He laughs and steps into his tub with me and sets me down. The warm water washes over me, and the ends of my hair float around me. “Did you want to wet your hair?” He sits facing me; the tub big enough for him to stretch out his legs.

“I don’t even care,” I tell him. “Honestly, I feel like I’m high,” I tell him. “Maybe your cock is laced with some sort of drug, and every time I lick it or you stick it in me, the drug wears off.” He puts his head back and laughs, and I rest my head on the side of the tub. “I’m going to have to google that when I get home.”

“How is it you can get me all hot and bothered one minute, and the next, I’m laughing so much my stomach hurts?” He wets his face with water.

“It’s a gift.” I put my hand under my head, closing my eyes but then opening them and gazing out his window. “This view is crazy.”

“It’s the whole reason I bought the place,” he tells me. “Wall-to-wall windows.”

“Where else do you have houses?” He looks at me confused. “Well, Matthew and Max all have houses in Canada, so I don’t know. I was just assuming …”

“I have houses in Canada and in Los Angeles,” he tells me, and I look up. “I also have condos in Florida, San Francisco, Chicago, Greece, and Italy, and a house that I’m looking at in Montana.”

“Which is your favorite?”

“Greece or Italy. I love them both the same,” he says.

“Why?” I wonder to myself, not realizing I asked it out loud.

“It’s where I can be me. Where I can walk to the corner restaurant, sit down at a table outside, order a coffee, and just watch life pass by.” He smiles while he describes it.

“That sounds amazing.” I smile back at him, then look outside again. We sit in the tub until the water turns a touch cold. He gets up first and wraps a towel around his waist and then comes back, holding open another towel for me. I stand and walk into the towel and smile up at him. “Thank you, Markos.”

“For you, Vivienne, anything,” he says, and my stomach feels like it just flipped. I look down, ignoring the moment. Refusing to acknowledge what just happened, I tell myself this is getting out of hand and this will be the last time I see him. I walk to the front door dressed in last night’s outfit and kiss him twenty-five minutes later. I let the kiss linger just a bit longer than it should, knowing it’ll be our last. My lips are still tingling when I press the elevator button for down.

I look over my shoulder when the elevator gets here. “Take care, Markos.”

Chapter Twelve

Markos