Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

Anders

Claudia looks adorable in hot pink shorts with a white lace ruffle at the bottom, and some kind of matching halter top that gives me a great view of her tits. Well, the shape of her tits. The nipples I know are lurking beneath the soft, cotton fabric.

It’s hard to pay attention to the baby alligators or the mischievous parrots because I can’t seem to focus on anything but Claudia.

Her long, shapely legs.

The way her tits bounce as we walk.

How comfortable it feels to be holding hands as we explore the park.

How much I enjoy the little kisses we’ve been stealing all morning.

She’s amazing.

The woman I had no idea I wanted.

My family back in Sweden will love her.

I already know that.

They’d been disappointed that Martika and I broke up, thinking a Swedish woman would bring me home more often, but they also want me to be happy and that wouldn’t have been the case with her.

It’s totally different with Claudia.

She can make me happy.

I’m aware it’s only been a few days, but sometimes you just know.

And I do.

Okay, I don’t know exactly what I know or what’s going to happen, but I know there’s something different—special—about Claudia. Something I haven’t felt before. It’s this odd tickle in the back of my mind, constantly, making me think about her all the time. I want her. It’s that simple. And I’m not just thinking about getting in her pants, although I won’t deny that’s part of it.

“We’re thinking about going to dinner at this great place in South Beach,” Sloane says as it gets later in the day. “Johan says we can get a reservation. You guys interested?” She looks from me to Claudia.

“Actually, we already have dinner plans,” Claudia says, the lie coming out smoothly, as if she’d rehearsed it.

“Oh, okay, then we’ll make the reservation for three.” Sloane turns to Johan, and he goes back to doing something on his phone.

“Did we have dinner plans?” I murmur in Claudia’s ear playfully.

“We do.” She gives me a mischievous grin and my heart does this crazy thing in my chest. It feels like she’s reached in and wrapped her hand around it, holding on like it belongs to her. And I don’t understand this at all.

So I kiss her, because if I keep staring into her pretty face, I might blurt out something stupid.

Like, I’m falling in love with you.

Or stay in Florida with me.

What the hell is going on with me?

“We should go to your place,” she whispers.

“Yeah?” I wrap an arm around her waist. “You want to hang out with Felix?”

She wrinkles her nose. “Can you tell him to go out or something?”

I chuckle. “It’s hard to tell Felix to do anything, but I’ll try.” I pull out my phone and text him, asking his plans.

FELIX: I am going out. Why? You want me to wait for you?

ANDERS: No. I want a little privacy for Claudia and me. She’s shy.

FELIX: She was not so shy on the beach…

ANDERS: Dude. Could you do this for me? Please?

FELIX: Yes, yes. Do not ruffle your skin.

ANDERS: Feathers, not skin. You ruffle feathers. LOL

FELIX: Whatever. I will give you privacy.

ANDERS: Thanks. I owe you one.”

I stick my phone back in my pocket.

“Done. He’s going out.”

“That was easy.”

“We’re lucky hockey season hasn’t started. We’re like two old men during the season, in bed by ten.”

“I’m probably going to be like that too when I start working.”

“Let’s not talk about work today,” I whisper, kissing her firmly on the lips.

“I’m ready to go,” she says against my mouth. “I’m hot and sweaty. I’m going to need a shower.”

“Yeah?” I gaze down at her, hoping she’s hinting what I think she’s hinting. “You’ll take one with me?”

She hesitates a fraction of a second, but nods. “Yes.”

Christ, my dick is hard just thinking about it.

“Let’s pick up dinner on the way home,” I suggest, “and eat at my place. Then we can shower and relax.”

“Okay.” There’s an edge to her voice and I’m not sure if it’s excitement, trepidation, or some combination of those, but I’m not going to make it worse by calling her on it because I plan to let her guide us tonight. I’ll take the lead sexually, but she has to make the first move, or at least let me know she’s ready. I’m pretty sure she is, based on the fact that she wants to shower together, but I’m not taking anything for granted.

Consent has always been important to me, and never more so than with Claudia.

“We’re going to take off,” I say when we join the others. “It’s date night.”

“Date night sounds fun,” Sloane says warmly. “Have a good time.”

“Are you sure you want me tagging along with you guys?” Hana asks dubiously. “I can have Anders drop me off at the hotel so you can have a date night too.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Sloane laughs, shaking her head. “We love having you here.”

“We can do date night every night after you leave,” Johan adds.

They’re still talking when we head for the parking lot, hands linked between us.

“I hope it’s okay that I lied about us having plans,” she says once we’re in the car heading north.

“Believe me, I wish you’d lied and said we had plans all day. I would have liked to spend the day just the two of us.”

“Me too.” Her fingers are warm in mine. “This thing with us feels…I don’t know. Strong? Intense? Like I can’t stand to be away from you.”

“Same.” I keep my eyes on the road, though I desperately want to look at her.

“Is this how it always is?” she asks after a moment. “Is it just the sexual attraction? Like once we sleep together it’ll fade?”

“I don’t…think so.” It’s a difficult question to answer, because that has certainly happened to me in the past. I just don’t think that’s what’s happening now, with us. “It’s hard to know for sure, but I already told you I can wait for that, so it can’t be the only thing between us.”

“You’re supposed to teach me how to give a blow job.”

Like she has to remind me.

No red-blooded male would forget something like that.

“And I will. But there’s no rush to go further. I want you to know that. Just because we’re taking a shower together, or you’re sucking my dick—I’m not going to assume anything. You have to give your consent each step of that way.”

“Thank you for that,” she says. “It means a lot to me.”

“ You’re starting to mean a lot to me,” I admit, “and I know how crazy that sounds after just a few days.”

“Is this some kind of vacation fling?” Her voice is almost sad as she asks the question. “Is that why we’re so hot for each other? Because we’re on a time limit and come Monday, we’ll forget all about each other?”

“No,” I respond firmly. “The attraction goes beyond the physical. There’s no universe where I forget about you on Monday.”

“But we’re both getting attached, and I’m leaving. In four days.”

“I know.” I tighten my fingers around hers. “That’s why we need every minute of the next four days—to figure out what’s next and whether we want to try to do the long-distance thing for a while.”

“Is that really an option?” She sounds incredulous.

Fuck.

Am I jumping the gun?

Is she just looking for someone to help her re-pop her cherry before going back to her life in Philadelphia?

“Unless you don’t want to…”

“No, I do!” she says quickly. “I just…well, to be honest, I wasn’t sure that’s what you wanted or if I was just being ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous to want to see what there is to see. That’s why I want us to have tonight, tomorrow, and the two days after that together. How else will we be able to gauge the future?”

“In less than a week?”

“A week is a jumping off point. If we feel like we’re a good fit, we’ll continue getting to know each other once you leave, via phone and text. There’s no one else in my life right now, so I’m happy to see what happens.”

“There’s certainly no one in my life,” she says slowly. “Except this sexy Swede I met in Florida. He’s pretty hot, so you’ve got some competition.”

I chuckle. “I can take him.”

“I bet you can.”

The mood in the car is suddenly more peaceful, as if that’s been on her mind, and if I’m honest, wondering if I’m going to see her again has been on mine.

But we’re on the same page.

And now we’re on the way to my place.

Where I have every intention of seeing her naked.

Showing her how good it will be between us.

And making her fall in love with me.

Because I refuse to be the only one who feels this way.