“Are you sure you don’t mind working this late? I don’t want to keep you away from a boyfriend or anything.”
“Oh, don’t worry, there aren’t any boys waiting for me.” She gave a slow smile. “Have you met many men who like a woman who works more than they do?”
“Haven’t met many girls who like a man who works a lot, either,” I admitted.
“Well, I think it’s great Rebecca is so understanding about it.”
It was, and Rebecca was amazing about it, but I hadn’t even had to tell her I was working late since she canceled on me.
“She tries. I know it’s probably hard on her sometimes.” I swallowed dryly. I wanted to think it was, but still, I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d had when she told me her dad was in the hospital, and she’d known for 12 hours and didn’t think she should tell me. “She’s independent,” I said almost to myself more than Nichole. “And I respect that a lot about her.”
Chapter Four
I blew out a deep breath as we sipped at our hot chocolate.
“You know, this is actually pretty good. Is this like a hobby of yours or something?”
I didn’t want to admit to Melina that I was planning on turning it into a business, so I just nodded.
My head snapped towards the door as it opened. Katie froze in the doorway.
“Hi.” Her eyes locked on Melina, not me.
“Hey.” I cleared my throat. “Come on in. You know that girl I told you showed up at Dean’s?”
“This is her?”
“No!” Melina and I said in unison.
That seemed to peak her interest. She padded into the apartment, grabbed a mug of hot chocolate for herself and came to the table where we sat.
“What about her?”
“Well, Dean hired her.” Katie’s eyes widened. “This is Melina; she thinks it was a dreadful idea, and I agree with her. I think there is something fishy about this girl, and Dean isn’t willing to admit it. So, we’re getting together outside of work to talk about it.” I took a sip of my hot chocolate.
“You mean you’re getting together outside of work to do something about it, right?” Katie asked. Melina nodded. “Interesting. Very interesting. So, what’s the plan? We’re going to run her out of town? Or expose her for … whatever she is?”
“I was thinking something that required a little less work on our behalf.” Katie and I turned our attention to her, and the smile widened over her face. “I was thinking we hire someone to look into it for us. Of course, having some of her information might help.” She eyed me. “That is where you come in handy.” And what she meant by that was that I could get that information.
“You mean snoop through her stuff?”
“If that’s how you want to do it, sure.” Melina grinned. “Anyways, I’ve contacted someone about it already, and we’re going to meet in a couple of days. I was going to try and get her information, but it might be easier if you do.”
I nodded, mulling it over. It was a good option, and I mean really all I had to do was get a little bit of information on her. Not a big deal.
“So, something like her name, or her number?”
“Yea, those would work perfectly. Even I don’t know her full name. Dean’s been keeping me away from her as much as he can, I think.”
“Probably because he doesn’t trust you.”
Melina grinned before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. “And he’s got every right not to, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to meddle in things.”
Katie grinned, and judging by the look on her face, I could tell she liked Melina.
Chapter Five
I knew she was at therapy, so I didn’t worry about walking into her apartment. However, I wasn’t expecting to see Katie.
“I thought you were taking her?”
“She wanted to drive herself.” Katie shrugged. “If I press too much, she’s going to realize something is going on.”
“How has she actually been?” I knew she was lying to me about some stuff, and I knew she was hiding something from me.
Katie looked me up and down. “She’s been okay.” She looked back down at the book she’d been reading. “She’s not happy with you, right now; I’ll tell you that much.”
I didn’t say anything, but it took everything I had not to press. Katie was there to make sure Becca was okay, and that if there was something I should know, I’d find out about it. She was there to make sure that Becca wasn’t dealing with everything all on her own. I cleared my throat.
“Did you grab it for me?”
“Yup. It’s on the counter.”
“Thank you.”
She shrugged. “I’m doing this for my friend, not for you. I’m sure you know that.”
I respected her for being so blunt about it. I liked people who were honest. “Still, thanks.” I grabbed a small plastic bag off the counter and stuffed it in my backpack before I left Becca’s apartment. My mind raced, thinking about what Katie had said. I knew I’d been working a lot recently and was going to try and cut down on that, but there was only so much I could do. Guilt tugged at my gut. I should be trying harder to spend time with her, and I knew it.
Instead of getting in my car, I flagged down a taxi; leaving my car here would suit me. I didn’t have to worry about both of us getting back here, and I could always pick it up at any time.
*
“How have you been?” my therapist asked.
She was nice. I was beginning to like her a lot. She always wore her red hair back in a bun and seemed to have a favorite gray skirt that she always wore as well.
“I’ve been … stressed …” I admitted. “I’ve been really stressed, actually. I’ve got a lot going on right now and ...” I took a deep breath, trying to relax. “And I’m honestly not sure how any of it is going to play out.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I didn’t really. I knew there was nothing she could tell Dean, but he was still the one paying for the sessions.
“It’s just … there is this new girl at work.” I picked my words very carefully. “And she takes up a lot of Dean’s attention.”
“Because he’s training her?”
“No. He’s working with her.” I bit my lip. “I know they are working on important shit and everything, but that doesn’t make it easier when I see them together, and I see the way she looks at him. He doesn’t get it, though; he doesn’t see the way she looks at him.” I paused. “Have you ever noticed a girl ogling your boyfriend and have him totally not even realize it?”
“I had a boyfriend when I was younger … his best friend had a huge crush on him.” I nodded. “So, I’d like to think I have an idea of what you’re going through with this one.” I smirked.
“So you know how much it sucks.” I bit my lip as I looked around the room. I was getting used to it—hell, I was beginning to like coming here. It was nice to have someone to talk to about everything.
“Do you know what you’re going to do about it?”
“No.” It wasn’t really a lie because I didn’t know what I would do once we found out more about her. “I just … need to take it one step at a time.”
“Is jealousy something you normally deal with in relationships?”
My brow furrowed as I thought back on it. Sure, there were a couple times I got super jealous when I was 15 and my boyfriend at the time had been flirting with another girl, or that time when I was 20 and some girl showed my boyfriend at the time her tits—but that was all reasonable, right?
“I don’t think it’s something I overly struggle with,” I said, mulling it over. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I get jealous every now and then, but nothing major, I don’t think.”
We talked a little longer, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the jealousy conversation. I wasn’t sure why it mattered so much to me, but for some reason, it stuck. As I stood and said goodbye, I made my way to the door and opened it.
My heart skipped a beat. �
�What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d surprise you.” Dean grinned. He glanced past me and gave my therapist a nod.
“Hi, Dean.” She came over to the doorway. “Are you two still talking about coming in for a visit together sometime?”
Dean and I looked at each other.
“I think so,” I said. He nodded. “It will just be a matter of finding a time that works for the three of us.”
And you know, seeing if Dean and I were still together in a week’s time, or whenever Melina and I heard back about Nichole.
“I look forward to it.” She turned her attention to me. “Call my receptionist, alright? We’ll get another appointment set up.” She glanced at Dean. “You’re welcome to join us at any time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He reached out and took my hand as we made our way out of the building.
Of course, Dean hadn’t gone to the cheapest therapist he could find. No, this one was in the nice end of town, so when we stepped out of the office, we were met by nice palm trees and lots of people bustling past.
“What brought you out here?” I asked as we sauntered down the street towards my car.
“I just wanted to stop by and see how everything was going. Are you liking her?”
“Yea,” I said, reaching for the keys in my purse.
“What did you two talk about?” he asked as he pulled me away from my car and we kept walking.
“Um, my car?” I pointed to where it was—behind us now.
“We can use it when we drive home.” He grinned. “You don’t have plans do you?” he asked, guiding me towards the small park. For the first time, I noticed a small backpack on his shoulder.
“No.”
“So, what did you talk about today?”
“Oh … nothing really.” I bit my lip. “Work, life, sleep, my goals.” It really didn’t sound exciting when you said it out loud, but it was helping, and that was all that mattered. “What do you have planned?”
Dean grinned. “Don’t worry about what I have planned. “So, it’s going well? Are you finding it’s helping?”
“I think it is,” I said as we came to a halt at some stop lights, and I watched the traffic go by. “But really, what are we doing?”
Dean laughed softly. “Just relax. You’ll find out soon enough. I just figured we haven’t really done much together recently, and I know the next few days are going to be busy for both of us. I mean, with Nichole wanting to make all the changes …”
“Nichole wants to make changes?”
“Yea, you know to improve things around the casino. Marketing changes. I know it’s for the best, but I’m not looking forward to it.”
An hour later, we’d hiked our way to somewhere I’d honestly never been before. I looked around.
Despite the fact that I lived in Las Vegas, hiking and being out in nature had never really been my cup of tea. “Wow.” It really was gorgeous, though. “What is this?” I asked, trying to take everything in.
It was obviously a lake; I wasn’t stupid. The crystal clear water looked like it had pumps hooked up to it in some places, and I could have sworn there were man-made lights in a cave.
“It’s a hot spring. You’ve never been to the hot spring here?” He sounded baffled.
“No,” I admitted. “I’ve never seen much interest in it.” Then again, I didn’t realize it looked like this.
I stared at the waterfall trickling down softly. There was actually a ladder so you could climb to get to the top of the rocks. I bit my lip. Clearly I’d been missing out. That’s when I realized it.
There was no one else around. I looked around us trying to find another living person. I saw a couple of fish, but that was it.
“Ummm, isn’t this place supposed to be super popular?”
Dean laughed softly. “It is, that’s why I figured I should make sure we get it all to ourselves.”
I stared wide-eyed at him. He was joking, right? There was no way he’d actually gone out and managed to do it.
“Y-you didn’t, like, buy the place did you?” I was honestly concerned about it.
“That would have been a good idea.” He gave me a smile. “But no, I didn’t buy it; I just rented it for the day.”
My eyes widened. He said shit like that as if it were fucking normal. It blew me away, and I laughed out loud. “I love you babe, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to some of the things you say.”
Dean’s smile widened. “I like hearing that. Remember, I told you I was going to make you feel like you were in a romance before we left for Italy,” he said, closing the distance between us. “Since you made me feel like I was in a porno last night, I figured I should make you feel like you were in a romance today.” His lips touched mine as he slipped the backpack off his shoulders and pulled me close to him. He gave me a quick kiss before stepping away. “Which is why I brought a picnic with lots of classically romantic food. Oh, and I stopped by your place and grabbed a bathing suit for you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You did?”
“Katie helped a little.”
I laughed softly. Of course, she had. I had to admit, I had two really great people in my life and knew how lucky I was to have them. Pulling Dean closer to me, I rested my head against his chest and let out a deep breath. Things had been crazy recently, and I knew we both had to get back to work tonight—after all, I was going to be doing some work with Nichole tonight, but I didn’t care. Right now, everything felt perfect.
Dean’s fingers traced down the curves of my body gently, and I blew out a deep breath.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too.” My heart did a backflip like it did the first time he told me. I’m not sure what it was about this situation that made hearing it so special, but it felt amazing. I closed my eyes as I pulled away from him. “Now, what do you say we go for a swim?”
We found somewhere to change; despite the fact that there was no one around, I didn’t want to change out in the open, just in case, so Dean and I made our way into the wooded area and changed quickly. Of course, I was more focused on him than I was on changing.
It took everything I had not to try and reach out to touch his cock or even his muscular chest. The way his arms flexed as he stretched made me want nothing more than to rip his shorts off. I swallowed dryly, mentally shaking myself as we headed into the water.
The first step wasn’t what I was expecting. I knew it was a hot spring, but there was something that made me think it was going to be cold; so when I stepped into the clear water, and it was warm as it wrapped around my body, I blew out a deep breath of surprise and grinned.
Normally you have to carefully ease yourself into water; that’s not what it was like here. It was easy to sink my entire body into the water. Hell, aches and pains I didn’t even know were there seemed to ease away in seconds. I cracked my neck looking around.
“Come on!” Dean called as he held his hand out to me. “Let’s go in the cave.”
Reaching out, I took his hand as he pulled me towards him and held onto it, our fingers tangling together as we made our way into the cave. My jaw dropped. It was obviously man-made considering there were seats everywhere, and the lights were all coming out of the cave, but it hardly looked to be. The dim lighting was pretty much just there for appearance sake, at least right now in the dead of the day, but it looked wonderful. I led Dean over to a seat and sank down into the water, letting out a sigh. “This was a wonderful idea.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
His hand touched my knee gently, slowly making its way up my thigh. I grinned as I glanced at him. “You know, if you wanted to try and have sex with me, you didn’t have to be all romantic about it.”
He grinned as he chuckled softly. “I like being romantic.”
I rolled my eyes, deciding not to call him on his bullshit; after all, he was trying to do something nice for me.
“So, do you still want to go to t
herapy with me?”
“I’d love to; that is if you still want me to.”
“I do!” I just hadn’t been sure if he still wanted to, and honestly hearing that he did made me feel so much better. I didn’t dare admit that, though.
*
We spent close to an hour in the hot spring before heading out to the shore and having a bit of a picnic, then it was time to return to the real world and get back to work, something I wasn’t looking forward to, but I didn’t dare tell Dean. I didn’t want him to think that I had anything wrong with working with Nichole. After all, I had to get close to her just long enough to get some info on her.
As we pulled into the casino, Dean let out a soft laugh. “She sure is passionate about work,” he said. I followed his eyes to a car sitting in the parking lot.
“Yea, she is.” I’d never seen someone who seemed to like being at work half as much as she did.
“I think she’ll be a great addition to the team, don’t you?”
“I don’t know her very well …” I admitted, trying to avoid the questions. “But that’s what tonight is for, right?” I forced a smile over my lips as we came to a stop, unbuckled, and hopped out of the car as fast as possible so we didn’t have to continue this conversation.
“Hey!” Nichole squealed as we came within hearing range of her. She rushed over to us as fast as her heels would let her; clearly she needed to invest in a better pair because I knew for a fact there were some you could run in. But I didn’t say anything.
I came to a dead stop as she pulled Dean into a hug. She let go of him quickly, just long enough for me to close my jaw, so they didn’t see it hanging open. Then she turned to me and drew me into a hug.
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