by Katie Dowe
Thankfully, the music was an upbeat one and he was not required to put his arms around her! She danced the way he noticed that she did everything! With fervor and enthusiasm. She took his hands and twirled him around until he was afraid that she would get dizzy. He was very disappointed when the dance finished and she led him over to Gladys.
When everything was over and she made sure that all the elders were on their way home, he stayed back while she helped with the cleaning up.
“Thanks for coming, Mr. Brady,” Miriam said with a beaming smile as she headed out of the room.
Just as he was deciding how to leave, she put a Luther Vandross song on and took his hands. “I think maybe we should have our own little party, don’t you?” she put her hands around his neck and he followed her moves not sure he had a choice.
He did not answer. How could he when her nearness was making him confused. She was wearing the same exotic scent he had smelled on her the last time he had seen her at Leesa’s and it was turning his head. “I miss this when I left the big city,” she murmured. She was wearing flat heeled boots and only just came to his chest.
“You like to dance?” his mouth was dry and he was badly in need of some water. He was hoping desperately that she would not notice his body’s reaction to hers as he felt the pull of attraction even stronger.
“Hmm,” she closed her eyes and put her head on his chest as they moved around the dance floor.
For a minute, he wanted to lift her head and take her lips with his and explore her mouth. He wanted to take her clothes off and go over every inch of her curvaceous body. With an inward groan, he let go of her and backed away, his body on fire!
“I have to go!” he told her thickly, his eyes a tumultuous grey as he looked down at her. “Thanks for inviting me.” Without another word, he hurried out of the building.
Gina stood where he left her with the soothing tones of the singer’s voice surrounding her and felt the acute disappointment his leaving had caused. It had felt so right in his arms and she had wanted to prolong the moment!
*****
Paul was shaking so much that he had a difficult time moving the car away from the curb. He had to take several deep breaths to get his emotions under control. He was so powerfully aroused that it was painful! He came to a stop on the side of the road and put his head on the wheel, his breathing ragged. There was no way just holding her in his arms could have such a powerful effect on him. It could not be real!
Chapter 5
He could not avoid seeing her! She and Leesa had become fast friends and she was often seen at the different functions Leesa and the other wives attended. It was the first week of December while they were at the Royal Palm Hotel, attending a pre-Christmas function for the physically disabled that he saw her. His mother had browbeat him in accompanying her and he had caved. As soon as he entered the elegant ballroom of the hotel, she stood out like a beacon in a crimson dress with a plunging neckline that looked like fire against her pale skin. Her hair was done up in an elegant style on top of her head. She had dangling matching colored earrings that reached almost to her shoulders and she was laughing at something a guy in a wheelchair said to her. She kept touching him on the shoulder briefly and he could see even from a distance how the guy kept looking at her. He felt an unreasonable jealousy sweep over him as he continued to look at them.
“I am going to talk to Melore and the others, darling; try and enjoy yourself,” his mother told him with a peck on the cheek. He wandered over to where the rest of the guys from the cub were gathered having a drink.
“I thought you were not coming,” Jeffry said to him in amusement as he took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
“Mother held a gun to my head,” Paul said dryly. His eyes strayed to where she was standing. She had left from where she had been standing next to the guy and was talking to Leesa and the other wives. He could not take his eyes off her.
“Hey, man!” he shook his head as he realized that Jeffry was saying something to him.
“Sorry,” he muttered as he turned back to him.
“You okay, man?” Jeffry asked him, his green eyes quizzical. He and the other guys wished he would get over his wife, but then again he had no idea how he would deal with it if he lost Diana!
“I am not much up for these functions.” He put his empty glass away and decided to go over and talk to her. “Excuse me.”
But the guy in the wheelchair got there first and he quickly diverted to another section of the room. He watched as Gina bent towards him and the animated expression on her face as she listened to him. There were several other persons there in wheelchairs and he wondered what was so special about him.
He turned to the podium as the First Lady went up to give her speech. “We want to thank you all for coming out tonight to support this worthy cause.” Her brilliant smile came forth as the applause started. “A group of us including Pauline Brady, Miriam Antonovich, Rosalie Wainwright, Linda Copeland as well as Leesa Wellington among others are involved with charities like these and get a lot of support when we make the effort. People with disabilities are often looked down upon, but we have to realize that it does not take away from them what they are good at. These that we have in the room now are fully functional people with careers and are making a contribution to society. We are here to support them in any way we can and we are actually on a drive to get as many wheelchairs as we can as well as to get them the necessary medical help they need. We are asking you to be generous in writing your checks to support this foundation as it is for a very good cause. Thank you.” She stepped down with the help of one of the ushers to the sounds of thunderous applauses!
He felt rather proud, then heard her come up behind him and he felt himself stiffen. “Paul.”
He turned and his breath caught as he saw her close up. She was beautiful and sexy and he wanted her! “How are you?” he forced the politeness in his tone.
“I am well, thanks.” She looked at him quizzically. “How about taking a walk with me?”
“What about your date?” his eyes strayed to the man in the wheelchair who was talking to some other people.
“He is my friend. Come on.” She took his hand and he allowed her to lead him out into the lobby where it was fairly empty. “I don’t much like crowd,” she admitted as she sat on one of the padded seats.
“I did not want to come, but my mother persuaded me.” He admitted as he took a seat beside her. Her scent was unnerving him and he felt it again, the powerful pull of attraction.
“You are still mourning,” their eyes met and held and for a moment he had no idea what she had just said. “You must have loved her very much.”
He nodded, his eyes going to her lips. She was wearing a soft melon colored lipstick which highlighted her full bottom lip and he felt the insanely strong urge to kiss her!
“I have to go,” his voice was strained and he made to get up.
“Please stay,” she put her hand on his arm. “I am sorry, I should not have brought it up–”
“It’s not that,” he lifted a hand and cupped her chin. “I am mourning her and I am attracted to you,” his voice was tormented. “It’s killing me.” Without another word, he took her lips with his. The kiss took her by surprise but she opened her mouth and her tongue met his. The kiss was potent with an underlying sense of desperation and hunger that had her curling against him. She had been kissed before! She was a beautiful woman who had been out with guys and the kisses had been satisfactory but not earth-shaking. This one slammed into her and stirred up feelings she had never experienced before. This one had taken on a life of its own, making her want more. This one had her leaning to him and curling her hands into his expensive black tuxedo. This one made her want to bare her flesh to him and have him do anything he wanted to do with her! But he pulled away from her and sprang up from the seat as if a fire had been lit underneath him. He stood there looking at her, seeing the swollen lips and the heavy eyes and fee
ling the painful erection. She tasted like honey and sex and he wanted to rip the dress off her and sink his dick deep into her. He had never felt that way about his wife and he felt the betrayal feeding on the inside. “I am sorry,” he muttered as he turned on his heels and hurried to get his jacket. He left without telling his mother he was leaving. There was no way he could stay a minute longer!
******
Gina went back to the party and pretended that she was having fun. Leesa had been the one who had invited her after she had told her about Milton and what had happened to him. She had told Milton that it was a good idea for him to get out of the house and socialize with other people. She had noticed that he was becoming very attached to her and did not want him to think that there could ever be anything more than friendship between them. She and Leesa had become quite close and the woman would often call her up to attend functions where she and the other wives would be.
She had been thinking about Paul especially after that dance they had had together and she had wanted to see him again. She had looked him up and read that after his wife had died that he had dated casually but had not been in a committed relationship. She had thought with a pang that it must feel so good to be loved so much by a man like him. She had wanted him to touch her and when his lips had met hers she had known instinctively that he was the one she wanted to be her first and maybe her last! The thought had winged through her, causing her to shiver. She was going to be competing with a dead woman who could never do any wrong in his eyes again and she was not sure she wanted to take that on.
She had smiled where needed and held conversations that must have made an impression because there were responses. She had cried off when it reached ten-thirty and had driven home after making sure Milton had gotten into his car and was on his way. She had spent the night turning and twisting in her bed and aching for him in ways she had never dreamed possible!
******
“I have always loved Christmas my dear!” Greta Coombs said as she watched the tree being trimmed by several volunteers and Gina. They had always had an old plastic tree with the plastic leaves curling with age until Gina had decided that it was not the season unless it was a tree dug fresh from the ground and sold at the Christmas tree lot. The nurses had told her that there was no money for that and she had collected donations from the children of the residents living there and put the rest of the money to spring for a tall stately tree that gave the ‘social room’ a rather bright look.
“So do I,” Gina told her with a smile. It was a week away from Christmas and the season had brought with it the rush of shopping and the feverishness of planning the various activities. Leesa had invited her and her dad over to her place for the Christmas, but she had declined knowing that he would not want to go. The holiday was especially painful for him because it had been her mother’s favorite time of the year. She was planning on cooking a nice turkey dinner along with fried chicken and collard greens and staying with him for the day. She had decorated their tree with no help from him, but she had hated to see the place bare.
“What do you think you are getting for a gift?” Gina asked the woman.
“Considering that I got Sylvester for a partner, I am thinking a handkerchief or a tube of cheap lipstick.” She said with a snort causing the others to laugh.
“He might just surprise you this year,” Another resident by the name of Sheila called out.
“I am not holding my breath,”
“Hot chocolates all around!” a nurse came in bearing a tray and the activities were curtailed as they got ready to enjoy the delicious beverage.
******
“She is getting lower by the days,” Nurse Weathers told Gina quietly later that evening as they sat in her office. Gina was getting ready to leave, but the nurse had asked her to stop by so they could talk. She admired the beautiful woman who could be doing so many other things but had decided to do this for so little. “She has no one and she looks forward to the times you are here. You have been a breath of fresh air, my dear, and I want to say thank you for what you are doing.”
“I wish there was something more I could do,” she said sadly.
“You are doing enough. I just want to tell you how much we appreciate what you are doing.”
“It is my pleasure.” Gina said quietly feeling her spirit dampening.
“This must bring back a lot of memories for you, my dear.” She said sympathetically.
“More so for my dad.”
*****
“Darling, why don’t you come over and spend Christmas at the manor?” Pauline Brady said to her son as they sat down to supper that Friday night. She had asked him to come over to dinner that evening and he had agreed. He had been restless and edgy ever since that night he had kissed Gina and he had not been sleeping very well.
“I was planning to have a quiet day at the apartment, Mother,” he told her as he spooned the clear pumpkin soup into his mouth. He missed this, the cooking done by the housekeeper his mother had and who had been with the family for years. He had someone who comes in several days for the week, but he had never enjoyed eating alone.
“And do what? Mope?” she asked him wryly looking at him and noticing the tense look on his handsome face. He had left her at the party and she had wondered what had happened to him. He had given her no explanations but had told her to ask one of the drivers to take her home as he was not feeling well.
“Maybe,” his grey eyes so much like hers crinkled in amusement. “It’s better than trying to pretend that I am interested in the many women you try to set me up with.”
“Don’t exaggerate, darling, it’s just a few.” She looked at him critically for a moment. “Linda would have wanted you to move on and be happy.”
“You don’t really know that, do you?” he asked her dryly. “You never took the time to get to know her.”
“That’s not true. I tried my best to get to know her, but she was too tied up into what you needed from her.” She said delicately.
“She was devoted to me, Mother.” He told her with a slight tenseness to his tone.
“Which was not normal, darling.” She persisted. “She should have been able to be her own person, not someone who wanted to be at your beck and call at all times of the day. She placed her need for happiness totally on you and that was not fair to you.”
“It is not nice to speak ill of the dead, Mother,” his expression was ominous and she regretted her brutal frankness, but he needed to know and let go. He needed to move on and she had a feeling that it was guilt rather than love for her that was making him hold onto her.
“I am being honest, darling,” she said in a soothing voice.
He got up from his seat suddenly. “I have to go. Thanks for the meal.”
“Paul, darling, please don’t go.” His mother got to her feet as well and followed him into the huge living room and nodded to the maid as she came with his coat.
“I need to be by myself right now, Mother.” His expression softened as he looked down at her. “I will think about spending Christmas.” With that, he left but he did not go to his apartment. He had the powerful urge to see her and he was not sure he could contain it. He had spent the time after he had kissed her diving into a project that had taken his entire focus and made sure he was too tired to think or feel when he went to his apartment. His mother was right! Linda had spent all her life trying to please him. He remembered how averse she was to having sex and how she had endured it for his sake, laying there while he finished and smiling softly as he got off her. She had always gotten up and gone to the bathroom to freshen. He had always wanted to hold her and cuddle and maybe go another time, but although she said yes he had seen the expression on her face and knew it would have been a sacrifice on her part. She had done everything for him without thought of herself and for that he felt he owed her some loyalty.
He took out his phone and dialed her number.
“Hello?”
“It’s Paul.”
He did not say anything as if he had no idea what to say next. “Paul, are you okay?”
“I need to see you.”
“You want me to meet you?”
“I will come and get you.”
He got to her in fifteen minutes and she came out wearing faded denims and a bulky red sweater with her hair bundled beneath a furry red cap. The weather was freezing and snow had been predicted leading up to Christmas.
She got in the car and he drove off without saying a word to her. She did not say anything either, feeling that he needed to be silent. He took her to his apartment and nodded to the doorman as they took the elevator up to his suite.
She waited until he had taken her coat and hung his up before she said anything. “Talk to me.” She said softly. He looked at her and then went into the kitchen. The place was ultra-modern, but her apartment had been pretty much like this one too so she was not impressed by the simple but expensive furnishings. “Paul?”
He turned and looked at her, his eyes stormy. “What do you want from me?” he asked her huskily.
She looked at him in surprise. “You called me.” She reminded him.
“I am not supposed to be attracted to you.” He braced his hands against the marble top counter and gripped it tightly before letting go. “This was a mistake.” He added abruptly and made to brush past her to go back into the foyer but she held onto him.
Her touch broke something inside him and he turned pulling her up against him. She met his mouth not waiting for him to go all the way! He backed her up against the wall, his mouth ravenous as his tongue touched hers! Gina gripped his sweater tightly before moving her hands to bury them in his thick blue black hair as she leaned into the kiss. He reached beneath her sweater and felt the warmth of her flesh beneath his fingers. His hands went further and cupped her small breasts, his breathing accelerating as he felt her stiff nipples beneath his fingers. Gina arched her body against him wanting to get closer, but to her frustration he tore his mouth from hers and backed away from her, his chest moving up and down rapidly as he stared at her.