Miranda Lee - Contract with Consequences

Scarlet didn’t say a word during the ride down in the lift, or the drive to the sailing club. In truth she was feeling guilty. And very uncomfortable. Because she had actually done what John had so arrogantly demanded she do, gone out without any underwear on.

Of course, no way was she about to admit it. She’d just wanted to have the experience. Wanted to see if he was right.

He wasn’t, she realised very quickly. She didn’t like it. The braless bit didn’t overly bother her. It wasn’t the first time she’d gone braless, though she didn’t make a habit of it. Having her bottom bare under her dress, however, made her feel terribly vulnerable. Fearful, even. What if a wind blew her skirt up and people saw that she had no panties on?

Every muscle she owned tightened just thinking about such a horrifying and humiliating event.

By the time they arrived at the sailing club she was extremely tense. Thankfully, there was no breeze blowing. The air was still and quite warm so she didn’t need her shawl, and didn’t have to worry too much about any unfortunate wind accidents.

It was a smallish establishment, Scarlet saw straight away, built on a select plot of land right on the harbour. Despite its prime location, there was no pretension about the single-storey clubhouse, or the outdoor eating areas. The tables and chairs were a mixture of wooden and plastic, several of them set up right at the water’s edge under the shade of tall palm trees. Because they were early, they were able to get one of the best tables where no one would be able to block out the view of the sunset. The sun was by then extremely low in the sky and beginning to turn a gorgeous golden colour. Its beauty distracted Scarlet temporarily from any concerns over her panti-less state.

‘How long before it sets?’ she asked John as she sat down.

‘Not long. Time to start taking some photos. I’ll go order the food. What would you like? You can have steak and salad, fish and chips, a roast or Chinese.’

‘Fish and chips sounds good.’

‘Fish and chips it is, then.’

Scarlet got her phone out and started clicking away whilst he was gone, amazed at how the gold colour intensified as the sun sank even lower in the sky. By the time John returned, it was just touching the horizon, its colour now closer to red than gold.

‘Thank you,’ she said when he placed a glass of chilled white wine on the table in front of her. ‘But I can’t drink it just yet. I don’t want to miss a moment of this.’ And she turned her attention back to the sunset.

It amazed her, just how quickly the sun set. One minute the edge of the circle was just touching the horizon, the next the sun was halfway gone then, poof, totally gone.

‘Oh…’ she said with a regretful sigh.

‘Darwin is famous for its sunsets,’ John said.

‘They’re pretty spectacular. Mum is going to want to come up here after seeing these photos. Which reminds me,’ she said as she put down her phone and picked up her glass of wine. ‘I have to ring her later. Don’t let me forget.’

‘Are you going to ring your mother every single night?’ he asked somewhat impatiently.

Scarlet took a deep swallow of wine and counted to ten before answering. She understood that John’s relationship with his family was way different from hers. But that didn’t give him the right to be critical of what she believed was a normal way to act.

‘Yes, John,’ she said at last, firmly but calmly. ‘I’m going to ring my mother every single night. I love Mum very much and I know she’ll be missing me. I’m sorry if you find that annoying but that’s just too bad.’

She waited for him to say something sarcastic back, but he didn’t. He just nodded. ‘I’ve always admired your spirit, Scarlet. And your honesty.’

Scarlet’s hand tightened around the stem of the wine glass. ‘I’m not always honest.’

John slanted her a surprised look. ‘Really? Do tell.’

Talking about her mother had made Scarlet think about all the lies she’d told her before coming here. And all the lies she’d have to keep telling her every single night of her stay in Darwin. After all, she could hardly tell her the truth. Still, this train of thought did pose the question of what she would eventually tell her mother if and when she did fall pregnant to John. How would she explain it?

It shocked her that she hadn’t worked out a plan concerning this problem earlier. Shocked her, too, that she’d almost forgotten about why she’d come up to Darwin in the first place. Her mind had been focused on nothing but sex for most of today. She’d gone to sleep this afternoon thinking about sex. Had woken thinking about sex. And had left off her underwear, thinking about sex.

It was worrying, this craving John had created in her to experience everything with him. Every sexual position. Every form of foreplay. Every erotic game. And, yes, even the kinky ones.

Suddenly, sitting there with no underwear on was no longer slightly embarrassing. It was seriously shameful yet at the same time so wickedly exciting that she could actually feel the heat between her thighs.

‘Scarlet?’ John prompted. ‘What haven’t you been honest about?’

‘I… um… I was thinking about the lies I’ve told Mum. It’s going to be awkward, explaining things later.’

‘You mean when you fall pregnant.’

‘ If I fall pregnant,’ she corrected.

‘When. If. Whatever. It’s a little early to start inventing stories yet. We’ll worry about that when you’re actually pregnant.’

‘I’m sorry to be a worry-wart, John, but I need to have some story settled in my mind tonight. It’s really bothering me.’

‘Okay,’ he said, trying to be patient. ‘The way I see it, you have two possible stories to choose from. You can tell your mum the truth, or you can say you ran into me by accident whilst you were on holiday up here and we had a brief fling.’

Scarlet shook her head. ‘That last idea won’t fly. Mum won’t believe it. Neither will your parents. Even if they did, they’d wonder what you were doing in Darwin when you were supposed to be in Brazil.’

‘Then tell them the truth.’

‘Which is?’

‘That you told me you desperately wanted a baby the day of their party, and out of friendship I offered myself as the father, no strings attached. You can say we planned to meet in Darwin that night but kept our assignation a secret from everyone in case you didn’t fall pregnant.’

Scarlet frowned. ‘I suppose that seems reasonably plausible. Mum would believe it, since she knows about my failed artificial-insemination plan, but I’m not sure about your parents. After all, we’ve always come across as enemies, not friends.’

‘Rubbish. Mum never thought that and Dad doesn’t think at all. We’ll go with the truth, if and when the time comes. Okay?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘Look, Scarlet,’ he said firmly. ‘I brought you up here early so that you could relax and have some fun. Forget about the future for the next few days and just think about enjoying yourself.’

‘That’s what I’ve been doing.’

‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘I’m not sure what we’ve been doing is fun, exactly.’

‘Then what is it?’

‘Dangerous.’

‘In what way dangerous?’

‘I might get to like it too much.’ And to like you too much , came the sudden thought.

‘Sex, you mean?’

‘Yes.’

‘I can’t see how that’s dangerous.’

‘You’re not a woman.’ Women had a long history of falling for men who were great lovers. Scarlet didn’t want to fall for John. That would not be a good idea at all.

The buzzer rang at that moment, announcing that their meals were ready. John shook his head at her as he picked up the buzzer and stood up.