Modern Girl's Guide To Vacation Flings (16 page)

Matt looked over his shoulder and burst out laughing. The thought of Holly folding towels into animal shapes was ridiculous. The whole domestic gene had completely skipped her. He wasn't sure she could fold a towel into a square, let alone a swan.

"You never know, Holly," he said as he peeled out of her hold. "It might be a helpful skill to have. Maybe at your next hostile takeover, you can fold your buyout proposal into fun elephants. It might help you get through the meeting without making anyone cry."

"Matthew Patrick Carver!" she yelled after him as he walked down the hall. "I'm going to remember this."

The knocking on the door woke Beth out of a fitful sleep. She pulled the pillow over her head and ignored the sound. If it was Candido, he'd come in, see her asleep, and leave without bothering her. If it was Matt, he could come back later. She'd already spent a restless night with the feel of his touch burned into her skin.

The knocking turned into an insistent pounding, and Beth sat up and tossed one of the pillows at the door. "Go away! I'm sleeping!"

Two more solid knocks.

"I have coffee." Matt's deep, sexy voice filtered through the door, and fuck if her heart didn't speed up. When she didn't say anything back, he tried again. "I know you didn't really eat yesterday. I've come by to see if you wanted to go to brunch."

Brunch? Beth rolled over to check the time—it was well after ten—and sighed. She tossed back the covers, and crawled out of bed. Her head swam at the sudden change in position, causing her to regret the last few shots of tequila. She couldn't remember the last time she had a full-blown hangover. She was feeling it today. And the fact her body was stiff and aching from more intimate activities didn't help. She shuffled over to the door and yanked it open.

"Hand over the coffee and I won't have to hurt you." Snatching the to-go cup with a smile that felt more like a grimace, Beth walked back into the darkened room, knowing he'd follow. But the way her head felt, she really didn't care. Hopefully the coffee would help. "I have to get dressed. Why don't you wait for me on the veranda?"

"Not a morning person I see," Matt said with a smirk as he passed her.

She glared at him over her cup. He wisely shut up and made his way to the sliding glass door. Sadly, Beth was the consummate morning person. She was always up before dawn. But this slow trek through the Atlantic was throwing her internal clock off. They'd passed through another time zone last night and lost an hour, not to mention lack of sleep. So she it seemed she'd left her normal "jump out of bed, ready for the day" self somewhere back on the Florida coast line.

She was dragging through her regular morning routine, and by the time she was ready, it was almost noon. But on the plus side, the coffee and the Advil she'd taken had eased her headache. Now all she needed was a stop at the gym to work the kinks out of her body and she might pass as human again.

"Well," she drawled when she was finally ready to go, "I hope you weren't counting on Eggs Benedict, because I think we've officially missed breakfast."

"I finished off the pastries when I got up this morning, so I'm ready for lunch. How's The Surf Shack sound?"

It sounded like heaven. She'd dressed casually with shorts, a fitted tee shirt, and flip flops, and The Surf Shack was a casual dining restaurant on the ship. She was starved. Her stomach growled loudly in agreement, much to her embarrassment.

"So, I'll take that as a yes to The Surf Shack?" Matt said. His lips curved into a full smile. Not the lopsided grin or mischievous smirk she'd seen so often. This one lit up his face, showcasing his strong jaw and displaying a set of dimples she hadn't seen before. Oh fuck, she was screwed. Beth had a thing for sexy men with dimples.

She placed a hand over her middle and shook her head with a giggle. "My stomach has spoken." Grabbing her oversized beach bag, Beth headed for the door.

He was quiet on their walk down and she couldn't think of anything to say to fill the silence. And here she thought by leaving last night, they could avoid the morning after awkwardness. It wasn't until they were seated and the waitress brought their meal that Matt finally warmed up.

"So," he said on a long exhale, as if steeling himself to the upcoming conversation. "I guess I should have asked before I told everyone we were dating. It's usually one of those questions that come up when you first meet someone and want to ask them out, but I guess our meeting didn't happen in the normal way. Even so, I should have at least asked before anything happened last night."

Matt shifted in his seat and wouldn't look at her directly. He was talking circles around whatever was on his mind and it was driving Beth crazy.

"As I recall we didn't do a lot of talking last night, so if you have something on your mind now, why don't you just say it?"

"Holly said something this morning that got me thinking. Kitty seems to know an awful lot about you. Probably because of your mother and the Senator. You know how people talk. Having a high profile family means very little privacy. I get that. It makes it easy for someone to find out about you because of your family."

"What are you talking about? What did Holly say?"

Matt looked down at his water glass and the way he wouldn't meet her eyes, Beth knew he'd heard about the wedding. Great. Now he felt sorry for her, and worse, he probably thought last night was all about Robert.

"Just ask whatever is on your mind already."

"You don't have a boyfriend or someone you're serious about back home, do you?"

Wow. That came out of left field. Beth wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or slap him. She was leaning more toward the latter. That he would even think she'd pretend to be his girlfriend in public, let alone sleep with him, while seeing someone else back home hurt. And it spoke volumes about what he really thought of her.

Schooling her expression, she set down her fork and removed the napkin from her lap. "That's what you think? Thanks for the lunch, Matt. but I'm suddenly not hungry." She dropped the napkin and stood. "I think it would be better if we stop now. I think the show yesterday afternoon convinced your family you're in a relationship. You don't need me anymore."

"Wait." Matt raced to block her path. A worried expression marred his face, making him look years older. "I'm not saying you did anything wrong. Hell, it was my fault. I took advantage of the situation. I knew you'd been drinking and you were obviously upset. I should have done the gentlemanly thing, but—"

"Shut up. Just shut up, before you make this any worse." Beth took a step back, and shoved her hands in her pocket. Mostly because they were shaking, but also to prevent her from wringing his neck. She couldn't believe what he was saying. She would have laughed in his face if she wasn't so disappointed. "You're right. I had too much to drink and my defenses were lowered. I shouldn't have slept with you. But not because I have a boyfriend or because I'm seeing someone else, which by the way, I'm not. I shouldn't have slept with you because I have more self-respect. I normally wouldn't sleep with man who obviously has such a low opinion of me. Now, I'm leaving before this becomes a scene."

"I'm sorry. That's not at all what I meant. I didn't have a low opinion of you. I really didn't think you would do that, but after the way you left last night. Fuck. I'm grasping at straws here, Beth." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, causing the ends to stand up. "I thought there was something there. But after… I don't know. You just left. You were cold and distant, and I thought it might have been guilt. I couldn't stop think about what an asshole I'd been putting you in that situation. Please. Sit down and explain what happened last night."

People were starting to stare, and Beth reluctantly returned to the table. She could see his point. She had been feeling guilty, but not for the reason he thought.

"Matt, you didn't take advantage of me. I'm sorry you thought that for even a second. If I recall correctly, I'm the one who invited you to bed, not the other way around. You have nothing to feel bad about. If it makes you feel any better, the last relationship I had ended well over a year ago. There hasn't been anyone serious since. So don't worry about some jealous lover finding out and hunting you down."

She picked up her drink and took a sip, giving herself a few more seconds to decide what to do next. It had just been one night and already things were getting complicated. She should end things now, but she wasn't ready. Not yet.

"As for last night, I left because it was the right thing to do. I understand what this is. You're not looking for a relationship and neither am I. Last night was perfect. Staying over would have just mucked up the waters."

The silence between them grew thick with discomfort. Matt seemed to mull over her words while picking at his burger. Finally, he spoke without looking up. "I understand. I wish we would have had this talk before anything happened. You didn't have to leave. It's not like I was going to kick you out of my room."

"I didn't think you would. But I did have to leave. It makes it easier. You know, I'm fine with it being about sex," she shrugged, hoping he bought her laissez-faire attitude, because she sure wasn't. But Beth wasn't about to let him know just how frightened she'd become at his tenderness. Matt was just the type of guy who'd try and make it all better. Perhaps if he thought she didn't care at all, he'd back off. "Neither of us went into this thinking we'd hook up. I had a great time, and I was hoping it wouldn't be a one-time thing. But it needs to be just sex. If you're not fine with that, we can pretend it never happened."

"Just sex," he said as if testing the words. She watched as a myriad of emotions played crossed his face. Beth was fully prepared to hear his rejection, when he finally said, "Fine. Just sex."

After their talk, the lunch had turned from awkward to downright uncomfortable. Matt struggled to find a safe topic. He kept dancing around personal issues until the conversation completely died, so Beth went back to her uneaten lunch. With her appetite completely gone, she just picked at the fries on her plate, wondering if this little talk had put a death nail in their budding friendship.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said out of nowhere. "I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to get anything right when it comes to you. I like you, Beth. And I really hope the jackass that comes out when I'm around you doesn't screw things up."

Beth smiled and took a drink. She hadn't expected his apology and it melted a little of the ice that had been forming around her heart. "Don't be so hard on that jackass, Matt. I'm quite fond of him actually. Wasn't he the one who accepted my offer last night?"

"So, you forgive me?" he asked, his eyes lighting up like a mischievous child's.

The man was disarming. With him looking at her like that, all she could do was nod.

"Good. But you need to let me make it up to you. How about dinner tonight at Sonnas?"

"I don't know. I did have too much to drink last night. I'm not feeling great and I'm beat."

"Why don't we make it a late dinner? You can nap and we can meet up later. I'll make reservations for around eight thirty."

"I'm don't think that's such a good idea," she tried again, still not sure if diner alone with him was a good idea. It felt too much like a date. "I'm not really one hundred percent. I think I'm going to work out and turn in early tonight."

"That sounds great. I didn't get a chance to hit the gym this morning," Matt said.

Sensing he wasn't going to let this go, Beth decided to give in a little. She wanted to keep it casual, that didn't mean they couldn't spend time together. "Come along if you want, but I'm still skipping dinner. I have a feeling I'm going to need a long nap this evening." Remembering the cruise activities she'd picked out, Beth decided to throw him a bone. "We can always meet up after dinner. There are a few things on the schedule I'd like to do."