Chapter 12

After having breakfast, and since the morning started off warm, Ace thought it was a good idea to go for a swim. She was still in his shirt when he said they should go for a swim, and he told her to put on a bathing suit.

“I told you I didn’t bring one.”

“I think I might have one for you,” he said. Going over to his closet, he rooted through the back and pulled out a bag. “Here we go, this ought to fit you,” he said, handing it to her.

She took it and looked at it. “This is brand new, still in its package. Do you always keep one around in case you have female company spend the night?”

“No, it belonged to Clarice. She bought the wrong size by mistake and never returned it.”

“Who’s Clarice?”

“My ex-wife.”

Her eyes grew wide with shock. “You’re married?”

“No, not anymore.”

“Why have you never mentioned her before?”

“There was no reason to, besides, I don’t like talking about her. So please, don’t ask me any questions.”

She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but judging by his tone and the anger that flashed in his eyes, she knew it was better not to push him on the subject. But it did bother her that he had never mentioned being married before; it had her wondering if he was still in love with his ex.

After changing into her swimsuit, they grabbed some towels and headed to the pool. This was going to be a beautiful day to spend by the pool. She didn’t waste any time getting in, but he just sat on the edge of the pool.

“Aren’t you coming in?” she asked, floating on her back.

“I am, it just takes me a few minutes to get used to the coolness of the water. I can’t believe you just jumped in the way you did. You didn’t even test the water to see how cold it was.” He couldn’t take his eyes off of her body; the bikini she had on was skimpy and showed off her amazing body.

“I always say it’s better to jump right in and get it over with. Come on in, the water is nice and so refreshing.” When he still didn’t make any attempt to come in, she stopped floating and splashed him, soaking him and causing him to swear.

“You little devil,” he growled and jumped in.

She squealed when he splashed her back and grabbed her, putting her up against the wall. “I did get you in.”

He looked at her face and smiled; she was so sweet, and her smile warmed his heart. “I’d rather be in something else. Now that I got you trapped, I want you to make me a promise.”

She put her arms around his neck. “That depends on what it is.”

“I want us to be exclusive. I don’t want you going out with another man, only me.”

“What about you?”

“Rosalee, when I’m with a woman, I’m only with her, no one else. I really like you, and I have no desire to be with anyone else. I know that Evan wants to ask you out; he’s been asking me about you, and I told him to stay away from you.”

She removed her arms from his neck. “You had no right doing that.”

He moved back as anger rose throughout his body. “Oh, so you want to go out with him?”

“No, you ass, I don’t want to go out with your brother. It’s just that I don’t need you going all caveman on me, thinking you can control my life. He had already asked me out, and I said no. I can handle things on my own without your help.”

“Yeah, like you did with James Maloney. You didn’t handle that very well, and if I hadn’t shown up when I did, he would have forced himself on you.”

“You bastard,” she snapped, and when she went to walk away, she was stopped when he grabbed her arm. “Let go of me, how dare you bring that up.”

“No, not until you listen to me. I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have told Evan to stay away from you, but I was jealous. I was worried you might go out with him, and I didn’t want you to. He hates me and could tell I liked you and wanted to piss me off by asking you out.”

She realized that she couldn’t blame him because she would have felt the same way. “Don’t you know me by now, that when I’m with somebody, I too am only with that one person? You don’t have to worry about Evan, I’m not in the least bit interested in him.”

This made him feel so much better, and he pulled her into his arms. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that.”

“Are you just going to keep staring at me, or are you going to kiss me?”

“Oh baby, I’m definitely going to kiss you,” he said as his lips came down on hers. When he finally broke the kiss, he ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “Would you like to take this upstairs?”

She giggled and pushed him away. “No, we just got in the pool, and it’s a beautiful day, so I think we should stay out here and get some exercise.”

“We can exercise upstairs in my bedroom.”

“That’s not the kind of exercise I’m talking about,” she said as she swam away from him.

They spent most of the day out by the pool. Later, he ordered pizza and they enjoyed it in front of the TV.

“Whenever you talk about your brother, you sound so angry. It’s like you hate him or something. What has he ever done to you to make you dislike him so much?”

“I don’t even know him that well since we didn’t grow up together. My father met his mother in a strip joint where she was a stripper, and he had a one-night fling with her. She ended up getting pregnant, and he never had anything to do with Evan except for sending his mother money every month. When I did meet him, I didn’t like him right from the start. He was so arrogant and cocky, and he resented me for having a father when he didn’t and for all that I accomplished. He did whatever he could to make my life miserable. What he did, I could never forgive.”

“What exactly did he do to you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I opened up to you, so why won’t you open up to me? I’m like you in a way. I’m a very good listener. If you won’t tell me, will you at least tell me about your ex-wife?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. We were married for two years, and it didn’t work out, so we got a divorce.”

“Are you still in love with her?”

“No, and to be honest, I don’t think I was ever in love with her.”

“Then why did you marry her?”

“Because when we were dating, she told me she was pregnant, and I felt I had to do the right thing and marry her.”

“So you have a child?”

“No. It turned out she had lied to me just to get me to marry her. At first, she tried to tell me that she lost the baby, but I could tell she was lying, and she finally confessed the truth. But since we were married, I figured I would try to make it work, but it didn’t.”

She went and put her arms around his neck. “How could anybody lie about being pregnant just to trap a man into marrying her?”

“My ex is a very spoiled woman who will do anything to get what she wants. But when I found out that she was having an affair, that was when I decided it was time to end it with her. She ended up taking half of everything I own, and it took me a long time to rebuild what I lost.”

“Ace, now I understand why you never wanted to talk about her. Well, at least she’s out of your life forever.”

“Yes, and I don’t want to talk about her anymore. I have better things to do with my time,” he said as he lowered her down onto the couch.

“Oh yeah, me too.”

On Sunday, they decided to go for a run. It wasn’t something she usually did, but since he said that he always runs every Sunday and a couple of times throughout the week, she thought she would give it a try. Since she wasn’t as fast as he was, he slowed down so that she could keep up. After a couple of hours, she had enough and asked if they could go back.

“Now doesn’t that feel good to get out and run? It really tightens your muscles and is quite relaxing.”

She was panting and out of breath by the time they got back to his place. “Well, my muscles are tightened all right, but I’m not sure about the relaxing part. I can’t believe you do this three or four times a week.”

He went into the fridge and got her a bottle of water and handed it to her, getting one out for himself. “It keeps me fit. We should take a shower before I order some takeaway,” he said, taking her hand he led her upstairs to the bathroom where they stripped down and got in under the water. And of course, having her naked in front of him got him all hot and bothered, and he ended up making love to her under the flowing water.

After drying off and changing into some clean clothes, they went downstairs, and he ordered some Italian. “I wish you didn’t have to go home today.”

“I do too, but tomorrow is a workday, and we both need some sleep.”

“You could stay tonight,” he said, not wanting her to leave. He liked going to sleep with her in his arms and waking up to find her in his bed.

“I think it’s better if I go home,” she said and smiled at him. She knew if she were to stay, they wouldn’t get much sleep, and Monday was going to be a very busy day.

After they finished their meal and tidied up, she left to go home. She had brought her own car so that way he wouldn’t have to make the trip. Eve and Brett were just coming from the bedroom. It was obvious that they had just had sex. She thanked her lucky stars that she arrived home after they were done. If she had thought that Eve and Rory were loud, these two broke all the sound barriers.

“How was your weekend with your hunky boss?”

“It was wonderful,” she replied, smiling back at Eve. Rosalee could see how much in love these two were, and it was breaking their hearts that in three weeks, Brett would be going away. His leave was almost up, and he would be gone for at least four months, maybe longer.

“Did you go anywhere?” Eve asked as she poured some juice into a glass for both her and Brett.

“If you two are a couple and are exclusive, why doesn’t he take you out in public?” Brett demanded.

“I told you, he doesn’t want anyone from the office to see us yet.”

“It’s been three months now. When the hell is he going to let people know that you’re together? I think he’s just playing with you.”

She couldn’t help getting angry at him. He just didn’t understand what it was like in the business world. “He cares a great deal about me, and he is not playing me. I know you think he’s just using me for sex, but he’s not.”

“Don’t get mad at Brett. He’s only concerned about you. But even you have to admit he’s right. It’s been long enough now, and he still wants to keep it a secret. I really think you ought to at least talk to him about it.”

She looked at Eve and Brett. “I know you’re both worried about me, and when the time is right, everyone will know. But if it’ll make you feel better, I will discuss it with him. But not this week because things are really busy right now, and I don’t want to add any more pressure on him.”

“Okay, make sure you do. This coming Saturday night, we’re going to the bar to get drunk and to dance, and we would like you to come with us. If your boss wants to join us, he will be more than welcome,” Eve said, hoping that by then, they would have let everyone know they were a couple finally. “That should give you plenty of time to talk to him, and will be a great opportunity for the two of you to go out in public together. If he agrees to go with us, then we’ll know for sure that his intentions towards you are honorable and that he’s not just using you for sex.”

“I’m going to bed. Good night, you two, and please try to keep the noise down tonight,” she said, giggling as she walked towards her bedroom. Yes, she would have a talk with Ace. Her friends were right. It was time to come out in the open about their relationship. But a small part of her was worried. Once she had mentioned going out somewhere to dinner or wherever, he said it wouldn’t be a good idea. To be honest, she was getting tired of the same old routine of driving to his place Friday, spending the weekend, and then going home. So far, they have stayed very professional at the office, except for the occasional touching of the hand or the secret smile between them.

“I can’t go with you, but if you want to go, I won’t try to stop you.”

“Come with me, we’ll have fun, and there probably won’t be anyone there who knows you.”

“There’s always someone who will recognize me, but you go ahead and have some fun. You can always come back here when the night’s over. I’ll have a taxi pick you up.”

“I’m beginning to think that all you want me for is sex,” she pushed her plate away and got to her feet.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going home,” she said and headed into the other room to get her bag that was still by the door.

He followed behind her. “Please don’t go.” He could see the sadness in her eyes when she looked at him, and it broke his heart.

“I think we need some distance between us, some time apart. I’ll see you at work on Monday.” She picked up her bag and walked out the front door. She knew he was standing there watching her as she got into her car. She was hoping that he would chase after her and tell her that he changed his mind and would go with her and that they would tell everyone they were a couple, but he didn’t. She was in tears when she got home, and of course, Eve and Brett were there.

“Oh my God, what happened?” Eve asked, going over and putting her arms around her.

“Did he hurt you? Did he lay a hand on you?” Brett asked as he made a fist that dangled by his side.

“No, he didn’t hit me. We just had an argument, and I left. I told him I was going to the bar with you guys tomorrow night and that I wanted him to go, and he said no. He also said it was too soon to let people know that we’re in a relationship. I’m beginning to think that you two were right and that it was just sex he wanted from me. The thing is, I’m in love with him, and I thought he felt the same way about me, even though we never said it to each other. You were right, and I should have listened to you. Nothing good comes out of sleeping with your boss.”

“Well, you should quit that job and find another one.”

She looked up at Eve and shook her head. “No way am I quitting. I worked too hard and too many hours to just walk away. I know what you’re thinking, that I won’t be able to handle working with him after what we’ve been through together. But I can. From now on, it’s just going to be a professional relationship and nothing more.”

Eve and Brett looked at each other. They knew that she would be gutted working with the man she had fallen in love with and had been sleeping with for the last three months.

She crawled into bed that night but could not sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking about Ace. Could she really have been that mistaken about him and his feelings towards her? She cried herself to sleep that night and woke up the next morning with red and swollen eyes. She could smell the fresh aroma of coffee brewing. Getting out of bed, she threw on a robe and went out into the kitchen where Brett was sitting at the table. Even though he lived across the hall, he spent most of his time here, especially since he knew he was going to be gone for a few months and wanted to spend as much time as he could with Eve.

“Sit down, and I’ll pour you a cup,” he said when he saw her come in.

“Is Eve still sleeping?”

“Yes, but I’m sure she’ll be up soon. So how are you feeling this morning?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, looking down at her coffee.

“Liar, I can tell by looking at your eyes that you were up most of the night crying. You shouldn’t shed tears over a creep like him. He’s not worth your tears.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t put him down like that. You don’t know him the way I do. He has a good heart, and he’s a decent man, a good man, and he’s been through a lot of pain and heartache.”

“Why in the world would you stick up for him?”

“I just don’t like you putting him down. So please, let’s not talk about him anymore.”

“Okay, we won’t talk about him anymore. I do hope you’re still going to come out with me and Eve tonight. We’ll make sure you have a good time and that you forget about you-know-who.”

“I definitely plan on going out tonight and on having a good time.” She wiped the single tear that started to trickle from her eye and down her cheek. “I just wish that he was going to be there with me.”

“Hey, didn’t we agree not to talk about him?”

She gave him a weak smile and nodded her head. “Yes, you’re right. No more talk about Ace.”

Just then, Eve walked in, yawning. She went over and kissed Brett on the lips before heading over to the coffee pot. Once she had coffee poured into her mug, she went and sat down with the others.

“Girl, as soon as I wake up, you and I are going shopping, and we’re going to get you a new dress and get our hair done. We’re taking you out tonight, and we’re going to make sure you have a great time. You might even find a nice guy who will treat you better than your boss did.”

“I’m not going out to find a man.”

“Look, I know you’re hurting over Ace, but you know what they say. To get over someone, you need to get under someone else.”

There was no way she was going to get involved with another man for a very long time, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t go out dancing and have a few drinks. She looked at Eve and shook her head. “I will go out with you guys, but I am not going there to hook up with anybody. End of story.”