by Kay Harris
“You’ve been in love before and I haven’t and…” She drifted off, her eyes shifting away from him.
Carlos pulled her tighter against him. “No. I haven’t. Not like this. I swear.”
She met his gaze again. “No?”
They didn’t say Kim’s name, but that’s who they were discussing. Carlos hoped one day Kim wouldn’t be a thorn that snagged Amy into these spiraling thoughts.
He held her chin in his hand and tried to penetrate her insecurities. “Amy, I love you. You are the love of my life. Only you. You’re it.”
****
Amy was just about to head to the cafeteria when she got the text message from Carlos asking her to come to his office for lunch.
Putting her worries about being found out aside, Amy made her way up two stories from the factory floor to Carlos’ office. She passed Max on the way and waved casually at him, as if she wasn’t on her way to a secret rendezvous with his boss.
She was most worried about Kenny. He sat just outside Carlos’ office and knew about everyone that came and went. But when she reached Kenny’s desk, it was empty. In fact, it looked as though it had been buttoned up for the day, everything put away and in its place.
Carlos’ door was cracked open so she stuck her head inside. He looked up from his computer and smiled.
“Come on in.” He gestured with his hand. Amy paused just inside the door, still gripping the handle. She looked at him quizzically. Carlos let out a breath. “I suppose you should leave it cracked.” The disappointment was clear in his voice. He wanted to be able to completely close and lock that door as much as she did, but if anyone came along, there’d be no way to explain it.
Amy left the tiniest possible space open in the door before moving to the chair across from him. Carlos cleared off his desk, then he pulled a large soft cooler out from beneath it and started to unload goodies between them.
“Where’s Kenny?”
“He has the day off,” he said, winking at her. “He’s moving into a new apartment. I thought it would be a good day to take advantage of the privacy of my office.”
“But just for lunch.” She teased him with her eyes.
“Sadly, yes. Though I’ve been thinking about getting you out of that dress since I watched you put it on this morning.” His eyes roamed over her mauve wrap-around.
She grinned at him. She loved it when he flirted. “Speaking of which, Marcel called me this morning. He misses me.”
Carlos was in the middle of pulling the top off a container that held some sort of green, leafy salad. He frowned. “I suppose you could stay at your own place one night.”
She laughed. “You look like someone just stole your puppy. No. I was thinking we could go out with him and his new boyfriend. Maybe to your brother’s restaurant?”
“Sounds good.”
“Good. I’ll set it up for next weekend since this weekend is San Diego.” She examined Carlos’ face carefully as she mentioned the impending visit with her family.
He showed nothing in his expression. Instead he handed her a fork and a dish and smiled. “Okay.”
Amy took the dish and dug in. They didn’t talk about the visit. Maybe it was for the best. All her worrying about it wouldn’t help anything. Her family was just going to have to see how amazing Carlos was and accept him as her boyfriend.
“How do you like working in compliance?” he asked. “God, you’ve been there for almost two weeks and we haven’t really talked about it. I feel terrible for not asking.”
“You’ve asked,” she reminded him. “But I always put you off, telling you to wait until I’ve been there longer.”
He nodded.
“I like it. I really like it. The work is solid, the people are great, and I think it’s something I could be very good at.”
“Best assignment yet?”
“No offense, baby. But, yes.” She grinned at him.
“S’okay with me. I don’t want you to find out that finance is where you really want to be. That’s the one job you could take that would mean I couldn’t continue to seduce you on a nightly basis.”
She laughed. “No worries.”
When they were done eating and cleaning up the desk, Carlos brought up a new subject. “I have something to tell you. I suppose I could wait until tonight, but…you could have reason to know now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I told Everett about us this morning when we were working out.” He sat back in his chair looking like he was about to get screamed at.
Amy leaned back as well, copying his casual pose. “Okay.”
“I know I should have asked you first. It just sort of came out.”
“It’s okay. He’s your best friend. You should be able to tell him. What did he say?”
“He’s happy for us. He says you’re beautiful and smart and I’m lucky I got to you before he had a chance to try.”
Amy blushed. “That’s…”
“Probably true. Anyway. He won’t say anything. He agrees that life will be harder when we do go public. I told him we are still planning to do it at his party next month, though.”
“I think I will kind of be relieved when we don’t have to sneak around at work. Speaking of which.” She stood. “I have to sneak back to compliance now.”
She paused there on the opposite side of his desk, desperately wishing she could lean over and kiss him. Instead, they just looked into one another’s eyes. In truth, if anyone walked in on them just then, it’d be just as bad as seeing them going at it on the desk.
“Four and a half hours,” Carlos said softly.
She nodded, ripped her gaze away from his, and walked out.
****
Amy couldn’t remember ever being this nervous in her own mother’s house. It was essential she make her family understand how important Carlos was to her. It was also already apparent that it wouldn’t be an easy sell.
After an awkward dinner, where Amy fed Carlos gluten-free food she’d made herself in a separate part of the kitchen which earned them both strange looks, they’d retired to the family room to have stilted conversation, until Tim turned on the hockey game. Then the room had fallen mercifully silent.
Carlos sat on one end of the couch in the family room. Beside him was a round end table, on the other side of which Tim sat in a drab gray chair that had been their grandfather’s favorite. Amy was in the center of the couch, clutching Carlos’ hand in hers. Beside her, her mother, who looked like an older, shorter, version of herself with a pixie cut, glared at Carlos with pursed lips. On the other side of Vera, Aunt Beth perched in a rose-patterned armchair. At her feet, YaYa sprawled on the floor. Uncle Clint had thankfully fallen asleep in an armchair on the other side of Tim, and Marilyn was bustling about in the kitchen.
Tim was the saving grace of this lot. While the rest of the Trinkus gang were in a post-dinner lull, Tim and Carlos engaged in good-natured rivalry as they watched the Sharks/Ducks game.
Amy wanted to kiss Tim right on her cousin’s beard-covered cheek. He and Carlos were enjoying each other’s company while completely ignoring the open hostility that vibrated through the rest of the room.
Only because Tim was there did Amy agree to join her mother, aunt, and cousin in the kitchen to prepare tea and coffee. But once she stood in front of the kettle, waiting for it for boil, she regretted her decision.
“Amy, did you hear that Greg Mendel is back in town?” her mother asked.
Amy turned away from the stove and looked at Vera who stood beside her sister at the island. “Who?”
“Greg Mendel, you know. You went to high school with him. His mother and I were in book club together. She’s the librarian at the county library. He has the…you know…” She gestured wildly to her face.
“Cleft palate, mom,” Amy said, rolling her eyes. “And you don’t have to point it out like that. It’s not a big deal, it’s just a facial feature.”
“Yeah, you know, you’re right. You can barely
see it. Anyway, he’s a marine and he’s just back from serving overseas.” Vera played with the sugar bowl as if it were the most interesting thing she’d ever seen.
“Well, I’m happy for Mrs. Mendel.” Amy shifted her attention back to the kettle. “I’m sure she’s delighted that he’s back.”
“I ran into him at the grocery store the other day. And did you know, he’s single right now? And even with that whatever-it-is on his face, he’s a very handsome man,” Beth threw in.
“Interesting.” Amy glanced up at her cousin, only to see YaYa staring her down, arms across her chest.
They were all in this together and it was definitely going too far. But Amy wasn’t sure her mother would take any subtle hints at this point. If she was willing to talk about guys she wanted to set Amy up with while Carlos was sitting on her couch in the next room, she obviously had no boundaries.
“I gave him your number,” Vera said.
“What?!” Amy was both flabbergasted and appalled. She looked at YaYa again, somehow hoping for some reason from the younger woman.
“You should think about it,” YaYa said.
Before Amy could protest, her mother continued, “He’s a nice man and I thought maybe you two could get together sometime for coffee or something when you’re in town. Or perhaps you could invite him up to San Francisco. I’m sure he’d like to explore the city a bit.”
Amy stared at her mother like she’d grown another head. “Mom. I. Am. With. Carlos,” she said through gritted teeth.
Vera shrugged as though what she’d said wasn’t absolutely ridiculous, not to mention completely offensive.
Three painful hours later, the confrontation continued. Everyone had gone home and the house was getting ready for bed. Amy took Carlos’ hand and led him toward the stairs.
“I thought Carlos would stay on the couch down here.” Vera stood like a roadblock between Amy and Carlos and the stairway that led to the sanctuary of her room.
“No,” Amy said simply.
“Amy, this is my house.”
“And I am thirty years old. And we can always go to a hotel.”
Carlos said nothing as this showdown continued on for several, long, silent beats.
“Fine.” Vera stepped aside, irritation clear in her voice.
Amy climbed the stairs like the hounds of hell were on her heels. She shoved Carlos into the room and closed the door behind her. “Oh my God!”
Carlos turned in a circle, taking in her room. His eyes roamed over the floral bedspread, flouncy curtains, and child’s desk. When he came back around to face her, still standing in front of the white painted door, she moved toward him.
“I’m so sorry.” She looped her arms around his shoulders.
He folded her into him. “Don’t be sorry. We knew this would be hard.”
“I didn’t think they’d be such total assholes.”
He chuckled and the low sound reverberated in her belly. “They’re not assholes. They love you. They think they’re watching out for you.”
“But I love you.”
He smiled. “I know.”
Their kiss was long and deep and it made Amy want more. She pushed Carlos over to the bed. She dropped down on her back, pulling him on top of her.
After a wonderful amount of deep kisses, he pulled back, resting on his elbows and looking down at her. “You sure you want to do this in your mom’s house? Didn’t this used to be your grandparents’ house?”
“I grew up here with my mom and my grandparents until they passed away. This is my childhood bedroom. And I never did anything bad in this room. I need to make up for lost time.” She hoped the glint of mischief in her eye was enough to help her get him naked.
“Hmmmm. So, here you were, lying in your bed like a good girl and then I crawled in through the window to talk you into giving me your virtue.” He wiggled his eyebrows lasciviously.
Amy liked this game. She ran her hand up inside his T-shirt, over that smooth muscular back. “Yes. And we have to be quiet because my mom is in her room downstairs.”
“And I believe.” He took a nip at her neck. “Your cousin is in the room next door.”
“She is.” Amy nodded vigorously. She’d forgotten that YaYa was spending the night. In fact, she’d forgotten about everything but Carlos.
She managed to get his shirt off and he dislodged her bra and got his hands up under her clothes. But it was when he suddenly left her lips, sat up, and pulled her jeans and panties down to her knees that she drew in a sharp breath.
With a rakish grin, Carlos pulled her legs as far as apart as they would go with the restriction of her jeans. It was a small space, just big enough for him to lean down and run his tongue right along the center of her.
“Jesus!”
“Shhh, baby,” he said softly, amusement dancing in his voice. He repeated the move then looked up at her. She was hot and desperate. Surely it showed on her face how intensely she wanted him. “Should I take these pesky pants off you?”
Unable to speak, she nodded wildly.
“Okay, then.” He reached down, positioning his thumbs at the top of her jeans, which were hovering just above her knees. She held her breath in anticipation, ready to spread her legs as far as they could possibly go once he rid her of the constriction.
That’s when there was a pounding on the door.
Carlos quickly pulled her pants up, buttoning them as she responded. “Hang on a minute.”
“I’m coming in,” YaYa threatened.
“Just a second,” Amy called wildly. Once her pants were on, she re-snapped her bra and shuffled off the bed. She looked back at Carlos’ glorious chest with regret as it disappeared behind his T-shirt.
Amy wrenched the door open, more than a little annoyed with her cousin. “What do you want?” She kept her frame positioned in the doorway so YaYa couldn’t actually get into the room.
YaYa’s gaze travelled from Amy to Carlos standing behind her. “He’s staying in here?”
“Yes. I am an adult. Remember?”
YaYa sighed. “I don’t know how else to put this, Amy. This guy.” YaYa pointed at Carlos. “Is a sports car. You don’t take a sports car out when you just got your learner’s permit. You have to start out with a compact or, or…a minivan.”
“And I think I made it clear that I don’t care for your opinion on this.”
“Fine.” She turned her focus to Carlos, looking up at him from her much shorter stance. “Then I will try to appeal to you. You obviously care about Amy.” She didn’t wait for Carlos to respond, she just pushed forward. “But what you may not realize is that she doesn’t know herself. She’s like a teenager. She doesn’t know what she wants to do for a living, and she’s just discovered her sexuality. She is finding herself. And she is not ready for a confident, successful, already been married once, sex god.”
As if she’d spoken the gospel, YaYa crossed her arms over her chest and looked at them both with smug satisfaction. It was like she was daring Carlos to argue with her.
He did, his voice low and even. “You don’t see Amy clearly. Let me tell you about this remarkable woman.” He placed his hand on Amy’s shoulder. “She’s no teenager. She’s an intelligent, capable woman who knows exactly who she is and what she wants out of life. It takes courage to admit that the perfect thing, the thing we are seeking, doesn’t always fall in our lap. It takes guts to admit that you are still looking for it. And not figuring out what you want sexually until thirty is an anomaly, sure, but it doesn’t make her a child. It doesn’t make her some delicate flower that needs your protection.”
“And,” Amy said, wanting to fight alongside him. “I don’t need you or anyone else making my choices for me. I love Carlos. I am going to be with him. So you and mom and everyone else are going to have to get used to it.”
Amy shut the door on YaYa’s shocked face and turned back to Carlos. She was so grateful for this man who seemed to know her better than her own family. And she wante
d to show him exactly what he meant to her.
His eyes followed her as she moved past him to the desk. Hefting the chair in her hands, she marched back over to the door and shoved it under the handle. Then she turned back to him. “Now, where were we?”
APRIL
Chapter 16
Amy sat on Carlos’ couch flipping through her text messages. Her family was on her shit list. She still answered their texts, unless they were one of the many telling her about one guy or another they wanted to hook her up with. She ignored those.
But Tim, her new favorite family member, was different. You’re bringing Carlos to the wedding, right?
Amy smiled and typed back. Of course.
Good. Don’t worry about everyone else. They will come around, was Tim’s reply.
Amy gave her cousin the praise he deserved. You’re the best!
She was just setting the phone on the coffee table when Carlos came home. He strolled into the condo, taking her in as he dropped his briefcase at the door, discarded his suit coat, and took off his tie. By the time he was done, his clothes were perched on various pieces of furniture throughout the room and he was sitting beside her on the couch, his arm around her shoulders.
“Hi.” He gave her a lingering kiss.
“Dinner’s in the oven.”
“Oh yeah? What did you make?”
“Pizza. Though I have to admit that I bought the gluten-free crust instead of making it. But I topped it all myself.” She beamed at him.
“I’m sure it’ll be delicious. How was your day?”
Fridays were always Amy’s favorite day. But today had been particularly good. “Great. I got to work on the factory floor doing quality control stuff. It was fun and made the time go by fast.”
“Doesn’t your friend Maya work on the factory floor?”
“Yeah. I saw her.” Amy raised her eyebrows at him. “Do you know Maya?”
“I’ve seen her around.” His tone sounded a little mysterious. “And speaking of seeing people around, tomorrow is Everett’s party.”
“I know. I’ve already picked out what I am going to wear,” she told him lightly.