“That’s a pity. I’ll make sure to tell you everything once I watch them tonight.”
I shake my head. “Oh no, you don’t.” I make a move to playfully swat him, but he’s too far away. “The one thing I hate, other than cliffhangers, is someone spoiling it for me.”
Ethan laughs loudly. “I’m only joking. I’m exactly the same. I get like that with books, as well.”
“Me, too. I once emailed an author and called her a bitch when she ended it with the insinuation that the lead character had died.”
Ethan’s eyes widen. “You didn’t?”
“No, but the look on your face was so worth the lie.”
He smirks and shakes his head. “That was mean.”
I gasp. “Oh? And telling me you are going to delve into my family history and let me know what happens in Suits wasn’t?”
“I wasn’t going to delve into your whole family history. Just yourself, your parents, and your grandparents.”
I see his smirk and shake my head. “Tell me again... How did you manage to woo Sarah? I hope it wasn’t winding her up by revealing things about her upcoming favourite TV episodes.”
“No. It was my looks, charm, famous lasagne...and my dance moves.”
I raise my eyebrow. “You can dance and cook, huh?” I nod like I’m impressed.
“Well, to be honest, Sarah doesn’t like my lasagne, but it’s true about the dance moves. I can shake it better than Usher.”
“I highly doubt that. Usher is one hell of a dancer. But, I must admit, I am intrigued about the lasagne.”
He sits up straighter. “Well, I’m not in a position to show you just how I can dance right now. Maybe the four of us can go out one night and I’ll show you. However, let me know when we can meet for lunch again. I’ll bring some of my famous lasagne for you.”
My heart accelerates when I think about seeing Ethan again. Is that excitement? God, I must be lonely. I suppose all I really have in my life, apart from my job, is Kyle and Sarah. I find myself beaming at the prospect of gaining a new friend.
“That sounds pretty awesome to me.”
Ethan smiles, then looks at his watch. “Shit. I didn’t realise the time.”
I do the same, gasping when I see that it’s almost two thirty. “Shit!” I shoot up out of my chair and fumble with my handbag and the bag Ethan gave me. “Where did the time go?”
He laughs. “I know. I hope you won’t get into trouble at work.”
“I don’t think so. I can just make up the extra half-hour later. I just don’t like being late. What about you?”
“Luckily, I don’t have my next appointment until three, but I, like you, don’t like to be late.”
I place my handbag over my shoulder and smile. “Well, I guess I’d better be off. Thanks for the latte. It was really nice of you.”
“Don’t mention it. Thanks for agreeing to have my baby.”
We stare at each other, then burst into laughter at the same time. “Okay. I think I may have won that one.”
Ethan nods and leads me out of the coffeehouse. “I think you may have, too. Just a little bit.” He puts his finger and thumb an inch apart, then his playful smile vanishes. “On a serious note, I think you’re so brave for doing this for us. I’m in awe of you.” He pats my arm and turns to leave. “Until the next time, Alice,” he says as he walks away.
Wow. I can’t breathe. The air seems to have been sucked out of me all of a sudden. Did he just tell me he was in awe of me?
Feeling stunned, I start to walk back to work. I’m full of energy. The day may have started off shitty, but I now find myself walking toward my office with a slight spring in my step and one of the biggest smiles I have worn in a very long time on my face.
Chapter Seven
My mood quickly vanishes the moment I step into work and Lucinda calls me over. She looks panicked, waving her hands at me in a hurried gesture. Heart beating, I walk up to her desk. She stands up and leans toward me. “Your husband has been calling every ten minutes for the last forty minutes. He said you weren’t answering your phone. I just thought I had better warn you. He sounded a little manic, to be honest.”
Closing my eyes on a sigh, my heart races at the thought of Kyle’s reaction once I call him. Maybe it’s an emergency. I have to find out.
As I pull my phone out of my pocket, I glance at Lucinda. “Thank you. I’m sorry you had to deal with that. I better call him.”
I swiftly walk toward my desk. When I walk past Sally, she looks up and notices my panicked state. She gets up and walks over.
I glance down at my phone and see I have ten missed calls and seven texts. Swiftly sifting through them, I can tell he’s pissed.
“Shit,” I utter under my breath.
“What’s going on, Alice?”
I sigh. “I was at lunch with Ethan. We were talking so much about the baby, time just ran away with us. Kyle called several times, obviously wondering where the hell I am...” I move forward in my chair, whispering, “I can’t tell him where I’ve been. He’ll flip.”
Sally’s eyes widen. “Why? You’re not doing anything wrong. Sarah knew about this, right?”
“Yes. She was actually supposed to be there, but had an appointment.”
She looks defiant when she states, “Well, then, that’s your answer. Plus, you’re planning to have his baby. It’s only natural that you need to see them both to talk it through. It’s not your fault Sarah wasn’t there.”
“Ethan invited her, but she obviously couldn’t make it.”
“What’s the problem then?”
I close my eyes, wondering if I should reveal everything to Sally. For some reason, I feel I can. It’s strange because I’ve always held back from Sarah, and she’s my best friend.
“My husband is a little...possessive, shall we say?”
Sally shakes her head, about to answer when my phone rings again. “I have to take this,” I say, knowing who it is without even looking. I press the button to answer the call.
He starts before I even say hello. “Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been trying to call you for nearly an hour. Why weren’t you picking up your phone?”
Flustered, heat rises to my cheeks. “I’m sorry. I was out to lunch and didn’t hear the phone.”
“You were gone for over an hour. Why weren’t you back in time? What were you doing? Who were you with?”
Hearing him shouting, Sally tugs at my arm, pointing to herself. “Say you were at lunch with me,” she whispers. I shake my head. This is my mess, so I won’t get her involved in it. She pulls at my jumper sleeve again. With an angry expression on her face, she points to me and then herself. We went to lunch together, she mouths.
“Alice, are you there? What the fuck’s going on?”
“Um… Sorry, Kyle. I’m at work and just got distracted. I went to lunch with Sally. I haven’t had a good conversation with her in a while, so we just lost track of time.”
I hear him sigh in frustration. “You only went to lunch with Sally?”
Now it’s my turn to sigh. “Yes... Kyle, what’s going on? You’re never normally this uptight. Is something wrong?” His attitude is getting on my last nerve.
“No. I just want to know where my fucking wife is. Is that too much to fucking ask? What if you had been run over by a bus? What if I had been? The least you could have done is make sure you answer your phone.”
I hear a loud thump over the phone, which makes me jump. I glance up at Sally. Her lips are in a thin line as she shakes her head.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore your calls. We were having so much fun, time quickly ran away with me.” I close my eyes. I feel like a shit for lying, and an even bigger shit for involving Sally.
“Okay, fine. Listen, I have to go. I’m sorry I shouted at you, but I got worried when you didn’t answer and work didn’t know where you were.”
I feel myself relax a little at the change of tone in his voice. All of a sudden, he’
s nice Kyle again. “That’s okay. I honestly didn’t do it on purpose. Next time, I promise to keep my phone out so I can hear it when it rings.”
I hear him sigh again. “Good. Listen, I’ll see you later on tonight. Sarah is coming over, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then. I won’t be out long because I’m driving.”
I try to smile. “You obviously don’t want to damage your ‘baby’.”
Kyle laughs. “No. I can’t have anything bad happen to her, so only one, maybe two drinks for me. I’ll see you later, baby.”
“Okay. Love you.”
I hear the smile in his voice. “I love you, too. More than you’ll ever know.”
He ends the call. As I press the button on my phone, my shoulders relax.
“Honey, he’s off the charts. Are you okay?” Sally places a hand on my shoulder.
I look up at her with a smile. “Yes, thanks. He’s just been a little...I don’t know…off lately. I’m sure it’s just a phase.”
I can tell she doesn’t like my answer. “Alice, people like that don’t normally have phases. They only get worse.” She rubs my shoulder tenderly. When our boss walks through, she stands from my desk. “I’d better get back to work,” she whispers.
She walks off, leaving me with her words running through my head. Over the last few weeks, Kyle has gotten worse. He has some good days, but when the bad days come, they come hard. There never seems to be an in between with him.
Blowing out a breath, I get back to work. It’s a good distraction from my life.
The next couple hours fly by. Once it’s time to go home, I feel a lot better. I watch Sally clear off her desk for the night. When she spots me looking, she smiles, grabs her bag, and walks over.
“Fancy going out for real this time? That’ll give him something to really get pissed off about.” She smirks as she sits on the edge of my desk, making me laugh.
“What are you like?” She shrugs, but doesn’t say anything. “I can’t tonight. I need to work an extra half-hour to make up for lunch, then rush to meet Sarah at my place. I would have loved to, though.”
She smiles brightly. “Oh well. There’s always another time.”
“Oh, I just remembered. What about this hot man you’ve been dating? You never got around to telling me about him.”
She smiles brightly, which makes me happy. She deserves it after last year when she found out her husband of five years had been cheating on her the whole time…with her sister!
“We’ve been dating for about two months. After Pete, I went off men completely. I actually vowed that I would remain celibate the rest of my life.” She shakes her head, smirking. “Boy, I would have really missed out.” She giggles, setting me off. “We had sex for the first time a few days ago. I really didn’t know what I had been missing all these years. Pete and I met when we were young. We were each other’s first. Well, that’s what he told me anyway. I doubt I can believe anything that comes out of his mouth now. Anyway, I didn’t really enjoy the sex, but I had nothing to compare it to.”
Placing my hand on hers, I give it a little squeeze. “I’m so happy for you. What’s his name?”
“Larry.”
“You tell him that if he hurts you, he’ll have me to deal with.”
She squeezes my hand back and leans forward. “I will.”
“When are you seeing him again?”
“He’s taking me shopping tomorrow, then out to eat. We’re going to practically spend the whole weekend together.”
“That’s great. I hope he spoils you rotten.”
She gets up from the edge of my desk, smiling. “I’m sure he will.”
Chapter Eight
“Red or white?” I ask Sarah as she sits at the kitchen island.
“White, please.”
The island was the one thing I insisted on getting when we moved in. I was content to have Kyle make decisions on a lot of things, but the kitchen island was definitely one thing I said I wanted. He wasn’t keen, but now spends a lot of time reading his paper and drinking his coffee at it. More often than not, we eat breakfast there. He won’t admit that I was right about it, though.
“How was work?” she asks as I pour her a glass.
“Not too bad. Oh, you know Mrs. Bellingham?”
“The woman who won’t stop calling you?”
“That’s the one. Well, she rang me when the investigator paid her a visit. She was panicking, saying she thought he looked shifty-eyed and asked me to describe him to her.”
Sarah laughs. “Oh, my god. That woman is something else.”
I shrug. “I think she’s just lonely and feels vulnerable. Once I described him and told her I would call his mobile so she could see, she let him in. Mark had to hand her the phone just so she knew it was me on the line.” I shake my head with a smile. “Bless her.”
Sarah snorts. “She sounds like a right pain in the arse. You’re so patient. I think I would have told her to fuck off a long time ago.”
Yes, Mrs. Bellingham does call every day, and I do moan about it, but I know she means well. I just think she’s desperately lonely and is reaching out.
“Anyway, what about you?” I ask, changing the subject.
She rolls her eyes, sighing. “Well, apart from knowing I have to meet that bitch this weekend, I’m fine. Ethan has been extra attentive lately...if you know what I mean.”
I smile, but I don’t feel it inside for some reason. “That’s great. You deserve a bit of pampering.”
She shrugs. “I know. I think it’s well-deserved after all the questions, tests, and more tests. I’m so over it already.” She gasps. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I saw Kyle driving his new car today. He actually stopped and had a quick coffee with me before driving me home.”
I frown. He never told me that. I don’t mind, but I know for a fact Kyle would be angry if he knew I met Ethan for coffee today.
“Yes. He’s practically lived in his car ever since he bought it.”
She looks around the house. “I take it he’s out?”
I nod. “Yeah. He went to a leaving-do near work. He should be back by eleven.”
“I’ll probably be gone by then. Unfortunately, we have to get up early tomorrow to avoid the Saturday traffic.” I smile at her as we both take a sip of our drinks. “Ethan told me how it went today and that he gave you some kits.”
I nod, a little uneasy about talking to her about it. “Yes. We had coffee and sat to talk about logistics.”
Sarah laughs. “It’s like we’re planning a major operation.”
I snort. “It does kind of sound a bit military, doesn’t it?”
“I spoke with Kyle about it.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You did?”
She nods, averting her eyes to her glass in front of her. “Yeah. I asked him how he felt, and he said he wasn’t completely happy about you being pregnant with another man’s baby, but knows this is what you want. He also told me you practically blackmailed him with the car.” She smirks.
I gasp. “I did not blackmail him.” I shrug. “I would call it more of a bribe.”
“He told me you’re not planning to have children for a few more years.”
I sigh, looking down for a moment. “Those were my bargaining chips. The car and waiting for a while. I know Kyle’s not enthusiastic about having a baby right now, but considering I will be carrying yours, I’m sure I can wait.”
“He mentioned about you being so kind and selfless. He also said he’s extremely lucky to have you. I can tell he dotes on you.”
I smile at that. I certainly wasn’t expecting him to discuss me with Sarah. As I look at her, though, I see something in her eyes. I don’t know what it is, but I swear there’s something there... Jealousy, perhaps? I’m not sure what it is, but when she has a man like Ethan, I don’t see how she can be.
“We have our differences, like any couple, but the sweet times always make up for it.”
“And the rough sex,” she jokes.
I laugh, but I don’t agree with her. I don’t mind the rough sex, but only if I’m on-board with it. Kyle takes whenever he feels like it. It doesn’t seem to matter if I’m in the mood or not.
“Rough sex is good, but it’s sometimes nice to have a gentle lover.”
Sarah pffts at me. “More like a boring lover. Give me rough sex any day.” She takes a swig of her drink, then sets it down. “Don’t get me wrong. Ethan is a fantastic lover. I orgasm every time, but there are occasions I want him to be a bit rough with me. I just don’t think he has it in him.”
To me, her sex life sounds amazing. My next sentence is barely audible. “I’ve never orgasmed during sex.”
Sarah practically spits out her wine. “Never?” I shake my head. “Oh my. Maybe it’s just that you’re not relaxed enough. You should try yoga before sex, or even Tantra. Apparently, that’s good. I assume you have actually felt what it’s like to orgasm? You can get yourself off, right?” I blush a little at her question, but nod. She then leans over the counter. “You know, I recently read about this tapping technique.”
I frown. “Tapping?”
She giggles. “Yeah. You lie on the bed and play with yourself to get all wet. Once you get your juices flowing, gather them up on your clit, open your legs wide, and start tapping on it. I tried it out the other day when Ethan was at work.”
“And?” I ask eagerly.
“It was one of the best orgasms I’ve ever had with myself. Normally, the most intense ones are when I stimulate myself with the palm of my hand on my mound. For some reason, they’re the best. Another good one is when you use your middle finger and forefinger of your less dominant hand to pinch your clit up slightly so it’s nicely puckered, then gently circle it with your other hand.” She starts fanning herself. “I’m turning myself on here.”
Me, too, but I won’t admit that to her. “It all sounds...pleasurable.” I start giggling.
“You should try it. Maybe ask Kyle to help you.” She winks before taking a sip of her drink. I’m sure Kyle would never entertain the idea.
A Surrogate Love Affair Page 5