by Tia Siren
When I woke, he was stroking my arm.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he whispered in my ear. “Sleep well?”
“I did. What time is it?”
“Almost seven.”
“Crap!”
“Are you late?” he asked.
“No. Not yet. I’ll start coffee,” I said, throwing the covers off me and suddenly feeling self-conscious about my nudity.
He rolled to the other side of the bed and sat up. I grabbed my robe and tied it as if it were protective armor.
“Are you okay?” he asked, coming to stand close to me. “Don’t feel weird.”
I brushed him off. Easier said than done. I knew my hair was a mess. I had gone to sleep with makeup on, which meant I probably looked a bit like a raccoon at the moment. I couldn’t look at him.
“Hey,” he said, grabbing my chin with his finger and thumb. “It’s okay. You’re beautiful.”
I finally looked up and met his eyes. “Thank you. I’ll get that coffee.”
“Can I jump in the shower?”
My eyes widened at the thought of him naked and in my shower. It felt very intimate, but after what we had done to each other’s bodies last night, it was nothing in comparison.
“Of course.”
I walked to the kitchen and went about making coffee. My mind was focused on him, naked and in my shower. An idea sprang to mind. I left the coffee in the pot and headed back into the bedroom. I took off my robe and walked into the bathroom, which was filled with steam.
“Got room for one more?” I asked, opening the shower door.
“Damn straight. Get that fine ass in here.”
I stepped in, and he moved out of the shower spray to let me stand under it. I was very familiar with his body, but it still got me excited every time I saw it. I reached out and ran a hand over his chest. He stepped closer, his chest brushing against mine. The water sprayed over us as we caressed each other’s bodies.
“I need to wash my hair,” I told him.
“I’ll do it.”
He reached for the bottle of shampoo and ordered me to turn around. I stepped back a couple inches and let him massage my scalp as he lathered the shampoo in my hair.
“Rinse.”
I did, and then he started the process all over again with conditioner. It was an extremely erotic act, and I was aching with need. We were short on time. I knew we couldn’t, but it didn’t stop me from stroking his dick with my hand.
“My turn,” I said, grabbing my loofah and giving him a thorough body wash, paying special attention to the area of his body I loved the most.
“We better get out before I bend you over right here,” he whispered in my ear before kissing the side of my neck.
“You’re right. I need to open the store today. It’s Kali’s day to come in late.”
He sighed and reached behind me to turn off the water. “Until next time.” He squeezed my ass, pulling me against his engorged cock.
I stepped out and grabbed a couple towels. We quickly dressed and managed to make it out the door with a couple minutes to spare. I kissed him good bye in the parking lot, and we went our separate ways.
On the short drive to work, I did a quick rewind of the morning. It had been very odd to brush our teeth together and watch him get dressed. It was a lot like being married. Once the initial awkwardness had passed, we’d worked together in perfect harmony. I had made his coffee while he’d dressed.
We’d sipped from our mugs, talking about what we each had going for the day as if we had done the exact same thing a hundred times in the past. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I was leery of falling into old habits and routines. I couldn’t let myself get hurt again. I was afraid of how I would feel if he decided we weren’t meant to be together. It had been awful with Mitchel, but if Mason were to do what Mitchel had done, I wasn’t sure I could live through that.
I knew it would hurt far worse. It would devastate me. I had to protect my heart.
By midafternoon, I had worked myself into a real tizzy, stressing out about when Mason would dump me or tell me it had been good while it had lasted but he was over it. It was all in my head. My rational side got that, but the freak-show emotional side was giving me fits.
“Hi!” Kali breezed in just before lunch. “Uh-oh, you look like you are about to snap. What happened?”
I started laughing uncontrollably. She stood in front of me, staring. I couldn’t find the words to explain to her.
“Nothing,” I blurted out. “There’s nothing wrong, which is exactly what is wrong.”
“Uh, okay. I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing. Help me understand.”
“Mason. He’s perfect. Sex is phenomenal. He stayed the night and this morning was—well, perfect.”
She slowly nodded her head. “I can see why that’s wrong.” It was said with heavy sarcasm.
“Exactly! It isn’t wrong, but I’m so freaked out that it could go wrong that I am a neurotic mess!”
“I think you need to relax. Enjoy the moment. If it doesn’t work out between you, then it doesn’t. You are going to give yourself an ulcer and ruin what you have. Relax. Enjoy it. Mason isn’t Mitchel.”
I nodded. “I know. You’re right, and I keep trying to tell myself that, but the crazy side of me keeps showing up.”
“You’re happy. I can see that. Tell that crazy bitch to sit her ass down.”
We both started laughing.
“What about you?” I asked. “You seem like you’re pretty happy.”
She grinned. “I had a date with Brian last night. I didn’t sleep alone.” She winked.
“Really? I didn’t know you guys were going out last night.”
“I didn’t either. It was a last-minute thing. We had a nice dinner and then we went back to my place.” She fanned a hand in front of her face. “Your brother—”
I held up a hand and stopped her. “No. Don’t even say the words. I don’t want to know the details of my brother’s sex life. I know I usually love to hear about your dirty deeds in the bedroom or wherever you end up, but not this time. Sorry.”
She giggled. “Fine, but you are missing out. They are some fabulous details.”
“Stop! Gross!”
“Fine. You can tell me all about your night. I can handle all the dirty details.”
“I think I’ll keep the details to myself, but suffice it to say he is a talented man with a great deal of stamina. All that swimming he does is paying off.”
Kali waggled her eyebrows. “Sounds exciting.”
Chapter 20
Mason
It was a typical day at work, except that my mind was focused on Lara. I didn’t get to see her yesterday, which had left me feeling empty and irritated. I had been stuck with an emergency at work and had to cancel on her at the last minute. Thankfully, she would have had to cancel if I hadn’t. Her relief at work had called in sick, and she was stuck closing the store. We both promised to see each other tonight. I had been looking forward to it all day.
“Dr. Chambers, you have a phone call,” one of the nurses said.
I walked into my office to pick up the line. “This is Dr. Chambers.”
I expected it to be a patient frantic with worry about a procedure. My staff was good at putting calls through that were urgent enough to warrant my attention. Calls that were nonemergent were generally handled by Junie or one of the other doctors.
“Hey.” Lara’s voice came over the line.
“Lara?” I asked surprised to hear her on my work line and not my cell.
I immediately fished the cell out of my pocket to see if I had missed her call or a text. Nothing.
“Yes. Sorry to call you at work,” she said.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, immediately worried about her health.
“Yes, fine. I called you on your work line in case you were with a patient. I was planning to leave a message, but I wanted you to get it sooner rather than later and didn�
�t want to risk you not seeing it on your phone. I hope I’m not bothering you.”
“Nope. I’m in between patients. What’s up?”
“I wanted to let you know I have to go out of town for a couple days—Laguna Beach—which means I won’t be able to see you tonight. I have to check out a potential new organic clothing line before I make a buying commitment,” she explained.
“Oh, that sucks. I was looking forward to seeing you.”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to see you as well, but if I don’t secure this deal, my competition will get it. I want it exclusively, but before I make that kind of an offer, I need to make sure it is worth it.”
“Are you going alone?” I asked.
She chuckled. “Yes. I have done this a few times in the past. Kali has to watch the store.”
“I can go with you,” I offered, imagining a nice getaway with her for a couple days.
“No. I couldn’t ask you to do that. It’s short notice. I don’t expect you to drop everything. I know you have a busy schedule. I just wanted to let you know. I’ll call you when I get back on Saturday. Maybe we can go out for dinner.”
“That sounds great. Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you? I can move my schedule around. I would love to spend the time with you,” I said, trying not to sound like I was begging.
“No. Thank you for offering, though. I’ll see you Saturday,” she said, hanging up the phone.
I was bummed. Really bummed. I missed her. It had only been a day since I had seen her last, but I missed her. Thinking about her being in another city made it feel as if I would never see her again. She would be less than eight hours away by car, but it felt too far. I mulled over the way I was feeling and had a sudden realization. I loved her. I didn’t know that I had ever stopped loving her. Being with her had made me fall in love all over again.
Oh, Brian was not going to be happy about that, but I didn’t care. This time was different. I loved her, and I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me it was wrong. It was too right to be wrong. I was going to try and do it the right way this time.
I grabbed my cell and called Brian.
“What?” he answered.
I chuckled. He was still a little pissed about the black eye, apparently. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“Want to grab a beer?”
“With you?”
“Yes, with me.”
“Not really.”
“Brian, pretend you’re an adult. We need to talk this out because I’m not going away this time,” I told him, not willing to take no for an answer.
“Fine, but if you even think about hitting me again, you best be prepared to get your ass kicked. You got a freebie. That’s it,” he said.
I laughed. “Agreed. No more fists. How about eight at the bar on the corner of Market?”
“I’ll be there,” he said and ended the call.
If I wanted a real relationship with Lara, I was going to have to figure out a way to get along with Brian. I couldn’t blame him for wanting to protect his little sister. Back then, I had been young, and we were heading off to college. It didn’t make what he did right, but I knew he loved his little sister and wanted to protect her. I admired that and appreciated knowing she had someone looking out for her.
With no possibility of seeing Lara tonight, I decided to focus my energy on work. I had been a bit of a daydreamer all week. I could use some focus, and that was what I did for the rest of the day and all day Friday. Although, I did sneak in some texts to Lara, and last night there had been some sexting. I was addicted to her and couldn’t go that long without having some kind of connection to her.
Friday was a bit hectic, and I found myself looking forward to the evening at the bar with Brian. I had been mulling over what I would say for hours.
I walked in and found he had beat me there. He was at a back corner table, already sipping a beer.
“I thought you were going to stand me up,” he grumbled when I sat down.
“Sorry. Got caught up at work.”
He nodded. “So, what’s all this about?”
“Always straight to the point. It’s about us mending the fence, burying the hatchet or whatever you want to call it. We were friends a long time. I get why you did what you did. It’s time to move past all that,” I said, hoping he would agree. I didn’t want to argue.
“Yeah, I’m cool with that. I probably deserved to get hit. If you hadn’t done it, Lara would have.”
I laughed, knowing he was right. “So, about Lara,” I started, wanting to ease into the subject.
He put a hand on his face. “Don’t tell me. You guys rekindled your relationship?”
“Yes,” I said with complete seriousness. “I don’t know how serious it is for her, but I am all in. I’m not going to leave her alone unless she asks me to. I need you to be okay with this or at least accept it and not butt in.”
He took a deep breath. “I guess it was inevitable. Good timing and all considering she just split from her husband.”
I nodded in agreement but didn’t mention how the timing wasn’t exactly great. Lara and I hadn’t talked about why she hadn’t told Brian about her desire to have a baby, and I was not going to dive into that conversation.
The waitress came by, and I ordered a beer for myself and another for Brian.
“What about you? Seeing anybody?”
The look on his face told me all I needed to know. I knew that look. It was the look of a man smitten.
“I am,” he said, smiling. “Here’s the kicker: It’s Kali.”
The name rang a bell, but I wasn’t sure why it was significant. “Who’s Kali?”
“Lara’s best friend. The assistant manager at her store.”
I almost choked on the beer I had just gulped. “What?”
He started laughing. “Yep. Kali says Lara knows and is okay with it.”
We both shared a laugh over that fact. “Wow. Did you meet her recently? Lara hasn’t told me a lot about Kali, but from what I understand, they’ve been friends a long time.”
He nodded. “I think I’ve met her in the past but never paid attention. Kali made sure I paid attention this time. It’s been a long time since I felt like this about a woman.”
“Good. I’m happy for you. I’m sure Lara is happy for you as well.”
“Yep. She’s a better person than I am. Always has been.”
“I love her,” I blurted out.
He took a long drink of his beer. I waited. Would he throw the bottle at me? Storm out? “Okay,” he said.
“Okay?” I repeated.
He shrugged his shoulders. “She’s a big girl. Hell, you can’t be any worse than Mitchel. Just don’t fuck her over or I will throw you in the bay with a couple cement block bracelets.”
I rolled my eyes. “Really?”
“She’s still my little sister.”
“I understand. I love her, and I would never hurt her.”
“Does she know?” he asked.
“Um, not so much. I only just figured it out for myself. I don’t want to freak her out. She’s still getting used to the idea of me. I don’t blame her for being a little leery of jumping into a relationship so soon after her divorce. I’m okay with that. I’ll wait until she’s ready.”
“Wow. That’s very—mature,” he said with a look of surprise.
I shrugged. “You know, we’re both pushing forty. I think mature is a good thing.”
“It is. I’m happy for you and her. I’m sorry I pushed you guys apart back then. Maybe you would have treated her right and kept her from going through what she did. I was wrong. I can admit it. In my defense, I was young and dumb.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad you approve. You’re the only family she has, and I don’t want to cause her any stress by coming between you and her,” I told him.
“Maybe we can double date,” he said with a cheesy smile. “No, scratch that. I’m not sure I’m ready
to see the two of you being affectionate. That may freak me out a little.”
“You never spent any time with her and her husband?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Mitchel didn’t like me, and I didn’t like him. I always thought he was a bit of a rat. Why I kept it to myself, I don’t know. She could have used my interfering with that one.”
“Oh well. It’s in the past. I’m here now, and I am going to treat her right and make her a very happy woman.”
In the back of my mind, the baby thing lurked. She could end up kicking me to the curb. She wanted a baby but didn’t want to share parenting. At least that was what she thought right now. I hoped she would change her mind. I would love to have a baby with her. That was another subject we would have to discuss. It seemed a little silly for her to be inseminated with another man’s sperm when I was more than willing to donate my own.
Brian motioned for the waitress. “Two more please.”
Our conversation switched to lighter topics, and we caught up a bit more on what we had been up to the past few years. I hoped it was the beginning of a solid friendship again. I had missed him and Lara.
It was the start of something new and I couldn’t be happier to have them both back in my life. Now I had to work hard to keep them there. I wasn’t sure how it would go down if Lara decided she didn’t want to be with me, but I would probably lose them both, again.
Chapter 21
Lara
I was wishing I’d taken Mason up on his offer to join me. I didn’t know what we were in terms of our relationship, if we could call it that, but being at the beach, staying in a beautiful room, and not worrying about what anyone who saw us thought would have been a fantasy come true. I wasn’t sure if Mason was a holding hands kind of guy, but I had a feeling he would do it if I asked.
Checking my phone, I looked to make sure I was at the right address. I was. I opened the door of the small shop and asked for the owner, then introduced myself.
“Good morning. I’m Lara McCall.”
The young lady who claimed to be the owner took me by surprise. “I’m Emma. Thank you so much for coming up here. I know it is usually the other way around, but I couldn’t make it work.”