure me towards the elevator I assure myself that I will regret not getting his number.

~~

T
he lobby of the hotel is quiet and lonely. The front desk clerk hardly acknowledges me as my bare feet walk across the washed out green carpet. I know she is silently judging me in my wrinkled dress and messy hair. As I plunk down into a chair by the coffee station I wish I brought a hair tie or at least a brush. I called Noelle from the elevator and told her where to come get me. I hold her responsible for all of this. She fed me my first couple of drinks and after that the others were more than welcome. I didn’t have to drink them, but who am I kidding, being wound up I needed to let go. The last few weeks I have been walking around feeling sorry for myself. Letting out a small aggravated breath I think about how much I don’t want Robert's cheating on me, with a married woman no less, to define me. It will hurt for a while. The knife to my heart came when he said that I was uninteresting in bed. Making love was the most sacred thing to me. I gave all of myself to him and let myself be exposed. I trusted Robert and if there was a problem he should have talked to me, told me how he felt or showed me what he wanted. After last night I know that I would have enjoyed all that with him. It’s not that our sex life was so vanilla but there was never any raw passion. Maybe you just can’t talk that one out.

Leaving Walker's room I thought I would regret last night but the more I am left to my own mind the more I realize I won’t. He promised me I would never forget it, and he sure as hell is right. I never felt so sexy in my life. My body rising and falling on top of his made me feel like a woman in control and not someone who lets others make decisions for her. I’ve spent most of my twenties letting another person dictate where I can go, what I can do and who I can and should hang out with. He may not have realized it, but Walker showed me I can make my own choices. Even if that choice was to ride him like a cowgirl.

My back straightens when I think I’ve made a mistake. Maybe I should have some fun with him and screw the entire “wait until you are in love” nonsense, because that is what it is. Nonsense. As I’m about to jump up and go back to his room I remember where I am. A hotel. He must not be from around here. I don’t see the point in having meaningless sex with someone over and over if they are just going to leave. Knowing me I would fall in love with him and be heartbroken all over again. No thank you. A new and improved Erin is on the way and another man letting me down is not in my future.

“Let’s go, slutbag! I’ve been waiting for five minutes at the curb,” Noelle’s raspy voice echoes in the lobby.

“Oh my God, shut up!” I whisper-yell, standing up, directing her attention to the clerk giving us a death glare.

“He must have been huge, Erin. You’re walking funny,” she calls out, louder this time.

A small chuckle escapes from behind the desk and my mouth drops open. Leave it to Noelle to humiliate me completely. As if that wasn’t mortifying enough she rubs my head like a dog and says, “Awe, my little Er-Bear is growing up. Your first one-night stand. After years of dating a douche you finally get your vagina some real action.”

Walking out into the warm June air after I lovingly push her out of the hotel we jump into her waiting SUV and drive away from the most awkward morning ever.

“What exactly is a slutbag?” I ask Noelle while slipping my seatbelt on.

Looking over from the driver’s side she glares at me as though I should know. “A bag full of slut, which is what you are, although I strongly support it. So, how was it? That man looked like he could rock your world multiple times.”

Staring at her in disbelief I plead the fifth. As close as we are I’ve never been the kind of woman to talk about sex, even with her. Besides my mother teaching me to wait until I was in love, she also taught me to keep my private life, well, private. There was no way I was going to tell her about last night, though I wanted to scream from the rooftops how amazing it was. He showed me how a real man can make me feel and what he can do.

Robert rarely, if ever, went down on me. Walker’s tongue had been like lightning, crashing into me and shooting electricity through my body, awakening feelings in me that I never knew existed. He had almost come apart in my mouth too, which surprised me since every time I tried to give Robert oral he would chastise me, saying I was doing it all wrong. I loved the feeling of wielding that much power over a man, and Walker had appeared content to let me be in charge. I’m starting to think that maybe I was never in love with Robert. He was safe, comfortable, and trustworthy, or so I had thought. Walker seemed dangerous and mysterious, but I still felt more of a connection with him than I ever had with Robert. I just don’t know if I could ever let down my guard enough to give all of myself to a man again.

“You’re not going to give me anything, Erin?” Noelle's voice brings me out of my thoughts. I shake my head side to side as she blows out a puff of air. “Okay then. Well, you can be enlightened by hearing about my fuck fest with Zack last night. Let me tell you, if I thought you were walking funny you should be surprised I can stand. That man’s dick was...”

“STOP! Oh my God stop!” I interrupt her, placing my hand over her mouth as my ringtone fills the car. Saved by my big sister.

“Hey, Nic,” I say rolling my eyes at Noelle as I pick up.

“Erin! You need to call mom. She is freaking out saying you haven’t returned her phone calls in two weeks. What’s going on?” She yells over my nieces and nephews shrieking in the background.

Leave it to my mom to send Nicole after me. Avoiding Eden Decker has been quite a task. I’m not ready to tell her that I won’t be walking down the aisle anytime soon or immediately popping out grandkids. How do you explain to your mother that the man you gave your heart to for the past five years, the one that she had treated like her own son since his parents passed, the one who sent her flowers on Mother’s Day and her birthday every year, put her daughter’s heart into a shredder?

“I’ll call her tomorrow. I just can’t today, alright?” I close my eyes thinking how hard that conversation will be.

“Not alright. What the hell is wrong with you? You know how it’s been since Dad died. She needs to hear from us and know that we are doing okay. Now, tell me. Why haven’t you called her, or me, for that matter? We usually talk almost every day,” her motherly tone is evident through the phone.

Blowing out a deep breath I prepare to tell her about the epic failure of my relationship.

“Robert and I broke up, okay? I caught him in the middle of having sex with his secretary the day school got out. He told me I was a lame lay and that he wasn’t ready for marriage,” my voice cracks at the last word as I finally realize how angry I am.

Noelle puts her free arm around me as my body shakes with frustrated sobs. I don’t speak anymore when Nicole tries to comfort me. After a few more minutes of our one-sided conversation we pull into our driveway, and I finally promise to call her and my mom back later.

“I’m fine, Noe. I promise. The whole situation just sucks.”

“It will be okay, Erin. I promise. I really and truly believe everything happens for a reason. Maybe you can’t see it right now, but there is a reason. You are meant for love that is extraordinary and you will have it. You deserve to have that and I know something big is coming your way. I can just feel it.”

A
s per the rules of operation Big Girl Panties, or BGP as Noelle likes to call it, I had started taking care of myself not only mentally, but physically. Mentally, I needed to clear the air and do the one thing that I should have done in the first place: talk with my mom about what occurred between Robert and me. It went a lot better than I could’ve expected. I’m sure talking about my sex life made her uncomfortable, but she never seemed as though it was too much to hear. She listened to all the details and apologized for always pushing my relationship with him to go to the next level. She even said she hoped that my lack of communication after the incident wasn’t because of her insistence on us getting married. Out of the three women I confided in, she was the one who gave me the clarity I had desperately needed. I should have gone to her first.

“Lots of people come into your life, Erin,” she had said. “Some for good, some for bad but all for one purpose; to send you in the direction you are supposed to go. Robert was there for his purpose and though his exit from your life wasn’t ideal, his presence was necessary. Soon you will figure out why.”

That was something I wasn’t too concerned with just yet.

I have the mental part under control now, but physically, Noelle is ruling that transformation. For three weeks now, she has been dragging me to the gym every other day. I’m not overweight by any means, but I am not toned either. Every class has made me feel stronger and the more I go, the more I realize that getting fit is part of my healing process. There is something about working out that sets your mind straight and makes you happy, and I was starting to smile more and more.

“My vagina hurts,” I whisper over to her in the middle of spin class. “It feels like it’s taken a good pounding!”

“Your vagina needs a good pounding. Since big man Walker, you haven’t given it the attention it needs, unless you’ve been taking a spin with the vibrator,” she yells just as the music is changing to a new song.

Every set of eyes zero in on me as my face turns a brilliant shade of red. Noelle giggles and the next song comes on cueing them to pay attention to the instructor again.

“Thanks, Noelle.”

“Thank me after your newly toned body is donning that sexy black bikini in Mexico next week.” She wiggles her eyebrows up and down making me flush again. I don’t think my body is built for a bikini but I bought one just for the trip. Operation BGP obviously needed a new bathing suit, or so I was told.

The temperature has steadily risen in the few weeks since the night I went out to the bar with Noelle, and I was ready for a trip to crystal clear blue waters. Winters around Chicago can be brutal. However, the summers are just as bad with temperatures above a hundred. We have beaches around Lake Michigan, and they are great for tanning, but when that sun is beating down on you and your only option is to jump in the murky water, you look for another source of relief or swim at your own risk.

My relief was coming in eight days. Beautiful scenery, relaxation, a pool, sandy beaches and an umbrella drink were within my reach. I can almost taste that strawberry margarita right now. This trip is going to be something I will never forget.

~~

T
he hot Mexican sun beats down on us as we arrive at the Occidental Grand Cozumel. When we step out of the taxi we are greeted with brilliant yellows, blues and greens in the open air lobby. After checking in, we head to our room and slip into our bathing suits and flip-flops.

Agreeing we need a drink first we head to the poolside bar. We pass couples, families and hotel workers on the long wooden bridge, that’s surrounded by beautiful landscaping, leading to our destination. Drinks in hand, we find a cabana on the white sand next to the crystal clear ocean.

“This is amazing, Erin. I’m so glad you came,” Noelle says lifting her piña colada to my strawberry margarita.

“Thanks for forcing me to go. I really needed this.” I clink my glass to hers and take a sip looking out to the endless miles of water. I can’t believe I was originally planning to miss out on all this.

Hours later, after we dined at one of the many restaurants they have to offer, we are dressed up in our sexiest outfits ready to check out the on-site dance club...or as they call it, the Disco.

It’s small and holds just one bar but the music is lively. Since I’ve had a few drinks I am ready to dance and have a good time. Noelle and I start towards the dance floor, fresh drinks in hand, pushing our way past the many couples. Staying at an all-inclusive resort means lots of newlyweds and not a lot of single men, but we don’t care. We just want to enjoy the time away from our stresses.