by Ella Fox
The idea of him cooking for me made every part of me tingle. I absolutely loved how special he made me feel.
“I would love to try your Spanish red,” I answered.
He dropped a kiss on my nose and gestured with his thumb over his shoulder. “I’m going to go home, get changed and grab a white wine. You should get comfortable, too.”
With anyone else, I would’ve immediately jumped to the conclusion that they wanted me to be dressed in lingerie upon their return, but I knew that wasn’t what Alejandro was trying to say. I smiled and nodded as he walked out the door and then leaned on the door and watched as he walked out to his car. He looked over and waved at me after he started it and had it in drive, and I know I had a goofy smile on my face before I closed the door and ran up the stairs to my bedroom.
I stopped inside the door and took my shoes off before I headed into the bathroom. After I used the facilities, I washed my hands, took my earrings off and then whipped my dress over my head before tossing it into the hamper. I trailed back into my bedroom clad only in bra and underwear. I opened two drawers, pulled out a pair of white cotton sleep shorts and a buttery soft white tee and then quickly got dressed. I assessed myself in the mirror with a nod before I liberally reapplied my cotton candy lip balm. Knowing that Alejandro was a fan made me like it even more than I normally did.
Once I was good to go, I went to the window to take a peek out at Elvis. I smiled happily when I saw him resting in his normal roost in the sycamore closest to my room. He had another roost in the bigger sycamore a few feet over that he used when Emery was home, but any time I was taking care of him he chose to move closer to me. I was touched and took it as the compliment it was.
16
Kaya
I’d just turned to head downstairs when I heard the doorbell ring. I hurried to the stairs and ran down before I flung the door open with a smile. “What took you so long?” I teased.
He’d changed into a pair of jeans and a navy blue tee, and as usual, he looked sexy as hell. He held out a bottle of wine to me with a, grin that was combustible, something I felt in every cell in my body. “You’ll like this,” he murmured. “It’s soft and sweet, just like you.”
I blushed and grinned as I took it from his hand and set it down on the table next to the door. “I can’t wait to try it.”
“But first,” he said huskily. I looked up at him and licked my lips, waiting to see what that meant. Without hesitating, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply. Minutes later when he lifted his lips from mine I was left breathless and needy, desperate for more.
“Es una locura lo mucho que te extrañé,” he rasped as he twirled a strand of my hair with his fingers.
When a few seconds passed without him explaining what that meant, I poked him playfully in the chest.
“What did that mean?”
He cocked his head and looked down at me in confusion. “What?”
“What you just said in Spanish,” I prodded.
His eyes widened in surprise before he threw his head back and laughed. When he looked back down at me, his eyes were filled with mirth. “My God, did I really?”
I nodded.
“I didn’t even realize,” he laughed. “I guess I forgot to translate from my head to my mouth.”
“Don’t leave me in suspense,” I joked. “What did it mean?”
He cupped my face between his hands. “I said that it’s crazy how much I missed you. It took me exactly twelve minutes to park my car next door, change my clothes and haul it back here, but it felt like an hour.”
I blushed and smiled up at him adoringly. “I missed you, too,” I murmured.
He groaned, dropped a kiss on my nose and stepped back. “You make me crazy,” he said.
I couldn’t contain the joker-like smile that spread across my face. “You’re welcome,” I said cheekily as we made our way to the couch. I gestured to the remotes on the table. “Shall we rent something from iTunes or watch something on Netflix or Prime?”
He considered for a minute before answering. “The other day you said you wanted to watch Inception again. I’m in if you want to do that.”
I clapped my hands together twice happily. “Yesss,” I drawled excitedly. “The soundtrack alone is worthy of re-watching several times a year. It’s already in Emery’s iTunes bought movies, all you have to do is click search and type in the name.”
He laughed as he did just that. I rose from the couch and walked around the room turning out the lights, save for the soft thirty-watt light that sat on a table by the door. Once the lighting was taken care of, I went into the kitchen and opened the bottle of white wine he’d brought. I wandered back into the living room with wine glasses in hand and grinned when I saw that he had the movie all cued up. After setting our wine glasses on the coffee table, I sat down next to him and curled up against his side. I loved the way I fit into him like the spot had been made for me, and I especially enjoyed the way he wrapped his arm around me.
I loved Inception, and before Alejandro, I would’ve said I could watch it a million times without losing interest. All that went right out the window ten minutes into the movie. This was because he’d been trailing his fingers up and down my left arm, and it distracted the heck out of me. I kept tilting my head and looking up at him, and every time I did he’d look down at me with a smile. The feeling I got from him touching my skin was unreal. My nipples pebbled as my breath started coming faster. When I looked up at him again, he was already watching me with hooded eyes. I set my hand down on his knee and started slowly moving it up his thigh, not breaking eye contact as I did.
He sucked in a harsh breath, his eyes flaring with heat as he stared down at me. “Kaya,” he groaned.
In the blink of an eye, I was on his lap, and we were kissing. I kept expecting my reaction to having his mouth on mine to bank down a little, but it wasn’t happening. Having him close like that only made me want him more. I’d never felt such desire for another person—and, if I’m honest, I’d never expected to. The Mr. Rogers type I’d long envisioned myself winding up with hadn’t been a great kisser in my mind. I’d imagined him to be calm, confident and, most importantly, reliable. Being with Alejandro was like the difference between being kissed chastely by a boyfriend on any fifties show and being kissed by Jamie Dornan until you were nothing more than a puddle of need and frustration.
I whimpered as I shamelessly ground myself on his erection, letting out a low moan when he tore his lips from mine and pushed my hair back to lick and then gently suck on my neck. “Oh… myyyy,” I moaned as he moved to another spot. The feeling of his trimmed beard against my soft skin as his mouth worked on me only made me feel that much more desperate. I clutched his shoulders and tipped my head back to allow him better access as I rolled my hips and continued rubbing against him.
“Tienes un sabor asombroso, mi Belleza.”
He shifted beneath me as he said it, and the movement caused a little shock to roll through my system. “Alejandro,” I gasped.
“Nunca supe que podia sentirme así,” he whispered against my neck.
I had no clue what, exactly, he was saying—but nothing had ever sounded better.
I groaned to let him know I was annoyed when he lifted me off his lap. My displeasure was brief since he was just laying me down on the couch. I shivered when he positioned himself over me, settling between my legs like he belonged there. He captured my mouth in a kiss that made me dizzy as we ground against each other. His hands slid up the back of my legs before settling on my buttocks, holding me tight as he ground against me.
My clit throbbed, my nipples ached, and my core was clenching, desperate to feel him in my most intimate place. My body was ready for him even if my mind didn’t think we were quite there yet.
The way he kissed me was so erotic I could feel the buzz of it throughout my entire body. He tore his mouth from mine and let out a harsh sound when I slid my hands under his shirt and touched his back.
“Fuck, Kaya,” he groaned. “You make me crazy.”
“Don’t stop,” I whimpered. “Kiss me again.”
He didn’t need to be asked again. His tongue plunged into my mouth again as I trailed my fingers up and down his back, our kiss so deep that I could barely breathe with the sensations rolling through my body. He ground himself against me perfectly, somehow hitting the spot through our layers of clothes. Every time he groaned or made a noise in his throat I rubbed up against him like a hussy, desperate for more.
We went at it like that for hours, enough time passing that when we finally came up for air, the movie had long since stopped. Never once did Alejandro push me or try to take it somewhere I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I was ready to go and that only made me like him all the more. We both chuckled when we sat up and realized it was almost one in the morning. I’d never had a make-out session like that in my life—and there was a huge part of me that wanted to get back to it.
“That was incredible,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me and held me close.
I grinned as I nodded against his chest. “Yes, it was,” I agreed.
He made me feel like I was the most important person in the world and I couldn’t get enough of it. I sat in his lap, snuggled against him as we held hands and talked quietly for a few minutes about what we planned to do the following day. I loved that it wasn’t even a question that we would be spending it together, and I was thrilled that he wanted to help me with the video I planned to shoot. Of course, in that case, help really meant eat, since I was making scallop bisque and lobster with an herbed cream sauce. We planned to have him take pictures and film a few clips while I bought the ingredients in the morning. After that, we agreed that we should spend a few hours out by the pool. I’d start dinner around four, and we’d go from there.
It was just before two in the morning when he left, after another steamy kiss at my door as he said goodbye. As I closed the door behind him, I was already looking forward to seeing him again.
17
Kaya
On Tuesday when Alejandro came home from work we went bowling in Santa Monica. I hadn’t bowled in forever and had forgotten just how fun it was, but it all came rushing back when the two of us faced off trying to best each other. I liked that he didn’t go easy on me and I loved that no matter how hard he tried, I still beat him. Even better than that—he didn’t pout when he lost.
Paul had been one to throw a fit about everything. If he wasn’t number one, he was a prick. Although we’d dated when I was sixteen and he’d been twenty, I felt pretty confident that his personality likely hadn’t changed in the intervening years.
For the first time in my life, I was experiencing what it felt like to be with someone who treated me well. I’d avoided men for a reason, but with Alejandro, I was feeling more and more confident every day.
We stopped and picked up Chinese food on the way home. Once back at Emery's we set up at the kitchen table and ate while he answered my questions about his family. I was a little nervous about meeting all of them, but he went out of his way to reassure me that they'd love me.
I set my fork down onto my empty plate and pushed it away. "You mean as much as Rafe does?" I asked dryly.
He grimaced as he finished chewing his final bite. "I know he's a pain in the ass, but I promise you underneath the gruff exterior he's got a heart of gold. He just needs to remember that. The chip on his shoulder enters a room before he does. Like I told you before—it isn't you that he doesn't like. It's all women. It isn't personal, but I understand that it's frustrating. I'm sorry, Belleza. You shouldn't have to deal with this."
"Stop," I said firmly. "I shouldn't have said anything. I was just nervous that the rest of the family would be like him."
That made him laugh. "No. Most of the rest of my family is affectionate and friendly. My brother Mateo is a little slower to warm up, but that's because he's extremely overprotective of his wife. He worries about everything— and I have to admit that after what happened, it makes sense."
I cocked my head to the side. "Can you tell me what happened or is it something you'd prefer not to talk about?"
"I probably should've explained before now since it will also explain what's wrong with Rafael," he mused.
I admit that my curiosity was piqued. "How do the two things relate?"
He groaned as he leaned forward and started twirling a piece of my hair between his fingers. It was something he did often, and every time it made me feel all melty inside. The story he told me was heartbreaking for everyone involved except for Rafe's former girlfriend, Francesca. She was, without a doubt, related to the devil.
By the time Alejandro was finished filling me in, I had a whole new outlook about Rafael Cruz because I understood exactly why he had the chip on his shoulder. Like me, he'd been hurt by a decision he'd made that had affected the people around him negatively.
“I feel a lot better now that I know why he is the way he is,” I said.
“I should’ve told you before. My only excuse is that I hate talking about it,” Alejandro said as he picked up our dishes and carried them to the sink.
I shrugged as I pushed in the chairs at the island. “No, I get it. It's unpleasant to think about things like that. I've got issues of my own that I don't like bringing up."
Alejandro turned after putting the dishes down in the sink and walked back to me. Wrapping his arms around my middle, he stared down at me. "We all do, Belleza. I never want to push you to do anything you don't feel ready for, and this is one of those times where I know you don't want to go there. Anytime you want to talk about it; I'm here."
I had to pinpoint the exact moment I realized I was falling in love with him, that was it. He was rock steady, and he never pushed, all while making certain that I felt desired and valued.
That Thursday while Alejandro was at work and I was busy answering comments on my latest YouTube video, Dean and Gigi called with an update on their progress. They were at an RV Park in Texas that they’d been to before and they’d be spending another two nights there having a reunion with some of their RV travel club friends. I loved how much fun they had while they were out exploring.
We talked about the usual—their route, how the RV life was treating them—before they turned the conversation to me. Since they had me on speaker, I was able to speak to them both at the same time., When they asked me what was new, I took a deep breath and blurted, “I met a guy.”
I’d avoided telling them before because I was still feeling tentative about it. After the night we had Chinese food, I knew the way I felt about Alejandro Cruz was bigger than I’d prepared for—but I didn’t want to turn back. That being the case, I’d known I needed to fill Gigi and Dean in.
There were about two seconds of absolute silence as they digested what I’d said. Gigi reacted first. “This is real? You met a guy?”
I laughed, happy we weren’t FaceTiming since I was busy blushing to the roots of my hair. “Yes, I did. You’ll meet him when you’re here.”
“We’re going to need more detail than that, Sunshine,” Dean said. “Who is he and where did you meet him?”
I told them everything about the day we’d met, including my near-death fall from the top of the Cruz family compound gate.
“Jesus, Sunshine,” Dean grumbled, “you could’ve been hurt. Even thinking of you falling makes me nauseous.”
“I’m okay,” I reminded him. “Alejandro caught me and things haven’t been the same since.”
“Tell us what happened next,” Gigi demanded excitedly.
I went on, filling them in on everything from our first outing to the Farmer’s Market to our dinner date at Ocean and Vine.
“I can’t wait to meet the man who finally turned your head,” Dean said cheerfully.
I’d neglected to tell them one critical detail, but I knew it was time to fill them in. “I can’t wait for you to meet Alejandro either but there’s one more thing I need to tell
you,” I said slowly.
“Oh no, Sunshine,” Gigi said anxiously. “Please tell us he isn’t married.”
I groaned. “No! Of course not. There is a problem with him though. He doesn’t live in America full time. His home is in Barcelona. If this goes any further, I’ll only be able to see him when he’s in the states. He mentioned once before that he’s in America for about four months a year.”
A few seconds passed before Dean spoke. “We don’t want you to get hurt, Kaya. I’m glad you’re open to dating but I know you—we know you. If you fall in love with this man not being able to see him for months at a time will break your heart. Have you talked to him about this? If so, what are his thoughts? If he’s okay with it, I probably won’t be okay with him. I knew from the get go that I’d never be able to be separated from Gigi for any length of time. I won’t give my seal of approval for anyone that doesn’t feel just as passionately about you.”
I chewed on my lip as I considered what they’d said. I knew they were right and I also knew that I had already fallen for him. There was no turning back, and I knew it.
“We haven’t talked about it yet but we will,” I said firmly. “Now that I’ve said it to you I know I need to follow through and discuss it with him soon.”
“Don’t wait, Sunshine. Better you prepare yourself to nip it in the bud now if it isn’t going anywhere.”
I frowned, my knee jiggling as I swallowed past the lump in my throat. It was far too late to nip anything with Alejandro in the bud. In all honesty, I suspected it was too late the minute I toppled off the gate into his arms.
I wrapped up my conversation with Dean and Gigi with assurances that I knew what I was doing—even though I wasn’t certain that I did. It hadn’t been their intention to hurt me but even thinking about Alejandro leaving me for months at a time made me anxious. I spent the remainder of the afternoon worrying myself into a state of panic about the future.
