Part 11 (1/2)
I'm insane with curiosity, and my stomach is completely tied up in knots.
He rakes a hand through his hair. ”Feel free to ask me any questions. I'll try to answer as efficiently as I can.”
”Yes,” I say, completely attentive. Heck, if I had been this attentive in school, I could have become a doctor.
He bites his bottom lip. ”First, I want to tell you how much Bridget and I enjoyed meeting you and your husband.”
”Us too.”
You have no idea.
”The truth is,” he carries on, not quite making eye contact, ”we were truly amazed,” he adds, pausing for a second, perhaps searching for the right words, ”by this connection we seem to all have.”
He's felt it too. It wasn't just me.
My heart beats at rocket speed, and I wonder, for a fraction of a second, if a heart can beat too fast. ”Yes...I agree. We just clicked, didn't we?”
”Very much so.”
I find myself staring at his mouth, aching to run my fingers along his five o'clock shadow. I could never. And I shouldn't.
I definitely shouldn't.
”First...first off,” he says, scratching his brow. I can sense whatever he's about to tell me is not easy. ”As you know, Bridget and I have been in a committed relations.h.i.+p for many years. And we love each other.”
My heart sinks.
He's brought me here to let me down gently, to tell me to back off-complete with car service. How cla.s.sy.
”I feel I must tell you before I go on,” he says, looking out the window. I wish he could just settle his eyes on me and say whatever it is he wants to say. He stares down at a copy of Architectural Digest on the table and presses a finger against the cover.
Seriously?
There is no way in h.e.l.l he's looking at pictures of crown molding and marble floors right now.
Thankfully, he isn't-he just can't seem to make eye contact.
”Look at me,” I whisper. ”Whatever it is, I'll understand.”
He gazes up at me and smiles. There's such vulnerability about him, I just want to reach out and hug him.
”Well actually, this might be hard for you to understand,” he finally manages. ”I know from our conversations that you were raised in a Catholic family.”
I have absolutely no idea where he's going with this.
He stares off into the distance, yet again. ”Well, the truth is,” he trails off, his knee still bouncing up and down frantically. ”h.e.l.l, I'll simply get right to it. No sense in beating around the bush...”
He takes a long breath and doesn't utter a word for the longest time, and I sit on the edge of my seat, barely able to contain myself, waiting for him to tell me.
Tell me what, I'm not sure.
But I want to know.
”Bridget and I...” he starts. ”Bridget...she and I...are in an open marriage,” he finally confesses.
I think my eyes actually bulge out of my head for a second, like that guy in the Guinness Book of World Records. And I still don't quite understand what he's telling me.
It seems he senses my confusion because he goes on. ”I like you very much, Mirella,” he tells me, his gaze soft. The nervous energy seems to have faded. ”I'm very attracted to you.”
My heart hammers in my chest.
He wants to sleep with me. But I thought we'd covered that already. I've already told him I could never cheat on Gabe.
He rubs the back of his neck-he seems almost pained. He wants me to understand what he's telling me. But I still don't. I'm so confused.
”And Bridget is also strongly attracted to Gabe,” he adds, his gaze not leaving mine.
Suddenly, it all falls together.
My heart drops, just like it does on one of those roller coasters at the amus.e.m.e.nt park. I feel nauseous.
I'm no idiot-I've put two and two together.
Two and two together.
That's exactly what we're talking about here.
I can't hide the shock from my face. ”You want us all to-”
His leg starts to fidget again. ”I realize you and Gabe most likely don't have the same arrangement Bridget and I have.”
Of course we don't. Most normal couples don't.
I have no words. He's taken them all.
”We simply want you to discuss it, consider it.” His tone pleading. ”Even if it's just for five seconds.”
A hundred questions come to mind, like a tidal wave.
”A foursome?” I ask, my eyes wide. I am definitely not into that, if that's what they have in mind.
”No,” he says with a smile. ”More like...uh...an exchange.”
”Couple swapping?” I ask, knowing this is exactly what he's talking about.
He smiles again. I swear, that smile of his might just completely do me in one day.
”Bridget and I don't like the term 'swapping.' We prefer to think of it as a 'couple exchange.'”
Of course, Bridget and Weston don't swap-they're much too cla.s.sy for that.