Love Over Lattes

by Diana A. Hicks

  Four, five.

  Dammit. I turned and left. His sigh followed me all the way back to the cottage.

  ****

  “I’m in love with him.” I confessed into my headset.

  Annie had spent the last thirty minutes grilling me about Saturday night. She wanted all the dirty details, which I couldn’t quite give her. I was at work. Plus, reliving that night had me almost panting into the tiny speaker near my lips.

  I kept my story short. I told her how we went back to his house, had some champagne, ate homemade chocolate, and then he proceeded to make up for more than six years of celibacy.

  “How many times did you come?” she asked.

  “Oh my God. Why would you ask me that? Five,” I quickly whispered. Maybe it was six.

  She coerced a few more details out of me, but I never told her about Cole opening up to me. That moment was ours. For a few hours, it’d felt as if we were a real couple, a couple who had morning sex and shared secrets. I told her about Sunday too, how we explored the desert in his amazing backyard, had lunch, and watched a kids’ movie under the stars.

  Max had been in heaven when he saw the truck drive up with all the projector equipment. Between the hiking, the food, and movie, Cole had showed me a different side of him, his loving and carefree side.

  I’d fallen for Derek Cole. And that scared the hell out of me.

  “Oh, sweetie.” Annie’s voice had gone from teasing and probing to gentle. “I know.”

  “On Saturday, I convinced myself I only needed one night with him. You know, blow off some steam. But he’s more than I thought, and he’s so great with Max.”

  Her breathing broke the static for a second before the silence settled in again, into what felt like a long humming of I told you so. She’d warned me Cole was way out of my league. Dammit. Why didn’t I say we could only have one week together, or maybe a year, a lifetime? God, who was I kidding? Cole would never go for a relationship that lasted more than a week. Not after what happened with his ex. Would he?

  Bridget had managed to kill whatever inklings Cole ever had of settling down with a family. Wiping the back of my hand across my face, I spun in my chair to make sure I was alone and then ducked behind my monitor.

  “In a way I’m glad you got it out of your system,” Annie said. “Six years is way too long to go without sex.”

  “It wasn’t a big deal until I met Cole.” I rubbed the hem of my skirt between my fingers. “I’ve never felt like this for someone. Not even…you know.”

  “I know. Do you want to meet for a late lunch?”

  “I can’t.” I flipped through the contract in front of me. I’d been reading the same formula in section B for the last half hour. “I still have to read a couple of contracts before I leave this afternoon. Rain check?” I peeled a sticky note off the pad, stuck it on the margin, and wrote a note for my boss. “Shit, she’s coming my way.” I sank deeper into my chair.

  “Who? His ex?”

  “Yeah. I’ll call you later.” I hit the Off button on my headset.

  “Good morning, Ms. Dorva,” Bridget said.

  “It’s de Cordoba.” I rolled my eyes when she looked behind her.

  “What?” A fat curl bounced in front of her face, and she put it back in place the same way she’d done last week when I first met her. The gesture had seemed almost elegant then, but now that I knew what she’d done to Cole, everything about her seemed two faced. Down to her fake curls, her perfect makeup, and acrylic french manicure.

  I gazed into her eyes, betting her blue eyes were just as fake too. They weren’t. Dammit. Truth was, she did match Cole in looks and level of sophistication. They shared the same life, same social circle. But she matched the Cole everyone knew, not the down-to-earth and genuine one I’d come to know the last couple of weeks. Nothing he ever said was calculated.

  “My last name.” I bit my lip. I shouldn’t have corrected her. Regardless of what she’d done, I still needed this job. My pulse picked up the pace, and my ears felt hot. Did she know I’d told Cole about her plans?

  “I can’t say that.” She waved a hand in front of her in dismissal. For a moment, she looked at me with a certain disdain in her eyes. Last week, she’d barely glanced my way. Now she studied me, as if trying to read my thoughts. “Christopher is in an all-day meeting today, and I wanted to make sure you knew Wednesday is your work-from-home day. It’s part of a green initiative Derek and I committed to this year.”

  That last bit sounded like too much info. The Derek and I part stung a bit. “Christopher already discussed the VO schedule with me. He thought I should take Tuesday.”

  “Wednesday,” she repeated, lips pursed and cheeks red. The woman didn’t like being contradicted. “Make sure you have what you need to finish your reports from home.”

  “Yes, I’m sorry. I will.” My voice quivered. I waited for her to ask me about our little so-called arrangement.

  Luckily, her phone rang. Without saying good-bye or asking whether Cole had agreed to the divorce terms, she strolled away, with her mobile shoved against her hair. “This is Bridget Cole.”

  I was still reeling from the conversation with Bridget when Annie called back on my personal phone. With shaky hands, I pulled off my headset and tapped the green button on the screen. “Annie?”

  A knock on my desk made me look up at Bridget’s fingers snapping inches from my face. Walk with me, she mouthed while still on the phone.

  I muted my mobile, taking long strides to keep up with her. Wow, she was tall. When we reached the break-room area, she grabbed an interoffice envelope and handed it to me. “I’m running late. Take this to my office.” She left again without another word.

  I unmuted my mobile and brought it to my ear. “I’m back.”

  “She knows,” Annie said on the other end of the line.

  “Who knows what?”

  “The ex,” she whispered. “I have a customer in here having lunch, catching up on her weekend gossip while she eats. You and Cole are all over the social section.”

  “Who reads the newspaper anymore?” A lot of people. I knew that. I just wasn’t ready to face this particular news.

  “I know, right? Here. I’m gonna send you a picture of the spread. The caption is hard to read. But it says Cole paid three times the price for the dress you’re wearing.”

  My knees buckled. Glancing down at the screen, I waited for the picture to come in. I hardly recognized myself in it. And of course, Cole looked hotter than I remembered. A slow smile pulled at my lip. When I’d followed him out of the party, I’d only been concerned with the life-changing orgasm I had back in his tent and that we were headed to his house to do it all over again. In the picture, the lust in his expression made my mouth dry. I hadn’t realized he wanted me that much.

  “Are you still there?” She let out a loud breath.

  “Yeah. I see it. So they saw us leaving together. What’s the big deal?”

  “The big deal is that Mrs. Cole knows. How could she not?”

  She had a point. But Annie didn’t know about Bridget’s affair. How could Bridget be mad about Cole moving on with his life? Was this picture the reason she’d bothered to come all the way to my desk to tell me I had to work from home on Wednesday? Did she just want to size me up? My stomach rolled. She was probably wondering what Cole saw in me.

  “You may be right. She’s acting odd this morning, like she didn’t ask me to sleep with Cole and get him to agree to her divorce agreement. Do you think she’s going to kick us out of the cottage or fire me? Why didn’t I think this through?” I put my head in my hands. What was I thinking? Well, that was just it. I wasn’t. My brain had ceased all rational processing the minute Cole sauntered toward us at the party. The man had a way with words and his hands. “What am I going to do?”

  “Did you tell Cole about Bridget?”

  “Yeah.” I headed for Bridget’s office to drop off the envelope she gave me. I didn’t want to give her yet another
reason to fire me.

  “Was he mad?”

  “At first. But then…” A shiver went down my spine. I could still feel Cole’s fingers on my skin as he slid the dress off my shoulders.

  “Well, what’s done is done. Just keep your head down at work. And more importantly, Valentina, stay away from Cole.”

  Keeping my head down at work wouldn’t be a problem at all. Staying away from Cole was another matter entirely.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Alex Maio

  Cole

  Speak of the devil, and the devil shows up at your doorstep. What the hell?

  After a coffee with Valentina, my morning was, as expected, uneventful. My afternoon, however, promised to be a bit more interesting.

  “Let him through.” I spoke into the house phone. “Don’t tell him about the private driveway. Just send him here. I’ll talk to him.”

  I set the phone down and strolled onto the terrace. Valentina wasn’t back yet. With a quick glance at my watch, I headed downstairs. I had about an hour before she came home with Max. Different scenarios played in my head as to why Alex Maio, after all this time, was here looking for Valentina. His timing was impeccable. Was it a coincidence that he would come back into her life the minute she started seeing someone else?

  Was that what we were doing?

  In the living room, Em had a bourbon waiting for me. I pulled a swig from it, trying to sort out my feelings. Having this asshole in my house annoyed the heck out of me. I thought of Valentina and the fright in her eyes when she told me about Max’s dad. She felt responsible for what happened. How could she believe getting pregnant by a worthless prick was her fault?

  He did that to her.

  No wonder she swore off men after that relationship ended. He’d made sure she could never trust anyone again. I smiled as the now-familiar desire streamed across my chest. She trusted me. She trusted me enough to tell me about him, and that filled me with contentment, even if the urge to do whatever it took to make her happy scared the crap out of me. But I couldn’t deny it anymore.

  My feelings for Valentina had gone from lust to something else I couldn’t quite understand. Whatever I felt for her explained the irrational jealousy that burned in my gut every time I thought of Alex Maio. The hold he had on her. Her feelings for him. Even if those feelings were mostly trepidation. I looked down at my balled fists, forcing even breaths.

  Before I got all hot and bothered over this guy, I needed to find out why he was here. This wasn’t the time to lose my temper. I needed to handle this situation wisely.

  Valentina’s worst fear knocked on my door. Crossing my arms, I stood by the patio door and waited as Em showed him in. The asshole was nothing extraordinary. He seemed about Valentina’s age, ear-length hair, dark eyes set in an oval face.

  And a dark soul, no doubt.

  He strolled into the great room, surveying the place with a look of disbelief, a smugness about him, as if he knew something I didn’t. Did he honestly think he had a claim on Valentina?

  “Good day, sir,” he said in raspy, smoker voice that made me wonder if maybe he was older than I thought. With a charming grin, he reached out. “Alex Maio.”

  “Derek Cole.” I gripped his hand. Would Valentina be mad if I broke his fingers?

  Something crawled down my back and made me cringe. Everything about Alex screamed danger. How the fuck did Valentina fall for a jerk like this one?

  “I’m here for Valentina. Is she around?” The tone implied they were old friends. For whatever reason, he assumed I wouldn’t know about him. I took a deep calming breath.

  Valentina hadn’t said much when she talked about him. But her body language filled in the blanks for me. She had a rehearsed story for what happened to Max’s dad because he threatened her somehow. His charm was calculated. Anyone who took so much time and effort to appear friendly would care about keeping appearances. Certainly, he did the math when Valentina told him about the baby she expected. Walking out on a girlfriend would mark him as an asshole of epic proportions. Which he was. But he didn’t want people to know that about him. Alex Maio wasn’t the big mystery I’d made him out to be.

  “She’s not home.”

  “When will she be back?” He kept his eyes on the various knickknacks around the room.

  I didn’t want to tell him she was at work. If he was here now, he didn’t know her schedule. I wanted to keep it that way. I wanted him gone. His gaze fell on my drink on the coffee table. A greedy spark hit his eyes as he went to sit by it.

  “Don’t sit down. You’re not staying.”

  Big dark eyes snapped in my direction. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.”

  I was flying blind here. A couple of days ago when Valentina told me about him, I asked Dom to run a background check on Alex. Mostly, I needed to satisfy my curiosity. I never imagined the asshole would show up at my doorstep this soon. I knew next to nothing about him.

  “I know who you are. What you did.” I gritted my teeth. My voice was laced with so much anger I didn’t recognize it. I sauntered toward him, standing a good half a foot taller. I wanted to punch that smugness off his face. “What I don’t know is why you’re here.”

  “I’m here to see my family.” He spread his arms.

  I grew tired of his charade. “Let’s be clear. You don’t have a family here. What do you want?”

  That smug smile pulled on his lips again, and something twisted in my gut. “Okay. Straight to the point. I like it.” He scanned the great room as he wandered toward the patio door, craning his neck to see out. “Nice house you have here. You must have a lot of money.” He pointed a long finger toward the pool. I wanted to grab him by the collar and throw him out.

  I placed both hands on my hips. Relax. He can’t see the cottage from here.

  “That’s none of your business.” I moved in closer in case he tried to go outside.

  He rubbed his jaw, wetting his lips. His strong cologne assaulted my nostrils. “But that’s why I’m here. To talk business.”

  “Spit it out.”

  “Do you know how hard it is to stay away from my family? It’s for their own good, but it still pains me, deeply. You know what I’m talking about. That tight body of hers.” His tongue brushed his teeth, making a loud click. “She’s so sweet.” He rubbed his hand across his chest.

  “How much?” I wanted this asshole out of Valentina’s life for good.

  “See? I knew you were a smart one. Val, she always had a thing for smart men.”

  Men? I couldn’t help but be annoyed with Valentina. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what she saw in this guy. A complete douche with no regard for his own son or her. At least his intentions were simple. He wanted money.

  “For you?” He surveyed the room again. “Fifty grand.”

  “Okay.”

  His eyes lit up as a nasty grin pulled on his mouth, all charm gone. This was the real him. He took a couple of long strides, craned his neck toward the hallway that led to the kitchen, and spun around. As if he expected a cart of cash to roll into the room.

  “I will give you five thousand now. The rest when you sign an affidavit where you give up custody of Max.”

  “Who?” He furrowed his brows and wrinkled his nose. “Oh…right.”

  “You’re going to grant her full custody. And you will stay the fuck away from her. Because if you don’t, I will beat the shit out of you.”

  “I’m with you. One hundred and ten percent.” He rubbed the stubble on his jaw. “Fifty grand for the kid. And another fifty for Valentina. Come on. It’s gonna be real hard for me to give up that sweet p—”

  He didn’t get to finish. His face smacked the patio door, leaving streaks of blood behind. My hand pulsed in pain, but the satisfaction was worth it. So much for handling the situation wisely.

  The loud crack his head had made when it hit the window prompted Em to dash into the room.

  “I got this,” I said to her
.

  Scared, she hurried back into the kitchen.

  Slowly, the douchebag got up, hands on his knees for support. His face turned red as he struggled to deal with the pain and catch his breath. He hadn’t expected me to do that. What the fuck did he think? That he could come into my own home, insult Valentina, and prance away with fifty thousand dollars of my money.

  With a leering smile, he put up a hand in surrender and started toward the door.

  Midstride, he spun and charged at me. He went straight for my gut, knocking the wind out of me with his head. I stumbled several steps back before I caught my balance. He rammed into me again. The side table collapsed under our weight, and books and other items scattered across the floor.

  When I recovered, I gripped the front of his shirt and struck him across the face. I didn’t wait this time. My fist connected with his jaw again. And once more, his level of strength was no match for mine. No, this wasn’t a fair fight. I didn’t give a shit.

  He took a swing at me, slow and heavy. Could he even see through that swollen eye? Another swing. I ducked out of the way easily. On his next punch, I stood still. The loud smack of his fist against my jaw echoed in my head along with Valentina’s words when she told me what he’d done to her. Was this what she felt when he hit her? Or was it much worse? I struck him again. This time, I swung my arm around to connect with his side and let him have the full force of my strength. My knuckles felt raw, and warm liquid covered the skin, but I kept at him until he fell to the floor, almost unconscious. Out of breath and feeling deeply unsatisfied, I waited for him to recover.

  When he stirred, I helped him up. Like a snake, he recoiled away from me. “Let’s try this again,” I said. Shaking, he shot me a dark and furious glance, lip curled. He knew this was a fight he couldn’t win. I stepped toward him, towering over him, legs planted wide. “You will get your fifty thousand in exchange for Max’s full custody. And if you ever come back…sniffing around my house…asking for more money… If you so much as speak Valentina’s name, I will put you in the hospital first. And then in jail. Are we clear?” Sweat dotted the nape of my neck as anger buzzed through my body.