“I like this view.”
He pushed up with his hips so his cock brushed my ass, reminding me how good it felt when he’d been there before.
“View is not bad from where I am, either.” His voice was low and so fucking sexy. Everything he did set my blood on fire.
I bent down and kissed him as I ground up hard against him.
“Chat time is over, Thomas Caonabo.”
chapter fifteen
One month later
camilo
“What do you get to bribe a four-year-old so you can get full-time access to her daddy’s privates?” I asked Ayako, who was walking into my office with our daily mid-afternoon caffeine fix.
She laughed as she passed me my coffee. “Wow, you’re all the way in on this one, huh? Doing the dirty to a pre-schooler to get at her dad. Damn, Camilo.”
I rolled my eyes as I blew on the piping cup of coffee. “Okay I admit it’s shameless, but I’m nervous and I really want her to like me! The time I met her she was wearing a ‘The Future is Female’ t-shirt and unicorn leggings, Ayako. This kid does not fuck around. I don’t want to lose access to Tom’s dick because I mess up with her.”
I was shrieking a little, but this was an emergency. Tom and I had been solid for over a month. After that first time at his house, things had gone pretty smoothly. He had Libe a lot, but whenever he wasn’t with her, we’d been together.
When Libe was at Maxwell’s house for the weekend, I essentially moved into his house from the end of the day on Friday until I had to go over to my mom’s on Sunday. We’d had a couple of weekends like that so far, and they’d been amazing. Seriously like toe curling, “how is this even my life” incredible.We’d cook, go to the farmer’s market, or go to Priya and Sanjay’s for a drink. But mostly it was just the two of us.
I’d never had a connection with anyone like the one I had with Tom. It wasn’t even the sex or the chemistry, which was pretty intense in its own right. Or how easy it was to be with him. What made it all feel so monumental was the reciprocity. I never felt like I wasn’t getting as much as I put in with Tom. It wasn’t even tit for tat or that I was keeping track. I just feltbalanced.Like he wanted exactly what I gave, and I got as much as I needed. Attention, time, sex, space. Everything just right.
I felt Ayako tapping the side of my coffee mug with her sharp fingernails bringing me back from my Tom musings. When I turned, she was looking at me with concern.
“Whatever’s going on in your head, stop it. Things are going well with you guys. Why are you so worried about this?”
“That’s exactly why I’m nervous. Meeting his daughter means change. Our relationship is going to expand, and I’m not sure I want to give up the fairy-tale weekends yet. There is so much that could go wrong if we take things further than this.” I lowered my voice and looked at my open office door. “You know I’m walking a very thin line here.”
Ayako twisted her mouth to the side as if she was trying to figure out how to say something to interrupt my mental hand-wringing. “Camilo, look at me.”
I reluctantly met her gaze.
“So far, you’ve managed to keep the renovation project and the thing with Tom completely separate. I don’t see why that has to change; why are you inviting trouble?”
Because I was scared that taking things further with Tom would bring it all tumbling down. That if I kept things a bit more casual, then I could hold on for longer. But I also wanted to feel like we were solid parts of each other’s lives, and the biggest thing in his was Libertad.
Meeting her also meant the next step was introducing Tom to my mom.
My mother, like Ayako always said, was sacred ground for me. None of the guys I’d dated had ever had patience for my taking off on Sundays to go see her, or that I would drop everything if she ever needed me. So far Tom had been nothing but understanding, but I didn’t know if he still would if my mom hit a rough spot and demanded all my attention.
“I’m just a little anxious. Things are moving so fast.”
Ayako was about to protest, but I held a hand up acknowledging that wasn’t completely accurate. “I shouldn’t say that. Because it’s not true. I want to meet Libe. I’m just worried. I mean, do I need to introduce him to my mom? Because she’s not in the best place right now. I’ve told him about it a little, but I don’t know how much I want to go down that road just yet.”
Ayako’s face softened, finally understanding where my worry was coming from. “Camilo, you don’t need to do anything you don’t want to do. Go and meet Libe, bring her a My Little Pony plushie or a book or something. You’ll be fine. Hell, I’ve seen you talk down kids who were practically feral; you can handle a well-adjusted four-year-old.” She sighed then squeezed my shoulder. “As for Dinorah, take your time, babe. If she’s not at her best right now, you don’t need to rush it. If Tom asked you to meet Libe, and you’re okay with that, then meet the kid. That doesn’t mean you need to bring your mom into the picture.”
“Okay.” I exhaled and she smiled, knowing she was probably wearing me down.
“Although I have a feeling her hearing about how well things are going with Tom would make her happy. Is she really that bad?”
I shook my head. “It’snot a crisis, but you know how it is. I can tell she’s starting to go into herself more and more. She doesn’t want to go out as much, she’s been going from work tohome for months, and she’s been really inconsistent with her support group.” Ayako grimaced at that.
“Odette can barely get her to come over, and I’m not sure she’s been taking her meds regularly.” I ran my hand over my eyes, feeling the worry weighing down on me. “I don’t want to push her too much, but it scares me when she gets like this.” I sighed, forcing myself to be more positive. “Thankfully she’s going to the Poconos with Odette this weekend and the plan is for her to go again for Thanksgiving. Ihavebeen keeping her up to date about Tom, but I also don’t want to get her hopes up too much. Because if things don’t work out, she’ll end up more devastated than me. I don’t need to give her more reasons for her anxiety to spiral.”
