The Djinni & The Dropout

46. The Garden

Sinbad chuckled at his own blunder. "But I suppose that distance makes the heart grow fonder."

Portia looked up and cleared her throat before saying, "That's really . . . sweet of you to say, Sin. You look–" She tried to not stare too hard at his wet, flawless body, "much more used to your environment than we last met."

The two of them went on awkwardly like this until I interrupted and suggested that Sinbad take Portia on a tour of the mansion.

"Wonderful idea, Naya! I'll get my shoes." He left us to find his pool slippers.

Portia whipped around and seized me again. "Don't you dare leave me alone with him!"

"Ready, Portia?"

My friend let go of me to face Sinbad. She swallowed hard. "Hey, aren't you going to put on a towel or something?"

I grabbed one from one of the bistro tables and handed it to Portia. "Here you go. You can dry him off. I'm going to see if I can find Uri. Sin, do you know where he is?"

"The kitchens I think. Tread cautiously, though. Mr. Naim will be upset if any part of tomorrow's surprise is ruined for you."

Before Portia could have a chance to grab my arm again, I skipped off in the direction of the mansion. I knew that she was probably losing her mind at the thought of rubbing Sinbad down like he was some kind of sports car, but I had no doubt that she would thank me for it later.

I traveled toward the kitchens without treading cautiously because I cared more about seeing Uri than I did about ruining any kind of surprise for myself, which I'm positive was a goodbye party anyway.

"Whoa there. Where are you going?" A firm grip took hold of my arm and swung me away from the door to the kitchens.

"Uri!" I was so happy that I could have kissed him, which, in fact, I did.

For a brief moment, Uri kissed me back. I felt that familiar heat rising up in me, but I wasn't worried. I knew how to control it better. I could kiss Uri for as long as I wanted to. The hard part now was just getting the time and the privacy to do so.

In between heavy breaths, I said, "Come with me. Portia's with Sinbad. Zayn is planning the surprise. We can be alone now."

A throaty rumble came from Uri as he kissed me one last time. "I'm so sorry, but I can't right now."

By now he had me arm's length, looking pitiful and apologetic. "You see, I'm in on the surprise too. Right now I'm helping the chef. And you can't be anywhere near here."

I groaned. "Not fair!"

Uri sympathized with me. "I know." He reached out and gently took my chin between his fingers, dragging his thumb over my bottom lip. "Trust me, I would much rather be with you."

I pouted. "This surprise better be good."

+++

{Portia}

Portia stood there, mortified that her best friend would leave her stranded with this sun god of a man. Did Naya really expect her to use the towel to dry him off?

And yet, here she was reaching up to pat his shoulders dry. To her disbelief, Sin didn't exaggerate the intimate contact. He simply carried on with their conversation.

"I think I will take you to see the garden first."

After Portia finished drying off Sin's top half, he took the towel from her, tied it around his waist and offered up his arm. Part of Portia was relieved that she would no longer be distracted by his Speedo. Part of her was disappointed at the loss of eye candy.