She finally tore her eyes away from the image of Angela and Zac behind the waterfall. They had been back there for quite some time. It wasn’t much of a secret as to what was going on.
“You know, I’m not too fond of Peeping Tom’s.” Taylor’s voice pulled Simone away from her secret thoughts. She looked at him and smiled.
“But still ... they’ve been up there for such a long time.” Simone insisted. Taylor raised his eyebrows.
“What’s wrong – jealous?” he joked.
“No.” Simone quickly answered, perhaps too quickly. Taylor’s joking expression suddenly faded and turned serious. She felt her eyes grow wide.
“What’s going on, Sim? Something I should know about?” he asked her, sitting up from his lying position next to Simone on the big blanket they had spread out on the ground. She pulled her knees up to her chest. Oh my gosh, she thought to herself, what to say??
“Are you accusing me of something?” she asked harshly. She even surprised herself with the tone of her voice. His facial features changed once again to a more relaxed look.
“I’d never accuse you of anything.” He said. Guilt flooded Simone’s mind as she allowed Taylor to come close to her again to kiss her. She tried her best to forget about what she wanted with Zac and tried to concentrate on what she had with Taylor. His kiss soon warmed her entire body and she found herself getting lost in the moment. When Taylor did whatever it was that he did, she couldn’t resist it or him. Sure, she loved him, but she also had a small pining for someone else at the moment, too.
Moments later, the sound of water splashing water interrupted what was starting to connect with Taylor and Simone. They both looked up to see Zac and Angela emerging from the water, hand in hand. The way that she looked at him and he at her made Simone finally realize that she had to stop these petty little fantasies about him.
Soaking wet, Zac plopped down right next to Simone on the overly huge blanket. She looked at him, trying not to let her true emotions show. Their eyes connected and she refused to let herself get lost those overwhelming chocolatey caramel brown eyes of his. Forcing herself to look away was one of the hardest things to do. Then she made a decision.
Simone got up and went over to Taylor, who opened his arms for her. She warmly accepted and took a seat on his lap and kissed his lips as she sat down.
“Let’s get married as soon as possible.” She whispered into his ear. He sort of jerked his head away so he could look into her eyes.
“Are you serious?” Taylor asked her. Her eyes were completely sincere and she was being 100% serious. She nodded. Taylor knew she was speaking the truth about how she felt.
“Tonight.” She replied. Taylor smiled, but has a scared look on his face. Not exactly scared, but a look of uncertainty and he wanted to question her later.
“So, what’s the secret?” Zac asked curiously, sticking his head between Taylor and Simone.
“Nothing.” Taylor replied, pulling her close to him, letting his arms wrap around her waist from behind. Simone could read Zac’s eyes.
“I’ll tell you later.” She mouthed silently to him. Angela came to Zac’s side and slipped her hands around his bare chest. He focused his attention back to Angela and kissed her mouth warmly. Simone smiled to herself, sort of wishing it was her that Zac was kissing instead of Angela.
“Let’s eat lunch, I’m starving.” Simone said, getting up to get the picnic basket. Taylor helped her. While they were still secluded from the others, he brought up the whole marriage thing again.
“Okay: question.” Taylor said. He waited until he had her full attention before going any further. “What made you decide ... I mean, why --”
“Taylor, I love you and I was just thinking, why should we keep putting it off? Let’s do it tonight. We’ll book a flight to Vegas and stay in a honeymoon suite hotel. It’ll be a nice vacation away from everything and everyone.” Simone came out, expressing her whole plan. “What do ya say?”
“I don’t know, Sim. My parents would suspect something for one. My father will be furious because he thinks that we’re rushing too fast to begin with. Plus, I think that he wants us to have a traditional wedding...”
“Taylor, that’s the whole point of eloping. No one is supposed to know about it. We just won’t tell anyone where we’re going.” Simone insisted. Taylor smiled and then she already knew his answer.
***
When they returned to the house, Diana told Simone that Rachel had called for her thee times. Simone let her hand slip slowly away from Taylor’s as she told him that she’d have to call Rachel first because it sounded important.
“Hello?” Rachel picked up before the first ring had completely rung.
“What’s up?” Simone asked.
“Thank goodness you’re finally home!” Rachel exclaimed
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“You’re never going to believe this! Okay, Sim ... Ike and I ...”
“No! You didn’t!” Simone cried out.
“No, we didn’t.” Rachel said. “But we did hook up last night, and we’re going out tonight, too.”
“Aww, Rach, I’m so happy for you! Wow, so how was it?”
“Well, not too much happened, but what did happen was so totally sweet. Ike’s so innocent.”
“Hmm, sounds like last night was everyone’s lucky night.” Simone said. She was going to tell Rachel about her and Zac and she knew that she was going to hit the roof.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, after you dropped me off last night ... something happened.” Simone said.
“Oohh, big deal. You and Taylor ... what else is new?” Rachel interrupted.
“Actually, no.” Simone said. “I was drunk. You saw how completely gone I was. Anyway, I had fallen down and Zac helped me back into my room and carried me into bed, or something, and, well, um...
“Are you serious?!!” Rachel shrieked. “Omigod Simone! I can’t believe it!”
“I know! Neither can I! And I feel so bad about it, too! I don’t know what I’m going to do about it because every time that I see him, I want him, but I know in my mind that I can’t have him. It’s really aggravating.”
“How was it?”
“Omigod, that’s the weirdest part! Even though I don’t remember too much about it, I do remember that it was so great, so so great. It’s hard to describe.”
“What did Taylor say?” Rachel asked.
“He doesn’t know.” Simone said, and just in time too, because Taylor came into their room. He crawled on the bed next to Simone.
“Are you going to tell him?” Rachel asked. Taylor kissed Simone.
“Huh-uh.” Simone replied, not trying to get Taylor to stop, letting him continue kissing her.
“He’s right there, isn’t he?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“I’m gonna let you go,” Rachel said in a knowing voice, detecting that Taylor was all over her, “call me tomorrow.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Simone replied, clicking the off button on the black cordless and tossing it to the side. Then she grabbed the back of Taylor’s neck and pulled him down on her, their lips finally making complete contact. After some time of just, for lack of better words, making out, Simone was the one that pulled away to take action.
“We better pack a few things before we leave.” She said in the short amount of time between their long string of continuous kisses.
“Like what?”
“Like some stuff. Whatever you want to take with you to Vegas.”
“As long as I have you, then I don’t need anything else.” Taylor said. Simone smiled. “And some naughty lingerie would be good, too.” He continued. She smiled.
“You pick out some things that we’ll need and I’ll run downstairs to get some snacks for the hotel room for later tonight.” Simone said, giving him a sexy look. Taylor nodded and Simone went downstairs to search for the essentials. She found the whipped cream and chocolate syrup and was looking for strawberries when she heard someone behind her.
“Having an ice cream sundae?” Zac asked curiously.
“Um, not exactly.” She replied. Zac gave her a knowing smile. “So, you and Ang...?”
“Um, not exactly.” He said, mocking her previous tone. “Almost, but almost doesn’t really count when it comes to that. We were, but I couldn’t because ... because I was thinking about you. I felt way too guilty.”
“I know what you mean.” Simone said, getting ready to pick up the whipped cream and syrup. “Taylor and I are taking a little trip. I’m sure we’ll be back within a couple of days, depending on what all he packs.”
“Cool, where are you going?”
“Ah, can’t tell. That would ruin the surprise.”
“Surprise?” Zac asked. She nodded. He nodded in response to her nod. “I have to tell you something.” Zac said, hushing his voice and stepping a little closer.
“What’s that?” she asked him. He stepped closer to her and let his hands come in contact with her body. He traced the outline of her figure with his hands.
“I want you so badly right now.” He said, letting his lips brush against her ear as he whispered and he continues to touch her body. When he said that, Simone felt her legs begin to grow weak. She looked into his eyes before her lips touched his. Just as their lips were about to touch, she cringed and backed away.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Simone said, her eyes actually starting to tear. “There are so many reasons why we shouldn’t. We should just leave it this way.”
“I agree, but damn, how I disagree at the same time.” Zac said, stepping away from her. Simone looked down at the floor, then back at Zac. She her lower lip. Then she stepped forward, pressing herself seductively against his body, pushing him against the refrigerator door. She let her lips touch his and she knew that she should’ve pulled away at the tentative touch of the tip of his tongue sweep over her lips, but she didn’t. On and on they continued with the kiss until it ended with heavy breathing.
“I have to go.” Simone said, letting her hands roam slowly from his shoulders down the length of his torso. She took one last look into his deep compelling eyes before she turned to get the bottles for her and Taylor for later. She started up the stairs again, but paused long enough to see Zac run his hand through his short hair, no doubt in confusion, seeing him the last time before she became Mrs. Taylor Hanson.