I sighed with relief. “Oh, right. I forgot that you told me that would be taken care of.” Somehow I mustered the courage to ask the next question.
“Shall I go back to my room?” My heart was pounding as I waited for the answer. Oh how I wish I could feel your arms around me all night.
“It probably would be best. I will walk you to your door.”
We got dressed and when we arrived at my door, he leaned down to kiss me on the cheek. “Thank you for a wonderful evening.” Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “Sleep well. The car will pick us up at 10:00 a.m. to go to the airport. I will see you then.”
I walked into my room and leaned against the door as it closed. I took a deep breath and thought about the night’s events. My feelings for Joshua had escalated beyond anything I expected. A feeling of sadness fell over me as reality began to settle in. We were going home the next day and my private time with Joshua was probably over. Feeling blue, I changed into pajamas, curled up on the bed and drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER NINE
The following morning I met Joshua in the lobby at 10:00. I decided to wear a beautiful, yet comfortable, Gucci dress for the long flight. I wanted to look nice for him. If this was going to be our final time alone together, I wanted him to remember how good I looked. Joshua gave me an approving look as his eyes roamed over my dress. When we stepped outside I noticed two cars waiting for us.
“We’re not riding in the same car?” Was everything between us over so quickly that he couldn’t stand to be in the same car with me?
“Of course we are. The other car is for Jake and Vivienne. They will be flying back with us on the jet.” Relief washed over me, and then happiness as I realized I would get to see Jake again. It was comforting to know that I would have a friend to chat with on the flight home.
All of our belongings were already loaded on the plane when we boarded. I was amazed that every bit of my new wardrobe had been dry-cleaned, and was packed and taken care of for me. The past 30 days had been a fantasy life for me, minus the difficult and long working days. I didn’t know that I would ever have the chance to experience anything like that again. I wanted to thank Joshua for all that he had done for me. I just had to find the right time to do it.
We were about an hour into the flight and Jake and I were chatting in our seats like two long lost friends. Vivienne was napping and Joshua was working in the conference room.
“Sarah, I want to thank you for the talk that we had. You gave me a lot to think about.”
“I only want what’s best for you Jake. But I understand that you need to do everything in your own time.”
“I do. And trust me, I will.”
Just then Joshua called me in to the conference room. He wanted to go over part of the Donnelly file, one of our older clients.
“This is what you will be working on when we get back to New York.” He handed me a brown accordion folder.
“Joshua, I want to tell you something.”
He stopped what he was doing and looked at me.
“I want to thank you for this incredible, life-changing opportunity that you gave me. I learned so much in Dubai. I will be eternally grateful to you. Your generosity while I was here…I mean the clothes, the shoes, the beautiful hotel…everything…thank you.”
He seemed a bit caught off guard and uncomfortable with my gratitude and just gave me a curt, “You’re welcome.”
One of these days you are going to open up to me. And not just when we are in the bedroom. I was shocked by my confidence that we would be together again, but there was something between us. I couldn’t just let him get away. I decided to accept his curt reply without pressing him for more. He knew that I was grateful and that is what mattered.
“Well, if that’s all, I am going to take this file back to my chair and have a look at it there. I am assuming we will have a meeting on this first thing Monday morning?” I was all business again.
“We actually are all making a quick detour for a few days.”
This completely shocked me. I felt a nervousness in my belly that I hadn’t experienced since first meeting Joshua.
“A detour? Where are we going?”
He held my gaze and I saw a hint of mischief in his eyes. “It’s a surprise.”