Take the Money and Come

Chapter 4: Foiled Passion

Chapter 4: Foiled Passion“Damn men!” Sarah cursed aloud, staring across the street at the bar she'd left not an hour before, debating whether to return inside to find Callie. But, she knew she was far too revved up and more than a little confused. “My first venture back on the saddle and the horse bucks me off mid-ride,” she fumed, but couldn't stop herself from giggling at the analogy.

It really had been a strange night. First picking up a complete stranger for a little naughty pleasure on the beach, and then finding herself alone and...unsatisfied...as the man she'd pegged to be a penniless deadbeat drove off in a limo. She had a feeling she'd been right to stave off men, but Nico had been so sexy, so compelling.

“And where did that get you?” she asked herself dryly, realizing she was talking to herself aloud but to frazzled to care about how she might appear to onlookers.

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to quell the combination of arousal and frustration surging through her, Sarah turned then, opting to walk the three blocks back to the hotel. It would hopefully give her frayed emotions and the alcohol a chance to dissipate, leaving her clear-headed and ready to renew her commitment to celibacy. The scene of her and Nico on the beach kept replaying itself in her mind, over and over again, as she traveled the short distance and no matter how hard she tried to chase away the images, they bombarded her still. By the time she slid the key card into her hotel suite's lock, she was just as riled up as she'd been when Nico had kissed and nipped his way down her neck.

“Arghhh!” she exclaimed in frustration, but then she fell silent quickly.

As she walked into the suite, Sarah realized almost instantly that she wasn't alone. Sounds from beyond the living room caught her attention, coming from behind the closed door at the far side of the suite.

“Dammit,” she cursed, realizing she was doing that far more frequently this evening.

But, it didn't take her long at all to figure out what was going on behind that door. Callie must have picked up a guy at the bar after she'd left and brought him back there for the s****l release that Sarah was so desperate for in that moment.

“That was quick,” she mused, roughly calculating how much time had passed since she'd left Callie at the bar.

Her friend must have latched onto that evening's ride within minutes of Sarah leaving and brought him back to the hotel without taking the time to do much more than exchange names. She smiled wryly; she had done little more than that herself before heading out of the bar with Nico.

“Hopefully it ends better for Callie,” Sarah thought wryly, closing the suite's front door quietly and tiptoeing to her own room.

Once there, she slipped off the revealing dress, cursing it silently. If it weren't Callie and the little ivory dress, she could have spent the evening at the hotel's spa, indulging in facials and pedicures instead of...

“Damn!”

The night's images returned to her in full force, flooding her anew with a tidal wave of arousal. She flopped onto the queen-size bed, using her legs to slide her upward to the mound of pillows at the head. Tossing and turning, she sought out a comfortable position, but no matter how she tried, it wasn't sleep that her body was craving. Sarah contemplated reaching for her vibrator, safely nestled in her suitcase, but it wasn't right either; more than just an o****m, her body was craving human contact—or more particularly, Nico's contact. Sarah moved her hands then, allowing them to roam over her near naked body, hoping to imitate the touch she hungered for, but it wasn't enough.

And so she abandoned her attempts to mollify her arousal, burying her head beneath the pillows and trying desperately to rid her mind of the images of Nico's hard body, his hands and lips on her heated flesh and her own wanton response to the sexy stranger. The sounds of Callie in her own rapturous pleasure made it more difficult, and when sleep finally did come, her dreams were plagued by the same images she'd sought to stave off. By the time she awoke in the morning, the sun only beginning to lighten the night's sky, she felt no more rested than when she'd drifted off. Knowing there was little point in trying to return to sleep, she sat up slowly, watching the sun continue to rise out the window. Leaning down, she fished through her luggage for something to wear. Pulling out a pretty, cerulean blue sundress, she slipped it over her head then stood to smooth it down her thighs and tie the halter straps of the dress at the back of her neck.

Sarah padded barefoot out of her room, kicking the ivory dress out of the way and glaring at it petulantly. She threw a disc in the coffee machine, brewing a cup and taking it out onto the balcony to watch the increasingly busy scene below. She sat there for nearly an hour, determined to regain the relative calm she'd enjoyed over the past several months. Callie joined her a short time later, her hair mussed up and a bathrobe haphazardly wrapped around her.

“When did you get home? I didn't here you come in,” Callie asked casually, likely expecting that Sarah's evening had been as enjoyable as her own.

“Have a good time last night?” Sarah asked, evading the question.

“Yeah!” Callie smiled wickedly. “Right after you left, I started chatting up this bartender. His shift was just about over, so we headed back here after and...” she trailed off for a moment. “So, when did you get in?” she returned to her earlier question, likely expecting a juicy story.

“About half an hour after you, I'm guessing,” Sarah replied.

Callie was obviously caught off guard, silent for a moment, and then, “So...he was kind of quick?” she probed.

“No. More like, he was kind of gone.”

“Oh. You can't possibly convince me he ditched you. I saw the way he was looking at you, Sarah. You would have had to freak him out with a third arm, or an eye in the back of your head...or something. And even then I bet he would have been happy to give it a try. So...what did you do?” Callie asked, obviously figuring it was Sarah who bailed last night.

“I'll have you know I didn't DO anything. We were on the beach having a great time and he gets a phone call, and suddenly he has to leave...”

“Damn!” Callie cursed. “Married,” stating what she figured to be the obvious.

“That's exactly what I thought. And then a limo shows up. Nico says he has to see me again but then he gets in and drives off without even finding out where I'm staying,” Sarah explained. “So, that's it Callie. I'm done. You tried, I tried. And all I got out of it was a ton of frustration. It's just me and my vibrator from here on out,” she affirmed, all the while remembering back to last night and how insufficient her vibrator seemed in comparison to what her body really wanted. But, too bad. She just wasn't cut out for relationships, no matter how brief she intended them to be. Her vibrator wasn't going to cheat on her or steal her money, and it certainly wasn't going to up and run off before getting the job done.

“That's not fair,” Callie complained. “Maybe something came up that the guy couldn't avoid. I mean, a limo? Maybe he's a big-shot CEO and he had to fly off to some emergency meeting in Japan. Hell, if he's rich...”

“If he's rich, Callie,” Sarah cut in. “Then I'm sure he has a multitude of women throwing themselves at him all the time. He's probably already forgotten that I exist. Come on...no interest in where I'm staying...no phone number...he had no intention of picking whatever this was back up again. And, I'm fine with that,” Sarah lied, knowing that the more she thought about him, the hornier she felt.

“Just, drink you coffee, Cal, and tell me all about your hot bartender so I can live vicariously through you.” Sarah hoped that hearing Callie prattle on about her latest conquest would provide some sort of distraction.

“Did he at least get to second base?” Callie asked, still hung up on Sarah's interrupted fling.

Sarah tried to keep a straight face, banish last night's images from her mind, but she failed miserably and Callie honed in on it instantly.

“So how far did you get exactly?” she prodded.

“Oh, not far, really,” Sarah feigned. “It was just that he seemed very...talented.”

Callie was quiet then, and it surprised Sarah that her friend didn't probe for more information. Maybe she figured there wasn't really much to find, or perhaps she was giving Sarah a break, knowing last night certainly didn't go like she'd planned. They sipped on their coffees silently, looking down at the now bustling scene below.

“So, I was hoping to check out the art museum later today. Care to join me?” Callie queried, her eyes still focused on the crowds below.

“What do you say I check out the boring art exhibits with you, and then you come with me to see the sea turtles at the nature center?” Sarah propositioned back.

“Sounds like a plan,” Callie rolled her eyes as she spoke. But Sarah just wasn't an “art” person like her friend. She could appreciate a finely crafted piece of artwork, but spending endless hours staring at abstract lines and geometric shapes on a wall? It just wasn't her thing. But Callie wasn't exactly an animal lover, so it was a fair trade off.

Finishing her coffee, she rose from her seat and returned inside intending to make her way to the shower. But a knock sounded at the suite's door, and she turned to Callie, figuring it might have been the bartender back for round two. But Callie she shook her head, shrugging her shoulders at the same time. Sarah changed directions then, opening the door a moment later to find a man outside in the hallway with an odd bouquet of flowers. It wasn't an enormous bouquet but it was the most beautiful one she'd ever seen. Sarah had never seen the flowers before in her life. They were some sort of orchid, she was fairly sure, and exquisite beyond words. Callie arrived at the door then, peering out past Sarah.

“These must be for you,” Sarah told her before the man could say a word.

“Are you Sarah Collins?” the man asked and she nodded, a perplexed look on her face.

“They certainly aren't for me, Sarah. Did I forget to tell you? Turns out the bartender was married...” Callie spoke quietly, but her eyes were fixed on the flowers in the man's hand. “Who are these from?” Callie asked in the same quiet tone.

The man directed his attention to Sarah, figuring out by the women's exchange which of them was the intended recipient of the bouquet. “I have a delivery for you from Mr. Nico Rossi, Miss. Collins,” the man explained, holding out the flowers to her expectantly.

Sarah took them, reaching behind the door for her purse, but the man waved her off. “There's no need, Miss. I assure you. Please, have a good day,” he told her, and then he was gone, heading toward the elevator at the end of the hall. Sarah returned inside, closing the door behind her and feeling even more perplexed than she had when she first spied the flowers.

“Sarah, do you know what those are?” Callie asked, her voice still oddly hushed.

“Um...flowers?” Sarah took a stab at the obvious.

“No. Those aren't just flowers, Sarah. Those are Shenzhen Nongke orchids. I remember seeing them at an exhibit back in Chicago.”

“Oh, I thought they looked like some kind of orchid,” Sarah replied, pleased she'd guessed correctly.

“You don't understand. You can't go buy those from the local florist. Hell, I don't think you can buy those in North America. Do you have any idea what the price tag on a bouquet of those would be?”

“Well, obviously not. I thought I was doing pretty good guessing that they were orchids,” Sarah quipped casually.

“Those orchids are rare. One plant sold at auction for over $200,000. That means that bouquet of flowers you're holding likely cost thousands of dollars!”