The Men of CLE-FD updated (16 page)

“Lately, no.  I haven’t had a reason to rush home to an empty apartment.”

“I find it hard to believe a handsome man that is good with his hands, talented in bed and somewhat nice, is not attached to a woman or women if you need more than one.”

He assumed the same position as Regan on the floor.  After his shower, he’d changed into basketball shorts and a tank top.  “First, there are plenty of handsome men for women to choose from.  Second, I’m going to have to agree with you—I am good with my hands and an expert in the bedroom but, I’m only somewhat nice?”

She laughed throwing her head back.  “Oh my god, I think your head is growing.”

He grinned boasting his chest.  “I had you screaming my name.”

She pointed her finger at him.  “See.  That is why I said somewhat nice.  But, that’s okay, because when you’re good at something you should brag about it.”

Orlando stood up.  Regan swirled the melting ice in her glass of Diet Pepsi watching him.  “Where are you going?”

He poked a thumb in the direction of the front door.  “I’m going in the front yard to shout how I rocked your world.  You said I should brag about what I’m good at right?”

“Ugh…you are working my last nerve,” she said gathering the bowls from the floor.  He took her by the elbow drawing her into a kiss.  His tongue entered her mouth causing the bowls in her hand to rattle.  Regan moaned as his tongue filled her mouth.  The flavor of shrimp gumbo was still fresh on their breath.

He broke the kiss wiping his mouth.  “Now am I on your mind as well as your nerves?”

Her legs numbed from the knees down.  “Is there a hidden message in there somewhere?”

“Look, Regan.  I haven’t been interested in being with a woman in years.  Maggie pretty much killed my drive to pursue any relationship until you came along.”

“Why did you give her that power, Orlando?”

“I didn’t give her the power; I just despised her that much.  I had to step away from women and get my head together because if I carried that mentality into another relationship too soon, I would ruin it with that next person.”

She shook her head going into the kitchen placing the bowls in the sink.  “I don’t think you are over that hate you have for her.  I witnessed the interaction between you two and it was ugly.”

“I’m over her but she is acting a fool for some reason.  She came to the firehouse the other day and….Regan, she thinks we are dating.”

“Yeah, I know.  We were pretty convincing,” she said rinsing the bowls.

“You’re a good actress; so good she has threatened to come after you.”

Her jaw clenched as she pretended not to feel the chill rush over her.  “Let her bring it; I’m not afraid of her.”

“Really, Regan.  I can’t imagine you fighting anyone.  You are just too cute to ball your fist to hit anyone.”

She flicked the dripping water from her fingers in his face.  “Honey, there is a lot about me you don’t know.  Corner me and I turn into a wild cat.  All my claws come out if I’m backed against a wall.”

He wiped his face with his hand.  “I do believe Maggie would have her hands full with you.”

The smile dropped from her face.  “Orlando, I was kidding when I said you had to stay the night.  If you want to leave, you are free to go.”

“I don’t have a problem staying.  Why do you think I want to leave?”

“Earlier I watched your emotions change like the weather.  You seem uneasy.  More so stressed, what is going on?”

“All right, I will tell you.  You are on my mind all the damn time, Regan.  My friends at the firehouse want me with someone.  I want you.  I know you’re supposed to meet Jon’s brother this Friday.  I’m not going to ask you to cancel that because it would be too forward and the date was arranged before I expressed my feelings for you.”

She leaned against the counter crossing her arms.  “How did you know about that?”

“Anthony is my dude.  He looks out for me.”

“Right, he would tell you.  Anyhow, that is just friends getting together for a night of dancing and dinner.  I don’t expect to get with this guy.”

“I can’t stop what happens at that dinner, I can only tell you how I feel about you.”

“Nothing is going to happen, Orlando but I don’t want to push you into anything knowing how you feel about your ex-wife.”

“Baby, she only wants me because she thinks I’m not available anymore.  At best, she will be a pain in my ass and not yours.”

She sidled next to him biting the edge of her lip.  “I’m not worried about her or falling in love with Jon’s brother.  But I would like to know if you are a little jealous about my date Friday night.”

“Should I be?”  He asked cupping his hand around the nape of her neck massaging firmly but gently.

Regan saw the fire in his eyes by way of the bright moonlight filtering inside the kitchen.  What was she getting into?  He was not Mark with a cell phone attached to his ear talking business.  He was a man full of hunger, vigor.  The soreness settling in her body was a good indication of that and she was not sure she could handle him.  The mood swings he would suffer as result of his job were factors she had not considered also.

Her throat bobbed with her effort to swallow.  His hand on her neck felt possessive.  She had only been divorced a year and to jump into a serious relationship without first healing herself and with a man so flawed could spell disaster.  Besides that, she’d received a request for an interview for a lead anchor position with a newly formed cable television news show.  If she managed to get the job, it meant she would be moving to South Carolina.

She smiled afraid to tell him her worries.  “No, there isn’t anything for you to worry about.  We’re just going to Illuminations for drinks and dinner.”

Regan felt his long fingers threading the hair covering her neck.  His eyes never left her face casting a mysterious aura as he spoke.  “Okay.  I hope you have fun.  But until Friday, you belong to me.”

“Orlando, I’m very attracted to you but I think we should take this slow.”

“What’s the problem, Regan?  I thought we were starting something here.”

She pulled away from his embrace to put distance between them.  “What happened to the speech you gave me on the beach that night?  You weren’t looking for romance—why has that changed?”

“I told you why.”

“Yes, you did.  Orlando, I haven’t been on my own as long as you.  I need to find me before I can commit to another person.”

He slammed his hand on the counter.  “Then what the hell was this about, Regan?”

She shrugged her shoulders.  “Why are you upset?  We spent an intimate evening together.  I’m not saying I don’t want to spend any time with you.”

“Then you just want me to drop by once in a while or if I here fixing something for you, take care of you sexually.  I’m not that type of guy anymore, Regan.”

Her anger rose to meet his.  “Now hold on!  I know you aren’t calling me a….”

“I’m not calling you anything.  I want to call you my girlfriend but obviously you don’t want the title.”

“I didn’t say that!”

His voice echoed through the kitchen and open windows.  Any neighbors outside or still awake would hear their argument.  “And you didn’t agree!  You dared me to see you as more than a friend.  I finally do and now you have changed your mind.  This is bullshit and I want no part of it!”

“Please let me explain,” she said working to keep her voice steady. 

“There is nothing to explain, Regan.”

“Yes there is.  Because of the lifestyle I had with my ex-husband, I felt like one of his possessions until he did not need me anymore.  I didn’t know what freedom was until I divorced him.  You are the only man I’ve had sex with besides him.  There is so much I want to do before being tied down again.”

He clapped his hands together slowly.  “Good speech, Regan.  It could have been touching had you added tears.  You didn’t get me to nail you on the beach that night, but you got what you wanted in the end.  You got to screw the big stud firefighter and now you can move on to conquer the next task on your bucket list.”

She narrowed her brow brushing past him to enter the living room.  “You have a lot of nerve being so condescending of me.  The night we met, you made no qualms about not wanting a serious relationship.  How dare you act as if your feelings are hurt because I’m suggesting we move things slow.”

“No, you’re asking if it is okay to keep YOUR options open.  I get it you are recently released from the chains that once bound you.  You want to spread your wings and do your thing.  You have every right to want that, baby.”

She felt tears filter into her eyes.  She had not cried since packing her bags and leaving the only man she’d ever loved.  “How did we get here?  An hour ago, we were making passionate love and now we are at each other’s throat.  How did this happen?”

“It happened because I undertook the task of upgrading myself from your friend to something more.”  He gathered his gym bag from the floor.  He brought in the change of clothes from the car with the anticipation of spending the night.  “I’m going home.  If you have any problems regarding the house, you know where to find me.”

She watched his tall frame walk out the backdoor and disappear from her view.  The familiar roar of the car’s engine and headlights cascaded across the windows as he backed from the driveway.  He was gone and probably forever.  Regan stood in the dark stunned by her actions.  They had bonded and become friends before being lovers and she’d ruined it.

She flopped in the chair where the pain quickly morphed into fury.  She knew he had been hurt in the past and suspected the defensive move and designed to keep women at a distance.  A single tear rolled down her cheek as she began to shake.  She’d done to him what Mark had done to her—she had broken his heart without even caring.

*****

The next morning, Regan lay on the massage table unable to relax and let the masseuse work the tension from her body.  The tenseness of her muscles was unwilling to yield to the magic hands working her shoulders, back, and legs and it was her keeping it from happening.  She deserved to be a ball of knots for the way she treated Orlando.  Every muscle, nerve and tendon should snap, crackle and pop until she served her punishment.

Lincoln’s gentle moan of enjoying the massage should have been her reaction, but she couldn’t get the pain on Orlando’s face off her mind.  The silence in the house due to the power outage would not let her sleep a wink the whole night.  Her mind had insisted and won on hashing and rehashing the situation with Orlando.  When she closed her eyes, she dreamed of them making love on the living room floor but when she fell asleep, the argument and pain in his voice woke her.

The masseuse kneaded a spot on her lower back invoking a whimper.  “Ouch,” she said lifting her head from her folded arms.  She knew the ache derived from last night’s activity on the hard floor.  Her whole backside from the small of her back to the heels of her feet ached.

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Richards.”

“It’s okay.  My back is little tender so be careful.”

“Sure.  You have a little redness in that area. Would you like a hot towel treatment?” The masseuse asked.

Regan released a gratifying sigh. “That would be wonderful.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Lincoln sat up on the table tightening the towel around her breasts.  “So hanging wallpaper last night was a bit strenuous, huh?”

Regan kept her head down not looking at her sister. “It was harder than I thought.  That’s what happens when you don’t do manual labor in years.”

“Is that the story you’re sticking with, Regan?”

She turned her head to face her sister.  She was physically and emotionally exhausted and not in the mood to challenge her sister’s psychic abilities. “It’s the truth.”

“And, I was not born yesterday.  You cannot lie there and tell me you and Orlando only hung wallpaper last night.  The freaking lights were out for hours.  So, Regan, what happened last night that has you in pain and a foul mood?”

“Nothing happened, Lincoln,” she said putting an emphasis on her sister’s name.

Lincoln’s demanding eye stare would not relinquish no matter how long Regan kept the charade going.  Lincoln had a way of flushing out the truth and had that skill since they were kids.  Whenever Carter and Regan tried to keep information from Lincoln, she had a way of questioning or directing a question to make them fold and reveal the truth.  It was no wonder she excelled at her job as an IRS agent.  No tax offender ever got a lie over on her.

Regan sat up huffing. “What do you want me to say?  Do you want me to say Orlando and I spent the night making wild monkey love?”

“I only want the truth.  If you didn’t do anything with him, then why are you being defensive?”

Her hands covered her face and her voice softened to a whisper. “I screwed up, Lincoln.”

“Hey, Regan,” Lincoln said hopping off her table to comfort her sister. “What happened?”

Regan fought for the tears to stay in her eyes but lost. “Orlando wanted to heat things up between us and I kinda blew him off.”

“You did what?  After laying the trap for him, you blew him off! What is wrong with you, girl?”

“Don’t yell at me; I feel badly enough for what I did to him.”

“I don’t believe you, Regan.  What was your excuse for doing that?  Is Mark back in the picture?”

“No, Mark has nothing to do with this,” she said adjusting the towel around her body.  “I have my reasons for what I did and in the end Orlando will see it was best we didn’t get involved.”

Lincoln slapped her hand across Regan’s bare skin causing her to yelp.  “Ouch!  Beating me will not make me feel any worse than I do.”

“You’re right; you need to have your damn head examined! I can’t believe you dumped him.  You wanted a good man and he handed himself to you.  Knowing Orlando and what he has been through in the past, he’s probably devastated.”

Regan frowned. “Cut it out, Lincoln.  You and Orlando aren’t close, so don’t pretend you are hurting because he is hurting.  I had to end it and I have my reasons why.”

Lincoln crossed her arms taking a stance. “Are you hoping Jon’s brother will be a better choice for you?  What is it, Regan, are you craving the high-society lifestyle again, and know a firefighter’s salary won’t provide that for you?  You are just like Mark—everything boils down to money.  For a poor ass kid from Cleveland, who didn’t have a damn thing growing up, you sure have grown to be prissy.”