Why did I feel a pang of disappointment?
Well, I sighed, jumping off the bed and making my way to the bathroom, it’s good she left like she did. Saved me the trouble of having to ask her to.
Now, what on earth had I meant by that word ‘heartwarming’?
I could have any fun I desired, and sleep with any woman I wanted, as long as words like ‘heartwarming’ never came into the deal. ‘Sexy’… ‘hot’…‘horny’ and the likes were all fine but never, ever ‘heartwarming’.
Now that I thought of it, I’d almost broken the rule which I’d lived by for the last five months – the Merry Men pact I’d sworn to live by. It was a promise I’d sworn last year with four other wealthy, business savvy men who I personally saw as brothers. My old friend, Tom, had introduced me to the billionaire’s club and initiated me into the brotherhood.
Simply put, no matter how enjoyable a night, a weekend, a week or even a bloody month with a lady was, it never, ever spilled beyond sex. The ultimate sin was to actually profess love to her because, as proven by the numerous times in my life when I’d given a woman my heart only to have it shattered, love was a phantom.
Love did not exist.
It was dangerous, turned sensible men to mush and destroyed lives. Like mine. That was why I’d gladly joined the brotherhood and professed myself to a lifetime of bachelorhood.
But damn... I’d even been thinking of asking Rachel to spend the day with me. What would we have done together? Talk about the future and having babies?
As I turned on the tap in the bedroom, getting ready for the day, I steeled myself. That had been a close call, but thankfully, I’d dodged it. Heavens forbid, any more second with her and I probably would have started professing my love.
***
“So you’re saying it’s right around the corner?” I shouted into the phone pressed against my ear, trying to make sure Jack could hear me over the noise of vehicles moving up and down the busy street.
“Yes. It’s right beside the library, a red, tall building. You can’t miss it.”
Well, obviously, I could. I’d been walking up and down this street for the past twenty minutes and still hadn’t located this building. Why did I choose to go out today in the first place? I could have just remained in the hotel and ignored the boredom and other strange feelings that began to overcome me.
They began when Rachel left and it took me hours to realize the startling truth. I’d started missing her, that golden-haired girl with whom I’d done countless things last night.
The memory of her sleeping naked on my bed just refused to leave my mind. By the time I started to imagine just how it would feel to hold her again, I knew I’d been in the room for far too long. It was time to go out.
Again, I’d had many options. I could have gone to the bar, the lounge, or one of the many other places which surrounded the hotel.
But then I just had to think that since Jack was the reason I was in the city in the first place, he should take responsibility for my entertainment.
So here I was, in the middle of some street whose name I didn’t even know, my eyes roving over billboards and buildings, trying to locate where he claimed an art show was currently taking place.
I refused to ponder on why I’d voluntarily go to a damn art show in the first place. Was I so desperate to escape thoughts about her… about how things could have changed if I’d just opened my mouth in the morning and asked her to let me come along?
Before her, I’d been able to keep the nights with other women strictly about sex and bodily pleasure. It never went beyond that.
So what was it about Rachel that made my thoughts so… uncontrollable? Could it be that heady mix of innocence and decadence I saw within her?
Throughout the night, she’d smiled shyly at me at one moment only to transform into an insatiable vixen the next. By all things holy, she was like an expert seductress and a virgin all rolled into one. She’d woken me up at many intervals throughout the night with her slow, seductive kisses and I had a bewitching time trying to figure out what she’d do with my body next.
I’d never met a woman like that.
The traffic light turned green and I took advantage of the moment to cross over to the other side of the road, my mind divided between looking for the evasive red building and pondering on the paradox that was Rachel Ivy. A woman I just met last night.
Jack gave a few more instructions through the phone. It took a lot of walking, asking around, swearing but I finally, finally found the building.
Thank goodness!
Scowling at the tall bungalow, I barked into the phone at Jack. While he’d graciously told me the building was red, one thing he failed to mention was that it was right at the entrance to the street. I’d been walking further down, checking the older buildings.
“If you’d just told me, I would have walked right up to it for goodness sake.” I shouted, nearly scaring an old lady who stood by the entrance of the library. Giving her an apologetic look, I continued in a lower voice, “Now where the hell are you?”
Following his instructions, I entered the building beside the library, climbed a flight of stairs, went down a corridor, and then climbed another flight of stairs, only to turn into another corridor. Just when I started to get worried that maybe I’d been misled again, I came across a door marked in black block letters ‘THE METROPOLIS, GALLERY’.
I stopped. This was it.
Running a hand through my hair to straighten my appearance, I cleared my throat before raising my hand and knocking on the door.
Within seconds, it
