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8
Natalie
I had absolutely no reason to trust him, other than the fact that he was right—we’d had an instant connection, even across the room, and then we’d vibed with each other from the first words that had passed between us. The fact that he was a fellow film buff had kind of sealed the deal. I had mostly always had good instincts, except when it came to Douglas, but that was a whole different story.
Somehow, having been taken in by a guy who turned out to be a total douche canoe hadn’t weakened my confidence in trusting my gut. It had definitely weakened my confidence in men, but it seemed that I was potentially ready to get back on the horse. One young, ripped and impossibly cute horse.
With Luke, I felt there really wasn’t a physical threat. He wasn’t about to drive me into a back alley and hack me to pieces, nor did he seem like the type of guy to try to make me do something I didn’t want to do.
And, unlike Doug, he certainly wasn’t an emotional threat, because there was no emotion involved, and in fact, in that sense, I was the one with the upper hand, in a potentially morally questionable way. He was right. I knew details of his life—his full name and occupation, details of his family that could be easily checked and expanded on via a quick Google and social media search of his name, and the band’s name, and hey presto, I could probably find out almost anything I wanted to know about him.
Conversely, he knew almost nothing about me, and what I had told him wasn’t enough to work with. Not that he needed any of those details to hack me into pieces and throw my body into the East River. The truth was that we knew all we needed to know about each other, which was that we enjoyed each other’s company, and were both keen to enjoy the other person in the biblical sense.
The fact was that as I stared down the barrel of thirty, I was more than likely going through a third-life crisis of sorts. Having not really dated in my twenties, and therefore not having experienced all the fun and games that entailed, I felt that now was the time to do all those things—to sow what few wild oats I had left before they became too old and dry even to make oatmeal with.
I was horny. I was attracted to Luke in a way I hadn’t been to any guy for forever, I liked him, and, rightly or wrongly, I trusted him. More than all that, though, he represented a way to knock off not just one, but two items from the Fuck It List, if hanging out alone in a bar were to morph into my first ever one-night stand. Sleeping with a guy who was legal, but young enough for me to be too scared to enquire about his exact age—I was guessing at least eight to ten years my junior—was definitely not on the list. Not that it really mattered. I wasn’t looking for Mr. Right, but in Luke’s cute and somewhat cocky form, I was pretty sure I’d found myself the perfect Mr. Right Now.
I gave myself one more tiny moment for my conscience to talk me out of going ahead, but when she failed to show up, I spoke again.
“Okay, let’s go.” For all the confidence I exuded with those words, I still hoped I wasn’t going to regret uttering them.
The way his whole body, not just his face, lit up at my words confirmed that I’d made the right decision—there was no way he was an ax murderer. We hailed a cab, jumped inside, and as we pulled away from the curb, we were both texting. I fired off a quick message to my best friend, Nala, explaining everything I knew about Luke, and the address he’d given the driver—you could never be too careful—and promising to call her to explain all later. I had no idea what he was doing. Maybe the same thing.
Once we were done, we picked up where we’d left off in the club—watched in the rear-view mirror by the driver as we wound our way through the busy streets. Not that either of us seemed to care about putting on a show.
We pulled up outside what appeared to be a disused liquor store, and as the taxi sped away from the curb, I began to regret my decision. Maybe he was intending to make a skin suit out of me after all. He walked toward a keypad on the wall and punched in a code. When the door clicked, he pushed it open, and turned to me with his hand outstretched. “Trust me?”
I hesitated.
He waited.
“I’ve let my best friend know where I am and who I’m with. So if I go missing, they’ll know who to come looking for.”
He laughed at that, clearly amused by my concern.
“You’re not going to go missing. Well, not on account of me, anyway. I promise.”
I craned my neck around him and saw that the well-lit hall behind him appeared to lead to some kind of foyer, conceivably of a small hotel. I stepped over the threshold hesitantly, still somewhat skeptical.
“What is this place?” It clearly wasn’t a liquor store, as the sign outside proclaimed.
“It’s a boutique hotel. The old façade was too awesome-looking to get rid of though, so it can be a little confusing, but these days, it’s just that, a façade. The interior is one hundred percent modern.”
“You own it?”
“Hahahaha, No, I wish! It’s one of my older brother, Brad’s, businesses. It’s pretty cool having it in the family, though. It’s perfect for when we have friends or relatives visiting, or…”
“Or you want to bring someone back here for a one-nighter,” I finished for him.
He had the decency to look sheepish. “Basically, yeah. But to be quite honest, we hardly need to bother. Arlo’s ‘friends’ often don’t make it out of whatever venue we’re in—the office, the bathroom, an alley out the back or down the side, even the limo parked at the curb. Tonight Marnie and I walked in on him and some chick in the band room. And with Marnie, they mostly go to her place. That way he can leave as soon as they’re done.”
“Marnie? That’s the name of the girl who showed up? Did she leave through the stage door then? I didn’t see her when you came out.”
“Nah, I left her out back before joining you again.”
“Huh? Didn’t you just say that you found your brother in flagrante with someone else?”
“Yeah, I did. But listen, their shit’s a story for another day. Right now, it’s a total buzz kill, so can we skip it, please and focus on why we’re here?”
“Sure thing.” There wasn’t going to be another day, but I agreed that it wasn’t what I wanted to be thinking about at that point in time. We made our way into the ultra-modern reception area, just like Luke had said, and as he reached for something behind the desk, I caught a glimpse of the sliver of skin above his waistband, and I was one hundred percent back in the game.
My libido had taken a nosedive, then gone on a total hiatus when things ended with Doug, but it seemed she was back in full effect, and ready to partay. She’d apparently brought my self-confidence back with her, and it was about time.
