by Gina Gordon
Was he not worth her time? Did he not deserve to be a notch on her belt that she bragged about?
“We’re not doing the huggy-feely thing. It’s strictly sex. She knows I’m leaving, and I know she’s…wild. It’s a perfect fit.”
Rob and Aleks exchanged looks that didn’t sit right with Milton. They were mocking. “What?”
Neither of them wanted to answer. Aleks looked down and concentrated on his job of manning the grill.
“What are you two giving the eyes to?”
Rob finally spoke, “It doesn’t look like just sex. We’ve never seen Amie hug a man. Or kiss a man in public. Or organize a baseball game to make him happy.”
He was worthy in a different way. But keeping the details of their relationship so close to the vest meant she was getting attached, getting involved, when they both said they wouldn’t.
“She’s trying to remove the stick from my ass.” The three of them laughed.
Aleks turned over the burgers and rotated the sausages. “If the lack of tension on your forehead is any indication, I think it’s working.”
“How’s the grilling, boys?” Billy sauntered up to the grill, Sam and Marc not far behind.
“We were kicked out of the ladies group. I guess it’s girl talk time,” Sam said.
Milton, Aleks and Rob glanced at one another, all thinking the same thing. If they were talking about his relationship with Amie, then it was a sure thing that the ladies would be talking about Milton.
What he wouldn’t give to be a fly on that picnic table.
* * * *
Amie shuffled around the cooler and pulled out a purple box of juice. “Grape?”
The little girl smiled wide and grabbed the box out of her hand.
“What do we say, Alexandria?” Milton’s sister must have had eyes in the back of her head. Last Amie noticed she wasn’t even facing them.
“Thank you!” the little voice trailed behind the little body that ran toward the men and the grill.
Alexandria ran right into Milton’s arms. Was it customary to find a man even more attractive at the sight of him scooping up a little girl and wiggling his nose against hers? For someone who didn’t want a family, he sure was good with kids.
Amie stared at the man who she was not getting attached to. Milton was beautiful. Adonis body, Michelangelo face and…the devil’s occupation. He was the enemy, and she was days away from giving him her heart. Good thing he didn’t have many days left before he headed back to Vancouver.
When Milton looked over, Amie rubbed her cheek on her shoulder, pretending that she was scratching an itch, and turned back to her friends at the table, but she’d already missed half the conversation.
“Sam is a very handsome man,” Martina said.
“Again with the looking!” Amie spat.
“I told you, baby plus pressure equals horny Martina.”
Carrie and Marilyn laughed. Then so did Amie. She realized she was being ridiculous.
“I remember those days,” Marilyn said. “All you want to do is rub your crotch over anything just to get off.”
“I bet your husband was happy to comply. Rob is too freaked out. He thinks he’s going to poke the baby.”
“My brother, the prude.” Carrie chuckled.
Amie laughed along with her friends but noticed that Marilyn didn’t join in. “Marilyn, is something wrong?”
“Oh.” She wiped her hair away from her face. “Nothing. Just remembering.” She sank onto the bench of the picnic table and pulled her shoulders back. “My husband passed away.”
Amie, Carrie and Martina recoiled at the same time. It was easy to assume that divorce was the reason for the absence of a father.
“He died shortly after I became pregnant, so I can’t give you firsthand knowledge as to how he would have dealt with the horny situation.”
“Oh, Marilyn, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” Martina blubbered.
“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s been six years and sometimes I still wake up thinking he’ll be next to me.” Marilyn rested her chin on her hand. “Sam is a beautiful man, but I can’t bring myself to get interested.”
“That’s perfectly understandable.” Carrie reached out and caressed her arm.
“Instead of a man, I focus on our charities and funding for–”
“Charity?” Amie questioned. This was the first she was hearing of such a thing. Milton was the devil. He was the evil corporate tyrant who robbed people of their homes and closed people’s businesses.
“Our mother always hated the fact that our business sometimes affected innocent people, so she decided to give back, even though we couldn’t directly help the people involved. Our mother raised money to build a women’s shelter in downtown Vancouver. She built a boys and girls recreation center. We also run a Christmas celebration at the children’s hospital every year.”
Amie shook her head in disbelief. It didn’t make his job any better, he was still responsible for heartache. But the fact that Milton continued to be committed to helping others...
Amie didn’t know him at all. She knew his body, knew the façade he put on, but there was one part of him she didn’t know at all–an important part–his heart.
It’s a good thing. You don’t want to know his heart. He’s leaving and wants nothing to do with your dreams of a relationship.
“I had no idea your company did those things.”
“Milty’s not a bragger. He knows what people think of him, but in his heart he knows better.”
Which would explain why he didn’t care if Amie hated him. In reality she was the bad one for assuming the worst of him.
“It’s selfish really,” Marilyn continued. “We do it to keep our mother’s memory alive. I took over her charity positions, and Milton handles the finances for our donations.”
Her memory? Milton had never mentioned the death of such significant people in his life. Why should he? Your relationship is supposed to be casual. “When did your mother pass away?”
Marilyn looked up from the table. “Um…about eight years ago.”
Amie started to put the pieces together. Why Milton wasn’t interested in marriage, in a family, in a happily ever after of his own. Death. Allowing himself to find his happily ever after would only mean losing it much too early. Why bother.
Amie looked over at Milton, and tears began to well in her eyes.
“Ames, are you all right?” Martina sidled closer to her on the bench.
“Yes.” Amie blinked away the tears as best she could.
Two simple revelations. Two truths had changed everything and brought to light the fact that she was falling in love with Milton Campbell. A man she could never have.
* * * *
Amie walked hand in hand with Milton through the park.
After learning a little more about him, Amie had an overwhelming urge to be with him. Not just physically, although she would never turn down a romp in the sack with Milton, but be with him. She now understood his motivations for wanting to remain unattached. It was about time she explained herself.
“My father owns a construction business,” she blurted.
Milton looked over at her with interest. He didn’t speak. He waited for her to continue.
“I’m an only child. A child that was supposed to be a boy.”
Milton nodded in acknowledgement. He was smart enough to know where this was going.
“My father had big plans for me and the business. He started grooming me when I was sixteen. I played the dutiful daughter and went along with it.” They continued to walk and Milton grabbed her hand and held it in his. “That same year my grandmother was served with an eviction notice. Her landlord had decided to sell his property, and guess what was built in that very spot?”
Amie looked up at Milton. He didn’t have to answer. She saw the realization in his eyes. The guilt. But he had no reason to feel guilty.
“I never met my grandfather. He died whe
n I was little, and since then my grandmother had been renting a home. She refused to live with my parents. She didn’t want to be a burden. That house was a part of every childhood memory I have. And then one day, it was gone. When I graduated from high school my father wanted me to go to University for business. I did. I was so unhappy. That’s when I started to get into New Age remedies. I finally found something that made me happy. Something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life.”
They detoured past a clump of trees. Laughter and giggling around them, quite the contrast to their topic of conversation.
“I wasn’t meant to own a construction company. I battled with my father for a long time. And sometimes I would cave and do what he asked. But eventually I had to forge ahead on my own. To make himself feel better my father decided that I wasn’t good enough to run the business. I’m sure he told people I was incompetent, that was the only way he could live with the shame of me refusing to follow in his footsteps. It took a long time, but we’re on speaking terms now. I see the disappointment in his eyes, even after all these years, but I can’t control that. I can only control what happens to my life and where I’m going.”
“I’m sorry about your grandmother’s house.” They were the first words he had spoken since she started to cleanse her conscience.
“You have no reason to apologize. Why didn’t you tell me about your charity work?”
A look of understanding stared back at her. “Marilyn?”
Amie nodded.
“So you’re mad at me.”
“I’m not mad. I… Why didn’t you tell me? You made me believe all this time that you were the big bad wolf.”
“Why does it matter? You liked believing that. There was no reason for you to believe otherwise.”
Other than the fact that I might be falling in love with you?
“You’re nothing like I thought you were. And I’m sorry for thinking the worst of you.” Amie cupped his face and leaned in for a kiss.
Out of the corner of her eye Amie saw the press box. She pulled him in that direction.
“Whoa! Where are we going?” Milton asked.
Amie pulled him along, his breath hitting her skin. Upon learning the truth about Milton’s character Amie could barely fend off the overwhelming urge to please him. It could be a result of the guilt that nagged at her for thinking so poor of him in the first place. Or it could be the fact that she could now reconcile her feelings for the man. The feelings she tried to push aside that went against everything she believed in.
They approached the makeshift press box. It was conveniently unlocked. Amie pulled him inside the metal shed and closed the door behind them. The small room was bare except for a desk and some chairs, and a bunch of buttons and tabs that no doubt controlled the lights for the diamonds.
Amie pushed Milton against the desk.
“Woods, what is going on with you?”
It was a different kind of kiss. Soft and slow. Not as fierce as their other encounters. A kiss of love. His hands gripped around her, and he pulled her tighter to his body.
“We only have one more night together,” she whispered against his lips. “I have something special planned.”
Their lips nipped at each other and he bit her bottom lip. A signature move. A move she loved, one that made her insides quiver.
“I have to do everything you say, don’t I? I’m in for whatever you have up your sleeve.”
“Hmm...” A tiny smirk curled at the side of her lip when she noticed the bulge in his pants. She loved that a simple kiss got him hard.
“What’s going on in that dirty brain of yours?”
Amie attacked the fly of his jeans.
“Amie, what–”
She rested her finger against his lips. “Shh…” Her hands released his cock from his pants. Amie reached inside the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a condom.
“You played baseball with a condom on you. In front of the children, Amie.”
She laughed and ripped open the packet, wasting no time before she smoothed it down his shaft.
Milton sat on the desk with a soft curse. “Damn, there are buttons up my ass.”
Amie chuckled.
“You think that’s funny?” He grabbed her by the hips and turned her around until she rested against the desk.
He undid the button, then the zipper of her jeans. The next thing she knew her pants dangled from one leg. He lifted her onto the desk and filled her in one fluid motion. Amie moaned as his length hit just the right spot. She fumbled behind her, trying to find a flat section to rest her hands on. He pumped in a steady motion. Each time their pelvises met they let out a hard breath.
“Milton,” Amie whispered.
He rested his head in the curve of her neck and continued to fuck her. A wave of heat flowed through her body. Both of them tensed as a loud knock on the door sounded behind them.
“Ames!” Aleks’s voice drifted through the door. “Think you can teach Carrie some of those moves?” They heard him laughing. “Microphone is on. Parents are on their cellphones probably calling the police to arrest you for indecent behavior.”
They both scrambled up and worked with the buttons on the desk, trying to figure out which one belonged to the microphone. “Which one is it?” Amie screeched.
“Probably the one labeled microphone.” One look at each other, and they burst out laughing.
Milton flicked the switch and put an end to their public display of affection. He pulled her into his arms, she could feel against her stomach that his erection had deflated. With good reason.
“Tomorrow night? Your place?” he asked, his jaw rocking against the top of her head.
She nodded into his chest. “One more night.”
Amie never expected to feel honest emotions toward the man she hated. But hate was no longer the strongest emotion that came to mind when she thought of him. Hate was not the emotion filling her heart at this very moment. Far from it. She didn’t want him to leave. But now that her heart was involved it was for the best. Better that he go away than to stay and be a reminder of a life she could have had with him. A life that he never wanted.
Chapter 12
The candles were lit and music played softly in the background. Amie’s body was creamed and perfumed and clad in very little, but just enough.
Milton would be arriving at any moment, and Amie waited with nervous anticipation. She had finally disclosed to Carrie and Martina part of the arrangement with Milton. Only the part about the wild sex, nothing about her falling in love. No one would know that.
A loud rap sounded three times against her door. “Showtime.” With a bright smile, Amie smoothed back her hair, fixed her breasts in the bra cup, then opened the door.
“I need your help!” A distraught Aleks stood on the other side of the door. The shock on his face registered for only a moment. “I need you to call Milton.” Shock turned into a devious grin as he eyed her outfit. “But I guess he’s already on his way over here.”
“You’d be correct.” Milton’s sexy voice sounded behind him. “Aleks! What the fuck are you doing gawking at my…”
My what? Please finish that sentence.
“…at Amie.”
She deflated a little where she stood.
“I’m not gawking. I’ve seen her in less than this.”
“Shut up, Aleks.” Amie slapped his arm.
Milton strode closer and pushed past Aleks and entered the apartment. His large frame blocked the doorway and her half-naked body. “What do you need help with?”
“Hand fasting.”
“What?” Milton asked.
“The ceremony is in two weeks. I need to practice on someone. I can’t exactly do it on myself and Carrie. I need a couple.”
Amie sighed. “Shouldn’t you be practicing on Rob and Martina?”
“I want them to think I know what I’m doing. This is a big deal.”
“And that makes you rush over here.” Amie loved Ale
ks, but she couldn’t help but be a little annoyed at his horrible timing. And she wouldn’t be the only one. “Does Carrie know you’re here?”
No sooner did she ask the question did the phone ring. Amie walked over and picked up on the third ring.
“Please tell me he’s not at your door,” Carrie squealed into the phone.
“He’s here.”
“Dumb idiot! I’m sorry, honey. I know you had some exciting plans for tonight. You have my permission to maim.” She paused. “Just don’t aim for the face.”
Amie chuckled. “It’s not me you have to worry about. I greeted Aleks thinking it was Milton.” Amie watched as the two men exchanged words–heated words.
“Oh, I hope you weren’t totally naked.”
Amie looked down. “Not totally.”
“Just send him home.” Carrie sighed on the other end of the phone.
“It’s okay, Care. He just better be a fast learner.” A rumble of words drew Amie’s attention to the doorway. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Aleks strutted inside with a smile on his face. He always got his way.
“Can she at least cover herself?” Milton yelled.
“Of course. Amie, go and get a robe.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out some ribbon, pink and black.
After she had covered herself, Aleks ran through the important part–vows, rings. “Please join hands.”
Although they had touched many times, hand to hand, pelvis to pelvis, this time it meant a little more than they had agreed on. They both hesitated but followed Aleks’s instruction.
“As your hands are joined so are your lives.” Aleks slid the ribbon under their joined hands and tied it with a slipknot, reciting the rest of the ceremony. “As this knot is tied, so are your lives now bound.”
Bound? This wasn’t the plan she had for tonight. Casual. Fun. Sex. Not binding herself to a man she hardly knew, one who made every effort to keep women at a distance.
“Perfect!” Aleks screamed.
Amie, startled by his outburst, took a step back. She couldn’t go very far, not tied to the sexy man undressing her with his eyes at that very moment. When had the mood changed, his expression of annoyance, then boredom turned into a heated stare that tingled along her skin? She closed the edges of her robe a little tighter with her free hand.
