Twenty-Six
Ben
I stand in the doorway of my bedroom, listening to the jackhammer-like snoring coming from my bedmate. I don’t think he’s gotten up since we left for dinner because he’s still in his underwear, out cold on top of the covers. It’s late and I should be tired after such a long day and three beers over a lingering dinner with Serafina, but I’m not. I’m absolutely wired right now.
Between the stench and the snoring, there’s no way I can sleep in the same room as Serafina’s grandfather. I grab my overnight bag and take it into the bathroom, then I have a quick shower and brush my teeth, doing my best to be as quiet as possible. (Although Lorenzo probably can’t hear anything over the sound emanating from his throat.)
Sneaking over to the bed, I get my pillow. In the hall, I see a small closet, which has blankets and extra pillows in it. I grab a couple of blankets to make myself a bed on the living room floor. I’m pretty sure I haven’t slept on the ground since I was a kid, and while it won’t be comfortable, at least it’ll be quiet.
As soon as I stretch out, my mind starts to swirl with thoughts of Serafina. I hate to admit it, but I was thoroughly enjoying her nap on the airplane. The warmth and the smell of her was absolutely mesmerizing. The day’s events click through my brain like photos on a slideshow and each one is of her smiling or laughing.
Nuts. I have feelings for her. Real ones. Which is not at all convenient because not only are we work colleagues, we’re also polar opposites when it comes to our very core beliefs. I cannot let myself entertain the thought of anything happening between us. Even if she is one of the loveliest women I’ve ever met. It’s just that our verbal sparring is … well … it’s like foreplay. Maria wasn’t wrong about the spark between us. We’re like gasoline and a match.
I grab my phone off the coffee table to distract myself and see I have a few messages waiting.
Mom: Hi, Peanut, how was your flight? Are you checked into your hotel? Love you!
* * *
Alec: So? How’s it going in mecca? Did you go straight to Kennedy or are you waiting for tomorrow? Also, anything happening with you and Serafina? Sometimes those tropical locations can really get women in the mood, if you know what I mean…
* * *
Gwen: Hi Ben, I hope you’re having a great trip. I just wanted to thank you for agreeing to come with me to the party. My aunt has already sent me a photo of her chiropractor and … yikes. Top knot and scraggly beard. You’re totally my hero.
I’m about to answer when I notice some movement down the hall. I lift my head up and see Serafina coming toward me with a pillow. She’s dressed in a nightgown that cuts off just above her knees and she’s got a sleeping mask resting on her forehead. She stops short when she sees me. “Oh, darn. You beat me to it.”
“Does Maria snore too?”
“It’s like someone’s sawing down a redwood in there.” She shifts awkwardly before saying, “I’ll see if I can get her to turn over. I don’t want to crowd you.”
“No, that’s okay,” I tell her. “You can share the floor if you like. I emptied out the closet to build my little nest here.” Suddenly I realize I’m basically asking her to sleep with me. “Or you can take the love seat? Or take some of the blankets and make your own bed somewhere … or you can have this one and I can go somewhere else?” I’m rambling, but I can’t seem to help myself.
Tucking her bottom lip between her teeth, Serafina holds back a laugh. “It’s okay, Ben. I’m not going to think you’re some sort of player who’s trying to get me into bed.”
“Good because I’m not in any way a player,” I tell her. “Also, I have no interest in sleeping with you. None at all.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
“Glad we got that cleared up,” she says, walking over and dropping her pillow next to mine.
“Good, yes, me too,” I tell her, trying not to watch her as she lowers herself onto the floor and tucks herself in.
Holy protons, for all practical purposes, Serafina and I are in bed together, and I’m in nothing more than my boxers. I should have at least worn a T-shirt, but I can’t stand to sleep in one. Also, I wasn’t expecting company. But I definitely have company now. I’m in bed with a beautiful, highly intelligent woman, and my whole body responds to the thought.
I risk a glance and see that Serafina’s curled up with her back to me, creating a rather alluring outline in the moonlight. A wave of longing, so strong it rivals the kind you feel as a teenager, comes over me. What was I doing before she got here? Oh, yeah, I was about to text that dentist person back. What’s her name again?
Oh, God, it doesn’t matter, does it? Because I clearly can’t string her along when I’m having feelings for another woman. I lie on my back, staring at the ceiling fan as it slowly spins above my head, telling myself to just go to sleep. Nothing is going to happen, nor should it for many good reasons. Albeit none of which I can think of at the moment.
I should make a list of all the reasons we shouldn’t pursue a relationship with one another. That should help focus my attention on something other than how good she smells.
Number one: Her grandparents went to sleep at six p.m., which means they’ll likely be up for breakfast in about, what? An hour? What if one of them catches us and has a heart attack and dies?
Good, Ben. Thinking about old people having heart attacks is not sexy. Keep that up.
Number two: The whole colleague thing. Our situation is complicated enough. I don’t need to add to it.
Number three: She believes in astrology. That should probably have been number one, really, now that I think about it …
Two hours later, I’m still wide awake, listening to the calming rhythm of Serafina’s breathing. It’s so hypnotic it should have lulled me right to sleep, but after thinking of twenty-nine reasons we shouldn’t date (to be honest, twenty-four of them were pretty lame, like “she may not even like cats”), she rolled over and slung her leg over my midsection and her arm over my chest. She’s been snuggled against me for a long time, while I lie here facing the awful truth. I’m quite possibly in love with this woman. Deeply, ridiculously, horribly, wonderfully, nonsensically in love with her. And I can’t think of anything worse.
Twenty-Seven
Serafina
I’m having the most arousing dream I’ve ever had in my life. Like, I can totally feel the guy next to me and smell the lingering scent of his aftershave. In my fantasy, my arms and legs are wrapped around him like he’s a tree and I’m a bear trying to climb him. I’m fully invested in this amazing sensation, when I hear, “Um, Serafina …”
Oh my, the guy I’m trying to climb is Ben! If I were conscious, I totally wouldn’t let myself go there, but because this is a dream, all reticence is off the table. Even though I’ve got the hots for my co-host but would never come on to him in real life, he never has to know what I dream about. “Ben …” I purr in response. Then I find his earlobe with my teeth and give it a playful tug.