by Jamie Pope
“I know you’ll pass.”
“You sound so sure.”
“I am sure.” She kissed him softly. “I know you.”
He nodded. He was starting to think she was the only one who did.
* * *
A few mornings later Virginia’s cell phone rang. She looked at it on her nightstand and sighed. It was after 7:00 a.m. and she should probably be up already, but Carlos still lay there, sleeping. His arm was wrapped protectively around her, his face buried in the back of her neck. She had never slept like this with another man before. She liked her space, but she didn’t mind the closeness with Carlos. In fact, it was hard to get up in the mornings because she knew it was going to be a long time before she could crawl back into bed with him.
His hand moved beneath her nightgown and cupped her behind. “You going to answer that?” His deep voice was rumbly, sleepy, sexy. She was immediately turned on.
“You going to give me a reason to ignore it?”
His hand curved over her breast as the phone stopped ringing. He lightly pinched her nipple, causing a tiny bit of pain. He shifted himself and she could feel his erection pressed against her backside.
“Yes.” He hiked up her nightgown and touched her between her legs. “I’ll give you multiple reasons if you let me.”
“Mmm,” she moaned, as he stroked her to complete arousal, but then her phone rang again. And she placed her hand over his, causing him to stop. “Maybe I should just see who it is.”
“Okay,” he said with a heavy sigh.
She reached for her phone, seeing that it was Willa calling. Willa never called this early. “I’ve got to take this.” She answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey, girl. Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Why?”
Carlos rose over her with a mischievous look in his eyes and pulled down the straps of her nightgown, revealing her breasts. She tried to swat at him, but he caught her hand and pinned it behind her head.
“I haven’t heard from you in weeks, that’s why!”
“What are you talking about? I email you every day.” Carlos bent his head and flicked his tongue across her nipple, which caused her to lose her train of thought for a moment. “I—I texted you last night before I went to bed. Why are you up so early anyway? I don’t usually get you before noon.”
“I haven’t gone to bed yet. Stayed up all night writing. Had a breakthrough on the book. Now back to you. I wanted to hear your voice. We haven’t spoken in forever. I wanted to make sure that that baseball player you’re working for doesn’t have you locked up in a basement somewhere, making the rest of us think you’re alive by sending emails from your account.”
Carlos pulled her nipple into his mouth, lightly sucking on it in a way that always drove her wild. “Stop,” she hissed at him, but he ignored her. It felt too good. It was making her forget her thoughts.
“Virginia!”
“What? Sorry. You need to stop thinking that everyone is a serial killer. I’m fine.”
“So this Bradley guy is treating you okay?”
He switched breasts, laving her, turning her on to the point she almost dropped the phone. She smacked the back of his head. “This Bradley guy is a pain in my behind, but probably one of the better clients I’ve had.”
“So spill it. Tell me all about him. Tell me the dirt.”
“Yeah,” he whispered before he gave her a short but scorching kiss. “Tell her all the dirt.”
“What dirt?” she asked both of them.
“Does he have a parade of panty-dropping women going through there? Is he a drinker? A gambler? Does he refer to himself in the third person?”
“What? No.”
“Tell me something about him,” Willa said sounding frustrated. “Your emails have been very unforthcoming about him.”
Carlos positioned himself between her legs and wrapped her thighs around him. He was pressed against her opening and she was throbbing, ready for his invasion.
“Can I call you back later?”
“Why can’t you talk to me about him now?”
“Because he’s right here, Wils.”
“I’m right here,” he whispered in her ear, and he rubbed his length against her. “I’m right here waiting to bury myself inside you.” He pulled her lobe between his teeth and she had to bite her lips to suppress a moan.
“Right there?” Willa asked. “It’s seven fifteen in the morning. He’s with you?” She was quiet for a moment. “Virginia Rose Andersen! He’s in your bed, isn’t he? You little hussy.”
“Shut up!”
Carlos took the phone from her. “Hello, Willa. Virginia is going to have to call you back later. I’m sure she’ll tell you everything.” He hung up and tossed her phone aside.
“Did you just hang up on my best friend?”
“Yes.” He kissed her, sucking her tongue into his mouth in a kiss so heated it almost brought her to the edge. “Apologize for me later.” He started the slow slide inside her and it felt different, more intense, and she couldn’t help but cry out. And she couldn’t help but to admit that she was starting to fall in love with him.
* * *
Carlos walked out onto his patio with a blanket in his hands. It never really got cold on the small island even in mid-November, but he had been chilly the past few days. Virginia had been sitting outside on the patio for the past hour. She had taken to finishing up her work out there. Probably to get away from the noise of the workmen.
He found her sitting on the outdoor sofa, her laptop on her thighs, catalogs plastered with sticky notes on the coffee table before her. “I thought you might be cold.” He wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and saw that she was looking at flights on her computer.
His chest felt tight for a moment, but he tried to ignore the feeling as he sat down beside her.
“Thank you for the blanket. I was going to go in but I like sitting out here.”
“You’re welcome.” He motioned to her computer screen. “You going somewhere?”
“Yeah. I’m going home.”
He fell silent for a moment. He’d known this would end eventually, but he hadn’t been expecting it to end now, not yet. “You’re quitting on me?”
She blinked at him. “The house is not done yet. I’ve never quit in the middle of a job.”
“Then, why are you going home?”
“For Thanksgiving. My brother got off from work. My father isn’t traveling. My family is all going to be there for the first time in a few years.”
“Oh. Of course.” That made sense. Of course she was going home to see her family. He didn’t know why he didn’t think of it before. He knew the holiday was just around the corner. He’d just talked about it with Elias. His brother had mentioned he would be working a double shift that day.
He hadn’t thought the idea of Virginia leaving him would shake him so much. She was his friend, somebody he really enjoyed being with, but she was still his decorator. She was really there just to do a job. She was going to go home when she was done and he would go on with his life.
He’d known going in that they were temporary.
Hadn’t he?
Maybe after she was done he would go back to Miami, too. Get on with his life. He had been comfortable here, hidden away with her. But maybe he was too comfortable. Maybe he was healed enough. Maybe it was time he reconnected with the man he used to be.
“What’s wrong?” She set her hand on his knee.
“Nothing,” he said, meaning to be truthful, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her what was going on in his mind.
* * *
Carlos’s twin siblings had arrived unexpectedly for a visit. Virginia had been barefoot when she answered the door, her hair standing wildly all
over her head, blue spray paint from the bookshelf she was refurbishing on her clothes and skin. Having met Elias before, she was only a little self-conscious to be seen looking like a big hot mess. It was his baby sister, Ava, who made her feel out of place.
Ava was an exotic stunner. A knockout by anyone’s standards, with big dark eyes, long black hair, beautiful bronze-colored skin and a slender but curvy figure that most women would kill for. She was dressed to the nines in a designer shift dress and shoes.
And was sporting one of the biggest diamonds Virginia had ever seen. It was no wonder Carlos wanted the house redone for her wedding. She looked as though she was the type of woman who wouldn’t settle for anything less than perfection.
“I’ve got freshly made strawberry lemonade,” Virginia told the twins as she led them to the kitchen. “We have hummus and crackers, and a little bit of chicken salad left.”
“Virginia.” Elias wrapped his arm around her. “Always the hostess. You don’t have to go out of your way for us. My brother will probably throw a piece of meat on the floor and make us fight over it.”
“Not while I’m here, he won’t. When I finish this job, it might be another story. Please sit.” She motioned to the island’s stools. “You can have something to drink while I go see where Carlos is. Is he expecting you?”
“No,” they both said in unison.
“We always just show up to check on him,” Ava said.
“Does he need checking up on?” Virginia poured them icy glasses of lemonade.
“I think so,” Ava said, taking a sip and looking at Virginia over the glass as if sizing her up. “Elias doesn’t. He said now that you’re here we are relieved of duty, but I told him you’re the interior designer, not his caretaker. Though judging by the way you keep the fridge stocked, I think you were well needed. This lemonade is amazing, by the way.”
“What are you two doing here?” Carlos came into the room with a textbook in hand. He had a big exam coming up and he had been studying for days. She was really proud of him. It took a lot of bravery to go back to school almost twenty years since he’d last seen a classroom. She wasn’t sure she could take it. But he was doing well and treating it as seriously as he did baseball.
“We came to see you. You never come to see us,” Ava said, getting up to hug him.
“I shouldn’t have to come see you. I bought the town house you live in and the car you drive. The least you could do is come see me.” He tossed his textbook down on the counter and hugged his sister back.
“I’m not complaining,” Elias said. “I came to see Virginia anyway. I was hoping she had some of those cookies she made the last time I was here.” He picked up the book Carlos had just set down. “Understanding Change in the Social World?” Elias looked up at him. “What is this?”
Carlos looked at him as if he didn’t know what to say. Virginia was surprised that he hadn’t told his family he had gone back to school.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“This is a textbook.” Elias narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t be walking around with this for no reason.”
“He’s taking a couple of classes,” Virginia said.
“Virginia, don’t.”
“Why?” She walked around the counter and touched his arm. “There’s no shame in that.”
“You’re taking classes? Like college classes? And getting graded? Why the hell would you do that?” Elias asked.
Carlos shot Virginia a look and she knew he wasn’t happy that she’d told, but she didn’t understand why. “Why did you want to become a surgeon?” she asked Elias.
“To help people, but, Carlos...”
“You could have helped people by being a teacher or a social worker or feeding people in a homeless shelter. If you’d hated school and education you would have never become a surgeon. Have you considered that maybe your brother wants to learn a little more?”
“Nope.” Elias shook his head. “Carlos has everything a man could want or need. And he’s going back to play baseball. Most people get a degree so they can get a good job and lead a comfortable life. I don’t see why a man who is doing what he loves needs to go back to school. It’s a waste of time and money.”
“And I don’t see why you just can’t be supportive. If he bought a hundred-thousand-dollar car you would be supportive. Why not with this?”
“Look.” Elias raised his hands in a defensive posture. “I’m not being unsupportive. Carlos can do whatever he wants to do. I just don’t see the point.”
“You are being unsupportive because instead of saying ‘that’s great’ and ‘I’m proud of you,’ you questioned him.”
“That’s enough!” Carlos slammed his fist down on the counter. “Both of you. I’ll go back to school if I want to, Eli. You always act so damn superior to everyone because you’re going to be a surgeon, but you aren’t the only one in the family who has any brains.”
“I know. I...”
“Shut up,” Carlos snapped. “I paid for your schooling. Your books. Your supplies. Obviously I value education, because if I didn’t, you would be like millions of other people with student debt loan so high that you’d never be able to climb out of it.”
“I know,” Elias said, subdued. “I’m grateful for it.”
“You damn well better be, and you better know it’s not your place to question what I do with my time or my money.” Carlos looked at Virginia. “I need to speak to you in private.” He walked out of the room not waiting for her response.
She followed him into the great room and looked into his angry face.
“I’m—”
“You’re not talking now. I am. It wasn’t your business or your place to tell them that I was going back to school. It was mine.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s nothing shameful. It’s a good thing and I’m proud of you.”
“But it’s my family and my business and you need to remember your place in it.”
Her place.
It stung to hear that. But it was true. She had forgotten that she was just an employee to him. That he was paying her for her services. The “going to bed with him every night and waking up with him every morning” thing must have scrambled her brains. Made her think that she was more to him than a warm body to have sex with.
She’d been fooled into thinking that she was more than an employee, more than a friend. But how quickly that changed when she got into his business.
“I’m sorry.” She held her head high. “It won’t happen again.”
He nodded and they walked back into the kitchen. Ava and Elias had matching unreadable looks on their faces.
She turned away from them, not wanting to face them and took out more snacks. “It was nice meeting you, Ava. Good to see you again, Elias. I need to get back to work.”
“What?” Carlos said. “I was going to take everyone out to lunch.”
“Have a nice time.” She brushed past him, but he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
“You don’t get to touch me.” She pushed his hand away.
“But, Gin...”
“I had forgotten my place. I need to get back to it now, Mr. Bradley.”
* * *
“You’re an idiot,” Ava said to him. “A big, stupid, macho idiot. I don’t even want to look at you right now.”
“What?” he asked, even though he’d known he had screwed up as soon as he’d seen hurt cross Virginia’s face. He didn’t have an excuse, either, but his going back to school was something he had wanted to keep private. He was unsure of how he would do, unsure if he would excel, and if he didn’t, he hadn’t wanted anyone to know about his failure.
“I really like her,” Ava said, getting up. “She’s good for you, and any woman who will defend you like that
is somebody you should want to keep around. I thought you were smart for going back to school, but you’re a dumbass if you told her she had better know her place. Daddy would have never said that to Mommy and you should have known better than to say it to her.”
She walked out. Going in the same direction as Virginia.
“You’re my big brother, Carlos.” Elias looked up at him. “And I owe you so much. You had the right to put me in my place, but your girl...” He shook his head.
“I feel like shit already, but she’s not my...” He stopped speaking. He slept in her bed every night, spent every day with her. She meant a lot to him. But what the hell were they? What was her place in his life?
What they had was more than a fling.
“I see the way you look at her, the way she looks at you. You going to tell me that there’s nothing going on between you two?”
“She’s my friend.”
“A friend you’re in love with.”
“What?” Elias’s statement caused a physical reaction in him. It was like a kick in the gut. In love? He had never been in love before. “No.”
“No? You look at her as if you’re in love with her.”
Carlos shook his head. He couldn’t describe what he felt for Virginia. He cared a lot for her, but love? The thought had never entered his mind.
“Maybe it’s not my business whether you love her or not. But if you don’t apologize, you’re going to lose her, and you can’t afford to lose somebody that good in your life.”
* * *
Later that evening Virginia heard heavy footsteps as she sat in the dining room, putting the finishing touches on a sketch of the room that would become Carlos’s office. She stiffened slightly but didn’t lift her head or acknowledge him. There was nothing to say. She did like his little sister, though. She had apologized for him and called him everything but a child of God. Though that was not the reason Virginia liked her. She was down-to-earth; despite the expensive clothing and perfectly placed hair, she was lovely to be around. Virginia had spent the part of the afternoon showing her the progress she had made with the house. And when Ava had left to go to lunch with her brothers, she had given Virginia her number and hugged her.
