Chapter 12
chapter twelve
Mia
By every cut of the cloth, what Angelo and I had done was reprehensible.
As a real estate professional, I was appalled with myself.
It was a clear breach of conduct, a nightmare of ethical standard.
If Branting ever caught wind that I'd fucked a client on the bedroom floor of a new build during a private showing, I'd never work in luxury real estate again. It was career suicide.
Not to mention, it perpetuated all the worst stereotypes about women in my position.
A sale hiking on the assumption that I might favor men in a sexual way, use my body to get ahead.
Those end-of-year bonuses reliant on quarterly commissions would look like total mockery.
Even when the reality couldn't be further from that.
I had never slept with a client. Never went on a date with one.
I steered clear of men like Scott because they were my close peers, and I kept my nose in my work to make sure a rumor couldn't even catch wind.
Angelo and I weren't your typical partnership in homebuying.
Nor was I worried he'd go on to air out our little rendezvous to my coworkers.
But I held myself to my own specific moral code.
One I was shooting to hell every waking moment he and I were together.
I'd lost focus and made room for something categorically lighter than climbing ladders and putting up numbers.
Now there was laughter, and playfulness, hope, excitement, a shred of danger that felt like fire in my chest. He had grown on me. Like English ivy climbing a trellis. I was being overtaken, because more and more of me wanted a future that included Angelo than a past that didn’t.
I was meant to hate him forever. From a distance. It still might happen, once whatever high we were on inevitably crashed and burned. The problem was, one of us was going to have to be the adult here and end it. And after our night at Valley Green, I didn't know if I was strong enough to do it.
Tommy, the property owner, was thrilled when I sent a thoughtful offer letter over to him mid-morning.
We’d gone in full price, contingent on those work permits passing through and nothing holding up the process for Angelo moving forward.
I'd also made sure to mention how versed he was in contracting, that his entire background was in the construction business, and how he would take on the house in a way that would bring pride and class to the growing development.
That he could see himself raising a family there, growing old there, becoming a staple at Valley Green.
Me
Offer has been submitted, and now we wait
Angelo
How long do these things usually take?
Me
Really depends on the listing and the interest. Not sure there's been too much movement on this one specifically, but I left us plenty of room to negotiate
Angelo
Would a cash offer help?
I pinched the bridge of my nose, gathering myself, but it was hard not to laugh at Angelo’s pure neediness when he had his mind set.
Me
Slow your roll, cowboy, what's meant to be will be
Angelo
Sometimes you just have to make things happen instead
Me
I don't want to get your hopes up as a rule of mine, but I'm pretty sure you're sparring with a punching bag
Angelo
You're a rule breaker, Mia
Somehow, miles away, he could still make my cheeks burn hot and my mind go misty. The sex was unforgettable, the looping replay in my brain almost as good as the real thing. I was stuck there.
Me
Last night was not my proudest day at work
Angelo
You did great
Me
I'm rolling my eyes
Angelo
Pretty picture
I sent him the rolling eye emoji, though realistically my eyes were doing more of a flutter.
Angelo
Can I come and see you later? Mateo has me doing a catalog of our equipment, but I can't stop thinking about you
This felt nothing near casual, like it was meant to be.
A secret that had snowballed so quickly from treading water to drowning.
We should talk, face-to-face. That was probably the only way to get on the same page and stay there with the end of September, and the end of our working relationship, looming.
Me
Come over after work
A few hours later, when I'd paced my house long enough to wear a mark into the floor, Angelo’s truck pulled into the driveway in the space beside mine.
This time was different than the last time he was here. Then, it was reluctant and forced. We were still pretending the thing happening between us was fueled by mutual disdain. At least I was.
It was dark that night, but now it was daylight, and he bounded up the short stairs to the front door with a ray of afternoon sun following him. My stomach was in knots that seemed to tighten with nervous excitement. It was rudimentary. I was embarrassing myself and I was painfully aware of it.
The doorbell rang. I ruffled my hair in the foyer mirror before opening it, dragging him inside by the wrist and closing the door quickly.
Angelo was holding a very large bag that he abandoned on the floor beside him, and I didn't even have time to ask what was inside before he was on me, stepping into my space, cradling my jaw in both his palms and kissing me desperately.
It was like syrup on already cinnamon-coated French toast, a dollop of ice cream with a slice of pie.
Delicious on its own, but with a little bit extra to put you over the edge.
His kiss demanded. It took, it stole whatever it could get away with.
My back was pressed against the wall beside the front door, spine digging into the entry table.
On it, the floral arrangement shook unsteadily and tore our attention toward it for the smallest second.
"I want you so much," he said, righting the vase before it could fall. His stubble was rough against my skin as he nudged my chin to the side and peppered his lips down my neck.
"Rough day at work?"
"Day, night," he mumbled. "Maybe I'm broken. I can't get you out of my head, not for a second, Mia."
My fingers ran down his tan arms, tracing a vein down to his rough hands keeping me caged against the table. "Maybe we're both broken, then."
"Wouldn't be so bad," he said, thoughtfully. "Another thing that makes this all make sense."
Our foreheads pressed together, eyelashes nearly brushing.
This close, his eyes were golden, and he had freckles across his nose that had started to stand out in the Florida sun.
I wanted to kiss each and every one of them, and I knew if I proposed the suggestion, Angelo would lie there for hours and let me.
"None of this makes sense," I offered plainly. "We’re creating a mess for the sake of it."
"The sake of unbelievable sex," he said. "Some fun, some danger, atoning for the family."
"I'm sure this is exactly what they meant by get along," I chirped sarcastically. Angelo slid his hands up my waist, under the hem of my cotton T-shirt. I hadn't put on a bra, and he found my pert nipples with his touch, drawing circles lazily.
"No one could have predicted the woman sworn to humiliate me would be so sweet on my cock."
A buzz of pressure swept through my center. My heartbeat did a deep dive from chest to clit. I liked the way he spoke to me. An equal balance of praise and something edgier. It goaded me on.
I tugged his belt toward me, unfastening it until it hung at his waist. I was so confident with him.
I didn't hesitate reaching inside his tight boxers, feeling his shaft harden in my hand before I took it out.
His sigh of surprise only made it easier to lower onto my knees, cushioned by a very expensive throw rug, and wrap both my palms around his cock like I knew exactly what I was doing.
"Can I try something?" I drew my hands up and down slowly, eliciting a throaty groan from him.
"I might die if you don't."
Without thinking too long about the fact that my sister had been the one to suggest it, I lowered my mouth to the tip of Angelo's cock and sucked it softly.
His eyes fluttered closed and he bit down on his knuckle.
I worked both my hands in tandem with my throat, swallowing him as far as I could before my gag reflex started fighting back.
"I don't care how bad this sounds, I love you on your knees," he croaked.
"You're a fucking picture, Mia." One of Angelo’s hands wrapped into my hair, holding my head down for a prolonged second.
I swallowed around the length of him, trying not to choke and he let go with a deep grunt of satisfaction.
Beads of tears pooled at my lash line, my lips stretched wide to accompany him, and I twisted both my fists, up and down, up and down, spurred on by every glance into his eyes being more blissed out and on the verge of orgasm than the last.
"What a fucking woman," he bit out. "Gonna make me cum inside that pretty mouth, Mia. Can I?"
"Mm-hmm," I hummed around him. His cock pulsed in my palms, and Angelo's free hand slammed hard against the wall above the entry table, holding himself up as he let out a harsh growl and spilled warmth down my throat.
Natalia would have been proud. I knew I was of myself. A man strung out on your performance and finishing fast was one of life’s greatest compliments.
"Your turn," Angelo decided briskly, pulling me to my feet.
I stopped him, wiping my wrist across my lips.
He was insatiable. I wasn't much better, but we were still standing in the foyer of my condo.
He hadn't even fully shed his work boots, and his chinos were pushed down just enough to give me access.
This was a sordid display of intimacy at its basest level.
"Why don't you tell me what's in the bag, Jeffrey Dahmer?" I pointed to the large reusable shopping bag he'd left at the front door before mauling me.
"Fuck," he sighed out, catching his breath. "You almost made me forget why I came here."