by Shayne Ford
I smile.
“Mmm-hmm. I can’t complain.”
He studies me for a moment as he tilts his glass back.
“How’s she doing?”
“Good. Adjusting.”
“She likes her job?”
“Yeah.” I grin at a private thought. “She gets jealous once in a while.”
“That comes with the territory. She’ll calm down in time,” he mutters. “How come she doesn’t want to move in with you?”
“She wants to be independent,” I say, smiling.
“What’s funny?”
“Her. Struggling with her own decisions. I let her. It’s fun watching her.”
“Do you want her here?”
“Of course I do, but she cares about appearances. That’s one thing. And then, she’d probably feel trapped in a place like this.”
“Why would she?”
I shrug, although I do have a pretty good idea.
“I don’t think she wants all this...” I say, motioning to my place.
“Money?”
“It’s not about money. I talked to her a lot in London. She had this dream to travel. Perhaps from when she was younger. Wanderlust. I don’t know. It seems to be more than that. She worked hard to put herself through college, and she’s good at what she does, but her heart is somewhere else.”
He studies me for a moment.
“No, no...” I say, answering a question he doesn’t have the chance to ask. “It doesn’t change the way she feels about me. In fact, I’m probably one of the things that keep her rooted to this place. But she’s young...” I say and smile. “Sometimes I look at her and see myself in her. I wish I still had her innocence when I was that young. She, on the other hand, still has it. That fresh view on life. She sees the depth of things where most people see nothing. She feels them with all her heart. She’s longing for more of it... more of that world, but she’s already set on a different path. And I know how these things work. In time, her longing will get buried beneath a good chunk of daily life, and it will eventually turn to nothing. A faint memory. Perhaps not even that. Once it fades away, she’ll not even remember her dream. And then her heart will slowly die.”
A few moments of silence slip between us. He swallows the last drops of his drink and sets the glass on the table.
“If there’s anyone who can make her dream come true, that’s you, Lex...” he says, searching my eyes. “Besides, you will need her heart for a very long time. Think about it. Other people can run your business, but there aren’t that many women you can love.”
Silence falls over his words, both of us watching the fire.
Half an hour later, James climbs into his ride and smoothly pulls away from the front of my house.
I take a shower, run a towel over my body and pull on a different set of clothes, trading the suit for a pair of jeans, boots and a jacket.
It takes me thirty minutes to reach Dahlia’s place. I park my car not far from her building and walk to the entrance.
The cold wind scrapes my face. I was right. Winter is just around the corner.
I knock on the door.
Her voice travels to me.
“Coming.”
She swings the door open for me and wraps her arms around me, her eyes a cascade of light. She molds her lips on mine.
I smell like winter. She tastes like summer. A mix of mint and strawberries.
Taking my hand, she pulls me in.
It’s warm inside and smells like freshly cooked food.
“You want to go out?” I ask.
“Yes. Give me a minute.”
“Take your time.”
I follow her down the corridor as she dashes to her room. Elsa’s voice echoes behind another door.
Within minutes, Dahlia is ready, and we both walk out of her bedroom.
Another door swings open.
“I want to see him.”
That’s Junior voice. He sounds frustrated.
“Leave him alone. He doesn’t have time for you,” Elsa says. “Hi, Lex,” she mutters with a different voice while fighting to keep Connor out of my sight.
He waves at me over her shoulder.
“Hi, man.”
The kid is relentless. I love that about him. He likes me, no doubt about it. And I like him too.
“Hi, Connor.”
I stride his way. Elsa has no choice but to give him access to me.
His girlfriend’s eyes widen with surprise as he gives me a fist bump and we briefly hug as I pat him on his back.
“It’s gonna rain tonight, man,” he says with his soft voice, giving me a small smile.
“Stop harassing him, Connor. He’s not going to spend the evening here so you could have company,” Elsa says, smiling. “He’s driving me crazy. All day long he talks about you,” she says apologetically to me.
Behind her back, he quirks his eyebrows and rolls his eyes.
“I saw that Connor,” Elsa says, without looking at him.
Women.
The grin on my lips must have given him away.
“You could spend some time with us,” Connor says, and for a moment you can hear a pin drop.
Elsa’s smile freezes on her lips. Dahlia looks at me, waiting. Connor’s still smiling, hopeful.
Elsa is the first one to thaw.
“Don’t mind him. He just likes to blabber,” she says about her boyfriend.
She finally spins to him and pushes him back into the living room.
“He has better things to do than waste time with you, Connor,” she says chidingly, a trace of humor in her voice.
I glance at Dahlia.
“We can stay if you want to...” she says softly, and I smile. “We have food,” she adds.
I wrap an arm around her shoulders and kiss her on her hair.
“You could’ve asked me,” I say, smiling.
“I didn’t think you’d want to,” she says sincerely.
I laugh.
“You don’t know much about me, do you?”
She shrugs.
“I don’t mind spending time with your sister and her boyfriend.”
Her face lights up.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah... I’m damn sure.”
“Okay. Then Elsa and I can set the table,” she says, peeling her jacket off.
She cracks the door to the living room open.
“Connor, this is your lucky night,” she says as she motions to her sister to follow her in the kitchen.
As Elsa pulls away, Dahlia locks her arms around my neck and gives me a smooth kiss.
“I love you, baby,” she murmurs against my lips, and as she pulls away from me, a new sensation hovers over me, that my whole life begins shifting.
LEX
These past weeks since she’s back, we almost never spent time at home with Elsa and Connor.
We always ate out and spent time at my place. I wanted to let Dahlia adjust to me and find her way so that she can be comfortable with me. I didn’t want to push things.
This strategy worked in the past. And it works now.
Junior was right.
It’s not as if I didn’t know what he said to me a while back. It’s just that I never had the chance to find that kind of woman until now.
It wasn’t only her who needed to adjust.
The truth is, I grew up with chefs, and catering crews, and later on eating in restaurants.
My place was nothing more than space where I changed clothes and slept. Even before my mom left, it wasn’t much different.
As a teenager, I instinctively wanted to spend time with James and Ed. It was only natural, I thought. Perhaps it was. It was also easier to forget I no longer had my father.
Later on, life pulled me into a swirl, and my home became less of choice when it came to spending time. I wanted James and Ed more than anything else, and we were out most of the time, the people surrounding us, providing the noise and the excitement we all needed. Our l
ives were more or less a rollercoaster, and there was no danger we’d put roots down.
Rain changed that for James.
And now, Dahlia is doing the same to me.
And I don’t mind it. Not a fucking bit.
Connor and I settle in the living room while Dahlia and Elsa cook a few more dishes for dinner.
Connor is beyond himself. He uses the opportunity to show me a side project he’s been working on. An application he has developed on his own. Not his regular work.
I always knew he was talented. I could also tell there weren’t that many people he could talk to, and even less paid attention to him.
Chatting with him, I learn that he and his brother grew up with their grandparents. As soon as his brother hit eighteen, they moved out.
His brother was never close to him, and I can think of a host of explanations, but I suspect he wanted to protect himself.
He didn’t want to carry the responsibility of his little brother as much as he didn’t want to grow up without his parents.
At that age, it’s hard to understand love and affection, let alone how fundamental it is to another human being.
Connor grew up starved for it, and that’s what made him look for women’s affection early on. And that’s what made him smart about them too.
It’s just another way of surviving.
The only thing he misses is a man in his life. And that pretty much explains why he’s so taken with me.
“Did you show this to anyone else?” I ask as he flips his laptop closed.
“No. Only you, man. Elsa doesn’t care, and I can’t show it to my boss. He’d steal my idea,” he says, and I’m touched by the trust he shows to me.
“It’s good,” I say.
“It needs a few more tweaks. And I have to run it and see if it works. Perhaps fix the bugs. That’s all there is for now,” he says, pushing the laptop to the side. “I’m hoping to make some money with it.”
I study him for a moment.
“What about we do this,” I say, and he looks at me. “Monday morning you come to my office.”
A small smile tilts his lips.
“Yes.”
“And we run it by our Developers Team. And then we register it to your name. And as soon as it’s ready for the market, I’ll back you up, and you can give it a go.”
His lips part in surprise.
“Are you serious, man?”
“I sure am.”
He leaps out of his chair, and I barely have the time to rise to my feet as he wraps his arms around me.
“Thank you,” he says, his face flushed and his voice brimming with emotion. “Thank you so much. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with this,” he says as we sink back into our chairs
The door opens, and Dahlia sticks her head in.
Smiling she swings her eyes back and forth between him and me.
“Have you two bonded enough?” she asks. “Dinner is ready,” she announces without waiting for an answer.
I motion Connor to the kitchen. He follows me in a trance, his eyes still sparkling with contentment.
We spend an hour or so eating dinner and talking and laughing.
Dahlia grins ear to ear, from time to time squeezing my hand under the table.
“Do you want more dessert?” Dahlia asks Connor who shakes his head.
“No, thanks. I want to keep myself slim for her,” he says, winking at Elsa.
“Connor?” she chides him, red to her hairline.
Soon they retreat to her room while Dahlia and I remain alone.
18
DAHLIA
Life can’t get better than this.
“Did you have fun tonight?” I ask him.
He closes his arms around me. His back sinks into a pillow as I cuddle against his chest.
“Yes. You?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“I never thought I’d see you in my kitchen having dinner with us.”
He stays quiet. I raise my gaze to him.
“Why’s that?” he finally asks.
“I couldn’t envision you in a place other than this,” I say motioning to his beautiful home.
He laughs softly.
“You think I’m a snob?”
“No, no. It’s just that I didn’t think you’d like it...”
“You mean the simple life?” he asks, grinning.
“Yes.”
“But you do.”
“Yes.”
“What makes you think I wouldn’t like something that makes you happy?”
I shift my gaze to him again and kiss his lips.
“I love to hear that, but I don’t want you to like it solely because of me.”
He lets out a soft chuckle.
“I didn’t say that. Besides, I liked Elsa even before I met you,” he says, smiling slyly.
Grinning, I waggle my finger at him.
“And I like the kid too,” he says, shifting gears.
“He adores you,” I say.
And it’s the truth.
Connor has been smitten with Lex since he met him the first time.
“I know,” Lex says. “He looks for a natural ally. He must be overwhelmed by the presence of two women.”
I glance up again. He smiles.
“He likes it.”
“I bet he does.”
“They’re looking for a place to move,” I say.
“What about you?”
He quirks an eyebrow, waiting for my response.
I ponder. We’ve already discussed this.
I tear my gaze away from his eyes and look around. The fireplace carved in the wall casts a glow around the room. His bedroom is tastefully decorated, oozing masculinity and comfort at the same time. Tones of white, brown and black merge into a canvas of elegance.
“I love your home,” I murmur, rolling my gaze back to him. “But it’s intimidating. I don’t know what the future will bring to us, but I’m not ready to live in a place like this right now.”
He studies me for a few moments, staying quiet.
“Have I screwed it up?” I ask, sincerely worried.
He clicks his tongue while shaking his head.
“I didn’t expect you to say yes. My home is not what I had in mind. Not now anyway...” he says, grinning mysteriously.
“What did you have in mind then?”
“You’ll know when the time is right,” he says.
“When would that be?”
“It’s not up to me. It’s really up to you,” he says, and I shift my position and roll on top of him.
His arms drape around me, my naked body melting in his heat. Slowly, I fan my fingers over his face and start stroking his cheek as I plant kisses down his neck.
His grip tightens on me, his body tensing. His erection stirs and then his hands lift my butt, slowly sliding me onto him.
My lips part with a quiet gasp.
“Good?” he mutters, giving me a cocky smile.
“You’re perfect,” I say, tossing a flirting grin back to him.
We kiss, and then I slowly start to roll my hips, grinding.
I look deep into his eyes.
“You know I started to love you that first day when I meet with you for that job interview,” I mutter.
His smile still clings to his lips, a nostalgic look sliding over his face.
“Yes, I know.”
“You didn’t think much of me,” I say.
“I couldn’t read much of you.”
He pauses. I wait.
“I liked you the very moment I saw you too, but my first thought was that you weren’t ready.”
“For the job?”
“To love someone,” he says, serious. “I knew you could do the job. That was a no brainer. Everything else was me being difficult.”
I breathe out a soft chuckle.
“Testing me?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he says, and slowly wraps me in his arms around me.
He rolls with me, burying me u
nder his body. He starts moving, ramming heat through my blood. And then he kisses me softly, giving me the best of both worlds. Passion and tenderness.
“You know you are the first man I’ve ever loved, and chances are, I’ll never love the same way I love you,” I murmur, my voice fraying at the edges.
The words fall from my lips, warm tears rolling off my lashes. He kisses them away.
“Don’t worry, baby. You won’t need to love anyone else,” he says and locks my lips.
LEX
Flurries of snow start dancing next to the wall of glass as I stride down the hallway to my office Monday morning. It’s warm inside and smells like coffee.
A smile crawls up on my lips.
“Having a great morning, Sir?” Sheila asks, catching up with me and registering my grin.
“Yeah. You can say that.”
I feel damn good, and nothing seems to faze me. Not the gray clouds heavy with snow, and not the long day of work ahead of me.
Sheila rushes to swing the office door open when the phone starts ringing.
I step inside.
“Hey, James.”
“Just checking on you, man. Haven’t heard from you this weekend.”
“I’m fine,” I say, grinning.
He laughs wolfishly.
“Was it that good?”
“Mmm-hmm... It fucking was.”
“Good for you, brother... Listen. Rain wants to know if the week before Christmas works for you and Dahlia.”
“Yeah, it does.”
“Good. The invitations go out soon. Everything good otherwise?”
“Couldn't be better.”
“We’ll talk later then.”
He hangs up, and I slide my phone onto the desk.
Sheila locks my eyes.
“Espresso?”
I nod.
“Schedule?” I ask.
“You have two meetings back to back at ten o’clock and eleven o’clock. Ed Preston will be here around noon as you requested. At two o’clock you are scheduled to speak in the conference room. It’s the Account Executives monthly meeting. The last batch of new hires is part of it as well. And these are for you to sign off on,” she says, plopping a stack of files on my desk.
I purse my lips.
“Make the espresso double.”
“Okay, Sir,” she says, spinning toward the door.
She cracks the door open.
“Oh, one more thing, Sir. I almost forgot.”
