5. Chapter 5
Chapter 5
January blustered into New York City like an invading army, coating everything in its path in pure white. Which lasted all of three minutes before the pristine snow was transformed into piles of muddy sludge as life—and traffic—carried on.
Seated behind the reception desk at work, I looked out at the passersby bundled in their hats and coats. I was feeling wistful this Monday morning, the dreariness matching my mood.
Dwight had flown in Friday night to spend the weekend with me, and we’d fought. I’d summoned up some bravery and asked him if he wanted to role play a little bit, and he’d initially agreed.
When I suggested that we play naughty nanny, he wanted to know where the hypothetical children’s mother was in this scenario, and I made up something on the fly. Maybe she’s out of town.
And that’s when the fighting began. Dwight blew up, accusing me of condoning cheating. I told him he was being ridiculous and that it was all just a bit of fun, a little forbidden romance scene. He’d shot back that maybe some things were forbidden for a reason.
He made me feel small, and I hated that. Not for the first time, I wondered if there was something wrong with me for wanting to engage in naughty fantasies. I’d never cheat in real life. Hell, I abhorred cheating.
“You all right?” Anita asked beside me, and I lifted a shocked eyebrow. Anita rarely spoke unless spoken to, and she certainly never showed any concern or hint of friendship toward me. We worked together. That was it.
“I’m okay. It was just a stressful weekend.”
“For me too,” she said with a sage nod, which caused her perfect black pageboy hairdo to bounce. “We moved recently, and my son is having trouble sleeping in his new room.”
Color me surprised. I didn’t even know Anita had a child. “How old is he?”
“Colby’s six. You want to see a picture?” Her brown eyes looked hopefully over at me.
“Of course.”
She held out her phone, and my heart melted. Anita’s little one had her dark skin and black hair, though his was a mess of curls that hung around the most adorable chubby face.
“Oh. My. God. He is freaking darling, Anita.” I gave her a sad smile. “I feel like a shithead because we’ve worked together for two months and I didn’t even know you had a kid.”
She returned my smile. “I’m not exactly the easiest person to get to know. And to be honest, maybe I’m a little intimidated by you. You’re so pretty.”
“Me?” I practically shrieked. “You look like a damn supermodel. I feel like if I touch your cheekbones, they’ll cut my hand off.” She let out a laugh, making her even more attractive. “And you have to be at least six feet tall. Why aren’t you a model?”
Her slim nose scrunched. “I hate the spotlight. I’d rather die than be on a stage in front of people. I have to take Xanax just to do this job. When I interviewed here, I asked for a back office position, but this is all they had available. It’s why I let you do most of the talking when guests approach. You’re so confident talking to people.”
“Yeah, my mama always said I could have a conversation with a pine tree. I know it doesn’t come that easily for everyone, but you’re doing a great job, Anita.” I patted her arm encouragingly. “You learned all the floors and offices within two days of being here. It took me a week to get everything straight. And you’re excellent on the phone.”
Her smile was appreciative and brilliant. “Thanks, Lehra. I don’t mind talking on the phone. It’s just the face-to-face interactions that make me nervous.”
The phone rang, and I bobbed my eyebrows at her. “Do your thang, lady.”
Anita laughed and picked up the phone. “Bouvier. How may I direct your call? Oh, hi, Tony… Of course, I’ll let Lehra know… Okay, you too.” She hung up and pointed upward. “Tony said Mr. Bouvier is buying lunch for the entire staff, but the restaurant just called and their catering van broke down. He asked if you could go with Cruz to pick up the food.”
“Oh. Well, that’s nice of Mr. Bouvier. When?”
“He said about five minutes.”
I glanced up to see a flower delivery person approaching and put on my brightest smile. “Hi, can I help you?”
“Delivery for Miss Kincaid.” He squinted at the card. “Um, Lora? Leera?”
“Lehra. That’s me,” I said, accepting the bouquet of a dozen red roses. Opening the small envelope, I found a typed card with the words, Sorry. Dwight.
My forehead creased and I checked the back of the card, but there was no I love you or anything else. Disappointment flooded my system, and I instantly felt ungrateful. Dwight had been thoughtful enough to send apology flowers, and here I was, trying to read too much into the wording on the card.
It’s fine. He was probably just in a hurry when he talked to the florist.
“Those are pretty,” Anita commented, and I plastered a smile on my face.
“They are very pretty. My boyfriend sent them.”
Anita’s eyes flashed toward the front of the building, and she said, “I think your ride is here.” My gaze followed hers and found one of Bouvier’s black delivery vans at the curb.
“Crap, I better go.” Placing the flowers on the center of the desk so everyone could enjoy them, I stuck the card in my purse and grabbed my coat from the hidden closet behind us.
I shrugged it on over my ice-blue pantsuit and rushed to the door, my low-heeled boots tapping across the black marble floor. Cruz was waiting beside the passenger door, and his face brightened when he saw me.
“Hey, Lehra. I heard you’re cruising in elegance with me today.”
He instantly made me smile, and I said in my poshest voice, “Who needs a Bentley when you can ride in a van?” For the record, it was a very fancy van, a sleek black vehicle with Bouvier in the brand’s signature font down the side.
Cruz opened the door for me and then closed it when I climbed into the passenger’s seat. He was in another finely cut black suit and black leather driving gloves, looking like danger and sin, but I couldn’t help but notice he wasn’t wearing a jacket.
“Aren’t you cold without a coat?” I asked when he took the driver’s seat.
“Nah, I run hot.”
I bet you do , my wayward mind said, and I mentally slapped myself. Rock music played softly on the radio, and I stared out the window, lost in thought as Cruz drove down the block and took a right at the next corner.
“You’re quiet today,” he noted, and I pulled my head around to face him.
“Just tired, I guess.”
“Are you okay?” The concern in his voice melted me a little.
“I’m fine.” But that wasn’t entirely the truth. I was still upset about this weekend and a little confused at the curtness of Dwight’s note.
Cruz stopped at a red light, and his lips tipped up on one side. “Tell me a happy thing.”
My heart did a stutter step because he remembered that little thing I mentioned to him weeks ago. “It’s supposed to snow again this weekend, and I plan to go to the park on Saturday with my friends, Artie and Nicolette.”
“Sounds fun,” he said, returning his attention to the road when the light turned green. “We didn’t get to see much snow in Galveston.”
“You’re welcome to join us,” I said without thinking. “I mean, you probably wouldn’t want to do that. We plan to act like children.”
His smile was so warm, I could practically feel it radiating through the cab of the van. “I’d love that.” Then his face fell. “Oh never mind. I’m supposed to babysit my niece that day.”
“Bring Noelle along. I love watching kids enjoy the snow. We can make snow angels.”
“You sure? She’s a handful.”
“Of course. Your sister and brother-in-law will thank you for wearing her out so she’ll sleep like a log on Saturday night.”
Cruz nodded toward his phone in the console. “Put your number in there and then send yourself a text so you’ll have my number. My code is 0204.”
“Oooh, trusting me with your code? What if I change all your predictive text to crazy things when you’re not looking?”
A wicked smirk crossed his lips. “Then I’ll have to punish you.”
It seemed as though the freezing weather outside had turned into a balmy ninety degrees because the back of my neck was suddenly sweating.
Jerking my head down to hide my heated cheeks, I put my name and number into his phone and said, “Then I’ll have to make sure to be a good girl.”
Fuck me sideways. Did I just say I’ll be a good girl?
“That’s… I mean… not like that ,” I said, trying to backtrack, but Cruz simply chuckled.
“I heard what I heard, Lehra. Now you just sit over there and put your number in my phone like…” he wiggled his eyebrows, “a good girl.”
Oh for fuck’s sake. Why is that so hot?
“Are you trying to embarrass me,” I scolded, laying his phone back in the console as the heat of a thousand suns reddened my face.
Cruz grinned like Satan himself. “Look at you blushing. I bet your face gets all pink when Dwight calls you a good girl in bed, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t, um, he doesn’t…” Jesus, shut the fuck up, Lehra. “Why don’t you tell me your happy thing?”
His brow furrowed, and he cast me a glance before schooling his face into a smile once again. “My happy thing is that I have plans to play in the snow on Saturday with my niece and my friend Lehra.”
If there was a sweeter answer, I couldn’t imagine what it would be. “It will be fun. I look forward to meeting Noelle.”
“We’re here,” Cruz said, double parking in front of a gourmet sandwich shop. “Tony said we’re supposed to park out front, and they’ll load the food for us.”
Workers began filing out with hundreds of gold boxed lunches, and a few minutes later, the back of the van was full.
“Does Bouvier do this often?” Cruz asked as he headed back to our office.
“A couple times a year. It’s a nice treat. I’m not sure why Tony asked me to ride along. I wasn’t much help.”
“Of course you were. You were an excellent sidekick.”
I brushed imaginary lint from my shoulder. “You’re right. There’s no way you could’ve driven those five blocks without me.”
Cruz smiled warmly. “I could have, but I’m glad you came anyway.”
“Me too,” I said, feeling a lot brighter than I had a little while ago.
“You look so cute,” Nicolette said on Saturday when I found her and Artie in the park. I was wearing a red puffer jacket with a baby-pink pom-pom hat and matching gloves, along with jeans and black snow boots.
“You look like Cupid,” Artie cooed.
“So like a chubby baby with a weapon?” I joked, lifting a sardonic eyebrow. “That scarf is gorgeous, Artie.”
He flung the tail of the chunky teal scarf dramatically over his shoulder. “Thank you. My granny made it for me.”
“I hope you guys don’t mind, but I invited someone to join us. It’s Mr. Bouvier’s driver. He’s keeping his niece today, and I thought it would be fun for her to get to play in the snow.”
“That’s cool,” Nicolette said. “What’s the driver’s name?”
I opened my mouth to speak and then froze. Mother of all fuckers. When my friends and I were discussing sexy names, I’d stupidly blurted out Cruz. No way they wouldn’t remember that.
But I was granted a brief reprieve when I spotted a large man holding hands with a little girl in a purple coat. “Oh, there he is.”
My friends’ eyes shifted in that direction and then widened. “Dear heavenly father, bless me, for I have sinned,” Artie breathed out before doing the sign of the cross.
I slapped at his hands and hissed, “Cut it out. You’re not even Catholic.”
“That big ole man looks like he could snap my spine in half, and I’m here for it,” he shot back, his eyes still on Cruz.
“He is really hot,” Nic said quietly.
Cruz Estrada was dressed more casually than I’d ever seen him, and he had a bit of scruff on his normally clean-shaven face. It still allowed those damn dimples to show through, while also giving him a more rugged look.
He was wearing a forest-green cable-knit sweater and faded jeans that fit in all the right places. His only concession to the freezing weather was a black jacket and gloves.
The little girl, on the other hand, was bundled up like she was hiking to Antarctica. Her coat was poofy and made her look like an adorable blueberry. The hood was pulled over her head with a ring of white fur framing her cherub’s face.
Every few steps, she’d stop and hop a few times, obviously fascinated with her own footsteps in the snow. Her uncle stopped and let her do her thing each time with the utmost patience.
They finally reached us, and Cruz flashed me a big grin. “Hey, Lehra.”
“Heyyyy, you,” I said, avoiding the use of his name. “These are my friends, Nicolette and Artie. Guys, this is… Mr. Estrada.”
I know, I know. I had to at least try.
Cruz looked at me strangely before holding out his hand to shake Artie’s and Nicolette’s. “You can call me Cruz.”
I refused to look at my friends, but I could literally feel their eyes shift to me. Dammit.
“Cruz? That’s a nice name,” Artie drawled, and I wanted to find a snowdrift and bury myself in it.
“Thanks. And this is my niece, Noelle.”
Ignoring the amused glances from my friends, I squatted down and smiled at the little girl. She was absolutely precious with her baby face and what looked like dark curls peeking out from the fuzzy hood.
“Hi, Noelle. I’m Lehra. Are you ready to play in the snow?”
She pressed her lips together and nodded bashfully, her brown eyes bright and playful. It didn’t take long for that shyness to wear off. Within minutes, Noelle was giggling happily, tossing handfuls of snow at Artie, who delighted her by falling to the ground each time with the most drama he could muster.
All of us made snow angels and then ran around like kids, hiding from flying snowballs we threw at each other. “Ceasefire,” I finally called from behind a tree. “I need hot chocolate.”
Cruz tirelessly continued chasing his niece around while the other three adults went to the nearby food truck for cocoa and cookies for all of us.
“Someone’s been gatekeeping the hottie,” Artie chastised after we placed our order.
“I have not!” I insisted. “I only met him about a month ago, and this is the only time I’ve seen him outside a work situation.”
“Hmmm,” he hummed, glancing back to see Cruz pretending to search for Noelle, who was giggling at him from behind a bush. “I’d like to have a work situation with that man. I wonder if he dabbles in the ways of sphincterism?”
Nic and I screamed out a laugh, and she bumped Artie with her shoulder. “You are deranged, mister. Besides, my gaydar is not picking up a signal. I think Cruz needs a lady science nerd in his life.” She gave a fake toss of her hair because, of course, her dark locks were pulled back into a low bun beneath her charcoal-gray beanie.
Artie directed an arched eyebrow at me. “Is Blue Eyes single?”
“I have no idea. He hasn’t mentioned a girlfriend.”
As we were walking back, we found a crying Noelle with Cruz kneeling next to her. We stopped and watched the interaction.
“I losed my glove and m-my hand is c-c-cold, Uncle Cooz.”
I heard muttering and turned to Nicolette, who had her eyes closed and was chanting. “You’re too young, and you don’t have a husband. You’re too young, and you don’t have a husband.”
“What are you saying that for?” I asked in confusion.
“I’m trying to talk myself out of getting knocked up and having a little cutie of my own. Dear god, she is adorable. Uncle Cooz? Gahhh!”
As we watched, Uncle Cooz took his niece’s tiny hand in his big ones and lowered his head to blow warm air against her pink fingers. “There. Is that better, baby girl?” Then he tucked her hand inside the neck of his sweater to lie against his skin.
“Annnnnd, my ovaries just exploded,” Nicolette hissed, and Artie nodded.
“Mine too.”
“You don’t have ovaries,” I pointed out, and he shot me a glare.
“I spontaneously grew some brovaries, and then they exploded, thank you very much.” He circled a long finger toward niece and uncle. “But not before this little scene got me pregnant. I think I’d like the theme of my baby shower to be baby woodland animals. Make it happen.”
And with a saucy snap of his fingers, he strutted off, leaving Nicolette and I laughing in his wake.
We found a couple benches arranged perpendicular to each other and brushed off the snow. Artie and I sat on one, and Nic claimed the spot beside Cruz, who had Noelle on his lap on the other.
He pulled the little girl’s hood down and brushed a hand affectionately over her dark riot of curls. “How did you get chocolate on your forehead, baby girl?” he asked, swiping the offending smudge with his thumb and sucking it off. Noelle shrugged, unconcerned, and continued eating her chocolate chip cookie.
“Dear god, if I dropped my cookie on my lap, do you think Blue Eyes would lick it off?” Artie asked me from the corner of his mouth.
“Would you stop it?” I attempted to glare at my friend, but I couldn’t help the grin spreading across my face. Artie was always a good time.
Digging in the pocket of my coat, I pulled out a small bundle and tossed it to Cruz. “I always carry a spare set of gloves. They’re the stretchy ones and will be way too big for her, but at least she won’t get frostbite.”
He blessed me with a grateful smile before unfolding the gloves and pulling one onto Noelle’s bare hand. The knit material flapped off the ends of her fingers, which seemed to delight the little girl.
“What do you say?” Cruz prompted, and she grinned at me with tiny white teeth between rosy lips.
“Tank you, Lehra.”
And yeah. There may have been some ovary detonation inside my own abdomen at that point.