by Ali Parker
“Fine,” I sighed, unwrapping myself from her. “But I’m going to check you out while you’re getting ready.”
“Feel free.” She grinned, shooting a playful look over her shoulder as she made her way to the bathroom. In the bright sun of the morning, she looked even better than usual, every curve on her perfect body illuminated and picked out as though especially for me.
As she headed for the shower, I leaned back in bed and stared at the ceiling. That bit in my chest where I usually found myself freaking the fuck out, wondering what I had gotten myself into, it was long gone, and I had no idea why. Something about Amaya had smoothed away the scary edges of doing something like this, of falling for someone the way I had with her. Normally, I would have been searching every way I could for a way out of this situation, especially now the L-word had been dropped. Instead, I was thinking about wedding destinations and whether or not I would be able to convince my nonna to relinquish full wedding planning duties to Amaya. Amaya hadn’t officially said yes yet, but I had a feeling she was going to be just fine with how things were unfolding. She hadn’t once taken off that ring I’d given her on the night of the fundraiser, but I was going to replace it with something even more spectacular if she’d let me.
She got ready for work and kissed me goodbye, and I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed to have something to eat and head to the office. I made my way down there with a smile on my face and decided not to question the joy that permeated my soul. I had spent so long second-guessing myself and wondering when the good shit was going to be whipped away, and for now, I was just going to enjoy the fact that I had this amazing woman in my life who, for some reason, had stuck it out through the wildest bullshit and still appeared to want to be at my side.
I focused on work, but it was only really to make the day go faster so I could see her again. I went through the paperwork I had missed over the last few days, blasting through it, knowing that the sooner I finished, the sooner I got to be with her. When my secretary knocked on the door, I raised my head and blinked a couple of times to remind myself that there were still people around. I got so lost in work sometimes that it was hard to pull me out. Add some memories of Amaya to the mix and I was on a whole other planet.
“You have a visitor.” She smiled at me, and I leaned back and waved for her to let them in.
“Go ahead,” I replied, and a moment later, a very contrite-looking Cleo stepped around the corner. I wanted to shove her straight out the door, but I restrained myself.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” I demanded, and she held her hands up as I got to my feet to close the door behind her.
“I’m here to apologize,” she told me. “Really. I know I fucked up, I did, but—”
“You nearly sank this whole thing with Amaya.” I shook my head. “Do you know that? You almost ruined everything with your big mouth.”
“I know.” She lowered her gaze to the ground. It was the least sassy I had ever seen her as an adult, and it was almost a little sad—or it would have been, had I not known what she had pulled.
“You know that Nonna came to the apartment yesterday, right?” I got to my feet and planted my hands on my waist, staring down at her. “And she basically took pieces out of me until I promised her she could plan the wedding?”
“Huh?” Cleo furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about? There’s going to be a wedding?”
“Of course, there is,” I snapped, and I looked away from her, trying to cool my overheated anger. There was no point aiming all this at her after what had happened, but I felt like grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. I was just so mad. The whole thing could have gone down the tubes because of her telling our family about this. Thank God I knew well enough how to handle Nonna that I could get her in hand, but God knows what would happen when the rest of them found out.
“Do you know who knows about it?” I asked. The least she could do was give me the honest truth. I knew that was rich, coming from me, given that I’d been hiding that very same truth from her for a hell of a long time, but still. If she hadn’t gone rummaging through my drawers, we wouldn’t be in this ridiculous position, so really this was her fault.
“Nope.” She shook her head and looked down, leaning on the door. “Look, Kristo, I just came to apologize, but if you’re—”
“If I’m what?” I demanded, cocking my head at her expectantly. She glared at me for a long moment, and I had to clench my fists at my sides to keep from yelling at her. How dare she come in here, acting contrite, and then get mad when I didn’t benevolently accept her apology and kindly wave her away? What kind of man did she think I was?
“If you’re just going to be like this about it, I’ll go,” she snapped, and there was a sharp edge to her voice that made me bristle.
“If you’d had the good sense to just do that instead of going through my drawers, none of this would have happened in the first place,” I pointed out, and she bit her lip.
“Hey, I knew something was wrong,” she protested. “I just wanted to make sure my brother wasn’t caught up in any shit he couldn’t handle, all right?”
“In what world have I ever got myself into something I couldn’t handle?” I tossed my hands in the air. “Cleo, you have no idea what you’re doing, sticking your nose into my life like that.”
“But … the contract.” She shook her head, and she seemed confused once more. “What happened to it? You guys were married, why would you …?”
She trailed off once more when she saw the look on my face, and she seemed to have guessed that now wasn’t the time to come to me with any questions. She was the one who had nearly fucked all of this up for me, and she had severely spooked Amaya in the process. She wasn’t getting a pass, no way in hell.
“You should get out of here,” I told her, keeping my voice low and steady. “Before I kick you out.”
“I’ll be back soon,” she warned me, and I could see the hurt written all over her face. I tried to find it in me to give a shit, but I came up blank. She pressed her lips together, turned to the door, and marched out to leave me alone in my office once more. I didn’t like leaving things on bad terms with my sister, but she needed to learn that she couldn’t just wander in and out of my life at will and cause all manner of drama in the process. I sat back down behind my desk, collapsing into the seat, and ran my hands over my face. Between her and Nonna, it felt as though every time I slapped down one problem, another one popped up. I couldn’t catch a break, and all this shit with my family was probably only just beginning.
I turned my attention back to my work and focused on that for the rest of the day. Because as soon as this was done with, I could go home and be with my wife—no, not my wife but my wife-to-be. My ex and my future spouse. I grinned at the thought, making a mental note to relay that to Amaya when I got the chance. It was so strange, feeling this for someone, actually wanting to get home to see her. But I couldn’t wait to pull her into my arms once more and have her tell me every little thing about her day.
I glanced at the clock and noted it was nearly lunch, and I picked up the phone to order myself something to eat. Then, an idea struck me, and I grinned to myself as I pulled up the number for that pizza place Amaya loved so much. I wanted her to know I was thinking of her, and what better way to do that than with pizza?
52
I made it to work on time, but it was a close thing. I barreled through the door three minutes before my shift was due to start, but they couldn’t mark me down as late, so I would count that as a win for the time being. I hurried to my office where I found Darla waiting for me. She grinned as she saw me come around the corner, that broad, slightly crooked smile that seemed to light up her whole face.
“Hey,” she greeted me, and she looked me up and down. “Late night?”
“Shit, is it that obvious?” I asked, pulling a face as I unlocked the door and gestured for her to go inside.
“You want the truth or t
he nicety?” she asked.
“The truth.”
“It’s obvious,” she replied with a chuckle, and I glanced at myself in my reflection in the glass in the door. It was clear to anyone who cared to notice that I had been up late last night and maybe had a little too much to drink on top of it. Then, I remembered what Kristo and I had gotten up to, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself. It was worth running late for, no doubt in my mind.
“I have an emergency makeup kit in my bag.” She jerked her head back in the direction she’d just come. “I can grab it while you sign off on these lists for me if you’d like?”
“That would be awesome.” I nodded to her. “Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”
I started on the lists she’d left for me, and a minute or two later, she returned with the bag. She thrust it in my direction, and I pulled out a small, slightly grubby compact and checked my face. Dusting on a little blush and dabbing on some lipstick with my finger, I managed to make myself look marginally more alive. I ran her brush through my hair and pulled it up into a ponytail, hoping it would be enough to pass for professional, and turned to her.
“Well?” I asked, and she stepped back and gave me the once-over.
“Works for me,” she replied, and she grabbed her bag back from me and checked her own face in the mirror. She looked impeccable, and I was jealous. I was supposed to be her boss, yet she was the one here helping me out of a tight situation.
“Here are the papers,” I handed them back to her with a smile on my face, and she took them.
“Thanks for these.” She nodded.
“Thanks for the bag,” I replied with a rueful smile, and she lingered for a moment, eyeing me.
“What is it?” I asked, shifting on the spot slightly. I wasn’t used to people paying this much attention to me, and I had to admit, it kind of freaked me out a little.
“Just …” She trailed off and shook her head. “Seems like you have a pretty interesting life, that’s all. Everyone else here seems so buttoned-up, but you—”
“Trust me, you have no idea.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Sometimes, I wish things could be a little more straightforward.”
“All right, you have to tell me something.” She leaned in, eyes shining as she sensed gossip in the air like a shark sensing blood in the water. “What’s going on with you?”
I bit my lip. I didn’t want to tell her anything, mainly because everything in my life seemed to be shifting so rapidly that anything I came out with right now would probably be a lie by lunchtime. But I wanted to tell her something. I liked her, and it was a long time since someone had actually shown this kind of interest in me or my life. Why not dish a little? It wasn’t as though I was short of shit to dish on, and just because I shared a few small things with her didn’t mean she got to hear all of it.
“Let’s just say,” I bit my lip, “my husband and I reconciled last night. Well, my ex—no, my husband-to-be—we had a rough time this last week, found out some stuff that nearly wrecked us, but we’re back together now.”
“Holy cow.” She shook her head. “You’ve got me all intrigued now, you know that, right?”
“Honestly, I’ll tell you more as the situation develops,” I promised her. “I know about as much as you do right now.”
“Ooh, mysterious,” she teased lightly. “I look forward to the next installment of Least Boring Person in the Office.”
“And I’ll give it to you, right after I fill out these return forms,” I promised her, sitting down behind the desk. “Catch you later?”
“See you soon.” She play-saluted me and left the room, and I turned my attention to the tasks I needed to take on for the day. But her words were running through my head as I did so, and I realized she was right. My life had become really exciting these last few months. Had I met her just a few months before, I had a feeling she would have lumped me in with the rest of these people who she seemed to find so dull, but now that I was with Kristo, my life had been nonstop excitement.
But maybe that wasn’t as good a thing as I felt like it was. What happened when all that excitement dropped away, and it was just the two of us? Not playing at husband and wife anymore but just married. Spouses. How would he deal with the day-to-day? How would he find it? Would he struggle when the two of us weren’t sharing a secret that nobody else was supposed to know? Would he find me boring? Would we both unpick these layers, outside the thrill of everything that had happened since we’d met, and find the everyday and the dull underneath?
I tried not to let that stick in my brain too long. Even if things did take a turn for the normal after we got married—and I hoped they did because my lazy-ass self couldn’t deal with all this drama in my personal life day after day—it was for the best. I wanted an easy life, a normal one or as close to normal as I could get, given who Kristo was and what his family was like and the enormous fortune they had access to. I hoped he wanted the same thing too. I hoped my life wasn’t going to be a source of gossip forever, that eventually things would even out and we could just enjoy being together once again. I remembered how it had been those first few weeks when we had been getting to know each other, peeling away our layers and falling slowly but surely in love. That was what I wanted for the long term. Long nights sitting up drinking beer and eating ice cream and talking about everything and nothing. That, I could live with.
I finished up my work and got to my feet. I was starving, having had to run out of the house without breakfast that morning, and I needed something to eat if I was going to keep from keeling over in the stacks later in the day. I yawned and made my way through to the dining area, and that’s when I spotted a delivery driver handing over a box of pizza to Darla.
“Hey, you got pizza?” I asked, a little jealous, but she shook her head and held the box out for me.
“The guy says it’s for you,” she replied, and I noticed the box was from the pizza place that Kristo and I always ordered from when the two of us were just hanging out at home. I grinned to myself as I opened the box and looked at the pizza, loaded with my favorite toppings. Fuck, that looked good.
“Did you order it?” she asked, as I handed a generous tip to the driver and sent him on his way.
“No, I didn’t.” I shook my head. “I think it must have been my, uh, my man.”
“Well, get me a man like that if you’ve got any sitting around,” she replied, and then she corrected herself. “Actually, get me them if they’re actually women. That I could live with. But no pizza is worth giving up girls for.”
She took a seat next to me at the table, and I pushed the box toward her. The pizza was big, and I knew if I had this whole thing, I would be asleep in my office before I knew it.
“You sure?” she asked, and I nodded.
“If you can handle my weird toppings,” I replied, and she grinned, grabbed a slice, and took a huge bite. She closed her eyes with satisfaction as she ate, and I started in on my own slice. Mmm. How long had it been since I had ordered from this place? Too long, that was for sure. I made a mental note to call Kristo and thank him as soon as I was finished. Who else would have thought to do something like this for me? He was so sweet, so thoughtful. He must have remembered I didn’t have anything to eat before I left the house, and he had gone out of his way to get this for me. I wasn’t even sure my work was in their delivery radius, yet here it was, likely thanks to a generous bribe from Kristo. Because he was thinking of me, and he wanted me to know it. In the form of pizza.
I took big bites and enjoyed the food, glad to have something to fill my belly after so long and touched by Kristo’s thoughtfulness. Any panic I might have been having about whether he was going to keep things interesting as long as we were together fizzled away. He was thinking about me, and that was all the assurance I needed. I chewed on my pizza happily, and Darla and I chatted a little about the stuff we had been working on, everything we’d been gathering together for a new department of the library. I enjoyed her
conversation, her sharp brightness, and she leaned back from the table when we were done and patted her belly.
“All right, that was amazing,” she told me. “Can you get him to send over pizza more often? I’ll pass along my regular order if that makes things easier.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” I chuckled, and she dabbed at her mouth with a napkin and grinned at me.
“Hey, so, this man of yours, does he have a sister?”
“Huh?” I raised my eyebrows stupidly, not understanding what she was getting at.
“Does he?” She grinned playfully, and it suddenly clicked—what she’d said earlier about giving up girls and now this.
“Yeah, he has a sister,” I admitted. “But I’m not sure if she’d be your type.”
I tried to imagine Cleo, socialite extraordinaire, and Darla, a big ball of attitude and intellect, getting together, and I nearly burst out laughing at the thought. Yeah, maybe not.
“We’ll see.” Darla smiled as she began to pick at the crusts, and I grinned and sipped on my water. Yeah, we’ll see.
53
“Hey,” she greeted me as soon as she picked up the phone, and I could hear that sultry smile in her voice at once. I grinned. God, I wished she was here with me right now. This desk was getting a little boring, and I knew she’d do something to liven it up if I gave her the chance.
“Hey,” I replied after a long pause, realizing I’d been sitting in silence imagining Amaya on this desk in front of me, butt naked. “Can you get out of work early today?”
She sighed heavily, the rush of static making my ear tingle.
“I can,” she replied, and there was a warning tone to her voice. “But I don’t want to make a habit of this, all right? I’m the one in charge, but I don’t want everyone to hate me for exploiting that.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t be doing this again,” I promised her. “I just have something I want to show you in town, all right? I want to meet you there.”