by Cat Johnson
After a few seconds where Tina sat in silence, surprise evident in her expression, she shook her head. “I don’t want the house. I want to move back in with my parents. You can see the kids whenever you want, but my mother said she would watch them while I go back to school and get my degree. I think I want to be a teacher, Antonio.”
She looked excited about going back to school. Tina hadn’t shown enthusiasm for anything in a long time.
“Wow. You never mentioned that before, but good for you. I’m really glad for you, Tina. All I want is for you to be happy.”
“Thanks.” She took a deep breath. “It’s kind of a relief actually, you know, to have the decision made.”
“I know. The lawyer can see us today and start the paperwork if you want. Otherwise it’s going to have to wait until next week because I’m due back on shift in the morning.”
“That’s fine, we can go today. My mom will take the kids.” She rose and came around to his side of the table and surprised him when she hugged him. “It wasn’t all bad, was it, Antonio?”
He hadn’t thought any of it was bad, but apparently she had. Maybe that was part of the problem. He squeezed her, sad that the marriage he’d thought was so perfect had been far from it. “No, it wasn’t.”
~
Maddie stumbled to the foyer and squinted through the peephole. Scowling, she flung the door open and headed for the kitchen to make coffee. “Brad, this is my last day off from work for the holidays. I need to store up as much sleep as I can.”
She hastily pushed a curl out of her eyes and glared at him as she somehow made it to the kitchen and started to fill the coffee pot.
“Jeez, Maddie. It’s eleven. I didn’t think I would be interfering with even your sleep schedule at this hour. Maybe you’ll forgive me when you see these.” He held up and shook a bag that she certainly hoped contained what she thought it did.
She made a grab for it and after a few seconds of keep away, was rewarded with her first whiff of freshly baked chocolate croissants. “Okay, I may forgive you.”
Brad smiled. “Works every time. So I’m happy to see that you made it home safely. Although not so happy to see you’re alone. I thought maybe Antonio might be here.” He glanced around the condo.
Maddie opened her eyes wide. “Bradley Morgan! I hardly even know him.”
Brad was her little brother so she had to play coy but truth be told if Antonio hadn’t been such the consummate and extremely, frustratingly well-behaved gentleman last night, she might not have been waking up alone today.
She’d never considered herself a particularly sexual person but after all the dancing and laughing and what amounted to mental foreplay with Antonio last night, she was aroused enough to actually consider breaking out that vibrator the girls at work had given her at her divorce party. All right, she did break it out and almost used it, then she got shy and put it back away. One more night like last night though and she had a feeling she’d be stocking up on batteries.
Maddie bit into the warm, mouth-teasing chocolate filling of the croissant and closed her eyes. She would just have to satisfy her cravings with chocolate until she could get Antonio to stop acting the gentleman. He better not take too long or she’d get fat.
“If you’re done having your chocolate orgasm over there, would you like me to pour you a cup of coffee?”
She opened her eyes and made a face at Brad, who stood there holding two mugs. “Are all men jealous that women get as much if not more pleasure from chocolate than from them? With a lot less headaches, I might add.”
Brad wrinkled his nose right back at her. “Don’t you use your lawyerly logic on me.”
He handed her the coffee. Once it was safely in her hand, she shot back, “Why not? You’re always using your computer-ese on me.”
“Well, come on, Maddie. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t even know how to cut and paste a document into an email before. It’s not like I was asking you to write me the code for an inoculation program or anything.”
“See, my point exactly.” She raised a finger in the air and although she had no idea what he just said, she considered her case closed and won.
“Okay, truce. I came by to apologize for having to leave you like that last night. Lys really was sick. I had to pull over on the side of the road so she didn’t, you know, lose it in the car.”
Maddie winced. “Yeah, that would have been most unpleasant. I’m sorry. Tell her I hope she feels better. It wasn’t the food though, I feel fine.”
“No, it wasn’t the food.” Brad wandered around the kitchen picking things up and putting them down.
She watched him and immediately had visions of Brad as a child. He would do the same thing when he was hiding something or anxious. “Brad?”
He looked up nervously. “Yeah?”
“I’m not mad at you for tricking me into singing, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Oh. Oh, yeah. Good. I’m glad you’re not mad.” Brad still stood by the counter, looking on edge.
Hmm. Maybe that wasn’t it after all. “I’m not mad at the matchmaking scheme you hatched up for me and Antonio either.”
Now he broke into a smile. “Yeah, about that. How did it go, besides the fact that he’s not here now? Do you think it may lead somewhere?”
“That’s a very good question. I don’t know.” Maddie stared into her coffee cup, but since it wasn’t a crystal ball, the answer wasn’t there. She did know what she wanted to happen, but she wasn’t sharing that with her brother.
“Well you know, it seems that so far anyone who met somehow through Maria ends up getting married. Me and Lys. Troy and Amy. You might want to prepare yourself,” Brad warned.
“Marriage? Please, Brad. That’s the last thing on my mind.” But she wouldn’t mind a dinner, hopefully followed by a breakfast…
She took another bite of the croissant.
Chapter 5
“Uh, a little help here.”
Antonio looked down to find Troy nearly crushed on the weight bench below. He reached down with both hands and grabbed the bar off him. “Sorry, man. I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”
“No shit.” Troy sat up and grabbed a towel. “What the hell were you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing, my ass. Come on. You nearly just killed me while you were supposed to be spotting me. Not to mention you still owe me for saving your life two years ago, so fess up.”
Antonio cocked a brow at his supposed best friend. “That’s low, bringing that up just to get your own way and make me tell you something I don’t want to.”
“What can I say?” Troy shrugged. “So? Fess up… Whoa, wait. Wait one minute.”
Troy stared at the white stripe of skin on Antonio’s left hand ring finger. Antonio ran his thumb over the smooth spot where his wedding band used to be. It had felt very strange taking off that ring, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to move on until he did it. “Tina and I went to a lawyer and filed for divorce yesterday.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me instead of letting me tease you like that? Jeez. Of course you’re preoccupied. I understand that.” Troy looked so sincere Antonio had to confess the rest.
“Well, that wasn’t exactly what I was thinking of when I just almost let you get crushed.”
Troy rubbed his hands together and his eyes grew wide. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Go on, I think I know what you’re going to say, but let me hear you say it anyway.”
Antonio rolled his eyes. “I was thinking about Maddie. Okay? Happy now?”
“Very. Of course it will be unbearable living with Amy once she knows. I can hear the ‘I told so’ now. But hey, wait a minute. You told me nothing happened the other night when you drove her home.”
“Nothing did happen. I hadn’t asked Tina for the divorce yet then. And right after I did ask her, I had to come on shift and now…well, it’s a good thing we’re having a slow day here because my mind is obviously
not where it should be. You’d probably be pulling me out from under a burning building again where my head’s at right now.”
Troy stood. He walked over to pick up a barbell and faced the mirror. He watched Antonio in the reflection and frowned. “I don’t know what you’re looking so miserable about. You should be happy and looking forward to getting to know Maddie a whole lot better, if you know what I mean.”
“This coming from the man who holds the longstanding firehouse record for the most women dated in one month.”
“Yeah, well, now I’m the retired champion. And what does that have to do with anything anyway?”
“You’re used to going out with different women. Tina and I started dating way back in high school.” Antonio waited for that to sink in, but Troy didn’t seem to catch on so he continued. He was going to regret this, he could feel it already. “Troy, Tina was my first and until now she’s been the only. I guess I’m nervous.”
“Wow.” Troy stopped lifting the weight and stood totally still, staring at him. He frowned deeply, as if he couldn’t comprehend such a concept as having slept with only one woman in your lifetime.
Antonio laughed. “All of the times I wished you’d shut up over the years and you wouldn’t and now when I actually need your advice, you’re speechless.”
Troy shook his head. “I honestly don’t know what to tell you.”
“That’s okay. Forget it. And I mean that, I want you to forget all about it.”
“No, I won’t. I want to help you. Let me think about this for a minute.” Troy put the weight down and sat on the bench again, thinking so hard Antonio could almost see his brain working. “You know, you and I are kind of in the same position, but just opposite.”
“Oh really?” Antonio crossed his arms and waited. Where the hell was this going?
“Yup, you see I spent my whole life sampling from the wide spectrum of the female buffet. Now that I’m with Amy it’s like I’ve committed myself to choosing and enjoying only one delicacy for the rest of my life and that’s scary. I won’t lie to you and say it’s not. You, on the other hand, have always limited yourself to just one menu item. Now that the whole world of choices has opened up for you, you’re scared. It makes perfect sense. But what you have to do is just jump right in, head first and don’t worry about how cold the water is.” Troy concluded his long-winded analogy with a self-satisfied nod.
“You’re mixing your metaphors there, Aesop, but I get what you’re saying.” At least this conversation with Troy didn’t involve alternate universes.
“So what are you going to do next?” Troy rose from the bench, wiping his hands on his shorts.
“Well, oh wise one, I can’t do anything from here in the firehouse, now can I? And this is proving to be the longest damn shift of my life.”
“It’ll be over soon.” Troy slapped him on the back and moved back over to the mirror to do more standing curls. “But until then and until you get yourself some of the ‘Maddie Special’, there’s no way you’re spotting any more of my bench presses.”
Antonio closed his eyes and shook his head. One day he would learn to just keep his mouth shut.
~
Maddie decided going back to work after being off for the holidays was way harder than not having any time off at all. She’d spent two days just wading through and returning emails, faxes and phone messages. She hadn’t even touched the paperwork in the briefcase sitting next to her on the seat of the car. But it was Friday night and she looked forward to the weekend, even if she would probably spend at least part of it working.
Or maybe not… She turned into a parking spot in front of her condo and smiled when she saw the white SUV parked next to her in the visitor’s slot. Well, well, well. Her weekend was definitely looking up.
The SUV’s door swung open and the man who had haunted her nights stepped down. Briefcase forgotten, she grabbed her purse and locked the car door behind her. “Hello there, stranger.”
Antonio shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Hey. Sorry I didn’t call or anything. I just got off shift and actually, and I don’t have your phone number.”
Boy, did he look good in those jeans.
The cold January wind picked up and blew her hair into her eyes. She fought to control it.
“It’s cold out here. Come on inside, Antonio.”
“Okay.”
She ran up the walk and let them both in as quickly as she could get the key in the lock.
Antonio stood in the entryway as she took off her coat with slightly trembling hands. He was here, inside, finally.
“I know it’s short notice, but if not tonight, maybe tomorrow night, I thought we might be able to go to dinner or something, just the two of us.” He ran his left hand through his wind ruffled hair and Maddie’s eyes opened wide.
She stepped forward and took his hand in hers, her eyes on his bare ring finger. “Your ring…”
“We filed for divorce earlier in the week.” He squeezed her hand. “And I haven’t stopped thinking about you since.”
He hadn’t stopped thinking about her.
Maddie had probably waited her entire life for someone to say something that sweet to her. She released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and stepped in closer to him.
His skin was cold when she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pressed her lips to his. Antonio groaned when their mouths met. He pulled her tight against him, tilted his head and kissed her deeper. She had trouble catching her breath. She didn’t care. Breathing was way overrated.
Somehow in a jumble of stumbling and groping all while locked together at the lips, they ended up getting his jacket off and themselves onto her couch. She yanked his t-shirt out from the waist of his jeans and ran her hands up the lean muscles of his torso.
Maddie couldn’t suppress the sound of appreciation that radiated from deep in her throat. She’d been without a man for almost a year and the last man, that being her soft-bellied, pencil-pushing, cheating husband, was nothing like the man beneath her eager hands now.
“God, I want you.” She leaned down and breathed against his ear.
He drew in a shaky breath. “I want you too.”
A few more moments of trembling hands hastily wrestling with stubborn clothes and they were both in nothing but their underwear.
Antonio’s gaze roamed her mostly bare body. He swallowed hard and focused on her face. “Am I going too fast for you?”
“Hell no.” Her enthusiastic answer made him smile, which made her heart skip a beat.
Never had a man looked so good in boxer shorts. She’d have to talk him into doing one of those hunky firemen calendars. They’d sell thousands. Just the girls at her office would buy a dozen each.
But as beautiful as what she was looking at was, there was still one part of him she had yet to get to. Perched on top of Antonio, Maddie reached between them, slid her hand under the waistband of his boxers and enjoyed watching his eyes roll back in his head as she grasped him.
He slid his own hand beneath the elastic of her underwear and found the spot that had been neglected for so long. She was sure she did some eye rolling of her own. He circled her slowly, then faster, until her breath was coming fast and her insides were coiled like a spring.
“It’s been a long time for me.” She let out a gasp and ground against his fingers.
“For me too.”
She believed him. Her one hand braced on his chest could feel his heart thundering behind his ribcage.
“What do you say we get this first time over with fast and then spend the rest of the weekend taking it slow and making up for lost time?” Feeling bolder than she had in a very long time, Maddie stroked him harder and waited for his reaction to her suggestion.
“Oh God.” A shudder passed through him. “It’s going to be over real soon if you keep doing that.”
“Then I had better move on to the next step.”
He didn’t protest
, not that she thought he would, as she pushed both their underwear aside and guided the hard length of him inside her.
Antonio threw his head back against the couch pillow. “Holy mother. Maddie, you feel too good. You can’t stay on top.”
“Why not? I like being on top.” She moved slowly over him, enjoying every stroke as he slid in and out of her. It had been way too long.
“I won’t be able to pull out with you on top of me.” He sounded as breathless as she was at the moment. “I don’t want to get you pregnant.”
“I can’t get pregnant… Don’t stop. Please don’t stop. I’m going to come.” Her orgasm started building, so strong it was amazing she could still speak. She rode Antonio, setting the pace she needed.
In between breaths, Antonio asked, “Maddie, are you sure?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m definitely going to come.”
Antonio laughed and sent a wave of vibration rippling into her. “That’s not what I meant—”
His sentence ended in a deep nearly feral groan as he must have felt the start of her orgasm gripping him. The first pulsing began inside her and grew stronger. Antonio’s hold on her hips tightened and he pistoned into her, finishing them both off with an explosion that she was sure the neighbors must have felt. They definitely should have heard her enjoying it.
Boneless and breathless from probably the best sex he’d had in recent memory, if not ever, Antonio stroked Maddie’s back as she lay collapsed on top of him. “I know it’s a bit late to ask now, but how do you know you can’t get pregnant? Are you on the pill?”
She shook her head and her curls tickled his nose. “I tried for five years when I was married to get pregnant and nothing. I figure I must be infertile since Alan had his sperm tested and he said the doctor said it was fine. I was going to get tested next but we broke up first.”
“I’m sorry.” He gave her pretty blonde head a kiss.
“It was for the best. I guess God or Fate or Mother Nature or whoever knew better than to let me have a baby with that idiot.”
“Yeah, sometimes things do work out for the best.” If she hadn’t once been married to that idiot, he might not have met her at Maria’s that night. “Maddie, I didn’t come here tonight expecting this to happen.”
