A Very Important Guest Read online

  She kept her attention fixed on the car in front of her. “Yeah. We can talk about it later.”

  “Okay,” he said softly. His curiosity must’ve gotten the best of him because he asked, “And where is your father?”

  “He lives in San Diego. We’re close, but I don’t get to see him that often.”

  “When did your parents divorce?”

  “I was two. He was a Navy SEAL when he was younger and always off on some crazy mission.”

  “Wow. That’s impressive.”

  “Yeah, but my mom couldn’t handle the secrecy and long absences. It was hard for her, being alone all the time with a baby. Not long after they divorced, Chuck walked into her life to take care of her—and me, I guess.” She stopped the car at a red light and looked at him again. “I can’t complain at all about my upbringing. I lived in a happy home, and though he's never been around often, my dad has always been wonderful.”

  He smiled. “I’d say you turned out great.”

  “Thanks.” His eyes were warm, but there was something saucy in his expression, like he was checking her out. She shifted in her seat, feeling awkward under his sexy stare. When the light changed, she tried to change the subject. “So tell me about your family. Do you have brothers and sisters?”

  For the rest of the way to the restaurant, Will detailed a short history of his parents’ fairy tale romance and his life growing up with four brothers and sisters. To Abby, it sounded like a happy family with normal tensions that were bound to occur with that many children living under one roof of limited means. Will didn’t care if it was normal or not; he seemed to have had his fill of one of his brothers.

  When they arrived at the restaurant, Abby spoke to the hostess in pitch-perfect Japanese.

  Will chuckled. “I’d gladly trade my brother, Eric, to have grown-up overseas.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Sometimes I do,” he grumbled.

  When the hostess seated them, Abby said, “Then I would’ve taken your brother and learned Japanese in a classroom.”

  “No way.”

  “Why not?”

  “I mean there’s no way I’d let my brother anywhere near you. He’d immediately hit on you.”

  “Not if I was his sister …”

  “That’s probably the only way he wouldn’t.”

  The waiter came, and Abby quickly ordered for them both. Afterward, Will said, “So you really wanted a sibling closer to your age, not just older stepbrothers?”

  “When I was younger, I thought about it sometimes.” She bit the inside of her cheek because the perfect opportunity had arisen. She’d found the segue that made what she had to say easier. Fiddling with her chopsticks, she said, “Now I really wish I had at least one sibling.”

  “Why is that? At this age, you may not even live in the same city. You’d never see them.”

  She sighed and blurted out her plight. “Because then I wouldn’t be the only person in the world taking care of my mom.”

  Will’s face softened as his brow furrowed. Reaching over to take her hand in his, he said, “I’m so sorry, Abby. I didn’t know you were alone. What does she have?”

  “Alzheimer’s.” She swallowed. It was a bitter word for her.

  “Alzheimer’s? How old is she?”

  “She’s fifty-two. It’s early-onset Alzheimer’s. It’s rare, but it does happen.”

  “That’s horrible. When did it come on?”

  “In her early forties, she started getting really forgetful. It was annoying more than anything else. Then seven years ago, Chuck died, and things went downhill. They say a severe emotional trauma can speed up Alzheimer’s, and we think it did for my mom.”

  “How is she doing now?”

  “Not good. She’s been in a nursing facility for a couple of years.”

  “And you’re all alone dealing with this?” His tone was angry. “Where are your grandparents? Aunts? Uncles? Stepbrothers? Even your father?”

  “My dad helps me with a few of the legal things, but my grandpa died when I was sixteen, and my grandma and Aunt Maureen both live in Florida. They come here for a few weeks about three times a year.” She shook her head. “To be honest, their trips are now pretty useless because my mom’s memory is so far gone. The last time my grandma visited, she was here for two weeks, and my mom barely spoke. The only time she did she called her ‘Nana,’ the name my mom called her grandmother.”

  “Does she know who you are?”

  “Occasionally.” Abby lowered her head as she accepted the truth she hated. “Actually, it’s been a while since she has. She’s completely out of it.”

  Will was quiet, seeming to take it all in.

  Breaking the heavy silence, Abby looked him in the eye and summed up her situation. “It sucks.”

  “Yeah … I’d say so.” He shook his head in disbelief. “And yet you’re working, you’re in school, and taking care of her?”

  “It’s good to keep busy. It’s not like taking care of her is a full-time job any more. I visit her almost every day and manage her affairs, but that’s it. The rest of the time I’m in school or at work. I’ll be done with school at the end of this semester, and until I sell the house, I need to make money.” She sighed. “Even though selling it would make my life a ton easier, I’ve been putting it off. I had some stupid hope …”

  “God, Abby. I don’t know how you do it.”

  “You just do.” She sighed.

  The waiter interrupted by placing two bowls of miso soup before them, and quiet dominated the table as they sipped their soup from the ladle-like spoons. Will studied her as he placed the spoon in his bowl. “You’re very impressive.”

  “I’m just doing what anyone would do in this situation.”

  “Yeah, but you’re doing it really well, and you’re not crazy.”

  She pointed her empty spoon toward him and smiled. “You don’t know that.”

  “Whatever. I’m in politics. I’m a good judge of crazy, and you’re not crazy.” He chuckled.

  “Sometimes I feel like I am.” Wanting some more levity in the conversation, she asked, “If I’m crazy, do I have a chance in politics?”

  “You don’t have to be crazy to be in politics, though there are a lot of crazy people. Besides, I already said you could make it in politics.” He leaned back in his chair and eyed her warily. “I’d be terrified to run against you.”

  “You’re just saying that.”

  “I mean it. You’re smart and have a lot of depth.” He moved in closer again. “You’re too pretty for words.”

  The compliment left her speechless.

  Taking her hand again, he said, “I’ve been trying to find the right word that accurately describes the green of your eyes. Maybe marine?”

  “Marine like the military or marine like the ocean?”

  “Like the ocean.” He rolled his eyes and gave her hand a teasing squeeze. “Your eyes do not look like camo.”

  For the rest of dinner they joked and teased. Abby was happy for the reprieve from heavy conversation, and she kept things light by teaching him how to use chopsticks. He was so bad at it she moved behind him, wrapped her arms around him, and placed his hand in the proper position. “See. Like this,” she said and moved their hands together to demonstrate. “You’re an intelligent guy. You should be able to do it.”

  Will looked first right, then left at her arms encircling him. “If this is the way you’re going to teach me, I have no incentive to improve.”

  “Come on,” she said and swatted his arm.

  “Just saying …”

  After the meal, they walked back to her car, and he announced, “So show me some sights.”

  “What do you want to see?”

  “I don’t know … some beaches outside of Waikiki. What about the North Shore I hear about?”

  “Too far of a drive this late.”

  “Well, wherever we can go that’s farther out of town.”

  �
�Okay. We’ll just drive along the coast and head windward.”

  As they drove out of the city, he asked her about the geography of the island. She explained both the geology and what the ancient legends had to say. When they neared Koko Head Crater, she felt inspired. “See that old volcano there?”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty.”

  “In Hawaiian legend, it’s a vagina.” She laughed.

  The effect on Will was immediate. Raising an eyebrow, he said, “Really? That’s interesting.”

  “Yeah, a goddess was about to be raped by an evil god, so her sister took her own vagina and threw it over there to distract him.”

  “Did it work?”

  “Supposedly.” She smirked. “But I think she permanently lost her vagina.”

  “That seems like something you’d want to keep,” he said, his face mischievous.

  “Uh … yeah.” She glanced at him quickly, but his expression caused her to look away. Despite her tries, she couldn’t ignore her intense attraction to him, and the coy mood in the car caused her to take the flirt to the next level. “I’d miss mine.”

  He stared her down, and his lips twitched. “I don’t think I can respond to that without being very uncongressional.”

  She nodded and smiled. “That’s right. You’re supposed to be a gentleman.”

  “That’s what we call each other on the House floor. I’m the gentleman from Ohio.”

  “Yeah, I heard that watching C-SPAN.” She chuckled. “I wouldn’t want you to do anything ungentlemanly.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  She took a sharp breath as his remark ignited something inside her that had long been buried. Over the last twenty-four hours, the thought of sex with Will had entered her mind more than once, but she’d immediately dismissed it. Now, the sex vibe reverberated in the car, forcing her to address the issue. Her gaze shifted to him for only a second. His body, the angles of his cheekbones, and his stare made the decision for her. What the hell. Why not? There had to be some reason she’d stayed on the pill long after she’d broken up with Jesse. She pointed to a rock with ocean spewing high out of it. “That rock is called Blowhole. It’s like a geyser when the water comes out. Want to see it?”

  “Sure.”

  After they parked along the road, she led them around the rock. He admired the power of the ocean breaking through it. “Wow. It’s like Old Faithful in Yellowstone.”

  “I’ve never been there. Is it cool?”

  “Very.” He looked around and nodded to the sandy beach below, surrounded by ancient lava flows. “That beach is pretty.”

  “It is. It’s the beach in From Here to Eternity.”

  “I’ve never seen it.”

  Thinking of the movie’s famous sex scene filmed on the beach, she bit her lip and mumbled, “Oh, it’s a World War II flick.”

  “Can we go down there?”

  Her smile froze as she grasped the situation. She’d never been to that beach, but she had plenty of friends who had. For a few of them, it was for a late-night reenactment of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr’s romp. She gazed at Will and thought of where she found herself. It was far away from the fun-free life she’d been leading until the day before. Should she take it one step further? He was incredibly sweet and handsome, and the idea of having the lifelong story of sex with a congressman on an iconic beach was not lost on her.

  Then she did something completely opposite of her nature. She didn’t weigh the potential negatives. They were far too depressing. He was right there, and she didn’t want to contemplate the devastating emptiness she’d feel once he was gone. She looked down at the beach one more time and made a snap decision. “That’s a pretty wet beach. If we want to sit, I should get a blanket from my car.”

  “Okay.”

  As she walked to her car, a rush of giddiness hit her. He’d taken in stride her reason for a blanket. After all, they might just sit on the beach and maybe make out. But spending her young adult years in Hawaii had taught her many things, including that a blanket was key to sex on a beach. Otherwise sand found its way into every orifice.

  They trekked down to the beach with the blanket in tow. Abby spotted a secluded area, which she guessed couldn’t be seen easily from the street above. Like a gentleman, Will spread the blanket out for them, and like a lady, she sat with her legs tucked demurely under her skirt. When Will skipped the sitting and immediately lay down, she laughed. “Getting comfortable?”

  He tugged at her arm. “Come here beside me. We can look at the sky.”

  Soon she was at his side, with his arm around her as he pointed out constellations. Just at the moment Abby wondered how much longer the tour of the heavens was going to go on, it stopped. With no warning or lead up, Will kissed her, and things moved quickly.

  Kissing turned into playful wrestling, which turned into passionate writhing. Within moments, she felt he was rock hard and urging himself between her thighs. As he reached up her skirt, he murmured, “Should we be worried about being seen?”

  “If anyone sees us, they’ll leave, and if they don’t have good manners, they’ll only watch from a distance,” she said.

  She wondered if her honesty would stop him, but the glint in his eyes was not that of a cautious politician. He was a man fixated on something he wanted without regard for anything else. He placed a slow, deep kiss on her mouth as his hand ventured further up her skirt. In minutes, the congressman showed no signs of concern over being naked and entangled with an equally naked woman on a public beach.

  What started as a frantic tumble slowed down when they finally sank into one another. It was so deliberate and intimate, that a moment before she unraveled she realized they weren’t having sex. They were making love—or at least she was. She looked to see if the connection was there for him, but his eyes were elsewhere. She couldn’t tell what was going on with him at that moment besides pure lust.

  Afterward, he covered her face with kisses and whispered compliments, and though she drank in the sweetness, there was a tension inside of her. She wanted to relish the connection between them, but she couldn’t stop the creeping fear that she’d just self-sacrificed her heart.

  Burying her concern, she cracked jokes along with him as they found their clothes. A voice inside nagged at her to leave as soon as they were dressed, but Will had other ideas.

  He sat back down on the blanket and held out his hand. “Come here.”

  “Okay,” she said and joined him.

  With his arms around her, they cuddled and talked into the night. When the conversation waned, she thought he might make a move to leave, but he didn’t, and she was torn. The negative feelings kept bubbling up, yet the comfort of his touch was too soothing for her to tear herself away. As the moon splashed across the beach, she felt her eyes droop from the long day.

  When she woke hours later, she was on her side, facing Will, whose limbs were protectively around her. He took the even, solid breaths of someone sound asleep. Looking up at the moon, she guessed it was very late.

  “Will,” she said with a gentle rock of his arm.

  He sneered in annoyance and grabbed her more tightly.

  “It’s really late,” she said, smiling at his touch.

  He opened his eyes, and a smile soon replaced the frown. “Hey. I fell asleep.”

  “I did too.”

  “I know.”

  “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

  “Why would I want to do that?” He laughed. “A beautiful woman asleep in my arms on the beach in Hawaii. Are you crazy?”

  She laughed, but the same pang hit her again. She began to worry what she had intended to be a fling for her was actually a fling for him instead. On the drive back to Waikiki, doubt began to consume her as soon as he said, “I leave in two days. Early Saturday morning.”

  She nodded but never stopped looking at the road. The fact was he was leaving her alone again. She wanted to kick herself for being a cliché. She was a stupid island girl who had
fallen for a tourist. She’d cleaved herself to an ephemeral guy, and not just any guy. Will was a congressman for christsake—a high-profile man with power who probably drew women to him like moths to light. He would never be without female attention as long as he was in office. Lost in her dilemma, she found the most mundane response. “Where are you flying to?”

  “I connect in San Francisco and get into Cleveland really late.”

  “That’s hard.”

  Deafening silence ensued. During that time, she recounted all of their conversations and realized she knew little about him. She knew nothing that gave her any understanding as to where she might stand in his world. When she could endure the silence no longer, she stole a glance at him. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but are you dating anyone right now?”

  “Given our evening together, I think that’s an appropriate question.” He chuckled. “The answer is ‘no one special.’ What about you?”

  Abby desperately wanted to hang her head. After all she’d told him about her life, could she bare her soul even more? She couldn’t, so she lied. “Same here.”

  The truth was there was no one at all. She and Jesse had broken up right before she’d put her mother in the nursing home. As her mother had deteriorated, so had their relationship. She didn’t blame him, though. She was the one who’d been distant, and it was the distance that killed them. From then on, she’d began her solitary life, one that revolved around a daily waft of nursing home smells, her senior thesis, a newfound power-of-attorney, and hotel toilets.

  Dating of any kind wasn’t on the agenda, but Will didn’t need to know that. Anyone who was dating “no one special” was dating more than one person, none of them special. Abby felt like a notch on his belt. She’d been taken with a sweet, handsome congressman who obviously wasn’t taken with her.

  She put on the brave face she kept close at hand and changed the subject. “Where do you live in D.C.?”

  With no traffic after midnight, the trip back to the hotel was fast, and she kept the conversation filled with questions about living in the nation’s capitol. When they arrived at the hotel, she again pulled into a parking space across the street. “Here you are,” she announced.