I take my hand from her face. “I’ll be in the hotel restaurant tomorrow night at eight o’clock if you decide you want to discuss it further.”
5
Laurelyn Prescott
I unlock the door and all but fall inside the empty apartment. Addison is out with Zac for their first postcoital date. I have no idea where Ben is, but I’m glad to be alone. I don’t want to explain why I’ve returned from a date with a man I can’t name.
It’s still early but nothing is on television, so I change into my pajamas and go to bed. Sleep doesn’t find me easily because my mind keeps racing with thoughts of what Mr. Nameless has asked me to do.
It’s shocking. It’s bizarre. It’s interesting.
It’s a fascinating idea. At least I know how things would end. There would be no chance of a broken heart. He said it would be the best three months of my life. I’d experience new and wonderful things. He’d make my fantasies come true.
Why choose me?
I’ve known from the time I was a small child something was wrong with me. I’ve never been able to have a normal relationship with a man—neither romantic or nonromantic. Maybe my problems stem from my father—or lack thereof––or my mother’s unrequited love for him. Neither have been much of a positive influence on my feelings regarding romantic relationships. Whatever the cause, I’m damaged goods. Maybe I should consider this. It’s not like I have better offer on the table.
It takes hours for me to doze off because I can’t stop thinking about the things Nameless said. But I do fall asleep, only to be awakened by Addison sneaking into our bedroom again. Does she think that Ben is stupid? He has to know what she’s doing with Zac.
I look at the clock: 6:27 a.m. this time. She almost made it to a reasonable hour.
She slides into bed next to me. “Tell me I’m not going to wake up to this for the next three months,” I say.
“I make no promises. I see you’re here so the good-looking suit must not have been a serial-killing weirdo. How did it go?”
She was dead wrong about the weirdo part. “It was a bizarre date to say the least.”
“I’m finding out Aussie guys are different.”
I can think of many words to describe Nameless, but none do him justice. There needs to be a new word for what he is. “Different doesn’t even begin to cover what this guy asked me to do.”
“Ooh, that doesn’t sound good.”
“My first thoughts were that it was crazy, but now I’m not sure. I’ve had time to think about it … and it might be sort of hot.”
Addison sits straight up in the bed. I have her full attention. “What did he do? Ask you to give him a hand job under the table at dinner?”
I can’t bring myself to tell her the part about how he wouldn’t tell me his name or anything personal about his life. “He asked me to date him for the next three months and then walk away without any further contact.”
She lies back on the bed. “So, the guy isn’t into long-distant relationships? Seems pretty reasonable since you’ll be nine thousand miles away. Zac and I sort of have the same arrangement.”
No, it’s not the same, but I can’t tell her the rest. “I guess. He told me he was rich and he would make the next three months of my life the best I’ve ever had. He said he’d make my fantasies come true.”
“Umm, the best three months of your life and fantasies coming true? What’s holding you back?”
“It just seems pointless to date someone when I know it’s going to end in three months.” And then there’s the whole issue of having sex with someone I don’t love. I’m not sure I can do that.
“You’re overthinking it, Laurelyn. The guy’s rich and he promises you the best three months of your life. It’s a no-brainer.”
I can’t believe I’m considering it. “You think I should do this?”
“If you don’t, will you go home and wonder what you might have missed?”
The answer is clear. “Of course I would.”
There’s a knock at our bedroom door. “Come in,” Addison says. Ben opens it.
“There’s a delivery in here.”
Addison’s face lights up. “What kind of delivery?”
“It’s flowers and a catered breakfast.”
“Awesome!” she says, throwing back the covers. “See? I told you I knew how to play the game.” It looks like Ben is going to find out about Zac sooner than she’d planned.
We walk into the kitchen and there’s a floral arrangement on the counter next to a basket of breakfast pastries. Addison holds a bottle of champagne in one hand and orange juice in the other. “Mimosas for breakfast. Can you believe that? And this isn’t cheap champagne. It’s expensive. Very expensive.”
She takes the card from the blank envelope and her smile fades after she reads it. “Oh. This isn’t for me.”
I feel a surge of hope. Could all of this be for me? From him, the man with no name? “What does the card say?”
She holds it up. “‘You won’t regret saying yes.’ It’s signed, ‘from Lachlan.’”
I smile, but bite my lip in a failed attempt to hide my pleasure. His name is Lachlan.
I’m confused by this unexpected confession. He said names weren’t part of the game, so what has changed? Maybe he decided he is more interested in a normal relationship than the bizarre one he proposed last night.
I pluck the card from Addison’s hand because I want to read it for myself. I rub my thumb over his written words. The penmanship is masculine. I’m sure he signed it personally.
I hear a pop as Addison opens the champagne. “Laurie, this guy is jockeying hard for you, girl.”
Ben’s arms are crossed and he looks pissed. “Come on. You just met this guy. Doesn’t this seem like a little much?”
“I’d love it if a guy did this for me.” Addison tops up her champagne with some orange juice. “This is a guaranteed panty-dropper in my book.”
“Addison!”
Ben storms out of the kitchen and slams his bedroom door. “You shouldn’t have said that in front of him, and we both know why.”
Addison reaches for a pastry. “Oh, he’ll get over it. So, what are you gonna do?”
There’s nothing wrong with trying it. If it doesn’t feel right, I can always back out. “He asked me to meet him tonight if I wanted to discuss it further. I think I’m going to go.”