The American Lover (32 page)

The American Standby

Harriet

“Come on, sweetie.  Up you get, time for you to go,” I called over my shoulder as I scooted out of bed and headed for the shower.

“Are you throwing me out, Harriet?” Seth arched an eyebrow in apparent disbelief, as he lay there stretched out in a state of post coital bliss on the bed in my hotel room.
Three times. Once against the wall, once on the floor, and the final time in bed.  And he’d made me come every time.
Caleb’s brother was good, I’d give him that.  But he needn’t think that gave him the right to stay the night.

“Yep. Got it in one,” I smiled sweetly. “Please be so kind as to move that pretty ass of yours out of here
pronto
.”

“Isn’t that more usually the guy’s line?” Seth seemed rather bemused by my request to get going.

“Look, I’ve had a great time, it’s really been fun, but I’m rostered on the early morning flight back to London, for which I have to be fit for purpose. So I’m just going to take a quick shower, then I need some decent shut eye - with
no
distractions,” I spelled out to him from the doorway of the bathroom. 

Contrary to popular belief, being a flight attendant wasn’t all about being a vacuous ‘trolley dolly’ dressed in a sexy uniform, it was about ensuring the safety and well being of our passengers. And I took my responsibilities very seriously, so although I liked to party in my down time, I knew where to draw the line.  I didn't turn up for flights hung over and bleary eyed, especially not when I was working long haul, and had a very long, very tiring flight ahead of me, filled with demanding passengers who expected me to be immaculately turned out and utterly charming the whole time, while still carrying out all the necessary security protocols with aplomb.  

So although there was no denying that Seth Mackenzie was very charming, great fun, had a great body, and was awesome in bed, I needed him to go now. In any case, I didn’t do sleeping together, that was too involved, too personal, too coupley. It wasn’t my style - I liked my own personal space far too much. 
No man was ever going to mess with my head the way my father had with my mother’s.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t appreciate some assistance in the shower? I could make sure every inch of that pretty ass of
yours
is definitely fit for purpose,” Seth persisted, as he let his gaze wander hungrily over my nakedness. “And I could certainly use some help in washing a
very
dirty piece of my anatomy,” he smirked, as that particular part of his body began to show a marked interest in proceedings.
Again? Really?

“Uh uh, not gonna happen, pretty boy,” I laughed, as I shook my head. “Just pick up your things and close the door on your way out, please.”

“Fine, Harry.  Make me feel as if I’ve just been used for my body,” Seth muttered as he finally took the hint, swung his legs out of bed and grabbed his boxer briefs from where they’d been discarded on the floor earlier.

“Aw Seth, don’t go getting all sulky on me now. You wouldn’t want me to turn into one of those clingy women Faith tells me you’re always trying to get away from, would you? But I did have fun this evening, so next time I have a stopover in San Francisco, maybe we could get together again?” I suggested.

“Don’t know about that. Can’t promise I’ll be free,” Seth huffed, as he pulled on his jeans, then slipped his T shirt over his head.

“Fair enough,” I smiled, ignoring his obvious snit. “Wouldn’t want you disappointing all those ladies you have lined up, would we?”

Seth just scowled at me as he put his shoes on, gathered up the rest of his things, and then slammed the door on his way out.

Ah well, I’d just have to see how things stood if our paths crossed again, but after the awesome sex we’d just shared, I was pretty sure I could persuade him into a repeat performance.

That sounded worse than it was, because the truth is, I don’t sleep around.  When I first started out as junior cabin crew, I’d been determined to throw myself into enjoying the whole experience, so I’d got sucked into the sleazy business of sleeping with the first officer, or even the captain if I got the chance when we were on stopovers. 

But it hadn’t taken long for the whole rather incestuous scene to pall, on discovering how the flight crew boasted and compared notes with each other, and how many of them conveniently chose to forget that they had a wife back home. 
Such as that bastard Ben Stapleford - how could I have been so gullible, just because he had four stripes on his sleeve?

So now I chose not to mix business with pleasure, and because it had been a while since I’d let my hair down, I’d decided to accept Seth’s invitation to go for a drink with him. We’d got chatting when he’d happened to call in while I was visiting Faith and Caleb - we were catching up over an early Saturday evening dinner, before I was due to fly out again on the Sunday morning red-eye. I tried to get myself scheduled on the San Francisco route whenever possible, to keep an eye on Faith and report back to her sisters that she really was as fine as she told everyone back home she was. 

And with the chemistry that had immediately kicked off between Seth and me, I knew it was pretty inevitable that we were going to end up in bed together. That was okay, it wasn’t as if he was some random unknown guy I’d picked up in a club. He was Caleb’s brother, and as I’d already heard quite a bit about him from Faith, I had a pretty good idea what kind of guy Seth was. 

Charming, but not in the least bit interested in ‘settling down’.  And why should he be, when he no doubt had countless pretty girls chasing after a good looking guy like him?  Of course he preferred playing the field, which made him pretty much perfect as far as I was concerned. It meant he’d know how to give a girl a good time, and a hunky American guy like Seth Mackenzie certainly ticked a lot of my boxes, even if he was a bit of a rogue with the ladies.

Naturally I'd ensured we’d been responsible. Even though I have a contraceptive implant - the birth control of choice when you’re forever crossing time zones and could get caught out using one of the mini pills - I’d still insisted we used condoms, which as he kept a convenient supply in his wallet, was obviously a request he was used to and was perfectly fine about.

So I didn’t get why he’d turned all huffy about me asking him to leave. He’d got exactly want he wanted out of this, hadn’t he? What more could a guy want than great, uncomplicated sex?

Men - I guess they always liked to be the ones calling the shots.

THE AMERICAN STANDBY

Seth

“Well, what in the hell was that all about?” I puzzled, after I left Faith’s friend Harriet and drove home. The evening had started off so well; Harry, as she told me all her friends called her, was drop dead gorgeous, great company, really good fun and a fantastic dancer, so we’d been having a blast at the club I’d taken her to. Then, still quite early on in the evening, she’d turned up the heat by inviting me back to her hotel room, whispering seductively in my ear all the things she wanted us to get up to. Needless to say, I hadn't hesitated in accepting her invitation, and when she hadn't failed to deliver what she’d promised -
thre
e rounds of great sex - it’d turned out to be one of the best evenings I’d had in a long time. So at that point, I’d thought Harry was one very hot, very foxy lady.

Then she suddenly goes and turns practically glacial on me!

WTF?

Apparently, it was game over as far as she was concerned, as she gave me my marching orders before I'd even properly had a chance to recover and get my breath back.

Sure, I hadn’t been looking for any kind of commitment or relationship from her, but to get booted out of bed like that, after we’d just had all that really great sex – and I’m talking pretty damn spectacular here – seemed pretty harsh, even by my standards.

Talk about blowing hot and cold! Although I never give ladies unrealistic expectations about what’s on offer from me - a good time, nothing more - at least I always treat them with courtesy and good manners.  Unlike Harry, I do at least allow the bed sheets to cool down before winding things up.  

I never even got to see Harry in her uniform either – she’d rolled her eyes and muttered something about ‘men being so predictable’ when I’d told her I had a thing about women in uniforms. Well don’t most men, especially a sexy red flight attendant uniform like hers?

Perhaps it was something to do with Harry being English, although I’d never found Faith to be stand offish or abrupt.  True, she had given my brother the run-around before they’d gotten things straightened out between them, but there’d been extenuating circumstances to explain all that business.

Well, I was done with Ms Harriet Carmichael, however hot, however stunning, however sexy this particular Brit babe was. 

Even if she did have the cutest dimples when she smiled, and even if I really had a thing for girls with gorgeous chocolate brown eyes like hers.

None of this meant that I would be dropping everything next time she crooked her little finger at me. I most certainly would
not
be on standby waiting for her call.

No siree, nope, no way, not a chance in hell of me ever succumbing to her charms again next time she flew into town …

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