“Nobody you know,” I bite out, dumping leftover coffee on top of the shredded card. “She’s too far out of your league.”
“Yeah?” he retorts. “Well then she must be out of yours too.”
“She is.”
“You wouldn’t believe the ass I got last night,” Randy says. “Two NYU chicks wandered into the wrong bar and ended up getting toasted on Kamikaze shots.”
“Bullshit,” Pico says. “Maybe in your wet dream.”
“Swear to God.” He raises his arms. “I invited them both back with me, but only one wanted to go, so the other one sat in my living room and watched TV.”
“And you didn’t invite me over?” Pico asks, horrified.
“Hold up, I’m not finished. I come out of my room naked and ask the other girl if she’s sure she doesn’t want to join.” Randy’s smile turns sinister. “She ends up jumping my dick. I had one riding me while the other ate my asshole.”
“Dude,” I say. “That’s fucking disgusting.”
“Two chicks at once?” He scoffs. “Are you nuts? It was insane.”
“Not that part. I don’t want to believe there’s a woman on this planet who’d put her face . . . there. You clog the toilet on a weekly basis.”
“Well, she did. You ever been sucked off by a twenty-year-old, boss? They’re still hungry.”
As grossed out as I am, sex is on my mind, and it doesn’t take me long to wish I were in the position to call someone up and get some head. Denise would be happy to oblige, and she’s a two-minute drive from here, but all I can think about are Amelia’s red lips, and at the moment, not much else would compare.
“You’re such a goddamn liar,” Pico says. “I don’t believe a word.”
“It’s true,” Randy says. “Except for that last part about the second girl.”
“I knew it,” Pico said.
“She was actually a dude.”
“Oh my God,” Pico says, rubbing his eyes as if he’s trying to scrub away a mental image. “Are you serious?”
“Christ,” I mutter. Randy has no filter, and his sexual preference is anything that’ll fit a dick. After two years working together, Pico still hasn’t gotten used to hearing about anything involving another man. Watching Pico squirm is normally too funny for me to do anything but laugh, but I’m not in the mood today. I can’t deal with these assholes.
“Where you headed, boss?” Pico asks as I turn for my office. “Rub one out to twenty-year-old pussy?”
“To research homeschooling. I’ve just decided to lock Bell in the house until she’s thirty.”
I seriously consider following through. Men are pieces of shit. I don’t want anything with a dick coming around once Bell’s old enough. Maybe she’ll be a lesbian. I knew a lesbian couple once when I was twenty-three and managing a fast food restaurant. One of the girls worked for me and invited me over after we closed. You think that kind of stuff only happens in movies, and it probably does—to other people. I smile to myself as I remember the way they devoured each other and then me. My smile fades and my mind is officially changed. Bell’s not allowed to be a lesbian, either.
I pace my office and catch myself glancing at the clock, but I’m not sure why. I have nowhere to be. I take out my phone. Amelia is different from other women I know, and one of the reasons is her blunt honesty. I’ve reciprocated that. If I want something, I should be able to say so, because that’s what our relationship is. And I want something. I want it bad. I start to write to her, but our last interaction sits loudly on the screen. Goodbye, Andrew. She thinks she doesn’t want to see me, and she’s more stubborn than I am. Texting won’t be enough to convince her otherwise. I need to see her face to face and convince her to let me spend a night making it up to her.
When I come out of my office, Sammy’s mom is talking to Pico. I wave at her, and she smiles but quickly returns to Pico. Then, I notice her full face of makeup, skirt, and heels. No shit. She’s into Pico. “He lives with his mom,” I shout across the garage, just to keep it real.
Pico reddens. “I don’t live with her,” he tells Myra, scratching his head with his middle finger. “She likes the company, and I’m saving to start my own thing.”
Seeing Myra, a big, fat, hell-of-an-idea hits me. I’ve babysat Sammy here at the shop plenty of times. And Bell likes Sammy as much as any of her friends. She might be cool to spend an evening with them, so long as I spin it right, and by spin it, I mean buy them loads of pizza.
I turn in Myra’s direction. “Hey.”
“Thanks for letting Sammy hang out,” she says.
“No problem. Actually . . .” It’s harder to get the words out than I thought it’d be with Pico watching. He’ll want to know where I’m going on my own. To earn another shot with Amelia, though, I have to man up. I wipe my forehead with my sleeve. “Any chance you could take Bell for a few hours? Maybe even overnight?”
“Sorry,” she says. “We’re headed to Pittsburgh for the weekend to visit my sister.”
“Sure. It’s last minute.” I glance at Pico. “You?”
He sniffs. “Can’t, bro. I’m busy.”
I look at him skeptically. “Doing what?”
“Stuff. I have my own life, you know.”
“Then I’ll ask your mom.”
“She can’t either.”
“Look,” I say, “if you’re getting me back for the mom comment—”
“I’m taking my mom to Bingo, all right?” He darts his eyes to Myra and back to me. “We do it every month.”
I’d ask him to take a night off, but I’m laughing too hard. Myra doesn’t seem to think it’s funny—she’s swooning. Once I’ve wiped tears from my eyes, I shake my head. “Never mind.”
“Why?” Pico looks suspicious as hell. “Where’re you going on a Friday night?”
I back away. With all Flora’s done for me, it wouldn’t be right to interrupt her plans. “I said never mind.”
I find Bell and Sammy in the garage’s waiting room watching Doctor Who. I’ve run out of all options but one. Ambushing Sadie—and Amelia—at the office and hoping for a miracle of some sort. “Hey, Bell.” I put a finger in each ear, readying myself for her squeals. “Let’s go into the city.”
Her eyes are glued to the screen. “Huh?”
“Did you hear me? I said New York City.”
“Um.” She shifts deeper into the couch. “I’m okay here.”
“Really? I thought maybe you’d want to surprise Aunt Sadie.”
“Aunt Sadie?” she repeats, staring straight ahead. She hasn’t heard anything I’ve said. Reluctantly, I mumble, “We can ride the subway.”
She blinks a few times and then jumps off the couch, startling Sammy from his own trance. “The subway?”
Bringing Bell along is a last resort, but the truth is, that’s where I am. I’ll have to convince Sadie to take Bell for a night without raising any suspicion and then convince Amelia to give me a second chance. It’ll take some maneuvering, but after a week of trying and failing to get Amelia out of my head, I need to do something, even if it’s impulsive. Even if it might be a mistake.
Right now, Amelia’s a mistake I’d be happy to make.
SEVENTEEN
It’s almost five when we arrive at Sadie’s office. Since it’s Friday, I worry everyone will have left for the day, but when we exit the elevator, floor seven is buzzing. The male receptionist who greeted us last time looks up.
“Well, hello, Bell.” His eyes wander up my body. “I see you brought me an afternoon snack.”
“Snacks?” Bell asks. “I have gummy bears in my backpack.”
“That’s okay.” He winks at me. “I prefer a different kind of bear.”
“Keep dreaming,” I tell him. “Sadie here?”
“She’s in her office.”
“Office?” I ask. “You mean her desk?”
“Oh, Sadie.” He smirks. “I thought you said Amelia.”
I narrow my eyes at him as I take Bel
l’s hand. We walk through the agency, right by Amelia’s office, toward Sadie’s desk. Amelia’s door is closed, but she has a window that looks into the office and the blinds are open. I glance inside just as I hear, “Surprise!”
I look back in time to see Sadie jump a mile high in her seat. She whirls her desk chair around. “Bell? What—”
“We came to ride the subway,” Bell says.
“Jesus.” Sadie looks wide-eyed from Bell to me, her hand over her heart. “You can’t go around surprising pregnant women, Andrew.”
I roll my eyes. I’ve never heard of anyone pulling the pregnancy card as much as Sadie does. “Bell was feeling antsy at the garage,” I explain. “She wanted to surprise you.”
Sadie glances around the office. “I wish you would’ve called first. Amelia really doesn’t like children in here, and she’s in a particularly bad mood today.”
“She is?” I cinch my eyebrows. “How come?”
Sadie combs her fingers through Bell’s tangled hair. “Jesus, Andrew. Ever heard of a brush?”
“Why’s your boss in a bad mood?” I ask.
“What? Something to do with men, I’m sure.”
I cross my arms and glance toward Amelia’s office again, but I can’t see her. Am I the reason for her mood?
Sadie rakes Bell’s hair into a ponytail. “Thanks for surprising me, honey. Aunt Sadie has a lot of work to do, though.”
While Sadie’s distracted, I take a couple steps back, angling my head until Amelia comes into view. She’s seated at her desk on the phone, her blonde hair pulled back from her face. She isn’t in a flirty, colorful blouse and skirt like when we met but a suit jacket and white button down. As she talks into the receiver, she adjusts black-rimmed glasses I’ve never seen her wear before. All covered up. It’s the bubble-bath-photo bullshit all over again.
“It was Daddy’s idea to come,” Bell says.
I slowly turn back to Bell to pin her with a look, but she’s not even paying attention to me. Little traitor.
“But your dad hates the city.” Sadie glances up. “Why are you here?”
I shake my head, nod at Bell, and mouth, “Liar.”
Sadie cocks her head, then after a moment, her eyes widen. “Oh my . . . shit.”
“What?” I ask.
“Um.” She smooths her expression. “I-I think the baby just kicked.”
“And your first reaction was ‘oh, shit’?”
“No. You’re right. It was probably indigestion.” She looks toward Amelia’s office and back at me. “You, uh, couldn’t have changed clothes?”
I’m in the white t-shirt and jeans I’ve been wearing all day. “What’s wrong with this? Not good enough for the New York City fashionistas?”
“You’ve got grease on your face.”
“And?” I lick my thumb and scrub my cheek. “I work with grease for a living.”
She sighs. “Did you say hi to Mindy?”
“Who?”
She shakes her head and throws up her arms. “Forget it. Jesus. Just forget the whole thing. What’re you guys doing now?”
Bell grins. “Dad promised me more ice cream.”
“More ice cream?” Sadie asks. “How much have you had today?”
Bell giggles. She may not know the word bribery, but she’s smart enough to understand she’s getting away with something. “A popsicle after school.”
Sadie’s computer pings. “Well,” she says, checking an e-mail, “since you’re here, let’s go get dinner. You guys decide what to eat while I try to sweet talk my boss into letting me leave early.”
“Five’s early?” I ask, but she ignores me, which is good because I’ve got a narrow window of time to figure out my next step. This—a few furtive and unreturned glances at Amelia—won’t be enough to satisfy me. In fact, seeing her and not being able to talk to or touch her is making things worse. Admittedly, the buttoned-up librarian look is growing on me. “We can bring food here if you can’t get away,” I say. “Or, I thought, since you had such a great girls’ sleepover a couple weeks ago—”
“It’ll be fine. I can come in early Monday.” She lifts Bell off her lap and stands. “Give me a minute.”
New plan. Go to dinner with Sadie, get her to invite Bell over, and then come back for Amelia. I plop into Sadie’s vacated chair and watch through the window. Amelia puts her call on hold. As she listens to Sadie, she shifts her eyes to me. I wink.
“What’s wrong with your eye, Daddy?” Bell asks.
“Huh?” I look back at her. “Oh. Nothing.”
Sadie comes out of the office and heads back toward us. “Good news. Boss says it’s fine.”
Amelia and I stare at each other. She arches an eyebrow at me, stands, and walks to the doorway. The bottom half of her suit isn’t the pants I expected, but a skirt. It stops just above her knees, showing off the long, slim legs that were wrapped around my waist just last week.
“I invited her,” Sadie says.
My fantasy skids to a halt, and I whip my head back to my sister. “You what?”
She shrugs casually, but her eyes are trained on my face. “I invited Amelia.”
After everything I went through to get here, I should be elated. I hadn’t thought this through. The woman I’m sleeping with and my daughter at the same table? The thought makes my stomach hurt. “What about Bell?”
“We can go somewhere kid friendly. Move.” She waves me away. “I have to shut down my computer.”
I get out of Sadie’s chair. This isn’t what I had in mind. I do want time alone with Amelia—somewhere my daughter isn’t. “Why would you invite her?”
“She needs cheering up.” Sadie packs up her desk, glancing at me from under her lashes. “Her ex ambushed her last week, and she’s been in a weird mood ever since.”
“Her ex?” My body flushes with heat. The ex. Reggie, the cheater, the almost ex-husband—what the fuck is he doing coming around? Here, I’d hoped she’d been thinking of me this week when she’d actually been dealing with him. “When was this?”
Sadie lugs her purse from the ground to the desk. “The night of the awards show.”
“Are you kidding? The one I was at?”
“Yes. Why do you care?”
“I don’t,” I say automatically, but my tone, my clenched fists, my racing thoughts prove otherwise. We were together that night, and she never mentioned him. Unless it happened afterward, which would’ve meant he was at the hotel. He was with her in what should’ve been my room. My bathtub. I look back at Amelia, but she isn’t in her office. I search the space around us. She’s gone. “I need to piss.”
“You know where the bathroom is.”
“I need to piss too,” Bell says.
“Bell,” Sadie scolds. “Don’t talk like that.”
“I’ll take you at the restaurant,” I say to her, walking away. “Stay there.”
I head through the office. The receptionist doesn’t even look up from his cell as he coughs and points toward a door by the elevator.
I check over my shoulder to make sure Bell didn’t follow me, then push through into the stairwell.
Amelia’s pacing the small space, a cigarette between her fingers. She looks up quickly. “What are you doing here?”
I ignore her question. “What happened last week? After the awards show?”
“Last week?” Her forehead wrinkles. “Do you really need me to tell you?”
“I mean with Reggie.”
She stops to stare at me. “Oh. Sadie told you?”
“Yeah. I don’t understand. He came to the hotel? Did you . . .?”
“God, no,” she says. “It was before I saw you. He showed up at my apartment when I was leaving for the event.”
I cross my arms, then change my mind and hold my hand out for the cigarette. She gives it to me. Her deep red lipstick has left a mark on the butt. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.
She shrugs. “It’s not your problem.”
“I
t feels like my problem,” I say without thinking, but it’s the truth. “I’m sorry if that bothers you.”
She studies my face a few seconds, her eyebrows drawn. “What do you mean?”
I take a drag, thinking about my answer and deciding I don’t have one that’s as cut and dry as I wish it’d be. “I don’t like the idea of him coming around after the way he hurt you, regardless of whether you and I are together.” I sound like a chick, and I should stop myself, but I can’t. Amelia doesn’t deserve to be dicked around, especially not by him. “What did he want?”
Her expression eases a little. She takes the cigarette back from me and flicks off ash. “Just the same old shit. He’s sorry. He wants me back. He made a mistake.”
I frown. “Like, definitely?” I ask. “He wants you back?”
“I told him to get lost,” she says. “I might’ve been an idiot to fall for him once, but never again.”
Despite what she’s telling me, I’ve seen women all throughout my life choose men who weren’t good for them, my mother included. I’m not sure if my dad has ever cheated on her, but I wouldn’t put it past him. My mom wouldn’t even leave if he did. “You deserve better.”
She shrugs. “I know.”
As we look at each other, the air between us shifts. My irritation over Reggie dissipates as a more pressing need, and the reason I’m here, resurfaces.
I nod at the eyeglasses pushed up on her head. “You wear those often?” I ask.
“These?” She pulls them down onto her face. “Sometimes. For reading.”
“I like them.”
“How much do you like them?”
I glance over my shoulder, as if someone might hear us. “Come here.”
“No. I told you—we’re through.”
“Come . . . here.”
With a soft sigh, she inches toward me. When we’re close enough, she holds the cigarette to my mouth, and I take a drag.
“You were right,” I say. “After how you trusted me, I should’ve held my ground with Bell.”
She twists her lips, thinking. “You haven’t told me why you’re here.”
“I made those promises the other night thinking I’d get to keep them. Now it feels unfinished between us.” I slide her glasses off her face. “Truth is, I wanted to see you again. I’m here for you.”
The First Taste (Slip of the Tongue Book 2) Page 17
