Her fingers slide between us, down my stomach. I catch her hand because if she goes any lower my body is going to realize that the night is barely half over.
“So, when?” I ask.
“I have an interview on Thursday. I need tomorrow to prepare.”
“Friday it is,” I say. “Any food you hate?”
She shakes her head. “No, but I am partial to Italian.”
“I’ll let you know where.” I have the perfect place in mind, but maybe I can think of something else special before everything is set in stone.
“Okay.”
We breathe in silence again, and I feel Vera’s body relax further. Her eyes are closed, her lips parted. If she’s not asleep then she’s almost there. It’s time for me to go, so I slowly untangle myself from her body, and cover her with as much of the blanket as I can without disturbing her. I find my clothes and put them on.
Shit. How am I going to get out of here? If Vera’s that concerned about her family then walking out the front door isn’t the best idea I’ve had. I lean over her and press a kiss to her lips. It works, her body stirring under me. “I need to go, Vera.”
Her voice is heavy with sleep. “Why?”
“Because,” I say, laughing. “I need a shower, and I need to put my clothes on so I can come back. But how can I leave?”
She points to the window.
“Alarm?” I ask.
“I’m an architect’s daughter—disconnected that years ago.” She closes her eyes again and snuggles down in her pillow. “But I can’t believe you’re sneaking out the window.”
I kiss her one last time. “Yeah, I’m a big cliché.”
It’s not a lie, the poor guy falling for the rich girl. And I can’t say that I’m not nervous. This could all go very wrong very quickly.
The rational part of me tells me that I should shut up and enjoy the amazing sex as long as I can, damn the consequences. But for some reason this feels bigger than that. I don’t want to limit it to just sex, because I like what I see beyond that. And it’s something that hasn’t happened in a long time.
Using the tree outside her window, I manage to get out of the house. I do feel like a teenager and a total cliché, but it’s worth it.
I hope it will be worth it.
I slip off into the dark and head for home.
10
Vera
I wake up to an unexpected breeze on my face. My window is open from when James left through it last night. Just the thought makes me laugh stupidly. I have an interview tomorrow, and…I also have a date. I smile into my pillow, embarrassed by how happy both of those things make me feel. Especially the second one as it seeps through my skin like the sunshine and settles in my stomach.
I have today to prepare my portfolio for my interview with The Harrison Foundation. It’s in good shape, but I want it to be perfect. I would love to finish up the design for the ELIH house to show them. But first, my stomach is growling.
Grabbing breakfast is easy, and I catch myself looking for James out the patio doors more than once. But I don’t see him. He’s spent the last two days close to the house so he’s probably working on the farther edges of our property.
That’s okay, I rationalize it to myself. I’m more disappointed than I ought to be, but…
It’s a beautiful day. No reason I can’t work on my design on the balcony. I practically sprint back to my room and grab my smaller, portable drafting table and set it up on the balcony outside our upstairs sitting room. It’s the same balcony my mother was sitting on when James and I came so close to being discovered. I glance down at that window and I feel myself flush.
I make another trip back to my room and grab the design and my supplies. This is a great idea. The temperature is perfect, and I avoid the inevitable distraction of going to my window every few minutes trying to catch a glimpse of James. After setting up, I work on the design for a while, smoothing and perfecting it. I include some of what James pointed out yesterday. It’s in pretty good shape now, but I probably have another couple hours of tinkering before I’m totally finished.
The door behind me opens and my mother comes out on the balcony. “May I join you?”
“Sure.”
She has one of her books with her, and a pen. My mother loves to annotate her books. She’s constantly reading anything she can get her hands on. I honestly think reading might be the great love of her life.
“You’ve been working out here a while. For anything in particular?”
I glance at her sideways to gauge her reaction. “I have an interview tomorrow at The Harrison Foundation. I’d like this to be finished for them.”