Benedict.
Matt: Guess who just sat next to me at the pool? The girl you met last night!
Matt jumped, startled by a phone buzzing behind him and swung round.
***
Benedict
“Really?” said Benedict. “I thought it was her getting out of the taxi in front of me, but I wasn’t sure. Her name is Siena; she was at the meeting.” He looked a bit shaken and not his usual calm self.
“Oh,” said Matt, confused. “What was she doing there?”
“She’s the bloody client,” said Benedict in a rush, feeling heat suffuse his face. “I had no idea, and it threw me at the meeting.”
“You only danced with her, mate,” said Matt, smiling. “No real harm done.”
Benedict wished that was all he’d done with her. “She’ll decide on the commission,” he said guardedly.
“Right, you’ll need a beer, then,” said Matt hastily, signalling to the waiter for two more beers.
“Where is she?” said Benedict, looking around.
“She’s on the sunbed with the large parasol to the right of the pool.”
Benedict took a long, grateful drink of his beer before looking over at Siena. She was staring straight back at him and he winced. He sat back; he hated clubs as a rule, only going at Matt’s insistence, but he remembered the dance, the card, and the call. He didn’t like to admit it to himself but he wanted to see her again, and yet he hadn’t even known her name. Well he knew it now. In one fluid movement, she was on her feet walking towards them. Benedict wanted to shrink back out of sight but was completely exposed at the side of the bar. With nowhere to run, she was soon standing in front of him.
“Benedict, how lovely to see you again so soon.” Her voice had a soft American accent. Benedict couldn’t see her eyes behind the large sunglasses, making it difficult to read her mood, although her lips were smiling. He was silent for a minute before answering; his eyes bright with intensity as his gaze swept over her body.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s strange we keep bumping into each other.”
This time it was her turn to pause. “You’re right; would you both be free to join me for dinner?”
The sexual tension between them simmered. Taken aback by her directness, Benedict was momentarily lost for words.
“Th-this evening?” he stuttered.
“Well, yes, unless you’re busy?”
“I’m afraid I am,” blurted Matt quickly.
“How rude of me,” said Benedict. “Siena, this is my friend Matt.”
“Yes, Matt and I already met at the pool, but now I know your name.”
“Nice to meet you, Siena, but you’ll have to excuse me. I’m already late for my massage,” said Matt, blushing. As he hurried away, he sent Benedict a text.
Matt: I hope you’re going to dinner? If you don’t, I will…
Benedict ignored the vibration of his phone. The atmosphere between them was even more electric. She was dressed in a pretty white bikini with a sheer white kaftan over it, decorated at the plunging neckline with stones that sparkled in the sun. He stared boldly at her body. The smooth golden skin, the high soft breasts, the long, lean legs, and those lips…he was transfixed.
“I hope we can finish what we started,” said Benedict.
“Mmmmm, is that a yes to dinner?” she breathed.
He nodded, not taking his gaze from her. His need to kiss her, devour her, was almost more than he could stand.
She leant in closer and he was enveloped in the smell of her. Exotic, expensive, but most of all, sexy, so damn sexy…and desire charged through him. God, he wanted her.
“Until tonight then. Dinner is nine-thirty sharp,” she whispered close to his ear, brushing his face with her lips, and then she twisted away, leaving him standing there alone.
And he was back at that day, the worst day when the one person he loved was taken from him. This often happened to him, the memory coming out of nowhere to catch him unawares. Was it because he had felt longing surge through him? Was