Rebound (19 page)

He closed his eyes and leaned in to
kiss me. I felt an overwhelming feeling of emotion. Within seconds,
I felt him jerk as he climaxed, relaxing down onto my body. From
under his shirt, I massaged his back, pressing him down harder onto
me.

“
We should get up. Let’s
take a shower. You have to go to work, and I should check in at the
office.” He said impassively, breaking the bond that tied us
moments ago.

“
Okay. Is something
wrong?” I caressed his chin with my thumb and forefinger. I felt a
bit of an emptiness at the moment of his release.

“
No. No. Just want to get
you to work on time.”

“
Matt, I can take the
train to work. It’s a couple of stops away from here. You don’t
have to drive me everywhere.”

“
I want to. I like
spending as much time with you as I can. I like you close.” I
smiled and kissed him.

He pulled out of me and went into the
bathroom. I heard the shower turn on and I leapt out of bed to join
him. With the glass door held open, he extended his hand out,
inviting me in. I took his hand and tiptoed up to give him a peck
on the lips. I walked into the pulsating hot water.

“
Aye, caliente. It’s too
hot for me, Matt.” I squealed.

“
Shit, perdóname.
Costumbre. Force of habit. Are you okay?” He replied in perfect
accented Spanish. He pressed the button to lower the
temperature.

We lathered up quickly. I rinsed
myself off. “I’m gonna get dressed.” I exited the shower, grabbed
the towel from the warmer, and slipped the bath sheet around me. I
went straight to the sink to brush my teeth.

I heard him cut off the shower. Within
seconds, he stood beside me at the sink. He picked up a razor from
the container.

“
You’re not shaving are
you?” I asked with concern in my voice.

“
No. Just cleaning up
around the edges. Why?”

“
I love your beard. Makes
you look distinguished, mature, sexy. It accentuates your strong
jawline, and distracts from your adorable dimples.” I revealed. I
gave him a kiss after rinsing my mouth. I settled the toothbrush on
the holder where he left it last night.

“
I’ll remember that.” He
grinned. I walked off into the bedroom. “Your clothes are on the
dresser.” He yelled out. I found my clothes neatly folded on the
dresser. I loved the smell of freshly laundered clothes. I sniffed
my panties before I put them on.

“
Did I just see you sniff
your underwear?” He asked with a laugh.

Humiliation flushed my cheeks. “Yes. I
love the smell of fresh clothes. And I’m not ashamed.” I was
embarrassed because he caught me and called me out on it. “It’s
something my mom would do when she folded clothes after the dryer.
It’s like when she smelled an article of clothing, she was
recalling a special memory. When she got sick, I used to wash her
clothes and she’d sniff them after I’d hand her something to wear.
It didn’t matter that I used the same detergent for everyone’s
clothes, it still smelled like her. Dumb, huh?”

He walked over to me and wrapped his
arms around me, pressing my side to his front. He nuzzled my neck
and gave me a kiss on the head. He smelled wonderful. His body was
warm and soft despite his hard muscles. Tears came to my
eyes.

“
Wow, after all this time,
I’m still crying at such a tiny memory.” A tear streamed
down.

“
How long has it been?
Since she died.”

“
Twelve years ago. I was
sixteen. Ugh. I’ve got to pull myself together. Sorry about that.”
I took a corner of the towel and dabbed at my eyes.

“
No need to apologize.
It’s nice to learn more about you. It’s a sweet memory.”

I gave him a tender kiss on the lips,
appreciating his support and affection when I was most emotional. I
then realized we were both naked, with the exception of the towel
wrapped around his hips.

“
Do you want breakfast? I
can make us something to eat?” I peered at the clock and figured I
can whip up something and be able to leave by 9:15 a.m.

“
Sure, I like it when my
women cook.”

“
Women? How many women are
there, Doctor?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“
Glynnis. My mom. My
sister. You.” He winked.

“
Good to know. Let me get
dressed because us naked together spells trouble.” He
laughed.

I dressed quickly and went to the
kitchen to see what I could make. I found the frying pan and
preheated it while I looked for ingredients to make an omelet. I
pulled out green onions, bacon, eggs, cheese and mushrooms. I
cooked the bacon in the micro, chopped the veggies, cracked the
eggs, and later crumbled the bacon. I cooked my omelet without the
cheese, and then proceeded to make Matt’s with the cheese. With all
the dairy in his fridge, I figured he was safe from an
allergy.

As I served his omelet on the plate,
he stepped out of his room dressed in a blue dress shirt and navy
suit. His tie was red with a repeating pattern. He looked so, well,
dashing. He was the true definition.

“
You look so handsome. I
haven’t seen you wear a suit, oh, in all of the five days that we
know each other.” I smiled.

“
Thanks.” He replied
shyly. “Smells great in here.” He came over to the counter. He
pulled out both our chairs as I placed our plates in the usual
place where we’ve sat. I walked around the counter. He waited to
help me get seated. Swoon. He sat down and dug into his
food.

“
Wow! This is amazing.
Where did you learn to cook? You seem to be able to come up with
something out of thin air?”

“
First of all, thank you.
Second, you have a ton of things in that fridge, thanks to Glynnis.
I’ve been cooking since I was really young. My mom was ill for most
of my life. My dad worked so many hours. It was only me and mom
because my half siblings, my dad’s kids were older and ran the
streets, so it was just the two of us at home. My siblings left
when I was about twelve. It was either learn to cook or wait till
my dad got home at about ten o’clock to eat dinner. I had to shop
and learn things from my mom’s instructions. She was the best cook.
Nothing that I make today, even with her specific instructions in
my mind would ever come close to her food. Now, I cook out of
necessity. Cost cutting measure.” I stopped rambling and took a
bite of my eggs. It was yummy.

“
You had to grow up pretty
quickly, didn’t you?”

“
Yeah, but I wouldn’t
trade it for anything in the world. It’s made me stronger, tougher,
semi bad ass.” I smiled and listened to him laugh. We ate
quietly.

“
I need coffee. Do you
want me to make you some? I bought you some soy milk.” Matt asked,
standing to go to the kitchen.

“
You did?” I asked
astounded.

“
Yep. I figured you’d want
coffee in the morning, and I remembered that you ordered a soy
latte when we were in the café. I didn’t have any here, so I bought
some.” I could just kiss him. Shit, every step of the way he has
proven himself to be more of an attentive lover than Ben did in all
the time I wasted with him.

“
Please. I’ll take some
coffee with soy and three sugars, please. You’re the best.” He
smiled as he prepared the coffees.

He settled both mugs on the counter
and walked around to sit. He took a few more bites of his omelet
and took a few sips of his coffee. My coffee was fantastic, laced
with a little bit of--what could I even call it?—love? Too soon to
think about that word. We were silent as we ate our food and drank
our coffee. This felt comfortable. This felt true.

“
I want to ask you
something.” Matt broke the silence. My heartbeat quickened. No
thoughts passed through my mind as to what he would want to
discuss.

“
Yes?” I asked, turning to
face him, hoping to prompt him to spit it out.

“
I’d like you to stay with
me every night this week while I’m still in town. I told you that I
leave for Spain on Thursday afternoon. I’ll be back late afternoon
on Sunday. You’re welcome to stay in my apartment while I’m away so
that you can be closer to both of your jobs. I’d feel more
comfortable knowing you’re here. There’s twenty four hour security
in this building. You won’t need for anything. Glynnis will supply
any food or cook meals for you. You would just have to let her
know. You would have access to my car to get around when you need .
. .” He stopped to look at me because I didn’t say one word. No
sounds, not even an exhalation, escaped from my lips. He was
offering me so much in such a short timeline that I was flummoxed.
The offerings were swirling in my head, making me a bit dizzy,
anxiety building. I pushed my plate to the opposite side of the
counter, stood up, and walked over to clean up;
thinking.

“
Perla? It may seem like
I’m offering a lot in such a short time, but I just want to share
the things I have with you. I want to make sure you’re safe. I
really would like you to be here when I get back on Sunday. What do
you say?”

“
Matt. I don’t know.” I
finally said, still mulling over the offer, sensing there wasn’t a
right answer.

“
It’s simple. I’m not
asking for anything in return. I just want to know that you’re
here. I really like you. I want to keep you safe. I think we have
great chemistry. And I want to just . . . I don’t know . . . see
how this works out.” The honesty floored me.

“
This could work out with
me staying at my place Matt. For almost four days you wouldn’t be
here, so I don’t know why you’re asking me to stay alone in an
unfamiliar place.”

“
It’s not unfamiliar.
You’ve been here since Friday. You’ve made your way around the
kitchen already. You’re welcome to everything. I trust you. I just
want to make sure you’re safe and aren’t in need of anything. And I
want you here when I get back on Sunday.”

“
Unfamiliar means that my
things aren’t here. I don’t live here, Matt. I wouldn’t feel
comfortable being in your home, walking around naked in this
pristine place, without my creature comforts.” I replied
gently.

“
You’d walk around
naked?”

“
Of all that, that’s what
you honed in on? You’re such a dude.” He laughed.

“
Fine, you don’t have to
stay while I’m gone, but will you stay until I leave on Thursday?
We can pick up a few things at your place after work, some creature
comfort stuff. And you can stay with me. You can go home when I
take flight on Thursday.”

“
Is that really what you
want?”

“
No.”

“
What?”

“
What I really want is my
first offer. Stay till Sunday. Use my home. Make it your home. Use
my car. Make it your car. I’ll give Glynnis time off so you can
walk around naked.” I laughed. The offer was tempting when he put
it that way.

“
You drive a hard bargain.
I accept your second offer. I’ll stay till Thursday. In the
meantime, I’ll think about staying till Sunday.”

“
Great, I accept your
counteroffer.” He gave me a kiss as he hugged me tight. “We should
go. I’ll drop you off at work.” For a doctor, he sure knows a lot
about contracts.

“
All this negotiating is
exhausting. Give me two minutes to clean up.”

“
No. Glynnis will be here
at noon. She’ll clean up.” I washed my hands and wiped them dry. He
pulled out my jacket and purse from the closet.

“
I should take my
cooler.”

“
Leave it. You don’t have
lunch in it anyway. I’ll give you money to buy lunch.” He said. I
walked toward him to get into my jacket.

“
Matt, I don’t need your
money. I’m okay. Don’t worry about it.” I sighed in exasperation.
He didn’t respond.

We walked out of the apartment. I was
starting to feel like a kept woman. The independent side of me was
having problems with that. My feminine side wanted to be taken care
of. In my mind, both were battling for seniority.

He locked the door while I punched the
elevator button furiously. He wouldn’t understand my taking issue
with being dependent on a man.

When he sidled up to hold me, I
summoned the courage to be honest. I didn’t want to let my true
feelings be suppressed. “Matt, I have to be honest with you. I’ve
had to work hard to become independent again after my separation
and divorce. I’d depended a lot on my ex-husband and that turned
out to be a catastrophe. It’s okay if you pay for the occasional
coffee or dinner and a movie, but as far as giving me money for
lunch, that’s not acceptable to me. I can and have taken care of
myself this long, and I’m content this way. I don’t want to feel
kept again, which is why I’m feeling a bit unsettled by your first
offer. You offered the very things my husband gave to me and then
abruptly ripped away. I can’t go there again.”

He pursed his lips and thought a bit.
The elevator arrived just in time, which seemed to give him more
time to think before he responded.

He pressed the button for the parking
level. The quiet was uncomfortable. I realized that Matt would shut
down whenever I said something that didn’t sit well with him. We
arrived at the parking level and walked to his car. He opened the
door for me and closed it once I entered. Once he entered the car
and turned it on, he turned to me. His eyes sought mine. As I
looked into his eyes, the nerves caught in my throat.