by Katie Dowe
******
She told him about her mother. He bathed with her and ran the sponge over her body as she leaned back against him in the sunken bath that night. “When I heard she was ill, I packed it all up and decided that it was time to change my lifestyle. Paul, I cannot concentrate when you do that,” she ended with a moan. He had the sponge between her legs and was rubbing it on her mound, the friction from the sponge driving her crazy!
“I am sorry,” he muttered. “I cannot seem to stop touching you.”
“Baby, don’t apologize ,” she turned her head to look up at him. “I love it when you touch me, but when I am talking to you and you are doing it, my brain gets fuzzy.”
“Mine too,” he admitted. He bent his head and took her lips with his in a soft achingly tender kiss that brought tears to her eyes.
“Paul,” she raised trembling hands to his face. “Oh, Paul.” He got up and lifted her into his arms carrying her to the bedroom and into the bed.
Chapter 9
“She is something else, isn’t she?” Leesa’s voice sounded beside him and caused him to jump a little bit. The woman would make a cat sound like it was walking on glass, the way she moved without a sound! They were in the large play room where the kids had everything imaginable to make kids happy and contented. It was Sunday afternoon and they had all been fed. The room had a skylight which was closed because of the snow but gave the room a light and airy feel to it. It was painted in bold colors with numerous toys stocked to one corner and a large flat screen television with comfortable chairs piled neatly in front for fantastic viewing. Gina was plopped on the soft white carpet with the three children and the large Labrador that Brad had gotten for the kids and they were all rolling around having a whale of a time. “You can’t tell the children from the adults.” She continued in amusement. She had been downstairs with her husband sitting by the fire and having glasses of wine. Paul had been there as well but had come up to find Gina.
“She is full of life,” he said as he looked at her, a slight smile on his face. “We are heading back home this afternoon.”
“Of course.” Leesa hid a smile. “She is in love with you.”
He turned to look down at the beautiful former international model. Her hair was short and curly and her skin was flawless. She was wearing a white wool dress and looked like she had when she walked the runway in spite of having three children and was in her late thirties. “She told me.”
“Do you believe her?” Leesa arched one tapered eyebrow at him.
He moved his shoulders restlessly, not comfortable discussing something so personal with her no matter the relationship they had. “It’s complicated.”
“Uncomplicate it, darling,” she touched his arm briefly. “Gina is like me and we tend not to take no for an answer when we see what we want. You deserve to be happy so stop punishing yourself and her because of your past. She is a terrific woman and totally right for you.”
“You are planning our wedding right now, aren’t you?” he asked her dryly.
“I was thinking spring outside in the gazebo. Something intimate.” She laughed at the expression on his face, causing Gina to look over at them. “Don’t worry, I am going to let Gina lead.”
*****
He took her to the manor to meet his mother for dinner Monday night.
She had traveled with him behind her from Leesa and Brad’s place and she had gone straight to his apartment where they had spent the night mostly with her talking and making love. He had told her that night that he wanted her to meet his mother and she had not said anything to him not wanting to spook him.
“Mother this is my–” he turned to look down at her as if he was not certain what she was to him.
“His girlfriend,” she supplied holding a hand out to the beautifully elegant woman who looked so much like him.
“My dear, delighted to meet you,” Pauline pulled her in for a hug, hope singing in her heart.
“Come in, dinner is just being served.”
The place was not as big as Leesa and Brad’s but it was a sprawling two-story place with elegant and luxurious furnishings. Gina was not easily impressed but she admired the high ceilings and the artworks on the walls. The dining room was huge and the table could easily seat more than a dozen people. She had no idea what a person needed with so much space! The meal consisted of roast pork and scalloped potatoes and fresh garden salad. A bottle of Chianti was in the cooler and Paul opened it allowing it to breathe before they partook of it. She listened to the conversation between mother and son and realized that they were close.
“So Regina, Paul tells me you are an aerobics instructor,” Pauline commented as soon as the meal had progressed to the crème brûlée stage.
“It’s Gina,” she told the charming woman. “And aerobics instructor is stretching it a little bit,” she said with a laugh. “I am a certified accountant by profession until I decided that I did not want that life anymore. My mother was dying of breast cancer and I decided to come back home.”
His mother stole a glance at her son, but he was looking at Gina with an unreadable expression on his face. He had not taken his eyes off her and Pauline had never seen him like that before. “So now you live with your dad?”
“Yes, until things changed” she looked at Paul and their eyes met and held. Pauline stared at both of them feeling the air changed. She loved him! She thought in exhilaration! And by all indication, her son loves her too!
“You also help out at the home for cancer patients?” Pauline broke the spell between them.
“Yes. It’s something I enjoy doing. There is this woman there by the name of Greta Coombs, and even though she is suffering she is always bright and sunny. I think that is what bravery is.”
“I agree. I am going to allow my son to show you around while I go and make some calls.” She got to her feet and came towards Gina giving her a hug. “I am hoping to see a lot more of you, my dear.”
Paul took her on a tour of the place. She saw brightly colored suites and maids moving around discreetly as they busied themselves tidying up for the night.
He hesitated at the door of one suite they had not been into. “This used to be mine.”
“Are you going to open the door?” she asked him in amusement.
He pushed the door open and they stepped into a large lavender and white sitting room which led off to the same lavender and white bedroom with a massive bed on a raised dais. It was too pretty to be his idea at all and much too feminine. “This is not your color” she said slowly as she walked into the bedroom.
“I shared it–”
“I know,” she turned to face him. “You shared it with Linda.” She reached up to cup his face. “I have no objection to you saying her name, Paul. I know you had a past and I am cool with that. We are going to make our own memories away from here, somewhere fresh. I kind of like the apartment but maybe one day we will have a home in the country with a large backyard where our kids will be able to run all over the place.”
He reached down to haul her into his arms. “I cannot think about that right now. I want you to myself; I want to be with you and get to know you.” He put his head on her forehead and she felt the beating of his heart. She reached beneath his sweater and felt the warmth of his skin through the white undershirt he had on.
“I like that.” She whispered. “Would it be weird if I told you I want you to make love to me right in the ridiculously frilly love seat?” she whispered.
He laughed suddenly and for the first time in his life he felt as if he could love and have fun again with another woman! “Do you mind if we waited until we get back to the apartment?”
“Spoilsport,” she pouted up at him.
He looked down at her and groaned. Without warning, he lifted her up into his arms and took her over to the ‘ridiculously frilly’ love seat and claimed her lips with his in a kiss that had her tugging his sweater over his head and feeling for his skin!
*****
Pauline called and invited her to lunch one Thursday afternoon the very next week. She had not yet introduce him to her dad but she was planning to do so very soon. She knew he was still wary where their relationship was concerned and was determined to be patient with him.
She had gotten the call from his mother the night before when she had gone straight home because he gone away for a couple of days. She missed him more than she could ever imagine, but he had called her as soon as he reached. “I have a deal that needs my personal attention, that’s why I have to go,” he had told her the night before he left. He had looked down at her as she laid there sprawled in his arms. It was a new experience for him. The first time she had spent the night, after they had made love, he had tried to move away from her; she had held him to her, telling him that she wanted to feel his arms around her when she was sleeping. “I am going to miss you,” he had told her roughly.
“Was it so hard for you to say?” she had teased him.
“Not much.” He had told her softly, kissing her on the head.
She met his mother at the little restaurant not far from the home. “Lord, it’s freezing!” she said as she shrugged out of her coat and took her seat. Pauline Brady was wearing a chic olive green skirt suit with a multicolored scarf wrapped around her neck. Her blue black hair was pinned in an elegant chignon at the nape of her neck.
“The weather is biting.” She made the observation as she signaled for the waiter. “This place serves the most delicious clam chowder; I hope you are in the mood for it.”
“I am.” She watched as Pauline removed her expensive black gloves and put them on the table. “I hate dressing up,” she began conversationally looking down at her thick red sweater and denims. “I used to do it to impress the partners at the accounting firm and to show up the rest of the female working there. I was a bitch in heels and I had no compunction about going for the jugular, so I ended up with tons of clothes that when I add up what I paid for them I cringed. Now I just want to put on something to cover my nakedness and go about my business.”
“I am from a wealthy family and married into wealth,” she sipped her Perrier and smiled at the girl’s honesty, it was very refreshing. “I am required to dress this way and socialize and be a part of the circle where we pretend that we are better than anyone else. Don’t get me wrong, I love dressing up and I love shopping, but trying to behave as if it is okay to talk about the people we call friends behind their backs tends to wear on you.” She looked at the girl speculatively. “Linda was a doormat, a woman who had not one ounce of spine. She put a lot of pressure on my son because she based all her need for happiness in him. I tried to get her to be interested in something else besides being Paul’s wife but she would not have it. She told me that she lived for him and she wanted to be there for him whenever he needs her. I could see it wearing him down and I got angry about it, but there was nothing I could do. He was committed to her and he had been with her since they had been children, he felt a sense of responsibility.” She paused as their meals were served. “I was secretly happy when they did not have children together.”
Gina spooned the delicious clam chowder into her mouth and was glad that she did not have to compete with the love of his life. “He loved her.”
“He loved what she represented,” his mother corrected. “They hardly did anything together because she never really wanted to go anywhere, so he felt guilty leaving her alone. You, on the other hand, is exactly the fire and passion he needs in his life.”
“He is still fighting it.”
“I have a feeling you are not going to let that stop you.” Pauline’s cultured voice was amused.
“I don’t want to live at the manor,” she said mildly looking at the other woman.
“I know you want to make your own memories.” Pauline said with an understanding smile.
“It’s too big.”
“I am planning to let Paul sell it and get me an apartment. It is really too big for me. And when I start getting grandchildren, I want space for them to move around.” She looked at Gina again.
“No babies until we get to know each other,” there was a slight warning in her voice.
“You are exactly what my son needs,” Pauline said with a smile.
******
“Are we good?” Gina asked cautiously as she came towards him. It had been more than a week since the incident and she had decided that it was best to give them some distance.
Milton nodded pretending that he was okay with her loving another man, even if it meant that he would keep her coming over.
“Okay,” she said with a relieved sigh as she leaned over and kissed his cheek, her exotic scent enfolding him. “I brought Chinese.”
“Good.” He wheeled himself into the office. “We have a ton of work to do. That job from Christmas was a success and the guy sent me some more stuff to do. It is going to take a longer time because he needs something more technical, so I need to charge him more.”
“Okay honey, let’s get to work.”
She was so buried in the figures on the laptop that she did not notice him eyeing her every few minutes. She was wearing all black, and the sweater though loose outlined her curves. “So how is the boyfriend?” he asked after a few minutes.
“He happens to have a name Milton,” she said dryly. “He is away for a couple of days, coming back tomorrow.”
“How are things between you?” Milton asked not sure he wanted to hear.
“Good. I had lunch with his mother yesterday.”
Milton felt the knife twisted in his heart. “So things are serious?”
“Of course. What did you think?”
“I hope he knows what he has,” he said his tone a little wistful.
Gina pushed the laptop away and got up. “Let’s eat, I am starving.” She came behind him and pushed the chair into the dining room. “I will go and get the plates.”
He took the time to breathe in sharply trying to get rid of the depression getting hold of him. By the time she came back in, he was reasonably okay. She shared the food out and passed him his. “I want you to know that I love you,” he looked over at her and she smiled. “I am not in love with you Milton, but I love you because you are my friend and you are sweet and kind and funny and I need that. I will be in your life for a long time if you want me to.”
“I want you to,” he told her softly.
“Okay good. Our sweet and sour pork is getting cold.”
******
She found out from his mother that his birthday was January fifteenth and planned to surprise him with a meal and a cake at his apartment. She wanted to spend the time with him. She had gained access to his apartment because she had become a familiar face to the different guards at the front desk. She had hurried home from the rec center that afternoon and went home to freshen up. She had dug up in her underwear drawer and selected the sexiest lingerie she could find. A white one with lace edgings and completely scandalous! He had washed her hair and painstakingly flat ironed it and bundled it at the nape of her neck securing it with pins.
“When am I going to meet him officially?” her father asked her as she made her way out of her room.
“Dad, I did not hear you come in!” she said startled. “I thought you had a staff meeting.”
“It finished half an hour ago.” He looked at her and saw the look of anticipation on her beautiful face. “This man is important to you, my dear, and I want to meet him.”
“I know Dad, and you will, but I am walking on thin ice.” She came over and kissed him on the cheek. “Soon though.” She hesitated and looked at him. “I feel as if I am neglecting you.”
“Go,” he touched her cheek lightly. “You have your life to live and the man you love waiting. Don’t worry about me.”
“Thanks, Dad.” She kissed him again before going into the kitchen and grabbing the box with the cake. She had noticed the room with all the wines, so she was planning on taking out a bottle to go w
ith the meal. “I will see you tomorrow.”
*****
Paul ran his fingers through his hair and stared at the figures in front of him. He had acknowledged the staff happy birthdays and the cake in the conference room, but his birthday had not been something he much felt like celebrating. Linda had made a big deal out of it every year they had been together by insisting on them going to the same restaurant each year and celebrating. The last two years before she died, he had told her that he was tired of it and she had cried saying that she could never do anything to please him and sometimes she felt like ending her life. He glanced at his watch and realized that it was approaching six in the afternoon and he wanted to go and spend some time with Gina. She had called him and told him she would find her way over to his apartment he was not to bother picking her up.
He nodded to the guard downstairs and made his way to the underground garage that housed the cars owned by the company. The snow had come day earlier in the day and the place glistened with the whiteness of the flakes. He drove carefully over the wet surface of the road as he made his way to his apartment. He recalled the conversation he had had with his mother yesterday.
“She is a lovely young woman, darling.” She had told him when she had called.
“Mother, don’t interfere.” He had warned her.
“Is it interfering to say that the woman you are seeing is lovely?”
“Mother, let me do this on my own.”
“Of course, darling.” She had told him.
He had hung up the phone with a smile on his face.
He hurried towards the elevator hoping that she would hurry and get here. He had come back from his visit to Washington DC and could not wait to be with her!
He opened the door and frowned as he smelled spaghetti and some sort of sauce as soon as he entered. He knew his housekeeper had already left for the day because she had called and told him she had an emergency and had to leave early.
His breath hitched as she came out of the kitchen wearing the most ridiculously sexy underwear he had ever seen and not only that! She was wearing heels which made her legs appear even longer.