by Lauren Wood
“You can wait out here while I’m in the meeting.” Rico said to her without even looking her way.
She sighed so now they were back to the behavior where he ignored her. She couldn’t figure this man out no matter how hard she tried. She knew she should really just focus on her own life and happiness, however, she did wonder how happy Rico would make her.
“What did he mean by you don’t know what I’m really like?” She whispered to herself as she sat outside the conference room. Lalena was dying to know more about him, and she couldn’t understand what the pull was that he had on her.
The meeting seemed to drag on and on forever, but finally the door opened. Rico walked out he looked tired, Lalena felt her heart ache for him. Did she cause him to look like this? There was no way; it had to be the threats that were weighing down on him.
She had read through the emails the day before and they were very threatening sounding. The fact that nothing had happened as of yet was simply pure luck, she was sure of that. This person, or even people, would take their shot at him one day. She only hoped that she would be able to protect him when it happened.
The ride back to the office was mostly silence. Rico didn’t seem interested in sharing anything new with her about how he felt. She had really wanted to ask him what he had meant though when he had said she didn’t know the real him. But Lalena knew she was playing with fire if she opened up that door. She really didn’t want to know more about him, it might make her like him more.
“We can drop you off at your house if you would like.” He offered.
“No I have my car at the office; I’ll have no way to get in tomorrow.” She stated.
“You can have you boyfriend drop you off.” He said, the tone of his voice showing the anger once more.
“I don’t know if he’s staying the night tonight or not.” She looked straight at Rico, a challenge in her eyes.
“Right, oh it’s one of those types of relationships!” He smirked.
“Listen I told you once before, you shouldn’t judge someone when you are doing the same exact thing. It’s my business, not yours. You never even told me the real reason why you came to see me last night. You say that you aren’t the man the papers claim, but I see someone who is exactly like that. The only problem is you don’t like it has to be because of some sort of male dominance issue or another. I don’t care what it is though. Until you can honestly say that you aren’t this man who sleeps with women of all kinds, then don’t judge my life. I don’t sleep around at all, I stay faithful to the man I’m with. Plus compared to you I’m a virtual virgin. I’m sure you’ve slept with more woman than you would care to count. On the other hand I can tell you honestly that I’ve had sex with a total of 3 men in my entire 29 years of life. Can you say that?” Lalena had enough and let loose on him.
Rico stared at her. “Well look who’s the little spit fire. I saw the look in your eyes when I whispered into your ear that first night. It wasn’t a look that said I’m dating someone either. No it was a look that was a challenge a dare to me. You were saying try if you want, but you have a wild ride on your hands. So before you go and preach to me about how you are faithful to this boy, you should remember that I saw that look in your eyes. It wasn’t the only time either, in my office yesterday you had the same look. If I wanted you I could flick my fingers and you would be mine.” He laughed.
“I don’t know why you think you could do that and I would be putty in your hands. Perhaps you aren’t used to women turning you down. But I could tell you with all honesty that if you asked me right now to screw you I would spit in your face.” She finished then knocked on the window. “Driver can you please pull over, I need to get out.” She said.
The driver pulled the car over.
“What are you doing? We’re in the middle of nowhere, how will you get home?” Rico asked her.
“I don’t care, but honestly I don’t have to listen to your insults anymore.” She opened the door and climbed out.
Lalena breathed in the fresh air and waited for the car to pull away, but it didn’t. Instead Rico was soon standing beside her. “Get back in the car, we just won’t talk anymore.” He tried to pull her towards the door.
“No, I don’t want to. You’ve insulted me more than one time and I’m done with it.” She shouted.
“I see the look in your eyes when you look at me. If you could honestly swear to me that you loved Jake Newton I wouldn’t believe you. I see the looks, you get that right. You don’t love him, or you wouldn’t look at me those eyes that scream out to be fucked.” Rico said in a low voice to her, his face was only inches from hers.
Lalena looked at him, the shock on her face was apparent. She slapped him hard across the face.
He looked at her; the danger in his eyes was shining brightly. He grabbed her and pulled her to him. Rico pressed his lips hard on hers. She tried to resist him and fight, but soon her body betrayed her and she kissed him back. As soon as she did he pulled away and jeered at her.
“Your just like any other woman.” Rico said, and he climbed back into the back of the car. They pulled off and left Lalena standing there on the side of the road.
“How could you kiss him back?” She wanted to pound her head into a nearby tree. His lips had felt nice on hers; she had tried to fight it. But in the end the feeling of want was far too strong in her, she wanted to taste him. It ended far too quickly in her opinion.
Tears began streaming down her face. She was right she didn’t love Jake, but clearly Rico didn’t love her either. So what could she do? She had a walk to think about it, it was at least 4 miles to get back to the office and her car. She could have called Jake and he could pick her up, but how would she explain this one to him. “Hey sorry I’m stuck here, but Rico kissed me and I kissed him back so he got upset.” She was almost positive about his reaction to the news. It wouldn’t be good at all.
She used the time as she walked to think about her feelings and what she should do about them. Jake was really sweet and she knew he cared about her, but there wasn’t anything serious between them. He had made that clear to her last night. It was more of a mutual agreement to sleep together and enjoy each other’s company for a period of time.
Once he was healed he would be out of town and on to greener pastures. Lalena was almost positive that she wouldn’t want to go with him. She couldn’t see herself outside of this town, she loved it here. Her life was good, for the most part. Though today hadn’t been a great day, she thought as she continued to walk. Overall most days of the week she was happy with her life.
“Fucking Rico, who does he think he is?” She fumed and got angry as she got closer to the office. She wouldn’t even go upstairs; she would get into her car and go home. She was already going to be so late getting home.
Lalena thought about simply telling Rico she quite, but she didn’t want too. She was sure that soon enough this person who was sending the emails would do something, and she didn’t trust anyone else to protect Rico.
Chapter 6
Rico touched his lips in the back of the car. He hadn’t met to kiss her, but he couldn’t resist the urge had been far too strong. “She’s with another man, why did you do it?” Rico swore at himself.
This was his fault this time, the forgiveness he sought out in his mind from Matt was nothing compared to what he had done today. He had knowingly kissed Lalena even though he knew she was sleeping with and involved with another man. Sure she had claimed it was nothing serious. But did Jake Newton feel that way?
Jake could very well be just like Matt, oblivious to the fact that his woman wasn’t really in love with him. He knew he had made the comments to her about what he thought Jake felt, and that she wasn’t going to be part of his future life. But he wasn’t sure about that, he had only been lashing out at her, he was hurt.
At first she had fought him, but he kept kissing her, urging her for a reaction. He was sure it would happen; he could honestly see the way she loo
ked at him. There were thoughts that were not pure coming from her eyes when she looked Rico’s way. He knew he wasn’t crazy, and when she had kissed him back, it had taken everything to pull away from her.
He had walked away from her, even though he had wanted to go back to her. “She’s involved with another man, what the fuck Rico.” He swore once more at himself.
Once he was back in the office Sally had asked where Lalena was. “Hey where is Lalena at?” She questioned him.
“She had something else to do.” Rico answered and headed to his office. He could still feel her lips on his, and it made him even more upset.
He licked his lips and could taste her; he craved to have more from her. But he knew it wasn’t possible, what had happened today should never have taken place. The only way he could ever be with her is if she was alone.
Rico had realized today that for some reason he wanted so much more from her. He would be willing to be with only her. She had asked him what he wanted from her and he had almost told her, I want to marry you. The thought had come to his mind quickly and scared him though.
She would never believe him, he was certain. She had made it clear in the car that she felt he was not a good man. “How can you judge me when you do the same thing?” She had asked him.
He knew she was right about that, he did use woman for his own devices. But that didn’t mean he wanted to use her, because he didn’t. Rico wanted more from her, but there was no way he could have it. He wondered what Jake Newton felt for her, not for the first time since he had seen him open the door at her place last night.
Rico considered talking to the boy, but what would that accomplish? “Maybe it will let you know how long you’ll have to wait for her.” He thought, however, he shook the thought away.
“What would it look like me approaching him and asking about his feelings for her? He would surely know there was a reason for this, and most likely not a very good one.” He commented to no one. He pictured what his reaction would be if someone came up to him and asked him the question about a female he was seeing.
“Not a good idea at all. I just really have to stop, I can’t have her.” Rico admitted to himself. However, his body yearned to kiss her again, to feel her skin under his fingertips. He wanted her so badly he didn’t even hear Sally knock on the door.
“Excuse me Rico; did you forget you have that date tonight?” Sally opened his door and poked her head inside his office.
“Oh shit, yeah I did forget. Am I late?” Rico asked.
“Well you’ll be a few minutes late. She’s meeting you at Outback Steakhouse.” Sally told him.
“Wasn’t I supposed to pick her up?” He questioned.
“Yes, but with it being so late, you’ll miss your reservations if you go and pick her up first. So instead I just sent the car to get her.” Sally said.
“Thanks. Do I even have time to go home and change shirts?” He questioned and looked at his watch. “Shit no, it’s all her fault.” He said under his breath.
“Excuse me, I didn’t quite hear you.” She questioned.
“Nothing I was just thinking to myself.” Rico got up and headed out the door. “See you in the morning. If you see Lalena tonight tell her that she should be in at 9 in the morning.” Rico told Sally and left.
He wasn’t really happy that he had this date now. All he could think about was the kiss and how she had fought at first, then given in. It could have been a sweet victory was it not for Jake Newton and his part in her life.
Chapter 7
By the time she had made it back to her car she was already two hours late getting home. Jake must still be working; otherwise she was sure he would have called her. She was happy about that, she had a feeling she would sound guilty on the phone when she talked to him. “What are you going to be like in person?” She wondered aloud.
Lalena tried to reason with herself and figure out what had happened. Should she even mention it to Jake? Wouldn’t he be better off not knowing about this? It was obvious to her that the best thing to do would be to quit and go back to the force, but she couldn’t do it.
She tried to put the kiss out of her mind; she didn’t think it would happen again. The look that Rico had given her as he got back into the car had been one of almost hatred. She couldn’t understand why though, he was the one who had forced himself on her. He had continued to kiss her even when she had pushed, or rather tried to push him away from her.
Lalena would have thought that his reaction to her kissing him back would be something more. She was glad it didn’t go that way.
As she got back to her car she looked up and saw the office as black, she figured everyone would be gone by now. It was at that point she remembered that Rico had a date tonight. “He’s a fucking hypocrite. That’s what he is, a damn pot calling the kettle black. How dare he kiss me and get mad when I react and kiss him back!” Lalena was pissed off now as she thought about it.
She’d meant guys who were like that in the past; it was okay for them to do things, but not for women. It wasn’t like she had slept with a huge number of guys though. She had been completely honest with Rico when she told him only 3 people in the past. Lalena had been picky about who she slept with, she wouldn’t be with just anyone.
As she pulled in the driveway she was happy to see that Jake wasn’t home yet. She didn’t need to face him when she was home late. Her phone had died along the walk back to the office, so she plugged it in and turned it on. There were several messages on there from Jake and one from Sally as well. She pulled up the one from Sally first.
Hey Rico said that you should be at the office at 9 tomorrow morning. Hope you got everything done you were working on! See you at the office. Sally.
Obviously Rico hadn’t told Sally about what had happened between them in the car and why she wasn’t back at the office. Lalena shook her head, “what a creep, I hate him.” She stated.
Hey Babe, I’ll be working a bit later tonight, won’t be home until close to midnight. Hope you’re not mad!
Hey Babe, it’s me again, correction on the time, it might be until 2 in the morning. A couple of people have called off tonight. Don’t be angry, I’ll wake you up when I get home!
Hey Babe, you’re not made are you? I haven’t heard back from you yet. Just checking. You know I need the money!
She typed up a message to Jake. Hey sorry my phone died earlier in the day, just plugged it in. I’m not mad; I’ll see you later on when you get home. Have a good night.
Lalena sighed it was perfect, this way Jake wouldn’t be all in her face asking her questions about the day and how it went. She was sure it would happen every day as long as she worked with Rico. For some reason he was jealous of Rico, but she could understand why too, if he only knew what happened today.
She ran some hot water and put bubbles in the tub. She needed some unwinding time by herself. “I’m so happy that he’s working late.” She wondered if her guilt would be all over her face. “But it wasn’t my fault.” She said, but her mind answered her back immediately, but you did kiss him back.
“Fuck what do I do about this? I should really tell Jake about it, I hate to lie about anything.” She admitted.
Lalena practiced her story with the bubbles and tried to picture Jake’s reaction. “He’ll be so mad, I know it.” She fought with her ethics for a while.
“What a piece of shit, he’s upset at me because I’m with one person, yet he’s with how many women? How can he be so damn judgmental?” She said to no one.
“Who are you talking about?” Jake asked from the door of the bathroom.
“What? Oh sorry I didn’t hear you come in.” Lalena said.
“How could you the music is blasting! What were you talking about?” Jake asked again.
“Just something the mayor said today that pissed me off.” Lalena stated.
“Hmm, so why don’t you tell me about it.” Jake commented as he sat on the lid of the toilet.
“I�
�d rather not, you got home early?” She tried to change the subject.
“I’m just on a short break, figured I’d come home and see how your day went.” He told her.
“It was okay, nothing much.” She said.
“So what is this about him being a piece of shit? Sounds like something went on.” Jake probed.
She looked down; she really didn’t want to lie to him. “We had an argument, he said some things and I said some things back to him. I’m just angry about it.” She explained.
“You sure you’re okay, your face is flushed like your more upset than you want to admit.” Jake pushed.
“No it’s nothing I can’t handle. If it was a problem I would tell you.” She made the decision to not tell him about the kiss. There was no reason to share it with him; he would be upset for nothing.
“Alright, you know I’ll help you through anything. Are you sure that you should keep working there though?” Jake asked.
“Really Jake it’s nothing I can’t handle. It was a misunderstanding that will be fixed soon.” She stated.
He looked at her and saw her breasts perking up through the bubbles in the bath water. “So I have like an hour, maybe we could get your mind off of today by, you know what!” He smiled seductively.
Lalena smiled, though she felt more guilty for thinking about the kiss at the moment than what Jake was offering. “What do you have in mind?” She asked.
“Well I’m kind of hungry for some of that sweet pussy juice of yours.” He stated.
She laughed and screamed as he bent over and scooped her easily out of the tub. “Hey your uniform will get all wet.” She screamed.
“I have another one I can change into.” He said as he carried her to the bedroom and put her on the bed. “It looks delicious.” He said as he moved between her legs and began to lick her pussy lips.
Lalena moved to meet his mouth and tongue as he probed her cunt deeply with it. She felt him slip one of his fingers into her as he nibbled on her clit. “Oh damn.” She sighed.