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An hour later, Orlando was all settled on the sofa-bed, and I was changing into my pajamas in my room. When I was changed, I went back into the living room to say goodnight. I knew he was really tired, and I didn’t want to keep him awake any longer than necessary.

“Well, I’m all set in there,” I said, sitting on the edge of the sofa-bed. “I’ll let you rest.”

“You don’t want to curl up with me and watch the telly for a bit?” he asked, gesturing to the empty space beside him. I looked squarely at him and almost fell of the bed. He wasn’t wearing a shirt!

“Uh, not tonight,” I said, trying to get a grip on myself. All I wanted to do was crawl into the bed and find out what he was wearing under the sheet, but I didn’t dare. If I did that, I knew I’d never go back to my room. “You need to sleep,” I added lamely.

“Are you sure? There’s plenty of room.” He gave me a big grin and patted the bed beside him. “Come on, Charlie.”

I sat there for a moment, completely undecided. “Just for a few minutes,” I said finally. I figured, what the hell, I was going to see him naked eventually. Why not tonight? I slid across the bed and settled in beside him.

“You know, this little-girl pajamas thing you’ve got going here is cute,” he said, referring to my pink fleece pajama set. It covered me from head to toe, and the sleeves and pant-legs were too long, so they covered my hands and feet as well. They were my favorite set.

“Yeah, well this naked man thing you’ve got going on is pretty cute, too,” I teased, playfully stroking his chest.

Bad idea. As soon as I touched him, it was like a spark ignited under my fingertips. We both went serious very quickly. His eyes went from brown to black, and I’m pretty sure mine went dark, too. I had never felt lust like that before, and it was threatening to overwhelm me.

“Orlando,” I said breathlessly, not sure what I wanted to say. I figured I’d just let him decide what was going to happen. I was too confused to make a good decision.

“Charlie, you’d better go back to your room now,” he said, his voice thick and hoarse. He removed my hand from where it lay on his chest. “Please, go.”

Obediently I climbed off the bed and went to my room. “Good night,” I called from the doorway.

“Good night,” he called back. His voice was still deeper than usual, and his breathing hadn’t yet returned to normal. My heart was racing as I crawled into my bed and picked up my script. I tried to read for awhile, and then gave up. My mind was too scattered for me to accomplish anything. I finally just turned off the light, rolled over, and went to sleep.

***

I awoke early the following morning, unable to sleep any longer. I wanted to see Orlando, especially after the dreams I’d been having all night. I grinned as I showered and dressed in the bathroom before going into the living room. I couldn’t get the smile off my face.

When I went into the living room, he was still asleep in the bed. His hair was everywhere, and he had such a peaceful expression on his face that I didn’t want to disturb him. I tiptoed into the kitchen and made a pot of tea, then started rummaging around for breakfast.

The non-pork bacon was sizzling in the frying pan when I heard Orlando stir some time later. I knew from dinner the night before that he drank tea, so I made him a cup and took it into the living room. He was stretching, sitting up in bed, when I came out of the kitchen.

“Good morning,” I said, handing him the tea. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty well, thanks,” he said, sipping his tea. “You look beautiful this morning.”

I smiled. “So do you,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. I took in his disheveled appearance and marveled at how someone could be so sexy first thing in the morning. Any time Ramsey had slept over, he looked like he’d been run over by a truck in the morning.

“Is that bacon I smell?”

“Well, sort of,” I said, rising. “It’s vegetarian bacon. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not in the least,” he said, getting out of bed. My back was to him as I headed to the kitchen, but I couldn’t help but turn around when I heard him throw back the sheets. He was wearing a simple pair of black silk boxers and nothing else. As he stretched again, I could see the muscles rippling in his sinewy back.

“Admiring the view?” he teased as he turned and caught me staring.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” I said, trying not to be embarrassed. “And what a view it is.” I winked at him and went into the kitchen.

A few seconds later, I heard the shower running. I finished making breakfast, set the table, poured orange juice for both of us, and then sat to wait for him to come out of the bathroom.

I didn’t have long to wait. He came into the kitchen dressed in fresh jeans, a blue t-shirt, and sneakers. His hair was still wet and curling around his face. He had the most beautiful hair I’d ever seen, on man or woman.

“Eat up,” I said as he sat at the table. “I hope you like eggs.”

“Sure do,” he said, setting his tea on the table beside his juice. “This all looks fantastic. You didn’t tell me you could cook.”

I laughed. “I’d hardly call throwing bacon and eggs in the frying pan cooking,” I said, pushing my eggs around on the plate in front of me. “My mom taught me that when I was like ten,” I added, shrugging.

“Do your parents live around here?” Orlando asked, buttering some toast.

“Uh, my dad lives about ten minutes away,” I said.

“And your mum?”

“She passed away five years ago,” I said softly, staring at my plate. Even after five years, it still hurt to talk
about her.

“Charlie, I’m so sorry,” he said, taking my hand across the table. “I didn’t know.”

“You couldn’t have, could you?” I replied, finally looking at him, a sad smile on my face. “I don’t like to talk about it.”

“I understand.” He paused for a minute. “So what does your dad do?”

“He a chartered accountant,” I answered, taking a sip of juice. “He works long hours, so it’s kind of hard to get together sometimes.”

“It’ll be even harder when you’re in New York,” Orlando pointed out. “Are you ready for that?”

“I don’t have much choice, do I?” I replied, somewhat bitterly. “Of course I would have to choose a profession that takes me a hundred miles away from my family.” I shrugged again. “But such is life.”

“What made you choose Broadway?” he asked.

“Well,” I started, putting down my fork. “I’ve always loved to sing, and I’ve been in lessons since I was 13, so when my coach suggested I try some musical theatre pieces, I figured, why not? Turned out I liked it, and I was good at it, and it escalated from there. I don’t want to be a pop singer or something like that, I just want to be on the stage, singing beautiful music.”

“Sounds like you know what you want,” he said pointedly. I looked up when he said it and smiled.

“Sure does,” I replied softly.

“So is this like your dream job?” he asked, completely disregarding our little flirtation. “Wicked, I mean.”

“Essentially, yes,” I said. “The only thing better would be the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, but unfortunately, I’m not Asian.”

“I see.” He went quiet for a few seconds.

“Actually, I need to practice today,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t mind. “I have to put in about two hours. Is that a problem?”

“No, not at all,” he replied. “I’d love to hear you practice.”

I shook my head and laughed. “Uh-uh,” I said. “Practice is strictly for me. I can’t do scales with an audience.”

“Surely you do more than just scales for two hours?”

“Yeah, but the first 45 minutes or so is warm-up scales and stuff like that,” I said. “It’s really not interesting.”

“I’d still like to hear it.”

“Suit yourself,” I said, rising and taking my plate to the sink. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

As Orlando finished eating, I went into the living room and sat at the piano. I started doing my warm-up scales and waited for him to join me.

“That sounds painful,” he said as he sat beside me at the piano ten minutes later.

“The higher stuff can be at first, but if I don’t keep working with my higher range, I won’t have one to work with,” I explained. “I won’t do as many scales today, just so you don’t get bored.”

“What are you going to work on?”

“I’ve got the stuff from Wicked to learn,” I said, reaching for the sheet music on top of the piano. “I know most of it, just from listening to it, but there are some harmonies that I need to work on.” I opened the book to “As Long As You’re Mine”, the show’s main romantic duet. “This is one of my favourites.”

“I’d love to hear it.”

“I have to do this one with a partner to do it properly,” I said. “I just want to play through my harmony part and get it that way, then I’ll use the performance music.”

I practiced for over an hour, with Orlando sitting on the sofa behind me, listening. I knew I should do the full two hours I had planned to, but I really didn’t feel like it.

“So what now?” I asked, closing the lid over the piano keys.

“It’s really up to you,” he said, rising and coming to me. He pulled me up off the piano bench and into his arms. “We have the whole day.”

I glanced out the window. “It’s raining.” I laughed. “Seems to be our lot in life, stuck in the rain.” I sobered when I met his gaze. He was staring at me intently, his eyes black again. “Uh, so, do you want to go somewhere?”

“What do you think?” He tightened his arms around my back.

“I think I’m in very serious trouble,” I breathed, conscious of every inch of him against me. “This may not be the best idea. We should, um, probably, oh, uh, go somewhere…” I trailed off, unable to speak anymore. Orlando was nuzzling my neck with his mouth, and the feel of his lips and the rough stubble of his face was undoing my resolve.

“The hell with it,” I said, tangling my fingers in his hair. There was no gentleness when he kissed me this time, only passion and need. He gripped my back, hard, grinding himself against me, kissing me furiously. I pushed him backward to the sofa and we sank down together, breathless and urgent. I slid my hands under his shirt, grasping the tight muscles of his stomach before I swung one leg over his and straddled him, still keeping my mouth firmly kissing his. His fingers moved to the buttons on my sweater, opening them quickly and deftly.

Before I knew it, I was on my back on the sofa with Orlando pressing down on me, kissing my neck and collar bone as he pushed my sweater away. I clung to him, trying to keep reason from intruding on such a perfect moment. But I couldn’t help myself. As he came back to my mouth, I put my fingers to his lips.

“Wait,” I panted, fighting to get control of the situation. I pushed gently at his chest and he sat up, pulling me with him. I pulled my sweater closed around me. “That almost went too far,” I said when I could speak again.

His lips were swollen from kissing me, his hair was disheveled from my fingers roaming through it, and I couldn’t help but think he’d never been more beautiful. “You’ve got more strength than I have,” he joked, running his hand through his hair roughly. He was slightly annoyed, and who could blame him?

“Don’t be cross with me,” I said, buttoning up my sweater. “We got a bit carried away.”

“Are you kidding me?” he snapped, practically jumping up off the sofa. He squeezed his eyes shut, his hands clenching at his sides. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you,” he said gently. “But, wow. That was intense.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, tucking my legs under me where I sat. “And it could have been a potential disaster.” He was pacing in front of me now. “You’ve been here one night. We have lots of time for that.”

He stopped pacing, hands on his hips, and looked down at me. “Two weeks is not a lot of time,” he said quietly. “It can go by so fast, and before you know it, it’s over.”

“Then we’ll have to make good use of our time, won’t we?” I sighed. “Look, I know this is frustrating, and I know we’re sort of on a deadline here, but I can’t just do something like this and damn the consequences. It’s just not me.” I stood up. “Just be patient with me, okay?”

He smiled, a smile so sexy I didn’t know what we were arguing about anymore. “I’ll be as patient as you need me to be,” he said. “But that was a little unexpected, you know?”

I hugged him tightly. “I know, and I’m sorry.” I kissed him gently on the lips. “I just want to enjoy the new feeling of this right now. I like the discovery period of a relationship, and I don’t want to lose it. Once a couple has sex, it’s not so new anymore.”

“I understand that,” he said, squeezing me to him. “I love the beginning, too.” He grinned down at me. “I also enjoy the sexual part, especially with a new partner. We can learn and explore together.” His voice grew husky and made me feel weak in the knees.

“Of course that’s a big part of it,” I agreed, trying to think around the fact that I could feel the length of him against me. “But there’s so much to experience first, okay? We’ll get there, don’t worry.” I kissed him again. “I won’t be able to resist for the entire two weeks.”

Abruptly he set me away from him. “Two weeks,” he said, his voice normal again. The husky sound was gone. “I don’t want to think about that, but it’s there, isn’t it?” He sat down. “I keep trying to think of ways around this, but I can’t find one. Our careers are too important to get away from the time limit.”

“That’s true for now,” I said, sitting beside him. I made sure not to touch him, though, or I knew we wouldn’t get anything accomplished. I knew we’d have to talk about this eventually, but I had hoped it would be later rather than sooner. “But once our time is up, there’s nothing saying that we can’t have more further down the road. We can talk and stay in touch, right? We aren’t cutting off all contact, we’re just staying friends.” I paused. “Aren’t we?”

“Yes, definitely.”

“It’s just easier, then, if we aren’t romantically involved while we’re so far apart.” I sighed and sat back against the sofa. “We’ll be happy we decided this in the long run.”

“Will we?”

“I think so. I mean, you know how hard it is to have a girlfriend with your schedule. And I don’t know what I’m in for in New York. I’ve never done a Broadway show before, and the shows I have done have never been this long or had such intense rehearsal or performance schedules. It’s not fair to have someone waiting in the wings for either of us. We need to be free to concentrate on work and to explore anything new that comes along.”

“You mean if we meet other people.” He looked at me and I saw the question in his eyes.

“It could happen,” I pointed out. I didn’t like the thought of it any more than he did, but it had to be said. “No, I don’t want to meet anyone else right now, but once we’ve been kept apart for awhile, it’s a very distinct possibility.”

“Do you know how crazy this is?” he said, dashing his hand through his hair. “We just met, and I feel like we’re breaking up a long-term relationship just talking about this!” He sounded frustrated, almost angry. “I can’t believe this.”

“Orlando, I know it’s strange,” I said softly, not sure how to handle his frustration. “This isn’t normal for me
either, but I figure, if it feels that way, there’s a reason, right?” I paused. I had more to say, but I wasn’t sure if I should be baring my soul to a man I’d only really known less than two weeks. “I haven’t felt this connected to anyone in my whole life,” I confessed finally. “When we met in New York, I didn’t know what to think, and now you’ve been here less than 24 hours, and I ache at the thought of not having you around. That’s not something I’m used to, and I’m not sure how to handle it. Honestly, though, I want to learn how to be with you, how to let things happen and not think everything through so much. I want to just be for the first time in my life, and that scares me.”

He was quiet for a long time. I felt panic begin to rise up in me at his silence, sure that I’d frightened him, that I’d blown any chance I had of spending the next two weeks with him. I sat and stared at my hands, waiting for him to say something, anything.

Finally he did. “Charlie, I don’t know how to handle what I’m feeling either,” he said, turning to face me. “But trust me, I’m willing to figure it out with you. I want the same thing you do, to let this take its course and find out where it leads us. Most of all, I want to have fun with you, and to show you a good time.” He gave me that grin again. “Being with me has its perks, you know.”

I laughed, feeling so relieved I could cry. “I’m sure I’ll find out.” And I knew in that moment that I was in for the best two weeks of my life.