Samantha winked at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She leant over closer and whispered in her ear. “Why don’t you make a move with Luke?”
Claire was just about to answer when Luke grabbed her arm pulling her towards the door. As she was being dragged away from the party she turned and saw someone she had never met before. He was drop dead gorgeous with dark wavy hair. He eyes were also dark, and she could see the outline of a chiselled torso through his tight t-shirt. Her heart skipped a beat.
“Come on,” said Luke pulling at her arm. “I want to get home.” Claire followed Luke still bewitched by the dark stranger. Was it him? Was he her mystery lover?
“His name is Joel,” Sam said when she rang the next day. “He’s an actor.”
“An actor?” Claire didn’t know whether to be impressed or concerned. “Is he in anything we’ve seen?”
“I think he had a role on some cop show, but I can’t be sure, maybe you should ask him yourself?”
“Why would I ask him myself?”
“Paul gave him your phone number; he’ll probably text you later,” said Sam.
Claire swallowed. Oh Jeez. This was happening a little too quickly. “Ah okay. Thanks. I guess.”
She hung up and dived straight for the laptop. Joel. Well Joel, if you are an actor there is sure to be some information on you somewhere online. Damn it. She cursed under her breath. She had forgotten to find out his last name.
She typed in a few phrases anyway. Joel cop show. Joel actor. Hot guy Joel that was at the party last night and gave me the best sex I’ve ever had.
Nothing. Or rather too many hot guys named Joel (and some other sites that were definitely not him). She really needed to know his last name if she wanted to Google him properly.
At work the next day Claire tapped her pencil on the desk looking out of the window instead of the computer screen in front of her. All she could think about was Joel’s abs, Joel’s hands touching her, Joel Joel Joel. She knew she was becoming slightly obsessed but she didn’t care. Her fantasies would probably be better than reality anyway, so she didn’t see any harm letting her imagination run wild.
She pictured him leaning in for their first kiss. He’d lean over and gently curl a stray strand of hair behind her ear as he told her how much he wanted her, his lips full and delicious as they pressed against hers, his tongue soft as he traced it around her lips.
Beep. Text Message. Claire nearly dropped the phone as she grabbed for it. It read: Hi Claire. My name is Joel Carson. I’m a friend of Paul’s and he suggested I ask you on a date. What do you think?
Claire scrunched her face up. What did she think? What kind of question was that? She read the message at least a hundred times, and her finger hovered over the reply button. ‘Don’t reply too soon Claire’, she said to herself. She needed a distraction. At least she had his full name now.
According to a few websites, Joel Carson was known for dating a few celebrities since breaking up with long term high school sweetheart. She wondered if she could compete with a bunch of celebrities, but then he did ask her out on a date, didn’t he?
After she gave it at least half an hour she texted back: Hi Joel. Love too. When?
He replied within a few seconds: Come over tonight, I’ll cook.
His apartment overlooked the city with the lights on the harbour dancing on the waves as the boats and ferries made their way up and down the water. The front of the house had big glass windows with a view inside and Claire watched him for a few minutes first.
He was as gorgeous as she remembered from the party. His hair was tousled, and the t-shirt that he was wearing was tight showing off his body. She imagined him carrying her upstairs to the bedroom with his strong arms and what he’d do to her.
She knocked at the front door.
“Claire?” He asked.
“Yes, it’s me,” she said.
His living room was a mix of fifties Hollywood glamour and current modern lines. Two floor-to-ceiling bookcases flanked a stone fireplace. A large circular sofa gave views of both the city and river below, but was still intimate and cosy just waiting for someone to snuggle up and watch old movies on.
Claire walked over to the far windows and looked outside. She imagined being pressed up against the glass spread out in delicious ecstasy as Joel pleasured her for the entire city to see.
“Wine?” He was holding out a glass of red for her. “I’ve got beef searing. Oh, I hope you are not a vegetarian?” He walked back to the kitchen with its smooth granite bench top and dark wood cabinetry.
“Your place is divine. I’d love to live here,” said Claire. “I mean, in a place like this. Not this actual place of course because that would mean…”
Joel laughed. “It’s cool. I knew what you meant. Yes, my designer did a good job with it.”
The conversation flowed freely over dinner, probably helped by the fact that Joel kept filling up Claire’s wine glass every time it got low. He was a charming host and Claire laughed at his jokes and asked all the right questions about his life.
“Have you seen my latest movie?” asked Joel as they moved to the couch. “I don’t play the lead, but I’ve got a pretty good part. I can’t wait until I get a lead role - my agent thinks it’ll be any day now.”
He continued to talk about his career and Claire started to fantasise about what his bedroom would look like. Probably modern and sleek like the rest of his house. She wondered what colour sheets he would have.
She didn’t even notice when he stopped talking and leaned over to kiss her. She gasped, and he laughed and pulled her in close.
“Not used to being kissed by someone like me?” He leaned further to her and placed his hands on the side of her face as he kissed her gently. His lips were strong and he tilted her head back slightly as he caressed her cheek.
“That’s a proper Hollywood kiss for you,” he said sitting back upright smiling at her.
Claire looked at him. All of a sudden she had the urge to laugh, but she managed to stifle it down. This wasn’t at all like she expected.
“I’ll call you a cab now if you like. We don’t need to rush things just yet,” he said. “Plenty of time for that. Oh, by the way I’ve got a friend showing an art exhibition on Thursday evening. I’ll see you there?”
“Okay then,” she said standing up bewildered.
“Great. Invite your friends. My buddy wants a big showing. It’ll look better with the press,” he said. He winked at her and flashed a bright smile.
At home she actually did laugh. Joel may be gorgeous, but really? Who did he think he was? At least now she knew that it couldn’t have possibly been him at the party. But then if it wasn’t him then who was it?
Sam stirred her coffee waiting to hear about Claire’s date. The coffee shop was full of people and Claire leaned in closer so that the other patron’s wouldn’t overhear her.
“He really was lovely and so gorgeous. He made me a wonderful dinner; we drank wine and chatted about his career. It was really nice,” said Claire.
“Yes, yes, that’s all good, but what happened then? What happened afterwards? Did he kiss you? Did you fuck him? Details girl, don’t leave me hanging!” Sam’s mouth was open, waiting to hear the intimate details.
“We did kiss and it was nice.” Nice. That word kept coming up a lot when she spoke about Joel. “But I didn’t feel it. I just didn’t get any spark.”
“How could you not feel a spark with him? He’s smoking hot!” They both nodded their heads in agreement.
“I know. It’s just…” Claire looked out of the window.
“It’s just he’s not Luke,” said Samantha.