Autumn and Summer (29 page)

I should’ve checked to see if Olivia really sent any of those text messages
,
I thought as I considered not answering the phone. But I knew I couldn’t ignore his call.

Attempting to sound casual, I picked up the phone.
“Hello?”

“Are you okay?”
Boris asked slowly.

“I’m okay.  Are you okay?”
My voice was tentative and restrained.

“I’m a little confused.
”

I swallowed thickly.
“About what?”

“Your text messages didn’t make any sense. You said some
thing about us having sex with catfish. And I’m not into that.”

I laughed, “
I’m sorry! My friend Olivia had my phone and she texted you, thinking it was someone else. It’s a long story involving a lot of alcohol. A
lot
of alcohol.”

His laugh made my stomach flutter.
I grinned.

“You’re up late,” I mention
ed nonchalantly.

“Yeah, I just walked in the house. I was going to call you tomorrow, but I’m glad you’re still awake. I haven’t been feeling right since we got off the phone earlier.
I needed to hear your voice.”

“
I feel the same way. I need to talk to you, face to face.”

“I agree. I have to head out of town Monday after my morning meeting
and then I’ll be home on Thursday. If Thursday works for you, I can come down and see you that evening.”

Yawning, I replied, “Thursday works for me.”

“Are you tired?”

“Yeah, it’s been a long day.”

“Okay well, I’ll make this quick. My current businesses are booming and I can trust my managers to run them effectively.  But with my newest acquisition, I have to be hands on. This new one doesn’t have the sentimental value as the other two, but it’s a big move. I will tell you all about it when we meet because I have a meeting to solidify some things on Wednesday. So that’s where my focus is right now…which is okay, but you deserve more than that. You’re the type of woman I’d want to put first. You’re the type of woman I want to build a future with. You are incredible, Autumn. But my business has to be my priority right now. The last time I didn’t put my new business first, some major mistakes happened that set me back.”

“I understand
that. I do. But…” I trailed off, unsure.

“But what?” he asked gently.

“That’s a huge risk. Because I’m...”

Because I’m not going to wait for you forever,
I continued in my head.

“
It is,” Boris sighed. “And that’s eating me up inside. When I think about what I want in a woman, it’s you. Hands down. But I don’t want to jeopardize a legitimate shot with you because the timing was wrong. And timing is everything. So I won’t mess this up because of work. I know the risk, but you deserve more from me. Honestly, you probably deserve better than me. But I’m at the tail end of getting things together for the new business and then I’m coming for you.”

But who’s to say that I’m going to be sitting around waiting for you?
I thought, questioning my own judgment about the whole relationship.
Is he even who he says he is? How do I know I’m not being catfished? I’m so confused.

I pulled the
covers to my chin and snuggled into my pillow. “Are you real?” I asked, feeling myself starting to doze off.

“
Yes,” he chuckled softly. “I’m real.”

“But are you really you?”

“Yes, I’m really me.”

“I won’t believe it until I can see you and touch you.”

“I like the sound of that. Seeing you. Touching you,” he whispered sexily.

His words echoed t
hroughout my body. My heavy lidded eyes blinked slowly as I processed what he just said and the way he said it. His voice lit a fire in me.

“Where would you touch me?
” I breathed into the phone, feeling a wave of desire sweep through my body.

“Everywhere.” He dragged the word
out so slowly it almost felt like he was stroking his fingers down my body, tickling my skin. “I plan to touch you everywhere Autumn. With my hands…my fingers…my tongue…”

Closing my eyes, I
let out a moaning breath, squeezing my thighs together.  His words and the sound of his voice mixed with the alcohol and my sexual dry spell. I was on the edge.

“
Autumn, you just don’t know,” he tempted with a low groan. 

I let out a labored breath.  Unable to say a word, I just held the ph
one to my face as I tried to extinguish the feeling that had burrowed itself deep in my belly. The silence that settled over the phone held so much promise.

I
need to see him,
I thought wantonly.
Tonight.

“Come over tonight,” I
whispered.

He was quiet as if he were considering my offer.
“You’ve been drinking… I don’t think you know what you’re saying.”

“I’m saying that I want you inside me tonight. We can talk about all the relationship stuff on Thursday. Tonight I just want the man I’m into to get in me,”
I murmured with my eyes closed.

“God, Autumn…” he growled. He took a couple of loud rasp
ing breaths before he continued, “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Yes, I do,” I whined
softly.

“
I’m going to wine and dine you first.”

“I want you
now though. Right now.”

“
I’m trying to be a gentleman Autumn, but you’re making it hard.” His voice was hoarse and he let out a sexy rumbling noise from deep in his throat. “You’re killing me, you know that?”

“Mmm…” I mumbled, drifting to sleep.

              Hours later, I awoke abruptly when I heard knocking at the door. “Come in,” I called out as I turned on my side.

             
Olivia poked her head in. “My taxi is out front, but thanks for letting me crash here last night.”

             
“Of course. Anytime.” I tried to sit up in bed.

             
“I need a shower and to get rid of this hangover,” she said as I got out of bed to follow her down the steps.

After we hugged and said our goodbyes, I went in the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. I didn’t feel hung over, but my memory of the night was hazy.

I remember meeting Olivia after my date. I remember us eating and drinking. I remember the taxi ride home. I remember putting Olivia in the guest bedroom. And I remember throwing myself across my bed and going to sleep. But why is everything so disjointed?
I wondered as I tried to put the pieces together.

             
After my coffee, I went back upstairs. I knocked and then peeked into Summer’s empty room.

Must have been a good date,
I acknowledged with a smile.
I knew Summer and Max would hit it off!

I
showered and got dressed for the day. Thoughts of Boris filled my head and I couldn’t take it anymore. I picked up my phone to call him.

“
Autumn Rochelle Jones,” Boris answered. I could hear the smile in his voice and butterflies fluttered in my belly.

“
Hi. I’m sorry about the way we got off the phone yesterday. You’ve been on my mind nonstop and I would really like for us to sit down and talk face-to-face at least once.”

He chuckled and my stomach dropped.

I’m seriously missing the joke,
I thought as I started to pace back and forth.

“What’s so funny?” I asked
in an even tone.

The amusement
was still thick in his voice as he said, “Something told me you weren’t going to remember our conversation.”

“Of course I remember our conversation! It has been on my mind for the last twenty-four hours.”

He laughed loudly. “No, I’m talking about the conversation from last night.”

I froze. “What?”

“We talked last night. About a lot actually.”

“Oh no
, no, no…” I shook my head as if he could see me. “I don’t remember this at all.”

“Well, you were pretty tipsy.”

“Oh dear God…what did we talk about? What did I say?”

He cleared his throat. “We agreed to meet on Thursday when I get back in town. Sit d
own over dinner and have a face-to-face conversation.”

“I hate that I can’t remember any of the conversation.
I hope I didn’t say anything bad.”

“
You didn’t say anything bad. In fact, you made sure I had pleasant dreams last night. If you can’t remember by Thursday, I’ll remind you when I see you for the first time.”

The way he said it made my body react.
“Okay,” I replied softly.

“I have some stuff to
take care of in preparation for my meetings this week. Can I call you in a couple of hours?”

We said goodbye and I collapsed in a heap on
my bed.

My phone vibrated.

Jordan Moretti: I can’t stop thinking about you.

             
With my heart fluttering, the knot in my stomach unraveled and then twisted tightly at the thought of Jordan.

Autumn Jones: Jordan…

Jordan Moretti: Autumn…

Autumn Jones: You are married and you don’t know what you want.

Jordan Moretti: I haven’t been married for two years. I’m separated. The petition for divorce has been filed. And I do know what I want.

Autumn Jones: And what’s that?

Jordan Moretti: You.

Autumn Jones: I don’t want to be your rebound.

Jordan Moretti: The very, very few women I’ve encountered during my separation would’ve been rebounds. You are someone I’m trying to have a relationship with.

Autumn Jones: I don’t know Jordan.

Jordan Moretti: Would I spend a Saturday night watching Season 1 of a TV show about a serial killer for a rebound?

Autumn Jones: You watched it?

Jordan Moretti: Yes. For you. And a little for me because I got into it.

**********

As the water from his shower rained down on us, Xavier kissed me carefully, nibbling and sucking on my lower lip. He drew back teasingly before doing it all over again. The back and forth between kissing me and teasing me with the anticipation of the kiss made me tremble. His hands roamed down my bare back before he pulled away slowly.

I loved the feeling of his skin sliding against mine
as we rinsed the last few suds of soap off of each other. “The water and your hands feel good. My body is so sore.”

“Well
, you’re the one who wanted to reenact your fantasy.”

Just the mention of us having sex on the balcony made my body tingle.

“That was better than the fantasy. That was…amazing,” I exclaimed breathlessly, my muscles still tight and sore.

Xavier stroked the side of my face. “You are amazing.
Everything last night was amazing. And this morning. And just now…good God woman.” His eyes sparkled and the look he was giving me caused a familiar ache to reemerge.

“Stop looking at me like that! That’s the reason we had to leave the gala early!”

Xavier chuckled as he cut the water off. Pulling the curtain back, he grabbed two plush towels. He wrapped one around me and then wrapped the other around his waist.

“My fingers are all pruned,” I said, examining myself in the mirror. “Oh shit! I don’t have anything to put on.”

He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Wear that sexy dress you had on last night.”

“Ah
, yes…nothing broadcasts the walk of shame better than last night’s clothing.” I kissed his bicep before wiggling out of his grasp and walking out of the bathroom.

Xavier grabbed my arm and pulled me into him. His hands came up to cradle my head. His blue eyes looked as though they could see right through me. “
Walk of shame?”

“You know what I mean.” I rolled my eyes. “We ha
d fun…lots of hot, sweaty, mind-blowing fun. And now everyone I pass on the way home will know it too,” I said.

“What bothers me about the term walk of shame
is that it implies you’re ashamed of what we did on the balcony…and on the couch…and in my bed…and in the shower,” he said slowly, the softness of his voice speaking to every nerve ending in my body. “And do you really think I’m not going to take you home? I told you last night I’d take you home in my car and that you weren’t taking a taxi.”

“I didn’t know how much of that was true seeing as how I had your balls in my mouth when you said it.” I bit my lip and tried to
maintain a serious expression, but when he laughed, I laughed too.

“You are perfect.” He stared into my eyes and smiled.

“When did you first realize my perfection?”

“
I knew you were sexy the first time I saw you.” He looked down, licking his lips. “And then I met you…and you had absolutely no idea who I was. I liked that.  Each time we ran into each other, I learned a little more about you and I liked that too. But when you cussed me out in my own house, I knew I had to have you.”

I tossed my head back a
nd laughed. Standing on my tip-toes, I pulled his face to mine and kissed him. I let my fingers dance over his chest and down his abs.

“So what’
s your plan now that you’ve had me?”

“I think I’
ll keep you.”

             
“Good answer!” I said, pulling his towel and running with it into his bedroom. 

             
Xavier was right on my heels and tackled me on the bed. Tickling me, I squirmed and couldn’t stop laughing. “Truce, truce!” I giggled as I struggled to catch my breath.  I was hanging off the side of the bed when I noticed the clock that we had knocked down sometime last night.

             
“Please tell me that clock is wrong. Please tell me it’s not almost two in the afternoon,” I uttered.

             
“It’s right. You have somewhere to be?”

“I live with my best friend and she’s going to think I’ve been abducted if I don’t call
her and let her know I’m okay.” I looked around. “Have you seen my phone?”

             
Xavier pulled on a pair of boxers. “It’s probably in the living room. Dry off and put these on.” He threw me a pair of boxer briefs and left the room.

I pulled on the underwear, rolling t
he top down so they’d fit. Then I slipped back into Autumn’s white dress.  Xavier came back in the room and tossed my clutch on the bed. He watched me as he put on a pair of jeans and a heather grey t-shirt. Using my fingers, I raked my hair up into a messy ponytail.  Satisfied with my appearance, I put on my heels and grabbed my phone out of my clutch.

Four missed call
s. All from Autumn. And all within the last hour! I hope everything is okay,
I thought as I called her back immediately. It was surprising that Autumn didn’t call last night or even this morning.

“Finally! Please tell me you’re A) okay and B) able to talk because I’m freaking out,” Autumn greeted me.

“I’m on my way home now.” I looked at Xavier and he held up his keys.

I hung up the phone and we headed out
of the apartment. When we reached the parking garage, Xavier’s car stopped me in my tracks. “Wow… is that a Maserati convertible with black birdcage rims?” I asked, impressed.

“Is it wrong that it turns me on that you know that?” he asked, opening my door for me.

“Only if it’s wrong that it turns me on that you have this car.”

“So I guess that makes us even.”

Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up in front of the rowhouse. “Here’s where I live,” I stated the obvious, a minute after the GPS said we had reached our destination.

“Let me walk you to your door.” He jumped out and met me on the side walk.
With the rush to get to Autumn, it only just hit me that I was officially leaving the bubble Xavier and I had been in since the gala.

So what happens now?
I wondered as we walked to the front door.

“So… I had fun,” I
said awkwardly, my heart beating erratically.

“Me too. I hope we can do it again soon.”

“Yeah, me too.” I looked down the block, avoiding eye contact.

Rubbing my shoulders, Xavier moved his hands to my neck, forcing me to look at him and stroked my cheeks with his thumbs. “
I want to take you out tonight.” He kissed me sweetly before he continued, “And every other night.”

My breath hitched.
“I’d like—”

The door swung open and all three of us jumped. Autumn screamed.

“Summer! You scared the mess out of me!” Her eyes quickly scanned Xavier before a huge Cheshire-cat smile spread across her face. “You must be Xavier.”

He smiled back, seemingly pleased that I’ve mentioned him a time or two to my best friend. “I am. And you must be
, Autumn. It’s very nice to meet you.” He extended his hand and she shook it.

“It’s nice to meet you too. You’re welcome to come in. I just need to borrow her for two minutes.”

“Summer mentioned that you two had something to talk about, so I’m going to head to the office for a couple of hours. Hopefully I will be back here soon to take Summer to dinner. She never formally agreed to my date.”

They both looked at me. “Does
eight o’clock work for you?” I asked him, looking up into his beautiful eyes. 

Autumn turned and walked down the hallway. As soon as her back was to us, he leaned down and kissed me hard. He trailed kisses to my ear and whispered, “I can’t wait to see you tonight.”

I leaned into him, forcing him to kiss my ear.
This man,
I thought with my eyes closed. My whole body reacted to everything he did. He moved to kiss my lips and I sighed contentedly.

I opened my eyes when he separated our lips fractionally. “You should skip work and wait for me upstairs,” I whispered.

He groaned, “I would if I could.” He kissed me again.

“Fine,” I sighed dramatically.  I made a face. “But if I can’t have what I want right now, you can’t have what you want later,” I joked, fighting the urge to smile.

Xavier looked at me with his clear, blue eyes and said, “I have you and that’s all that I want.”

I froze.
My heart stopped momentarily and then thundered in my chest. He took my breath away with one little sentence and I just stood in front of him with my mouth agape.

Seizing the opportunity, he
slid his mouth over mine. He slipped his tongue between my lips and I gave in to everything I felt for him.  It didn’t matter that we were outside. It didn’t matter how many cars drove by. It didn’t matter how many people saw us. Xavier was the only thing that mattered. And I couldn’t get enough of him.

When w
e finally pulled away breathlessly, we said goodbye. I kissed him one last time before I hurried into the kitchen where Autumn was pacing.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” I asked, taking a s
eat at the table.  I kicked my heels off and made myself comfortable.

“Jordan is sweet and cute and fun and
creative and he wants a relationship with me. Boris is…perfect and he doesn’t want to be in a relationship with me. But as soon as he has things worked out with his newest business, he says he will have the time to devote to a relationship. I know what I want. And I want what Jordan is offering me…but I want it with Boris.  And then I get a text message from Jordan and I couldn’t get him out of my mind. So now I’m completely confused.  In the back of my mind, I keep thinking that Boris might be the one because he’s so perfect. But then I get off of the phone with him, and I’m back to real life and Boris isn’t a part of my real life, you know? Ugh! I’m freaking out!”

“
Okay first, please sit down with me.” I pushed a chair away from the table with my foot.  “When are you going to finally meet Boris? Because I’m almost tempted to just tell you all of his info so you can pop up unannounced. I know he’s busy, but you deserve someone who is going to make time for you,” I pointed out.

“We’re supposed to meet on Thursday
. And he said the same thing. That’s why he doesn’t want to pursue anything with me right now. He said he has a couple of important business meetings this week and on Thursday, we’ll talk.”

Her emotions were written all over her face.  I stood up and gave her a hug.
“What do I do about Jordan?”

“
You like him, but he’s not divorced yet, so you aren’t interested in pursuing anything with him,” I recapped, cocking my head to the side. “Honestly, I would see what happens on your date with Boris and then make a decision.”

“
There is no decision. Jordan is married. But I almost feel like I’m stringing Jordan along because I can’t stop hanging out with him…or talking to him…or thinking about him, but I know that I can’t be with him.”

“No, you’re not. You two are hanging out with no pressure right?
And you already told him that his not quite ex-wife stuff was a barrier for you, right?”

She nodded.

“Well, you are single, Autumn. You can date whoever you want.  Don’t feel bad about weighing your options. You’re so focused on the end-game, you aren’t looking at the here and now.”

“I don’t know Summer. It feels wrong.”

“That’s what dating around is all about. If you were exclusive with either of them, it would definitely be wrong. But you’re not.”

She nodded again.

“
In four days, you will have the information you need to make a decision. You’ve met and like Jordan. You like Boris. So if you meet and still like Boris, you’ll have a decision to make.  But let’s not forget there’s always the possibility that you could meet Boris and not like him. And even if you do like him, are you willing to put your life on hold for him while he works out his business stuff?”

“No,” she uttered softly. “If it’s meant to be, i
t’ll be. If we meet and we have the crazy connection that we have now and he still chooses to put himself on a self-imposed dating hiatus, I’ll have to walk away. I don’t have a choice. But it’s one of those things where I just have to meet him. I have to see him face-to-face.”

She blinked her chocolate
-colored eyes rapidly. I saw her swallow hard a couple of times before she smiled.

Even with tears in her eyes that I could tell she was trying to keep at bay, she smiled beautifully. “So that’s Xavier
, huh? I need a distraction. Tell me everything.”

I smiled. “Where to begin with James Xavier Ford…?”

**********