Chapter 25: Interlude III

-This is Lizzy. My number should be at the top of your screen.-

Elizabeth stared down at her phone, chewing lightly on her lower lip, wondering why the Hell, even after everything they'd established within the last half-day, she actually felt a little nervous. Had she texted him too soon? Hell, he'd just left in his cab from her duplex after dropping her off not more than fifteen minutes ago! Would it appear as if she were too...clingy? Needy?

But he had told her not to forget to text him her new number before he'd released her body from his tight hold. If he did tease her, she'd throw that fact right back in his face!

After passing most of Saturday in bed, catching up on the sleep they'd willingly pushed away for most of the night and very early hours of the morning, they had finally stirred to wakefulness around one o'clock in the afternoon. Red had informed her that he actually had a flight to catch back to the east coast in the early evening and that he'd drop her off at her duplex before he left. So he'd poked and prodded her until, grumbling, she'd grudgingly rolled out of his bed. While she had imperiously taken over his master bathroom (which she would categorize as more a spa than a normal bathroom, what with its heated lights, a long mirror that spanned an entire wall, a basket of various organic soaps and scented shampoos and conditioners to choose from to bathe with, a cupboard filled with fluffy towels, a massive jet black marble shower with two soft water jet streams with adjustable pressure, and a matching bathtub that was really more of a bubbling jacuzzi that could probably fit about six adults comfortably inside) to wash away the sweat and feeling of languor left over from their loving, Red had fixed them a couple of sandwiches and had somehow wrangled a bellhop or some other hotel employee to run down the street to one of many touristy shops and purchase clothing for her to wear home.

She'd had no idea how he'd managed to do that, though Liz was fairly certain money had probably changed hands. Or maybe Red was just so wealthy that anyone working at the hotel jumped to do his bidding-she had no idea. But once her initially shy embarrassment over Red buying her clothes had worn off, she had definitely appreciated his thoughtfulness-and had even tried to insist on paying him back, but he'd dismissively waved her off. Her clubbing dress was certainly not appropriate to wear out and about in the middle of the city on a Saturday afternoon, and she'd been touched that he'd known that...and had intuited that she would feel extremely self-conscious and uncomfortable if she were seen by other people in risqué clothing obviously worn the night before.

"I gave him a list of your sizes and specified 'casual wear for a woman in her twenties,'" Red had grinned, holding out the bag to her. "So since I didn't pick any of it out, I take absolutely no responsibility for what articles of clothing are in here."

Him? Meaning a man had shopped for her? Oh, God.

Flushing, Liz had upended the bag over the corner of his bed. Bracing herself for the worst fashion faux pas, she had peered down into the pile of colors. She'd been give a plain bra, simple cotton panties, a pair of flip flops, frayed denim cutoffs, and a charcoal gray hoodie that had the phrase "Sleepless in Seattle" scrawled across the front with the famous skyline etched in white behind it. Her cheeks had puffed out in relief. It could have definitely been much, much worse!

"Well, whoever went shopping for me didn't do too badly," she had remarked dryly, carelessly dropping the towel to the floor so she could start dressing. She had been well aware of the fact that Red had been intently watching her-and her vanity had preened under his admiring gaze. Blushing, she had boldly met his eyes as she'd pulled on the shorts up and over her hips. He had stepped closer then, warm fingers reaching out to help zip and button them for her.

"I do like these," he had murmured against her ear, large hands coming around to rest lightly against her ass, fingertips just brushing the skin right beneath the frayed denim.

"Typical man," she had snorted, shivering at his touch despite herself. "You only like them because they're so short!"

"Your legs and derrière look splendid in them, Lizzy."

Ducking her head, she had shoved half-heartedly at his chest, both pleased and a little flustered by his casual flirting.

Her phone vibrated suddenly in her hand and Liz blinked herself out of the memory, looking down. A smile slowly curved her lips as she read his teasing words.

-Don't go changing your number on me again, Lizzy. I can't be using up all my frequent-flyer miles to keep chasing you down all around the city.-

-I won't. Just so long as you don't break up with me again!-

Before she knew it, her fingers had typed the flirtatious message and had pressed Send. She winced slightly, running her hand unconsciously through her hair. Maybe she should've waited a bit longer to text him back. Now he would definitely know she was sitting by her phone, eagerly awaiting his response. Well, the man could read into people and situations differently than most. And he was sort of old-fashioned. Hopefully he wouldn't find her behavior pathetic, but, rather, would find it...charming-like he obviously had when they had said their goodbyes on her porch.

The sun had broken through the layers of gray clouds streaking across the sky, making the water droplets that had been stubbornly clinging to the leaves of the trees and the blades of grass around them sparkle cheekily. As Red had solicitously guided her away from the running cab and up the short driveway to the steps and her front door, she had deeply breathed in the fresh air. How she loved the smell of the world after a thunderstorm!

The various potted plants that bloomed on her porch had conveniently hidden them from the view of the driver. After sneaking her key from its hiding spot in the foliage of one of the hanging baskets, she had turned around to face him, suddenly quite reluctant to say goodbye. Red's eyes had been half-shaded by his sunglasses, but she had seen them glinting affectionately at her through the amber lenses. She had hesitated for a brief moment before stepping in close to hug him. "I'll miss you."

She had felt Red's smile as he'd pressed his lips against her brow. "I'll miss you, too," he had intoned traditionally, leaning back slightly to look at her. And while his gravelly voice had held familiar tenderness, it had also vibrated with something stimulatingly deeper. The resonant sound had made her toes curl and her heart trip lightly in her chest. God, she really hadn't wanted him to leave. The long distance part of this...involvement...wasn't going to be an easy thing to bear. Already the next month seemed so very long, the days and weeks stretching out endlessly before them. Observing her gloomy expression, Red had caressed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Remember, it only feels long. It's not so long, sweetheart."

He'd used to say those exact words to her when she'd been a little girl, upset (and usually crying!) when he had been about to leave Nebraska. Embarrassed that he had been gently teasing her because he could read her so damn well, her eyes had flashed defiantly up into his. "I'm not going to just sit around and pine away for you," she'd told him haughtily, trying to hide her melancholy behind feigned pride.

Red had chuckled, gathering her close against him again. "Of course you won't. That was part of our deal, remember?"

She had huffed a soft growl at him and that had made him rumble with laughter. Before she could writhe indignantly out of his arms, he had caught her lips in a passionate kiss that had torn the breath and petulant retort directly from her lungs.

-Impertinent minx,- her phone buzzed, bringing her out of her reverie. Liz snorted down at his response, imagining his voice drawling the words. Apparently he did still find her charming. Well, good. Smiling, she tossed her phone on the sofa and went to the sliding backyard door to let Bronn in.

"Liz! Oh my God where the Hell have you been all day? I texted you, like, a zillion times!"

"I know, Katie," Liz laughed, digging her fingers into Bronn's fur as she leaned back against the sofa's cushions. "That's why I'm calling! I didn't have my phone with me at all and I just got in a bit ago. I figured it'd be easier to explain by talking to you than texting 'a zillion times' back."

"Well? So spill it! You were with him all day, weren't you?"

"With who?"

"'With who?'" Katie mimicked, exasperated. "Are you kidding me, Liz? Your sugar daddy! I mean, that was him at the club last night, right?"

Liz rolled her eyes, scratching Bronn's ears. "For the last time, he's not my sugar daddy, Katie. And...yeah," she smiled, shivering a little as flashes of the night before tumbled through her mind. "We were together."

"So are you guys, like, dating again?"

After she and Red had argued over the phone last week, Liz had confided in her roommate some of the situation while she'd been packing up her dorm to move just outside of downtown Seattle. "Yes." Liz couldn't help the sensual lilt that crept into her voice. "I guess you could say that."

"I'm glad you guys worked it out. Hey-remember how I told you he was old?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yeah."

"Well, I totally take it back. I mean, well, he is old, Liz. He's old enough to be our dad. But I get it. I completely get what you see in him."

Her nostrils flared, grip on her phone tightening slightly. "What?"

"Don't get all bristly on me. I wouldn't dare dream of even attempting to go after him-or any man like that. He's yours, and friends don't go out with friends' boyfriends. Besides, even if I got drunk and decided to prance around buck-naked in front of him I doubt he'd even notice. He obviously only has eyes for you."

"What makes you say that?"

"We all saw how he...um...well, how he chased poor Ryan off. And then we kinda saw how he danced with you. Liz, it was like you guys were having sex on the dance floor."

"You're being overly dramatic!" she scoffed, waving a hand dismissively even though Katie couldn't see it.

"Honest to God, I'm not! We all thought so. Well, us girls, anyway. The guys didn't want to talk about it. Ryan looked positively murderous."

Liz felt a pang of guilt at that. "I'm sorry about Ryan."

Katie snorted wryly. "I'm sure you are not. I think we all would've chosen your man over any of the guys with us-if we'd had the choice," she finished quickly, hearing her friend's sharp hiss of breath.

Your man. Liz liked the sound of that very much.

"Is he good in bed?"

"Katie!"

"Sorry, Liz!" she laughed. "You can't really blame me for being curious, can you? I would assume he'd have to be since you were gone, like, all night and all day today."

Blushing, Liz switched her phone to her other ear. "That's none of your business," she finally growled into the expectantly waiting silence.

"Fine, fine. Keep your secrets. But you know...your tone gives it all away," she teased.

"Katie."

"Yeah?"

Liz cleared her throat, quickly changing the subject. "You know how you're interning at that really nice salon downtown near the boutiques?"

"Yep!"

"Well, what would you say to practicing on my hair?"

"You want to change up your hair?" She was agog. "Has Hell frozen over? Are there freaking pigs flying in the freaking sky right now?"

Liz snorted at her friend's dramatics, grinning. "Well? Will you?"

"God yes! I've been wanting to since forever!" Her tone became coy. "You want to change it up for him, huh?"

"So?" she asked defensively.

"No! I think it's great! If he's making you feel good about yourself, then that's awesome. Do I sense a shopping trip to Victoria's Secret coming up soon as well?"

"Maybe!"

"I'm totally in, babe. Now, tell me what you're thinking about for your hair. If you're feeling really adventurous, I've been learning how to do lowlights..."

And so Elizabeth, feeling very adult in her newfound intimacy with Red, feeling quite dynamically sexy, daring, empowered, and enlivened, allowed Katie to give her a brand new hairstyle the following weekend and then she immediately threw herself into new physical activities when she wasn't in class or studying. She began resolutely jogging in the mornings with Bronn, committed herself to yoga classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and enthusiastically joined a hip-hop dance class in the city that met every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening. All these energetic activities not only made her feel amazing in body and mind, but they also helped stave off her longing for Red. She missed him terribly but she tried not to dwell too much on that fact. She'd drive herself insane if she did.

Luckily Liz was able to speak with him regularly on the phone twice a week, sometimes three times if his schedule allowed for it. These calls, like Sam's had once been, were like lifeboats to her. Many nights he had her laughing-or snarling huffily-into the early hours of the morning. Once-actually a few times, if she were being completely honest-she'd fallen asleep while talking to him. Each time that had happened she had woken to an amused text from him, teasingly asking her if he really bored her that much. The tête-à-têtes that followed over text were always engaging. There were times, though, that when they spoke he seemed distracted, and when she would abruptly confront him about it or try to gently pry, he'd masterfully deflect and smoothly ask her questions about her day. When this happened she just figured he was tired of talking or even thinking about business (since he was always so busy with it) so she quickly learned to read the signs when he wasn't in the mood to talk and then she took it upon herself chatter on enough for the both of them. This seemed to both divert and please him so she didn't mind all that much when he wouldn't always share the details of his days with her.

Her social life still consisted of her going out around the city like she had before with her various circles of friends, but she didn't go out clubbing as much as she had used to. Liz hadn't written that particular social activity off entirely though, mostly because of the deal she'd made with Red. When she thought about it, the clubbing environment was actually perfect: she could meet and dance with men without having to commit to any of them.

Of course, that didn't stop them from vying for her attention, trying to persuade her to commit to them. But word got around (probably thanks to Katie and the girls) that Liz was seeing an older man so if any young buck wanted to try his luck with Elizabeth Scott, whether they wanted to take her out for drinks or dancing, they'd better tread carefully and prepare themselves for disappointment. Sure, she might go out with them, even permit them some physical intimacy, but she never went as far as they wanted her to go. Liz was surprised that they didn't just give her up as a lost cause. She supposed the reason why they didn't was because they were more attracted to the idea of her, to the allure of conquest, than to her as a woman. And that suited her just fine. She could continue to play the game. So her previous reputation, the one where she was known to be warmly intimate and yet cooly aloof at the same time, remained intact and thrived under her nurturing care.

When school let out for summer break in late May, Red was finally able to escape his busy schedule and come back to Seattle to visit her. When Liz received his last minute text the afternoon before the day he was supposed to meet her at one of his favorite cafés for lunch, she hightailed it to the shops to splurge on a new outfit and new lingerie. She knew she exhibited all the cliché signs of an infatuated girl, but...what the Hell-it couldn't be helped. And his reaction when he saw her walk up to the table he'd claimed outside on the café's patio was completely worth the credit card debt.

Liz's cheeky smile ghosted knowingly at the corners of her mouth as Red's eyes appreciatively trailed inch by inch up her body: from the posh black leather ankle boots to the midnight blue True Religion skinny jeans that tightly hugged her toned legs, then they travelled further up to the garnet-colored V-neck sweater that clung flatteringly to her figure to finally rest on her face. Her new hairstyle was swept to the side, falling in varied layers to frame her cheeks and neck, the longest tumbling down her breasts and back. When she'd gone to the salon, she had insisted to Katie that the length be kept, but the wavy layers added an extra, attractive bounce that had been missing before, and the new color-well, that was just for the sake of fun! Dark red lowlights had been subtly added to her natural, chocolate-brown locks, creating-she thought-a rather chic spectrum of colors.

Apparently Red shared her opinion. His tongue worked its way soundlessly around the inside of his mouth as he slowly took off his sunglasses, rising from his chair to greet her.

"Well?" she asked archly, twisting for him on the heels of her boots, tossing her hair sassily over her shoulder as she glanced back at him. She braced her hands against the orange and white stitched U's on her back pockets, purposefully drawing his attention to her ass before swiveling back around to face him. "What do you think?"

"Get over here, minxlette," he growled, expression both fondly amused and fiercely desirous all at once as he embraced her.

"You didn't answer my question," she laughed breathily, pressing her lips playfully to his cheek.

Before she could blithely pull away to sit down across from him, Red deftly caught her mouth in a quick, hard kiss-then he released her. "You're quite becoming, Lizzy, as you well know."

She met his lingering stare and grinned impishly at him. "Can I have a cheeseburger?"

"You can have whatever you want," he drawled, tone just short of suggestive. When her eyes darted to his, he quirked a knowing brow at her. She blushed, already thinking ahead to when he'd take her back to his penthouse suite to hang out-oh, who was she kidding?

She couldn't wait to fall into bed with him.

And fall into bed they did, quite literally. They had barely undressed one another before she was suddenly sinking down into the thick feather comforter of his bed under the hard weight of his body, purring throatily as he snarled his way to a shockingly swift release. Their coupling had been frenzied, passionate-and had, for the first time, left her frustrated and yearning. Red had savagely cursed himself out loud even as his fingers began tugging and stroking her flesh, apologetically making it up to her by taunting and teasing her body until she crested with a sensually feral snarl of her own.

Over the next couple days, Liz and Red remained together, taking advantage of what precious little time was available to them before the demands of the real world infiltrated their consciences. Red insisted on taking her shopping for a small bundle of clothes to keep at his place so she wouldn't have to wear the same thing twice if she decided to spend the night.

"Why can't I just bring stuff over from my apartment?" she asked, pursing her lips. "I do have lots of clothes already, you know!"

"Why go through the hassle of driving all that way-twice-and packing and unpacking when we can just buy what we need right here?" he chuckled, grabbing her elbow and escorting her into one of the department stores lining the street.

As Liz looked around at all the cute designer jeans and pretty blouses, she decided his argument made sense. "Okay... But, just a few things, Red."

Well, as it turned out, her definition of "a few things" and his definition were quite different. Liz ended up with two full shopping bags full of pants, shorts, blouses, lacy undergarments, shoes, and even a couple of dresses. Flushing a bright red, Liz hung back while the chipper cashier rang them up. Her eyes widened as the girl brightly informed Red of exactly how much he owed-including tax and the fee to have everything delivered to his suite.

"Don't look so mortified, Lizzy!" he chided as they left. "These are all supposed to last a long time, right? Money well spent, in my opinion."

A simple "thank you" didn't seem like enough, so Elizabeth linked her fingers with his and pulled him off to the side of the walkway, edging away from all the bustling people-and then kissed him full on the mouth. His hands carefully wrapped around her arms, giving them a light squeeze as her lips slid off of his. She gave him a shy smile, trying to tell him with her expression that it wasn't just the gift of the clothing that meant a lot to her...it was what his gift signified-that what they were doing was real. The look in his eyes was tender as he pressed his lips affectionately to her brow. Then he wrapped his arm around her waist and guided them back into the flow of pedestrian traffic.

And so Liz found herself thoroughly and unabashedly enjoying the "honeymoon phase" of their budding relationship. Over the early summer, she began learning how to read Red even better than she had used to-intuitively picking up on his moods and discerning facial ticks and observing habits she had never noticed before, like the way his eyelids would strain ever so slightly when he was angry or worried, or how he would rub his finger around the lip of his glass when he was completely lost in thought, or how a lingering smile bestowed on her late at night was really him asking her if she was in the mood and willing...little things like that, and so much more, became very apparent to her the more they saw of each other.

But the sweet honeymoon phases of budding relationships don't last forever. And theirs inevitably would have to end sooner than most...