Three Hard Lessons (15 page)

It sounded amazing in his rough voice, and even though I knew it was a bad idea, I did it anyway.

It was close to lunchtime when I realized I needed a game plan on seeing the sights. I’d showered and dressed, then fired up my laptop at his dining table and read up on Japanese tourism. And while researching the different places I wanted to go, I fell down into the spiral of the Internet and wound up reading history of Japan articles on Wikipedia. I’d always been a sucker for learning new things.

The rumble in my stomach reminded me it was time to venture outside.

It was overwhelming, and exotic, and I loved every freaking minute of shopping in the
konbini,
from the strange produce on display to the brightly colored boxes lining the shelves. Some of which I had absolutely no idea of what they contained. Thankfully, most had English in small print somewhere. The clerk flashed me a vacant look when I was finished and rang me up.

Something as routine as grocery shopping was exciting. I loved the foreignness of it. On my way back to the apartment, amazing smells came from a restaurant and I considered going in, but then thought better of it. The chances of me understanding the menu or ordering weren’t great.

I texted Evie to let her know things were good. It was noon Tokyo time, which was a whopping fifteen hours ahead of Chicago, meaning it was nine at night there, yesterday. I could hardly wrap my head around it.

The sun had faded from the window when I finished composing my list of the places I was going to tour over the coming days, and my phone buzzed with a text from Dominic.

Like a date? I pushed the question away. I did want to go out, and my opportunities with Dominic as my guide were limited, so I said yes.

I was seated at the kitchen table and peered at him over the top of my computer when he came through the front door and toed off his shoes. My hands gripped the sharp edge of the wood. Hopefully he didn’t notice. Goddamn, he was good looking. I was going to put that suit on the floor in ten seconds flat.

“Hi.” He shot me a sexy smirk. “Give me a minute to change.” He hurried across the living area and disappeared into his bedroom. I don’t know what I expected, but that was surprising. I blinked, trying to sort out this weird feeling.

Oh, fucking hell. I wanted his kiss and was annoyed he’d bypassed it. I pushed back from the table and my eyes narrowed on his open door. Hangers shifted around in there and gave the telltale sound as a shirt was yanked off with haste.

I’d just made it to the doorway when he reappeared, dressed in dark jeans and a casual, patterned button down shirt. “Ready?”

He didn’t wait for me to answer. Instead he guided me to the door, barely giving me a chance to put on my shoes and grab my jacket and purse. How the hell did he get changed so fast?

“Where’s the fire?” I demanded when he all but shoved me into the hall.

The question was ignored. He locked the door and let out a tremendous sigh. Like relief. “That was close.”

“What is your deal?”

A hand was warm on my hip, pressing me toward the elevator. “We had to get out of there before we had sex.”

“What?” He had me spinning. “You don’t want that?”

The blue eyes glared at me like I was the idiot in this situation. “Are you kidding? Of course I want that. I’ve been thinking about it all damn day, but I can at least buy you dinner first.”

I’ve been thinking about it all damn day.
This was bad. The warning alarms sounding in my head quieted to nothing when he tugged me into the awaiting elevator and crushed his lips to mine.

“Where are we going?” I asked when we boarded the train. He’d hurried me through the streets back to the station we’d come from yesterday.

“There’s a restaurant near the Shibuya crossing.”

We had to stand since the car was already full. Dominic reached up and grabbed one of the hanging straps from the ceiling, and put a firm arm around my waist. My breath caught in my throat. Once again, I shouldn’t, but I liked this. He’d done it for safety so I wouldn’t lose my balance if the train jerked, but I couldn’t help but like the display. As if I were his. I softened and my arms naturally encircled him.

Shibuya.
The name was familiar. “I think that’s on my list.”

“What list?” His voice was hushed and uneven. Maybe in reaction to what I’d done.

“All the stuff I’m going to see. I brought it along because I wanted to get your opinion.”

We looked like a couple. The other people gave us absolutely zero percent of their attention. Like in Chicago, the train was a cross-section of the different subcultures of the city. A white-collar salaryman in a finely tailored suit rode beside a younger man in a brightly patterned hoodie whose hair was spiked and slanted to the side in a wild style. And behind them, two teenage girls in school uniforms. We were the only Westerners on the train. The only
Gaijin
.

I watched the urban landscape whiz past the window at a crazy velocity.

“It’s so quiet,” I whispered. Not just the car, but the train itself. I was used to the rumble and clank of the L and its screeching brakes. Not this train. Only a faint hum was noticeable.

A smile warmed his eyes. “They know how to do public transit here. One morning I’ll make you ride the train during rush hour. That’s an experience.”

My first traditional meal in Tokyo was amazing. Like shopping in the
konbini
, I enjoyed every minute. Taking off my shoes at the door and walking across the tan, woven tatami mats. Sitting on the floor at the low table surrounded by paper sliding doors. The green tea. The food.

And of course, the man across from me who ate with chopsticks like he’d used them his whole damn life. He didn’t judge me for not having the faintest clue how to use them. He helped. Maybe it was nice for him to not feel like the biggest foreigner in the room for once, but I think he got a kick out of watching my pleasant reaction to everything. I kind of loved all of this.

For the first time since my sophomore year of college, conversation with the opposite sex wasn’t so hard. I don’t know if it was Dominic, or the sake, or a combination of both. We chatted about our day after he’d ordered for us. Japanese coming out of his mouth was still bizarre, but interesting.

We went over my list, and he made comments about a few, like “crowded, but worth it,” or “tourist trap.” There were some he hadn’t done yet, and seemed thrilled when I asked if he wanted to go together. I decided I was done worrying about him getting attached. I’d deal with it later if it happened.

“I expected you to balk,” he announced, a grin teasing his lips. “That was pretty far out of the comfort range of American cuisine.”

I gave a soft laugh as I surveyed the mostly empty bowls before me. It had been fish with the head on, rice, and something that looked like seaweed, and it had all been delicious. I gave a sly and seductive smile. “You haven’t figured out yet that I’m the adventurous type?”

His eyes hazed with lust. “No, your list the night we met made that clear.” He downed the last of his sake like it would give him courage. “About that, I was wondering . . .”

My pulse ticked up a notch. “Was there something on there that interests you?”

Just below his cheekbones, the skin flushed a subtle pink. “Yeah. First column, uh, third one down.”

“Sorry, I don’t remember which one that was.” Total lie. I knew
exactly
what it was, but he was way too cute when he was like this.

“Let’s just say it rhymes with schmay-nal.”

I choked on my sake. “God, Dominic,” I laughed, “if you can’t say it, you don’t get to do it.”

He just blinked and looked like he didn’t know what to do. His broad shoulders lifted in a hesitant breath. “I haven’t before.”

chapter

FOURTEEN

Holy shit, after fifty-some women he’d never had anal sex. “Really?”

His blush deepened another shade as he nodded and his voice dropped low. “Do you like it?”

“Oh, yeah.” I grinned.

“Real?”

“Real. I’m definitely up for it.” I was excited to give him a lesson in that kind of pleasure. But then reality crashed down on me and I skewed my face.

“What is it?” He looked alarmed.

“I’m going to need some help because you’re so big.”

I think he stopped breathing. He was so tense, the compliment barely registered. “What kind of help?”

“Like, help you can buy at an adult store,” I said, softly. “Surely there’s one around here—”

He rubbed a hand behind his neck, working out the tension. “Trust me, there are plenty. And don’t call me Shirley.” He bit down on his lip, and his eyes glinted with desire. “In fact, I think there are several in Shibuya. Let’s go.” He threw down a wad of yen, and started to get up from the table.

His eagerness made me chuckle.

Shibuya Center Town was a massive intersection in the heart of a shopping district, and every square inch of flat surface was either covered in signage or jumbotron displays of moving images. The advertisement was in your face, soaking into every pore, seeping in until I was overwhelmed. It made Times Square seem like it was nothing.

Dominic and I stood at the window of the Starbucks on the second floor of a nearby building and watched as the light changed, and an enormous wave of people took off, power walking across the dotted white bands on the pavement, signifying the crosswalk. It was a sight to behold.

I lived in downtown Chicago and crossed busy streets every day, but somehow this was new and different and exciting. “I want to do it.”

“Cross?” he asked, amused. “We will.”

We watched the crowds for at least twenty minutes as they moved through the intersections, the overhead neon lights of billboards flashing different images and splashing rainbows of color on them. That seemed to be as long as Dominic could stand it. Clearly he had other things on his mind.

Such a male.

We queued up with the other people at the edge of the road, and when the light changed, off we went. The throng of people moved at a fast clip, and Dominic’s hand curled around mine, urging me to keep up, stay with him, and stop gawking. The city . . . it felt alive.

The sex shop wasn’t hard to find, given the enormous cartoon penis in the window with an English speech bubble that said “Best Fucking Shop in All of Japan!” We wound down a spiral staircase into a basement. Once inside, it wasn’t any different than the sex shops in Amsterdam. Dildos and vibrators and costumes, and all the other stuff you expect to find.