by Katie Kyler
She giggled. “Thanks, Alls. You’re the best friend in the world. I had to tell you right away.”
“I’m so glad you did, and I’m so happy for you both. Wait, don’t hang up yet. Have you already talked about a date?”
“Yeah, and it’s soon,” she said. “And before you ask, no, I’m not pregnant.”
“Phew,” I said, exhaling loudly. I actually wouldn’t have thought that at all, because she’d always been fanatical about birth control, evangelizing everyone she knew…and sometimes even strangers. But still, if they were getting married really soon—she had to know how it would look.
She laughed. “It’s just that we have everything we need, and we want to be done with it. We’re going to do it in October.”
“Jess, that’s in, like two months!”
“I know. We want to do it before either of our moms can get too involved.”
“What about a dress? A caterer?”
“I found the perfect dress here—I’ve had my eye on it for weeks, hoping Jeremy would propose one of these days.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “He didn’t even know I’d picked it out. And if we can’t find a caterer, we’ll do a potluck or something. But we can always find someone. I’m going to ask Aunt June about using her B&B for the venue.”
“That would be gorgeous in October,” I said.
“I know! So, October. Keep the whole month free, okay?”
I smiled. Crazy Jess. “Okay, I will.”
“And you are, of course, my maid of honor.”
“You bet your ass I am.”
We hung up and I immediately got back on my computer to start researching venues for a bachelorette party. Jess wouldn’t want anything over the top. We were too old to do the whole strippers-jumping-out-of-a-cake thing. Maybe a really nice dinner with hot waiters, instead.
A text came in—a gorgeous image of a diamond ring on Jess’s fourth finger, with a landscape of city lights in the background. It was stunning. Tears came to my eyes again, tears of happiness for Jess and Jeremy. They were so in love, and now they would celebrate that love in a lasting way.
Despite my excitement for Jess, a twinge of sadness had started knocking around at the back of my mind. Marriage. A family. Were either of those things that Joshua would ever want? I loved him so much—would he ever want to settle down? I could see us together forever, but I wasn’t sure he felt the same way. And if he could see us together forever, would marriage even be a part of that, or were we too busy with our careers?
I’d given up on marriage before even starting my job at Scintilla. When my younger sister got married and started her family, I’d pretty much resigned myself to being an old maid. Not because I thought I was unattractive or incompatible with the male population, but I just didn’t think I’d meet the kind of guy who would sweep me off my feet like Joshua had.
Suddenly I was overwhelmed with missing him. I bookmarked a few restaurant sites to make some calls later for Jess’s party, and then I dialed Joshua’s number.
He answered on the first ring. “Hello?”
His voice was soft and rumbly. It made me want to crawl into his lap and kiss his mouth. I felt heat gathering in my core as I remembered our mini make-out session in the elevator at work. His hands in my hair, his lips on my neck, trailing lower…
“Hey,” I said. “I was just sitting here, and I just started missing you all of a sudden. Are you free? Want to meet for coffee?”
“Yeah.” His smile was apparent in that one word. “I’ll meet you at Connie’s? When?”
“Half an hour?”
“I’ll be there.”
Chapter 4
Joshua
The weekend after our coffee date, I swam in a streamline, dolphin kicking across the bottom of my pool. It felt so good to move like this and stretch my muscles. When I reached the edge, I swam up and hung by my elbows at the edge of the pool. I squinted in the bright sunlight, but the view was worth it.
Allison reclined in my favorite chair by the deck. I was glad she chose the silver bikini that she’d once worn on the yacht. I hadn’t been able to get the image out of my mind since then and now, here she was, wearing it again and making my mind race. It was the perfect accessory to her curves and her faintly tanned skin.
I flicked some water at her, and she cursed me with a smile on her face.
“Wanna race again?” I asked. “Best two out of three?”
“You’ve exhausted me, you…Olympian. Why don’t I time you or something, so you can race yourself? Then you can be sure you’ll always win.”
“Nah. It’s not as much fun that way. You need anything? Wine? Margarita?” I splashed more water at her, one splash with every drink option. “Water? Soda? Beer?”
“I need you to stop acting like a teenager.” She laughed, then stood up and stalked over to me.
Looking up at her, I marveled at her beauty. Her legs were so long, I felt like I could rub my palms up them for days and still never reach the top. “Can’t help it,” I said. “You make me feel like a teenager.”
She cocked an eyebrow upward. “Oh yeah? What’s that mean?”
I laughed. “Horny.”
“Hmm.” She turned and walked over to the hot tub, trailing her fingers along the deep green leaves of the potted ferns and vines that gave that area some privacy and set it off from the pool. Turning to smile once at me, she stepped down into the hot tub until her legs and ass were swallowed by water. With her back still toward me, she bent slightly and her arms disappeared. One of her hands came out of the water, holding something small and shiny. She tossed it backward, and I caught it.
Her bikini bottoms. I could feel my hard-on erecting a tent out of my board shorts.
Next, she reached behind her and tugged on one of the strings of her top.
I smiled, liking where this was going.
She tossed it behind her, but it landed a few feet shy of the pool. I hoisted myself out of the water and picked it up.
“Oh, Miss?” I said. “I think you dropped something.”
“Did I?” she asked, her voice innocent. She turned, holding her arms in front of her breasts, pushing them against herself in a way that made my hard-on even harder. I was already imagining how I’d take each nipple in my mouth, stretching it forward and grazing my teeth over it, how she’d moan and beg for more….
“Yes,” I said, trying, and failing, to adjust myself. “And you dropped this, too.”
I held up her bikini bottom.
She stuck the top of her finger in her mouth as if she was some kind of pin-up vixen. “Oh, dear,” she said. “But that would make me…naked.”
Her body glistened and she was teasing me, teasing herself, by moving her arms around, massaging her breasts beneath them. I marched forward, and every step caused my hard-on to brush against my swim shorts.
“I guess that would make me overdressed,” I said.
“I guess it does. Do you want to do something about that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I do.”
I quickly untied the string at the top of my shorts and slid out of them.
Her eyes widened at the sight of me at full mast and ready to go. “That looks uncomfortable,” she said.
I sat on the edge of the hot tub, my legs in the water. I smiled, but tried to make my voice sound pitiful. “Oh, it is. Can you help me out?”
“Well, there’s something I could try.”
She moved forward and stood between my knees. She let her breasts free and I watched the jets caress them. I never thought I’d be jealous of water before.
Then she took me in her mouth. Her tongue swirled around me, and she hollowed her cheeks, creating suction. “Oh sweet fuck,” I said.
She popped off of me. “Exactly. Lean back.”
I lay back on the deck. No way was I disobeying this woman. It reminded me of watching that darts match the other night when I was hanging out with Chris. The guy playing had let his date take charge. He’d learn
ed a thing or two, and he was rewarded.
“Condom?” she asked.
I pointed to my board shorts. I’d discovered it was best to always have a condom or two nearby—sex with Allison could occur anytime, anyplace.
When she leaned forward to search my shorts pocket, her breasts swung tantalizingly close. I reached out a hand and swiped my thumb over her nipple. She moaned and pushed herself closer against me.
She rolled the condom onto me and climbed up out of the water, her body glistening. I reached up to cup her breasts, but she grabbed my hands and pushed them down over my head, pinning me to the ground. “It’s my turn to be in charge.”
Grinning, I let her hold down my arms with one hand. With her other, she guided me into her. She fit over me like a vise. Closing her eyes, she began rocking back and forth. It was all I could do to let her keep the lead. I wanted to take control and thrust in and out, making her say my name with each movement, but in a way this was even hotter.
“No moving,” she ordered, a stern look on her face.
I left my arms where they were, and she released me. Still riding up and down on me, she rubbed her hands over her stomach and up to touch her own breasts. I’d never seen anything so hot in my life. It took all the power I had just to leave my hands over my head. I wanted to touch her, to be a part of the majestic show she was making for me.
She began rocking up and down on me faster. She squeezed her nipples, and threw her head back. She was close. One of her hands traveled down between us so she could rub that place between her legs. The sight of her, touching herself while using me like that, was all I needed. I held on just long enough to feel her clench around me in her own orgasm, and then I came, too.
She collapsed on top of me, draping herself over my chest like a blanket, her wet hair spread out over my shoulders.
“Wow,” I said.
“Yeah,” she murmured. “I don’t think I can move now.”
Chuckling, I sat up and cradled her in my lap. I eased out of her and tossed the condom, then slipped us both into the hot tub. She was practically limp in my arms. I rubbed my hands over her neck and shoulders in a gentle massage, and she leaned forward, giving me better access.
I had that expansive, full feeling again, like the world was actually a happy place and we were all lucky to live in it. Smiling, I kissed her shoulder. “I am so in love with you, Allison Mahoney. I never even dreamed I could be so in love. You’re the perfect one for me.”
* * * * *
Before dinner, we took a shower to rinse off the chlorine from the pool and hot tub. Allison’s attention to making sure every inch of my manhood was chlorine-free meant that we had to spend a little extra time in the shower, but it was worth it.
Afterward, we dried each other off. After we were dressed, we walked from my room. Allison stopped at the low table in the hallway and picked up one of the photos. In it, Jamie and I were kids, ages seven and nine, and our arms were wrapped around each other’s shoulders, our faces pressed tightly together. We were both wearing Mickey Mouse sunglasses.
Allison touched my nose in the photo. “Even here, you look like you have all the answers.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’ve always known just enough to get myself in trouble.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s why I’m glad I have you, now,” I said, pulling her into a hug from behind. I linked my hands around her tummy and rested my chin on the top of her head. “You can keep me on the right path.”
She murmured an affirmative, then traced Jamie’s nose. “I’ve been feeling bad for him,” she said. “He hasn’t ever really known his way, has he?”
“Not since our mom died,” I said. It was painful to talk about, but I felt like Allison should know. “It was hard on all of us, me, Dad, and Jamie. But looking back, I think it was hardest on Jamie. He spent a lot of time being sad, and even more time being angry. Like the world had betrayed him. And maybe he felt like she’d betrayed him, too, by running out there to the stables.”
My voice caught, but I choked down the emotion. Suddenly, Allison turned around in front of me, the photo forgotten, and she held me tightly.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s okay to cry if that’s what you need.”
We stood like that for a full five minutes while I let the tears fall. I’d never cried for my mom. I’d always felt I had to be strong for Jamie, and for my dad. But with Allison here, telling me it was okay, I finally let it out. Her hands rubbed over my back and shoulders, reassuring me the entire while, and she kept her face pressed against my shoulder, somehow knowing that I wouldn’t want her to actually see the tears. It was hard enough to cry, much less cry in front of another person. If I had to cry in front of anyone, though, I’d choose Allison.
Finally I rubbed my face on my shoulder and stepped back. “I’ve been feeling bad about Jamie, too,” I said.
“You have? I’m so relieved. Maybe we can work together to fix this,” she said, her voice coming out in a rush. “I just hate that it’s been so difficult for him—and for us. I’ve tried talking to him about it, but he seems to think I’m some kind of she-devil who slept my way into your good graces.”
I laughed. “Sleep has never been involved, I can assure you.”
She punched me on the arm. “No, really. I just…let’s work this out, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, smiling. “We’ll think of something.”
We walked downstairs and into the garage. It was more open, less crowded, than it was the last time I’d brought her through here—usually I just parked in front and we used the front door. Tonight, Allison gazed around the garage, amazed. “Where are all of your cars? You really got rid of them?”
“Yes, I really did. I told you they were a reminder of an old life. I don’t need them to prove who I am anymore, or as a reminder of how much I have. You’re all I need, Allison, and you remind me every day.”
She beamed. “Thank you.”
“And thank you,” I said. I didn’t just mean her help with Jamie, but for the way she’d let me expose my grief back in the hallway, and how she’d known exactly how I needed to do it.
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed my mouth.
Chapter 5
Allison
I sat back in my chair, staring at the giant computer display in front of me. The new app design was truly a thing of beauty. I jotted down some quick notes on asking about the size of the buttons, but our designers had done a fantastic job with the color schemes I’d provided. There were two final options, and all that was left, really, was to decide which one to choose.
We were so close to being one big happy company. Joshua’s leadership continued to inspire all of the employees, myself included. The way he’d trusted me to move forward with the app had benefits to more than just me—it had encouraged other innovations from employees at all levels. Even if the ideas weren’t great or usable right away, they went into what Joshua called an “idea bank” for periodic review. It was revolutionizing the way our office worked. We were more productive and more energetic.
There was one person who had refused, thus far, to use the idea bank.
Pushing down the button on my office phone for Jamie’s direct line, I half-hoped he wouldn’t pick up. But gone were the days when he flitted about through the marketing department. He’d stopped doing that shortly after I became VP. I thought, he’d been sulking at first, but if it was sulking, he could sure hold a sulk for a long time. Weeks. Now I realized it was more than that. His feelings were deeply hurt.
It rang once, then again. Maybe he wouldn’t answer. Maybe we could postpone this whole meeting…indefinitely. No, I thought to myself. Stop being a chicken. Those days are long past.
“Hello.” His voice was brusque
“Jamie, can you come to my office for a minute?”
He sighed, then hung up.
Man, he sure could be an asshole. Times like this, I wondered why I was even trying. But it was worth i
t to keep Joshua’s family together, and to get back a friend who’d stood by me even when I was unremarkable in every way.
He knocked softly on my door, maybe hoping I wouldn’t hear him and he could go away.
“Come in,” I said, pasting a smile on my face. It felt forced, because I was nervous.
Jamie stepped just inside the door, as if he was afraid of getting too close to me. “What’s up, Allison?” His voice was low.
“I was just wondering, um, how you’re doing.”
“Doing great, thanks.” He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up more than usual.
“Look,” I say, “you’ve just seemed upset lately. I miss our friendship.”
His gaze snapped to mine. “Even after my dad’s party?”
“I can move past that if you can. If you show me it’s something that would never happen again.”
“It won’t.” His hands were clenched at his sides. “It’s more than that, though.”
I stood up, taking a step toward him, but afraid to get too close. He’d been so angry lately. “Tell me about it,” I said, my voice quiet.
“It’s about you and your place here. When you were just…you, in your little cubicle, I could talk to you all the time and be friendly. I thought we had a connection.”
“We did,” I whispered.
“Was it romantic for you, though? Because it was for me.” His face flushed as the words left his lips. “I believed in you, and I saw your beauty from the very beginning. For once, I’d found something incredible before my brother did.”
His admission caused something to twist inside of me. It must have been painful for him. “I—I had no idea.”
“Don’t worry. My romantic notions didn’t last long. Because then you started dating Joshua, and I felt like you’d changed.”
“I didn’t change,” I snapped back. “I just got more confident. I learned who I could be, who I really was and I didn’t need to hide.”
“Either way, I was intimidated by you. At that party, I know it was the worst thing I could have done, but I just wanted you to be the old Allison, just for a minute. Shy and quiet.”