Staying True - A Contemporary Romance Novel by Suzie Carr Page B

my straw. “Jessica asked
me if I read the bible passage she emailed to me.”
    Shawna plucked a shot glass down from
the back counter and poured some Sambuca in it. “Girl, you need this.”
    I picked it up, eyed it and tossed it
back. It burned and tasted horrible. “Another please.”
    She refilled it and watched as I
downed that one too.
    “Careful, too many of those and you
might do something wild and crazy like get a massage that you won’t run away
from this time around.” She winked and walked away.
    An hour later, back in my hotel room,
numb from three shots, I decided I wanted to enjoy this great night.
    I deserved a great night.
    I deserved to relax after all I’d
been through over the past year.
    I deserved a massage.
    People got massages all the time.
    I worked hard.
    Her hands could certainly help put
some of my stress at bay.
    It was just a massage.
    She was a masseuse.
    She massaged people.
    I needed a massage.
    Fuck it. I called her.
    “Have you left the building yet?”
    “I was just getting ready to close up
for the day.”
    “Can you take on one more?”
    “Depends,” she said.
    “On?”
    “Is it you?”
    My insides rolled. “Yes,” I
whispered.
    “Are you coming down now?”
    I lingered on her question, telling
myself to go down to the foyer. I closed my eyes for reason to set in. I only
saw her long blonde hair tickling my back as she leaned over it, pouring her
attention onto my skin, into my soul. “I was hoping you’d come up.”
    Not more than ten minutes later, I
paced my hotel room, sobering up and wondering what the hell I had just done. I
should cancel. I should not bring a beautiful girl into my hotel room and let
her massage me. This was wrong on so many levels. I imagined her soft hands
kneading my tired muscles, oil slick between our skin, her lovely, fresh scent
sprinkling the air, her petite body all curled up around mine to get a good
balance, a good grip.
    My head swirled. My inner thighs moistened.
A most delicious dance stirred in my tummy.
    And then Ruby knocked, and my heart
pounded clear out of range.
    It’s just a massage, I repeated in my
head as I stood staring at the door. I envisioned her silhouette on the other
side, curvy and well-balanced, her long hair waving around her shoulders and
her breasts, and her soft curvy hips, hugging the air.
    How would this play out? We’d greet
each other with easy smiles, hearts pounding, imaginings of bare skin slicked
with oil and gentle breezes filtering through the window? Would we be able to
restrain ourselves? Would our self-control disintegrate before us like cotton
candy on a wet tongue? Would emotions flow in and rupture the dam of mental
fetters and moralities, increasing our heartbeats, causing our breaths to levy
against our lungs in a fight to stabilize?
    Ruby knocked again.
    What the fuck was I thinking?

 
     
    Chapter Eight
    Ruby
     
    Golden accent lamps adorning the
outside of each door lit the hallway, adding a cozy, sophisticated vibe. I knocked
on her door with a skip in my heart. I shifted my portable massage chair higher
up under my arm. I knocked again, staring straight at the peep hole, smiling in
case she was staring back at me.
    At last, Nadia opened the door.
    She curled up against the door
looking sexy, teasing me with her cat-like eyes. “Thanks for coming.”
    I wrestled with my massage chair
until it fell to the ground. “The pleasure is all mine.”
    She stooped down to pick up my chair
and handed it back to me. “Please go on in.”
    I entered. The room smelled of roses
and carnations, transporting me to a tropical island where romance and beauty
soothed reckless nerves. The suite was bigger than my old attic apartment. A
flat screen television hung on the wall above a credenza that housed all the
necessary fixings for a relaxing evening: a corkscrew, a crystal ice bucket,
two glass tumblers, and a set of napkins folded up like fans. On the TV, a news
reporter’s hair blew in her face