by C L Cruz
“If I do, will we make it to dinner on time?”
He leans through the open door and brushes a kiss across my lips. “We probably won’t make it to dinner at all.”
As the doorman opens the door for him and he disappears inside the luxury apartment building, I lightly touch my lips. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this. It’s like living in a dream.
“If you don’t mind me saying, miss,” the driver says, turning slightly to look at me through the front seats, “I’ve never seen him this happy.”
The smile that takes over my face is involuntary. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy either.”
Tobias returns with a bottle of wine and we pull back out onto the road, winding through town until getting on the highway. Apparently, the Kline estate is somewhere between Oakwood City and Fairview, and its driveway is so long that it has a name—Kline Drive.
“Not very original,” Tobias admits, “but it doesn’t leave any room for doubt about who lives there.”
When we turn onto the winding, tree-lined driveway, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and see my mom calling. “Sorry,” I say. “I have to take this.” I swipe to answer the call and hear my mom in hysterics. “Mom?” I ask, my heart rate racketing up a notch. “Mom, are you OK?”
But it’s Camila’s voice that comes on the line. “Nina, you need to get over here.”
“Is everything OK?” I ask, feeling my throat tighten with panic.
Tobias’ hand comes down on my back. “Just breathe,” he whispers.
“I’ll tell you when you get here.” And the call disconnects.
I look over at Tobias, eyes wide, breaths shallow, ears ringing, head spinning.
“Nina, Nina, look at me.” Tobias holds my jaw in one of his big hands and forces me to focus on his eyes, those dark, endless pools. “What do you need?”
“I need to go home,” I tell him. “I don’t know if it’s Val or my mom or…anything. I don’t know anything, but I need…to go…” I claw at my throat, but he grabs my hands and pulls them away, holding them tightly between us.
“Breathe with me,” he says.
I’m glad he’s so bossy, because it makes me want to obey. I focus on his sure, steady breaths and try to match them. As I do, I feel my heart rate slow.
“Go home, find out what’s happening, and deal with it. Or let someone else deal with it. Do you want me to come?”
Glancing sideways, I see the massive house looming at the top of the driveway, a man in a suit standing at the door. I shake my head no. “But I don’t have a car.”
“Chuck will take you. He can come back for me later, or Josie can give me a lift.”
“Are you sure?”
He grabs my face and kisses me hard enough to quell the last of the panic. Then, he takes my phone from me and programs in his number. “Yes. If you need me, call.”
I watch him get out, straighten his jacket, and walk to the door, where he greets the waiting man. “Edward, good to see you.”
I can’t hear anything else as Chuck pulls around and heads back down the driveway to the street. After I give him my address, I lean back in the chair and close my eyes.
Just breathe, he said. And so, I do.
♦ ♦ ♦
“Thank you so much for the ride,” I tell Chuck as he opens the door for me at the curb.
“My pleasure,” he answers. “I’ll wait for you until you tell me you’re OK.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I say, but I already know he will anyway.
Turning, I take in the house. Compared to the Kline estate, the two-story, red brick row house is miniscule. But it’s paid for, and has been a good home for my mom, my sister, and me.
I climb the front stairs and let myself in. Following the sound of talking, I end up in the kitchen, where my mom and my Aunt Camila are sitting at the table.
“Where’s Val?” I ask without preamble.
My mom shrugs. “Out with Brooks, I think.”
So much for hating him. “Are you OK?” I ask, looking between the women. The two of them are sisters, and the resemblance is uncanny. In fact, they look a lot like me—short, round, dark-haired. But they don’t seem to be in any sort of panic.
“It’s the sink,” Camila says.
“The sink?” I repeat, sure I didn’t hear her right.
“It’s leaking.”
My mom pats Camila’s hand. “Your tía was able to find the shut off valve, but it will need to be repaired right away.”
Camila nods her agreement. “We cannot risk water damage.”
“You can’t risk…” I trail off. “But why did you call me?”
My mom shrugs. “Who else would we call?”
I put my hands on my hips. “I don’t know. A plumber?”
“Why would we call a plumber when I have you, mija? Can’t you call a plumber?”
When my head spins this time, it’s not panic. It’s anger.
I throw my hands in the air. “Unbelievable! I left the best date of my life for this? For a leaky sink?”
“Lower your voice, the neighbors will hear,” my mom says.
At the same time, Camila’s eyes brighten. “A date? With that man from the auction? And here I thought you blew it.”
“Yes, with him. And no, I won’t lower my voice, because I don’t care who hears me say this. In fact, I want everyone to hear it.” I pinch my fingers in the air in front of me, look them both in the eyes, and say, “No.”
“No?” my mom asks.
“No. No, no, no.” The word is almost foreign to me, but it feels so good on my lips. I am putting myself first, finally. “You don’t need me for these kinds of things. There’s no reason for me to drop everything I’m doing and come running every time you call, not unless it’s a true emergency. I’m done.”
“Done?” Camila parrots. “But what about the sink?”
“You can look up a plumber on Google just as easily as I can. I have to go.” I pick my purse up where I dropped it beside the door and walk out without looking back at what I’m sure are their stunned faces. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, and I stand tall as the door slams behind me.
Chuck is still down at the curb like he promised he would be. He stands when he sees me coming.
“Can you take me back to Tobias?” I ask.
His small smile says it all. “It would be my pleasure.”
Chapter Eleven
Tobias
I walk into the dining room to find I’m the last one to arrive. My father is at the head of the table. To his right are Ben and Josie, and across from them is my mother and another woman I vaguely recognize.
“Tobias, my boy.” My father stands, beckoning me forward, his demeanor suspiciously jovial. The man is grumpy at best.
“Dad.” I shake his hand. Then I make my way around the table, greeting Ben and Josie, and kiss my mother on the cheek, offering her the bottle of wine.
My mom makes a humming noise in her throat and reaches up, plucking a long, dark hair off of my collar. She raises her eyes at my smile, but I don’t get a chance to explain.
“Tobias, you remember Tate Kennedy?” my father says. “She’s Conor Kennedy’s daughter.”
“Sure, of course,” I say, even though I don’t remember her at all. If I remember correctly, though, Conor Kennedy is one of my father’s attorneys.
The girl stands and leans over to kiss my cheek. She’s skinny, blond, pedigreed—and as soon as I realize that, I realize I’ve been set up.
“She’s an attorney now over at Rutherford and Saint,” my father continues. He reminds me of the MC at the date auction, trying to sell me on something.
“And she’s single, isn’t that right, Tate?” my mother adds, beaming at the girl.
“Just like you, Toby,” Josie chimes in. “Isn’t that a lucky coincidence?”
I narrow my eyes at her. We both know this is no coincidence. For the first tim
e since leaving her in the car, I’m relieved Nina didn’t come.
The first course comes and goes, and my father has Tate in the hot seat, asking her questions that make her talk about herself and her accolades, not that she seems bothered by this. He tries to include me in the conversation, but I’m purposefully standoffish. I don’t want to encourage anything.
Instead, I’m lost in my own thoughts, remembering what Clarence Talbot said to me the night of the date auction—about meeting certain expectations and presenting certain appearances. About what’s expected of my generation of Oakwood Boys.
But why do we do it?
Who are we trying to impress?
Are we still just perpetuating the prejudices of our fathers? The old-fashioned values of a generation past? When we should be deciding for ourselves what’s important, what face we want to show the world. I don’t want a life with a woman who loves my name and my money more than she loves me. I want someone who will stand by me, challenge me, love me.
I want Nina.
After the main course, my father pulls me aside with the excuse of picking out after-dinner drinks, but I know I’m about to get an earful.
“What is wrong with you?” he hisses from the drink cart. Edward, his footman, stands nearby, pretending not to listen.
“I’m not interested in Tate Kennedy.”
“Why the hell not? She’s perfectly suitable for a Kline.”
I shake my head, picking up a bottle scotch and pretending to examine it. “For a Kline, maybe, but not for me.”
“You are not special, son. You have duties, obligations—”
There’s a knock at the front door, and Edward excuses himself. My father’s distraction gives me the perfect opportunity to return to the table. I just have to get through this dinner, then I’ll figure out what to do next.
As I take a seat, Tate reaches out and places a dainty hand over mine and leans close. “I hope I haven’t caused some sort of disruption,” she says.
“Not at all,” I answer politely, because it’s not her fault. She’s a pawn in the game just like I am.
“Maybe after dinner, we could get out of here? Get to know each other away from all this?”
I’m about to gently decline when the door to the dining room opens and Edward appears. “Ms. Nina Rodriguez,” he announces.
She appears then like a vision, her purse clutched to her shoulder, her smile a little too wide to be real. She’s nervous, and that’s fucking adorable.
I stand, pushing my chair back, and drop my napkin on the table.
“Who’s that?” my mother whispers.
Josie says something about the date auction, but I’m already walking away, toward Nina.
“Come in,” I tell her, pulling her forward by her elbow. “Let me introduce you. Everyone, this is Nina Rodriguez, my…” My what?
The word dies on my lips, but Josie saves me. “Nina, hi, I’m Josie, and this is my husband, Ben.”
Nina shakes her hand, and then Ben’s. Even my mother stands to kiss Nina’s cheek, and I don’t miss how she fluffs out Nina’s dark hair and looks pointedly at me, a sly smile on her face.
Tate introduces herself politely and then tells my mother that she’s had something come up and has to leave.
“Yes, I think that might be for the best,” my mother concedes, walking Tate to the door.
Next, Nina turns to my father.
But my father isn’t standing and isn’t holding a hand out to her. Instead, his eyes are boring holes into my skull. “What’s this?” he asks me, like she’s not even a person.
“Henry,” my mother says from Nina’s other side, her voice a warning, a tone I’ve never heard her take with my father before.
“This is Nina.” I look at her, this beautiful, genuine woman, and add, “My girlfriend.”
“Your—” My dad cuts himself off, stands, and opens his mouth, but I interrupt him.
“Dad, stop. Maybe you think Nina isn’t the woman you would choose for me, but it’s not your choice. For once, I am deciding something for myself, not based on what you think I should do. Give her a chance if you want. Get to know her. You’ll see. But even if you decide not to, even if you try to freeze her or me out, it doesn’t matter.”
My dad’s eyes flick to Nina, and I pull her closer against my side. She trusts me, and I will protect her. Right here, right now, I’m making a decision about what’s really important. I’m done keeping up with my father’s outdated expectations. I’m following my heart.
“Because I choose her. And that doesn’t make me less of a man, less of a businessman, less of a Kline. Nina makes me more.”
“She completes you?” Ben offers.
I point at him. “She completes me.”
My father rolls his eyes and Josie claps. My mom, on Nina’s other side, leans in close, patting Nina’s arm. Nina, to her credit, smiles and shakes her head.
Turning to her, I say, “What do you say we get the hell out of here?”
She nods, and I grab her hand, striding from the room.
Before we reach the front door though, where I’m sure Edward will be standing to stare at us disapprovingly down his long, pointed nose, I pull her into a hidden stairwell that the staff uses. She gasps when I press her up against the brick wall, covering her face in kisses. My hands slide down her body, cupping her ass, lifting her against me.
“I meant it,” I say between kisses. “Every fucking word.”
“I know you did,” she says, running her fingers through my hair.
“I’m going to change.”
“I don’t want you to change.”
Pulling back, I look down at her. “You don’t?”
She shakes her head. “You’re sexy, demanding, dirty—and you make me feel special. I want you just the way you are.”
I growl and claim her mouth again. The woman drives me mad. She wants dirty? She hasn’t seen dirty yet. I hike one of her legs up around my hips and grind myself against her center. She cries out, her voice echoing in the stairwell. Somewhere above us, a door opens.
“Hello?” someone calls.
We freeze.
“Is someone there?”
I put her leg back down, signal her to be quiet, and together, we sneak out of the stairwell and back into the main hall.
“Let’s go to my place,” I tell her. “I believe I promised you nipple clamps anyway.”
Nina laughs, her cheeks flush with excitement. At the end of the hall by the door, Edward clears his throat, making both of us laugh.
“I believe you also promised me more orgasms,” she says in a low voice.
“I am nothing if not a man of my word.”
As we pass through the front entrance, Edward gives us a stiff nod. “Good evening, Sir,” he says, and the door clicks firmly shut.
Chuck is already in the driveway, waiting for us, and we climb into the car.
“Home, Sir?” Chuck asks.
“Home,” I confirm, tucking Nina in close against me, wondering if someday she might call it home, too.
“This feels like a dream,” Nina whispers into my neck.
I take her hand and place it on my chest so she can feel my heart beating. “You’re a dream.”
We make-out the whole way home, slow, deliberate kisses that hold promises of things to come. Of days and months and years. Of a family, if she wants, and a future. Together.
It doesn’t get much better than this.
Epilogue
Nina
From across the rooftop bar at the Oakwood Club, I watch Tobias swirl his drink in its tumbler while Max Hawthorne jabbers in his ear. I stand from where I’m sitting with Josie and her friend, Tess, my own drink in my hand.
“OK, girls,” I say, draining the martini glass. “I’m going to go rescue my husband.”
I’ve become close with them over the last year as I’ve worked to develop and foster relationships that I want. Even with taking college classes, I still have some e
xtra free time since I’m not running around after my mom and sister anymore. Who are both fine, by the way.
Tess grabs my hand before I turn away. “Call me tomorrow,” she says, cutting her eyes at Josie who isn’t paying attention but is instead talking to the girl on her other side. She’s absentmindedly rubbing her round belly and sipping on sparkling water. “We’ll talk about the baby shower.”
I nod, smiling happily. My nephew is going to be spoiled rotten just like his mom, I can already tell.
Crossing the room, I approach the bar and wrap my arm around Tobias’ shoulders. He turns and kisses me lightly. He tastes woodsy and sweet, like a good bourbon.
“Like this,” Max says, obviously continuing an early conversation, pointing back and forth between us.
“What about this?” Tobias says, his voice a warning.
“I’ll never settle down. Women are only in it for one thing.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What’s that?”
“My wallet.”
I laugh, which seems to get Max even more worked up. The man needs to learn to lighten up.
“You just haven’t found the right one,” Tobias says, tipping his glass toward Max. “You’ll see. Isn’t that right, Mrs. Kline.”
“Yes, Mr. Kline,” I say, then add as a whisper in his ear, “Sir.”
The two of us have been married for six months now, but it still feels like we’re honeymooners. We can’t get enough of each other. Someday we’ll start our family and carry on the Kline name like his father wants, but for now, we decided to enjoy just being the two of us and spend as much time as possible together.
Tobias’ arm tightens around me as he drains his glass. “Don’t we have a reservation?” he asks loudly enough that Max can hear.
“That’s right,” I answer. “At our favorite spot.”
Tobias stands and shakes Max’s hand.
Max scowls at us over his glass. “Very well. You go have your boring date. I’ll be here, finding my nightly conquest.”
“Good luck with that,” Tobias calls over his shoulder, wrapping an arm around my waist and guiding me out the door.
In the elevator, I lean against him, glad for his sturdy presence and hard body. “I have some ideas about what we can do tonight.”
