Carter, however, removed his gaze from her and settled it on me, hiding in the back.
“Excuse us,” Tracy said.
When she turned, I was forced to let go of her blouse.
“Let’s go, Delilah.” Tracy turned to Anne and almost had to pull her away.
Soon it was just him and me.
I steeled myself enough to hold his gaze. “I’m sorry about that,” I said.
He gave a slight shake of his head. “Not a problem.”
“Just a second please,” I said and turned around. “Sir?” I paid the shop owner for the fruit and when I turned back to Carter, I found his gaze on the apricot he had picked up.
“Can I have this one?” He asked.
I nodded. “Sure.”
He backed away then, so I could walk out of the tiny row of the stall.
I turned to search for my friends and found them in the corner, watching us. “You didn’t um… have to come say hello,” I said with a nervous laugh. “Again, sorry about Anne.” My eyes were on my feet, encased in flip flops. Oh, how I wished I had put in just a little more effort into how I looked before I left the hotel. I had thrown on one of the sun dresses that reached my ankles, tied my hair up into a messy bun, strung a rattan purse across my shoulder, and had on some chapstick. I had never felt more ordinary.
“How are you?” he asked.
I lifted my gaze to his. “I’m doing all right. Just enjoying the afternoon.” I hated how flustered I felt, while he appeared so unaffected. It almost made me feel as though he were looking down at me, most probably wondering in the light of day what the hell he had been thinking last night.
I shook my head to snap out of the silly self degradation. I’d never been so condescending towards myself but Tracy had been completely right. The man standing here with me exuded magnetism, power, and beauty… I couldn’t believe I’d been so intimate with him.
“I’ve been thinking about you,” he said.
Now, everything beyond him in that moment ceased to exist. The chatter of the market… the traditional music playing in the distance, the smell of roasting street food and the zooming cars along the main road.
All I could see and hear was Carter… and the words coming out of his mouth. Everything else was an indecipherable hum.
He went on, “I thought I’d be able to wait till I saw you later this evening, but I'm close to losing my mind, and I need to concentrate. As you can see, I’m working.”
I couldn’t help the amused smile that spread across my face. “What?”
He took a step closer to me.
Now, I was greeted with the whiff of his cologne. I inhaled the delicious scent, and couldn’t help taking a step towards him myself, closing the gap between us. We were standing as close together as two people could in a public street without being accused of lewdness… and I could see it in his eyes, just like I was certain he could see in mine, nothing and no one else mattered.
“Kiss me,” he said, his eyes sparkling as he watched me. “I need that to hold me over until tonight.”
I couldn’t even hold back my laughter. “You’re silly,” I said, my hands shyly covering my mouth. “I thought that was just the booze talking last night.”
He leaned towards me to whisper into my ear, “Leah, nothing about last night… had to do with the alcohol.”
I staggered, and had to hold onto his arms to keep myself in check. The memories came back to me in vivid flashes, painful pangs of sexual awareness hitting me. I felt myself drip from between my thighs, as I lifted my hands to brush his windblown hair softly away from his face. “You’re one sexy man, Carter.”
“I’m glad you like what you see,” he said.
“But I can’t kiss you here. We have an audience.”
“Fuck the audience,” he stated firmly.
The steel in his voice pounded me into a pulp of smitten nothing. I didn’t hold back. I slid my hand around his neck to steady myself, as I lifted up on the tips of my toes. My lips connected with his and drew in the first heady taste of him. I cocked my head to the side and kissed him hard, my tongue slipping into his mouth to give and receive just enough of what we both needed from the other.
Breathless now, I pulled away, because the entire world was our current audience. I couldn’t even look at him. I turned around and almost ran for my life… from the sweetest embarrassment, from a flushed face, from a treacherously beating heart and from lips that seemed like they would be permanently curved into a smile.
My friends joined me along the way and we continued walking down the street.
“Wow!” Tracy exclaimed.
“That most definitely does not look like a one night stand connection to me,” Anne added.
I didn’t respond, but I had absolutely no complaints about what I was hearing. I needed time to process it all, but then my phone buzzed at the arrival of a message. I pulled it out and to my surprise, it was from Carter.
Anne was also peeking at my screen. “See you tonight?” She read aloud.
I turned a frown on her. “Hey!”
She stopped me. “Leah, we need to talk about this. Is this a budding relationship or just a fling, because I want him when you’re done with him and I need to know when that would be? Before he leaves most preferably. When is he leaving again?”
I oscillated between shock and amusement, but I couldn't fault her for being so blunt. I turned to look at Tracy, who for once, didn't have anything to criticize her for.
“I understand her," she said. “If I didn't have ‘what’s his name,' I’d be lining up too.”
My mouth fell open. “What’s
