Absolute Beginners(54)

Taking another deep breath, I exited the car, determined to go meet Lily. I loved spending time with Julia, but there was no future there. She was much too young and wild, and not at all interested in anything serious. She was beautiful, but wholly temporary. I knew that, so I had to give Lily a fair chance, no matter how much the thought of seeing two women at the same time put me off.

Entering the restaurant, I spotted a woman at the bar and deduced that she was Lily, who’d told me that she would be wearing a green dress. I took a few seconds to study her. She was tall with light brown hair and a nice figure. Her dress was modest, but showed off her legs in a subtle way, and, like me, she wore glasses. All in all, she was a nice-looking woman, who didn’t stand out but still got a few glances from the other men at the bar. I took another calming breath and walked over to her.

“Lily?” I inquired.

She smiled and nodded. “You must be Stephen,” she said, holding out her hand to shake mine. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good, I hope,” I said, cringing inwardly at my cliché comment.

“Oh, yes,” she said with a small laugh. “Apparently, my mother has wanted me to meet Joanne’s son for years now.”

“That’s very flattering,” I offered. “Would you like a drink?”

“That would be lovely. I’ll have a white wine spritzer.”

I ordered for the both of us, frowning a little at her choice of beverage. Why anyone would ruin a nice glass of wine with club soda I would never understand.

I bet Julia would never order that. She loves wine as much as I do.

I shook my head. I shouldn’t be thinking about Julia when I was out with Lily.

“The maitre d’ told me that our table is ready,” Lily said when we got our drinks.

“All right, lead the way.”

We sat down at the table and started talking. I learned that Lily was born and raised here in San Francisco, but had been living on the East Coast for a few years. She had wanted to come home to be closer to her family and when a career opportunity presented itself, she applied, and had recently started her new job. She taught American history and politics, but was also an avid reader of literature in her spare time. I told her about my job at the university and the various articles I was working on at the moment. The waiter came over and we ordered dinner. I opted for a steak and Lily chose sea bass. We talked a little more, and then our food arrived.

Halfway through the meal, she excused herself and went to the bathroom. I stood up and looked after her as she walked away. When she was out of sight, I discreetly checked my phone to see if Julia had responded to my text. I felt a surge of nervousness when I saw that she had answered me and opened the message.

I’m free tonight. I would love see you. See you, feel you, and taste you, baby.





Holy hell!

My nervousness was instantly replaced with lust. Pure, unadulterated lust. The display on my phone lit up again and I was almost scared to read what Julia had written.

I’m touching myself and thinking of you, Stephen. I want you inside me.





She’s trying to kill me! I’ll have a stroke in the middle of the restaurant and when they examine my body they’ll determine that I died from lack of blood to the brain.

My mind was bombarded with images of Julia lying naked on her bed, her hands caressing her perfect body while moaning my name.

God, I wish I was there with her.

I found myself ready to ditch my dinner date and run to my car, and suddenly my arousal mixed with anger.

What kind of game is she playing?

Julia was well aware of my plans with Lily, and yet sent me suggestive messages. No, not suggestive. There was nothing suggestive about them. She was flat out telling me that she wanted to have sex with me, right now. What did she expect me to do? Abandon Lily and run to her apartment like some sort of hormonal teenager who would jump at the chance of having sex? Why was she teasing me like this? She knew that I was in a public place, and she still taunted me, making me hard with her words. I felt my anger grow. She couldn’t treat me like that. I wouldn’t let her. She could come to me when I thought it was the appropriate time.

My place in two hours or not at all, I wrote, pressing SEND with no hesitation.

Did I really just send that? What will she think? What if she says no? Oh God, what if she says no?

The display lit up instantly.

Yes, Professor. Sorry I was bad again.





It was another game to her. She had deliberately disturbed my date with her messages and made me ache for her.

She’s toying with me. And I don’t like it.

Lily came back and I quickly put my phone away.