Half of me was fantasising about the idea of Joe just throwing me, caveman style, on that pool table and having his wicked way with me, while the other half was already realising how hard it could be to get over him if that did happen.
Maybe the mom...
I'm still feeling the after-effects of our early morning antics a couple of hours later as I wander down to meet Sienna for another roadtrip. Despite my assurances to her that I haven't completely lived like a monk for ten plus years, it's still been a good while since I've been that intimate with someone else and, I can't lie, it felt really nice.
Sienna is just so easy to be around. I am incredibly attracted to her but I also feel comfortable with her. I don't feel like she needs me to impress her, and I'm surprised at myself at how much I've actually opened up to her already, or at all for that matter. I normally play my cards close to my chest but she's gradually forcing my hand, apparently without even trying.
She's already waiting for me. She's wearing a mint coloured strappy beach dress over a turquoise bikini, and has a bright pink flower clip pinned into her tousled blonde hair. She looks so pretty. I can't believe she's mine.
I shake my head to clear my own thoughts. She's not mine. This isn't like that.
Sienna glances up at me and breaks into a smile, waving me over. I try not to dwell too much on the memories from earlier, force myself not to imagine her lying naked in front of me again. It's surprisingly difficult. "What are you up to?" I ask as casually as I can, walking towards her.
"Just doing an inventory of the communal bookcase," she replies, sipping an orange juice, and indicating the shelves that guests can leave their unwanted books on after they've finished them. "I didn't download enough books onto my kindle for my holiday apparently so thought I'd see if I could find a physical book to read. Usually they're all duds but I'm hoping I'll find a hidden gem."
I nod, sitting down at a nearby table. "Yeah, usually it's just duplicate copies of the same 'classic', books you've already read, or downright trash," I agree, stretching out my legs while I admire her bare tanned shoulders.
"Shall we play holiday bookshelf bingo?" she asks, wiggling her dark eyebrows at me. I frown back, confused. This is UK Birthday Number 1 all over again.
She giggles. "Take a guess at what might be on these shelves and I'll tell you if it's there." She raises her arms and gives a dramatic flourish towards the bookcase, like a magician's assistant. "There's no prize but you get the joy of taking part!"
She's such an idiot. An adorable one though.
"Oh right, I get it." I think for a minute. "Well, there's got to be at least one Dan Brown book there surely," I decide.
She scans the shelves. "One copy of The DaVinci Code and as many as three copies of Angels & Demons." She doffs an imaginary cap in my direction. "Well played, good sir."
"Okay . . . Fifty Shades of Grey?"
She pulls out one of the books from that series, and holds it out to me with a skeptical eyebrow raised. "You gave your copy away?" she jokes and I make a face at her. "Okay, you're batting two for two so far. Any other ideas?"
I correctly guess a Twilight book, a random self help book that clearly came free with a magazine bought at the airport, and a mostly used puzzle book will all be in that bookcase.
"Who does that?" Sienna wonders in disgust, thumbing through the puzzle book. "They've filled in every single puzzle, apart from the sudokus. What a psychopath." She shakes her head, placing it back on the shelf as I watch her, amused. "Ah... I think I've found the hidden gem!" She exclaims, sounding delighted all of a sudden.
She pulls another book out and scans the back. "It is what I thought it was! I've not read this in years. Did you ever read this?"
Before she even holds it up towards me, I recognise it.
She starts babbling excitedly about it, telling me the plot. It's about a nerdy guy in his late teens who one day discovers he can read minds... "you know, a bit like 'What Women Want' but without all the misogyny", but even that can't help him get the girl of his dreams.
"Yeah, I remember it," I say faintly.
I should be happy she thinks so much of it. Wait, no, I am happy about that. I'm over the moon, in fact.
Because remember that bestselling novel I mentioned I wrote years ago? That's the book she's currently waving around in her hand and raving about.
I just don't really want her to know that.
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So it turns out that the book Joe wrote is one of Sienna's favourites . . . Is he going to reveal his identity???
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