Rebound (34 page)

He held my face and kissed me deeply.
I pulled away feeling the tingles in my core. “Okay. Let me see
what I have in the freezer that I can make for dinner.”

“
Let me order take out.”
He said pulling his phone from his belt case.

“
No, babe. I have good
food already prepared. I just have to heat it up and it tastes
really good, and it’s healthy for you. I found food and reheated it
for us.

After dinner, we prepped for bed. We
tried to get comfortable in the twin sized bed. Our bodies were
almost on top of each other, which neither of us seemed to mind. We
talked, opening up a little more with each other about our feelings
and expectations. I told him about my plans with Chelsea’s dress
fitting appointment. He convinced me to stay over on Friday night,
which I hadn’t intended to, but he said he wasn’t going to take
‘no’ for an answer. I didn’t sleep very well that night. I’m sure
he didn’t either. However, I loved that he wanted to be with me
despite the tiny bed. His feet dangled from the end, through the
slats. Mostly, he slept curled up, pushing me to the wall. We got
up early because he had morning appointments, and he needed to get
changed.

For the rest of the week, he stayed at
his home, and I stayed at mine. He still drove me home, but
respected my need for space. He picked me up at Duration on Friday
night, and we got into our domestic and sexual groove. On Saturday
morning, I got up early and made us pancakes, bacon and eggs. We
ate and talked. I still didn’t ask him to escort me to Chelsea’s
wedding. Tonight with his sister will be a sign if I should
proceed. After I convinced him that I was okay to go to the fitting
by myself, I got dressed. I told him that I would call him when we
were almost finished with the fitting so he could pick me
up.

I was nervous all afternoon. I decided to get
ready two hours before we were due to leave. Matt said it would
take about 45 minutes to drive to his sister’s place up North. I
washed and deep conditioned my hair while in the tub. I shaved my
legs and underarms. I put on a clay mask, and reclined in the tub
and read from the tablet clad in a rubber, waterproof case. After a
half an hour of soaking and conditioning my hair, I rinsed
everything off and cleaned up the tub. With towel wrapped hair, I
moisturized my entire body, deodorized, perfumed, and prepared my
skin for makeup.

I piled on the hair products, and
styled my damp tresses. I decided to leave my hair down. I hung up
the wet towel, and entered the bedroom nude to retrieve my
underwear. When I came in the room, Matt was there getting ready to
shower. He was naked and smiling lasciviously at my body. “Don’t
get any idea, Mr. Man. I’m fresh and clean. I’m not going to your
sister’s house with frizzy hair and smelling of sex.”

“
I can be very careful not
to get you all mussed. I just want to taste you.” He said as he
came over with his semi hard cock, thickening with each step he
took toward me. My nipples hardened as I watched him
approach.

“
God, why can’t I resist
you?” I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.
“Please, let’s not start anything. I’m nervous enough and I just
want to make a good impression. I promise I’ll make it up to you
tonight when we get back.” I rambled in plea. He kissed
me.

“
You shouldn’t be nervous.
All will be fine. My sister’s going to love you. My whole family
will.” He gave me a soft kiss in reassurance. I needed that. “I
won’t ravage you, but a promise is a promise and I intend to
collect.” He smiled and gave me a peck before going to the bathroom
for his shower. I dressed slowly, so as not to work up a sweat. It
was rather warm and I didn’t know if it was from too much heat
circulating in the apartment or my nerves. I put on makeup in the
other bathroom, not wanting to get frizzed up from the steam in the
master bath. He called me when he was ready to go, waiting with my
trench in his arms. Meeting his sister would be the next phase of
commitment.

***

We pulled up to a very up-scale
subdivision. The houses were huge and spaced quit far from each
other for privacy. Ben and I couldn’t afford to live in this type
of community, even with both of us working. We earned a decent
living, but Ben’s father expected his children to live modestly
because they came from humble beginnings despite the wealth that
was later amassed. I was comfortable with our three-bedroom
colonial in a postage stamp sized lot.

Stella’s house was definitely not on a
postage sized lot, and was twice the size of the colonial I called
home for four out of the six years we were married. Stella’s home
was a three storied colonial with dormer windows in the third
story. It was wide with an attached three car garage. It was
painted white to contrast the dark roof tiles. The front of the
windows had hydrangea bushes, which had not yet blossomed. I would
love to see the color of the flowers when in bloom.

After driving up a long driveway and
parking in front of one of the garage door stalls, Matt put the car
in park and said, “We’re here. Are you ready?”

I gave him a confident smile,
summoning up the courage, “Yes, of course. I’m excited.” He smiled,
looking relieved that I was comfortable, even if I was pretending
for his benefit.

“
Wait right here.” He
exited the car and walked around to open the door for me. Since the
“claiming” episode where he forgot his manners, he had been really
attentive and loving. I exited the car and he took my hand, walking
us toward the front door. I took a quiet, deep breath as he
knocked.

Within a minute, a man opened the
door. He was tall, handsome with a clean shaven chiseled jaw and
bright red hair. He greeted us with a kind smile and welcomed us
into the house.

“
Perla, I’d like you to
meet Craig Fanning, my brother in law.”

I extended my hand to meet his, “Nice
meeting you.” I smiled.

“
Let me take your coats.”
Matt helped me out of my coat and he removed his, handing them both
to Craig.

I heard a voice booming from the right
side of the house. “Are they here?” We walked together toward the
voice, and found Stella in the kitchen. In a high chair was a
beautiful red headed toddler smiling at us. She had soft waves of
hair that was held away from her face with cute little clips. She
couldn’t have been more than a year old. “Hi, Perla. It’s great to
finally meet you.” Stella exclaimed walking over to give me a hug
and kiss on both cheeks. Matt walked over to Leona and bent down.
She handed over a pinch of food, which he took in his
mouth.

“
It’s great to meet you
and your family. You have a beautiful home. But I have to tell you
that the most beautiful sight is this little girl.” Stella beamed
with the compliment as I walked over to Leona.

“
Thank you. She is a good
baby.”

“
How old is
she?”

“
She turned a year in
February. She keeps me pretty busy.”

“
I can imagine. Thank you
for inviting me for dinner.”

“
Well, when Matt told me
about you, I had to see it for myself be . . . “

“
Hey, don’t say anything
I’ll make you regret later.” Matt chimed in. He took Leona out of
the high chair.

“
Matt, she just started
eating a snack.”

“
I’ll feed her some in the
family room. Come on, Craig.” Leona’s little hands slapped his
chest in excitement. Craig went to the fridge and pulled out two
beer bottles. “You two talk, we men must take the princess to watch
baseball. Isn’t that right, preciosa?” He gave her a kiss on her
chubby, pink cheeks. She squirmed, tickled by the scruffy
beard.

“
Stop kissing her, you’re
going to give her a rash with that beard. I don’t know how you can
stand it.” She looked at me.

“
I’m sorry?” I blushed,
thinking all sorts of wild thoughts.

“
His beard. He grows it
out. You can tell he’s aging because of that beard. He has such a
handsome face when he shaves. You can see his dimples better with a
clean face.” Stella also had dimples. She and Matt looked alike,
dark hair and eyes. They had the same olive skin.

“
I actually like his
beard. It’s probably my fault that he hasn’t shaved. I’ve asked him
not to. I promise that one day soon, I’ll encourage him to shave.”
Stella returned to chopping vegetables. “Is there anything I can
help you with?” I asked eagerly.

“
No. I’m great here. The
roast and potatoes are in the oven. I’m making the salad. Have a
seat.” She pointed to the chairs in front of the long center
island. “Can I get you something to drink? Some wine?” She
asked.

“
Oh, I’ll take water,
please. I’m not much of a drinker.”

“
Oh? Okay.” She grabbed a
small water bottle out of the refrigerator, and handed it to
me.”

“
So, Perla, my brother
said you met at a club.”

“
Well, technically, we met
at his office when I came in for some treatment for hip
pain.”

“
Ahh, he didn’t tell me
you’re a patient. He’s a stickler for confidentiality.” I wouldn’t
have kept that a secret. It was nice to know that he didn’t discuss
private things, such as the fact I’m, was, a patient. “He did say
that you’re a sales director at the health club where he’s a
member. Sounds interesting.”

“
I am. I’ve worked for
Duration for almost a year.”

“
And you never noticed my
brother, or he you?”

“
No. But to be honest, I
wasn’t looking. I’ve been divorced for almost a year. And Matt’s
marriage ended around that time, as well. I think we weren’t in a
place to date other people. I wasn’t even looking when he
approached me at the club. He’s been fantastic.”

“
He seems happier lately.
I’m sure it has a lot to do with dating you. What part of
Massachusetts are you from?

“
I’m from Boston, grew up
in Southie. I have two sisters, and there’s my father. My mother
died of cancer when I was a teenager. I was a dancer and studied at
the Conservatory for a couple of years, until I hung up my pointe
shoes and studied business.” I offered all the information before
she interrogated me. Time to ask her questions.

“
Matt said you’re an
architect.”

“
Yes. Craig and I both
are. We’re commercial architects. We’re working on a big project,
but we’re on separate teams, but still have to work together on
occasion.”

“
I used to work at Parisi
Construction before my divorce. My ex-husband’s family owned the
company.”

“
Oh, we’ve worked with
that company before. Didn’t they sell the company?”

I was taken aback. I hadn’t heard a
thing. It had been a family business for years with no future
intention to sell, at least not while I was married to Ben. “Oh.
I’m not sure. I’ve been out of touch with him and everyone from the
company for over a year. I’m surprised, but these things happen.
What firm are you with?” Before she could answer, Matt came into
the room.

“
What are my two favorite
girls talking about?”

“
We’re just getting
acquainted. Go to the fridge and put these vegetables back inside.”
She commanded.

“
She makes me work for my
dinner.”

“
How’s Leona doing? You
didn’t put her to sleep did you?” She turned to me and explained,
“Matt has the amazing ability to make my daughter nap when it isn’t
nap time. She’ll lay in his arms and fall right to sleep. Every
time. She has to eat dinner.” Stella warned.

“
Relax. I played with her
on the floor. She’s with Craig watching one of those obnoxious
shows you guys put on TV.”

“
Watch it, Mister. One day
your baby will be watching those obnoxious shows and you’ll welcome
it for five minutes peace.” Internally, I freaked out.

Matt cleared his throat and deflected
the topic. He asked “When’s dinner?”

“
In about fifteen minutes.
Why don’t you set the table?”

“
Stella, I’m the guest. I
shouldn’t be setting up the table.”

“
Matt, why don’t I help
you set up the table? Come.” I offered walking toward him and
taking his arm.

“
You know where the place
settings are.” Stella called out as we walked to the dining room.
He went to a large antique buffet, pulled a drawer and retrieved
all the pieces needed for a setting for four. I helped him arrange
everything.

“
How’s she treating you?”
He asked.

I gave him a quizzical look. “She’s
great. I didn’t know she worked with my former employer, Parisi
Company. Actually, she informed me that the company was sold. I had
no idea.” I went about setting the flatware.

“
You don’t communicate
with your ex or anyone from the company?” Matt asked
hesitantly.

“
No. I cut all my ties. I
lost a lot of friends and colleagues when we separated. I just
wonder why they sold when they’d hoped to expand.” I shook the
thoughts. I had no plans of finding out anything further. I could
ask Chelsea because Dougie is still friends with Ben, but I didn’t
want to pry. The information could be easily retrieved from the
internet. “Your niece is adorable. I love her flaming red
hair.”