by Eve Vaughn
She tried hard not to think about him too often, but the times when she wasn’t filling her hours with activity and pushing herself to the point of exhaustion, the memories of him came crashing back. One of her fondest moments of him was just before everything exploded with Mike.
Esther stared at the brownie sundae with five scoops of assorted ice cream, covered in hot fudge, caramel and strawberry sauce, sitting in front of Matthias. It put her single serving of mango sorbet to shame. “I don’t understand how you’ll be able to put all that away, especially after the meal we’ve just had.” She shook her head in awe.
“You’ve known me long enough to figure out I’m a man of voracious appetites.” With a wink, he dug his spoon into the sugary concoction.
A blush heated her cheeks as she caught his double entendre. “You’re so bad.”
“But I’m good at it.” He eyed her dessert. “Are you sure that’s all you want?”
“I doubt I’ll be able to finish it. All the food we ate tonight is ridiculous and I still can’t believe you’re going to eat that ridiculous amount of food. That looks like something they give you in a competitive eating contest. I still can’t figure out how you stay so fit and eat the way you do.”
“Intense work outs, running five miles a day and a high metabolism. Are you sure you don’t want to try some of this?” He pointed to his dish.
She held up her hands. “I’ll pass.” One of the things that she loved about Matthias was that he gave their dates actual thought. It was never just plain dinner and a movie, there was always a twist or a fun activity to go with it. Tonight he’d taken her on a three-course dinner date in different locations. Their first stop had been at a Mediterranean restaurant for tapas. Following that, he took her to a steakhouse where they enjoyed the most tender cuts of meat that had ever passed Esther’s lips. By the time they were finished with their meal, she was stuffed, but Matthias had insisted they get the full experience of their date, so he took her to an ice cream shop.
“Did you enjoy tonight?”
“You know I did. I’ve never been on a date quite like this before but then again, you always seemed to come up with fun things to do. And you’ve helped expand my palate. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d try snails and like it. But then again, I would imagine that anything tastes good in garlic butter.”
He grinned. “I should have gotten a picture of your face when you were trying them. You scrunched your nose and closed your eyes like a little kid eating vegetables. You were adorable.”
It still took some getting used to whenever he complimented her, but Esther realized when Matthias told her something it was sincere. It made her love him all the more. “Well, I’m glad the escargot was delicious, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been so adorable if I gagged on it.”
“You’d be cute even then.”
She smiled. “Now you’re pulling my leg, but I appreciate the compliment.”
“I really mean it. Whenever we’re together I find it hard to keep my hands to myself. Right now, I’m thinking about how that mango sorbet tastes on your lips.” He eyed her dessert and then stared at her lips.
A shiver of delight ran up Esther’s spine. Her panties were wet in an instant. Before she realized what was happening, Matthias stood up and slid over to her side of the booth, wedging her against the wall. He cupped her face and traced the shape of her lips with his tongue, lingering on the seam. “Open your mouth for me, sweetheart.”
With a soft sigh, Esther obeyed his command, receiving the urgent thrust of his tongue. He explored, tasted and dominated. And she let him, allowing herself to be lost in him. She pressed her breasts against his chest. Her nipples had hardened and were sensitive in response to his nearness. Her pussy throbbed with need and all she could think about what how good it felt to be in his arms.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and threaded her fingers through his dark hair. He tasted of sugar and red wine and she couldn’t get enough. Esther didn’t know how long the passionate kiss had gone on, but the next thing she knew, someone was loudly clearing their throat.
When they broke away, it was to see the proprietor of the shop standing over them with arms folded and lips pursed. “I’m going to need to ask the two of you to break it up and get a room if you must be obscene in my establishment. This is a family business and we just don’t do that here.”
Esther might have been embarrassed if Matthias hadn’t leaned over and whispered in her ear, “It, doesn’t look like she’s done it in years.”
Unable to help herself, she giggled.
“Anything funny?” the agitated woman demanded.
“No. We’re sorry. We got a little carried away.” She apologized, all the while Matthias’s hand was slowly inching up her thigh under the table.
Esther gripped his hand to stop his progress, but he would not be deterred.
The owner didn’t seem to notice. “Well, let’s see that it doesn’t happen again.”
Matthias slipped his fingers inside her waistband and found her clit.
“Nope!” Esther cried out louder than she meant to. “I mean it wouldn’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t,” the woman said before leaving them alone.
By now, Matthias had found his way to her wet center. She gripped the table to calm herself. “She could have seen us,” Esther whispered, hot and bothered.
“But she didn’t.” He worked his finger in and out of her until she was at the point of no return. She bit her lip hard, drawing blood to keep herself from crying out in ecstasy.
As she orgasmed right there in the middle of the ice cream shop where anyone with a discerning eye could figure out what was going on, Matthias pressed his lips against her neck. Slowly, he eased his hand from between her legs. He placed his finger, in his mouth. “I love ice cream, but this by far is my favorite flavor.”
Neither one of them finished their dessert. Instead, they went back to Matthias’s house and made love until they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
A tap on her car window brought her back to the present. She shook her head to dispel that memory. She didn’t have the luxury of focusing on what might have been.
Fiona stood by her car and waved. Esther smiled as she opened the door. “Fiona, you didn’t have to come out and greet me.” She stepped into friend’s embrace and they held each other tight.
It was so good to actually see her again. They’d kept in contact over the past few years. Fiona had even come to visit Esther a few times and helped her quite a bit in getting her business started. Fiona surprisingly had several connections who were able to give Esther opportunities that wouldn’t have been available to her if she didn’t know the right people.
Fiona pulled away and stared and smiled at her. “Well, I saw you pull up and you were sitting in the driveway for so long I figured I’d come out here and see what the holdup was.”
“I was just thinking of how good it is to be back here.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. Esther was happy to see Fiona again. She just omitted the part where she’d been thinking about the time Matthias had fingered her in an ice cream shop.
“Well, I’m glad to have you back for as long as you’re staying with me. I still don’t understand why you have to get a place of your own. My house is always open to you. It’s certainly more than big enough to accommodate the both of us and then some.”
“I know, and I really thank you for the offer, but now that I know what it’s truly like to be independent, I don’t want to go backward. But apartment hunting can take some time, so you’ll have me for a few weeks at least.”
“Well, I’ll certainly take what I can get.”
“And look at you” Fiona gave her the once over, “You looks like you’ve put on a little weight and you wear it well. Last time I saw you, you were skin and bones.”
“Since I travel quite a bit, it isn’t easy to eat healthy so fast food has been a way of life for me lately.”
&nbs
p; “I’ll remedy that. I’ll get you a nice home cooked meal.”
Esther raised her brows. “Wow, for as long as I’ve known you. I’ve only ever seen you bake the goods for your tea shop. You hate cooking otherwise.”
Fiona waved her hand dismissively. “I still don’t. There’s a new restaurant around the corner called Home Cooked. I was going to order something from there.”
Esther threw her head back and laughed. Fiona was something else. It definitely felt good to be back.
Later that night when Esther and Fiona had gotten all of her luggage out of the car and had eaten dinner, Esther and Fiona sat on the porch swing on the veranda, staring at the stars and enjoying each other’s company. “I’m so proud of you, Esther,” Fiona said breaking the comfortable silence.
Esther smiled. “Thank you. That really means a lot to hear you say that.”
“You’ve always been pretty talented with make-brushes. I can barely draw my eyebrows on right and there you go doing makeup on movie sets.”
“I’ve only done one film and it was by sheer luck that I landed that gig. A movie was filming in the area and one of the makeup artists got a terrible case of food poisoning and couldn’t fulfill their commitment. One of the actresses was a bridesmaid for a wedding I did the makeup for and she remembered me.”
“That’s still pretty amazing. The fact that the client recommended you says that you do good work. They could have called anyone to fill the spot, I’m sure.”
Esther grinned. “I think it had more to do with the fact that they were on a tight budget and they needed someone cheap and who was available on short notice. That person happened to be me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, kiddo. If you didn’t do good work, they wouldn’t have hired you.”
“Oh, I know my work is good and I’m learning new techniques every day. I just don’t want to make the story more exciting than it actually was.”
“Regardless, that’s still amazing. What are you working on next?”
“I’ll be working for a local production company. They mainly film commercials and small television projects. In the meantime, I’m still doing the legwork to get my makeup line up and running. It’s a lot more work than I anticipated but I’m up for the challenge.”
“What does it all entail?”
“Market research, working with chemists to develop products that work for different skin types and finding investors to name a few things. With the popularity of subscription boxes, I’m leaning toward that route to help grow my business.”
“Wow,” Fiona smiled, the pride shining in her eyes. “You’ve come a long way, dear.”
“I have. I could have never imagined me here, three years ago. Thank you for being there for me.”
Fiona placed her hand on Esther’s knee. “You’re like the daughter I never had. You know, I see a lot of myself in you. My first husband Tommy was a lousy piece of shit as well. I’d barely graduated high school when he came along with his leather jacket and motorcycle. I came from a traditional family where my mom made sure dinner was on the table at a certain time and all of us kids minded our manners and went to church every Sunday. She devoted her life to her husband and children and didn’t have much of a life for herself. I didn’t want to be her so when Tommy came along, he represented freedom to me. He swept me off my feet and then he knocked me up. Back then unwed mothers were heavily frowned upon so Tommy did the right thing. Sold his motorcycle and bought me a ring. A few months into our marriage, I miscarried. Even before that happened, it was clear that neither us had no business being married. He’d cheat, we’d argue and then he’d pop me. Eventually, he left doing us both a favor.”
Esther was surprised to hear this. Fiona often talked about her ex-husbands but she never really went into this much detail about them and she’d never mention losing a child. “Fiona, I’m so sorry about your baby. That must have been hard.”
The redhead nodded. “It was in the beginning. But eventually, I saw it as a blessing in disguise. I would have been a shit mother. Anyway, when I was with Tommy, I was a bit of a lost soul and maybe I recognized that in you when we first met. Because I was so scared of being hurt again, I ended up getting married over and over again to men I don’t think I ever really loved. Don’t get me wrong, I was quite fond of them but all that passionate, once-in-a-lifetime type of love just wasn’t in the cards for me, mainly because I was too scared to take the risk.”
Esther felt there was a message somewhere in those words and she wasn’t exactly sure where this conversation was heading. “I’m glad that you’re sharing this with me, Fiona, but what exactly are you getting at.”
“While I think it’s great what you’re doing on a professional level, don’t let it stand in the way of your personal life. You’re not quite 30—”
“I will be in a few months.”
“That’s still young, my dear. Plenty of time for romance. Don’t let your past keep you from finding the happiness you deserve.”
“But I am happy, Fiona. My dreams are coming true. I’m independent and my business is taking off. I don’t have time for love nor am I interested.”
“Not even with Matthias?”
Esther stiffened at the mention of his name. She didn’t want to think about him because he probably still hated her guts. “Not even with him. We didn’t exactly part on the best terms.”
“What if I told you he came by the shop the other day and is interested in seeing you again?”
Esther hopped off the swing and stood up. “Then I’d tell you, my time with him was pleasant but it’s best if I left what we had in the past. Look, I’m pretty tired after my long drive. I’m going to bed.”
“Esther, don’t walk away like this. Aren’t you at least interested in having a conversation with him? Don’t you think he deserves at least that?”
“I’m guessing you already told him enough.”
“Not everything, I thought you should be able to tell your own story.”
“Then you shouldn’t have told him anything. I’m sure you meant well, but just let it go.”
Fiona opened her mouth to say something but Esther held up her hand to stop her.
“Goodnight, Fiona.” Esther then walked back into the house, leaving her friend alone on the veranda.
Chapter Ten
Matthias raised his head sharply when Chris walked into his office without knocking on the closed door. Usually, Matthias didn’t mind his business partner and friend stopping by but he was in no mood to be disturbed today. It was hard enough for him to concentrate without distractions. “Heard of knocking?” he asked, not bothering to hide the irritation from his voice.
Chris seemed unperturbed and took a seat in front of Matthias’s desk. “What’s got you in a funk, my friend? You’ve been cranky all week, snapping at everyone. You even made Tiffany cry. She told me that she’s not coming to your office again until you take the stick out of your ass. What’s got her so upset?”
“Just because you’re fucking my assistant, it doesn’t mean you get to walk into my office uninvited to play Knight in Shining Armor.”
“Whoa! Hold up dude, Tiffany is my girlfriend. She’s not just someone I’m fucking and I swear to God if you say another derogatory word about her, I’ll kick your ass.”
Matthias was unimpressed with Chris’s rant. “So pointing out the fact that you two are fucking is derogatory? Duly noted. So you can either tell me what you want or you can see yourself out of my office.”
Chris turned bright red. “What the fuck has gotten into you? You’ve been a major asshole for the past week. I try to stay out of your personal issues but your foul mood is starting to affect productivity in the office. Our staff has been walking on eggshells. Tiffany is a nervous wreck because you keep snapping at her. And at the presentation, you sent a little old lady away in tears.”
“The idea was stupid and I honestly don’t know how it got so far up the chain. The associate who brought that shit
to me is lucky they still have a job. Fashion for fucking cats?”
“It was called Kitty Kat Kouture, and she was going for the cat lady market,” Chris pointed out.
“Right, and maybe if she would have given it some thought, you would have realized the acronym of her business would have been KKK. Not something I’m looking to invest in.”
“Maybe not, but you didn’t have to eviscerate her idea the way you did. You could have let the old lady down gently.”
Matthias leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh, annoyed with this conversation. “As I’ve already said, if you’ve come in here just to scold me, it’s been duly noted. I’ll try to be more cognizant of people’s feelings. Thanks for the talk. If that will be all, I’ve got a ton of work.”
“What the hell happened to you man?” Chris spoke the words softly but the concern was evident in his tone.
“Nothing.”
“Something is, or else you wouldn’t be acting like such a douche. This isn’t like you. I’m not coming to you as your business partner, I’m coming to you as a friend. You haven’t been yourself in a long time and I’m not just talking about in the last week. In the last few years, your personality changed. You started working 18-hour days and pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion.
“There were days when I’d come to the office and find you in the same clothes you’d worn the day before because you’d never left. At first, I selfishly didn’t say anything because the business took off like a rocket ship. You singlehandedly made us a million dollar corporation within a year. That’s no easy feat. But then I had to force you to take some time off and while you did, I noticed you didn’t smile like you used to. You were always tense. Every time I would ask if everything was all right, you said everything is okay. I backed off and eventually, you mellowed out. And then I saw a side of you I haven’t seen since college: the womanizer. I couldn’t keep up with all the different women you were seeing from week to week. But now this new personality has emerged: the asshole, and I gotta say it’s my least favorite side of you.
