2. Atlas
Later that night,I stand in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom. I study the pink evening gown with white tulle overlay that makes me feel like a princess who just stepped out of a fairytale.
“If only Geek Charming would notice me,” I mutter to myself.
Fluffy, my chubby cat, studies my dress and tips her head as if there’s something she wants to add to the conversation.
“Yeah, I guess Miss Karma would have to show herself to catch his attention.” I sigh. That’s when the mask that accompanies the dress catches my eye.
“What if Miss Karma did show up?” I ask Fluffy, an idea forming in my head. I could show up with my dad then change and have “Karma” appear beside Eric. Would he be able to tell it was me?
I toss and turn in bed all night long. When I finally get up the next morning, I know exactly what to do.
I’ll give it a try—appearing as Karma and proving to Eric we have amazing chemistry together. Then I’ll remove my mask and he’ll be speechless but happy. He’ll take me in his arms and kiss me slowly.
I can practically hear the love song play as the credits roll. It’s perfect. I’ll finally get a chance to show Eric who I really am.
* * *
Eric
“Tellme again why I have to be at the masquerade,” I grump to Michael on our Saturday morning run. He’s the CEO of the company. I don’t see why I need to go and kiss ass along with him tonight.
But Michael expects all of his top people to be at the masquerade that’s also a silent charity auction. Apparently, I made the list of top people. You wouldn’t be on there if he knew your dirty thoughts about his daughter.
Mexico changed everything. It started as a simple request from Michael. He had a business meeting and couldn’t go to watch over Atlas and her girlfriends on spring break. He asked me to travel with them in his place.
Before that trip, Atlas was just a sweet kid and my friend’s daughter. Things were simple. Easy.
Then she grabbed me and kissed me—opening her mouth eagerly to my tongue and purring into my throat. I stopped it before it could go further. But cold showers are a daily part of my life thanks to that one moment.
Now, I spend every encounter with Atlas wondering if she’s making that purring sound with some frat boy from her college that wouldn’t know the first thing about how to please a woman.
“That’s why you have to be there,” Michael finishes his explanation as I’m mentally bedding his daughter. Again.
I push thoughts of Atlas aside as Michael slows for a water break. He fiddles with his watch like he’s uncomfortable.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask when the minutes have stretched on.
“I want Atlas dating,” he answers. “Nicole was married with a child on the way by the time she was twenty-one.”
I feel for him at the mention of his late wife. A former foster kid, I learned early in life that attachments only lead to grief. “You heard her yesterday. She’ll find somebody.”
“Not at this rate.” He resumes his pace again. “Nicole passed away when Atlas was at that age. You know, when a girl is supposed to go boy-crazy. Now, I keep waiting for it to happen but so far, nothing.” His voice trails off.
“So, she’s a late bloomer,” I answer, thinking of Mexico and the way her legs wrapped around my hips in the dimly lit hotel hallway. Guilt surges through me as I remember the hurt on her face when I abruptly told her I wasn’t attracted to her.
“It’s my fault,” he says as we make the loop back to his neighborhood. “I left Atlas alone in a sea of grief.”
After Nicole’s death, Michael put the same drive and determination into his business that he’d used in his wife’s cancer battle. Alpha Defense Industries tripled its profits in the months after her death. It’s continued to grow every year since.
“She knows you love her.” It’s obvious from the way that she dotes on him that Atlas loves her dad, too. Yet another reason I can never touch her. It would damage her relationship with Michael.
He grunts and slows to a stop in front of his modest two-story brick home. He studies the place as if seeing it for the first time. “I want you to find her someone.”
“She’s a grown woman,” I answer. A woman with curves in places that make my mouth water and my blood head south.
He turns to me and pins me with a stare. “There’s no one I trust more than you. Find my daughter a boyfriend.”
* * *
Atlas
I’mat the kitchen table when Dad and Eric come home from their run.
“Hey, sweetie,” Dad greets me before looking to his friend. “Wait here. Let me get you the printout.”
“Yeah, I wanted to work on the weekend,” he mutters under his breath when my dad disappears up the stairs. For Dad, his work is his greatest passion. He can spend days lost in his projects.
“What are you doing?” Eric asks.
I’m working with an online friend to try our luck at rooting an Active Machine, basically hacking in an environment designed for newbies to learn.
I originally got into ethical hacking so I could impress Eric. But now I’m thinking of looking for a security-related job when I graduate next spring.
“Just chatting with a friend about cute guys,” I answer, looking up from my laptop.
Eric’s white t-shirt is soaked in sweat, making it transparent and revealing his tight six-pack underneath. For a moment, I wonder what it would be like to drag my tongue across his chest. Would he beg for more? Plead for me to stop?
To distract myself from the dirty thoughts, I close my laptop and cross into the kitchen. “I always make dad a breakfast smoothie after a run. Want one?”
I lean up on my tiptoes to grab the blender from the top of the fridge. That’s when I feel my t-shirt rise high on my broad hips.
I’m not wearing pants or anything down below because I only woke up a few minutes ago. It’s not like I was expecting Eric to come home with Dad anyway. He mainly avoids me.
Other than the time I called him when the transmission in my car gave out and I needed a ride or last year when it was mom’s angel anniversary.
I showed up at Mom’s grave alone. Dad must have forgotten but Eric didn’t. He didn’t say a single word to me that day. He just wrapped an arm around my shoulders and let me cry for the longest time.
“Well, do you want a smoothie?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder and trying to act like it’s completely normal for him to see me in just my underwear and t-shirt.
Eric is staring at my black tanga panties, heat flaring in his gaze. He claimed he wasn’t attracted to me that night. It’s what he said right before he walked me back to my room and told me he was writing the night off as a drunken mistake.
My nipples tighten in response to the longing on his face and I clear my throat, trying to get us back on solid ground.
Eric finally drags his gaze upward to my face. He swallows. “I have to go.”
Then he sprints from the room as if he’s on fire and I’m a can of gasoline.
I smile as I put the frozen fruit into the blender for my dad’s smoothie. Now I know Eric’s secret. He’s not as unaffected as he’s been pretending to be.