by Faith O'Shea
“Casey would never do something like that.”
She sounded insulted that he could even suggest such a thing.
Softly, he said, “I feel the same about Rique. I’d like to know how you’d handle it if the situations were reversed.”
There was a hesitation and finally the admission, “I don’t know.”
She’d finally started walking in his shoes.
“Would you let it continue without saying anything to her?”
She was quick to reply, “Absolutely not.”
“Then we are of the same mind, querida.” He chuckled and said, “If I could not convince Rique of his wayward ways, I would take it to the person in charge of personal development and let her make the call on what to do.”
“I have it on good authority she’d slap him silly.”
“And I wouldn’t allow anyone to stop her.”
“Glad to know you have my back.”
“Always.”
He heard her yawn before she said, “I’ve got to go.”
“I’ll be thinking of you while I try to sleep.”
“I’ll be trying not to think of you so I can.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Allie flipped onto her stomach, her hands bunching the pillow beneath her head. She’d been tossing and turning since she shut off the light, unable to shed thoughts of Mateo from her mind. Her body was in revolt right along with it.
She finally gave it up, put the light on, and texted him, hoping he was asleep and wouldn’t answer, needing him to be awake so he did.
Just as she put the phone down to wait as patiently as she could for his response, she heard the ping. The smile was automatic.
You cannot sleep either?
Your fault.
How is that?
Nights with you are too intoxicating to sleep alone.
I feel the same way, querida
What am I going to do?
I could make a couple of suggestions but I’m not sure you’d be willing to go along
Give me what you’ve got.
I could fly to San Juan tomorrow after practice and we can pick up where we left off.
That’s not going to help me sleep tonight.
Phone sex?
She re-read it, sure her mind was playing tricks on her. He hadn’t just asked that, had he? Flustered, she replied.
I’m not putting any nude shots out there for your benefit. Too many of them end up viral.
I remember vividly what you look like without clothes. I don’t need pictures.
As she got ready to type an answer, another thread came through.
If you need them, I’m happy to comply. I have no inhibitions in sharing my body with you.
Don’t you dare. You’re mine and I don’t share well with others.
She couldn’t believe she put that out there. As she was about to add for today, the phone pinged.
Should I mention now that I don’t, either?
Are we really going the monogamy route?
You’re the one on the road. It’s gratifying to know it’s me you want.
So badly she could feel the spasms ready to quake.
About this phone sex?
You’d have to be willing to listen to my voice and use your hands in place of mine.
What was he saying? She thought they’d just talk to each other in sex speak, describe what they’d do to each other when they were back together. This… This was a whole new level of intimacy for her. Had he done this with someone else? A bubble of irritation began to pop.
You sound kind of experienced. How often have you done this?
This is a first, querida. And I’m only willing in order to satisfy my wife.
That word was becoming less offensive every day. In fact, today, she almost reveled in it.
It’s not going to take much.
Within a few seconds, her cell rang, and he was on the other end of the line. He began making love to her with his voice, the husky baritone vibrating through her. The sensual hunger she’d felt with his call was now a craving that she needed fulfilled. She balked at first, feeling inhibited, but when she gave in to the erotic suggestions, she felt herself coiling toward release. She ached to touch him, to be skin to skin, but as he caressed her with his words and she gently stroked the swollen bud of her womanhood, focused on the tight bundle of nerves, she was carried away from all thought, all embarrassment, all conscious time. She gasped as the orgasm consumed her, called out his name as shudders racked her body. His ragged groan told her that the tumble into pleasure had not been hers alone.
“Querida, you were magnificent.”
His voice was guttural and strained with passion. Hers was still breathy.
“Where did you learn to do that?”
“It is not learned, it is felt. You arouse me in ways I never thought possible and I’ve just found another.”
She was swamped by emotion. Never in a million years had she thought she would have do something like this. Sure, she’d had some long droughts and she’d done what she had to do to keep herself from jumping into bed with just anyone. But this… It was more erotic than she’d bargained for, ending up in a tangle of sheets and pulsing sensations. With him any kind of sex was indescribably delicious. As she finally drifted off to sleep, a Cheshire grin the only thing she wore, her thoughts were of him.
She was still wearing the smile the next morning as she boarded the plane for San Juan. She put away her fear. At least for now. She was caught up in him, heart and soul and she knew he might only be here for today. She wasn’t going to let one minute with him slip away.
In Puerto Rico, the weather was a repeat of the day before, just the way she liked it. She’d always loved her visits here, but now that she’d been to Cuba, it seemed colorless. Too much like what her life had become since leaving Mateo. She texted him before she met with the coaches, before lunch, after lunch, after meeting with the players scheduled for a Sanford tryout, but before she went to bed, she called, needing to hear his voice, needing to know that he was missing her as much as she was missing him. He’d offered her a repeat of the night before, and for as good as it was, it wasn’t the same as being with him, his thick shaft penetrating her inner core, his hands stroking her body, his words convincing her of his desire.
Instead, she contented herself with simple conversation, the kind a couple might share at the end of a busy day.
“What did you do today?”
“Got the tour of Fiona’s lab after practice. Rique picked up dinner and we took it over so he could eat with her.”
“What’s it like?”
“Lots of machines, the names of which I can’t pronounce. Test tubes all over the place, although she says she hasn’t begun to sample anything yet. According to her, she still has a week’s worth of organizing to do before she can start the project. She tried explaining what it is she’ll be working on, but it’s all science gibberish to me. Even in Spanish, I’d have a hard time following her.”
“Does Rique understand it all?”
“Not all, but more than you’d think. He’s proud of her and it shows.”
“I think you may have been right about him. I should have taken a closer look.”
“You did. You saw beyond his poor performance, saw a talented shortstop who just needed playing time.”
She was sitting by the open window, the breeze a welcome break from the heat of the day. She didn’t use air conditioning unless she had to. She preferred fresh air to forced cool. She slumped down in the chair, extending her legs, kicked off her flip-flops.
“But I still saw shallow. My opinion could have colored my assessment. For as well as I know people, you were much more perceptive about him than I was.”
“Only because I lived with his family before coming here.”
“I never asked who stayed with you while they were in Boston attending the World Series games.”
“Felicia, Rique’s sister. She was just finishing up an
internship and had to stick around.”
She twitched as if a worm had just worked its way under her skin. She didn’t like knowing he’d been alone with a beautiful woman while he was there.
“You got along okay?”
“She is quiet, studious. But she has stories about dinosaurs that were interesting to hear.”
“Was it hard to leave there?”
She couldn’t believe she’d let that tumble out.
“It was torture to stay. I missed many things by being there. You most of all.”
It’s what she wanted to hear but wasn’t sure she could believe it.
“Mateo, we didn’t even know each other at that point.”
“I knew who you were the minute you began to discuss my future. It was in the way you talked, the way you moved, the way your scent floated out and captured my senses. You were the essence of who I would become.”
She had to admit, it was like they’d known each other forever, picking up where they’d left off at a bar in Cancun. As if they’d never been apart.
As soon as they’d said good night, she wanted to talk to him again. He had a way of smoothing her edges and calming her concerns. The ones about them and the future.
When she got to South Carolina, he took over, texting her several times during the day. What was crazy was it was usually right before she reached out to him, as if he’d known she was thinking about him. He let her know he’d hung out with Seb that morning and that he was more convinced than ever that Casey was becoming a threat to the guy’s sanity.
It didn’t matter how often she heard from him, the time without him dragged by. She’d never missed anyone with the same kind of desperation.
When her plane finally touched down in Boston on Thursday, she all but ran off it, anxious to get home. It shouldn’t have surprised her that he was there, at the end of the concourse, his arms open wide. Without hesitation, she walked right into them.
His kiss knocked her socks off, and Faith Hill began to sing in her ear about floating and flying. And pivotal moments like this.
“I couldn’t go home and wait. It would have been another hour of agony, so I came here. Hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t but we have two cars and I’m not sure I want to split up to drive them.”
“You think you married a man who can’t think ahead? Rique dropped me off on his way to the lab.”
She yanked on his shirt to bring his head down for another lip-lock.
“Let’s stay in tonight. We have a lot to catch up on in the bedroom. You’ve got a make-up owed you.”
She’d felt bad about that, but only slightly.
“I’m not sure about that, querida. It gave me more pleasure than you can imagine.”
And the pleasure kept on giving. By the time Saturday rolled around, they’d spent more time in bed than out of it even with his practice and her trip to Portsmouth.
It wasn’t until early afternoon that they showered and dressed for the day.
“Rique just texted. He wants to know if we want to join him and Fiona tonight. They’re going to some club.”
“What kind?”
“A dance club maybe. He said they’ve been there before but didn’t stay long.”
“I wonder why. If it was a good place to go, why’d they leave early?”
He came over to her, brushed his thumb along her cheek. “Dancing is a very sensuous experience.”
“I don’t think we need that kind of foreplay.”
“We may not need it, but I would very much like to spend the night holding you close.”
“And here I thought that’s what we’ve been doing.”
“I’m speaking of vertical, not horizontal.”
She graced him with a smile. “It would definitely be a change.”
“I can text him yes?”
“Sure. I like showing you off. But it means I’ll have to catch up on some work this afternoon. I’ve never let things slide like this before.”
“I will occupy myself with my gaming box. I need to practice so I can beat Seb.”
He’d told her all about his trip to the mall where he’d picked up an Xbox One X while she’d been out of town, Seb along for advice. They’d played here one night until the wee hours of the morning. She only knew that because she’d interrupted them, Seb complaining in the background that he was taking too long on the phone with her. She couldn’t think of many men who would have dropped what they were doing to talk, especially if they were in the middle of a rare win.
She watched as he sat on the edge of the couch, the controller in his hand, the screen filled with some kind of action, her heart near to overflowing. How could she have let herself fall in love with him? She’d been so sure she could keep this platonic, but with every look, every touch, every kiss, she’d fallen deeper. Jelani had told her she was a lucky woman. She still wasn’t sure that luck would hold out. They were looking at a lifetime. Fifty years? Sixty? Longer? Could two people stay devoted to each other for decades? Her grandparents had, but they were from a different generation, where it was expected. Or were they just better at biding their time during the rough patches in order to get back to the other side? They’d celebrated their golden anniversary the year before her grandfather died, still joined at the hip. Her grandmother had never gotten over the death although it took years before she’d followed him. The song “Love, Me” by Colin Ray, reminded Allie of them and almost always brought her to tears. She’d never thought she’d find someone she could love as much, but here he was, sitting not twenty feet away. Her gaze lingered for more than a few seconds, but he didn’t notice, so engrossed in what he was doing.
She sat down at the counter, her laptop in front of her, and as she checked her emails, her heart insisted that anything was possible. A few hours, later she almost believed it.
When she dropped down beside Mateo, she said, “Well, that’s done. I just confirmed all the flights and rentals. Just think, next week at this time we’ll be in Sanford.”
He paused the game and asked, “I will live with you there?”
“I rented a place for you, Rique, and Seb, remember.”
“You will not be with me nights?”
She shook her head, suddenly bereft.
“I have my own place. I’ll be living with Case if she decides to buck her fiancé and come with us.”
She wasn’t crazy about sharing the space with Greg if and when he came down, but she figured she could rent a hotel room somewhere nearby and not have to suffer his presence. Or it might be the perfect excuse to stay with Mateo for a night or two and she didn’t think either Seb or Rique would mind.
“How is that going?”
“Not sure. She refuses to talk about it.”
He placed the controller beside him, took her hand, a sardonic look on his face.
“And you are letting her get away with that?”
Her lips pursed, a pout ready to surface.
“She has to make her own decision. If I forced the issue and it blew up in her face, she’d be the one left to pick up the pieces, not me.”
“You talk to Mac all the time. Has he said anything?”
When he began to fondle her fingers, she tingled. She was barely able to stay focused on anything but his hand, the callouses as familiar to her now as her name.
“He talks as if it’s a given, that she’ll be there with him.”
“What will happen if she chooses to stay here?”
“He’ll probably back off.”
Mateo was playing with the ring still on her finger. When she’d tried to give it back after the Cuba trip, he’d asked her to keep wearing it. For some reason, she’d agreed.
“Is he pleased with the engagement? Seb said he spoke highly of the man.”
“He was. I get the feeling Greg’s lost some of his luster. Mac probably just wanted to stick it to Seb.”
He chuckled. “That’s kind of childish, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Casey a
nd Galen are his weaknesses.”
“Will Casey mind if I stay a night or two?”
“I doubt it. She likes you but…we don’t have to ask quite yet. Let’s wait and see what happens.”
There were extenuating circumstances that very few knew about, and she couldn’t make that kind of promise until she got Casey’s agreement. It looked like her friend’s list of who-knew-what was about to get longer. She was beginning to think maybe it was a good thing, not a bad one. It was way past time.
He nodded, picked up the controller, and got back to his game, explaining it as he went along. When he lost the level, and with still an hour to go before they had to get ready for their night out, he programmed it for two players, and she gave him a run for his money. She wasn’t sure he appreciated her competitiveness until he kissed her soundly when the game was over.
One kiss usually led to more and the dress-up part of the evening became a hands-on activity. Hers were on him and his on her, which made them late meeting their friends.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Rique and Fiona were waiting at the door when they arrived, a smile on their faces, a flush on Fiona’s cheeks.
Mateo began to apologize. “Sorry. We got a bit caught up—”
Rique finished the sentence. “In each other. Us, too. We only got here a few minutes before you did. Love is a beautiful thing, is it not?”
He had his arm draped causally around Fiona’s neck. He looked so sincere Allie was almost ready to believe Rique had found a woman he could settle down with. It gave her hope for her future. If he fucked this up, she’d be back at square one.
Rique paid the cover charge for all of them and guided the group into the dark lounge as if he owned the place. The music was loud, pulsing, and definitely Latin. It shouldn’t have surprised her. Rique would be in his element here, the sounds as much a part of his heritage as Mateo’s. She could already feel Mateo’s body moving to the beat, his hand on her back, the combination of the touch and the vibration of the bongos palpating through her. He moved through the crowd with ease. He seemed to have shed his seriousness as soon as they walked in the door, flashing his white teeth at everyone they came in contact with, swapping confidences in Spanish with some of the patrons as he passed by. Was his Cuban finally coming out? Was this the man his mother had talked about? The one who loved people and shared intimacies? She loved the smile, the way it lit up his eyes, but his chattiness with some of the women was a burgeoning worry. Had he hidden his flirtatious side? Or had it been buried in his unfamiliarity with his surroundings?