"Yes, we do."
"How about Miami?"
"Why Miami?"
"I have a friend down there, kind of."
"Kind of?"
"He used to hang out with my cousin, Tabby, dated her best friend for a long time. I ran into him in the summer while he was visiting."
"Oh," he leaned back in his seat. "You've never mentioned him before."
"Wasn't worth mentioning before," I rol ed my eyes at his jealousy, which was so hypocritical.
"If that's where you want to go, we'l go."
"It is."
"I'l make reservations."
"Good. Talk to you later. Send May an email, please. Now."
"Yep."
I felt a little better, knowing I'd have Kyle al to myself for a couple of days, but honestly, I was more excited about hiring new people.
I bypassed my desk and took the walk to the HR department. My cousin Mayson worked there, a job she obtained by my recommendation a
couple of years back. I found her at her desk, seriously enjoying a chocolate bar. Even though she was...curvy, or ful figured, I, nor anyone else in
our family ever mentioned her junk food habits. At least she was eating, unlike when she was younger...those were some dark and scary years.
"Dickhead just emailed me," she said, barely glancing up. "Write out what you want the ad to say and I'l post it in the three big papers."
"I don't want it posted in al of the papers. Can't you just post it on the company site? I don't have time to weed through al of those resumes."
"Yeah, okay. Whatever. I'm so glad to put my PR degree to good use for you."
"At least you have a job. Shut up."
She started to slowly spin in her chair while I wrote out what I wanted the ad to say.
"Tel your mother to stop cal ing me," Mayson said.
"That would require me talking to her and I don't want to talk to her."
"She keeps trying to give me sex tips for the sex I'm so not having. She should be giving you the sex tips."
"Trust me, she does."
"How is he in bed?" She stopped spinning and stared at me questioningly.
I stared back at her. "Do you real y want to know?"
"No," she made a sour face. "My stomach is churning just thinking about it."
Mayson, much like I did at one time, hated Kyle with a passion. She knew about our relationship, but not through the grapevine like everyone
else. She actual y caught us making out. May rarely dropped by unannounced, but she was literal y in my neighborhood. Kyle and I were standing in
the kitchen, total y tongue tied to each other, when I heard a shriek, startling us apart.
"Oh...my...god!" Mayson had yel ed. "Not
him
!"
"What are you doing here?" I cried.
"I was in the neighborhood!"
"You can't tel anyone, Mayson," I plead.
"I would never tel anyone your personal business, Emmy," she was hurt by my command. I knew she could be trusted, but I had said it in a
panic.
"I know, I know." I took a long, deep breath.
"But Kyle Sterling is a dick."
"Is this a genetic thing?" Kyle asked, with a smirk. "Is it in your DNA to hate me?"
"No, but hating you is so easy since you're such a dirty penis head," Mayson huffed.
"Mayson," I took her by the elbow, leading her away. "Maybe it's not wise to cal one of the owners of the business you work for a dick."
"A dirty penis head," she corrected. "It's probably not wise to screw your boss either."
"I have no defense for that," I sighed.
"What about Luke?" She whispered.
"Can we talk about it later?" I had asked.
But we never did talk about it, and after Luke left I gave her the bare minimum of details. My pain was obvious, though; so she never bugged
me about it.
"Here," I handed her the piece of paper for the ad. "I only want this listed until Saturday."
"Okay. So what are you doing this weekend? Working, no doubt. Workaholic."
"DH convinced me to go away for the weekend."
"What for?"
"I guess he thinks it wil cheer me up."
"Sounds like he's trying to make you forget about Luke."
I didn't say anything to that. What could I say? She was most likely right.
We talked a little more about mundane things, but I insisted that I get back to work and left Mayson spinning in her chair.
The rest of the week was uneventful. I was busy with work and Kyle was busy with work and of course obligations to that bitch Jess. Outside of
work, we only saw each other for a few minutes a day, long enough for an embrace and a short kiss.
Our flight for Miami left at four-thirty Friday afternoon. Kyle had a fake business meeting at three and I had a fake doctor's appointment at one-
thirty. I real y had no one to explain my whereabouts for the weekend; Kyle, however, had to come up with an elaborate excuse for Jess and his
parents.
"I know it's not a long time," Kyle said later that night at a bar near our hotel. "But hopeful y you unwind a little this weekend."
"I didn't realize I was wound up," I said before downing my third drink. I motioned to the bartender to bring me another.
"You're definitely wound up," he said, rubbing my arm lightly. "You haven't been yourself for weeks."
I almost laughed in his face. Myself? I haven't been myself in almost a year, unless this
is
myself, a woman who is in love with and sneaking
around with another woman's man, while carrying on a relationship with
another
man. Wel , at least the last part is over.
I downed another drink. I didn't want to think about Luke. Sure, he was pretty harsh, and I did feel hurt by how it ended, but I deserved it. The
guilt I felt for hurting him was weighing me down, kil ing me.
Kyle reached out and stroked my hair, which was mildly comforting.
"When do I get my girl back?" He asked softly.
"Which girl is that?"
"The one who wore SpongeBob underwear and shined on the dance floor at the gala."
I looked at him curiously. "Shined?"
"Yeah, you were radiant. Me and a hundred other men couldn't take our eyes off of you. Don't tel me you didn't notice?"
"I didn't. What else do you love about me?"
"Everything, Em. Everything." He leaned over and kissed me softly, but with so much power behind it, my toes curled in my flip-flops.
"Specifical y, what do you love about me?" I asked a few minutes later.
"I love that you're too humble to notice that you were the center of every man's attention at the gala and my parents' party, and every woman's
envy."
"You're exaggerating," I shook my head.
"I wish I were."
"Doesn't that just make me self-absorbed?"
"Not at al . You didn't act like you were too good or below anyone. You never do, and I love that about you."
"Hmm. Okay, what else?"
"Hmm. I love your lips," he leaned in and kissed me again. "I love your tongue," this time with a lot of tongue. "I love your eyes and how I feel when they're looking at me." He quickly kissed each eye.
"What else?" I gently pressed.
"I love this spot on your neck," his lips were quickly on my neck. I sighed softly. After a few more seconds, I was feeling rather hot, and it had
nothing to do with the weather. I pushed him away, but not entirely. We were both on the edge of our seats, my legs between his, his hands on my
upper thighs, my hands laced behind his neck.
"It's hard to real y break down into words what I love about you," he said softly. "But I know that I love the way you make me feel. You make me
feel like I am more than someone's business venture, more than a trophy to drag around. You make me feel like...I don't know. Like a real man, I
guess, or that I can be a real man anyway."
"You
are
a real man," I insisted.
"No real man would do to you what I've done to you," he whispered. "A real man wouldn't do anything that could potential y hurt you. I manage to
hurt you every day, every minute. I can see it in your eyes, Em."
I couldn't deny it, but at the same time, I didn't like that he was feeling so bad about himself. I opened my mouth to speak, but he started before
me.
"If I were a real man, a
good
man, I would have let you go the second I knew you real y loved Luke. He was good to you and he real y loved you,
and..."
I cut him off, with a finger to his lips. I didn't expect Luke to be brought up, especial y like this.
"I don't want to talk about Luke," I whispered. I stil felt like that topic was an open wound, highly sensitive and easily infected.
He took my hand, kissed it, and apologized, but he stil looked like he was beating himself up inside. I ran my fingers through his hair, calming
him.
"You always make me feel better," he said, staring at me. "Even when I don't deserve it."
"You almost always don't deserve it," I chuckled, fluffing his hair.
"Let's get out of here," he said and threw some money on the bar.
"You want to know something else I love about you?" Kyle asked a half hour later in our hotel room. We were on the bed, kissing.
"What?" I panted.
Instead of answering with his words, he reached into my jeans and answered with his fingers, making me moan.
"Mmm, I love hearing you moan, too." He grinned and then covered my mouth with his as I moaned even more.
As my moans grew louder and I was on the verge of screaming, he said "And I love hearing you scream."
He pul ed my pants and panties off and practical y ripped my shirt and bra off.
"And I love
this
," he said before burying his face between my legs. My eyes rol ed back in my head as I gripped his hair.
Later, spent, exhausted, laying in Kyle's strong arms, I maybe should have or could have felt a sense of security, but I didn't. I only had another
day and a half with Kyle before I had to resume sharing him with Jessyca again. There was nothing secure about that.
The next day I just tried to enjoy the beach and sun and Kyle's company. Sometimes I was able to forget our circumstances, but whenever we
spoke about home, or anything related to home and work, it was a reminder of what else - or whom else was waiting there. Plus, twice a day Jess
and Kyle would check in with one another. I didn't ask Kyle to get out of the arrangement, I felt that I shouldn't have to ask. Isn't it obvious that it's like
salt on an open wound?
"Are you okay?" He asked Saturday night. We were getting ready to go meet the old acquaintance I told Kyle about earlier in the week. He
owned a restaurant not far from our hotel.
"Yeah," I turned away, pretending to look for something in my bag so that he couldn't see my face.
"You're stil not yourself. Maybe we should stay in tonight."
"I'm fine," I turned to face him. "I'm fine and Leo is expecting us. Okay?"
He didn't look convinced, but said "Okay."
"Okay," I breathed.
Leo dated my cousin Tabitha's best friend throughout high school. I only hung out with him a few times, and okay, I made out with him a few
times, too, but not when he was with the other girl (they were always breaking up). I'm not a chronic boyfriend thief. I never told anyone about it,
though, and I wasn't about to mention it to Kyle.
Leo looked better with age. His Italian genes were prominent head to toe, with his dark hair and dark skin. His light blue eyes were breath
taking. I had to cough to cover the fact that his eyes had indeed taken my breath away. Back in the day, Leo had a nicely toned body, but al of these
years later, he had muscles bulging from his chest and his arms that were not there before. He looked like someone had carved him from stone.
He lifted me off of the ground when he hugged me, and planted a big kiss on my lips.
"You look great," he said.
"Thanks. So do you." I grinned like a stupid school girl. He was incredibly hot. It was probably il egal in thirty states to be that hot.
"Hi. I'm Kyle, her boyfriend." Kyle reached out his hand. That was the first time he introduced himself as my boyfriend.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, this is Kyle," I said, shaking my head out of a daze. "Kyle, this is Leo."
They shook hands and said their hel os.
"I have a table ready for us over here," Leo waved us on.
"This is a great place you have here," I said appreciatively.
"Thanks. I've put a lot of hard work into it."
There was already a bottle of chil ed wine at the table. Leo poured some in each glass and asked me about Tabitha.
"I don't talk to her that much," I admitted. "She travels a lot. We haven't real y been very close over the last few years."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. I haven't seen her in years. I would love to see her again. Between us, I always had the biggest crush on her."
"Real y?" I asked, eyebrows raised. "Is that why..." I didn't finish the question. My eyes fel on Kyle's for a mini second. I had forgotten he was there.
"What?" Leo looked confused for a second and then understood. "No! One had nothing to do with the other, I promise." His smile was so
awesome, I blushed.
"What?" Kyle asked, looking from me to Leo. "I'm feeling a little lost here."
Leo looked at me with that winning smile and shrugged. I took a deep breath and smiled myself.
"Leo and I...hung out a few times back in the day."
"Hung out?"
"Made out." I cleared my throat.
"Huh." Kyle nodded. I felt his body tense up beside me.
"It was a long time ago."
"It's cool," Kyle smiled, but his eyes weren't happy. "So, how did you end up in Miami?"
And so the conversation moved away from my past with Leo, much to my relief.
The food Leo had his staff prepare for us was top notch. Even Kyle was impressed. I went through a bottle of wine by myself, but even that
wasn't enough to numb me from the ache I felt when Kyle's phone rang and he excused himself from the table. I had again forgotten about Jess,