Sex Becomes Her

by Regina Cole

  He nodded in response to her plea. “Of course. I’ll grab something to drink.”

  “Okay. Make yourself at home.” Eliza raised up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. For a second he let himself close his eyes and revel in the simple, sweet touch. But then he backed off, smiled, and shut the bathroom door behind him.

  Before wandering through the house, he pulled on his boxers. No need to shock the neighbors if he didn’t have to, right?

  As he made his way to the kitchen, he took in the atmosphere of the rooms. The scent of the place was like hers, only more prominent somehow. Sweet and homey. There were books everywhere, CDs and picture frames stacked haphazardly on bookshelves and decorative tables. The kitchen was made up of dark-paneled walls with checkered light green curtains. The cabinets were painted white, and the appliances were older, but clean. As Chandler pulled open the refrigerator door, a small picture stuck on the freezer with a rainbow magnet caught his eye.

  Eliza, her hair shorter than it was now, with her arms around a younger-looking Sabrina. The two were laughing at something, and the smile on Eliza’s face was so bright that it almost hurt to look at her.

  Chandler frowned and shook his head as he ducked to look into the refrigerator. Seeing Sabrina reminded him of Gregory, and his stringent objections to Chandler’s relationship with Eliza. He hadn’t uncovered everything about her, but he was fairly certain he knew his own mind. Eliza was a wonderful person, and she was nothing like Andrea. They’d be fine.

  He splashed some cranberry juice in a small glass he found in the drain board by the sink. The cool, tangy juice revived him a little. That sexy session with her had definitely wrung him dry.

  But now he was here, and Eliza was happy. Except for the problem with her job. That was a sticky situation, and he wondered if he’d be able to help her with it. But where was his limit? She was right, they hadn’t labeled this as such, but he thought of her as his girlfriend. What could he do, other than be a comforting shoulder for her to cry on, a sounding board, a giver of advice? He wished he knew.

  “Hey, are you hungry?” Eliza padded into the kitchen, belting her silky yellow robe as she did. Damn it, he’d really enjoyed the view before.

  “I wouldn’t mind a late-night snack,” Chandler said, glancing at the clock. It was nearly eleven.

  “Oh my gosh, it is late. I’m so sorry. I lost track of time, and—”

  He laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry about it. I was the one distracting you, after all. And I did have something at the bar while I was waiting for you. But you must be starved.”

  She opened a cupboard without looking his way. “I am a little hungry after all that exercise.”

  An evil grin spread across his face as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I intend to make you hungry a lot more while I’m here.” He growled as he pretended to gnaw on her neck like a savage zombie. Shrieking with laughter, she batted at him with a hand.

  “Ease up there, cannibal. I’ve got popcorn, no need to eat me.”

  “I thought you liked how I ate you,” he said, turning his play-bites into kisses. With a sigh, Eliza melted against him.

  “You’re going to kill me.”

  “Only in the best possible way.”

  26

  The wind was bitter cold, and it stung Eliza’s cheeks as she ran from the warmth of the house to the car. Her fingers fumbled on the keys and Chandler shivered beside her.

  “Come on, hurry up, I’m freezing my balls off out here.”

  Eliza shot him a look. “Not likely, southern boy. It’s only thirty-three degrees out.”

  “But the wind chill is like six below. So come on, gimme the keys.”

  When the doors were unlocked, Eliza passed the keys over to Chandler and climbed into the passenger side. A quick glance in the backseat proved that Chandler had grabbed all the bungees and rope they’d need.

  The car rumbled to life and Eliza held her hands in front of the vents to warm them. Ugh, too soon. Air was still blowing cold.

  “So,” Chandler said as he pulled off a glove to type on his smartphone’s screen, “the name of the place we’re headed is . . .”

  “Rockton,” Eliza said, bouncing her knees to warm up her legs. “It’s called Tannenbaum Trees.”

  He plugged in the search, and then arched a brow at her. “You know that’s two hours away, right?”

  Eliza nodded. “Yup.”

  “You know there are, like, three lots in town, right? We passed them on the way from the airport, and then yesterday on the way home from Lincolnville, and then the day before on the way back from Spring Hope . . .”

  Eliza rubbed her nose. The tip was so cold, it hurt her hand. “I know. But the lot in Rockton is really nice.”

  Chandler didn’t question her further; he just put the car in Reverse and it rolled down the driveway. Eliza started humming a Christmas tune under her breath. She was really excited about this outing, but Chandler was getting more and more suspicious with the way she was avoiding taking him anywhere inside her town. But damn it, how else could she keep those ugly rumors away from him?

  As he turned out of her neighborhood, she shot him a quick glance. He was bundled up like that kid from the leg lamp movie, with coat, toboggan, and hat pulled all the way down over his forehead. She’d laughed at his intolerance for the cold, but he’d countered with the argument that it only got that cold back home in February. She’d had a lot of fun warming him up over the last few days.

  The houses thinned out and gave way to trees on either side of the divided highway, and Eliza watched them roll by. She’d been so happy with Chandler, every moment they spent together in the house. And even in the car, where they were still alone. But even with the precautions she’d taken, making sure to only go to restaurants and stores away from home, there was still the chance she’d run into someone she knew, who knew about the ugly rumors.

  She stopped humming as her stomach acid bubbled inside her. Maybe she should tell Chandler what had happened. He liked the kinkier things; he’d proven that. But she’d learned her lesson. There was a limit to what most people could accept, and she didn’t want to push her luck with Chandler. He was one in a million, and she wanted to keep him around as long as possible. Her breath fogged up a spot on the glass, and she wiped it away with the wool of her coat sleeve.

  No, it was better to leave things alone. Her weird fantasy would stay as it was, an embarrassing memory. And it wasn’t like she needed it to be happy. Chandler was enough to make her happy. In fact, she loved him.

  Her mouth parted as she blinked, hard. Wow. It had come on so gradually that she hadn’t even really felt it coming. She loved the guy sitting next to her. He was wonderful, handsome, strong, kind, the best guy she’d ever met. And she was in love with him.

  “Are you okay? You’re really quiet.”

  “Urg,” Eliza said, slamming her eyes shut when she realized she’d sounded like a septuagenarian frog right then. “Sorry. Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about Christmas presents.”

  A gloved hand appeared on her knee and Eliza smiled as Chandler squeezed slightly.

  “Don’t worry. You won’t be disappointed with what’s under the tree.” He winked at her before putting his hand back on the steering wheel.

  “I’m not,” Eliza said and then fell silent, just looking at him. Maybe she should tell him that she loved him. Yeah. That might be a really good idea. But what if he didn’t feel the same way? Her heartbeat quickened and it was a little hard to breathe. Tugging at the collar of her jacket to give her throat more room, Eliza licked her lips. Maybe she should. This was romantic, after all. A little road trip to pick out a Christmas tree together? They’d lain in front of her fireplace last night and made love on the hearth. She should tell him.

  Her mind made up, she smiled, and spoke.

  “Chandler, I want to tell you something.”

  “Okay. Shoot.”

  Deep,
steadying breath. This is the right decision. Everything will be fine.

  “I lo—”

  Her cell phone’s shrill ring startled the crap out of her. Hand shaking, she reached into her pocket while apologizing. “I’m sorry. I need to grab this.”

  “Go ahead.”

  Her finger slipped on the Answer button, and she had to hit it three times to connect the call. “Hello?”

  “Eliza, it’s me, Harold Hagans.”

  “Oh, hello, sir.” She hadn’t talked to him in days. Why now? She’d managed to shove the ugly business of her employment to the back burner and just enjoy Chandler’s visit. But if the CEO was calling her on her vacation, then something was up. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’ve been thinking about what you said on Tuesday, and I’d like to get some more information from you. I’d been waiting to hear from the head of HR, who was out at a conference until today. But now that she’s back, I’d like for the three of us to sit down together and discuss this.”

  “Okay,” Eliza said, the acid that had calmed in her stomach now roiling full-force. “When did you have in mind?”

  “We can meet with you at eleven this morning. I don’t want to delay this any further.”

  The green numbers on the dashboard clock told her it was nearly ten. “Does it have to be this morning? I had some plans, you see, and—”

  “Eliza, I appreciate your honesty in telling me everything that went on with you and Tyler. I know it wasn’t easy, since we are related, and I respect that. This needs to be handled immediately. If word of this got out, it could make things difficult for Quality. I’d like to move on this ASAP. I’m sorry about the late notice, but in order to mitigate the damage, I’ll need to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.” His voice was friendly, but very firm. Eliza tensed her shoulders and nodded.

  “Okay, sir. I’m sorry. I’ll be there by eleven. Thank you.”

  She killed the call and stared down at her lap. Breathe, just for a minute. Get yourself back together.

  “Is everything okay?” Chandler’s voice held concern. Damn it, why today of all days?

  Eliza swallowed her disappointment and looked over at Chandler. His nose was wrinkled in concern.

  “Yeah, but we’re going to have to postpone our tree mission. I have to go to meet with the CEO at Quality. He wants to talk to me about Ty—I mean, my ex-boss.” She didn’t want to say his name. She’d done it once before accidentally, a long time ago on a wilderness trail in Hawaii. The less said about him, the better.

  “Okay. Here.” He passed her his phone. “Pop the address in there and I’ll drive you.”

  “No,” Eliza said, taking the phone from him and plopping it right back into the cup holder it had been riding in. “Let’s go back to the house. There’s no need for you to sit around there. I’ll be fine.”

  “I know that, but if I’m with you, then we can go on our mission after your meeting. You were looking forward to it, so I want to make sure we get your perfect tree.”

  Her eyes were stinging, and she fought the urge to sniff. He’d been teasing her for the last two days about how excited she was about tree shopping. She hadn’t had a real Christmas tree, well, ever. Her parents always traveled over the holidays, and the most they’d ever done was a three-foot plastic tree that the needles fell off of regularly. And the thought of her first real tree, and her first real Christmas in fact, being with the man she loved? It was like a dream come true.

  Now it was hard to feel like real life hadn’t just come crashing down through her delicate, blown-glass dream.

  “I’ll be fine. You don’t have to protect me. I’m a big girl, and I can fight my own battles. Besides, it’s not likely that Tyler will get in my face and scream at me again in front of his dad.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew she’d screwed up big-time.

  Chandler drew a deep breath through his nose, holding it there for a moment before replying. His first instinct was to grill her for details, but he had to remain calm.

  Flipping the turn signal, he guided the car into a gas station’s lot. The car’s brakes squeaked slightly as he stopped the vehicle. He didn’t cut the engine, though—they’d freeze.

  “What do you mean, he got in your face and screamed at you?” Chandler turned in his seat, pegging her with his gaze. He wasn’t going to let her lie to him, and she wasn’t going to get out of explaining this one.

  Fidgeting with the hem of her coat, she didn’t meet his eyes. “That sounded worse than it was. He wanted me to stay late for a project that’s not in my department, and when I said I had other plans, he got mad. And I overreacted when he started yelling in my face. Honestly, I doubt he’d have hit me or anything, I shouldn’t have pushed him, I just got scared.”

  Chandler’s anger was swelling into his throat, and for a minute he couldn’t say anything. Eliza must have misinterpreted his silence, because she started talking faster.

  “It wasn’t a big deal, honest. He probably wouldn’t have fired me for it if someone hadn’t seen it happen. It was just he was saying these awful things and his breath was blowing over my face and it reminded me of, well, that doesn’t matter.”

  “Eliza,” Chandler said, reaching for her hand. Damn, he wished he’d taken off the gloves. He wanted her to feel his skin, to know he was there and that he wouldn’t leave her. “This is serious. I know you don’t want me to worry, but I do. You were justified in defending yourself, but that might not stop that jackass from retaliating. So let me go with you. I won’t go into your meeting, just let me escort you into the building.”

  Her head shake was vehement. “No, you can’t. I don’t want anyone to see me with you.”

  The blood in his veins that had just started to thaw thanks to the car heater began to freeze again. “You don’t want to be seen with me?”

  “No, that’s not it at all! God, I’m sorry. I’m fucking everything up again.” Her words were thin and high, and she rubbed at her cheeks. The sight of her eyes, bloodshot and teary, socked him in the guts. “I just don’t want anyone to think badly of you because you’re with me.”

  “That’s crazy,” Chandler scoffed. Instantly he regretted it when Eliza sniffled and rubbed away more tears.

  It wasn’t very easy to hold her with the center console between them, but he thought he did an okay job of wrapping his arms around her and letting her bury her face in his shoulder.

  “Listen.” He rubbed her back. “I know it sucks to lose your job, and I know that this meeting is probably really awkward for you. I just want to help ease your burden. And that’s the truth.”

  He wanted to say more, but what else was there? Nothing that he knew of, anyway. So for a while he just sat there, engine idling beneath them, his arms wrapped around her, the damp patch on his jacket shoulder growing as she cried.

  “Sorry,” she sniffed, pulling back and wiping at her nose. “I’m just an idiot.”

  “No, you’re not. Now, come on. If you need to be there by eleven, we should probably start heading that way.”

  A strand of hair was stuck to her cheek and he moved it away tenderly. God, why did her eyes look so frightened, so wary?

  “You can drive me if you want to. But don’t come in, okay? Just stay in the car, and I’ll call you if anything happens.”

  That sucked, but what else could he do? It was her job, her problem, and as much as he wanted to march in there and hand her ex-boss his own ass, it wasn’t something he could do. He was just the boyfriend. If that.

  “Fine. But you’ve got to keep me updated. If it goes too long and I haven’t heard back from you, I’m going in there to find you.”

  “Okay, but everything will be fine. Harold’s a good guy, generally.” Eliza picked up his cell phone. As her long fingers typed in her office address, he turned the problem over in his mind.

  Her ex-boyfriend, ex-boss, had taken away a lot from her. A lot more than just her job, it seemed. What would it take
to get her to open up to him about what had gone wrong? He wanted nothing more than to help her be happy, but it would take more trust than she currently had in him.

  He had another week or so here to make that happen. Hey, anything was possible, right?

  “Here.” Eliza put the phone back into the cup holder, and the cheerful female voice announced that it was starting navigation. Chandler put the car in Reverse and soon they were back on the highway, going back the way they’d come.

  “I know it’s probably hard for you to talk about, but what did your boss say?”

  Her sigh was loud in the car. “It’s nothing, really.”

  The look he shot her plainly stated bullshit. “You wouldn’t have pushed him away from you if it had been nothing. I know you, Liza. You’re not the kind of person to pick a fight where one isn’t necessary. Of course, if you want, I can call Stacey up. She’s good at defending you from asshats.”

  Eliza cracked a small smile at that, and Chandler’s shoulders lost a bit of the tension they’d been carrying. At least he could do that much for her. Maybe he shouldn’t pry right now. The CEO was sure to do a good amount of grilling when she got up to his office, so for now, he’d talk about more pleasant things.

  “Greg told me that Stacey was doing well.”

  “Oh yeah?” Eliza turned to him.

  “Yup. She and Sabrina have been talking on the phone a lot lately. Seems like she’s healed up well from her ordeal. She’s always been a workaholic, but now she’s actually making use of her free time.”

  “That’s good.” Eliza glanced out the window, frowning at the “Welcome to Appledale” sign on their right. “She was really nice. I wish I’d gotten her e-mail address before she left.”

  Chandler shrugged. “She scooted out so quickly that nobody really got the chance to say good-bye.”

  “Yeah.” There was a furrowed spot between Eliza’s brows now, and Chandler’s thumb itched to smooth it out. Damn it, he couldn’t fix everything.

  The electronic female voice announced that his destination was on the left in one mile. He let his foot off the gas slightly, because the closer they got, the paler Eliza became. When he turned in to the lot beside the Quality Testing sign, she looked almost ready to pass out.