Babygirl and the Mean Boss (8 page)

             
She yearned for him to kiss her lips; to feel his tongue and teeth and taste his soul.  Nicole lifted her wet face to him and he stroked her tears away with gentle fingers…but he did not kiss her.  Slowly she opened her eyes and stared at him.  Marty. 

             
Nicole jumped at what she was thinking
, what she had just done
.  Quickly she
slipped out of his arms
, embarrassed at her actions.  Why was she thinking like this?  Before this week, she had never looked twice at the man.  Now,
it was all she could do to stop admiring his big tanned arms and his
firm
butt in his jeans.  W
hat was wrong with her
?
! 

             
Marty
moved
to the stove.  Quickly
, while his back was turned,
she reached for a paper napkin and swiped her face and discreetly blew her nose.

             
With
out turning to look at her until his breathing returned to normal,
he efficiently began gathering plates and silverware.  “You have to be starving.”  His voice was light and casual
even if he didn’t completely feel that way.
  He picked up the skillet and with a spatula placed the delicious smelling concoction onto two plates.

             
Nicole felt the
fire between her thighs begin to
fizzle and di
e away to
be replaced with confusion and anxiety.  She tried to think of some
thing light and flippant to say in response to his
question
,
b
ut her stomach betrayed her by grumbling loudly.

             
“I take that as a yes.”  He brought the two plates back to the bar and Nicole noticed that he kept his eyes averted
,
two red spots on his cheek as the only indication of what
had
happened.
 
Nicole looked down
shyly
,
only to see
a monstrous omelet.

             
“
Wow
…that looks delicious
, Marty
.”

             
Marty dropped toast and then ladled up two big mugs of soup.  “I hope you like tomato bisque.”  He placed one of the mugs in front of her.

             
“Yum.”  She nodded
while looking into the mug of creamy goodness
.  “
Is this canned or di
d you make this yourself?”

             
Marty
’s
eyes
finally met hers.
“Canned soup?
”  The look of shock on his face was not manufactured.
 
“
In my home?
”  His voice was incredulous.
 
“
Never!”  Then he smiled and any residual embarrassment
between them
melted away.

             
“Taste it,”  h
e said.  And she didn’t have to be asked twice.

             
“
Mmmm
.  Delicious.”  He put toast on her plate and poured her an icy glass of tea then he sat down beside her and began eating, too.

             
Nicole glanced at him feeling a strange connection.  He’d better be careful.  She blinked.  No.  It was
she
that better be careful…

             
Nicole finished every morsel on her plate.  “Very good.”  She said while leaning back in the chair.

             
“You
were
hungry.”

             
She realized that she probably looked
like a
glut
t
on.  Truthfully, she had come from a place where if you were lucky enough to get a good m
eal then you ate it and remembered the time
s
when there was no food…
“Yeah.  I’m not a small woman.  I’m not one of those salad eaters.”  She stood and gathered their empty plates and bowls despite Marty’s objections.  She stacked them neatly in the sink.

             
“
You say that as if you’re a big woman, Nicole
.”
  Hell, she was…perfect, actually.  He thought
;
who would be dumb enough to call Marilyn Monroe fat?  Nicole stood at least 5’10” and she had full, heavy breasts, and he’d sneaked enough peeks at her backside to know that her ass was big enough to bounce when she hurried around the kitchen. 
Marty’s felt his semi aroused dick jerk back to life.  Shit.  He did not want that to happen.

             
Nicole h
u
mphed to herself. 
She was
big and knew
it.  She was tall and big boned, athletic not exactly overweight.  But she was big.  Big legs, big thighs and since having a child, big breasts. 

             
Absently she set the
skillet
in the sink. 
She turned and looked at him, opened her mouth—and it was as if he knew she was going to ask him to take her home.

             
“Nicole…remember when you asked me why I’m doing this for you?”  He took a deep breath and
then
walked into the living room.  She followed curiously.  He sat on the couch and she sat across from him in the armchair she had sat in earlier.  He closed his eyes a moment and when he looked at her again it was in that detached way that she was most familiar with.

             
“Many years ago I was married, had a successful business and was living the American
d
ream.  One day my wife came to me and told me she was going to have a baby.  I was so happy.  Everything that I was working for was coming to fruition.  Then she told me that it wasn’t my child, that it was my partner’s child.  He also happened to be my best friend.”

             
Nicole
bit
her lips and tried to remain silent. 
Marty continued to tell the story as i
f he was
reading from a menu.

             
“In one day I lost my wife, child, best friend and my business.  I decided that I wasn’t going to let anything close to me again.”

             
She looked away briefly
, a
familiar pang in her chest
.
             

             
“I bought the restaurant, immers
ed myself in it…
and refused to be dependent on anyone or anything.  Seeing you at the door that night…” Marty swallowed and blinked his eyes.  She saw the compassion return to them.  “
This
is the Marty I was before.  I can’t turn my back now.  Nicole, let me help you
, j
ust for the time being, just for a while.”

             
She didn’t believe that she had ever heard Marty talk so deeply about himself and his revelations brought back a lot of painful memories. 
Although the last thing that she wanted to do was to stay in her bosses house, she just could not see herself telling him
no
after all that he’d done for her and all that he’d gone through.  Silently she nodded her head yes, hoping that she would not regret the decision
.

             
Marty sat back and exhaled audibly but did not relax.  “I…uh,” He cleared his throat.  “don’t want you to think that my intentions are…”
he sea
rched for the correct words.  “O
ther then what I say.”  After all that he had revealed it surprised Nicole that he was turning red. 

             
She felt her face turn warm again
.  No wonder Marty was so embarrassed.  He was offering to help her despite the fact that she had just thrown herself at him.  She was very ashamed.  It was obvious that Marty’s motives were pure.  Besides, why would he want someone that was as broken as she was…broken in more ways then he would ever know?  Silently, Nicole vowed to never again confuse her loneliness with desire. 

             
She swallowed past her shame.  “Thank you for everything that you told me
,
Marty,” She sighed.  “I’m not used to…relying on people or accepting help
.  It’s always been just me.  I’ve never had anyone to lean on. 
But a
t the same time, I
a
m afraid that
I might have another…
it might happen again
and,” She nodded.  “
S
o I’m going to say yes.  Thank you.  Yes.”

             
Marty leaned towards her.  “Consider my home your home.   But, I am going to make one request.”

             
Nicole raised her brow.  “
Of course, anything.
”

             
“This
arrangement
stays between us.  I don’t want the people at work know
ing
I have a soft heart.”

             
She smiled.  “No chance of that ever happening.”

             
His response was just a slow grin.  Her heart ached.

             
Marty took her on a quick tour of the condo.  He had a
state of the art
home theater system
a
nd
she wondered
when did he ever find the time to enjoy the thing?  But it was his den that she was particularly interested in.  He had a computer.  She didn’t have one and going to the library to study and staying after class to research was a pain.

             
He had turned one of his spare bedrooms into a weight room and she understood now how he stayed so buff.

             
“There’s only one bathroom
up stairs
.”  He apologized.  “And I brought a few of your things.  I swear I didn’t go looking through your drawers—I just grabbed a few things.”

             
Nicole shook her head.  “That’s fine.  I could use my school books, though.  I know I’m behind on my school work.”

             
“I did pick up a backpack.  It
’
s in the den-” Nicole squealed and jumped up
and down
happily and then regretted it when her boobs swung loosely in Marty’s oversized shirt.  She pressed the sling against her chest and Marty pretended not to have noticed.

             
“Did you want to go back to the den and study?”

             
“No.  I don’t think I’d be able to absorb anything.”  They stood in the hallway silently.  “Are you going to the restaurant?”

             
“No.”  Marty must have
noted
the flash of concern across her face.  “I talked to Fred while you were resting.  No major problems.  He’ll call me on my cell if anything comes up.”

             
“I feel like I’m keeping you from work-
”

             
“Don’t be silly,”  h
e said dismissively.  “Do you want to relax a bit, take a nap, watch a movie-
?”

             
“Watch a movie!”  She responded enthusiastically.  Then she flushed, embarrassed. 
She didn’t have a television.  Yeah, she could have picked up a cheap one from Wal
-M
art but didn’t want to splurge on cable and really she didn’t have time for television.  But who could turn down an opportunity to watch a good movie on plasma screen with all the bells and whistles. 
“You have a real nice home theater.”