Everything's Better With Kimberly

by Lucy Eden

  My body shuddered remembering the way it felt to be pressed against Adam with his lips on mine and his fingertips leaving trails of pure electricity as he explored my body. He must have felt me shiver because he tightened his grip on my hand.

  He paused for a moment as if he needed to gather his thoughts. “Listen, I know this sounds insane because twenty-four hours ago I didn’t know you existed, but now you’re all I can think about. When I held your hand, I felt something that I’ve never felt before. Did you feel it? I just need to know before I make a bigger ass of myself. Please tell me I’m not crazy.”

  Did I feel it? Of course, I felt it. It’s all I’ve felt since I heard Adam calling my name through the darkness that threatened to consume me on the plane. I felt it every time he looked at me or touched me. When we kissed last night, it was like I was blown apart and put back together. Everything thing about him was a bad idea, but there was no explaining that to my heart that sent little jolts of electricity coursing through my body every time Adam caressed the back of my hand with his thumb.

  “Princess?”

  Adam’s voice jolted me back to reality.

  “Am I crazy?”

  I reached for my fork again and his hand shot out and covered mine.

  “No,” he said. “No thinking. No analyzing. No stalling. Just tell me what you’re feeling, right now. Either way, I can take it. I just need to know. Am I crazy?”

  “No,” I said. “You’re not crazy.”

  seven

  Adam

  “You’re not crazy.”

  It was the most beautiful sound in the world. She felt it too. I knew she did, but I needed to hear her say the words.

  We ate the rest of our breakfast in silence between smiles and occasional glances. I kept my hand closed around hers, like I did on the plane. It was like a huge weight had been lifted. Nothing more needed to be said for the moment.

  When we finished eating, I led her from the table out to the deck. The air was still damp but the sun was shining. Fluffy white clouds littered the clear blue sky, making the view the second most beautiful thing about that balcony. I settled into one of the large lounge chairs, pulled her into my lap, wrapped my arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck, inhaling the scent of flowers and candy on her skin as we stared at our unobstructed view of the Atlantic Ocean.

  She let out a contented moan as my nose grazed the delicate skin behind her ear. The sound reverberated into my chest and my body immediately responded. I planted a small kiss on the space where her neck and shoulder met. I drew in a deep breath, trying to keep myself under control, and leaned back, tightening my grip on her waist.

  My whole body was responding to being molded around Kimberly’s slender frame. I wanted to peel her out of her clothes, plunge into her and forget everything else for as long as I could.

  She shifted against my erection and I let out an involuntary groan. She reached down and loosened my grip on her waist. She turned in the chair to face me.

  “Kimberly…” My voice was a faint whisper. I was afraid if I spoke too loudly it would break the spell. “This is a bad idea.”

  “I know, Adam Price,” she whispered. “ but I can’t figure you out. You feel so safe, but I know you have the power to hurt me. All of my instincts tell me to run away from you, but I can’t.” She tilted her head and seemed to be searching my face for the answer. “Why is that?”

  I didn’t answer her for three reasons. First, my name on her lips was like a song I never wanted to end. Secondly, I realized that while she was talking to me, she was also thinking out loud. Every time she paused before answering a question this is what was going on in that pretty little head of hers. She was weighing her options, carefully considering her next move. And lastly, I didn’t answer because I didn’t have one.

  Kimberly Simmons had turned my life upside down in the last twenty-four hours. There was no way this would end well.

  As if she were sensing my thoughts, Kimberly leaned forward, still kneeling between my thighs and cradled my cheeks while gently scratching my beard.

  “Adam,” she sighed. “You’re right. This can’t happen. I can’t be the woman that sleeps with her co-workers. You’ll get a pat on the back or, at the worst, a slap on the wrist, but your career will thrive. Meanwhile, if this goes badly, it would follow me around forever. I may never get an opportunity like this again. It could affect other women I work with, my boss for example. It’s just too important to screw around. ”

  Her words stung, particularly her use of the word screw, but I knew she was right. It was fucked up, but it was true. My thoughts drifted to Chloe, Renee and Nicole. I wondered how our trysts affected their careers. Chloe transferred to the London office, Renee moved to another firm and I heard Nicole resigned when she got married. Once I got promoted, I hardly thought about them, except Renee. I wouldn’t want anything holding Kimberly back, least of all me.

  “I know.” I wrapped my arms around her waist. “I just had to tell you how I felt.”

  “I feel the same way.” She leaned forward, laying her chest on mine and tucking her head under my chin. “But we can’t act on it.”

  “So what do we do?” I tightened my grip on her waist.

  “We behave like professionals until they find me a room that isn’t located on the surface of the sun and refrain from succumbing to our primal instincts.”

  “That’s a lot of SAT words, Princess.” She pushed off of me and sat up.

  “I’m not surprised that words like behave, refrain and professional seem like big words and foreign concepts to you.”

  “You make it difficult to behave, refrain and be professional when your lips are so kissable.” I gently tugged her forward and she leaned closer to me, our lips drawing closer together. Our brains were no longer in control of what our bodies were doing, and I wanted to take advantage of every second before common sense and reality began to close in on us. It didn’t take long.

  Kimberly’s watch chimed when she was millimeters away from my lips and she pulled away so quickly and with such force that she almost fell backwards off of the chair. I reached out and caught her.

  “Shit,” she whispered, and I couldn’t tell if it was in response to her near fall or our near kiss.

  “That’s my mom calling to video chat.” She climbed off of the chair and headed for the sliding glass door. “She’s probably worried about me after the storm.”

  She disappeared inside.

  I banged my head three times on the headrest of the lounge chair and groaned. I had to get it together fast.

  My own phone buzzed and I saw it was video chat from Nate, probably calling for the same reason.

  “Hey, big brother.”

  “Hey, little brother.”

  “Jesus Christ, you look like hell.”

  Nate’s eyes were bloodshot with dark circles. His hair looked like he hadn’t washed it in a week and he was sporting about three days of stubble. He was wearing a white tank top covered in pale yellow stains.

  “I haven’t slept or gotten laid in four weeks. What’s your excuse?”

  “Dimple!” A tiny hand came in from off-screen and slapped my brother in the chest. Abby squeezed herself into the frame holding my niece over her shoulder. Baby Aviva looked like a wrinkly potato with arms and legs. My brother’s wife looked just as exhausted as he did with her chestnut hair piled on top of her head but she was definitely more cheerful.

  “Hi Adam! How’s Barbados? Is Francis your driver? I asked Nate to request him, if he was available. Did you get hit by that storm? We were watching it on the news. Do you love the apartment? Which bedroom did you pick? We always sleep in the biggest one but the bedroom on the other side has a smaller private balcony and don’t forget to check out the roof deck—”

  “Angel,” Nate chuckled, kissing her.

  She grinned and blushed.

  I liked Abby a lot and I usually found their PDAs annoying. Today it just made me think about Kimberly.r />
  “What?” she countered. “You weren’t asking the important questions, and I don’t think Adam wants to know how long it’s been since we’ve had sex.”

  “She’s right, I don’t.” I agreed. “Hi, Abby. How’s my favorite niece?”

  “She’s amazing. It’s like her little face changes every day. Some days she looks like me. Some days she looks like Nate. She’s eating like a champ—”

  “She takes after her old man,” Nate said proudly.

  “— and gaining weight. It would be nice if she slept more, but we’re happy.”

  Nate didn’t seem to co-sign on the happiness until she planted a kiss on his cheek and he grinned at her. I cleared my throat.

  “Yeah, so Barbados is gorgeous. The apartment is great. I’m in the big room,” I worded the last one carefully because I hadn’t slept in or picked my bedroom. “We got hit by the storm but everything’s fine.”

  Shit. Did I just say we?

  Nate’s eyes narrowed. He caught it. I hurried on. “I haven’t had a chance to check out the roof yet but I definitely will. Francis is awesome. He knows a lot about the history of the island. It’s like having a tour guide every time w— I go out.” Abby caught that one. Her head tilted slightly like a puppy and she shot a look at Nate. I needed to get off the phone fast.

  “Hey, angel. Can I have a minute with my little brother?”

  Shit.

  “Of course. I think this little one needs a new diaper anyway. Bye, Adam. Have fun! See you when you get back.” She kissed Nate again and disappeared from the frame. I heard the door click. Nate’s face dropped and he fixed me with a serious look.

  “Who is she?”

  “Who?”

  “Cut the shit, Adam.” Hearing Kimberly’s words from last night come out of my brother’s mouth stung a little bit. “Is it a flight attendant? A bikini model? A member of the resort’s staff? Please don’t tell me it’s a member of the resort’s staff.”

  “You know, you’re a real fucking hypocrite and she’s a co-worker. Well, not a co-worker. She works for Wolfe and it’s not what you think.”

  “Are you really this stupid? Didn’t you learn your lesson about shitting where you eat?”

  “Is the guy who fucked half of the socialites and gold diggers in Manhattan before marrying a woman he bought a coffee shop to stalk dropping life lessons?”

  “I’m just telling you to be careful. And you are grossly over-simplifying mine and Abby’s relationship. I’m going to let it slide because I’m tired and glad a tropical storm didn’t sweep your dumb ass out to sea, but watch it. I’ll also remind you that any women I worked with were strictly off-limits.”

  “Like I said,” I gritted. “It’s not what you think.”

  “Have you slept with her?”

  “No.” I answered quickly.

  “Do you want to?”

  I opened my mouth, then closed it again.

  He sighed and nodded. “Listen, I hope you know what you’re doing. You’re smart, talented and you can do anything you want. You worked too hard to get to where you are. Don’t let a mistake fuck all that up.”

  “It’s not what you think.” That was all I could think to say in response. I wanted to explain to Nate what Kimberly meant to me. I think he’d be the only one to understand after all the shit we went through as kids, but I couldn’t even explain it to myself. This was compounded by the fact that he’s right. He knows it, I know it and Kimberly knows it, but for some reason it only made sense when she wasn’t close enough to wrap in my arms. When she’s near me, being with her is the only thing that makes sense.

  “You really care about this one, don’t you?”

  I didn’t answer him.

  “Don’t tell me it’s not what I think. I thought I had my life figured out until I met Abby. Nothing about being with her made sense, but it didn’t matter. When we were together, she became the only thing that did make sense.”

  My eyes snapped to the screen of my phone. What the fuck?

  “Sound familiar?”

  I didn’t answer. He nodded.

  “Look, I love Abby. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Once I had her, I held on tight and didn’t let go. I still haven’t. We went from zero to sixty in seconds and I don’t regret it, but if I had any advice to give you, it would be to protect her. Protect everything about her. Protect who she is and who she wants to be. I pulled Abby into my life so fast I’m surprised she didn’t get whiplash. There was a hole in my heart so big that I was terrified of swallowing her. I used to wonder if I had what it takes to love someone like Abby after the shit we went through. I was always afraid of hurting her.”

  Kimberly’s words echoed in my head, “You feel so safe, but I know you have the power to hurt me.”

  “I couldn’t even protect her from our father. I’m still learning. I have a lot of shit to work through, but I’m lucky to have someone so patient and strong. A lot of people might not be.”

  Something about the words protect her struck a nerve. Protecting her was what I have done since the moment I laid eyes on her. It wasn’t about sex; okay, it wasn’t just about sex. There was something special about Kimberly. I kept thinking about the way she took care of my stupid cut last night. It was such a small and simple gesture of affection that tugged at my heart in a way I’d never felt before. Maybe it was because it had been a long time since anyone had taken care of me. It was usually the other way around. I may have been the one protecting her, but the truth was, she was the one making me feel safe.

  eight

  Kimberly

  “Hi, Mom!”

  “Hey, Baby Girl! How ya doin’?” My mother smiled at me wearing a purple silk, hand-painted robe that I recognized from our family vacation to Japan. A yellow one was hanging in my closet at home.

  “I’m good.”

  “Well, you look well rested. How did you sleep?”

  “I slept…” I paused as a smile began to spread across my face that I couldn’t stop. “Just fine.”

  Mom narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “And the flight? You sent a text but it didn’t say much.” Either, Cole hadn’t spilled the beans or she’s fishing for information. Cole and I have been thick as thieves since we were toddlers. I doubt he told her anything.

  My smile faded and I took a deep breath. “I had a panic attack on the plane.”

  My mother tsked, her face filling with concern. A newspaper crinkled in the background, which meant my dad was nearby listening to our conversation.

  “But I’m fine now. Then my room reservation was messed up, but it worked out. Hi, Dad.”

  “Hey, peanut! I’m glad you made it to Barbados.” The camera shifted around to my father who grinned at me over The New York Times. It was Tuesday. I could use a nice Tuesday puzzle.

  “Did you fill the prescription Dr. Marquez gave you?” My mother leaned closer to her tablet. Her face filled the screen.

  I nodded.

  “And…”

  “I hate the way the pills make me feel. I honestly thought I’d be okay. I’d been practicing the breathing exercises and using the music—” I know my mother meant well, but her line of questioning was only making me feel worse. I’d already spent hours agonizing over all of the things that could’ve gone wrong if Adam hadn’t been there.

  “Kimberly, I’m so proud of you for trying to do it your own way, but you know there’s no shame in taking prescription medicine if you need it.”

  “I know that, Mom, and I would have, but I didn’t need to, not this time.”

  My mother pressed her lips together and nodded. She was summoning the strength not to launch a full interrogation, but she was clearly struggling.

  “How was the storm last night? I see it didn’t affect your sleep.”

  “Not too bad. I was really exhausted from the flight.”

  And all the drama after the flight.

  “I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me, but I won’t
push you.” She couldn’t hold it in, and she was hoping by mentioning it I would cave.

  Nope. Nice try, Dr. Simmons.

  “Good. Leave that girl alone.”

  Thank you, Dad, I thought to myself, smart enough not to say it out loud.

  “Hush, old man.”

  “You didn’t think I was an old man last night.”

  Oh, no.

  “I appreciate wisdom and experience.” My mother responded in a deep, sultry voice. My face twisted in disgust and Mom laughed at my expression.

  “Is that so?” My dad put his paper down and leaned close to her, aiming a kiss for her neck.

  “Hey! I’m still here.”

  They laughed.

  “Kimberly, what are your plans for today?”

  “Nothing much, just putting the finishing touches on my presentation.” I definitely wasn’t planning on kissing Adam Price until my lips fell off.

  “Good. One of my contacts at The Red Cross tells me they need help at a couple of storm shelters on the island’s West coast. Apparently, it got hit harder than the East coast, where you are, and there has been a lot of flooding and damaged homes. Do you think you have time to help out?”

  “Of course.” Mom knew how much I loved volunteering and this would be a welcome distraction while I waited for Cynthia to approve my report and a charitable escape from Adam’s giant, warm hands.

  “Good. I already told her you’d do it. You should be getting a call from her soon.”

  I laughed. Of course, she’d already told her I’d do it. “What’s going on with you, lady? Keeping busy?”

  “Always, but your father doesn’t have to be at court until three and I don’t have any in-office patients today, so I’m gonna let you go. But, Kimmy, we’re so proud of you and we love you. Take care of yourself, and call me when you’re ready to tell me what’s bothering you.”

  “Mom, nothing’s botheri—”

  “Beverly! Leave that child alone. Enjoy Barbados, baby. And if I don’t talk to you before your presentation, kick some ass. Let ‘em know the Simmons don’t come to play.”