Never Let Me Go

by Kianna Alexander

  Explore the possibilities.

  If only they knew how much he’d like to do just that. This was the first time he could remember hesitating over pursuing a woman who had piqued his interest. He wasn’t a man who hung back and waited to be noticed, professionally or personally. He’d take some time to assess and evaluate, but after that, he never hesitated to go after what he wanted. And he wanted Yvonne.

  Thing have never been this complicated before. Before, I had only myself to consider. Now I have to consider my daughter and how my actions could affect her.

  As he idled at a stoplight near his parents’ neighborhood, another unsettling thought popped into his mind. Every one of his friends who’d been at his house that night had noticed his attraction to Yvonne. Hell, even the one who hadn’t been present was now drinking the Maxwell-likes-Yvonne Kool-Aid.

  Shit.

  Yvonne seemed able to read him from the very moment she’d stepped into his presence. So if his friends could tell he was attracted to her, it stood to reason that Yvonne herself might be aware of his feelings as well.

  Shit!

  How in the world had he ended up in this situation? He needed someone knowledgeable and caring to take care of Sasha, but did she have to be so alluring as well? This went beyond her physical appearance; it was clear she possessed a pure, nurturing soul. Should he blame the nanny agency for sending him a woman with the most beautiful pair of big brown eyes he’d ever seen? Or should he blame fate?

  He glanced in the rearview mirror, his eyes settling for a moment on Sasha’s car seat. Never thought I’d be driving around with one of those. Yet here he was. Life sure has a way of surprising you.

  Pulling into his parents’ driveway, he drew a deep breath, doing his best to settle his mind. Resolving to keep his inconvenient yet very real feelings for his nanny to himself, he shut off the engine and went to retrieve his daughter.

  * * *

  Sunday afternoon, Yvonne entered Fill the Well Body Boutique around two. After spending the better part of her weekend packing and setting up for her new live-in arrangement with Maxwell, she wanted to enjoy a little pampering. Having a best friend who owned a spa made that an easy task.

  As soon as Yvonne entered the lobby, she saw Athena sitting at the front desk, poring over some papers spread out in front of her. No other patrons were present; Sundays were typically a slow day at the spa, and those who did come in usually did so before noon.

  Athena Jackson had been one of Yvonne’s closest friends ever since their days at Hillside High School, and that hadn’t changed despite the vastly different paths they’d chosen in life. Athena was Yvonne’s opposite in many ways: petite, thinner, and with a fairer skin tone. Even her penchant for flashy, colorful clothes and jewelry stood in contrast to Yvonne’s preference for pearls, black and gray clothing, and classic accessories. Their differences seemed to unite them, and the older Yvonne got, the more she appreciated Athena’s refreshing, adventurous approach to life.

  “Hey, girl,” Yvonne called to get Athena’s attention.

  Athena looked up then, pushing her reading glasses up on top of her close-cropped hair. “Hey there, stranger! Haven’t seen you in here in a good month. What’s been going on?”

  “I started a new job for one thing.” Yvonne strolled to the coatrack near the desk and hung up her purse. “Don’t you remember me telling you I applied at the Wittenmyer Agency?”

  Athena looked thoughtful for a moment as if trying to conjure up the memory. “Oh yeah, now I remember. So you got the position with them, and you’ve already got a client?”

  Yvonne nodded. “And there’s a hell of a story to go along with my new charge, too.”

  “You know I want to hear all about it, right?”

  Yvonne chuckled. “I’m sure you do. And all will be revealed, once I’m comfy in the pedicure chair.”

  Standing, Athena pulled her into a hug. “It’s good to see you again, girl.”

  “Likewise.” Sometimes the busyness of adult life seemed to drain away all her free time, but Yvonne tried her best to make time for her family and friends, no matter what she had going on.

  Athena led her through the clear beaded curtains to the nail spa area. Yvonne felt the calm wash over her as she took in the familiar, soothing setting. The walls were painted in muted shades of blue and beige to mimic the beach at sunrise. The floor beneath her feet mirrored both the color and texture of sand and even had a few well-placed starfish and seashells embedded in it. Shadowboxes lining the wall contained all manner of things found at the beach: pieces of coral, dried seaweed, seagull feathers. The soft recessed lighting gave the place that subtle, early-morning glow. The sleek glass manicure tables had blue leather chairs on either side, and the tan pedicure chairs boasted high-tech massage capabilities and sanitary pipeless soaking systems. “Every time I come here, I’m impressed. You really made this place feel like the beach, Athena.”

  Gesturing to a pedicure chair, Athena cracked, “I sure hope so. It took several months—and several thousand dollars—to get this place just right. I’m glad you appreciate my hard work.”

  Yvonne settled into the chair, looked around the room at all the empty ones surrounding her. They were the only people in the room, and the only sound, other than their voices, was the soundtrack of ocean waves and seagulls that played on a continuous loop. “Where’s everybody else?”

  “My two nail techs are both on vacation today. Since I didn’t have any appointments booked, I didn’t make a fuss.” Athena ducked out of the room, then returned with a wicker basket filled with pedicure supplies and implements. “That means I’m doing your pedicure. Lucky you.” She winked.

  “Oh, I feel super special.” Yvonne grinned. “What about my sister? Is she here?”

  “Zelda’s working today, but she’s on lunch. She’ll be back soon, though. She’s got a client coming in for a facial at three.”

  Knowing she’d also see her sister today made Yvonne smile. Zelda, her only sibling, was seven years younger and an aesthetician by trade. Zelda had started working at Fill the Well fresh out of beauty school. Athena hadn’t just given Zelda a job, either; she’d had to start with a trial period working under another, more experienced aesthetician, just as Athena required of all her employees. Being who she was, Zelda appreciated that she hadn’t been given special treatment. Zelda worked hard and treated her clients well, and in the past four years, she had built a good-sized clientele for herself.

  Athena slipped the tub insert into the chair’s base and turned on the hot water. “Check the temp for me, hon.”

  Shifting in her seat, Yvonne kicked off her brown sandals and dipped her big toe into the water. She sighed, then slipped both feet into the rapidly filling tub. The heated water enveloped her feet as she reclined in the chair. “It’s perfect.” A soft purring sound escaped her throat as she turned on the chair’s massage function and sank into the cushion.

  Athena cocked an eyebrow as she shut off the water. Slipping into a pair of gloves, she shook her head. “It’s been way too long since you’ve had the D, if my chair got you moaning before I even touch your feet.”

  Closing her eyes, Yvonne sighed again. This sound wasn’t a reflection of pleasure, though. “Don’t remind me, Athena. You know I haven’t really dated anyone since”—she frowned as his name passed her lips—“Cornelius.”

  Athena shuddered. “Ooh, girl. Let’s not revisit that tragedy. How long has it been now? Seven, eight months?”

  “Try nine months.” And three weeks, but who’s counting? As much as she hated to think about it, Yvonne did miss being touched. Not that she’d ever let Cornelius enjoy that privilege again. He’d been a jerk of the highest order. She might be needy, but she wasn’t that desperate.

  “I still can’t believe he had the nerve to insult your career choices, especially since he faked an entire career for him
self.” Athena added her special blend of salts, oils, and flower petals to the water, swirling it around with her gloved hand. “What was that line he gave you about his job?”

  “That he had a very important position with the museum of history.” Yvonne rolled her eyes at the memory. “Turned out he was selling key chains in the gift shop.”

  “Yikes. He really was bold with the lies, wasn’t he?”

  “It was a mess. He could have just told me he worked in the gift shop, and I wouldn’t have had a problem with it. I mean, it might not be glamorous, but it’s an honest day’s work.”

  “You’re telling me.” Athena held up her trusty pumice stone. “I mean, I’m touching people’s feet most of the day, but I love my work, and it pays the bills.”

  “Exactly. If he’d just been honest with me and spent less time talking shit about my work with kids, we might have had a real shot.” Yvonne shook her head. The lengths men would go to in an effort to make themselves look good boggled her mind. An image of Maxwell popped into her head. Now, there’s a man who doesn’t have to fake success. He’s got it going on, for real. “It’s all good, though. His foolishness forced me to face reality and kept me from wasting any more of my time on him.”

  “You left your last job a few months after you dropped him, didn’t you?”

  Yvonne nodded. “It was a crazy time for me, but I think things are finally starting to settle out. New job, new possibilities.”

  “Yes, girl. And here’s hoping Cornelius took a long walk off a short pier.”

  Both women laughed, the sound echoing around them.

  The bell chimed then, indicated that someone had entered the lobby. Moments later, Zelda stepped into the nail suite, a clear plastic cup of red liquid in hand. Seeing her sister, she grinned. “Hey, Von.” She walked over, leaned in to hug her around the shoulders with her free hand.

  “Hey, girl.” Yvonne quelled the urge to play in her sister’s hair; Zelda hated that. Plus, it wouldn’t do to have her mass of curls looking like an abandoned bird’s nest when her three o’clock client came in.

  “So did you tell the boss lady about your new job with Mr. Sexy Architect?” Zelda took a long draw of the drink in her cup.

  Yvonne pursed her lips. “I was getting to that, Z.”

  “Yeah, right. I gotta get set up for my next appointment.” A giggling Zelda disappeared from the room, heading back to the facial suite.

  When Yvonne looked down again, she found Athena staring at her. “What?”

  “Girl, don’t ‘what’ me. You’d better spill the tea on your new job…and this fine man you work for.”

  Thinking of Maxwell again, Yvonne couldn’t help smiling. “His name is Maxwell Devers, he’s an architect, and he’s a single father to the most precious little baby girl I’ve ever worked with. Her name is Sasha and—”

  Athena shook her head. “Yeah, yeah. The baby’s cute and all that. But what about the man?”

  “You’re just as bad as Zelda.”

  “Don’t insult me. I’m badder.” Athena lifted Yvonne’s right foot out of the water and began exfoliating. “Now tell me all about Mr. Devers.”

  While Athena scrubbed, trimmed, and massaged, Yvonne told her about Maxwell. Knowing her friend wouldn’t settle for any less, she gave as full a physical description of him as she could. Based on Athena’s expression, Yvonne guessed her friend agreed with her assessment that Maxwell Devers was indeed finer than frog’s hair.

  By the time Athena started applying the glossy, hot-pink polish to Yvonne’s toes, she was grinning from ear to ear. “Sounds like a dream job, for real. Great pay, a precious li’l one, and a boss so fine he makes your teeth hurt? And here I am scraping your crusty feet. I’m jealous.” She chuckled.

  Yvonne laughed at her friend’s chiding words. “Athena, you know this spa is your life, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “True, true.” Applying the last bit of topcoat, Athena slid her stool back. “But here’s the real question. Are you gonna move on him or wait for him to come to you?”

  Yvonne’s brow furrowed. “Athena, what are you talking about?”

  “Come on, Von. It’s obvious you’re attracted to him. I can tell just by the way you describe him.” Zelda walked by then, and Athena kept quiet until Zelda returned to the back with her client. “Like I was saying, you want him, and life’s too short not to go after him.”

  “Athena, have you been inhaling nail polish remover or what? This is too good a job for me to jeopardize, no matter how I feel about him.”

  Athena snapped her fingers. “Aha! So you admit that you’re attracted to him?”

  Zelda poked her head around the doorway leading to the rear of the spa. “I could have told you that, boss lady.” Then she disappeared as quickly as she’d appeared.

  Yvonne rested her forehead in her hand. “You two are going to get me in trouble.” She’d left out the part about her living in with him five days a week so she could assess Athena’s reaction, and now she knew she couldn’t reveal that little tidbit, at least not now. Yes, she was attracted to Maxwell, and there wasn’t any getting around that as far as she could see. But she had better sense than to pursue him. She worked for him, and if anybody was going to make a move, he would have to be the one. She simply wouldn’t risk looking like an idiot and losing her job, all at the same time.

  Despite what she knew was for the best, she knew logic often fell by the wayside in matters of the heart. And with her best friend and her sister both egging her on, she wondered how long she’d be able to keep things strictly professional between her and Maxwell.

  Chapter 9

  Maxwell sat by his drafting table, his eyes sweeping over the draft plans pinned to the surface. It was Monday morning, and the sunlight streaming through the windows of his office improved his working conditions immensely. The civic center project was one of the biggest he’d ever bid on, and he knew he would need to impress the mayor and the city council if he was going to win the job. He imagined Harold Carmichael, his self-declared “rival,” doing something similar in an attempt to secure the project for himself. He chuckled.

  Whatever. Let Carmichael keep participating in the world’s most one-sided rivalry. I’m just going to keep doing what I do best.

  “Thank goodness it’s finally warming up.” Carson entered the room then, carrying two steaming mugs of coffee. A black leather folio was tucked beneath his right arm. “I don’t think I could have dealt with that cold snap much longer.”

  Taking his black ceramic mug from his intern, Maxwell quipped, “I bet. Warm weather is the whole reason you came here, right?”

  Carson nodded as he grabbed a chair, pulling it near the drafting table and sitting down. “Exactly. The minute I graduated high school, I knew I was getting the heck out of Minnesota. The winters up there are just too brutal.”

  Maxwell took a swig from his coffee mug, enjoying the way the rich roast warmed his chest. “What’s the name of your hometown again?”

  “Little Falls. Famous for being the hometown of Charles Lindbergh and not much else.” He sighed, leaning back in the chair. “I wanted to go to Florida State, but my parents said that was too far away. North Carolina was the compromise.”

  “Well, it all worked out. Your studying at State is what got you this position.” Maxwell shifted on the stool, taking in the drawing from a different angle. “I normally try to hire interns from my alma mater, but your résumé was so impressive.” Carson was due to graduate from the NC State College of Design with his bachelor of environmental design in architecture degree in the spring. Since Maxwell usually worked alone and contracted out work when necessary, Carson had been a great addition to his staff.

  “After graduation, I’m hoping to get on with a firm in a large city. Somewhere that needs responsible redevelopment. Maybe Detroit.” Carson shook his head. “T
here are so many places that need it, though.”

  “Just keep your options open. I’m sure the right job will reveal itself.” Maxwell scratched his chin. “In the meantime, let’s get back to the project at hand. Do you have the draft proposal?”

  Carson nodded, reaching for the folio that he’d laid on the edge of Maxwell’s desk, and opened it on his lap. “It’s here. I just need to reconcile it with the plans you’ve got pegged to the table.”

  “Right.” Maxwell stood, taking a few steps back from the drafting table. Studying the wide view of the large sheet of paper, he began to rattle off a description of his vision. “The new addition to the Crown Center is going to draw people from all over the state. The central location will make it appealing to performers and groups of all kinds.”

  “That’s what I have. I also noted that we don’t expect it to interfere with any of the other local venues because there’s nothing of similar size like it within a good seventy-five miles.”

  “I’m picturing five unique spaces. The main auditorium will seat up to ten thousand, depending on the configuration used.” Maxwell pulled the drafting pencil from behind his ear and pointed to the corresponding space on the diagram. “Then there will be the ballroom, suitable for weddings and other events of up to one thousand. We’ll have a theater that seats two hundred and fifty, which will go over big with the local filmmakers who want to host premieres.”

  “I agree. The last two spaces are multipurpose rooms, right?”

  Maxwell nodded. “They’ll fit up to one hundred people each, and we’re going to put in a flex wall between them so the spaces can be combined if necessary.”

  “I didn’t have the flex wall. Let me add it.” Carson pulled a pen from his shirt pocket and began marking the proposal document. “Did you come up with something for parking? That area gets a lot of traffic, and I’m not sure if the size of the lot will accommodate the amount of parking we need.”