Perfect Fit (Small-Town Secrets-Fairview Series Book 4)

by Sophia Sinclair

  “Back here is the bedroom,” Catarina said, leading them through a hallway. She turned on the light and Nick and Julie gasped. A large carved bed dominated the middle of the room. The walls were painted midnight blue, and there were lines in some foreign language painted in silver. “When it’s dark, the moonlight sometimes shines on the silver lettering,” she said.

  “It’s Rilke, in case you’re wondering. My favorite poet. Oh, and the bed stays. My father built this bed in here many years ago, and there’s literally no way to move it out of here without taking it apart with a saw.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Julie said. Just as she had in the kitchen, she imagined herself settling down in here. Cuddling up to Nick in the big bed, and then — she realized she was standing there staring at the bed with her eyes glazed, and she blushed.

  “Back here is the bathroom and a second bedroom. It was my bedroom growing up, but in recent years I’ve used it sort of as an office. It’s totally empty so you could use it for anything. Storage, baby’s room, home office, workout room, anything.”

  “It’s really cool,” Nick said.

  “Do you two have any questions? Because I’m overdue back at the shop. I’m sure Remy is losing his mind,” she said. “If you want, you can follow me back there and we can talk details. I just hate to leave Remy alone with the twins for very long.” She directed a loud whisper to Julie, “They don’t like their milk supply to ever leave the room, you know.” She smiled.

  Julie looked at Nick. “Do you want to go think it over and have some ice cream?”

  “You had me at ice cream,” Nick said.

  “OK then, let me turn out the lights and lock up and we’ll see how the new fruit blends are coming out,” she said.

  Catarina could walk very quickly for such a small woman, and Nick, with his long legs, easily matched her pace. Even holding Nick’s hand, Julie had to push herself to keep up. She must be really anxious to get back to the babies, Julie thought.

  Catarina beckoned them into the shop and nodded to Zora, who was holding down the counter. She led them to the back room, which had two playpens in it. “One for waking babies and one for sleeping babies,” she said. Right now, there was one sleeping boy in one, and two very fretful and wide-awake babies fussing in the other.

  “Naturally, mine are both awake, and Danny is sleeping peacefully, as usual,” Catarina said.

  “This is Tanya, her husband Rhys, my husband Remy, and our twins. Joey and Veda.” Everyone made polite and vague “nice to meet you” sounds at this hurried mass introduction.

  “We’re glad you’re back,” Remy said. “I know two babies who want Mommy.”

  “I knew they’d be giving you a hard time if I left,” Catarina said. “Sorry about that. But it looks like you guys got the berry batch going all right,” she said, nodding her head toward a giant ice cream-making machine that was humming away.

  As she spoke, Catarina seated herself in a comfy upholstered chair that did not in the least look like it belonged in a commercial kitchen. “Pardon me,” she said, as she adjusted her clothing and accepted first one twin and then the second one from her husband. Both babies settled down under the hem of her blouse and nursed, and Catarina sighed.

  “Now I can talk. Anyway, I’m looking to rent to somebody I can trust not to trash the place. There are a lot of memories in there for me. I had thought to require a long list of landlord references, but you say you’ve never rented, right Nick?”

  “I’ve only lived with my family and in the college dorms,” he said. “But I have a very good job at Fairview Manufacturing. Software engineer. And I’m sure my employer would vouch for my responsibility.”

  “Julie, I know you, so I’m not too worried about your lack of rental history,” Catarina said.

  “Oh, I won’t be living there,” Julie said. “It will be Nick’s place.”

  “Oops, sorry about that. I misunderstood,” Catarina said.

  “No, it’s fine,” Julie said. “Of course, I do plan to visit him there a lot.”

  “Would you both like a cup of tea?” Tanya asked suddenly.

  Julie was surprised to be offered tea, which she didn’t think was even on the menu, but she wanted to be polite. “Oh, sure. That sounds great,” she said.

  “Tanya ….” Catarina started, and then she closed her mouth.

  Tanya busied herself with an electric kettle and in no time had prepared two small cups of tea. The leaves were loose, not contained in teabags, Julie noticed. She took a tentative sip.

  “This is good.”

  “Thanks. It’s my own blend,” Tanya said.

  Nick looked unsure, but he dutifully sipped his tea as well. “I’m not normally a tea drinker, but this is pretty good,” he said.

  “If you’d like, I’d be happy to read your tea leaves for you,” Tanya said.

  “Tanya thinks she’s more accurate than a standard background check,” Catarina said with a laugh.

  “Hey, I recommended Zora after reading her tea leaves, and you have to admit we couldn’t have hired a better manager,” Tanya said.

  “It sounds fun,” Julie said. She hoped nothing that Tanya would think she could see in either of their tea leaves was going to hurt Nick’s chance of getting the apartment. She worked on drinking her tea more quickly than she might have, and noticed Nick was doing the same. Tanya was watching them so closely that she felt very self-conscious.

  “I’m done,” she said.

  “Me too,” Nick added.

  “Turn your cup three times, like this,” Tanya said, demonstrating. “Now turn your cup upside down and just leave it for a minute.” They followed her directions.

  “This is just for fun,” Catarina said. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to base my decision on the state of your cups. I’m sure there’s some federal discrimination law that would forbid that.”

  “Whatever you say, Cat,” Tanya said, and then she directed her words to Nick and Julie. “She’s the one with Romany background, but her grandmother always said I was better at reading tea leaves.” With that, she picked up Julie’s cup, and peered into it.

  “Well, this one isn’t going to tear the place up, anyway,” Tanya said. She turned to Julie. “But I do see that you’ll be living in the apartment.”

  “Oh, well, we haven’t been dating very long,” Julie said, taken aback. “Anything in there about my geriatrics midterm? That’s my biggest concern right now.”

  Tanya laughed. “I’m sure it will be fine,” she said. Then she picked up Nick’s cup. She peered into it for a long time.

  “You’ve been working on some changes, I see,” she said finally. “And you want even more changes. You need to be patient, because you aren’t always going to get what you want.”

  “Tanya, please,” Catarina interrupted. The babies had both fallen asleep and she handed them one at a time to Remy, who placed them side by side in their playpen and covered them with a light blanket.

  “What does that even mean?” Nick asked. He didn’t seem very pleased by his fortune.

  “I wouldn’t worry,” Catarina said. “Really, please just ignore my silly friend.”

  A loud metallic noise came from the ice cream machine and Catarina turned to it. “The berry blend is done. Would you guys like to try a bit?”

  Julie looked at Nick, who still seemed unsure. But the prospect of ice cream seemed to mollify him somewhat and he agreed.

  “Come to the cooler to help me get the other berry batch, Tanya,” Catarina said. It sounded more like an order than a friendly request, and Tanya looked subdued. They weren’t gone long, but when they returned with another batch of berry ice cream, Catarina looked thoughtful.

  “Here we are,” Catarina said. “You guys can be guinea pigs if you’d like, and tell us which version of this you like. It’s a blend of several berries. We’re trying to get maximum fruit flavor without ruining the creaminess of the ice cream.” She scooped up servings for everyone, but there was no clea
r consensus. One had better flavor, and one had better mouth feel.

  “I feel like you could sell either one and people would love it,” Julie said.

  “Yes, but to me, the mouth feel is primary,” Nick said. “People are used to all kinds of cheap flavorings. But you can’t fake the creamy.

  “You can’t fake the creamy,” Remy mused. “I like that. I might even use it as an advertising line.”

  “Well,” Catarina said. “I guess if it’s not already clear, I’m willing to rent the apartment to either or both of you if you want it.” She named a price that was half of what Julie had expected, and Nick agreed on the spot. Catarina produced a lease, Nick promptly signed it and paid the deposit and first month’s rent.

  “Utilities are included,” Catarina said. “The whole building is wired together and I can’t separate them out. You’ll have to line up your own cable and internet if you want it, though. I don’t have either at the shop.”

  “Then it’s an even better deal,” Nick said. “Thank you.”

  “Thank Tanya,” Catarina said. “I’m just following her orders at this point.”

  “Well, thanks to all of you,” Nick said. His earlier uneasy mood was gone, and he was all smiles. Catarina handed him a set of keys and made a copy of the lease for him.

  “Congratulations,” she said. “I hope you’ll be as happy there as I was.”

  “I’m sure we will be,” Nick said. Julie didn’t correct him. They made their goodbyes and headed straight to the apartment.

  “I can’t believe it all happened so fast,” Julie said. “Does your sister know you’re planning to move out?”

  “I didn’t know for sure until just now myself. I thought she’d charge a lot more rent. And then when she said the utilities were included, I knew I couldn’t pass it up.”

  “Amazing,” Julie said. They were at the front door, and Nick unlocked it and opened the door. “Welcome to my home!” he said, and they raced up the stairs, where he opened the door to the apartment. “This is my living room,” he said grandly.

  “It’s very nice,” Julie said, pretending she hadn’t just seen it less than an hour ago.

  “And this is my kitchen. I often bake apple pies here,” he joked.

  “It’s amazing. I’ll have a slice now, please.”

  Nick looked in a few cabinets. “I seem to be out of apple pie just now, but I’ll be making one very soon. Promise.” He walked down the hallway and dramatically opened the bedroom door.

  “And this,” he said, “is my bedroom.”

  “It has a bed … I like that in a bedroom.”

  “It does have a bed. Not sure what I’m going to do with it.” Nick jumped up on top of it. “We could jump on it, maybe.” He tentatively bounced a few times.

  “Nah, I don’t think it’s for jumping,” Julie said, testing its firmness by pushing on it several times.

  “We could sleep on it,” he said. He stretched himself out and pretended to sleep.

  Julie ran her hand over the mattress pad. “It doesn’t have any sheets on it yet. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  “I can’t think of anything else a bed is good for, then,” Nick said. “Can you?”

  Julie stroked her chin, pretending to be in deep thought. “I believe I’ve heard of one more use for beds. A mysterious old custom.”

  “Tell me more, oh wise one,” Nick said.

  “It is written that in the old days, people had this thing called ‘sex’ on beds.”

  “Oh, wise one, show me your ways.”

  “It’s a very ancient practice. Never done anymore, I don’t think. At least, not judging by my life.”

  At this, Nick quickly reached out, grabbed her with both arms and rolled her onto the bed with him, making Julie shriek.

  “I like you better as a girl, not some mystic old man,” he said.

  “We are in an actual bed,” Julie said.

  “We are,” Nick said. He kissed her.

  “There are no children here, right? Please tell me the place doesn’t come with children.”

  “No kids. One of the big attractions to this apartment, actually. I looked at several other places but they all came with a bunch of kids.” He began unbuttoning her shirt as they spoke, and then he reached his hand inside and began stroking the soft swell of the top of her breast.

  “Does this apartment by any chance come with … condoms?” Julie asked. Nick groaned.

  “No. I never dreamed we’d get the place tonight.”

  “You know what that means,” Julie said. Nick had rolled away from her in frustration at the mention of condoms, and now she rolled onto him and spoke in an exaggeratedly sexy voice: “It means one more day of Terrible. Sexual. Frustration.” She emphasized each word with a roll of her hips.

  Nick groaned. “I know, but torture me anyway.” In answer, Julie kissed him briefly, then whispered in his ear. “You know this is just making it harder for us.”

  Nick placed her hand between his legs. “It’s certainly making it harder for me.”

  “We should by rights stop this right now before we lose it. Or we should go buy something.”

  “You’re right,” Nick agreed. And then he kissed her again. With his arms wrapped tightly around her body, he rolled over, landing atop her. “Or maybe I just want to torture you a little bit.” He continued kissing her deeply, even roughly, and Julie felt her pulse quicken. He used one of his legs to part hers, and even with their jeans between them, Julie could feel exactly what she was missing. His movements closely mimicked what they’d be if he were inside her, and her body responded. It felt like all her blood was rushing between her legs, and she was so wet that her silky panties were sliding against her as he ground his pelvis against her. He seemed to understand exactly what his movements were doing to her, too.

  Julie found herself rolling her hips against him, making the most of his movements. Their lips were still engaged in a perpetual kiss, but now they were both breathing heavily and the movements of their tongues and lips were rough and frenzied. He bit her lip and sucked it into his mouth, and in return she caught his tongue and sucked it hard, making him gasp.

  Her hands went to his butt and she ground up against him, feeling the first signs of impending fulfillment approaching from afar. She concentrated on the exact rhythm between them, keeping the delicate flame held to the candle’s wick, until it caught fire and flared up and she threw back her head and vocalized everything she was feeling.

  Nick kept up the movements and crooned to her. “That’s it, girl. Come for me. God, that’s so hot.” Finally, Julie was still.

  “I didn’t expect that at all,” she said. “Wow. But once again, what about you?” She looked at Nick’s bulging jeans. She unbuttoned his jeans and pulled out his erection.

  “Careful,” he said. “It isn’t going to take very much.” She smiled and bent her head to her work, and he was right. She barely had time to worry about whether he’d like what she did before she had abundant evidence of it. He wasn’t any quieter than she had been.

  He pulled her to him and she settled into his arms, both of them quiet.

  “It’s a good thing this apartment is so isolated,” Nick finally said. “Because neither of us is very good at being quiet.”

  “And that was with our clothes on,” Julie said. “Just wait until we actually take them off.”

  Chapter 16

  Julie’s clinicals kept her so busy she couldn’t give a thought to Nick. It was one thing to sit in a classroom and take notes. It was another thing to have living, breathing patients, sometimes scared or in pain, right there in front of you, trusting you to correctly start their IV or give them the right dose of medication. She had expected that every step she took would be carefully watched and it was at first, but as they progressed, the student nurses were expected to know what they were doing, and she knew she couldn’t relax and simply trust that someone more experienced would catch a mistake.

  She sometimes fe
lt so stressed out she could barely eat on clinicals days, not that there was really time to eat on those days. Classroom time was an afternoon at the beach in comparison. But when she was finally able to strip off her sweaty scrubs, her stress was replaced with a sense of elation. Right after dinner, she was going to go on a shopping trip with Nick, who didn’t own sheets, towels, dishes or anything else he’d need for his first apartment.

  Jolene had made dinner a little earlier, amused at Julie’s excitement but helping her make an early getaway. Julie tried to slow down and show Jolene her appreciation of the veggie-rice casserole. Eddie was already helping himself to seconds but Lizzie had only had a few bites, because she was meticulously picking out every single shred of green pepper. Once Tori figured out what Lizzie was doing, she started to do the same. Georgie, as usual, had thrown most of his serving onto the floor.

  “Are you sure you aren’t planning to move right in with him?” Jolene asked. She said it in a joking way, but she looked at Julie in a direct way that made it obvious she wasn’t really joking.

  “I’m just going to help him get the bare essentials and get it all set up,” Julie said. “It’s going to be fun.” If Jolene had noticed that Julie was dolled up a little more than you might expect for a shopping trip, she didn’t show it.

  “Before you go, I want to talk to you for a minute in my bedroom,” Jolene said casually, but Julie knew the talk would be anything but casual.

  “Sure,” she said, swallowing her reluctance to delay her time with Nick. She forced herself to pay attention to the children’s incessant chatter. They couldn’t possibly understand her excitement about the evening.

  The meal ended at last and Julie and her sister retreated into Jolene’s bedroom. Jolene closed the door and got right to the point.

  “Ken should be coming home in a couple weeks,” she said. “I got to visit him. A grand total of about two hours, after not speaking for months. But I understand better what was going on. It’s not easy to find out you’re a mere mortal. Mr. High and Mighty found out the hard way that he isn’t, in fact, invincible. It was a hard lesson for someone who thought anybody with a drug problem was just weak and immoral.”