AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She smiled at that. “It’s made with olive oil, not butter, and no cheese, so you can have some. And that’s according to your nutritionist, Stefano, who I checked with this afternoon when he brought your batch of juices and shakes. They’re all in the freezer, by the way.”
Maddy yelped loudly at that and clapped her hands, making us both laugh. “Well, either she wants risotto too or she likes the sounds of your smoothies!” Mary-Beth said. “Would you put her into her highchair for me while I serve?”
“Sure,” I found myself saying. The whole thing felt completely surreal and I felt a raft of different emotions. She hadn’t mentioned the night before last – it was the first time we were alone together, and I thought she might have done. I hadn’t either, though. After what Bryce had said, I wouldn’t even begin to know what to say.
She seemed to read my mind at that moment, as I lifted Maddy carefully out of the bouncer.
“I have your shirt, by the way,” she said.
“I have your dress,” I countered, feeling suddenly shy and awkward, like a teenager. I didn’t add, and your underwear.
“I guess we’d better swap back,” she said, with a giggle. She seemed shy too.
I strapped Maddy in and Mary-Beth served her a small portion of the risotto, spreading it out on the plastic plate so it could cool more quickly, and then lovingly blowing on it.
“How’s the magazine going?” I asked, at the same time as she said, “How are the apartments shaping up?”
Our eyes met and we smiled at one another. We didn’t talk about the date, or about things between us anymore. I, for one, didn’t know how to begin to approach all that. And maybe we didn’t even need to. It had just been one night, after all. Bryce had given me a much-needed wake-up call before I got too involved. If she’d even wanted to get involved – maybe she hadn’t done. Instead, we shared news about our projects, and came up with a great way to help one another out with them – starting first thing in the morning.
11
MARY-BETH
I thought Alex and I might have a big talk last night, about what had happened between us. That’s why, when he didn’t mention anything first, I came up with the comment about still having his shirt. I hadn’t mentioned that I’d slept in it the next night too, and the night after that. When I got him to taste the risotto, getting really close, there was powerful heat between us. We’d acted like we couldn’t feel it, though. I mean, obviously there wouldn’t have been any more acts of passion on the kitchen counter, or even a little light kissing – not with Maddy there – but I didn’t know if there was something else holding him back. Had he decided that there couldn’t be anything more between us?
My insecure brain kicked in as soon as that thought went through my head. Was I not attractive enough for him to want more? Yeah, he’d said he enjoyed the night we spent together – but perhaps it just hadn’t been sizzling hot enough for him to want to see me again?
For me, it had been the best night I’d ever had with anyone. But what if…? Maybe my mommy belly had put him off… Maybe my breasts were too full and bouncy, falling all over the place. I cursed inside - damn, I should have left my bra on. What the hell had I been thinking, exposing myself like that? And before that, on the kitchen counter. Oh, my goodness. I felt shy and raw and vulnerable then, just thinking about it. I had to get my sassy attitude back, and fast.
Luckily, Maddy pulled me out of my confidence-destroying horror show by tugging on the bottom of my jeans to pull herself up. I’d ditched the dresses today in case things got dirty with Alex – building site dirty, of course, nothing else. “Hey, baby boo.” I ruffled her hair, my heart flooding with love for her. All the silly thoughts about Alex melting away then. This was why I couldn’t get involved with anyone, I realized with a start, not even for one night. It could derail my fragile confidence too easily.
Yes, talking with Clare about the hot date had been exciting, and I’d found myself considering more with Alex, and feeling thrilled about that. But now I remembered why I’d sworn off guys in the first place. Caleb had made me feel awful about myself, and to get to the point where I had enjoyed putting on the red dress and going out with Alex had been a long uphill climb. It had involved pilates, some post-natal confidence counseling videos on YouTube (I hadn’t had the time or the money for the real thing) and a lot of talks with Clare, another old friend of mine (Amanda), and my sweet and lovely mom.
My sweet and lovely mom was who I was about to drop Mads off with, so that I could spend the day working with Alex. I was so glad he suggested the skills swap yesterday when we had dinner. I was starting to feel like I wasn’t truly earning what I was being paid for nannying for Kayla. For one thing, she was only there half the time. And when she was, she was either practicing her cello, or shut in her room listening to music, or playing with Maddy, which actually helped me out.
There had been no more trips to the mall – thank goodness. But I’d noticed she hadn’t had any visits with friends either, and she hadn’t invited anyone to the apartment. I planned to speak to Alex about that – it didn’t seem right for a girl of her age to be spending so much time alone. I wondered if she was having friend troubles.
A little while later I met Mom in the playpark at the corner of our block, and we had a big hug as usual, with a delighted Maddy squashed into the middle of us. Mom had a whole day’s activities planned for Maddy, including her favorite, a trip to the indoor playground. It made my heart glow to see them together, and I felt so grateful to have one supportive and loving parent in my life.
We had a quick chat. Not about me, my employer, a red dress and a very steamy night, of course! But I told her that things seemed to be working out with the job, and the place to live. Then I had to rush off. By the time I left, Mads was already giggling away as Mom lifted her up into the baby slide and then held her carefully as she came down. I didn’t need to worry at all about whether she’d be okay, and I could focus fully on the project with Alex.
That’s what we needed to be doing right now – supporting one another in fulfilling our dreams and getting shit done. That’s how I could make up some of the value that I felt I should be bringing to him (as well as cooking him nice things, like I did last night). As I got back in his Lexus I looked back at Mom and Mads and felt a sudden stab of anger in my stomach about my father.
He’d only seen his granddaughter a handful of times, despite being in Buffalo often for business, and he’d only held her once. She’d cried immediately, probably because he’d looked so terrified, and he’d quickly handed her back, like she was an unexploded bomb. I had to banish the anger and negative train of thought that was threatening to take me over. I did that with a lovely image of one of Mad’s best volcanic banana poo diapers exploding all over my dad’s best Gucci suit.
Yep, that was very satisfying. I knew I had to address the issue of our terrible relationship, but not right now. Not until I could sashay into whatever swish bar or restaurant father dearest wanted to meet in (sans Maddy, of course) with my head held high. The next time we met, I planned to be earning my own really good money from my magazine, and on the way to buying myself my own apartment. Alex was a great route to fulfilling all that right now, with his generous offer of a skills swap, and that was where I needed to focus. Nowhere else. Not on his beautiful smile, or his powerful shoulders, or his soft lips or his hard cock…
As I pulled his Lexus back into the parking at his building, I pushed images of us coming together deep and hard and long firmly out of my mind. Yes, that was, hands down, the best orgasm of my life, but it wasn’t where things were at between us. We had work to do, and it started right now.
* * *
Half an hour later, Alex and I were in one of the downstairs apartments, and I was feeling a little wobbly with overwhelm. I stared at the third huge, empty apartment he’d shown me and wondered whether I could actually pull off the job he wanted me to do. I bluffed it, though. Fake it till you make it and all that. “Again, I think some large-scale statement mid-century modern pieces would work really well in here,” I said. “And if you go with a bold vintage print wallpaper on the end wall, say lush exotic florals or birds, that would really make the fireplace stand out and show it off beautifully. Let’s go for warm colors in here, as it’s the northeast facing apartment. And paint for the kitchen, something with some deep oranges and yellows in too, that the morning sunshine can sing off.”
“Great,” said Alex. “And if we go for red retro-style appliances, the colors will really pop.” He laughed. “Hey, I sounded like an interior designer right there.”
I smiled and handed him my notepad. “Could you hold this while I measure,” I said, pulling a tape measure from my bag.
“Oh, don’t worry about that, I’ll have the contractors sort out all the details,” he said then. “You just need to choose all the stuff, let them know what we need.”
