Count On Me

Part Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Oscar woke to quietness, the suite was silent. Which surprised him. It was eight am; he had a meeting at nine, so there was enough time to shower, grab a coffee and edge along Central Park to the headquarters of the hotel company that he worked for.

Like all hotels, the shower was great, powerful with full body jets. When he finished up, he felt the best that he had in a long time, refreshed, invigorated even. It had been a good idea to step away from his life, the whole set up back at his home had been wrong. Lizzie and Nate being in one place, him in another. He'd been jealous of them spending time with Coop, and then there was Krystal. He still hadn't heard from her since their argument the night he got back, and he was ruing not making it clearer that he wanted nothing to do with her. Now she was a loose cannon hanging around, waiting for a moment to strike. He knew her.

Sighing he turned off the shower, they had distance from all the things they got wrong, he needed time to really talk to Lizzie, and he knew they'd get that in their current location. Towelling himself dry, he wrapped the towel around his waist, then headed out into the suite. This suite was one of the cheaper ones because it had a half bathroom attached to the room that Lizzie and Nate were in, so he had to make do with the communal bathroom. Which led to him emerging into the lounge, still wet, in just his towel. Only to come face to face with Lizzie, who was sleepy, her face still creased from the pillow, dressed in those damned pyjamas. She blushed as she saw him.

"Should have given you the proper ensuite room Oscar, what with you working."

He shook his head, aware of how her eyes kept flitting across his body, before forcing their way back to his eyes; it was having an effect on his libido, one that his towel wasn't going to hide. "It's fine, honestly. But I'd love coffee if you are thinking about it?"

She smiled as he disappeared into his bedroom, with relief.

Lizzie still flushed at the memory of her pre breakfast encounter with the half naked man she was supposed to call a friend. It had been a little unexpected, and she was still marvelling at how perfect her was. All day as she'd wandered around the city with Nate; her mind had wandered far too often.

An almost five year old found the walking hard work, so they'd compromised and taken the open top bus tour...the views from the roof were the best, but it was cold, and if they hadn't 'discovered' the M & M shop at Times Square, she was sure that Nate would have become a real grizzle. Instead the day was saved by coloured candy.

Fed and watered, they took a horse drawn carriage around Central Park, but Nate was exhausted after that. He'd fallen asleep on the huge bed back at the hotel about an hour before Oscar text her.

"I'm running a little late, can you meet me for dinner? I'll organise you a cab. Is Nate up to a dinner cruise?"

She glanced across at Nate through the door from the lounge.

"He's asleep...we've had a hectic day, but I think that we definitely would like that. Can you give us about forty minutes?"

His response was a thumbs up emoji.

"So tell me what you did today?"

Oscar was sat opposite Nate giving him his undivided intention, he was glad that the weather was good, as the views on this cruise were excellent, and the food was amazing. Lizzie was facing the large windows and enthralled in all that she saw, Nate not so.