Third Date (12 page)

“What the hell? Sleep with this guy!” Kayla practically yells it. “You’ll finally get it over with. This is perfect! It sounds like he has more than enough experience, which means he can teach you things. You already know him, so it’s not like you’re doing it with a stranger. And when the conference ends you’ll never have to see him again. You have to do this, Morgan.”

“We haven’t even kissed,” I lie. Just thinking about that kiss makes me smile a little. Okay, maybe a lot.

I must be a horrible liar because Paige says, “You totally kissed him. I can tell.”

“Fine, I kissed him. But it was just one kiss and it was very innocent. More like a friend kiss. He’s not interested in being anything more than that.”

Paige sneezes again.
 

“Paige, go sit on the other side of the room,” Kayla orders. “I am NOT getting sick. Anyway, Morgan, listen. Maybe this guy thinks you’re still the goody-goody he knew in high school. Just heat things up a little. Come on to him. Trust me. If a guy’s offered sex, he’s not going to turn you down.”

“I don’t know. I don’t want him to think I’m a slut. We’re from the same town. I might run into him again someday.”

“You worry way too much. Just get a few drinks in him. Loosen him up a little. Then take him back to your room.”
 

I hear Paige blowing her nose in the background.
 

“What do you think, Paige?” I ask her.

“It’s not the worst idea Kayla’s had. It
is
kind of good that you know him already. And you seem to really like him. So I guess I would say go for it.”

“Really?” I pause to consider it. I like Brad and he’s super hot and he does have a lot of experience in this area. “Maybe you guys are right. This is a good opportunity. And when I get back home, it’ll be done and it won’t be so awkward if I end up doing it with Grant.”

“Finally,” Kayla says.
 

“So how do I do this? Just try to seduce him into coming back to my room?”

Kayla laughs. “You don’t need to seduce him. Just invite him in. He’ll know what it means.”

“Make sure to use condoms,” Paige says in a mom tone. “If he’s been with tons of women he could have all kinds of diseases.”

“Like she really wants to hear that, Paige.” I can practically hear Kayla rolling her eyes. “Morgan, did you bring your good underwear?”

“I didn’t exactly plan on this, Kayla.”

“You always have to plan on this. Is there a store nearby? You can’t let him see those granny panties.”

“They’re not granny panties. They’re hi-cut briefs and I don’t think he’s the type who would care.”

“Just go commando. He’ll like that better than those things you call underwear.”

I hear Paige rustling some papers. “You sure you want to do this, Morgan?”

“I’ll think about it some more, but you might’ve just talked me into it.”

“You have to tell us all about it when you get back,” Kayla says. “We have to go. We’ll talk to you later.”

They hang up and I finish my lunch and think about this plan for having sex with Brad. It does sound appealing. And he does know what he’s doing. But maybe he won’t want to do it with me. Last night, he could’ve invited me to his room, but he didn’t. So maybe he really does just see me as a friend and that’s it.
 

After we have drinks tonight, I’ll just casually ask him if he’d like to hang out in my room, then see where things lead. But what if they lead to sex? Kayla’s right. What guy’s going to turn down sex? He’ll definitely want to do it. But am I ready for that?

Now I’m getting nervous. Tonight I might finally lose my virginity. And it’ll be to the last person I would’ve ever imagined it would be.

I go over to my suitcase to see if I have anything even remotely sexy to wear. I don’t. All I have are boring business clothes; some button-up shirts, a few sweaters, a couple pairs of pants, a skirt, and the dress I wore last night. And I don’t have anything that even comes close to being considered lingerie. My undergarments are limited to my hi-cut briefs and my beige, wire-free, made-for-comfort-not-sex bras.

I decide to go with jeans and my red sweater. I read somewhere that the color red attracts men. But maybe that’s a myth, because I wore a red dress last night and sat in a room full of red and only got that one innocent kiss.

What else do I need for tonight? I hear Paige’s voice in my head reminding me to get condoms. Where do I get condoms? The gift shop. People at a hotel must need condoms all the time. They have to sell them.
 

I head down to the gift shop, hoping and praying it’s not full of people. Luckily, it’s empty because the lunch session is still going on in the main ballroom.
 

I search the shop for condoms but can’t find them anywhere. They have everything else; toothbrushes, combs, aspirin, shower caps, tampons, toothpaste.
 

The young woman working the cash register sees me searching the store like I’m on some type of scavenger hunt.
 

“Can I help you?” she asks.

The woman is in her twenties and has reddish-blond hair that hangs in loose waves several inches past her shoulders. She has huge breasts and is wearing a short black dress that shows off her long legs. I’m just guessing here, but I would say she’s probably not a virgin. Which means she’s likely found herself in need of condoms before and wouldn’t judge me for buying them at a hotel.
 

I go up to her and speak softly. “Do you sell condoms here?”

She looks surprised. I’m suddenly offended. Do I look like someone who would never need condoms? I’m no beauty queen but I’m not exactly ugly.

“We keep them back here.” She reaches under the register and opens a drawer. “How many do you need?”

How many do I need? How many does she
think
I need?
 

“Um, just one.”

She gives me a strange look. “They come in packs of three or more.”

“Oh, okay. Three is good.”

“Do you want ribbed, flavored, sensitive, extra sensitive, for her pleasure, glow in the dark?”

I had no idea there were so many different types of condoms. I’ve never actually shopped for condoms.
 

She continues. “For flavored we have cherry, citrus, grape—”

“No. Just plain. No flavors. No glow in the dark. No ribbing.”

“So do you want sensitive? Extra sensitive? For her—”

I hear people starting to leave the ballroom, coming out into the lobby.
 

“I don’t know. Just give me whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

“For her pleasure.” She holds the package up and smiles. “Why should guys have all the fun, right?” She punches something in the register. “Should I charge it to your room?”

I imagine myself giving the accounting department at work a copy of my hotel receipt with a charge for condoms on it. I’m sure it would just say ‘gift shop’ but with my luck, you never know.

“I’ll just pay with cash. How much is it?”

“With tax, it’s $10.59.”

“For three condoms?”
 

She shrugs. “The hotel jacks up the price. When people are desperate, they’ll pay anything.”
 

I search my wallet, which is full of ones for some reason. She notices and looks away. Great. Now she probably thinks I work at a strip club.
 

People from the conference are starting to linger and talk outside the gift shop. I count my money and find that I only have nine ones. That’s it. I hand her my credit card but she doesn’t take it.

“Sorry, but our machine is down. It’s cash only or I can charge it to your room.”

“I only have $9. I have to run to the ATM. I’ll be right back.” As I’m closing my wallet, my change spills out and goes all over the floor. I bend down to pick up the scattered pennies, nickels, and dimes.

“Let me help you with that.” I look up and see Brad picking up the change.

Shit! What is he doing here? Where did he come from?

“Thanks, but you don’t need to help,” I say, urging him to leave.

He picks up the last penny. “I think we got it all.”

We both stand up and he gives me the change.
 

“Are we still meeting for drinks tonight?” he asks.

Cashier girl is observing the scene and I feel her staring. I glance over and see her checking Brad out. I’m sure she can tell from my blushing face that he’s the reason I need the condoms. She smiles at me, as if reassuring me that Brad is worth the ridiculous price they charge for them.

“Yeah. I’ll see you then. I’ve gotta go.” I race out of the gift shop.
 

As I’m leaving, cashier girl calls after me. “What about your stuff? Are you coming back with your money?’

I ignore her and hurry back to my room. The whole scene was fate telling me not to do this. I’m not ready. Or Brad’s the wrong guy. Something’s wrong. Buying condoms should not be that hard!
 

About a minute later I hear a knock on the door. I assume it’s the cleaning lady because nobody’s been by yet and it’s already afternoon.
 

I get up and open the door. It’s not the cleaning lady. It’s Brad.
 

“You raced out of there so fast you forgot your stuff.” He hands me a small bag with the hotel logo on it.

This is so embarrassing. He had to have looked inside. He probably thinks I’m hooking up with some random guy I met at the conference. Why else would I buy condoms at a hotel?
 

“That’s not mine.” I shove the bag back at him. “I didn’t buy anything there.”

“That woman said you ran out of money. So I paid for it. I figured if you were buying it at the gift shop, you must really need whatever it is. They charge a fortune for stuff.”

I guess he didn’t look in the bag. But how could he not? I snatch the bag from him. “I’ll pay you back tonight. I just need to go to the ATM.”

“It’s 10 bucks, Morgan. Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to pay me back.” He smiles, and once again, I feel myself smiling back. “I’ll see you tonight.”

I watch him walk away. He looks as good from the back as he does from the front. Cashier girl is right. He
is
worth the $10 condoms.

I open the bag to find the ‘For Her Pleasure’ condoms. I rip apart the box and toss out the illustrated guide for using them. Do people really need that? Even
I
know how to use them.
 

I stash the condoms in the nightstand. Then I take them back out. If they’re in the nightstand, Brad will think I planned the whole thing. But just having condoms at all might make him think that. This is so complicated.

I spend the rest of the afternoon at a session about trends in cereal flavors, but I can’t concentrate. In my head, I’m playing out all the possible scenarios of what might happen tonight, which only makes me more nervous.
 

For dinner, I order room service, then get out my laptop and try to get some work done. There’s nothing like food science to take your mind off sex.

By 8:30, I start to wonder if Brad changed his mind. His interview and dinner was at 6. How long could it possibly last? Or maybe it’s done and he changed his mind or decided he was too tired to have drinks.

Another hour goes by and I’m sure he’s not calling. I’m disappointed I won’t see him but relieved that the sex plan is off. I’m not sure I could’ve gone through with it.
 

Then at 9:45, the phone in my room rings. When I answer it, I hear his voice.

“Morgan, I’m sorry it’s so late but I’d love to still have a drink if you’re up for it.”

“Sure. Should I meet you downstairs?”

“I’m in my room. I’ll just stop by and get you in a few minutes.”

We hang up and I race to the bathroom for a quick freshening up. I hear him knocking at the door and go to answer it.

He’s smiling from ear to ear. His positive energy practically fills the room.

“I got the job!” He’s so excited he comes in and hugs me, his big muscular arms enveloping me. I breathe in his best-I’ve-ever-smelled cologne.
 

“That’s great, Brad! Congratulations! Did you just find out?”

He lets me go, still smiling. “Yeah. You’re the first person I’ve told. Let’s go celebrate.”
 

He takes my hand and leads me out the door. He’s being very affectionate tonight. I’m starting to think this sex thing might actually happen.
 

We go to the hotel bar and find a small table off to the side where it’s not so noisy. The bar is full of conference attendees and a lot of them are drunk and laughing really loud.

I take a seat but Brad remains standing.

He puts his hand on the back of my chair and leans down to talk by my ear. “What would you like to drink? I’ll go get us something.”

His warm breath by my ear causes a shiver to go through me.

“Morgan?” He massages my shoulder a little to wake me up, and wow, that feels good.
 

“Yeah. What were you saying?”

“What would you like to drink? It’s on me.”

“Just a glass of wine. Red, please. Any kind.”

He heads to the bar and I check him out. He still has his suit on from the interview. It’s different than the one he wore the other day. It’s dark gray and looks more expensive. And it fits him perfectly. He looks really hot in that suit. Really, really hot.

I notice a table full of women next to the bar staring at him. They huddle together like they’re making some kind of plan. Then one of them, a young woman with long dark hair wearing an extremely tight, low-cut navy dress, gets up from the table and makes her way to the bar. She stands right next to Brad, getting as close as possible, and whispers something in his ear. She laughs and tosses her hair back.
 

For a moment, I consider going up to the bar and interrupting this little flirt-fest, but doing so would make me look crazy. Brad and I aren’t dating. If he wanted to, he could take her back to his room and have his way with her.

Brad nods in my direction, holding two drinks in his hand. The woman glares at me, like I’m her competition. I glance away.