Page 15 of Imperfections Seduced
“Yes and no. Like I said, I was home alone when the doorbell rang, I wasn’t expecting anyone. I went to the door and it was one of Chris’s friends.” He throws his hand up in the air in frustration. “You heard right, Chris’s friend, so don’t interrupt me.” I roll my eyes at him and continue. “He was returning something he borrowed from Chris. I told him he wasn’t home, but he could come in if he wanted. He asked me if it was okay for him to come in ’cause it seemed like no one was there, and I told him it was.”
“Which was a lie.”
“It wasn’t, I was allowed to have company, just not a boy in my room, and we weren’t in my room at the time. He came in, we started talking, and he saw the book I was reading for my English class on the table. It was Edgar Allen Poe. He said it was one of his favorites, and it was one of mine, too. We spent about two hours talking, I found out we had a lot in common. He said I was smart and cute, and if I wasn’t off-limits he would have kissed me already. I told him some limits shouldn’t stop him from doing what he wants, and I wouldn’t tell if he didn’t.”
I pause to look at Nick, but I can’t tell what he’s thinking. His head is against the headrest, his eyes don’t leave my face, and they’re intense. I’m starting to feel exposed,and I’m not sure I like that, and I think he knows it. That’s one of the reasons he’s so good at his job.
“What’s wrong?” he says quietly.
“Nothing.” I take a breath and continue. “We were sitting on the couch when he put his hand on my cheek and kissed me. It was soft and sweet but then it changed—not in a bad way; his kiss was one of the first kisses from a guy to make me feel something different, something I couldn’t explain. When his hands touched me, I wanted to know—I wanted to feel more. I just wanted to know what it was like. I took his hand, we went upstairs, and I locked the door. He took my hand and asked if I was absolutely sure. I said yes. He didn’t treat me like I was the girl he was going to sleep with that night and forget about the next day, or Chris’s little sister. I was Catherine, and he was who he was. He knew it was my first time, and he made me feel like everything I felt at the moment mattered to him.”
“Did you regret it?”
“That night I did, it hurt like hell! But he held me and kissed me, he told me it wasn’t always going to feel like this—”
“You don’t need to go into every single detail, I don’t need a visual!”
“You asked.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“He said, ‘what we did was all mechanical, but when it’s with the right person, it’s a whole different experience. When it’s with the one you love, that’s when it’s going to be the first time for you.’”
“Words of wisdom from the guy who took your virginity. How sweet.”
I can’t believe this guy has the nerve to cop an attitude with me for something that happened years ago, when he’s engaged to my sister. I turn around in the car seat to fullyface him. I look him straight in his stormy gray eyes, ’cause we both know there’s a storm coming and it’s going to happen right here in this damn car. I put my hand against the armrest and lean over, and in a slow controlled voice I articulate every single word so he can hear me clearly.
“He didn’t take anything. Igaveit to him.” Before I can blink, the storm in his eyes turns into a full-on thunderstorm I have never seen before, at least not aimed toward me. He runs his hand through his thick black hair and puts the other one on the steering wheel.
“What the fuck, Cat!”
“Don’t treat me like a child, Nick! Back then I didn’t need your permission or anyone else’s to tell me when I could have sex with a man. I didn’t need it then or now. I’m a grown woman! I do what I want, when I want!” We’re yelling at each other and neither one of us cares. He turns to me with his hand still gripping the steering wheel and points his index finger at me like he’s in court and I’m on trial for a heinous crime.
“So I should assume that since that night, you make a habit of sleeping with men you barely know?”
“You arewayout of line.”
“I wasn’t expecting to hear anything you said to me. Some guy comes to the door and you suddenly decide you’re going to have sex with him—”
“It wasn’t like that!”
“He was too old for you, and he damn well knew you were off limits to him. What’s his name?”
“None of your business. Why are you so angry, Nick? Is it because one of your friends dared to disobey an order from you and my brother, or is it because you weren’t the one having sex with me, you weren’t the one kissing me, touching me, doing those things to me?”
“I wouldn’t have done that to you! You were too young, and you were my best friend’s little sister.”
“And that’s the problem! I’m going inside.” Popping open the door, I jump out and slam it as hard as I can before stomping through the lot and into the restaurant.
Nick
Isit back, head tiltedup at the car roof, with my eyes closed. I need to compose myself before I go inside to deal with Kate’s bullshit, when all I want to do is go after Cat and talk to her. I never lose my temper like that with her. She’s right. I don’t want to think of anyone else touching her, whether it be years ago or now. I would really like to know who this so-called friend of mine was that had his hands all over her. The sooner Kate gets this paternity test, the sooner I can tell Cat her sister and I are not engaged. I don’t want her to find out Kate’s pregnant and while there’s a chance the baby is mine. I need to be the one that tells her.
Blue is downtown Brooklyn,Cobble Hill. The outside is blue-tinted glass with a midnight blue awning that runs from one end of the restaurantto the next. Written across it in neon blue is the word Blue. Inside, against the back wall, is a gorgeous mahogany bar. On both sides of the bar are booths with black leather seats, big white fluffy pillows, and sheer white shimmer curtains that are artfully draped around the booth to partially obscure an onlooker’s view. The lounge can hold maybe sixty to eighty people; it would be considered cozy and warm. A place you would bring a date for a drink or to kick back and relax with a few friends.
I walkin and see all four of the Reeds already seated at the table. There’s a woman sitting with them next to Jay. She looks like Vanessa, his wife. I thought they were separated. Maybe they’re trying to work things out for their daughter’s sake. That would be good for Sasha. I think kids should grow up with both parents in their lives, but only if both parents can be civil to each other and come to an understanding of doing what’s in the best interest of the child. I always liked Vanessa; she’s beautiful and smart. I hope they can work things out.
An attractive young woman with straight, shoulder-length black hair walks up to me and asks if I would like to be seated. “No, thank you, my party is already seated and waiting for me.” She’s very attractive—if I had to guess, I’d say she’s around twenty-one, twenty-two. She looks like she could be a model: tall, slender, and shapely, about five feet eight inches. Her eyes go to my mouth then slowly look back up at me.
