Page 23 of Secrets in Love
“Hey, knock it off. I get enough of the old lady stuff from your brother.” Jocelyn smiled and attempted to help me off the floor, but instead, she lost her footing in the whiskey puddle, slipped, and rolled around beside me. The almost empty bottle laid between us until she swooped and swigged straight from the neck. “It’s five o’clock somewhere. Cheers, darling.”
“Hell, it’s ten in Byron.” I stole the bottle and took a good long drink. “To not being sluts!”
The rest of our mini break passed with a little more day-drinking, a lot more brunching, and an exorbitant amount of shopping on Tarrytown’s beautiful Main Street. After squeezing in some hiking, a trip to a day spa, and more shopping on the way home, I was exhausted. But by the time Tuesday rolled around and I was back at work, I’d also come to some kind of solution for my two-man crisis.
As Jocie had said, despite my recent romantic awakening and subsequent piqued interest in Nate, he was not here. I was young, single, and could go out with whomever I chose. Should that be Christian, or the entire starting lineup of the New York Giants, so be it.
So yes, it was settled. I was heading out for coffee with HotBoss despite the sporadic thoughts of being Nate’s favorite girl and fantasizing about him and those abs of his the entire previous night…and morning—alright, constantly.
The time lost didn’t mean anything. Fantasies did not equal feelings.
As my students emptied out of my morning class into the waiting arms of their doting parents, Christian was swaggering in, wearing a white tank and gray sweats that gave a detailed outline of EVERYTHING he was packing.
Was “Pony” by Ginuwine playing out loud or just in my head? Taking my hand, he flashed his million-dollar smile and kissed my knuckles. It was a move I would mock senselessly had anyone else tried it—well, almost anyone.
“Wow, Evie. You really are great with those kids. They love you.”
“I love them too. It’s weird how attached I feel already.”
Moving with the masculine grace you would expect from a male dancer, HotBoss slid behind me, placed his free hand on the small of my back, and dipped me till my hair brushed against the floor.
“I know the feeling.”
“Oh my God! Are you for real?” I swooned as he returned me to an upright position.
“I sure am. Let’s get out of here, Princess.”
Again, from anyone else but him, I would have been all over that. But somehow, Christian did make me feel like a real lady. A Princess, even.
“Moder Fucker!”
A collective gasp echoed through the air.
Mothers covered their children’s ears.
Old grannies tutted and shook their heads, and a nearby priest stood and began counting his rosaries as he rushed out the door. All of this transpired as I crouched on the floor of the cute coffee shop Christian had brought me to.
Curious as to why I was on the floor? Easy. I was picking up the shattered remnants of the mug I’d dropped while nursing what felt like a third-degree burn on the roof of my mouth.
Things had gone well to that point. We’d been so busy laughing and chatting that an hour had passed before we ordered. Christian had briefly touched my thigh. Held my hand. Swept his thumb over my knuckles. And it was…lovely. But now, I could barely speak, feared tongue amputation, and Christian was beside me on the floor, trying hard not to laugh and helping clean my mess.
“Why tho hot?”
“Are you trying to ask why the coffee was so hot?”
“Yes! I’m twying to tawlk. Stop lauwfing.”
“I’m trying, I promise. You just sound so cute.”
I didn’t feel cute and was about to express that when a pair of suspiciously expensive Gucci loafers approached and stopped before me. “Excuse me, Miss. We simply cannot tolerate that language in our establishment, and I must ask you to leave.”
I stuck my head out from beneath the table and looked Mr. Gucci in the eye. “Awe, you for weal? You dust burned my mowf, and you want me to weave? I should zoo you!
Gucci screwed up his face like the confused Chihuahua his loafers were probably made from. “You should what? Zoo me?”
“Noo. Not zoo you. Zoo you. You know, in court…Judge Jewdy…zoo you.”
“I think she means to sue you.” Christian stood and laughed again, but it was awkward and forced, and it pissed me off. “Sorry about the mess. We will just clean it up and leave.”
