by Tia Siren
“I know, Mom. I just like checking up on you. I’m going to have to get over there and see these new dog clothes.”
She laughed. “I’m sure my new line of dog clothing is at the top of your list of things to do. You have real fashion to write about. You just stop by when you can.”
“I will, Mom. I love you,” I told her, ending the call.
I was smiling when I put down the phone. My mother’s love of fashion had inspired me to do what I did. I loved writing and had thought I wanted to be a journalist, but my love of fashion pushed me in another direction. When I got a job that allowed me to marry the two things I loved most in the world, I jumped at the chance.
“How is she?” Helga asked from the doorway.
I smiled. “She’s good. She’s pretty excited about a new line of doggie wear.”
Helga’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yep. She says it’s fabulous.”
“Ooh, I have to go check it out. Little Diamond needs some new outfits,” she cooed.
“My mom would love to see you. Did you need something?” I asked. It wasn’t often my boss showed up at my office door.
“Here,” she said, handing me a piece of paper with her chicken scratch writing on it. “This young lady nearly accosted me outside. She showed me pictures of her designs and a few pieces she made. I told her I would have you check out her little boutique.”
I took the number and nodded my head. “I’ll have it added to my schedule—maybe early next week.”
“Good. Perfect,” she said and walked away.
I loved my eccentric, sometimes strict boss. It was her dog that had essentially got me my job. Helga had been a regular in my mother’s store for years. When my mom learned who Helga was and what she did, she convinced Helga to give me an internship. Once my internship was up, she offered me a job, and I had been steadily climbing the ladder ever since.
I focused on the article I was putting together until there was another knock on my door. When I looked up, I was happy to see it was my lunch.
“Hi. Thanks,” I said, taking the sandwich and salad.
The young, geeky kid didn’t make eye contact as he mumbled something and quickly shuffled out the door. It was the same routine. The same guy had been delivering my sandwiches for at least three months. No matter how hard I tried to make conversation with him, he quickly left without saying a word. I had decided he was probably on the autism spectrum. I quit trying so hard and let him do what he was comfortable with.
“Mmm, turkey on rye,” I mumbled. It was something Brad had turned me onto almost fifteen years ago. The guy was a health nut. When he had taken off and abandoned me, I had gone on a bit of a junk food kick. It had been my way of rebelling against him, even if I was the one who suffered for it.
The past couple years, I had changed my ways and gone back to eating healthily again. Not completely healthily, though, because ice cream was not something I was prepared to live without. I thought about his message. He said he wanted to wine and dine me. If he was serious about that, it would have to better than some tofu joint. I wanted steak and lobster, the whole nine yards. He was going to have to put some effort into the wining and dining.
“Wait. What?” I mumbled around a mouthful of dry bread.
I was actually thinking about letting him take me out? Had I lost my damn mind?
After shoving the rest of the sandwich back into the plastic container, I got back to work. I had to get that man off my mind. Working was about the only thing that worked. Not entirely, but it was better than daydreaming about him all day.
By the time I was done with work, I was really hungry. I stopped and picked up some takeout before heading home to my empty condo. I poured myself a glass of red wine and settled in with my dinner to watch Real Housewives. It was my guilty pleasure, one I would never actually admit to if anyone asked.
Yawning, I realized it was close to eleven. I didn’t usually stay up so late. I went to bed early and got up early nowadays. No more late nights at the club or hanging out with friends on a work night. I was old.
I crawled into bed and immediately thought about Brad. The familiar tingling that had been with me all day sprang to life. I was home, alone, with complete privacy. I ran my hand over my stomach and straight to my throbbing pussy. I needed release. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had gone to bed with a man. As I rolled my finger over my opening, I realized it had to have been close to six months since I’d last had sex. No wonder I was so charged up after hearing his voice.
My finger probed inside, and I smiled as I felt how wet I was. My folds parted easily as I ran my finger up and down my slit, shivering with excitement at the feeling. I imagined Brad next to me, his hand in place of my own. My breath came faster as I rubbed my clit, applying more pressure and nearly squealing in sheer delight. I could feel the orgasm coming already. There was no point in denying myself. I rubbed faster, bringing the orgasm on fast and hard. I moaned in the darkness, letting the climax roll over me.
My toes curled, and my leg muscles clenched in time with the muscles inside my pussy. I pulled my hand out of my panties and sighed. That had been good, but I craved more. I wanted more. I wanted Brad.
Dammit!
It was because of him I was in an aroused and only partially-satisfied state. I rolled over, turned on my lamp, and dialed the number in my phone. I hadn’t quite brought myself to put his name in my contact list, but I knew who the number belonged to.
When the voice mail message came on, I was a little relieved. I wasn’t sure what I would have said to him had he answered.
“Tag, you’re it,” I said in a breathy voice.
I put the phone down and turned off the light, still smiling. I didn’t know what I was doing, but a little harmless flirting couldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like he would actually show up in New York. I figured he was probably in a dry spell or maybe he had recently been dumped. He was desperate for attention and had called me.
I didn’t really mind. It brought up old memories, but in a way, I felt more at peace with everything. It was as if talking to him had brought closure. I knew he was okay and doing well for himself. I could turn on the radio and hear his voice from time to time and not instantly feel that familiar hurt. It had been replaced with something else. Was it a little crush? Maybe. Whatever it was, I was okay with it.
I let myself drift off to sleep while picturing the man in my dreams.
Chapter Nine
Brad
The woman enjoyed tormenting me a little too much. I was going to make her pay in the best way possible. The voice mail thing wasn’t working for me anymore. I couldn’t survive on little thirty-second messages. I needed more. While it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, texting was the next best thing. It meant I could reach out to her all day and sometimes even in the middle of the night. I didn’t have to worry she wouldn’t listen to my voice mails.
“Hey.” Tina startled me mid-text.
“Hey. What’s up?”
“I’ve been buzzing you. What are you doing? Are you sexting?”
I chuckled. “I don’t know what that entails, but I don’t think I am.”
She rolled her eyes. “You are not that old, and don’t even try to tell me you haven’t sexted with anyone. Hell, even I sext my husband.”
I grimaced. “Too much information.”
“How do you think we made three babies in a matter of five years?” she said with a sexy grin.
I groaned. My half-written message had just lost all appeal. “You’re killing me.”
“Anyway, you’re late. You’re supposed to go do that opening at some bakery.”
“Oh, shit. I forgot all about that,” I muttered.
“I know you did. You always do. Get your ass in gear. You look like shit by the way.”
I took a deep breath. “I wasn’t planning on doing any public appearances.”
She walked out of the doorway. That was a bit rude.
�
��Here,” she said, coming back and handing me a garment bag.
I grinned. “You take such good care of me. You think your husband will share you with me?”
“He already does.”
I laughed as she closed the door and left me to change. I quickly put on the dark suit, hating it but knowing I had an image to uphold. Tina was waiting for me and rushed me out the door.
I got through the opening, smiling and posing for pictures. The entire time, all I could think about was getting back to the office and texting Mia. I had found a couple memes and couldn’t wait to send them. We were in a bit of a competition. Well, actually, I was the only one trying to win some weird game of who could send the naughtiest meme.
She didn’t exactly send raunchy memes, but she did laugh at the ones I sent. Well, I assumed she laughed. Her LOL response suggested she laughed, but it was hard to know for sure.
As I walked back into the station after the opening, I was getting ready to send Mia another meme when Jaxon stepped in front of me.
“Hey! Have you been dodging me?”
I looked up from my phone. “What?”
“I’ve called you several times and you never returned my calls. You can’t still be mad.”
“Mad?”
“Because I didn’t go to the beach with you that morning.”
I laughed. “Jaxon, I don’t give a shit if you want to lie in bed and fuck some woman all day, every day. I’m not mad. I’ve been here, same as you.”
He nodded but didn’t look convinced. “What are you doing?”
“Going to my office.”
“On the phone, asshole. You were staring at it pretty intently.”
I pushed a button to lock the screen and slid it into my pocket. “Nothing. Reading a text.”
He eyed me up and down. “Who is she?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ve got a woman. It explains why you’ve been hiding from me and the way you were staring at the screen with that weird look on your face. Don’t deny it. Who is she?” he asked again.
I shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t have a woman. It’s an old friend. We’ve been texting lately.”
He was smiling and nodding his head, his arms crossed over his chest. I felt as if I were standing in front of the school principal. “A friend. Uh-huh. I’ve never seen you this giddy over a text message I’ve sent you.”
“You don’t have the same sense of humor. She’s gorgeous and funny, two things you’re not.”
He chuckled and turned to walk with me down the hall. “Who is she?”
“Just someone I used to know a long time ago.”
“Is this why you’re taking some vacation time?”
“Oh my God. Does everyone know about that? Holy shit, can’t a guy take a couple days off?” I grumbled.
“Not you, my friend. Not you. You’re a workhorse. We all take vacations. You don’t.”
“Well, I am now.”
We chatted about business as we walked. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I was anxious to see if it was a response from Mia, but I didn’t pull it out of my pocket. I would wait until I was in the privacy of my office. I had just sent her a particularly funny, although naughty, meme about men who didn’t have regular sex.
Jaxon finally left. I shut my office door and pulled out my phone. I laughed aloud in my empty office. Her suggestion about how I could take care of my lack of sex was creative. Leave it to her to find a solution to my problem.
I did a quick Google search and sent Mia a link to several articles that proved a man lived longer if he was married. I waited, staring at my phone, anxious to see what she would write back.
When the phone chimed, I pulled up the text. She suggested I find a catalog to buy a bride. I laughed and put the phone away. I had to get some actual work done. My vacation was coming up and I needed to have some shows on standby.
“You off tomorrow?” Tina asked as I packed up my small briefcase.
“I am.”
“Got big plans?”
“Going to hit the beach.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know, when you get that woman to settle down and marry you, you’re not going to have as much free time. She’s going to want to hang out and spend time with you.”
“I hope so. The only reason I’m going surfing so much is because I don’t have a woman. I’m feeling a little tense—if you know what I mean.” I winked.
She laughed. “Go out with Jaxon. He’ll get you laid.”
“No. I don’t want any more of Jaxon’s hookups. I’m telling you, I’m a changed man. I’m saving myself for marriage,” I teased.
She gave me a look that said I was full of shit. I was, in a way. “I guess if surfing works for you. When are you going to see her?”
“Soon.”
“Does she know you’re coming?”
I laughed. “Yes and no. I told her I was going to, but she doesn’t believe me. She thinks I’m the same cocky kid from eleven years ago.”
“You are that same cocky kid, but now you’re older,” she quipped.
“Nope. I’ve changed. I’m going to convince her we’re meant to be together.”
Tina smiled. “I think that is really sweet. I hope she falls for you. But, Brad?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t let her break your heart. It’s been a long time. We can’t always go back. You’ve both had a lot of time apart and done a lot of growing up. People change. What we liked back then isn’t going to be the same as what we like today.”
I nodded in understanding. “I get it, which is why I haven’t bought a ring.”
Her eyes widened. “What? You were actually thinking about it?”
“I can’t very well marry her without a ring, can I?”
“Brad, you’re having a midlife crisis. You should talk to someone. You’re going off the deep end. You don’t call a woman out of the blue and decide you’re going to marry her. Plus, have you forgotten you live on opposite sides of the country?”
I threw my head back and laughed. “No, I’m not having a midlife crisis. I don’t think anyway. I’m jumping in with both feet, but I know exactly what I’m doing and who I’m doing it with. I want this. We’ll figure out the geography later.”
“Promise me you’ll take some time and get to know her again. Trust me, I’ve done the quickie marriage thing before.”
“I thought you and your husband have been together forever?”
“We have, but before him, there was another man. We met and fell in love and got married all within about two months. We were divorced six months later. I didn’t know him like I thought I did. It was an infatuation fueled by passion. Once the dust settled, we realized we didn’t really like each other all that much when we weren’t between the sheets,” she said in a wistful tone.
I hadn’t known that about Tina, which was strange. I had thought I knew her fairly well.
“That’s where we’re different,” I said. “Mia and I were best friends for six years. We only had sex one time, and that was the last night I was in New York. We knew everything there was to know about each other.”
Her eyes narrowed and her hands went to her hips. “You slept with your best friend in the world, a woman you clearly loved, and then you jumped on a plane and never called her?”
I stared at Tina. This was the fierce woman I knew. She was a bulldog around the office. She was tiny but mighty.
“I, uh—it wasn’t like that.”
She shook her head. “I hope that woman keeps you dangling on a string for a long time. Shame on you, Brad. And if you hope to win her back, I suggest you start thinking about something grand.”
I grinned. “Want to help me?”
“No!” she said and walked away from me.
I shrugged a shoulder, not having expected any input from the woman. I had to do this on my own. I headed home, thinking about Mia the entire time. I was on the verge of being downright horny. I felt like a randy t
eenager. But unlike a sex-crazed hormonal teen boy, I only wanted one woman. I wasn’t willing to sleep with just anyone to take the edge off. I wanted Mia. I wasn’t lying to Tina when I said I was waiting for marriage. I kind of was.
I reached down and stroked my aching cock. It had been two months since I’d had sex. It was a serious dry spell, but it was of my own choosing. I was used to having women fall at my feet. I could go out to the clubs and have a woman or two on my arm the moment I arrived. But I didn’t want any of them. I wanted Mia.
It was too late to go surfing, but tomorrow morning, I would get out there. Catching a good wave was pretty close to sex. I could ride all day tomorrow until I couldn’t stand up. I would be too tired to do anything but fall into bed and pass out. I wouldn’t have to dream about Mia or fantasize about the many different ways I was going to fuck her.
I wondered if her body was still tight like it used to be. That night, I had nearly blown my wad the second I had slid insider her slick, tight pussy. It had been pure heaven. One night with her hadn’t been enough. I wanted her again and again. I was going to go to New York and do whatever it took to make the woman accept me back into her life. The sex was certainly going to be important, but it was her I craved: her sense of humor, her wit, and her genuine honesty.
Tina was right. I couldn’t believe I had waited so long to reach out to Mia. I was a fucking idiot. No man in their right mind would ever walk away from a woman like her. She was the total package.
Chapter Ten
Mia
I reread my article for the tenth time at least, made a few last-second edits, and then forwarded it on to the proofer for review. I loved finishing up an article. It always gave me a sense of accomplishment. Some articles took months for me to complete. The one I just wrapped up had taken me a few weeks. It was about the underground fashion movement. I had met a lot of aspiring designers who were looking to get their big break.
There had been a few who were eccentric and really didn’t care if their designs were featured in our magazine. They made clothes for fun, which was inspiring. I had bought a couple pieces, loving the fact that they were all one of a kind.