by Claire Angel
“Thank you, Doc,” I said, letting out a huge breath, I hadn’t realised I was holding in.
“He’s a little skinny, Noah. I don’t remember you being a skinny child.”
“No, but stick insect genetics run rife in Cassandra’s family. Then again, it could be because she never eats.”
“Okay, but keep an eye on him in the next few days. He’s bound to drop a few more pounds from the fever, so plenty of fluids, and fatten him up when he’s better.”
“Will do. Thank you so much for seeing us on such short notice. I really appreciate it.”
“Not a problem, Noah. Your Dad will beat me up with his golf clubs if I let anything happen to his darling grandson.” He laughed.
“Ain’t that the truth.” I smiled, feeling a wave of relief washing over me.
“Call me if he gets worse, Noah, but I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“Thanks, I will.”
He handed me the prescription, and with that in hand, I left with Cody, and headed for the pharmacy around the corner from home. I stocked up on paracetamol to relieve Cody’s fever, calamine lotion, and cooling gels to ease itching. The spots would be out in full force soon, and I remembered from my childhood how bloody itchy they were all the time. My mother covered me in so much calamine lotion that I resembled a new born piglet for days.
I put my son to bed when we got home. He fell right to sleep, and I sat down at the edge of his bed and watched him as his little chest moved up and down. Max was in seventh heaven. He couldn’t believe his dog luck when I carried Cody into the house. He gave his bestie a quick sniff or two, then lay down gently beside him. He knew that Cody wasn’t well. Dogs were so intuitive. I wished Cassandra would be more like Max. Yes, she was a bitch, but not a very useful one it turned out.
I should have read the signs better after Cody was born, but I was so in love that I was blind to my new bride’s faults. I loved spending time at home with her and Cody, but she insisted on going out at least twice a week and again on weekends, while little Cody was cared for by his full-time au pair. I figured she would settle into motherhood eventually, but I was wrong.
She became more distant as the years passed. Then, the affairs started. She was really smart about it, too. I never caught her in the act, until a friend called me from the country club and told me to haul ass down there. That’s when I found her buffing the tennis coach's balls. That was the last straw. After the divorce, I thought at the time that sharing custody with his mother would be best for Cody, but I was wrong there, too. If she wanted to see him, she’d have to come to us.
Cody woke up at four. I knew by the happy sounds coming from his bedroom that both he and Max were elated to see each other. Janice was thrilled to have her little munchkin home. She spoiled him something rotten, not that I had a problem with that. She was like a grandmother to him. Janice made him a cold smoothie and tucked him back into bed with his favorite animations on his TV. It wasn’t long before he’d fallen asleep again.
“Is it just me, or is that little kid too thin?” Janice asked as she started on dinner.
“Yeah, Doc asked me the same thing. He is too thin. Honestly, Janice, if I don’t get custody of Cody, I’m going to ring Cassandra’s neck.”
“No judge worth his spot on the bench is going to rule against you, Noah. You are an excellent father. They’d be blind if they saw anything less.”
“I hope you’re right, Janice.”
“You’ll see. Now, how about a nice fish pie for dinner?” she asked, pouring her love language of food all over me.
“Sounds heavenly.” I smiled.
“You got it.”
I was utterly exhausted. The stress of the impending custody battle was enough to sap me of energy. That, compounded with the shitless scare of my sick child, threw me over the edge.
Damn it! Once again I’d fucked up and taken it out on Brooke. I wouldn’t blame that girl if she never spoke to me again. What an asshole I’d been—there was no excuse. I thought of her beautiful face, contorted in a confused look, while I ate my fish pie dinner. I was surprised that I put so much stock into what she thought of me. I never cared before, especially not after Cassandra ripped out my heart and played pro tennis with it. That woman really did a number on me.
“Noah,” I heard Janice say.
“Yes?”
“I’m off now. Will you be okay?”
“Thanks, Janice. I’ll be fine. Thank you for all the help.”
“Always a pleasure. Sleep well. Give my little noonoo a kiss from Nanna Janice.”
“Wait til he’s back to full steam, then you’ll be sorry.”
She winked, grabbed her bag from the hat stand, and closed the front door behind her.
I sat out on the deck off my living room, staring up at the stars in the brilliant sky. My mind was calming down, finally. I thought I heard the front doorbell ringing. I looked at the time on my wristwatch. It was just on eight. Having no success from ringing the doorbell, the person began knocking like a maniac, pounding on the door.
“Okay, I’m coming!”
I opened the door and came face to face with Cassandra. She was redder than a beet, and her nostrils flared like a racehorse’s after a derby.
“What the fuck is this?” she shouted at me, waving a document in my face.
“Well, I don’t know, Cassandra. If you stop waving it at my face I can have a look.”
“Don’t be coy, you son of a bitch!” she seethed.
“I take it you received the court papers today. I don’t know why you’re so shocked. I did warn you earlier that they were coming.”
“Yes, you did. But I thought you were being your pissy little crybaby self again—all bark and no bite, like the spineless creature that you are. If you think I’m going to hand Cody over to you on a silver platter, you’re out of your fucking mind,” she screamed.
“Keep your voice down, Cassandra. Cody is sick, he needs his sleep. And, in case you give a shit, he’s got chickenpox. But please don’t cancel any of your brothel appointments. I’ve got this.”
Her eyes went pitch black and she slapped me, hard, through the face. I grabbed her arm before she could do it again. She struggled to pull away from me, but I held on.
“You’re hurting me,” she hissed. “Let go.”
“Momma? Dadda? What’s wrong?” Cody said, rubbing his eyes, Max guarding him like a treasure.
I let go of Cassandra’s hand. She instantly wiped the vicious look off her face and smiled at him, condescending mommy face painted on.
“Hey, buddy,” I said. “Nothing’s wrong, big boy. Mom was just dropping off some things for you,” I lied.
Cassandra walked past me and picked Cody up.
“Hey, little guy. How are you feeling?” she asked and stroked his hair.
I wanted to rip my son from her arms, but I held back. Her feigned concern was all for show, and I had a feeling Cody was smart enough to get that.
“Okay, baby. Mommy’s going now. Get some sleep. Take Max with you.”
Cody obeyed and Max followed. When our son was out of the room. Cassandra turned and glared at me.
“This isn’t over,” she hissed again.
“Do me a favor. Next time, call.” I ignored her vile stare and closed the door in her face.
I went to the drinks cabinet and poured myself a stiff whiskey. If I was determined before, I was crazy-ass committed now. The bitch was going down.
Chapter 12
BROOKE
My stomach was in a knot when I got to the office. It was a mixture of nerves, but mostly I was scared I’d lose my shit with Noah and kick his rude ass to the curb. I was fully prepared to rip him a new one if he said anything remotely offish. I’d been at my desk for ten minutes when the boss arrived. He stepped out of the elevator, looked to see if I was at my desk, nodded, then went into his office. A minute later, whilst I was fuming with indignation, the internal line buzzed.
“Hello,” I said, very professiona
lly.
“Can you pop in here for a moment, please?” Noah said matter of factly.
“Will do.”
This was it. The great massacre of the year, and I was ready for it. I picked up my notepad and prepared for battle. I knocked on his door and entered when he called.
“Hi, Brooke.”
“Good morning, Mr. Blakely,” I answered.
“Please, sit,” he said, but I saw him flinch at my cold greeting. I sat down.
“I’d like to apologise to you, Brooke,” he started. “Yesterday was a terrible day for me, but that’s no excuse. I’m sorry for taking it out on you.”
Well, that took all the fun out of crapping all over him. His apology took the wind right out of my pissy sails. How could I tell him to fuck off after such a sincere apology? Well played, Noah.
“Thank you, Noah. I accept your apology—again.” I added that to ensure I had the upper hand.
“Yes, I know. I’ve been a real ass lately. Again, I’m sorry.”
“Okay, let’s start over. I’ll pretend you are all warm and fuzzy, and you pretend I’m not the enemy. How does that sound?”
“Pretty good, actually. There’s just one problem,” he said. “Who the hell am I going to pick on when I’m pissed?”
“Hey, you’ve got a staff of fifteen people. Take your pick.”
“Nice.” He smiled. “I wonder how your co-workers will feel when they find out you threw them under a moving bus,” he said.
“I’m not going to tell them.” I smiled.
“Nor from me,” he said.
“Is there anything I can do for you this morning? I hear there’s a run on power bars at the food store around the corner. I can hook you up.”
“I think my bad behavior warrants a little more than power bar interludes. How about dinner?” he asked me.
“I’ll never say no to food.” I smiled.
“Great. I’ll pick you up at seven. Please send me a pin location. Now, get back to your desk before we start a rumor.”
“Yes, boss.”
How pathetic was I? One little apology, and I was putty in the ogre’s hands. Backbone my ass! I couldn’t help myself. He was so adorable when he was sorry, not to mention drop dead gorgeous when his eyes softened and his lips curled into a smile. I felt myself hurtling toward a cliff on a rickety bicycle without brakes, but hell, what a ride it was.
When the business day came to a close, I left work in my trusty pony and headed home. I called Jen from the car on my bluetooth.
“Hi!” she said.
“Hi to you, too. Guess where I’m off to tonight?”
“Uhm, a singles bar for drop dead gorgeous people only?”
“Close enough. Noah is taking me out to dinner,” I said happily.
“Have you finally gone over the edge? Have you lost your marbles altogether?”
“Yes, yes. He’s rude, he’s arrogant, blah blah blah… I don’t care about other peoples’ opinions of him. I want to find out for myself,” I said in defense.
“No, you want to grab a handful of his chiseled ass, you dirty girl.” Jen laughed.
“You got me. Can you blame me? I can’t remember the last time I had quality buns under my palms. A girl can only do so much to keep control of the hormones. Well, look out Aphrodite, Brooke Jones is on the loose.”
“Be careful, Brooke,” Jen said in her serious voice. “There’s a lot of baggage there, including a little boy. Don’t get too carried away.”
“I won’t, Jen, but thanks for the heads up.”
“Do me a favor. Wear something slutty. Make him choke on his tongue!” she said with her devilish tone.
“You’re so bad!”
“You know it.”
I ended the call. I had no idea what to wear, which was in itself ridiculous. I wasn’t one of those girls who obsessed about fashion and all that jazz. I wore what I was most comfortable in—I never heard any complaints.
I had time for a soak in the tub, with lots of fragrant bath oils, before my date. I reminded myself one more time that it wasn’t strictly a date, not that my stomach understood a word my brain was saying. Ugh, why did Noah Blakely have to be so bloody sexy?
I decided on a long, Grecian styled, white dress, that left my tanned back open. The round neckline showed off my collarbones, and the emerald stones on the bodice of the dress highlighted my green eyes. I was quite tall, so I wore flat sandals, and put my hair up in a bun. When I was ready, I stood back and had one more look at my reflection in the full-length mirror.
Damn, girl! You clean up nice.
At seven on the dot, the doorbell rang. Goodness me! A punctual man in the city...I couldn’t possibly let this man go. I took one more breath, fluffed a cushion on the couch, and opened the door.
“Wow! You look like a goddess,” Noah said as he looked me up and down. I was more than just a little excited at his approval.
“Thank you,” I said. “You don’t look too shabby yourself.” I smiled as I scanned his form, trying my best not to stop and stare at his groin area.
“Shall we go?” he asked.
“Ready when you are.”
We walked to the Jag, and I could have sworn I saw Mrs. Beckerman peeping at us through her lace curtains. That would give the old ducks in the hood something to talk about at the next bridge game—nosy parkers. I felt like a princess. Noah opened the passenger door of the car, and I climbed in. The leather seats received me, and I slid across it in my smooth fabric. The inside of the car smelled of Noah’s cologne. I thought a fitting name for the scent would be ‘A prelude to an orgasm’, but perhaps that was just me.
“So, where are we going?” I asked.
“There’s a burger joint around the corner that serves the best cheeseburger I’ve ever had.” He smiled.
I tried not to look too disappointed.
“Oh, that sounds good.” NOT!
He laughed out loud at my obvious attempt at keeping my cool.
“Just kidding. How can I take a goddess to a burger joint?”
“Oh, good.” I laughed, “I was about to feign a migraine.”
“There’s a new place downtown that everyone is raving about. I thought we’d try it out, seeing as I owe you big and all.”
“That’s better.”
“Why, Brooke Jones, are you a snob?”
“Absolutely!” I laughed.
“How do you feel about Mexican?” he asked.
“I love Mexican.”
“Great, so I’m on the right track.”
I reminded myself...again...that this wasn’t a date. It sure felt like one, but the reality was that it was my boss’ way of apologising to his PA for being an oaf. I was on the path to heartbreak if I thought it was anything more.
The new restaurant was vibey. Their Mexican styled decor was so authentic, I fooled myself into thinking we were in Oaxaca. The aromas from the kitchen were mouthwatering, and diners were chatting happily and drinking copious amounts of tequila and Corona. I was starving.
“There’s something about the smell of a chipotle that gets me all gaga,” Noah said as we were shown to our table.
“I know what you mean. I’m a sucker for a good chipotle meatball.”
We ordered a pitcher of tequila cocktails and looked the menu over.
“I can’t decide,” I said. “Everything looks so good.”
“I know, right. There’s no reason we can’t have little bits of everything. I see they have a mezze option,” Noah said, pointing to the bottom of the menu.
“Perfect.”
Once we’d ordered our food, we enjoyed our drinks and relaxed into conversation. It was so easy talking to him when he wasn’t being a stressed-out dipshit. I contemplated asking him more about Cody, but I didn’t want to poke that bear. I was way too hungry to start an argument.
“Have you heard from your mom?” he asked.
“Yes, she called me a few days ago to ask if I was doing a good job.” I grinned. “She
also asked if you were behaving, but I covered for you.”
Noah smiled.
“Are you blushing?” I asked him.
“I might be. Please don’t tell anyone at work I’m human. That will only end in anarchy and chaos.”
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Now, about that raise…”
“Oh my goodness. You’re even sneakier than I could have imagined,” he said in a low voice.
“Give it time, it’s worse than you think.”
He laughed and I tried to keep my ovaries from leaping about. I was definitely in trouble—and wet with desire.
Chapter 13
NOAH
Brooke was beautiful, inside and out. She was a vision in the Greek inspired dress, and I tried hard not to kiss her long, slim neck all the way down to its nape when she opened the door to her apartment. I fought what had become a rather stifled boner. I was glad when she didn’t see my obvious lust for her.
Dinner spent with her was a struggle between keeping my penis in check and focussing on the stimulating conversation. I thought I saw a few flashes of desire in her eyes, and she licked her plump lips more than once. I read in a woman’s magazine once when I was at the dentist with Cody, that there were signs when a woman was turned on. Apparently licking lips was a dead giveaway. I wasn’t complaining.
“The food was incredible,” she said when she walked back to my car afterward.
“Sure was,” I said like a pussy struck teenager, looking for the right words to say, but saying dumb shit anyway.
I wanted to ask her if she’d like to come to my place for a nightcap, but I didn’t trust myself one little bit. So, I settled for a thank you, and dropped her at home.
I was filled with regret when I drove home. When did I become such a girl? I reminded myself, again, that an office romance would only end up in disaster. Don’t shit where you eat, son!
It was time to sleep. My battle with Vampira was looming large on the horizon, and I needed my A-game. I thanked the babysitter for watching over Cody, and after she left, I went upstairs to my room.
Just before I lay my head down on my pillow, my cell phone beeped. I read the text.
That was a lovely evening. Thank you, Noah. Good night, boss.