After You

by Sam Mariano

  Judging by his lack of response, he is not wild about that plan.

  I don’t have time to appease his wants and desires, so I put my phone on my desk and get back to work.

  ---

  By the time I see Derek again, it has been two weeks. He hadn’t given up trying to convince me to spend the weekend with him, but then Thursday—thank God—I got my period. There was little point making a booty call when no booty could be called upon, so I finally won.

  I know Derek likes things on his terms, so I’m expecting a mild attitude when I show up at the Mexican restaurant we agreed to meet at for dinner tonight. Colorful paint has been slapped up on the walls, creating pretty murals of the Mexican countryside. This restaurant was here when I lived here—in fact, Derek and I came here once, so it’s a little bizarre to be back.

  I see Derek and Cassidy at the table before they see me. There’s a faint tug at my heartstrings watching them together, seeing Derek’s elbows on the table, giving her his full attention, and Cassidy leaning over, gleefully pretending to steal his nose.

  Two tables behind them, a man sits with (presumably) his daughter, both of them on their phones, wrapped up in their own little worlds instead of each other. I don’t want to say I’m surprised that Derek is such a good dad—obviously I thought he would be a good dad, since in my fantasies, he would have been the father of my child someday—but he fills the role with remarkable ease.

  I feel like I’m interrupting when I finally get to the table, and even though I prepared myself for Derek to be a little sour about my not wanting to see him before now, I still feel a small knot of dread in my stomach until his eyes meet mine.

  Instant relief. Not only does he look happy to see me, he stands up and walks over, wrapping an arm around my waist and tugging me close.

  “Finally,” he murmurs warmly.

  I put my hands on his chest, smiling faintly. “No kissing in front of—”

  He blatantly ignores me, leaning in and covering my mouth with his. His kisses make my stomach too fluttery to ignore, so even though I’m not completely on board with kissing in front of his daughter, that’s what happens.

  When he pulls back, he winks at me, then starts to tug me into the booth beside him.

  “No,” Cassidy objects. “I want Nikki to sit over here with me.”

  “What?” Derek replies, eyes comically wide. “You trying to steal my Nikki time?”

  “You gotta share,” she tells him.

  “See, we are too demanding to share one day,” Derek informs me, flashing me an innocent look. “We need more than one day every two weeks.”

  Smiling faintly, I scoot into the booth next to Cassidy. “There it is. I wasn’t counting, was it five seconds before you brought it up?”

  “I think it was seven,” he offers.

  “Stay in your box,” I warn him, pointing a finger at him.

  “Never. I was made to bust out of boxes.”

  Since there is already food on the table, I ask, “What is going on here? You two are appetizing without me?”

  “Taquitos!” Cassidy announces, leaning forward and grabbing one. In the center of the table is a paper boat filled with 5 taquitos slathered in a pool of cheese, guacamole, and sour cream. She takes her taquito and dips it into the cheese first, then the sour cream, then she takes a bite. Before she can dunk it back in, Derek stops her.

  “Ah ah, no double dipping. We have to pretend to be civilized so we don’t scare off Nikki.”

  Her eyes widen. “But I need more.”

  Derek hands her a spoon. She stares at it, sighs dramatically, but finally takes it so she can get a little dollop of sour cream for her taquito.

  Smiling, I go ahead and take one myself. “I’m starving, so this actually works out well for me.”

  Cassidy finishes off her taquito and asks me, “Do you know how to cook?”

  “Uh… no. I mean, I can cook, but I don’t cook much anymore. I don’t have time to.”

  “Daddy makes good taquitos at home sometimes. Friday night is supposed to be our movie night. Are you going to watch a movie with us? We’re gonna have popcorn.”

  “Sure, I’m just along for the ride. If you guys do movie nights on Friday nights, then that’s what we’ll do.”

  “We didn’t do one last time because somebody wasn’t home,” she says, mean-mugging Derek.

  “That was two weeks ago,” Derek corrects, watching his taquito as he breaks it in half, “And we’ve discussed this. Unless you’re entering into a binding contract to live with me for the next 50 years, I reserve the right to have a life outside of our house. Sometimes that might mean missing the Friday night movie, but we made up for it Monday, didn’t we?”

  “I’ll live with you for the next 50 years,” she says decisively.

  Cracking a smile, he says, “Something tells me you might change your mind about that someday.”

  “I won’t change my mind,” she tells him, mildly offended.

  “You never want to go to college or get married or have babies?”

  Wrinkling her nose up, she says, “No way. I’m going to be a veterinarian and a ballerina, and I’m gonna have a unicorn farm. I’m not gonna have time to get married.”

  “Wow, you’re going to be as busy as Nikki,” he says, smiling at me.

  I roll my eyes. “Twice. I’m sorry you hate my job so much.” Before Derek has time to respond, Cassidy pecks me on the shoulder. I look over at her and cock an eyebrow in question. “What can I do for you, Cassidy?”

  “I want a baby sister.”

  My eyes go wide, and I slowly turn my head to look at Derek. “Uh... Cool?”

  “Not a baby brother,” she continues, rather firmly. “Just a baby sister.”

  Since she’s still staring at me with those big blue eyes so earnestly, like she expects me to reach beneath the table and pull a new sibling out from under my dress, I have no idea what to say. Where did this even come from? Do children randomly desire siblings? Doesn’t she know her father is single, and so he shouldn’t be giving her any new siblings? Probably not. Does she think I’m his girlfriend, and it’s now my job to produce said sibling?

  This is a lot, and Derek is not helping at all. He’s doing his damndest not to laugh, but he must feel my eyeballs on him, because he refuses to look up.

  “How about a baby doll?” I suggest, looking back at Cassidy. “We can stop at the store on the way back to your dad’s and I’ll buy you a baby doll. How’s that?”

  Her eyes light up and she bounces energetically. “Yeah, yeah, yeah!”

  There we go. It might cost me $20, but at least I don’t have to produce a needy little human to satisfy the tiny Noble.

  I can’t help eyeballing the bigger one suspiciously, though. I’d like to think he would never put that idea in her head, but he did pay her to call me mom and disorient me literally before she had even met me. Clearly they’re partners in crime, and while I would never expect a normal man to want to knock me up, a normal man who has already been through hell because of one accidental pregnancy would probably be much more adamant about protection. He’s been inside me several times now, and never once has he reached for a condom. He was better about that when we were teenagers, so a little part of me can’t help wondering if he’s thinking he can trap me this time. Clearly it worked for Kayla, but I’m not Derek; that would not work on me. If the asshole knocks me up to try to force me into a relationship, he better prepare to be disappointed. Just to be spiteful, I’ll make his ass co-parent from three hours away.

  ---

  As Cassidy skips ahead in the aisle, Derek wraps his arm around my waist. I lean into him and sigh, enjoying the casual intimacy of the moment. He ordered me a margarita at the restaurant because he knows I’m an easy drunk, but I’m only lightly buzzed. Not ready to make terrible decisions, just relaxed enough to snuggle into his side like I like him as we head for the toy department.

  Cassidy gets sidetracked in the clothing de
partment when a little dress with a puffy skirt catches her eye. “Ooh, look! Is this my size?” she calls back to us.

  “She got that from Kayla,” I mutter.

  Derek squeezes my side. “Kayla who?”

  I can’t help cracking a smile. “That’s not gonna work now, Derek Noble.”

  “I don’t know what you mean. Cassidy is your daughter. We’ve been married for six years. You love shopping. That’s probably where she learned it from.”

  “Yeah, right,” I mutter, good-naturedly. “You can’t trick me again.”

  “I’ll buy wedding bands next time,” he tells me. “Slip it on while you’re sleeping. That’s where I went wrong the first time. Should’ve planned it out better.”

  Cassidy is holding the dress up to her chest to show us when we make it to over her. “Can I get this?” she asks.

  “Sure,” I say, before Derek can.

  Cassidy does a little dance and hands the dress to Derek, then proceeds down the aisle toward the toys.

  Letting his arm drop from my hip, he checks the tag. “This is not her size.” He puts it back on the racks and grabs the right size, then continues toward the toys. “Also, parenting pro tip: when they ask if they can have impulse items at the store, you generally want to say no. Otherwise you’ll spend $180 every time you have to stop for bread.”

  Squinting my eyes and tapping my chin, I remark, “Funny, in the six years we’ve been married and parenting together, you’d think I would already know that.”

  Sighing heavily, he drapes his arm around my shoulder. “When we get to the register, she’ll ask for chocolate. Say no to the chocolate.”

  “I already said no to a baby sibling, I feel like chocolate is the least I could do to make up for it.”

  “You didn’t say no to a baby sibling. Even if you did say no, you would just need some convincing. You say no to everything. Just gotta work at you until you give in.”

  “That’s a healthy frame of mind,” I tell him, dryly.

  “I only ever force you to do things you already want to do, you just like to be difficult.”

  “Are you admitting it, then?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow at him. “Were you actually trying to knock me up the first time we had sex in six years? And do you understand how crazy that is? We don’t even know if we are remotely compatible anymore, and I’ve got news for you, buddy. I’m no Derek, I’m no Kayla; knocking me up will not trap me. I will go right on with my life as planned. I’ll just, I don’t know, do edits in my living room with a sleeping baby strapped to my chest while cursing your name to the gods.”

  “I admit nothing,” he says. “I wasn’t trying to get you pregnant, I just didn’t do anything to actively not try.”

  “You’re insane,” I inform him.

  “No, I’m the only man in the world who knows how to operate you,” he says, rather cocky for someone who is so very wrong. “You want kids, so would it be the worst thing if you got pregnant?”

  “The timing is not right. You and I aren’t even together. Don’t you dare try to impregnate me, Derek. We’re buying condoms before we leave this store tonight, otherwise no sex for you.”

  “Bullshit,” he says, looking over at me and smiling. “You haven’t been fucked in two weeks, you’re not going to be able to keep your hands to yourself tonight, you little nympho.”

  Just because he’s being an ass, I ask him, “What makes you think I haven’t had sex in two weeks? I haven’t had sex with you in two weeks…”

  His smile drops, but after a couple seconds, he says, “You’re fucking with me.”

  Keeping mum, I lift my eyebrows and drop them, as if I can’t commit to an answer.

  “You better be fucking with me,” he states, his voice a little lower. “I’ll rip apart any asshole who thinks he can touch you, I’ll tell you that right now.”

  “I do not belong to you,” I inform him. “We are not in a relationship, we are friends with benefits at most.”

  “Jesus Christ, not this shit again,” he says, his head falling back. “How many times do I have to do this with you?”

  I’m obviously not sleeping with anyone else, but he’s getting so wound up thinking about it, I can’t help tormenting him a little longer. “We never agreed to exclusivity. That would be too close to a relationship and we are not in a relationship.”

  “We’ve fucked exclusively before,” he says, a touch impatiently. “I’m not sharing you with anyone else, Nikki. Fuck that.”

  “It’s not your call,” I point out. “You can say you don’t want to sleep with me unless we’re exclusive, but what was it you told my boyfriend when you wanted to make him break up with me?” I tap my chin in mock consideration, then I say, “Oh, right. Ultimatums never work.”

  “Boyfriend,” he mutters derisively. “Asshole didn’t even buy you popcorn.”

  We’ve made it to the toy aisle where Cassidy is, so we can no longer have this conversation. She has her little head tipped back, looking up at all the baby dolls she can’t reach.

  “Can I pick any of them?” she asks me.

  “Yep, whichever one you want,” I assure her, glancing at the overwhelmingly pink aisle. “You can get an accessory to go with it, too. Either an outfit or a play set or…” I pick up a fuzzy satellite chair. “A piece of furniture?”

  “I can?” she asks excitedly. Before I can even answer, she runs over and hugs me around the waist. “Thank you, Nikki.”

  I rub her back, feeling a little warmth spread through me. Distracted by the promise of new toys, Cassidy breaks away and goes back to perusing dolls.

  Because he’s the biggest shit stirrer who has ever stirred shit, Derek says innocently, “Maybe we should go look at the baby clothes after this.”

  Cassidy’s eyes pop out of her head. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the baby toys. We’ll get one for my little sister.”

  My jaw drops, and Derek smirks, looking at the wall of dolls. “Bought that doll for nothing,” he tells me.

  “I hope you and your hand are on good terms, because you’re going to be especially close tonight,” I inform him.

  “No, we won’t,” he says smugly. Then, leaning in so he can whisper in my ear, he adds, “And I’m not gonna let you come until you promise me you won’t be with anyone else.”

  Narrowing my eyes at him, I say, “I won’t give you the opportunity to deprive me; my knees will be sealed shut tonight.”

  “Wanna bet?” he asks, his eyes glistening with mischief.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cuddling under blankets and watching movies together is nice.

  Cassidy is lying tummy down on the floor in her new dress, snacking on popcorn and watching the movie with her new baby doll in the furry chair next to her. Every once and a while she pretends to feed her baby popcorn and asks how it’s liking the movie. It’s adorable.

  Derek, the evil bastard, keeps toying with me. Since the room is dark and Cassidy is on the floor in front of us facing the TV, we have relative privacy back here on the couch. Since we’re under the same blanket and I’m lying between his legs, lying back against his chest, we have even more. It’s inappropriate to fondle me when Enchanted is on, but that doesn’t stop his rough hand from sliding down the front of my dress and massaging my breasts. The fact that he’s a pushy assface doesn’t make my body tingle any less when he touches me, doesn’t stop my breath from quickening when his hand drifts down between my legs and he grabs me between the legs like he owns it.

  Sighing, I lean heavily against his chest and mutter, “Stop it, you devil.”

  “What?” he asks, innocently. “I’m not doing anything.”

  He keeps doing it, then taking a break, then starting up again. He has me in such a frustrated state of arousal, I just want to turn around and straddle him right here on this couch, demanding he release his cock and let me ride it.

  Which, of course, is what he wants. He wants me so crazy with lust that by the time this movie is over and he puts Cassi
dy to sleep, I will be waiting, hot and bothered, naked in his bed, ready to submit to his ridiculous demands of exclusivity with a possible babymaking option.

  Well, I will not be defeated by his tricks. Not again!

  “Would you pick Patrick Dempsey or James Marsden?” he murmurs in my ear before kissing the shell.

  Chills roll down my spine. “The actors, or their characters in this particular movie?”

  “In the movie.”

  “Oh, definitely Patrick Dempsey.” I tip my head back. “What about you?”

  He smirks. “Would I pick James Marsden or Patrick Dempsey? James Marsden. The man knows what he wants, and he has enough confidence to rock that puffy sleeve bullshit. I respect that.”

  I bring my elbow back into his ribs, satisfied when he grunts at the impact. “No, smartass, I meant Amy Adams or Idina Menzel.”

  “The one with the dark hair. She’s cynical about love and works too much. Just my type. My boy James needs to sweep her off to Happy Ever After land.”

  “It’s called Andalasia, not Happy Ever After land.”

  “I could not care less.” He drops a couple kisses along my neck, just below my ear. “All I’m saying is, this devoted Prince Edward guy is a far better pick than the stuffy lawyer.”

  Cracking a smile, I say, “You would think that. You have a grudge against lawyers now.”

  “Prince Edward would never take Giselle to a movie and not get her treats. If Giselle said she didn’t want them, he wouldn’t believe her. He would have woodland creatures bringing popcorn into the theater for his lady.”

  “I’m so glad you’re responsible for raising a girl and you don’t believe in a woman’s right to reject popcorn.”

  “You wanted the damn popcorn,” he says.

  “That’s not the point.”

  “It is the point.”

  Cassidy looks back at us, cocking her little eyebrow. “Are you two gonna talk through the whole movie?”