by Kay Harris
“So you’re still good with…coming out?”
Amy put her hand on Carlos’ cheek. His brow was furrowed, the lines cutting across his otherwise perfect forehead. She leaned forward and quickly touched her lips to his. That always helped when he was anxious. “Absolutely. In fact, I think I’m more okay with it now than I was when I first agreed.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’m tired of hiding. I want to go into work with you every day, instead of walking in from a block away. I want to be able to sit with you at lunch and not worry about if everyone can see how crazy I am about you. And most of all, I want to be able to give dirty looks to all the women who hit on you.”
“Hit on me? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “It happens at least once a day. And that’s just what I see. For example, at lunch today, Kirstie from sales practically undressed you with her eyes.”
Carlos leaned close to her. “I didn’t notice. I was too busy undressing you with my eyes.” He pulled her earlobe between his teeth. “You’re super cute when you’re jealous, by the way.”
She was about to pull him into a kiss, when the oven timer went off. “That’s dinner!”
Amy jumped up and made her way to the kitchen. Carlos followed slowly behind. He caught up to her as she was cutting the pizza on a large wooden board that she’d placed over the island. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nestled his lips between her shoulder and neck.
Amy used the pizza wheel to make perfect triangle slices. Then she wormed her way out of Carlos’ grasp so she could go to the refrigerator and pull out the tossed salad she’d made. She returned to the island with the bowl of greens and the salad dressing.
Once everything was laid out in front of her, Carlos turned her around and pulled her back into this arms. “I talked to Marcel today. He said Robbie is planning to move into your apartment next month. He’ll help Marcel with the rent and that would free you up to move in with me.”
Amy’s stomach flipped. As much as she wanted to wake up to Carlos everyday, she had her concerns about living with him.
“I really, really missed you last night,” he said.
“You worked until almost midnight,” she reminded him.
“Yeah. But then I got home and my bed was cold and lonely.” He frowned. “It was really sad.”
“It’s just that…my worry is…what if we get in a fight? We’ve never even had one fight.”
“If we do, I’ll have to sleep in the spare room until you’re done being mad at me.”
“What if…what if you dump me? Then where will I live?”
Carlos stared at her. “Is that your real worry? That I’ll leave you?”
Amy swallowed hard. She nodded.
He kissed her. It was sweet and passionate, as if he was pouring all his emotions into that kiss. Amy was so inclined to believe everything he said in that moment. So it was easy to accept when he pulled away and whispered, “I’m not going to leave you.”
****
“You look gorgeous,” Carlos told her as they emerged from his car.
After handing the valet his keys he placed his hand on her lower back and gently moved her toward the house. Amy stopped a few feet away from where they’d left the car and looked up at the massive old home.
“See, here’s a thing we’ve never discussed.” She turned toward him. “You’re rich.”
“I’m not rich.”
“You just handed a valet your keys. I have never in my life handed a valet my keys.”
“And the car in front of us was a twenty year old beater and they also handed the valet their keys,” he pointed out.
Everett’s party was indeed a diverse affair. Everett invited every single employee of E.E.R. to the party. Amy had been the one to issue the invitation in past years. Usually about a third of them showed up, but they came from all over, the factory floor, sales, and of course all the VPs.
“I know you make six figures.” For reasons she didn’t totally understand, she was insistent on traveling down this road.
He gave a slight nod. “So?”
“And I am guessing that first number in your salary isn’t a one either.”
He sighed. “It’s not. But I don’t understand—”
“I’m not rich and neither is my family.”
He leaned close to her. “I grew up in a three bedroom apartment with seven people. But you know this and I don’t understand why we’re talking about this now.”
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
Carlos put his hands on her shoulders. “I promise we can talk about this, since I can see it’s bothering you. But can we do it later?”
She nodded sullenly. “I guess I’m just feeling like I’m not in your league.”
Carlos swept his gaze slowly from her silver strappy heels to her shapely bare legs to her light green cocktail dress that fell just off the shoulder and showed the smallest amount of cleavage. At her neck was a bright diamond necklace Carlos had gotten her for no reason at all except he said he wanted to.
He leaned down so his mouth was beside her ear. “You’re wrong, sweetheart. It’s me who’s not in your league.” He kissed her cheek.
A strange choking sound came from behind them and both Amy and Carlos turned. Standing in front of an eighties model muscle car was Kenny, his eyes wide, his mouth flopped open as he stared straight at them. Beside him was a confused-looking man, handsome, built, and maybe ten years his senior.
“Hey, Kenny.” Carlos took a step toward him and outstretched his hand. After shaking Kenny’s hand and being greeted with silence, he turned to the man beside him. “You must be Jonathon. I’m Carlos, Kenny’s boss.”
“Yes. I’ve heard about you, too. Nice to meet you,” Jonathon said, still glancing sidelong at Kenny.
Carlos put his hand back on Amy’s lower back. “This is my girlfriend, Amy.”
Kenny seemed to gather his shit together while Amy and Jonathon shook hands. “So, um. I did not see this coming,” he finally spit out.
Carlos chuckled and looked over at Amy. “Funny. I did. Shall we?”
The four of them entered Everett’s house together. Amy took comfort in the fact that she wasn’t alone in presenting her boyfriend for the first time. While Carlos knew about Jonathon, Kenny hadn’t told anyone else at work. Jonathon revealed this as he and Amy slowly moseyed up the walk, somehow becoming comrades in arms during that short journey.
When they burst through the front double front doors of the estate, a few heads turned, but mostly people continued their conversations. A mass of bodies, grouped together in threes, fives, or even tens were dotted throughout the open layout of the ground floor of the house and spilled out onto the patio on the opposite side.
Carlos offered to get them something to drink as Amy spotted Maya and Julia standing together at the bottom of a spiral staircase. She told him she’d meet him over there and they parted ways. Amy approached the two women. Julia, an intense look on her face, leaned toward Maya. Looking defiant, Maya seemed to be almost ignoring the woman right beside her.
“Hey, ladies!” Amy said in greeting. They all hugged and talked about how glad they were to see one another. Then Amy turned the conversation back to what it had been before she arrived. “What’s going on? What were you talking about before I got here?”
“Dates,” Julia said, her gaze hard.
“Speaking of which, I assume Prince Charming is around here somewhere?”
Last week the four birthday buddies had gotten together at their favorite watering hole at Amy’s behest so she could give them the heads up about her and Carlos. Much to her surprise, no one showed even the slightest inkling of shock. In fact, Julia seemed to even expect it.
At that time, Julia had announced she would be attending the party alone and Maya had been vague. Alice hadn’t been sure which of her “marriage candidates” she would be bringing.
“Where’s Alice
?” Maya asked, still clearly avoiding whatever she had been talking to Julia about before Amy arrived.
All three of them looked around the room until they spotted Alice and called her over. Alice approached, a look of sheer exasperation on her face. And trailing in her wake was one of the most beautiful men Amy had ever seen. The blond stood a little taller than Carlos, was lighter in skin color, but still deeply tanned, and his chiseled face held the most incredible sapphire eyes. The man was painfully hot.
“Oh my God!” Maya blurted out.
“Hi ladies,” Alice said without much enthusiasm.
The gorgeous specimen, who’d recently become the model and spokesman for E.E.R. Tranquility Candles, sidled up beside Alice and smiled at them all.
Unable to get out of introductions, Alice gave them in the most depressing and uninterested voice imaginable. “Amy, Maya, Julia, this is Darius Fleck.”
The ladies took turns shaking hands with the sculpture of David in the flesh while his dimples popped out at them and he spoke in a charming southern drawl. Before Amy could determine exactly why Alice looked like she was about to throw up if Darius made one more smooth and sweet comment to her friends, Carlos appeared at her shoulder holding a glass of beer.
“You said you were in a beer mood.” He handed her the red plastic cup which seemed so out of place in the opulent surrounding.
Amy noticed that his other hand was empty. “Didn’t you get yourself one? Surely Everett has something you can drink.”
His gaze, almost involuntarily, slipped across the room. Amy followed his eyes. And there she was, the Dragon Lady. “I think I’ll stay sober tonight.” He turned back to her and winked. “I’ll just get you drunk and take you home.”
“You dirty dog.” Everett came up behind Carlos and slapped his hand over his friend’s shoulder.
Carlos grinned at him. “Hey, I’ve got a beautiful woman on my arm, Ev. You can’t give me shit tonight.”
Everett wasn’t looking at Carlos, even though he was speaking to him. Amy followed his gaze to Maya, who seemed to have a new interest in the ice cubes floating in her glass.
“I’m so glad you two came,” Everett said. “You, too, Darius.”
The conversation took off then, and since Amy was more of an observer than a participant, she took a moment to glance back across the room toward the sliding glass door where Kimberly stood. With one arm cocked like the handle of a teapot, fist on hip, the other holding a glass of wine, Kimberly stared daggers straight into Amy’s heart.
Chapter 17
A few hours later, Amy was lagging. She wasn’t used to having to socialize in large crowds for this long. She could tell Jonathon was struggling as well. So when Everett and Carlos went off to find some friend of theirs Carlos hadn’t seen in a long time and Kenny went to make another round of the room, she suggested the two of them step outside.
Looking grateful, Jonathon followed her out onto the patio. It was quiet out there. A small group of men were gathered by the pool and a couple was making out on a chaise lounge over by the bushes, but otherwise it was dark and still.
Amy and Jonathon stopped about ten feet from the door and stood, leaning against a railing that separated the seating area of the patio from the large pool deck. They both rested their drinks on the wood railing and turned toward one another.
“Thanks,” Jonathon said. “I have a bit of a threshold for these kinds of events.”
“I could tell.” She winked at him. “It takes one to know one.”
Jonathon picked up his drink and they clinked glasses. They both took a long gulp of their respective drinks and turned to face away from the house. The moon was nearly full and reflected in a blue glow off the still waters of the large oval pool.
“So, how long have you and Kenny been together?” she asked.
“About two months. It’s new, but it’s strong. You know what I mean?”
“I do.”
“What about you and Carlos? Kenny seemed completely shocked to see you together, and based on the looks you got from a lot of the people in there.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Either it’s new or it’s been a secret for a while.”
It had been a secret for nearly four months now. But while Amy was hesitant to admit that, she liked Jonathon and didn’t really want to lie to him. But four months could be construed as still new, right?
“Both,” she finally answered.
“How did you get together? I’ll tell you our story if you tell me yours.”
“Yes. I’m dying to know that myself.” Amy whirled around to see Kimberly standing right behind them. She held a wine glass in her hand and wore a smirk on her face. “Do tell, Amy,” she said, her voice dangerous.
Amy was speechless. But it didn’t take long for Kimberly to fill the silence. She turned to Jonathon. “You see, I’m curious to find out how my employee ended up dating my ex-husband and I am just now finding out about it.”
Jonathon made a choking noise, not unlike the one Kenny made earlier in the night.
“Because, Amy, you are still my employee, you know. Even if you are off on this program thingee,” she continued, waving her hand in the air.
Amy was pretty sure Kimberly’d had more than enough to drink. She wasn’t fall down drunk, but she was not sober either. Amy needed to tread lightly. “I know.”
“I warned you about Carlos.” Kimberly leaned toward Amy menacingly.
Amy nodded. Kimberly seemed to be examining her, trying to pierce her with a gaze. The silence between the three of them was punctuated awkwardly by a round of laughter coming from the group of men across the pool. That seemed to catch Kimberly’s attention and she glanced up at them. She looked back to Amy long enough to make a final threat. “You’ll be sorry.” She turned away and walked toward the group of men.
Amy let out a deep breath.
“Holy shit,” Jonathon said, voicing Amy’s thoughts exactly.
****
It was a good thing Carlos had stayed sober, because Amy and Jonathon celebrated their narrow escape from the Dragon Lady with a few more strong drinks before Carlos suggested they head home for the night.
On the ride back to the condo Amy told Carlos about Kimberly. He was neither happy about it nor surprised. He promised Amy she had nothing to worry about. He said he would “handle it.” She was either too tipsy or too afraid to ask him what he meant by that.
He seemed much more interested in continuing the conversation Amy had unwittingly started when they’d first arrived at Everett’s house, and by the time they were situated on the couch in Carlos’ living room he’d delved them into it again. With Amy’s bare feet in his lap, his hands working on the knots her shoes had caused, he asked her about it. “So, what was this ‘not in your league’ shit you were talking about?”
The alcohol did make this usually embarrassing conversation a little easier and it loosened Amy’s tongue. “You are very sophisticated and successful and wealthy. And here I am, a thirty year old HR assistant living in a tiny apartment with a roommate. And I guess that when it hits me in the face, like it did tonight, it makes me feel a little inadequate.”
“First of all. You don’t really live in that apartment, you spend all your time here, which is why you should just move in with me. But that’s not the point, is it?”
Amy sighed. “No, Carlos. That is not the point.”
He pulled her feet off his lap, got up, and set them back down again. Then, without warning, he leaned down and scooped her up off the couch, one arm looped under her knees and the other behind her shoulders.
She let out a small gasp but otherwise stayed quiet and in a state of awe as he easily carried her to the bedroom. He laid her on the bed and crawled on top of her, supporting his weight with his arms and knees.
His face hovered over hers. “Okay, let’s get this straight right now. There is absolutely nothing about you that isn’t completely worthy of me. In fact, I think we need to question whether or not
I am worthy of you. You are intelligent, ambitious, kind, and incredibly beautiful. And I am completely in love with you.”
She stretched up in an attempt to get her lips on his, but he pulled his head out of her reach. She tried another tact, pulling her arms up to wrap them around his neck. But he captured them both and held them captive over her head with one of his large hands.
She was at his mercy as he kissed a path from her ear to her collarbone and back up again, all the while his other hand slowly moved the hem of her dress higher and higher on her thigh. “Are you gonna be good if I take this dress off?”
She swallowed. “That depends. What does good mean?”
“I’m going undress you and me and I want you to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Oh.” Something inside her quivered.
“I want to try something new tonight. Are you up for that?” he whispered against her jaw.
Unable to answer him articulately, she nodded her head.
“Good.” He sat up on his knees beside her.
She lay still as he pulled her dress up and off her. Then he removed her lacy bra and finally, her panties. Anticipation clawed at her as he stood beside the bed and removed his own clothes. When he climbed back onto the bed, he kissed her long and hard before crawling up so his thighs were on either side of her head.
Amy smiled up at him and licked her lips. Her hands were still lying above her head, right where he’d left them, but her fingers twitched with the need to touch him. He glanced at those itchy fingers and grinned before capturing her wrists in his hand again.
Desire drove her to flick her tongue out, reaching for him.
“Is this what you want?” He swung his hips forward.
“Yes,” she breathed.
She felt a wave of sensual pleasure ripple down her body as he entered her mouth, slow and smooth. Using just her lips and tongue she made him moan, pant, and swear in deep tones. And with each stroke her own orgasm built inside her without either of them actually touching her below the waist. A small part of her brain was contemplating this reality, while the rest of her was swimming in sensation.
It ended too soon. Carlos pulled away from her with a long groan and lithely moved so that he was straddling her waist again. He leaned down and kissed her, his mouth greedy and urgent.
