Tessa grabbed her phone. She was a little fuzzy about the time difference between her and David, now that he was in Hawaii, but she was pretty sure he’d sent this email many hours ago. While she was lap dancing with Russell, David was worrying about her. She felt sick to her stomach as she pulled up her contact list. She wasn’t sure she could calmly tell David that she was happily sightseeing or even laboriously tackling personal issues without her voice screaming I’m a harlot having raw, steamy sex with three Australian hunks. Never mind they were her therapists. Never mind David wasn’t, yet, her boyfriend and therefore had no right to expect sexual fidelity. Never mind she had only done this to fix herself, so she could offer a healthy, happy, sexually secure Tessa to the next relationship, which might turn out to be David. None of it mattered because nothing would keep guilt and embarrassment from her voice right now.
So she texted him instead.
I’m ok, just was lonely and wanted to be with you face2face. Sorry I worried you. I’m fine now and will be home B4 2 long. Enjoy Hawaii. Thnx 4 caring.
She hit send and hoped her text would reassure him. She didn’t want his days off in beautiful Honolulu to be tainted by worry, especially since it was worry she caused.
“It’s all yours.”
Tessa startled. Her mind was with David in Hawaii but her body was in Sydney with Russell. And Russell, naked save a towel loosely wrapped around his hips, was looking at her with an odd expression.
“The bathroom,” Russell added, when Tessa didn’t respond. “I thought you might like a shower.”
Tessa glanced down at herself. Rather than put her clean street clothes on a body that smelled of sex and sweat, she’d thrown a borrowed set of Russell’s sweats over her naughty outfit, but she’d shucked them off as soon as Russell had gone to shower. Tessa stood in a black lace corset, poorly tied in place, and a still damp G String. She felt grubby and disheveled, but realized Russell might not share that opinion when his towel twitched, as if a small rodent nesting in his groin had stirred.
“Thanks, I’ll just…” Tessa sat her phone down and walked toward the bathroom. As she passed Russell, he grabbed her hand.
“Your face looks sunburned. Strange, since we’ve spent no time in the sun today.” He was smiling and Tessa thought the glint in his eyes was more than a little wicked.
Tessa shrugged.
He dropped the towel at his waist. “When a man’s dick does this, it’s confirmation of your appeal. You shouldn’t blush, you should beam.”
Tessa glanced at what the towel had hidden. The small rodent from moments ago was now a large, hungry rat.
“I’m grubby.”
“You’re very sexy.”
“I’m going to shower.”
“I’m going to get the buffet set up.”
It took Tessa a moment to understand what he meant. When she did, she turned a deeper shade of pink and scurried off to the privacy of her shower.
-33-
Tessa turned the hot water off and breathed in the lingering steam. She toweled off, squirted a generous dollop of moisturizing lotion in her palms and massaged the lightly scented balm all over, from neck to toes. As she smoothed lotion into her skin, both mind and muscles began to relax. When she stepped out of the shower, she noticed the black lace outfit was no longer on the counter where she’d left it. Instead, there was a neatly folded pile of new clothing, and resting on top of it, a single red rose. She’d been so absorbed in the shower she hadn’t heard Russell make the clothing exchange.