Love in the City (The Complete Collection Boxed Set)

by Liv Morris

  Ethan pulls me to him in an embrace. His hands are drifting to the edge of my shirt and I feel warm fingers skim across my lower back. Desperate. Now that I’ve given in, that’s how I feel. Our lips remember and continue where we left off in the kitchen. Nothing is tentative now. We’ve broken through the awkward and now we’re heading to the bed.

  When he scoops me up in his arms, my hands clasp behind him holding on to his collar. My eyes find Monica’s red heels and I push one shoe off with the toe of the other. I kick my foot and the red shoe goes flying off.

  “I shouldn’t have worn these,” I mutter between breaths and kisses.

  “God, I love them.” His voice is raspy. His breathing’s short. I maneuver the other shoe off and it goes sailing. He lays me down on the white comforter. My hands fan out and it feels crisp and cool under my touch.

  “But they’re one-night stand pumps.” He’s standing over me, silent. I watch him tugging his own shoes off. “And I don’t do one-night stands. Ever.”

  “Oh, Emily, this isn’t a one-night stand.”

  “Well, good damn.”

  Warm and blissful, I lay across his chest. We’ve given all we can to each other tonight. His arm and comforter drape over and anchor me. I snuggle into him further and my eyes start to close while I smile in contentment. What a night. What a guy. I say a little prayer of thanks that sixes can look like eights. Otherwise the doorman might have never made the wrong delivery.

  ~~~~~

  As I slowly wake up from a sleep-induced fog, I remember where I am. In bed. With Ethan. The touch of the sheets and the smell of him are familiar to me now. His warm body spoons mine and we fit together perfectly. I want to stay here cocooned in his bed all day. I’m afraid of losing our connection and hope the light of day doesn’t melt away what we had together. Either way I won’t regret it. Last night was worth it.

  I gingerly open my eyes, roll over and see Ethan, all disheveled hair and scruffy face. He’s in full-blown panty dropper mode. And from the look on his face, I have a sneaking suspicion that fate and red heels worked some magic. He’s sporting the biggest grin. It smoothes away any worries of where we might stand now. His dimpled grin sweetly calms me. I end up laughing while telling him good morning. He pulls me into his arms and makes sure it’s great.

  Epilogue

  It’s 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 14th, exactly a year since I met Ethan. My dear father leads me to the closed doors leading to the church’s sanctuary. Our arms are intertwined. Slowly, we make our way to the entrance. We stop and wait until the ushers open the doors. I hear my chosen processional song and know that we’re about to be revealed.

  My father whispers softly as the doors open, “Be happy, Emily.”

  Holding back tears, I answer back, “I am. Very much so.”

  He escorts me toward the altar and my love where very soon I’ll become Mrs. Panty Dropper.

  The Love Handles Club

  by Liv Morris

  Dedication

  This short story is dedicated to the original Love Handles Club. A unique group of men who meet on Thursday nights somewhere near our nation’s capital. These men and their lifelong friendships inspired me to write this fictitious story.

  Bradley, Bob, Dave, and Matthew, many thanks!

  Chapter 1: Bradley’s Turn

  “Okay, there’s one more signature left and we should be done here.”

  I watched Stephen Jensen, my attorney, place the last remaining document in front of me and signed where he directed. A sick feeling gripped my stomach as ten years of my life was erased with a simple stroke of the pen.

  “Well, that should do it,” he said while gathering up the papers spread across the conference table. “I know this finalization has been a long time in coming, Bradley. But I think in the end it was fair.”

  “Fair or not, at least Natalie and her father’s company are out of my life. For good.” I stood and reached out to shake his hand. “Thanks, Jensen, for getting this settled. I just hope that I never need your services again.”

  “Me too, Bradley.” Jensen returned my handshake with a sad smile. “You take care of yourself and try to put this behind you.”

  “Will do.”

  While exiting the glass-covered office building, I felt a deep, cleansing breath escape my lungs. I looked up into the cloudless Dallas sky as the warm afternoon breeze blew through my hair and it felt good. I felt good and… free. Finally free.

  As I walked toward my car, the reality that I no longer had any tie to my wife of ten years hit me. The thought of calling Natalie my “ex-wife” made me laugh. It was bittersweet, but finding humor in the clustered mess of our marriage’s end gave me a bit of relief.

  No one around would’ve noticed, but there was a definite weight off my shoulders. I felt it down to my bones. Removing the heavy load hadn’t come easy. But I had no regrets. That part of my life was over and now it was time to finally move on.

  It had been a long and lonely year since I’d filed for divorce from Natalie. I’d played it safe after the official filing, even though I’d caught her having an affair with another senior executive at our company. I didn’t want to give her any ammunition against me. I had so much more to lose, so I’d remained faithful to her until I signed the divorce papers today.

  It had been over a year since I’d been with anyone. I missed being around a woman and not just for the sex. Though that would be nice too. Real damn nice.

  Hell, I was sick of being alone. I wanted someone to be with, share a dinner out instead of the usual takeout at home. I guess after all the crap I’d been through in the last year, I still believed in love. I had to. It was the only thing that kept me from becoming a bitter man.

  My cell phone rang once I was inside my parked car. Looking at the screen, I saw that it was Dave, my best friend since elementary school, likely calling to check up on me and see how I’m doing. Dave had stood by me throughout the yearlong divorce battle. He was my rock.

  “Hey, Dave.”

  “Hey, man.” He always sounded upbeat. It was his happy go lucky way. “How did things go? You met with the lawyers today, right?”

  “Yep. I’m officially divorced. Just left their offices.”

  “Wow. Thank God it’s finally over. You can move on now.” He had no idea how much I wanted to do just that.

  “My thoughts exactly.” I turned on the car to get the a/c circulating. The sun had heated up the interior and I felt like I was sitting in a sauna.

  “You can begin tonight. Love Handles at seven.” Dave had a convincing way of telling people what to do. I think he missed his calling as a diplomat for the State Department.

  “I’ll be there, but I plan on getting a car service tonight. I have a little celebrating to do and don’t want to worry about how much I drink.”

  “I’ll swing by and pick you up around 6:30. It’s no problem.”

  “That’d be great. Never one to turn down a free ride.” We both laughed.

  “The girls are joining us tonight. Hope that’s alright.”

  Usually, just the guys hung out together on the weekly Love Handles Club night. But occasionally some of the wives and women we knew from our high school days joined us. Looked like tonight was one of those nights.

  “Sure, I haven’t seen them in a while. It’ll be good to catch up. Who knows, one of them may have a lead on a job for me? I’m gainfully unemployed now.”

  “You may be unemployed, but you should be set for life with the divorce settlement. Unless Natalie and her father didn’t buyout your shares of the company as planned.”

  “I’m good. Everything got worked out with them buying me out of the company. My attorney says it was a fair deal. I say it’s done.” I really didn’t want to talk about the specifics. “So where are we meeting tonight? The usual?”

  “Yes, The Londoner. I feel like playing a game or two of pool.”

  “Bob humiliated you last week, if I’m not mistaken.”

&nbs
p; “Yes, it was ugly. I need to save face tonight,” he continued. “Oh, I almost forgot. We have someone special coming. Someone that I think you’ll want to see.”

  “Whoa, Dave. I just signed the papers a few minutes ago. Please tell me you’re not trying to hook me up already.”

  Dave had been carrying around a list of women he thought would be perfect for me. I, on the other hand, wanted a little time to breathe. I wasn’t quite ready to jump into the dating game tonight.

  “Oh, it’s nothing like that. It’s Kelly. She’s joining us tonight.” He paused and so did I.

  After a few seconds I finally replied in almost a whisper, “My Kelly?”

  “Yes, your Kelly. Is that alright?” His question had a hesitancy to it.

  “I guess so.” But truthfully, I wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing her after all these years. “It’s been a long time. I saw her at the reunion a few years ago, but I didn’t even get to say hello. Right after we made eye contact, her jerk of a husband ushered her out of the banquet hall.”

  “Yeah, I remember you telling me about that. Well, I have some good news for you then.” Dave paused increasing my anticipation. “She’s coming alone. Tina’s bringing only her and I don’t know the whole story but she moved back here from Atlanta…”

  “So she’s back in Dallas?” I interrupted. “Permanently?” I should’ve been happy with the news that she was here in our hometown. But having my first love around with her possessive husband wouldn’t be an easy pill for me to swallow. The thought of running into them somewhere filled me with dread.

  “Tina said she’s moving back to Dallas and the husband isn’t. I think they split up. But don’t quote me on that.”

  Thoughts began to jumble in my head at the possibility that Kelly was single now too. I needed to find out for sure before I let my mind even toy with the idea.

  “Well, it’ll be good to see her. And thanks for giving me the heads up, Dave.”

  “What are friends for? Maybe you two can celebrate tonight. Your freedom and her homecoming.”

  “Let’s avoid divorce talk, if you don’t mind. Deal?”

  “Deal,” Dave answered with gusto. “Listen, I have a conference call in a few that I need to prepare for. I’ll see you at 6:30.”

  “Okay. See you later.”

  I tossed the phone aside and pulled out of my parking space to head back home. I needed some time to mull over what Dave had said. Hell, I was going to see Kelly Parker tonight. I really couldn’t begin to wrap my mind around that fact.

  My hands started to sweat and it had nothing to do with the day’s heat either. I knew the cause. Regret tinged with a sprinkling of fear. Pretty much what every heartbreaking jerk like me should feel after coming to his senses too late.

  Yeah, I’d broken her heart. Likely shattered it to pieces. I have no excuse for my nineteen-year-old self. I was a dumb knucklehead back then. If I had those teen years to do over again, I never would’ve done the idiotic things that led to our breakup.

  Kelly and I had met our freshman year in high school. She had attended a private, religious school before she switched to Highland Park High. I remembered seeing her in my second period class the first day of school.

  She was nervous. It was easy to see. And who wouldn’t be? We were a snobby bunch of rich kids and didn’t embrace newcomers easily. I moved to her side in hopes of rescuing her. I also wanted to be the first one to introduce myself to the pretty girl standing alone. There was just something about Kelly. I could still see her looking up at me with those pretty brown eyes, big as saucers. She seemed so fragile, vulnerable.

  Standing next to her, I’d looked down and said “hi.” She’d smiled back at me and from that moment on, I’d been wrapped around her little finger. We’d just clicked. During our four years of high school, we’d shared everything two crazy, lovesick kids could possibly experience together. However, everything had changed when we’d gone off to different colleges after graduation.

  Kelly had selected Baylor University in Waco. Or I should say her parents had chosen the school for her. They were deeply religious and thought it best to have their impressionable daughter attend a nice Baptist college.

  I’d gone off to the University of Texas in Austin and joined a rambunctious fraternity. Not a very smart idea if you wanted to keep a long-distance relationship going. I’d convinced myself that I was immune to the temptations of booze and willing women. Sadly, I’d been wrong and ended up living like there wasn’t a beautiful girl two hours away expecting me to be faithful.

  After being apart for two months, Kelly had come to visit me over UT’s homecoming weekend in October. She hadn’t suspected that I was cheating on her, as everything between us had seemed fine. When we’d talked on the phone, I had kept up the ruse of being a devoted boyfriend. What a complete jerk.

  However, my secrets hadn’t stayed hidden for long. During her short stay on campus, she’d found out I was seeing other girls at school. Just the thought of how that weekend had gone down made me dread seeing her tonight.

  Kelly had arrived at my fraternity house on Saturday morning before the big football game. I’d brought her up to my room where several of my frat brothers were enjoying some pre-tailgate partying.

  The drinks had been strong and one of the guys was wasted and forgot Kelly was coming down to visit me. I’d warned everyone to keep a lid on my skirt chasing. I sure as hell didn’t want her finding out what a dick I was or where else my dick had been, for that matter.

  However, my drunken friend had spilled my secrets as soon as Kelly’d walked into the room, shouting that I’d found another hot girl for this week’s football game. I’d tried shutting him up, keeping him from saying more, but he hadn’t stopped. Each word had been like a punch in my gut and likely a dagger to Kelly’s heart.

  Her beautiful eyes had filled with tears as she searched my face for an answer. I couldn’t say a word to confirm or deny what she’d heard. She knew the truth because she knew my heart and it’d told her that I was a lying cheat. There’d been no defense for what I’d done.

  After a few seconds, everyone around us had gone back to partying acting like nothing earth shattering had happened right in front of them. They continued drinking and talking about the game later. But Kelly and I had stood a few feet inside the room facing each other. Neither one of us moved a muscle or said a word. We’d looked into each other’s eyes for a long, long time. Then she’d whispered the last words I thought I’d ever hear from her…

  “Goodbye, Bradley.” I remember them like it was yesterday.

  She’d turned away from me, tucked her overnight bag into her side, and walked out of the room. I had no idea where she was going or what I should’ve done. My legs felt frozen to the floor beneath me. So I did nothing. I let her go. Biggest damn regret of my life.

  I still can’t figure out why I didn’t chase after her. Maybe I felt she deserved better than me and it was probably true. Who knows what goes on inside a stupid nineteen year old’s brain?

  When I finally came to my senses a few hours later and tried to find her, I was too late. Tina, her best friend from high school who also was at UT, told me that Kelly had gone back to Baylor brokenhearted.

  No matter how hard I’d tried to reach out to her, she refused to see me again. I’d lost her for good.

  Funny what stood out in my mind after all those years. I’d given her a little kiss before we entered through the front doors of the frat house. It’d ended up being our last one.

  Chapter 2: Kelly’s Turn

  Tina, my lifelong best friend, found out that I was back in Dallas. I wanted to lay low for a while, but our mothers belonged to the same bridge group and saw each other every week. So my mother shared my arrival with Tina’s mother, Bitsy, because she worried I was isolating myself from the world and, truthfully, she was right. I’d avoided everyone since I’d left Joe and Atlanta behind. I needed some time to process the failure of my marriage, but I felt r
eady to get back to my life here once again. Even if I had no idea what that might be.

  So when Tina called a few days ago to invite me to the weekly Love Handles Club get-together, I decided it was time to get out of the house. She explained that the club was formed by the guys we’d hung out with in high school. They planned weekly nights out together at local watering holes in North Dallas.

  It sounded like they wanted to keep the fun of their youth alive. And from what I remembered, they knew how to have a good time. Hanging out with them had positively been the most fun time of my life. I missed them. And being honest with myself, I really missed one particular Love Handles’ guy the most. Bradley. I’d be a millionaire many times over now if I had a dime for every time I’d thought about him over the last fourteen years. He was the reason my stomach had butterflies. My nerves had almost made me cancel, but in the end I knew I had to see him. At least one more time.

  So now, I found myself sitting outside The Londoner in my car on a Thursday night. The others wouldn’t be coming until around seven, which was in about thirty minutes. I wanted to get there early and be the first to arrive. I hated the thought of a grand entrance and would rather be in place waiting for everyone as they arrived.

  Exiting the car, I walked to the entrance and pulled the heavy wooden doors open. The place had the feel of a genuine London pub. The walls and ceilings were decorated with UK sports paraphernalia. The smell of fish and chips even hung in the air. Truly authentic.

  The pool tables were in the back of the pub and I saw a few tables to the left of where they were situated. They seemed like the perfect place for a large group to sit. I just needed to make a pit stop before I claimed them because I wanted to stay seated as long as I could tonight. Delay all the shocked faces for as long as possible. I still couldn’t believe that I was braving seeing everyone especially since Tina said Bradley was going to be here too.

  First things first though. I’d worry about seeing him later. I scanned the pub’s walls and found the illuminated sign for the restrooms and headed toward them. Avoiding the mirror when I walked in, I quickly did my business and washed my hands. As I let the water rinse the soap away, I looked into the mirror checking to make sure my hair and makeup were okay.